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This introduction from Katalin R. Forray and Andrea Óhidy provides a brief overview of the social and education situation of European Roma and also about the structure of this book.

Roma are here described as a ‘hidden minority’ (see the country study about Italy from Valeria Cavioni in the book Lifelong Learning and the Roma Minority in Western and Southern Europe (2019)), because – although they are the largest minority group living in Europe for more than a hundred years – we still know very little about them. Although most of the Roma people have been living for centuries in European countries, their situation is still different from the non-Roma population; they often suffered from poverty and exclusion. There is a host of Roma, especially in Southern and in Eastern Europe, who is considered to be the most disadvantaged group in European societies; that is, regarding their (1) health situation, (2) on the labour, (3) on the housing market and (4) also in education. Questions of education are the central elements of politics making the situation of Roma better. To fulfil these requirements, some European countries have taken determined steps. As Natascha Hofmann in the country study about Germany wrote in the book Lifelong Learning and the Roma Minority in Western and Southern Europe (2019), we are in the phase of the ‘dawn of learning’ because there are more and more policies and programmes to develop attainment and success of Roma in European education and lifelong learning. This book wants to change this and gives an overview about retrospective and prospective tendencies in the situation of European Roma in education and lifelong learning.

This introduction from Andrea Óhidy and Katalin R. Forray provides a brief overview of the social and education situation of European Roma and also about the structure of this book. Roma are here described as a ‘hidden minority’ (see the country study about Italy from Valeria Cavioni), because – although they are the largest minority group living in Europe for more than a hundred years – we still know very little about them. Although most of the Roma people have been living for centuries in European countries, their situation is still different from the non-Roma population; they often suffered from poverty and exclusion. There is a host of Roma, especially in Southern and in Eastern Europe, who is considered to be the most disadvantaged group in European societies, for example, regarding their (1) health situation, (2) on the labour and (3) on the housing market and (4) also in education. Questions of education are the central elements of politics making the situation of Roma better. To fulfil these requirements some European countries have taken determined steps. As Natascha Hofmann in the country study about Germany wrote, we are in the phase of the ‘dawn of learning’ because there are more and more policies and programs to develop attainment and success of Roma in European education and lifelong learning. This book gives an overview about retrospective and prospective tendencies in the situation of European Roma in education and lifelong learning.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of a sustainability course that was designed to evoke measurable transformational changes in students’ preferences and in their roles as consumers, employees and citizens, via consciously addressing sustainability issues and involving a community partner.

The research was undertaken using mixed methods. Q-methodology helped create student groups with similar preferences for sustainable attitudes and behaviours before and after the course; the most important features of attitude changes and identify the phases of transformation were explored. In-depth interviews with each participant contributed to understanding and explaining the motivation for changing preferences and generated individual-level reflections about the perceived process of transformation.

Q-method highlighted how stakeholder roles were transformed from the three pre-factors to the three post-factors and for the whole group. Seven phases of transformational change are identified based on the reflective in-depth interviews from “no transformation” to “change agent behavior”.

Findings provide new perspectives for evaluating and embracing the transformational potential of sustainability courses.

Assessing the impacts of sustainability courses on students’ transformation via measuring their mindsets and behaviour preferences prior to and after a course is still an under-researched area, especially in relation to the Q-method. A further unique feature is how the influence of engaged community partner on students’ preferences is captured. The explored scope of individual responsibility goes beyond environmental awareness and addresses participants in various stakeholder roles simultaneously, by examining their priorities as consumers, employees and citizens.

This introduction from Andrea Óhidy and Katalin R. Forray provides a brief overview of the social and educational situation of Roma in the Western Balkan region and the structure of this book. Like in the books Lifelong Learning and the Roma Minority in Central and Eastern Europe (2019) and Lifelong Learning and the Roma Minority in Western and Southern Europe (2020), Roma are here described as a ‘hidden minority’ (Cavioni, 2020, p. 68), because despite the great number and the century-long history of Roma people on the European continent, there is still only limited information and knowledge about them, both in public awareness and scientific research. Although most members of the Roma minority have been living for centuries in their European home countries, their situation is still different from the non-Roma populations: They often suffer from socio-economic disadvantages and hate-motivated harassment and discrimination (EU-FRA, 2020a). This is not only the case in the member-states of the European Union but also in the Western Balkan region. All across Europe, there are Roma groups, which are considered to be the most disadvantaged minority, regarding their health, employment and housing and also in education. To increase their situation, European Union member states have developed common strategies, which play a part in negotiations for an EU-membership status. The so-called Western Balkan states – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia – might join the European Union in the coming years. The social inclusion of the Roma minority and the protection of their minority rights in these countries were formulated as a precondition for their application for EU membership. Therefore, several goals, policies and measures were implemented there to break the ‘vicious circle of poverty and discrimination’ (EU-FRA, 2020b). Participation in education and lifelong learning have become central elements of these political measures for Roma Inclusion. This book examines the education situation of Roma across the so-called Western Balkan region.

