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This study investigates the influence of paradoxical leadership on employee transformative learning in higher education institutions (HEIs). Based on paradox theory, this research examines how a paradoxical mindset mediates this relationship and explores the moderating role of employees’ moral values in developing a paradoxical mindset and fostering transformative learning.

The research adopted a quantitative approach. In three phases, data were collected from 411 randomly selected faculty members of HEIs in Pakistan to assess their perceptions of paradoxical leadership, followers’ paradoxical mindset, moral values and transformative learning outcomes. Structural equation modeling was employed for analysis in AMOS26.

The findings reveal paradoxical leadership’s positive and significant impact on transformative learning, mediated by developing a paradoxical mindset. Moral values positively moderate the relationship between paradoxical leadership and developing a paradoxical mindset. However, the moderating effect of moral values on the link between a paradoxical mindset and transformative learning was insignificant.

The study suggests that organizations, particularly HEIs, should cultivate paradoxical leadership to navigate inherent tensions and contradictions, fostering an environment conducive to transformative learning. Developing a paradoxical mindset among employees is crucial for enhancing adaptability and learning, with moral values playing a pivotal role in amplifying the effectiveness of paradoxical leadership.

This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the mechanism through which paradoxical leadership influences transformative learning. It extends paradox theory to the context of transformative learning, highlighting the importance of cognitive and ethical dimensions in leadership and learning processes within HEIs.

Abusive supervision (AS) provides insights into the darker aspects of leadership behavior and its effects on employees. Understanding and addressing AS can contribute to creating healthier work environments and promoting employee well-being. The effect of abusive leadership (AS) on counterproductive work behaviors (CWB) in nursing staff is examined through the theoretical lens of the social exchange theory.

Data were collected from 302 nursing staff working at public and private hospitals through a self-administered questionnaire. Measurement scales were adapted from the literature and the data were tested for validity and reliability before performing hypotheses testing through structural equation modeling in SmartPLS 4.0.

AS positively affects CWB, and psychological contract breach mediates this relationship. However, employees with high Islamic work ethics (IWE) are less concerned with supervisors' dysfunctional behaviors and pay less attention to them; thus, IWE buffers the effect of AS on CWBs.

A positive and supportive organizational climate is crucial for attracting and retaining skilled healthcare professionals. When healthcare professionals are subjected to abusive behaviors, their ability to share knowledge, adopt safety protocols and provide the best patient care may be hampered. Therefore, addressing AS in hospitals is vital to promoting a positive work environment, enhancing employee well-being and improving patient care.

This study, grounded in ambidexterity theory, aims to investigate how paradoxical leadership (PXL) fosters team creativity in high-tech manufacturing companies, with team ambidexterity as a mediator and leader vision as a moderator. Given the fast-paced, innovation-driven demands of the high-tech sector, this research provides insights into how managers can effectively balance contradictory behaviors to drive team innovation.

Data was collected through a two-wave survey from team leaders and members across 169 teams in high-tech manufacturing companies. The time interval between data collection waves was two weeks. The data was aggregated at the team level using estimates for interrater reliability and interrater agreement. The structural equation modeling in R was used to test hypotheses.

The findings indicate that PXL positively impacts team creativity directly and through its influence on team ambidexterity. Team ambidexterity mediates the relationship between PXL and team creativity, while leader vision moderates the effects of PXL on team ambidexterity.

PXL benefits high-performance teams in technology sectors, such as software development, where rapid innovation and iterative processes are essential. In health care, PXL can optimize team dynamics, enabling medical research and patient care delivery breakthroughs. Regular training in ambidextrous thinking and feedback mechanisms makes this approach actionable for managers striving to cultivate creativity in high-stakes environments.

This study extends ambidexterity theory by linking PXL and team ambidexterity to team creativity. It provides high-tech manufacturing managers with concrete strategies to balance exploration and exploitation. These findings highlight actionable pathways for companies to sustain innovation in competitive, technology-driven industries.

When wearable and implantable devices first arose in the 1970s, they were rigid and clashed dramatically with our soft, pliable skin and organs. The past two decades have witnessed a major upheaval in these devices. Traditional electronics are six orders of magnitude stiffer than soft tissue. As a result, when rigid electronics are integrated with the human body, severe challenges in both mechanical and geometrical form mismatch occur. This mismatch creates an uneven contact at the interface of soft-tissue, leading to noisy and unreliable data gathering of the body’s vital signs. This paper aims to predict the role that discreet, seamless medical devices will play in personalized health care by discussing novel solutions for alleviating this interface mismatch and exploring the challenges in developing and commercializing such devices.

