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This study aims to determine and investigate the main causes of construction project delays. Construction projects are more intricate and associated with significant levels of risk owing to cost overruns. These overruns frequently lead to delays, incomplete work or other related challenges. Building delays are a prevalent problem in the building sector of developing nations. These delays prolong the duration of projects and result in increased costs and conflicts among stakeholders. A conceptual model consisting of the factors causing the delays in heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) projects was developed and tested in this study.

A comprehensive data collection process was undertaken. A meticulously designed survey was distributed to a diverse cohort of 294 participants, including contractors and sub-contractors from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The data was collected using stratified sampling, ensuring a representative sample. The data was then analysed using ordinary least squares multiple regression.

The findings of this study have significant implications for the construction industry. They indicate that factors related to sales, clients, design, procurement, finance and labour all contribute to delays in HVAC projects. Understanding these factors can help stakeholders in the industry to better manage and mitigate project delays.

This study is unique because it is a perceptual study of stakeholders. It provides valuable information for analysing and assessing project performance by identifying the primary causes of HVAC project delays. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study conducted on HVAC projects is the first of its kind and hence makes a pivotal contribution to the literature on construction projects. Additionally, the study will assist policymakers and consultants in taking necessary steps to minimize delays.

The present study is aimed at examining the antecedents of online shopping user behavior and customer satisfaction. More specifically, (1) the effect of social influence, variety seeking behavior, advertising and convenience on user behavior, and (2) the effect of user behavior on customer satisfaction are examined.

A conceptual model is developed and tested after verifying the psychometric properties of the survey instrument. Data were collected from 556 respondents from three major cities (Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore) in the southern part of India using structured instrument. Hierarchical regression is performed. Measurement model was checked using structural equation modeling (Lisrel package).

The results reveal that (1) social influence, (2) variety seeking, (3) advertising, (4) convenience, (5) trust and (6) product factors were positively related to online user behavior. Results also show that user behavior is significantly and positively related to customer satisfaction. The hierarchical regression results also showed moderating effects of (1) trust in the relationship between social influence, variety seeking and user behavior, and (2) product factors in the relationship between advertising, convenience and user behavior. Finally, results suggest that user behavior is partially mediating the relationship between trust and customer satisfaction, i.e. trust has both direct and indirect effect on customer satisfaction.

As with any survey-based research, the present study suffers from the problems associated with self-report measures viz., common method bias and social desirability bias. However, the authors attempted to minimize these limitations by following appropriate statistical techniques.

This study contributes to both practicing managers and the literature on advertising. The study suggests that trust and product play a major role in strengthening the relationship between antecedents and user behavior.

This study provides new insights about the importance of gaining trust in influencing consumer behavior. The conceptual model the authors developed is novel in the sense not many studies are available in India to empirically examine the moderating relationships of trust and product in consumer behavior.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the moderated effect of family involvement on the relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) and firm performance.

According to agency and transaction cost theories, distinctive family business characteristics provide a unique context that favours a more efficient use of ICT. The authors perform a multivariate analysis that includes the moderating effect of family involvement and considers the possible endogeneity of the ICT variable.

The results, using a large panel of Spanish manufacturing firms, confirm the importance of family involvement for explaining differences in terms of the impact of this technology in family and non-family businesses. The relationship between ICT and performance is stronger for family firms than for non-family firms.

The paper provides new evidence for the academic literature on ICT impact and family firms. It corroborates the importance of using an organizational perspective to explain differences in the effect of ICT on performance.

Family firms should understand the opportunities that family involvement offers regarding ICT impact on performance, and exploit this moderating effect to achieve competitive advantages.

No previous studies deal with the impact of family involvement on ICT-performance analysis. This study fills this gap and increases the understanding of how family business involvement moderates the ICT-performance relationship.

Este trabajo explora el efecto moderador de la participación familiar en la relación entre las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC) y resultados de la empresa.

De acuerdo con la teoría de Agencia y la teoría de los costes de transacción, las características distintivas de las empresas familiares proporcionan un contexto único que favorece un uso más eficiente de las TIC. Se lleva a cabo un análisis multivariante que incluye el efecto moderador de la participación de la familia y recoge la posible endogeneidad de la variable TIC.

Los resultados, obtenidos a partir de un gran panel de empresas manufactureras españolas, confirman la importancia de la participación de la familia para explicar las diferencias en términos del impacto de esta tecnología en las empresas familiares y no familiares. La relación entre las TIC y el rendimiento es más fuerte en las empresas familiares que en las no familiares.

El artículo proporciona nueva evidencia sobre el impacto de las TIC y sobre las particularidades de las empresas familiares. Se corrobora la importancia de utilizar un punto de vista organizativo para explicar las diferencias en el efecto de las TIC en el rendimiento.

Las empresas familiares deben entender las oportunidades que ofrece la participación de la familia en relación con el impacto de las TIC en el rendimiento, y explotar este efecto moderador para lograr ventajas competitivas.

No hay estudios previos sobre el efecto de la participación de la familia en el análisis del impacto de las TIC en el rendimiento. Este estudio ofrece evidencia al respecto y una mayor comprensión del papel moderador de la participación familiar en la relación TIC-rendimiento.

Professional practice doctorates have learning outcomes and capstones that are very different than research doctorates. One type of capstone suited to a professional doctorate is a client-based dissertation in practice (DiP). In this type of capstone, students address a problem of practice faced by an institution or program (the client) in the student’s area of professional practice. Client-based problems of practice have the advantage of being authentic problems whose solution can have a positive impact on the client and those served by the client. For students, the scope of work to be done for the client includes: assessing the current practice; conducting a review of literature to identify best practices; gathering stakeholder perspectives; developing a strategic plan with proposed solutions or interventions; piloting elements of the proposed solution; and maintaining communication with the client. A case is described in which a student work team first authored an invitation to potential clients to propose a problem and then selected a client whose problem of practice was addressed as the DiP.

