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This paper seeks to provide a multi-theoretical explanation of the living practice of a public entity found in Uganda, an African developing country, which successfully enhanced public accountability.

A qualitative narrative enquiry through storytelling was used to portray the practices of public accountability. The perceptions of various individuals were obtained using in-depth interviews, from which a coherent story structured under the themes of context, actions, results and lessons was obtained.

Findings show that public entities that put in place oversight mechanisms and management structures, involve stakeholders and create an ethical work climate enhance public accountability. The results further show that the integration of theories (agency, stewardship, stakeholder and ethical work climate) promotes public accountability.

In terms of limitations and areas for future research, the study has been conducted on a single city authority to explain public accountability. Perhaps there is a need to conduct similar studies with other city authorities or a combination of organizations. The study has used a qualitative methodology through narrative enquiry to explain public accountability. Future studies can use a quantitative methodology, more so to test the proposed conceptual model of public accountability. Despite the study limitations, the results of this study remain relevant.

This study uses the positive story of a public entity from a developing country that successfully practiced public accountability. Consequently, from a practical perspective, the findings of this study can be used as a benchmark for promoting effective public accountability practices, especially in developing countries across the globe, where public accountability has proven to be a challenge. Furthermore, governments in developing countries can also use the study findings to strengthen public accountability policies in their respective countries.

The study suggests that enhancement in public accountability practice requires an approach that brings together a multiplicity of factors. The study affords public accountability practitioners an opportunity to replicate the successful accountability practices from the story. When public accountability is enhanced, service delivery in terms of social services by the public organizations is likely to improve, leading to better quality of life in the communities served.

The study is novel in its use of a positive story that depicts an entity from a developing country that successfully enhanced public accountability. To explain this phenomenon, the study uses a multi-theoretical approach, unlike prior studies.

This paper aims to examine the interconnectedness between stakeholder expectations (SE), inter-organizational coordination (IOC) and procurement practices within humanitarian organizations (HOs) based in Uganda.

Employing a quantitative cross-sectional design, data were gathered from 43 HOs and analyzed using SmartPLS 4.0.8.3. Variance-based structural equation models (VB-SEMs) were employed to examine both direct and indirect effects.

The findings show a significantly positive relationship between SE, IOC and procurement practices. Additionally, the mediating role of IOC in the relationship between SE and procurement practices is evident.

While this study offers insights into procurement practices in HOs, the use of a quantitative approach might limit capturing dynamic changes over time. Future research could benefit from a nuanced approach involving interviews and longitudinal studies to uncover incremental changes.

During relief management, HOs need to understand their SE through information sharing and capacity building. This understanding can aid in selecting procurement practices that align with SE and ensure the delivery of relief.

Leveraging stakeholder theory, this research contributes to the understanding of how SE and IOC influence the adoption of procurement practices in HOs during relief delivery.

Millennials are a vital generational cohort of the Indian population, and understanding their motivation to participate in the stock market is crucial. This study aims to understand the investment decision-making behavior among millennials in the Indian Stock Market.

Using a cross-sectional research design that entails in-depth personal interviews, this study aims to understand the equity investment behavior of millennials. Verbatim texts from interview transcripts were used to analyze the content and arrive at themes.

The study investigated the motivation to enter the stock market and gained insights into how individuals make equity investment decisions considering economic and behavioral dimensions. The basis for stock selection was predominantly on the self-analysis of investors. Multiple stock selection priorities are also discussed. In addition, informants ensured asset diversification and exercised various strategies to overcome emotions. Furthermore, they suffered from various behavioral biases.

Individual investors are the least informed and most impacted stakeholders in the stock markets; therefore, this study contributes fresh insights to enhance their financial security. The paper also examines some noticeable behavioral tendencies retail investors exhibit and gathers helpful strategies for mitigating behavioral biases.

The uniqueness of the research lies in its adoption of a qualitative methodology that uses the investment experience of millennial investors to reveal the components of decision-making behavior and investor psychology. The findings are thereby unique and have significant managerial implications.

This study underscores the critical importance of knowledge management (KM) in the context of small and medium entrepreneurial firms (SMEFs) that aim to leverage their organisational learning capability (OLC) to enhance their product innovation performance (PIP). Drawing on the foundations of resource-based and contingency theories, this study delves into the impact of OLC on SMEFs' PIP through the intermediary role of KM, focussing on an emerging economy perspective. Additionally, this investigation explores how market dynamism (MDY) moderates the indirect connection between OLC and PIP via KM.

