Announced Papers - Special Issue 6, 2026

Shifts in Management in Challenging Times

Planned papers will be announced on this page (title/abstract/authors) as soon as authors send proposals to the Editorial Team.

1. ALWAYS ON, ALWAYS STRESSED? HYBRID WORK, BOUNDARY BLURRING, AND EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING IN THE MODERN ORGANISATION

PUBLISHED

Dinko Herman BOIKANYO

University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg

South Africa

Hybrid work has become a defining feature of the modern organisation, widely promoted for its potential to enhance flexibility and autonomy. However, growing evidence suggests that hybrid work may intensify employee stress by eroding traditional work non work boundaries. Drawing on boundary theory, the Job Demands Resources model, and Conservation of Resources theory, this conceptual paper develops an integrative framework explaining how hybrid work generates stress through boundary blurring. Boundary blurring is conceptualised as a multidimensional construct encompassing temporal, spatial, and psychological domains that function as chronic job demands, depleting employee resources and undermining recovery. The framework identifies key stress mechanisms including cognitive overload, impaired psychological detachment, and role conflict, and highlights individual, organisational, and institutional factors that moderate these relationships. By reframing employee stress as a systemic outcome of hybrid work design rather than an individual coping failure, the paper advances theory on new ways of working and offers insights for more sustainable, well-being oriented hybrid work practices.

2. JOB SATISFACTION IN HEALTHCARE INSTITUTIONS: EVIDENCE FROM RANGPUR COMMUNITY DENTAL MEDICAL COLLEGE AND HOSPITAL

PUBLISHED

Shamim UDDIN

Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur

Bangladesh

Employee job satisfaction plays a crucial role in enhancing organizational performance, service quality, and employee retention in healthcare institutions. This study examines job satisfaction among doctors, nurses, and support staff at Rangpur Community Dental Medical College and Hospital in Bangladesh, focusing on seven key domains: job privileges, interpersonal relations and cooperation, working environment, patient relationships, organizational facilities, career development, and human resource practices. A descriptive, cross-sectional, and quantitative research design was employed, collecting data from 90 employees, including 35 doctors, 26 nurses, and 29 support staff, using a structured questionnaire and the validated Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) scale. Findings indicate moderate overall satisfaction, with notable variations across domains. Interpersonal relations and cooperation were rated most positively, reflecting a supportive work culture, whereas financial benefits, organizational facilities, and certain career development opportunities were areas of dissatisfaction. Human resource practices, including recruitment transparency and workload management, also require attention. The study highlights the importance of enhancing job-related benefits, promoting professional growth, and providing institutional support to improve employee satisfaction. These insights provide actionable recommendations for hospital management to optimize workforce motivation, performance, and, ultimately, patient care outcomes.

3. EVALUATING THE EFFICACY OF INSTITUTIONAL WORKSHOPS ON EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION IN A SOUTH AFRICAN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION

PUBLISHED

Alfred Mvunyelwa MSOMI

Mangosuthu University of Technology, Durban

South Africa

Sandiso NGCOBO

Mangosuthu University of Technology, Durban

South Africa

Rapid technological progress calls for continuous professional development in digital literacy for academic staff to accommodate the transformative integration of educational technology within education. This research assesses the effects of faculty participation in such workshops and its subsequent practical application in educational contexts. Utilising purposive sampling, twenty-one academic members who consistently attended educational technology workshops during 2021-2023 completed a closed-response online questionnaire using Microsoft Forms. The study incorporates the Kirkpatrick’s Evaluation Model’s (KEM) and the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework to provide rigour in its evaluation of training efficacy. Our findings reveal substantial barriers to sustained technology integration, namely limited post-workshop support, insufficient time for practical application, unreliable infrastructure, and varying levels of digital literacy among academic staff. This data highlights the need for strategic enhancements in workshop structure and presentation to better cultivate substantial technological integration within teaching practices.

4. QUALITY OF LIFE AND EDUCATION: PATTERNS, RESEARCH TRENDS, AND OVERLAPS

PUBLISHED

Ina NIMERENCO

Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest

Romania

Raluca Mihaela DRĂCEA

Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest

Romania

Carmen Lenuța TRICĂ

Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest

Romania

Cristian TEODOR

Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest

Romania

Elena Mădălina DEACONU

Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest

Romania

The link between quality of life and education has attracted increasing interest from the scientific community, but the intersection between the two fields remains underexplored. The aim of this study is to map the intersection of research in this field through a bibliometric analysis, aiming to identify the most influential publications, dominant keywords, research trends, the most prolific journals and their characteristics, as well as the geographical and institutional distribution of studies. The Web of Science database was queried with a broad intersection of keywords, and the data were analyzed using the Bibliometrix package in R version 4.5.1 (RStudio IDE). The dataset includes 4,883 documents published between 1984 and September 2025, contributed by 17,492 authors, with an average annual growth rate of 16.71% and an average of 13.27 citations per article. The results highlight a growing interest in converging themes such as higher education, well-being, and mental health. The purpose of the study is to provide a comprehensive and structured overview of this emerging research area, supporting future theoretical development and evidence-based policy and educational strategies. The study provides an integrated picture of how education and quality of life intersect, contributing to strengthening interdisciplinary dialogue and opening new directions for future research.

5. PLANNING SUSTAINABLE WINE TOURISM IN TANZANIA: AN EXPERT-WEIGHTED VALUE CHAIN APPROACH

PUBLISHED

Galinoma Gahele LUBAWA

Institute of Rural Development Planning, Dodoma

Tanzania

Wine tourism is increasingly recognised as a strategic pathway for diversifying rural economies and enhancing destination competitiveness; however, its development in emerging destinations remains weakly structured and under-researched. This study examines how wine tourism in Tanzania can be planned as a sustainable and integrated value chain. Drawing on Institutional Theory and Experience Economy Theory, the study adopts a quantitative, expert-based research design using Real-Time Delphi, Analytic Hierarchy Process, and a Weighted Scoring Method. Primary data were collected from 46 experts representing key actors across the wine tourism value chain, including production, tourism services, markets, and governance. The analysis identifies and ranks the relative importance of value chain components for sustainable wine tourism development. The findings reveal that institutional, regulatory, and policy support, followed by marketing and branding and wine tourism experiences, are perceived as the most critical drivers, outweighing production-focused factors. It therefore indicates that sustainable wine tourism in emerging contexts is shaped more by governance quality and experiential design than by wine production alone. The study contributes to theory by integrating institutional and experiential perspectives within an expert-weighted value chain framework, and to practice by offering evidence-based guidance for policymakers, planners, and industry stakeholders seeking to develop sustainable wine tourism in Tanzania.