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The purpose of this paper is to examine how job stress and the embodiment of the police culture influence levels of job satisfaction for two mid-sized law enforcement agencies in the Southeastern United States.

A survey was conducted of police officers from two mid-sized law enforcement agencies in the Southeastern United States. Ordinary least squares regression models were utilized to assess the impact of job stress and the embodiment of the police culture on job satisfaction.

Results indicated that officers with higher levels of job stress reported being less satisfied with their careers. Contrary to prior research, officers with a greater embodiment of the police culture were significantly less satisfied. Demographic variables were not statistically noteworthy; however, working on a rotating shift and having more years of service significantly decreased job satisfaction.

Survey data collected from two mid-sized police agencies in the Southeastern United States may not be generalizable to other areas or regions.

These findings provide practical insights for police agencies to address the operational strains of working in law enforcement and the cultural component embedded in this field. Based on these findings, there is a clear need to increase future work on the interplay between job satisfaction, job stress, and occupational culture.

In the dynamic landscape of the modern business world, the pursuit of employee well-being and satisfaction with life (SWL) has gained prominence. Yet, few studies exist on SWL among Indian working professionals. This study aims to investigate the impact of inclusive leadership (IL) on the employees’ SWL. Moreover, employing a mediation approach, the study also reveals the mediating role of workplace inclusion (WI) and career satisfaction (CS) in the relationship between IL and SWL.

The study involves a cross-sectional quantitative approach, drawing upon a sample of 279 professionals belonging to the Indian IT sector by administering standardized questionnaires. Data were analyzed using PLS through SmartPLS4.0 software.

The findings reveal a fully complementary mediating role of WI and CS in the IL–SWL relationship, supporting the hypothesized mediation model.

This finding implies that leaders, with their inclusive behavior, can significantly influence employees’ SWL when accompanied by a sense of inclusiveness and CS among employees. The study offers valuable insights for organizations and leaders seeking to enhance employee satisfaction in the IT sector, emphasizing the significance of career-focused and inclusive practices in the workplace through leadership to promote a fulfilling workplace.

This study represents a pioneering effort to integrate the relationship between IL and SWL within the Indian context, going beyond the existing literature on WI and SWL. Additionally, the research model explores the influence of WI and CS in the IL–SWL relationship, a novel approach that has not been previously investigated.

Leadership and management have typically been defined as separate and distinct activities. This study examined the everyday management and leadership practices of police sergeants and inspectors in one UK police constabulary. Findings reveal the prominence of management work in frontline supervision, combined with aspects of leadership. However, frontline supervisors describe themselves and their work in leadership terms. The authors argue, therefore, for a revaluing of management in frontline supervision to better reflect the everyday practices of frontline supervisors.

The study adopted a mixed-method approach, comprising an online self-administered survey and semi-structured interviews. The survey achieved 43 responses from sergeants and inspectors, and interviews were conducted with 10 police supervisors, recruited via purposive sampling and analysed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis principles.

Frontline supervisors in the study defined themselves as leaders and described their work in leadership terms. However, the findings reveal that the activities performed by frontline supervisors were predominately management work, such as performance, resource management and welfare, combined with some aspects of leadership, such as change planning. Rather than conceptualising management and leadership as separate activities, the work of the frontline supervisors reveals, therefore, a blended practice of management/leadership.

Despite the prominence of management in their everyday work, frontline supervisors describe themselves and their work in leadership terms. The authors call for a revaluing of management work and reconceptualise the work of frontline supervisors as “managerial leadership” to better reflect management and leadership as equally valuable, interconnected and mutually dependent activities.

This paper examines to what extent blockchain creates legitimacy and trust in different modes of public governance. It posits that while blockchain aims for political legitimacy through decentralising, immutable and consensus-based mechanisms, the execution of these mechanisms is limited in legitimating governance, which has knock-on effects on trust. It provides an original contribution by recontextualising and reframing blockchain as a governance mechanism that should, and must, perform a legitimating function in order to engender trust.

The research adopts a comprehensive framework for understanding the legitimacy of blockchain governance, positioning it in terms of co-governance, self-governance and hierarchical governance modes. It systematically analyses blockchain whitepapers, legislation, government documents and other sources in three paradigmatic case studies where blockchain governance failed. These cases are then used to assess blockchain according to three key characteristics of decentralisation, immutability and consensus.

The research finds that blockchain’s use in governance settings still relies on legitimacy conferred from other sources – namely state – in order to generate trust. Significant limitations in its de facto political decentralisation, immutability and consensus protocols can create failures in co-governance, self-governance and hierarchical-governance applications, thus limiting the legitimation function of blockchain in facilitating political trust.

These findings are significant in highlighting blockchain’s limitations as a decentralised, immutable and consensus-driven legitimating tool, which has knock-on effects on trust in technology and governance more broadly. It also has broader implications in more clearly highlighting the interconnectedness of political trust and legitimacy in governance processes.

Grounded on the distributed theory and the social exchange theory, the current study investigates the determinants that positively influence job performance among educators within the realm of higher education in India. It particularly assesses the impact of perceived academic leadership on performance and explores the mediating and moderating effects of organizational citizenship behavior and informal institutional leadership.

