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The morphology of a building describes its outline and influences its architectural aesthetics and the cost directly. However, the literature on the impact of morphology on the aesthetics and cost of urban detached residential buildings is scarce. Thus, this study is significant because its aim was to identify the critical building morphology factors and the relationship that each of them maintains with the cost and aesthetics of urban detached residential buildings.

The multi-method qualitative approach was used to collect the required empirical data through interviews and case studies and to identify the effect of the morphology factors on the aesthetics and construction cost of urban residences in Sri Lanka, respectively. The collected data were analyzed using manual content analysis and descriptive statistics.

The study findings revealed that the morphology factors such as the roof and circulation spaces, open spaces and voids have a high impact on both the building cost and aesthetics. These findings will assist building designers in making effective design decisions on building costs and aesthetics so that a successful design outcome satisfying both the clients and design team could be obtained.

Although morphology has an impact on the cost and aesthetic of buildings, literature on the subject is scarce. Thus, this study is significant in that it aimed at identifying the significant building morphology factors in urban detached residential buildings and identifying their relationship with the cost and aesthetic of those buildings.

Informal dwellings describe makeshift lodgings made from temporary materials, such as plastic, corrugated iron, sheeting, packing cases, or wood. These units allow low-income groups to informally occupy land and create their habitable space in a phased manner. This article focuses on elements of the urban morphology, such as density, accessibility, and operating assortment of informally built areas in the southern region of Montenegro.

The author examines the urban morphologies of four urban areas, whose informality is traditionally viewed as markers of decline and despair. Using observations, questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews, the investigator maps dwellings in Ulcinj, Budva, Tivat, and Herceg Novi neighbourhoods. The researcher interrogated participants about land distribution during the construction of sheds, buildings' outline and orientation toward the street, and activities performed in their dwellings, such as living, working, and accommodating relatives and guests. This methodology tests the hypothesis, formulated as a deeper understanding of urban morphology for examining the interweaving of informally built settlements with the rest of the city.

A cartographic investigation is used to reframe customary rights of low-income populations to land inclusion and their place in the city. The results clearly show that the location and lifestyle are designed to obfuscate the vulnerable populations from the public view, disconnected from policymaking, and ignored by urban planning projects. However, the interviewees' destinations orientation away from the downtowns represents the possibility of reconfiguring existing urban planning practices. For creating alternative urbanisation, the orientation of less visible neighbourhoods presents a model for building regulations embedded in social forces and cultural habits of all social and ethnic groups.

This study did not address the implementation of social hosing policies and the logistical limitations of realising them by the local and national governments. During firework, the author encountered dwellers outside four studied low-income neighbourhoods in the south region of Montenegro. Mapping morphological elements of these generally small clusters of informal built units are left for future research. Future studies could examine how informality is performed in Montenegro by moderate and high-income groups as an assemblage of different power relationships and urban practices.

The argument is based on counter urbanism as the orientation and destination of less visible neighbourhoods for creating building regulations embedded in social forces and cultural habits of all social and ethnic groups. This study showed that the urban morphology of informality in the coastal cities of Montenegro lays the ground for alternative urban planning practices based on the different interconnection of districts. The outcome is a strong link between different social and ethical groups through self-building practices.

In coastal cities of Montenegro, Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian live with other low-income groups in unsanitary settlements characterised by poor living conditions, low-quality illegally built housing, no plumbing or sewage systems, and overcrowded urban areas. Mapping morphological elements of less visible urban areas propose shifting from top-down urban planning policies to a participatory model of developing urban areas.

The assemblage of informally built urban areas legitimise place in the city that goes against the housing market's dominant logic and exceeds alternative logics of building production. This article outlined the urban morphologies of four urban areas for turning the image of informality away from decline and despair to lessons of urban interconnection. By creating different maps, the author presented a diverse orientation of four case studies based on density, accessibility, and operating assortment.

While previous studies have highlighted the importance of incorporating environmental sustainability in building designs, there is a paucity of studies that assess the extent to which design teams in developing countries consider environmental sustainability at the building design stage. Therefore, using Zambia as a case study, this study examined the extent to which infrastructure design teams in a developing country consider environmental sustainability at the design stage.

The study used a qualitative research approach using structured interviews because there are hardly any studies which have explored the extent to which designers incorporate environmental sustainability in infrastructure designs in developing countries. The data is analysed thematically using the ATLAS.ti software.

