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This study aims to determine the pedagogical and socio-emotional impacts of school closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in Guinea.

A descriptive, survey-based methodology was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data directly from parents and caregivers. Between February 24 and March 13, 2022, data was gathered from a study population comprising 2,955 adults residing in five communes and five prefectures of Guinea.

Half of all respondents stated that school closures had no particular impact on children in their household, and 42% stated that no intentional pedagogical activities took place during school closures. Approximately 15% of respondents stated that children experienced boredom, loneliness, sadness, depression, stress and anxiety during the school closures.

The study underscores the significance of school closure readiness and interactive learning while revealing limited emotional impact on children. The findings, while specific to Guinea, provide a foundational understanding, highlighting the complexity of pandemic effects on education and the need for adaptive strategies in vulnerable regions.

Foreign markets possess different characteristics to domestic ones; this means that dynamic marketing capabilities (DMCs) should be adjusted. This paper aims to understand how these DMCs enable firms to achieve greater legitimacy in international markets.

This research uses a qualitative approach based on in-depth interviews in collaboration with an association of exporting firms.

Findings suggest five areas of DMCs to improve organizational legitimacy overseas: flexibility, relationship management, local market sensitivity, anticipation and exemplariness. Those capabilities should be combined and will play a different role depending on the implementation phase of the external company. Resource allocation and capability development should follow an integrative approach emphasizing proximity, adaptability, alliances, engagement and credibility to reach differentiation in foreign markets.

The originality is mainly focused on the cohabitation and strong synergies between DMCs and legitimacy. This aspect is particularly relevant because legitimized companies have higher levels of survival, which is fundamental in the international venture.

This study aims to examine the effects of vocational training programs for people with disabilities on their income.

It conducted a multinomial regression analysis of 10,469 survey responses from 31 provincial administrative areas in mainland China.

It finds the following antecedents all influence the trainees’ self-reported income, including their perception of the quality of the program, the training subject, the degree of consistency between their current job and this subject, their employment sector, their motivation and access to training resources and the geographical location of the program.

The findings are not representative of people with disabilities across mainland China because the respondents were not randomly sampled.

The findings suggest that to increase the income of people with disabilities, the training can be designed according to the needs of employers by teaching subjects relevant to the needs of the labor market, reaching out to motivated trainees and enhancing the quality of training. Training institutions, employers and governments are recommended to work together to integrate class-based learning with workplace-based learning and practices. More training resources can be devoted to the self-employed people with disabilities or those who operate in the informal sector and are in less-developed areas.

The improvement of employment opportunities and income of people with disabilities supports the safeguarding of their social economic rights and the building of an inclusive society.

Few studies have empirically explored and explained the effects of vocational training programs on people with disabilities’ income. This article fills this gap by assessing the performance of China's vocational training programs funded by the Federation of Disabled Persons at all levels.

This research aspires to contribute in the area of exploration of the psychological traits evolving by practitioners within the project management profession. Specifically, it investigates whether there is any difference in optimism levels among experienced project management practitioners and newcomers in the profession.

The research used the life orientation test-revised (LOTR) (Scheier et al., 1994) to calculate respondents’ optimism scores. With these scores at hand, the researchers could then apply inferential statistics in order to deduce any differences observed among optimism score and the respondents’ characteristics (age, years of experience etc.).

Based on the results of this research, several demographic variables were shown to be statistically significant with optimism. These were (1) the number of years of experience the respondent had in managing projects, (2) working in a government organisation and (3) possessing specific project management certifications, all of which were found to adversely affect the respondent’s optimism score.

This research was unique in applying a well-known psychological test instrument (LOTR) to provide insight into the psychological impacts of a career as an information technology (IT) project manager. It is also highly likely that this correlation between the length of time working as a project manager and the adverse impact on their optimism would also apply to not just IT project managers but all experienced project managers.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the relationship between bankers’ perspectives and their pro-green banking behaviors (i.e. intentions). Specifically, how do bankers’ perspectives on environmental concerns, environmental normative structure and green technology affect their intentions toward G-banking activities?

