VUCA Environment Research Articles

Future-Proofing Islamic Business: A Systematic Review of Strategic Foresight Implementation Using Vosviewer

Islamic businesses encounter distinctive problems and opportunities in the current dynamic and uncertain commercial landscape. In VUCA environment, success hinges on the capacity to anticipate future developments and quickly adjust strategies accordingly. What are the current trends, concerns, opportunities, and challenges faced by Islamic businesses while adopting strategic foresight in the VUCA era for future studies? This research’s objective is to identify patterns, problems, prospects, and obstacles encountered by Islamic enterprises in VUCA world. This review seeks to identify essential themes, insights, and patterns regarding trend analysis, concerns, opportunities, and challenges faced by Islamic firms in the VUCA world by a thorough analysis of scholarly works. VOSviewer extracted Scopus search results. We analysed and mapped 590 publications on future-proofing Islamic business: a systematic evaluation of strategic foresight implementation. Based on the mapping results, 200 articles on strategic foresight from 2003 to 2023, 190 about Islamic business terms from 2005 to 2023, and 200 about VUCA from 2013 to 2023 were found. Many potential future research questions related topics such as how can strategic foresight help corporation forecast environmental changes, how can strategic foresight help Islamic business meet changing stakeholders needs, and how can strategic foresight improve Islamic business promising future

How Can SMEs Succeed in The Vuca World: The Role of Performance Measurement and Management in The Challenging Business Climate

The world is changing. The changes are happening at an increasingly faster pace than ever. Organizations are facing significant impacts and must revisit their strategies outlined in the Performance Measurement and Management (PMM) System more often to ensure business sustainability. The primary objective of this conceptual research is to study how Small-Medium Enterprise (SME) industry operating in Penang is deploying PMM in the current high volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) environment. This research applies a mixed mode research approach with a focus on in-depth case studies and group discussions with the managerial team in the organization as well as the employees in the selected company. A comprehensive literature review will be conducted as part of the analytical study to analyze the academic literature on the relevant topic that was published in the last 5 years. The goal of the analytical study is to gather statistical data and information on the approaches and models that were adopted in the industry. An empirical study will be carried out where the goal is to gain true insight into underlying reasons and motivations for the decision-making process associated with the PMM system within the organization in the SME industry. The overall objective of this research is to constitute several immense contributions, which include conceptual, empirical, and methodological contributions. This research is targeted to provide a reference to SME practitioners and managerial teams with strategic direction when developing PMM in challenging situations. The findings of this research can also be served contextually as a framework that provides another view of how the SME industry perceives PMM in the VUCA environment.

The Influence of Workplace Envy on Employees' Knowledge-Hiding Behavior Based on a Comparative Analysis between Generation Cohorts.

How to promote the free flow of knowledge among employees is the core factor used to improve the innovation ability and even competitive advantage of an organization. Research on how to reduce knowledge-hiding behavior and promote knowledge sharing among employees becomes the key to enhancing the technological innovation capability of enterprises and effectively responding to the VUCA environment at present. Based on social comparison theory and regulatory focus theory, this study uses 402 enterprise employees as samples to deeply study the influence mechanism of workplace envy on their knowledge-hiding behavior and compare the differences between new-generation employees and non-new-generation employees. The research results show that: (1) employee's benign envy has a significant negative effect on knowledge-hiding behavior, while malicious envy has a significant positive effect on knowledge-hiding behavior. (2) Promotion regulatory focus plays a partly mediating effect between benign envy and employee knowledge-hiding behavior, while prevention regulatory focus also plays a partly mediating effect between malicious envy and employee knowledge-hiding behavior. (3) Generation not only has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between benign envy and promotion regulatory focus but also has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between malicious envy and prevention regulatory focus. This study further found that the younger the employee generation cohort, the more substantial the effect of benign envy on the promotion regulatory focus, while the older the employee generation cohort, the more substantial the effect of malicious envy on the prevention regulatory focus.

