Fast-changing Environment Research Articles

AGILE PROJECT MANAGEMENT: ANALYZING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AGILE METHODOLOGIES IN IT PROJECTS COMPARED TO TRADITIONAL APPROACHES

This systematic review examines the comparative effectiveness of Agile and traditional project management methodologies, focusing on their application in dynamic IT environments and well-defined industries. Utilizing the PRISMA guidelines, a total of 45 peer-reviewed studies published between 2005 and 2023 were analyzed. The review found that Agile methodologies consistently outperformed traditional approaches in dynamic settings, offering greater flexibility, faster project delivery, and higher customer satisfaction through iterative cycles and continuous stakeholder engagement. However, traditional methods, such as Waterfall, were found to be more effective in projects with fixed scopes and stringent regulatory requirements, providing better control and predictability. The review also highlights the growing adoption of hybrid project management models, which combine Agile’s adaptability with the structure of traditional methods, particularly in large or complex projects. The findings underscore the importance of selecting the appropriate methodology based on project-specific factors, with Agile excelling in fast-changing environments and traditional methods being more suitable for regulated industries. Further research is recommended to explore Agile’s applicability in non-IT sectors and the long-term effectiveness of hybrid models.

Managing proof-of-concept (PoC) programs in public research organizations: a dynamic capabilities perspective

PurposeThis paper aims to explore how the implementation of gap funding instruments such as Proof-of-Concept (PoC) programs can contribute to developing dynamic capabilities in Public Research Organizations (PROs). The research investigates the processes and practices underlying PoC programs that may provide potential foundations for dynamic capabilities (i.e. organizational microfoundations) in PROs operating within a technology transfer setting.Design/methodology/approachWe conducted an exploratory qualitative study through 37 interviews with the employees of PROs involved in the valorization of 155 technologies within 24 PoC programs. We iteratively triangulated those data with secondary sources.FindingsWe identified four key processes (i.e. management, selection, monitoring and valorization) and their associated practices that act as organizational microfoundations, enhancing the emergence of dynamic capabilities in PROs. We articulated six propositions to advance theoretical understandings about gap funding instruments and dynamic capabilities in technology transfer settings.Originality/valueThis study extends prior research on gap funding instruments by examining the less explored processes and practices underpinning PoC programs, demonstrating their role in enhancing PROs to foster external engagement and adaptation to fast-changing environments. Furthermore, it contributes to dynamic capabilities literature by unpacking those microfoundations that enable PROs to build sensing, seizing and reconfiguring capabilities when interacting with the external environment.

Fabrication of novel MoOx / PVA hydrogel nanocomposite for photochromic smart window

Photochromic smart windows allow for simple manufacturing without the need for additional energy input for adaptive control of sunlight, which will have a huge impact on the comfort of daylight and the development of smart windows. Among them, although molybdenum-based materials have advantages such as low cost and stable coloring, the lack of fast transmission switching capability and liquid phase color changing environment limit its implementation in the field of smart windows. Here, we report a low-cost method to fabricate a novel photochromic hydrogel (MoOx/PVA) by combining molybdenum oxide nanosheets (MoOx, 2≤x≤3) with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) gel. Under ultraviolet light (UV=360∼400 nm) irradiation, the hydrogel achieves rapid color change visible to the naked eye within 10 s, with an exponential decrease in transmittance, reversible switching of transparency between 70% and 5%, and retains about 95% transmittance after 14 cycles. Due to the good biocompatibility of molybdenum oxide, hydrogel can also be used for personal wearable, which can achieve 1.4°C of cooling when exposed to sunlight for 3 min. Moreover, the photochromic and recovery properties of the large-sized (29.7 cm×21 cm) MoOx/PVA hydrogel demonstrate its broad prospects for production applications in smart windows. It is believed that this study will open new opportunities for both fabrication and application in photochromic smart windows and intelligent devices.

