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This paper describes a project that moves away from a transactional model of leadership to a shared model of leadership, across health professionals from different organisations, to address health inequalities among deprived black and minority ethnic (BME) communities in Walsall in the West Midlands region of England. Traditional models of leadership can tend to focus on individuals and do not take into account the fact that patient care usually involves a number of staff from several organisations. The project was designed to test the hypotheses that provision of structured support to teams using a shared leadership model would lead to improvements in partnership working and patient outcomes. The project showed significant improvements in partnership working and enabled greater engagement with the BME communities in Walsall. The paper explores the strengths and weakness of the shared leadership model and the challenges in translating the vision into reality.

The purpose of this paper is to study triadic market relations between an international aid agency (IAA), local ventures and the poor communities where they are embedded in order to shift the poverty alleviation discussion to account for the perceptions held by each category of actor, especially those of poor communities. Poverty alleviation is a key commitment of the United Nations, and market-driven approaches are increasingly advocated as a means to reduce poverty, particularly among IAAs. One such strategy is to connect ventures in poor communities with international markets. However, research shows that such approaches have mixed success.

The authors conducted a comparative case study of three ventures embedded in urban and rural poor communities receiving support from an IAA. The authors then analyzed the data to determine the mechanisms that led to discrepancies in the perceptions of poverty alleviation held by each actor involved.

This study suggests three such mechanisms: ‘decoupling markets from poverty’, wherein aiding ventures may paradoxically lead to decoupling them from poor communities; ‘overburden stress’, in which ventures cannot fulfil a poverty alleviation role through their market activities because the expectation to do so overburdens the venture; and ‘value divergence’, in which the actors involved evaluate the impact of these approaches differently.

The authors propose that a key aspect of enabling effective poverty alleviation through market-driven approaches in terms of substantial, long-term contributions is to monitor and support the relations between the actors involved – including the poor communities themselves – and explore how each perceives the efficacy of the approach.

El objetivo de nuestro estudio es integrar las percepciones de tres actores: los organismos internacionales, los emprendimientos en comunidades pobres y las propias comunidades pobres, con el fin de cambiar la discusión sobre la reducción de la pobreza hacia las percepciones de los diferentes actores involucrados en las relaciones de mercado, en particular las de las comunidades pobres. La reducción de la pobreza es un compromiso clave de las Naciones Unidas, y en la actualidad se promueven enfoques de mercado como un medio para reducir la pobreza, especialmente entre los organismos internacionales. Una estrategia consiste en conectar emprendimientos en comunidades pobres con mercados internacionales. Sin embargo, investigaciones previas muestran que estos enfoques de mercado tienen un éxito variado en ciertas ocasiones y en otras no.

Realizamos un estudio de casos comparativo de tres emprendimientos en comunidades pobres urbanas y rurales que reciben apoyo de un organismo internacional. Luego, analizamos nuestros datos para determinar qué mecanismos condujeron a discrepancias en las percepciones de cada actor involucrado con respecto a la reducción de la pobreza.

Nuestro estudio identifica tres mecanismos que explican las discrepancias en las percepciones de los actores involucrados con respecto a los enfoques de mercado para la reducción de la pobreza: ‘desvinculación de los mercados de la pobreza’, en donde el apoyo a los emprendimientos puede llevar paradójicamente a separarlos de las comunidades pobres; ‘estrés de sobrecarga’ que captura situaciones en las que los emprendimientos no pueden cumplir su función de reducción de la pobreza a través de sus actividades en el mercado debido a que la expectativa de hacerlo, aunque implícita, sobrecarga al emprendimiento; y ‘divergencia de valores’ que muestra que los actores involucrados a menudo evalúan de manera diferente el impacto de los enfoques de mercado en la pobreza.

Proponemos que un aspecto clave de la reducción efectiva de la pobreza a través de enfoques de mercado que hagan contribuciones sustanciales y a largo plazo es monitorear las relaciones y la eficacia percibida entre todos los actores involucrados en estos enfoques, incluyendo a las propias comunidades pobres.