Enduring in VUCA Environments

Enduring in VUCA Environments

Design thinking-learning and lifelong learning for employability in the 21st century

Surviving and thriving in this 21st century volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world caused by rapid digitalisation and changing work landscape, requires agile organisations with agile employees who are adaptable, resilient, and actively engaged in lifelong learning. A blended workforce encompassing full-time and 'gig' employees, working in tandem with smart machines, calls for an innovative and collaborative workforce capable of critical thinking and creative problem solving. This paper aims to highlight the potential of design thinking approaches to foster lifelong learning and graduate employability in a VUCA environment. The paper outlines an empirical study investigating the multiple benefits of incorporating design thinking process attributes in higher education. It argues that such processes can result in the development of 21st century skills and mindset and graduate capability themes that promote lifelong learning skills. Incorporating such strategies offers the potential to narrow the competency gap between workforce and work and enhance the employability and career development of graduates. The paper offers a Framework for Lifelong Learning in a VUCA environment that outlines the powerful traits that arise as payoffs from engaging in and practising design thinking. This framework can serve as a preliminary guide for higher education educators, learning organisations and individuals to inculcate and enhance lifelong learning

Integration of information and communication technologies in management education: a path for success

We are in VUCA environment, a highly competitive environment, with distributed access to resources. The talented HR can give requisite which could provide the requisite cutting edge services to organizations to flourish. This calls for producing business management graduates who could efficiently handle the next century challenges. To achieve this, revolutionary pedagogical changes have to be made in terms of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) that would come in handy for improving the quality of imparting of management education in general and learning in particular. Many surveys conducted by industry associations like FICCI, CII and Aspiring Minds has pointed out that employability of business management graduates is the major issue. Hence any initiative, such as ICT as a pedagogical change will go a long way in solving this problem apart from enabling the youngsters to contribute to the Gross Domestic product (GDP). This paper aims at examining the role of ICT in improving the quality of management education. It further explores to find whether ICT enabled education enhances the learning experience and provides new skill sets to the students. Design /methodology – This study critically examines the role of ICT in Management education which is based on literature and document review. It has covered educational reports, empirical and theoretical research and various articles. Originality/Value- This is mainly an analytical study by exploring the secondary sources and reviewing documents including the experience of few institutes in the field of management education to make out a case for effective use of ICT.

Przywództwo edukacyjne oraz przywództwo oparte na wartościach jako odpowiedź na współczesne środowisko VUCA

The publication addresses the issue of educational leadership, particularly value-based leadership, which can respond to today's VUCA environment. A critical analysis of the literature and survey research was conducted. A model of educational leadership was proposed that takes into account the basic elements that build the foundation of educational leadership: competencies, values, vision and influence relationships. It was established that in such a challenging environment as the volatile, unstable VUCA environment, values become the foundation, the backbone on which the younger generation can build. Generation Z expects their leader to be guided by values in life. They expect him or her to be a witness to values, a witness to values, not just a preacher of values. The research also resulted in a hierarchy of characteristics/values of the ideal educational leader as determined by Generation Z. The research further showed that the values from the canon of the Greek triad, i.e.: goodness, truth and beauty, are still crucial in the consciousness of the young generation without becoming obsolete. Keywords: educational leadership, leader competencies, values, leadership paradigm, VUCA environment, Generation Z

A New Paradigm of Management and Accounting in the VUCA World and the Impact on Tax Evasion

Abstract The research on the effects of new management and accounting paradigms in the VUCA world on tax evasion has been extensively reviewed in this work. The complexity of tax systems and inequality are the major causes of tax evasion that are the subject of the research. The study’s questions center on how the new management and accounting paradigms affect tax evasion and how businesses use to reduce their tax obligations. The primary issues covered in the literature review are how governments have adopted these new tactics and how this new paradigm has resulted in less tax evasion, thanks to the enforcement measures. The government has improved its data analytics capabilities and coordination with the appropriate authorities. The implications of tax evasion and how it has affected governance are major topics of discussion. The main topic of discussion is how this new paradigm has significantly impacted the government’s approach to the problem of tax evasion. A thorough analysis of the literature on the effects of new management and accounting paradigms in the VUCA environment on tax evasion is provided in this study as a contribution to the area. It offers insightful information on businesses’ tactics to reduce their tax obligations and the effects on the tax system. Also, it offers suggestions for how governments might respond to the problems brought on by the new management and accounting paradigms.

