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Access to education has been globalized and democratized to a certain extent through massive open online courses (MOOCs) and other open-access platforms and content databases. In a recent study by Inayatullah and Milojević (2014), the recommendations were to establish a pilot project, enhance digital pedagogy and learning, customize degrees, create a culture of change in higher education, enhance collaboration, support research activities, redefine frames of reference, and anticipate and prepare for futures trends. The need for democratization of education has been increasing to meet the need of individuals and groups to assert and highlight their identity and role in society. Education is the means to facilitate this through a practical and active approach through wider stakeholder participation. Religious belief was identified as the main cause of conflicts among multi-ethnic cohorts. Adding socio-cultural differences to the mix and uncontrolled access to various opinions through social media makes the task much more complex. Educational policies must consider mother-tongue learning to improve learning outcomes. However, making the vast learning content accessible in multiple languages could be daunting. This chapter explores these emerging challenges and changing stakeholder expectations from the formal education system. The policy implications, possible technology-driven solutions, and their effectiveness in addressing the growing challenges of a global learning village have been explored.

Globally, teachers are operating in environments influenced by past, current and anticipated crises. Students today need to develop the critical skills that will empower them to be agents of change in response to these crises. Education for global citizenship offers an approach that can mediate both content and process priorities, yet many teachers do not have the tools and strategies needed to deliver these dual outcomes. Habermas’ theory of communicative action offers a framework through which teachers can harness the potential of the so-called learning lifeworld to educate for global citizenship. This is of particular importance when considering education through the lens of international sustainable development. The contextualisation of communicative acts within the learning lifeworld offers the prospect of elevating students as agentic leaders within their communities. This chapter focuses on and unpacks the concept of education for global citizenship as a key tool for overcoming current crises and positions the theory of communicative action as a viable theoretical framework in the delivery of that concept. The ethnographic case study presented explores students’ perspectives on how their learning lifeworlds shape their identities, highlighting the role of culture, society and person in combatting lifeworld colonisation and nurturing global citizens. It finds that the theory of communicative action can be used as a tool to help students develop self-directedness and independence. It is argued teachers can use communicative acts to promote and model the values of education for global citizenship, ultimately better preparing today’s students for tomorrow’s world.

This study aims to explore the unique establishment of the early stage of the Alipay ecosystem in Malaysia by the Chinese-based Ant-Financial Services Group (Ant-Financial is the parent company of Alipay). Alipay, a Chinese m-payment technology, is used by Chinese tourists visiting Malaysia. With the diverse set of domestic–foreign stakeholders formed within this early stage of the Alipay ecosystem in Malaysia, this empirical study provides fresh insight that is different from the typical group of domestic stakeholders and crucial for a successful early stage of an m-payment ecosystem establishment. This early stage of the Alipay ecosystem in Malaysia set a promising precedent for the next m-payment ecosystem for Malaysians.

This exploratory case study examined the early stage of the Alipay ecosystem established in Malaysia. The authors collected primary data from eight respondents through qualitative, semi-structured interviews. These respondents were identified using a snowballing technique, including individuals with relevant knowledge. To ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information, the authors triangulated the primary data obtained with other primary and secondary data sources.

The results elucidate how Ant-Financial established the early stage of the Alipay ecosystem in Malaysia. A significant aspect of this establishment was the strong collaboration between Alipay-Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (Alipay-Malaysia as a subsidiary in Malaysia) and three Malaysian banks. This collaboration, which was backed by Bank Negara Malaysia, allowed Alipay-Malaysia to obtain its regulatee status in 2017, making it lawful to provide escrow e-money services in Malaysia. Following this, Alipay-Malaysia gained support from local merchants under these banks’ networks to accept Alipay from Chinese tourists. This study revealed that the early stage of the Alipay ecosystem in Malaysia was characterised by a diverse set of domestic-foreign stakeholders and functioned effectively from the outset. Consequently, in 2018, Malaysia was ranked among the top ten countries in global Chinese tourist spending.

