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Insufficient productivity development in the global and Finnish infrastructure sectors indicates that there are challenges in genuinely achieving the goals of resource efficiency and digitalization. This study adapts the approach of capability maturity model integration (CMMI) for examining the capabilities for productivity development that reveal the enablers of improving productivity in the infrastructure sector.

Civil engineering in Finland was selected as the study area, and a qualitative research approach was adopted. A novel maturity model was constructed deductively through a three-step analytical process. Previous research literature was adapted to form a framework with maturity levels and key process areas (KPAs). KPA attributes and their maturity criteria were formed through a thematic analysis of interview data from 12 semi-structured group interviews. Finally, validation and refinement of the model were performed with an expert panel.

This paper provides a novel maturity model for examining and enhancing the infrastructure sector’s maturity in productivity development. The model brings into discussion the current business logics, relevance of lifecycle-thinking, binding targets and outcomes of limited activities in the surrounding infrastructure system.

This paper provides a new approach for pursuing productivity development in the infrastructure sector by constructing a maturity model that adapts the concepts of CMMI and change management. The model and findings benefit all actors in the sector and provide an understanding of the required elements and means to achieve a more sustainable built environment and effective operations.

Construction progress monitoring (CPM) is considered a difficult and tedious task in construction projects, which focuses on identifying discrepancies between the as-built product and the as-planned design. Computer vision (CV) technology is applied to automate the CPM process. However, the synergy between the CV and CPM in literature and industry practice is lacking. This study aims to fulfil this research gap.

A Delphi qualitative approach was used in this study by conducting two interview rounds. The collected data was analysed using manual content analysis.

This study identified seven stages of CPM; data acquisition, information retrieval, verification, progress estimation and comparison, visualisation of the results and schedule updating. Factors such as higher accuracy in data, less labourious process, efficiency and near real-time access are some of the significant enablers in instigating CV for CPM. Major challenges identified were occlusions and lighting issues in the site images and lack of support from the management. The challenges can be easily overcome by implementing suitable strategies such as familiarisation of the workforce with CV technology and application of CV research for the construction industry to grow with the technology in line with other industries.

This study addresses the gap pertaining to the synergy between the CV in CPM literature and the industry practice. This research contributes by enabling the construction personnel to identify the shortcomings and the opportunities to apply automated technologies concerning each stage in the progress monitoring process.

The paper aims to understand why and how paratextual elements are included in annual reports, hence how meaning is made through the workings of language and imagery.

A comprehensive framework of analysis, combining Genette’s paratextual elements with Barthes’ rhetoric and denotation and connotation concepts, is applied to the case study of the dstgroup, a Portuguese engineering and construction group.

The study demonstrates the potential of the annual report as a communication tool between an organisation and its stakeholders. The framework of analysis evidences that the paratextual elements highlight and supplement accounting information and that the denotative and connotative meanings associated with them make visible and enhance intangible features of the organisation.

The paper extends theories from other interdisciplinary fields to accounting communication and proposes a comprehensive framework that combines the writings of Genette and Barthes. By exploring the Portuguese under-researched context, it also adds to the literature by analysing the rationales and choices of the preparers on the inclusion of paratextual elements in annual reports.

Este artículo pretende entender por qué y cómo se incluyen elementos paratextuales en los informes anuales y, cómo se construye el significado a través del funcionamiento del lenguaje y las imágenes.

Se desenvolvió un marco de análisis global, que combina los elementos paratextuales de Genette y los conceptos de retórica y denotación y connotación de Barthes. Este marco se aplicó al estudio de caso del grupo dst, un grupo portugués de ingeniería y construcción.

El estudio muestra el potential del informe anual como herramienta de comunicación entre una organización y sus grupos de interés. El marco de análisis evidencia que los elementos paratextuales resaltan y complementan la información contable y que los significados denotativos y connotativos asociados a ellos hacen visibles y realzan rasgos intangibles de la organización.

