Drivers Of Success Research Articles

Self-sufficiency communities for economic development: Urban perspectives in an emerging country

In the context of rapid urbanization and economic growth in emerging countries, the concept of self-sufficiency communities has gained prominence as an innovative approach to urban economic development (Bolay, 2006; Losch et al., 2012; Kong et al., 2022). This study focuses on self-sufficiency communities in Thailand, exploring their potential, challenges, and impact on economic development. Using qualitative research techniques, document analysis, and interviews with stakeholders, including academics and experts, the study revealed that self-sufficiency communities play a multifaceted role as job creators, income generators, and economic catalysts. Technology adoption and community empowerment were identified as critical drivers of success. Despite challenges such as limited land access and regulatory hurdles, there is a commitment to exploring collaborative opportunities and policy support to promote urban self-sufficiency as a sustainable and economically viable model. These findings have significant implications for policymakers and researchers, offering insights into the potential and challenges of self-sufficiency communities within the context of urban economic development. This research contributes to the broader discourse on sustainable urbanization and inclusive growth in emerging economies.

Key success drivers for implementation blockchain technology in UAE Islamic banking

The utilization of blockchain technology is increasingly emerging as a catalyst for significant changes across multiple industries, including the domain of Islamic finance. This study examines the influence of blockchain technology on the factors that contribute to the successful adoption of blockchain in Islamic banks located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The present study employs a cross-sectional survey methodology, encompassing a sample of 344 banking professionals. The investigation utilizes Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) as a statistical technique to examine the association between several crucial variables, namely Trust, Financial Transfers, Operating Expenses, Safety and Security, and the effective implementation of blockchain technology. The results indicate that these variables have a major impact on the effectiveness of implementing blockchain technology, confirming its ability to boost the efficiency of transactions, decrease expenses, and enhance security while adhering to Shariah law. This work makes a vital contribution to the scholarly discourse around the deployment of technology in the context of Islamic banking. In particular, it emphasizes blockchain technology's part in fostering innovation within the sector and fostering a culture of compliance with the sector's ethical and operational standards.

How to evaluate a multi-country implementation-focused network: Reflections from the Quality of Care Network (QCN) evaluation.

Learning about how to evaluate implementation-focused networks is important as they become more commonly used. This research evaluated the emergence, legitimacy and effectiveness of a multi-country Quality of Care Network (QCN) aiming to improve maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) outcomes. We examined the QCN global level, national and local level interfaces in four case study countries. This paper presents the evaluation team's reflections on this 3.5 year multi-country, multi-disciplinary project. Specifically, we examine our approach, methodological innovations, lessons learned and recommendations for conducting similar research. We used a reflective methodological approach to draw lessons on our practice while evaluating the QCN. A 'reflections' tool was developed to guide the process, which happened within a period of 2-4 weeks across the different countries. All country research teams held focused 'reflection' meetings to discuss questions in the tool before sharing responses with this paper's lead author. Similarly, the different lead authors of all eight QCN papers convened their writing teams to reflect on the process and share key highlights. These data were thematically analysed and are presented across key themes around the implementation experience including what went well, facilitators and critical methodological adaptations, what can be done better and recommendations for undertaking similar work. Success drivers included the team's global nature, spread across seven countries with members affiliated to nine institutions. It was multi-level in expertise and seniority and highly multidisciplinary including experts in medicine, policy and health systems, implementation research, behavioural sciences and MNCH. Country Advisory Boards provided technical oversight and support. Despite complexities, the team effectively implemented the QCN evaluation. Strong leadership, partnership, communication and coordination were key; as were balancing standardization with in-country adaptation, co-production, flattening hierarchies among study team members and the iterative nature of data collection. Methodological adaptations included leveraging technology which became essential during COVID-19, clear division of roles and responsibilities, and embedding capacity building as both an evaluation process and outcome, and optimizing technology use for team cohesion and quality outputs.

