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Entrepreneurial exit research has overlooked the unique context of exits at retirement age when an exit marks the end of an entrepreneurial career (i.e. retirement). To better understand retirement exit decisions and transitions, this study introduces the concept of work ability (i.e. an individual’s ability to meet work demands) into the entrepreneurial exit literature and, based on role theory, hypothesises its effect and interaction with general life satisfaction in explaining the entrepreneurial exits to retirement. The study clarifies the dynamics between the voluntary and non-voluntary aspects behind exit to retirement.

The authors use mixed-effects ordinal logistic regression with four-wave panel data on 198 Finnish small business entrepreneurs who intend to retire to test hypotheses on the relationship between work ability, general life satisfaction and entrepreneurial exit to retirement.

The study provides partial support for the hypothesis that work ability negatively impacts entrepreneurial exit to retirement and strong support for the idea that this effect is affected by general life satisfaction. Entrepreneurs who experience higher life satisfaction are likely to retire on their own terms, whereas those less satisfied continue working until declining work ability forces them to retire.

The study contributes to the entrepreneurial exit literature by showing how the exit dynamics unfold in the unique context of entrepreneurial exit to retirement. The theoretical discussion opens up the potential psychological mechanisms behind such dynamics.

The pandemic has necessitated employees to work virtually due to mandatory work-from-home setup. Since every employee is not comfortable working online owing to their individual differences which impact performance, thus, it is essential to identify individual characteristics governing performance. As per conventional theories, cognition and metacognition have a significant impact on employee performance, and the key to performance in a collaborative online environment also is metacognition. However, this has been scarcely explored in the context of virtual workspace. This study, therefore, empirically investigates the influence of metacognition and its sub-domains on employees' virtual performance given the challenges they face in a virtual work environment.

The cross-sectional study used a purposive sampling technique for data collection. Data collected from 534 professionals with high and low levels of metacognitive ability is analysed using univariate analysis to ascertain whether metacognitive ability helps employees deal with challenges associated with virtual work environments and perform better.

Results confirm a significant relationship between the level of metacognitive ability and virtual performance. Further, the findings also confirm the interaction effect of the level of metacognitive ability and challenge of maintaining work and non-work boundaries and the need for the physical presence of team member/s in predicting virtual performance.

This study is the first empirical attempt to examine the linkage between metacognitive ability and performance among professionals in the context of post-pandemic virtual work environment and challenges.

The purpose of the study is to identify the soft skills and abilities that are crucial to success in the fields of operations management (OM) and supply chain management (SCM), using the O*NET database and the classification of a set of professional figures integrating values for task skills and abilities needed to operate successfully in these professions.

The study used the O*NET database to identify the soft skills and abilities required for success in OM and SCM industries. Correlation analysis was conducted to determine the tasks required for the job roles and their characteristics in terms of abilities and soft skills. ANOVA analysis was used to validate the findings. The study aims to help companies define specific assessments and tests for OM and SCM roles to measure individual attitudes and correlate them with the job position.

As a result of the work, a set of soft skills and abilities was defined that allow, through correlation analysis, to explain a large number of activities required to work in the operations and SCM (OSCM) environment.

The work is inherently affected by the database used for the professional figures mapped and the scores that are attributed within O*NET to the analyzed elements.

The information resulting from this study can help companies develop specific assessments and tests for the roles of OM and SCM to measure individual attitudes and correlate them with the requirements of the job position. The study aims to address the need to identify soft skills in the human sphere and determine which of them have the most significant impact on the OM and SCM professions.

The originality of this study lies in its approach to identify the set of soft skills and abilities that determine success in the OM and SCM industries. The study used the O*NET database to correlate the tasks required for specific job roles with their corresponding soft skills and abilities. Furthermore, the study used ANOVA analysis to validate the findings in other sectors mapped by the same database. The identified soft skills and abilities can help companies develop specific assessments and tests for OM and SCM roles to measure individual attitudes and correlate them with the requirements of the job position. In addressing the necessity for enhanced clarity in the domain of human factor, this study contributes to identifying key success factors. Subsequent research can further investigate their practical application within companies to formulate targeted growth strategies and make appropriate resource selections for vacant positions.