This study of Alipay in Malaysia from 2016 to 2022 was challenging. Initially, the authors faced the obstacle of information scarcity as the respondents kept the information confidential to reduce rivalry. In the middle stage of our study, the authors encountered information inconsistency due to numerous erroneous personal assumptions and predictions. At that time, limited official information about Alipay’s establishment in Malaysia was available. It took a long time to gather primary and secondary data. The authors cross-examined these data by comparing different sources and triangulated them by validating the findings with other data sources. When Alipay was widely accepted in Malaysia and attained the top 10 position in global Chinese tourist spending, the COVID-19 outbreak froze the global tourism economy and reduced Alipay transactions. Later, the Malaysian Government enforced a nationwide movement control order that halted Alipay operations.

This study documented the early stages of the Alipay ecosystem establishment in Malaysia and made two contributions. Firstly, our research contributes to understanding the strategic approaches of an m-payment ecosystem establishment from a developing country-drawing from the Malaysian experience. Secondly, our study offers practical lessons for other m-payment service providers aiming for global expansion. The lessons learned in developing an early stage m-payment ecosystem in Malaysia, the strategies, a diverse set of domestic-foreign stakeholders’ roles and their collaboration within the Alipay ecosystem established in Malaysia are worth noting.

Up to this point, no exploratory qualitative study has been conducted on the early stage of an m-payment ecosystem (dominated by a foreign m-payment technology) in a developing country. By addressing the research question of “How has Ant-Financial established the early stage of the Alipay ecosystem in Malaysia?” this study provides a unique perspective on the establishment of an early stage Alipay ecosystem, underscores the strategies of an early stage Alipay ecosystem establishment and understand a diverse set of domestic-foreign stakeholders’ roles and their collaboration within such ecosystem that contributed to the existing theory of m-payment ecosystem.

The integration of big data with artificial intelligence in the field of digital health has brought a new dimension to healthcare service delivery. AI technologies that provide value by using big data obtained in the provision of health services are being added to each passing day. There are also some problems related to the use of AI technologies in health service delivery. In this respect, it is aimed to understand the use of digital health, AI and big data technologies in healthcare services and to analyze the developments and trends in the sector.

In this research, 191 studies published between 2016 and 2023 on digital health, AI and its sub-branches and big data were analyzed using VOSviewer and Rstudio Bibliometrix programs for bibliometric analysis. We summarized the type, year, countries, journals and categories of publications; matched the most cited publications and authors; explored scientific collaborative relationships between authors and determined the evolution of research over the years through keyword analysis and factor analysis of publications. The content of the publications is briefly summarized.

The data obtained showed that significant progress has been made in studies on the use of AI technologies and big data in the field of health, but research in the field is still ongoing and has not yet reached saturation.

Although the bibliometric analysis study conducted has comprehensively covered the literature, a single database has been utilized and limited to some keywords in order to reach the most appropriate publications on the subject.

The analysis has addressed important issues regarding the use of developing digital technologies in health services and is thought to form a basis for future researchers.

In today’s world, where significant developments are taking place in the field of health, it is necessary to closely follow the development of digital technologies in the health sector and analyze the current situation in order to guide both stakeholders and those who will work in this field.

Human resource development (HRD) poses complex challenges for scholars and practitioners due to its elusive nature in definition, scope, and boundaries. Driven by lived experiences, this integrative literature review aims to explore the complexities of HRD, focusing on its conceptualizations, boundaries, and trajectories from 1990 to 2023.

Using Callahan’s (2014) Six Ws, Page et al. (2020) Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses search process, and Lester et al. (2020) thematic analysis, 26 peer-reviewed articles from leading HRD journals and databases were analyzed.

This literature review’s findings enhance our understanding of HRD’s trajectory by illuminating its tumultuous beginnings, precarious present, and uncertain future – potentially even its demise. The author urges prominent HRD scholars to take decisive action to secure the discipline’s future before it is too late.

One limitation is the reliance on specific articles for data analysis. The propensity to emphasize only the prevailing viewpoint is a constraint inherent in literature reviews (Dickson et al., 2011). Another limitation is this study’s reliance on articles exclusively from English-speaking literature. By focusing solely on publications in English, this study overlooked HRD literature published in other languages, potentially excluding valuable insights and perspectives from non-English-speaking regions and cultures.

Over the years, the debates regarding the definition of HRD have been fraught with ambiguity and contradictions. The boundaries of HRD remain similarly nebulous, with scholars debating its scope and applicability across contexts. This literature review adds to this debate from a unique perspective.

