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The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of stakeholder integration and project complexity on information technology (IT) projects in Kenya. The following research question guided our inquiry: what is the influence of project complexity and stakeholder integration on the performance of IT projects in Kenya?

To advance the current understanding of the effect of stakeholder integration and project complexity on IT projects, multiple regressions were used to predict how project complexity and stakeholder integration influence project performance. Both government-funded and privately funded IT projects from a developing country were examined.

The study found that any project’s complexity and stakeholder integration levels offer a distinctive contribution to its success. Theoretically, the study contributes to linkages between stakeholder integration and project complexity concerning IT project performance. Through the adoption of actionable research and theoretical elaboration, we have shown that the successful execution of IT projects is driven by the successful integration of stakeholders and monitoring the level of complexity at each phase of the project.

The findings of this study add to the burgeoning literature on the performance of IT projects and come with several managerial implications as well. It brings to the fore the concept of stakeholder integration as an essential element of project success. The findings suggest that the inclusion of stakeholder integration into corporate decisions, strategies and policies can be an asset to the production of sustainable competitive advantages needed during the implementation of IT projects in government entities and organisations. As shown in this study, all the above require a collaborative platform allowing for data sharing among diverse stakeholders to ameliorate distrust or lack of information.

Following Joseph Schumpeter's conception of innovation as ‘new innovations’, this chapter contends that innovations that transform lives in developing countries of Southern Africa are not radically new and different novelties but rather ‘new combinations’ at the interface of new materialisations (creative expression) and exploitations of new opportunities (entrepreneurship). We argue that this posture is not a contestation of the reality that novelty enter the system through the development of new technologies, processes and new ways of organising, but rather such novelty is a process of recombining existing elements in new ways. I build on this argument to demonstrate that in resource-poor contexts where institutional voids frustrate entrepreneurs' potential to deploy innovation capabilities for generating groundbreaking innovation, innovations and entrepreneurship are outcomes of ‘tinkering’, improvision and refinement of unsophisticated creative ideas. Drawing on exemplars from health, education, finance and poverty alleviation interventions that support sustainable human development, I also demonstrate that high knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship (KIE) and low knowledge-intensive frugal innovations are mutually constitutive and recursive outputs of the interaction of knowledge application and innovation conversion rather than serial processes of cause and effect. Using combinative innovation, internal coupling and combinative capabilities as heuristics for understanding the entrepreneurship–innovation nexus, I provide empirical support to the view that entrepreneurial effectuation, new combinations, bricolage and improvision constitute useful cognitive arena for the conversion of entrepreneurial and innovation behaviours, practices and processes into KIE and frugal innovation outputs.

The 7th decade manager (7DM) is an overlooked and under-researched group in organisation studies. This paper explores the changes which 7DMs experience in later life through the lenses of age, work and identity.

An interpretivist methodology was adopted and data were obtained via semi-structured interviews with 32 managers across 10 different sectors in England and Scotland. These data were analysed thematically.

Change manifested itself in various contradictory ways across three domains of age, work and identity. Age was experienced dichotomously, with these 7DMs identifying as subjectively younger yet openly (if reluctantly) accepting signs of ageing. They appeared more tolerant and kinder but could be impatient and outspoken. Work remained important, providing structure, a sense of purpose and camaraderie; however, career progression was not. Altruistically, the 7DMs exercised generativity by providing their colleagues with counsel in both work and personal matters. Their sense of self and identity work featured prominently, particularly in the liminality associated with the impending cessation of work. Preparation for the psychosocial transition to retirement was lacking.

This project would have benefitted from a larger and broader cohort demographic. Whether there are any significant gender or ethnic differences in attitudes, values or approaches to work cannot be ascertained from the data obtained. Future studies should therefore include a greater diversity of participants. There may also be merit in investigating if any differences exist for the ex-military 7DM manager compared to others.

Organisations can benefit from greater recognition of the value experienced managers in their later working lives can bring. Both the broader community of managers and their employers would benefit from leveraging the experience, knowledge and attributes of older managers in their passage through their 7th decade and better prepare younger people to succeed them.

Different agencies such as government, employers, professional bodies like the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Trade Unions or consultancies may wish to explore the benefits and practicalities of preparing the individual for the transition to retirement. Importantly, this should address the psychosocial connotations associated with ceasing work. Whilst this applies to all 7th decade workers, we suggest that there are some challenges that are peculiar to being an older manager.

Whilst much is known about older workers, research relating to older managers, especially those in their seventh decade, is largely absent. This paper illustrates the changes and challenges they experience in both their professional and personal lives, some of which seem to be unique to this age group and many of which would benefit from being addressed in organisational policy and practice as well as further research.

Answering two questions: What do people believe is the gender makeup of different occupations? If there is a systematic difference between the actual and perceived gender composition what factors predict or mediate this difference?

We integrate three occupation-level datasets: ratings of perceived gender composition and cultural sentiments (EPA ratings) for every 2010 Census occupation collected for this study, occupational characteristics from O*NET, and demographic characteristics from the 2015 to 2019 Current Population Survey. Regression models examine the association between sentiments and objective occupational traits on the perceived gender composition net of the actual gender composition.

While respondents underestimate extreme values, perceptions largely reflect actual composition. Gendered sentiments had a significant independent effect on gender composition perceptions. Examining the relationship between objective occupational features, sentiments, and perceptions allows scholars to better understand the links between structural conditions, gendered beliefs, and social action. If individuals underestimate the extent of gender segregation and view some occupations as more diverse than they are, they may be more willing to consider occupations inconsistent with their gender identity. On the other hand, if they misperceive gender composition because of cultural sentiments, they may choose an occupational course somewhat different from their intentions.