El objetivo de nosso estudo é integrar as percepções de três atores: os organismos internacionais, os empreendimentos em comunidades pobres e as próprias comunidades pobres, com o objetivo de mudar a discussão sobre a redução da pobreza para as percepções dos diferentes atores envolvidos nas relações de mercado, particularmente as das comunidades pobres. A redução da pobreza é um compromisso chave das nações unidas, e atualmente abordagens de mercado são promovidas como um meio para reduzir a pobreza, especialmente entre os organismos internacionais. Uma estratégia consiste em conectar empreendimentos em comunidades pobres com mercados internacionais. No entanto, pesquisas anteriores mostram que essas abordagens de mercado têm sucesso variado em algumas ocasiões e em outras não.

Realizamos um estudo de casos comparativo de três empreendimentos em comunidades pobres urbanas e rurais que recebem apoio de um organismo internacional. Em seguida, analisamos nossos dados para determinar quais mecanismos levaram a discrepâncias nas percepções de cada ator envolvido em relação à redução da pobreza.

Nosso estudo identifica três mecanismos que explicam as discrepâncias nas percepções dos atores envolvidos em relação às abordagens de mercado para a redução da pobreza: ‘desvinculação dos mercados da pobreza’, onde o apoio aos empreendimentos pode paradoxalmente separá-los das comunidades pobres; ‘estresse de sobrecarga’ que captura situações em que os empreendimentos não podem cumprir sua função de redução da pobreza por meio de suas atividades no mercado devido à expectativa de fazê-lo, mesmo que implicitamente, sobrecarregando o empreendimento; e ‘divergência de valores’ que mostra que os atores envolvidos frequentemente avaliam de maneira diferente o impacto das abordagens de mercado na pobreza.

Propomos que um aspecto-chave da redução efetiva da pobreza por meio de abordagens de mercado que façam contribuições substanciais e a longo prazo é monitorar as relações e a eficácia percebida entre todos os atores envolvidos nessas abordagens, incluindo as próprias comunidades pobres.

Introduction: The world is passing through a technology explosion phase where one technology is being replaced by another very quickly. Emerging technologies play more important roles in the insurance sector directly or indirectly. These technologies have a high potential to change the insurance paradigm.

Purpose: In this chapter, we discuss emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, blockchain, the internet of things (IoT), mobile technology, predictive analytics, social media, telematics, chatbots, low codes, and drones in the context of the insurance industry.

Methodology: To carry out our analysis, we searched for data using the keywords for each technology from the Web of Science (WoS) coral database. Certain inclusion and exclusion criteria were followed to select the articles for further analysis. R-studio was used for the data analysis and visualisation.

Findings: It was found that the highest number of research articles published are related to big data, followed by AI and social media. The first article on AI in insurance appeared in 1975. Social media is the highest cited new technology, whereas the low codes are the undiscovered paradigm for the insurance sector with no published research. Research on the impact of chatbots, drones, and mobile technology in the insurance industry is still at a nascent stage. We also noticed that the United States is leading the research on emerging technologies in the insurance sector.

Implications: This chapter audits the emerging technologies in the insurance sector and identifies technological areas with the highest, least, or no research, dominant journals, authors, and countries. This holistic overview empowers managers and academicians to decide the future course of action.

The purpose of this paper is to identify, measure and optimise financial risk and its effect on returns from innovation projects on an accrual basis and on a cash basis in a commodity industry.

A hypothetical case study, based on a real case, of a petrochemical commodity industry in Brazil was analysed with commodities pricing rules based on actual contracts. Earnings at risk (EaR) and cash flow at risk (CFaR) measures were applied, as well as a metric proposed in this paper called cash balance at risk (CBaR).

The paper demonstrates that financial risk measurement and optimisation are important issues in the decision-making process in the petrochemical industry. EaR, CFaR and CBaR measures are helpful when used alongside standard procedures of project evaluation. The findings also show that innovative technologies, in certain conditions, may act as “natural hedging”. It was found that the time delay between revenues and expenses leads to financial risk exposure to changes in prices and foreign exchange rates. Projects can use financing and hedging to boost their results.

