The current business environment is characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA). Organizations must adapt quickly to thrive. Strategic flexibility analysis (SFA) is a tool to improve adaptability. This conceptual article explores SFA's role in organizational adaptation and performance in VUCA environments. An integrated literature review examined research on SFA, adaptation, and VUCA. A conceptual framework illustrated SFA's impact on adaptation and performance. Analysis and discussion provided insights into SFA's role in VUCA adaptation. We conducted an integrative literature review, and the findings indicate SFA is valuable for improving adaptability and performance in VUCA environments. This study has implications for organizations and human resource development professionals seeking to understand SFA's importance for adaptation and performance improvement in turbulent conditions. Overall, SFA emerges as a critical tool for organizational agility and success in unpredictable business environments defined by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is affecting national innovation ecosystems and the approach of organizations to innovation and how they create and capture value in everyday business activities. The Internet of Things (IoT), is disruptive, and it will change the manner in which human resources are developed and managed, calling for a new and adaptive human resource development approach. The Classical Internet communication form is human-human. The prospect of IoT is that every object will have a unique way of identification and can be addressed so that every object can be connected. The communication forms will expand from human-human to human-human, human-thing, and thing-thing. This will bring a new challenge to how Human Resource Development (HRD) is practiced. This paper provides an overview of the Internet of Things and conceptualizes the role of HRD in the age of the Internet of Things.

Complex Adaptive Leadership offers ways to shift the focus of practice to one that reflects, embraces multiple points of view, and changes in response to new knowledge and data. From a societal perspective, complex adaptive leadership provides organizations with the opportunity to grapple with the most significant and persistent problems of our time and potentially achieve real change. The paper explores complexity theory in more detail and its influence on social systems using gender bias and terrorism as examples. Using the Human Security Framework as a complex adaptive leadership approach in addressing Wicked Problems, this paper describes the Human Security dimensions to understand the wicked problems in which 21st-century organizations grapple with and the type of organizational leadership needed to confront these challenges.

Through the use of generational storytelling, our multi-layered exercise is designed to bridge gaps in the inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility conversations. In doing so, students become aware of all that has been gained, and begin planning for the next phase of acceptance and inclusion. We begin by challenging the students on statements made about inclusion and equity from readings and textbooks. Stories are then shared from across generations to provide the IDEA definitions each different working generation has used. Finally, students are challenged to craft a path forward, to identify what steps are needed next.

The Knowledge Cafe Approach is a participatory and collaborative method for group dialogue and idea exchange. It is a valuable pedagogical tool in management education, providing a structured and engaging way for students to share and explore ideas and perspectives on complex management issues. We developed the Knowledge Café approach as an alternative to the World Café approach for synchronous online classroom use. Using a case study, we illustrate how the Knowledge Café can be used as a Case Method in a synchronous online classroom. Animens Industries Ltd is located in the port city of Takoradi in Ghana. It was established in 1972 as the first wholly Ghanaian-owned distilleries and bottling company. The Animens Case Study was developed to serve as a universal case study but specifically to students in Africa and Ghana especially. Students generally respond positively to the Knowledge Café exercise, as it provides a structured and engaging way to share ideas, collaborate with peers, and learn from one another. Students often find the activity a valuable learning experience that helps them develop critical thinking, communication, and collaboration skills.

Immigration to the United States is certainly not a new phenomenon, and it is therefore natural for immigration, culture and identity to be given due attention by the public and policy makers. However, current discussion of immigration, legal and illegal, and the philosophical underpinnings is ‘lost in translation’, not necessarily on ideological lines, but on political orientation. In this paper we reexamine the philosophical underpinnings of the melting pot versus multiculturalism as antecedents and precedents of current immigration debate and how the core issues are lost in translation. We take a brief look at immigrants and the economy to situate the current immigration debate. We then discuss the two philosophical approaches to immigration and how the understanding of the philosophical foundations can help streamline the current immigration debate.

Corporations are under increasing pressure to serve social purposes beyond maximizing shareholder value. One of the best resources for businesses seeking to affect social change meaningfully is through working with, learning from, and partnering with nonprofits. Different approaches have been emerging for nonprofits to inform and support the interests of for-profit businesses in the area of corporate social responsibility (CSR). In particular, collective impact (CI) and its implications for corporate partners; increasing positive community engagement through progressive hiring practices instituted by non-profit organizations (NPOs); fostering innovation within an organizational setting through NPO collaboration; and exploring a hybrid model of non-profit/for-profit business, with an examination of the advantages and disadvantages thereof. In this paper, we review these unique approaches to show how for-profits can learn from nonprofits and vice versa when it comes to social innovation and corporate social responsibility.

