The Effect of Leader Inclusiveness on Innovative Work Behavior: The mediator role of Leader-Member Exchange

Referring to the social exchange theory and to leader-member exchange theory, the purpose of this study is to investigate how inclusive leadership influences innovative work behavior by testing leader-member - exchange (LMX) as a mediator. A quantitative study was carried out in 10 service-based organizations in Lebanon with 187 subordinates and their supervisors. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, simple and multiple regression analysis. The findings indicated that inclusive leadership is positively associated with IWB and that LMX mediates the relationship between the two variables. This paper contributes in many ways. First, it provides further support to the importance of relational leadership in influencing behaviors within the organizations. Second, it contributes to the growing body of research on the relationship between inclusive leadership and innovative work behavior. Third, it helps to understand the mechanism of leader-member exchange through which inclusive leadership can influence innovative work behavior. These findings highlight the fact that human resource management and managers need to consider how high-quality leader-member exchanges based on communication, openness and trust can promote IWB. Finally, the limitations of the study are discussed as well as the indications for future studies

Smart Cities for a Sustainable Social Inclusion Strategy – A Comparative Study between Italy and Malaysia

Background: Recent data from several studies and surveys confirm that our society has entered the digital transformation era. The crucial role of this digital trend is becoming increasingly more evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, a bunch of technologies, such as artificial intelligence, have the potential to change the present enhancing people’s power to act, to live and to promote equal citizen participation. In this scenario, Smart Cities with its smart technology innovative components are challenging for excluded people. Method: The general objective of this article is to identify and understand the dimensions that must be taken into account to promote the digital participation/inclusion of people with ID. The model is based on a qualitative analysis of people’s perceptions related to how Smart Cities can promote social Inclusion. Results: The challenges associated with social inclusion were identified in the social, economic and political as well as cultural dimensions of the countries investigated: Italy and Malaysia. The results constitute a first step to shape and understand how smart cities can promote social inclusion in different contexts. Conclusion: The outcomes of our research suggest that, starting from standard technologies, smart cities in different countries need tailored solutions. The results reveal that the Smart City strategy is, in general, and in terms of social Inclusion, in particular, a local phenomenon changing in each country. This outcome has important implications for practitioners and future scholarly research alike. The current study contributes to both social inclusion and smart city literature in many ways

Smart Working and Digital Resilience

Digitalization of work takes the giant leap forward and that our society has entered the digital era. Smart working became the norm adopted by all insti- tutions. With the spreading of covid-19 pandemic, all organizations yielded to novel ways of working. The effect will be permanent, and digitalization of work takes the giant leap forward. Organizations need to support and develop compe- tencies for smart working for the twenty-first century, and yet this is an area largely overlooked in the literature. The general objective of this article is to an- alyze how to effectively support smart workers build digital resilience using a competency-based approach. The development of a digital resilience framework outlines the core competencies for smart working. The model is based on a qual-itative analysis of people’s perceptions related to smart working and digital resil- ience at both individual and institutional level. We conducted a qualitative and exploratory re- search using semi-structured interviews. The results constitute a first step to how organizations can apply this digital resilience framework to sup- port smart working

Digital Resilience for Cities’ Smartness

Over the past two decades, the “Smart City” has risen to global prominence as an urban planning and development strategy. This concept is now widely used as broad of toolkit of technological services and policy inter- ventions aiming at enhancing a balance between competitiveness and sustaina- bility of cities through ICT innovation and Human Capital. ICT and modern technology are considered the key aspect of the Smart City concept. Meanwhile, other authors emphasize the importance of the people and human capital who adopt and operate the technology. Although very few litera- tures emphasize the importance of resilience in the Smart City discourse. This paper aims to analyze and redefine the Smart City concept through resili- ence approach. For this purpose, it describes and defines what the Smart City concept is, and then the relation and linkage of the importance of using resilience approach in defining the Smart City. The model is based on a qualitative analysis of people’s perceptions related to Smart Cities and Digital Resilience. Digital Resilience will lead to a soft infrastructure approach, such as enhancement in social and human capital, knowledge inclusion, citizenship participation and social satisfaction. The results constitute a first step to approach Smart Cities as a soft sustainable infrastructure urban planning. Discussion and analysis are conducted through a deep literature study using systematic literature review methodology

Strategizing the E-Commerce Business: The Role of Service Quality and Hedonic Value.