An innovative project was compared with an expansion project in a petrochemical industry. A model for petrochemical commodities contract pricing was added in an analysis that included financing and hedging. The findings in this paper suggest that it is important to consider financial risk measures in project evaluation.

O objetivo deste trabalho é identificar, medir e otimizar o risco financeiro e seus efeitos sobre os resultados de projetos com inovação, tanto na perspectiva do regime contábil quanto do regime de caixa, em uma indústria de commodities.

Um estudo de caso hipotético, baseado em um caso real de uma indústria petroquímica brasileira, foi analisado com regras de precificação de commodities baseados em contratos reais. As métricas Earnings at Risk (EaR) e Cash Flow at Risk (CFaR) foram utilizadas, assim como uma métrica proposta neste trabalho, denominada Cash Balance at Risk (CBaR).

Este artigo demonstrou que a mensuração e otimização do risco financeiro são questões importantes no processo de tomada de decisão em uma indústria petroquímica. As medidas EaR, CFaR e CBaR se apresentaram como contribuições ao processo padrão de avaliação de projetos. Os resultados também demonstraram que inovações tecnológicas, em certas condições, podem funcionar como um “hedge natural”. Foi verificado que descasamentos temporais entre recebimentos e despesas geram uma exposição financeira a oscilações em preços e em valores de moedas estrangeiras. Financiamento e hedge podem ser utilizados em conjunto para aprimorar resultados de projetos.

Um projeto com inovação foi comparado com um projeto de expansão em uma indústria petroquímica. Foi realizada uma analise de risco que agrega ao financiamento e ao hedge o uso de contratos de precificação de commodities. Os resultados desse projeto demonstram que é importante considerar medidas de risco financeiro nas avaliações de projetos.

The purpose of this paper is to connect the literatures on sustainability, innovation and paradox to suggest that sustainability constraints – simultaneously addressing commercial and sustainability goals – will increase organizational innovation.

Drawing from the literatures on paradox, innovation and sustainability, the authors develop theory about how managers can deliberately enhance the generation and implementation of creative ideas within their organizations.

The authors build on the existing literature that suggests sustainability considerations should be strategically and deeply integrated elements of business activity by developing arguments about how such integration improves organizational performance. The authors argue sustainability considerations, by creating unique forms of constraints, improve organizational success by enhancing creative idea generation and implementation.

Even strategic leaders espousing to only maximize economic efficiency face the challenge of effectively managing sustainability constraints. The discrepancy between what they should do and the problems they face means strategic leaders often have fewer tools to manage and reflect on their own decision-making than is available in the management literature. This paper presents arguments from diverse research that describes potential decision processes and their outcomes.

This paper highlights an important shift in how sustainability constraints are fundamental drivers of long-term organizational performance.

Extant literature treats the simultaneous attention to sustainability concerns and commercial success as difficult accomplishments of clever strategic leaders. Instead, the authors propose that simultaneous attention to sustainability and commercial imperatives is fundamental to long-term organizational success, because it is a powerful determinant of new products, services and business models.

Brand crowdfunding, launched through brands’ social media platforms, can provide a myriad of crowdfunding and branding benefits, such as strengthening brands’ social networks, validating product launches, generating mass exposure and enabling cocreation. Gamification positions brand crowdfunding as an exciting and joyful activity that more deeply engages prosumers. Anchored on resource-based theory, theory of planned behavior and service-dominant logic, this paper aims to develop a brand crowdfunding framework for established brands with insights from two emerging markets: China and India.

A deductive cross-sectional design is used to gather data from an established brand’s (e.g. Xiaomi) social media followers in China (n = 826) and India (n = 358), which is analyzed through PLSc-SEM.

The results reveal that social media brand engagement is an antecedent of brand crowdfunding participation, brand crowdfunding intention is a predictor of brand loyalty and gamification is a significant moderator in technology-oriented societies.

The paper develops a brand crowdfunding framework that provides insights on how established brands can leverage crowdfunding to enhance their new product development process. The results contribute to the social media brand engagement, crowdfunding, gamification and emerging markets literature.