Este artículo extiende teorías de otros campos interdisciplinarios a la comunicación contable y propone un marco global que combina los escritos de Genette y Barthes. Explorando el contexto portugués, insuficientemente investigado, también se añade a la literatura mediante el análisis de las motivaciones y opciones de los preparadores de los informes anuales sobre la inclusión de elementos paratextuales.

This research aims to comprehend the factors that impact the emerging inclination of consumers toward mobile finance technology (fintech) services over banking institutions. The study focuses on users' demographics and psychographics to delineate their unique segments and profiles.

The study proposes a segmentation and profiling framework that includes variance analysis, two-step cluster analysis and pairwise statistical tests. This framework is applied to a dataset of customers using a range of mobile fintech services, specifically robo-investment, peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, robo-advisory and digital savings. The analysis creates distinct customer profile clusters, which are later validated using pairwise statistical tests based on segmentation output.

Empirical results reveal that P2P payment service users exhibit a higher frequency of usage, proficiency and intention to continue using the service compared to users of robo-investment or digital savings platforms. In contrast, individuals utilizing robo-advisory services are identified to have a significantly greater familiarity and intention to sustain engagement with the service compared to digital savings users.

The findings provide financial institutions, especially traditional banks with actionable insights into their customer base. This information enables them to identify specific customer needs and preferences, thereby allowing them to tailor products and services accordingly. Ultimately, this understanding may strategically position traditional banks to maintain competitiveness amidst the increasing prominence of fintech enterprises.

This research provides an in-depth examination of customer segments and profiles within the mobile fintech services sphere, thus giving a nuanced understanding of customer behavior and preferences and generating practical recommendations for banks and other financial institutions. This study thereby sets the stage for further research and paves the way for developing personalized products and services in the evolving fintech landscape.

In recent years, the robotic process automation (RPA) technology has increasingly been used to automate business processes. While a lot of research has been published on the potential and benefits of the technology, only a few studies have conducted research on challenges related to RPA adoption. Hence, this study aims to identify and discuss challenges related to RPA implementation projects.

Following an inductive methodology, interviews have been conducted with consultants who were involved in multiple RPA implementation projects. Hence, their extensive experience and views contribute to a detailed and in-depth understanding of the phenomena under research.

The results suggest that there are various process-related, technical, resource-related, psychological and coordinative challenges that must be considered when conducting an RPA implementation project.

This paper contributes to knowledge by presenting a new typology of challenges, as well as providing an in-depth discussion of the individual challenges that organizations face.

This research examines the impact of integrating lean manufacturing (LM) principles and Industry 4.0 (I4.0) into the product development process (PDP) of manufacturing companies in southern Brazil, with the objective of improving market performance (MP).

A survey was conducted with 110 product development managers to evaluate the level of LM and I4.0 principles, PDP phases, and the improvement of MP. Quantitative analysis was employed to analyse the data, including confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and ordinary least squares (OLS) hierarchical regression.

The study reveals that integrating LM and I4.0 principles in the PDP enhances product development and positively impacts the MP of manufacturing companies. Additionally, I4.0 partially mediates the LM-PDP relationship, while LM partially mediates the I4.0-PDP relationship, highlighting their interdependence rather than one being a prerequisite for the other.

The study has limitations regarding its narrow focus on product development managers in Brazil and the absence of multiple case studies.

The study emphasises the importance of coordinated efforts in manufacturing companies to adopt and manage both LM and I4.0 principles, as they positively impact all phases of the PDP and ultimately contribute to the overall MP of the companies.

The novelty of this study lies in its systemic approach, examining the relationships and effects of LM and I4.0 principles on the PDP, and demonstrating how these effects manifest in manufacturing companies.

This study aimed to explore teachers' learning processes through a hybrid cross-cultural lesson study (LS) because little is known about the learning process through this novel and promising LS approach.

