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Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (EES) is among the fastest growing entrepreneurship research topics. With even greater vigour, the non-scientific world of economic development agencies, administrations and policymakers has adopted the construct and applies it widely “in the field”, often lacking a solid empirical foundation and pursuing sub-optimal approaches. Improving policy instruments for EES development requires a data driven approach to first understand an EES of a specific region before making any attempts to change it. The paper showcases an empirical approach to create empirically rooted EES policy implications, contributing to closing the gap for insight in regional EES data of sub-national regions.

Exploring a mixed method design, utilising quantitative Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data and combining it with EES stakeholder interviews, focusing on dysfunctions, redundancies, power asymmetries and cut off elements as well as in-layer division and public organisation behaviour.

One finding is, that regional economic development agencies (EDA), as a main public instrument to foster regional entrepreneurial activity, seem to bring the potential of a negative impact on Entrepreneurial Ecosystems bottom-up development and the ability to become self-sustained if they assume the role of competitors towards private organisations and businesses.

As other work on EES, the approach used in this paper only sub-optimally covers temporal system dynamics.

This paper contributes to future EES support policies being rooted in an empirical foundation.

This paper not only progresses the empirical basis for research on regional EES but also lays the foundation for specific policy implications for a sub-national level entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Mental health problems are a grave concern in construction. Although the distinction between high job demands and low job resources, as reflected in the Job Demands-Resources (JD–R) model, has been used to examine the extent to which psychosocial hazards influence mental health for construction practitioners, limited research has reflected on the nature of these psychosocial hazards by exploring experiences of site-based construction practitioners.

This study adopted a phenomenological approach to examine people’ experiences and thoughts of the complex phenomena of psychosocial hazards and mental health in construction. In total, 33 semi-structured interviews were undertaken with site-based construction practitioners in Australia to unveil construction-focused psychosocial hazards and their effects on mental health. The data were analysed via content analysis, employing an interpretation-focused coding strategy to code text and an individual-based sorting strategy to cluster codes.

Eighteen psychosocial hazards were identified based on the JD–R model. Six of these represented a new contribution, describing salient characteristics inherent to the construction context (i.e. safety concerns, exposure to traumatic events, job insecurity, task interdependency, client demand and contract pressure). Of particular importance, a number of interrelationships among psychosocial hazards emerged.

The significance of this qualitative research lies in elucidating psychosocial hazards and their complex interrelatedness in the context of the mental health of construction practitioners, enriching the understanding of this central health and safety issue in the high-risk setting of construction work. The findings contribute to addressing mental health issues in the Australian construction industry by identifying higher order control measures, thereby creating a mentally healthy workplace.

This research examined the accountability measures put into practice during the housing reconstruction following the 2015 Nepal earthquakes. Additionally, it aimed to identify gaps in accountability practices and suggest approaches for improving their efficacy.

The research methodology encompassed a qualitative approach. Around 30 research participants were selected for in-depth interviews using a purposive sampling strategy to ensure data richness and relevance. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and then iteratively analysed using thematic framework analysis. This analytical technique involved identifying recurrent themes and patterns within the transcriptions of the participants' articulation.

The study showed the pivotal role of meetings and interactive forums in promoting transparency and disseminating vital information during housing reconstruction. Additionally, it underscored the contributions of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) in information dissemination within affected communities. Policy challenges centre on identifying vulnerable populations, local support mechanisms and contextualizing reconstruction policies, specifically focusing on urban heritage settlements. Strengthening local service delivery and complaint mechanisms, capacity building and defining the roles and responsibilities of actors and beneficiaries are suggestive measures for a participatory and inclusive reconstruction process.

Research holds distinctive value due to its recent inception and its focus on both the subject matter and the specific geographical context. It contributes novel insights into the principles and practices of accountability mechanisms during the housing reconstruction process following a major disaster.

Purpose: This chapter focuses on the relations between aging and the perception about the families’ quality of life in a medium-sized Portuguese city. Departing from the descriptions of individuals living with at least one child under 14 years of age, particular emphasis is put on how young adults perceive and incorporate into their speeches the presence and role of non-cohabiting elderly, namely their parents and in-laws, as an expression of the quality of life they experience.