Digital Transformation of Organizations and Their Organizational Cultures: A Case Study in a National Defense Industry

Digital transformation is essential for organizations to gain a competitive edge in today’s fast-changing environment. It involves a radical shift in products, services, people, and processes to enhance performance, posing a significant challenge. This paper explores digital transformation within a national defense company, which already upholds high-quality standards and a strong culture—key factors in facilitating digital transformation. The literature on organizational digital transformation and its benefits is reviewed, and the digitalization process is analyzed to outline the steps needed for transformation. A crucial prerequisite is cultivating an adaptive, high-performance culture, which requires assessing the current organizational state and implementing necessary actions. This paper presents an assessment of the company and proposes actions for cultural and digital transformation. The inextricable link between digital transformation and organizational culture change is highlighted, along with the benefits, barriers, and strategic proposals for digital strategy, vision, and mission.

A review of the future transport labour market: An EU approach

Mobility and transportation are a fundamental cornerstone of societies. They cannot be performed without a specific and varied workforce that keep all modes functioning. However, the transport sector currently faces many challenges including volatile high energy prices, labour and skills shortages, harsh working conditions, an ageing work force, and many labour relations’ issues. There are also deep and widespread market changes to confront in relation to automation and digitalisation, the move towards greener, cleaner technologies and sustainability. The risk of unemployment for certain jobs is evident. Transport workers and transport undertakings are thus confronted with the very challenging landscape to decarbonise the sector but also to address social sustainability and remain competitive in a fast-changing environment. This study makes use of a systematic review to analyse the main challenges that the land transport sector faces. This paper informs policy makers and relevant stakeholders on the current trends; highlights challenges and opportunities for transport workers and provides recommendations to help achieve that will result in a digital and fair, ethical, just, and green transition not only for the transport sector but also for the society as a whole.

Constructing a Socio-Legal Framework Proposal for Governing Large Language Model Usage and Application in Education

Due to the fast-changing environments caused by artificial intelligence development, the socio-technical challenge in contemporary educational systems focuses on the need for more regulative measures guiding system stakeholders’ behavior. In fulfilling the present legal gap, enacted soft law regulation has been laid out, and a detailed systematic literature review was conducted in the paper presented. The specific methodological approach was selected to deal with two crucial research tasks: to reveal and recommend fundamental governing mechanisms regarding the use and application of generative artificial intelligence; more precisely, large language models in educational systems. Three systematically guided layers of quantitative and qualitative content analysis of central policy, legislation, and regulatory mechanisms in governing AI in education were extracted from the 142 Scopus Database and Web of Science research papers analyzed and presented. These research findings benefit policymakers, regulatory and legislative bodies, and agencies in constructing governing frames for using and applying generative artificial intelligence in education.

Management Skills in Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs): a Systematic Review

Objective: To analyze the level of knowledge generated by various authors on the managerial skills of SMEs between 2014 and 2024. Theoretical Framework: Managerial skills are very relevant for the strategic exercise of innovation and development in companies, where technical skills are not enough, and are composed of various knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors that a person requires to efficiently develop the responsibilities to lead a company (Leyva and Cavazos 2018; Leyva et al., 2017). Method: The research has a qualitative approach since the purpose is to present a general study on Managerial Skills in SMEs, aspects of scientific production are analyzed and evaluated, through research in the Scopus and Web of Science (WOS) databases. Results and Discussion: Managerial skills, management skills, human relations, such as business relations influence the leadership style of entrepreneurs, generating a positive and people-oriented impact to the extent that there are greater human and business interactions (Abdullah et al., 2023). Research Implications: The development of SME organizations today are involved in a fast-changing environment that requires strengthening managerial skills in order to achieve strategic business objectives effectively and efficiently. Originality/value: The research will contribute to a better understanding of business organizations and the importance of developing managerial skills, enhancing innovation, knowledge management and SME performance.

Can niche plasticity mediate species persistence under ocean acidification?

