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This study aims to measure the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure on divorce for a sample of developed countries for the period (2012-2021).

This paper uses fixed effect and generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation to delve into the impact of eight ICT infrastructure factors on divorce. The analyses are based on data collected from the World Bank Development Indicators.

The fixed effect analysis revealed that an increase in both fixed-telephone subscriptions and population covered by at least a 4G led to an increase in divorce. However, an increase in mobile cellular subscriptions and active mobile broadband subscriptions lead to a decrease in divorce. The results of the GMM estimator showed that fixed broadband internet prices, mobile broadband internet prices, the percentage of the population covered by the 4 G mobile network and fixed-telephone subscriptions had a substantial effect on divorce. While fixed broadband subscriptions, active mobile broadband subscriptions and mobile cellular basket were found to hinder divorce.

The findings of this study contribute to the existing literature by highlighting the impact of ICT on divorce in a sample of developed countries. Furthermore, it helps decision-makers and families to understand the causes of divorce related to ICT infrastructure in these societies, so they can understand this phenomenon and provide proactive policies.

This study used multiple factors to measure ICT infrastructure as well as the GMM estimator to delve into the impact of ICT on divorce.

As part of the 5G rollout, small cell base stations will be deployed across cities. This paper aims to identify an international effort to remove regulatory barriers around deployment and outline emerging strategies Australian local governments are developing to ensure urban amenity in a deregulatory context.

This paper analyses existing legislation, policy frameworks and grey literature and has conducted eight interviews with participants from the local government sector.

This paper identifies a global deregulatory trend around small cell deployment and that councils are trying to renegotiate their relationship with telecommunications carriers as 5G is rolled out. Three strategies are identified: the design and installation of smart poles, network sharing and partnerships.

This research contributes to scholarship focused on the 5G rollout and offers one of the first accounts of the emerging tensions between regulatory frameworks, commercial imperatives and municipal authorities, identifying urban amenity as a key area of concern.

The television (TV) content ecosystem has shifted from traditional broadcasting systems to dedicated content producers and over-the-top (OTT) services. However, less empirical effort has been paid to the actual behaviors of the mobile users who watch TV content when explaining the impact of OTT service and mobile network profiles in watching TV content. This study aims to investigate the impact of gratifications and attitude formed by mobile TV users on actual mobile TV watching behaviors, as well as the moderating impacts of paid OTT service subscriptions and mobile network profiles, based on gratification theory, cognition–affect–behavioral (CAB) framework, sunk cost effect and walled-garden effect.

This study employs the generalized linear model (GLM) with generalized estimating equations (GEE) to test hypothesized relationships. A total of 338 mobile phone users who have been watching TV content using a mobile phone participated in the survey. The moderating variables, 4 types of paid streaming platform subscriptions, were classified based on the walled gardens formed by mobile telecom services.

The study’s results revealed that obtained gratifications and opportunity constructs substantially influenced a mobile phone user’s attitude and behaviors. Additionally, mobile network profiles and the degree of access to paid platform services played significant moderating roles in the relationship between users’ attitudes and behavior.

This research enriches the existing OTT service literature and is one of the pioneering studies investigating the walled-garden effect’s role in mobile phone users’ actual watching behaviors, offering valuable practical implications for the OTT platform providers.

In light of the burgeoning interest in the Metaverse within educational contexts, this study provides a comprehensive review to address the knowledge gap prevalent among K-12 and higher education teachers and educators. The increasing integration of the Metaverse into classroom settings necessitates a systematic exploration of its impact on subject-specific pedagogy, assessment methods, research methodologies and overall learning outcomes.

The research design involves a systematic review of 34 selected studies published between 2009 and 2023. The inclusion criteria prioritize investigations into Metaverse applications in classroom teaching, with a focus on subject disciplines, pedagogical approaches, measurement metrics and research methodologies. The selected studies undergo a detailed analysis and synthesis to extract meaningful patterns and trends.