Since the form factors of biology cannot be changed to match those of rigid devices, conformable devices that mimic the shape and mechanical properties of soft body tissue must be designed and fabricated. These conformable devices play the role of imperceptible medical interfaces. Such interfaces can help scientists and medical practitioners to gain further insights into the body by providing an accurate and reliable instrument that can conform closely to the target areas of interest for continuous, long-term monitoring of the human body, while improving user experience.

The authors have highlighted current attempts of mechanically adaptive devices for health care, and the authors forecast key aspects for the future of these conformable biomedical devices and the ways in which these devices will revolutionize how health care is administered or obtained.

The authors conclude this paper with the perspective on the challenges of implementing this technology for practical use, including device packaging, environmental life cycle, data privacy, industry partnership and collaboration.

Since the emergence of a coronavirus disease (2019-nCoV) in December 2019, the whole world is in a state of chaos. Isolation strategy with quarantine is a useful model in controlling transmission and rapid spread. As a result, people remained at home and disrupted their outside daily activities. It led to the closure of educational institutes, which is a source of many students to cope with numerous personal and familial issues. This study aims to focus on exploring the relationships and potential mediational pathways between mental health problems, illness perception, anxiety and depression disorders.

The study incorporated snowball sampling techniques through a cross-sectional, Web-based survey and recruited 500 students from different universities of twin cities, Rawalpindi and Islamabad from March 23 to April 15, 2020, during the coronavirus outbreak lockdown. The study used four instruments, Beck Depression Scale, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire and The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale for assessing depression, anxiety, illness perception and mental health disorders.

The findings indicated normal (43.2%), mild (20.5%), moderate (13.6%) and severe (22.7%) levels of anxiety prevalence in students. Results specified a normal (65.9%), mild (9.10%), moderate (9.12%) and severe (15.90%) depression prevalence and findings stipulated that anxiety disorder prevalence was higher than depression disorder. The correlational results specified a negative and significant relationship between mental health, illness perception, anxiety and depression symptoms. The multiple regression analysis stated that anxiety and depression disorders mediated the relationship between mental health and present illness perception. The perception of illness exhibited a relation to depression and anxiety disorders.

The study proposed a model to address mental health problems during the lockdown. The (2019-nCoV) illness perception developed mental disorders, including anxiety and depression, which has declined individuals’ mental health. There is an urgent need for ongoing clinical examination and management to address psychological disorders and findings suggest assessing mental health to combatting the pandemic worldwide. Findings recommend developing strategies to promote mental health-care facilities during COVID-19 wide-ranging disasters. These results highlight the impending importance of devising strategies to treat mental health problems.

The abrupt outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) hit every nation in 2020–2021, causing a worldwide pandemic. The worldwide COVID-19 epidemic, described as a “black swan”, has severely disrupted manufacturing firms' supply chain. The purpose of this study is to investigate how supply chain data analytics enable the effective deployment of agility, adaptability and alignment (3As) strategies, resulting in improving post-COVID disruption performance. It also analyses the indirect effect of supply chain data analytics on disruption performance through the 3As supply chain strategies.

The hypothesis and theoretical framework were tested using a questionnaire survey. The authors employed structural equation modelling through the SMART PLS version 3.2.7 to analyse data from 163 textile firms located in Pakistan.

The results revealed that the supply chain data analytics contributed positively and significantly to the agility and adaptability, while all 3As supply chain strategies impacted the PPERF substantially. Further, the connection between supply chain data analytics (SCDA) and disruption performance has substantially been influenced through 3As supply chain strategies.

The results imply that in the event of low likelihood, high effect disruptions, managers and decision-makers should focus their efforts on integrating data analytics capabilities with 3As supply chain policies to ensure long-term company success.

This research sheds fresh light on the importance of data analytics in effectively implementing 3As strategies for sustaining company performance amid COVID-19 disruptions.

This study aims to explore existing study trends in the halal supply chain (HSC) field as an extension of supply chain studies. Upon examining multiple journal ranks and citation profiles, these trends cover research themes, methodologies, settings (country and data analysis level) and their interactions.

