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This paper aims to shed light on how the composition of future blended learning (BL) courses can be changed to provide students with quality academic learning experiences. The model suggested in this study will guide instructors on how to design their course learning outcomes to ensure effective delivery.

The new model has been developed by combining Bloom's taxonomy and Carman's model. Later, a new framework entitled “PATHCO” based on an extensive literature review is applied to enhance the quality of all five components of Carman's model.

The PATHCO conceptual framework has been developed to ensure quality in the five main teaching and learning factors. This framework covers criteria like pedagogical, assessments, technical, health care and organizational. Further research is required to broaden the main elements of the suggested framework and to validate this research through a case study.

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the landscape of the education sector by encouraging an extensive acceptance of technology-enhanced learning and teaching. Blended learning (BL) has become the most appropriate medium to deliver online learning (OL). However, educators and students have reported dissatisfaction with the BL mode of delivery. To address this dissatisfaction, this study outlines, using the PATHCO model, all the essential building blocks which are required to find the right blend of both face-to-face and online components.

This paper aims to examine the skills expected by employers and the skills demonstrated by accounting graduates with data from 160 employers of accounting graduates in Ghana. From the perspective of employers, the authors compare the expected skills to the skills demonstrated by accounting graduates and identify any significant gaps.

One-way analysis of variance, T-tests and factor analysis are used to test significant gaps that exist between expected and demonstrated skills by employers and accounting graduates using survey questionnaires and purposive sampling.

The results reveal that there are significant gaps between the expected skills of employers and the demonstrated skills of accounting graduates. The authors find generic skills to be more expected by employers, while technical skills are demonstrated most by accounting graduates. The top five skills expected by employers are: business ethics and integrity; problem solving and decision analysis; written communication skills; learning skills; and application of accounting principles.

The study focuses only on organizations that use fresh accounting graduates in Ghana. Further studies may consider other business-related fields like finance, human resource management and marketing.

The study provides insights on standards that serve as benchmarks for the conduct of accounting graduates as well as the development of accounting curriculum in Ghana. Accounting education should incorporate work-integrated learning as part of their curriculum to enable accounting graduates to solve problems and make decisions through a practical application of accounting principles, standards and concepts, especially in conducting audit and writing reports.

This study fills the gap in the literature on accounting education from employers’ perspectives in a developing country. It conducts a comparative analysis between the most important skills required by employers and the ones demonstrated by accounting graduates to provide insights on standards that should serve as benchmarks for the development of the accounting curriculum from an emerging economy perspective.

This paper aims to explore the relationship between owner-manager or leader’s ambidextrous leadership style and its effect on human resource management (HRM) practices, contextual ambidexterity and knowledge-intensive small- and medium-enterprises (SMEs) strategic agility.

This study presents an in-depth qualitative case study analysis of two knowledge-intensive SMEs from India’s information technology and health-care products industry serving a range of global clients. Using the theoretical lenses of empowerment-focused HRM practices, ambidextrous leaders, contextual ambidexterity and strategic agility, semi-structured interview data of leaders, managers and employees of the case organizations were analysed. Through a two-staged analytical process, we abductively developed a novel conceptual framework at the intersection of the above theoretical lenses.

The findings suggest that the knowledge-intensive SME’s strategic agility, ambidexterity and empowerment-focussed HRM approach was influenced by the owner-manager or leader’s ambidextrous leadership style and their philosophy towards managing people and had a positive impact in creating a culture of trust, participation, risk-taking and openness, and led to delivering innovative products and services as well as several positive employee-level outcomes.

Recent literature reviews on HRM In SMEs highlight several gaps, including the impact of owner-manager or leader’s philosophy of managing people in shaping HRM practices and employee outcomes. This paper thus adds to the existing literature on HRM and knowledge-intensive SMEs.

This research investigates Hong Kong academic librarians' attitudes toward robotic process automation (RPA) and their willingness to learn this technology.

This qualitative study collected data through one-on-one semi-structured interviews conducted with video conferencing software. After participants received basic RPA information and three existing library application cases, they answered questions based on the interview guide. This research used the inductive thematic analysis method to analyze the collected data.