The purpose of this study is to identify the business strategies that entrepreneurs have formulated to establish the business with the intention of scaling up in the information technology (IT) sector in Chile, given that they have managed to scale up sustainably at an average annual rate of 73.3% and an average annual employee growth rate of 37% for four consecutive years after an establishment period of 25 months.

Three methodological steps were used to identify which strategic initiatives are relevant to the establishment of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on the path to scaling up. The first part consisted of identifying the literature and defining the research propositions and research questions. The second part was to prepare, collect and analyse the data to conduct the research by applying, transcribing, reviewing and coding the sources of evidence to explore how SMEs are able to develop strategic initiatives for the start-up process. The final stage was to validate the research proposal to identify potential strategic initiatives identified during the multi-case study.

As a result of the data analysis and empirical findings, three deliberate strategic initiatives were identified: staying engaged with customers, delivering successful business solutions and articulating social capital. However, in crisis situations, entrepreneurs readjust their strategies based on their management skills and an emergent strategic initiative was identified as securing the financial structure and revolutionising change. While this research was not designed to identify personal attributes, it did highlight the importance of adaptation and learning as a skill to drive the business model for scaling up during the establishment of their business.

It is clear that the study focused on Chile and cannot be replicated in other regions or sectors due to the characteristics of the sample itself, but it provides empirical evidence that there are cycles prior to scale up that need to be understood. The findings were empirically validated during the establishment phase, but the deliberate and emergent strategic initiatives that consolidated the SME to prepare for its scale-up process are not evident in the theory.

The IT sector will continue to grow and change after the pandemic, and the global economy will use more digital systems, creating new ways of working with the use of IT. This context will impact on SMEs where strategies, whether deliberate or emergent, will need to be part of the new business models, and therefore, caution should be exercised when using the results of this study. Public and private institutions should educate and guide entrepreneurs for the potential scaling up of their SMEs without having to wait 42 months, according to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2021-2022 (Hill et al., 2022). Scaling up can begin as early as 25 months after establishment, breaking the paradigm of the theory that the SME must be established in a period of 3.5 years. This period cannot be generalised as business opportunities in the IT sector are faster. The research also contributes by reporting that contingency planning is relevant during the establishment phase.

Educational institutions and the public sector have made efforts to change business cultures regarding the importance of strengthening entrepreneurship, but teaching the emergent strategies that often challenge SME creation is not yet widespread in educational formats. This is a challenge not only for institutions but also for entrepreneurs trying to anticipate the constant changes in the global economy. This research provides an opportunity to create more dynamic business models with more conscious risk planning.

Although the literature has confirmed the findings, this research has provided a pre-scaling picture that links these two important stages on the axis of deliberate and emergent strategies. The findings confirm the importance of correctly embedding five strategic initiatives for the establishment of the SME if it is to continue on its journey towards business scale-up. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence in emerging economies on how entrepreneurs have found the right path to scale-up.

Earned value management systems (EVMS), also called integrated project and program management systems, have been greatly examined in the literature, which has typically focused on their technical aspects rather than social. This study aims to hypothesize that improving both the technical maturity of EVMS and the social environment elements of EVMS applications together will significantly impact project performance outcomes. For the first time, empirical evidence supports a strong relationship between EVMS maturity and environment.

Data was collected from 35 projects through four workshops, attended by 31 industry practitioners with an average of 19 years of EVMS experience. These experts, representing 23 organizations, provided over 2,800 data points on sociotechnical integration and performance outcomes, covering projects totaling $21.8 billion. Statistical analyses were performed to derive findings on the impact of technical maturity and social environment on project success.

The results show statistically significant differences in cost growth, compliance, meeting project objectives and business drivers and customer satisfaction, between projects with high EVMS maturity and environment and projects with poor EVMS maturity and environment. Moreover, the technical and social dimensions were found to be significantly correlated.

Key contributions include a novel and tested performance-driven framework to support integrated project management using EVMS. The adoption of this detailed assessment framework by government and industry is driving a paradigm shift in project management of some of the largest and most complex projects in the U.S.; specifically transitioning from a project assessment based upon a binary approach for EVMS technical maturity (i.e. compliant/noncompliant to standards) to a wide-ranging scale (i.e. 0–1,000) across two dimensions.