Success drivers of equity crowdfunding campaign. Empirical evidence from Poland

The success factors of equity crowdfunding are already well recognized in the literature but have not previously been studied in Poland. The aim of the paper is to fill the research gap by identifying the determinants of equity crowdfunding success in Poland based on empirical data. The article investigates whether and how entrepreneurs’ conscious use of the non-financial benefits linked to equity crowdfunding (ECF) influences the campaign’s success in Poland. We used data from a survey on the determinants of the success of equity crowdfunding. We conducted the survey using CAWI and CATI methods between September 2021 and January 2022 in collaboration with the Biostat Research and Development Centre as well as Beesfund, Crowdway and FindFunds platforms. Fifty-six companies accepted the invitation to participate in the study. Ultimately, the logistic regression model estimation was based on data obtained from 49 companies (28 of which had already succeeded in the equity crowdfunding campaign). Using the acquired data, we estimated a logistic regression model. As the results of our research show, the likelihood of campaign success is increased by the perception of equity crowdfunding as a tool enabling the acquisition of product and market knowledge, while using this form of financing mainly to obtain funds adversely affects the likelihood of campaign success. The results confirm that in Poland, as in other European countries, equity crowdfunding is no longer seen as a source of last-resort funding but is becoming more than just a fundraising tool. We recommend that entrepreneurs who plan to use this form of financing take advantage of the knowledge and experience of investors and treat equity crowdfunding as a strategic or first choice.

From Expense to Engine: How Marketing Fuels Business Performance and Drives Sustainable Success

By reframing marketing as an engine of growth, organizations can unlock its true potential to build brand loyalty, generate leads, cultivate customer relationships, and ultimately achieve long-term profitability. Effective marketing tactics enable businesses to connect with their target audience, understand their needs and preferences, and effectively promote their products or services. This paper explores the theoretical underpinnings of this shift in perspective with CXO interdependencies, examines real-world examples of marketing’s impact on business performance while recognizing the challenges of measuring marketing effectiveness and outlines a framework for organizations to leverage marketing as a strategic driver of sustainable success.

Success Factors in Managing Wastewater Infrastructure through Community Participation (Case Study: Wastewater Infrastructure in Residential Areas of Medan Deli Subdistrict, Medan)

Both central and local governments strive to implement sanitation programs, especially in the management of wastewater infrastructure, with a focus on community involvement from planning to maintenance. The Medan Deli Subdistrict, engaged in wastewater infrastructure management through community participation, faces challenges, including a decline in users and dysfunctional management groups. The limited community involvement also impacts the failure of management. The research was conducted in the Medan Deli Subdistrict using survey and exploration methods. The analysis of survey questionnaire data with the Relative Importance Index (RII) method identified five key success factors, used as research indicators to identify obstacles through structured interviews. The research results show that these factors involve the choice of technology, organization, and leadership, which have proven to have a significant impact. Additionally, service convenience, operator performance, and clean and healthy living habits also prove to be drivers of success in this management. In this context, it can be concluded that technical factors, especially the selection of technology and organization, dominate the success of wastewater management. The success of wastewater infrastructure development through community participation also heavily depends on institutional elements and social approaches. However, after identifying success elements, some analyzed obstacles include the process of selecting technology means that are not in line with the needs and preferences of the community, managers responsible for wastewater infrastructure management often relocating without replacement, hindering the administrative process of management, infrastructure maintenance requiring operators to routinely perform operational functions, and a community that is not fully committed to implementing clean water infrastructure management.

Pneumococcal population dynamics: Investigating vaccine-induced changes through multiscale modelling.

The mechanisms behind vaccine-induced strain replacement in the pneumococcus remain poorly understood. There is emerging evidence that distinct pneumococcal lineages can co-colonise for significant time periods, and that novel recombinants can readily emerge during natural colonisation. Despite this, patterns of post-vaccine replacement are indicative of competition between specific lineages. Here, we develop a multiscale transmission model to investigate explicitly how within host dynamics shape observed ecological patterns, both pre- and post-vaccination. Our model framework explores competition between and within strains defined by distinct antigenic, metabolic and resistance profiles. We allow for strains to freely co-colonise and recombine within hosts, and consider how each of these types may contribute to a strain's overall fitness. Our results suggest that antigenic and resistance profiles are key drivers of post-vaccine success.

Transformational Educational Leadership Effect On Staff Members Engagement: The Mediating Impact Of Intrinsic Motivation

Staff member’s engagement has been at the core of consideration for top management and scholars who stated that staff member’s engagement can be a key driver of an organization's business success. Many scholars have found in recent researches that a transformational educational leadership approach has a beneficial connection with staff member’s engagement. Therefore, this research oriented to investigate the connection of transformational educational leadership on staff members engagement through the mediating role of figurehead intrinsic enthusiasm. Researchers examine the information from a sample of 338 elevated education staff members working in the elevated educational institutes in Ethiopia by means of structural equation modeling (SEM) and confirmatory factor investigation (CFA) to examine the framed hypothesis. Afterward, the bootstrapping investigation was employed to verify the mediation examine in present research. The investigation manifested that transformational educational leadership approach had considered proficient impact on staff member’s engagement for the mediating role of intrinsic enthusiasm. The impact of transformational educational leadership on staff member’s engagement was found to be totally mediated by figurehead intrinsic enthusiasm. Hypothetically, present experiential investigation contributed to the novel knowledge on the exclusive mediating impacts of figurehead intrinsic motivation on the connections among transformational educational leadership and staff member’s engagement in the Ethiopia. Practically, present research has administrative connotation in the field of governmental administration, leadership and HRM.

