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The study aims to determine the extent of COVID-19’s impact on the libraries and information centers within Benguet. It identified the key differences in the effect of the pandemic on each type of library: public, special, school and academic. It recalled and documented the challenges faced by libraries and librarians. It determined which aspects of their library were affected and how they were modified in terms of their policies, personnel, physical space, services, collection, infodemic response and marketing.

The study used the qualitative descriptive method approach, specifically narrative research design and conducted online focus group discussions in which 14 librarians with managerial or supervisory functions participated. This method was used to explore the topic holistically by using qualitative inquiry. It best suited the purpose of fully understanding the experiences of libraries during the pandemic. The recorded online focus group discussions conducted through Zoom were reviewed and analyzed to identify key themes and responses from the participants. The themes identified from the thematic analysis were further validated with the participants through correspondence, chats or e-mails.

The findings showed that libraries were faced with challenges brought on by the lack of a written policy for the pandemic response, a lack of information communication and technology skills and resources, strict requirements on physical setup for pandemic compliance, budget cuts or realignments and delayed procurement, misinformation and users’ lack of awareness of the new services offered by the library.

The study focused on the pandemic experiences of libraries and information centers in Baguio-Benguet, which was hailed as a model for local pandemic response, through the lenses of librarians with supervisory roles or functions.

Libraries could reflect on their experiences in this pandemic to plan for future strategies that would be best implemented in situations where face-to-face services are not allowed.

This study presented various best practices from different library institutions that could be emulated in the future. Many of these are still relevant regardless library services are going back to normal.

Drawing on both the stakeholder theory and Carroll’s Corporate Social Responsibility Pyramid, this chapter explores sustainability practice challenges of a gold minning multinational enterprise in Ghana. Primary data was collected through observation and the interviewing of multi-stakeholder groups. We found that internal stakeholders perceive sustainability expenditure as costly. However, while employees of the case enterprise see the cost as depleting shareholders’ wealth, managers view them as investment with possible long-term benefits. Meanwhile, the external stakeholders perceive the gold mining enterprise’s sustainability expenditure as meagre and that beneficiary communities are not economically empowered to sustain those investments. Again, we found that government’s inability to clamp down illegal gold mining threatens economic and environmental sustainability. Additionally, members of the host community identify the lack of adequate employment opportunities within the entity as a hindrance to their economic empowerment. We submit that the resolution of the sustainability challenges would contribute to the balancing of stakeholders’ expectations: the conduct of ethical business through compliance to environmental laws; promotion of host communities’ social well-being; and improved economic returns for shareholders. By meeting the needs of stakeholders, gold mining enterprises could gain acceptance in their host communities and boost corporate reputation.

This study aims to examine how board gender diversity and foreign directors influence the sector-wise corporate philanthropic giving (donation) of Islamic banks in Bangladesh.

Unbalanced panel data were extracted from the annual reports of Islamic banks in Bangladesh over 11 years, from 2010 to 2020.

The findings indicate that gender diversity significantly improves corporate philanthropic giving for the education sector but insignificantly influences corporate philanthropic giving for health and humanitarian and disaster relief sectors. In contrast, the results show that foreign directors significantly and positively affect the banks' corporate philanthropic giving for the three sectors.

This paper used only secondary data extracted from the annual reports of Islamic banks in Bangladesh between 2010 and 2020. Besides, only three sectors of corporate social responsibility activities were considered. Hence, the findings could not be generalized, as the study used only data from one country.

The findings can be useful to policymakers and regulators to provide policies and regulations that ensure the appointment of women and foreign directors to boards that can competently promote Islamic banks' charitable donations.

Inducing Islamic banks to provide corporate donations for activities related to education, health and humanitarian and disaster relief can contribute directly to achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) like SDG-3 (good health and well-being) and SDG-4 (quality education) and impliedly support attaining some indicators of SDG-1 (no poverty), SDG-2 (zero hunger) and SDG-10 (reduced inequality).

This study contributes to the literature by investigating how board gender diversity and foreign directors influence sector-wise corporate donations for the education, health and human and disaster relief sectors instead of aggregate donations studies concentrated by previous studies.

Shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) across the United States at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic created entrepreneurial opportunities for sewists and makers. In the United States in March and April 2020, masks were not readily available to the general public from existing retailers and PPE for medical use was being rationed for healthcare workers. Sewists and crafters, professionals and amateurs alike, began making and selling and/or donating masks. For individuals with sewing skills and time, sewing and selling masks became a lifeline financially, personally, and socially. To understand the experiences of people who made and distributed handmade masks during the early months of the pandemic in the United States, an interdisciplinary team developed an online cross-sectional survey instrument using a qualitative-dominated approach with both open and closed questions. This chapter explores themes identified from a sample of 94 participants, predominantly female-identifying, who created an enterprise or added a product line to an existing business. The sample includes individuals who did not identify as a ‘creative entrepreneur’ prior to the pandemic but did identify as an entrepreneur after starting a mask-making venture. Informed by entrepreneurship literature, the authors observed that these nascent entrepreneurs articulated recognisable motivations for social entrepreneurship, showed signs of pre-existing entrepreneurial mindsets, and employed business models and marketing tactics of entrepreneurs, largely without any business training. Implications for the study include increased recognition of latent entrepreneurial readiness, interest of women in social entrepreneurship, and higher levels of business knowledge among women than previously recognised.

This paper aims to investigate the donor characteristics of Muslim donors and fills the gap by empirically surveying Muslim donors from Kuwait. The authors believe their sample choice to be of importance due to the stark contrast between the Kuwaiti and Asian environment, of which much of the literature’s findings on Muslim donor behavior was based on.

The characteristics studied include demographics, socioeconomics, individual attitudes, trust perceived generosity among others identified in the literature. Data was gathered by disseminating 320 surveys to better understand which variables have significant influence on an individual’s charity behavior. Statistical analysis using regression method was used to analyze the data.

The findings report that fundraising campaigns, perceived financial security are significant and there is also a significant association between certain charity activities and gender. The findings have implications on market segmentation and promotional strategies aimed toward similar donor profiles and for the charities soliciting Zakat who are based in the Gulf Cooperation Council region.

The contributions of this manuscript further the knowledge of donor behavior and thus enrich the body of work within research that explores the role of marketing in philanthropic and non-profit organizations. This study provides deeper insights into the Muslim’s donor behavior and from a managerial standpoint, facilitates on how to target them effectively when soliciting donations or raising funds for campaigns within Muslim communities, an area that has received little attention from research investigating marketing for nonprofit organizations.

While researchers recognize the significance of philanthropic donations in disaster relief and recovery, the benefits that firms derive from such donations remain unclear, particularly when firms are adversely impacted by the disaster. To address this gap, this study seeks to elucidate the impact of various donation strategies on firm resilience in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Based on the hand-collected data on donations, the authors employ ordinary least squares regressions to investigate the effectiveness of various donation strategies – including type, timing and location – in enhancing firm resilience in terms of the severity of stock price losses during the pandemic. To address potential endogeneity concerns, the authors use a two-stage least squares regression with instrumental variables.

This study finds robust evidence that certain donation strategies are more effective at mitigating stock price losses during the pandemic. Specifically, the authors find that in-kind donations (compared to monetary ones), earlier donations (compared to later ones) and donations targeting severely impacted areas (Hubei province vs. other places) are more effective methods to reduce the severity of stock price losses.

This study points out an alternative mechanism through which donations influence firm resilience during a crisis context and provides important managerial implications for firms to better engage in disaster donations.

This article discusses the public library system in Morocco, compiling the available information tackling the historical background of public libraries and their early work and the system that has been adopted during and after colonial periods. The main purpose of the study is to shed light on the present situation of the public library system in Morocco and also to further identify some of the recurrent issues in the public library system in Morocco.

The authors relied on a literature review as a theoretical reference in order to study and extract the available studies done previously on the Moroccan system for public libraries.

Public libraries in Morocco face various issues such as lack of available data and research, lack of appropriate funds, education in the field of library and information sciences, low rate of reading culture within the country and the high rate of illiteracy, all of which obstruct the development of Moroccan librarianship. There is a necessary reform need and action in order to help in the development of libraries in the country.

This paper is the first paper that discussed the state of public libraries in Morocco and that draws and highlights the importance of public libraries in relation with the country's development.

