Search Results (18)

Background: Early-maturing players tend to have physical advantages during formative stages, but it remains unclear whether these advantages translate into long-term professional success. This study examines how biological maturation influences participation and career trajectories in youth football. Methods: Anthropometric and competitive data were collected from 47 players (13.53 ± 1.08 years) in a top-tier academy during the 2010–2011 season. The maturation status was assessed using the Tanner–Whitehouse II RUS method, and the career outcomes were tracked in 2024–2025. Results: Early-maturing players showed higher anthropometric values and greater participation. However, late maturers were more likely to reach professional football (p = 0.003), with all players competing in the top five European leagues belonging to the late-maturing group. Conclusions: Early maturation does not guarantee professional success. Strategies such as bio-banding and personalized training can reduce biases and support talent development, highlighting the need for a more holistic approach to player evaluation. Full article

In the context of digital intelligence, innovation is vital for manufacturing enterprises to establish sustainable competitive advantages. As the cornerstone of decision-making, the information-processing capability of top management teams plays an essential role in driving organizational success. Using panel data from A-Share manufacturing listed companies between 2015 and 2023, we conducted programming in the R language employing hierarchical clustering and k-means algorithms for faultline grouping calculations. The empirical analysis portion utilized STATA software, where the Hausman test was implemented to determine the use of a fixed-effects model for computation. The results demonstrate that task-related faultlines, driven by factors such as educational background, tenure, career experience, and years of service, have a positive impact on innovation performance. In contrast, relationship-related faultlines influenced by gender and age exhibit a negative effect. Furthermore, long-term investment decision preferences mediate the relationship between faultlines and innovation performance. Performance expectation gaps amplify the positive influence of task-related faultlines and mitigate the negative effects of relationship-related faultlines. In comparison with the majority subgroup, when the chairperson is part of a minority subgroup, the faultline has a more significant impact on innovation performance. This study presents a novel framework for fostering innovation within the manufacturing industry under the digital intelligence context. By combining R programming with empirical analysis, we thoroughly examine how the characteristics of top management teams’ faultlines influence innovation performance through an information processing perspective. Our findings provide actionable insights for optimizing executive structures and aligning decision-making strategies, thereby advancing organizational effectiveness. Full article

Building employee loyalty is a prerequisite for a company to achieve a competitive advantage, high organizational performance, and sustainability. The lack of voluntary leaves does not result in recruitment costs or reduced efficiency during the adaptation period of a new employee. It helps retain knowledge and experience within the organization. The article aims to explore employees’ loyalty in terms of voluntary employment continuity during the pandemic slowdown of COVID-19, when employee loyalty was put to an exceptional test, and identify the factors that have had the most significant impact. This empirical study was carried out for Germany, mainly due to the strength and position of the German economy in Europe and the availability of a large, detailed micro dataset necessary for in-depth econometric analyses. The dataset used in the survey is the fifth wave of the German Linked Personnel Panel—LPP in 2020/21 (N = 7397). A multinomial logit model was used as a research tool. Loyalty appears as an explained variable in four ordered logit models that differ in the set of explanatory variables. The explanatory variables include demographics, job title, working conditions, compensation and rewards, job content, training and career development, teamwork, and relationships with colleagues and superiors. The results confirm the influence of extra-organizational factors, such as age and living in a four- or five-person household, on employee loyalty. However, age seems to be a factor of decreasing importance. Too much complexity of work, manifested by great task variety, working in multiple teams, and the requirement to perform work remotely, harmed employee loyalty during the pandemic. Findings justify building loyalty based on sustainable human resource policies to increase income satisfaction, reasonable workload, competence development, and greater autonomy at work. It is also clear that leadership issues (fairness in contact with superiors and recognition for work) mattered during this challenging time and have a high potential to improve employee loyalty in the future. Full article

