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This paper aims to describe the design and evaluation of a pilot leadership development programme for infection prevention and control (IPAC) professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. The programme’s aim was to improve IPAC knowledge and capacity in the health-care system by developing the leadership skills and capacities of novice and advanced Infection Control Professionals (ICPs), to respond flexibly, and competently, in their expanding and ever-changing roles.

The leadership programme was piloted with seven nurses, who were part of a clinical nursing team in New South Wales, Australia, over a 12-month period between 2021 and 2022. The programme was designed using a leadership development framework underpinned by transformational leadership theory, practice development approaches and collaborative and experiential learning. These principles were applied during programme design, with components adapted to learners’ interests and regular opportunities provided for collaboration in active learning and critical reflection on workplace experiences.

The authors’ evaluation suggests that the programme was feasible, acceptable and considered to be effective by this cohort. Moreover, participants valued the opportunities to engage in active and experience-based learning with peers, and with the support of senior and experienced ICPs. The action learning sets were well-received and allowed participants to critically reflect on and learn from one another’s experiences. The mentoring programme allowed them to apply their developing leadership skills to real workplace challenges that they face.

Despite a small sample size, the authors’ results provide empirical evidence about the effectiveness of using a practice development approach for strengthening ICP leadership capacity. The success of this pilot study has paved the way for a bigger second cohort of participants in the programme, for which further evaluation will be conducted.

The success of this leadership programme reflects both the need for leadership development in the IPAC professions and the applicability of this approach, with appropriate facilitation, for other professions and organizations.

ICP leadership programmes have not been previously reported in the literature. This pilot study builds on the growing interest in IPAC leadership to foster health system responsiveness and change.

Rebar is the prime component of reinforced concrete structures, and rebar monitoring is a time-consuming and technical job. With the emergence of the fourth industrial revolution, the construction industry practices have evolved toward digitalization. Still, hesitation remains among stakeholders toward the adoption of advanced technologies and one of the significant reasons is the unavailability of knowledge frameworks and implementation guidelines. This study aims to investigate technical factors impacting automated monitoring of rebar for the understanding, confidence gain and effective implementation by construction industry stakeholders.

A structured study pipeline has been adopted, which includes a systematic literature collection, semistructured interviews, pilot survey, questionnaire survey and statistical analyses via merging two techniques, i.e. structural equation modeling and relative importance index.

The achieved model highlights “digital images” and “scanning” as two main categories being adopted for automated rebar monitoring. Moreover, “external influence”, “data-capturing”, “image quality”, and “environment” have been identified as the main factors under “digital images”. On the other hand, “object distance”, “rebar shape”, “occlusion” and “rebar spacing” have been highlighted as the main contributing factors under “scanning”.

The study provides a base guideline for the construction industry stakeholders to gain confidence in automated monitoring of rebar via vision-based technologies and effective implementation of the progress-monitoring processes. This study, via structured data collection, performed qualitative and quantitative analyses to investigate technical factors for effective rebar monitoring via vision-based technologies in the form of a mathematical model.

This study aims to examine the influence of social media usage (SMU) on minimalist consumption and how the fear of missing out (FoMO) underlies this effect.

Four preregistered correlational/experimental studies (n = 1,763) are used. A pilot study (n = 436) examines the correlations between SMU, FoMO and minimalism. Studies 1 (n = 409), 2 (n = 415) and 3 (n = 503) further investigate the influence of SMU on minimalist consumption intentions, including mindful purchase, forgoing free products and decluttering, and test for evidence of mediation via FoMO by measuring or manipulating FoMO.

The results show that a high SMU makes consumers susceptible to FoMO, leading to impulsive purchases and careless product acquisition. However, when campaigners promote minimalism as a social media movement, they can activate FoMO, persuading consumers to practice decluttering.

Future research might examine how subjective age affects FoMO and minimalist consumption tendencies. Could campaigners use young social cues to make older consumers more susceptible to FoMO appeals? Could old social cues cause younger consumers to perceive greater social responsibility and to embrace minimalist consumption?

Minimalist lifestyles can promote sustainable consumption. This research provides insights into how SMU is a double-edged sword – it can cause FoMO users to disdain minimalism. However, it can promote minimalism if a minimalist campaign is strategically positioned as a social media movement using a FoMO-laden appeal.

Extant consumer behavior research on minimalism has just begun to investigate the antecedents of minimalist consumption. FoMO is conceptually related to minimalism, but the relationship between FoMO and minimalist consumption has not yet been empirically tested. This research fills these gaps by examining SMU and the associated FoMO as antecedents of minimalist consumption. Empirical evidence for the impact of SMU on various minimalist consumption behaviors and the mediating role of FoMO is provided.