The adaptive performance of architects as a key professional in project delivery teams has become important for developing strategies, skills and cognitive behaviours for sustainability of working systems. However, the understanding and knowledge of adaptive performance of architects is lacking in the current literature. Thus, this study fills this gap by primarily assessing the adaptive performance of architects in project teams in project delivery.

By adopting the widely used eight-dimension attributes of adaptive performance, a questionnaire survey was conducted among team participants and stakeholders who directly or indirectly work on projects with architects in the public and private sectors project delivery supply chain in Ghana. A total of 42 responses were subsequently used in a fuzzy set theory analysis being facilitated by a set of linguistic terms.

From the assessment, the overall adaptive performance of architects from the eight-dimension attributes emerged to be fairly high. Additionally, the architects’ performance in the individual eight-dimensions showed varied results. High performance was registered in architects’ ability to handling work stress and cultural adaptability. Also, architects demonstrated a fairly high performance in dealing with uncertain or unpredictable work situations. However, in the cases of learning work tasks, technologies and procedures, interpersonal adaptability and handling crisis and emergency situations, architects were deemed to have low and fairly low adaptive performance among project teams.

Given the vagueness and complexities in understanding adaptability among teams and its assessment, through the use of fuzzy set theory based on a suitable set of linguistics terms, the study presents a novel understanding of the level of architects’ adaptive performance in project teams in project delivery. The findings are extremely useful in helping architects adapt and cope with changing competitive work environment by developing the right cognitive behaviours for task functions and organizational roles, disruptions and aiding their ability to self-regulate.

Executive isolation of C-suite executives (CXOs), amplified by imposed and voluntary remote working practices, has emerged as a major challenge that is impacting the collaborative needs of CXOs, the work–life balance and hence career progression. This paper aims to examine the impact of remote working on executive isolation impacting the collaborative needs, work–life balance and career of CXOs from organizations in India.

Qualitative research approach was adopted for the study. The respondents based on inclusion criteria were selected through purposive sampling. The survey was administered to 50 CXOs representing multinational companies in India, of which 45 CXOs responded. The data was analyzed using MAXQDA 2022 (Verbi Software, Berlin, Germany).

Companies try to save costs by promoting remote working but might countermine its implications on CXOs collaborative needs, work–life balance and career slowdown. Businesses are now able to hire CXOs and other people who do not physically work alongside their counterparts but at the cost of enhancing executive isolation and loss of productivity. Imposed remote working can adversely affect the CXOs interactivity and productivity, thus enhancing executive isolation and impacting career progression.

The remote working was mandatory during the pandemic but became a practice henceforth. The impact of remote working on the CXOs collaborative needs, work–life balance and career progression has largely been unstudied. There is limited awareness about impact of remote working on executive isolation and its multiplier effect impacting the CXOs careers and it is an inward challenge which needs to be mitigated by the companies. This aspect can lead to the CXOs not being able to achieve their objectives, making the organizations lose trust on their ability to lead and eventually slowing down their career progression, due to remote working led executive isolation.

The a priori identification and development of army personnel competencies are necessary to enable effective and efficient responses to rapidly changing climate conditions. Accordingly, this study aims to identify the performance requirements of a military flood responder and the competencies (knowledge, skills and abilities) required to perform it.

Using an abductive approach, the authors conducted both secondary and primary research to generate a validated framework of performance criteria and competencies for army personnel responding to floods. This literature review integrated both the peer-reviewed academic literature and public sector grey literature. Using the critical incident technique, the authors then conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) who had previously been tasked with flood response operations. Participants were asked about the tasks required while conducting flood response operations. Interview transcripts were then content analysed to identify themes regarding those tasks, and the competencies needed to perform those tasks were then extracted and contrasted with the literature review findings. Inter-rater reliability for the analysis was established via iterative discussion between the two co-authors.