The results show that environmental sustainability is not an important design consideration because it is secondary to functional, technical and aesthetic considerations. Environmental considerations are also made in an ad hoc manner and when it is cost-effective for the project. Regulatory requirements pertaining to environmental protection are adhered to without any cost considerations. It was, therefore, theorised that building design teams in developing countries make technical, functional and aesthetic consideration during the infrastructure design stage ahead of environmental considerations.

There is a paucity of studies that have investigated whether building infrastructure designers consider issues of environmental sustainability at the design stage in developing countries. The findings have practical implications on how developing countries can foster environmental sustainability at the design stage and avoid generating a building infrastructure stock that will require environmental resilience adaptation in the future.

To achieve efficient operation and maintenance (O&M) management, this study seeks to identify critical success factors (CSFs) affecting service delivery factors of O&M services at stratified residential buildings. The purpose of this study is to yield measurable data for developing an effective O&M framework to enhancing its performance. In future research, this study will further investigate the relationship between the CSF and service performance factors.

This study adopts a combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques that yields conclusive study findings while improving the research’s validity and dependability. Two series of instruments were conducted in an effort to refine the efficient O&M framework variables. Instruments used in addressing the research gap were a questionnaire survey and focus group discussion (FGD). Analysis of data was completed via the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) programme for quantitative data and thematic analysis for qualitative data.

This study concludes that the CSFs directly affect the performance of O&M. Questionnaire survey and FGD findings have refined the CSF into three main categories, namely, building characteristics, O&M management and community participation. FGD experts further suggested that service performance factors can be measured against SERVQUAL service qualities such as reliability, tangible, responsiveness, assurance and empathy.

Future research may consider the inclusion of financial elements in the O&M service delivery.

This study presents a fresh insight into the CSFs that construct an efficient O&M framework through rigorous steps of data collection and analysis. This study proposes impactful guidance for policymakers, practitioners and residents on the significance of all parties’ involvement to support the management of residential buildings, where the current practice of O&M constantly faces complex issues. This study derives novice strategies that should correspond to the growing issues and challenges in managing residential buildings. The deeper insight into the role of O&M represents a direction for the future development of facilities management progress and stratified residential building sectors.

Over the past 20 years, entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) have emerged as a significant research field, inspiring several scholars to provide valuable contributions. The chapter aims to map the current state of literature by highlighting the most prominent research strands and the main theoretical lenses employed in the research field. By carrying out a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis, the study examines articles published over a period of 27 years. The time frame from 1996 to 2023 offers an extensive outlook of the field’s evolution and current trends, resulting in the identification of five research strands and different future research avenues. From the analysis of prior research works, this study provides an in-depth examination of the complex nature of EEs. The results hold theoretical and practical implications. From the scholars’ point of view, they offer future research directions to move the current level of knowledge forward. From the entrepreneurs’ perspective, they provide valuable insights to address ongoing challenges and catch new opportunities within the dynamic panorama of EEs. Therefore, the insights are poised to drive future research, inform policymakers, and enhance business strategies aimed at fostering resilient EEs. In other words, the purpose is to provide readers with a well-rounded understanding over the state of the literature on EEs and the research strands that deserve further exploration.

Natural disasters profoundly influence agricultural trade sustainability. This study investigates the effects of natural disasters on agricultural production imports in China within 2002 and 2018. This exploration estimates the mediating role of transportation infrastructure and agriculture value-added and the moderating role of government effectiveness and diplomatic relations.

This investigation uses Probit, Logit, Cloglog and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) models.

The results confirm the mediating role of transportation infrastructure and agriculture value-added and the moderating role of government effectiveness and diplomatic relations in China. According to the findings, natural disasters in trading partners heighten the risk to the agricultural imports. This risk raises, if disasters damage overall agricultural yield or transportation infrastructure. Moreover, governments’ effective response or diplomatic ties with China mitigate the risk. Finally, the effect of disasters varies by the developmental status of the country involved, with events in developed nations posing a greater risk to China’s imports than those in developing nations.

China should devise an early warning system to protect its agricultural imports by using advanced technologies such as data analytics, remote sensing and artificial intelligence. In addition, it can leverage this system by improving its collaboration with trading partners, involvement in international forums and agreement for mutual support in crisis.

Sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem research is an emerging trend within the entrepreneurship domain. Drawing from resource dependency theory, this study examines the interdependent nature of sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem factors and the mediating role of local culture as it relates to entrepreneurial action. The authors collected data from 12 entrepreneurial ecosystems in Australia and developed a model of the interdependencies of sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem factors.