Design/methodology/approach: Data rely on episodic interviews conducted with both men and women with young children (3–14 years old), within a broader sociological research devoted to the study of family rituals. The data collected was analyzed using qualitative techniques of content analysis with the help of NVivo software (QSR). The data is presented recurring to contextualized narratives.

Findings: Data analysis allows to conclude that geography matters in the perception that young adults have when reflecting upon the role of the elderly surrounding them, either their parents or in-laws. The presence and coexistence of generations are perceived as “priceless,” a “fortune,” and a “privilege,” possible in a medium-sized city, where everything is close enough to thicken the informal intergenerational solidarities between grandparents, parents, and grandchildren. Behind the scenes, data, furthermore, discloses unpredictable tensions arising mainly regarding children’s education, rules, and behavior.

Originality/value: This chapter contributes to shed light into the daily life of elderly people who are still independent and active, and the seemingly invisible presence and unimportant role they play in their children and grandchildren’s lives.

Sustainable construction deficits are common in developing economies, and resolutions are constrained by the failure to prioritise the plethora of available indicators. This study aims to report on overlapping indicators for benchmarking sustainable construction for construction organisations.

Online survey data were collected from construction professionals, academics and senior managers in government bodies. Pearson chi-squared tests and overlapping analysis were used to determine significant indicators. Kruskal–Wallis tests were used to determine statistically significant differences among the dimensions.

Overlapping analysis determined indicators significant for economic, environmental and social performance. Environmental protection and reporting (pollution and emissions) were significant for all three performance dimensions. The most significant indicators are economic performance (adequate competence of key project staff), environmental performance (environmental protection and reporting – pollution and emissions) and social performance (adequate sustainability expenditure by construction organisations). Significant differences due to dimensions existed for adequate competence of key project staff, sustainable construction and eco-design, adequate governance and organisational excellence of construction projects and satisfactory workers’ morale.

Determining overlapping indicators enables prioritised implementation that ensures sustainable construction. Excluding construction workers was a significant limitation for a holistic interrogation.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to determine overlapping indicators for sustainable construction performance in Zimbabwe.

Digital technologies comprehensively change work processes and working conditions. However, the use of digital technologies and the modes of collaboration between technologies and human workers differ in terms of specific work organization and automatization. Referring to the job demands-resources model (JD-R), this paper investigates job demands and resources from the workers' perspectives and develops a digital work typology according to dimensions of digitalization and forms of human–computer interaction (HCI).

The authors conducted a qualitative-empirical study with 49 interviews in four German production and logistics organizations, emphasizing different job demands and job resources for five digital work types identified.

The results indicate that job demands and resources are to be differentiated in relation to specific work contexts. In this sense, this paper presents an analysis of dimensions of technology use and the impact of technology use on working conditions through empirically analyzing job demands and resources in digital work settings.

The contribution of this paper is to empirically analyze job demands and resources in digital work settings from the workers' perspectives and to develop a digital work typology based on the dimensions of digitalization and form of HCI. This typology can set the basis for further research insights as well as management practice measures in human resources management (HRM).

Purpose: This study explores how computer video games can promote creative techniques. It specialises in innovative elements of special educational video games: Virtual Recreation Based Mastering (VRBM), behavioural analytics and defined research results to measure the creative energy of leisure activities on laptops. The involvement and inclusion of gaming in learning are being adopted globally and becoming true global citizens. The macro problems and awareness, such as sustainability, climate changes, etc., around it can be easily created through the advent of PC games.

Design/Methodology/Approach: Examining job incentives, true tales, and inventive skill-related elements allow for measuring creative aspects. The Player’s Statistics for Pride (PSFP) survey technique employs a heuristic checklist in the world of sports games to look at the areas of participating sports that are important to a participant’s overall performance and to assess the participant’s knowledge. Energy, freedom and control, connections and presence contribute to player happiness. This examination evaluates how these sports affect participants’ knowledge and the impact of the teacher’s information on student learning. The study aimed to enhance the understanding of the inventive capacity of persons engaged in developing knowledge and abilities while playing video games.

