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The role of public health organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic was crucial. These groups acted to slow the spread of infection through the implementation of initiatives, policies, research and more. However, the rapidly changing and uncertain climate of the pandemic resulted in suboptimal processes and decision-making within these organizations. These already complex organizations and networks of people became even more nuanced. Thus, organizational decision-making processes must be improved upon based on previous experiences and lessons learnt. With minimal peer-reviewed literature available, resources for effective organizational decision-making in these organizations are scarce. This served as the impetus for this review.

To conduct this literature review, both peer-reviewed and grey literature were incorporated to better understand effective organizational decision-making practices for public health organizations. Recommendations found in the literature review were identified, coded and themed to provide a novel decision-making framework to be used by public health executives.

Nine key themes of effective organizational decision-making were identified, including utilize decision-making tools, define the problem and acknowledge an imminent decision, establish decision rights, outline a clear escalation path, create a supportive organizational culture, set decision objectives and goals, and evaluate decision alternatives. These findings in conjunction with existing decision-making models were used to create a seven-step effective decision-making framework for public health organizations.

The review and analysis of effective organizational decision-making practices is instructive. Public health executives and decision-makers should incorporate the themes identified and employ the proposed decision-making framework to encourage improved decision-making practices.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical perspective on how the COVID-19 crisis shaped inclusive leadership behaviors of global business leaders.

Using quantitative and qualitative methods, the authors analyzed 240 CEO statements in 120 multinational enterprises from six countries (France, India, Japan, South Korea, UK, USA), pre- and mid-COVID-19.

Results show that CEO emphasis on inclusive leadership increased during the pandemic. More substantively, the authors identify three key behaviors of inclusive leadership – fidelity, calmness and collective resilience.

The authors provide empirical evidence of inclusive leadership behaviors by global business leaders. In doing so, the authors integrate inclusive leadership into societally engaged international business research.

Data assets and digital resources (DADRs) are among the world’s most valuable resources, yet their economic value is often underrepresented in GDP statistics and corporate financial statements. This underrepresentation stems from several factors, such as the complexities of valuing data assets, the absence of standardized accounting principles for data and other intangible assets and conflicting views on the need for such accounting. In this study, we strive to reconcile conflicting views by empirically investigating whether such accounting is necessary from the perspective of investors, namely, do investors care about the accounting treatment of DADR?

We leverage a unique event and adopt a well-established event-study approach to examine investors’ responses to a recent regulatory announcement regarding the accounting treatment of data assets. In August 2023, China’s Ministry of Finance introduced the Interim Provisions on the Accounting Treatment of Enterprise Data Resources (hereafter referred to as the Interim Provisions), marking the world’s first formalized framework for data asset accounting. This event provides an ideal context for this inquiry.

Our findings indicate that markets respond positively to the announcement, particularly for firms with more DADR proxied in different ways. However, the positive market reaction is significantly smaller for companies with higher levels of intangible asset intensity. This result aligns with the emerging literature, suggesting that firms with high intangible intensity experience greater information asymmetry and reduced value relevance of financial statements due to inadequate accounting treatment of intangibles. Moreover, the economic implications are notable. A long–short portfolio strategy, which involves buying stocks of firms in the top quartile of DADR proxies and selling those in the bottom quartile, yields an annualized cumulative abnormal return (CAR) of over 3.00%.

The novel insights from this study help reconcile conflicting views on the need for accounting treatment of data and other intangible assets because investors care about the accounting of data assets. Moreover, our research indicates an urgent need for the development of clear accounting guidelines for data and other intangibles, which would improve the consistency and reliability of financial reporting, benefiting all stakeholders. Finally, our findings hold important implications for regulators and accounting standard setters, especially given the ongoing debates regarding accounting for intangible assets.

Hybrid work arrangements became the new norm post-pandemic, introducing challenges to workplace well-being, with implications for burnout and organizational commitment. This study reviews existing research on well-being in the hybrid work context and offers directions for future research and practical implications for managers.

Using Scientometric analysis and the Theory-Characteristics-Context-Methods (TCCM) framework, this study reviews literature from Scopus and proposes future research directions.

