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Organizational pursuit of sustainability in multi-tier supply chain systems operating in unpredictable environments is often associated with the emergence of paradoxical tensions. This study aims to summarize and synthesize existing literature on managing various paradoxical tensions in supply chains (i.e. sourcing, making, delivering and reverse logistics) as organizations pursue sustainability transformation. It also strives to motivate new academic research inquiry into developing responses to sustainability paradoxes.

The study draws on a systematic literature review of 73 papers from the Web of Science database selected at the intersection of paradox, sustainability and logistics/ supply chain management (SCM). Applying paradox theory as a guiding lens, we investigate organizational strategies, practices and capabilities described in the literature to navigate sustainability paradoxes in supply chains.

The results assert that the success of sustainability transformation will depend on an organizational ability to recognize, accept and navigate paradoxical tensions in one's supply chain. This requires developing the dynamic capabilities of paradoxical leadership, strategic agility, innovativeness, collaboration with contextualization and governance. Successful sustainability transformation is not reliant on finding an optimal, final design but rather the continuous balancing of tensions inherent within or across the organizations that make up one's supply chain.

The research offers an integrative conceptual framework to guide organizations in navigating sustainability paradoxes in supply chains, embracing strategic, practice and capability levels. It also outlines opportunities for future research inquiries connected to this framework that are needed to build additional insight for addressing paradoxical tensions related to the pursuit of sustainable supply chain management.

This study takes a dynamic capabilities approach to navigating paradoxical tensions in pursuit of sustainable supply chain management.

This study aims to investigate the mechanism of the influence of paradoxical thinking (PT), which characterizes the ability of college students to balance and integrate the conflict between hedonic and normative goals, on their campus low-carbon behaviors.

The conceptual model of “PT − Paradoxical salience (climate change concern, CCC) − Paradoxical acceptance (support for low-carbon behavioral norms, SN) − paradoxical resolution (campus low-carbon intentions and behaviors, CLCIs and CLCBs)” was developed. Then, it was tested by PLS-SEM using survey data obtained from 501 Chinese college students, and the relative importance of each factor of CLCBs was determined by the importance-performance map analysis method. Finally, a mechanistic difference analysis was conducted.

PT, CCC and SN have the potential to influence the CLCBs of college students, with each of the three factors showing approximately 40% room for improvement in their impact. There exists an influential pathway of “PT → CCC → SN → CLCIs → CLCBs.” Notably, PT exhibits a stronger direct influence on college students’ private-sphere CLCBs compared to the public-sphere CLCBs.

Colleges should integrate the development of PT into the foundational framework of the entire education for sustainable development curriculum, while emphasizing the provision of opportunities for training in PT through pedagogical methods, and PT training can be integrated across various social levels.

This study offers a paradox theoretical framework for comprehending and elucidating the decision-making process underlying personal low-carbon behaviors, and advances the quantitative research of microindividual paradox processing by effectively conceptualizing and measuring paradoxical salience and acceptance.

The objective of this research is to put forward a novel closed-loop circular economy (CE) approach to forecast the sustainability of supply chains (SCs). We provide a practical and real-world CE framework to improve and fill the current knowledge gap in evaluating sustainability of SCs. Besides, we aim to propose a real-life managerial forecasting approach to alert the decision-makers on the future unsustainability of SCs.

It is needed to develop an integrated mathematical model to deal with the complexity of sustainability and CE criteria. To address this necessity, for the first time, network data envelopment analysis (NDEA) is incorporated into the dynamic data envelopment analysis (DEA) and artificial neural network (ANN). In general, methodologically, the paper uses a novel hybrid decision-making approach based on a combination of dynamic and network DEA and ANN models to evaluate sustainability of supply chains using environmental, social, and economic criteria based on real life data and experiences of knowledge-based companies so that the study has a good adaptation with the scope of the journal.