The digital divide refers to the gap among citizens of a country or across borders due to the lack of ease of access to digital means for some and the difficulty for others. The possession of electronic gadgets, smooth internet connectivity, and other forms of digital communication can have a wide gap in availability among countries. This gap is mostly influenced by factors that are of infrastructural, political, cultural, demographical, generational, and socioeconomic nature. On account of developed and developing countries, the gap is disseminated and thoroughly complex. Although the developed nations around the globe proved to have narrowed digital divide as a major source of development and advancement in respective countries, it is quite challenging for emerging economies to adhere to the same processes for development. For an emerging economy, the prudent cost-benefit analysis carried out by the government can have varying effects on undertaking projects related to minimizing the digital divide. Nevertheless, the importance of narrowing the gap of the digital divide is unparalleled, and governments of emerging economies are realizing the benefits of it and investing their resources accordingly. Furthermore, information technology can be a catalyst in facilitating processes that save a lot of costs, bring holistic quality improvements, and implement effective and efficient government policies that lead to digitalization and sustainable consumption of resources. Consequently, governments are getting actively involved in the digitalization of their respective countries to turn their smart cities into more intelligent ones. Even so, it is important to understand that taking one policy to address all citizens is not realistic. Hence, understanding the foundational knowledge of the citizens, the demand of the population under various sectors, framing well-rounded policies with alternatives, and effectively and efficiently implementing them are extremely crucial.

The research aims to understand the stories of women leaders who have demonstrated bravery in leadership. By analyzing their lived experiences through storytelling and narratives, it seeks to shed light on the challenges and motivations behind their brave actions, contributing to a deeper understanding of bravery in leadership within gender and organizational contexts.

This study adopts a qualitative multiple case study approach, focusing on the autobiographical accounts of three women leaders to explore their experiences of bravery in leadership. Utilizing narrative analysis (NA), it is grounded in ethical leadership theory and narrative identity theory. The research method involves cross-analyzing these narratives to unearth themes that depict a multifaceted view of bravery, including moral courage and ethical decision-making.

The study reveals various themes of bravery in leadership, such as moral courage, authenticity, resilience and ethical decision-making. These findings enhance the understanding of bravery's role in ethical conduct and transformative change, highlighting the complex manifestations of bravery in women's leadership practices.

This study contributes to the broader discourse on bravery in leadership, especially for women. It offers insights into how bravery is integral to ethical conduct and transformative leadership and sheds light on the influence of gender dynamics on leadership experiences. This study significantly enriches the discourse on bravery in leadership, with a particular focus on women's experiences. It delves into how bravery, encompassing moral courage and authenticity, is crucial for ethical conduct and transformative leadership. By highlighting the stories of women leaders, the research underscores the complex interplay between bravery and gender dynamics within organizational contexts. It challenges traditional perceptions of leadership and bravery, advocating for a more nuanced understanding that recognizes the unique challenges and strengths of women leaders. Furthermore, this study paves the way for future research to explore diverse dimensions of bravery in leadership, encouraging a more inclusive approach that values different perspectives and experiences.

The findings of this study advocate for empowering leadership practices and guide the development of a courageous leadership landscape. Current events show evidence that many organizations lack the integration of bravery as a core leadership trait. These narratives of bravery in women's leadership can serve as a powerful catalyst for inspiring all leaders These stories can guide leaders across various levels to embrace bravery in their decision-making and leadership styles. The integration of these insights into organizational policies and leadership development programs can lead to a more courageous, ethical and transformative leadership landscape.

The research emphasizes the need for inclusive approaches to leadership and bravery, challenging dominant gender norms. It underscores the importance of acknowledging and valuing women leaders' stories, thereby empowering their narratives.

The study adds value to the field by unveiling the often untold narratives around bravery in leadership. Findings can assist in fostering environments where diverse expressions of bravery are recognized and valued. Findings have the potential to inspire a new generation of leaders, across all genders, to embrace bravery in their roles, thereby enriching the leadership landscape with diverse, ethical and courageous practices. This research not only contributes to academic discourse but also has real-world implications, encouraging organizations to reevaluate and evolve their leadership models to be more inclusive and effective in today's dynamic and diverse global environment.