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This research focuses on exploring a psychological mechanism between abusive supervision and job engagement via job insecurity and job alternative to understand how frontline construction workers' perceived abusive supervision impacts on their work engagement.

This study draws on the conservation of resources theory (COR) to postulate that workers' job insecurity acts as a mediation between abusive supervision and work engagement, and the perception of job alternative moderates the impact of abusive supervision on job insecurity. This study empirically tests survey data from 357 frontline construction workers and adopts partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the proposed model.

This paper proved the dark-side of abusive supervision, dual character of job insecurity and moderating role of job alternative. The game-changing mediation effects of job insecurity were examined, which suggested that work engagement would be higher when abusive supervision stimulates stronger job insecurity. Furthermore, the result indicated that the relationship between abusive supervision and job insecurity should be weaker when job alternative is high.

This research suggests construction project managers (CPMs) must take steps such as enhancing supervisors' emotional management skills to control frequency of abuse and thus lessen compromising engagement. Moreover, overall understanding frontline workers' job insecurity is meaningful for better construction performance management.

This research contributes to the disputed leadership style (abusive supervision) and positive psychology knowledge (work engagement) in construction projects by unveiling the psychosocial mechanism (game-changing effects of job insecurity) of construction frontline workers positive engaged feeling. This study highlights the function of personal and job resources in process of resource conservation.

Project-based organizations (PBOs) face challenges to enhance employee work engagement because of dynamic and constant role configuration. Accordingly, this study aims to explore how ethical leadership enhances employee work engagement from a sensemaking perspective.

This study used a questionnaire-based quantitative research design to collect data from 194 full-time employees in PBOs. The data were analyzed via partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique to test hypotheses.

The findings show a positive relationship between ethical leadership and work engagement. Additionally, the relationship between ethical leadership and work engagement is mediated by two sensemaking mechanisms, i.e. goal commitment and prosocial.

This study deepens the understanding of how ethical leadership enhances work engagement in PBOs by providing two sensemaking mechanisms. By exploring the sensemaking process through which ethical leaders help employees construct identity, the findings contribute to the current literature on how ethical leadership enhances work engagement in PBOs.

This paper aims to explore how digital capability incompatibility affects knowledge cooperation performance through the mediating effect of digital resilient agility and the moderating effect of project complexity in project network organizations (PNOs).

A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted with 207 middle and senior managers in PNOs. Based on validated questionnaire items and construct definitions, a dynamic panel regression was performed using 292 project-focused firms’ annual reports.

The results show that digital capability incompatibility facilitates knowledge cooperation performance by enhancing digital resilient agility in PNOs. Increased project complexity strengthens this relationship, promoting better knowledge cooperation performance.

Managers can use partner firms’ diverse digital knowledge to quickly develop technologies and tackle digital transformation challenges, thereby improving knowledge cooperation. They can also evaluate the project environment to manage digitally-supported cooperation effectively.

This research reveals how firms in PNOs transform digital capability incompatibility into knowledge cooperation performance through digital transformation efforts. This research extends the boundary of this relationship to project-level factors and proposes digital resilient agility as a digital transformation effort for knowledge cooperation in PNOs than previous research.

Optimal clean-up procedures lie at the heart of the closeout phase of construction projects under contract law. However, due to its complexity involving multiple issues, potentially unfulfilled contractual obligations, performance claims and counter-claims, combined with consequently deteriorating stakeholder relationships, the management of closeouts is fraught with difficulties leading to suboptimal outcomes. This is particularly true where general contractor (GC) organizations do not have a claims management office (CMO) dedicated to improving such suboptimal clean-up outcomes. Thus, this study aims to develop a model by which CMOs’ may effectively manage the clean-up phase in an environment of closeout claims.

X-inefficiency theory was utilized as the theoretical lens guiding this study. The theory helps identify closeout strategies implemented by a GC, which manages completion claims through a CMO. Data were received and analyzed from a large GC, which served as the firm case study. In this case, managing the closeout completion claims was the main function of the CMO.

The average delay of closeout completion was four times greater than construction phase delays. The GC results highlighted the “economic destruction tsunami of projects,” as a root cause for these completion delays. Wrap-up activities under contract law are identified, including within the domains of statements of completion, project handover and debt settlement. Behavior strategies are also defined, including relational and contractual approaches. Moreover, a process for improving closeout claim performance is described, comprising project closeout identification, rational intra-firm behavior, closeout completion and program closeout practice.

Findings from this work can significantly contribute in X-inefficiency theory in relation to how a decrease of X-inefficiency will lead to better closeout claim performance. It also offers practical insights into how best to minimize delayed closeout completion while providing valuable lessons for stakeholders in complex infrastructure projects. Further, a model is developed that may be utilized by owners, consultancies, designers and other contractor organizations in an effort to improve closeout claim performance.

The aim of this study was to examine the determinants of accounting students' decision to pursue a career path.

Quantitative approach was used to analyze the impact of independent variables (career exposure, self-competence, financial award, work environment, social values and market factors) on dependent variable (career path). Data were collected from 264 students of University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Oman. Structural equation modeling technique was mainly utilized to determine the causal relationship between the variables.

The most influencing factor is financial award followed by market factors and work environment. However, other variables such as career exposure and self-competence though significantly determine career path of the students but are the least contributors to the model. In addition, social value was found insignificant and negative contributor to the model.

The findings of the current study confirm the propositions of the theory of planned behavior that student's decision to pursue career as ACCA-certified accountants is shaped by attitudinal factors as well as subjective norms factors and perceived behavior control. This study's theoretical findings can be used to supplement empirical evidence on impact of career exposure, self-competence, financial awards, work environment, social values and market factors to take the ACCA exam (career path). The implications of this research for academic institutions include providing convenience for students, such as ACCA exam scholarship offers if they have graduated with cum laude and obtained work experience because ACCA involves time and money to participate in.

There has been virtually little research in Oman on this subject though. Investigating Omani accounting students' aspirations to work in public accounting adds additional insight into the field.