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This paper builds on previous research in information systems (IS) project management by focusing on key antecedents proposed to play important roles in influencing normative commitment within the IS project environment. The study also further investigates the influence of normative commitment on intentions to continue.

To collect data for this study, a field survey was administered online, and individuals were selected for participation by a member of upper management from Fortune 500 companies located in the United States. Two-hundred and thirty two (232) survey responses were collected. The model was analyzed using PLS-SEM.

The results indicated that personal investment, personal responsibility, voluntariness, project-specific self-efficacy and problem-solving competency were all significantly related to normative commitment. Project-specific self-efficacy, problem-solving competency and normative commitment directly influenced intention to continue. Additionally, problem-solving competency moderated both the relationships of project-specific self-efficacy to normative commitment and project-specific self-efficacy to intention to continue. The resulting model explains 63% of intention to continue and 58% of normative commitment.

The findings from this study contribute to commitment theory and enhance one’s understanding of IS project environments by exploring specific antecedents related to developing normative commitment. Additionally, the impact of normative commitment on intention to continue was enhanced by examining key moderating relationships to the model.

Many organizations struggle to utilize security-as-a-service (SecaaS) advantages effectively, thus challenging the assumption that adopting the SecaaS model will necessarily lead to post-adoption satisfaction. This research paper draws on the organizational mindfulness theory and investigates the factors that lead to satisfaction with SecaaS.

The key informant-based survey approach was employed to collect data from 215 organizations that were using the SecaaS model. PLS was used for data analysis.

Organizations with greater extents of internal security resources report higher satisfaction levels with SecaaS, thanks to the mediating effect of organizational mindfulness, and that organizations with extensive and mature security auditing were especially well-positioned to experience satisfaction with SecaaS.

This research provides new theoretical insights into the conditions under which organizations' post-adoption satisfaction with the SecaaS model is shaped by investigating the role of internal security resources and organizational mindfulness.

This paper reports the results of a field study that examined the expectations of users as they relate to the quality of service offered by the information systems (IS) function within organizations. While the results indicate that users have consistently high expectations across organizations, the results also indicate that expectations can differ due to age and gender. The paper discusses the implications of these results, along with ways that management can use this information to better influence user expectations.

Biodiversity loss now ranks as one of the most significant global drivers of environmental change. In an increasingly urbanized world, there is enormous potential to address this problem through conservation, restoration, and creation of new urban ecosystems. This chapter explores how nature-based solutions (NBS) can contribute to addressing the urgent problem of biodiversity loss in a way that goes beyond just greening gray environments. It then explores the alignment (and misalignment) between the ways in which NBS is framed as a nature conservation tool globally and the ways in which biodiversity is considered in urban approaches to NBS. Finally, the chapter explores the ways in which NBS might become an essential part of the solution to biodiversity and ecosystem decline. It discusses how NBS can be effectively leveraged to address the biodiversity crisis in urban areas, through conservation, restoration, and efforts to create thriving places for both people and nature. Although the concept of NBS in urban areas is fairly divorced from its nature conservation origins, reconnecting with those ecological roots is important for creating biodiverse, resilient cities. In so doing, NBS could offer a unified concept for environmental management in urban areas that integrates the ecological benefits of nature conservation with an innovative focus on confronting major societal challenges. Though this is a demanding task, it could provide a fit-for-purpose approach for conserving biodiversity and supporting functional ecosystems in the Anthropocene.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the type of explanation (excuses, justifications, apologies and denials) provided for downsizing and the source of the announcement (CEO vs other organizational members) influences shareholders’ market reactions to downsizing announcements.

In total, 388 media-based downsizing announcements from 2006–2015 were coded for explanation type and source of message. Cumulative average return was used to assess the impact of downsizing on market reactions the day after the announcement.

As predicted, and consistent with predictions drawn from fairness theory, excuses triggered positive market reactions, whereas justifications, apologies and denials triggered negative reactions. Additionally, shareholders reacted more negatively to excuses and apologies when the announcement came from CEOs vs other organizational members.

The current research bridges the literature on market reactions to downsizing with the organizational psychology literature to advance a novel theoretical framework for predicting shareholders’ reactions to downsizing announcements. In doing so, the authors provide a more refined understanding of why different types of explanations may differentially influence shareholders’ reactions. The current research also sheds light on when the presence of the CEO in downsizing announcements may have potentially negative consequences for organizations.

The findings contribute to the sparse literature examining variations in the content of downsizing announcements on shareholders’ reactions. The present research is also the first to examine whether shareholders would react less negatively if downsizing explanations came from top organizational leaders (e.g. CEOs).