Sustainable Financing and ESG Investments in the Context of the VUCA Environment

Abstract In the current economic context, at the global level, the problem faced by organizations is determined by the means of environmental protection and the reduction of the negative effects of the ongoing activities, adopted at the organizational level. Thus, the objective of the research in this paper is to identify concepts such as sustainability/sustainable development within organizations and their financing mechanisms. The aim of the research is to contribute to increasing the knowledge of the tools for the sustainable development of companies, through the new sustainability approach that aims to re-educate both the business environment and the consumer, the ESG standard being a competitiveness trigger. The volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of the mechanisms developed and adopted at the level of organizations, being able to be reduced by adopting effective strategies based on ESG principles at the managerial level. The research methodology includes both secondary data collected from European Commission information sources, articles and existing specialist content in the direction of the development of ESG factors and the VUCA world, as well as the authors’ interpretation based on the collected information. The existence of funding instruments such as the Horizon Europe, Life Programme, Innovation Fund (IF) programs granted through non-reimbursable development projects to encourage sustainability directions in terms of economic, social and governance factors within organizations is demonstrated. Also, the financing of sustainable development projects contributes to the consolidation of the VUCA phenomenon, namely the realization of complex projects in both the public and private sectors, in a volatile market with unpredictable factors as a result of the globalization process.

VUCA environment on project success: The effect of project management methods

Due to the ever-changing work environment in the age of digital transformation, project managers need to adapt to an environment which is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA). Many organizations adopt management methods based on strict project management planning, assuming that they are the best way to succeed in any situation. However, projects may depend on flexibility to achieve success. This study aims to analyze the impact of adverse project environments on project success and the effect of the management method choice. A PLS-SEM model is tested on a survey of 332 project professionals. Findings showed that choosing a method that best fits the project’s environment can help catch up on project success only when it undergoes frequent changes throughout its life cycle.

The Influence of Strategic Agility on Organisational Performance

Organisational performance has become the main issue as organisations are facing intense challenges in the dynamic business environment. Organisations need to have the strategic agility to stay competitive in the current volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment. Although many studies have been carried out on organisational performance, organisations are yet to achieve the organisational performance that is expected due to the lack of strategic agility in the dynamic business environment. Many organisations are struggling with the sizeable drop in sales, and some have closed their business, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Strategic agility has yet to be constantly addressed in the literature, even though it is critical for organisational performance that is crucial for business sustainability. This study applied positivist ontology, quantitative methodology, and empirical epistemology. It was cross-sectional and used a hypotheses approach in a one-time online survey data collection within 2 months.121 responses were collected from electrical and electronics manufacturing-based organizations in Malaysia. The result indicated that strategic agility has a significant influence on organizational performance as per propagated by I-TOP Strategic Agility Model. Attributable to the unavailability of the full details of the population, the data was collected via convenience non-random sampling technique. Thus, there could be some bias in the data gathered. Practitioners could focus on Strategic Agility comprises Awareness, Decision Making and Implementation to manage the VUCA environment, to optimize the organizational performance. Strategic Agility is crucial for organizational performance as per propagated by I-Top Strategic Agility Model.

Artificial-Intelligence-Supported Reduction of Employees’ Workload to Increase the Company’s Performance in Today’s VUCA Environment

This paper aims to develop a multidimensional model of AI-supported employee workload reduction to increase company performance in today’s VUCA environment. Multidimensional constructs of the model include several aspects of artificial intelligence related to human resource management: AI-supported organizational culture, AI-supported leadership, AI-supported appropriate training and development of employees, employees’ perceived reduction of their workload by AI, employee engagement, and company’s performance. The main survey involved 317 medium-sized and large Slovenian companies. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. The results show that three multidimensional constructs (AI-supported organizational culture, AI-supported leadership, and AI-supported appropriate training and development of employees) have a statistically significant positive effect on employees’ perceived reduction of their workload by AI. In addition, employees’ perceived reduced workload by AI has a statistically significant positive effect on employee engagement. The results show that employee engagement has a statistically significant positive effect on company performance. The concept of engagement is based on the fact that the development and growth of the company cannot be achieved by increasing the number of employees or by adding capital; the added value comes primarily from increased productivity, which is a result of the innovative ability of employees and their work engagement, which improve the company’s performance. The results will significantly contribute to creating new views in the field of artificial intelligence and adopting important decisions in creating working conditions for employees in today’s rapidly changing work environment.

