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This study aims to investigate the factors influencing the adoption of online pharmacies in Qatar using the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology-2 (UTAUT-2) framework. Specifically, this study examines the impact of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, hedonic motivation, habit, technology trust, perceived risk and users’ level of awareness of behavioral intention, which in turn affects the adoption of online pharmacies. Furthermore, this study explores the moderating role of word-of-mouth (WOM) recommendations on the relationship between behavioral intention and online pharmacy adaptation.

This study adopted a descriptive, quantitative approach to investigate the UTAUT-2 model in the context of consumers’ adoption of e-pharmacy in Qatar. Through convenience sampling, 455 responses were collected from regular customers accessing online pharmacy services. The data were analyzed using Smart-PLS 3.2 software to examine the hypothesized relationships.

The results showed that WOM recommendations significantly enhanced the relationship between behavioral intention and adopting online pharmacies in Qatar. This study identified the factors that may hinder or enable the adoption of online pharmacies, including performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, hedonic motivation, habit, technology trust, perceived risk and users’ level of awareness.

This study contributes to the existing literature on technology acceptance by extending the UTAUT-2 model and recognizing three additional variables (perceived risk, technology trust and technology awareness). These need to be investigated against UTAUT-2 variables to detect the significance of their impact on adapting the e-health concept in Qatar. The potential for cultural change to accelerate the adoption of online pharmacies is highlighted. Future research should explore the role of moral and cultural factors in technology adoption.

The results underscore the economic and social significance of e-pharmacy adoption, particularly within the context of a developing country. Considering the positive intentions expressed by individuals toward e-pharmacy, it becomes crucial for managers and decision-makers to make strategic choices to address any challenges that may arise. Policymakers are encouraged to enhance their services and implement various development initiatives to expand e-pharmacy accessibility and availability.

This study builds upon previous research on e-commerce in the pharmaceutical industry and provides a comprehensive understanding of customers in developing countries. Extending the UTAUT-2 model and identifying additional variables contributes to the knowledge of e-health concepts in Qatar. The findings have practical implications for developing strategies to promote online pharmacy adoption in Qatar and other countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant and worldwide influence on healthcare delivery, and it has significantly increased the pace at which digital technology is being used. Blockchain, one of these developing digital technologies, is distinguished by a number of properties. This study focuses on a blockchain-enabled healthcare supply chain. The purpose of this work is to investigate how blockchain technology (BCT) benefits the performance of healthcare supply chain management (HSCM).

The present study is based on the empirical research. Blockchain Technology (BCT), Healthcare Sustainable Supply Chain Practices (HSSCP), Healthcare Supply Chain Performance (HSCP) and Stakeholders’ Involvement (SI) practices are identified from the literature review and hypotheses are framed to check their interrelationship. For testing of hypothesis, a questionnaire was developed. Data collection was done by healthcare professionals via Google docs. The IBM SPSS version 22.0 was used to analyze the data and IBM SPSS AMOS 22.0 software was used for the development of structural modal. The data was collected through the Google form from the stakeholders of healthcare sector and analyzed through Structural Equation Modelling.

This research is focused on adoption of BCT enabled Healthcare Sustainable Supply Chain to improve HSCP. From the result, it had been found that BCT is positively effecting the stakeholder's involvement (SI) and HSSCP practices. Cumulatively, they positively impact the performance of HSCP. From this study, it is found that adoption of BCT enabled Healthcare Sustainable Supply Chain succours to combat COVID-19 situation.

This study attempts to show the potential benefits of the adoption of BCT enabled HSSCP to improve HSCP.

Modern life is characterized by its hectic life-style, which invariably leads to high levels of stress having negative consequences for the mind-body. Thus, people are seeking for natural ways to achieve a sense of equilibrium and peace. Neuroscience has identified beneficial findings from contemplative practices like meditation, prayers and fasting. Within the Islamic framework, these practices were found to be beneficial for both the body and the mind. However, comparatively little research has been carried out on Islamic contemplative practices. Thus, there is a dire need to carry out further research, where the focus needs to be more on the inward aspects of Islam especially the contemplative practices.

