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The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the work in progress by the Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR) in Ecuador, in collaboration with other national and international entities, to develop a sustainable tourism product in the Amazon region of the Republic of Ecuador.

The paper discusses the main tourism trends in Ecuador over the past decade and then gives quantitative data regarding tourism resources in the six provinces of the Ecuadorian Amazon. This is followed by a discussion of the partnerships, national, and international, enacted by the MINTUR to advance the development of sustainable tourism. The paper ends with an insight into the form of tourism deemed most desirable as a means of creating economic and human welfare benefits as well as environmental sustainability.

The paper is a clear presentation of a country committed to the task of “advantaging” a particular region – the Amazon – through the adoption of policies and the implementation of a strategic plan that aims at optimizing development based on the natural, ecological, and cultural wealth of the region.

Tourism planners, entrepreneurs, and operators would derive much benefit from the concepts advanced and strategies explained in this paper.

With its discussion of the strong Ecuadorian base in community and ecological tourism this paper offers some fresh perspectives on the planning complexities to be addressed in the development of sustainable tourism as a mechanism for rainforest protection.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of the application of microorganisms of phosphate providers and organic matters for the growth of Arabica coffee seedlings in Bener Meriah Regency.

The experiments were performed inside the screen house using a random design of factorial group with six repetitions. The experimental treatments consisted of two factors. Factor I is the application of microorganisms of phosphate providers. Factor II is the application of organic matters (T. diversifolia and the coffee bean skins). The parameters observed were as follows: enhancement of plant height was observed every 30 days for 270 days, and a number of primary branch and dry weight of roots were observed 270 days after planting (DAP). The data obtained were analyzed by analyzing the variance at 5 per cent level; if the treatment had an effect, then the treatment was continued to Duncan’s multiple range test at 5 per cent.

The application of microorganisms of phosphate provider increases the height improvement, the number of primary branches and the dry weight of roots of Arabica coffee seedlings. The application of Listeria sp. microorganisms of phosphate provider gives the highest yield on the height increase, the number of primary branches and the dry weight of roots of Arabica coffee seedlings. The application of organic matters of coffee beans skin gives higher yield than Tithonia diversifolia in height and dry weight of roots of Arabica coffee seedlings. The interaction between the application of microorganisms of phosphate provider and organic matters increases the dry weight of roots of Arabica coffee seedlings. The interaction of Listeria sp.-skin of coffee beans gives the highest yield on dry weight of roots of Arabica coffee seedlings.

Several other studies have demonstrated that the application of microorganisms of phosphate providers using phosphate solubilizing bacteria (Fitriatin et al., 2014; Sembiring et al., 2017) and mycorrhizal use (Hart and Trevors, 2005; Rouphael et al., 2015) increased the growth and yield plant. No previous study comprehensively studied the application of microorganisms of phosphate providers and organic matters to improve the growth of Arabica coffee seedlings in Andisol in Bener Meriah Regency.

During the COVID-19 crisis in Victoria, Australia the complexity of school leadership increased greatly for school principals. This study focused on the lived experiences of early career principals in the independent school sector from March to November 2020 in Victoria, Australia. It investigates transformative work that was undertaken by these leaders in leading their schools over a protracted crisis.

The study builds on constructs of crisis leadership, adaptive leadership, agile leadership and emotional intelligence, exploring the leadership approaches undertaken by twenty-two early career principals in Victoria, Australia. Using a narrative inquiry approach, across three temporal points in 2020, storied productions drawn from the findings present four emergent types of emotionally intelligent leadership approaches undertaken by these principals. These leadership approaches are presented as the commander-leader, the conductor-leader, the gardener-leader and the engineer-leader with each approach demonstrating both organisational leadership approaches as well as individual leadership styles used by these principals as they led their schools.

The findings have direct implications for professional development programs focusing on aspiring principals and early career principals with emphasis on the importance of developing emotionally intelligent skillsets in principals for use during periods of rapid change or high crisis in schools. The findings present insight into the support useful for early career principals in the first five years of principalship.

This study uses a unique emotional intelligence approach to understand school leadership during and after a crisis.

