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This study investigated the moderating role of democracy in the relationship between corruption and foreign direct investment. The purpose of this study is to understand whether corruption has different effects on the location decisions of multinational enterprises (MNEs) depending on the regime type.

This study explored how institutional context influenced the impacts of corruption on the location decisions of MNEs, specifically using a sample of Chinese cross-border mergers and acquisitions between 2000 and 2020.

This study assessed the role of democracy in the relationship between corruption and the location decisions of Chinese MNEs. In general, this study found that Chinese MNEs were hindered by host country corruption, but that these detrimental effects were weaker in the presence of more effective democratic institutions.

This study contributes to the literature on institutional factors in international business through its simultaneous investigation of the effects of both democracy and corruption on the location decisions of MNEs. Moreover, there is a prevailing view that Chinese MNEs are willing to enter countries with high corruption, but the results of this study indicate that they are risk-averse in ways similar to their Western counterparts.

Nurse leaders are challenged by ethical issues in today’s complex health-care settings. The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze key elements of moral distress identified by nurse leaders from health-care systems in the USA, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The aim was to develop an understanding of distressing ethical issues nurse leaders face in the USA and three German-speaking European countries.

This descriptive cross-sectional study surveyed a convenience sample of nurse leaders in the USA, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The voluntary, anonymous survey also included qualitative questions and was distributed using the Qualtrics® platform. A thematic analysis of the qualitative data in each country was carried out and a comparative analysis identified similarities and differences between the groups of nurse leaders comparing the US data to that from three German-speaking European countries.

The survey was completed by 316 nurse leaders: Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (n = 225) and the USA (n = 91). Similar themes identified as causing all nurse leaders moral distress included a lack of individual and organizational integrity, hierarchical and interprofessional issues, lack of nursing professionalism, patient care/patient safety concerns, finances negatively impacting care and issues around social justice. Within these six themes, there were also differences between the USA and the three German-speaking European countries.

Understanding the experiences associated with distressing ethical situations can allow nurse leaders and organizations to focus on solutions and develop resilience to reduce moral distress in the USA and three German-speaking European countries.

This study aims to investigate whether social investment (SI) policies improve employment among single mothers.

This paper analyzes the potential effects of SI policies on vulnerable individuals and workers at the macro level by using the employment position of single mothers as a dependent variable. Time-series cross-national data from 18 OECD countries between 1998 and 2017 are analyzed. Multilevel model analysis is also used for robustness check.

I find that public spending on education and family support is positively associated with the employment rates of single mothers. In contrast, active labor market policy (ALMP) spending is negatively associated. ALMP’s negative effects stand out particularly with public spending on job training. Of all family support policies, family allowances are positively associated with single mothers’ employment, which runs counter to the conventional argument that family allowances are a disincentive for women’s or mothers’ employment. Paid leave (length and generosity) is also associated with higher employment for single mothers. There is also some tentative evidence that public spending on maternity leave benefits (spending level) may raise the odds of single mothers being employed, when individual-level factors are controlled for in multilevel analysis we implement for robustness check.

This paper does not analyze the effects of the qualitative properties of SI policies. Future research is necessary in this respect.

The effects of SI policies on employment among single mothers have not yet been examined in the literature. This paper seeks to be a first cut at measuring the effects.

The purpose of this study is to, first, analyze the past years of research on international branding and, second, building on an early literature review, to analyze patterns in the field and suggest future research.

The analyzed papers were compiled using the Web of Science and Scopus databases. The author searched papers published between 2007 and 2023 that used terms related to international branding in their title, abstract and keywords.

This paper structures and identifies key institutions, papers, regions and authors in the field. It provides an overview of the past years of research in the area. The study identifies important gaps in the literature and suggests further research dealing with, for example, the B2B sector and emerging markets.

Despite the increase in international branding studies, few literature reviews have been published since 2007. This review fills this research gap. It identifies future research areas dealing with branding in the B2B sector, branding in emerging markets, branding process and implementation studies using longitudinal methods and more practical research.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a powerful and promising technology that can foster the performance, and competitiveness of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). However, the adoption of AI among MSMEs is still low and slow, especially in developing countries like Jordan. This study aims to explore the elements that influence the intention to adopt AI among MSMEs in Jordan and examines the roles of firm innovativeness and government support within the context.

The study develops a conceptual framework based on the integration of the technology acceptance model, the resource-based view, the uncertainty reduction theory and the communication privacy management. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling – through AMOS and R studio – and the importance–performance map analysis techniques, the responses of 471 MSME founders were analyzed.

The findings reveal that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and facilitating conditions are significant drivers of AI adoption, while perceived risks act as a barrier. AI autonomy positively influences both firm innovativeness and AI adoption intention. Firm innovativeness mediates the relationship between AI autonomy and AI adoption intention, and government support moderates the relationship between facilitating conditions and AI adoption intention.

