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The purpose of this paper is to offer an informed method of collaboration for leaders in organizations to support adaptation to dynamic changes and challenges.

A qualitative analysis was undertaken to utilize change style preferences and personal resources in coping and responding to the extraordinary change brought about by the Covid pandemic. The Change Style Indicator (CSI) instrument and a qualitative reflection were the methods used to understand the near-term effect of this crisis.

Our findings require leaders to focus change efforts beyond organizational structure, as the work of change leadership is built upon interpersonal and individual responses and behaviors. Recommendations for leading through and recovering during dynamic change require customizing leader responses using inherent individual preferences for change and personal resource needs beyond system-wide organizational change initiatives

The paper offers an informed and intentional practice of leading during abrupt unpredictable change by examining typical change style preferences and reflections on personal resources utilized to respond during dynamic change. A strong recommendation for empathetic and collaborative leadership practice to support all stakeholders to adapt to change events is presented. Providing insight into how individuals typically respond to complex, unplanned change, helps inform and increase leadership capabilities and capacities for adapting during complex change.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the factors affecting startup development and the entrepreneurship ecosystem's contribution to it.

A quantitative methodology is used for data collection from different startup owners working across Pakistan. It is a cross-sectional descriptive study, which investigates the causal effect of variables at a definite point in time. Non-probability convenient sampling was used for selecting available startups from the incubation centers. The sampling framework consists of the founders of the startups that have been previously incubated at any of the selected incubation centers.

Regression analysis results from 165 responses of entrepreneurs and incubation centers demonstrate that the most important factors affecting startup development were financial access, government support, marketing challenges, education, technology and managerial skills in order of occurrence. Entrepreneurship ecosystem also proved to have a very positive impact on the relationship of these factors with startup development.

In this paper, the factors that affect the development of startup are analyzed and recommendations are provided.

This research is comprehensive, as we have collected data from actual entrepreneurs and incubation centers to explain how entrepreneurs initiate their startup business by considering their managerial skills. As such, this study is unique in that the data comes from newly developed incubations centers in one of South Asia's fastest-growing economies.

This paper aims to provide a historical overview of AA, its purpose and benefits, the legal rationale for the SCOTUS ruling and what it means for colleges and the workplace regarding equitable opportunities for minority groups (which include women, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and other low-income populations), as they aim for the “American dream”.

SCOTUS decision and rationale, along with literature.

The race-based affirmative action (AA) precedent was recently overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) in the case of Students for Fair Admission (SFFA), Inc. vs President and Fellows of Harvard College/University of North Carolina. SCOTUS ruled that race cannot be a specific basis for college admission. In other words, public and private colleges and universities will no longer be able to consider “race” as a factor in deciding which qualified applicants should be admitted to enhance the diversity of their student body.

This is an original analysis.

The purpose of this research is to study the management approach of automotive industry managers and students in China.

This paper focused on comparing the leadership orientation of respondents and compared 200 working managers with 181 graduate students in the automotive industry.

It appears that these Chinese respondents from the automotive industry have significantly higher scores on the relationship orientation than task orientation. Managers have significantly higher scores on both dimensions of leadership. Similarly, the female respondents in China had similar scores as their male colleagues.

It appears that being socialized in a collectivistic or high context culture can lead to higher focus on relationship orientation. Based on the results, practical implications and application for future research are explored.

This paper is original and analyzes the leadership orientation of respondents.

The purpose of this article is to highlight the importance of proper planning when negotiating with Chinese business professionals. The paper emphasizes face-to-face interaction more so than internet negotiations since relationship building is very important for Chinese negotiators.

This paper used academic literature and book publications to glean the best practices for Chinese negotiation practices. Both face-to-face and cyberspace negotiation strategies are explored.

It appears that these Chinese professionals initially focus on relationship and trust building before making any major deals. As such, traditional means of negotiations are preferred. Also, it should be noted that renegotiations are fairly common, even after a contract has been signed. A four-step negotiation model is recommended for negotiating with Chinese professionals.

Foreigners doing business in China must understand the local norms prior to undertaking any major negotiations. It is best to negotiate through face-to-face format with one's Chinese partners rather than relying on cyberspace technologies.

This paper is a review of practical literature to help international managers when they are negotiating with their Chinese counterparts.

This is an original technical paper to help expatriates properly negotiate with Chinese negotiators.

Appearance is part of a person's non-verbal communication, and looks are often associated with the perceived ‘attractiveness’ of individuals for hiring practices in the workplace. As such, physical attractiveness can be a ‘prized possession’ when it comes to leaving a positive impression on managers who are interviewing candidates. In the twenty-first century environment, our society seems to be more obsessed with physical appearance than ever before because society has conditioned us to associate beauty with other favourable characteristics. Of course, such appearance norms, regarding attractiveness, ‘good looks’ and beauty are linked to years of socialisation in culture, cultural norms and materialistic personality standards.

