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This paper aims to examine how organisational values affect diversity in terms of different competencies in rural family Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Recruiting a diverse workforce in rural family SMEs can be particularly difficult due to the prevalence of internal family values and the lack of available local specialised competencies. A deficiency of diversity in employment and competence acquisition and development can create problems, as it often prevents rural family SMEs from recruiting employees with a wide variety of qualifications and skills.

The study takes on a multi-case method of Swedish rural family SMEs, applying a qualitative content analysis approach. In total, 20 in-depth structured interviews are conducted with rural family SME owners and 2 industries were investigated and compared – the tourism and the manufacturing industries.

Rural family SMEs lack long-term employment strategies, and competence diversity does not appear to be a priority for rural family SMEs, as they often have prematurely decided who they will hire rather than what competencies are needed for their long-term business development. It is more important to keep the team of employees tight and the family spirit present than to include competence diversity and mixed qualifications in the employment acquisition and development.

Contrary to prior research, our findings indicate that rural family SMEs apply short-term competence diversity strategies rather than long-term prospects regarding competence acquisition and management, due to their family values and rural setting, which strictly narrows the selection of employees and competencies. Also, a general reluctance towards competence diversity is identified, which originates from the very same family values and rural context.

The purpose of the study is to examine the use of alternative information in bank lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Understanding alternative information and its use in bank lending to SMEs is important because it has become a growing part of the future of SME finance. The results and findings of my study not only enrich the finance literature but, more importantly, also address the use of Fintech in the risk management of SME lending, a new and complex problem that is specific to both the information technology and finance field.

To answer the research question, the author used a case study approach that relies upon qualitative data and analysis. By iterating between the existing literature, theoretical pieces and empirical findings, the author explain and interpret in detail how the use of alternative information impacts loan outcomes and develop insights to guide future research.

The case is outlined in two time periods including the prepartnership period and the postpartnership period. It highlights the establishment of a partnership between LoanBank and FintechInc (pseudonym), aimed at SME-focused Fintech lending. The findings underscore how the partnership has enabled a mutually beneficial situation where LoanBank and FintechInc leverage each other’s strengths to provide efficient and effective lending services. The adoption of alternative information in the risk management Fintech (RMF) platform of FintechInc has transformed LoanBank’s lending processes, showcasing how technological innovations can enhance SME lending practices.

The study’s originality mainly lies in the three detailed insights regarding alternative information’s impact on SME lending: information, platform properties and financial inclusion. The information part demonstrates that RMF platforms expand the information used for lending decisions, shifting from traditional hard and soft data to incorporating various alternative information sources. The platform properties part suggests that location, openness and technology also play a pivotal role in shaping lending outcomes. Finally, the financial inclusion part proposes that the use of alternative information has the potential to improve financial inclusion and offer better credit terms to previously underserved borrowers.

Quality management barriers have been discovered in construction small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), determining their long-term survival. Despite the recognition of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) as a valuable quality management technique for addressing the barriers faced by SMEs, LSS implementation within the construction SME context is alarmingly low. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the barriers for implementing LSS within construction SMEs and to determine the most effective strategies for overcoming these barriers.

A quantitative research approach was used, and data was collected in two stages: a questionnaire survey with 44 construction professionals and an expert opinion survey with 12 LSS specialists. The collected data was then analysed using the fuzzy TOPSIS method, achieving a higher degree of sensitivity.

The findings revealed the 15 most significant LSS barriers that need to be addressed. In addition, the ten most important strategies to be implemented in overcoming the identified barriers before LSS implementation were discovered and thematised, most notably the hiring of LSS specialists for project monitoring and the formation of a committee for strategic planning through LSS.

Previous research on LSS examined barriers and strategies for SMEs in general, but to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind, focusing especially on the construction SME context and involving the unique fuzzy TOPSIS approach.

The current study aims to advance the research on the extra-industry network, innovativeness and performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by examining the mediation role of proactiveness. The study also aims to examine the mediating role innovativeness between extra-industry network and performance.

This study used the proportionate stratified random sampling method to select the study sample and the questionnaire survey approach to 580 SMEs. A total of 150 completed questionnaires were returned. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was administered to analyze data via Smart PLS 3.0 software.