The findings provide valuable insights for policy formulation and strategy development aimed at promoting AI adoption among MSMEs. They highlight the need to address perceived risks and enhance facilitating conditions and underscore the potential of AI autonomy and firm innovativeness as drivers of AI adoption. The study also emphasizes the role of government support in fostering a conducive environment for AI adoption.

As in many emerging nations, the AI adoption research for MSMEs in Jordan (which constitute 99.5% of businesses), is under-researched. In addition, the study adds value to the entrepreneurship literature and integrates four theories to explore other significant factors such as firm innovativeness and AI autonomy.

International business research is showing an increasing interest in the link between international business and human rights. Despite extensive coverage of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability, the analysis and discussion of why multinational corporations include human rights in corporate reporting is still in its early stages. This chapter develops an analytical framework on corporate human rights reporting, with special emphasis on international business. The conceptual part of the framework draws on legitimacy theory, stakeholder theory and signalling theory. The analytical part distinguishes between factors inside the corporation and the external environment of business organisations operating internationally.

The article investigates the institutional setup of e-lending in public libraries in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Our point of departure is that e-lending has necessitated new library collaborations between local, regional and national levels, and therefore, institutional e-lending setups have emerged. The study seeks to provide better understanding of how the institutional setups are structured, how governance logics have shaped them and what tensions and dynamics become visible in the key actors’ problematisations of these setups.

The study is situated in the neo-institutional tradition and applies the institutional logics perspective. The research questions are answered by taking a qualitative approach, grounded in an extensive interview study with representatives of libraries, publishers and policy actors in three Scandinavian countries. To provide in-depth insight into e-lending setups, the scope of empirical material is then limited to accounts the central library and policy actors involved in establishing e-lending.

The analysis shows that the e-lending setups are both similar (especially when it comes to financing), and different across Scandinavia, especially when it comes to centralisation and involvement of librarians in this task. The differences are attributed to the influence of different governance logics (question of administrative autonomy, collaboration in the field and existing legal and political frames), and to what extent the digital and market logics are incorporated or rejected in the field.

The study provides new insights into the question of how Scandinavian public libraries face the consequences of the digitalisation of book distribution and consumption by investigating how they organise their e-lending services. This has not been explored before, notably in a comparative perspective.

The main purpose of this paper is to identify, screen and prioritize customer requirements (CRs) for men’s denim jeans. Moreover, the effect of demographic factors on the primary evaluation criteria has been examined.

The study was initiated by the growing complaints about denim jeans products of a local manufacturing company. First, 24 CRs were identified from the literature and customer complaints. Then, a survey was conducted to rate the identified CRs and solicit more CRs through closed-ended and open-ended questions, respectively. From the survey, 368 usable responses were collected while the participants were shopping in 14 local retail shops. After analyzing the data using factor analysis, univariate and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), and content analysis, the resulting 15 criteria were prioritized by experts’ pairwise comparisons employing the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP).

Factor analysis extracted six components (primary criteria) including design cues, pocket design, comfort, size and fit, fashionability, and extrinsic cues from the CRs included in the closed-ended questions. MANOVA showed that age and frequency of purchasing denim jeans significantly affected the primary criteria, while educational level and frequency of wearing denim jeans did not. The weights from the fuzzy AHP revealed that colour fastness, price, durability, fabric weight, workmanship, side pocket design and fit as the most important CRs. Moreover, consumers preferred regular fit, stitched round side pockets, patch back pockets and stretchable denim fabric.

The limitations of the study are discussed in the body of the paper in Section 7.

The paper presents exploratory findings on denim jeans evaluation criteria in a developing country’s context. Moreover, the application of fuzzy AHP for prioritizing denim jeans’ CRs is unique.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether employee outcomes of employee performance and job satisfaction mediate and enhance the effect of e-HRM usage on organizational performance.

Data were collected through a survey involving 35 organizations using e-HRM systems. A partially mixed sequential dominant status explanatory design was used for the study. A stratified convenience sampling technique was used for the quantitative phase of the study. A purposive sampling technique was employed for the qualitative phase. A structural equation modelling technique with the use of the process macro approach was used to analyse collected data.

There is a positive relationship between e-HRM usage and employee outcomes. Employee performance and job satisfaction mediate the effect of e-HRM usage on organizational performance. Employee performance and job satisfaction are contextual variables that characterize effective e-HRM configurations.

Organizations should invest in employee outcomes in order to maximize the potential of e-HRM. The e-HRM configurations characterized by a multiplicity of dimensions are more likely to add to organizational value creation. The deployment of e-HRM systems should be preceded by high levels of employee performance and job satisfaction, for organizational success.

The study contributes to a growing body of knowledge on dimensions, which characterize effective e-HRM configurations, yielding organizational success. Employee performance and job satisfaction should be added to the characteristics of effective e-HRM configurations.