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This study aims to develop a realistic 3D printing-based simulator for the training and planning of the left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) to be used in the cath lab.

Starting from a pre-operative computed tomography dataset of a patient already treated with LAAO, the model was obtained, consisting in the right and left heart, opportunely assembled to replicate the position and orientation of the patient's anatomy while lying on the cath lab table. Different 3D printing techniques and materials were used to mimic the interaction between the cardiac tissue and the clinical instrumentation. The simulator was tested in the cath lab under proper image guidance by three LAAO expert operators. The clinicians were required to assign a score in terms of realism to each material used to fabricate the fossa ovalis and the LAA.

The simulated interventions were successfully performed by the operators, who were able to navigate in the system and release the occluder device as during a real procedure. The intraoperative images acquired during the simulations were highly comparable with data from a real intervention, with a mean percentage difference below 10%.

This study demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed simulator to faithfully replicate the LAAO procedure and its potentiality to be used for multiple purposes, including the training of the young clinicians, the evaluation of the most complicated cases and the design of novel occluder devices, in a fully realistic setting.

Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914), recognized as the father of philosophical pragmatism, has been described as a philosopher’s philosopher. Eliyahu Moshe Goldratt (1947–2011), considered the father of the management philosophy theory of constraints (TOC), has been described as being, first and foremost, a philosopher. The TOC body of knowledge is mainly preserved as concrete methodologies used in the management discipline. By examining the foundational elements of synechism and the TOC, the purpose of this study is to investigate the intellectual connections between the arguments and legacies of Goldratt and Peirce. Although this connection is worthy of much further investigation, the research emphasizes the possible implications from a management philosophy perspective.

Based on a “review with an attitude,” the authors first examined the foundations of Goldratt’s TOC through the lens of Peirce’s synechism. Next, the authors then examined how the study of Peirce combined with a selection of contemporary research in the management and organizational studies domain could point out a direction toward completing Goldratt’s unfinished intellectual work to establish a unified science management while addressing some of the current gaps in the TOC body of knowledge.

Major findings show that synechism’s growth may extend TOC knowledge, improving managerial practice in organizations. Findings on the convergent ideas of both also reveal that Goldratt valued all synechism categories, emphasizing the importance of not overlooking Firstness. Furthermore, the study analyzes the abductive inference demonstrated in the two use cases, introducing an additional metaphor to the management of organizational systems inspired by Peirce’s philosophical concepts. The research concludes that incorporating TOC and synechism principles can enhance management and organizational practices and enrich management philosophy and theories.

This pioneering research opens promising opportunities to draw parallels between Peirce and Goldratt. Interdisciplinary collaboration will enhance the rigor and validity of integrating synechism and TOC. Experts in organizational behavior, systems theory and complexity science can provide valuable insights into this debate, while practitioners and consultants could help identify barriers and opportunities for integrating synechistic principles.

The study proposes a novel abductive approach using Peirce’s cable metaphor as an initial framework to build a unified science of management based on evolutionary stages: TOC, common sense and connectedness.

This research reinforces the argument that contemporary management practices need philosophical thinking. The authors argue that re-evaluating the foundations of management thought enriches the decision-making process in organizations and the understanding of contemporary theories in management and organizational studies.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of emotional intelligence (EI) on the relationship between strategic management of technology (SMT) and organizational performance (OP).

Data were collected through a survey of 1,094 managerial level employees attached to banks in Sri Lanka and analyzed using structural equation modeling procedure with SmartPLS to test a priori-based conceptual model. The results supported the arguments on the positive impact of SMT on OP, and the moderating role of EI on the relationship between SMT and the OP.

This research reveals the positive effect of SMT on organizational performance.

The findings imply the importance of emotions of managerial level employees in implementing technology strategies to enhance organizational performance in highly volatile markets.

The findings provide an important contribution to the practitioners with the importance of EI for the relationship between SMT and OP.

Self-service check-out technologies (SSTs) are becoming a trend across different retail settings, allowing companies to gain efficiency and reduce costs. Nevertheless, the success of SSTs implementation is still subject to challenges and uncertainties. This study aims to provide insights for theory and managers on the necessary conditions for the successful implementation of retail SSTs.

Based on an online survey, data from 251 participants were collected to understand the factors predicting SSTs adoption and realise what conditions are mandatory for the adoption. partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) and necessary condition analysis (NCA) were used to analyse the data.

According to the NCA analysis results, 12 latent variables were relevant for predicting SSTs adoption, but only seven were necessary conditions for user adoption.

The complementarity of perspectives for understanding the adoption of SSTs based on the two data analysis techniques provides novel insights into theory and support for retailers' decision-making on self-service technologies (STTs) implementation.

Based on the trait activation theory, the current study systematically integrates how autonomy interacts with proactivity to influence the relationship between ethical leadership style and employee creativity.

Using simple random sampling and questionnaires, a sample of 475 engineering employees of 3 leading telecommunication companies in Ghana were obtained. The analysis was done using structured equation modeling (SEM), using SmartPLS.

The results showed that ethical leadership style provides employees with job autonomy which facilitates individual creativity. Employee proactivity also moderates a positive relationship between autonomy and creativity such that high-proactive employees are well placed to produce more creative outcomes when given autonomy. At the individual level, personal characteristics determine the degree of creativity.