Today, the digital international business environment opens new opportunities and challenges for businesses creating important effects on their global distribution strategies. In line with this, the present study makes a theoretical contribution developing a research model in the e-commerce field to analyze the relationship among e-service quality factors and the overall e-service quality, and, in turn, the latter with the hedonic value dimension. Data were gathered from a survey of 152 online consumers. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to analyze the reliability and validity of the measurement model and regression technique was used to test the research model. The analytical results showed that, as predicted, the dimensions of fulfillment/reliability, web site design, customer service and security privacy affect overall online service quality. In addition, the e-service quality shows to have an impact on the hedonic value

Resilient leadership in the food service sector in Lebanon

For the past two years, the Lebanese socio-economic crisis has had disastrous effects on the hospitality industry especially the food Service sector. During high adversity and incredibly challenging times, leaders must develop and nurture resilience in the organizations. Resilience may be the attribute that is most needed today by Lebanese leaders since they ought to be more responsive and more attuned to the unprecedented difficult conditions in the country. Based on the Duchek (2020) model of organizational resilience, and the crisis management approach, this qualitative research study focuses on gaining insight and understanding about the managers/owners’ perceptions of events and circumstances affecting their industry, and how they have adjusted to the challenges raised simultaneously by the worst economic crisis in the country and by the spread of Covid-19 around the world. The authors of the study utilized semi-structured interviews to collect and analyze the study data. The findings reveal that pursuing resilience is a process based on the interactions between organizational resilience capabilities and crisis management tasks, and it is mainly characterized by three phases: anticipation of potential threats, coping with disruption and adapting to the new reality

Platform Service Supply Chain Network Equilibrium Model with Data Empowerment

With the rapid development of information and communication technology, data empowerment has become an important way for platform service supply chain (PSSC) members to obtain a competitive advantage. Based on the three-level PSSC network structure composed of service providers, platform operators, and demand markets, this paper assumes that platform operators empower service providers to improve service quality, and PSSC members invest in data security risk control. Then, using variational inequality and equilibrium theory, a supply chain network equilibrium model considering data empowerment is constructed, and the equilibrium conditions of the whole network are obtained. Based on numerical examples, this paper analyzes the impact of the sensitivity of the demand market to service quality, the relative importance of service providers’ service quality improvement level, the data empowerment cost of PSSC members, and the data security risk control investment of PSSC members on the equilibrium state of the supply chain network. The results show the following: because the service quality is produced by the cooperation between service providers and platform operators, platform operators may have free-riding behavior and are only willing to invest a fixed data empowerment cost to ensure the essential service quality; data security risk control investment is an important factor affecting service sales; and when supply chain network members reduce data security risk control investment, consumers’ willingness to pay for services will be reduced, resulting in a decline in the overall profit of the supply chain network

La metafora della «bussola» come strumento teorico di orientamento per l'analisi del paradigma economico Industry 4.0

The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical framework in order to both analyse the new economic and social phenomenon named Industry 4.0 and to support the literature orientation on the industrial economic issues. In particular, the Authors systematized the main academic contributions, which were reviewed to deeply understand the fourth industrial revolution. The compass is based on the Structure-Conduct-Performance (scp) model, and it is characterized by a modular approach thanks to its distinctive features that consider the theoretical elements of applied economics (i.e. supply concentration, entry barriers, vertical integration and markets dependence, conduct and interaction among actors). Moreover, the «theoretical compass» might be useful to answer to the key questions related to the changes stemming from the new Industry 4.0 process. Some policy implications of the study are finally discussed