Role of Transformational Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship in Achieving Enterprise Performance: Taking Creativity as a Mediator

Purpose: In the recent business context, the pivotal drivers of organizational success are increasingly identified as transformational leadership and social entrepreneurship. These dynamic forces have emerged as crucial predictors, shaping the trajectory of enterprise performance. The present study proposed to explore the role of transformational leadership and social entrepreneurship in achieving enterprise performance through creativity among employees of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt. Design/Methodology/ Approach: We applied quantitative methods to detect this problem by collecting data from the employees of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt. Finally, we utilized 294 samples to get the results. Findings: Applying the analysis of moment structures (AMOS) version 26.0, the results show a positive and significant impact of transformational leadership, social entrepreneurship and creativity on enterprise performance. The mediating path leads to a positive mediating impact of creativity in developing the connection between transformational leadership and enterprise performance. On the other hand, creativity did not mediate the relationship between social entrepreneurship and enterprise performance. Research, practical and social implications: The research outcomes serve as a strategic compass for policymakers and planners, offering actionable insights to elevate enterprise performance through the strategic integration of transformational leadership and social entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the study provides valuable guidance for organizations aspiring to cultivate a culture of innovation and creativity, fostering the essential elements for sustained success in today's dynamic business environment. Originality/ value: This study addresses the gaps in the empirical evaluation of enterprise performance through transformational leadership, social entrepreneurship and creativity among Egyptian employees of Egyptian SMEs.

Disturbance frequency directs microbial community succession in marine biofilms exposed to shear.

Disturbances are major drivers of community succession in many microbial systems; however, relatively little is known about marine biofilm community succession, especially under antifouling disturbance. Antifouling technologies exert strong local disturbances on marine biofilms, and resulting biomass losses can be accompanied by shifts in biofilm community composition and succession. We address this gap in knowledge by bridging microbial ecology with antifouling technology development. We show that disturbance by shear can strongly alter marine biofilm community succession, acting as a selective filter influenced by frequency of exposure. Examining marine biofilm succession patterns with and without shear revealed stable associations between key prokaryotic and eukaryotic taxa, highlighting the importance of cross-domain assessment in future marine biofilm research. Describing how compounded top-down and bottom-up disturbances shape the succession of marine biofilms is valuable for understanding the assembly and stability of these complex microbial communities and predicting species invasiveness.

Integrated metatranscriptomics and metabolomics reveal microbial succession and flavor formation mechanisms during the spontaneous fermentation of Laotan Suancai

Laotan Suancai, a Chinese traditional fermented vegetable, possesses a unique flavor that depends on the fermentative microbiota. However, the drivers of microbial succession and the correlation between flavor and active microbiota remain unclear. A total of 21 characteristic flavor metabolites were identified in Laotan Suancai by metabolomics, including 8 sulfides, 6 terpenes, 3 organic acids, 2 isothiocyanates, 1 ester, and 1 pyrazine. Metatranscriptome analysis revealed variations in the active microbiota at different stages of fermentation, and further analysis indicated that organic acids were the primary drivers of microbial succession. Additionally, we reconstructed the metabolic network responsible for the formation of characteristic flavor compounds and identified Companilactobacillus alimentarius, Weissella cibaria, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, and Loigolactobacillus coryniformis as the core functional microbes involved in flavor development. This study contributed to profoundly understanding the relationship between the active microbiota and flavor quality formation, as well as the targeted selection of starters with flavor regulation abilities.