Global change stressors can modify ecological niches of species, thereby altering ecological interactions within communities and food webs. Yet, some species might take advantage of a fast-changing environment, allowing species with high niche plasticity to thrive under climate change. We used natural CO2 vents to test the effects of ocean acidification on niche modifications of a temperate rocky reef fish assemblage. We quantified three ecological niche traits (overlap, shift and breadth) across three key niche dimensions (trophic, habitat and behavioural). Only one species increased its niche width along multiple niche dimensions (trophic and behavioural), shifted its niche in the remaining (habitat) was the only species to experience a highly increased density (i.e. doubling) at vents. The other three species that showed slightly increased or declining densities at vents only displayed a niche width increase in one (habitat niche) out of seven niche metrics considered. This niche modification was likely in response to habitat simplification (transition to a system dominated by turf algae) under ocean acidification. We further showed that, at the vents, the less abundant fishes had a negligible competitive impact on the most abundant and common species. This species appeared to expand its niche space, overlapping with other species, which likely led to lower abundances of the latter under elevated CO2. We conclude that niche plasticity across multiple dimensions could be a potential adaptation in fishes to benefit from a changing environment in a high-CO2 world.

Experimental validation of a low-cost maximum power point tracking technique based on artificial neural network for photovoltaic systems

Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) is a technique involved in photovoltaic (PV) systems for optimizing the output power of solar panels. Traditional solutions like perturb and observe (P&O) and Incremental Conductance (IC) are commonly utilized to follow the MPP under various environmental circumstances. However, these algorithms suffer from slow tracking speed and low dynamics under fast-changing environment conditions. To cope with these demerits, a data-driven artificial neural network (ANN) algorithm for MPPT is proposed in this paper. By leveraging the learning capabilities of the ANN, the PV operating point can be adapted to dynamic changes in solar irradiation and temperature. Consequently, it offers promising solutions for MPPT in fast-changing environments as well as overcoming the limitations of traditional MPPT techniques. In this paper, simulations verification and experimental validation of a proposed data-driven ANN-MPPT technique are presented. Additionally, the proposed technique is analyzed and compared to traditional MPPT methods. The numerical and experimental findings indicate that, of the examined MPPT methods, the proposed ANN-MPPT approach achieves the highest MPPT efficiency at 98.16% and the shortest tracking time of 1.3 s.

Quality 4.0 practices toward sustainable excellence in the manufacturing sector

In the Industry 4.0 context, it is very important for companies to apply a comprehensive and sustainable business model to grow steadily and quickly adapt to the fast-changing environment. Although the existing literature has explored Quality 4.0 by integrating Industry 4.0 tools into the TQM system, the question of how Quality 4.0 practices drive sustainable excellence (SE) remains unexplored. Therefore, to fill the gap, this research aims to investigate the relationship between Quality 4.0 practices and SE as well as the role of digital transformation (DT) and digital leadership in this connection, anchoring on the stakeholder theory, the natural resource-based view (NRBR) theory, and the socio-technical system (STS) theory. The research employs the quantitative Structural Equation Model method to analyse empirical data in the manufacturing industry in Vietnam. The findings demonstrate that Quality 4.0 practices positively influence both digital transformation and SE. This study confirmed the mediating role of digital transformation and the moderating role of digital leadership in the relationship between Quality 4.0 practices and SE. The findings of this study contributed to applications of Quality 4.0 practices and digital transformation to improve SE in the manufacturing sector.

Team mindfulness

PurposeModern business environments present tremendous uncertainties, risks, novelties, and opportunities. Organizational teams must identify emerging cues before they grow into full-blown issues, to adapt effectively to fast-changing environments. Team mindfulness is a socio-cognitive capability that enhances the ability to detect cues and creates richer awareness of the context. This paper proposes a conceptual model highlighting that team mindfulness directly strengthens the team’s adaptive capabilities and also enhances the absorptive capacity to learn from external sources, thereby further promoting readiness toward change and transformation.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual paper draws from mindfulness theory and team adaptive performance theory to explore how team mindfulness influences the four dimensions of absorptive capacity related to knowledge acquisition, assimilation, transformation, and utilization, which together determine how effectively teams adapt to novelty.FindingsThis paper presents a conceptual model to show that mindfulness directly affects team learning and adaptive capabilities that are specifically related to acquiring and utilizing knowledge from sources outside the team. It suggests several measures and managerial initiatives promoting mindfulness and absorptive capacity in teams.Originality/valueIntegrating research on team mindfulness, absorptive capacity, and adaptive performance, this paper provides a starting point for deeper investigations into the mechanisms through which team mindfulness may enable teams to adapt effectively to novelty and uncertainty. Further, it calls attention to the systematic development of mindfulness in organizational teams.

