Given the competitiveness of twenty-first-century airport landscape, catalyzed by airports’ evolution toward multi-service, and market-driven firms, a thorough investigation into employees’ creativity and its antecedents at the airport environment is warranted. Adopting the two-dimensional job demand stressors – outcome relationships framework and the cognitive-relational theory of stress, the current study interrogated the challenge (i.e. workload and time pressure)/ hindrance (i.e. role conflict and role ambiguity) stressors – creativity curvilinear relationships, and the buffering effects of within-person resources – dispositional mindfulness, and core self-evaluation. Using multi-sourced, cross-sectional data from employees in three airports in Ghana, the research findings showed creativity to have a U-shaped relationship with role ambiguity and role conflict, but with time pressure the relationship was an inverted U-shape. Employees’ workload showed a near-linear relationship with creativity, flattening at high levels of workload. Core self-evaluation displayed itself as an effective buffering component on role ambiguity – and time pressure – creativity relations but not role conflict and workload. Dispositional mindfulness interacted with role ambiguity, role conflict and time pressure – creativity relations, but not workload. To optimize employees’ creative performance, the study findings make a strong case for attending to individual-level factors necessary for stressors management. Further implications and recommendations are discussed.

Airports are rapidly deploying self-service technologies (SSTs) as a strategy to improve passenger experience by eliminating operational inefficiencies. This places some responsibility on the passengers to shape their experience. As service coproducers, passengers’ self-concepts and attributional tendencies are deemed instrumental in their consumption processes. Accordingly, drawing on the tenets of attribution theory, this study explores the interaction effects of passenger self-concept (am I competent at this?) and causal inference (who is responsible for SSTs’ performance?) on SST performance and satisfaction with airport SST link. Additionally, the probable spillover effect of passenger satisfaction with SST performance on satisfaction with airport and on electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) is examined. The sample for the study consisted of 547 passengers departing from an airport in Shanghai, China. Structural equation modeling was utilized to test the study’s theoretical model. The findings indicate that airport SSTs’ performance influences passenger satisfaction with airport SSTs. The multiplicative effect of passenger self-concept (am I competent at this?) in the moderating role of passenger causal inference (who is responsible for SSTs’ performance?) in SST performance and satisfaction with SST link is demonstrated. Furthermore, the spillover effect of satisfaction with SST performance on satisfaction with airport and on electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) is illustrated. Given the current need for contactlessness, the findings proffer critical managerial and research insights.

Statistical information is critical for both government and the general public for monitoring, evaluation, and implementation of employment policies and programmes. This paper revisits the labour market trends between 2012 and 2016 and discusses the importance of job search methods for labour market entry in Ghana. We explored job search methods (Formal and Informal Methods) used by 235 participants from seven regions of Ghana. Results revealed that many of the participants highly relied on informal job search methods to secure jobs across all demographic variables. This has been the case in Ghana when unemployment continues to increase leading to a difficult labour market entry. Our findings, therefore, suggest that in such a restricted labour market, employment success is likely to be determined by ‘whom you know’. The results offer practical recommendations for private and public employment consultancies, as well as policymakers to institute impactful intervention programmes for job seekers on the efficient ways of developing and sustaining meaningful social capital/networks to enhance their chances of finding employment.

International students in China were among the first group of individuals to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the pandemic’s impact on their mental health is underexplored. This study—utilizing web-based survey data (N = 381), presents preliminary reports using ANOVA and MIMIC analytic approaches. Following the clinical demarcation of the 21-item version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), we found 24.6%, 38.3%, and 43.6% of the students to suffer mild to extreme stress, anxiety, and depression, respectively. Female students reported significantly higher levels of stress and depression than males. Older students’ reports of stress were more substantial than younger students. Students who reported having a relative infected with the virus (vs. those without) experienced significantly higher anxiety and stress. Those who reported having pre-existing chronic health condition(s) (vs. those without) also reported significantly higher stress, anxiety, and depression levels. Moreover, students with an exercise routine (vs. those without) experienced significantly lower levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. Last, our MIMIC model results indicate that foreign students’ age, gender, chronic health status, and having a relative infected with the virus constitute significant risk factors explaining variations in foreign students’ experience of psychological distress. Implications for international students’ management have been thoroughly discussed.