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Our research takes inspiration from stories of kindness in the context of the COVID-19 global pandemic and investigates what generational entrants, namely those entering the workforce in large numbers, dubbed emerging leaders (ages 19–39) think of the phenomenon of kindness and its potential role in organizations. Guiding the study is the question: “What can emerging leaders tell us about kindness and work?”

Adopting discourse analysis fused with kindness as research praxis, we conducted 66 qualitative interviews with young leaders (born between 1981 and 2001) across North America, Europe and Africa. Interviews were conducted in the summer and fall of 2020.

Our research sets out to expand theorizing related to kindness as a phenomenon, illustrates implications relevant to management and organizational studies and offers insights into the value of kindness as research praxis. This paper makes three related contributions and one methodological one: (1) it contributes to the literature on kindness and how it can be theorized in management and organizational studies, (2) it explores emerging leaders perceptions of kindness in a pandemic context, (3) it offers insights into how kindness might be leveraged as a model of moral and ethical behaviour valued in organizational environments, and (4) the paper promotes epistemic properties of kindness when fused with research praxis.

Authored during a rapidly unfolding scholarly conversation on the influences of the pandemic on organizational life, our research draws insights from experiences of kindness during COVID-19. This paper applies discourse analysis fused with kindness as research praxis to an understudied area of human behaviour (kindness) which has implications for management and organizational theory and practice. These implications include: (1) individual kindness capacity or inclination towards kindness behaviour that may be depleted by stressors such as the pandemic, (2) that kindness has socially contagious qualities, (3) and kindness as praxis has material benefits in the context of research methods, benefiting the research team and the research outputs.

This qualitative study aims to explore general perceptions of a woman experiencing negative menopausal symptoms in the workplace. It examines the socio-cultural understandings informing the responses of a mixed participant group, including those unlikely to have experienced menopause, to a hypothetical scenario involving a woman disclosing negative menopausal symptoms in the workplace – to either a female or male manager.

Using an innovative hybrid vignette-story completion (SC) technique, data were generated from 48 employees of a single UK-based organisation. Participants were presented with a vignette featuring a protagonist (Julie) experiencing negative menopausal symptoms, asked questions about their imaginings of Julie and how she might be perceived by others in the workplace, then presented with a story stem and asked to continue the story in the third person. The stem depicted Julie preparing to tell her manager about her symptoms and featured either a male or female manager, with one variation randomly presented to each participant. Responses were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

This study reports four themes: (1) the burden of menopause; (2) managing menopause at work; (3) menopause as not belonging in the workplace; and (4) menopause as unlocking new life potential? Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Using the innovative hybrid vignette-SC technique, this study contributes to the current discourse on menopause in the workplace by providing insight into how menopausal employees experiencing negative symptoms are perceived by others and the social understandings that shape these perceptions.

This study aims to investigate patterns of information use among undergraduate engineers as they progress through their academic programs. The primary objective was to discern how second and fourth-year students differ in their use of different types of information while performing specific tasks, namely, conducting labs, composing reports and undertaking projects.

The research used an online questionnaire to collect data, focusing on the comparative analysis of second and fourth-year engineering students’ information use. The analytical framework comprised a chi-square test, residual analysis and exploratory data analysis, for evaluating statistical significance and identifying trends over time.

The results demonstrated a statistically significant difference in information use between second and fourth year undergraduates. Notably, fourth year students exhibited a preference for disciplinary genres, such as journal articles, patents and technical reports. This coincided with a decline in fourth year students’ use of educational genres, including textbooks and instructors’ handouts, notes and slides. These shifts in information use were observed consistently across all three tasks.

The uniqueness of the study resides in its innovative approach to exploring information use by investigating the relationship between genres and tasks over the course of students’ academic programs. The research introduces a novel approach for visualizing changes in information use. By describing the evolving preferences of undergraduate students from novice to emerging professional, this study contributes valuable insights into the nuanced ways in which information is used throughout the levels of engineering education.

The paper investigates how the engagement of a group of actors (the volunteers), previously unexplored in service ecosystems literature, contributes to generating new co-creation activities and well-being outcomes in the healthcare service ecosystem (HSE). Moreover, the study analyses how the provision and integration of volunteers’ resources help to explain the HSE self-adjustment favouring the re-humanisation of service.

The article zooms in on the volunteers’ activities in an HSE. A qualitative approach is adopted, and an empirical investigation is grounded in data gathered from Kids Kicking Cancer (KKC) Italia, a volunteer association operating in the paediatric oncology ward of Italian hospitals. Data are collected and triangulated through in-depth interviews, volunteers’ diaries and observations. The analysis is conducted by adopting an interpretative thematic analysis technique.

The study provides a conceptual framework explaining how volunteers’ value co-creation activities influence the HSE’s self-adjustment by leading to a re-humanisation of services. The paper also contributes to the state of knowledge by identifying seven categories of volunteers’ value co-creation activities, two of which are completely new in the literature (co-responsibility and empowerment).

The paper contributes to the service research literature by identifying empirically grounded value co-creation activities extending the understanding of self-adjustment and re-humanisation of the service ecosystem.

The purpose of this article is to untangle the influence of Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s Decolonizing Methodologies on botanical gardens, particularly in the context of commemorating 25 years since its publication. By examining the intersections between decolonial theory and botanical practices, this article seeks to elucidate the ways in which Smith’s work has informed and inspired efforts to decolonize botanical research, conservation and education. Through a narrative review and case study analysis, this article highlights key insights, challenges and opportunities for botanical gardens to embrace decolonial practices and foster more equitable and inclusive relationships with Indigenous communities, science and knowledge systems.