Principals’ servant leadership practices and teacher motivation: Perspectives from South African rural schools’ context

This study explored the relationship between principals' servant leadership practices and teacher motivation in selected rural schools in South Africa. It adopted a qualitative research design, collecting data through semi-structured interviews with six principals and six teachers from rural schools in South Africa. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis, which identified themes related to principals' servant leadership practices and teacher motivation. This study is underpinned by the theory of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs which explains the five levels of human needs that motivate individuals. The findings revealed that principals' servant leadership practices were positively associated with teacher motivation in South African rural schools’ context. Specifically, the study found that principals who exhibited servant leadership practices such as listening to teachers' needs, providing support and guidance, promoting teamwork and collaboration, and showing appreciation and recognition, had motivated teachers. The study identified that principals who engage in servant leadership strategies can succeed in motivating their teachers to commit to their teaching profession and quality education. However, secondary data shows that servant leadership strategies are not drivers of success but contributing factors to keeping their teachers motivated and not losing them to urban areas. The study further argued that not all schools practicing servant leadership are able to motivate or keep their best teachers. Thus, there are other factors that motivate teachers to stay in rural schools such as high salaries, teaching schools located in their home villages, or the ability of principals to appoint teachers who view the profession as their calling and not just an employment opportunity. Teachers who already view their profession as a calling are easy to remain motivated and stay committed to schools in rural areas. Similarly, teachers working in their rural villages have a higher chance to resist relocating to urban schools since they are comfortable being close to their families and relatives. In sum, servant leadership strategies alone are not enough unless the teachers are already committed to the school project for subjective reasons. This study contributes to the growing body of research on leadership and motivation in education and highlights the critical role that principals can play in promoting positive teacher attitudes and behaviors in South African rural schools’ contexts.

Places and spaces of collaborative R&D and innovation: navigating the role of physical and virtual contexts

The context in which collaborative R&D and innovation activities take place is a critical driver of success and failure. However, innovation management research tends to often abstract the context away, leaving the crucial contingency factors unaddressed. This special issue explores multifaceted collaborative R&D and innovation contexts across physical and virtual domains. An array of ten articles dissect various contexts, including cross‐sector partnerships, innovation hubs, living labs, makerspaces, and virtual collaboration spaces and communities, highlighting their impact on innovation processes and outcomes. In this editorial, we develop a ‘Collaborative Innovation Space Matrix’ to firstly integrate the insights from the special issue focusing on collaboration dynamics and type of spaces and, secondly, to propose a call for action for innovation researchers to better understand the crucial role of context in collaborative R&D and innovation.

Drivers of success, speed and performance in fisheries moving towards Marine Stewardship Council certification

AbstractWith growing concerns about global overfishing, market‐based eco‐certification programs like the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) can incentivise adoption of sustainable practices. Several studies investigated drivers of improvement in market‐driven Fisheries Improvement Projects, but failed to use detailed, standardised measures of progress, or considered small samples. We considered the relative influence market, governance and fishery‐specific drivers have on MSC certification speed and success in 208 fisheries. To evaluate improvement we compared pre‐certification scores from MSC pre‐assessments—rapid high‐level audits against the MSC Standard—to scores from full MSC audits. Drivers considered included measures of pre‐assessment quality, as this initial advice might contribute to later certification success. National fishery management capacity, percentage of MSC catch and landed value were the strongest drivers of successful and rapid certification. Environmental improvements occurred for stock management, ecosystem health and governance aspects. While only 48% of fisheries with favourable pre‐assessment outcomes went on to be certified, improvements in many fisheries with lower pre‐assessment scores were observed in their lead‐up to full assessment. Random forest analyses allowed for considering multiple interacting variables simultaneously and revealed influential drivers under specific fishery contexts. For example, higher certification probability was associated with greater percentage of MSC catch under the full dataset, but not under subsets representing fisheries facing more challenging contexts for certification. Fisheries from lower/middle‐income countries had lower overall probability of certification, but this increased with higher management capacity. This suggests multiple drivers interact in instigating fisheries improvements, and MSC pre‐assessments provide valuable resources to understand this journey.

Innovativeness and Entrepreneurial Success in Agricultural Sector: An Overview of the Literature in Developing Countries

Business success is often attributed to the profile of the entrepreneur, the characteristics of the business and its environment. In most of developing countries, interventions to promote entrepreneurship are typically limited to the provision of finance and coaching to build business capital and management skills. These interventions have shown mixed results as only few young enterprises last more than five years, suggesting the need to explore other drivers of entrepreneurial success. This review adds a contribution on the role of innovation in the performance of agricultural enterprises through a synthesis of the existing literature on the importance of innovation in entrepreneurial success. Our results highlight that young agricultural entrepreneurs face several challenges, including the perception from their pairs/community, limited access to production resources, climate change, poor access to technologies and market, lack of management skills, and lack of appropriate policy support. Their innovativeness depends on their ability to mobilize livelihoods assets such as financial capital, social, human and symbolic capitals. Ultimately, innovativeness allows young entrepreneur to tap into livelihoods assets-related opportunities to ensure the competitiveness and further the success of their business. We also elaborated a framework to analyze entrepreneurial performance in the agricultural sector.