The data were collected through an e-survey of Small and Medium Entreprise (SME) owners in New South Wales, Australia. The authors applied partial least squares structural equation methodology to assess the structural models, validate the outer models and examine the inner model.

The findings reinforce empirical support for sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems. The environment where sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems are evolved influences their functionality. Further, entrepreneurial culture mediates the relationship with other ecosystem factors. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

This study focuses on understanding the interdependent nature of sustainable ecosystem factors. The authors identified entrepreneurial culture as a mediator to business support services, educational institutional support and financial capital availability with business and social networks.

Although studies have analyzed individual factors and their impact on marketing strategies and organizational performance, little is known about the owner-manager’s decision-making style. In the marketing literature of micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), little attention has been paid to the decision-maker. This study aims to gauge the impact of the manager's decision-making styles (rational, intuitive, dependent, avoidant and spontaneous) on marketing strategy creativity, on its implementation effectiveness and, consequently, on organizational performance.

This study uses a quantitative and descriptive approach. The data collection technique was through a survey with structured questionnaires in an online format. The data were collected from Brazilian micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the commerce and service sectors. The nonprobabilistic sampling included 206 valid responses. The data were analyzed using the technique of structural equation modeling (SEM) through the partial least squares method (PLS).

Among the main results, it was observed that rational, dependent and avoidant styles influence the creativity and implementation effectiveness of marketing strategies, and that these two factors positively impact organizational performance. In addition, it was found that part of the effect of rational, dependent and avoidant styles on performance occurs through the creativity and implementation effectiveness of the marketing strategy. However, the effect of the intuitive style and spontaneous style was not significant.

For owner-managers, the main implication is that they need to be rational, carefully analyzing the information and options available, ask for support when necessary for their team or partners and avoid procrastinating decisions. This can aid the development of more creative and effective implementations of their marketing strategies, which consequently, may contribute to better performance results.

The main contribution of this study was to add a new approach (decision-making styles) to the SME marketing literature. Moreover, this study integrates organizational (focused on marketing) and behavioral (focused on the manager's decision-making style) perspectives as factors that improve organizational performance.

This study aims to investigate the impact of entrepreneurs’ decision-making styles on enterprise performance and suggests several entrepreneurial ecosystems – factors are impacting this relationship. The authors extend this line of work by examining how regional entrepreneurial culture, educational institutional support and business and social networks mediating the relationship between entrepreneurs’ decision-making style and small medium enterprises (SME)s’ financial performance.

The data were collected through an e-survey of SME owners in New South Wales, Australia. This study developed a model combining a set of entrepreneurial ecosystem factors, entrepreneurs’ decision-making styles and SMEs’ financial performance. Data were analysed using partial least square structural equation modelling.

The results suggest regional entrepreneurial culture, educational institutional support and business and social networks mediate the relationship between entrepreneurs’ decision-making style and SMEs’ financial performance. Hence, this study developed a more complete methodical understanding of entrepreneurs’ decision-making styles and their impact on SMEs’ financial performance. This study provides deeper insights into the conditions and processes by which an entrepreneurs’ decision-making style impacts SMEs’ financial performance.

The focus of this study was to understand the relationship of entrepreneurs’ decision-making styles on SMEs’ financial performance. The authors identified that the entrepreneurs’ decision-making style positively impacts SMEs’ financial performance. This study augments the body of knowledge by proposing ways in how the entrepreneurs’ decision-making style can be more strengthened.

The purpose of this study is to explore public health employees' experiences of participating in a commercial weight management programme supported by their employers over a 12-week period.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 employees who had participated in the programme (group-based or online).

The main motivators for enquiring about and attending the programme were: the offer to attend the programme free of charge, the opportunity to kick start their weight loss efforts, to take part in an academic research study and the opportunity for “shared experiences” with their colleagues.

This study did not allow us to explore the reasons why some employees opted not to take up the opportunity for weight management support through their workplace. Further qualitative research with non-engagers would allow us to inquire about why employees might not engage with WM support and offer alternative strategies.

Employers should facilitate their employees' efforts to lead a healthier lifestyle in the long-term creating employer health and safety policies that actively encourage healthy living and weight management. Improving employee health can contribute to increasing productivity, reducing stress and absenteeism.

This paper presents a novel approach to facilitating employees' weight management. Employees perceived their employer-supported participation in a commercial weight management programme outside of their work setting as a positive experience that assisted their weight management efforts suggesting the acceptability and feasibility of this approach to addressing weight in the workplace.