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Drawing motivation from the greater exposure to uncertainty and condition changes that affect large projects due to their long lifecycle, this paper aims to investigate how the time factor affects the use of governance mechanisms to pursue the success of these projects.

To pursue its aim, the article applies the dichotomization between the hard and soft mechanisms of project governance to the analysis of a historical case study, whose findings are organized over the short, medium and long periods. The case selected is referred to the peculiar water system, made up of tunnels named “bottini,” that was in use in Siena (Italy) as the old aqueduct. Specifically, the study focuses on the project of expansion of this water system that was realized during the 14th century for the construction of the “Bottino maestro di Fontegaia.”

This article highlights the different relevance that, during the lifecycle of large projects, is assumed by hard and soft governance mechanisms, with the former having main relevance in a short and medium period, and the latter usually emerging in the medium period and, subsequently, playing a growing role for the project success in the long period.

The article contributes to the literature on large projects by providing novel insights about how the time factor impacts the governance of these projects. Furthermore, the case study, with its unique history, highlights the relevance of combining effectively the hard and the soft dimensions of project governance to pursue success.

This study aims to examine travel patterns and factors that explain children’s use of green space for outdoor learning. This knowledge will be valuable for urban planners and policymakers to plan, design, develop and maintain green spaces that consider children’s interests.

The analysis consists of three steps. First, this paper performed a mapping analysis to explain the accessibility and services of green spaces in supporting children’s education. Second, using data from a survey distributed to school teachers, this paper explored factors affecting trip frequency, travel distance and walking when visiting green spaces. Third, this paper interviewed teachers and conducted observations and conversations with children to gain additional insights.

The quantitative analyses found that size, path network linkages, path length, use for nature observation, play features, path density, walking and biking may influence children’s preference for using green spaces. This study identified five factors (playing, socialising, exploring, biodiversity and accessibility) that drive children to visit green spaces.

There is limited knowledge of the links between green space and children’s travel patterns and factors explaining the use of green spaces. To the ebst of the authors’ knowledge, this study seems to be the first attempt to introduce a mix of methods containing mapping, qualitative and quantitative analyses to explain children’s use towards green spaces.

This paper aims to explore and develop knowledge about implementing and applying a quality management system (QMS) in the public sector.

A study was conducted including 16 qualitative in-depth interviews with 18 respondents, all working with QMSs in the Swedish public sector.

The study identified five main themes that are problematic in relation to the implementation of the statutory QMS in the public sector. The identified themes show that there exists a gap between theory and practice regarding how the statutory QMS needs to be implemented and applied.

Based on the analysis of the findings, the authors propose a model of core values and supporting elements for QMS in the public sector to bridge the gap between theory and practice.

The study identified problems when implementing statutory QMSs in the public sector and presents a model of improvement. Further research is needed regarding statutory QMS in the public sector.

This study aims to examine the role of intersubjectivity portrayed in employees’ mundane activities in achieving goal congruence between individual and organizational goals within the performance measurement process.

Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with five employees as key informants of each department. Observations were carried out unstructured to collect information about key performance indicator (KPI) and their achievements. Combining the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) and Schutz’s phenomenology, the data analysis stage includes coding (interpretation, condensation and categorization of themes) and thematic analysis.

The findings show employees’ different feelings and actions in achieving their KPIs. Therefore, the anticipations of obstacles in achieving KPI were based on the intersubjective influence of personal goals, company goals, peers, bosses/departments and customers. Thus, in achieving KPI, employees strive to simultaneously achieve personal goals as well as company goals.

Previous literature on management accounting mainly focuses on organizational perspective and less on individual-centred phenomenological perspective. This study tries to fill this gap by exploring how intersubjectivity plays a role in employees’ mundane experiences.

In designing and applying KPI, the company should consider employees’ happiness as it could reflect job satisfaction, leading to high performance.

This study contributes to the literature on goal congruence, performance measurement and management control by extending prior research by Cugueró-Escofet and Rosanas (2013) and Cugueró-Escofet et al. (2019) in empirically portraying how employees perceive goal congruence in the performance measurement process with IPA.

This study aims to analyze the effects of socialization mechanisms (belief system and peer mentoring) on managers’ job engagement and their desire to have a significant impact through work, that is, the desire to substantially improve or facilitate the lives of others by performing their work. The study also examines the moderating role of organizational identification.