A theoretical framework of the theory of bounded rational planned behavior (TBRPB) as its foundation was established. Using measurement scales to measure different aspects of environmental concern, environmental normative structure, green technology, attitudes, perceived behavioral control and subjective norms, a survey instrument was developed to examine the various associations implied by the model of TBRPB. Data were collected from the bankers of selected commercial banks in Bangladesh following the random sampling procedure. The data were analyzed using the partial least square structural equation modeling technique.

Findings indicate that all of the predictors appear to be robust in predicting the G-banking intention of the sampled bankers in Bangladesh. The results also show that attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control have significant mediating effects toward bankers’ bounded rational G-banking intention.

There are a few limitations in the study. First, the study considers environmental concerns as an antecedent of the attitude of bankers toward G-banking activities. Future studies can explore other variables related to environmental problems to study G-banking adoption and practices. Second, this study only considers the private conventional bankers as respondents to the survey to assess G-baking intention. In the future, other types of bankers, such as Islamic bankers and public banks’ bankers could be included in the survey to explore G-banking practices. Finally, this research has been done in a developing country-context.

In this study, environmental concerns of bankers appeared to be highly significant predictors to influence their attitudes toward bounded rational G-banking intention. Similarly, the social normative structure also appears to be a robust antecedent of subjective norms to influence bounded rational G-banking intention of respondent bankers. Finally, green technology or bakers’ personal and skill-related ability to control bounded rational G-banking intention also appeared to be a strongly significant predictor of green banking activities. All this evidence implies that respondent bankers in the sample responded positively to provide their positive intention toward G-banking activities based on their environmental concern.

Important social implication of the current study is G-banking practices can help reduce carbon emissions and other pollutants which would enrich overall environmental sustainability and ecological conditions.

Few studies are directed on G-banking perspective in Bangladesh. This research is one of the empirical studies which will certainly add values for the clients, institutions and policymakers in banking paradigm.

Recent library and information science literature suggests transgender and nonbinary populations are not treated, served and represented on an equal or equitable basis as cisgender populations are in libraries. This article aims to assess the prevalence of bias and inclusion efforts in Illinois libraries.

This quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive study utilizes a critical queer theory lens and includes a Likert scale survey with a demographic question on gender identity to measure four constructs and determine if there is a relationship between gender identity and bias, inclusion efforts, and knowledge of transgender and nonbinary user needs.

Results suggest respondents' biases reinforce structural cisgenderism in Illinois libraries and may account for the unequal conditions trans and nonbinary populations experience. Additionally, there is a correlation between cisgender-identifying Illinois LIS professionals and biased attitudes and behaviors, use of inclusive practices, and knowledge of transgender and nonbinary user needs.

This study contributes quantitative data, analysis and practical implications to a body of predominantly qualitative library literature on transgender and gender diverse experiences in libraries.

This research is an empirical study that addresses whether knowledge resources impact on, or do not impact on, innovation development and if this impact is mediated by dynamic capabilities in the medical tourism sector in Mashhad city, Iran.

A quantitative research methodology was applied and questionnaires were used for data collection in this study. A total of 108 questionnaires were collected of which 102 questionnaires were valid. Data were analyzed using structural equation modelling technique.

Empirical evidence obtained from the study reveals that the dynamic capability of learning plays a significant role in transforming knowledge resources into innovation in the medical tourism sector. The mediating role of coordinating capability in the relationship between explicit and tacit knowledge and innovation is considerable and it influences human capital, as well. Sensing capability also exhibits some degree of a mediating role; however, integrating capability is not influential and its role in transforming explicit knowledge to innovation is rejected.

Most studies on innovation in medical tourism focused on market and its typology, and neglected the role of knowledge resources and dynamic capabilities. The current study bridges this gap and thus contributes to the scientific literature.

The contemporary business environment is characterised by an increasing reliance on artificial intelligence, automation, optimisation, efficient communication and data-driven decision making. Based on the limited academic literature that examines the managerial perspective on enterprise chatbots, the paper aims to explore organisational needs and expectations for enterprise chatbots from a managerial perspective, assesses the relationship between managerial knowledge and managerial opinion regarding enterprise chatbots, and delivers a framework for integrating chatbots into the digital workforce.

