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The purpose of this paper is to understand how higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing countries can migrate their physical administrative work environment to a virtual platform to improve information management.

The paper employs an interpretive case study approach and a combined lens of activity and agency theories to understand how a developing country HEI attempted to improve its information management by migrating from a physical to a virtual administrative work environment.

The findings show how contradictions caused by role conflicts, administrative staff’s fear of elimination and external consultants’ limited understanding of administrative rules and procedures can hamper work environment virtualisation. Such challenges should be resolved in order to achieve a successful virtual work environment that supports timely and accurate information management.

The study is limited by its single case perspective in one developing country. However, future studies can compare the experiences of HEIs from developed and developing countries in order to account for contextual differences.

The study provides practitioners with insight into how to address conflicts between employees (as potential users) and external consultants during virtual system development and implementation. In particular, role conflict, fear of eliminating some administrative staff and consultants’ limited understanding of administrative work procedures should be resolved for successful work environment virtualisation.

The study is the first attempt to offer rich insight into the challenges associated with administrative work environment virtualisation for improved information management in HEIs, through the principal-agent relationship.

Virtualization is the simulation or emulation of computer resources to the user (Grauer, n.d.; Simpson, 2008). This chapter discusses virtualization as a viable classroom methodology for providing students with course relevant hands-on experience (Simpson, 2008) while synchronizing course specific content in traditional on-ground and online courses (Pheils, 2010). More specifically, this chapter provides an overview of virtualization, detailing several open source tools, and offering possible applications for incorporation into other courses including free resources for sample content. Proof-of-concept is established through examples of successful usage at two colleges. The adoption of virtualization within course development may provide a solution that spans disciplines and offers students the ability to practice and further their studies beyond the classroom.

Recent years have witnessed the birth and rapid development of “coworking” spaces that are likely to affect classic models of work and organizations. This paper aims to identify the crucial issues raised by this phenomenon, for both practitioners and researchers, in both management and organization theory.

To describe this growing phenomenon, the current paper presents an in-depth analysis of existing literature and identifies the social, organizational and managerial issues raised by the development of coworking.

A review of how organizational research has analyzed the rapid development of coworking spaces thus far reveals a conceptual framework for grasping the origins, nature and implications of this phenomenon. Such an assessment in turn sheds light on the issues and potential questions raised by the growth of this new type of organization.

Managers and practitioners can gain a better grasp of the phenomenon and the potential evolution of workplaces and organizations, as well as a better understanding of the extent to which developing coworking spaces might invoke evolution in organizations and management practices.

The rise of coworking spaces is unprecedented in its speed and scale. Yet, academic research has largely ignored this phenomenon, and practitioner studies have privileged a descriptive approach. This paper thus covers a topic that has attracted scant attention in prior academic research, despite its vast and growing importance.

The aim of the chapter is to understand the role of trust and social cohesion in the effects of New Ways of Working.

The study consists of a cross-sectional survey (N = 549) at a Dutch insurance company with four locations. NWW was introduced in one of the locations 15 years ago, the other locations only recently. We present and test a model in which trust and social cohesion are mediators between NWW and performance.

The implementation of NWW leads to better performance (Beta 0.16, p < 0.001). However, the main effect is explained completely by the mediating role of trust (between employees-managers and between colleagues) and social cohesion. The number of days working at home has no significant relationship to performance.

The theory and findings of this chapter call for further elaboration in research: more contextualization of these data is needed and more comprehensive theoretical models, such as the role of personality, task and function.

If employees feel to be trusted by their supervisors and colleagues, the performance will increase, ‘even’ if they work at home or in flexible offices. The implementation of NWW will therefore only be beneficial if there are trustful relations and attention is paid to social cohesion of the group.

The study is among the first to prove the relationship between NWW and performance and more importantly, it is one of the first in explaining that relationship by pointing on the mediating role of trust and social cohesion.

The current pandemic will introduce many novel policies, adaptations, innovations and procedures by innovative human resource (HR) creativity. In particular, information technology (IT) implementation is a field that needs more significant focus and a wider range of creative interventions. The author would undoubtedly see a more human-focused approach to HR management (HRM) in the post-coronavirus disease 2019 (post-COVID-19) era, where enterprises and workers have had to reinvent themselves in a brief amount of time drastically. Following the nationwide lockdown caused by COVID-19, many companies were pushed to opt for remote working, which presents both difficulties and benefits for workers and employers. So the purpose of this study is to investigate some key consequences resulting from COVID-19’s effect on multiple HRM roles, how technology is empowering and fostering HRM, informative forecasts based on how organizations are coping and finally, the path in the post-pandemic environment.

The COVID-19 epidemic has had a significant effect on every area of the global economy. It has had severe implications for public institutions and raises particular questions for medical schools. The emergence of COVID-19 has disrupted many activities and requires intense and prompt attention from medical educators. So, HR leaders now face the difficult task of managing the interests of workers and their corporations. The outbreak of COVID-19 has proved that this is not just a difficult time but rather a testing time for companies across the globe to check and ensure how swiftly they adapt themselves by thinking and planning differently. An enterprise evolves with nature, and change is unavoidable if performance and productivity are to improve. Changes in structure, technology and priorities are overgrowing, posing big obstacles to leaders. Corporations worldwide have looked to technology to pursue creative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems. This study provides a review of articles related to the role of technology in HRM in the COVID-19 period. The analyzed articles are divided into three groups, including articles related to the role of information communication technology, cloud computing and teleworking in HRM in the COVID-19 era. Also, the most important key challenges are collected, and solutions are provided for them.