Findings: The findings demonstrate that a region’s capacity for innovation propels it to a certain degree of overall success in the leisurely game of service activity mastery. Results on how video games broaden crucial research as a foundation for the research version of creative skills are anticipated (CPLN). CPLN openly discusses the link between research concepts and innovation. The results’ interpretation is crucial.

This study seeks to illuminate the managerial tensions inherent in implementing scaled agile (on the organizational, top management, middle management and team levels) and to frame these challenges within the broader context of project management.

The study adopts a grounded theory approach and delves into a qualitative dataset sourced from 34 interviews with subject matter experts actively engaged in scaling agile initiatives within large organizations spanning various industries. Additionally, the data have been enriched through a comprehensive literature review of the existing body of knowledge on scaling agile.

As a result of our investigation, we propose a framework of managerial tensions in scaling agile in large corporate settings and a series of research propositions and questions that may contribute significantly to the body of knowledge surrounding the phenomenon of “deprojectification” and propose agenda for the future studies in the field of project management.

The study also carries significant managerial implications. Firstly, based on the insights from the practice of scaling agile in large corporate setting, management can build awareness of the challenges inherent of transitioning to agile practices. This may help to anticipate the possible problems and proactively develop strategies how to address them. Secondly, management can be instructed about contingencies inherent in scaling agile, along with the potential disfunctions and side effects (unintended outcomes) that may emerge during the transition process. Thirdly, project management practitioners can gain insights on how scaling agile may cause shifts in the approach to managing projects, project team management and competencies that need to be developed to cope with environments where various approaches to managing projects coexist.

These insights can aid in the agile transition process, beginning with directing managerial attention toward contextual factors and progressing through potential challenges at the organizational, top management, middle management and team levels. Furthermore, the study highlights possible dysfunctionalities and side effects of scaling agile, shedding light on the “dark side” of agile.

The study contributes to the expansion of the empirical database on the implementation of agile practices in large organizational settings. It plays a role in defining and delineating the phenomenon of scaling agile within the context of project management and outlines a research agenda for future project management studies. Additionally, our study adds to the ongoing discourse surrounding the “deprojectification” effect that can occur during the scaling of agile. Lastly, it establishes connections between project management and software development literature regarding the implementation of agile at scale.

The purpose of this chapter was to investigate consumer perceptions of retail agglomeration (RA) characteristics in Zagreb region. Perceived RA characteristics were compared between two major types of RA: Planned retail agglomerations (PRA) and Evolved retail agglomerations (ERA).

Data were collected with consumer survey and analyzed using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Findings indicate that four factors of RA characteristics can be identified: convenience, accessibility, atmosphere, and image. The shoppers’ ratings indicate the strength and weaknesses of RA, and also the dominant position of PRA as compared to evolved RA.

Results show that there were significant differences in shoppers’ perceptions between Planned and evolved RA in Zagreb region. Shoppers evaluated PRA better than ERA on all four factors. Convenience and atmosphere are the best-rated PRA characteristics. Managerial implications are discussed in the study.

In this study, various acts including regulations of public financial management, fiscal responsibility, and state budget in the selected six countries were subjected to different readability tests, and an international comparison was made. The fiscal responsibility act of six countries – Turkey, the UK, India, Australia, Canada, and Pakistan – were included in the study and analyzed. Each country was analyzed under its official language. Since English is an official language of all of the countries except for Turkey, the authors have evaluated the fiscal responsibility acts of these countries using the following readability tests: Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid, Gunning-Fog, and Dale-Chall. Additionally, Public Financial Management and Control Law No. 5018 approved in Turkey was analyzed by the Ateşman Readability Test which was uniquely designed for Turkish grammar rules. The acts discussed in the study were analyzed not only as a whole but also in parts and subsections. According to the results of the study, the levels of readability of the existing laws in most of the selected countries are very difficult to understand for a university graduate. However, when the readability level of the British Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act tested as parts and subsections and a whole, it was rated at a level a university student could understand. This study analyses the readability and intelligibility of acts related to fiscal responsibility and the state budget in six selected countries, adopting Anglo-Saxon public administration model and making an inter-country evaluation. Since it is important that citizens have enough information about legislation for a citizen-oriented understanding, a legislation system that is understood by the larger part of the society is essential.