In the highly competitive environment of the high-tech industry, leadership roles are often filled with numerous challenges and stressors. Success in the workforce requires a combination of high emotional intelligence and a connection to workplace spirituality. This study aimed to compare demographic differences among high-tech leaders regarding emotional intelligence, workplace spirituality, and career success. It also sought to examine the relationships and effects of emotional intelligence and workplace spirituality on career success, as well as the moderating role of workplace spirituality in these relationships. A survey was conducted with 139 leaders from various high-tech companies in Taiwan. The results showed that male leaders demonstrated higher levels of self-awareness and self-motivation in emotional intelligence, while leaders with higher education levels exhibited greater self-awareness and empathy. Additionally, both emotional intelligence and workplace spirituality were significant predictors of career success. Notably, workplace spirituality moderated the relationship between emotional intelligence and career success. The implications of this study highlight the importance of enhancing emotional intelligence and workplace spirituality to foster leaders’ career success and gain a competitive advantage in the high-tech industry. Full article

With the widespread establishment of universities and technical colleges in Taiwan, having a university degree is no longer a privilege of the few. However, it has also led to the emergence of many socially inexperienced people with higher education degrees who need more workplace competitiveness. Therefore, students’ employability is a topic worth exploring. Equally, the number of students in hospitality-related departments is still very high in the current conditions, while the employment situation in the tourism and hospitality industry is relatively challenging and unstable, making students’ employability even more critical. This study examines the relationship between self-efficacy, creativity, employability, and personality traits in the hospitality and tourism industry. Descriptive statistics and factor analysis confirm the previous research findings. In addition, testing of the scale reliability and validity is needed. A structural equation modeling (SEM) approach and mediation analysis are adopted to test the research hypotheses and explore gender differences. The study aims to understand how individual characteristics contribute to career success and identify any unique challenges or advantages based on gender. The research results show that personality traits can affect and influence employability in terms of self-efficacy. Furthermore, personality traits can affect self-efficacy, and self-efficacy can enhance creativity and improve employability. Full article

Among airlines, the continuous increase in the transfer of cabin crews is noteworthy. This phenomenon can be attributed to the perception held by most airlines that experienced cabin attendants play a pivotal role in gaining a competitive advantage. Hence, airlines seek to transfer in experienced cabin attendants who enhance service quality, align with industry standards, and support ongoing improvement initiatives. This study aims to formulate a standardized performance assessment system for airlines to address challenges encountered by transferred cabin crews stemming from the difficulty of moving their past performance data to the receiving airlines. In this research, the triangulation technique was adopted to develop recommendations for the Turkish airline industry that can address the challenges airlines face during transfers of experienced cabin crew. Within the framework of the acquired information, a proposed performance assessment system for sustainable recruitment processes for experienced cabin attendants, termed the PAS model, is suggested. It is recommended that the proposed model undergo thorough investigation and implementation across various airlines, each adhering to different business models, through the International Air Transport Association (IATA). This would then contribute to sustainable professional career management of cabin attendants and enhance decision-making processes of managers, particularly in strategic human resources management, such as procurement and recruitment activities. Full article

Innovative digital technologies, together with new sustainable practices, push for new business models and skillsets, pressuring companies to adapt to external change in order to gain competitive advantage. Higher education institutions could offer support. More than 20% of university graduates in the European Union study “business, administration or law”, with some of them being future top-level managers and entrepreneurs. This paper aims to provide an understanding of the factors shaping business students’ perspectives and decisions in the modern business landscape. It reunites their career preferences, personality characteristics and knowledge regarding technology’s utility for business and compares them between two cohorts (i.e., first year bachelor students and second year master students). The results of an online survey with a sample of 154 respondents show that business students’ entrepreneurial intention is influenced by their entrepreneurial confidence, their boldness when considering risks, as well as by being further along their educational journey. While almost 80% of business students are daring, oriented toward results and confident in their entrepreneurial abilities, and around 50% would feel most comfortable having their own business, approximately half of first year bachelor students and 14% of second year master students tend to be “not sure” regarding how eight out of ten modern technologies mentioned in this paper (i.e., robotic process automation, big data, artificial intelligence, computer vision, industrial robots, internet of things, virtual reality, enterprise resource planning) could improve a company’s innovation and performance. Full article