This article reviews theories of motivation in the workplace, what these theories look like in the modern workplace, and interventions designed to increase individual and system-wide organizational motivation. We explored a wide range of theories, including the expectancy theory, Maslow’s hierarchy, the motivation-hygiene theory, the equity theory, reward structures, cognitive evaluation theory, and feedback, to formulate conclusions about common organization development (OD) interventions that are meant to address the theories. Reviewed interventions include; organization structure design, achievement orientation, goal setting, job design, quality feedback, and empowerment programs. We followed a multidisciplinary integrated literature review approach to move beyond merely summarizing the literature but substantially contributing new and valuable knowledge to the fields of leadership and organization development. The research cements the need for understanding individuals’ needs and goals, the value of quality feedback, rewarding positive behavior, leading with fairness, and allowing space for autonomy.

Nonprofits play an essential role in society. To realize their important missions, nonprofits rely on strong and committed leaders at both the organization level as well as the governance level. Nonprofits are obligated to have an active board of directors to operate. This reliance places the organization in a vulnerable position where they must recruit and engage with external stakeholders and identify individuals with the combination of talent needed to succeed as well as the passion for supporting the organization's vision. Knowing that board members have a long lasting impact on their organizations, this paper looks at the varying models of governance and the implications for choosing one model over another. Determining the best structure for a governance model represents one component to setting an organization up for success. Equally, if not more important, is ensuring that the board of directors is composed of motivated and committed individuals who are steadfast in their efforts to support the mission of the organization. In order to find the best people for the role, an organization must understand what drives and motivates an individual to serve on a board. The topic of motivation as it relates to governance boards, and how existing boards can use the motivating factors to recruit and retain board members is explored. Finally, we explore the value of diverse board composition and whether certain criteria of diversity carry more weight in terms of impact than others.

The purpose of this research is to determine the role of Human Resource Development (HRD) in this emerging field of Social Finance. HRD researchers must move beyond the boundaries of performance and include voices that are missing from the discourse on Social Finance. The main research question this study seeks to answer is: What role should and can Human Resource Development play in the brave new world of Social Finance. Through financial technology disruption, and emerging technologies like Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, among others, and the urgent need to fill 2.5 trillion USD gap to achieve the SDGs, the pace of change is likely to accelerate. HRD has a vital role to play in this Brave New World of Social Finance. Attending to the human and developmental aspects of social finance organizations should be a critical issue for HRD.

Quality of healthcare delivery is a long-standing issue that concerns every individual member or group in society. The purpose of this paper is to identify problems with HRD functions in healthcare delivery and to suggest ways to improve and sustain quality healthcare delivery in Ghana. Using the FOCOS Orthopedic Hospital as a case study, data were collected using a qualitative research design. The following HRD functions: Program effectiveness, operating efficiency, service quality, financial stability, long versus short–term impact, tangible impact, client satisfaction, community support, publicity, employee satisfaction and commitment to the organization, trust in leadership, and altruism assessed as core indicators of high performance at the organization level, as well as the epitome of quality healthcare delivery. The results indicated that these factors presented different levels of importance to employees of FOCOS. However, there is universal agreement that the composite of these HRD functions and contextual performance indicators enhance quality healthcare delivery. FOCOS’ adherence to best practices in healthcare delivery presents a case for future research to adopt the culture espoused by FOCOS to help bridge gaps in healthcare delivery in Ghana. Unlike the traditional sectoral reforms that characterize healthcare delivery in Ghana, this paper proposes a holistic approach to culture change in healthcare delivery.

This paper explores the challenges of executive leadership and human resource development in a nonprofit setting. While human capital is a vital asset to any organization, it is particularly vital to nonprofit organizations, which expect their employees to work for less, and often do more, than their counterparts at for-profit companies. Managing these resources presents some challenges. Some of these challenges are similar to the challenges that for-profits face, such as attracting and retaining talent and developing leaders. Some of the challenges are unique, such as managing volunteers and the high-burnout rates of non-profit employees. Executive Leadership Development (ELD) is also a critical challenge faced by nonprofits. However, all Human Resource Development (HRD) issues within a nonprofit setting must be tackled with the organization’s mission in mind.