Of Founders and Contributors: The Construction of Authority through Personal Data Digitalization

Autocratic governance structures are prevalent in open source projects. One key figure in such a structure is the project founder, often called ‘Benevolent Dictator for Life.’ These benevolent dictators typically engage in autocratic decision-making by virtue of having founded the project or holding gatekeeping roles. However, research has overlooked how autocratic governance is formed around the Benevolent Dictator for Life and the enduring appeal of this figure in open source projects. To this end, this study aims to explore the way autocratic structures in open source projects are sustained or changed and the roles that autocratic founders play in this process. Drawing upon the CARE theory, which theorises the relationship between personal data digitalization and human dignity, we propose a conceptual model that highlights the formation of autocratic structures and the distinct roles that founders can play during this process

Third-Party SDKs and Mobile App Performance

To create attractive mobile apps in the competitive mobile market, developers are increasingly leveraging third-party software development kits (SDKs) in app development. However, little is known about how using third-party toolkits affects app performance. Drawing on the platform literature and the boundary object theory, we conceptualize third-party SDK utilization as a boundary-spanning activity. Based on this, we theorize its impact on app performance, considering the mobile platform and app developers as contextual factors. We examine the causal influence of third-party SDKs on app performance by conducting difference-in-difference-style analyses on a longitudinal dataset of mobile apps released on the Apple App Store and Google Play. We find empirical evidence supporting our theoretical conjectures that utilizing more third-party SDKs increases active users. More interestingly, platform updates and developer platform-specific experience attenuate this positive impact. This study contributes to the platform-based innovation and governance literature and provides managerial implications in mobile domains

Improving cybercrime reporting in Scotland : a systematic literature review

Background: The UK system for reporting economic cybercrime is called Action Fraud (AF). AF has been found to prioritise high value and low volume crimes. Therefore, people who have been scammed out of less than £100 000 are less likely to have their crime investigated via AF. Consequently, Scotland severed its ties with AF and proceeded to develop its own systems for reporting low value and high-volume crimes. Another problem with AF was that its reports were inaccurate and incomplete. Interestingly, since the 1930s the compilation and investigation of crime reports has always suffered from inaccuracies and discrepancies. This pattern has not been reversed by rapid technological development. Instead, the trend is preserved, not just in the UK, but across the globe. Aim: An exploration of how to improve cybercrime reporting in Scotland was implemented via a systematic literature review the results of which will inform upcoming fieldwork. Due to the lack of data on Scotland, frequent extrapolations were conducted from both the UK and the West. The research questions were: 1. What is known about cybercrime in the UK to date? 2. What is known about cybercrime victims in the UK to date? 3. What is known about cybercrime reporting to date? Method and Analysis: The answers were retrieved by combining Boolean variables with keywords into Scopus, Web of Science and ProQuest. This resulted in the inclusion of 100 peer-reviewed articles (after the exclusion of unsuitable ones). The articles were analysed using Inductive thematic analysis (ITA). The underlying principle of ITA is based on data immersion to identify the themes within. This analysis revealed a common trend, a novel taxonomy, and an original conclusion. Results: The common trend is that of responsibilisation, which is the shifting of responsibility for policing cybercrime from the government onto the citizens and private sector. For example, the government educating citizens about the risks of cybercrime and disengaging with them thereafter is a case of responsibilisation. This is because the government sees it as the victims’ responsibility to follow its advice. One problem of responsibilisation in cybercrime is that if one person is attacked, then many computers can become infected through their error. Therefore, the government should step-up to the task of protecting its citizens. The novel taxonomy is for classifying cybercrime reporting systems according to three pillars, which I referred to as Human-To-Human (H2H), Human-To-Machine (H2M) and Machine-To-Machine (M2M). The advantage of this classification is parsimony, the disadvantage is reductionism. The risk of reductionism applies specifically to crimes that sit in between pillars. Conclusion: To improve cybercrime reporting in Scotland, the process needs to be treated also as a social one rather than a purely mathematical one. This can be achieved by engaging with psychological principles of how emotionally charged social interactions are encoded into memory. Understanding memory will help the police record cybercrime reports in an effective way. This research will impact society because it serves as a foundation for fieldwork with victims of cybercrime and the police tasked with those investigations. The results of the upcoming fieldwork will serve to inform national guidance on how to improve the reporting of cybercrime, which will reduce it and give victims living in Scotland a sense of closure