The study followed a systematic, mixed-method review to pinpoint the HSC research themes. The Publish or Perish software, with specific criteria, was used to retrieve and filter 87 HSC articles from 2009 to 2019 from the Google Scholar database. Then, an input–process–output framework was used to classify and discuss potential future research.

This study concludes that HSC research is still in early development. Five themes consisting of 24 different topics were found: the engagement process, quality control assurance, critical success factors, the production and distribution process and HSC operations support. Most of the HSC studies followed conceptual and qualitative interview methods, with special reference to Muslim-majority countries and organization-level analysis. Within one decade, the number of HSC publications grew significantly, though their presentation is mainly in unindexed journals and their citation rate is low. This study thus proposes three main future HSC research points: HSC consequences, processes and antecedents.

Possible practical implications can be expected from the authors’ proposed empirical studies as guidelines to formulate and promote HSC implementation.

No comprehensive HSC research review exists in the literature. This study intends to fill this void by charting cumulative knowledge and proposing a roadmap for future research endeavors.

Female managers have numerous vulnerabilities related to their reputation and career progression in addition to social, sexual and discriminatory vulnerabilities. In organizational settings, antagonized subordinates, peers or superiors can exploit their vulnerabilities through negative use of social media. For optimal performance and inclusion in organizational activities, it is essential to protect female managers against exploitation. Social media can be used for this purpose and dictates an investigation into it as an agent to reduce vulnerabilities and enhance inclusion of female managers.

Qualitative data collected through 25 in-depth semi-structured interviews from respondents belonging to five different organizations has been used in this exploratory study. Thematic analysis was done to reach the underlying structures of subjective responses of female managers.

This study finds that positive use of social media is effective in reducing vulnerabilities and female managers feel more included and protected against exploitation in inclusive organizations. The study presents a holistic view of vulnerabilities of female managers, various forms taken by negative use of social media, mechanics of positive use of social media and pathways to inclusive organization through reduction of vulnerabilities.

Availability of limited time, resources and a single cultural context were few limitations. The study highlights an important area for further research indicating psychological trauma of victimized female managers forcing them to feel excluded from the organization.

This study will enhance understanding of practitioners about vulnerabilities of female managers and its likely accentuation through negative use of social media. In addition, they can learn the use of social media for reducing vulnerabilities and enhancing inclusion of female managers. This study also shed light on methodology to handle the situation in the face of all forms of negative use of social media.

Female managers are highly vulnerable to exploitation through use of social media by antagonized groups and individuals who can easily attack their reputation and image. This study is an effort to reduce vulnerabilities of business women. Additionally, it is also aimed at enhancing inclusion of females in organizational activities to counter their isolation and discrimination on the basis of gender.

The issue of negative use of social media has not received attention of scholars. Being a research gap, exploratory study based on qualitative responses has been conducted to explore different facets of the issue. In-depth interviews have been conducted to collect primary data.

Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) aims to assist expectant mothers in low-income households. It might address the insufficient prenatal and postnatal healthcare services in rural areas of low-income nations, including Bangladesh. However, the effectiveness of such intervention is rarely investigated in rural Bangladesh. The study aims to explore the impact of CCT on certain health outcomes of expectant mothers in southwestern rural Bangladesh.

The study applied the quasi-experimental Propensity Score Matching method to assess the effectiveness of CCT in health outcomes of expectant mothers. The authors also deployed logistic regression to explore the predictors of three health issues – blood pressure, hemoglobin adequacy and morning sickness.

The Average Treatment Effect shows that the CCT program significantly improves maternal health by lowering the extent of blood pressure and morning sickness and enhancing the hemoglobin adequacy of the CCT recipient women compared to the non-recipient. The result reveals that CCT beneficiary status as well as the education and immunization are positively and significantly associated with normal blood pressure and hemoglobin adequacy. CCT is also a negative predictor of morning sickness. The study recommends to expand the coverage of the CCT program and also emphasize on the improvement of education, training and immunization for rural pregnant women.

To assist in scaling purchasing power and nutritious food for poor pregnant and lactating mothers in low-income households, “Nobojatra” project initiated the CCTs in the southwest region of Bangladesh. Yet, the impact of such cash transfers on their health outcomes is rarely explored in the context of Bangladesh. This study provides evidence regarding the effectiveness of cash transfers to pregnant women of low-income households in rural Bangladesh.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-08-2022-0512