During the COVID‐19 pandemic, universities worldwide are going into ‘emergency mode’—radically transforming education by switching to online and e‐learning education. In the face of these emergent changes, many academic teachers who are unwilling to use e‐learning or who lack the appropriate competences are suddenly being forced to teach via electronic devices and the Internet. But how will this COVID‐19 forced e‐learning influence academic teachers' motivation and performance? In this conceptual paper, drawing from Job Characteristics Theory—a model of human work motivation, we would like to discuss the possible changes in six motivational job characteristics of the academic teacher's job (task identity, task significance, skill variety, feedback, autonomy, social dimensions of the work) caused by COVID‐19 forced e‐learning. Our concise conceptual elaboration might spark a debate on the possible unintended consequences of COVID‐19 forced e‐learning.

Objective: The article is an attempt to make a diagnosis about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on global trends, including organizational processes in enterprises, and challenges for organization leaders in many areas. Issues such as recession phase in which the economy will find itself, de-globalization and the increase in virtualization of both the economy and entire societies are discussed in the article. Methodology: The research method is a review of the literature, not very extensive, on the subject. There is a lack of research on social and cultural consequences of Covid-19 pandemics, and at the same time we are experiencing a flood of media information. The author is aware that impact assessment is subject to uncertainty and that it must be multidimensional. Findings: The review of the literature, as well as reports from financial institutions, show that the economies of individual countries are entering a phase of stagnation and recession. This will probably lead to a global recession. The text indicates the sectors and types of enterprises that will be most affected by the changes. The article proves that governments’ attitude to health care functions may change, as well as the role of states and international financial institutions. Virtualization of communication seems to be an important change. It is difficult to answer the question whether a pandemic will affect globalization or de-globalization, government decisions at national level are significant, but they draw from international experience. Value Added: The article becomes an important voice on the impact of a pandemic on the functioning of the economy and globalization. Recommendations: A question was posed demanding further analyses: whether strengthening the central government would mean de-globalization tendencies. It seems that the virtualization of social and economic life will continue after the pandemic expires, which needs to be confirmed. The impact of the pandemic on the world should be the subject of many research studies in the future.

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) play a crucial role in societies as they enhance the sustainable development of nations. In a context of increasing competition and financial difficulties in higher education institutions, the loyalty of students, faculty and administration staff as well as institutional reputation are key factors for survival and success. They are built upon trust and high quality of services rendered by HEIs. The intentional development of trust serves the purpose of enhancing the quality culture in higher education. The concept of quality culture has become a natural successor of quality management and quality assurance in universities presenting a new perspective for viewing quality at HEIs—as a combination of structural and managerial with cultural and psychological components. This paper provides an elaboration of a novel Trust-Based Quality Culture Conceptual Model for Higher Education Institutions which presents the perceived interconnections between trust and quality culture at HEIs. It can form a source for an inquiry process at HEIs, thus contributing to better contextual diagnosis of the stage where HEI is in the process of building the quality culture based on trust. The findings of this study are important in better understanding the quality culture development in HEIs that is based on trust, loyalty and reputation. It may have an impact on the decision-making processes concerning HEIs’ management. The proposed model contributes to the need for greater clarity, ordering and systematization of the role of trust in the processes of quality culture development.

Any pandemic disorganizes the life of wider society. One of the manifestations of social activity is religious life. Despite progressing secularization, both religion, churches, and denominational associations have an impact on individual ethical choices and business decisions. This is true especially in Poland, where over 90 percent of the citizens declare affiliation with some religion, mostly Christian. The purpose of the present article is to demonstrate what activities are undertaken by churches in Poland at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, and what differences there are in their organization of religious life. In order to achieve the set goal, qualitative methods were implemented in the research. As part of the qualitative paradigm, in-depth individual interviews were used, involving individuals responsible for organizing religious life at the parish or congregation level. The interviewees were clergymen from the most important denominations, ranging from Catholic and Orthodox to broadly understood Protestant denominations. The paper contains a review of relevant literature. It presents the results and discussion of qualitative research, and it also indicates the research limitations. The study reveals that individual churches have limited (Catholic and Orthodox) or totally suspended (Protestants) their religious life in the actual community-based dimension. The decisions made by the clergymen, regardless of their personal views, resulted from the assumed ecclesiology and tradition. While changing the organization of religious life, the churches maintained contact with the believers in various ways, using modern technologies and access to public media in this regard. Although the churches are not changing their doctrinal positions, they declare different forms of cooperation.

This paper aims to propose a conceptual model that synthesizes the existing findings concerning universities as culture change agents for sustainable development. The model could serve as a guidance on how universities might get involved in the pro-SD activities. It also underlines the prerequisite of the quality culture that should be introduced within all the activities of universities to successfully act as culture change agents for SD. This paper builds upon the holistic and inter-disciplinary approach to demonstrate that SD does not happen in isolation and that the role of universities in its creation is significant. This study includes a literature review to contextualize the impact of universities on culture and their potential role in SD. The conclusions stemming from the literature review materialize in the proposal of the conceptual model of the university as the culture change agent for SD. The elaborated framework responds to the need for greater clarity, ordering and systematization of the role of universities in the processes of initiating, promoting and modelling the SD-oriented changes while appreciating the role of culture as an enabler, means of social change and a result of SD-focused interventions. The paper contributes to the body of knowledge by offering a novel perspective on the assumed interrelations between university, its quality culture, university main operations such as education, research and engagement with the society as well as the culture and the agency of stakeholders in the context of meeting the world’s current demands without compromising the needs of future generations.

The launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 revolutionized the accessibility of generative Artificial Intelligence, enabling conversational interactions. Extensively tested by millions, its influence on management has become a subject of debate. In the digital revolution, generative Artificial Intelligence possesses transformative potential, automates tasks, delivers novel goods and services, and generates valuable insights. However, challenges such as data quality, human oversight, and ethical considerations arise in the context of digital transformation. This research employs qualitative research methods to examine the current understanding of generative Artificial Intelligence and predict its influence on the knowledge management within organizations. By conducting a survey among industry experts, this paper aims to provide valuable insights into the integration of generative Artificial Intelligence and its implications for the knowledge management paradigm.