The Impact of Three-Dimensional Organizational Change on Laos Electrification

The government of Laos has carried out regressive organizational changes in its electric power sector including deregulation, decentralization, and devolution. As governmental agencies attempt to improve their organization, little is understood about the impact these changes have on the electric sector. Using Burke\u27s organization change theory as the foundation, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explain the impact of organizational change on rural electrification in the Champassak Province, Laos. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with 20 participants representing governmental agencies, private entities, and nongovernmental organizations. Data were also collected through observation of a public consultative meeting and reviewing of publicly available documents, both of which were related to electrification. Data were inductively coded and analyzed using a thematic procedure. According to the study findings, organizational change helped expand electrification at the early stage. However, shortcomings such as setting onerous tax rates and promulgating convoluted laws by the public sector have caused static growth in both the trend of project finance and electrification recently. The positive social change implications stemming from this study include recommendations to local policy makers and legislators to tailor the fiscal policy and statutes, which may support wider electrification efforts in the Champassak Province

A critical assessment of Leadership to identify contemporary leadership behaviour to inspire millennials

The aim of the research was to identify how leadership will need to adapt to lead teams in the future. In a Post COVID environment and with the increasing percentage of Millennials who are set to be the dominate target group being recruited over the next decade for the work force, leaders need to evolve their behaviors and priorities to become more effective. The concept of leadership has transformed into many phases of practice, over the decades, as new research revealed changing priorities to address market, employee and stakeholder needs. While authentic leadership is currently being promoted as a route to successfully lead a company, this research proposes that a more detailed insight into leadership is required that is relevant to the Millennial generation. To achieve the research goal an initial review was undertaken of the history of leadership, the most prominent leadership styles and their gaps ineffectiveness. This has resulted in the initial identification of twelve themes and after a robust review, nine themes are revealed that drive effective leadership. A pragmatic research methodology design was adopted whereby a Delphi study was initially undertaken to identify key elements that contribute to success in each of the twelve pillars of leadership. This involved seeking the views of 23 leaders within the financial services, legal and accounting fields. These leaders were CEO, Head of Sales, Presidents, Head of Businesses and Mid-level Leaders. The findings were then translated into likert statements and administered to a large survey target sample group of leaders and followers from Generation X and the Millennial Generation which resulted in over 500 responses. Advanced inferential statistics were applied to the survey results to test the reliability and validity of the conceptual framework through regression analysis.This research contributes to both the academic literature on leadership and the practice of the discipline. The research provides insights into the commonalities and disconnects between today’s leaders and followers which provides new knowledge to how leaders lead. The research connects the gap in Millennial expectations of leadership and how leaders can become more effective. This research is additive to the limited existing research on leadership in financial services, legal and accounting fields within the United States. The results provide guidance for current and aspiring leaders to become more effective as leaders in their chosen fields

Leadership Effectiveness from the Perspective of Chief Executive Officers in Kuwait

This research explores leadership effectiveness in organisations in Kuwait from the perspective of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs). This is an area that has been neglected by the extant literature, and no integrated model for assessing CEO effectiveness exists for us to fully understand the phenomenon. Based on a positivist qualitative research approach, evidence was drawn from 16 CEOs using semi-structured interviews. The evidence was corroborated by using data obtained from participant observations of two CEOs working in the same organisation as the researcher. The results indicated that CEOs perceive leadership effectiveness as driving execution and not necessarily the realisation of goals themselves. Their experiences of leadership lead to CEOs in Kuwait believing that leadership effectiveness depends on their leadership style, relationship with the Board and the Executives, experience and family ground, societal and organisational culture, the business environment and CEO characteristics. On the basis of the participants’ perceptions of leadership effectiveness, it is recommended that CEO leadership development in Kuwait should focus on these areas, as this should equip CEOs to be effective in formulating clear visions and executing strategies to enable economic development of the country, and this should help them to compete globally. As the study focused on private and public companies, future research could consider CEOs from governmental and not-for-profit organisations to expand the sample of CEOs

Leadership

Leadership is viewed as a phenomenon allowing advantages for organizations and their success. Although much research has been done on the concept of leadership, many studies do not include the different styles, perspectives, and contexts of leadership. As such, this book aims to fill this gap by combining several studies on leadership from different perspectives. The various chapters address such topics as millennial leaders, Theory X style leadership, leadership in the turbulent environment, emotional intelligence, and much more. This volume shows how new insights about leadership can stimulate organizational development in various countries and regions worldwide