Hybrid work, remote work and well-being have emerged as core themes, while the prominence of the COVID-19 pandemic as a theme has declined. The job demands-resources model was the most frequently applied theory, with variables such as well-being, work engagement and leadership effectiveness commonly explored. Higher education and Information Technology (IT) sectors were prominent contexts, and methods included grounded theory, surveys and interviews.

Future studies should examine the impact of hybrid work on employee engagement, employee thriving, workplace ostracism and workplace bullying in industries such as IT and healthcare. Theoretical exploration should integrate Organizational Support Theory and Self-Determination Theory.

Managers should support hybrid models with personalized well-being programs, flexible work schedules and mental health initiatives. Financial support for ergonomic home offices and research on Return on Investment (ROI) from hybrid models will be essential.

Framing hybrid work and well-being within the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework underscores its social, environmental and financial dimensions. This approach highlights the potential of hybrid work to reduce commuting-related emissions and enhance societal well-being.

The current study, being the first to employ scientometric analysis and the TCCM approach to examine well-being in hybrid work, addresses key gaps in the literature. It provides a comprehensive discussion of relevant theories. Further, it offers novel insights into employee well-being and sustainability, and valuable directions for future research.

The economic significance of self-help groups (SHGs), a critical community-based initiative based on social capital, is well encapsulated in generating employment opportunities, financial inclusion, empowerment of marginalized communities and economic development. However, these SHGs face multiple operating obstacles and sustainability challenges that have drawn the attention of policymakers and academicians alike. The landscape of SHGs has undergone a significant unfavorable transformation after the post-COVID-19 pandemic, which poses an existential crisis for SHGs. This study aims to explore the sustainability challenges in the post-pandemic landscape of SHGs and identify the factors that drive or deter individuals from joining SHGs.

Initially, six National Cooperative Union of India representatives, the apex body of cooperative societies in India, were approached to understand the current policy framework and probable concerns of SHGs. Based on the interaction, the research agenda was modified to examine the sustainability of SHGs during and after the pandemic. An in-depth semistructured interview of 13 SHG leaders/coordinators and 52 individual members from different regions of India is conducted.

Lack of digital inclusion, restrictions in mobility, impact on health and well-being and infrastructural ecosystem are identified as fundamental (and novel) operational challenges that hinder SHG sustainability post-pandemic. At the member level, entrepreneurial aspirations, a sense of belongingness, social networks and corporate and nongovernment organization (NGO) initiatives are the critical drivers for SHG participation. In contrast, the key deterrents are mistrust, lack of coordination and customer perception.

Although many studies present mixed findings on women’s empowerment through SHGs, much of the research primarily emphasizes individual factors and the challenges faced by women. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to expand the discussion beyond individual experiences to address broader operational challenges, particularly in the post-pandemic context. In doing so, this research aims to assist SHGs in overcoming these challenges and to guide government and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) in supporting the sustainable growth of SHGs.

Networked learning facilitates collaboration and learning interactions. This study aims to explore networked learning in the workplace (knowledge sharing and connection building) and gain insights into the contextual factors (learner and environmental) of learning interactions.

Thematic analysis was conducted to explore how learning interactions were facilitated among healthcare workers in a large hospital in Singapore. This study examined both the learner and environmental factors of learning interactions. Interview and focus group discussions qualitative data were included in the analysis.

The findings of this study reveal that more emphasis can be placed on the environmental factors, and targeting these factors would provide a good foundation for networked learning in the workplace, whereas learner factors could be promoted to enhance additional learning interactions. This study also found that workers learn most frequently from experienced seniors, indicating the value of mentorship programmes in fostering high-quality learning interactions.

This paper sheds light on the comprehensive set of factors that encourage networked learning among healthcare professionals and provides empirical findings that might direct future studies in similar domains.

The purpose of this study was to provide a model for informal workplace learning. Despite the prevalence and recognized importance of informal learning in the workplace, scattered literature and different perspectives have caused a lack of shared understanding about its nature, and little research effort has been made in this direction so far.

This paper identified the most significant components of informal workplace learning using the qualitative meta-synthesis method. For this purpose, after searching sources from different databases and screening them, 17 sources were selected due to compatibility with the research criteria. The texts extracted from the sources were analyzed using a thematic analysis method and synthesized using an aggregation approach. Finally, a themes network was created as a model with 8 main components and 11 sub-components.