The paper presents a quantitative design. An online, self-administered survey yielded 111 valid responses from managers in service and manufacturing organisations based on convenience and snowball sampling strategies. Given the nature of the data and the research questions, the research was conducted using principal component analysis, parallel analysis, correlation, internal consistency and difference in means tests.

This research explores the managerial perspective on enterprise chatbots from multiple perspectives (i.e., adoption, suitability, development requirements, benefits, barriers, performance and implications), presents a heat map of the average level of chatbot need across industries and business units, highlights the urgent need for education and training initiatives targeted at decision makers, and provides a strategic framework for successful chatbot implementation.

This study equips managers and practitioners dealing with enterprise chatbots with knowledge to effectively leverage the expected benefits of investing in this technology for their organisations. It offers direction for developers in designing chatbots that align with organisational expectations, capabilities and skills.

Insights for managers, researchers and chatbot developers are provided. The work complements the few academic studies that examine enterprise chatbots from a managerial perspective and enriches related commercial studies with more rigourous statistical analysis. The paper contributes to the ongoing discourse on decision-making in the context of technology development, integration and education.

This study aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on knowledge-sharing drivers in small- and medium-sized family firms within the restaurant and fast-food industry. The pandemic has led to significant changes in business culture and consumer behaviour, accelerating digital transformation, disruptions in global supply chains and emerging new business opportunities. These changes have also influenced knowledge sharing (KS) and its underlying drivers.

To address the research objectives, a two-phase study was conducted. In the first phase, an exploratory analysis using the Delphi method was used to identify the essential drivers and factors of KS in family businesses (FBs). This phase aimed to establish a conceptual model for the study. In the second phase, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to analyse the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the identified knowledge-sharing drivers. The study examined both the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic periods to capture the shifts in attitudes towards KS.

The findings indicate a significant shift in attitudes towards knowledge-sharing drivers. Before the pandemic, organisational drivers played a central role in KS. However, after the emergence of the pandemic, technological drivers became more prominent. This shift highlights the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on KS within FB.

The research contributes to understanding knowledge-sharing in the context of FBs and sheds light on the specific effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on knowledge-sharing drivers. The insights gained from this study can inform strategies and practices aimed at enhancing KS in similar organisational settings.

The study’s aim was to design and test a leadership development approach using blended learning, to equip leaders for strengthening their own resilience and that of their teams.

A contextualised leadership development intervention was produced and evaluated following the principles of design-based research. Participants were from three organisations that work internationally to address the impact of economic disadvantage. Initial research used the behavioural event interview technique. Online assessment incorporated measures of situational judgement, emotion recognition and attributional style. Validity measures were multi-rater feedback (criterion), and NEO-PI 3 (construct). Individual feedback and a simulation-based peer workshop were followed by a four-to-six month period of experience-driven development and a final peer workshop for consolidating and evaluating learning outcomes.

The online assessment was a valid measure of leaders’ personal resilience resources and their resilience-building capability. Overall, the intervention improved participants’ understanding of, and engagement with, the processes of strengthening individual and collective (team) resilience.

The target sample size for the study was relatively small, to ensure it would be practical to replicate the approach when designing similar interventions for a senior leadership population in other contexts. Significant results provided robust evidence for the validity of the assessment approach. Findings for the workshops and experience-driven development phase were more tentative, but the value of the design iterations was clearly demonstrated.

The leadership development approach is suitable for application in other organisations, if similar principles are followed to produce and evaluate materials relevant to each broad sector context. Roll-out is cost-effective, with relatively few hours of blended or virtual delivery supporting experience-driven learning.

The impact leaders have on the wellbeing of those who report to them is well established, but less has been done to develop and formally evaluate practical, cost-effective interventions to improve this impact. The approach validated in this study can be applied more widely to benefit employee wellbeing as well as performance.

The study developed and evaluated a new approach to preparing leaders for the challenge of building team resilience, an aspect of leadership capability that has been given relatively little attention to date.