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Despite ongoing reports of insider-driven leakage of confidential data, both academic scholars and practitioners tend to focus on external threats and favour information technology (IT)-centric solutions to secure and strengthen their information security ecosystem. Unfortunately, they pay little attention to human resource management (HRM) solutions. This paper aims to address this gap and proposes an actionable human resource (HR)-centric and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven framework.

The paper highlights the dangers posed by insider threats and presents key findings from a Leximancer-based analysis of a rapid literature review on the role, nature and contribution of HRM for information security, especially in addressing insider threats. The study also discusses the limitations of these solutions and proposes an HR-in-the-loop model, driven by AI and machine learning to mitigate these limitations.

The paper argues that AI promises to offer many HRM-centric opportunities to fortify the information security architecture if used strategically and intelligently. The HR-in-the-loop model can ensure that the human factors are considered when designing information security solutions. By combining AI and machine learning with human expertise, this model can provide an effective and comprehensive approach to addressing insider threats.

The paper fills the research gap on the critical role of HR in securing and strengthening information security. It makes further contribution in identifying the limitations of HRM solutions in info security and how AI and machine learning can be leveraged to address these limitations to some extent.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

This paper identified that when information technology and human resources work together, they can improve information security and limit insider leaks.

The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the influence of outsourcing on open-source software (OSS) and further investigate the factors that impact the adoption of OSS in global information technology (IT) outsourcing organizations serviced by Indian IT services organizations.

The authors developed a conceptual model that describes the factors influencing the OSS adoption by using the technology-organization-environment framework. This quantitative explanatory study used self-administered questionnaire to collect data from 482 middle and top management employees of Indian IT services organizations. The authors analyzed the data using partial least squares to test this conceptual model.

The proposed conceptual model identified the factors which play a significant role in OSS adoption such as reliability, legal concern, software costs, management support, OSS support availability and software vendor. In contrast, this study did not find enough evidence that IT outsourcing was a significant determinant of OSS adoption.

The main limitation of the research is that it is focused on global IT outsourcing organizations (clients) serviced by Indian IT services providers (vendors). Hence, the authors cannot generalize the finding to other regions. Also, the analysis is based on the view point of employees in vendors. Views of clients’ employees must be analyzed and triangulated with current evidence.

IT services providers can offer “OSS as a service” for its clients and help them address the gaps in support availability and achieve reduction in total cost of ownership of software.

IT services providers can use this research model to increase their understanding of why some IT outsourcing organizations choose to adopt OSS, while seemingly similar ones facing similar market conditions do not.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of use of information technology (IT) and relational aspect on supply chain collaboration (SCC) in the context of developing country, in this case India. The study has considered two important components of use of IT namely, information sharing and information quality and further investigated their impact on SCC. Two important components of relational aspect, namely, trust and commitment have been considered, as identified from literature review, trust has been considered as an antecedent to commitment and the impact of commitment on SCC has been investigated. The research also investigates the impact of SCC on financial performance of the firm.

Based on extensive review of SCC literature a research model has been proposed hypothesizing the relationships between information sharing, information quality, trust, commitment, SCC and financial performance. The proposed research model is tested using data from 166 manufacturing firms across India. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized relationships between constructs.

The results showed that there is significant positive impact of information sharing and information quality on SCC. Consistent with earlier literature, trust was found to have a significant positive impact on commitment and commitment was found to have significant positive impact on SCC. Further, the findings confirmed the positive relationship between SCC and financial performance of the firm.

This is the first study to the best of our knowledge which has investigated the impact of SSC on financial performance in Indian context. This study has taken into account both use of IT and relational aspect simultaneously and investigated their impact on SCC.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse whether the adoption of e-commerce improves company business, innovation and operational performance and whether sales internationalisation might moderate this relationship.

The research is based on a survey within the fashion industry and a multi-step linear regression model investigating the relationships between e-commerce and performance.

Results reveal that e-commerce improves innovation performance but has no significant relationship with business and operational performance. Also investigating whether the sales internationalisation might moderate the relationship between e-commerce and performance, the findings reveal that the adoption of these tools might even be negative when applied at the international level in particular by considering innovation operational practices, and the research suggests for fashion companies the necessity to develop strong markets’ knowledge and brand awareness among foreign markets and customers before investing internationally.

This paper offers an original analytical approach to identifying the relationships between a company’s adoption of e-commerce, performance and internationalisation within the fashion industry.

The paper aims to assess the influence of process quality management (PQM) practices on a firm's operational performance (OP) and investigate the mediating role of a firm's learning and development orientation (LDO) in the PQM–OP relationship. The paper also assesses the extent to which the proposed mediation is moderated by senior management support (SMS).

This paper draws on the sociotechnical system theory to carry out a survey study of 278 functional managers from various manufacturing firms in India through a postal mail survey approach. The response rate has been improved by frequent telephone follow-ups. The collected data was analyzed for mediation of LDO and moderated mediation of SMS in the proposed framework using Hayes's PROCESS Macro in statistical package for social sciences.

The research findings show that both PQM and LDO lead to better performance and should be encouraged. LDO was found to partially mediate the effect of PQM on the firm's OP. The results also show that an enhanced learning capability of an organization can significantly influence improvement in OP through a stronger support of senior management.

The current study explored the mediating role of LDO in the relationship between PQM and OP, while providing a future research opportunity for an empirical review of the mediating effect of LDO between the effects of just-in-time, maintenance and process benchmarking activities on OP.

To transform PQM activities into a competitive advantage, firms need to develop learning capabilities. Senior managers in the manufacturing industry should strongly focus upon creating a learning-centered work culture to improve performance and productivity.

