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The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of socio-cognitive mindfulness on resilience, stress and thriving among middle managers in higher education at two separate periods during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Study 1, the authors examined how socio-cognitive mindfulness predicted perceived stress and whether the relationship between mindfulness and perceived stress was mediated by resilience. In Study 2, the authors replicated the first study and further hypothesized that the link between mindfulness and thriving was also mediated by resilience.

The authors conducted cross-sectional correlational studies to test the hypotheses using data from 163 middle managers in higher education early in the pandemic in Study 1 and 204 middle managers a year later in Study 2.

Study 1 findings showed socio-cognitive mindfulness predicted perceived stress, and that resilience fully mediated this relationship. In Study 2, socio-cognitive mindfulness did not predict perceived stress, but it did predict thriving, and that relationship was fully mediated by resilience.

This research is the first to address how socio-cognitive mindfulness directly impacts perceived stress and thriving and its impact through building resilience. To date, few studies have focused on stress in higher education middle managers or addressed the importance of building socio-cognitive mindfulness and resilience to thrive amid ongoing challenges. Implications of the pandemic's influence on the results are also addressed.

Like many organisations, the Army is preparing itself for significant population changes in the 1990s. The demographic trough means that there will be something like 25% fewer 16–19 year olds in 1995 than there were in 1985. These statistics have a significant bearing on the recruiting environment for the Army, because it will continue to need large numbers of young men and women to consider the armed forces as a career choice throughout this period.

Using the same checklist as that in the previous chapter, this chapter evaluates the current status of policy initiative on incorporating climate disaster risk aspects in local development planning in Costa Rica. The chapter identifies opportunities and challenges of this local initiative for reducing climate disaster risk. In addition, the study discusses the influence of national policy on local development planning.

Within the social work and human service professions, a practitioner’s ability to engage with and assess the needs of marginalized clients can be a high-stakes proposition. If biases and cultural misunderstandings exist during the client engagement and treatment process, vital services such as domestic violence counseling psychotherapy, substance abuse treatment, and elder care can be compromised. The purpose of this chapter is to examine master’s level social work students’ self-perceived “readiness for practice” with diverse populations. Readiness for practice was assessed by two-course assignments: (1) “critical reflectivity assessment” and (2) development of a “cultural competence work plan.” Results revealed that most students overestimated their ability to work with diverse populations at the onset of instruction. However, at the end of the course, students were able to analyze their beliefs and assumptions about diverse, marginalized populations; analyze the concepts of power and privilege as it is manifested within society; and articulate a plan for continued knowledge and skill development beyond the classroom setting.

The broad aim of this paper is to look at the relationship between terrain and conflict. Using the opportunity and willingness framework, it argues that there are some long established physical factors, which have been related to the terrain of conflict, but that there are also some equally long established factors that are nonphysical. This latter group includes the notion of a “mountain people,” which is described as being fierce, uncivilized, and resistant to authority. Such arguments may have some foundation, but they are also based on a strong history of determinism and indeed scientific racism. The paper also looks at the “what is a mountain?” debate and argues that this question is entirely misleading for conflict analysis. It is hoped that conflict researchers will be careful whenever they encounter the word “mountain.”

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between mindfulness and two types of well-being, namely subjective and psychological well-being, particularly in a managerial context. The mindfulness-to-meaning theory (MMT) suggests that the practice of mindfulness might lead individuals to reevaluate and find greater meaning in their experiences, ultimately contributing to increased well-being. Accordingly, we argue that mindfulness boosts well-being because it may potentially lead managers to reappraise what surrounds them, making them experience more frequent positive affect.

A two-wave survey with a two-week interval was used to gather quantitative data. An overall sample of 1,260 managers with and without experience with mindfulness took part in the study.

Structural equation modeling showed that mindfulness had a direct and positive relationship with both subjective and psychological well-being. Furthermore, both processes – positive reappraisal and positive affect – mediated the path from mindfulness to both forms of well-being.

The findings emphasize the importance of creating training strategies that develop managers’ ability to positively reappraise daily events and occurrences, which may trigger more frequently positive affective experiences. Therefore, promoting mindfulness training at the workplace may develop mindful employees, especially by working on specific strategies, such as positive reappraisal, which may be a promising empirical-based strategy to enhance well-being.

This study adds knowledge about how mindfulness can contribute to well-being and contributes to expanding the mindfulness-to-meaning theory by adding positive affective experiences as an additional mechanism in the relationship between mindfulness and well-being. Specifically, it demonstrates that the practice of mindfulness helps managers to positively reappraise their surroundings, which results in more frequent experiences of positive affect.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Stress and its negative consequences in both professional and personal domains is a serious issue for middle managers in sectors like higher education, especially during turbulent periods. Engagement in socio-cognitive mindfulness (SCM) practices offers an effective way to reduce stress and make such individuals more resilient to the point that they are able to overcome adversity and begin to thrive.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the asymmetric effects of financial risk on Sukuk market development for a sample of Malaysian countries over the period of 2010–2021.

This study refers to the International Country Risk Guide (ICRG) in determining the financial risk factors to be studied in addition to the Malaysia financial stress index (FSI) to capture changes in financial risk level. The authors use the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model to tackle the nonlinear relationships between identified financial risk variables and Sukuk market development.

The results suggest the existence of a long-run relationship between foreign debt service stability, international liquidity stability (ILS), exchange rate stability (ERS) and financial stress level with the Sukuk market development in Malaysia. Indeed, higher ILS and ERS will boost Sukuk market size, whereas higher foreign debt services and financial stress are negatively related to Sukuk market development. Findings also indicate that the long-run positive and negative impacts of identified financial risk components on Sukuk market development are statistically different. Taking into account the role of the Sukuk market in facilitating Malaysia’s economic growth, the country should aim to keep the foreign debt-to-GDP ratio at a sustainable level.

This study points to three possible directions for future research. The first is the differential impact of financial risk components on Sukuk issuance for different Sukuk structures. As more data becomes available in the future, this area could be further explored by conducting the above analysis for different combinations of Sukuk structures and currency denominations. In addition, future researchers could also consider exploring the variability of financial risk impacts through comparative studies of the leading Sukuk-issuing countries to account for differences in regulatory frameworks and supporting infrastructure.

This study provides valuable practical and policy implications for strengthening the growth of the Sukuk market. While benefiting from the diversification benefits of funding sources to finance private or government projects and developments, Malaysia should remain vigilant to global economic conditions, foreign exchange markets and financial stress levels, as all of these factors may significantly influence investor sentiment and the rate of return offered by Sukuk issuance.

The use of the NARDL approach, which investigates the long-run effects of financial risk factors on Sukuk market development in Malaysia, makes this study a valuable addition to the literature, as there has been little research into the asymmetric effects of those variables on Sukuk market development using samples from emerging Asian markets.