A survey was conducted with middle and lower-level managers at one of the largest banks in Brazil, the BankCo. The authors obtained a sample of 201 respondents and tested the research hypotheses with structural equation modeling. The authors also performed a complementary data analysis with fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis.

The results suggest that belief systems and peer mentoring directly promote job engagement and indirectly promote desire to have a significant impact to a better world through work (through full mediation of job engagement). The effects of job engagement on desire to have a significant impact through work are even greater when managers have high organizational identification. Finally, several causal combinations are sufficient for high levels of desire to have a significant impact through work.

Beyond studies that examine how organizational mechanisms influence employee outcomes (e.g. performance), this study explores how socialization mechanisms can promote desire to have a significant impact through work. Thus, the authors demonstrate how organizational core values, mission statement and peer mentoring collaborate for managers to develop altruistic behavior, that is, directly related to other human values, such as empathy and ethics, being able to contribute to a world better.

This study developed and empirically tested a model that connects socialization mechanisms, job engagement, organizational identification and managers’ desire to have a significant impact through their work. Therefore, the paper provides insights into the relevance of socialization mechanisms for orchestrating managers’ proactive and altruistic behaviors.

Healthcare organizations have been facing challenges due to high costs and low efficiency in health services. The growth of costs and losses caused by avoidable mistakes lead to the search for solutions, and Health Lean Management appears as a potential solution to help in solving service quality problems, as well as reducing risks. This study aims to analyse the state of the art in the literature centred on the Lean approach in the context of risk management in healthcare organizations, and to identify new research opportunities, highlighting possible lines of future research.

Following a systematic literature review approach, 51 papers were considered relevant for this research, and reviewed to explore the development of literature in this area.

Based on the results, five main research streams were identified: (1) risk management oriented towards patient safety; (2) risk management oriented towards employee safety; (3) importance of attitudes and behaviours in risk reduction projects; (4) Lean tools used in healthcare risk management and (5) Integration of approaches. Moreover, several shortcomings were identified in literature.

Identified shortcomings represent significant opportunities for further research development.

This study examined the effects of job demands and resources specific to policing on work burnout and engagement, including self-efficacy’s role in expanding the job demands-resources model (JD-R model).

The authors used survey data from 1,591 South Korean police by nationwide sampling officers in 2023. A moderation analysis was used to examine the relationships between each variable.

Self-efficacy moderates the effects of job demands and job resources on work burnout but not on work engagement. The high self-efficacy group generally exhibits lower levels of work burnout than the low self-efficacy group. The high self-efficacy group is associated with higher levels of work burnout as job demands increase and lower levels of work burnout as job resources increase. The low self-efficacy group experiences higher levels of work burnout independent of job demands and job resources than the high self-efficacy group. In the low self-efficacy group, the reduction in job burnout is very gentle as job resources increase. Also, the increase in job burnout is steep as job demands increase.

Job resources are generally considered helpful in reducing work burnout. However, the current study highlights the necessity for delicate interventions considering self-efficacy levels.

In today’s global and competitive e-commerce market spaces, social media influencers (SMIs) exert substantial influence on consumer behavior. This study aims to examine how electronic word of mouth (e-WOM), Instagram usage and the credibility of SMIs shape the dynamics of consumer purchase behavior (PB).

Information was gathered from 498 users in Ghana through judgmental sampling using SmartPLS 4.

The findings revealed that influencers’ credibility has a substantial impact on their followers’ parasocial interactions. As a promotional tool, Instagram plays a significant role in how followers perceive the credibility of influencers by modifying the associations between parasocial connections, e-WOM and consumer PB.

The findings offer valuable information for marketing professionals looking to improve their advertising efforts by collaborating with influencers, along with unique perspectives on influencer dynamics in a diverse socioeconomic context, extending beyond conventional boundaries.

Through an examination of the complex mechanisms underlying social media influencer advertisements on an e-commerce platform, namely, Instagram, this research uncovered the essence of customer behavior in the digital era, including the human need for connection, authenticity and trust, thus contributing to the literature empirical data from Africa, a region often overlooked in academic studies.