The results reflect that proactiveness is mediated by the relationship between the extra-industry network and the performance of Iranian SMEs. In addition, the results illustrated that proactiveness is mediated by the relationship between innovativeness and the performance. The findings also address the limitation of previous studies on Iranian SMEs through the independent examination of the mediating role of innovativeness between firm extra-industry network and performance.

This article is one of few attempts that have addressed the significance of proactiveness as the key mechanism to transform the advantages of extra-industry network and innovativeness relationships to enhance performance.

The study explores how the intention to export affects financing and non-financing variables for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a low-income country (LIC). The objectives of this study are (1) to discern between regional and global exporting and (2) to evaluate its policymaking implications.

Primary survey data were collected from 330 Rwandan SMEs and were analysed using ordered logistic models as an application of the expectation-maximisation iterating algorithm, which was tested for robustness using a sampling model variation.

The results show that alternative sources of finance are the predominant choice to finance the intention to export within and outside Africa. As the scope of export intentions broadened from regional to global, there was a shift in preferences from less formal to more formal lending technologies, moving from methods like factoring to lines of credit. Moreover, reliance on bank officers became more significant, with increasing marginal effects. Finally, the study determined that government financing schemes were not relevant for SMEs pursuing either regional or global exporting.

Whilst alternative sources of finance predominate the export intentions of Rwandan SMEs, establishing a robust banking relationship becomes crucial for global exporting. Despite this implication, the intention to export should prompt more transparent communication regarding government financial support programmes. There is an opportunity for increased usage of relationship lending to customise support for SMEs involved in exporting, benefiting both the private and public sectors.

This study accentuates how export distance alters SME financing priorities. The results also contribute to understanding how the value of relationship lending changes when less familiar markets (i.e. global exporting) are the objective. Moreover, the study offers a new perspective on how institutional voids affect entrepreneurial financing decisions in LICs.

Literature has pointed that conventional financial development theories have inconclusive role on motivating new businesses. New ventures often consider the conventional system that passes through risk and provides fixed-interest lending as a burden. Comparatively, Islamic finance contributes using participative and equitable substitute for startups and has a potential in promoting new businesses. This study aims to investigate the holistic financial development index quadratic effect on entrepreneurship and include the moderating role of Islamic financing at national level.

Islamic banks of 21 nations constitute the unbalanced panel data. Financial development and entrepreneurship indices were developed using factor analysis and panel median regression to estimate the nonlinear financial market development effects and Islamic financing moderation model.

The results indicated that low financial market development is entrepreneurship deterring because of interest burden effect, which could be eased with a proportional increase in the Islamic financing, which is participative. The moderating effect has led to the categorization of the sample countries into entrepreneurship promoting and entrepreneurship discouraging with respect to the current incidence of financial market development and Islamic financing, which can help policymakers in understanding the entrepreneurship promoting combination of financial development and Islamic financing.

Central banks and Shari’ah advisory councils can adopt Islamic financing transition in the national financial inclusion policy for new business facilitation.

This study is instrumental in exploring the assessment of introducing Islamic financing while developing the financial sector on multidimensional entrepreneurship.

This paper aims to analyse the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) and UTAUT2 constructs used in research on information and communication technology (ICT) adoption and use among micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in non-organisation for economic co-operation and development (OECD) countries. It also investigates the areas of ICT adoption along the value chain in studies using these constructs.

Systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted, where 910 studies were retrieved manually in five academic databases. Forty-eight studies were finalised after four filtration levels.

Majority of the studies were published within the past six years, and 85.42% were studies in the form of journal papers. UTAUT constructs more researched compared to UTAUT2 constructs. More than half of the studies investigated ICT application in value chain boundaries, while 16 studies were organisation-wide studies.

With developments in MSMEs’ technology, the UTAUT2 model must be expanded to internal company operations including finance and infrastructure maintenance. To boost competitiveness and productivity, non-OECD authorities should focus on the cost and user-centric characteristics of MSMEs’ technology adoption.

Although SLRs on UTAUT and UTAUT2 constructs have been attempted previously, this study contributes to the body of knowledge by focusing analysis on the application of those constructs on MSMEs in non-OECD countries and also by situating ICT adoption along the value chain of enterprises.

Entrepreneurial personalities have been widely recognised as important drivers for the development of entrepreneurial competencies, which are the skills, knowledge and abilities that enable entrepreneurs to start and grow successful businesses. Yet, there has been relatively little research focused specifically on entrepreneurial personalities that influence entrepreneurial competencies among people with physical disabilities. Therefore, this study aims to explore the entrepreneurial personalities among people with disabilities (PWDs) and explain how they influence several aspects of entrepreneurial capabilities.