The results indicated that eight components were considered significant to informal workplace learning, including learning stimulus, awareness and intent to learn, action or experience, critical reflection on action, facilitators, collective learning, self-directed and context.

This meta-synthesis contributes to the coherence and integration of the informal workplace learning literature. The obtained conceptual model, in addition to the general components of informal workplace learning, provides an explanation of the characteristics of each and the relationships between its components to achieve a complete understanding of the nature of informal workplace learning. Since no study has been done so far to comprehensively identify the most significant components of informal workplace learning, it is not possible to refer to their results in comparison with the results of this study.

This study aims to focus on sustainable supplier selection in a construction company considering a new multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method based on dominance-based rough set analysis. The inclusion of sustainability concept in industrial supply chains has started gaining momentum due to increased environmental protection awareness and social obligations. The selection of sustainable suppliers marks the first step toward accomplishing this objective. The problem of selecting the right suppliers fulfilling the sustainable requirements is a major MCDM problem since various conflicting factors are underplay in the selection process. The decision-makers are often confronted with inconsistent situations forcing them to make imprecise and vague decisions.

This paper presents a new method based on dominance-based rough sets for the selection of right suppliers based on sustainable performance criteria relying on the triple bottom line approach. The method applied has its distinct advantages by providing more transparency in dealing with the preference information provided by the decision-makers and is thus found to be more intuitive and appealing as a performance measurement tool.

The technique is easy to apply using “jrank” software package and devises results in the form of decision rules and ranking that further assist the decision-makers in making an informed decision that increases credibility in the decision-making process.

The novelty of this study of its kind is that uses the dominance-based rough set approach for a sustainable supplier selection process.

Examining dominance in influencing leadership perceptions for men and women has received significant scholarly attention. The studies typically show that dominance is beneficial for men in attaining leadership positions but not for women. However, the studies were predominantly conducted more than two decades ago. Given the developments in gender research, this study extends the dominance line of inquiry by probing the impact of dominance need on leader emergence for men versus women in self-managed work teams. Furthermore, this study aims to examine if team dominance needs dispersion posits as a boundary condition for the combined impact of dominance needs and gender on leader emergence.

The authors conducted a longitudinal study that lasted one semester and involved 44 ad hoc self-managed work teams.

This study found that dominance needs facilitated leader emergence regardless of gender, and team dominance needs dispersion. Furthermore, men with high dominance needs were likelier to emerge as leaders than women with high dominance needs in high dominance needs dispersion teams. By contrast, women low in dominance needs received a harsher penalty in their leadership emergence than men low in dominance needs in low dominance needs dispersion teams

These results depart from the usual findings regarding the backlash effects that dominant women face and paint a rosy picture regarding the use of dominance in shaping leader emergence. However, the findings support the notion in gender stereotypes research that women are judged more critically than men in ascending to leadership positions.

Defensive routines are patterns that describe organizational or individual actions aimed at avoiding embarrassment and threat. They impede organizations from identifying hidden issues and creating new knowledge. Defensive routines are particularly salient in the public sector due to their reliance on procedures and rules. The main objective of this paper is to develop a scale to measure defensive routines as perceived by individuals that can be used for the diagnosis of defensive employee attitudes.

The manuscript applies standard procedures for scale development (i.e. item generation, item validation, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and convergent and discriminant validity checks).

The final scale has two factors: one for the individual and one for the organizational level. The former has two dimensions labeled rigidity and embarrassment avoidance, while the latter has two different dimensions, labeled cover-up and pretense.

The scale can be used as a tool for diagnosis of defensive employee attitudes as part of organizational development initiatives.

By studying the nature of defensive routines, we extend the literature on patterned behavior in the context of psychological safety and blame avoidance, in public sector organizations. Furthermore, understanding the constituents of organizational defensive routines enhances knowledge of the micro-foundations of obstacles to change-related capabilities thus extends theory related to dynamic change capabilities. Ultimately, through the scale development, we provide a tangible output for researchers and practitioners alike, promoting evidence-based practice.