Emotional intelligence is important within the workplace, as indicated by the multitude of positive workplace outcomes associated with heightened emotional intelligence. Research has demonstrated that many autistic individuals exhibit lower levels of trait emotional intelligence, potentially putting them at a disadvantage within the workplace. Emotional intelligence, however, is multifaceted, yet research on how autistic adults fare in these facets separately has remained siloed. All four facets are important and should be considered alongside one another to allow for a complete understanding of emotional intelligence and autism. The purpose of this paper is to review existing research with respect to how autistic individuals fare for each of the four facets of emotional intelligence, namely, perceiving emotions, using emotions to facilitate thought, understanding emotions, and managing emotions. This review is primarily intended to be descriptive and not prescriptive, though areas for consideration within the workplace—particularly regarding how autistic individuals may experience difficulties in meeting the necessary demands for sustainable career success—based on the reported findings are provided. Given this and the recognition that neurodiversity is an important component of organizational diversity, this paper is important for both individual employment sustainability efforts and organizational sustainable competitive advantage efforts. Full article

The management paradigm of SMEs is changing due to the recent Fourth Industrial Revolution and the changing COVID-19 environment. To respond to these changes, companies are focusing on protean career attitude (PCA) and psychological well-being (PWB) of employees to improve corporate performance. Under these circumstances, this study investigated the structural relationship of the dual mediation effects of career commitment and career satisfaction in the relationship between PCA and PWB. To this end, this study targeted 307 employees of Korean small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and the results are as follows. First, PCA was found to have a positive effect on career satisfaction and PCA was found to have a positive effect on career commitment. Second, PCA was found to have a significant effect on PWB. Third, career satisfaction, a parameter of this study, was found to have a positive impact on career commitment; in the relationship between PCA and PWB, the dual mediation effects of career satisfaction and career commitment were found to be significant. Finally, this study provided discussions and theoretical and practical implications based on those results, as well as directions for future research. Full article

Central-local relation is a critical but overlooked perspective for understanding China’s land system. During the last decades, the central government has decentralized considerable autonomy of land development to local governments to encourage the latter to adopt their advantages in local information for economic growth. However, the local government pursues more development-oriented goals, leading land to be an endowment for jurisdiction competition, fiscal revenue maximization, and officials’ career advancement at the local level. The discretion of local government, however, is constrained by the central authority. Land quotas, land approval, and, perhaps most importantly, nomenklatura, all of which are controlled by the central government, undermine the credibility and irreversibility of decentralization. We call such a central-local relation limited decentralization, a framework that could be applied to explain a range of land issues such as farmland protection and real estate regulation. Although we believe the central government is the principal determinant of the degree of decentralization, we also acknowledge that the initiative of local governments is essential. The interactions between central and local governments result in rights definition, power distribution, and, consequently, land use policy change over time. Full article

Main issue: This article aims to measure intercultural teamwork competence and assess its impact on career competitive advantages for design students in order to determine how effective and competitive team members are in culturally diverse settings. Sampling: there were 51 participants (48 effective) in pretesting and 405 (338 effective) in formal testing. Participants were students from three colleges of design in Zhejiang Province of China. Statistical tool: this study used the on-line platform of wenjuanxing (wjx.cn) for data collection and SPSS software for data analysis. Methods: data were collected through on-line questionnaires, and then processed through factor analysis, t-test, and stepwise regression. Results: (1) TWC-CQ scale was formed to measure intercultural teamwork competence; (2) there were no statistically significant differences among participating design students (junior and senior) in intercultural teamwork competencies; (3) key competitive advantage = 0.347 × T-behavioral CQ + 0.232 × T-metacognitive CQ + 0.172 × T-motivational CQ + 0.124 × T-cognitive CQ. Conclusions: intercultural teamwork competence and its positive impact on design students’ competitive advantages could be measured. Implications: theoretical and practical implications were summed up for future studies. Full article