The purpose of this study was to examine the concept of value in healthcare through a practical appraisal of the applicability of a conceptual framework, which is aimed at supporting the measurement and realisation of financial benefits from process improvement (PI) activities in a hospital setting.

A single case study of a hospital system in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, was used to assess the applicability of the framework. The study sought to verify the framework's intention, that PI methods could be used to address known wastes that contribute to the cost of providing healthcare. The case study examines the current approach taken by the hospital to measure and realise financial benefits from PI activities and compares these to the components of the Strategy to Balance Cost and Quality in Health Care framework to assess its applicability in practice.

The case study revealed that the steps described in the framework were fundamentally in place albeit with some variation. Importantly, the case study identified an additional step that could be added into the framework to support hospitals to better define their portfolio of initiatives to deliver value. The case study also clarified three types of contributory elements that should be in place for the application of the framework to be successful.

The Framework to Achieve Value in Healthcare is offered to hospitals as a model by which they can look to reduce expenditure through the removal of non-value adding activities. The modification to the conceptual framework has arisen from a single case study and would benefit from further testing by other hospitals in other policy settings (i.e. other countries).

This is the first paper to examine and enhance an existing framework to assist hospitals balance cost and quality through PI.

The purpose of this paper is to find throughout history examples of wealth management of a family or business families that can be assimilated into the current concept of family offices (FOs). In such examples, the study identifies characteristics associated with the different dimensions of the concept of socioemotional wealth (SEW).

Drawing on the socioemotional perspective, this paper relates significant examples of FOs based on historical stages (ancient history, the middle ages, modern history, the contemporary period and the actual world). Each case is discussed with an effort to identify the dimensions of the SEW that fit and help in understanding the organization studied.

Mainly, FOs allow the management of the family legacy, philanthropy, promotion of entrepreneurship and family wealth preservation for future generations. Autonomy in decision-making, privacy and confidentiality and the achievement of more intangible goals make the FO preferable to other institutions. Through the study of historical cases, the FO constitutes a structure with objectives and activities that have remained consistent from Rome to the present, regardless of historical, political or social context. The results also identify four out of five FIBER dimensions of SEW.

In addition to contributing to the scarce literature on FOs, this paper uses various examples of historical periods to better understand its origin, evolution and current state. A selection of examples at different times allows us to verify that FOs undergo a series of changes throughout history but maintain their characteristics regardless of the historical context. This paper is the first to explore the origin and development of the FO as organization. Building on the findings, the authors present a conceptual SEW framework to deepen in the knowledge of FO. This framework could help researchers and practitioners in future researches providing a conceptual link that demonstrates the components of the SEW perspective best fit the objectives pursued by business families when establishing a family office.

As top management support is considered one of the critical success factors in project management, effective executive involvement can significantly improve project success. However, the literature does not provide organizations with a clear list of effective top management support practices to achieve this type of support. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to highlight the top management support processes, which highly contribute to project success.

As it is expected that results vary among different project scenarios, data were collected from 700 project managers and their supervisors in seven industries and three countries – Japan, Israel, and New Zealand.

Results reassure that top management support is significantly correlated with project success. Results also show that different top management support processes should be implemented in any industry and culture.

The paper introduces and discusses a detailed list of critical top management support processes for each industry and country, and concludes with introducing best practices to support these processes.

Despite the prevalence of technology in health care, marketing research on social media in the birthspace is limited. The purpose of this paper is to explore how birthing women leverage social media for transformative well-being in the liminal context of birth.

A qualitative study of women who had recently experienced birth was undertaken. Thematic analysis of data from in-depth interviews reveals birthing women’s digital practices and social media capabilities for well-being in a liminal space.

Within the birthspace, women use social media and digital platforms in an effortful and goal-directed way for role transitions and transformation, curating self and other history, goal striving and normalizing experience. These digital practice styles facilitate consumer integration of the liminal digital birthspace and in situ service encounter enabling diverse value outcomes. Drawing on liminality and social presence theories, the authors interpret these practices as demonstrating three interactive liminal stages of suspending, comprehending and transforming. Multi-modality and rapid connection afforded by digital devices and social media platforms provide social presence (according to perceived immediacy and intimacy) enabling transformative well-being outcomes.

