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This study aims to examine the connectedness among green, Islamic and conventional financial markets from December 2008 to May 2021. Moreover, the impact of global factors on the connectedness of given financial markets is also observed.

This study first employed the time-varying parameter vector autoregressions (TVP-VAR) technique to explore the connectedness of markets. Second, This study utilized the wavelet coherence analysis to test the time-frequency impact of global factors in terms of implied volatilities of stock, oil, gold, currency and bond on the connectedness across financial markets.

This study finds Islamic stocks, sustainability index and S&P500 composite index are the net transmitters, whereas Sukuk, commodity index, bond market, clean energy and green bonds are the net recipient of spillovers. Time-varying features of green, Islamic and conventional financial markets are evident in system-wide connectedness. This study further evidenced that global factors drive the connectedness of financial markets, particularly during stressful times.

The findings of this study furnish significant implications for policymakers, regulatory authorities, investors, financial market participants and portfolio managers in terms of carefully assessing the unique characteristics offered by each financial market in terms of risk mitigation and diversifying the portfolios.

Using a portfolio of green, Islamic and conventional financial markets, the uniqueness of this study lies in the examination of the connectedness of these markets by deploying the TVP-VAR technique. In addition, wavelet analysis offers a significant contribution in terms of global factors driving the connectedness of green, Islamic and conventional markets.

The purpose of this paper develops a conceptual model of social influence for Internet banking adoption (IBA) using social networking platforms (SNPs). It identifies the antecedents of social influence that can positively and negative influence the IBA among a targeted population of conventional and Islamic banks. Moreover, this paper contributes various factors to social influence theory with the purpose of enhancing its implication in the context of Internet banking uptake in developed and developing countries.

This study uses a social constructivism approach to understand customer experiences, thoughts, knowledge, awareness and perceptions in relation to IBA. For this study, data were collected from 30 respondents using semi-structured interviews and purposive sampling.

Social influence comprises customer recommendations, suggestions, ratings, reviews, experiences and thoughts regarding the IBA of Islamic and conventional banks. The findings reveal that social reviews, social experts, social consensus, social responsibility and social perceptions are the key antecedents of social influence that can enhance IBA of SNPs. The research finds that positive social reviews, expert support, consensus, social responsibility and social perceptions are significant in relation to conventional Internet banking. The respondents revealed serious concerns about the privacy of their personal and financial information especially in relation to Islamic banks.

The effective and well-organized use of SNPs can foster service reviews, word of mouth, higher levels of service awareness, interactive communication, social consensus and social trust to drive the adoption of Internet banking. This study proposes the conceptual model which has positive business implications and provides the banks direction to use the SNPs to their advantage to influxes their customers to adopt the use of Internet banking.

Most previous studies have used technology acceptance model, theory of planned behavior and unified theory of acceptance and the use of technology theories in the adoption of technology and IBA. These theories have not fully illuminated the role of social content as a way to enhance or decrease the number of customers in conventional and Islamic banks. This study develops social influence theory by exploring several dimensions (i.e. social reviews, awareness, consensus, cooperation and experts support) in the context of IBA for users of SNPs. Social influence can create more reviews and can lead to more prepurchase information. It can drive customer inquiries and engagement and can inform purchase decisions for IBA. On the other hand, it can motivate existing customers of Islamic banks to use conventional banking services due to effective word of mouth.

This study aims to examine the relationship between green human resource management (GHRM) practices and green transformational leadership toward inducing employees' green creativity. Specifically, drawing upon the ability, motivation and opportunity theory, the authors tested how green perceived organizational support (green POS) mediates the link between GHRM practices and employees' green creativity. Furthermore, based on the firm's resource-based view, the authors examine the moderating role of green transformational leadership on the relationship between GHRM practice and green POS.

Using a survey questionnaire, this research was conducted with a multi-source sample of 201 supervisors and their 428 subordinates from organizations working in grocery, food and personal care products in Pakistan.

The findings of structural equation modeling revealed that green POS plays a mediating role between GHRM and employees' green creativity. The study findings also highlighted that green transformational leadership moderates the positive relationship between GHRM practices and green POS.

Organizations need to implement GHRM practices to achieve environmental performance. Individuals are likely to recognize themselves with organizations that are engaged in green practices, and therefore, organizations can get benefits from implementing GHRM practices.

This research explores green POS and green transformational leadership as novel mechanisms through which GHRM practices influence employees' green creativity in organizations. In addition, the authors empirically examined our theorized relationships in the South Asian context.

