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Globally, the business organisations are experiencing a transformation due to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). The need for an effective 4IR leadership has placed new demands on organisations to develop and select leaders to effectively lead the organisations in the 4IR era. Hence, it becomes important to understand the attributes for an effective 4IR leadership. This study examines the relationships between leadership styles, leadership traits, leadership intelligence and effective 4IR leadership to empirically validate the effective 4IR leadership framework that was conceptualised. The hypothesised relationships from the framework were tested using a survey of 416 senior construction executives across the nine provinces of South Africa.

To achieve the study objectives, an online survey was sent to construction firms across the nine provinces of South Africa. “Construction”, for the purpose of this study comprised building and civil engineering firms listed on the construction industry development board (cidb) register of contractors in South Africa. The target group was the upper echelon executives, i.e. Chairman, CEOs, managing directors and chief operating officers, and the survey was directed to contact e-mail of the study samples. The professional service providers (architects, consultants and surveyors) were not part of the survey sample. The database of the organisational leaders was obtained from the cidb. The online survey was created on the 23rd of August 2019 and closed on the 23rd of April 2020, thereby making the duration of the survey eight months. The total number of respondents at the time of closure of the survey was four hundred and sixteen (416). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for the analysis of the results.

This study validates the effective 4IR leadership framework as proposed by Alade and Windapo (2019) by empirically examining relationships between leadership styles, leadership traits, leadership intelligence and effective 4IR leadership. The findings from this study have shown that effective 4IR leadership is positively associated with leadership styles, leadership traits and leadership intelligence. Hence, an effective 4IR leader must spread the knowledge and understanding of the 4IR opportunities and threats in the organisations. The leader must ensure that the executives in the construction organisation become change conversant and ensure that the employees acquire 4IR skills. Multiple leadership intelligence is essential to effective 4IR leadership. These multiple intelligence are the ability to adapt knowledge and skills to different situations, ability to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously, a high level of understanding, ability to process and analyse information and ability to utilise knowledge from many disciplinary boundaries.

This study is focused on construction business organisations in South Africa. As such, similar studies on 4IR leadership effectiveness can be carried out in other countries and across other organisations. Future studies should also consider using a case study approach specifically focused on organisations with high implementations of 4IR technologies. Interacting with the leaders of such organisations and their employees will give a broader perspective in understanding the reasons of their effectiveness.

The leadership of construction organisations must partner with the academia, industry players and team members in their efforts to implement 4IR in their organisations. Also, the existence of a positive association between leadership traits and effective 4IR leadership implies that to ensure a 4IR-driven work process in construction organisations, the leadership must embrace disruption and quickly respond to change. Further, it can be concluded from the findings of this study that appropriate leadership styles are required for effective 4IR leadership. The appropriate leadership style for effective 4IR leadership requires the leadership of construction organisations to delegate some of the 4IR function. The 4IR function must be performed based on the challenges that are associated with 4IR. The positive correlation between leadership intelligence and leadership styles makes it possible to conclude that the competencies of leadership of construction organisations in a 4IR-driven change depend on the level of leadership intelligence of the executives of construction organisations. It is evident that 4IR will change the business environment; hence, leadership intelligence is required to adapt construction organisations to the change dynamics. This study has provided information on what 4IR leadership entails in construction organisations. The study has contributed a framework for ensuring effective and smooth flow 4IR implementation in construction organisations through a purposeful leadership that combines leadership styles, leadership traits and leadership intelligence.

This research will be useful to government agencies and board members of construction organisations, in appointing leaders to see the construction industry and organisations perform better in the 4IR era. Young individuals who are also aspiring to take on leadership role in the industry will benefit from this study.

This study is a new and original research that seeks to investigate the need for an effective 4IR leadership in construction business organisations. Construction as an industry is usually criticised for her slow response to change. Since leadership is required to drive the change agenda, this study examines the relationships between leadership styles, leadership traits, leadership intelligence and effective 4IR leadership to empirically validate the effective 4IR leadership framework that was conceptualised.

Sandbag building technologies (SBTs) have been offered as a cost-effective and sustainable alternative building technology (ABT) capable of accelerating house construction in South Africa, but its acceptance remains low. However, knowledge about how to effectively improve SBT social acceptance is limited. This study aims to develop and prioritise SBT social acceptability strategies towards providing a comprehensive framework for the successful deployment and widespread adoption of sandbag technology.

This study used a quantitative research strategy that included a literature review and a structured questionnaire survey of 228 ABT professionals and stakeholders in the South African housing industry. The study statistically analysed 13 strategies for the social acceptance of SBT.

The analysis showed that the top three strategies include the availability of sandbag demonstration projects in all provinces, the approval of a sandbag building code and the availability of standard design methods for earthbags. A factor analysis clustered the 13 strategies into Stakeholders integration and policy formation, Effective education and knowledge sharing and Grassroots advocacy and incentives.

The current study’s findings provide a broad framework for the effective implementation and wide acceptance of sandbag technology in housing projects. It offered certain best practices that policymakers and practitioners might use to promote ABT and SBT societal acceptability.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study represents the first and only attempt to investigate the viewpoints of experts and housing market stakeholders in South Africa regarding sandbag technology social acceptance strategies and contributes to the social acceptance body of knowledge in ABT and SBT.

Research on measures to strengthen the implementation of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) principles has been scarce in developing countries such as Nigeria. Hence, this study sought to identify and assess the crucial measures for encouraging the adoption of IEQ principles in the Nigerian construction industry, specifically from the viewpoint of quantity surveyors.

