scholarly journals Key competencies for critical infrastructure cyber-security: a systematic literature review

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nabin Chowdhury ◽  
Vasileios Gkioulos

Purpose The purpose of this paper can be encapsulated in the following points: identify the research papers published on the topic: competencies and skills necessary for critical infrastructure (CI) cyber-security (CS) protection; determine main focus areas within the identified literature and evaluate the dependency or lack thereof between them: make recommendations for future research. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on a systematic literature review conducted to identify scientific papers discussing and evaluating competencies, skills and essential attributes needed by the CI workforce for CS and preparedness to attacks and incidents. Findings After a comparative analysis of the articles reviewed in this study, a variety of skills and competencies was found to be necessary for CS assurance in CIs. These skills have been grouped into four categories, namely, technical, managerial, implementation and soft skills. Nonetheless, there is still a lack of agreement on which skills are the most critical and further research should be conducted on the relation between specific soft skills and CS assurance. Research limitations/implications Investigation of which skills are required by industry for specific CS roles, by conducting interviews and sending questionnaire\surveys, would allow consolidating whether literature and industry requirements are equivalent. Practical implications Findings from this literature review suggest that more effort should be taken to conciliate current CS curricula in academia with the skills and competencies required for CS roles in the industry. Originality/value This study provides a previously lacking current mapping and review of literature discussing skills and competencies evidenced as critical for CS assurance for CI. The findings of this research are useful for the development of comprehensive solutions for CS awareness and training.

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhijeet Ghadge ◽  
Maximilian Weiß ◽  
Nigel D. Caldwell ◽  
Richard Wilding

Purpose In spite of growing research interest in cyber security, inter-firm based cyber risk studies are rare. Therefore, this study aims to investigate cyber risk management in supply chain contexts. Design/methodology/approach Adapting a systematic literature review process, papers from interdisciplinary areas published between 1990 and 2017 were selected. Different typologies, developed for conducting descriptive and thematic analysis, were established using data mining techniques to conduct a comprehensive, replicable and transparent review. Findings The review identifies multiple future research directions for cyber security/resilience in supply chains. A conceptual model is developed, which indicates a strong link between information technology, organisational and supply chain security systems. The human/behavioural elements within cyber security risk are found to be critical; however, behavioural risks have attracted less attention because of a perceived bias towards technical (data, application and network) risks. There is a need for raising risk awareness, standardised policies, collaborative strategies and empirical models for creating supply chain cyber-resilience. Research limitations/implications Different types of cyber risks and their points of penetration, propagation levels, consequences and mitigation measures are identified. The conceptual model developed in this study drives an agenda for future research on supply chain cyber security/resilience. Practical implications A multi-perspective, systematic study provides a holistic guide for practitioners in understanding cyber-physical systems. The cyber risk challenges and the mitigation strategies identified support supply chain managers in making informed decisions. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first systematic literature review on managing cyber risks in supply chains. The review defines supply chain cyber risk and develops a conceptual model for supply chain cyber security systems and an agenda for future studies.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumita Mishra ◽  
Malabika Sahoo

Purpose This paper aims to synthesize existing knowledge on trainee motivation to transfer (MTT) soft skills training through a systematic literature review (SLR). Design/methodology/approach By applying a rigorous reproducible process, this SLR identified a total of 33 peer-reviewed articles on MTT in soft skills training. Findings The systematic review offers several important findings. First, research on MTT has accelerated in the recent past with studies conducted in varied geographic contexts. Second, MTT has been operationalized and measured as an antecedent and mediator of training transfer as well as an outcome itself is sampled papers. Third, MTT is recognized as critical in facilitating the transfer of soft skills. Finally, an investigation of empirical studies helped locate gaps in research methodologies, measurement of MTT and finally its predictors. Research limitations/implications The study is limited by the search string and its choice of peer-reviewed articles published in the English language only. Originality/value In the absence of systematic reviews on MTT in the context of soft skill, the study contributes immensely by providing an updated, cogent summarization of extant work and potential directions for future research/practice.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Jedynak ◽  
Wojciech Czakon ◽  
Aneta Kuźniarska ◽  
Karolina Mania

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the development of the digital transformation literature and to the systematic literature review methodology.Design/methodology/approachThe authors run a systematic literature review, followed by a rigorous thematic analysis of both academic and grey literature dataset, in order to develop a conceptual map of organizations' digital transformation. The authors aggregate the concepts and topics identified across the literature to find that they overwhelmingly tackle digital business models. At the same time, the authors identify a major blind spot resulting from ignoring the organization itself as a unit of analysis.FindingsThe findings show that developing a digital theory of the organization or the theory of digitally transformed organization is a major challenge to management researchers. The analysis exposed numerous research gaps that can be helpful for future research directions.Originality/valueDigital transformation research enjoys an increasingly rapid rise to recognition across many academic disciplines and strongly impacts the management domain. adopt the view that published documents reflect the collective understanding of a phenomenon. This paper contributes to filtering the digital transformation literature, clarify complex relation between digital transformations of organizations and identify the key blind points.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Oppi ◽  
Cristina Campanale ◽  
Lino Cinquini

