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Numerous attempts at installing Six Sigma (SS) have faced challenges and fallen short of the desired success. Thus, it becomes vital to identify the critical factors and characteristics that play a pivotal role in achieving successful adoption. Research has highlighted that a considerable number of corporate Six Sigma initiatives, around 60%, fail primarily due to the improper incorporation of essential elements and flawed assumptions.

To validate the influence of CSFs on Six Sigma accomplishment, the study employed a research design combining exploratory and mixed-methods approaches. The analysis focused on 260 completed questionnaires, and statistical methods including SEM, EFA, and CFA were utilized for data analysis.

The study acknowledged four essential components of CSFs that are imperative for sustaining the success of Six Sigma (SS): (1) Competence of Belt System employees; (2) Project management skills; (3) Organizational economic capability; and (4) Leadership commitment and engagement. These factors were identified as significant contributors to the maintenance of Six Sigma’s success.

The practical implications of this research imply that institutions, practitioners, and researchers can utilize the four identified factors to foster the sustainable deployment of SS initiatives. By incorporating these factors, organizations can enhance the effectiveness and longevity of their Six Sigma practices.

The investigation’s originality lies in its contribution to assessing critical success factors in Six Sigma deployment within the European automobile industry, utilizing a mixed-methods research design supplemented by descriptive statistics.

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the convergence of linguistic features between physicians and patients with chronic diseases facilitates the effectiveness of physician–patient communication in online health communities (OHCs). Drawing on communication accommodation theory (CAT), the authors develop a research model that illustrates how the convergence of semantic features (language concreteness and emotional intensity) and stylistic features (language style) influence patient satisfaction and compliance. The model also incorporates the moderating effects of the physician's social status and the patients' complications.

The data, collected from a prominent online health platform in China, include 15,448 consultation records over five years. The logistic regression is leveraged to test the hypotheses.

The findings reveal that convergent semantic features, such as language concreteness and emotional intensity, along with stylistic features like language style, enhance patient satisfaction, which in turn leads to increased compliance. Additionally, the physician’s social status strengthens the effect of convergent emotional intensity but weakens the effect of convergent language concreteness. The physician’s social status has no significant impact on the link between convergent language style and satisfaction. Patients' complications weaken the effect of satisfaction on their compliance.

This study contributes to the CAT and OHC literature by enhancing the understanding of the role of linguistic convergence in the effectiveness of online physician–patient communication and provides managerial implications for physicians on how to accommodate their communicative styles toward chronic patients to improve patient satisfaction and compliance.

The Philippines has a long history of scientific and technological development from pre-colonial times through Spanish and American rule, marked by periods of both progress and neglect. In response to the growing importance of science and technology (S&T), the country established the National Science Development Board (NSDB) in 1958, which evolved into the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in 1987. This transition facilitated significant advancements in research and technology through substantial investments. Despite these efforts and progress, challenges such as inadequate infrastructure, limited funding and insufficient human resources continue to hinder the sector’s growth and global competitiveness The purpose of this study is to analyze the evolution of S&T policies in the Philippines, assess innovation and research outputs, and identify key growth areas to provide insights that can guide policymakers in enhancing the country’s global competitiveness

This review analyzed available literature, government reports, policy documents and data from the Global Innovation Index (GII) and SCImago Journal and Country Ranking (SJR) to trace the evolution of S&T policies in the Philippines, identify growth areas and assess innovation and research outputs, providing insights to guide policymakers in enhancing the country’s global competitiveness.

The study highlights the challenges that remain in infrastructure, funding and human resources despite significant investments in S&T to enhance global competitiveness. The scarcity of skilled professionals such as scientists, researchers and engineers was particularly concerning, emphasizing the need for increased investment in education and training programs. It also underscored the importance of sustained support, funding and collaborations between government, academia and industry innovation, technological progress and sustainable growth in the global S&T sector.

The review provides a roadmap for advancing the Philippines’ S&T sector, emphasizing the need to overcome ongoing challenges. To fully realize its potential, the country should boost R&D investment, improve science education and strengthen the innovation ecosystem. Collaboration among policymakers, industry leaders and academic institutions is essential to build on past successes and develop a more dynamic and resilient S&T landscape for the future.

This paper presents a reflection in memory and tribute to the work and life of Professor Barbara Czarniawska (1948–2024).

