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During crises, notably the recent COVID-19 pandemic, a heightened sense of urgency has manifested as a catalyst for improvement within organizations. The present study aims to explore the influence of a sense of urgency on individual kaizen performance. Additionally, the study delves into the potential moderating roles of organizational culture in this relationship.

Data samples include 481 employees who are working at Japanese manufacturing companies. SPSS software is used for data analysis, comprising measurement test, correlation and regression analysis.

A sense of urgency was found to predict a higher number of accepted suggestions. Moreover, there is a significant and positive interaction effect of adhocracy culture and a sense of urgency on writing and submitting ideas.

As an initial study that empirically tests the relationship between a sense of urgency and individual kaizen performance, this paper contributes to the literature on kaizen, change management and innovation. It also corroborates previous research on the Person-Organization fit framework.

We studied seven hydropower license consultations to examine the role of a sense of urgency to reach agreement. Hydropower licensing consultations were studied because the statutory requirement for consultation encourages negotiation, all such consultations are similar, and a negotiated settlement is not a foregone result. Cases selected for analysis met screening criteria. Structured interviews were conducted with participants after the negotiations had been concluded. Respondent recollections were checked against the documentary record. A sense of urgency to reach agreement was a significant factor in the completion of these negotiations; where there was no shared sense of urgency, purposeful delay adversely affected the negotiations. Although a sense of urgency was experienced by at least one party in each case, only a shared sense of urgency at the end of the process proved significant. Delay did not prevent ultimate agreement but a shared sense of urgency brought speedier agreement and greater satisfaction with the negotiation.

The growing concern around sustainability highlights the need to change individual consumption behaviour. Using evolutionary theory, the purpose of this paper is to present a framework that demonstrates the process by which a consumer’s ultimate motives (thoughts, emotions, and perceptions that come from the evolutionary motives) impact sustainability campaign message persuasiveness (SCMP).

The framework was tested using partial least squares analysis with data from an online survey of 237 consumers.

Ultimate motives influence the SCMP through a mediating relationship, via a consumer’s sustainable consumption attitude and behaviour. The perceived sense of urgency around sustainability issues and the consumer’s connection to nature were also identified as key moderators that impact relationships between ultimate motives and consumers’ sustainability attitudes and behaviours.

Future research could explore the impact of other factors, such as values, social norms, culture and governmental regulations, on individuals’ reactions to sustainability marketing.

The findings indicate the importance for managers to grasp the multifaceted nature of ultimate motives. By heightening particular ultimate motives, marketers can steer individuals towards sustainable attitudes and behaviours, consequently increasing the probability of favourable reactions to sustainable consumption messages.

This study addressed the two main limitations of research into SCMP by providing a theoretical grounding and focusing on the drivers of consumer behaviour, instead of campaign messaging aspects (e.g. framing). The empirical analysis, including identifying interactions between ultimate motives, supports the use of evolutionary theory to explain SCMP.

Retailer-brand collaborations (e.g. Target–Lilly Pulitzer) attract media attention and generate excitement, and may encourage buying the product right away rather than waiting until a sale. To clearly establish factors that contribute to consumers' urge to purchase retailer-brand collaborations, the purpose of this study is to test the effects of: (1) collaboration duration (limited edition vs ongoing) and (2) perceived retailer-brand fit (high vs low) on consumers' urgency to buy.

Three experimental studies (n = 499) manipulate and test the effect of collaboration duration (Study 1), perceived retailer-brand fit (Study 2) and the combined effect (Study 3) on consumers' urgency to buy.

Findings indicate that urgency to buy retailer-brand collaborations are favourable when products are offered as limited edition versus ongoing (Study 1), when there is high-perceived fit versus low-perceived fit between retailer and brand partners (Study 2) and when both conditions are true (Study 3).

To enhance consumers' urgency to buy retailer-brand collaborations, the partnerships should be limited in duration (vs collaborating in an ongoing fashion). Additionally brands and retailers need to strategically align with well-fitting partners.

Despite the prevalence and success of retailer-brand collaborations in industry, research on such collaboration is surprising scant. Additionally, while previous studies often measure purchase intentions as consumers' response, an understanding of factors that discourage consumers from delaying their purchase (i.e. factors that lead to urgency to buy) help to identify strategies to cultivate greater profits.

Many industrial salespeople and sales managers think that to close a sale they need to employ manipulative closing techniques during the closing stage of the sales process. That is a mistake. Successful sellers make prospects aware of their needs in the "needs awareness" stage and create a sense of urgency to satisfy those needs. This paper discusses how corporate policies, goal setting (financial and activity) and employing effective information systems can create or diminish the sense of urgency for industrial salespeople.

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.

Firms seeking improved performance to meet complex challenges fueled by uncertain conditions can increase employee ability to find creative solutions by generating a sense of urgency. The likelihood of this can increase when either a clan or adhocracy organizational culture prevails.

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 paper is to provide a framework for analyzing stakeholder‐management strategies in supply chain collaboration. The authors aim to show how prior dyadic relations with a stakeholder and perception of situational demands on the relationship determine the choice of aggressive vs cooperative strategies in managing stakeholder relationships.

To develop a blueprint for predicting collaboration strategies, literature on stakeholder theory, stakeholder management strategies, field theory, and organizational mental models was surveyed. From the literature, 31 predictors of eight stakeholder management strategies were identified. To operationalize the study's constructs, results of a national survey were analyzed to determine the significant predictors of stakeholder management strategies.