THE INFLUENCES OF THE FIRST LANGUAGE ON ENGLISH-MAJORED FRESHMEN’ SPEAKING SKILL, CASE STUDY AT THE INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY.

In the fast-changing environment of global education, English language skills have become pivotal to most students at higher education institutions, including the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City (IUH). However, while the mother tongue tends to be overused in the speaking class setting by IUH’s first-year English language students, the students rely excessively on translation strategies, which restrains the former’s speaking confidence and fluency. The primary goal of the present study includes exploration and analysis of the factors contributing to and influencing mother tongue usage and the development of IUH-specific recommendations to address these challenges. Using quantitative research method through questionnaire, the research emphasizes the prominent reasons for source language overreliance, as well as the necessity for mandating target language primarily. The results of the study demonstrate the significance of communication and support the interactive task-based innovation in English language instruction. Additionally, the study presents the impact of teachers on the classroom environment and their views regarding English education in Vietnam. The students’ reflection includes the significance of English in global integration and advice on steps, including reducing excessive mother tongue usage. Furthermore, this research presents a new perspective on the development of the English-speaking ability of IUH freshmen and helpful recommendations for educators.

An evolutionary view of the function of CC-type glutaredoxins in plant development and adaptation to the environment.

Land plants have to face an oxidizing, heterogeneous, and fast changing environment. Redox-dependent post-translational modifications emerge as a critical component of plant responses to stresses. Among the thiol oxidoreductase superfamily, class III CC-type glutaredoxins (called ROXYs) are land plant specific, and their evolutionary history is highly dynamic. Angiosperms encode many isoforms, classified into five subgroups (Aα, Aβ, Bα, Bβ, Bγ) that probably evolved from five common ancestral ROXYs, with higher evolutionary dynamics in the Bγ subgroup compared with the other subgroups. ROXYs can modulate the transcriptional activity of TGA transcription factor target genes, although their biochemical function is still debated. ROXYs participate in the control of proper plant development and reproduction, and are mainly negative regulators of plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. This suggests that most ROXYs could play essential and conserved functions in resetting redox-dependent changes in transcriptional activity upon stress signaling to ensure the responsiveness of the system and/or avoid exaggerated responses that could lead to major defects in plant growth and reproduction. In Arabidopsis Bγ members acquired important functions in responses to nitrogen availability and endogenous status, but the rapid and independent evolution of this subclass might suggest that this function results from neofunctionalization, specifically observed in core eudicots.

How do joint ventures and non-equity strategic alliances impact the complexity of the supply chain and thus supply chain performance?

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the significance of resource sharing in business to capture new market opportunities and securing competitive advantages. Firms enter strategic alliances (SAs), especially for designing new products and to overcome challenges in today’s fast changing environment. Research projects have dealt with the creation of SAs, however without concrete referencing the impact on selected supply chain resources. Furthermore, academia rather focused on elaborating the advantages and disadvantages of SAs and how this affects structural changes in the organization than examining the effects on supply chain complexity and performance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected and triangulated a multi-industry data set containing primary data coming from more than 200 experts in the field of supply chain management along and secondary data coming from Refinitiv’s joint ventures (JVs) and SA database and IR solutions’ database for annual reports. The data is evaluated in three empirical settings using binomial testing and structural equation modeling.FindingsThe results show that nonequity SAs and JVs have varying degrees of impact on supply chain resources due to differences in the scope of the partnership. This has a negative impact on the complexity of the supply chain, with the creation of a JV leading to greater complexity than the creation of a nonequity SA. Furthermore, the findings prove that complexity negatively impacts overall supply chain performance. In addition, this study elaborates that increased management capabilities are needed to exploit the potentials of SAs and sheds light on hurdles that must be overcome within the supply network when forming a partnership. Finally, the authors give practical implications on how organizations can cope with increasing complexity to lower the risk of poor supply chain performance.Originality/valueThis study investigates occurring challenges when establishing nonequity SAs or JVs and how this affects their supply chain by examining supply networks in terms of complexity and performance.

