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This paper examines the competencies that an environmental activist should develop to promote successful project management in the community. A systematic bibliometric review of the literature was carried out, recognizing the scientific production in relation to the competencies of the environmental activist for the management of successful projects in the community. A conceptual synthesis is presented in relation to the competencies of the environmental activist for the management of successful projects in the community; and approaches in the development of competencies of the environmental leader are identified. Twenty one research papers on environmental leadership and environmental project management were analyzed. The results show that this type of leader must have common characteristics in the development of any type of leadership, such as the ability to organize people, to influence changes in people’s behavior, and to generate action guidelines that can be replicated by followers. The environmental leader must have the ability to promote awareness of environmental problems in the communities, establishing himself as an example to follow, and strengthening the development of continuous spaces for participation in which the experiences, knowledge and expertise of all the people who are part of the community are considered.

While trustworthiness is seen as an important factor in success of cluster development agents (CDAs), its antecedent competencies were not identified. Against this gap, the current study seeks to explore the scope and sequence of CDAs’ trustworthiness competencies, highlighting the importance of paying attention to cultivating those competencies. Conducting a number of semi-structured interviews as well as one Interactive Management (IM) session which was empowered by using Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) software, 6 trustworthiness competencies seem to be important for CDAs were identified, including: Proficiency, Altruism, Acceptability, Ability to alert stakeholders, Expectation identification ability, and Ability to make cooperation. More importantly, the interdependencies amongst those 6 competencies were identified and modelled, shedding light on the priority and weight of each of those competencies as antecedents of CDAs’ trustworthiness. As the theoretical implementation, this study expressed the importance of trustworthiness for CDAs and modelled the antecedent competencies which need to be obtained by CDAs if they are to be trusted by their clients. If a cluster clients do now trust their agent, they should not be blamed. The trustee need to cultivate those pre-requirement competencies if s/he wants to be trustworthy. As the practical implementation, the findings of this study provide a coherent curriculum for enhancing CDAs’ trustworthiness competencies. This curriculum should be implemented by the economic and development organisations who are dealing with training and preparing agents to take role in activating and extending industrial clusters in different countries.

Social work research is an important part of social work practice. It adds to the knowledge base of the profession, facilitates understanding of the challenges facing society and encourages researchers to find solutions to these challenges. The focus of qualitative research in social work in India has likewise been generating and adding to the knowledge base of the profession. More specifically, qualitative methods of data collection have not been interrogated from the perspective of their potential to enhance competencies such as empathy and critical reflection amongst the students of social work. This paper examines the possibility of using observation, a method of data collection in qualitative research, to enhance empathy and critical reflection amongst students of social work. The paper is based on the outcomes of an assignment on observation given to second semester postgraduate students of social work in the Department of Social Work, University of Delhi, India. The assignment required the students to take on the role of marginalized members of society and use observation as a method in the field to record the responses of the generalized others towards them. The assignment also encouraged the students to reflect on their reactions and responses to the behavior of people towards them when they performed the specific roles. The outcome of the assignment points towards the possibility of using practical training in observation as a method of data collection in facilitating empathetic understanding and critical reflection amongst students, when used in conjunction with role-taking.

The aim of this study was to determine the type of information professionals sought by the employment market. Job advertisements provide an effective source for identifying core qualifications, competencies and experience required by employers. These also help to discover any gaps that may exist between education and training provision and employers' expectations. A total of 150 job advertisements were collected and analysed from different newspapers, periodicals and job websites. For the knowledge management professionals, qualification in business was the most frequently sought requirement. In addition to management skills and knowledge of the business sector, experience in information and knowledge management and research know-how were also perceived as important. Online searching abilities, communication and interpersonal skills, presentation and facilitation skills were also high on the employers' list of preferences. For library professionals, library and information science qualification was a prerequisite for employment, with emphasis on information handling skills, management and leadership skills, communication and interpersonal skills. Experience in collection development and management, reference services and cataloguing were also frequently sought requirements.

Health information systems (HISs) provide automated solutions for the clinical, informational, and managerial life of a hospital. These systems are optimally used when the knowledge workers are adequately equipped with the needed competencies. Three Kuwaiti hospitals have been engaged in adopting and using the same HIS. Jahra Public Hospital, one of the three, has been making progress in the use of HIS. It was hypothesised that capabilities and preparedness of knowledge workers are correlated with their extent of use of the HIS. Data were gathered from 124 healthcare knowledge workers using stratified random sampling. It was found that skills and abilities of these knowledge professionals are strongly correlated with their use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and HIS. Almost all the professionals used HIS, yet there was a wide variation in the use of HIS modules and applications. We also examined whether personal attributes of knowledge workers made any difference in their ICT and HIS skills and use. Results however revealed no such association. These professionals attached a great deal of importance with formal training, but urged that these knowledge workers had enhanced and involved role.

