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This study aims to address the effects of self-esteem and affective commitment on firm performance and whether these effects vary according to the gender and age of active entrepreneurial students.

This study uses a subsample from the Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey (GUESSS) of entrepreneur students running their own businesses to perform a structural equation model (SEM) analysis to test the relationship between self-esteem (SE), affective commitment (AC) and firm performance (FP) moderated by the gender and age of entrepreneur students.

The results confirm that higher levels of entrepreneur SE are related to a higher assessment of AC and FP. A major effect of SE on AC was also observed among male respondents. Age was not related to an increase in AC. The effect of SE on AC and FP was lower among older students.

This study makes valuable contributions to the fields of entrepreneurship, psychology, gender and organizational behavior. This study presents empirical support for the theoretical framework using SEM, presenting initial insights into the mechanisms that shape AC in entrepreneurial students and its implications for FP.

Esta investigación tiene como objetivo analizar la influencia del género, la edad y la autoestima (SE) de los emprendedores en el compromiso afectivo (AC) de los estudiantes universitarios con sus emprendimientos y cómo se relacionan con el desempeño subjetivo de la empresa (FP).

Utilizamos los datos de la encuesta GUESSS de 2018 para realizar un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales (SEM) para determinar los efectos directos del género, la edad y la SE en el AC, sus efectos directos e indirectos en el FP y los efectos directos y papel mediador del AC hacia el FP, para estudiantes emprendedores.

Los resultados confirman que niveles más altos de SE están relacionados con niveles más altos de AC de los emprendedores a sus emprendimientos y una mayor evaluación de FP. Además, los hombres reportan niveles más altos de AC y FP que sus contrapartes femeninas, al tiempo que el género tiene un efecto importante en la relación del SE en el AC. La edad no está relacionada con el aumento del AC, pero el efecto de la SE sobre el AC disminuye con el incremento de la edad, y los valores de FP también se reducen para los estudiantes mayores en comparación con los estudiantes más jóvenes. Los niveles más altos de AC están relacionados con valores más altos de FP, y existe un efecto de mediación de AC para el género y SE sobre FP.

este estudio proporciona valiosas contribuciones a los campos del emprendimiento, la psicología, el género y el comportamiento organizacional. Primero, presentamos un marco teórico que integra postulados de emprendimiento FP, AC, SE, edad y género. Luego, probamos empíricamente nuestro marco teórico utilizando SEM y presentamos resultados iniciales sobre los mecanismos que dan forma al AC en estudiantes emprendedores y sus implicaciones para el FP.

Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar a influência do gênero, da idade e da autoestima (SE) dos empreendedores no comprometimento afetivo (AC) dos universitários com seus empreendimentos e como eles se relacionam com o desempenho subjetivo da empresa (FP).

Utilizamos dados da pesquisa GUESSS de 2018 para realizar uma modelagem de equações estruturais (SEM) para determinar os efeitos diretos de gênero, idade e SE na AC, seus efeitos diretos e indiretos no FP e os efeitos diretos e papel mediador do AC na FP, para estudantes empreendedores.

Os resultados confirmam que níveis mais elevados de SE estão relacionados com níveis mais elevados de AC dos empreendedores para os seus empreendimentos e uma maior avaliação do FP. Além disso, os homens relatam níveis mais elevados de AC e FP do que as mulheres, embora tenham um efeito importante da SE na AC. A idade não está relacionada com o aumento da AC, mas o efeito do SE na AC diminui com o aumento da idade, e os valores de FP também diminuem para os alunos mais velhos em comparação com os alunos mais jovens. Níveis mais elevados de AC estão relacionados a valores mais elevados de FP, e há efeito mediador da AC para gênero e SE sobre FP.

Este estudo fornece contribuições valiosas para as áreas de empreendedorismo, psicologia, gênero e comportamento organizacional. Primeiro, apresentamos um quadro teórico que integra postulados de empreendedorismo em FP, AC, SE, idade e género. Em seguida, testamos empiricamente o nosso enquadramento teórico utilizando SEM e apresentamos resultados iniciais sobre os mecanismos que moldam o AC em estudantes empreendedores e as suas implicações para o FP.

Employee recognition systems are ubiquitous in organizations (WorldatWork, 2019) and have positive effects on work outcomes (e.g. Stajkovic and Luthans, 2001). However, psychologically meaningful recognition relies on the recognition giver being motivated to observe and recognize coworkers. Crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic may impact recognition giving in varying ways, yet little research considers this possibility.

This longitudinal field study examined the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on recognition and acknowledgment giving among frontline and nonfrontline healthcare workers at daily and aggregated levels. We tested the relationships between publicly available daily indicators of COVID-19 and objectively measured daily recognition and acknowledgment giving within a web-based platform.

We found that the amount of daily recognition giving was no different during the crisis compared to the year before, but fewer employees gave recognition, and significantly more recognition was given on days when COVID-19 indicators were relatively high. In contrast, the amount of acknowledgment giving was significantly lower in frontline staff and significantly higher in nonfrontline staff during the pandemic than before, but on a daily-level, acknowledgment was unrelated to COVID-19 indicators.