The study took an integrated approach, whereby, objective experimental data from various sources were combined with the religious narratives from the Qur’an and the Hadiths or the practice of the Prophet in Islam. This was augmented by the subjective experiences of the participants of the study and all of these woven to present a case for Islamic contemplative practices.

Worship, be it Yogic, Buddhist and Islamic, seems to have positive mental and physical benefits for individuals. Much has been documented within the field of Yoga and Buddhist practices, and it is only recently that Islamic practices are beginning to be studied and are yielding similar results. It has been found that Islamic ritual prayers, fasting and meditation (dhikr) have an impact on the well-being of the worshipper. The communities of practice commonly known as “tariqas” and other religio-spiritual orders can serve as a vehicle to further these practices. This opens the door for more extensive research in this direction.

This study clearly indicates that Islamic practices have positive benefits; however, the number of studies are limited. Moreover, there are a whole system of practices as the contemplative tree in this paper points out, which needs more robust as well as longitudinal studies to outline more conclusive evidence to this effect.

Muslims have been looking at other traditions like Yoga and Buddhist meditation to find ways of improving their physical and mental health. This meta-study indicates that Islamic contemplative practices have positive benefits, and thus, there are a variety of practices like ritual prayers, fasting and meditation, which is found to demonstrate positive health benefits. Thus, it has direct practical reasons to pursue these practices and derive the innate benefits from them.

The data from the various neuroscience studies have demonstrated the neurological and physiological impact on individuals directly relating to worship. However, the studies on the Islamic ritual prayer (salat) cited in this study points out to its social implications, where congregational prayers was found to be more beneficial than the individual prayers. Thus, this indicates the social implications that collective worship can have. Further research is needed in terms of understanding the social impact on the various collective contemplative practices.

The originality of this literature review and analysis is bringing together the various strands of neuroscience and health data to demonstrate the positive impact of worship emanating from others faiths, while building a case for Islamic contemplative practices. This is further augmented by its integrated approach of weaving hard and soft data and synthesizing it to present health benefits of worship.

The aim of this study is to extend the rationale and comprehensive understanding in respect of the notion of functionality and beauty in the smart skin buildings. Smart skin in buildings plays a key role in improving building functionality, and the future lies in the use of innovative smart skin strategies. The methodology focused on the objectivity and subjectivity of human perception to assess the aesthetic value of a building's smart skin. A theoretical analysis has been conducted based on the results of the investigation model and fortified by comparing the results with the findings obtained through the opinions of experts based in AHP methodology. The study demonstrates that there is a relation between both the aesthetic value and the functionality of the smart skin of a building. The findings revealed the difference in the aesthetic evaluation between the subjective functionality and the objective functionality of the building skin. The findings contribute useful evidence for the promotion of our understanding regarding the aesthetic value of the smart skin of a building, based on its functionality.

The study explores the existing Shariah audit practice of Islamic banks (IBs) in Bangladesh aiming at providing suggestions for improvements on the detected shortfalls in the relevant areas.

This research applied a qualitative method, and data were collected through conducting semi-structured interviews in Bangladesh. A total of 17 interviews were conducted for accomplishing the research objectives.

The study finds that there is no comprehensive Shariah audit manual in the current operation for IBs in Bangladesh, and as such, the requirements of their Shariah compliance remain a big question. Although the Shariah audit is conducted within IBs, and the Shariah audit officers or Shariah officers inspect necessary documents while conducting the Shariah audit, they only cover 10–20% of total investments and transactions. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that the Shariah auditing tasks should broadly cover at least 80% of the investment portfolios, documents and financial contracts and activities.

The findings of this research are expected to significantly contribute to the regulatory authorities concerned in Bangladesh and beyond, which include the suggestions that IBs can adopt to strengthen their Shariah governance system. The study also pinpoints that in the current system, Shariah auditors' roles are somehow limited in examining and checking the investment sides with a minimal portion (10–20%), for which they are unable to perform their responsibilities in a befitting manner to provide assurance services and overall Shariah compliance of IBs activities.

This study explores the current Shariah audit systems and provides recommendations to improve the existing systems which will be beneficial for Islamic banks of Bangladesh.