This research seeks to examine the artificial intelligence (AI) competencies in logistics management by reviewing its capabilities, challenges and benefits. To increase the use of AI in logistics management, this study addresses the issues of the current technology in AI adoption in logistics management. This goal was accomplished using a systematic methodology. First, a detailed review was conducted to look at the advantages, challenges and current AI competencies. Using a survey instrument and a simple random sampling technique, the required data was collected from 44 businesses which effectively use AI in their logistical operations. The collected data gave insightful information on how AI is currently being used in logistics management. The outcome of this study shows that AI significantly affects logistics management. The study reveals notable competencies, significant challenges and major advantages of AI in managing logistics activities through the systematic analysis and synthesis of the obtained data. These findings demonstrate how AI has the potential to improve operational effectiveness, resource allocation, decision-making processes and supply chain operations in logistics management. A potential recommendation is to establish strategies and guidelines for efficient implementation and integration of AI technologies in logistics management based on the observed technology gap and the research’s findings. This will minimise the current gap and optimise the advantages of the industry’s use of AI, resulting in higher performance, cost savings and increased competitiveness for logistics business organisations.

Scientific research and innovation management practice have emphasised the important role of individual competencies in meeting the challenges of the digital transformation. However, it still lacks empirical studies that strive to determine how certain competencies of employees might affect the success of the digital transformation itself. In order to empirically determine the individual contribution of specific employee competencies to a successful digital transformation in terms of a high Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) usage performance, a quantitative study among German component manufacturers of the capital goods industry was conducted. Drawing upon a sample of 284 employees, our results reveal that high developed cognitive and processual competencies of individuals promote the digital transformation processes of a firm. Surprisingly, social competencies have only a little influence. Furthermore, our findings also confirmed that a high IIoT usage performance is beneficial for a firm, significantly enhancing divisional success.

Transdisciplinary (TD) working is claimed to be critical to meet future societal needs, with engineers being at the core to provide solutions to these challenges. However, there is little available that enables one to assess whether they or their team have the competencies required. Within this paper, we propose a self-assessment framework to ascertain whether design engineers have the competencies which enable TD working. We describe how the competencies were identified using a systematic literature review (SLR), we then describe how we utilized coded decision trees to classify which disciplinary level a particular competency can enable. In total, 76 competencies were classified; the results of the analysis show 20 of these displaying TD attributes as defined by Jantsch. The novelty of the approach is as follows: (1) In this paper, we propose a novel way to map the identified competencies against the levels of Jantsch’s hierarchical framework. (2) The proposed framework enables self-assessment of individual or team competencies to assess whether they have the competencies which enable TD working. (3) It enables a move towards incorporating TD practices in engineering projects.

Brunei Darussalam’s Long-Term Development Plan 2035 outlines the Ministry’s goals for the national education system to prepare Bruneian youths for employment and to embrace Malay Islamic Monarchy (MIB) as a concept that guides one’s way of life. Keeping that in perspective, a research was initiated to find out employer satisfaction on employees in Brunei. Employer data and contact details were collected through various database, yellow pages and social media. Broadly, this study supports the established Input- Environment-Output (IEO) model in evaluating employer satisfaction in Brunei Darussalam. The study analyzed data from 454 employer self-reports from private and public sectors with a diverse employer profile and 24 employers were interviewed. Employers were asked to rate their satisfaction with the 24 competencies the graduates employed in their respective companies possess. The highest level of employer expectation in job competencies were communication abilities, problem solving skill, commitment, self-confidence, managerial skills, time management, creativity and innovative, knowledge of specific computer applications, punctually and specific technical knowledge. The analysis of this study shows that employers are mostly satisfied. A set of recommendations were also formulated based on the results of the study.

Scientific research and innovation management practice have emphasised the important role of individual competencies in meeting the challenges of the digital transformation. However, it still lacks empirical studies that strive to determine how certain competencies of employees might affect the success of the digital transformation itself. In order to empirically determine the individual contribution of specific employee competencies to a successful digital transformation in terms of a high Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) usage performance, a quantitative study among German component manufacturers of the capital goods industry was conducted. Drawing upon a sample of 284 employees, our results reveal that high developed cognitive and processual competencies of individuals promote the digital transformation processes of a firm. Surprisingly, social competencies have only a little influence. Furthermore, our findings also confirmed that a high IIoT usage performance is beneficial for a firm, significantly enhancing divisional success.

In this chapter, the authors have envisaged the various dynamic competencies that are instrumental and probable rationales for SMEs’ sustainable growth. Innovative entrepreneurship is portrayed as an integration of opportunity optimisation and advantage optimisation. This in turn offers unique start-up concepts. The authors have built upon the resource perspective of the enterprise. This chapter specifically conceptualised the elaboration of the dynamic competencies instrumental in the innovation and growth perspectives of the enterprise. On the basis of an extensive literature review in a relevant field, four dynamic competencies, viz., innovative resource recognition, resource acquisition, networking capabilities and path aligning, have been dissected as part of an innovative approach that is critical for SMEs’ sustainable growth. From an SME standpoint, these dynamic competencies are observed to be constructive innovative strategies. A thematic analysis approach was employed to provide insights into the probable dynamic competencies of the SMEs.

The following sections are included:

• Introduction
• Theoretical Debate on Mathematical Modelling in Mathematics Education
• Promoting Modelling Competencies
• Discussion
• References