The study involved 262 SMEFs in Ghana, with data analysis conducted using PROCESS macros in SPSS 23.0 and LISREL 8.50.

This study's findings underscore the mediating role of KM in shaping the relationship between OLC and PIP. Furthermore, they reveal that, particularly in high MDY environments, the link between KM and PIP through KM is significantly strengthened.

The study clarifies that responding to MDY's demands is a complementary managerial capability enabling firms to channel their KM activities to improve PIP. Effectively, understanding the relationship between MDY and KM could substantially influence the policies and strategies managers adopt to improve PIP for organisational growth and survival.

This study extends the OLC–PIP research and contributes to the growing literature by offering a strong account of how OLC influences PIP and the prevailing boundary conditions that impact the KM-PIP relationship.

The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence on the relationship between artificial intelligence (AI) and financial inclusion to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs), an agenda set by United Nations for 2030. Financial inclusion is an enabler of 8 of the 17 SDGs. This paper emphasizes the introduction of AI in the financial sector, which is indispensable for achieving financial inclusion and plays a crucial role in the achievement of SDGs.

This study adopts qualitative research methodology to highlight the significance of AI in achieving high levels of financial inclusion in an economy. Both narrative and comparative approaches are used to provide empirical evidence for reaching the UN SDGs target through AI-assisted financial inclusion.

AI implementation in finance enables people to take part in the formal financial sector and thus, enhances economic growth and reduces poverty.

This research is limited in its data. Only five top AI applications are chosen and comparison is made between two countries only. Future research should consider it as an established concept and include more data to strengthen the evidence.

The results of this paper will help policymakers convince governments and institutions to put their efforts toward AI implementation in financial infrastructure of countries.

This research is unique in providing real-life examples and cases demonstrating the significance of AI implementation in the financial sector. Recent literature lacks evidence on the relationship of AI, financial inclusion and SDGs. This study adds to the existing literature by compiling data on top AI applications and comparing the performance of countries in achieving financial inclusion with the help of AI.

This study aims to examine the relationship between institutional logics and specifications quality, and how this relationship is mediated by the legitimacy of the procurement process and stewardship behaviour.

This study draws on insights from institutional logics theory, and legitimacy and stewardship behaviour literature. We conducted an extended literature review to gain a comprehensive understanding of “institutional logics” and their manifestations in organizational contexts, utilizing the 2000–2024 data collected from the EBSCO, Scopus and Web of Science databases, complemented with Google Scholar. We gather that institutional logics manifest in several forms, and that while some organizations may thrive on a single logic, in certain contexts institutional logics can manifest in combinations – “multiple logics or hybrids”. Based on this understanding, we developed testable research hypotheses, predicting the influences of institutional logics – professional logic, efficient service logic and delivery (market) logic, on legitimacy, stewardship behaviour and specifications quality. We then carried out an empirical study, adopting a quantitative cross-sectional survey design with a self-administered questionnaire to test the hypothesized relationships. The empirical data were obtained from 162 procuring and disposing entities in Uganda and analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling technique.

The study findings reveal that institutional logics exert a strong positive effect on the legitimacy of the procurement process and on stewardship behaviour, which, in turn, both positively influence specifications quality.

The study findings have implications for theory and practice. The study findings provide useful insights that support the conceptual and theoretical development of institutional logics theory and applications in procurement literature. In addition, the study findings enhance procurement managers’ understanding of the mechanisms through which institutional logics can foster specifications quality. However, considering the fact that the study was conducted in a single country context, and focused on the public sector only, the findings of the study might not be generalizable globally.

This study contributes to established knowledge about quality management and procurement by examining the legitimacy of the procurement process and stewardship behaviour of those involved in procurement processes as mechanisms through which procuring entities are able to use institutional logics to enhance specifications quality. In addition, the study highlights areas for future research that may be explored to increase understanding of the value of institutional logics in ensuring specifications quality, and the link between specifications quality and the general performance of procuring entities.

The purpose of this study is to reveal empirical facts that literacy and marketing strategies effectively impact people using Sharia pawn products during the COVID-19 pandemic because of the pressure of capital needs and financial difficulties.