There is still no generally accepted quality model of consulting services. This is particularly the case for management consulting projects, where scope is often indefinite. The purpose of this paper is to identify the clients’ underlying utility preferences and their perceived quality dimensions.

The research is a qualitative data collection from 22 expert interviews performed in the financial service sector. Interviewees from the client-side were decision-makers from different hierarchical levels with considerable experience in working with consultants, while the consultant sample was obtained by selecting professionals with relevant project experience. The model development was based on the grounded theory.

Based on a content analysis of a 600-page transcript of interviews, it was found that customers construct their judgments on consulting service quality through five main attributes: consultants, client adaption, consulting process, deliverables and communication. Because of the strong overlaps of the attributes, four better separable quality dimensions – as a conceptual model – were identified: expertise, relations, involvement and performance.

Among managerial implications for consulting firms, support of buying organization in setting clear project objectives, flexibility in partnership and readiness for overperformance can be underlined.

There is little empirical research that focuses on the conceptualization of management consulting service quality from a client perspective. The value of the paper is the exploration of perceived service quality dimensions of management consulting projects and a consulting context-specific list of quality attributes.

The purpose of this paper is to argue for the sustained need for the physical workplace and real-life encounters in higher education even in the digital age despite being seemingly transformable into the virtual sphere as seen during the COVID-19 situation.

This study is based on a collaborative autoethnography by a group of seven higher educators with an overall 2,134 student encounters during the study’s time span. The authors then connect these practitioner observations with relevant COVID-19-related studies thereby adding to research on higher education as a workplace.

The data suggest that the physical workplace strongly bolsters the personal experience and effectiveness of higher education through contributing to its dynamics. Spaces predetermine the scope and levels of human interaction of teaching and learning. In a physical setting, all senses serve as mediators, whereas, online, only two senses are involved: vision and hearing. The two-dimensional screen becomes a mediator of communications. In the physical space, actors are free to adjust the working space, whereas the online working space is limited and defined by platforms.

Although higher education institutions may indeed fully substitute most practices formerly in a physical setting with online solutions, real-time encounters in the physical working space belong to its deeper raisons d'être.

This paper highlights the necessity of the physical workplace in higher education and describes the depriving potential of the exclusively online higher education teaching setting.

The paper aims to analyse organisational values from a personal perspective. The purpose was to explore how employees learn about corporate values and how they relate to these values. The motivation has been one of discovery of current practices in businesses, with a strong focus on corporate values and their effects on employees.

The authors offer a review of the key definitions and main theoretical frameworks of values. Four case studies provide empirical data to establish some understanding of how values are identified and the extent to which they are translated into behaviours and attitudes in the workplace. The paper combines an overview of literature on values and semi-constructed telephone interviews with 26 interviewees from four organisations about corporate and individual values.

Values are positively related to, and central to the concept of the self, and are distinct from norms. Both the literature review and the multiple case studies’ empirical findings suggest that values are worth striving for and successful embedding of them requires a “culture of sharing”. Without the culture of sharing corporate values will not penetrate the organisation or have any meaningful impact on behaviour.

The paper highlights the importance of considering corporate values from a personal perspective. Organisations wanting to strengthen corporate values need to engage in conversations about values regularly across the organisation. Leaders need to be part of these discussions without dominating or forcefully influencing them.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relation of spirituality and creativity in business context.

The paper presents practical examples of spiritual-based creative business models in different faith traditions (Hinduism, Christianity and Anthroposophy).

Spirituality and a deep sense of connectedness are essential to enhance creativity and care in business. Spirituality creates free space and openness to allow the future to emerge organically. It creates a distance between the self and the pressures of the market and the routines of business and daily life. This distance is a necessary condition for developing creative, ethical and responsible solutions to the complex challenges around us.

Spiritually inspired creative business models overcome the instrumental rationality and materialistic orientation of today’s business management which produces large scale ecological, social and ethical “ills.” The paper shows that alternative business management practices need a spiritual foundation to be more creative and caring.

The goal of the paper is to identify the comprehensive trends, practical implications and risks of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the economy and society, exploring the expectations of Hungarian powerful actors in a global arena.

Sociology of expectations framed the theoretical considerations. The explorative research design presents an anonymous qualitative online survey. Respondents represent the Hungarian AI Coalition with a quarter of the members.

The key finding is a controversial result. Although AI is interpreted as a decision-supportive and problem-solving technology for the economy, uncertainties and fears for the society are clearly formulated. Interpreting the results and the originality of the paper, trust building and responsibility sharing in cross-industrial collaborations are fundamental to reduce social uncertainties, override the popular or science fiction narratives and increase the future well-being.

The length of textual responses did not allow a deeper analysis. However, for professional reasons, participants were committed to completing the survey.

The paper suggests for business and policymaking to identify the AI technology as a tool distinguishing from tech-owners’ responsibilities. Therefore, the implications of the study support a reliable AI and also potential for cross-industrial collaborations.

The paper highlights the uncertainties of business investment and policymaking to encourage a comparative research project in the EU for trustworthy AI. Similar exploratory studies with the same focus, sample and outcome are not available yet