http://hdl.handle.net/10498/6817 2026-11-04T22:57:47Z http://hdl.handle.net/10498/40307 Internal communication and employee happiness: exploring engagement and gender differences in the workplace Martínez-Arvizu, Orlando Josue; Tobar-Pesantez, Luis-Bayardo; Salazar-Altamirano, Mario Alberto; Ravina Ripoll, Rafael ABSTRACT This study analyses the relationships among perceived internal communication effectiveness, work engagement, and happiness at work, incorporating gender through a multigroup structural model. A quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional design was used with 375 economically active employees from Mexico, Spain, Colombia, Ecuador, and the United States. Covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM) was conducted in Jamovi, including confirmatory factor analysis, mediation testing, measurement invariance, and multigroup analysis. Results show that perceived internal communication effectiveness is positively and significantly associated with both work engagement and happiness at work, while work engagement is positively associated with happiness at work. The significant indirect association through work engagement, together with the significant direct association, is consistent with a partial-mediation pattern under model-based inference. Although some subgroup-specific effects were significant only among men, formal coefficient comparisons showed no statistically significant differences between women and men; therefore, these gender patterns are descriptive rather than evidence of structural moderation. The findings extend the Job Demands– Resources perspective by positioning perceived internal communication effectiveness as a relevant communicational resource associated with employee motivation and well-being, highlighting the value of inclusive and flexible communication strategies in digitally mediated workplaces 2026-09-29T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10498/40306 Transparency, trust and happiness in chatbot adoption: a multigender analysis from the digital service innovation perspective Salazar-Altamirano, Mario Alberto; Martínez-Arvizu, Orlando Josue; Galiano Coronil, Araceli; Ravina Ripoll, Rafael Purpose This study examines how technological transparency influences trust, happiness and the intention to use chatbots in digital service environments, integrating perspectives from digital service innovation (DSI) and service-dominant logic (SDL). It additionally analyses gender-based differences to understand perceptual heterogeneity in digital value co-creation processes within emerging economies. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted using a structured online questionnaire administered to users of digital services in the banking, e-commerce and telecommunications sectors. Data were analysed through covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM) and multigroup analysis (MGA) to assess direct, indirect and gender-differentiated relationships among transparency, trust, happiness and behavioural intention. Findings Transparency was positively associated with trust and happiness, and the two prespecified specific indirect effects linking transparency with usage intention were statistically significant. Because the direct transparency–intention path was non-significant, the full-sample pattern is consistent with indirect-only mediation. Coefficients varied numerically between women and men; however, no formal between-group path-comparison test was conducted, so these variations are interpreted descriptively rather than as confirmed gender effects. Research limitations/implications Convenience sampling, self-reported cross-sectional data and the absence of formal structural-path comparisons limit generalisability and causal or gender-moderation claims. The model also omits established utilitarian predictors from TAM and UTAUT; future research should test whether transparency, trust and happiness add explanatory value beyond perceived usefulness, ease of use, performance expectancy and effort expectancy. Practical implications Organisations should apply Happiness Management and happiness-centred AI design to create transparent, trustworthy and emotionally sustainable chatbot services. Explanations should be concise and layered, with additional detail available on demand, so that transparency supports informed use without creating cognitive fatigue. Personalisation should be guided by monitored user needs rather than assumed gender differences. Social implications The findings highlight transparency as a key support for digital justice and inclusion, particularly in emerging economies where building emotional and cognitive trust is crucial for equitable and sustainable digital transformation. Originality/value The study develops an integrative DSI–SDL account in which transparency functions as a relational resource and happiness represents an affective component of digital value co-creation. Evidence from an emerging economy shows that chatbot adoption involves cognitive-relational and affective mechanisms beyond purely utilitarian evaluations, while gender-group patterns are treated cautiously as descriptive evidence. 2026-09-30T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10498/40255 Which came first: the chicken or the egg? Analysing the bidirectionality of non-academic collaborations and scientific teams productivity Frutos Belizón, Jesús de; García Carbonell, Natalia Collaboration between universities and non-academic organisations plays a vital role in addressing current societal demands. This study explored how such partnerships influence the productivity of traditional academic research by focusing on public universities and scientific teams. It examined the bidirectionality between scientific output and non-academic collaboration and the moderating effect of team knowledge diversity. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis on a sample of 277 Spanish scientific teams confirmed the bidirectional link between research productivity and non-academic collaborations—represented by an inverted U-shaped curve—and revealed a surprising negative moderating effect of team knowledge diversity. These results offer valuable insights for networks and research team management, particularly in balancing research productivity and academic engagement with society through non-academic collaborations. 2026-01-22T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10498/40197 Beyond efficiency: epistemic well-being at work under algorithmic governance. Salazar-Altamirano, Mario Alberto; Ravina Ripoll, Rafael Workplace well-being research has generated extensive evidence on subjective experience and on organisational antecedents, such as leadership, climate, justice, and work design. Yet, these conditions are usually theorised as predictors of affective, evaluative, or functioning outcomes rather than as constitutive arrangements that determine whether workers can exercise professional judgement with practical consequence. In parallel, debates on artificial intelligence (AI) often frame intelligent technologies as instruments of efficiency, optimisation, or control. Focusing on systems whose outputs enter consequential organisational evaluation and decision-making (including algorithmic management, predictive analytics, automated decision- making, decision-support systems, workplace surveillance, and generative AI) this article asks whether organisational arrangements preserve or erode the capacity for judgement, contestation, and epistemic responsibility. It introduces Epistemic Well-being at Work (EWW) as an organisational condition in which individuals and collectives can exercise responsible judgement within socio-technical structures of authority. Drawing on the view of intelligent technologies as emergent epistemic regimes, this paper develops the Human Sustainability and Epistemic Well-being Framework (HSEW-F), linking AI-mediated governance, human dignity at work, and sustainable organisational well-being. The contribution is conceptual: it extends, rather than displaces, established well-being approaches by making the effective exercise of epistemic agency visible as a structural condition of human sustainability. 2026-09-05T00:00:00Z