PurposeThis paper presents a systematic literature review aiming at analysing how research has addressed performance measurement systems’ (PMSs) ambiguities in the public sector. This paper embraces the ambiguity perspective that PMSs in public sector coexist with and cope with existing ambiguities.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a literature review in Scopus and ScienceDirect, considering articles published since 1985, and the authors selected articles published in the journals included in the Association of Business Schools' Academic Journal Guide (Chartered ABS, 2018). Of the 1,278 abstracts that matched the study’s search criteria, the authors selected 131 articles for full reading and 37 articles for the final discussion.FindingsThe study's key findings concern the elements of ambiguity in PMSs discussed in the literature. The study’s results suggest that ambiguity is still a relevant problem in performance measurement, as a problem that is impossible to be solved and therefore needs to be better understood by researchers and public managers. The analysis allows us to summarize the antecedents and consequences of ambiguity in the public sector.Research limitations/implicationsThe key findings of the study concern the main sources of ambiguity in PMSs discussed in the literature, their antecedents and their consequences. The study results suggest that ambiguity exists in performance measurement and that is an issue to be handled with various strategies that can be implemented by managers and employees.Practical implicationsManagers and researchers may benefit from this research as it may represent a guideline to understand ambiguities in their organizations or in field research. Researchers may also benefit from a summary list of the key issues that have been analysed in the empirical cases provided by this research. Social implicationsThis research may provide insights to limit ambiguity and thus contribute to improve performance measurement in the public sector.Originality/valueThis research presents a comprehensive review on the topic. It provides insight that suggests what future research should attend to in helping to interpret ambiguity, considering also what should be done to influence ambiguity.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajesh Kumar Singh ◽  
Saurabh Agrawal ◽  
Abhishek Sahu ◽  
Yigit Kazancoglu

PurposeThe proposed article is aimed at exploring the opportunities, challenges and possible outcomes of incorporating big data analytics (BDA) into health-care sector. The purpose of this study is to find the research gaps in the literature and to investigate the scope of incorporating new strategies in the health-care sector for increasing the efficiency of the system.Design/methodology/approachFora state-of-the-art literature review, a systematic literature review has been carried out to find out research gaps in the field of healthcare using big data (BD) applications. A detailed research methodology including material collection, descriptive analysis and categorization is utilized to carry out the literature review.FindingsBD analysis is rapidly being adopted in health-care sector for utilizing precious information available in terms of BD. However, it puts forth certain challenges that need to be focused upon. The article identifies and explains the challenges thoroughly.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed study will provide useful guidance to the health-care sector professionals for managing health-care system. It will help academicians and physicians for evaluating, improving and benchmarking the health-care strategies through BDA in the health-care sector. One of the limitations of the study is that it is based on literature review and more in-depth studies may be carried out for the generalization of results.Originality/valueThere are certain effective tools available in the market today that are currently being used by both small and large businesses and corporations. One of them is BD, which may be very useful for health-care sector. A comprehensive literature review is carried out for research papers published between 1974 and 2021.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamrul Ahsan ◽  
Shams Rahman

PurposeThis study conducts a systematic literature review of e-tail product returns research. E-tail product returns are essentially acquisition of products that have been sold through purely online or brick-and-click channels and then returned by consumer to business.Design/methodology/approachUsing a systematic literature review protocol, we identified 75 peer-reviewed articles on e-tail product returns, conducted bibliometric analysis and content analysis of the articles and summarised our findings.FindingsThe findings reveal that the subject of e-tail returns is a new research area; academics have started to investigate several aspects of e-tail returns through different research methodologies and theoretical foundations. Further research is required in leading e-commerce countries and on key areas such as omni-channel returns management, customer satisfaction and service, the impact of resources such as people skills, the benefits of technology and IT systems in managing e-tail returns.Practical implicationsThe study offers a summative account of current e-tail knowledge areas, which can serve as a reference guide for e-tailers to develop strategies for more efficient and competitive product returns.Originality/valueThis study contributes theoretically by developing clusters of key themes or knowledge areas about e-tail returns. It also provides a conceptual framework for e-tail returns management, which can be used as a springboard for further empirical research.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahriar Akter ◽  
Md Afnan Hossain ◽  
Qiang (Steven) Lu ◽  
S.M. Riad Shams

