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This study aims to investigate the most effective enablers and tools for inhabitants’ knowledge acquisition in public policymaking organizations.

Based on a literature review, the study summarized 51 individual, organizational, technological and inhabitant-related enablers of inhabitants’ knowledge acquisition, as well as 36 technological and social tools. The study assessed the effectiveness of these enablers and tools based on two rounds of a Delphi study targeting 31 policymakers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Kendall’s coefficient of concordance was assessed to determine consensus among participating policymakers.

The findings indicate that the most effective enablers were inhabitants’ willingness to get involved, information technology (IT) infrastructure, IT staff support and inhabitants’ trust in policymakers. Additionally, the study found that the most effective tools for inhabitants’ knowledge acquisition included meetings, interviews, social media and field visits.

Inhabitants’ knowledge acquisition is an important social and economic force that will drive change in any society by enabling the implementation of innovative ideas and practices. A review of the relevant research shows that despite the usability of inhabitants’ knowledge, the degree to which inhabitants’ knowledge acquisition is integrated into the public policymaking system remains unclear. This study of inhabitants’ knowledge acquisition from the policymaker perspective provides a better understanding of the inhabitants’ knowledge acquisition process in policymaking organizations.

The study explores the connection between foresight and Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods in a community within an environment of social instability in Colombia. It aims to contribute to research on aligning these methods for future-shaping, with the goal of enhancing shared governance, peer learning and collective learning among traditional decision-makers and local communities in emerging countries. The study seeks to foster a community of social actors who are likely to engage constructively in strategic dialogues. To enhancing shared governance and learning a hybrid model is synthesized, combining foresight and computational intelligence.

The case study explores the integration of computational intelligence and foresight through Gaston Bachelard's (Bachelard, 1936) phenomenology concept of ante-perception. The mathematical representation of the cone of scenarios provides a structured way to explore multiple future pathways, allowing communities to visualize and compare different trajectories and make informed decisions amid uncertainty. The model facilitates critical reflections on present assumptions, deepening insights into future scenarios. Ante-perception challenges traditional approaches to foresight by encouraging a break from established experiences, allowing for novel insights into possible futures. When enriched by computational intelligence, this reflective process is further strengthened by quantitative approach scenario modeling.

This research develops and tests a proposal that includes the logic and methods for constructing a mathematical representation of the cone of scenarios. This process, which is interactive and deliberative, is driven by anticipation and combines qualitative and quantitative approaches within a context of high uncertainty. By combining the critical reflection facilitated by ante-perception with the predictive power of computational intelligence, the model allows communities to transcend established thought patterns and explore innovative future possibilities. This integrative approach helps them envision and work toward social self-transformation.

The article aims to identify the creation of scenarios in contexts of high uncertainty, to respond to the needs of communities in emerging countries to manage change.

This article explores a novel approach to using foresight for address collective intelligence by developing a shared future vision in high-uncertainty contexts within local communities in emerging countries. The application of the hybrid model demonstrates that foresight is a key innovative social tool for developing long-term strategic reflection and planning for territories.

In developing long-term reflective processes, explaining phenomena, mechanisms and correlations requires the use of value judgments. This set of value judgments requires a representation that facilitates their treatment, helps to account for their behavior during the inference process to form a shared future vision. Consequently, ensuring the recognition of the opinions of local communities through participatory discussion spaces and their subsequent refinement, from a technical perspective, aims to illustrate the development of this social construction process. While similarities exist, differences add value through a transfer process, often subconscious. This process stimulates collective learning and builds capacities as knowledge is developed through inquiry, evaluation, interpretation and generalization.

This research provides a unique hybrid model that fosters collective learning and engagement by integrating local community perspectives with advanced computational intelligence methods. By facilitating both reflective and quantitative approach future-shaping, it offers a practical framework for addressing uncertainty while empowering communities to shape their own futures. It underscores the importance of recognizing local community views through bottom-up participatory discussions, thereby widening the stakeholder community to active engagement in addressing broader societal issues. The case study focuses on community collaboration in Puerto Gaitán, a Colombian municipality.

The objective of this paper is to contextualize the recently developed process of toxic leadership (PTL) model to international business (IB) intercultural (IC) contexts. This is important because of the potential for cultural conflict to compromise organizational spiritual capital, a crucial driver for success defined by the bottom-line and employee satisfaction. Thus, the paper addresses the gap that is imperative for practical societal reasons of realizing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), because the bottom-line is an important driver for international partnerships, a crucial element of SDG 17 and inclusivity is a contributing element of SDG 8 that pertains to decent work.

A case study design was adopted to facilitate modification of existing theory. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in Japanese (IB/IC) contexts to understand the lived experience of Japanese business leaders and host country managers (followers) in the USA and India. A social constructivist thematic analysis was deployed to examine the data.

