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There are significantly fewer women than men in managerial positions, mainly project management. This problem is noticeable in the construction and engineering sectors, traditionally male-dominated industries with leadership much dependent on masculine qualities. This study examines the obstacles to the career progression of professional female project managers (PFPMs) in the Ghanaian construction industry.

Twenty potential obstacles to women's career progression in the construction industry were identified from a comprehensive review of the literature. A questionnaire was prepared and administered among eighty project managers who work in large construction firms in Ghana. Data obtained were analysed using one sample t-test, Kendall's concordance test, Chi-square test and exploratory factor analysis.

The findings suggest the significance of all the twenty factors as potential obstacles to the career progression of PFPMs. The exploratory factor analysis identified five underlying grouped obstacles: “leadership and human capital related issues”, “issues related to discrimination of all forms”, “career aspiration and planning issues”, “female related role conflicts”, and “recruitment and selection issues”.

The subjective nature of the views of the respondents could influence the evaluation of the obstacles. With this study only exploring the dimensions underlying the significant obstacles, future studies could examine the interrelationships between the various obstacles and move on to determine their impacts on the career progression of professional female PMs as well.

Having an in-depth understanding of these obstacles, stakeholders and other industry practitioners in Ghana could make informed decisions on measures to put in place to address some of these critical issues to raise the standard of professional female PMs in the construction industry. Policymakers and gender advocates in Ghana could also take up some of the critical obstacles identified and provide suitable strategies to educate and create the needed awareness of the industry on those obstacles. Practically, the findings from this study can be valuable for informing decision-making at different management levels in the construction industry.

With country-specific (Ghana) obstacles identified, the findings significantly contribute to the literature on the career advancement of females in the construction sector.

The purpose of this study is to identify groups of employees based on their motivations, detecting the main barriers that may influence their willingness to participate in the pro-environmental initiatives proposed by their employer.

To identify the different groups of employees, an online survey was conducted, and the Chi-square automatic interaction detection algorithm segmentation technique was used with a sample of 483 employees from 9 Latin American universities.

The results allowed us to identify various segments, in which the main obstacle linked to intrinsic motivation is the university culture and, to a lesser extent, the lack of equipment, while for extrinsic motivation, the lack of infrastructure is the most determining factor. Likewise, the results reflect that, compared to the less motivated employees, those who show greater motivation (both intrinsic and extrinsic) are the ones who encounter the greatest barriers, so that the perceptions of the most motivated, as expert observers, help to identify the main obstacles that organisations must remove to promote pro-environmental behaviours among staff members.

The results obtained help to guide the representatives or organisational leaders on the actions that generate the greatest impact in the mitigation of climate change from a motivational approach of behavioural prediction.

This study contributes to a more sustainable society by developing an understanding of how employees react to issues related to climate change. Knowing the perceptions of employees can be a turning point so that other members of society can get involved in pro-environmental behaviours.

Many studies have analysed the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of employees to engage in pro-environmental behaviours; however, as far as the authors are aware, this has not been analysed from the perspective of barriers to motivation.

The digital direct-to-consumer (D2C) approach has seen widespread adoption across many industries, but its application to regional food products has been slower. This study aims to identify and rank the most significant challenges to the widespread use of digital D2C for regional food products.

A multi-criteria decision-making method called a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) was used to determine the order in which these obstacles were evaluated. Thirty-five barriers were identified and categorized into six categories named technological, operational, sociocultural, financial, market and institutional and regulatory barriers.

Market barriers ranked as the top barrier, and the technological barrier ranked the least significant amongst the main barrier categories for the adoption of digital D2C model for the regional food products. Lack of consumer awareness ranked number one globally, and lack of government subsidies ranked the least amongst the thirty-five identified barriers. Operational barriers came out to be second most significant barrier followed by institutional and regulatory barrier, sociocultural barrier, financial barrier and technological barrier.

The findings of this research were derived through a numerical examination of data gathered from the Indian setting. It follows that the technological, sociocultural, financial, market, operational and institutional constraints, among others, outlined here are all unique to India. Because of the unique nature of the Indian setting, the results of this study can only be used there and not elsewhere. It is possible that future research will broaden the aims of this one and refine its methodology. Digital D2C adoption for regional food products may be prioritized and ranked using quantitative and qualitative data sources like ANP and TOPSIS. It is possible that similar studies may be conducted in nations which have a different set of operational, technological, sociocultural market and financial and regulatory barriers. Conceptual framework can be formed by integrating TAM and TPB to understand the buying behavior of regional food products via digital D2C.