Regarding Hong Kong academic librarians' attitudes towards RPA, 19 themes were identified. Although all participants did not have previous knowledge of RPA, most showed positive attitudes toward implementing RPA in their libraries and some willingness to learn it. Besides, among all identified themes, negative attitudes mainly comprised “Affect” and “Cognition” factors, hindering RPA deployment in academic libraries.

This research helps librarians and RPA vendors make better decisions or strategies for implementing RPA for libraries, which has not been explored, especially in East Asia.

This study aims to investigate the factors associated with the intention to use information technology in audit (ITIA) in Iraq.

The study uses a quantitative approach based on a questionnaire survey of 186 respondents. The study population includes respondents who are board members, senior executives, internal auditors and information technology (IT) assistants in various Iraqi organizations from different sectors. Structural equation modeling has been used to estimate the results.

The findings exhibit that most auditors in Iraq use basic IT software. However, among several specialized and advanced IT audit software packages, only generalized audit software is used by about 20%. The results also indicate that social factors significantly and positively impact auditors’ and practitioners’ perceptions of ITIA use. Moreover, the results reveal that companies and auditors who use or audit complex accounting systems perceive higher benefits and intent to adopt ITIA. However, the results report that organizational support, professional support, competency and IT education have an insignificant effect on ITIA adoption.

The originality of the present research lies in several aspects. First, the research study focuses specifically on Iraq, which is an emerging and less developed country influenced by social and economic. This research context provides a unique perspective and contributes to the understanding of ITIA adoption in less developed countries. The study investigates how external factors, including social and external pressure and the support of government professional bodies, affect the adoption of ITIA. Further, it assesses the influence of firms’ specific factors such as management support, level of competency and complexity of accounting information systems. Second, the study uses a quantitative approach with a questionnaire survey from various Iraqi organizations and sectors. The specific sample composition adds originality by capturing insights from different levels of organizational hierarchy and diverse professional backgrounds. Third, the findings shed light on the current IT usage in auditing practices in Iraq, highlighting that most auditors use basic IT software and the limited adoption of specialized IT audit software packages. Finally, the study’s originality is also reflected in its contribution to expanding knowledge on the perceived benefits and challenges associated with ITIA adoption in less developed countries. By emphasizing the need for broader awareness of emerging technology-enabled auditing software and considering the unique characteristics of less developed countries, the research provides valuable insights and implications for practitioners, policymakers and researchers.

This study aims to construct a mental health service system for middle school students in the post-COVID-19 era with the framework of Six Sigma DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve and control) and analyze the influencing factors of the mental health service system to study the implementation strategies of quality-oriented mental health services in middle schools.

This study was conducted in Tianjin, China, from September to November 2022, and 350 middle school students from Tianjin Public Middle School were selected as subjects. A questionnaire survey was used to collect data. In this study, the Six Sigma DMAIC method, sensitivity analysis method, exploratory factor analysis and principal component analysis were used to analyze the mental health services provided to middle school students.

Based on the Six Sigma DMAIC framework, this study indicates that the contribution rate of the mental health service process factor is the largest in the post-COVID-19 era. The mental health cultivation factor ranks second in terms of its contribution. Mental health quality and policy factors are also important in the construction of middle school students’ mental health service system. In addition, the study highlights the importance of parental involvement and social support in student mental health services during the post-COVID-19 era.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, a study on middle school students’ mental health in the post-Covid-19 era has not yet been conducted. This study developed a quality-oriented mental health system and analyzed the influencing factors of mental health for middle school students based on data analysis and the Six Sigma DMAIC method.

The aim of this study is to discern the role of digital finance in driving rural industrial integration and revitalization. Specifically, it intends to shed light on how the deep development of digital finance can contribute to the optimization and transformation of the rural industrial structure. The research further explores the particular effects of this financial transformation in the central and western regions of China.

This research studies the influence of digital finance on rural industrial integration across 30 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2020. Utilizing the entropy weight method, a comprehensive evaluation index system is established to gauge the level of rural industrial integration. A two-way fixed effects model, intermediary effect model, and threshold effect model are employed to decipher the relationship between digital finance and rural industrial integration.

Findings reveal a positive relationship between digital finance and rural industrial integration. A single threshold feature was identified: beyond a traditional finance development level, the marginal effect of digital finance on rural industrial integration increases. These effects are more noticeable in central and western regions.

