John Burgess

This chapter examines the intersection of digital transformation, leadership, workforce strategy, and service delivery in Australian local governments (LGs) through a Sociotechnical Systems lens. As councils adopt Fourth and emerging Fifth Industrial Revolution technologies, ranging from automation, artificial intelligence, and cloud-based platforms to human-centric innovations prioritising ethics, collaboration, and sustainability, they face the dual imperative of achieving operational efficiency and preparing a future-ready workforce. In this context, leadership plays a critical role in shaping how digital transformation is communicated, implemented, and experienced across the organisation. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 24 senior council officers and six industry experts, as well as an analysis of 56 strategic council documents, including workforce strategies, digital transformation roadmaps, business plans, enterprise agreements, and annual reports, this chapter explores how Australian LGs navigate skill shortages, resistance to change, and intergenerational differences in digital readiness. It highlights leadership strategies that support the alignment of technology adoption with employee wellbeing, organisational goals, and community expectations, including fostering psychological safety, building trust, promoting ethical decision-making, and developing digital capability across teams. The findings underscore that effective digital transformation requires leadership capable of integrating social and technical considerations, mediating the impacts of technological change, and enabling adaptive, inclusive, and ethically grounded practices. By centering leadership as a key enabler of sociotechnical alignment, the chapter offers practical recommendations for workforce planning, change management, and people-centred digital leadership in an increasingly complex, technology-enabled public sector.

Purpose: This article introduces a special issue volume on climate action and sustainable development, with a central focus on equity, justice and inclusion (EJI). It examines how climate impacts and policy responses intersect with gender, labour and governance systems, applying an adaptation–maladaptation lens to identify challenges and opportunities for equitable and inclusive climate action. Design/methodology/approach: The approach synthesises multidisciplinary insights from seven articles spanning developed and developing economies. It employs an adaptation–maladaptation framework to analyse climate action through gendered experiences, policy design, labour transitions, and governance capacity. Findings: The articles highlight how climate change disproportionately affects those least responsible for its causes, with vulnerabilities compounded by existing socioeconomic and structural inequalities. Weak global emissions-reduction commitments have facilitated maladaptive practices – notably increased reliance on energy-intensive technologies – that perpetuate vulnerability. Across the volume, authors illustrate the need for gender-responsive policies, just transitions in labour markets and equitable governance mechanisms that integrate EJI considerations into climate adaptation and mitigation strategies. Originality/value: As an introductory article, this piece does not present original empirical data. Instead, it synthesises findings and identifies a conceptual gap – the under-theorised relationship between adaptation–maladaptation outcomes and EJI principles in empirical climate research. It concludes with a call for future research evaluating the long-term impacts of climate interventions on diverse and marginalised groups.

In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), divisions in the institutionalisation and formalisation of employment relations are found across all sectors. The informal economy, which accounts for an estimated 83% of employment, is a defining characteristic of SSA and must be central to any discussion of employment regulation and decent work policies. This raises fundamental questions about the relevance of existing frameworks for regulation, voice and representation, unionisation and work organisation when applied to contexts where formal labour law covers only a minority of workers. This special issue examines different aspects of decent work, including the experiences of blue-collar and platform workers, mechanisms for building worker voice, the obstacles that these efforts encounter, and the difficulties that informal unions and workers face in advocating for decent work. Drawing on the work of African labour scholars and the papers in this collection, the editorial argues for a context-specific approach to decent work policy in SSA. An approach that aligns with the developmental realities of SSA and with the lived experiences of workers and worker voice in the region.

Establishing ‘decent work and economic growth’ as one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has elevated the discourse of decent work beyond national level policy debate. For emerging economies in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the literature, though limited, has sought to explore prospects for workers to find productive and decent work in conditions of human dignity, equity, freedom and security. In this paper, we provide a review of decent work research in SSA by mapping the core themes and discussing the challenges and opportunities for decent work in the region. Our review reveals the informal economy, economic policy and development programming, the rising gig economy and the nature of organisational climate as core themes surrounding ‘decent work deficit’ in SSA . We use the International Labour Organisation's decent work framework: social protection, social dialogue, workers’ rights and employment creation to highlight implications for (a) labour regulation (b) workers’ voice and representation and (c) employer's managerial prerogative. Our paper sets out future IR research to support the analysis and development of decent work in SSA.

Family businesses play a central role in the ongoing growth and development of the Vietnamese economy. Economic, social, and demographic changes are undermining the transition of family business to succeeding generations. This study examines the challenges of intergenerational succession in Vietnamese family businesses through the lens of social capital theory. The article examines how the next generation of family business leaders in Vietnam is addressing social capital deficiencies that hinder effective business transition. The study employed a constructionist ontology and an interpretivist epistemology, utilising semi-structured interviews with family business owners and managers. The research draws from participants’ perceptions of social, political, and competitive contexts and the subsequent behaviour that is predicated by those contexts. Findings: Economic transformation, driven by disruptions to the business environment through central planning, coupled with demographic shifts and changes in educational attainment, has impacted family structures, complicating intergenerational business transfers. This is compounded by social transformation weakening familial relationships and connections critical to family cooperation and business continuity. The preservation and renewal of social capital are critical issues for succession planning in Vietnamese family businesses. This research addresses gaps in understanding the interplay between the generational divide, social capital, and family business succession in Vietnam.

Developing a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workforce contributes to the United Nations' social development goals (Gender Equality, Reduced Inequalities Goals) and the longer-term development aspirations of Vietnam. This chapter investigates the application of diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) programs across selected Multinational companies in Vietnam. These DEI programs are important for other businesses and organisations in Vietnam in demonstrating the development and application of DEI programs. The chapter highlights the role of training and development programs as being essential for supporting an effective organisational and national DEI program.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is set to transform all aspects of society and the global workforce. While existing literature explores the implications of these technological advances on the future of work, there remains a crucial gap in understanding how to manage these transformations to benefit both employers and employees. This chapter highlights that technological advancements will not only automate and augment certain job functions but also create new, necessitating shifts in skills and capabilities. With a focus on the Australian local government sector, the chapter provides a framework for Human Resource managers to navigate the challenges and leverage the opportunities of these technological shifts. Active HRD programs are crucial addressing the workforce challenges associated with the 4IR technologies and onclude skills development, training, education, career support, employee retention, and attraction.

Grounded in socio‐technical systems (STS) theory, this paper investigates how HRM decision‐making balances technological integration with people‐centric concerns, including employee well‐being, skills development, and workforce resilience. Using a qualitative study design, the study draws on semi‐structured interviews with 23 senior council officers and document analysis of over 50 council reports and workforce strategies. The findings highlight complex layers of context, such as the specific characteristics of local councils (descriptive), the broader systems and structures they operate within (analytical), and the formal institutions and regulations they must follow (institutional), all of which influence HRM adaptation to technological changes. The study highlights how sector‐specific contextual conditions, such as public sector constraints, state‐level regulatory controls, complex governance systems, financial limitations, and urban–rural disparities, influence HRM responses. While these contextual factors often restrict organisational flexibility, they also function as catalysts for innovative HR practices focused on attraction, upskilling, and retention. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of how local governments (LGs) in Australia navigate workforce transformation amid technological change. It provides actionable insights for HR professionals seeking to align human capital development with emerging digital demands.