Our study illustrates the degree to which the PTL model ports to IB situations, with a refinement on the workarounds for resistance by host country employees. The findings suggest that policymakers seduced by IB business market opportunities also need to address the dark side of these activities by ensuring proactive measures, such as language training and cross-cultural awareness, to ensure decent work as perceived by the follower.

This research discusses implications for the evolving zeitgeist of human-centrism in organizations. Although the adopted subjectivist interpretivism presents a concomitant limitation of generalization, the research nevertheless successfully raises flags against the hegemonic positive assessment of the UN SDGs.

Connections to international subsidiary leadership selection are offered. Additionally, the research raises the specter of breach in leader–follower trust compromising organizational spiritual capital.

Our research shows that society should consider potential misalignments with human centricity when promoting international partnerships, such as in the name of the UN SDG 17.

The PTL model is relatively new to leadership scholarship. The present paper is novel in extending it to IB’s intercultural contexts. Moreover, as an exemplar of its application, it challenges and adds nuance through adjustment and ambiguity to the generally positive assessment of Japanese leadership in the conventional leadership literature.

This paper investigates the intersectionality of entrepreneurial masculinity within the context of venture accelerators. As such, it aims to shed light on how intersecting factors influence the construction and expression of masculinity among male entrepreneurs in venture accelerators.

This research is based on an in-depth analysis of four distinct accelerator cohort groups, employing a semi-structured interview approach. Interviewees were conducted with four accelerator managers and 52 male accelerator participants across four distinct accelerator cohort groups. Such a methodological choice is deemed instrumental in unravelling the nuanced dynamics within accelerator environments and their implications on hegemonic masculinity.

This study elucidates the nuanced ways in which men navigate the venture accelerator landscape. The findings revealed that the accelerator environment facilitated the reinforcement of traditional masculine behaviours. Whilst diversity was ostensibly valued, its acceptance decreased if it posed a challenge to male dominance or stereotypical masculine traits. Indeed, there was marginalisation of nontraditional expressions of masculinity, leading to a sense of “othering”.

By integrating intersectionality theory into the examination of masculine dynamics within venture accelerator contexts, this study expands current understanding of venture accelerator environments and their effects on both traditional and nontraditional forms of hegemonic masculinity. In particular, we highlight the impact of non-intersectional institutional norms on male entrepreneurs who deviate from traditional stereotypes. As such, we advance the understanding of venture accelerators by examining how they perpetuate and reinforce traditional masculine norms, even in environments that strive for diversity.

This paper aims to explore how Indonesian males who are entrepreneurs in make-up artists navigate their businesses in a society that relies on hegemonic masculinity. This goal is reached by concentrating on male make-up artist entrepreneurs in five Indonesian provinces and investigating how they actively rewrite their gender and inherent vocations by societal norms.

This paper adopts a qualitative phenomenological approach with methods. In-depth interviews and observations were conducted with 28 informants in five provinces of Indonesia.

These findings show that, aside from self-concept, family support is the most crucial determining factor that pushes men make-up artists to become businesses in the face of so many rejections. Persistence in battling for their fate is also critical in efforts to erase themselves, who are constantly subjected to hegemonic masculinity. Aside from that, it appears that the government's role in attempts to promote gender equality in all fields of business in Indonesia remains limited.

This paper contributes to the gender and entrepreneurship literature by providing a broader exploration of male entrepreneurs working in the field of female make-up artists in a society that still adheres to hegemonic masculinity.

This paper describes the development of a digital role play game (RPG) designed to help construction apprentices to better communicate with their supervisors about issues with the potential to impact on their physical and psychological health and safety.

A participatory approach was adopted to utilise the knowledge and insights of the target users to inform the digital RPG development. Apprentices and supervisors were interviewed to identify characteristics of effective supervisor-apprentice communication, which became the RPG’s learning objectives. The scenarios constructed in the RPG were drawn from lived experiences shared by the apprentices in the interviews. During the development process, consultations were conducted with an advisory committee comprising of apprentices and supervisors to improve the realism of the RPG scenarios.

Three scenarios were developed for the RPG. In each scenario, players are asked to make decisions at various interaction points about how the characters should respond to the unfolding and challenging situations. Scripts were developed for the game, which were acted out and motion captured to animate digital MetaHuman characters embedded in a virtual construction site. Two example situations are introduced in this paper to illustrate the development process.

To our knowledge, the RPG introduced is one of the first applications of digital game-based training in the construction industry. The adoption of a participatory design approach ensures that the game content relates to real-world experiences. The digital RPG is highly interactive and engaging in nature and presents a novel approach to developing “soft” skills in construction.