A practical CE evaluation framework is proposed by incorporating recyclable undesirable outputs into the models and developing a new hybrid “dynamic NDEA” and “ANN” model. Using ANN, the sustainability trend of supply chains for future periods is forecasted, and the benchmarks are proposed. We deal with the undesirable recycling outputs, inputs, desirable outputs and carry-overs simultaneously.

We propose a novel hybrid dynamic NDEA and ANN approach for forecasting the sustainability of SCs. To do so, for the first time, we incorporate a practical CE concept into the NDEA. Applying the hybrid framework provides us a new ranking approach based on the sustainability trend of SCs, so that we can forecast unsustainable supply chains and recommend preventive solutions (benchmarks) to avoid future losses. A practicable case study is given to demonstrate the real-life applications of the proposed method.

Mobile edge computing (MEC) services have long been used by private enterprises in Saudi Arabia with considerable success; however, there has been a stark lack of insight into how these services can be used to improve mobile government (M-Government) services for KSA citizens. This study aims to bridge this gap by integrating MEC with an enhanced version of the technology acceptance model (TAM) and examining its effects on user behavior and acceptance.

A closed-ended survey was administered to 1,500 people, and the responses were analyzed using sophisticated advanced statistical techniques to test an expanded TAM, using a quantitative method that uses structural equation modeling to validate the proposed model and hypotheses.

This study reveals that MEC significantly influences users’ intentions about using M-Government services and their tolerance for new technology adoption. Specifically, service cost and social influence are positively linked with end users’ intention to adopt M-Government services.

The novelty and contribution of this paper to existing literature are in highlighting the pivotal role of MEC in transforming public sector service delivery through technology. This study not only supports the adoption of M-Government services to enhance social welfare but also demonstrates and concludes some practical and theoretical ramifications of MEC service adoption.

Disasters, including health crises and weather emergencies, are increasingly prevalent. While many people are highly resilient, the traumatic experience of emergencies and disasters can affect individuals and communities, including library staff and library users. Traumatic effects can persist long after the immediate impact of an event and may be magnified by cumulative exposure to traumatic events. Libraries are not immune from emergencies and disasters and also experience many other hazards. With attention to trauma and a focus on resilience, libraries can build strong organizations even during difficult circumstances presented by emergencies and disasters. This chapter shares research-based approaches from the literature along with promising practices shared by contributing libraries.

This paper examines the organizational resilience of audit firms during the early stages of COVID-19. The unexpected restrictions placed on travel and on-site working created unanticipated barriers for auditors in Hong Kong. The authors expect that auditors with greater organizational resilience can respond to unexpected situations and restore expected performance levels relatively quickly.

The authors utilize a sample of 1,008 companies listed on Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) with a financial year-end of December 31. The authors identify five proxies contributing to organizational resilience: auditor size, industry specialization, diversity, geographic proximity to the client and auditing a new client. The authors use audit report timeliness as this study's main dependent variable.

This study's full-sample results suggest that larger auditors, industry specialists and auditors with closer relationships to clients issued more timely audit reports during the pandemic. The analysis of a subsample of companies that initially published unaudited financial statements reveals that industry expertise and longer auditor-client relationships significantly reduced the need for year-end audit adjustments. Finally, the authors find that larger auditors were more likely to offload clients, whereas industry specialists were more likely to retain clients.

The results of the paper suggests that audit firm characteristics associated cognitive abilities, behavioral characteristics and contextual conditions are associated with audit firm organizational resilience and, consequently, helps auditors respond unexpected changes in the audit environment.

The findings of the paper are informative for those involved in audit firm management or auditor hiring and retention decisions.

This study is the first to link organizational resilience to the performance of audit firms in a time of unexpected events. The authors connect three auditor and two auditor-client dimensions to the organizational resilience of the audit firms.

This study aims to understand the perception of young people regarding different communication strategies to promote proenvironmental disposal behavior. Based on the attention-interest-desire-action (AIDA) model, the study analyses how university students react to different communication approaches used by a university aiming at the correct disposal of waste.

