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Healthcare providers are under pressure due to increasing and more complex demands for services. Increased pressure on budgets and human resources adds to an ever-growing problem set. Competent leaders are in demand to ensure effective and well-performing healthcare organisations that deliver balanced results and high-quality services. Researchers have made significant efforts to identify and define determining competencies for healthcare leadership. Broad terms such as competence are, however, inherently at risk of becoming too generic to add analytical value. The purpose of this study is to suggest a holistic framework for understanding healthcare leadership competence, that can be crucial for operationalising important healthcare leadership competencies for researchers, decision-makers as well as practitioners.

In the present study, a critical interpretive synthesis (CIS) was conducted to analyse competency descriptions for healthcare leaders. The descriptions were retrieved from peer reviewed empirical studies published between 2010 and 2022 that aimed to identify healthcare services leadership competencies. Grounded theory was utilised to code the data and inductively develop new categories of healthcare leadership competencies. The categorisation was then analysed to suggest a holistic framework for healthcare leadership competence.

Forty-one papers were included in the review. Coding and analysing the competence descriptions resulted in 12 healthcare leadership competence categories: (1) character, (2) interpersonal relations, (3) leadership, (4) professionalism, (5) soft HRM, (6) management, (7) organisational knowledge, (8) technology, (9) knowledge of the healthcare environment, (10) change and innovation, (11) knowledge transformation and (12) boundary spanning. Based on this result, a holistic framework for understanding and analysing healthcare services leadership competencies was suggested. This framework suggests that the 12 categories of healthcare leadership competencies include a range of knowledge, skills and abilities that can be understood across the dimension personal – and technical, and organisational internal and – external competencies.

This literature review was conducted with the results of searching only two electronic databases. Because of this, there is a chance that there exist empirical studies that could have added to the development of the competence categories or could have contradicted some of the descriptions used in this analysis that were assessed as quite harmonised. A CIS also opens for a broader search, including the grey literature, books, policy documents and so on, but this study was limited to peer-reviewed empirical studies. This limitation could also have affected the result, as complex phenomenon such as competence might have been disclosed in greater details in, for example, books.

The holistic framework for healthcare leadership competences offers a common understanding of a “fuzzy” concept such as competence and can be used to identify specific competency needs in healthcare organisations, to develop strategic competency plans and educational programmes for healthcare leaders.

This study reveals a lack of consensus regarding the use and understanding of the concept of competence, and that key competencies addressed in the included papers are described vastly different in terms of what knowledge, skills and abilities they entail. This challenges the operationalisation of healthcare services leadership competencies. The proposed framework for healthcare services leadership competencies offers a common understanding of work-related competencies and a possibility to analyse key leadership competencies based on a holistic framework.

This study aims to explore the impact of locational and seasonal factors on the financial performance of short-term rental properties in Margaret River, Western Australia. It seeks to address the gap in understanding how these factors influence key financial metrics such as average daily rate (ADR) and occupancy rates, providing insights for property managers, investors and policymakers.

The research uses a mixed-method approach, integrating advanced predictive modeling techniques, such as Random Forests and Gradient Boosting, with spatial clustering algorithms like density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) and ordering points to identify the clustering structure (OPTICS). The study analyzes a comprehensive data set of short-term rental properties between 2012 and 2019. It focuses on locational attributes, seasonal variations and financial outcomes.

The findings reveal that properties located near tourist attractions and amenities consistently achieve higher ADRs and occupancy rates, confirming the critical role of location in driving rental demand. Seasonal analysis indicates significant fluctuations in both ADR and occupancy rates, with peaks during high tourist seasons and troughs in off-peak periods. The study underscores the importance of dynamic pricing strategies to optimize revenue and sustain occupancy across different seasons. In addition, it highlights the influence of property features, such as the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, on ADR, while noting that larger properties do not necessarily achieve higher occupancy rates.

Future research could expand the scope to include different locations and explore the long-term impacts of locational and seasonal factors on property performance.

This research contributes to the literature by integrating spatial analysis with advanced predictive modeling techniques to provide a nuanced understanding of how locational and seasonal factors impact financial performance in the short-term rental market. It offers a novel application of data analytics within the context of tourism and hospitality management, bridging theoretical frameworks with practical insights.

Precarious workers in academia represent most employees in higher education institutions (HEIs), and women and historically excluded groups are overrepresented in these positions, oppressed by intersecting inequities, such as sexism and racism. There is a need to comprehensively understand how precarity operates within academia from an intersectional perspective and how it oppresses marginalized and precarious workers.

Following the PRISMA guidelines, this paper systematically reviewed 22 articles that discuss academic precarity through an intersectional lens.

Studies have shown that (1) the uncertainty and insecurity in modern academia are driven by global forces and ongoing crises; (2) systemic intersectionality entrenched in HEIs influenced the shaping of their academic experiences and positionalities; and (3) intersectionality could be used as a reflexive tool to resist the precarious academy.

This paper is the first systematic review examining the intersectionality in precarious academia. By synthesizing articles highlighting precarity and intersectionality in academia, the paper contributes to theories of academic capitalism and intersectionality and offers comprehensive and critical implications for research and practice in higher education. This study illuminates how neoliberalism, global capitalism and intersecting inequities are deeply rooted in academia and how academic workers could challenge such issues.

Service-learning (SL) shows potential to respond to the global policy agenda of education for sustainable development (ESD) by increasing pro-sustainability competences through direct involvement of students in projects that satisfy identified community needs. Nevertheless, there is a scarcity of studies that attempt to measure the impact of SL on students’ sustainability competences, especially the action competence. This study aims to address this gap by examining the experiences of higher education students.

A pre-post survey design based on the Self-Perceived Action Competence for Sustainability Questionnaire was conducted on an interdisciplinary group of 219 students of two courses (Sustainable Development and Ecology) in Medellin, Colombia, half of which (109) participated in SL projects.

Sufficient empirical evidence was found to suggest that SL boosts the impact of academic courses regarding action competences in students (specially their willingness to act).

The statistical analysis shows some contradictions that should be addressed in further research.

These results can encourage more educators and universities to implement strategies such as SL to move forward with ESD and thus help overcome the current socioecological crisis.

This paper not only discusses the theoretical potential of SL but also contrasts theory with empirical observations of 13 SL projects assessed in terms of self-perceived action competence for sustainability.