This research is the first to identify challenges to the widespread use of the digital D2C model for regional food products. Policymakers and other interested parties can use this information to better understand the difficulties of expanding the distribution of regional food products beyond their immediate regions.

Manufacturing organization has adopted the concept of sustainability to improve the performance of product and process as well as to focus on environmental issues. Despite technological advancements and awareness, there exist several performance obstacles for the implementation of sustainable manufacturing in an organization. The objective of the current study is to identify the performance obstacles, propose a structural model and validate the proposed model.

Twelve performance obstacles are identified through critical literature review and discussion with field experts. Primary and secondary factor analysis, that is, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), are used for the creation of the structural model, and further, structural equation modeling is used as a validating tool. EFA deals with the categorization of all performance obstacles in four major criteria, and CFA works for proposing a model for a relationship among all obstacles.

A validated structural model is provided through hypothesis acceptance for structural equation modeling. The outcome of this study can be helpful for decision-makers to incorporate sustainable practices in the manufacturing organization.

This study has extracted and identified performance obstacles for the implementation of sustainable manufacturing based on critical literature review and discussion with field experts. The study proposes as well as validates the structural equation model.

This study examines the interconnected effects of formal, informal, environmental and skill-based institutional barriers on firm performance. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region has implemented various reforms and policy initiatives to support small businesses yet are unsuccessful as formal institutional framework and governance remains a challenge.

The authors employ a sample of 3,515 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from the ECOWAS and a two-stage instrumental variable approach to control for endogeneity. Additionally, the authors check for robustness using various measures of firm performance such as profitability, productivity and export intensity.

The authors confirm that formal institutions are insignificant for firm profitability and productivity, whilst reducing informal, environmental and skill-based institutional barriers are associated with firm performance. However, when barriers to informal, environmental and skill-based institutions are at the lowest, formal institutions are associated with firm performance.

The major limitation lies in the policy implications. Informal institutions come into play when formal institutions are weak. However, informal practices must be addressed in the form of formal enforcement. This leads to a conundrum.

Policymakers should continue to market-supporting institutions and a conducive business environment to complement the formal institutional framework.

This study provides new empirical evidence on how institutional quality affects firm performance by examining whether other institutional factors, such as the informal, environmental and skill-based institutional barriers, can moderate this effect.

Building information modelling (BIM) implementation in the design, construction and operations (DCO) industry is increasingly becoming essential. While BIM has been adopted on a larger scale in many developed economies, its acceptance is still in the embryonic phases for developing nations in the DCO industry. This study aims to identify the inhibitors to BIM implementation through the social network theoretical lens, intending to understand the associations among the barriers in the Indian context. Subsequently, recommend strategies to mitigate the barriers from the academic practitioner’s perspective.

A mixed methods research was adopted, commencing with comprehensive literature reviews to recognise various inhibitors to BIM implementation. These identified barriers were further examined through the questionnaire survey (n = 71). BIM implementation barrier network (BIBN) was created using University of California at Irvine Network (UCINET) is a powerful social network analysis software that functions on the principle of social network theory. The experts’ opinions were captured through the BIBN network through interviews. Network properties such as eigen vector centrality, betweenness centrality, degree centrality, in-degree and out-degree and clustering coefficient were computed, and the metrics were analysed further.

Twenty-six BIM implementation barriers were initially identified. A questionnaire survey was conducted. The chain reaction can be minimised by prioritising and regulating these barriers. The issues were categorised into fourfold clusters (standardisation, policy and process, cultural and human resources, change management and operational) issues were generated from the exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The obstacles and barriers resulting from the other main barriers associated with it can be minimised by reducing the challenges with high eigenvector centrality but low betweenness importance.

This study proves to accelerate sustainable BIM implementation growth in developing nations; this research study assists BIM stakeholders in developing coping mechanisms to monitor and remove BIM implementation barriers.

Analysing the associativity of the BIM implementation barriers through sociograms for developing nations is a novel concept with this research.

The aim of this paper is to examine a model that combines barriers, drivers, government responses, recovery expectations, expected future changes in performance and the extent of digitalisation as a moderator in SMEs.

This study uses exploratory causal methodologies. The study employs a quantitative methodology based on utilising an electronic questionnaire to gather the opinions of home workers and entrepreneurs in Jordan. The cross-sectional data collection approach was conducted in a single time frame, and a total of 1,179 valid questionnaires were analysed using Smart PLS along with SPSS.