Factor analysis identified two groups of stakeholder strategies: aggressive strategies and cooperative strategies. Aggressive strategies feature some form of forceful attitude or behavior toward stakeholders in an attempt to alter other stakeholders' behavior. Cooperative strategies feature supportive attitudes or behaviors towards its stakeholders. Models were developed for these two types of stakeholder management strategies. When the level of trust among stakeholders is low, a firm that presses to complete the collaboration activity may choose aggressive strategies in dealing with its trading partners. On the other hand, a sense of interdependence, a perception that its trading partners share the urgency to collaborate, plus awareness that the collaboration activity benefits all will lead the organization to adopt cooperative strategies.

By examining the factors contributing to an organization's decision to pursue aggressive (e.g. the radio frequency identification – RFID Mandate), rather than cooperative stakeholder management strategies, this study has important implications to advocates of change (e.g. firms mandating RFID compliance), and firms at the receiving end of aggressive stakeholder strategies.

The findings have important implications for advocates of change (e.g. firms mandating RFID compliance). For trading partners to cooperate, the trading partners must be convinced of the urgency of change, that it is appropriate and right to comply with the call for change, and that they have the ability to do it correctly. To firms at the receiving end of aggressive stakeholder strategies, the approach taken by their trading partners may seem like “bullying tactics” exercised by firms in a position of power. Instead, this research suggests that firms use aggressive stakeholder management strategies because of a heightened sense of urgency, difficulty in conveying legitimacy in carrying out the collaborative undertaking to the trading partners, and lack of faith that all stakeholders will do their share to make the collaborative undertaking work.

The popular use of labels such as Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y and Millennials suggests that the nature of effective leadership changes over time in response to the prevailing modern context. Using a values-based leadership lens, defined as the moral foundation underlying stewardship decisions and actions of leaders, the purpose of this paper is to explore the alternative notion that fundamental leadership ideals – from antiquity to modern executives to MBA students – are timeless in nature.

Using a thematic analysis approach, The Aeneid was coded for key leadership themes (integrity, good judgment, leadership by example, decision-making, trust, justice/fairness, humility, and sense of urgency); and a mixed-method research framework was employed to juxtapose the leadership lessons identified to the demands of modern leadership. Deductive thematic analysis was utilized to examine key themes from responses of 13 multi-sectoral leaders (for profit, non-profit, government) and 137 MBA students (from three MBA programs in differing regions).

Whether viewed qualitatively or quantitatively, or across sectors, the findings of this study affirm the explicit relevance of The Aeneid to the demands of modern leadership. Additionally, it was found that the way managers ranked leadership values was not significantly different from how MBA students ranked the same values. Moreover, the authors found integrity to be a superordinate value – without which the remaining values have far less significance.

This research highlights a leadership paradox – while managerial traits are an important consideration for the prevailing operational context in the short term, a values-based approach to hiring, promoting and retaining leaders may be superior in achieving organizational sustainability and performance. This study illustrates the practical contemporary relevance of The Aeneid specifically, and illustrates a humanities laden and values-based approach to reflecting on leadership effectiveness generally.

Online health question-and-answer (Q&A) forums have developed a new business model whereby listeners (peer patients) can pay to read health information derived from consultations between askers (focal patients) and answerers (physicians). However, research exploring the mechanism behind peer patients' purchase decisions and the specific nature of the information driving these decisions has remained limited. This study aims to develop a theoretical model for understanding how peer patients make such decisions based on limited information, i.e. the first question displayed in each focal patient-physician interaction record, considering argument quality (interrogative form and information details) and source credibility (patient experience of focal patients), including the contingent role of urgency.

The model was tested by text mining 1,960 consultation records from a popular Chinese online health Q&A forum on the Yilu App. These records involved interactions between focal patients and physicians and were purchased by 447,718 peer patients seeking health-related information until this research.

Patient experience embedded in focal patients' questions plays a significant role in inducing peer patients to purchase previous consultation records featuring exchanges between focal patients and physicians; in particular, increasingly detailed information is associated with a reduced probability of making a purchase. When focal patients demonstrate a high level of urgency, the effect of information details is weakened, while the interrogative form is strengthened.

The originality of this study lies in its exploration of the monetization mechanism forming the trilateral relationship between askers (focal patients), answerers (physicians) and listeners (peer patients) in the business model “paying to view others' answers” in the online health Q&A forum and the moderating role of urgency in explaining the mechanism of how first questions influence peer patients' purchasing behavior.

Using a values‐based leadership perspective, the paper aims to explore the Aeneid, Virgil's foundation epic of the Latin canon. Specifically, it aims to analyse the Aeneid in order to juxtapose the resonant leadership elements of vision, culture and values – and their corresponding equivalent Roman themes of fatum, pietas, and virtus.

Using a thematic analysis approach, the Aeneid was coded for key leadership themes; and a mixed‐method research framework was employed to juxtapose the leadership lessons identified to the demands of modern leadership.

The paper finds resonating elements of a compelling vision and strong culture – and coded the following eight values: integrity, good judgment, leadership by example, decision making, trust, justice/fairness, humility, and sense of urgency – in the Aeneid. Whether viewed qualitatively or quantitatively – or across sectors (i.e. for profit, non profit, government) – the findings of this study affirm the explicit relevance of the Aeneid to the demands of modern leadership. Moreover, integrity was found to be a superordinate value – without which the remaining values have far less significance.

This research highlights a leadership paradox – while managerial traits are an important consideration for the prevailing operational context in the short term, a values‐based approach to hiring, promoting and retaining leaders may be superior in achieving organizational sustainability and performance over the long term. This study illustrates the practical contemporary relevance of the Aeneid specifically, and illustrates a humanities laden and values‐based approach to reflecting on leadership effectiveness generally.