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Employee retention has become a greater challenge for organizations as today’s employees are more likely to voluntarily change organizations than previous generations. Therefore, this paper aims to examine organizational experiences and how new employees are integrated into their work environments – a process known as onboarding. Specifically, this research explores the relationship between the onboarding processes that new employees experience and their levels of job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job embeddedness.

The authors administered a Web-based survey and tested three hypotheses. The survey was distributed to 170 new employees, with 54 participants responding. The onboarding construct consisted of self-developed questions based on Bauer’s Four Cs (compliance, clarification, culture and connection) model. The constructs for job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job embeddedness were obtained from the literature.

The authors found that a new employee’s onboarding experience plays a significant role in shaping three variables negatively correlated with turnover: job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job embeddedness. More specifically, job satisfaction appears to be more correlated with the concrete, well-defined aspects of the onboarding experience. Furthermore, the highest level of Bauer’s onboarding model, connection, showed significant correlation with nearly all components of organizational commitment and job embeddedness.

Organizational leaders may use these findings to develop a better understanding of the retention implications of the first few months of a new employee’s time in the organization and then implement strategies that boost onboarding effectiveness to help mitigate losses due to voluntary turnover.

This paper explores the experiences of Lebanese and Ukrainian diasporans on the Canadian island of Newfoundland by using the concepts of host-region and reflective domestic ethnicity. ¹ It is based on fieldwork among the descendants of Lebanese immigrants who settled at the turn of the twentieth century (Hirschfeld Shibley) and recent immigrants from Ukraine (Lesiv). Many studies of diasporas explore the notion of ethnicity. These explorations often take place in large and representative diasporic settings that, in turn, offer platforms for diverse public expressions of ethnic identities reinforced by vibrant diasporic institutions. Newfoundland is a comparatively small territory and has historically been an unpopular destination for immigrants. Furthermore, in Canada, the island is known for its distinct regional sense of identity. The generalised framework of ‘hostland’ frequently used to embrace entire countries or continents is unsuitable for the present study. Via a narrower regional prism, our findings show that, albeit for dissimilar reasons, Lebanese and Ukrainian diasporans engage with their ethnic heritages predominantly in domestic spheres. We explore domestic ethnicity formation processes focusing on select creative expressions, including material objects.

HyFlex course design is an effective instructional course design that combines active and transformative learning techniques. HyFlex course design encourages active learning by focusing on interactive activities, discussions, and collaboration. It also allows learners to collaborate effectively and flexibly as a community, providing peer support and opportunities for authentic dialogue and learning experiences. HyFlex course design provides the opportunity for transformative learning through its ability to offer personalized educational experiences to individuals. It facilitates greater customization of the learning experience, allowing individual learners to access tailored educational modules, offer personalized educational experiences to individuals, and effectively develop and build independent and critical thinking skills. This conceptual review, supported by implications from HyFlex literature and triangulated with experts' views undertaking a Delphi study, facilitates understanding the current state of research in HyFlex course design and future application strategies. Existing research has identified HyFlex courses as a promising means of engaging students in active learning. Allowing students to learn through flexibly predesigned mixed online and in-person experiences enables higher levels of student autonomy and supports students in taking more ownership of their learning. This approach can facilitate an understanding of how HyFlex courses can improve active learning practices in higher education. The review study findings identify the reported alignment issues and challenges, suggest four strategies and actions for policymakers and stakeholders, and provide a suggested research agenda for bridging identified research gaps.

Future research can provide evidence of the benefits of HyFlex course design and how flexible course design can address the challenges of traditional face-to-face courses, such as reduced student engagement, lack of student-centered approaches, and limited support for different learning styles. Further research can focus on strategies that can be used to promote active learning in HyFlex courses. Moreover, research can investigate how this kind of course design can equip educators with the skills and knowledge needed to design and implement effective and meaningful active learning experiences. Finally, research can assess the potential impact of HyFlex course design on student outcomes, including performance, satisfaction, and engagement.

The objective to achieve economic growth and sustainable development (SD) within the maritime industry has ever since been the ultimate goal of the International Maritime Organization and its stakeholders. Coupled with this effect, the United Nations organization has also mandated all its bodies to adopt sustainable working policies and practices towards the achievement of SD in its 2030 Agenda. From the standpoint of an emerging economy, this study aims to examine green maritime practices adopted by maritime authorities towards the achievement of SD in the maritime industry of Ghana. The proposed conceptual model of this study supports the natural resource-based view theory advocated by Hart (1995).

The dataset of this study was gathered using semi-structured questionnaires. A total of 635 valid responses were received as feedback which were tested and analyzed using partial least square structural equation modelling. The rationale for the adoption of this analytical tool is its resilient ability to handle a relatively small quantity of datasets. It is also suitable for empirical studies involving model development and at the early stage of theory development.

The findings of the study are as follows; firstly, quality maritime education and training directly and significantly influence green maritime transport (GMT), clean ocean and maritime resource conservation (COMRC), green port operations and services (GPOS), SD and waste management and treatment systems (WMTS). Secondly, GMT, COMRC, GPOS and WMTS have a direct significant influence on SD. Lastly, GMT, COMRC, GPOS and WMTS partially mediate the relationship between quality maritime education and training and SD.

This study proposes a conceptual model that attempts to explain to maritime authorities and stakeholders that although the adoption of green maritime practices significantly influences SD, yet, it may be insufficient without quality maritime education and training provided to maritime professionals. Hence, emphasizing that all maritime personnel receive quality maritime education and training to enhance the long-term achievement of SD in the maritime industry. It also attempts to prove and suggest to maritime authorities how they can collectively integrate both onshore and offshore green maritime practices to achieve SD.

