Team Effectiveness: A Case Study of a Fast-Growing Private Educational Organization in the UAE

This study attempts to investigate the effectiveness of grade-level teams within Emirates International Academy – EIA (pseudonym), a fast-accelerating private educational organization in the UAE, using a questionnaire survey. In order to determine the characteristics and elements of an effective team and, thus, formulate specific research questions, Mickan and Roger (2000) is adopted for further study and compared with other literature prior to conducting the empirical study. This research is quantitative in nature and arrives at conclusions in an inductive manner, thus generalize the findings on similar organizations operating in the UAE. It is observed that the grade-level teams within EIA achieve goals that link with the purpose of the Academy and most of the teams, in general, are effective but do not have sufficient performance feedback opportunities for development. In order to increase the overall team effectiveness, senior leadership and team leaders are recommended to provide and encourage opportunities for teams to reflect upon self- and group- performance. Keywords: Effective team, Educational organizations, School, UA

Human Resource Development and Economic Growth in Bangladesh: An Econometric Analysis

This study empirically verifies the contributions of human resource development (HRD) efforts in the growth process of Bangladesh. In order to conduct the empirical analysis, a hypothetical growth model is constructed in light of two prominent endogenous growth models, ie, Lucas (1988) and Romer (1986, 1990), and a couple of econometric tests, ie, Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) unit root test and Engle-Granger cointegration are done. In this research, the Engle-Granger cointegration tests have suggested a positive correlation between HRD activities and economic growth process of Bangladesh. Among the HRD activities, investments in education have played a stimulating role and R&D expenditures have made a weak but positive contribution in growth. Besides HRD, there is also evidence that ‘exports’ have played an important role in Bangladesh’s growth. Keywords: Growth theory, HR development, Bangladesh, Unit root test, Cointegration tes

Crafting emotional engagement and immersive experiences: Comprehensive scale development for and validation of hospitality marketing storytelling involvement

This study develops and validates a scale for gauging consumer involvement in storytelling (to create memorable and emotionally resonant experiences) in hospitality marketing through four phases: qualitative inquiry, construct definition, item refinement, and nomological validation. Validation involves 24 in-depth video interviews and consecutive online surveys. The hospitality marketing storytelling involvement scale, with four dimensions—contextual cues, emotional engagement, mental cognition, and immersive experience—comprising 14 items, precisely measures consumer involvement. The scale integrates narrative transportation theory and the elaboration likelihood model to enhance understanding of consumer engagement with fundamental human cognitive and emotional processes. The validated scale offers a valuable tool for marketers to precisely assess consumer involvement and strategically leverage storytelling to evoke emotions, foster brand loyalty, and judge campaign effectiveness. In diverse marketing contexts that elicit emotions, resonate with individuals, and foster immersive experiences, the scale demonstrates remarkable adaptability. Ultimately, it can help marketers craft compelling narratives, enhance brand perception, and strengthen consumer relationships, thereby contributing to emotional connections, optimizing strategies, and enhancing consumer engagement effectiveness

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

COVID-19 and stock returns:Evidence from the Markov switching dependence approach

This paper aims to investigate the regime-switching and time-varying dependence between the COVID-19 pandemic and the US stock markets using a Markov-switching framework. It makes two contributions to the empirical literature by showing that: (a) the variations of the daily reported COVID-19 cases and cumulative COVID-19 deaths induced asymmetric lower (left) and upper (right) tail dependence with the stock markets, and its left and right tail dependence exhibited significant time-varying trends; and (b) the left and right tail dependence between the stock markets and the pandemic exhibited significant regime-switching behaviours, with its switching probabilities in the higher tail dependence stage all being greater than in the lower tail dependence stage after 1 December 2019. Moreover, given that there is concurrent but significant financial market reaction to any unexpected emergence of a transmittable respirational disease or a natural calamity, the outcomes have some vital implications to market players and policymakers

Testing the moderating role of trade openness on the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis: a novel approach

We explore the moderating role of trade openness (TO) by gauging its main and interaction effects on the economic growth and environmental quality nexus. In this direction, we implement a novel approach by using three different measures of pollution emissions (CO2–CH4–PM2.5) in the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis and applying a structural equation modelling methodology to 115 countries, grouped into low-, middle- and high-income countries, spanning the period 1992–2018. The evidence suggests that energy consumption has a positive impact on CO2 emissions for all income panels whilst the moderating effect of TO appears to be a key degrading factor of environmental quality in low- and middle-income countries. In addition, TO’s interaction with GDP growth is found to negatively affect environmental quality across all income groups. Given that global economies are on the verge of returning to pre-pandemic levels of industrial operations along with emissions in the wake of the failure of COP26 and that COVID-19 has reminded the world the urgency of developing sustainable approaches in fostering ‘green economic growth’ models; a host of policy measures are proposed in support of this whilst their likely implications are discussed with reference to different income level countries

Digitalisation and environmental management activities: The effects of family ownership

While digitalisation has significant implications for environmental management activities, this nexus has received minimal attention in research. Given this backdrop, this study uses a unique survey dataset of 386 micro and small enterprises (MSEs) and conducts an OLS regression analysis to examine the impact of digitalisation on environmental management activities. The study also investigates how family ownership moderates this relationship. The study finds that digitalisation supports environmental management activities as an important strategic mechanism, and that family ownership has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between digitalisation and environmental management activities. This study contributes to ‘institutional theory’ by highlighting its applicability to the new context of MSEs in emerging markets. Further, the study provides managerial insights into how to ensure environmental management practices in the digital age

Implication of ‘camera eats first’ construct:unraveling the potentials of digital images in social media on information sharing

In the wake of the ongoing digital revolution, images have emerged as a platform for conveying multifacet information about a product or service in the increasingly competitive business environment. This study focuses on the scale development of the camera eats first construct, investigating how photographers associate the meaning of a photograph while sharing photos on their social media accounts. The conceptual understanding of the construct is influenced by the elegance of the theory of framing that evolves through three-stages—frame-building (how photograph frames emerge), frame-setting (the interplay between photograph frames and audience predispositions) and framing effects (information processing, attitudinal or behaviourial effects). Our development and validation process of a psychometric property consists of four empirical phases that support the construct and its nomological validity. Our study provides an initial exposure to scale development, using methodological rigors that consider the views of the respondents in the restaurant industry. We provide evidence that the camera eats first construct consists of five dimensions (i.e., inspiration, aspiration, food photographic identity, influencers, tailor-made food) which will enable restaurants managers to formulate informed strategies to their potential customers, providing the latest trends in the gourmet industry as well as improving and upholding the sophistication of the industry.</p