The purpose of this study was to examine how well a strength-based program grounded in positive psychology principles can advance the practical critical thinking skills of those pursuing the teacher training course.

This study used a single-group pre-test post-test design with 35 teacher-trainees from the Bachelor of Education course. The two-and-a-half-week strength-based program used the values in action survey to identify strengths. Pre- and post-test scores, measured with the Cornell Critical Thinking Test – Level Z, underwent Statistical Package for Social Sciences analysis including paired samples t-test for subcomponent and overall composite analysis.

Analysis of the pre- and post-test scores demonstrated a statistical significance in the critical thinking scores obtained by the teacher-trainees. Post-test scores were consistently significant. Out of the elements of critical thinking, induction, meaning, observation and credibility were more prominent. Deduction and assumption identification were also having a significant effect.

Most critical thinking programs focus on evaluating specific teaching methods for improving critical thinking skills. In education, positive psychology studies often center on students’ well-being, attention spans and academic success, aligning with wellness programs. Despite the importance of strengths in positive psychology, there is a lack of research on using a strength-based approach to boost critical thinking skills. This study aims to enhance teacher-trainees’ critical thinking by leveraging their individual strengths, moving away from traditional instructional strategies.

Companies are concerned about the well-being of workers in their supply chains, but conventional audits fail to uncover critical problems. Yet, if the happy worker – productive worker thesis is correct, it would benefit factories in fast-developing countries, particularly China which is key to many global supply chains, to ensure the well-being of their workers. The authors set out to better understand the relationship between well-being and performance in four Chinese factories.

Over 12-months the authors collected digital diaries from 466 workers in four factories, and monthly data about the performance of their factories. The authors used this data to gain insights into the well-being of workers in these factories; to design experimental interventions to improve this; and to consider any effects these had on factory performance.

The experiments showed that training interventions to improve workers' well-being through their work relationships and individual skills improved not just a factory's general worker well-being, but also some aspects of its performance and worker retention. Thus, it brought benefits not only for the workers but also for the factory owners and their client companies.

While there is a significant body of research investigating the happy worker – productive worker thesis, this was not conducted in Chinese factories. The authors’ work demonstrates that in this and similar environments, workers' eudaimonic well-being is more important than might be assumed, and that in this context there is a relationship between well-being and performance which can be practically addressed.

The purpose of this paper is to give an account for preparative collaboration between the police and municipal eldercare in Sweden concerning missing persons with dementia.

Design/methodology/approach used was a qualitative case study design, consisting of one focus group with representatives for the participating organisations, followed by directed content analysis.

The findings showed a lack of current collaboration and reluctance to new collaborative initiatives. However, when focussing on preparative collaboration of coordinated responses to missing incidents, possibilities for improvement could be identified. The improvements concerned updated personnel response checklists, along with suggestions for an elaborate life story document in eldercare, with police access. Finally, better coordination of the return of the found person and a follow up were proposed.

It is suggested that collaboration must be given different meanings and use different approaches adapted to the different phases in a rescue operation. In the preparation and the response phase, the focus should be on coordination of the resources available. In the pre-planning and prevention phases, as well as in evaluation and learning, horizontal collaboration is more suitable. The amount of data in this study is a research limitation which calls for further research.

It is suggested that collaboration must be given different meanings and use different approaches adapted to the different phases in a rescue operation. In the preparation and the response phase, the focus should be on coordination of the resources available. In the pre-planning and prevention phases, as well as in evaluation and learning, horizontal co-operation is more suitable.

The originality/value of this paper can be found in the novelty of missing person research in Sweden, and in practical suggestions for preparative collaboration concerning persons with dementia who go missing. Finally, it can be found in the suggested need for a more dynamic and process-sensitive view of collaboration in SAR or rescue operations.

This study aims to look at challenges that hinder small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from using open data (OD). The research gaps identified are then used to propose a next generation of OD platform (ODP+).

This study proposes a more effective platform for SMEs called ODP+. A proof of concept was implemented by using modern techniques and technologies, with a pilot conducted among selected SMEs and government employees to test the approach’s viability.

The findings identify current OD platforms generally, and in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, they encounter several difficulties, including that the data sets are complex to understand and determine their potential for reuse. The application of big data analytics in mitigating the identified challenges is demonstrated through the artefacts that have been developed.

