This research aims to study the role that managers’ personality traits have in the decision-making process and their relationship on the performance outcomes of Portuguese higher education institutions (HEIs), through a literature review that supports the presentation of a research model proposed by the authors. Nowadays, companies and their managers are increasingly pressured to achieve certain goals and levels of performance to ensure the financial sustainability of their institutions and to remain competitive in the markets. Sometimes these goals are somewhat ambitious and difficult to achieve, which means that decision-makers must have certain personality traits to show resistance and resilience in dealing with obstacles and strengthen their capacity to solve problems in the adversities that arise in the day to day business. This research proposal assumes that the personality traits of managers, namely extroversion, pleasantness, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and openness to experience, will have a relevant impact on decision making, which will be reflected in organizational performance. On the other hand, also the emotional adjustment, that is, the emotional states that the managers might develop, in relation to stress, anxiety, and depression, defined by personality traits, can also influence the way they deal with situations for decision making, also affecting institutional performance. In organizations, people experience a wide range of affective states, and this applies also to managers [1]. In several academic researches, personality traits have become a topic of great interest, especially when analyzing the relationships between the characteristics of managers and their behavior and attitudes in a professional environment. This research is justified concerning the perspective of personality traits and emotional states of managers and how these dynamics might have an influence on making decisions and their attitudes and, consequently, what kind of relationship can we find between this psychology perspective and organizational performance of HEIs. Regarding the methodology, the data will be obtained through the application of a questionnaire prepared by the authors, to evaluate the different dimensions of the proposed research model. The research will consist of the answers given by members of the management boards of Portuguese universities and polytechnics. In the treatment of quantitative data, the use of the structural equations model (SEM) is considered, to investigate the possible relationships between the different dimensions incorporated in the model. Concerning the discussion of results, it is intended to characterize the effects of personality traits of educational managers and their emotional adjustment in higher education institutions in Portugal, seeking to understand their role and possible relations with the financial sustainability and other performance outcomes of these institutions.

Changing trends in educational technology are one of the driving forces behind many of the new educational strategies Higher Education Institutions are introducing. These changes are frequently justified with the “digital native” nature of the current generation of students who have been surrounded by digital technology from the moment they were born and are expected to also feel comfortable to use and adopt technological tools for their learning purposes. There have been many studies trying to assess the veracity of this assumption, but we still do not have enough data to confirm or deny this willingness and aptitude or even assess if students benefit from a technologically supported approach to learning. More studies are therefore necessary, in particular in subject areas that are not so connected to the technology, like humanities, economics, and social sciences, where students cannot be expected to be so proficient in the use of those tools and therefore their technology adoption process might be dependent of other variables. This article intends to contribute to this effort by presenting a study that uses the UTAUT model to assess which variables influence the use and adoption of educational technologies’ tools by Higher Education Marketing students. The result showed that, for these students, Social Influence (or Social Factors) was the most relevant variable to determine their Behavioural Intention.

Generation Z is arriving in the workforce. Do these youngsters have the skills and traits to fit project teams? This study reviews the literature concerning project management competencies and the traits that are associated with Generation Z. To deepen the understanding of its members (Gen Zers) traits, we explore the self-awareness of their profile, strengths and weaknesses with an empirical study. We used a mixed-method approach, implementing a survey on a sample of 211 college students about to enter the labor market. Comparing our survey results with the literature, we identified differences that reveal some of the lack of awareness of Gen Zers about their traits. Further analysis also revealed a significant correlation between the most highlighted Generation Z traits and essential project management soft skills, pointing to Generation Z as a promissory asset in the project management field. However, other essential project management (PM) soft skills were not grounded in personality traits. Our findings, namely the lack of awareness and association results, suggest the need for further research on educational approaches and re-thinking and targeting education and training policies that could strengthen Generation Z soft skills. Our results also suggest reflections about whether the Gen Zers traits fit the PM competencies sought by organizations.

Companies need to develop more sustainable management models to support a strategy focused on the environment and society, preventing the sole ambition to maximize economic profits. Several specific tools and frameworks have been developed for the implementation of sustainability management. However, the isolated adoption of new management practices could increase bureaucracy and constrain the development of an effective and systematic sustainability strategy. Based on the development of four case studies of relevant companies based in Portugal, this research presents a cyclical process with the structures, inputs and outputs, and roles in embodying sustainability in Integrated Management Systems (IMS). The originality of the work lies in the level of integration. Beyond identifying interconnection areas, it also specifies the Management Systems Standards (MSS) requirements in each area, assigning different roles in the integration process: drivers, efficient enablers, pathways, and evaluators. These four roles promote the claimed integration in a systematic cyclical process, plan–do–check–act (PDCA), to assist the consolidation of sustainability management. This research reinforces the added value of the IMS. It expands its scope, helping companies implement sustainability effectively and systematically, resulting in the presentation of Conceptual Sustainable Management Systems Standards (SMSS).

We examine the factors that influence nonfinancial firms’ choice of issuing standard corporate bonds vis-à-vis contracting structured finance, in the form of project finance or asset securitization arrangements. Using a data set of deals closed by 4,700 European borrowers between 2000 and 2016, we find that informational frictions and issuance costs affect public firms’ borrowing source choices. Findings suggest that borrowers choose structured finance when they are relatively smaller, less profitable, have lower asset tangibility, and seek long-term financing. Our findings also document that borrowers resorting to asset securitization tend to have larger growth opportunity sets. Borrowers resorting to project finance are less creditworthy than corporate bond issuers and, on average, asset securitization deals have an 87.6 basis points borrowing cost advantage over corporate bond deals for switchers.