Search results

The purpose of this paper is to propose a model for operationalizing the integrated use of lean and sustainability concepts for infrastructure delivery. This model is premised on the need for the attainment of a sustainable built environment through efficient infrastructure delivery.

A case study research design was used in assessing five purposively selected cases within Gauteng province in South Africa. These facilities attained Green Building Council of South Africa ratings of 5- to 6-star, for the rating of green buildings and available evidence of integration of lean principles at the developmental stage. Questionnaires were administered to project’s role-players and semi-structured interviews were conducted with the users and facility managers, in order to elicit data for the model development. Questionnaire survey was adopted for the model validation.

The lean-sustainability platform for infrastructure delivery demonstrates features such as resources, drivers, barriers, activities, outputs, the results, and the ultimate impact. The findings give insight into various components of the model. It validates its robustness and highlights leadership among other critical factors necessary for successful operationalization of the lean-sustainability ethos required to transform the delivery of infrastructure.

The developed model provides a transformational route for achieving infrastructure sustainability. The lean-sustainable indicators identified will serve as evaluation tools for assessing lean-sustainability ethos during the delivery phases of infrastructure projects.

The model provides a new way of thinking about infrastructure project delivery regarding the need to promote sustainability in the built environment.

This study aims to investigate the drivers influencing the implementation of circular economy principles in the Nigerian architecture, engineering, construction and operation (AECO) industry across diverse regions of Nigeria.

A quantitative research approach was adopted, using a structured questionnaire distributed to AECO professionals across four selected regions (North Central, North West, South-South and South West) in Nigeria. The data were analysed using Kruskal–Wallis test and structural equation modelling (SEM).

The study findings show a robust consensus of opinions among the respondents across regions and professions. The SEM analysis establishes the significant influence of the hypothesized drivers, regulatory and institutional, supply chain collaboration, technological advancements, organizational support and business strategies on the successful implementation of circular economy principles in the Nigerian AECO industry.

The study is limited to specific regions and professions within Nigeria. Further limitation is the quantitative orientation of this study, which collects data using only a questionnaire.

The findings imply that stakeholders can adopt a unified approach to promote circular economy principles in the AECO industry. By recognizing the common understanding of circular economy drivers, collaborative efforts can be streamlined to advance sustainability, resource efficiency and circularity in the industry.

This study contributes to the nascent field of circular economy implementation in the Nigerian AECO industry. It offers a unique perspective by exploring variations in stakeholder opinions, providing insights into the nuanced understanding of circular economy drivers.

The purpose of this paper is to identify factors affecting word-of-mouth (WOM) towards Islamic Banking (IB) in Jordan through understanding the roles of service quality and perceived value.

A self-administered survey was hand-delivered to the targeted sample of Islamic banks customers in Jordan. The authors delivered 400 questionnaires to customers from which 352 were deemed valid for the analysis. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed to assess the research constructs validity and composite reliability. Structural path analysis was also used to test the research model and hypothesised relationships between the variables.

Service quality has a positive and significant effect on perceived value and WOM towards IB. Convenience has a positive and significant effect on perceived value. Finally, perceived value has a positive and significant effect on WOM towards IB. Service quality exerted the strongest effect on perceived value and WOM. Also, 38 per cent of variation in perceived value was caused by religious motives, service quality and convenience path, whereas 34 per cent of variation in WOM towards IB was caused by perceived value, service quality and convenience path.

Future research needs to investigate other factors that may affect customers’ WOM concerning IB such as perceived bank image, trust and subjective norms. Future research should investigate other dimensions of perceived value such as social, psychological, emotional, sacrifice value and product values and how they affect WOM. From an international marketing standpoint, comparative studies between Jordanian and non-Jordanian Islamic customers are potential areas of future research for international marketing strategies and cross-cultural consumer behaviour analysis.

The paper identifies the determinants of WOM towards IB. Managers should focus on executing service quality strategies customised towards IB. Convenience is a major driver of perceived value and, then, WOM towards IB. Managers need to focus on key marketing messages that enhance religious motives in customers’ minds and hearts; however, attracting new customers and retaining the current ones depend on the perceived benefits in the areas of service quality, convenience and several value aspects.