This study aims to examine the hedge and safe-haven properties of the Sukuk and green bond for the stock markets pre- and during the COVID-19 pandemic period.

To test the hedge and safe-haven characteristics of Sukuk and green bonds for stock markets, the study first uses the methodology proposed by Ratner and Chiu (2013). Next, the authors estimate the hedge ratios and hedge effectiveness of using Sukuk and green bonds in a portfolio with stock markets.

Strong safe-haven features of ethical (green) bonds reveal that adding green bonds into the investment portfolios brings considerable diversification avenues for the investors who tend to take fewer risks in periods of economic stress and turbulence. The hedge ratio and hedge effectiveness estimates reveal that green bonds provide sufficient evidence of the hedge effectiveness for various international stocks.

The study has significant implications for faith-based investors, ethical investors, policymakers and regulatory bodies. Religious investors can invest in Sukuk to relish low-risk and interest-free investments, whereas green investors can satisfy their socially responsible motives by investing in these investment streams. Policymakers can direct the businesses to include these diversifiers for portfolio and risk management.

The study provides novel insights in the testing hedge and safe-haven attributes of green bonds and Sukuk while using unique methodologies to identify multiple low-risk investors for investors following the uncertain COVID-19 pandemic.

This study quantified the hedge and safe haven features of bond markets for multiple cryptocurrency indices from June 2014 to April 2021 to highlight whether bond markets offer hedging facilities to uncertainty indices of cryptocurrencies.

The authors employed the methodology of Baur and McDermott (2010) and AGDCC-GARCH model to measure the hedge and safe-haven characteristics of three bond markets (BBGT, SPGB and SKUK) for three uncertainty indexes of cryptocurrencies (UCRPR, UCRPO and ICEA).

The authors find that bond markets are neither hedge nor safe havens except for SKUK which is a safe haven investment for cryptocurrency indices and offers substantial diversification during the periods of economic fragility. In addition, the hedge effectiveness of SPGB outperforms other bonds during crisis periods and provides sufficient diversification potential for cryptocurrency indices.

The findings are important for policymakers, regulatory bodies, financial firms and investors in assessing hedge and safe haven characteristics of bond markets against cryptocurrency indices.

Employing the novel methodology of AGDCC-GARCH with three different bond markets and three uncertainty indices of cryptocurrencies, the current study adds to the existing strand of literature in terms of quantifying hedge and safe-haven attributes of bond markets for cryptocurrency uncertainty indexes.

The purpose of the study is to understand how socially shared misinformation and rumors can enhance the motivation to protect personal interests and enhance social practices of panic buying.

The study employed a number of qualitative data collection methods for the purpose of triangulation, as it can offer thick interpretation and can help to develop a context specific research framework.

The shared misinformation and rumors on social media developed into psychological, physical and social threats; therefore, people started panic buying to avoid these negative consequences. People believed that there were differences between the information shared by politicians and government officials and reality, such as “everything is under control,” whereas social media showed people standing in long queues and struggling to buy the necessities of life. The shared misinformation and rumors on social media became viral and received social validation, which created panic buying in many countries.

It is the responsibility of government, politicians, leaders, media and the public to control misinformation and rumors, as many people were unable to buy groceries due either to socio-economic status or their decisions of late buying, which increased depression among people.

The study merged the theory of rumor (TORT) transmission and protection motivation theory (PMT) to understand how misinformation and rumors shared through social media increased global uncertainty and the desire to panic buy across the world.

This study aims to estimate the time–frequency connectedness among global financial markets. It draws a comparison between the full sample and the sample during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study uses the connectedness framework of Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) and Barunik and Krehlik (2018), both of which consider time and frequency connectedness and show that spillover is specific to not only the time domain but also the frequency (short- and long-run) domain. The analysis also includes pairwise connectedness by making use of network analysis. Daily data on the MSCI World Index, Barclays Bloomberg Global Treasury Index, Oil future, Gold future, Dow Jones World Islamic Index and Bitcoin have been used over the period from May 01, 2013 to July 31, 2020.

This study finds that cryptocurrency, bond and gold are hedges against both conventional stocks and Islamic stocks on average; however, these are not “safe havens” during an economic crisis, i.e. COVID-19. External shocks, such as COVID-19, strengthen the return connectedness among all six financial markets.