在当今全球化且竞争激烈的电子商务市场中, 社交媒体影响者对消费者行为有着重要的影响。本研究旨在探讨网络口碑、Instagram使用以及社交媒体影响者的可信度如何塑造消费者购买行为的动态变化。

使用SmartPLS 4, 通过判断抽样收集了来自加纳的 498 位用户信息。

研究表明, 影响者的可信度对其粉丝的准社会互动有着显著影响。作为一种推广工具, Instagram通过影响准社会联系、网络口碑和消费者购买行为之间的关系, 在粉丝感知影响者可信度方面发挥着重要作用。

本研究通过深入剖析社交媒体影响者在Instagram等电子商务平台上进行广告活动的复杂机制, 揭示了数字时代消费者行为的本质, 其中包括人们对联系、真实性和信任的需求。此外, 研究还提供了经常被学术界忽视的非洲地区的实证数据。

研究结果为希望通过与影响者合作来提升广告效果的营销专业人士提供了宝贵的信息。本文超越传统界限, 从不同的社会经济背景下提供了影响者动态的独特视角。

En un mercado tan global y competitivo como el del comercio electrónico actual, los influencers en redes sociales ejercen una influencia sustancial en el comportamiento del consumidor. Este estudio examina cómo el boca a boca electrónico, el uso de Instagram y la credibilidad de los influencers en redes sociales dan forma a la dinámica del comportamiento de compra del consumidor.

Se recogió información de 498 usuarios en Ghana mediante muestreo de conveniencia y se testó el modelo utilizando SmartPLS 4.

Los resultados revelaron que la credibilidad de los influencers tiene un impacto sustancial en las interacciones parasociales con sus seguidores. Como herramienta promocional, Instagram juega un papel significativo en la percepción de los seguidores sobre la credibilidad de los influencers, modificando las asociaciones entre las conexiones parasociales, el boca a boca electrónico y, finalmente, el comportamiento de compra del consumidor.

A través del estudio de los complejos mecanismos que subjacen en los anuncios y publicaciones de los influencers en Instagram, esta investigación desveló la esencia del comportamiento del cliente en la era digital, incluyendo la necesidad de conexión humana la conexión, la autenticidad y la confianza, contribuyendo así a la literatura con datos empíricos de África, una región a menudo pasada por alto en estudios académicos.

Los resultados ofrecen información valiosa para los profesionales del marketing que buscan mejorar sus esfuerzos publicitarios colaborando con influencers, junto con perspectivas únicas sobre la dinámica de éstos en un contexto socioeconómico diverso, más allá de los límites convencionales.

This study examines the carbon emissions of Australia’s agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors from a consumption perspective to develop effective policy frameworks. The objective is to identify key supply chains, industries and products contributing to these emissions and provide recommendations for sustainable development.

A multiregional input-output lifecycle assessment was conducted using the Australian Industrial Ecology Virtual Laboratory (IELab) platform to disaggregate sectors and enable benchmarking against other economic sectors.

In 2018, the “agriculture, forestry, and fishing” sector was responsible for 12.15% of Australia’s carbon footprint. Major contributors included the “electricity, gas, water, and waste” category (26.1%) and the sector’s activities (24.3%). The “transport, postal, and warehousing” sector also contributed 18.4%. Within the industry, the agriculture subsector had the highest impact (71.3%), followed by forestry and logging (15%) and fishing, hunting and trapping (7.6%). Aquaculture and supporting services contributed 6.1%.

The principal constraint encountered by the present study pertained to the availability of up-to-date data. The latest accessible data for quantifying the carbon footprint within Australia’s agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, utilizing the Input-Output analysis methodology through the Australian Industrial Ecology Virtual Laboratory (IELab) platform, about 2018.

The findings of this study provide policymakers with detailed insights into the carbon footprints of key sectors, highlighting the contributions from each subsector. This information can be directly used to develop effective emission-reduction policies, with a focus on reducing emissions in utility services, transport and warehousing.

The study, by raising public awareness of the significant role of industrial agricultural methods in Australia’s carbon footprint and emphasizing the importance of renewable energy and sustainable fuels for electricity generation and road transport, underscores the urgent need for action to mitigate climate change.

This study stands out by not only identifying the most impactful industries but also by providing specific strategies to reduce their emissions. It offers a comprehensive breakdown of specific agricultural activities and outlines mitigation strategies for utility services, agricultural operations and transport, thereby adding a unique perspective to the existing knowledge.

This paper aims to explore how nurses stay engaged in their work with the impact of structural empowerment and civility. It delves deeper into how kind, empathetic and respectful behaviours (civility) among colleagues influence the link between structural empowerment and nurses’ engagement.

Data was collected from 580 nurses working in a Public Hospital in the metropolitan area of Lisbon. Self-report questionnaires measuring civility, structural empowerment and engagement were administered. Hayes’ PROCESS macro for mediation analysis in SPSS was used to test the hypothesised model.

