Search Results (156)

Safe Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations are increasingly required for wildlife monitoring and conservation, yet existing regulatory frameworks are rarely tailored to protected areas characterised by low population density and limited infrastructure. This paper presents a field-based use case illustrating how the Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA) methodology can be applied to conservation-oriented BVLOS missions under Kenyan airspace conditions, including coordination within military-controlled airspace. We evaluate three population-density estimation approaches (qualitative, bottom-up, and top-down) against available ground truth, and compare tabulated and analytical SORA methods for deriving the Ground Risk Class. The work illustrates how SORA 2.5 structures ground and air risk reasoning in a conservation context, while retrospective review identifies limitations in containment, Operational Safety Objectives, and tactical mitigation performance requirements. Field trials involved five concurrent teams and 30 personnel conducting over 260 flights and more than 60 h of UAS activity across the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, providing insights into multi-team coordination under field conditions. Field implementation revealed areas of misalignment between prescribed safety requirements and operational realities, prompting iterative adaptation of workflows and procedures. Observed outcomes included reductions in team size (25–50%) and procedural steps (18%), derived from retrospective comparison of field procedures. A lightweight Uncrewed Traffic Management prototype was also trialled, revealing practical limitations in conservancy environments. Finally, we present a ten-step framework for developing field-ready safety procedures to support risk-informed decision-making in non-standard operational contexts. The findings provide empirically grounded guidance on applying SORA principles to conservation UAS missions, without proposing a new risk framework or generalised operational model. Full article

In the digital economy era characterized by heightened uncertainty, strengthening internal governance to bolster firm adaptability and sustain digital innovation resilience has become crucial. As a key strategic resource, top management team (TMT) heterogeneity holds significant theoretical and practical value for enhancing firms’ digital innovation resilience. Using a sample of Chinese manufacturing listed firms, this study examines how TMT heterogeneity affects digital innovation resilience and the underlying mechanisms. The findings indicate that: (1) Greater TMT heterogeneity strengthens firms’ digital innovation resilience. (2) This effect operates primarily through alleviating financing constraints and improving investment efficiency. (3) The impact varies across firm types: it is stronger for small and medium-sized firms than for large firms; more pronounced in state-owned firms than in non-state-owned firms; more significant in low-monopoly firms than in high-monopoly firms; and notably greater for firms in eastern China than for those in central and western regions. (4) Government subsidies can strengthen the positive impact of TMT heterogeneity on firm digital innovation resilience. This study provides theoretical insights and practical guidance for enterprises to build effective TMTs, alleviate financing constraints, and improve investment efficiency, and for the government to provide subsidies, with the ultimate aim of fostering digital innovation resilience. Full article

This study investigates the crucial role energy leaders play in driving strategic energy management (SEM) and accelerating cost savings within a manufacturing organization and consequently, the industrial sector. Whereas energy efficiency can be seen as an innovative business practice with irrefutable cost benefits, its effective implementation requires strategic leadership and a structured approach. This research analyzes data collected from 120 participants representing 71 companies attending the Energy Bootcamp events organized by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Better Plants program. The collected data focused on the state of SEM implementation, the presence and responsibilities of energy leaders, and the formation and function of energy teams. The findings reveal a significant gap between the perceived importance of SEM and its actual adoption, highlighting the need for strong leadership to drive behavioral changes by championing energy efficiency initiatives. Results indicate that effective energy leaders possess a diverse skill set, including the ability to secure top management buy-in, foster a culture of energy consciousness, and collaborate across departments. This study emphasizes the importance of empowering energy leaders with clearly defined roles and responsibilities as well as the authority to build and lead cross-functional energy teams. Furthermore, integrating energy management into existing organizational structures and leveraging readily available resources are identified as key factors for successful implementation. This research underscores how dedicated leadership and effective SEM practices help achieve industrial energy efficiency goals, providing practical insights for organizations seeking to improve performance and contribute to a resilient future. Full article