Strategies applied during the pandemic under the VUCA environment in companies in Guanajuato, México

La pandemia por COVID-19 ha generado grandes desafíos para la gran mayoría de las organizaciones, independientemente de su tamaño, giro o situación financiera, los ambientes con los que interactúa actualmente se han transformado más Volátiles, Inciertos, Complejos y Ambiguos (VUCA). El objetivo del presente proyecto es identificar las estrategias en un entorno VUCA aplicadas en post-pandemia en empresas de Guanajuato. En esta investigación se utilizó una metodología de enfoque cualitativo, con marco referencial fenomenológico, la muestra aplicada fue a 25 empresas en el periodo 2021-2022 en el estado de Guanajuato. Los resultados que se obtuvieron indican que, en general, los entrevistados mencionaron que sus problemáticas estuvieron relacionadas con la cadena de suministro y disminución de ventas provocados por la pandemia por COVID-19. Las estrategias aplicadas fueron encaminadas hacia los procesos, capital humano, compras, ventas, gestión y de salud. Siendo las estrategias orientadas a gestionar el capital humano las más recurrentes, y dentro de esta las estrategias que más se aplicó fue el home office para el personal administrativo, seguida por el cambio de estrategias de comunicación, también se encontró que fueron escasas las coincidencias de las estrategias implementadas por las empresas y las sugeridas por los teóricos para ambientes VUCA.

Socioemotional wealth in volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous contexts: The case of family firms in Latin America and the Caribbean

The paradoxical nature of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) provides unique opportunities to advance management theory. Focusing on a dominant theoretical framework, Socioemotional Wealth (SEW), we argue that contextual features of LAC, namely the concept of extended family and the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment, make family businesses “SEW intensive” (i.e., high degree of preservation and enhancement of various aspects of SEW) and “SEW sensitive” (i.e., high degree of firm responsiveness to external factors that are SEW-relevant). In turn, these SEW features influence decision making and approaches to dealing with performance hazards and venturing risks. While we use LAC as a specific context, our theorizing and 12 propositions are also relevant to guide future research on other regions of the world, such as parts of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, where the concept of extended family is widespread and a VUCA environment is also predominant. Overall, we use the characteristics of the LAC context to challenge existing assumptions, advance theory, and guide future empirical research on family businesses.

VUCA environments before the recession caused by covid-19: a systematic literature review

The acronym VUCA as a description of a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous environment, has been gaining increasing relevance as a noun to describe a reality that is complex and turbulent. Besides the healthcare challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic has also caused drastic changes in the management world. Through a systematic literature review of 137 articles published before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic (between 2009 and March 2020), we develop a conceptual framework that integrates complementary branches of theoretical and empirical research, with the VUCA environment as the central unit of analysis. Our objectives are to unravel how the main theories in this field address essential aspects of management and future study trends, we also propose a conceptualisation of VUCA as an essential element of the current environment and its relationship with the different disciplines in the business world.

The contexts of uncertainty: VUCA environments or BANI environments? Towards a social science episteme

The contexts of uncertainty: VUCA environments or BANI environments? Towards a social science episteme

Банківський сектор у просторі впливу VUCA-середовища на стабільність

The article is aimed at studying the peculiarities of maintaining financial stability of the banking sector under the influence of destructive factors of the VUCA environment. The analysis of publications allowed us to identify the essence of the concept of the VUCA environment and systematize its main components. It is substantiated that the VUCA environment causes a cumulative process as a source and material carrier of economic development, responsible for its undulating nature. As a result of the study, it was proved that the VUCA environment is characterized by chaotic changes that are not associated with economic cycles. At this, the latter are able to accelerate as a result of the impact of digital technologies and the VUCA environment on GDP. It is revealed that the use of digital technologies ensures the timeliness of information, helps to identify new problems in terms of risk and control, improves understanding of what may go wrong, sharpens foresight regarding the appropriate response strategy. The article systematizes the views of the main economic schools on the factors of financial instability. It is proposed to consider the factors of instability of the banking sector and systemic risks through the prism of VUCA in order to assess the capabilities of banks to withstand systemic risks. The essence banking risks is determined and the structure of these risks is systematized in the form of a matrix on the basis of taking into account the features of quantitative or qualitative assessment and sources of their production. The systemic risks in the composition of external financial risks as the most dangerous for the functioning of the banking sector have been allocated. Prospects for further research in this direction are to identify the peculiarities of ensuring financial stability of the banking sector under the influence of digital transformations on this process.

