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Project-based organizations (PBOs) face challenges to enhance employee work engagement because of dynamic and constant role configuration. Accordingly, this study aims to explore how ethical leadership enhances employee work engagement from a sensemaking perspective.

This study used a questionnaire-based quantitative research design to collect data from 194 full-time employees in PBOs. The data were analyzed via partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique to test hypotheses.

The findings show a positive relationship between ethical leadership and work engagement. Additionally, the relationship between ethical leadership and work engagement is mediated by two sensemaking mechanisms, i.e. goal commitment and prosocial.

This study deepens the understanding of how ethical leadership enhances work engagement in PBOs by providing two sensemaking mechanisms. By exploring the sensemaking process through which ethical leaders help employees construct identity, the findings contribute to the current literature on how ethical leadership enhances work engagement in PBOs.

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the construction sector are highly vulnerable to disruptions caused by political and economic decisions or even pandemics. This study evaluated the current operations of selected SMEs providing engineering design and consultancy services against Toyota Production System (TPS) lean tool. The purpose is to juxtapose SME operations and processes with TPS to ascertain the level of their operations conformity to the established TPS lean thinking tool.

This study used a qualitative data collection and analysis approach to evaluate the current processes of participating SMEs against Liker's 14 management principles of TPS. The data collected were analysed using thematic analysis to identify patterns and themes that emerged from the qualitative data.

The analysis revealed that focus on short-term goals, immediate profit and duplication of effort resulting from insufficient collaboration is currently creating waste in participating SMEs' operations. Hence, the implementation of TPS was recommended as a lean tool and a framework based on TPS lean tool was developed for improving the operations of SMEs.

The study is limited to SMEs operating only as consultants providing project planning design within the construction industry. Data collection is limited to qualitative even though observations would improve the outcome of the study.

The study advances contemporary issues in promoting lean implementation in construction sector and developed an improved framework based on the TPS to enhance the performance of SME construction businesses.

The present study aims to evaluate the VBI strategies that have been implemented and to analyze the implementation challenges that BIMB has encountered.

A case study method was used to generate an in-depth and multi-faceted understanding of VBI strategy implementation in Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad (BIMB). A semi-structured in-depth interview was conducted with BIMB which is among of the earliest members of the VBI Community of Practitioners (CoPs). The data were transcribed and analyzed based on the content and thematic analyses.

This paper provides insights into how Islamic bank, i.e. BIMB, implement initiatives and strategies for adopting VBI based on the four underpinning principles. VBI is seen as a continuous strategy implementation of what has been practiced in BIMB, for instance, the Sadaqah House initiative introduced in 2018.

The primary limitation of the study is that it only focused on BIMB and does not represent the larger members of VBI CoPs among Islamic banks in Malaysia. A larger sample would have given more trustworthy results and could give better insights on the VBI implementation.

A good strategy implementation can be realized by generating a positive and sustainable economic, societal and environmental impact consistent with sustainable shareholder returns and long-term interests. The regulator should consider the policy implications of this study by strengthening the VBI and encouraging more Islamic and conventional banks to adopt it based on the findings.

The originality of this study is that it focuses on strategy implementation and the challenges facing Islamic bank toward VBI. It provides information on the implementation strategy of VBI in Islamic banks in Malaysia and facilitates other Islamic banking institutions, specifically future members of CoPs in creating a strong ethical foundation.

The rapid global use of Financial Technology (FinTech), an innovative and advanced technology, is leading to the replacement of traditional financial services. Despite this, consumers in the United Arab Emirates are still not accepting FinTech services as anticipated. This study aims to investigate the barriers preventing consumers from using FinTech services in the banking industry based on the technology-organisation-environment (TOE) framework and anchored by the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT).

The current study used an exploratory sequential mixed-method design. A purposive sample was used to conduct preliminary semi-structured interviews with ten banking practitioners. These interviews aimed to explore the obstacles that hinder consumers from adopting FinTech services. To provide further empirical validation, the conceptual model has been systematically examined through a quantitative cross-sectional online survey encompassing a sample of 332 bank customers.