Empirical outcomes contribute to policy discourse on rural digital finance, assisting policymakers in crafting effective strategies. Understanding the threshold of traditional finance development provides a new perspective on the potential of digital finance to drive rural industrial integration.

This study aims to examine core professional competencies required by organizational learning (OL) field, using the main knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) theoretical framework for job candidates in Israel.

An analysis was conducted on 100 job postings from two online platforms using content analysis techniques. The job offers were evaluated according to criteria established by prior research conducted in the USA.

The findings indicate that job announcements appear for three main professions in the field of learning in organizations in Israel: learning designer, learning developer and instructional designer. Most of the offers are for full-time jobs, without requiring a relevant academic degree or previous experience. In comparison to the US employment market, in Israel the demand for OL professionals necessitates communication abilities in English, macro development skills, knowing how to manage professional training and mastery of learning through innovative technology such as augmented reality/virtual reality. The findings also indicated which competencies are most recently required in the OL branch in Israel and the significant differences in KSA necessary for OL professionals in each of the three identified professions.

The study highlighted critical elements of the OL professional field and has implications for OL professionals seeking employment and human resources (HR) recruiters seeking them. Job seekers need to know the current job market requirements in the OL field, and HR recruiters need to know what is happening in the current job market. This can be done by following updated job offers in the OL field and responding quickly to changes. The findings also have implications for the educational/academic aspect of the OL teachers in various settings and inform them to refine the content of their syllabus and course content in accordance with the current requirements of the job market in the field of OL.

The study is based on the KSA theoretical framework and analysis of the OL US job market according to Wang et al.’s (2021) work. This study presents the Israel OL job market and discuss the authors’ critical view on Wang et al.’s work.

This study aims to reveal the impact of e-learning on accounting education amid COVID-19 in Jordanian universities from the viewpoint of faculty members.

The questionnaire is used as a study instrument distributed to faculty members at the Accounting Departments of the Jordanian public and private universities. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Google Forms has been used to distribute 117 questionnaires that have been analyzed via the partial least squares-smart program.

The results show a negative impact of learning difficulties on accounting education, a negative impact on the personal skills of faculty members on the digitization of accounting education, no impact on the personal skills of faculty members, a positive impact on training courses, the use of technology on accounting education and the digitization of accounting education, as well as a positive impact on the skills of faculty members on the digitization of accounting education.

These results are significant in determining the adequacy of online learning for accounting education at the Accounting Departments of Jordanian public and private universities from the viewpoint of faculty members amid COVID-19.

This study highlights the impact of the e-learning system imposed amid COVID-19 on accounting education, teaching efficiency and the future of accounting education.

Enterprise social networks (ESN) that enable faster communications and knowledge sharing at work are an integral part of many workplaces. Although the affordances potency and actualization constructs identify work context as important, few studies to date have teased out how the interactions between ESN’s affordances, users’ goals and the work context drive affordances actualization.

This research is a case study of a technology multinational that made the ESN Chatter mandatory for all internal communications. We conducted a thematic analysis of 40 h of non-participatory observation, 15 in-depth interviews and eight informal conversations with employees.

There was considerable variation in how employees across different functional roles perceived affordances’ potencies, leading to differences in the nature and intensity of actualization: while sales and project managers embraced Chatter, technical support participants mostly resisted it; visibility was the central affordance for sales and human resources, but persistence was more important for project managers and association for technical support and billing. An organizational culture of accountability, urgency and efficiency interacted with Chatter’s affordances in a mutually reinforcing way, strengthening accountability and accelerating processes. Collaboration was enhanced but in a mostly coercive way. While sales participants' motivation was boosted, the mandated use of Chatter rendered tasks not inputted in Chatter invisible and created antagonism between departments.

Practitioners should not underestimate the influence of different work contexts and employees' goals when implementing an ESN. Since employees are concerned with managing their workload and how others perceive them, they may resist ESNs that they perceive as creating additional work and they may attempt to manage impressions at the expense of the work climate. Organizations looking to implement an ESN as their main communication tool would greatly benefit from establishing training programs and clear guidelines on positive communication practices across functional roles such as sales and technical support, and between peers.

Our study is one of the first to shed light on the role of the work context, i.e. functional role and organizational culture, in explaining the intensity and specificity of affordance actualization across an organization.