The findings demonstrate that the barriers lower the expectations of recovering performance, whilst the drivers and government responses raise the expectations of both performance recovery and change in performance. Concerning digitalisation, this study discovered that firms going digital had a significant positive direct impact on expectations of performance change. This paper also found that expectations of performance change are significantly positively impacted by the interaction between drivers and digitalisation. However, the moderating influence of digitalisation on the positive impact of government responses on expectations of performance change was not verified.

The study's conclusions led to the formulation of several policy recommendations aimed at easing the burden on SMEs.

This study adds something new to the body of knowledge on SMEs by investigating the effects of barriers, drivers and government responses on expectations of performance recovery and the expected future change in performance moderated by digitalisation.

The purpose of this study is to report empirical research on gender managerial obstacles in UAE private organizations. It identifies the barriers that limit opportunities for gender equality promotion in managerial level positions.

Primary data were gathered from 384 female managers operating in UAE organizations using Survey Monkey and ANOVA for statistical analysis. Two variables (years of experience and industry) were used to compare the average means across the responses and the differences among the group.

The situation of gender equality in UAE management currently shows a positive trend. The females who participated in the survey have considerable work experience and jobs in a vital economic sector of the UAE industry. The earlier cultural stereotypes that worked against the interests of women in the UAE society are no longer relevant except for informal barriers and the level of cooperation among female leaders. We found differences among industry, service and transportation sectors in which gender managerial level in a private industry is dependent upon the number of years of experience for female managers.

The limitation of the study is the online survey was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic during the lockdown period in the spring of 2020, which led to a low number of participants responding to the questionnaire. Additionally, the survey did not include a nationality question to distinguish Emiratis from non-Emirati.

This study indicates a need to coordinate UAE female leaders' actions to protect their rights, develop formal and informal mechanisms of gender inequality realization in business and promote professional skills, orientation on social networks, and mentoring programs for female leaders. These initiatives improve the positions of female leaders.

The study of the UAE case adds to the existing literature on gender studies because the survey-based research in the UAE context contributes to the limited knowledge of Middle Eastern countries. The females’ employment and their representation in managerial levels remain lower compared to males. Differences exist among the industry, service and transportation sectors.

Implementing total quality management (TQM) is not without difficulties and achieving its promised benefits is not easy. The purpose of this paper is to identify the barriers to TQM successful implementation.

A literature review has been done to explore the major reasons for the failure of TQM programmes.

An examination of 54 TQM empirical studies identified 54 obstacles to successful TQM implementation. There are both theoretical and practical difficulties in applying TQM in organisations. An ineffective TQM package, inappropriate TQM implementation methods and an inappropriate environment for implementing TQM are the main reasons for TQM failure. The most frequently mentioned reasons for TQM implementation failures include insufficient education and training, lack of employees’ involvement, lack of top management support, inadequate resources, deficient leadership, lack of a quality-oriented culture, poor communication, lack of a plan for change and employee resistance to the change programme.

The review was limited to articles written in English language during the past 30 years (1980-2010).

TQM does deliver better performance when an appropriate model of TQM is appropriately implemented in a supportive environment. The findings of this paper provide managers with a practical understanding of the factors that are likely to obstruct TQM implementation. Managers should overcome these barriers to achieve the TQM benefits.

Understanding the factors that are likely to obstruct TQM implementation will help organisations in planning better TQM models.

The purpose of this paper is to present critical barriers and obstacles faced by Information Technology (IT) industry in the implementation of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) as the business improvement methodology.

A literature review of peer-reviewed journal articles, master and doctoral theses, paradigmatic books with managerial impact and survey reports was used to identify distinct barriers. An empirical survey, using 400 self-administered questionnaires, was then conducted. Data about 11 LSS barriers from 256 usable questionnaires, with a response rate of 64 per cent, were collected and analyzed by means of statistical data analysis software.

The challenges of “part-time involvement in Lean Six Sigma projects”, “time consuming”, “staff turnover in middle of project”, “difficulty in data collection” and “difficulty in identifying project scope” emerged as the most critical barriers in the context of IT industry. This research work advocates the development of a strategy for addressing the most critical barrier instead of focusing on all for successful implementation.

This paper will prove to be a fantastic resource for many researchers and practitioners who are engaged in research and applications of LSS in the IT industry. Moreover, the scarcity of literature specific to LSS in IT industry will be addressed to some extent.