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The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of constructive intercultural contact. This concept refers to intercultural contact in which majority as well as minority participants are intercultural effective, i.e. can perceive themselves as comfortable and successful.

This study is based on exploration and review of intergroup, contact, acculturation and organization literature.

Five input elements of constructive intercultural contact are distinguished: responsibility, deliberate choice to postpone judgment, acknowledging the relative relevance of cultural differences, perspective taking and respect. What participants have to do to make constructive intercultural contact in organizations not only possible between colleagues, but also in hierarchical relationships is elaborated by reflection on the interrelation between majority/minority and manager/employee positions in constructive intercultural contact.

This paper contributes to diversity management literature by introducing a new concept which, focusing on the interaction level, explains how participants can make intercultural contact into a comfortable and successful experience for both. Other contributions are the differentiation between majority and minority actors and the elaboration of the complexity of intercultural employee/manager contacts.

To improve the apparel e-customized system and meet consumers’ personalized requirement in the e-customization, the purpose of this paper is to develop an e-customized co-design system on garment design (ECS-GD) that enables users to co-design garment and communicate with stakeholders.

The e-customized co-design system mainly consists of function and modular structure, communication and evaluation modular. Based on the evolutionary algorithm and fuzzy theory, the e-customized system model is proposed with a presentation of garment interface. Based on the parameters of skirts, technical sketches, fabrics, color, patterns, comments and scores, the decision is made by consumers.

For the system to be effective, the system was conducted by multi-individuals co-work (consumers, designers, manufacturers and experts). The data flow was congruent to the design knowledge. The expert evaluation and communication were involved in the proposed system.

The limitation of this study is that the system is not tested in experiments. The model, main function and data flow are proposed in this study, which is important in the e-customized co-design system development.

Compared to the e-shopping and garment recommendation, the proposed ECS-GD is a good approach to improve the existing e-customized system and a well solution to help consumers with design knowledge recommending, professional suggestions and evaluations. Besides, the sketches and knowledge recommendation are provided to consumers which is a learning process.

This study aims to depict and probe into the building tension, stress and depression to which Jordanian university students have been vulnerable after the compulsory shift to online learning and their prolonged use of digital tools.

The researchers used a five-construct questionnaire, namely, use of digital tools in e-learning, sleeping habits, social interaction, psychological reactions and academic performance, to elicit the responses of university students in Jordan concerning the psychological impact of COVID-19’s e-learning digital tools on their well-being. In total, 775 university-level students representing Jordanian public and private universities were asked to fill in the questionnaire, and their responses were statistically analyzed.

The results showed that the prolonged use of digital tools, lack of face-to-face interaction and heavy load of assignments have led to anxiety, change of sleeping habit, distraction and a stress-building environment, perhaps resulting in depression. This was aggravated by COVID-19’s strict regulatory measures of social distancing, lockdowns, health threats and eroding family income. The prolonged and escalating social, psychological, loss of affection and worsening economic conditions have increased the number of psychological disorders and a drop in students’ academic performance.

This study is useful for educational leaders and policymakers, providing guidance and insights on how higher education institutions can support students’ mental health and psychological well-being, especially in times of crisis. Consequently, the higher education sector should be prepared to function more efficiently and effectively in future emergency situations.

While different studies have investigated the impact of COVID-19 on the education sector globally, little attention has been given to developing countries in the Middle East. By focusing on the Jordanian example, the present study will fill a gap in the research endeavors addressing the prolonged use of e-learning digital tools.

This study aims to determine the effect of transformational leadership and creative self-efficacy (CSE) on employee creativity. In addition, this study will also discuss the role of CSE as a mediator in the relationship between transformational leadership and employee creativity, and the role of proactive personality as a moderator in the relationship between CSE and employee creativity.

The research samples were 102 supervisors and 876 employees from 102 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) engaged in the food processing industry in three major cities in Central Java, Indonesia, namely Semarang, Salatiga and Surakarta. SPSS 22 was used to test the research hypothesis using hierarchical regression analysis.

The results showed that CSE mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and employee creativity. In addition, the results also showed that proactive personality acted as a moderator for CSE and employee creativity.

This study has several limitations. First, that the sample size is limited only to food processing SMEs. Second, questionnaires were self-reported by respondents. Self-reporting may not always result in reliable and accurate responses. Lastly, this study uses a cross-sectional research design.

This study presents strong theoretical and managerial implications that can be used by food processing SMEs to evaluate the consequences of transformational leadership, proactive personality, and CSE on employee creativity.

This study adds to the existing literature by describing the relationship between transformational leadership, CSE, proactive personality and employee creativity in a comprehensive manner.