Our results suggest that organizational crises may at once inhibit and stimulate employee recognition and acknowledgment.

Our research is the first to empirically demonstrate that situational factors associated with a crisis can impact recognition giving behavior, and they do so in ways consistent with ostensibly contradictory theories.

LinkedIn, as a professional networking platform, plays a crucial role in connecting professionals globally and facilitating their professional growth. This study aims to analyse the perceptions of architects and designers regarding the utilisation of LinkedIn for career development.

The research focuses on gathering professional perceptions and opinions through a qualitative analysis of primary data. A semi-structured interview approach was used for data collection. The study selected 12 actively engaged professionals from the architecture and design industry in Perth, Western Australia, who actively use LinkedIn.

The study's findings reveal diverse opinions and experiences among professionals in the architecture and design industry regarding LinkedIn. It identifies several positive impacts of LinkedIn on the Australian architecture and design industry. Architects and designers recognise the potential benefits of LinkedIn in expanding their professional networks, showcasing their work, accessing learning opportunities and contributing to industry outcomes. They also appreciate the platform's ability to connect them with peers, clients, suppliers and industry, fostering knowledge sharing and collaboration in the evolving work environment.

This study contributes to the existing literature by extending the understanding of the importance of self-presentation on LinkedIn, identifying factors influencing career goal achievement and highlighting the role of professional connections on social media. It establishes connections between 21st-century online innovations and their practical applications within the relevant context.

How closely does the translation match the meaning of the reference has always been a key aspect of any machine translation (MT) service. Therefore, the primary goal of this research is to assess and compare translation adequacy in machine vs human translation (HT) from Arabic to English. The study looks into whether the MT product is adequate and more reliable than the HT. It also seeks to determine whether MT poses a real threat to professional Arabic–English translators.

Six different texts were chosen and translated from Arabic to English by two nonexpert undergraduate translation students as well as MT services, including Google Translate and Babylon Translation. The first system is free, whereas the second system is a fee-based service. Additionally, two expert translators developed a reference translation (RT) against which human and machine translations were compared and analyzed. Furthermore, the Sketch Engine software was utilized to examine the translations to determine if there is a significant difference between human and machine translations against the RT.

The findings indicated that when compared to the RT, there was no statistically significant difference between human and machine translations and that MTs were adequate translations. The human–machine relationship is mutually beneficial. However, MT will never be able to completely automated; rather, it will benefit rather than endanger humans. A translator who knows how to use MT will have an opportunity over those who are unfamiliar with the most up-to-date translation technology. As MTs improve, human translators may no longer be accurate translators, but rather editors and editing materials previously translated by machines.

The findings of this study provide valuable and practical implications for research in the field of MTs and for anyone interested in conducting MT research.

In general, this study is significant as it is a serious attempt at getting a better understanding of the efficiency of MT vs HT in translating the Arabic–English texts, and it will be beneficial for translators, students, educators as well as scholars in the field of translation.

This study aims to examine the mediating role of trainer preparation in the effect employee trainer self-efficacy has on trainer performance.

Using a census, data was collected from internal employee trainers in two universities in Ghana. In testing the hypotheses, a structural equation modelling based on 10,000 bootstrap samples was used, and the BCa confidence intervals were used to establish the significance of the hypotheses.

This study revealed trainer preparation as a complementary partial mediator in the effect trainee engagement self-efficacy and instruction self-efficacy had on trainer performance. In addition, the importance–performance map analyses demonstrated that the factor with the most importance in the model was instruction self-efficacy, yet it was not the highest-performing factor.

This study highlights the mediating role played by preparation in the effect of trainer self-efficacy on trainer performance. In addition, it adds to the dearth of studies that focus on employee trainers while at the same time using data from the trainers themselves.

Flood preparedness and response from the perspective of community engagement mechanisms have been studied in scholarly articles. However, the differences in flood mitigation may expose social and behavioural challenges to learn from. This study aimed to demonstrate how text mining can be applied in prioritising existing contexts in community-based and government flood mitigation and management strategies.

This investigation mined the semantics researchers ascribed to flood disasters and community responses from 2001 to 2022 peer-reviewed publications. Text mining was used to derive frequently used terms from over 15 publications in the Scopus database and Google Scholar search engine after an initial output of 268 peer-reviewed publications. The text-mining process applied the topic modelling analyses on the 15 publications using the R studio application.

Topic modelling applied through text mining clustered four (4) themes. The themes that emerged from the topic modelling process were building adaptation to flooding, climate change and resilient communities, urban infrastructure and community preparedness and research output for flood risk and community response. The themes were supported with geographical flood risk and community mitigation contexts from the USA, India and Nigeria to provide a broader perspective.

This study exposed the deficiency of “communication, teamwork, responsibility and lessons” as focal themes of flood disaster management and response research. The divergence in flood mitigation in developing nations as compared with developed nations can be bridged through improved government policies, technologies and community engagement.

This research examines whether mentoring is a predictor of entrepreneurial intentions. It also explores how intent translates into action through implementation intentions. The study tests if the mentoring-intentions association is mediated by self-efficacy. The potential moderating effect of achievement motivation on the relationship was also investigated.