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) systems have introduced new classes of security incidents that traditional response frameworks were not designed to manage, ranging from model manipulation and data exfiltration to misinformation cascades and prompt-based privilege escalation. This study proposes a Practical Incident-Response Framework for Generative AI Systems (GenAI-IRF) that bridges established cybersecurity standards with emerging AI assurance principles. Using a Design Science Research (DSR) approach, this study identifies six recurrent incident archetypes and formalises a structured playbook aligned with NIST SP 800-61r3, NIST AI 600-1, MITRE ATLAS, and OWASP LLM Top-10. The artefact was evaluated in controlled scenarios using scenario-based simulations and expert reviews involving AI-security practitioners from academia, finance, and technology sectors. The results suggest high inter-rater reliability (κ = 0.88), strong usability (SUS = 86.4), and improved incident resolution times compared to baseline procedures. The findings demonstrate how traditional response models can be adapted to GenAI contexts using taxonomy-driven analysis, artefact-centred validation, and practitioner feedback. This framework provides a practical foundation for security teams seeking to operationalise AI incident response and contributes to the emerging body of work on trustworthy and resilient AI systems. Full article

Both managers and researchers closely examine the factors that motivate firms to explore new domains and acquire new knowledge in pursuit of greater innovation. Considering the role of demand-side factors in innovation, in this study, we investigate how customer concentration influences exploratory innovation based on Chinese listed firms from 2009 to 2019. As the characteristics of the top management team (TMT) may affect the influential mechanism, we further investigated the moderating effects of board interlocks and the CEO’s research background. Our results demonstrate that with the increase in customer concentration, the exploratory innovation level shows an inverted U-shaped trend. The board interlocks strengthen the positive effects of customer concentration on exploratory innovation, while a CEO’s research background mitigates the negative effects. Our findings offer key insights and serve as a benchmark for companies that aim to achieve innovation in their approach to managing customer relationships and organizing their top management teams. Full article

The Small Island Developing States (SIDSs) in the Latin American and Caribbean region remain among the most vulnerable to climate change, as increasingly frequent and severe disasters threaten infrastructure, human life, and progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. Addressing these risks requires urgent regional and localized approaches grounded in coordinated climate risk assessment, anticipatory action, and Earth observation science-informed modeling with key support from a strong global community of practice. However, barriers remain to achieving local adaptation measures, including global action measures that conclude before local uptake of climate resilience practices are realized, reinforcing cycles of project impermanence. In this paper, we detail a Jamaica-focused case study that articulates such barriers impeding science and data-informed disaster risk reduction strategies, policies, and durable project implementation. The case study was a longitudinal co-development initiative led by a team of Jamaican and international interdisciplinary, cross-sector experts on climate-related disasters in SIDS. Using principles of co-design, discourse analysis, and systems thinking, the study underscores the need for a place-based framework that centers relevant sectors of society and often-marginalized voices as foundational to bottom-up climate resilience. The resulting Relationship and Place-Based Framework offers a model for localized climate science and technology development and ethical international collaboration for climate action that emphasizes local ownership and self-determination, as bottom-to-top feedback loops are key for managing multi-hazard dynamics and residual risks. Full article

This paper investigates the impact of green credit policy (GCP) on the green technological innovation capacity of heavily polluting enterprises (HPEs) from the perspectives of external financing and internal concerns. Using data from companies in China’s A-share market from 2008 to 2021, we study the shocks of Green Credit Guidelines to the green technological innovation in HPEs based on the difference-in-differences (DID) model. The baseline regression result reveals that the GCP significantly motivates HPEs to engage in green technological innovation. Moreover, the efficiency of capital utilization has an adverse moderating effect on the impact of GCP, while commercial credit financing has a positive moderating effect. Mechanism analysis shows that the GCP stimulates green technological innovation in HPEs by reinforcing short-term loan dependence and strengthening executive green awareness. In a further study, the policy effects are heterogeneous for enterprises with different characteristics. Regionally, green credit policy affects enterprises in China’s eastern region more strongly. The effect is also more pronounced for Chinese domestic enterprises and those with low financial background heterogeneity within top management teams. Overall, the findings in this study have important implications for policymakers in implementing green finance policies. Full article

