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The purpose of this paper is to focus on how the concept design stage of a powertrain system can be improved by using a purely objective driven approach in selecting a final concept design to progress further. This research investigation will examine the development of a novel test-bed to assist in the selection of powertrain technologies during the concept design phase at Ford Motor Company Ltd, serving as the main contribution to knowledge.

The objectives of this research were achieved by carrying out a literature review of external published work related to concept design evaluation methods within product development and value engineering techniques. Empirical studies were conducted with a supporting case study used to test the application of a new test-bed to improve the concept design decision process.

A quantitative new tool “Product Optimisation Value Engineering” (PROVEN) is presented to critically assess new and evolving powertrain technologies at the concept design phase.

This research improves the concept design selection process, hence increasing the product value to the customer.

The new test-bed “PROVEN” incorporates a data-driven objective approach to assist in assessing concept design alternatives in providing the net value in terms of function and cost as perceived by the customer.

A mathematical new test-bed that incorporates a highly adaptable, data-driven and multi-attribute value approach to product specification and conceptual design is developed, novel to the automotive concept design process. This will create a substantially optimised product offering to the market, reducing overall development costs while achieving customer satisfaction. The new tool has the ability to define a technology value map to assess multiple technical options as a function of its attributes, whose precise values can be determined at a given cost.

The Covid-19 pandemic has continued to place intense economic and social strains on global economies and families. While rising poverty and unemployment have been worsened by the crisis, small businesses are under increasing pressure to manage burgeoning uncertainties and the corresponding economic and social challenges. No doubt, the deleterious effects of the crisis has intensified pressure on small business leaders to sustain their role in delivering responsible services.

Scholars argue that in crises, like Covid-19, the values of small business leaders are placed under scrutiny. Despite laws and regulations guiding ethical leadership especially in business, there exist challenges that are complex and not easy to address, and the pandemic situation further adds to them. The implication is that small business leaders are increasingly associated with accountability problems.

Navigating this period will require strategies for addressing the weaknesses in an existing leadership capacity in the delivery of business services, and successfully implementing ethical standards. This becomes crucial since the pandemic as an added challenge can spur on unethical leadership. The highlights of some of the key elements impacting ethical leadership during crises like Covid-19. This chapter also explores how business leaders can influence responsible behavioural change among employees for them to be creative and innovative. Additionally, an attempt will be made towards assisting small business leaders in finding responsible solutions.

This study aims to evaluate the relationship between organizational learning (OL) culture (OLC) and innovation. This study also aims to determine the patterns by which the concepts of OLC/learning organization (LO)/OL and OL capability are interrelated and have an impact on innovation.

This study emphasized the analysis of 42 literature reviews, which contained the variables of OLC/LO/OL and innovation.

A holistic perception of OLC/LO/OL and its relationship with the constructs of innovation was provided. In this case, more reports emphasized the indirect correlation of OLC with innovation, through intervening variables. This indicated that OLC enabled innovation through several internal and external aspects, as well as balancing between flexibility and control in promoting OLC. As part of the OL process, information, acquisition, distribution, interpretation and dissemination were also consistently related to innovation, which escalated the company's ability in becoming an LO. This proved that a group of employees needs to share a similar belief in promoting work unit innovation, because of the importance of continuous formal and informal learning in a well-structured internal organization system. In this case, external factors need to be highly considered, including competitors and clients.

This study is among the earliest to review the literature about the relationship between OLC and innovation. This study also provides recommendations for enhancing OLC in promoting innovation.

Health tourism is a relatively new branch of international tourism that has developed more rapidly than other tourism sectors in recent years. This study aimed to investigate the effect of government supports on health tourism development by considering the mediating role of internal and external infrastructures.

The study population consisted of all experts of two hospitals in Iran, which are frequently visited by foreign tourists (N = 151). A questionnaire, developed by combining standard and researcher-made questionnaires, was used to collect the data. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model was developed in SmartPLS 3 to test the hypotheses.

The main hypothesis test results indicated that government supports positively affect the development of health tourism. Internal and external infrastructures were also found to mediate the relationship between government supports and health tourism development. In addition, the sub-hypothesis test results showed that internal and external infrastructures are positively affected by government supports, which puts forth the development of health tourism. As the results explained, the most important aspects of internal infrastructures affected by government support were health service quality, cost of health services and applying advanced medical technologies, respectively. Also, different aspects of external infrastructures affected by government supports are as follows: economic, infrastructures and cultural factors.

This study is the first of its kind to examine the impact of both medical and non-medical factors on health tourism and signifies the crucial role of governments in the development of health tourism.

Employee’s innovative behavior as a team allows the organization to achieve its goals; however, team green creativity requires transformational and entrepreneurial leader support. Therefore, the study explores the impact of green transformational and entrepreneurial leadership on team innovative behavior and green new product development with the mediating role of team green creativity.

A survey was conducted to collect data from 455 employees working in the hospitality industry via a self-administered questionnaire, and hypotheses were analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling PLS-SEM technique using Smart-PLS 4.0.

The results indicate that green transformational and entrepreneurial leadership styles positively and significantly affect team innovative behavior and new green product development performance. Furthermore, findings show that team green creativity partially mediates the relationship between green transformational and entrepreneurial leadership on team innovative behavior, and new green product development performance.

The results of this study provide insights to hospitality professionals pursuing the improvement of team innovative behavior and new green product development performance through team green creativity and leadership styles.

This study is useful for organizations that target new green product development performance and establish higher green innovative behavior cohesively among its team members through these robust leadership styles.

This study is the first attempt to provide a valuable contribution to the growing field of green leadership styles on team innovative behavior and new green product development performance through team green creativity.