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Retention of early childhood teachers in Australia is a critical issue, particularly for new teachers. The demanding nature of new teachers’ everyday work and high rates of stress and burnout have resulted in teachers leaving the sector. By designing a formal mentoring project, our aim was to support teachers to stay and flourish as respected professionals. This paper presents findings from the perspective of the mentees – new teachers in their first five years of employment in the sector.

We designed and offered a two-phase multi-layered mentoring project to 145 new teachers (mentees) matched with 51 experienced teachers (mentors). It began with a mentor training course implemented by three experienced early childhood education academics and utilised a community of practice approach (Lave and Wenger, 1991). Data collected throughout the project included a pre- and post-survey and a needs satisfaction and frustration scale.

Analysis of survey data shows that mentee new teachers gained a better understanding of their role and built connections with peers and leaders. Survey data also demonstrates that effective mentoring can successfully contribute to addressing workforce challenges faced by early childhood teachers.

The project makes an original contribution through the design, implementation and evaluation of an innovative online mentoring project for teachers employed across the state of New South Wales, Australia.

Nature and biophilic design have received widespread attention in architecture. There has been a need for a new concept of sustainability that includes the interrelationship between humans and the environment. Biophilic design is therefore a comprehensive and sustainable approach that contributes to restoring relationships and connections to promote mental and physical health. The purpose of the paper is to derive a method for measuring and evaluating the impact of incorporating biophilic design into spaces where children are present.

This research follows a three-stage methodology. The first stage is an Overview, including the concept of biophilia, the concept of biophilic design and its patterns. The second stage consists of methods for evaluating biophilic designed spaces. The third stage attempts to deduce a method for measuring and evaluating the impact of incorporating biophilic design into spaces designated for children on children.

Integrating the Biophilia Interview Scale and the Nature Connection Index scales could lead to the development of a new scale that captures the child’s understanding of nature, his connection to nature and knowledge of his environmental preferences. Linking this measure to the child’s basic needs aims to enhance the performance of spaces designated for pre-school children and measure the extent to which these spaces meet the child’s environmental preferences and match his basic needs.

There is limited understanding of evaluating preschool spaces in terms of their suitability for children, the extent to which the design patterns used in these spaces meet the child’s preferences and desires, and the extent to which these spaces meet the child’s basic needs. Therefore, this study aims to integrate methods for assessing environmental preferences appropriate for pre-school children and linking them to the child’s basic needs, which ultimately leads to the creation and design of spaces in which children can integrate, interact.

The purpose of this paper is to unravel the success story of a family business, while engaging with debates in business and management research through the application of corporate strategy frameworks. Implement a structured methodology to evaluate a company’s strategic efforts and explore how businesses historically achieved competitive advantages over time.

This company analysis adopts a longitudinal approach on competitive advantages, moving beyond traditional cross-sectional business to transform static models into dynamic ones. It adheres to Michael Porter’s Value Chain model (1985) and his subsequent revisions (1996, 2001) to explore how competitive advantages emerge and are sustained. Data exploration leverages an extensive archival corporate collection comprising approximately 100,000 documents, enabling a thorough examination of value chain activities through primary and secondary sources.

Chocolates Amatller effectively channelled its competitive advantages through strategic operational areas, including purchasing cocoa at prices below market value, using strong marketing tools such as illustrative collectible cards and posters and implementing skilful financial strategies.

Examine why, when and how a Spanish chocolatier achieved a position of prominence among Spain’s foremost industrial figures by constructing Barcelona’s iconic Casa Amatller.

The global economy is experiencing an expansion in knowledge-based businesses, which has compelled organizations to search for mechanisms of raising knowledge worker productivity. This study utilizes multiple theories to explain lessons learned from a positive story on how to raise the productivity of knowledge workers.

The study used a qualitative methodology of storytelling, a form of narrative inquiry about a phenomenon. In-depth interviews were carried out with information and communication technology (ICT) workers in Uganda.

Findings reveal that knowledge workers who communicate and mutually support each other are inclined to share knowledge and best practices that promote cost-effective utilization of resources. Additionally, knowledge workers with a behavior oriented toward the continuous exploration of innovative ideas are proactive in creating knowledge on how to render quality services.

The study was carried out in one country, which may limit generalization of results.

The study underscores the importance of continuously developing the human capital base and fostering a collaborative environment for knowledge workers. This nurtures the capacity and a shared responsibility to generate innovative ideas directed toward the effective utilization of resources. Moreover, the study advocates for the inclusion of social competencies, such as interpersonal skills, in the selection process of knowledge workers.

This study stands out from the existing literature since it uses a success story to document the real-life experiences of a knowledge worker who had to overcome numerous challenges to raise productivity in knowledge work.

This paper seeks to provide a multi-theoretical explanation of the living practice of a public entity found in Uganda, an African developing country, which successfully enhanced public accountability.

A qualitative narrative enquiry through storytelling was used to portray the practices of public accountability. The perceptions of various individuals were obtained using in-depth interviews, from which a coherent story structured under the themes of context, actions, results and lessons was obtained.

Findings show that public entities that put in place oversight mechanisms and management structures, involve stakeholders and create an ethical work climate enhance public accountability. The results further show that the integration of theories (agency, stewardship, stakeholder and ethical work climate) promotes public accountability.

In terms of limitations and areas for future research, the study has been conducted on a single city authority to explain public accountability. Perhaps there is a need to conduct similar studies with other city authorities or a combination of organizations. The study has used a qualitative methodology through narrative enquiry to explain public accountability. Future studies can use a quantitative methodology, more so to test the proposed conceptual model of public accountability. Despite the study limitations, the results of this study remain relevant.

This study uses the positive story of a public entity from a developing country that successfully practiced public accountability. Consequently, from a practical perspective, the findings of this study can be used as a benchmark for promoting effective public accountability practices, especially in developing countries across the globe, where public accountability has proven to be a challenge. Furthermore, governments in developing countries can also use the study findings to strengthen public accountability policies in their respective countries.

The study suggests that enhancement in public accountability practice requires an approach that brings together a multiplicity of factors. The study affords public accountability practitioners an opportunity to replicate the successful accountability practices from the story. When public accountability is enhanced, service delivery in terms of social services by the public organizations is likely to improve, leading to better quality of life in the communities served.

The study is novel in its use of a positive story that depicts an entity from a developing country that successfully enhanced public accountability. To explain this phenomenon, the study uses a multi-theoretical approach, unlike prior studies.