The authors conducted a qualitative exploratory research in two steps: (i) a narrative bibliographic review and (ii) a case study. The (i) bibliographic review was conducted about proenvironmental behavior and disposal of solid waste and response hierarchy models, with emphasis on the AIDA model. The (ii) case study was executed through an in-depth interview with a manager of the environmental sanitation area and a qualitative survey with undergraduate students from a university in southern Brazil.

The findings reveal that young people tend to prefer communication strategies related to triggers for long-term memory, especially when evaluating the cognitive stage of the response hierarchy. For example, the provision of bins identified with stickers and colors is a communication strategy that leads to a memory model of associative networks. By viewing a certain color or image of an object, the individual can quickly retrieve information already known about the act of properly disposing of waste. Additionally, convenience is a key factor for the behavioral intention of properly disposing of waste to become a reality.

Few studies have identified the most effective communication strategies to promote proper disposal behavior among young people in universities. This study addresses this gap, based on the AIDA model.

The study aims to investigate innovation capability as a mediator in the relationship between talent management (TM) and entrepreneurial firm performance in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Thailand based on employer perceptions.

A questionnaire survey was completed by 674 MSMEs in Thailand, both directly and online. Four hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling (SEM).

The results demonstrated that TM has a significant and positive influence on innovation capability, but no evidence was found for a positive relationship between TM and entrepreneurial firm performance. However, innovation capability positively influences entrepreneurial firm performance, and it fully mediates the positive relationship between TM and entrepreneurial firm performance. These results suggest that TM can enhance entrepreneurial firm performance if it is implemented with effective innovation capability.

The SEM model was employed with a limited number of enterprises, so the sample cannot represent the full population, as there are more than three million MSMEs in Thailand. More countries and factors should be incorporated into the model.

The owner-managers and HR practitioners of MSMEs can utilise the study results to develop talent strategies and innovative interventions that will enhance their firm’s performance.

This study thus aims to strengthen the capacities of MSME entrepreneurs and policymakers to elevate inclusive innovation capability in MSMEs and to also accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG); innovation is one of the three important aspects of SDG9.

The study contributes by filling the research gap related to TM in the MSME business and enterprise development literature, and it aids in creating innovation capability to increase effective investments in TM.

This case study aims to explore the outcomes of two Lesson Study (LS) cycles involving four teachers of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in the Netherlands, focusing on task-based language pedagogy.

Using LS, teachers engaged in a Plan-Observe-Analyse-Evaluate cycle to address the unique needs of highly educated newcomers. Initially, teachers received input on task-based pedagogy and redesigned materials for specific learner groups. One teacher taught while others observed, and student feedback was collected. Post-lesson, teachers and the More Knowledgeable Other (MKO) discussed improvements, repeating the process the following week. Qualitative analyses of audio recordings, classroom observations, task designs and student feedback identified critical moments in the LS cycle.

Findings indicate that the task-based approach, task design and classroom implementation offered by LS helped to improve teachers’ professionalism: The LS cycle made teachers aware of task difficulty and clarity relative to student proficiency and interests, leading to adaptations for high, average and low-achieving students. It shifted teachers’ focus from “how to teach” to understanding student needs, revealing that low performance may stem from personal traits rather than proficiency. The process also underlined the additional care needed for vulnerable students facing challenges like long commutes from asylum seeker centres.

This study highlights the transformative potential of the LS model in enhancing task design, teaching practices and teacher development through collaboration, reflection and student-centred approaches. Teachers should adapt tasks collaboratively to accommodate diverse student needs, focusing on accessibility, engagement and emotional well-being, particularly in mixed-ability and vulnerable student groups. Real-time adjustments based on classroom experiences, combined with understanding students’ emotional challenges, can foster better outcomes. Future research could explore the long-term impacts of adaptive teaching on student engagement, confidence and performance as well as the integration of emotional support into teaching strategies for vulnerable learners.

This study contributes to understanding the effectiveness of LS in task development and improvement as well as professional development. It highlights implications for teacher training and task design in EAP contexts.