Research on gender composition typically employs either a macro approach based on governmental statistics or a micro approach that examines a limited number of occupations. This is the first study to conduct a complete census of every Census occupation for perceived gender composition and cultural sentiments.

Nowadays, an analysis of the circumstances that have led to the development of specific industries within regional entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) is extremely relevant. The chapter carries out a twofold analysis, in order to fully explore the reasons that have led to the creation of a specific industrial district. On the one hand, the tissue paper industry in the Italian province of Lucca is analysed through a qualitative approach; on the other hand, the contextual traits of the Toscana EE influencing firm performance are investigated through using a quantitative research approach. This mixed research analysis provides some important hints. First, it helps to understand how systemic, framework and human conditions affect firm performance. Second, it examines how historical, social, and economic factors have shaped regional industries. Through an in-depth analysis, the chapter provides theoretical and empirical insights into the dynamics that affect industrial transformation in response to globalisation, technological innovation, and changing market demands. After completing the chapter, readers will understand how knowledge, collaboration, and shared resources drive regional competitiveness. Through the qualitative analysis, readers will be aware of the tissue paper industry evolution. The combination with the quantitative study allows us to capture the different drivers swaying firm performance, such as infrastructure, innovation capacity, and institutional support. Therefore, the use of empirical data enables for a more objective assessment of the earlier contextual elements, revealing trends and patterns that may not be immediately evident through qualitative analysis.

Weather and climate have a strong impact on tourism. However, because meteorological forecast information is considered a public good, people often overlook its market value. This study uses the contingent valuation method (CVM) to evaluate the economic value of a stargazing forecast system and assessed whether such a system would increase the public's willingness to stargaze. The results demonstrate that the economic value of the proposed stargazing forecast system is NT$ 0.2–2.5 billion, and the total value was 0.27–3.5 billion when protest responses are excluded. In addition, a stargazing forecast system could increase the public's willingness to engage in stargazing, indicating that both the system and meteorological information have a tremendous nonmarket value. Accordingly, this study suggests that the government could develop a stargazing forecast system and partner with famous stargazing destinations to popularize stargazing to propel the growth of the tourism industry.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of grace in the aftermaths of adverse cybersecurity incidents. Adverse incidents are an inescapable fact of life in organizational settings; consequences could be significant and costly. Increasingly, the cause may be a cybersecurity exploit, such as a well-targeted phishing email. In the aftermath, line managers have a choice in responding to the individual who caused the incident. Negative emotions, such as shame and regret, may deliberately be weaponized. Alternatively, positive emotions, such as grace, forgiveness and mercy, may come into play.

We detail a study with 60 participants to explore attribution differences in response to adverse incidents, both non-cybersecurity and cybersecurity. We examined the stages that occur in the aftermath of such adverse incidents where grace may be observed.

Our participants generally believed that grace was indicated toward those who triggered an adverse cybersecurity incident, pointing to situational causes. This was in stark contrast to their responses to the non-cybersecurity incident, where the individual was often blamed, with punishment being advocated.

The role of positive emotions merits investigation in the cybersecurity context if we are to understand how best to manage the aftermaths of adverse cybersecurity incidents.

Organizations that mismanage aftermaths of adverse incidents by blaming, shaming and punishing those who make mistakes will harm the individual who made the mistake, other employees and the long-term health of their organization in the long run.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to reveal the grace phenomenon in the cybersecurity context.

This study examines the role of values, social causes, PR ethics and sustainability in public relations (PR) curricula in a European country. PR students are asked about the value of learning imponderabilia versus technical skills needed in the PR industry.

The method used for this study is a quantitative online survey among PR students from six public universities with established PR programs. The study is another part of a long-term project about PR education, students' job prospects, the usefulness of PR studies at work and the role of values and technical skills in PR curricula.

This study shows that the PR students believe that their profession should include broader social issues, like equality, ethics, activism and ESG (ecological, social and governance). Most students report that their curricula cover ethics, sustainability and social responsibility and that these subjects would be useful in their future careers.

Even though the study was conducted in one European country, it may be interesting to scholars and practitioners elsewhere and may be adopted and replicated.

Identifying PR students' needs, expectations and attitudes towards the PR industry and understanding the worldviews of new graduates, with their commitment to social causes and activism, should be helpful to their teachers and instructors, future employers or clients in terms of faster and more efficient onboarding.

A better understanding of the current requirements for graduates of PR studies should help them find enough opportunities in the job market and improve the organizational communication of their future employers.

Measuring PR students' opinions on their educational experience, the role of professional skills and socially conscious, ethically oriented classes can contribute to better formulation of PR curricula and may be useful for the PR industry and academia in other countries.

Motivated by the advancements in the discussions of environmental, social, and governance globally, this study aims to improve the knowledge of corporate sustainability motivations and engagement through a qualitative cross-company case study analysis of two consumer goods multinationals, Natura & Co. headquartered in Brazil, and The Coca-Cola Company, headquartered in the USA. The cases were chosen to compare the two companies’ corporate sustainable development (SD) motivations, one headquartered in an emerging and the other in a developed country. This study also assesses the balance between these corporations’ global and local sustainability agendas, comparing their worldwide engagement promises to their actual deliveries vis-à-vis national-institutional arrangements. As contributions to the field, comparing the cases surfaced valuable insights and additional theoretical abstractions on corporate sustainability, including proposing a new SD-engagement typology.