We invited those colleagues whom we knew to be close to Barbara to submit reflections about her contributions to academia alongside their memories of her as a person. We present these reflections in the order we received them, and they have only been edited for minor grammatical and punctuation issues to preserve the voice of the contributing authors.

The reflections in this paper represent different translations of Barbara’s academic and theoretical contributions. However, she also contributed to people. While we can count the number of papers, books and book chapters she published, we must also count the number of co-authors, Ph.D. supervisions, visiting professorships and conference plenaries she touched. This (ac)counting tells the story of Barbara reaching out to work and interact with people, especially students and early career researchers. She touched their lives, and the publications are an artefact of a human being, not an academic stuck in an ivory tower.

A paper in Barbara Czarniawska’s honour where some of her closest colleagues can leave translations of her work through a narrative reflection, seems to be a fitting tribute.

This study aims to synthesize two organic heterocyclic compounds, (2E,3E)-6-chloro-2,3-dihydrazinylidene-1-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoxaline (MR1) and (2E,3E)-2,3-dihydrazinylidene-1-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoxaline (MR2), characterize them using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-NMR and 13C-NMR) and evaluate their effectiveness as corrosion inhibitors in an acidic environment (15% HCl).

The synthesized compounds, MR1 and MR2, were tested for their corrosion inhibition properties using potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Post-corrosion, the steel surface was analyzed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) to confirm the adsorption of the compounds. The experimental findings were further supported by density functional theory calculations and molecular dynamics simulations.

The results indicated that both MR1 and MR2 exhibit significant anticorrosive activity in a 15% HCl environment. The analyses performed with SEM, EDX and AFM confirmed the effective adsorption of the inhibitors on the steel surface, forming a protective layer. Theoretical studies provided additional insights into the adsorption mechanisms and stability of the inhibitors.

This work introduces novel organic heterocyclic compounds based on quinoxalinone as effective corrosion inhibitors in acidic environments. The combined experimental and theoretical approach provides a comprehensive understanding of their anticorrosive behavior.

This paper aims to investigate how the build orientation simultaneously affects the tensile properties, geometrical measurements and surface roughness in material extrusion (MEX) produced parts.

An extensive experimental campaign was designed and carried out to elucidate the relationship between the rotation angles (input), defining the part orientation within the build volume, and the (output) variables measured by using 3D models reconstruction, roughness tester and tensile testing machine. Response surface methodology is used to capture the trend of each output relative to the input, while principal component analysis is used to identify relationships among outputs, providing a holistic understanding of how build orientation simultaneously influences mechanical properties, geometrical measurements and surface characteristics.

The study reveals that build orientation significantly affects nearly all output variables, with a pronounced dependency on the out-of-plane rotation angle. A key finding is the inverse correlation between mechanical strength and both geometrical measurements and surface roughness. This indicates that optimizing build orientation can enhance mechanical strength while minimizing geometrical defects.

This research, a newer addition to the existing literature, contributes to the field of additive manufacturing (AM) by offering an innovative analysis of the interaction between mechanical properties, geometric precision and surface roughness in relation to build orientation. It enhances the understanding of MEX processes and provides valuable insights into optimizing build orientation, thereby improving the competitiveness of AM over traditional production methods.

Team-based work is increasing within organizations nowadays. Despite calls for differentiation between individual and team levels of analysis, research on leadership effects at multiple levels is still limited. By integrating the Conservation of Resources and Social Cognitive theories, this paper aims to analyze the relationships between coaching leadership, team collective efficacy and individual exhaustion via multilevel modeling.

This paper opted for an exploratory study testing a 2-2-1 multilevel mediational model, positing team collective efficacy as a key factor in mediating the relationship between coaching leadership at the team level and exhaustion at the individual level. The hypotheses were tested on a sample of 311 employees, nested in 72 teams (Msize = 5.70, SDsize = 2.82 team members) of a large Italian company that provides financial services.

Results supported the positive association between coaching leadership and team collective efficacy, which, in turn, was negatively associated with team members’ average score in exhaustion and fully mediated the effect of coaching leadership on exhaustion, even controlling for team design features (i.e. task interdependence and team virtuality). The association between coaching leadership and exhaustion was only indirect, explained by team collective efficacy.

Because of the self-report nature of the measures and the cross-sectional nature of the data, this research results might raise problems of variance in common methods and not allow causal conclusions to be drawn. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further.

This paper includes several practical implications for enhancing group efficacy beliefs, which have an impact on individual well-being within the team.