The qualitative investigation highlighted six new barriers to the usage of FinTech based on TOE’s model attributes. Through quantitative data analysis, the preliminary qualitative findings were primarily verified. It was discovered that self-efficacy, electronic word-of-mouth, system quality and bank image substantially influence consumers to use FinTech services, in addition to performance expectancy and facilitating conditions. Meanwhile, IT features and governmental support were found to have insignificant effects. Yet, government support was found to have a positive moderating role in strengthening social influence and system quality towards customer use of FinTech. Thus, the research supports the UTAUT and TOE models’ fitness for explaining FinTech usage with high predictive relevance.

This study is the authors’ pioneering effort to propose a comprehensive research framework that integrates the UTAUT and TOE models to tackle the limited adoption of FinTech services among consumers. Moreover, the study specifically examined the moderating influence of government support to propose an integrated model. Remarkably, this study is one of the initial attempts to investigate the adoption of FinTech using a mixed-methodology approach by incorporating quantitative and qualitative methods within a single inquiry to yield more comprehensive and insightful findings than research that relies on a single method.

Housing is a fundamental need for all humans. A roof over our heads can provide safety, warmth and stability. Once we have this stability, our physical and mental health is more likely to be managed effectively. However, housing, or indeed a roof, is not something everyone has the privilege of experiencing. Housing policy across the globe is dominated by capitalistic thinking: the profit becomes the priority. Those marginalised, traumatised and stigmatised suffer the most, many having to access inadequate homeless shelters, still more sleeping on our cold streets. Current service provision favours the middle class. In these circumstances ill-health manifests, responses are often inadequate, yet some innovations develop. Housing First seeks to reach into the homeless population and provide housing to those most entrenched, while Safetynet seeks to provide health-related services to those homeless and experiencing other related problems. Both interventions understand the role peers can play in providing these services.

This study aims to explore and analyze the issues in weightages-based profit distribution mechanism in Islamic banks from Shari’ah, practical and regulatory perspectives.

A qualitative research approach was used in this study based on primary data collected through semi-structured interviews from Shari’ah practitioners and senior industry experts in the field of pool management in the Islamic Financial Services Industry of Pakistan.

The current study found that the weightages-based mechanism conforms to the rules of Mudarabah and; therefore, permissible. However, the elements of exploitation, transparency and fairness require further research, as these elements seem to exist in this mechanism. It was also found that there are many loopholes in the regulatory guidelines for pool management in Islamic banking institutions (IBIs) in Pakistan resulting in practical issues.

The findings of this study may help improve pool management in IBIs, which in turn may cater the objections raised by academicians, customers and industry experts. Moreover, the alternative solution based on the findings of this study can be transformed into a proposal for regulators to take necessary actions against unfair profit distribution and issue further improved guidelines for IBIs in Pakistan.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, very limited studies have been conducted on pool management particularly with issues from different perspectives and alternative solutions have been suggested that may act as a proposal for IBIs as well as regulatory authorities.

The postponement principle concerns defining when and where value is added, usually referring to hardware components for physical products. However, in modern supply chains, software’s importance is increasing, impacting the timing and location of value-adding operations. Lacking insights into software-driven implications for postponement, we aim at elaborating on the postponement principle by contextualizing its evolution when integrating different objects (i.e. hardware and software).

We adopted an abductive approach to elaborate on the existing knowledge with original empirical insights. A single-case study with four subcases allowed us to explore postponement dimensions in the context of a global high-tech enterprise offering products that integrate hardware and software objects. As global supply chains involve multiple jurisdictions with heterogeneous regulations, we also analyzed in depth the emerging fiscal and legal implications.

Besides where and when value is added, the study illustrates that deciding who (i.e. what legal entity) is carrying out what operation on what kind of object is highly important. Moreover, fiscal and legal implications for the various legal entities strongly depend on what operations are executed and in which jurisdiction (where). The study identifies critical interrelationships among postponement dimensions when integrating hardware and software objects, highlighting the importance of understanding and managing their reciprocity with the emerging fiscal and legal risks.