This study is the first of its kind to test a model of WOM determinants in IB in Jordan. The study is thought to have made a reasonable contribution to consumer behaviour literature and, specifically, for decision-making process through developing and testing a model of WOM determinants towards IB. The study offers CEOs and marketing managers of Islamic banks new insights into the determinants of WOM and how they contribute to consumers’ decision-making process and attitudes to achieve the intended behavioural outcomes towards IB, which were not available at their hands before. These empirical findings are crucial inputs for marketing strategy formulation and implementation.

Sixteen million adolescents give birth each year, constituting 11% of all births worldwide. Adverse adolescent pregnancy outcomes are well-documented. Available data on adolescent pregnancies have mainly relied on self-reported age and retrospective survey data, which might not capture adolescent births accurately. This paper reports on trends in adolescent pregnancy and associated adverse birth outcomes in Matlab, Bangladesh, using data from the Matlab Heath and Demographic System (HDSS) which precisely documents maternal age.

The study was conducted in the rural subdistrict of Matlab in Bangladesh. HDSS data were used to examine trends in adolescent motherhood (10–19 years) in the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr, b) service areas (ISA) and government service areas (GSA) between 2007 and 2015. A total of 4,996 adolescent mothers were included in the analysis. Chi-square testing and binary logistic regression were used to document adolescent pregnancy trends and the differences in and causes of perinatal death.

The fertility rate was 27 per 1000 adolescent mothers in ISA and 20 per 1000 adolescent mothers in GSA, during the 9 years of the study period. The adjusted odd of an adolescent mother having a perinatal death in ISA, relative to GSA was 0.69. Significant determinants of perinatal death among adolescent mothers included maternal education, paternal education, mother’s age at first birth, asset score and distance from the nearest health facility.

This paper documents the real trend of adolescent pregnancy by capturing the accurate age at pregnancy for the first time in Bangladesh.

With the materialization of literature on strategic change, it is clear that organizational learning and organizational dynamism have been among the most notable areas of study. The purpose of this paper is to extend the literature on strategic management by examining the mediating effects of organizational learning and the moderating role of environmental dynamism on the relationship between strategic change and firm performance.

A survey questionnaire was administered to 650 respondents who were both corporate and business-level managers of 22 main deposit money banks (commercial banks) and their branches across the country. In total, 630 questionnaires were returned and 587 were used after following all the processes of data preparation. Path analysis was employed to test the hypotheses in this study using Smart PLS 3.

The study found a significant mediating effect of organizational learning on the relationship between strategic change and firm performance. Although no significant moderating role of environmental dynamism was found, the directions of the path coefficients are consistent with the hypothesis. All the relationships between the constructs are significant.

It is paramount for managers to understand the type of environment and learning that fits diverse kinds of strategic changes in order to improve firm performance. It is evident that changes that are not proactive and generative organizational learning may seem dangerous for a firm. However, organizations should learn to incorporate the change to be able to compete in a dynamic competitive environment.

Prior studies on strategic change, environmental dynamism and organizational learning have mainly focused on manufacturing and construction industries in the developed countries, but less has been done in the service sector, particularly the banking organizations in developing countries. Nigeria is one of those countries. Therefore, this study focuses on the links between strategic change and firm performance, moderating role of environmental dynamism and the mediating effect of organizational learning within the context of the Nigerian deposit money banks.

Asia is the largest and most densely inhabited region in the world. Despite exhibiting an extremely expeditious economic growth, the majority of the world population categorized as poor resides in Asia, with more than a billion people financially excluded. This study aims to assess how social sustainability (SS) may increase financial inclusion (FI) and maintain financial stability (FS) in Asia.

Established on the stakeholder theory, the study analyzed the association among SS, FI and FS in Asia, employing a generalized method of moment’s estimation. The mediation of FI was also investigated in the relationship between SS and FS. Moreover, this study has analyzed the alternative proxies for the variables of interest to ensure dynamic results.

The findings point toward a positive association among SS, FI and FS. Furthermore, FI is observed to be undertaking a partial mediating role between SS and FS.

This study emphasizes that both SS and FI have individual parts in the amelioration of FS in Asia, whereas previous studies implied that FI is a mere tool for stimulating SS. Hence, Asian policymakers must keep these outcomes in mind due to their simultaneous contribution to FS.