The analysis reveals a predominant concentration on higher education, encompassing both science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and non-STEM disciplines. However, few studies adopt comprehensive experimental designs. This suggests a gap in the methodological rigor of current research on Metaverse integration in education. While the Metaverse's impact on higher education is evident, the study underscores the need for more robust experimental designs and comprehensive research methodologies.

The limited exploration of students' experiences with the Metaverse in educational settings highlights a nascent research area that warrants further investigation. Future research should prioritize measuring students' perceptions and performance through indicators such as test grades to enhance our understanding of the Metaverse's efficacy in educational contexts.

The study aims to offer insights into the current state of Metaverse integration in education and identify areas for further research and development.

This study intends to explore the influence of emotional intelligence on employee self-efficacy in Pakistan's telecom industry. Besides, it explores the mediating effect of emotional labor (surface acting and deep acting) between them. This study also tests the relationship between emotional labor (surface acting and deep acting) and self-efficacy in the customer care of Pakistan's telecom division.

The study leads forward with a positivist approach to obtain data in two different waves as a time lag study from the big five telecom companies operating in Pakistan. The data was collected from 270 employees working in Customer Services in the Telecom sector.

The results reveal that there exists a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and self-efficacy in customer care employees in Pakistan's telecommunication division sector. Moreover, emotional labor (deep acting) partially mediates the relationship between emotional intelligence and self-efficacy, and surface acting could not mediate the relationship among the employees of customer care in Pakistan's telecom division.

Management of emotions at the workplace has been an immensely vital area in managing the performance of employees, especially in customer-centric jobs, where dealing with customers is the prime focus and achieving customer satisfaction is the utmost outcome. There is limited evidence of the relationship between emotional intelligence and self-efficacy specifically in the customer care of the Telecom sector.

Unlike many existing methods that are primarily focused on two-dimensional localization, this research paper extended the scope to three-dimensional localization. This enhancement is particularly significant for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications that demand precise altitude information, such as infrastructure inspection and aerial surveillance, thereby broadening the applicability of UAV-assisted wireless networks.

The paper introduced a novel method that employs recurrent neural networks (RNNs) for node localization in three-dimensional space within UAV-assisted wireless networks. It presented an optimization perspective to the node localization problem, aiming to balance localization accuracy with computational efficiency. By formulating the localization task as an optimization challenge, the study proposed strategies to minimize errors while ensuring manageable computational overhead, which are crucial for real-time deployment in dynamic UAV environments.

Simulation results demonstrated significant improvements, including a channel capacity of 99.95%, energy savings of 89.42%, reduced latency by 99.88% and notable data rates for UAV-based communication with an average localization error of 0.8462. Hence, the proposed model can be used to enhance the capacity of UAVs to work effectively in diverse environmental conditions, offering a reliable solution for maintaining connectivity during critical scenarios such as terrestrial environmental crises when traditional infrastructure is unavailable.

Conventional localization methods in wireless sensor networks (WSNs), such as received signal strength (RSS), often entail manual configuration and are beset by limitations in terms of capacity, scalability and efficiency. It is not considered for 3-D localization. In this paper, machine learning such as multi-layer perceptrons (MLP) and RNN are employed to facilitate the capture of intricate spatial relationships and patterns (3-D), resulting in enhanced localization precision and also improved in channel capacity, energy savings and reduced latency of UAVs for wireless communication.

The cyber-physical system (CPS) is a well proven technology for improving system performance, resilience, and interconnectivity. In emerging nations like India, the logistics industry lacks practices connecting logistical equipment with cyberspace. This paper aims to bridge this gap by identifying and evaluating the performance metrics of connectivity solutions. Its goal is to establish an appropriate infrastructure that enables seamless connectivity within the CPS-enabled logistics ecosystem.

