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This paper aims to introduce a systematic computing and analytical procedure that is applied to the co-author network to identify the temporal evolution and growth of research collaborations in the area of e-governance. The empirical analysis of the temporal co-author network can trace the emerging authors and knowledge bursts over time.

The study applied social network theory to trace the author collaboration patterns in the domain of e-governance. Analysis of the co-author network using micro and macro parameters was done to trace the temporal evolution of the author collaborations.

E-governance is a multi-disciplinary research domain split over streams of management, politics, information technology and electronics. Hence, research collaborations play a significant role in its advancement. The knowledge sharing between individual authors, institutions and groups through research collaborations, resulting in extensive sharing of data, equipment and research methods, has boosted research activities and development in e-governance. In this paper, the authors systematically analyse the current scenario of research collaborations in the area of e-governance using co-author network to estimate its impact on the advancement of the field. The authors also analysed the temporal evolution of the co-author networks, which show remarkable growth of research collaborations in the domain of e-governance from the year 2000.

The co-author network analysis is only a proxy measure for the analysis of research collaborations. The names of the authors and the university affiliations used in the article are as retrieved from the research repository of Scopus. The degree, citations and other parameters related with authors have scope only within the environment of the co-author network used in the analysis. The criteria used in the study is limited to the degree of research collaborations and the number of co-authored publications in the giant component of the co-author network.

Institutions, authors and governments can trace and select suitable topics and choose research groups of co-authors over the world for future research collaborations in e-governance. The knowledge about the emerging and most discussed topics gives an overview of the global research trends of e-governance.

The study identified the evolution of creative collaborations in e-governance in the global perspective. The methodology introduced here is helpful to detect the proficient and productive author collaborations and the spectrum of related e-governance research topics associated with them. As the author collaborations can be mapped to the institutional and country-level collaborations, the information is helpful for researchers, institutions and governments to establish the best collaborations in e-governance research based on the author proficiency, collaboration patterns and research topics as per the requirements.

The paper introduces a novel research methodology using temporal analysis of co-author network to identify the evolution of research patterns and the associated research topics.

Interlocking directorates are a common phenomenon across several markets around the world. Yet, the institutional environment and the role of corporate elites in forming board networks promote some developing markets as a unique setting to understand the corporate boards network structure. This study aims to first explore the board directors’ network of all publicly listed companies in Kuwait. This paper then evaluates the effects of exogenous factors and endogenous network structural processes on the likelihood of board interlock.

This study analyzes the interlocks network structures of 167 listed companies in 13 different market sectors in Kuwait relying on hand-collected directors’ data and using four measures of network centrality: betweenness, degree, closeness and eigenvector. The authors predict board interlocks using exponential random graph models (ERGM) and firm-level information from the Bloomberg database.

This study observes that both the firms and directors’ networks consist of 55 components, with the largest component containing about half of the total number of firms/directors. The firm’s network consists of one giant component of 85 firms, including all but one bank. This study shows the importance of endogenous network variables, such as the number of edges, centralization and triangles on the estimation of the factors that promote the board interlocks. Highly centralized firms are less likely to interlock with other firms, while two firms that are interlocked with a common third firm are more likely to interlock.

This paper is the first to analyze in-depth the structure of the directors network of companies in Kuwait. This study illustrates the complex map of interfirm and directors social networks in Kuwait. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to exploit ERGM in the context of board interlocks to account for potential cross-dependencies and emergent network structures. Managers can identify the director interlock with other firms in the network and take advantage of the connection as a source of external knowledge and influence.

Despite carbon reduction commitments, many constraints hinder the delivery of low-carbon buildings (LCBs) in high-rise high-density cities. The collaborative commitment of relevant stakeholders is vital to effectively address and mitigate these constraints. Hence, this study aims to comprehensively explore the required stakeholder collaboration attributes to address and mitigate the “common” constraints of delivering LCBs by focussing on several high-rise high-density cities.

A list of 21 “significant and common” constraints was identified through a systematic literature review followed by a questionnaire survey covering five economies (Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Qatar and the UAE). Nineteen influential stakeholders/stakeholder categories were identified through the literature, and their ability to influence the 21 constraints was mapped and identified through a two-round Delphi survey of 15 experienced professionals. The Delphi survey findings were analysed through social network analysis (SNA) methods to assess the stakeholder engagement and collaboration attributes.

The SNA results revealed the ability of stakeholders to influence the constraints, required collaborative stakeholder networks to address the constraints, significance of stakeholders according to the SNA centrality measures, core and periphery stakeholders and individual co-affiliation networks of core stakeholders.

While achieving the planned primary target of exploring stakeholder collaboration and their significance through SNA, this study also presents a useful sequential methodological approach for future researchers to conduct similar studies in different contexts. The findings also provide a foundation for accelerating the delivery of LCBs by strengthening stakeholder collaboration.

Cybersecurity and data protection concerns have gained notoriety in past years intensified by the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica “scandal” in early 2018, which exposed millions of individual data. This case revealed that both regulatory measures and data protection mechanisms were, and still are, insufficient, with several countries reforming or promulgating new legislation. The Article 19 EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) contains controversial extra-territorial provisions, which might violate State Sovereignty principles. It is still unknown how the GDPR will be implemented. This chapter reveals data protection as an Ethics discipline, considering that it is a fundamental right of individuals to share or not to share data, vis-á-vis the rights to have the personal data well-protected. The empirical research will be developed based on the need to build up a concept of Responsible Entrepreneurship in the technology sector, applied to cross-border e-commerce. The Digital Silk Road is the case study selected since it represents a complex international cooperation initiative done without institutionalization yet with eminent data surveillance concerns when building network infrastructure and satellite navigation systems.

Energy-efficiency leads to productivity gains as it can lower operating and maintenance costs, increase production yields per unit of manufacturing input and improve staff accountability. Implementation of energy-efficient technologies amongst industries, the factors influencing them and the barriers to their adoption have been the subject of several studies during the past three to four decades. Though energy-use behaviours of individuals or households are sufficiently explored, industrial energy conservation behaviour is scarcely studied. This study identifies the relationship between the different behavioural elements to open up a door for behaviourally informed intervention research.

Total interpretive structural modelling technique was used to determine the relationship between different elements of the behaviour of energy managers. Expert responses were collected to understand the relationship between the behavioural elements, through telephone interviews.

The study identified the relationship between the behavioural elements and found imperfect evaluation as the key element with the highest driving power to influence other elements.

The authors postulate that a behaviourally informed intervention strategy that looks into the elements with high driving power such as imperfect evaluation, lack of focus on energy-saving measures and the lack of sharing energy-saving objectives can lead to: an increase in the adoption of energy efficiency measures and thereby a reduction in the energy efficiency gap; greater productivity gains and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; Preparation of M&V protocol that incorporates behavioural, organisational and informational barriers.

Various policy level interventions and regulatory measures in the energy field which did not address the behavioural barriers are found unsuccessful in narrowing the energy-efficiency gap, reducing the GHG gas emissions and global warming. Understanding the key driving factor of behaviour can help to design an effective intervention strategy to address the barriers to energy efficiency improvement.

Understanding the key driving factor of behaviour can help to design an effective intervention strategy to address the barriers to energy efficiency improvement. This study argues that through the systematic analysis of the imperfect evaluation of energy audit recommendations, it is possible to increase the adoption of energy efficiency measures that can lead to greater productivity gains and reduced GHG emissions.