The construction industry is struggling to resolve the issue of the enormous quantity of waste produced during construction processes, which impacts the performance and sustainability of projects. Causes of waste generation have been studied by researchers to formulate waste minimization strategies for these projects. The research on waste in highway infrastructure projects and waste causes specific to the roles and competencies of project team members is inadequate. This quantitative study addresses this gap by evaluating the influence of project managers (PMs) in minimizing CW through a structured questionnaire survey administered to 300 professionals, yielding 129 valid responses (43% response rate). The results indicate that 8.5% of construction materials are wasted in highway projects. Among four key project stakeholders (PM, quantity surveyor, designer, and client), PMs were rated as having the most significant impact on waste minimization (mean Likert score: 4.5/5). Using the Relative Importance Index (RII), the study identified the top five waste causes linked to PM competencies: faulty work requiring the work to be carried out again (RII = 0.742), wrong construction methods (0.734), lack of awareness (0.731), poor supervision (0.721), and poor material planning (0.706). A waste minimization framework is proposed, linking each of these causes to specific PM competencies and actionable strategies. These findings provide empirical support for targeting PM training and resource planning to reduce material waste in highway construction projects. Full article

Using a panel of 3515 Chinese listed firms from 2011 to 2023, this study shows that the education level of the top management team (TMT) positively influences firm stock liquidity. The beneficial effect of TMT education on stock liquidity is stronger in settings with lower industry competition, higher information disclosure quality, and bull market periods. Mediation analysis indicates that analyst coverage provides a weak channel through which TMT education affects stock liquidity. Endogeneity concerns are alleviated by reverse causality tests, two-stage least squares regressions, propensity score matching, and generalized method of moments. The results are also robust to alternative liquidity measures and alternative definitions of TMT education. This study offers practical implications for investors, corporate executives, and policymakers seeking to promote market efficiency and liquidity. Full article

The construction industry significantly impacts environmental degradation, making sustainable practices like green building construction projects (GBCPs) essential. Although GBCPs offer substantial benefits, they also come with unique risks related to their sustainable nature and common construction challenges. Research on GBCP risks is often fragmented, lacks proper classification, and misses a global perspective, with insufficient focus on empirical assessment and risk mitigation strategies. This study addresses these gaps by systematically identifying risks associated with GBCPs, empirically assessing them using data from global experts, and proposing mitigation strategies. Utilising reliability tests, descriptive statistics, one-sample t-tests, hypothesis testing, and correlation analysis, 42 risk factors were determined and assigned to nine groups: legal and regulatory, technical, financial, material-related, design, schedule and planning, communication and awareness, performance and operational, and environmental. Green product certification and re-evaluation charges, client finance difficulties, the high cost of green materials and equipment, the absence of qualified project teams, and additional expenditures for green building design and construction are the top five concerns. The study also identifies 45 mitigation strategies, enhancing understanding of GBCP risks and guiding stakeholders in effective risk management and sustainable construction practices. Full article

This study investigates how the functional diversity of top management teams (TMTs) affects the financial performance of A-share Chinese companies. To this end, we examine the interaction effects of TMT diversity with organizational innovativeness and government institutional support. Grounded in upper echelons theory, absorptive capacity theory, and institutional theory, this study uses hierarchical multiple regression to analyze data from 396 firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges between 2022 and 2023. The results indicate that TMT functional diversity has a statistically significant positive effect on corporate financial performance, with organizational innovativeness positively moderating this relationship. This moderating effect is further strengthened by high government subsidies for research and development, confirming a three-way interaction effect among these three variables. The findings suggest that TMT diversity improves financial outcomes when firms have both robust internal innovation and external institutional support. By confirming the strategic significance of TMT composition in China and elucidating the effect of government subsidies, this study contributes both practically and theoretically to the strategic management literature on emerging markets. The findings clarify the implications of the contingent conditions under which TMT diversity translates into superior organizational performance. Full article