The study provides insights into the type of people-related activities that manufacturing firms should undertake to enhance their OP. Few studies in the extant literature have used SMS as a moderator to improve LDO's impact on business operations. The study aims at bridging this gap.

The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic review of studies on CPD published between 1985 and 2018.

Before identifying common CPD, research trends were examined in terms of the number of publications in selected journals, as well as the contributions made by countries, institutions and researchers.

The findings reveal that researchers from developing countries have contributed the most to identifying the causes of CPD. A total of 149 causes of CPD were identified in a thorough review of 97 selected studies. Weather/climate conditions, poor communication, lack of coordination and conflicts between stakeholders, ineffective or improper planning, material shortages, financial problems, payment delays, equipment/plant shortage, lack of experience/qualification/competence among project stakeholders, labour shortages and poor site management were identified as the ten most common CPDs.

Being the first study of its type, this study provides insight into the research output related to this area and identifies a common set of CPDs, which may provide a better understanding of the key areas requiring attention where steps should be taken to minimise or control factors causing delays in construction projects.

The purpose of this study is to explore how service employee choice and use of language to initiate and maintain conversation with second generation immigrant customers (SGIC) influence customer evaluation of the service encounter, and whether such employee acts may lead customers to employee switching, branch switching (i.e. switching from one to another location within the same brand) and/or brand switching (switching to another brand altogether).

A scenario-based between-subjects experiment of 4 (employee: match, adapt, bilingual, no adapt) × 2 (fast food, post office) × 2 (English, Spanish) was used to examine the SGIC response to service encounters in different contexts arising from employee choice and use of language. These scenarios were complemented with a series of measurement scales. The instruments, which were identical except in scenario sections, were administered on 788 second-generation Mexican American customers, resulting in 271 (fast food) and 265 (post office) effective responses.

In both service contexts, when employees initiated conversation that matched (English or Spanish) the customer expectations, the SGIC perceptions of interaction quality was higher as compared to other scenarios, leading to subsequent satisfaction and lower switching intentions (employee and branch). Similarly, interaction quality was higher for adapt scenarios as compared to bilingual or no adapt scenarios. Bilingual customers perceived higher interaction quality in bilingual/no-adapt scenarios when compared to monolingual customers. In both contexts, service quality and satisfaction were associated with employee switching and branch switching, but not with brand switching.

By utilizing interaction adaptation theory to conceptualize the effects of employee choice and use of language, the study grounds the model and the hypotheses in theoretical bases and provides empirical corroboration of the theory. The study also contributes toward understanding the service encounters from the perspective of an overlooked group of vulnerable customers: second-generation immigrants.

Service research cautions service providers that a key factor in attracting and retaining customers is having detailed communication guidelines and empowering employees to follow those guidelines. The findings go a step further and underscore the critical role of communication from a managerial standpoint. It is in the interest of service organizations to develop guidelines that will govern employee choice and use of language during service encounters. So doing is commercially justified because unguided employee choice and use of language can result in customer switching and attrition.

The juxtaposition between assigned versus asserted identities is an important one not only in social sciences but also within service research. As service encounters grow increasingly multicultural, the need to educate employees on multiculturally appropriate communication etiquette rises in importance. The findings should encourage service firms and local governments to develop formal communication guidelines that begin with multiculturalism as a central tenet permeating all aspects of employee–employee, employee–customer and customer–customer communications. Service providers ought to take precautionary measures to ensure customers will be empowered to assert their identities in their own terms, if they wish so.

The study demonstrates how employee choice and use of language during service encounters may thwart SGIC, who might view such employee behaviors as acts of identity assignment and, consequently, feel stigmatized, marginalized and offended; and links such customer experiences to switching behavior through mediatory mechanisms.

Crisis can bring out the true nature of people. Also in terms of consumers, this can be for better or for worse. On the one hand, irresponsible consumer behaviours rose, with for example people starting to hoard bulk quantities of toilet paper, rice and flour, which in turn increased scarcity perceptions and induced fear in others. Besides panic buying, impulse purchasing also rose, as a means to alleviate negative feelings and to treat oneself (particularly once the stores reopened again). For some consumers, this increased buying can become compulsive, leading to shopping addiction and financial problems. On the other hand, the crisis also forced a pause in the rat race we live, allowing people to reconsider their consumption behaviour and evolve towards more sustainable choices. This chapter provides insights on both directions, allowing retail managers to incorporate this new reality in further strategic decisions. In what follows, three consecutive stages in notable changes in consumer behaviour in the pandemic crisis are discussed: from reacting (e.g. hoarding), over coping (e.g. do-it-yourself behaviours), to longer-term adapting (e.g. potentially transformative changes in consumption).

The purpose of this article is to identify how the organisations are able to improve their business value through acquisition of business analytics capabilities and by improving their performance.

With the help of literature survey, along with standard resource-based view framework, a conceptual model has been developed. These have been statistically tested by collecting the data using the survey questionnaire from 306 selected respondents from various service sector- and product-based organisations in India. To analyse the data we have used partial least square–based structural equation modelling.

The study highlights that by the help of data acquisition and tool acquisition as two vital components the acquisition of business analytics capabilities could improve the business value of the organisation by strengthening its organisational performance. The findings of this research also indicated that acquisition of business analytics capabilities has a significant influence on an organisation's business process performance and business decision, which in turn significantly influences organisational performance. And organisational performance eventually positively influences its business value. The model was found to provide an explanative power of 71%.

The proposed research model can provide effective recommendations to the management of the organisations to realise the importance of acquisition of effective business analytics capabilities to eventually improve the business value of the organisation.

No specific studies, as yet, have analysed the effects of acquisition of business analytics capabilities for improving organisational performance mediated through business process performance and business decision. Therefore, this research has explored the distinctive effort to empirically validate this understanding.