To the researchers' knowledge, perhaps this is the first research of its kind which seeks to explore the current Shariah audit practice in Bangladesh qualitatively, and it provides some practical suggestions for making the necessary developments of the current audit process of IBs. In addition, there are no empirical studies in the entire Emerald insight publishers and Scopus database regarding Shariah audit practices. The study contributes to the agency, stakeholder and legitimacy theories by exploring the Shariah audit of IBs.

Non-gated residential communities (NGR) are now becoming significant in Jordan resulting in an increase in low and medium-income areas. This study aims to investigate the sense of community at residential level within NGR by testing the characteristics presented in the first and largest non-gated community in Jordan (Al-Sharq project).

Such characteristics were identified via literary reviews and visual data collected through site visits, observation and photographs of the project's physical settings. This formed the basis of a questionnaire/survey that was distributed to the residents. This research depends on the mixed-method approach (qualitative and quantitative) to achieve the research objectives. The quantitative method involved the use of a questionnaire/survey, while the qualitative method undertook a comparative process using some statistical methods for the main characteristics. The results were analysed by using descriptive statistics, comprising frequency and factor analyses.

The study concludes with a framework consisting of suggestions and recommendations to remove the main constraints on improving the quality of life for the non-gated residential community.

The outcome of this study will influence the decisions made by the parties involved in urban development in Jordan when designing residential neighborhoods.

The significance of this paper is that while the majority of studies have been on the evaluation of gated communities in developing countries, there have only been a limited of studies specifically examining the experience of residents in those environments. Therefore, this paper contributes and adds to the existing knowledge in the development of non-gated communities in a developing country.

This study aims to comprehensively examine the stock market effects of announcements by firms to issue conventional bonds versus Sukuk. In addition, the authors investigate whether the choice of instrument depends on the tax status and government backing of the issuing firm. They split the sample into whole (2000-2015), pre-crisis (2000-2007) and post-crisis (2010-2015) subsamples.

The authors use event study methodology, market model and FTSE Bursa Malaysia EMAS index on 14 different event windows of which five are symmetric and nine are asymmetric. Further, parametric and distribution-free tests are used to investigate the difference of cumulative abnormal returns when using the two instruments (Sukuk and conventional bonds). For the choice of issuing conventional bonds or Sukuk, Heckman procedure is employed to control for the self-selection of the announcement effects.

The analysis indicates only insignificant difference in reaction to Sukuk and conventional bond issuances for the overall period and pre-crisis period. However, and importantly, they find strong evidence supporting the Malaysian stock abnormal return reaction to Sukuk compared to conventional bond issuances after the global financial crisis. Interestingly, they find that tax incentives and government backing are significant determinants in issuing Sukuk over conventional bonds. Such evidence is confirmed when using a wide range of robustness checks including four different market indices and both parametric and non-parametric tests.

The empirical analysis is subject to limitations. First, the sample is limited to Sukuk issues domiciled in Malaysia. Second, given that Sukuk are collateralized whereas conventional bonds are not, it would only seem logical for the former to be issued by riskier firms whereas the latter would be issued by stronger firms with stable cash flows. The future research can explore this issue some more. Finally, comparing Sukuk with other similar ethical sources of traded capital may provide insights into the globalization of such economic, trade and financial reforms in and outside Malaysia.

To the author’s knowledge, no research has been conducted studying the differential and conflicting results to announcement of Sukuk issuance in the literature, nor the stock market effects of announcements to issue Sukuk over the pre-crisis (2000-2007) and post-crisis (2010-2015) periods. Thus, the study attempts to assess previous findings and contribute additional evidence that investigates the issue in rich setting.

The unique nature of the construction sector makes it fall behind other sectors in terms of productivity. Monitoring construction productivity is crucial for the construction project's success. Current practices for construction productivity monitoring are time-consuming, manned and error prone. Although previous studies have been implemented toward reducing these limitations, a gap still exists in the automated monitoring of construction productivity.