In a business context, managers and employers often make hiring decisions based on the appearance and attractiveness of the job applicants since outward appearance seems to play a significant role in which candidates eventually might get the job. Physically attractive job applicants and candidates tend to benefit from the unearned privilege, which often comes at a cost to others who are equally qualified. Preferring employees who are deemed to be attractive, and consequently discriminating against those who are perceived as unattractive, can present legal and ethical challenges for employers and managers. In this chapter, we provide a discussion and reflection of appearance-based hiring practices in the United States with relevant legal, ethical and practical implications for employers, human resources professionals and managers. We focus on ‘lookism’ or appearance discrimination, which is discrimination in favour of people who are physically attractive. As such, we examine federal, state and local laws regarding appearance discrimination in the American workplace. We also offer sustainable policy recommendations for employers, HR professionals and managers on how they can be fair to all candidates in order to hire, promote and retain the most qualified professionals in their departments and organisations.

The purpose of this chapter is to create awareness and provide practical solution for the diversity conflicts and challenges facing people in Afghanistan.

The content comes from the literature and personal observations of living in Afghanistan, while also meeting several ministers and the former president of the country.

While most people around the globe might perceive Afghanistan as a homogeneous society made up of people with similar beliefs and goal, the reality is far from it due to the heterogeneity of ethnicities, values, and languages spoken in the country. Of course, heterogeneity can make a society much more complex when diversity is not managed effectively, and this is certainly the case in Afghanistan’s divided population. When a heterogeneous society is not inclusive and not managed well, its consequences can be high levels of discrimination, distrust, violence, and animosity among diverse people groups. Afghanistan is an Asian collective culture, which has suffered from many negative consequences caused by mismanagement of diversity, low levels of education, and political acrimony among different people groups based on tribalism.

There was no funding to conduct primary research. As such, the literature and conclusions are based on personal experiences of the author, interviews with the current and former political leaders, and previously published materials.

This chapter suggests that inclusion, education and diversity management are especially crucial for Afghanistan. A review of the Afghan cultural diversity is provided along with suggestions for creating a more inclusive country for all citizens.

The chapter is an original writing based on the author’s socialization, education and interaction with the Afghan culture. As an expert trainer and researcher, the author provides practical content for education, application, and policy development in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is an ethnically diverse country which has suffered from many negative consequences caused by mismanagement of diversity, low levels of education, and political acrimony among different groups. The paper seeks to discuss how cultural and ethnic diversity can lead to civil unrest and make management of a country more complex. When diversity is not managed well, its consequences can be high levels of conflict, animosity, discrimination, corruption, and distrust among different ethnic groups.

This is a conceptual paper. It covers the realities of ethnic, religious and language diversity in Afghanistan based on first hand observations and experience along with findings from the literature.

The paper suggests that diversity education along with an ethical climate is especially crucial for Afghanistan if the aim is to create an inclusive culture where everyone's voice is heard, understood and integrated for implementation. A diversity continuum model for inclusivity is created for managers, expatriates, diversity officers, government officials, and educators so they can use it for their training and development programs in their efforts to create a fair work climate in Afghanistan.

This paper is limited to personal observations and experiences along with a review of literature from experts who write about diversity and corruption.

Managers, employers, and employees can use this material for training to create diversity awareness, provide diversity management skills, and to reduce unfair, discriminatory, and corrupt practices.

Employees of all ethnicities should know their rights and work toward the creation of an inclusive culture in Afghanistan.

This is an original paper and the inclusivity model is created by the author for this study.

The article aims to provide a discussion of societal norms concerning “attractiveness,” the existence of appearance discrimination in employment, the presence of “preferring the pretty”, and then the authors examine important civil rights laws that relate to such forms of discrimination. Finally, the authors apply ethical theories to determine whether such discrimination can be seen as moral or immoral.

It is a legal paper which covers all the laws related to discrimination based on look. Court cases and Americans laws related to this concept are reviewed and critically discussed.

The paper finds that appearance‐based discrimination is not illegal in the USA so long as it does not violate civil rights laws.

This research is limited to Federal and State laws in the USA and may not be relevant in other countries as the local laws might vary.

Managers and employees can protect themselves in the workplace from illegal discriminatory practices.

Employees know their rights and enhance their understanding of laws related to appearance, attractiveness, and why companies look to hire those who are considered “handsome”, “pretty” and “beautiful”.

This is an original and comprehensive paper by the authors.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the leadership tendencies of Japanese people and relevant changes over time while exploring their task and relationship orientations on the basis of culture.

In order to explore the behavioural tendencies of working adults in the Japanese workplace, the paper focused on comparing the leadership orientations of 231 respondents on the basis of age, gender and public/private sector work experience. To deepen the understanding of Japanese leadership orientation, the authors precisely examine Japanese culture, organisation and management practices.

Japanese respondents have a significantly higher score on the relationship orientation. Their task score is also in the moderately high range. Japanese males were found to be more task‐oriented. No differences were found based on public/private sector work experience. However, older Japanese have a significantly higher focus on task orientation compared to their younger colleagues.

One of the limitations is the small number of responses. One specific limitation is the fact that this study was conducted with a convenient sample population. Future studies can compare specific populations in different parts of the country with similar working backgrounds and demographic variables.

The findings that Japanese employees are more focused on their relationship but that they also have a moderately high task orientation score are useful for managers and expatriates working in Japan to understand the behavioural tendencies of Japanese people and the relevant changes over time.

Japan is a high‐context culture; therefore Japanese people are traditionally regarded to be relationship‐oriented, and this was confirmed academically in the findings of this research. However, the paper showed that the Japanese also have a moderately high task orientation.