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It is a common observation that new technology introduced into Third World countries frequently fails to yield the expected results. Despite the availability of adequate finance, willing donor and recipient organisations and a congenial political climate, the imported equipment is often under‐utilised, used less productively and, at the end of its useful life, the users may look forward to a fresh induction, indicating thereby that the technology provided has not been absorbed.

The overall goal of science is to build a valid and reliable body of knowledge about the functioning of the world and how applying that knowledge can change it. As personnel and human resources management researchers, we aim to contribute to the respective bodies of knowledge to provide both employers and employees with a workable foundation to help with those problems they are confronted with. However, what research on research has consistently demonstrated is that the scientific endeavor possesses existential issues including a substantial lack of (a) solid theory, (b) replicability, (c) reproducibility, (d) proper and generalizable samples, (e) sufficient quality control (i.e., peer review), (f) robust and trustworthy statistical results, (g) availability of research, and (h) sufficient practical implications. In this chapter, we first sing a song of sorrow regarding the current state of the social sciences in general and personnel and human resources management specifically. Then, we investigate potential grievances that might have led to it (i.e., questionable research practices, misplaced incentives), only to end with a verse of hope by outlining an avenue for betterment (i.e., open science and policy changes at multiple levels).

The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the role of requirement managers in new product development projects.

This paper is based on a case study of an industrial platform project. Sixty-eight persons were interviewed and project prerequisites and requirement specifications documents were studied. The roles of specific individuals and their formal role as requirement managers are reported.

The requirement manager's role fulfillment is performed through five major activities described as developing, anchoring, re-organizing, routinizing, and positioning. These activities are essential in order to manage working with a large flagship project.

Because the research was based on a single case study, there are of course limitations. The findings in this study may therefore not be generalized, but merely suggest other areas of research.

This paper argues that functional roles should not be taken for granted. Even though significant efforts may have been performed in order to establish a new role within a project management setting, the process of establishing new work practices is complex. Managers should therefore investigate inter-functional integration on ongoing bases.

This paper provides important insights into aspects of requirement manager's ongoing project activities.

The purpose of this paper is to understand projectification processes of the global organization, based on the example of the Catholic Church’s activities. The Catholic Church is the oldest and the largest international organisation to be assessed also from the longue durée perspective. The Church as both a large and supranational organisation and a religious community has carried out a lot of social tasks. A part of its activity relating to the Church’s basic mission is carried out in these days in the form of various projects. In this paper, the authors demonstrate that seemingly unchanging structure, such as the Catholic Church, based on a determined hierarchy, strict principles and rules of conduct, is affected by the projectification processes.

The authors chose the method of a single case study. To analyse the projectification processes in the Church, the authors focussed on flagship mega-events of WYD programme, from which the following were selected: Rome (1985), Manila (1995), Sydney (2008), Rio de Janeiro (2013) and Krakow (2016).

The study demonstrates that organisational projectification processes can have a real impact on the strategic changes in the global organisation. Under the influence of significant projects, organisations can change internally and also redefine their way of interacting with the stakeholders. Projectification at the same time is a change and leads to it. The research also shows that projectification of a global organisation can intensify internal learning processes. On the one hand, “projectification agents” transfer project practices to various regions of the world, and, on the other, draw on local practices. Therefore, the projectification process is not simply transplanting the project “virus” into new places, but also a process of change and adaptation to the stimuli flowing from the environment.

The particularities, the distinctiveness of the projects of the Catholic Church can be an inspiration for others realizing projects. The experience of the Catholic Church in the implementation of WYD can be valuable for organisations implementing other projects that require involvement and activation of many, diverse stakeholders, for example, charitable projects or the so-called community engagement projects implemented by large international organisations, such as the World Bank, UNICEF, the UN, the Red Cross or humanitarian projects organised by NGOs in different parts of the world.

With a particular focus on cultural understandings and the concepts behind welfare policies, the purpose of this paper is to analyse commonalities and dissimilarities in the patterns of social policy, and more precisely youth unemployment policies, in Sweden and Germany.