The current study implies that telecommunication companies should put in more efforts to train and encourage leaders to be ethical in leaders' dealings with employees and employees must be rewarded for taking initiative.

With a focus on the integrative approach from a developing economy, this work is novel in exploring how contextual and personal features impact creativity.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically examine a comprehensive model that attempts to identify the factors that explain competitive advantage of implementing electronic business (e-business) in an emerging market. It seeks to fulfill an inevitable lack of conducting rigorous and intensive empirical studies on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in which the internet use and e-business applications are on the rise.

This research is descriptive in nature where a quantitative research methodology is deployed. Data are collected using both interviews and e-survey for a sample of 302 Egyptian companies serving in diverse industries. A multivariate partial least squares technique is employed to analyze the collected data.

This study explores various e-business modes and applications widely employed in the MENA region. It also addresses a set of e-business-driven competitive advantages that are mainly generated from supportive ICT environment, major market forces and strategic opportunities, and at last, from electronically driven customers’ relationship initiatives. A number of e-business barriers are claimed to moderate the relationship between those forces and the resulting competitive advantages.

Although this research main framework incorporates important variables based on theoretical and empirical foundations, integrating other factors may extend understanding of how these factors, independently and/or interactively, explain the adoption of e-business and its merit to create distinctive competitive advantage.

This work helps managers and e-business experts alike to comprehend the ways through which firms target the applications of e-business technologies to realize a competitive edge in MENA region. It also helps practitioners and professionals comprehend the interrelationship between the type of forces drive e-business based competitive position and key barriers that deteriorate such a connection in emerging markets.

A model that enables scholars to better understanding the e-business phenomenon in MENA market is developed and validated. This model rests on e-business experts’ perspectives, reflections and it is evidently substantiated by past works in the areas.

This study aims to provide a conceptual framework for exploring the relationship between online game product engagement and online brand community engagement and how these two types of customer engagement affect subsequent offline benefit for customers and online and offline benefits for firms. This study also investigates the antecedents of online game product engagement from the virtual experience perspective.

This study collected data from online gamers in Taiwan. Of the 580 responses, 548 were valid. Smart PLS 3 was used to test the measurement model and the hypotheses in the research model.

The conceptual model is supported. First, the findings show that learning, entertainment, flow and social interaction play key roles in explaining online game product engagement. Second, online game product engagement has a positive effect on online brand community engagement. Finally, online game product engagement and online brand community engagement are crucial drivers of customers’ offline benefit and firms’ online and offline benefits.

Four contributions are made by this study. First, this study explores firms’ online benefit (virtual item purchase intention) and offline benefits, including licensed product and co-branded product purchase intention. Second, this study explores the customer’s offline benefit (offline skill development). Third, it focuses on two types of customer engagement, including online game product engagement and online brand community engagement, and explores the relationship between them. Finally, the concept of virtual experience is used to explore the antecedents of online game product engagement.

Communicating the identity of a family business generates positive results in consumer response. The paper aims to understanding how the efficient transmission of family identity can influence consumer behavior is essential for designing family firms' marketing communication strategies.

An experimental study based on the eye-tracking technique was designed to determine how attention to (familiar vs non-familiar) visual stimuli on a website influences consumer recognition of a family firm status and how it influences consumer behavior. A sample of 212 individuals was exposed to (simulated) websites of family and non-family firms in the hospitality industry to capture information about their eye movements and measure visual attention to specific stimuli that communicated family identity.

Visual attention has a direct and positive influence on recognizing family firm's identity (FFI). Through FFI, visual attention has an indirect positive effect on trust in the company and attitude toward the brand (BraAtt). Trust in a firm positively affects purchase intention (PurInt).

It is known that consumers can perceive a FFI; however, there is no study on the sensory mechanisms operating in consumers' perceptions of family identity. The study contributes to understanding how consumers can perceive a FFI. This study proposes a novel method for evaluating consumer responses by transmitting family business identity on digital platforms.

The continued evolution of influencer marketing has created a need to better understand influencer marketing effectiveness. With brands increasingly partnering with influencers, research is yet to provide an integrated perspective examining the critical role of both parties. This study aims to draw on the source credibility model and signaling theory to explain the mechanisms that matter in influencer marketing effectiveness.

The proposed model of influencer marketing effectiveness is analyzed using partial least squares with data from 281 followers of social media influencers.

The authors establish influencer characteristics of popularity and attractiveness as heuristic cues that inform judgments of influencer efficacy. Further, category involvement and altruistic motives for collaboration are shown to moderate followers’ reliance on these heuristic cues. Then, a sequential mediating effect demonstrates the critical roles of the influencer and partner brand in three desired outcomes: enhanced perception of brand authenticity, enhanced brand engagement and positive attitudes toward influencer posts.

Future research should consider other heuristic cues that could inform influencer efficacy judgments and switch the focus toward the partner brand’s impact on such judgments.

A step-by-step visual framework is presented to help marketers and influencers translate these findings into key responsibilities for developing more effective and collaborative partnerships.

Besides presenting an integrated perspective, signaling theory provides an original lens for explaining influencer marketing effectiveness, addressing the need to expand the theoretical boundaries of influencer marketing research.