The relationship between SS, FI and FS has received little attention in the literature. No previous study has deduced that increasing SS may instigate an increase in FI and FS. Additionally, quite contrary to previous studies that relied on narrow indicators, this study develops a broad measurement of SS by considering a wide range of crucial indicators for a sustainable society.

Based on the transaction cost theory, this paper aims to investigate the impact of cultural distance on international strategic alliance formation and its underlying mechanisms.

This paper uses the investment of foreign firms in the Chinese Venture Capital market as an empirical background, Obtaining VC data from Zero2IPO Private Equity, CVsource Investment Database (2001–2015). This paper chooses the Logit regression method, according to Lind’s three-step method to test the inverted U-shaped relationship.

The empirical analysis of foreign venture capital firms invested in China revealed that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between cultural distance and the possibility of international strategic alliances. This relationship is the result of two opposing mechanisms, which are the need and the feasibility of international strategic alliances. In addition, this study further examined the moderating effects of social embeddedness and social reputation, revealing the boundary effects on the complex relationship between cultural distance and possible international strategic alliance formation.

This study focuses on cultural difference, which is a key factor leading to a firm’s transaction costs. Based on the transaction cost theory, this paper investigates the impact of cultural distance on international strategic alliance formation and its underlying mechanisms.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate an underexplored aspect of outsourcing involving a mixed strategy in which parallel production is continued in-house at the same time as outsourcing occurs.

The study applied a multiple case study approach and drew on qualitative data collected through in-depth interviews with wood product manufacturing companies.

The paper posits that there should be a variety of mixed strategies between the two governance forms of “make” or “buy.” In order to address how companies should consider the extent to which they outsource, the analysis was structured around two ends of a continuum: in-house dominance or outsourcing dominance. With an in-house-dominant strategy, outsourcing complements an organization's own production to optimize capacity utilization and outsource less cost-efficient production, or is used as a tool to learn how to outsource. With an outsourcing-dominant strategy, in-house production helps maintain complementary competencies and avoids lock-in risk.

This paper takes initial steps toward an exploration of different mixed strategies. Additional research is required to understand the costs of different mixed strategies compared with insourcing and outsourcing, and to study parallel production from a supplier viewpoint.

This paper suggests that managers should think twice before rushing to a “me too” outsourcing strategy in which in-house capacities are completely closed. It is important to take a dynamic view of outsourcing that maintains a mixed strategy as an option, particularly in situations that involve an underdeveloped supplier market and/or as a way to develop resources over the long term.

The concept of combining both “make” and “buy” is not new. However, little if any research has focussed explicitly on exploring the variety of different types of mixed strategies that exist on the continuum between insourcing and outsourcing.

This study aims to investigate the relationships between managers’ cognitive styles, dynamic managerial capabilities and firms’ perceived international performance. The study is based on cognitive-experiential self-theory, dynamic managerial capabilities and international entrepreneurship.

Data were collected from 283 managers of small medium enterprises (SMEs) in Türkiye, an emerging economy. The research was conducted using quantitative methods, and Smart partial least squares (PLS) 4 software was used for data analysis. The data were examined through structural equation modelling and mediation analyses.

Findings indicate that rational cognitive styles positively influence managerial human capital, managerial social capital, managerial cognition and perceived international performance. However, the effect of intuitive cognitive styles was confirmed only on managerial cognition. Additionally, it was found that managerial cognition positively affects perceived international performance, whereas managerial social capital has a negative impact. However, the effects of managerial human capital could not be confirmed. Moreover, a full mediation relationship of managerial cognition between intuitive cognitive styles and perceived international performance was identified.

This research carves out a unique niche by synergizing cognitive-experiential self-theory with dynamic managerial capabilities to investigate their conjoined effect on firms’ international performance, an area previously underexplored. Unveiling insights from burgeoning economies like Türkiye enriches the existing body of knowledge, offering substantial contributions to the field of international business.

Najib Mahfuz is the first Arab‐language author to win the Nobel Prize in literature. Born in 1911 the son of a middle‐class Jamaliyah merchant, he became the most popular novelist in Egypt and the Arab countries.