We elaborate on the postponement principle by contextualizing its applications when integrating hardware and software objects in global supply chains, which include multiple jurisdictions. By formalizing the impact of the who dimension, the study contributes to developing the interorganizational perspective for postponement. Moreover, it extends the traditional cost perspective for postponement beyond the trade-off between responsiveness and cost-efficiency, suggesting that firms applying global postponement should extend their focus to also examine fiscal and legal risks for all the legal entities involved.

Food is a key element in tourism experiences. This study aims to investigate the interplay of sensory and non-sensory factors in food tourism experiences and models their influence on satisfaction and behavioural intentions.

The study focuses on the culinary experiences of 304 tourists dining at ethnic restaurants and uses causal relationship discovery modelling to analyse data.

Sensory factors are important in tourists’ culinary experiences with cleanliness, noise levels and room temperature at the top of the causal chain. Results also indicate the interplay between sensory and non-sensory factors to explain overall satisfaction, intention to return and intention to say positive things.

Using embodied cognition theory, the study offers novel insights into the role of senses in food tourism experiences at rural destinations.

美食是乡村旅游的主要吸引物之一。本研究的目的是调查游客在用餐体验中感官和非感官因素的相互作用, 以及这些因素如何影响游客的满意度和行为意愿。

本研究使用因果关系建模的方法来分析 304 名在某地方特色餐厅用餐的游客的问卷数据。

结果显示, 对于游客的用餐体验而言, 感官和非感官因素具备同等的重要性。此外, 结果发现, 游客感知到的噪音水平、适宜的室内温度及清洁度在与其他因素的相互作用中非常重要, 并能激发游客的满意度和重游意愿。

基于认知理论, 本研究为更好地理解感官因素和非感观因素在乡村旅游情境下的游客用餐体验中的作用提供了新的知识。

La comida es un elemento clave en las experiencias turísticas. Este estudio investiga la interacción de factores sensoriales y no sensoriales en las experiencias de turismo gastronómico y modela su influencia en la satisfacción y las intenciones de comportamiento.

El estudio se centra en las experiencias culinarias de 304 turistas que cenan en restaurantes étnicos y utiliza modelos de descubrimiento de relaciones causales para analizar los datos.

Los factores sensoriales son importantes en las experiencias culinarias de los turistas con la limpieza, los niveles de ruido y la temperatura ambiente en la parte superior de la cadena causal. Los resultados también indican la interacción entre factores sensoriales y no sensoriales para explicar la satisfacción general, la intención de regresar y la intención de decir cosas positivas.

Utilizando la teoría de la cognición incorporada, el estudio ofrece nuevos conocimientos sobre el papel de los sentidos en las experiencias de turismo gastronómico en destinos rurales.

This research aims to analyze the evolution of sustainable building rating tools in the United States of America over approximately 30 years. It analyzes the shift from addressing purely environmental concerns to embracing a holistic approach that includes economic and social considerations.

By conducting a comprehensive literature review and analysis, this research systematically examines the differences among sustainable building rating tools (SBRTs). It establishes a decision-making support framework for stakeholders based on existing literature, standards and emerging trends.

Expected findings include insights into the evolution and distinctions among SBRTs. The research is expected to reveal the progression of SBRTs from purely focusing on environmental dimensions to exploring a broader scope that includes economic and social dimensions. The decision-making support framework and forward-looking perspective aim to guide stakeholders in tool selection and offer insights for future developments.

The focus of this research primarily centers on SBRTs, which originated in the United States of America, thereby excluding famous global tools such as BREEAM and CASBEE. Therefore, the research outcomes are particularly appropriate to the context of the United States of America. In addition, specific indicators within the general indicators system are not entirely independent of each other, leading to interrelationships between different indicators during the evaluation process. Moreover, in terms of data availability, the early versions of various SBRTs suffered from information gaps, potentially introducing ambiguity in the description of specific indicators, which could influence the weighting results.

This research contributes original perspectives by offering a nuanced understanding of the dynamic nature of sustainable building practices. The decision-making support framework adds practical value, assisting stakeholders in selecting diverse certification options. It also contributes to the original body of knowledge by providing insights for future developments in sustainable building practices and certifications.