The purpose of this article is to deepen understanding of how emotional intelligence (EI) and artificial intelligence (AI) affect organizational behavior from a phenomenological perspective. Through philosophical lenses – particularly Descartes, Husserl and Merleau-Ponty – it highlights the contrasts and similarities between these forms of intelligence. The study aims to explore how AI and EI shape human experience and meaning-making in organizations, providing insights into how AI integration can foster more human-centered organizational practices.

This study employs a phenomenological approach to explore the philosophical underpinnings of EI and AI. By examining Descartes’ Cartesian dualism and Husserl’s phenomenology, the study analyzes the alignment and divergence between AI and these philosophical perspectives. The methodology integrates literature review and conceptual analysis to link philosophical insights with their organizational behavior implications, offering a framework that critically examines AI’s impact on human experience and organizational dynamics.

The findings highlight that emotional intelligence, rooted in the body-mind interaction, offers a human-centered view of experience, distinct from artificial intelligence. However, combining AI with EI can enhance organizational behavior by promoting more empathetic approaches. While AI can mimic cognitive functions, it lacks the embodied emotional experiences essential for human interaction. This insight emphasizes the need for AI systems to support, rather than disrupt, organizational meaning-making processes.

This article offers an original interdisciplinary perspective, merging phenomenological philosophy with organizational behavior. By examining emotional and artificial intelligence through Descartes, Husserl and Merleau-Ponty, the study presents fresh insights into AI design that prioritizes human-centered development. It contributes to AI ethics and organizational behavior literature by emphasizing the role of emotional intelligence in guiding AI integration within organizational contexts.

The widespread use of mobile devices raises concerns about their negative effects on users’ well-being but also presents business opportunities. To harness this phenomenon effectively, understanding various aspects of user engagement is essential. This study aims to develop and empirically evaluate a conceptual framework for examining user engagement in mobile technology.

This study explores user engagement with mobile technology. The authors developed a conceptual model and collected data through an online survey, focusing on engagement with mobile apps, services and devices. The authors analyzed the data to identify factors influencing each aspect of the mobile engagement.

The findings suggest that engaging mobile apps should be visually appealing, novel, reliable and enjoyable. Mobile services engage users when they are easily accessible and adaptable to diverse needs. These results emphasize the importance of dissecting mobile technology engagement into app, service and device engagement for a deeper understanding of their impacts.

This study underscores the significance of comprehensively understanding user engagement in mobile technology. By delineating engagement dimensions and their determinants, it offers insights for businesses to optimize strategies in leveraging mobile user behavior. This structured approach enhances theoretical understanding and has practical implications for designing user-centric mobile technology solutions.

This exploratory pilot study investigated the experiences and perceptions of young people who use N₂O recreationally. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first qualitative research conducted in Australia with young people investigating this topic in detail. The purpose of this pilot study was to explore young people’s perceptions, motives and experiences of N₂O use by exploring the positive and negative effects of N₂O, motives for use, practices and methods and suggested advice to help define targeted harm reduction messages.

Participants were recruited via hard copy posters, social media advertisements and snowball sampling. Seven in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with young people aged between 18 and 25 years who had used N₂O on at least ten occasions. The interview transcripts were analysed thematically. The study was completed in accordance with COREQ for qualitative research.

The findings identified four overarching themes about N₂O use: the nature of N₂O use; the appeal of N₂O; influences on N₂O use; and perception of risk and harms of N₂O use.

Young people in the study described their experiences as being largely pleasurable. However, several identified negative impacts, although harms, were primarily disregarded. Exploration of N₂O effects alongside other substance use highlighted how N₂O is a unique substance and should be considered as such when developing harm reduction strategies.

Social media platforms have matured into significant arenas for moral conflict and often intense confrontation between brands and their consumers. This research aims to scrutinize the strategic development of a fresh brand entity deliberately detached from its morally compromised corporate parent, intended to reshape public perceptions and elude regulatory scrutiny.

Promoted as a center for transformative dialogue and innovation, Mission Winnow by Philip Morris is a novel example of a brand creating an entirely separate brand entity to provide sponsorship, and to associate itself with new brand values. This study employs a multisited netnography through which the posts and conversations on Mission Winnow’s platform and website hub are captured and interpreted, as well as the branded content and the free flows of consumers’ conversations generated around the brand on social media.

Findings reveal a broad interchange of moral controversy, acceptance and opposition discourses on social media. When consumers’ acceptance narratives gain traction, consumers extend their support toward the new brand entity, employing strategies that echo moral rationalization and decoupling. When resistance narratives dominate, consumers consciously draw connections between the decoupled brand and the parent brand’s immoral behavior.

This study expands upon prior research into brand activism and consumers’ moral reasoning toward controversial brands, linking the notion of brand decoupling to brand activism discourse and introducing key underexplored aspects like the power of imagery, linguistic creativity and nostalgia. Moreover, it presents significant implications for a more nuanced understanding of the important interrelationship of brand decoupling and recoupling on social media.