PurposeBig data is one of the most demanding topics in contemporary marketing research. Despite its importance, the big data-based strategic orientation in international marketing is yet to be formed conceptually. Thus, the purpose of this study is to systematically review and propose a holistic framework on big data-based strategic orientation for firms in international markets to attain a sustained firm performance.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed a systematic literature review to synthesize research rigorously. Initially, 2,242 articles were identified from the selective databases, and 45 papers were finally reported as most relevant to propose an integrative conceptual framework.FindingsThe findings of the systematic literature review revealed data-evolving, and data-driven strategic orientations are essential for performing international marketing activities that contain three primary orientations such as (1) international digital platform orientation, (2) international market orientation and (3) international innovation and entrepreneurial orientation. Eleven distinct sub-dimensions reflect these three primary orientations. These strategic orientations of international firms may lead to advanced analytics orientation to attain sustained firm performance by generating and capturing value from the marketplace.Research limitations/implicationsThe study minimizes the literature gap by forming knowledge on big data-based strategic orientation and framing a multidimensional framework for guiding managers in the context of strategic orientation for international business and international marketing activities. The current study was conducted by following only a systematic literature review exclusively in firms' overall big data-based strategic orientation concept in international marketing. Future research may extend the domain by introducing firms' category wise systematic literature review.Originality/valueThe study has proposed a holistic conceptual framework for big data-driven strategic orientation in international marketing literature through a systematic review for the first time. It has also illuminated a future research agenda that raises questions for the scholars to develop or extend theory in this area or other related disciplines.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiju Antony ◽  
Bart A. Lameijer ◽  
Hans P. Borgman ◽  
Kevin Linderman

Purpose Although scholars have considered the success factors of process improvement (PI) projects, limited research has considered the factors that influence failure. The purpose of this paper is to extend the understanding of PI project failure by systematically reviewing the research on generic project failure, and developing research propositions and future research directions specifically for PI projects. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review protocol resulted in a total of 97 research papers that are reviewed for contributions on project failure. Findings An inductive category formation process resulted in three categories of findings. The first category are the causes for project failure, the second category is about relatedness between failure factors and the third category is on failure mitigation strategies. For each category, propositions for future research on PI projects specifically are developed. Additional future research directions proposed lay in better understanding PI project failure as it unfolds (i.e. process studies vs cross-sectional), understanding PI project failure from a theoretical perspective and better understanding of PI project failure antecedents. Originality/value This paper takes a multi-disciplinary and project type approach, synthesizes the existing knowledge and reflects upon the developments in the field of research. Propositions and a framework for future research on PI project failure are presented.


2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-137
Author(s):  
Tsvetanka Georgieva-Trifonova ◽  
Kaloyan Zdravkov ◽  
Donika Valcheva

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to summarize the current state of the existing research on the application of semantic technologies in bibliographic databases by providing answers to a set of research questions resulting from a systematic literature review. Design/methodology/approach The present study consists of conducting a systematic literature review of research works related to the application of semantic technologies in bibliographic databases. A manual keyword search is performed in known academic databases. As a result, a total of 78 literature sources are identified as related to the topic and included in the review. From the selected literature sources, information is extracted, which is then summarized and analyzed according to previously defined research questions and finally reported. Besides, a framework is defined to classify literature sources found and collected as a result of the study. The main criteria, according to which the classification is performed, are the used semantic technology and the research problem for which semantic technologies are applied in bibliographic databases. The classification of the publications is verified by each author independently of others. Findings The conducted systematic scientific review establishes that the evolution of semantic technologies sets a period of increased interest in the researchers, as a result of which the advantages of using them for bibliographic descriptions are examined and practically confirmed. After defining semantic models for bibliographic descriptions and approaches to transform existing bibliographic data into their correspondence, the research interest is directed at their comparison, collation; enrichment to facilitate search and retrieval of useful information. Possible perspectives for future research are outlined, which mainly relate to the complete use of the created data sets and their transformation into knowledge repositories. Originality/value Despite the increasing importance of the semantic technologies in various areas, including the bibliographic databases, there is a lack of comprehensive literature review and classification of literature sources relevant to this topic. The detailed study proposed in the present paper supports introducing with the existing experience in the application of semantic technologies in bibliographic databases, as well as facilitates the discovery of trends and guidelines for future research.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nirma Sadamali Jayawardena

PurposeThe present study is a systematic review that identifies future research avenues on culture and discipline in secondary schools in a cross-cultural context.Design/methodology/approachThe literature, as published in top management, education and psychology journals, was reviewed around culture and discipline in secondary schools. This systematic literature review (SLR) used several preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and categorised the studies published during the period 2014–2020.FindingsThe author identified six major themes: (1) punishment, (2) restorative practices (RPs), (3) racial disparities, (4) competitiveness, (5) school climate and (6) secondary school student discipline in a cross-cultural context. Further, the author suggested several future research avenues under these emerging themes.Research limitations/implicationsThe scope of this study is limited to culture and discipline in a secondary school context. The findings provide a solid foundation for researchers in the areas of culture and discipline in secondary schools.Originality/valueTo the best of the author's knowledge, this study can be considered as the first SLR conducted using PRISMA guidelines to identify several under-researched areas in the field of culture and discipline in secondary schools in a cross-cultural context. The study provides several future research insights.


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