The purpose of this paper is to suggest that divergent financial performance triggers different rationales for the decision to downsize (excuses, justifications, apologies or denials) and that organizational financial performance post-downsizing varies based on the initial downsizing rationale.

A mixed methods approach paired content analysis of 178 downsizing announcements from 2005 to 2011 with organizational financial data pre and post-downsizing event. Paired sample t-tests determined mean differences in organizational financial performance pre- and post-downsizing based on six commonly used organizational performance measures (accounting and human resources metrics). Longitudinal performance trends were evaluated using event history analysis.

Organizational experiencing both financial growth and decline engage in downsizing, but organizational financial performance varies based on downsizing rationale. For example, organizations engaging in excuse-based downsizing experienced significant levels of volatility and decline pre-downsizing, but growth post-downsizing. However, organizations engaging in justification-based downsizing experienced financial decline pre-downsizing, but no significant additional decline post-downsizing.

Collection of information over multiple business or economic cycles, or categorizing organizations based on industry, organizations size or number of employees may provide additional information on the relationship between downsizing and organizational financial performance.

Organizational performance pre- and post-downsizing varies based on downsizing rationale. Additionally, metrics used to evaluate downsizing success or failure should be considered carefully.

The authors help explain divergent results in existing research on the relationship between downsizing and organizational financial performance by identifying downsizing as a multi-dimensional event. The study indicates that organizational experience both financial growth and decline engage in downsizing, but rationalize the downsizing differently (according to social accounts).

The literature concerning higher- and degree-level apprenticeships (HDAs) in the post-levy era (2017–) is sparse and fragmented. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to contribute to the international landscape of higher education work-based learning by identifying barriers to effective HDA programmes and outlining a future research agenda to address these.

This study employs a systematic literature review methodology to explore barriers in HDAs. Adhering to PRISMA 2020 guidelines, the review follows a three-stage process to develop the sample. A meticulously designed search strategy uses targeted queries on the SCOPUS database, focusing on terms related to HDAs and their challenges. Inclusion criteria is set to papers from 2017 to 2024, covering book chapters and peer-reviewed journals in the English language. Articles were cross-checked with the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS) database, which refines the total to 68 papers. Data from these sources is then extracted and tabulated for qualitative content analysis.

The systematic literature review of 68 manuscripts finds challenges are faced by apprentices, employers and training providers alike. This includes, but is not limited to, ethnically correlated performance, stigma, careers advice, job design, mentoring practices and the incorporation of technology. Two additional themes of pedagogy/andragogy and policy emerge.

Based on the analysis, the paper suggests an extensive portfolio of future research focused on collaborative practices. If addressed, this yields the power to influence future legislation and subsequent implementation.

This study aims to answer the question whether investment funds managers exhibit behavioural biases in their investment decisions. Furthermore, it investigates if fund managers, as a group of institutional investors, make decisions in response to central bank’s communication as well as other information in relation to various behavioural inclinations.

A comprehensive study was conducted based on a questionnaire, which is composed of three main parts exploring: (1) general information about the funds under the management of the surveyed group of fund managers, (2) factors that influence the investment process with an emphasis on the National Bank of Poland communication and (3) behavioural inclinations of the surveyed group. Cronbach’s alpha statistic was applied for measuring the reliability of the survey questionnaire and then chi-squared test was used to investigate the relationships between the answers provided in the survey.

The central bank’s communication matters for investors, but its impact on their decisions appears to be only moderate. Interest rates were found to be the most important announcements for investment fund managers. The stock market was the most popular market segment where the investments were made. The ultra-short time horizon played no, or only small, role in the surveyed fund managers’ decisions as most of them invested in a longer horizon covering 1 to 5 years. Moreover, most respondents declared that they considered in their decisions the information about market expectations published in the media. Finally, majority of the fund managers manifested limited rationality and were subject to behavioural biases, but the decisions and behavioural inclinations were independent and, in most cases, they did not influence each other.

The results reported in this study can be used in practice to better understand and to improve the fund managers’ decision-making processes.

Apart from the commonly tested behavioural biases in the group of institutional investors in the existing literature, such as loss aversion, disposition effect or overconfidence, this paper also focuses on the less intensively analysed behavioural inclinations, i.e. framing, illusion of the control, representativeness, sunk cost effect and fast thinking. The originality of this study further lies in the way the research was conducted through interviews with fund managers, who were found to be subject to behavioural biases, although those behavioural inclinations did not influence their investment decisions. This finding indicates that professionalism and collectivism in the group of institutional investors protect them from irrationality.