In times of trouble, authentic leadership shines through. The actions of pioneering HR leaders throughout the COVID-19 epidemic will significantly affect their respective organizations. When COVID-19 expanded around the world, HR agencies made their workers’ health and welfare a top priority. HRM’s long-term sustainability can be dictated by how they deal with the current crisis. Web-based solutions, such as cloud computing, will also address a vital resource allocation gap. It illustrates the possible efficacy of patient-oriented, web-based applications built on result-driven design, which continues to be validated by more testing and assessment. Many studies have emphasized business innovation as a necessity due to changes in the environment and various challenges and requirements facing businesses. The challenge of observing social distance and limiting face-to-face business services is the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic era.

This study could entail a joint international collaboration initiative among research centers, allowing information about COVID-19 impacts to be shared more easily. It will favor a worldwide policy to find a response to the epidemic but still address cultural and social issues.

The survey concludes that, whenever possible, employers and medicals should explore remote working opportunities in all industries to alleviate uncertainty and improve employee psychological well-being. The facilitating considerations and problems are often addressed in order to supply practical views for developing cloud-based solutions.

This research aims to lead to the advancement of scientific knowledge in the HRM area through the use of IT-based technology. It allows businesses to reinvent HRM techniques to save money and maximize efficiency without compromising their employees’ life quality and well-being. More in-depth studies at various pandemic stages would yield more valuable insights into HRM’s emerging position.

This paper aims to present reflections on the COVID-19 pandemic impacts in the search for the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 8 (SDG 8) disseminated by the United Nations. These reflections are made considering the Brazilian scenario.

As this paper is a viewpoint, several information presented here are based on authors’ opinion. However, to enhance the information basis and present examples, a bibliographic research was also conducted.

Analyzing the targets of SDG 8 and the probable crisis in the Brazilian economy as a consequence of the pandemic, the authors believe that this crisis will impact the achievement of these targets.

The reflections presented here can contribute with the debates about the search for decent work in Brazil. It is worth to remember that the development of actions aligned with SDG 8 targets generates more than only economic gains, as these contribute for building a more just, egalitarian and inclusive society.

This viewpoint calls attention to issues that demand urgent public policies; otherwise, these issues can generate losses to an entire generation of Brazilians.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the topic of parents who work on a flexible basis and use coworking facilities to find a work–life balance and overcome work–family conflicts.

The author uses a qualitative approach to explore the research questions. The first part of the empirical research undertakes an ethnographical approach in carrying out the unobstructed participant observation within five European coworking spaces targeted at improving comprehension of the spaces’ mediation mechanisms and development of supportive interactions. The second part traverses into conducting unstructured interviews with parents who work on a flexible basis and use a coworking space as their daily workplace.

This research paper reveals that flexible workers who found themselves juggling work tasks and family obligations tend to seek better conditions that assist them in tackling conflictual situations and, in addition, enhance their social lives to create further career opportunities. Coworking spaces are thus perceived as optimal workplaces by working parents in that they can find stability and scale their social networks within. Moreover, the continually evolving user interactions resulting from effective mediation mechanisms let these individuals find emotional support, increase productivity and exchange knowledge.

While the coworking industry is rapidly evolving and the academia is keener on investigating the field, the subcategory of work–life and family care within these collaborative environments is virtually unresearched. This paper provides valuable insight into the topic and serves as a knowledge base for the future exploration of this field.

The purpose of this study is to extend the current understanding of virtual team (VT) workers’ willingness to continue working in VTs and the forces driving their affective reactions to teamwork. Specifically, this paper applies the input-mediator-output-input (IMOI) literature to investigate the influence of workers’ perceptions of their peers’ skills and peers’ interactions on perceptions of the teamwork process and subsequent affective reactions.

This paper draws on a sample of 997 virtual and face-to-face (FtF) students embedded in 242 project teams to test the hypotheses using multi-group comparisons in structural equation modeling (SEM).

Results support the assertion that team processes are essential in translating team skills and interactions into satisfaction with the team. Further, this paper finds that skills are more influential on teammate satisfaction for FtFs than they are for VTs; and, conversely, that VTs’ interactions are more pivotal regarding teammate satisfaction through VT processes than they are in FtFs.

The effort contributes to the IMOI literature by showing how teams overcome virtuality to perform effectively and how team-embedded members react differently across VT and FtF contexts.

These findings are particularly notable given that prior research has suggested VT performance may not be contingent on social bonds within the team. Although this is possibly true for performance, the findings suggest that social interactions are, in fact, crucial to teams’ affective reactions.

This study aims to shed light on the ambiguous effects of smart working (SW) on work meaningfulness. On the one hand, SW enables people to benefit from greater work flexibility, advancing individual control over organizational activities. On the other hand, it may impair interpersonal exchanges at work, disrupting job meaningfulness. Hence, the implications of SW on work meaningfulness are investigated through the mediating role of interpersonal exchanges at work.

The authors investigate both the direct and indirect effects of SW on employees’ perceived meaningfulness at work. Secondary data come from the sixth European Working Conditions Survey. The study encompasses a sample of 30,932 employees. A mediation model based on ordinary least square regressions and bootstrap sampling is designed to obtain evidence of SW’s implications on meaningfulness at work through the mediating role of interpersonal relationships (IR).

The research findings suggest that SW triggers a positive sense of the significance of work. However, it negatively affects IR with peers and supervisors, entailing professional and spatial isolation. Impaired IR twists the positive implications of SW on organizational meaningfulness (OM), curtailing the employees’ sense of significance at work.

SW is a double-edged sword. It contributes to the enrichment of OM, enhancing the individual self-determination to shape the spatial context of work. However, its side effects on interpersonal exchanges generate a drift toward organizational meaninglessness. Tailored management interventions intended to sustain IR at work are needed to fit the design of SW arrangements to the employees’ evolving social needs.

The paper pushes forward what is currently known about the implications of SW on OM, examining them through the mediating role of IR at work.