This paper addresses the lack of empirical findings on the multilevel nature of the relationship between coaching-based leadership, collective team effectiveness and individual exhaustion.

In 2000, Cañibano et al. published a literature review entitled “Accounting for Intangibles: A Literature Review”. This paper revisits the conclusions drawn in that paper. We also discuss the intervening developments in scholarly research, standard setting and practice over the past 20+ years to outline the future challenges for research into accounting for intangibles.

We conducted a literature review to identify past developments and link the findings to current accounting standard-setting developments to inform our view of the future.

Current intangibles accounting practices are conservative and unlikely to change. Accounting standard setters are more interested in how companies report and disclose the value of intangibles rather than changing how they are determined. Standard setters are also interested in accounting for new forms of digital assets and reporting economic, social, governance and sustainability issues and how these link to financial outcomes. The IFRS has released complementary sustainability accounting standards for disclosing value creation in response to the latter. Therefore, the topic of intangibles stretches beyond merely how intangibles create value but how they are also part of a firm’s overall risk and value creation profile.

There is much room academically, practically, and from a social perspective to influence the future of accounting for intangibles. Accounting standard setters and alternative standards, such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and European Union non-financial and sustainability reporting directives, are competing complementary initiatives.

Our results reveal a window of opportunity for accounting scholars to research and influence how intangibles and other non-financial and sustainability accounting will progress based on current developments.

The development of an effective corporate vision is a necessary issue for corporate performance, and it is a key issue for corporate sustainable development as well. The recognition of questions like “what is the role of corporate vision in corporate performance” is directly related to the attitude and practice of entrepreneurs and managers toward the development of corporate vision as well as the effectiveness of the corporate vision itself. To better answer the questions concerning the role of corporate vision development and effectively guide the practice of corporations, the authors study the pathways and mechanisms by which corporate visions operate to assist businesses in achieving high performance.

The article completes the construction of indicators to measure each dimension of the corporate vision in line with social cognitive theory and analyzes the relationship between corporate vision and corporate performance by combining qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) and necessary condition analysis (NCA) research methods. The article provides insights into the logic of constructing and adjusting corporate visions from a process perspective.

The mechanisms by which corporate visions can be articulated, accepted and transformed within the organization are also the means by which corporate visions can improve corporate performance. In a dynamic environment, the corporate vision setting and acceptance process integrates the requirements of various stakeholders, leading to the adjustment and acceptance of the corporate vision. As a result, the vision has continuous validity in a changing environment. Both start-ups and non-start-ups can benefit from the guidance provided by a strong corporate vision in overcoming a variety of issues and obstacles to produce strong business performance.

This is the first study that shows the relationship between corporate vision and corporate performance from a process perspective. The authors are interested in understanding which characteristics for building a corporate vision are more accepted by organizational members and, in turn, create high corporate performance. The authors also explore the conditions for corporate vision acceptance. This research has positive implications for shedding some light on the mechanisms by which corporate visions improve corporate performance.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between geopolitical risk (GPR) and gold price bubbles to determine whether rising GPR can drive deviations in the fundamental value of gold, thus leading to speculative bubbles.

Using a data set that spans from January 2002 to December 2023 and covers both GPR data and gold price data, this study applies the log-periodic power law singularity (LPPLS) model to identify gold price bubbles. The analysis explores the effects of GPR and its sub-indices – geopolitical risk–acts (GPRA) and geopolitical risk–threats (GPRT) – on gold price bubbles. The causal relationships are examined through logistic regression, Tobit modelling and machine learning, with a focus on different countries, including major gold producers and consumers.

The results indicate a significant relationship between GPR and gold price bubbles, particularly with GPRA, which exerts a stronger influence than GPRT does. Peaks in GPR often align with the formation of gold price bubbles, both positive and negative. Additionally, geopolitical instability in Russia has a significant effect on US gold price bubbles.

The findings provide valuable insights for investors and policymakers by emphasizing the importance of GPR in shaping gold price dynamics. Investors are advised to consider the nuanced roles of GPRA and GPRT when using gold as a hedge during periods of heightened geopolitical tension.

Understanding the role of GPR in gold price bubbles can help mitigate the financial risk associated with speculative bubbles, thereby offering a better framework for managing assets during geopolitical crises.

This study extends existing research by directly linking GPR with gold price bubbles via the LPPLS model, with a novel emphasis on the differentiation between GPRA and GPRT, providing new perspectives on the safe-haven role of gold during geopolitical uncertainty.