This paper discusses several challenges that must be addressed to ensure that OD is accessible, helpful and of high quality in the future when planning and implementing OD initiatives.

The proposed ODP+ integrates social network data, SME data sets and government databases. It will give SMEs a platform for combining data from government agencies, third parties and social networks to carry out complex analytical scenarios or build the needed application using artificial intelligence.

The findings promote the potential future utilisation of OD and suggest ways to give users access to knowledge and features.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study provides extensive research about OD in Qatar or GCC. Further, the proposed ODP+ is a new platform that allows SMEs to run natural language data analytics queries.

This paper aims to determine the impact of perceived virtuality on team dynamics and outcomes by adopting the Input-Mediators-Outcome (IMO) framework. Further, it also investigates the mediating role of team processes and emergent states.

The authors collected survey data from 315 individuals working in virtual teams (VTs) in the information technology sector in India using both offline and online questionnaires. They performed the analysis using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM).

The authors investigated two sets of hypotheses – both direct and indirect (or mediation interactions). Results show that psychological empowerment and conflict management are significant in managing VTs. Also, perceived virtuality impacts team outcomes, i.e. perceived team performance, team satisfaction and subjective well-being.

The interplay between the behavioural team process (conflict management) and the emergent state (psychological empowerment) was examined. The study also helps broaden our understanding of the various psychological variables associated with teamwork in the context of VTs.

Findings from this study will aid in assessing the consequences of virtual teamwork at both individual and organisational levels, such as guiding the design and sustainability of VT arrangements, achieving higher productivity in VTs, and designing effective and interactive solutions in the virtual space.

The study examined the interplay between behavioural team processes (such as conflict management) and emergent states (such as psychological empowerment). The study also theorises and empirically tests the relationships between perceived virtuality and team outcomes (i.e. both affective and effectiveness). It may serve as a guide to understanding team dynamics in VTs better.

This exploratory study attempts to enhance the current understanding of the research and practice of VTs within a developing economy.

People donate to charities with the aim of improving society. Yet, many charities fail to use donations efficiently or have ineffective interventions. The authors explore the strategic operational priorities and processes that enable charities to efficiently implement their interventions and have a positive impact on society.

The authors first review the literature on charities to gain a deeper understanding of the current state of knowledge on charity operations. The authors then employ the lens of paradox theory and perform a qualitative investigation of six case studies to explore various aspects of the operations of charities that are known for being cost-effective.

The authors reveal how the strategic operational decisions of charities, as well as the processes they implement, help them resolve the tensions arising from the cost-effectiveness paradox. The authors show that cost-effective charities make strategic operational decisions that help maintain two diverging priorities: prioritizing the status quo and prioritizing change in how they deliver value. Another set of strategic decisions helps balance these two diverging priorities. The authors then show how these charities create and then maintain cost-effective operations.

The authors address recent calls for research on non-profit organizations in the field of operations management. To authors’ knowledge, it is the first in-depth study of exemplary charity operations. The results can be used by charity executives as a benchmarking tool when they develop and implement their charitable interventions and by government agencies and potential donors when they select charities for their donations. Finally, the results should have implications for other organizations trying to have a positive societal impact.

This study aims to merge the world’s proven ways of housing finance, including musharakah mutanaqisah, housing cooperatives and real estate crowdfunding, to present an alternative housing unaffordability solution based on the Islamic finance principle. It is intended to reduce the burden of funding for both sides (consumers and developers) and create win–win chances for all stakeholders, including intermediaries. By moving away from debt financing and merging the features of crowdfunding and cooperative, it is hopeful that the burden of home ownership will no longer be the case.

This paper presents the opinions of potential Chinese homebuyers (minority Muslims and most non-Muslims) and a few industry experts toward the proposed model via a mixed research method.

According to the findings, the majority of respondents agreed with the proposed paradigm. Just concerned that China’s lack of community culture and trust could pose a major threat to implementation. However, this paper argues that Chinese local governments may perform pilot testing in places where Islamic culture is prevalent. Their unique community culture and fundamental understanding of Shariah law may affect the viability of the proposed model.

The proposed model would increase the applicability of Islamic finance as a way of protecting the social order of communities in the spirit of upholding justice and fairness. A new type of housing loan based on musharakah mutanaqisah may squeeze out the real estate bubble and provide stakeholders with a multidimensional investment channel. In particular, the study identifies the impact of Chinese Islamic financing on government and cultural needs. It presents possible challenges for implementing the proposed model in reality and helps bridge the gap between theory and practice.