Green innovation (GI) is a key measure for enterprises to realize green transformation and sustainable development. Top management teams’ environmental attention (TMTEA) plays a critical role in shaping organizational strategic direction, value orientation, management mode, and behavioral patterns, serving as a micro-foundation for GI. Based on exploring the relationship between TMTEA and GI, this study adopts the ambidexterity theory to categorize dual green innovation (Dual_GI) into breakthrough green innovation (BGI) and progressive green innovation (PGI), and examines the impact of TMTEA on Dual_GI from the perspectives of external government environmental regulation (GER) and internal absorptive capacity (AC). Drawing on the attention-based view (ABV), this study uses data samples of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2022 and establishes a fixed-effect model to empirically test this relationship. The results show the following: (1) TMTEA has a positive impact on corporate Dual_GI, and the promotion effect on PGI is more significant. (2) Both GER and AC can positively moderate the impact of TMTEA on Dual_GI, and both have a stronger moderating effect on TMTEA on PGI. (3) Further analysis shows that this driving effect is more obvious in state-owned enterprises, non-heavy polluting enterprises and enterprise maturity, and TMTEA can also drive Dual_GI to improve sustainable development performance. This study deepens the research scope and boundary conditions of TMT’s micro-psychological cognition and GI. It provides new insights for managers in emerging economies to rebalance their companies’ economic benefits and environmental transformation. Full article

This study investigates the effect of the educational level of top management team (TMT) family members on firm innovation among publicly listed family firms in China. Using a panel of 14,338 firm-year observations from 2015 to 2023, this study employs fixed effects regressions to show that the educational background of family members positively influences firm innovation, measured by the proportion of R&D personnel and capitalized R&D expenditures. Moreover, this positive effect is more pronounced under greater industry competition, higher transparency, and smaller firms. The mediation analysis identifies potential channels of asset tangibility, ownership concentration, and management fees through which family education influences firm innovation. Sectoral heterogeneity reveals a more pronounced effect within the manufacturing and service sectors, while no statistically significant relationship emerges in the agriculture sector. Concerns over endogeneity are mitigated using lagged family education, two-stage least squares regressions, and panel vector autoregressions. The baseline result remains robust when firm innovation is alternatively measured by the number of patents. These findings contribute to the literature on innovation in family firms and offer implications for investors, corporate decision-makers, and policymakers in emerging markets. Full article

The study examines economic and non-economic endeavors to explore the association between family involvement and financial decisions within family firms. The non-economic factors of a family drive the need to analyze the impact of socioemotional factors on the financial policies of the family firms. The study explores the impact of family ownership, family management, and family control drawn from agency theory and socioemotional wealth perspectives on the financial decisions of family firms. Our findings in support of the socioemotional wealth perspective show a positive relationship between family ownership and debt financing with a desire to finance growth and avoid control dilution, with an increase in the level of debt. However, the involvement of family members in management and the top management team leads to an adverse relationship between family ownership and debt level, exhibiting the risk-averse behavior of a firm, which drives firms to reduce debt levels. Overall, our findings suggest that the perceptions of the socioemotional wealth theoretical paradigm are important in determining capital structure decisions in family enterprises. The results are resilient to potential endogeneity and heterogeneity difficulties, which may assist scholars and practitioners in assessing capital structure decisions in emerging economies. Full article

Due to globalization, companies are exposed to a culturally diversified workforce; therefore, great emphasis is placed on identifying the most effective leadership style that would be able to manage such a workforce. Although numerous studies have attempted to identify successful leadership styles in different cultural settings, none have focused on the perceptions of top managers who work in multinational corporations (MNCs) in culturally diversified surroundings. Thus, our research attempts to identify the most preferred leadership style and characteristics from the perspective of top managers in MNCs in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The 13 leadership characteristics analyzed in this study were generated from the 21 characteristics found by Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) research. The participants, top managers in MNCs, needed to evaluate leadership styles by considering leadership characteristics. To ensure the objectiveness of the study, we analyzed their answers by applying the Fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method. The results indicated that the most preferred leadership characteristics were visionary, inspirational, collaborative team-oriented, and performance-oriented. Moreover, the transformational leadership style emerged as the most preferred leadership style. The study’s findings show that top managers believe that employees in MNCs in the UAE seek a leader with a vision who will inspire, motivate, and help them fulfill their true potential. Full article