This study aims to investigate and assess the different techniques used for monitoring productivity in building construction projects. Therefore, a mixed review methodology (bibliometric analysis and systematic review) was adopted. All the related publications were collected from different databases, which were further screened to get the most relevant based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) criteria.

A detailed review was performed, and it was found that traditional methods, computer vision-based and photogrammetry are the most adopted data acquisition for productivity monitoring of building projects, respectively. Machine learning algorithms (ANN, SVM) and BIM were integrated with monitoring tools and technologies to enhance the automated monitoring performance in construction productivity. Also, it was observed that current studies did not cover all the complex construction job sites and they were applied based on a small sample of construction workers and machines separately.

This review paper contributes to the literature on construction management by providing insight into different productivity monitoring techniques.

The main purpose of this paper is to explore innovative ideas for a sustainable fashion supply chain in the future by focusing on investigating the impacts of COVID-19 on the fashion supply chain and review sustainable supply chain.

A systematic literature review (SLR) and a case study have been undertaken to explore the innovative ideas for a sustainable fashion supply chain developed after the COVID-19 outbreak. Having conducted a comprehensive literature search in electronic databases Google Scholar, Emerald Insight, ScienceDirect and ProQuest, 69 articles were selected and reviewed. A case of the Kering Group was used to explain the results.

This paper highlighted the basic concepts of a sustainable supply chain, reviewed the 10 principles of the United Nation Global Compact and their connections to promoting supply chain sustainability, as well as the three components of a sustainable supply chain: green supply chain, transparent supply chain and circular supply chain. Based on the results of a SLR and a real case of Kering Group, the paper identified 12 innovative ideas for a sustainable fashion supply chain: (1) biodegradable and natural materials, (2) textile recycling, (3) nearshoring, (4) artificial intelligence (AI), (5) robot, (6) 3D printing, (7) Internet of Things, (8) blockchain, (9) reverse resources; (10) bio-packaging, (11) augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) and (12) digital runway.

The epidemiological situations of the COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding innovative ideas for a sustainable supply chain may change over time. While this paper provides a comprehensive literature review and case study, further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of current efforts in the development of a sustainable fashion supply chain through collecting both quantitative and qualitative data.

Embracing the issues from the COVID-19 pandemic, the results of this study are further explained by the case of Kering Group in the fashion industry. The managerial implications of the results and discussion are the need to adopt innovative ideas for a more sustainable fashion supply chain in the future. The success of sustainable supply chains work by leveraging the best available technologies such as robot, 3D printing, AR and VR, setting consistent standards for sustainability such as Environmental Profit and Loss and Kering & Textile Exchange and communicating with all parties throughout the supply chain, such as blockchain and AI. Investment in developing technology and innovative ideas will be the key of future to supply chain sustainability. Nonetheless, the specific approach used by each organization must be tailored to its characteristics, goals and circumstances.

Bringing upon unprecedented challenges, the pandemic has shown both companies and consumers just how fragile our planet is. Thus, to protect our planet in the long run, we need to not only make businesses more sustainable but also live more eco-friendly lifestyles.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first work that conducts a systemic review of the relevant academic journal articles addressed to the managerial audience on sustainable (fashion) supply chain. In addition, this paper also adds some consideration to this gap by exploring the innovative ideas for a sustainable fashion supply chain in the future and using a case to illustrate how these ideas can be put in a real-life context. This paper discusses the impact of COVID-19 on different stages of the supply chain and gives innovative ideas that can be used in response to the changing epidemiological situations of the pandemic.

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, to examine the influence of two dimensions of entrepreneurial competencies, namely, strategic competency and ethical competency on the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs); and second, to explore the role of network competence as a mediator among these understudied variables.

The data for this study were collected from wholesale and retail-based SMEs in Malaysia through a standard structured questionnaire. PLS–SEM approach was utilised to analyse the data.

Although the findings did not reveal a direct effect of strategic and ethical competencies of entrepreneurs on SMEs’ growth, these competences, however, were found to be influential in driving their growth when network competence was used as a mediator.

The existence of a mediation effect between strategic and ethical competencies and SMEs’ growth via network competence has provided insights which add new knowledge to the extant entrepreneurship and SMEs’ performance literature.