The purpose of this study is to verify whether managers’ strategic orientation influences decision-making related to differentiation and whether these two factors impact on the performance of the firms in the Brazilian wine industry.

A survey was conducted with representatives from 123 wineries located in the following Brazilian states: 78.86 per cent in Rio Grande do Sul; 13.01 per cent in Santa Catarina; 2.44 per cent in Paraná; 2.44 per cent in São Paulo; 1.63 per cent in Bahia; and 1.63 per cent in Pernambuco. The data were analyzed using multivariate statistical techniques, resulting in a structural equations model of the constructs.

The research findings show that there is a positive association between prospector orientation and differentiation. Analyst positioning was negatively associated with differentiation of winery companies. It was also possible to show that differentiation has a positive relationship with performance.

While a previous study attempted to identify wineries’ strategic orientation using other theoretical constructs, this study makes a contribution to consolidating reflections on strategic orientation focused on differentiation and performance. The results contribute to expanding the scientific debate by filling a gap in existing theory and also provide information of use to decision-makers, demonstrating, which approaches improve differentiation, and hence, performance.

This study aims at verifying the impact of literacy on over-the-counter (OTC) drug consumer vulnerability as evaluated by health literacy and label comprehension.

The item response theory (IRT) was used to estimate the health literacy of two groups and the two-way analysis of variance tests was used to test the hypotheses for the existence of mean differences between the two populations. The convenience sample involved 188 OTC consumers: 94 (50%) poorly literate and 94 (50%) university students/graduates.

University consumers/graduates have a level of health literacy and label comprehension that is superior to those presented by poor literate consumers. Also, age does not influence the level of health literacy by OTC drug users but has a significant impact on the understanding of OTC drug labels. Finally, the level of schooling and the “age group,” simultaneously, does not impact the understanding of OTC drug labels or health literacy.

This study has added in the field of knowledge by investigating the behavior of poor literate consumers in Brazil, a developing country. The results may be relevant to Marketing professionals, especially those in the pharmaceutical industry, and to police makers, as they help identify the main problems faced by poorly literate consumers.

It is necessary to raise awareness of the dangers of self-medication and wrong use of medications, mainly focused on people with low literacy. As a suggestion, a simple glossary presented along with the label could provide explanations of scientific terms, thus increasing health literacy and reducing the vulnerability of the consumers.

This study showed that when using common words such as gastritis to define a health problem, there is a higher degree of correctness. These results suggest the adoption of a more straightforward language and more precise explanations. By doing that, the pharmaceutical industry and policymakers will improve their social impact by increasing consumer power and taking care of the health of the most vulnerable population: the illiterate people.

This study contributes to the international literature, as it enhances and clarifies the knowledge about the customers’ power and vulnerability in developing countries. It fills a gap by evaluating label comprehension and heath literacy at the same time, giving an academic contribution for pharmaceutical consumers’ studies.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of cultural, social and psychological capital on the individual job performance. The authors propose and empirically test a combination of models, which originate from sociology and positive psychology, and demonstrate that cultural capital – in addition to social and psychological capital – is an important driver of individual job performance.

The paper opted for a large-scale survey research design. The sample consists of employees in several occupations who had formal contracts with companies from the public and private sector in Brazil. The measurement instrument is developed and tested by using data collected among 369 valid respondents in 2016. The methods applied include exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis through partial least squares estimation.

The results obtained indicate that there is a significant simultaneous positive effect of cultural, social and psychological capital on individual job performance. The results indicate that cultural, psychological and social capitals together were able to explain 57 percent of the respondents’ individual job performance, with psychological capital being the dominant driver. The authors also find that cultural capital is at least as important as driver of individual job performance as social capital.

Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may have limited generalizability and may suffer from potential bias in terms of social desirability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the propositions in different country contexts using different research methods.

This paper is the first to quantify the relevance of Bourdieu’s cultural capital theory to the study of individual job performance, and offers tools with validated psychometric properties for its empirical assessment.