This cross-cultural LS lasted over six months focusing on developing a research lesson (RL) related to linear functions/equations by addressing a commonly concerned student learning difficulty. The data collected were lesson plans, videos of RLs, cross-culture sharing meetings and post-lesson study teacher interviews. A cultural-history activity theory (CHAT) perspective (Engeström, 2001) was used as a theoretical and analytical framework, and contradictions were viewed as driving forces of teachers' learning. The data were analyzed to identify contradictions and consequent teachers' learning by resolving these contradictions.

The results revealed four contradictions occurring during the hybrid cross-cultural LS that are related to the preferred teaching approach, culturally relevant tasks, making sense of the specific topic and enactment of the RL. By addressing these contradictions, the participating teachers perceived their learning in cultural beliefs, pedagogical practice and organization of the lesson.

This study details teachers' collaborative learning processes through hybrid cross-cultural LS and provides implications for effectively conducting cross-cultural LS. However, how the potential learning opportunity revealed from this case could be actualized at a larger scale in different cultures and the actual impact on local practices by adapting effective practices from another culture are important questions to be investigated further.

This study expands teacher learning through cross-cultural LS by focusing on contradictions cross-culturally as driving forces.

The topics of gender and sustainability are firmly anchored within a social discourse. Based on both factors, customers are placing demands on companies and have specific ideas on how they should be represented in advertising. The case study presented herein combines these two topics and examines the portrayal of gender in the external marketing communication of the fair fashion label ARMEDANGELS. By analysing individual Instagram publications, the case study identifies how the topic is generally portrayed on the company’s channel. Furthermore, the perspectives of customers are determined through conducted interviews. When comparing the two sides, it becomes apparent that customers mostly approve of the attempt to break with conservative gender roles as well as an equal representation of the male and female personas. In addition to expanding the theoretical considerations of the triple bottom line as well as the S-O-R model, we derive recommendations for ARMEDANGELS and for other companies in the fashion industry. For customer retention purposes, companies should therefore focus on aligning the sexes, breaking with the general gender binary and integrating LGBTQ+ communities in future marketing measures.

This study aims to provide an understanding of how directors perceive the relationship between board independence and corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance which has remained under-researched.

The qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews of 19 directors from 14 organisations operating in Australia. Data were analysed following the six-phase process of thematic analysis.

The findings indicate that independent directors contribute to board CSR decisions in two major ways: they bring an outsider view to the board, and they monitor managers in taking decisions that consider the interests of the broader stakeholder groups.

The in-depth analysis of director independence and CSR highlights the structural and behavioural aspects of director independence and CSR playing out in board rooms. Propositions are offered which can be tested to advance the research in this arena.

The findings suggest that efforts are required at organisational policy level to ensure the effectiveness of director independence for CSR.

This study provides insights into the “black box” of boardroom dynamics highlighting important contextual factors influencing director independence and CSR decisions previously under-explored.

This study aims to investigate the consequences of middle managers’ sensegiving for organisational change in neglected workplaces, where middle managers are given insufficient resources because of receiving low attention from top management.

The authors conducted a case study of three call centres in the Japanese non-life insurance industry. To collect data, the authors conducted interviews with ten stakeholders and made multiple field observations.

The authors identified the following mechanism: in neglected workplaces, middle managers initially focus on sensegiving to employees because they recognise the difficulty of eliciting support from top management. However, as a result, they see sensegiving to employees as top priority and do not try to elicit the support of top management, which is necessary for further organisational change. As a result, organisational change stops at a certain level.

The authors identified the following mechanism: in neglected workplaces, middle managers initially focus on sensegiving to employees because they recognise the difficulty of eliciting support from top management. However, as a result, they see sensegiving to employees as their top priority and do not try to elicit the support of top management, which is necessary for further organisational change. As a result, organisational change stops at a certain level.

First, this study contributes to the body of research on the effects of sensegiving on organisational change. It shows the new problems hidden behind organisational change, which existing research merely regards as independent successes. Second, this study identifies middle managers’ behaviour during organisational change in neglected workplaces. Instead of focusing on the factors necessary for successful organisational change, as in existing studies, this study extends the knowledge of the role of middle managers in organisational change by focusing on their behaviours when success factors are not aligned.