The primary data reinforced and expanded the list of performance expectations that the authors deductively identified from the integrated literature review, adding granularity to each. It also identified competencies (including both hard and soft skills) and highlighted previously neglected contextual antecedents of military flood response effectiveness.

though knowledge saturation was achieved from the 15 interviews conducted, further research with larger samples could more deeply ground the evidence discovered in this study. Nevertheless, the competencies identified in this paper could serve as a starting guide to staffing and/or training interventions targeted at improving these competencies for personnel responding to flood scenarios.

The theoretical findings also have immediate practical relevance to training for flood response operations. In particular, the subtle challenges in competency crossover from military operations to flood response operations may facilitate not only more efficient, targeted training (that could improve the effectiveness of army personnel involved in humanitarian roles), but could be applied to the selection of army personnel as well. This study may also help provincial/municipal operators and emergency planners by better communicating the strengths and limitations of army personnel in addressing civilian military cooperation for humanitarian operations. Thus, the findings of this research study represent an important first step in prompting attention to the strategic human resource planning studies required to make all responders more efficient and effective in their respective division of labour within the humanitarian domain.

Peering a little beyond these research findings, human-induced climate change is expected to continue increasing the frequency of such events (IPCC, 2021), and a timely, national force is likely to be increasingly required for Canadians impacted by major disasters stemming from natural hazards when local resources become overwhelmed. Yet, there is some concern from the CAF that increasing responsiveness to disaster operations will affect their military readiness (Leuprecht and Kasurak, 2020). One can indeed envision a paradox whereby the CAF is both a “force of last resort” while increasingly becoming a “first choice for domestic disaster and emergency assistance”. The practical implications from this research also suggest that military personnel, while fully capable of successfully conducting flood response operations, may become overburdened and less able to adopt yet greater capacity and training for other additional humanitarian work. Nevertheless, the competencies highlighted by participants can help inform the next flood response operation in Canada.

Most literature in the field of emergency response focuses on cooperation between civilian and military resources and other strategic-level themes. The findings address critical granularity missing at the operational and tactical levels of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief research. The authors also draw implications beyond the military context, including for local/regional governmental players (operators and emergency planners) as well as for volunteers in flood response roles.

While work-life policies (WLPs) are tools that employees may draw on to better manage and balance their work and life demands, there is growing evidence that suggests the usage of WLPs may negatively impact other employees. Drawing from the theory of role dynamics and social role theory, we examine the indirect effect of co-workers taking childcare leave (CTCL) on work anxiety via work-role overload, as well as the impact of gender on this indirect relationship.

We used Prolific Academic to recruit 236 employees to participate in a three-wave study. These data were analyzed as a hypothesized structural equation modelling (SEM) using SPSS AMOS.

Findings reveal: (1) CTCL positively relates to work anxiety via work-role overload, and (2) gender moderates this indirect effect such that this positive relationship is stronger for men than women.

Work-life policy makers should take note of the “hidden costs” associated with work-life policy usage on other employees. Managers should work with policy users to mitigate the negative effects of policy usage on others.

In contrast to broader WLP research, which focuses on the benefits of policy usage on the policy user, this research shows the negative implications of work-life policies on others’ work anxiety via work-role overload. In doing so, it becomes the first study to showcase a crossover effect of CTCL on employees’ work anxiety.

This research paper aims to integrate the employee-related factors that empirical literature considers antecedents of performance (skills, work motivation, personal characteristics) into a multiple linear regression model, and to test such a model in order to measure the level of each individual factor on the performance.

Quantitative, multisource research approach. After testing the validity of the model with a Confirmatory Factor Analysis, this research applies the multiple linear regression model Work performance = a(Skills) + b(Work Motivation) + c(Personal Characteristics) + e(constant) to two different samples of workers: chemical technicians (N = 63) and salespeople (N = 61).