To accomplish this objective, a quantitative research methodology was employed, utilizing a well-structured questionnaire distributed to quantity surveying (QS) firms in Nigeria. The collected data were examined using a range of statistical techniques such as frequencies, percentages, mean item scores (MISs), the Kruskal–Wallis test and exploratory factor analysis.

The top five ranked measures were as follows: offer financial incentives and tax breaks, develop educational materials and resources, establish clear and accessible reporting mechanisms, develop awards and recognition programs and provide advocacy and awareness campaigns. Factor analysis led to the categorization of the identified measures into four primary clusters: education and training, policy and regulation, incentivization and recognition and collaboration and networking. Consequently, these clusters were renamed the EPIC (Education and training, Policy and regulation, Incentivization and recognition and Collaboration and networking) framework, with each first letter representing a significant measure for fostering the adoption of IEQ principles.

Consequently, this study offers a robust foundation for understanding and implementing measures to enhance the adoption of IEQ principles within the Nigerian construction industry, ultimately benefiting stakeholders and improving the quality of built environments.

The EPIC framework designed in this study offers valuable insights for policymakers, construction industry professionals and other stakeholders interested in promoting IEQ principles, which can potentially lead to healthier, more comfortable and more sustainable built environments in Nigeria and beyond.

Education is a strong pillar to national development. It is vital to ensure sustainable higher education development (SHED) in a bid to facilitate global development. This study aims to investigate academic libraries, information and communication technology (ICT) use and SHED.

Descriptive survey research design was used for this study. The population of the study was 607 librarians in the 41 public university libraries in Southern Nigeria. Total enumeration and purposive sampling techniques were used for this study. The instrument of data collection was questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was used for the data analysis.

It was found that qualified teachers and promotion of scholarship constitute SHED. The extent of contribution of academic libraries to SHED is high. Academic libraries face a number of challenges in their effort to provide information services for the actualisation of the SHED. The extent of use of ICT in SHED is high. It was therefore recommended that academic libraries and ICT should be adequately used to accomplish SHED in Nigeria.

This study will contribute to the body of literature on how academic libraries and the use of ICT can contribute to SHED.

While SHED is central to global development, the role of academic libraries and the use of ICT should be unanimously embraced by all the stakeholders in education industry.

SHED is inevitable in the contemporary era. This study reveals that academic libraries and ICT use are vital in achieving SHED.

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between media reporting and violent extremism to explain the ethical and security issues emanating from it in Nigeria.

This paper draws on security and ethical literature, while a multimethod approach consisting of in-depth and focus group interviews was used. Content analysis was also relied upon from the interviews granted by media experts on terrorism, security and ethics.

Findings revealed that journalists are facing problems in areas of freedom of expression, framing, content selection and personal security. Again, this paper opines that elements of public awareness and issues of relevance also push the media to excessive reporting in which ethics and security must stand to play a restraining role.

The first limitation of this paper is the inability to interview some terrorists and know their reaction to mass media reporting on their activities because nobody is ready to own up that he is a terrorist and to point to an individual as a terrorist is a dangerous phenomenon. Again, not all reporters are ready for interviews because of the fact that they are not prepared for the academic exercise but rather for assignments that can yield fat money such as selling secret information to those who can buy them with huge amounts of money like the politicians.

There is a threat to life on both sides of the government and terrorists. Favoring one side in their report is an offense from another side. There is also a violation of their human rights in freedom of speech as a result of the political situation in Nigeria where the government is faced with insecurity that hinders media from freedom of the press to publish reports. Moreover, where the ethical issue is suppressed, it makes the government unpopular all over the world because of the lack of press freedom.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is novel as being the first of its kind where media experts are involved in research attempts on media reporting and violent extremism in relation to security and ethical issues in Nigeria.

The COVID-19 pandemic imposed movement restrictions and limited access to modern medical services, prompting the search for alternative solutions, such as indigenous herbal medicines. In Southwest Nigeria, female herbal producers, often with limited economic resources, play a significant role in herbal medicine production. Despite facing multiple challenges, these producers have demonstrated remarkable creativity in navigating the barriers. However, without deliberate efforts to preserve their creative values, indigenous herbal businesses face the threat of extinction. This chapter investigates the resourcefulness of female herbal producers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Southwest Nigeria and proposes strategies for sustaining their trade. Qualitative data were collected to identify the treatment patterns and trade dynamics among female herbal producers in the region. The findings indicate that movement restrictions during the pandemic disrupted herbal producers' access to treatment materials, yet they managed to meet their communities' health needs. These women often serve as first responders and primary healthcare providers in many local communities in Southwest Nigeria, and collaboration with the government will further enhance their effectiveness. The sustainability of indigenous herbal medicine production and trade by women can become a pathway to promote women's economic empowerment in Nigeria if given the necessary support. The chapter concludes with policy recommendations for sustaining the ingenuity of female herbal producers in Nigeria.

The topic of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) implementation in a supply chain context is an emerging research stream comprising of diverse objectives and complex processes thereby presenting opportunities for further exploration and organizational process improvement. Thus, this study proposes an integrated multi-criteria decision-making methodology to determine what can facilitate the successful implementation of LSS as an organizational change strategy in the manufacturing supply chain.

The proposed methodology based on Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory and hierarchical Evaluation Based on Distance to Average Solution is employed to ascertain the relative importance and priorities of an identified framework of factors with the aid of opinions of managers in the Nigerian plastics industry.

The results show a high significance of institution-based factors (e.g. government regulations) and present relevant implications to the policymakers as well as the managers and practitioners of the plastics manufacturing industry.

This study indicates a possible pathway to accurately evaluate a framework of critical factors to integrate and institutionalize LSS in the manufacturing supply chain for organizational performance improvement.