A document analysis of Swedish and German youth unemployment policies was conducted with regard to how the two welfare regimes’ policies define the underlying problem, the instruments through which this problem is tackled, and the aim of youth activation policies.

The findings show congruency concerning the definitions of the problem of youth unemployment, in which the unemployed are regarded as lacking in discipline, as well as in the policies through which the problem is tackled: through conditionality and pastoral power as policy tools. The solution of the problem on the other hand, found in the notion of the ideal worker to be produced, diverges between active entrepreneurs in one country, and blue-collar workers in the other. The authors conclude that the introduction of supranational policy concepts is not a matter of mere implementation, and that concepts like activation are reinterpreted according to differing cultural ideologies and accommodated into the context of particular welfare states.

This paper provides an innovative framework for the understanding of the influence of cultural understandings on policy making, but also on challenges facing activation governance on the one hand and European Union policy initiatives and transnational policy diffusion on the other.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the beliefs and attitudes toward the use of information and communication technology (ICT). The study examines the challenges of implementing ICT-based training and provides insights for promoting the acceptance of online training in volunteer sports communities.

The study uses an action design research methodology that combines the implementation of ICT-based training, interviews, and a survey of 523 participants to examine the influence of online training on beliefs and attitudes.

The study shows that before the COVID-19 pandemic, soccer referees had negative beliefs about the use of ICT for learning. However, the experience of being forced to use ICT for training during the pandemic led to a positive shift in their beliefs about ICT.

The study offers four lessons learned for promoting the use of ICT-based training in voluntary sports. Future research should investigate the influence of blended learning approaches on affective, cognitive, and skill-based learning outcomes.

The study has practical implications for those responsible for implementing ICT-based training in voluntary sport. The findings suggest that design features such as usefulness, ease of use and enjoyment should be emphasized to increase the acceptance of online training.

The study contributes to the literature by providing insights into the challenges of implementing ICT-based training in voluntary sport contexts. The findings suggest that the experience of being forced to use ICT can promote the acceptance of online training in volunteer sports communities.

Schooling is a significant tool for fostering future generations, which, in turn, implies that the curriculum is an ethical document. It mirrors the society's notion of what is valuable, useful and necessary from a societal and individual perspective. The purpose of this paper is to address the Scandinavian curricula's ethical framework, which is negotiated by school leaders and educators.

The paper provides an overview of the political intentions for desirable socialisation and civic identity represented in Scandinavian curricula, and discusses the implications for ethical school leadership.

There is a disparity between rhetoric and reality when it comes to a “school for everyone”, since the curricula's promoted content and end are interpreted differently. The paper indicates that an awareness of individual and less conscious internal values and how they steer conduct is significant.

The paper is among the first to address Scandinavian curricula's promoted values and their consequences for ethical school leadership.

The purpose of this paper is to determine perceived barriers to utilization of mental health services among adults in Dodoma Municipality, Tanzania. To improve the use of mental health services, identifying related perceived barriers is a key step.

A concurrent mixed method model was used. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews (n=152) using a structured survey questionnaire. In addition in-depth interviews were conducted (n=10). The quantitative data were analyzed by using Epi info version 2002. Content analysis was used for analyzing qualitative data.

The majority of respondents opted to use modern mental health facilities for mental illness treatment. They also used spiritual healing and other forms traditional methods including herbal medicines. The most frequently identified causes of mental illness were: drug abuse, being cursed and witchcraft, demons or evil spirit possession. The reported significant perceived barriers were stigma, economic, lack of transport, witchcraft, lack of awareness of mental health services, unemployment, and negative believes about professional cure.

The option for mental health service utilization is influenced by the existing barriers on community and clients’ perception. There is a need for mental health professionals and policy makers to integrate mental health into primary care. Mutual sharing of knowledge between mental health professionals and tradition healers is warranted. Further research on the attitudes toward mental health professional services and on effectiveness of traditional healers’ services is indicated.