The driving force: organizational resilience of OKKO network

Learning outcomes After completion of the case study, the students would be able to identify and evaluate organizational culture as a critical element of organizational resilience and assess its fit to the business context, evaluate different elements of organizational resilience and their contribution to business adaptation and develop leadership approaches that help adapt and leverage organizational culture to foster individual, team and organizational resilience. Case overview/synopsis This teaching case covers topics of organizational leadership, including organizational culture and organizational resilience. This case study is appropriate for the postgraduate and executive education programmes. This case study covers the approach to organizational leadership and resilience of the OKKO, a Ukrainian retail petrol station network. The dilemmas considered by top managers of the company emerged in February–April 2022 amid the unfolding Russian invasion of Ukraine. The case study protagonists solved multiple business and organizational dilemmas to continue efficient business operations while allowing the organization to adapt to a complex and fast-changing environment. They leveraged a distinct corporate culture, strong employee engagement and established business processes and management practices to ensure the viability of the business. Complexity academic level This case study is appropriate for postgraduate and executive education programmes. The level of difficulty is light to medium. Recommended pre-requisites are understanding human resources management terminology and reviewing preparation materials. The case study is suitable for teaching courses in leadership, people management and organizational development that cover corporate culture, leadership and organizational resilience. Subject code CSS 6: Human resource management Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only.

Deep reinforcement learning aided secure UAV communications in the presence of moving eavesdroppers

Integrating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with wireless systems is widely anticipated to bring enormous benefits to network users, and is considered as a key enabling technology for next generation wireless networks. However deployment of UAVs raises security concerns, as they are prone to eavesdropping attacks. In this paper we investigate secure data transmissions in a UAV-aided communication system from the physical layer security (PLS) perspective. The UAV is employed as a flying base station and transmit confidential information to a ground user. Specifically, an eavesdropper is moving in the vicinity of the ground user, attempting to intercept legitimate data transmission. We aim to optimize UAV trajectory to maximize secrecy throughput and due to the fast changing environment with unpredictable movements of the eave, this nonconvex problem is difficult to solve. Instead, we propose a deep reinforcement learning framework by reformulating this problem as a Markov Decision Process (MDP). By carefully designing state spaces, state-dependent action sets and time-dependant reward signals, we aim to help the agent learn an optimized trajectory and complete the flight task within time limit. We adapt the deep Q network (DQN) algorithm and extend it with prioritized experience replay (PER) and importance sampling method to ensure a stable and effective learning outcome. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of the learning algorithm and confirm that the agent is able to learn an effective policy with desirable and robust learning outcomes. Compared with benchmark schemes, our proposed scheme is shown to achieve considerable performance gain in secrecy throughput.

Modeling protective action decision-making in earthquakes by using explainable machine learning and video data

Earthquakes pose substantial threats to communities worldwide. Understanding how people respond to the fast-changing environment during earthquakes is crucial for reducing risks and saving lives. This study aims to study people’s protective action decision-making in earthquakes by leveraging explainable machine learning and video data. Specifically, this study first collected real-world CCTV footage and video postings from social media platforms, and then identified and annotated changes in the environment and people’s behavioral responses during the M7.1 2018 Anchorage earthquake. By using the fully annotated video data, we applied XGBoost, a widely-used machine learning method, to model and forecast people’s protective actions (e.g., drop and cover, hold on, and evacuate) during the earthquake. Then, explainable machine learning techniques were used to reveal the complex, nonlinear relationships between different factors and people’s choices of protective actions. Modeling results confirm that social and environmental cues played critical roles in affecting the probability of different protective actions. Certain factors, such as the earthquake shaking intensity and number of people shown in the environment, displayed evident nonlinear relationships with the probability of choosing to evacuate. These findings can help emergency managers and policymakers design more effective protective action recommendations during earthquakes.