Results demonstrated that civility and structural empowerment were positively associated (r = 0.491, p < 0.01) also showing a positive influence on nurses’ engagement (r = 0.492, p < 0.01; r = 0.485, p < 0.01, respectively). Civility was found to partially mediate the association between structural empowerment and engagement (ß = 0.315, 95% CI [0.222, 0.417], 5,000 bootstrap resamples).

Findings from this study may be used for health-care employees and organisations, implying that when nurses perceive themselves as structurally empowered at work within a respectful environment, they experience an enhanced sense of community and involvement in their organization.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt in exploring the relationship of combined workplace civility, structural empowerment and engagement in a sample of Portuguese nurses. Future research could substantially increase our understanding of how civility contributes to a positive workplace.

Este artículo explora cómo las enfermeras se mantienen comprometidas (work engagement) en su trabajo con el impacto del empoderamiento estructural y la civilidad. Profundiza en cómo los comportamientos amables, empáticos y respetuosos (civilidad) entre colegas influyen en el vínculo entre el empoderamiento estructural y el work engagement de las enfermeras/os.

Se recogieron datos de 580 enfermeras que trabajaban en un hospital público del área metropolitana de Lisboa. Se administraron cuestionarios de autoinforme que medían la civilidad, el empoderamiento estructural y el work engagement. Se utilizó la macro PROCESS de Hayes para el análisis de mediación en SPSS con el fin de probar el modelo hipotetizado.

Los resultados demostraron que la civilidad y el empoderamiento estructural estaban positivamente asociados (r = 0.491, p < 0.01) mostrando también una influencia positiva en el work engagement de las enfermeras (r = 0.492, p < 0.01; r = 0.485, p < 0.01, respectivamente). Se observó que la civilidad mediaba parcialmente la asociación entre el empoderamiento estructural y el work engagement (β = 0.315, 95% CI [0.222, 0.417], 5,000 resamples bootstrap).

Los resultados de este estudio pueden ser utilizados por los empleados y las organizaciones sanitarias, ya que implican que cuando las enfermeras se perciben a sí mismas como estructuralmente empoderadas en el trabajo dentro de un entorno respetuoso, experimentan un mayor sentido de comunidad e implicación en su organización.

Hasta donde sabemos, este es el primer intento de explorar la relación entre la civilidad en el lugar de trabajo, el empoderamiento estructural y el work engagement en una muestra de enfermeras portuguesas. Futuras investigaciones podrían aumentar sustancialmente nuestra comprensión de cómo el civismo contribuye a un lugar de trabajo positivo.

Este documento explora a forma como os enfermeiras/os se mantêm empenhados e envolvidos (work engagement) no seu trabalho, tendo em conta o impacto do empoderamento estrutural e da civilidade. Aprofunda a forma como os comportamentos de gentileza, empatia e respeito (civilidade) entre colegas influenciam a relação entre o empoderamento estrutural e o work engagement dos enfermeiros.

Foram recolhidos dados de 580 enfermeiros de um Hospital Público da área metropolitana de Lisboa. Foram aplicados questionários de auto-relato para avaliar a civilidade, o empoderamento estrutural e o work engagement. A macro PROCESS de Hayes para análise de mediação no SPSS foi utilizada para testar o modelo hipotético.

Os resultados demonstraram que a civilidade e o empoderamento estrutural estavam positivamente associados (r = 0.491, p < 0.01), mostrando também uma influência positiva no work engagement dos enfermeiros (r = 0.492, p < 0.01; r = 0.485, p < 0.01, respetivamente). Verificou-se que a civilidade medeia, parcialmente, a associação entre a empoderamento estrutural e o work engagement (β = 0.315, 95% CI [0.222, 0.417], 5,000 resamples bootstrap).

Os resultados deste estudo podem ser uteis para os trabalhadores e organizações de cuidados de saúde, implicando que, quando os enfermeiros se consideram estruturalmente capacitados no trabalho num ambiente de respeito, experimentam um maior sentido de comunidade e envolvimento na sua organização.

Até à data, esta é a primeira tentativa de explorar a relação entre civilidade no local de trabalho, empoderamento estrutural e work engagement numa amostra de enfermeiros portugueses. Futuras investigações poderão aumentar substancialmente a nossa compreensão de como a civilidade contribui para um ambiente laboral positivo.