This study used an exploratory qualitative research approach through semi-structured interviews with six partners of different productive ages and social, economic and educational backgrounds. After data reduction, presentation, description and validation, this paper develops the theory and presents it as a qualitative thematic analysis.

The findings of this study revealed that those who had socialised Sharia pawnshops had a low literacy level. Nonetheless, the socialisation of Sharia pawnshops increases literacy and public understanding of pawnshop products in Sharia pawnshops. This issue arises because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which makes it impossible for Sharia pawnshops to hold an event or socialise.

The authenticity of this study proves that literacy and marketing strategies can increase public awareness of Sharia pawn products during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study explores the determinants of financial well-being (FW) among emerging adults and investigates the moderating role of financial risk tolerance in the relationship between financial capability and financial behavior.

In total, 257 useable data were collected from federal and private university students, representing Emirati emerging adults aged 18 to 29. The analysis employed a structural equation model through AMOS 17.0.

Structural modeling results show that gender, monthly expenses, financial literacy and financial socialization influence financial capability and financial capability impacts both financial behavior and FW. Financial risk tolerance moderates the relationship between financial capability and financial behavior.

This study offers insights useful for policymakers, industry players and educators seeking to address financial literacy, financial capability and financial behavior to enhance the FW of emerging adults.

The study sheds light on the intricate yet comprehensive FW model of emerging adults in a non-Western context. The study also offers a new, more complex view of the function of financial literacy and financial socialization in financial capability. Combining family financial socialization and risk-return theories in an organic viewpoint allows for a more in-depth examination of a critical distinction between the role of literacy and socialization in shaping attitude and behavior and its function as a platform for financial discourse, which can inform how educational efforts and social platforms can be leveraged to improve financial acumen and FW.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-08-2023-0668

The paper examines how individuals can be susceptible to payment biases in the context of digital payment behavior by utilizing the concept of mental accounting. Furthermore, the paper investigates the moderating effects of Digital Financial Literacy (DFL) on the relationship between payment methods and spending behavior.

The study employs a survey-based approach to collect data from 503 individuals who use digital payment methods, utilizing purposive sampling from Pakistan. The collected data is analyzed using Smart-PLS 4 software to assess the direct impact of payment methods on spending behavior and the moderating influence of DFL.

The research findings demonstrate that both digital and cash payments significantly affect spending behavior. However, digital payments have a more substantial impact on spending behavior compared to cash payments. The findings also show that DFL significantly positively moderates individual spending. The study validates the mental accounting perspective by evaluating the direct impact of payment methods on consumers' spending behavior.

The findings have practical implications for policymakers, financial institutions, and educators. Policymakers can leverage the insights to design effective strategies that promote responsible spending behavior and enhance the adoption of digital payment methods. Financial institutions can design user-friendly platforms that cater to users' spending preferences, while educators can develop programs to enhance Digital Financial Literacy (DFL) among the public.

This study’s social implications lie in its potential to contribute to individuals' financial well-being by promoting responsible spending through digital payment methods. Enhanced financial literacy and informed spending decisions can lead to better financial management and ultimately contribute to societal financial stability.

The study enriches the understanding of mental accounting, shedding light on how overspending behavior can manifest through digital payment channels. In addition, this research practically provides valuable insights into enhancing the adoption and financial literacy of digital payments among the public.

This study aims to examine factors influencing potential customers’ intention to patronize Islamic banking products in Cameroon.

To achieve this, a structured questionnaire was used with 318 respondents, and 300 were usable for analysis with a respondent rate of 94%. The study used SEM-PLS to analyze the data.

The findings suggested that attitude, religious motivation, awareness, subjective norm and relative advantage significantly affect potential customers intention toward Islamic banking products, while perceived regulatory and perceived innovation are insignificant. Furthermore, attitude substantially mediates the relationship between religious motivation, awareness, subjective norm, relative advantage and perceived innovation.

However, this study focused on potential customers living in Muslim zones; future research should compare users and nonusers of Islamic banking products in both Muslim and non-Muslim zones to capture a big picture about customers’ perceptions of Islamic banking products in Cameroon.

The results of this study contribute to the literature by providing a new framework that combines the theories of planned behavior and diffusion of innovation theory and provides managerial implications at the level of Islamic finance operators. Meanwhile, this research offers some policy recommendations that can help boost the development of Islamic finance in Cameroon and promote financial inclusion.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research about potential customers’ intention to use Islamic banking products in Cameroon.