The originality of this study shows in testing a conceptual model that affirms that, achieving SD in the maritime industry is dependent on quality maritime education and training received by maritime personnel, hence, demonstrating the significant role of maritime training institutions towards the maritime industry and the achievement of SD.

The prevalence of crises is a real phenomenon that demands proper planning and implementation of measures to preempt and curb its consequences on both national economies and business operations. Crisis is one of the concepts that cannot be overlooked, pervasive in nature, and does not necessarily denote negativity. Crisis is no longer an unusual, arbitrary, or minor characteristic of today's business environment. As far as the business environment continues to be volatile and unpredictable, it is unlikely that business organizations would be free from crises. Crises are noted to be a vital part of a business context and can serve as an avenue for positive change and creativity if the right tools and techniques are employed to properly manage them. On the other hand, crises can jeopardize the continued existence of the organization and obstruct the achievement of its goals. Thus, the debilitating ramifications of crises on business growth, survival and overall success calls for adoption of sustainable crisis management approaches in this new business world order that is framed by Industry 5.0, digitalization, and green business practices. The primary purpose of this article is to establish how modern crisis management methods could lead to sustainable organizational development. The current study departs from existing studies in the literature by systematically presenting methods to anticipate, solve, and transform business crises into advantage. The chapter also throws light on how organizations should manage business crises that may well be accelerated by Industry 5.0 and its components; digitalization and sustainable development.

Brands are relevant to multiple stakeholders and, as such, can have multiple meanings. Drawing on branding and stakeholder marketing theory, the purpose of this study was to provide in-depth insights into knowledge dynamics related to the so-called family business brand across different stakeholder perspectives.

This study combines advanced brand concept mapping (BCM) with a scenario technique to graphically capture consumers’ and jobseekers’ brand knowledge related to the family business concept in the form of association networks.

Findings show both a shared core meaning (e.g. associations such as “tradition” or “owner-managed”) and stakeholder-specific associations (e.g. consumer perspective: “high product quality,” “handmade”; jobseeker perspective: “appreciation within the company,” “outdated”). Significantly, the results reveal detailed insights into cross-stakeholder knowledge dynamics regarding the associations’ interconnections, strength and favorability.

By combining BCM with a scenario technique, this study adopts an approach that is aimed at better understanding and comparing brand knowledge with respect to the family business brand across multiple stakeholder perspectives. Given the prevalence of family businesses, this research enhances the theoretical and practical understanding of a branding resource that is often available but rarely exploited.

This narrative inquiry centers on teachers' longitudinal experiences of policy-related reforms systematically introduced to T. P. Yaeger Middle School, a campus located in the fourth largest, second most diverse city in America. The embedded research study, with roots tracing back to 1997, uses five interpretive tools to capture six mandated changes in the form of a story serial. Special research attention is afforded pay-for-performance, the sixth reform in the series. The deeply lived consequence of receiving bonuses for his teaching performance prompted Daryl Wilson, Yaeger's long-term literacy department chair, to proclaim “data is [G]od.” Wilson's emergent, inventive metaphor aptly portrays the perplexing conditions under which his career ended, and how my long-term research project likewise concluded.

The climate crisis presents a global threat. Research shows the necessity of joint communication efforts across different arenas—media, politics, business, academia and protest—to address this threat. However, communication about social change in response to the climate crisis comes with challenges. These challenges manifest, among others, in public accusations of inconsistency in terms of hypocrisy and incapability against self-declared change agents in different arenas. This increasingly turns public climate communication into a “blame game”.

Strategic communication scholarship has started to engage in this debate, thereby acknowledging climate communication as an arena-spanning, necessarily contested issue. Still, a systematic overview of specific inconsistency accusations in different public arenas is lacking. This conceptual article provides an overview based on a macro-focused public arena approach and decoupling scholarship.

Drawing on a systematic literature review of climate-related strategic communication scholarship and key debates from climate communication research in neighboring domains, the authors develop a framework mapping how inconsistency accusations of hypocrisy and incapacity, that is, policy–practice and means–ends decoupling, manifest in different climate communication arenas.

This framework creates awareness for the shared challenge of decoupling accusations across different climate communication arenas, underscoring the necessity of an arena-spanning strategic communication agenda. This agenda requires a communicative shift from downplaying to embracing decoupling accusations, from mutual blaming to approval of accountable ways of working through accusations and from confrontation to cooperation of agents across arenas.

The legalization of same-sex marriage changed the parenting landscape for LGBTQ parents in a variety of ways. Parenthood is presumably different now that same-sex marriage is officially legal. Experiences among LGBTQ couples in the post-legalization of same-sex marriage era raise questions about the context of growing recognition and cultural acceptance of same-sex relationships. I conducted in-depth interviews with LGBTQ parents to learn how they navigate parenting and the construction of parenting roles in the context of a society that has legalized same-sex marriage, yet still is rooted in heteronormative notions of family and parenthood. Specifically, I ask: How do LGBTQ couples construct and make sense of their roles as parents, particularly within the contemporary context of the legalization of same-sex marriage? Understanding the contexts that shape LGBTQ parents’ experiences aids in not only understanding the lives of LGBTQ parents and their families better, but also developing a deeper understanding of contemporary parenting identities and experiences more broadly.

This chapter offers a comprehensive review the literature on authentic leadership (AL). The authors employ a bibliometric approach to identify, classify, visualise and synthesise relevant scholarly publications and the work of a core group of interdisciplinary scholars who are key contributors to the research on AL. They review 264 journal articles, adopting a clustering technique to assess the central themes of AL scholarship. They identify five distinct thematic clusters: authenticity in the context of leadership; structure of AL; social perspectives on AL; dynamism of AL; and value perceptions of AL. Velt and Sinkovics assert that these clusters will help scholars of AL to understand the dominant streams in the literature and provide a foundation for future research.