This study is unique, as it provides insights into the traditionally private health service experience of birth. Further, the authors extend the understanding of liminal spaces and use of digital technology, specifically for transformative outcomes, by proposing a framework of consumers’ digital practice styles for well-being in liminal spaces.

The purpose of this study is to ascertain law enforcement cadet general knowledge of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and practical knowledge in how to apply various aspects of their profession to persons with ASD.

In total, 341 law enforcement cadet surveys administered across ten individual law enforcement cadet classes were analyzed via two individual ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models. These regression models were designed to predict changes in cadet scores on their (1) general knowledge of autism scale (i.e., general knowledge regarding autism spectrum disorder itself) and (2) interactional law enforcement knowledge of autism scale (i.e., how to apply various aspects of their job to persons with ASD).

Findings show that cadets who had a stronger confidence in their ability to interact with persons who have ASD actually knew less than their counterparts with lower reported overall confidence. However, one's confidence in their ability to identify persons with ASD was associated with having better overall general knowledge of ASD itself. Similarly, the greater one's overall confidence in interacting with persons with ASD was associated with lower interactional knowledge. In each model, general autism knowledge and interactional knowledge were positively associated.

The results of this study have implications for cadet and officer training on ASD as each need to be trained in both general knowledge of autism and interactional autism knowledge skills related to the job functions of being a LEO. Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed.

The literature is sparse on law enforcement knowledge of and interaction with persons who have ASD. As such, this study has the potential to make a strong impact on the literature regarding law enforcement and their knowledge and/or interactions with persons who have ASD.

Top management support is considered to be an area that has high impact on project success. However, previous studies have also stated that effective top management support practices may vary across industries. This paper focuses on top management support for projects executed in the software sector. The objective of this study is to identify those top management support processes that have the greatest impact on software development project success and to compare these critical processes with the actual type of support provided by organisations.

About 17 top management support processes have been identified from the literature. Their effectiveness has been calculated according to their relative impact on project success. Data has been collected from 213 software development project managers and their supervisors in Japan, Israel and New Zealand. For each country, the impact of top management support processes on project success has been analysed to identify critical processes. Then, the actual level of use of both critical and non critical top management support processes by senior managers has been compared.

Different critical top management support processes have been identified in each country. However, six processes have been found to have higher contribution to project success than others. These processes are described and discussed in the paper. It has also been found that in all three countries top managers do not invest more effort in critical processes, than in non critical ones. Instead, in all countries, executives choose to perform easy‐to‐do processes. Critical top management support processes, which have higher impact on project success, often do not receive an appropriate level of attention from senior managers in the software industry.

Senior managers in the software industry may focus on critical processes, rather than paying lip service to less important ones. Specific practices designed to support these critical processes are also presented in the paper.

The paper suggests a detailed list of critical top management support processes, which significantly improve project success in different cultures. The paper also discusses this list in comparison with what is currently done by executives in the software industry and concludes with specific recommendations to managers in the software industry.

This paper aims to address gaps in the sustainable technology literature by evaluating the demographics of energy efficient appliance consumption in Vietnam. Sustainable technologies can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address environmental problems such as air quality and climate change. Opportunity is the greatest in emerging markets, where population growth has triggered dramatic rises in electricity consumption. However, their adoption of energy efficient appliances has been slow and understanding why is limited.

Following a literature review, a questionnaire was designed to capture sustainable consumption attitudes and behaviours. In total, 682 interviews were conducted among Vietnamese electrical appliance consumers to investigate the influence of demographics on sustainable technology consumption.

While many respondents were aware of the sustainable benefits of energy efficient appliances, this did not generally translate into responsible purchase behaviour. Of the demographic variables, education had the strongest relationship with sustainability. Those with higher incomes and more children were also more likely to exhibit sustainable consumption attitudes and behaviours. Gender and age were weaker sustainability predictors.

This study is relevant to a wide range of sustainable technology contexts. The literature shows contrary findings regarding relationships between demographics and sustainable consumption, and the value of demographics to sustainable consumer segmentation and targeted behaviour change campaigns has been contested by some researchers. This research highlights education as the most significant demographic predictor of sustainable consumption and reveals the consistency of this finding with many other studies. The implications of this for promoting future sustainability are discussed.