“Global South” is undoubtedly a broad term that typically refers to developing countries with varying degrees of economic, cultural and political influence. The rise of the Global South signifies the importance of reassessing the existing international order. In terms of international relations theory, this should be an innovative, progressive and reflective field of study. However, this research is predominantly led by the Western mainstream international relations theories. This often neglects the internal and external factors in the development processes of other countries, the formation of relationship frameworks, foreign policy formulation, and the need of foreign relations. Despite the ongoing and intense debate over the innovation of international relations theory, it is difficult to see it keeping pace with contemporary developments. Various schools and thoughts frequently innovate only within their foundational frameworks. Therefore, for Global South countries, there is the need for international relations theories that can reflect their specific needs and actual conditions. This does not only require breaking away from the westcentric theoretical framework, but ensuring that the innovation process is aligned with practical realities that recognize mutual interests and encompass both local and global perspectives. This approach should involve a comprehensive reflection on international relations, allowing innovation of international relations theories to genuinely “enter” the Global South countries.

The digitalization of the construction industry is deemed a crucial element in Construction 4.0’s vision, attainable through the implementation of digital twinning. It is perceived as a virtual strategy to surmount the constraints linked with traditional construction projects, thereby augmenting their productivity and effectiveness. However, the neglect to investigate the causal relationship between implementation and construction project management performance has resulted from a lack of understanding and awareness regarding the consequences of digital twinning implementation, combined with a shortage of expertise among construction professionals. Consequently, this paper extensively explores the relationship between digital twinning implementation and construction project management performance. The Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) is employed to investigate this relationship, utilizing a quantitative research approach through document analysis and questionnaire surveys. Additionally, partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS software is employed to deduce the relationship. The results underscore that digital twinning implementation significantly improves construction project management performance. Despite recognizing various challenges in digital twinning implementation, when regarded as moderating factors, these challenges do not significantly impact the established causal relationship. Therefore, this investigation aligns with the national push toward the digitalization of the construction sector, highlighting the positive impacts of digital twinning implementation on construction project management performance. Moreover, this study details the impacts of implementing digital twinning from the construction industry’s perspective, including positive and negative impacts. Afterwards, this paper addresses the existing research gap, providing a more precise understanding and awareness among construction industry participants, particularly in developing nations.

This study analyzes the role of innovation in the development of smart cities in Latin America. It focuses on how emerging technologies and sustainable strategies are being integrated into urban planning and urban development. In this sense, this study seeks to contribute to the smart city literature by answering the following research questions: (i) To what extent smart city innovative initiatives have been addressed in Latin America? and (ii) To what extent scholars have addressed sustainable innovation strategies in the smart city literature? To this end, this is the first comprehensive bibliometric analysis of smart city research in Latin America, with a structured and systematized review of the available literature. This methodological approach allows cluster visualization and detailed analysis of inter-node relationships using the VOSViewer software. The research comprises 4 stages: (a) search criteria; (b) selection of documents; (c) software and data extraction; and (d) analysis of results and trends. Results indicate that studies on the Latin America region began to develop in 2012, with Brazil as a leader in this field and the tourism sector as the most relevant. Nevertheless, strong international collaboration was identified in co-authoring studies, underscoring a cooperative approach to solving common urban problems. The most active research area is technological innovation and sustainability, with focus on solutions for urban mobility, quality of life and smart governance. Finally, this work underlines the need to continue exploring the integration of technology in urban development, suggesting an agenda to guide future research to evaluate the sustainability and long-term impacts of smart city initiatives in Latin America. From the policy perspective, smart city initiatives need to be human-centered to boost smart solutions adoption and to guarantee long term local impacts.

Technological management has promoted distinctive characteristics in the socio-productive development of the regions. Its usefulness in entrepreneurial activity is studied to design the architecture of a technological observatory as an intelligent system for entrepreneurship in Latin America. Using a descriptive-explanatory method, data obtained from the application of two instruments directed to 18 experts in information and communication technologies and 174 entrepreneurs distributed 92 in Lima-Peru and 82 in Santiago de Cali-Colombia are processed. The findings show informational and training barriers and a weak or non-existent technological platform for effective entrepreneurial development. Added to the low development of plans and alliances mediated by technologies, whose experience supports public policies that strengthen entrepreneurship as an emerging economy. The architecture supports the functional and operational aspects of the system. Its scalability in other regions dynamizes the services-processes required prior to the detection of needs directed towards the projection of sustainable entrepreneurship.

Political patronage has become a notable concern in the South African public sector, often compared to a new epidemic because of its adverse effects on governance and public administration. This phenomenon involves by political leaders offering rewards and appointment people for key government positions and allocating resources to them based on their political loyalty rather than their abilities and qualifications. This intensifies corruption by fostering a culture in which competence is subordinate, resulting in inadequately qualified individuals assuming key positions and receiving benefits, thereby amplifying opportunities for unethical conduct. In turn, this practice undermines the effectiveness and integrity of public sector institutions. The purpose of this article is to offer a broader analysis and implications of political patronage and how it fuels corruption and governance in the South African public sector. This article employs a secondary research method through the review of existing literature to examine the nature of political patronage, its nexus with corruption and misgovernance in the public sector, drawing reference to contemporary, renowned corruption cases. This paper submits that overcoming these challenges necessitates a holistic approach that involves the professionalization of the public sector, robust measures to combat corruption, and improved transparency. The objective is to establish and promote a public service that emphasizes competence, responsibility, and the fulfilment of governance functions in order to serve the wider interests of citizens.

This report intends to enhance the reviews on leadership literature by conducting a bibliometric study on 198 publications focused on transformational leadership research. These papers were published in the Scopus database between 1997 and 2023. Employing quantitative bibliometric analysis, the study aims to identify both current and prospective research trajectories pertaining to transformational leadership issues. To the best of our current understanding, there exists no scholarly investigation that examines the bibliographic data pertaining to transformational leadership domains. Therefore, this work represents a distinctive and original contribution to the existing body of literature. This study additionally offers a comprehensive examination of the patterns and paths inside a visual and schematic framework for the investigation of this subject matter. This may facilitate researchers in comprehending the prevailing patterns and prospective avenues for research, so empowering future authors to carry out their investigations with greater efficacy. There exists a number of underexplored themes or subjects pertaining to transformational leadership matters, such as knowledge sharing, leadership styles, digital transformation, innovative work behavior, competitive advantage and digital transformation. This discovery offers useful insights into the heterogeneous nature of this area across multiple disciplines.