Employing a descriptive research design, this study encompasses a broad cross-section of faculty members from various higher educational institutions across India. Data were gathered from 826 educators using a snowball sampling technique, with questionnaires administered online. Each variable was measured using prevalidated scales.

The findings from the moderated mediation model indicate a significant indirect relationship between perceived academic leadership and job performance, which is mediated by organizational citizenship behavior. Furthermore, informal institutional leadership demonstrates significant conditional indirect effects, enhancing the link between academic leadership and job performance up to a threshold, beyond which its influence diminishes.

This study pioneers the exploration of academic dynamics beyond mere titles and ranks in the Indian educational sector. It delineates both the direct and indirect roles these dynamics play in enhancing faculty performance, providing a novel insight into the complexities of academic leadership.

Violence and aggression against mental health professionals is a global concern with well-documented consequences. In the UK, mental health care is increasingly delivered in the community, yet little research has explored practitioner experiences of workplace violence (WPV) outside of inpatient settings. This study aimed to explore how mental health professionals in a UK community mental health team (CMHT) perceive, experience and cope with WPV.

Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten multidisciplinary professionals based in a CMHT in a UK city. Data was analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Three interconnected themes emerged. WPV was accepted as inevitable: participants carried on working despite its impact, and feeling unheard by management they gave up on change, perpetuating the perceived inevitability of WPV. Peer support and organisational resources like debriefing, counselling and occupational health improved coping. Stigma and ideas of professional responsibility were barriers to access.

To mitigate against the negative consequences of WPV, CMHTs could offer peer support initiatives, improve communication and availability of organisational resources and involve staff in post-incident decision-making. Recommendations are made to shift the attitude of acceptance of WPV and encourage help-seeking.

Female entrepreneurship remains a critical issue around the globe, particularly in developing economies where they confront various challenges during self-employment. This paper aims to investigate essential opportunities and challenges for Afghan women’s home-based enterprises (WHBEs) that may impact the decision of female entrepreneurs to establish a venture.

The study interviewed women home-based enterprise owners through a predesigned questionnaire to identify the main opportunities and challenges. The Delphi and Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) approach is employed to analyze casual relationships of the main obstacles confronting WHBEs.

The findings indicate that women home-based enterprise owners utilize substantial opportunities, such as family support and balancing home and business tasks. Challenges include cause and effect groups, while lack of access to finance, insecurity, social restrictions and limited access to digital platforms belong to the cause group. Notably, limited markets, lack of professional knowledge and legal limits have links with the effect group. However, among the identified challenges, legal restrictions remain the highest obstacle, while the lack of access to finance is the lowest challenge in women’s home-based enterprise context.

The cultural and legal barriers that still exist in Afghanistan have made it difficult for researchers to contact female entrepreneurs.

This study fills the gap in investigating casual relationships in an under-researched stream of disadvantaged entrepreneurship, i.e. the WHBE context of female entrepreneurship. It generates value for researchers interested in female entrepreneurship and international organizations that empower women and promote gender equality in developing economies.

The purpose of this study is to assess factors related to sorority women connecting with people who exacerbate feelings of exercise guilt and body dissatisfaction (BD), both of which preclude compulsive exercise.

In all, 207 sorority women (egos) completed online surveys measuring physical activity, BD, compulsive exercise and egocentric networks (n = 1,105 social ties/alters). Two random coefficient multilevel models assessed factors related to an ego connecting to someone who makes her feel: guilty about her exercise habits and good about her looks.

Exercise patterns within networks related to how often an alter made ego feel guilty about her exercise habits; alter gender and communication frequency related to how often an alter made ego feel good about her looks; and ego’s BD score was related to both feelings of guilt and body satisfaction.

The findings of this study support and extend literature highlighting the importance of someone’s immediate social network on their body image and related behaviors.

A wide gap exists between the innovation and development of self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology (SMART) technologies and the actual adoption by older adults or those caring for them. This paper aims to increase awareness of available technologies and describes their suitability for older adults with different needs. SMART technologies are intelligent devices and systems that enable autonomous monitoring of their status, data analysis or direct feedback provision.

This is a scoping review of SMART technologies used and marketed to older adults or for providing care.

Five categories of SMART technologies were identified: (1) wearable technologies and smart tools of daily living; (2) noninvasive/unobtrusive technology (i.e. passive technologies monitoring the environment, health and behavior); (3) complex SMART systems; (4) interactive technologies; (5) assistive and rehabilitation devices. Technologies were then linked with needs related to everyday practical tasks (mainly applications supporting autonomous, independent living), social and emotional support, health monitoring/managing and compensatory assistance rehabilitation.

When developing, testing or implementing technologies for older adults, researchers should clearly identify concrete needs these technologies help meet to underscore their usefulness.

Older adults and caregivers should weigh the pros and cons of different technologies and consider the key needs of older adults before investing in any tech solution.

SMART technologies meeting older adult needs help support both independent, autonomous life for as long as possible as well as aiding in the transition to assisted or institutionalized care.

This is the first review to explicitly link existing SMART technologies with the concrete needs of older adults, serving as a useful guide for both older adults and caregivers in terms of available technology solutions.