A Social Dimension of Adaptation and Mitigation of Climate Change: Empowering Local Rural Communities to Confront Extreme Poverty

Climate change impacts occur at varying spatial scales requiring appropriately scaled responses. In impoverished rural areas, adapting to or mitigating the effects of climate change is challenging, with any short-term impairment to precarious livelihoods likely triggering negative community responses even if people are aware of long-term benefits. The paper will discuss a community-based carbon sequestration project in eastern Iran. It started in 2003 and since then has been expanded widely. It was nominated by UNDP as one of 10 transformative projects in Asia/Pacific in 2016. Over the past 20 years, the project has targeted improving the livelihood of the local communities while addressing local measures to adapt to/mitigate climate change. The paper elaborates on the formation of village development groups as pivotal drivers of success by highlighting local income-generating schemes and project documentation. Key lessons for climate change adaptation can be learnt and are applicable to other developing countries. Extreme poverty in rural areas facing climate change could be tackled through implementing bottom-up approaches in which local communities can be respected and engaged in co-leadership and planning.

When a Crisis Has a Silver Lining: Social Media P2P Fundraising at the Start of COVID-19

Research suggests that global crises generally have a negative impact on donations to nonprofit organizations. In this research note, we challenge whether this wisdom applies to all channels by examining a growing digital fundraising channel, social media peer-to-peer (p2p) fundraising, at the start of the COVID-19 crisis. Through both United States and German samples, we study which nonprofit organizations over- and underperformed compared to the market average to glean the potential drivers of success. We demonstrate that not all crises lower generosity, provide managerial insights into this new digital fundraising channel, and discuss how our results are generalizable to other channels and crises.

Quality improvement collaboratives as part of a quality improvement intervention package for preterm births at sub-national level in East Africa: a multi-method analysis

BackgroundQuality improvement collaboratives (QIC) are an approach to accelerate the spread and impact of evidence-based interventions across health facilities, which are found to be particularly successful when combined with other...

What are best practices for involving family caregivers in interventions aimed at responsive behaviour stemming from unmet needs of people with dementia in nursing homes: a scoping review

ObjectivesThis study aimed to determine best practices for involving family caregivers in interventions aimed at preventing and reducing responsive behaviour stemming from unmet needs, including pain.DesignScoping review, reported according to...

Exceptional variability in historical fire regimes across a western Cascades landscape, Oregon, USA

AbstractDetailed information about the historical range of variability in wildfire activity informs adaptation to future climate and disturbance regimes. Here, we describe one of the first annually resolved reconstructions of historical (1500–1900 ce) fire occurrence in coast Douglas‐fir dominated forests of the west slope of the Cascade Range in western Oregon. Mean fire return intervals (MFRIs) across 16 sites within our study area ranged from 6 to 165 years. Variability in MFRIs was strongly associated with average maximum summer vapor pressure deficit. Fire occurred infrequently in Douglas‐fir forest stands seral to mountain hemlock or silver fir, but fire frequency was much shorter than predicted by theory in other forest types. MFRIs within Douglas‐fir stands seral to western hemlock or grand fir ranged from 19 to 45 years, and MFRIs in stands seral to Douglas‐fir ranged from 6 to 11 years. There was little synchrony in fire occurrence or tree establishment across 16 sites separated by 4 km. The lack of synchrony in fire suggests that large, wind‐driven fire events that are often considered to be characteristic of coast Douglas‐fir forests were not an important driver of succession in our study area during the last ~400–500 years. Climate was more arid than normal during fire years in most forest types, but historical fire in stands seral to Douglas‐fir was strongly associated with antecedent moisture and less strongly associated with drought. We interpret the extraordinary tempo of fire we observed in stands seral to Douglas‐fir and the unique climate pattern associated with fire in these stands to be indicative of Indigenous fire stewardship. This study provides evidence of far more frequent historical fire in coast Douglas‐fir forests than assumed by managers or scientists—including some of the most frequent fire return intervals documented in the Pacific Northwest. We recommend additional research across the western Cascades to create a comprehensive account of historical fire in highly productive forests with significant cultural, economic, and ecological importance.