Several previous studies showed strong social stigma toward mental illness patients from the health-care providers (HCPs) in Saudi Arabia. This stigma affects the level of care provided by HCPs. Stigma is a major barrier in treating schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients. Thus, it is important to clarify the difference regarding the social stigma between both diagnoses. This study aimed to identify and compare the existence of social stigma among HCPs towards schizophrenia patients compared to OCD patients.

A total of 283 HCPs from King Abdullah Medical City (KAMC), Makkah, Saudi Arabia, were enrolled in this cross-sectional questionnaire-based study between middle and end of January 2021. The scale included a demographic questionnaire plus two vignette cases reflecting OCD and schizophrenia patients’ symptoms without mentioning diagnosis. Each case was followed with 18 questions, which measured some of the thoughts and attitudes of the social stigma of mental illnesses including negative stereotypes, discrimination, social distancing and emotional and cognitive prejudices against mental illness patients. The scale was validated by a pilot study (which included 15 other participants) with acceptable validity and reliability (Cronbach’s alpha: 81.4%).

Most participants’ responses were “low” in the total score of their stigma score for both diagnosis [OCD (84.1%), mean ± SD (1.15  ±  0.366) and schizophrenia (74.2%), mean ± SD (1.25  ±  0.438)]. However, those who responded “high” in their stigma score regarding the schizophrenia section were higher in their number than those who responded “high” in the OCD section (25.8% vs 15.9%). Most participants had “low” total stigma scores for both diagnoses [OCD (84.1%), mean ± SD (1.15  ±  0.366) and schizophrenia (74.2%), mean ± SD (1.25  ±  0.438)]. However, of those with “high” stigma score responses, more were for the schizophrenia section compared to the OCD section (25.8% vs 15.9%). Being flexible to recruit any of them was more related to promoting them if they deserve promotion. The sample that answered wrong regarding OCD vignette diagnosis and had “high” stigma score was higher (n = 40) than the sample that answered correctly and had “high” stigma score (n = 5). In contrast, the sample that answered wrong regarding the schizophrenia case diagnosis and had “high” stigma score (n = 41) was not significantly different in terms of its number compared to the one that answered correctly and had “high” stigma score (n = 32).

One aspect that reduces the strength of this study is that the target number of the participants could not be reached, meaning a 95% confidence level with a ±5% margin of error could not be reached. Another limitation is the lack of contact between HCPs at the KAMC in Makkah with mental illness patients owing to lack of psychiatric inpatient departments. However, this limitation may be a strength for this study, as we were able to primarily measure medical HCPs rather than psychiatric HCPs. Although the vignette methodology in stigma studies has many benefits, the participants do not respond to real patients, and therefore miss appearance and other nonverbal cues that are typically present in real interactions.

The social stigma level among HCPs against schizophrenia patients is higher than that against OCD patients. The factor of knowing the diagnosis of the case has a positive effect on decreasing stigma toward OCD patients but not toward schizophrenia patients. Educational awareness about stigma against mental illness patients to HCPs, rather than focusing on increasing literature knowledge, may decrease stigma among HCPs.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate a conflict management training that used a communication competence perspective. This addresses whether the training had an impact on role conflict, conflict resolution skills, horizontal violence, burnout, turnover intention and perceptions of consumers. It also assessed staff perceptions of the training.

A mixed-method analysis was used using survey data from multiple time points along with focus group interviews.

The program decreased role conflict, horizontal violence and burnout among direct-care workers, whereas feelings of safety and perceptions of workers’ ability to protect themselves and others in aggressive situations increased. Furthermore, staff felt the training was useful and increased feelings of safety and empowerment at the study.

These findings suggest that conflict management training may need additional refresher sessions. Administrative planning is also needed to ensure training of all staff is trained in an adequate timeframe.

These results, although positive, are somewhat time bound. Therefore, the content of training and knowledge dissemination of conflict management training need additional research to ensure best practices.