Over the last decades, growing interest has been devoted to employees’ perceptions of Human Resource Management Practices because of their positive influence on individual attitudes and behaviors as well as on organizational performance. Furthermore, assuming the mutual benefits coming from a people-based management of the human capital in organizations, both in terms of employees’ increased motivation, engagement and commitment, and consequently enhanced performance and competitive advantage, recent research in the field concentrated on the impact of HRM practices perceptions on some distinctive individual attitudes and behaviors driving the success of organizations especially in times of radical change like the present ones. Moving from these assumptions, the aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between HRM practices perception and objective career success, considering the mediating role played by employability and extra-role behaviors. Participants were 960 Italian employees who filled an online self-report questionnaire available through the web platform Google Forms. The questionnaire encompassed socio-demographic information and self-report scales assessing the study variables. Results showed that HRM practices perception was positively related to employability, objective career success, and extra-role behaviors. Implications for theory and practice, limitations, and future research directions were also discussed. Full article

The purpose of this article is to make an exhaustive analysis of the influencing factors for the phenomenon of workaholism in IT. In contemporary economies, workaholism is an increasingly common phenomenon. Companies should evaluate the impact on workers of this trend, and note that knowledge of the factors influencing the decision to overwork can be a competitive advantage when implementing human resources policies. Our approach involved the use of multivariate analysis of variance combined with multiple linear regression analysis. The article analyzes the data from 178 respondents who are employed in the IT sector in Romania, taking into account seven potential factors of influence. The data and econometric analyses were processed in IBM SPSS Software. The results of the multivariate analysis of variance combined with multiple linear regression analysis show a significant relationship between workaholism and influencing factors such as the remunerative component of work, the intrinsic pleasure of working, the sense of responsibility towards family, and the desire to develop during a professional career. In this study, socio-demographic influences were found to have a weak influence on the decision to work excessively. Full article

In culturally diverse career settings, some designers are performing more effectively than others. The competence and intelligence behind their performance are crucial to sustainable career development in the highly competitive and globalized design industry. We believe that cultural intelligence (or CQ as a shorthand label) is highly required in such cross-cultural design situations, and it could be trained and improved through design education. Therefore, to better prepare students in design colleges for sustainable career development, we extend and assess the CQ model in design education. We begin the study by determining the demographic differences of design students in terms of CQ, then clarify associations between CQ and competitive advantage. The results of variance analyses using both a t-test and ANOVA showed that education level had a significant effect on two dimensions of CQ (cognitive and motivational CQs), whereas gender, age, and design field did not have significant effects on any dimensions of CQ. Further, step-wise regression analyses demonstrated that three dimensions of CQ (motivational, metacognitive, and behavioral CQs) had significant impacts on competitive advantage. Based on these results, theoretical and practical implications, as well as suggestions for future studies, are further discussed. Full article

Computer science is a predominantly male field of study. Women face barriers while trying to insert themselves in the study of computer science. Those barriers extend to when women are exposed to the professional area of computer science. Despite decades of social fights for gender equity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and in computer science in general, few women participate in computer science, and some of the reasons include gender bias and lack of support for women when choosing a computer science career. Open source software development has been increasingly used by companies seeking the competitive advantages gained by team diversity. This diversification of the characteristics of team members includes, for example, the age of the participants, the level of experience, education and knowledge in the area, and their gender. In open source software projects women are underrepresented and a series of biases are involved in their participation. This paper conducts a systematic literature review with the objective of finding factors that could assist in increasing women’s interest in contributing to open source communities and software development projects. The main contributions of this paper are: (i) identification of factors that cause women’s lack of interest (engagement), (ii) possible solutions to increase the engagement of this public, (iii) to outline the profile of professional women who are participating in open source software projects and software development projects. The main findings of this research reveal that women are underrepresented in software development projects and in open source software projects. They represent less than 10% of the total developers and the main causes of this underrepresentation may be associated with their workplace conditions, which reflect male gender bias. Full article