This chapter provides an overview of the challenges, opportunities, and successes facing contemporary doctoral programs. The authors outline the changing dynamics of doctoral studies, including the various degrees that are associated with doctoral programs and the changing demographics of doctoral students. Drawing from aspects of situated learning theory, the authors position the chapters in this volume in relation to learning communities and communities of practice in the ways that reimagine and re-invigorate traditional models of doctoral education.

The contemporary dialog surrounding social and environmental crises has strengthened the call for a reconsideration of the capitalist economic system, prompting a reimagining of businesses’ societal roles. This chapter explores the shifting terrain of corporate purpose as a driving force for positive societal change, challenging the traditional shareholder primacy doctrine.

After examining influential theoretical frameworks shaping the discourse on corporate purpose, this research unveils the results of an empirical investigation inspired by the 2019 American Business Roundtable’s (BRT) statement on corporate purpose, where numerous prominent American CEOs advocated for a shift toward a stakeholder-oriented approach. In our exercise, the authors employ semantic and cognitive linguistic analyses to measure the coherence between the language in the BRT statement and the content of sustainability reports. This approach aims to offer insights into the alignment or divergence between corporate declarations and actual practices concerning corporate purpose.

Empirical findings reveal that corporations emphasizing their purpose in sustainability reports using language resembling that of the BRT statement tend to demonstrate lower implementation scores. Conversely, implementors lean toward using language in sustainability reports that diverges from the BRT statement. These findings suggest a potential disconnection between stated purpose and actual implementation in companies emphasizing corporate purpose in their reports.

The study research contributes theoretical insights by exploring how corporations can incorporate purpose-driven practices to promote sustainable growth and societal well-being. It underscores the potential for businesses to play a pivotal role in reshaping the economic landscape and advocates for ongoing research in humanistic management models.

In Germany, principals’ working environments are data-rich for school improvement purposes in a rather low-stakes test-regime. An effective use of externally as well as internally generated data, also known as data wise leadership, is considered to be a key competence of successful principals. The purpose of this paper is to describe data use practices in German schools, especially focussing on schools facing challenging circumstances.

The paper draws on findings from two projects funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. A standardized questionnaire study was conducted to measure the usage of available data for school improvement quantitatively. The perceived usefulness, the reflection upon, and the use of information sources by principals were measured. Moreover, semi-structured interviews with school leaders from schools in deprived areas were conducted, transcribed and analyzed by means of qualitative content analysis.

The results showed that internal sources of information were used frequently while (international) student assessment, statewide comparative tests, and school inspections proved to be of relatively little use for the principals’ professional practice. Moreover, there was a discrepancy between the perceived usefulness of information sources and the actual use of the data.

In contrast to the USA, for example, research on educational leadership and principals’ data use – particularly at schools in challenging circumstances – is rather limited in Germany. This paper seeks to take up this desideratum.

The nature-based solutions (NBS) integrated in urban open spaces are a precious tool that provide better and wider ecosystem services in cities. An ecosystemic approach in planning, designing, and also managing green areas furthermore helps to improve the whole quality of life and perceived well-being of the citizens, increasing too their sense of belonging and fostering the neighboring communities. Under this point of view, greenery should not be considered as a cost but as an investment of public money finalized to improve the quality of life in the cities especially in facing climate change.

A comparison between costs and benefits produced by the green features in the cities allows to evaluate the advantages to include those solutions in planning and designing urban green areas. In the following chapter a step-by-step procedure is proposed to assess the ecosystem services provided by green areas in cities, compared to design, building, and maintenance costs. Some national and international examples are provided too.

School leadership is considered a central agent in the implementation of “New Governance” concepts which have been introduced in Germany by means of accountability measures, decentralization and a growth of autonomy and competition. With the adjustment of policies, rights and duties of school leaders have changed considerably. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to leadership research by providing descriptive evidence on the relevance of specific areas of leadership activity reported by school principals and their actual priorities in terms of day-to-day workload. In particular, the authors analyze whether individually reported priorities are reflected in the actual distribution of workload in a daily routine.

The empirical analysis uses data collected in the German SHaRP study (“School leaders’ activities between more responsibility and more power”). Based on a sample of 153 school leaders from six German federal states the authors perform regression models to determine the association between workload in specific fields of leadership activity, individually reported relevance of management tasks and systemic and contextual conditions at school.

As expected, organizational and personnel management and development are stated to be most important for leadership activity. These priorities are not at least reflected in the observed distribution of workload over fields of activity. Rather, a vast amount of time – as far as it is not absorbed by lessons – is spent on administrative tasks. A shift of workload from teaching responsibilities to governmental tasks is mainly achieved by longer working hours and appears to depend primarily on the system context.

The results highlight the relevance of organizational skills and the need to develop conceptual foundations for strategic leadership at schools. Further research should focus not only on the contextual setting and system characteristics, but on the interplay of contextual characteristics and leadership strategies. In times of increasing budgetary constraints leadership research needs to consider outcome measures in terms of quality of schooling to identify determinants of effective leadership.

The paper contributes to leadership research by a quantitative analysis of the individually reported relevance of organizational, curricular and human resources management and development for leadership activity. The authors provide descriptive evidence on a significant gap between these claims and reality in terms of actual day-to-day workload.