This study aims to explore the relationship between transformational leadership and proactive customer service performance (PCSP) in the airline industry, considering self-efficacy and emotional intelligence as mediators.

Bandura’s self-efficacy theory was used for formulating hypotheses. Data were gathered from 500 frontline employees and 30 supervisors to create subordinate dyads, resulting in a final sample size of 370 participants. Structural equation modeling was employed for the purpose of data analysis.

The results indicated that supervisors’ transformational leadership impacted the self-efficacy and emotional intelligence of service and frontline employees, thereby influencing PCSP. Self-efficacy and emotional intelligence of frontline employees were positively correlated with PCSP. These findings add to the existing literature by providing empirical proof of a positive association between transformational leadership and perceived customer service performance. Furthermore, this study supported the mediating roles of self-efficacy and emotional intelligence of frontline employees as mediators, showing their importance in translating transformational leadership behaviors into enhanced customer service performance.

The airline sector will benefit significantly from the findings of this research. It highlights the significance of transformational leadership in improving PCSP. Organizations should emphasize the creation and growth of transformational leaders capable of inspiring and motivating staff to provide excellent customer service. In addition, the research highlights the significance of self-efficacy and emotional intelligence as factors that mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and PCSP. Organizations may foster PCSP by investing in training and development programs that seek to improve workers’ self-efficacy and emotional intelligence. These programs may help participants gain confidence in their ability to deliver excellent customer service as well as improve their knowledge.

This research paper presents novel theoretical and practical developments in the airline industry. This research paper collected data in two phases from supervisor–subordinate dyads.

The current education paradigm is often criticized for fostering human dependence and failing to reduce environmental impacts. This has led researchers to propose alternative approaches. One alternative approach, place-based education, integrates a specific location’s natural and social context into learning experiences. By deepening students’ connection to their surroundings, place-based environmental education aims to enhance students’ sense of interdependence with a place and their place attachment in cognitive and affective dimensions. While widely practiced, its effectiveness remains largely unevaluated, particularly in the East Asian context. The gap hinders the development of impactful pedagogical approaches for educators.

The authors examine a river environmental education program located upstream of Taiwan’s capital, offering a valuable case study within the East Asian context. The program’s design is analyzed, and its impact on enhancing students’ place attachment is assessed through a pre- and post-survey approach.

The results indicate a substantial increase in students’ place attachment following program participation, particularly pronounced among children with limited prior experience with the river. Importantly, this increase is comparable to or exceeds those observed in similar studies from other regions.

The considerable increase in place attachment observed in this program demonstrates its effectiveness in fostering environmental connections, particularly among children with limited prior experience. The magnitude of the increase might be partially attributable to the interdependent orientation of Taiwanese culture. This suggests that place-based education might yield significant positive outcomes in other non-Western countries with strong interdependent cultural orientations.

The current study intends to synthesise the prior studies on employability skills among work-ready professionals in higher education through bibliometric and network visualisation tools. This study also identifies the gaps in the existing literature that still need to be filled and maps the course for future investigation.

The current study examined research papers on employability skills among work-ready professionals in higher education to evaluate global patterns and the top authors, institutions, journals, and nations contributing to this field. The authors analysed eight hundred eighty-five papers from the Scopus database between 1982 and 2023 for the study. Open-source bibliometric tools like Biblioshiny were used in the study to examine the body of literature and to spot new directions for future research.

The study’s findings indicate that since 2008, researchers, academics, and policymakers have paid more attention to employability skills among work-ready professionals, and 2019 is the year seeing the highest no. of publications. Across the globe, 2077 authors contributed to the articles, papers, and journals published in the particular domain. Regarding location, the United Kingdom is the world’s most productive nation, with 342 articles produced. Similarly, Australia, India, and Malaysia are the leading nations that have contributed to the field. Both keywords significantly contribute to scientific knowledge.

The gaps in this study will serve as a reference point for researchers conducting future studies in this field. Additionally, the result of this analysis offers a roadmap for higher education to enhance graduate employability by embedding necessary skills into them.

There has not been a bibliometric analysis concerning employability skills among Work-ready professionals in the existing literature; hence, this article is innovative. This study is the first attempt at integrating the concept. The study also gives an overview of potential directions for future research in this discipline.