A novel integrated decision method is employed to classify the optimal connectivity solution for CPS. It integrates Regret Theory (RT) and Preference Ranking for Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE-1) method in a Hesitant Fuzzy (HF) environment. This method considers the psychological traits of decision-makers and effectively incorporates their hesitancy for the classification.

The findings highlight security (c10) as the foremost critical performance metric, followed by cost (c6), scalability (c9), traceability (c2) and trustworthiness (c1) to build connective infrastructure for CPS. For extensive coverage scenarios, like freight transportation, cellular connectivity (a2) emerges as the most suitable connectivity solution.

This study provides a roadmap to logistics managers for selecting a suitable connectivity infrastructure to enhance seamless connectivity in logistics operations and processes. Technology providers can utilize the findings to develop the CPS infrastructure for effective freight logistics management.

This research introduces a novel decision-making tool for making choices related to advanced technology assessment. It holds significant value in facilitating well-informed decisions in the digital transformation era.

After reading this case study, students will be able to understand the impact of cyber threats on businesses; explore the intersection of innovation and ethical considerations; understand the proactive role of entrepreneurs in identifying gaps in traditional industries, such as insurance, and innovating solutions that align with local dynamics; and learn to formulate strategies addressing cultural factors, market gaps and challenges.

The case study follows Hasnain, a prosperous entrepreneur in Pakistan, who was surprised by the news of a cyberattack on Bank Islami. This event, coupled with a personal data breach in his family’s business, triggered Hasnain’s willingness and interest to address the growing threat of cyber risks and attacks. As the progenitor of a digital solutions startup, he identified a gap in the insurance industry’s replication to cyber threats and envisioned the desideratum for a Sharia-compliant cyber-insurance product withal called cyber risk takaful. The case study explores Hasnain’s journey as he contemplated the challenges of introducing cyber risk takaful – a Sharia-compliant insurance solution for businesses and individuals. Apperceiving the low vigilance and perceived costs associated with cyber insurance, Hasnain faced the dilemma of surmounting these barriers in a country where the penetration of insurance, in general, is already minimal. The story raises critical questions: How can Hasnain efficaciously introduce cyber risk takaful to a market reluctant to embrace cyber insurance? What business strategies should he use to engender vigilance and acceptance of this innovative insurance solution? Will businesses and individuals embrace the concept of cyber risk takaful and recognize its paramount in forfending their digital assets?

This case study is designed to meet the educational needs of both undergraduate and postgraduate students, particularly those enrolled in business administration programs. This case study is tailored for students in the final year of BBA and the first year of MBA programs. It is also well-suited for executive education programs that focus on strategic decision-making in the context of emerging market challenges, such as entrepreneurship and corporate strategy. The case study is particularly relevant for courses centered on entrepreneurship, business strategy, strategic management and corporate strategy.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS11: Entrepreneurship.

This study explores a novel conception of corporate social responsibility (CSR) hybridity and investigates its effect on returns following CSR announcements and the moderating role of aspirational CSR talk.

Based on an event study of 136 Chinese companies’ CSR announcements, this study empirically insights into an overall tension between the short-term firm performance (FP) loss and medium-term FP success of CSR hybridity.

First, CSR hybridity has a negative impact on short-term FP. Second, although there is positive effect on medium-term FP, this influence is not permanent. Third, aspirational CSR talk has a moderating role on the positive relationship between CSR hybridity and FP. These results point to the unique features of hybridity that require time to diffuse the impacts.

First, by adopting new concept of CSR hybridity, this study contributes to the literature by considering better solutions to integrate strategic CSR. Second, by investigating the complexity of the CSR hybridity–FP dialogue, the results provide insights into the questions of why and when organizations could be incentivized to adopt hybrid CSR approaches. Third, this study contributes to the CSR–FP and stakeholder literature by demonstrating that aspirational talk is key in CSR’s medium-term success. The implication of this is a growing pressure on companies’ CSR communications with investors through managerial talk that depicts organizational ambitions for CSR engagement.