PLS-SEM was used to test the hypotheses of the 242 valid responses collected from final-year students from Libyan public universities.

Results show that self-efficacy partially mediated the mentoring-intentions association, while motivation negatively moderated the relationship. Entrepreneurial intentions had a significantly strong effect on implementation intentions.

The results verify mentoring as a practical socializing instructional approach. Therefore, universities should implement structured mentoring programs, offering emotional guidance, counsel and networking opportunities. Also, mentors should undergo training, and progress tracking is essential for improvement.

Examining entrepreneurial self-efficacy as a mediator and achievement motivation as a moderator in the mentoring-intentions association is unprecedented. The findings narrow the search for antecedents to entrepreneurial intentions and pinpoint intervention points.

The purpose of this paper is to explore user engagement (UE) within the Metaverse (MV) environment, emphasising the crucial role of immersive experiences (IEs). This study aims to understand how IEs influence UE and the mediating effects of hedonic value (HV) and utilitarian value (UV) on this relationship. Additionally, the authors examine the moderating impacts of user perceptions (UPs) such as headset comfort, simulation sickness, prior knowledge and ease of use on the utilisation of the MV. This study seeks to elucidate the dynamics of virtual travel at a pre-experience stage, enhancing the comprehension of how digital platforms can revolutionise UE in travel and tourism.

This study used a triangulation methodology to provide a thorough investigation into the factors influencing UE in the MV. A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to frame the research context and identify relevant variables. To gather empirical data, 25 interviews were performed with active MV users, supplemented by a survey distributed to 118 participants. The data collected was analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) to test the hypothesised relationships between IEs, UPs, HV and UV and their combined effect on UE within the MV.

The findings from the SEM indicate that engaging in the MV leads to a positive IE, which significantly enhances UE. Additionally, it was discovered that HV and UV play a mediating role in strengthening the link between IEs and UE. Furthermore, UPs, including headset comfort, simulation sickness, prior knowledge and ease of use, are significant moderators in the relationship between IEs and MV usage. These insights provide a nuanced understanding of the variables that contribute to and enhance UE in virtual environments.

This research contributes original insights into the burgeoning field of digital tourism by focusing on the MV, a rapidly evolving platform. It addresses the gap in the existing literature by delineating the complex interplay between IEs, UPs and value constructs within the MV. By using a mixed-method approach and advanced statistical analysis, this study provides a comprehensive model of UE specific to virtual travel platforms. The findings are particularly valuable for developers and marketers in the hospitality and tourism sectors seeking to capitalise on digital transformation and enhance UE through immersive technologies.

This study aims to systematically review the literature on digital consumers’ decision-making in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector and proposes an integrative framework.

By combining databases such as Web of Science and Elton B. Stephens Company (EBSCO), we identified, analyzed and synthesized 53 peer-reviewed empirical articles that explore the connection between digital solutions in the BFSI sector and various phases and constructs of the consumer decision-making process. We examined the dependent variables (DVs) used to operationalize consumer decision-making, performed a thematic analysis of the papers and proposed an integrative framework.

The reviewed articles have garnered more attention from marketing researchers than from BFSI or artificial intelligence scholars, often employing traditional behavioral and experimental methodologies that have several limitations. We identified 38 DVs used to operationalize consumer decision-making, with the most frequently recurring constructs being “Intention to use,” “Utilization,” “Satisfaction,” “Perceived usefulness” and “Trust.” We propose an integrative framework that groups these DVs into three main clusters: subjects’ perceptions, user experience and adoption/usage choice. This systematic literature review highlights the increasing importance of emotion in recent decades and underscores the difficulty of establishing a framework where relationships between variables are direct and unidirectional, as traditional economic theories assume.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to provide a comprehensive and systematic understanding of the DVs and the research methods used to study the impact of recent digital solutions on consumer decision-making in the BFSI sector. Further, a framework is proposed that can offer a new perspective for consumer research.

Entrepreneurial action under uncertainty has captured the interest of scholars and practitioners alike. However, this growing body of research has yet to connect entrepreneurial action with actual actions of entrepreneurs. We combine insights from effectuation theory and the psychology of entrepreneurship to investigate drivers of entrepreneurial actions involved in starting and running ventures, particularly optimism, self-efficacy and the use of causal and effectual logics.

The study employs a unique mixed-method approach combining a survey with experience sampling data. After measuring demographics, preference for effectual or causal logics and psychological variables, the 197 US entrepreneurs sampled entrepreneurs logged their daily actions in the form of asks during 60 consecutive days.

Results suggest that self-efficacy and causal logics are key drivers of entrepreneurial actions, while optimism serves as a deterrent. Interestingly, the impact of self-efficacy on actions is moderated by the entrepreneur’s experience level, measured both in years and past asking experience.

The potential of the ask as the basic mechanism for entrepreneurial actions is explored. Based on the findings, the authors offer new and fertile insights by linking psychological traits to entrepreneurial actions, causal and effectual logics and entrepreneurial expertise development.