Quamrul Alam

1. Regions increasingly confront various shocks, whether environmental, economic, technological or endemic (Sutton & Arku, 2022). In Australia, northwestern Victoria faces a compound hazard profile...

Performance measurement frameworks (PMFs) have become central instruments of public sector reform, creating an operational environment intended to enhance transparency, comparability, and incentive...

Hydrogen (H₂) produced by renewable energy offers a unique opportunity for a green energy transition, especially when dealing with hard-to-abate industries such as fertiliser, steel, and heavy transportation. Having vast renewable energy potential, the continent of Africa is expected to be a green H₂ production leader, aiding the world’s clean energy transition. The aim of this study is to examine the possibilities, obstacles, and future of green H₂ production in Africa. The study has reviewed Africa’s announced green H₂ projects and initiatives and examined the continent’s renewable energy (solar and wind) and its potential impact on electrification and green H₂ production. The study reveals that green H₂ produced in Africa using solar energy is expected to cost between $6/kg and $10/kg. In arid regions with abundant solar energy but limited water resources, LCOH levels would rise sharply. There is a considerable regional variation in the predicted levelised cost of green H₂ produced by wind power across Africa. At a capacity factor of 40% or more, the lowest LCOH costs about $6/kg, while at a factor of 10% or lower, it costs about $26/kg. The total announced investment in green H₂ projects across 16 African countries amounts to approximately 293 billion US dollars; this includes 11 projects in very early stages, 4 projects in emerging stages, and 1 project in the exploratory (aspiration) stage. Considering current and expected green H₂ technology readiness, cost, global market opportunity, resource availability, and relevant infrastructure, this study proposes a six-stage comprehensive strategy roadmap for green H₂ production in Africa. The study also finds that the African continent can achieve more socioeconomic development by focusing on universal electrification and industrialisation instead of primarily focusing on green H₂ production by renewable energy for export. Establishing green H₂ as a mainstream commodity is a multi-stage process that would unfold over decades, not years. Africa’s immediate focus would be better served by moving a small number of viable pilot projects to FID, while unrealistic production targets should be reset and paused based on market realism.

In the dynamic global public healthcare sector, “wicked problems” are fraught with ambiguity and recursive outcomes, complicating interventions and often rendering traditional resolution strategies ineffective. Despite the urgency, the relationship between leadership actions and these unyielding challenges remains under-explored. This study addresses the gap in the literature by evaluating current leadership approaches and research trends through a dual-methodological lens. Utilizing a systematic literature review (SLR) and bibliometric analysis of 1,168 articles from the Web of Science database (2014–2024), we map the intellectual landscape of the field. The findings reveal a multi-disciplinary range of challenges, categorizing wicked problems into clusters of complex system entanglement, epidemiological risk, biodiversity loss, and population health infrastructure. Critically, the analysis identifies that current leadership responses are frequently constrained by limited information collaborations, inflexible policy design, and hierarchical decision-making. This paper contributes to the development of complex systems and leadership literature in five distinct ways: (1) identifying global leadership approaches to wicked problems; (2) mapping critical collaborative research trends; (3) tracing the evolution of thematic research clusters; (4) isolating gaps between research and practice; and (5) proposing a novel Adaptive Systems Framework. This framework offers a strategic alternative to static management models, advocating for adaptive, collaborative, and reflexive leadership actions essential for navigating the persistence of wicked problems in public healthcare.

How does corruption take root inside organizations that are outwardly legitimate and explicitly “zero tolerance?” Drawing on 9 years of co-constructed autoethnographic research from within an international NGO operating in coastal Bangladesh, we examine how entrepreneurial competencies can be redeployed for corrupt ends through the exploitation—and active production—of institutional and organizational voids. We extend Cavotta and Phillips’ model of corrupt entrepreneurship by developing a multi-level account that links macro-level institutional voids to meso-level organizational voids (gaps in oversight, accountability, and communication) and to micro-level entrepreneurial action. Integrating Mars’ workplace crime typology, we show how a strategically positioned insider (akin to Mars’ “Hawk” archetype) built a sophisticated “parasitic enterprise” within its NGO “host,” using a portfolio of illicit “products,” dual accounting systems, and a hub-and-spoke structure to extract value while maintaining legitimacy and avoiding scrutiny. These dynamics generate a recursive feedback loop in which individual-level practices widen organizational voids and, in turn, reproduce the very institutional conditions that enable corruption to persist. Methodologically, the study demonstrates how autoethnography can surface the covert, processual, and emotionally charged mechanisms through which corrupt entrepreneurship unfolds—processes rarely accessible via conventional research designs. Practically, we derive actionable insights for addressing entrenched corruption within organizations, highlighting how “dark” entrepreneurial capabilities can be redirected toward ethical ends through adaptive—not purely punitive—controls, including the replacement of easily gamified performance indicators with substantive ones and the deliberate embedding of “outsiderness” into management structures.

Gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) in the workplace are major issues that affect the work environment and employee well-being. These issues have received little attention from managers in the ready-made garments (RMG) factories or policymakers more generally in Bangladesh, despite the comprehensive approach to restructuring the industry following two devastating industrial accidents. This research examines the role played by RMG factory managers in eliminating gender-based violence and increasing positive work experiences and well-being in the workplace, and the policy initiatives from the government with the aim to stop workplace violence. The study uses qualitative methods—document analysis and semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that measures to protect workers from GBVH are absent in employment regulation. Though there are high court directives on workplace harassment, these have not been implemented effectively. The findings show that women workers have faced longstanding GBVH, which has impacted their well-being. The increasing rate of women leaving RMG sector jobs reflects how women workers’ well-being issues have been disregarded within the factories.