For investors, the study provides important insights that during external shocks such as COVID-19, there is a spillover effect, and investors are unable to hedge risk between conventional stocks and Islamic stocks. These so-called safe haven investment alternatives suffer from the similar negative impact of systemic financial risk. However, during an external shock such as COVID-19, cryptocurrencies, bonds and gold can be used to hedge risk against conventional stocks, Islamic stocks and oil. Moreover, the findings imply that by engaging in momentum trading, active investors can gain short-run benefits before the market processes any new information.

The study contributes to the emergent literature investigating the connectedness among financial markets during the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides evidence that the return connectedness among six global financial markets, namely, conventional stocks, Islamic stocks, bond, oil, gold and cryptocurrency, is extremely strong. From a methodological standpoint, this study finds that COVID-19 pandemic shock has a significant short-run impact on the connectedness among financial markets.

This study offers an understanding of vulnerable populations' experiences of actual use of mobile banking and their expectations of mobile banking (MB).

Data were generated from MB customers and bankers using online reviews, focus groups and semi-structured interviews, as a mix of methods and sources can provide rich and in-depth understanding.

The affordance of MB for vulnerable populations is explained in four concepts: meaning, material, competency and usability. Recommendations that could further engage and improve the service quality of MB apps for vulnerable populations include customization and personalization of services, access to the digital health data of members of vulnerable populations, audio-based option selection and touchscreen options, and enhancement of service and performance standards.

It is suggested that retail bankers should improve the service quality and performance of their MB apps by considering the recommendations drawn from vulnerable people's experiences. This study discusses implications for retailers.

This study applied social practice theory and affordance of technology theory to understand how those in vulnerable populations experienced MB apps; the results could be used to improve the accessibility, performance and service quality of MB apps.

The purpose of this study is to identify the role of social media in implementing effective organizational change. The study illuminates how social media applications support the antecedents of organizational change in the workplace.

The study followed an interpretive approach based on qualitative design and grounded theory using 41 non-directive and semi-structured interviews with change leaders and change recipients. These respondents were chosen using purposive sampling and thematic analysis was then performed using NVivo 11-Plus software.

This research highlights how social media applications can be used to overcome the challenges of organizational change implementation. The findings of the study illuminate various emerging themes such as social media applications are beneficial for fostering knowledge sharing about change processes and enhancing effective communication during change formulation and implementation. It can increase the level of trust and participation in decision-making and decrease the level of resistance to change. Also, it can enhance the level of support for change acceptance in the workplace.

Social media application (SMAs) are helpful to foster informal, constructive and relevant discussion with respect to routines organizational tasks, employee concerns about new changes, information about job security and financial and non-financial benefits after change implementation. The effective and efficient use of SMAs helps organizations to foster knowledge amongst employees and they can address various critical issues i.e. employee uncertainties about change initiatives, social consensus on the solution of problems and interactive communication among social actors within a network.

The study represents an effort to explore seldom-researched aspects such as the role of social media in the context of change formulation and implementation at the workplace. Social media applications have become popular across the world and the speed of their usage is rising day by day, but their real contribution toward organizational change has not yet been fully understood.

The purpose of this research work is to harvest energy using the piezoelectric properties of ZnO nanowires (NW). Fabrication and characterization of the piezoelectric nanogenerator (NG), based on Al/ZnO/Au structure without using hosting layer, were done to harvest energy. The proposed method has full potential to harvest the cost-effective energy.

ZnO NW were fabricated between the thin layers of Al- and Au-coated substrates for the development of piezoelectric NG. To grow ZnO NW, ZnO seed layer was prepared on the Al-coated substrate, and then ZnO NW were grown by aqueous chemical growth method. Finally, Au top electrode was used to conclude the Al/ZnO/Au NG structure. The Al and Au electrodes were used to establish the ohmic and Schottky contacts with ZnO NW, respectively.

Surface morphology of the fabricated device was done by using scanning electron microscopy, and electrical characterization of the sample was performed with digital oscilloscope, picoammeter and voltmeter. The energy harvesting experiment was performed to excite the presented device. The fabricated piezoelectric-sensitive device revealed the maximum open circuit voltage up to 5 V and maximum short circuit current up to 30 nA, with a maximum power of 150 nW. Consequently, it was also shown that the output of the fabricated device was increased by applying the stress. The presented work will help for the openings to capture the mechanical energy from the surroundings to power up the nano/micro-devices. This research work shows that NGs have the competency to build the self-powered nanosystems. It has potential applications in biosensing and personal electronics.

The fabrication of simple and cost-effective piezoelectric NG is done with a structure of Al/ZnO/Au without using hosting layer. The presented method elucidates an efficient and cost-effective approach to harvest the mechanical energy from the native environment.