The design and methodology of this article involve a narrative literature review and comparative case study analysis (Petticrew and Roberts, 2006; Goodrick, 2014). The review synthesizes scholarly articles, books and reports on decolonizing botanical practices, focusing on literature that stems from Indigenous science, identifies engagement strategies and advocates for systemic change within botanical institutions. Key themes and recommendations are identified and analyzed to provide insights into future directions for decolonizing botanical gardens. This approach allows for a thorough examination of current discourse and best practices in decolonial theory and botanical research, informing actionable recommendations for advancing decolonization within botanical gardens.

The findings reveal that Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s Decolonizing Methodologies has significantly influenced botanical gardens, inspiring efforts to prioritize Indigenous knowledge systems, deepen community engagement and advocate for systemic change. While progress has been made in integrating decolonial practices, challenges persist, including the need for greater institutional commitment, capacity building and accountability. However, opportunities abound for botanical gardens to continue advancing decolonization, particularly through partnerships with Indigenous communities, educational outreach and policy advocacy. Overall, the findings underscore the importance of ongoing reconciliation and action in cultivating more equitable and respectful relationships that advance principles of Indigenous data sovereignty and governance.

While this article offers valuable insights into the influence of Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s Decolonizing Methodologies on botanical gardens, several limitations must be acknowledged. Firstly, the literature review may not document all relevant transformations undertaken by gardens to date if such initiatives are not documented in the public domain, such as institutional websites. Additionally, the review primarily focuses on English-language literature, limiting the exploration of decolonial practices for botanical gardens in non-English-speaking contexts.

This article holds several practical implications for botanical gardens seeking to decolonize. Firstly, by prioritizing Indigenous knowledge and deepening community engagement, botanical gardens can foster more inclusive and respectful relationships with Indigenous communities. Secondly, advocating for systemic change and policy reforms will address institutionalized inequities and recognize Indigenous People’s rights, including biocultural and intellectual property. Additionally, investing in educational outreach and capacity-building initiatives can enhance institutional and public understanding of decolonization. Overall, embracing decolonial practices can contribute to the adoption and advancement of Indigenous Data Sovereignty and the CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance within botanical gardens and beyond.

This article highlights the importance of decolonizing botanical gardens for promoting justice and equity. By centering Indigenous rights to data sovereignty, such as attribution of traditional and biocultural knowledge, botanical gardens can contribute to reconciliation efforts and promote respect for Indigenous rights and sovereignty. Additionally, addressing colonial legacies and systemic inequalities within botanical institutions can advance botanical justice and help build more just and equitable societies. Moreover, this transformation also aligns with a growing legal movement recognizing the inherent rights of Nature, including plant relatives collected, stored and stewarded by botanic gardens.

This article contributes to the literature by exploring the intersection of decolonizing methodologies and botanic gardens, particularly in the context of Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s influential work. By synthesizing key insights and offering actionable recommendations, this review provides guidance on future directions botanic gardens can follow to advance their decolonization strategies and initiatives in furtherance of botanical justice.

Policing organizations in Australia are increasingly expected to eliminate or mitigate psychosocial risks in the workplace to promote employee wellbeing. New leadership skills are required, as police leaders play a key role in supporting the physical and mental health of their staff. This study aims to investigate police leaders’ perceptions about their ability to support employee wellbeing, and the ways in which they would like their organization to equip them for this important task.

Qualitative thematic analysis was conducted on the narratives provided by 156 Australian police leaders in response to a series of open-ended questionnaire questions.

Drawing on the conservation of resources theory, the themes identified indicate that police leaders are hindered in their ability to support the wellbeing of their staff by their own increasing workload in a context of reduced resourcing, the continuing stigma around mental health issues, a lack of knowledge and skills about how to support employee wellbeing and a lack of support from senior management.

Overall, the study highlights the way in which new work, health and safety guidelines place additional responsibilities on police leaders for which many report not feeling prepared. Findings suggest that bespoke leadership training may be required to assist police leaders in supporting the mitigation of psychosocial hazards in the workplace.

Considering continuously evolving psychosocial safety guidelines, this paper makes a unique contribution to contemporary knowledge by focusing on the role and readiness of police leaders in Australia to lessen the psychological impact of police work on officers in an increasingly complex policing context. Additionally, practical implications and recommendations are discussed and offered.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the usage of digital technologies (DTs) in improving the mental health of workers on construction sites.

A mixed research approach was used in the study, which comprised a questionnaire survey and two phases of semi-structured interviews. Purposive sampling was used to determine the interviewees and respondents of the questionnaire survey. Weighted mean rating (WMR) and manual content analysis were used to rank and evaluate the collected data.

The findings of this study revealed bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, work-related stress and depression as the six most significant mental disorders (MDs) among the construction workforce and 30 causes for them. Moreover, 27 symptoms were related to the six most significant MDs, and sweating was the most significant symptom among them. Despite that, 16 DTs were found to be suitable in mitigating the causes for the most significant MDs.

There are numerous studies conducted on the application of DTs to construction operations. However, insufficient studies have been conducted focusing on the application of DTs in improving the mental health of workers at construction sites. This study can thus influence the use of DTs for tackling the common causes for MDs by bringing a new paradigm to the construction industry.