A qualitative approach, namely, phenomenological approach, has been conducted; meanwhile, a total of 12 respondents were interviewed as the data has reached the saturation level.

The findings revealed that successful PWDs entrepreneurs possess a range of traits and characteristics that contribute to their success, which include need for achievement, internal drives, external factors, extraversion and openness. These factors drive the enhancement of the PWDs’ entrepreneurial capabilities.

Essentially, this study is one of the few studies that suggests that an integrative personality model influences PWDs’ entrepreneurial capabilities and their business development. This model takes into account the unique experiences and challenges faced by PWDs, which help to better understand the traits and characteristics that contribute to their success as entrepreneurs.

The purpose of this research study is to empirically investigate the Figma prototyping technology adoption factors among entrepreneurship and innovation libraries for providing support to startups by developing and evolving the prototype solutions in collaboration with health libraries.

This study uses the technology adoption model (TAM) as a framework and the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method of structural equation modeling (SEM) using SmartPLS 3.2.9 software version to investigate the prototyping adoption factors among entrepreneurship and innovation libraries for rural health innovations. A total of 40 libraries, spread over 16 entrepreneurship and innovation libraries, participated in this survey, including participants from Europe (35%), Asia (15%) and USA (50%).

The findings show that previous experience, social impact, brand image and system quality have a significant positive impact on entrepreneurship and innovation libraries' perceived usefulness (PU) of prototyping technology. Perceived ease of use of prototype technology is positively influenced by usability, training materials and documentation, experience and self-efficacy. Together, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use have a significant influence on behavioural intention. Behavioural intention is positively impacted by minimal investment and shallow learning curve. Technology adoption is furthered by behavioural intention. The control variables, for instance location, gender and work experience (as librarian), were found not having any impact on Figma technology adoption.

Through strategic partnerships with other libraries (including health libraries), policymakers, and technology providers, the adoption of prototype technology can be further accelerated. The important ramifications for policymakers, technology providers, public and entrepreneurship and innovation libraries to create a self-reliant innovation ecosystem to foster rural health innovation based on entrepreneurship are also listed in the article.

This research is distinctive since it integrates several areas of study, including entre, advances in rural healthcare and libraries. A novel idea that hasn't been thoroughly investigated is the collaboration between entrepreneurship and innovation libraries and health libraries for supporting businesses. This study offers insights into the factors that drive technology adoption and offers practical advice for policymakers and technology providers. It also advances understanding of the adoption of Figma prototyping technology among libraries for rural health innovation. Overall, this study provides a novel viewpoint on the nexus between different disciplines, showing the opportunity for cooperation and innovation in favour of rural health.

This study aims to evaluate and compare the quality of work life (QWL) of nurses, in pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic situations.

The study adopts a descriptive research design. Data were collected during the pre- and post-pandemic periods. The target sampling unit of the study comprises nurses working in Bangalore city, Karnataka, India. The minimum sample size was determined (Bartlett et al., 2001) as 385. The scale validation is carried out. The factors for the present study were explored using exploratory factor analysis and confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. Model fitness (proposed measurement model) is ensured by using fit indices. The linear regression method was used to measure the level of QWL of nurses.

The present study noted that key factors that affects the QWL of nursing staff are work condition; work environment; work-life balance; compensation and reward; career development; job satisfaction and security; organization culture; relationship among co-workers and stress. Further, it is noticed that QWL of nurses pre-COVID-19 pandemic is 87.2%, while post-COVID-19 pandemic, it is 67%.

Present study can be extended to address the same research question by considering sampling unit such as therapist, technicians and sanitarians who have equally undergone tremendous pressure during pandemic.

The study outcome provides references for organizations engaged in health services to understand the extreme job conditions posed by pandemic. The constructive inspiration (physio-social and organizational support) reinforces the nurses to continue in their professions by decreasing negative impact.

The research paper extends the contributions of Hwang (2002), Nikeghbal et al. (2021), Howie–Esquivel et al. (2022) and Rania et al. (2023) and add to the existing body of the QWL literature. The outcome of the research records the prevailing conditions of pandemic and its effect on changes in work environment with specific reference to health-care sector.