This study confirms the factorial structure of the antecedents of work performance, showing that skills, motivation, and personal characteristics are three general employee-related factors underlying work performance. The statistical analysis highlights a variance in performance between 40 and 65% explained by employee-related factors, hence leaving 35–60% as due to factors outside the model (firm/environment-related and/or job-related factors, or other skills and personal characteristics not considered in the model). The study also highlights that employee-related factors sometimes affect performance differently than job designers' expectations, and sometimes even negatively.

The equation was tested on two case studies, so further explorations are needed. Furthermore, the approach adopted is inductive thus describing performance as it is, not as it should be. Therefore, it explains the best actual performance of workers, not the ideal performance.

The equation tested here represents a simple and valid tool to guide many Human Resource Management practices, such as; selection, training, development, and career orientation.

Findings provide a valid indication for designing and managing human resource management systems more even-handedly, from an organizational and employee point of view. In doing so, it drives organizations towards a better Person/Job fit.

The study represents one of the first attempts to take into consideration multiple factors simultaneously in explaining work performance.

The aim of the study is to investigate the impact of job characteristics on gig worker performance in India. In addition, this study examines the role of work–life balance as a mediator in exploring the impact of job characteristics, namely, flexibility and job autonomy and person–job fit on gig workers performance among location-based gig workers.

A total of 266 responses were collected by gig workers using a questionnaire-based survey. The responses were analyzed using the partial least square structural equation modeling technique.

The study results indicate that factors of job characteristics and person–job fit significantly enhance the gig worker performance and also finds work–life balance as significant mediator. These results provide evidence for the hypotheses, which emphasizes that these aspects will have a beneficial effect on the performance of gig workers.

This research contributes to the field of the gig economy by empirically examining the study factors to understand the work dynamics in flexible work arrangements. Based on the findings, the gig platforms and policymakers can formulate strategies for establishing job design for enhancing work–life balance, which subsequently enhances gig workers performance.

The aim of this paper is to enhance understanding of the use of sourcing teams (STs) by organisations in their procurement and supply chain management. The paper achieves this by exploring, within the context of the supply chain directorate of a global aerospace manufacturing company (GAMC), both the relationship between sourcing teamwork effectiveness (TE) and sourcing task-work effectiveness (TA) and the relationship between individual team member knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) and TE.

The authors develop a theoretical model positing positive links between both KSAs and TE and TE and TA. The model is empirically validated using partial least squares structural equation modelling in a survey of 108 ST members from a GAMC.

The authors identify that, within GAMC, four of five KSAs drive TE and further discover the direct effects of TE on improved TA. Additionally, the authors observe within GAMC the indirect effects of KSAs on TA cascading through TE.

Limitations include the use of a single firm and self-report measures for data collection. In spite of this, the paper has numerous research implications. Previous research on STs has combined factors related to TE and TA. In this paper, TE and TA were disaggregated, and the relationships between them were explored. The relationships were found to be positive within GAMC, a finding that strengthens the evidence base supporting the use of STs by organisations in their procurement and supply chain management. In addition, the paper also strengthened the evidence base regarding the importance of KSAs to TE, which complements existing research highlighting the importance of team-level factors and individual technical attributes.

The findings from GAMC suggest that executives/managers should take an individual as well as a team-level perspective when developing STs and should consider KSAs as well as technical knowledge when judging individuals’ suitability for inclusion within an ST. There are established KSA tests in the literature that could be used by managers for this task. The findings also inform executives/managers that TE matters for TA and needs attention and investment, especially where sourcing tasks concern high-value areas and/or critical incidents within supply chains.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to explore the relationship between TE and TA. Establishing that this relationship is a positive one provides critically important evidence regarding the efficacy of STs, which are widely used within procurement and supply chain management. It is also a rare study looking at TE from the perspective of individual team member KSAs, with further positive relationships revealed. Both findings enhance what is a very limited literature on a widely used practice within procurement and supply chain management.