ORGANISATIONAL ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK THROUGH SYSTEMS THINKING

Leadership is a system that includes interconnected elements. Adaptive leadership is about enabling followers to handle adaptive challenges and to adapt to an ever-evolving environment. Organisations are experiencing the most dynamic era of the business environment owing to the influence of vulnerability, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA). The VUCA nature of the environment presents adaptive challenges, which, unlike technical problems, need dynamic people-focused solutions. Current leadership frameworks are inadequate in practice, and a framework is needed to aid in creating adaptive organisations through systems thinking to succeed in a VUCA environment. This research approach starts with a systematic literature review to create a conceptual framework of adaptive leadership through systems thinking for a VUCA environment. The conceptual framework is validated through interviews with practising industry leaders to obtain their opinions and comments. The research provides a new perspective on using systems thinking in applying leadership practices to create an adaptive leadership framework to overcome the VUCA environment.

CHANGING IN REVENUE MODELS IN VUCA ENVIRONMENT

The purpose of this report is to preset the changes that are being undertaken in the revenue models by companies in response to the conditions formed by VUCA environment. Depending on product variety, used distribution channels, pricing policy, and the speed of conversion of resources and costs into income (receipt), different revenue models are determined. Key concepts which are referred here directly to the revenue models are segmentation strategy, revenue sources, and revenue streams. The report presents the impact that a VUCA environment during the period of successive COVID waves had on the companies’ revenue models and their ability to generate profitable income. It also examines the actions companies undertook to exploit the opportunities and minimize threats in the short-term period and to face challenges in the medium and long term. The empirical results presented in the report are based on two studies carried out by SRC "Innovations and Competitiveness" (U2B) at UNWE in the period March 2020-March 2021.

Intellectual capital management of an organization surrounding VUCA

Purpose: The main purpose of the research presented in the article was to diagnose the intellectual capital management process in small and medium-sized enterprises in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. To achieve this goal, the first part of the article explains the meaning of the term „intellectual capital" based on the scientific literature in the field of management, and then, based on the conducted research, an attempt was made to answer the following questions: which factors determine the process of „intellectual capital management" and what benefits it brings it to companies. Design/methodology/approach: For the research presented in the article, an analysis of the literature in the field of intellectual capital management, knowledge management and competence management was used. Literature studies also concerned secondary sources, which were messages from studies of a similar scope. The use of various research methods allowed to obtain a broader context of the studied phenomenon and ensured a higher quality of research. This differentiation was aimed at obtaining consistency of empirical grounds for inference. The diagnostic survey was adopted as the leading method. Other methods used in the work performed auxiliary (supplementary) functions. Findings: „Intellectual capital management" in the global economy is a resource of strategic importance affecting the market value of the organization itself and providing a competitive advantage. Building a significant intellectual capital of an organization in the VUCA environment requires the use of appropriate methods and tools supporting management, systematic measurement, constant comparison with the competition, elimination of barriers to knowledge sharing. Research limitations/implications: In the future, research will be continued on a larger research sample Practical implications: The article presents the results of research conducted among several dozen small and medium-sized enterprises in Lower Silesia. The research is of a pilot nature, but the research results are very interesting and encourage research on a larger scale. They are a valuable source of information for managers responsible for creating the intellectual capital of the organization in terms of acquiring and sharing knowledge. In turn, for people responsible for recruiting employees, the results may be useful in developing a candidate profile, in particular when identifying key competences of knowledge workers. The results also indicate the demand of the Polish market (especially medium-sized companies) for IT infrastructure that enables the acquisition, processing and collection of information. Originality/value Based on empirical research, the article proposes an original set of system solutions in the field of human capital management to improve the functioning of the organization in the VUCA environment. Keywords: intellectual capital management, knowledge management, human capital. Category of the paper: Research paper.