Missiology Meets Ecotheology: Creation Faith in an Intercultural Perspective

Indigenous religions around the world have brought forth functional attitudes towards their natural environment that have – until recently – proved successful. Thus, it can be assumed that a culture's creation spirituality and ethos must be rooted in a specific natural setting to be ecologically effective. The Christian creation faith with its universal truth claim, on the other hand, is globally inclusive, but tends to remain abstract, unless it is appropriately contextualised. To counter the ecological crisis, Christian principles and values need to be transferred to particular contexts to generate ecologically effective creation spiritualities, whereas indigenous beliefs ought to be adapted to meet the challenges of fast-changing environments in order to keep their relevance. This challenge reflects the general dialectic of the universality and the particularity of Christianity in the field of creation theology. The latter has not been a focus of systematic missiological considerations yet. Drawing on postcolonial theory, specifically Homi Bhabha's concept of hybridity, which enables a new perspective on syncretism, this essay attempts to outline the specific requirements of an intercultural theology of creation. Referring to case studies from Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa presented in a series of intercontinental conferences on creation spirituality, the article will explore modes of synergetic cooperation between religious traditions. It will show how ecologically valuable Christian principles have been successfully integrated with indigenous religious beliefs in selected natural and cultural environments and point out how inculturation works both ways.

Pandemic-driven business model sustainability: a review

PurposeThis paper aims to review and summarize the findings of research dedicated to studying the process of building sustainable business models (BM) triggered by development of COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachBibliometric analysis is performed to identify the papers most relevant to the topic. The authors review the findings of more than 50 papers from Scopus database published between 2020 and 2022 dedicated to studying BM during COVID-19 pandemic, as well as papers dedicated to sustainability phenomenon and most cited BM research.FindingsThe paper identifies the gap in defining BM sustainability and contributes to better understanding of this phenomenon by demarcating it from traditional environment-based United Nations agenda. It also describes why network-based approach to BM helps to better address sustainability aspects. The paper demonstrates how representation of a networked BM by three levels of analysis (namely, structure of a BM, interaction mechanism between BM actors and results of their interaction) is organically connected to the key milestones of the value creation process (value definition, value creation, value distribution and value capture) and shows how these three levels can be used to analyze and structure the practical changes proposed in COVID-19-oriented BM. Finally, the paper summarizes key findings of the studies dedicated to BM during the pandemic and structures key insights in relation to building sustainable BM.Research limitations/implicationsThe results of the paper contribute to developing theory around BM sustainability as well as provide insights for business practitioners on how to adjust BM during the crisis. At the same time, many insights shown in the paper are industry specific, which limits their generalizability, as well as consequences of the pandemic are still not fully clear. Therefore, the authors argue that future research should be primarily focused on developing generalizable measurement frameworks to evaluate the antecedents, process and results of BM adaptation.Originality/valueThe paper strengthens theoretical foundations for the research focused on BM sustainability and helps businesses to better manage the adaptation in the fast-changing environment.

A Typology of Multiple School Leadership

In facing the challenges of huge transformations in different areas of society, many educators, policy makers, social leaders, researchers and other stakeholders may doubt how schools and their leadership and management remain relevant to and effective for the future of education. Given that multiple school functions are needed to serve society at different levels, the required roles in school leadership are inevitably multiple, diverse and demanding. In past decades, many studies have been conducted with a focus on some aspects of leadership functions and processes. Unfortunately, there is a lack of a typology of school leadership to map out comprehensive leadership profiles and understand their multiple characteristics for leading school development and effectiveness in a fast-changing environment. Based on the framework of multiple school effectiveness, this paper aims to propose a typology of multiple school leadership that can provide a new, comprehensive way to re-conceptualize the multiple nature and characteristics of school leadership in a complicated context. Depending on the rationalities, concerns, actions, outcomes and contexts of leadership in practice, the typology of multiple school leadership may include six models: technological leadership, economic leadership, social leadership, political leadership, cultural leadership, and learning leadership. Within this typology, new possibilities and approaches to school leadership can be drawn for research, practice and development towards the future.