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Soft total quality management (STQM) practices are essential for promoting value-added organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) among employees in quality-focussed manufacturing firms. This study intends to investigate how STQM practices (empowerment, training, teamwork and involvement) affect OCB under the moderating influence of collectivism among employees for excellence in business performance using social exchange and social cognitive theories (SET-SCT).

A total of 245 useable surveys were gathered from manufacturers. Given the importance of the two-staged structural equation modelling–partial least squares–artificial neural networks (SEM-PLS-ANN) technique, this study used a two-staged SEM-PLS-ANN analysis to capture both linear and compensatory PLS models and nonlinear and noncompensatory ANN models.

The findings confirmed that empowerment, involvement and training had a significant impact on OCB. However, teamwork had no impact on OCB. Interestingly, collectivism was found to have a significant and positive moderating effect on training and OCB.

The study contributes significantly to the literature on TQM and human resource management. First, the study broadens researchers’ understanding of how to apply SET by including a collective value from SCT as positive reciprocity to foster positive workplace behaviour. Second, the authors offer a solid management strategy for organizations to assist them in understanding an STQM model that promotes OCB while including collectivism for superior business performance.

The objective of this chapter is to analyze diabetes onset in Mexico in terms of work relations and family. The authors examined the impacts of diabetes on inequalities, practices of violence among the Mexican population, analyzing gender relations in the context of having diabetes. Our research is based on mixed method approach. First, the authors conducted a survey among 110 diabetic persons in Chiapas and Nuevo León, two Mexican states from the North and the South. Results show that gender violence has impacts in both Mexican states despite of socioeconomical differences. Overall, diabetes is a complex social process that need to be analyzed on different social and socioeconomical levels. Gender violence is a particularly strong factor that has an impact on diabetes. The contribution of this research is based on understanding of diabetes onset as a social construction where gender violence, social cohesion and subjective wellbeing play a significant role in diabetes in the Mexican context. The outcomes of this research might have an impact on transformation of public health policy in Latin America and the Caribbean, from a medical approach to a sociocultural one in terms of diabetes as a chronic illness. Moreover, our results suggest that quality of life depends on the level of interacting within social groups, as diabetes is no longer a disease that affects an individual, but it is more a social phenomenon.

The purpose of this paper is to examine halal certification for halal culinary, destination brand and emotional experiences on customer satisfaction and behavioral intention.

This study uses a quantitative survey approach to 400 respondents consisting of Muslim foreign and domestic tourists who had visited Lombok in the past three years. The sampling technique is by purposive sampling. The analysis technique used in this study is structural equation modeling-partial least square (SEM-PLS).

The findings showed that halal certification has no effect on customer satisfaction but on influenced behavioral intention, destination brand of Lombok had no effect on customer satisfaction; customer satisfaction influenced behavioral intention and emotional experiences affected customer satisfaction and behavioral intention.

This study collects data from respondents both domestic and foreign tourists simultaneously. However, the data acquisition of respondents and foreign tourists is not balanced. Thus, this study analyzes tourists in general, not distinguished between foreign and domestic tourists.

The government and tourism organizers in Lombok need to provide socialization for domestic and foreign tourists on the need to choose halal-certified food and drinks to ensure halal and hygiene. In addition, so that the destination image of Lombok can provide a beautiful experience that becomes a moment of the truth, then the local government should improve its service strategy holistically.

Destination image needs to be improved. This requires holistic tourism quality services so that the social community knows that Indonesia has a halal tourism destination that exists as tourists come from the airport to the hotel and enjoy food in restaurants and tourist attractions that are Muslim friendly.

This paper contributes to filling the void in the literature related to tourism management that is linked to tourism in the aftermath of natural disasters, where empirical studies on halal tourism are on the rise. Therefore, respondents in the study were specific, that is, those who had traveled. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of a kind that includes behavioral intention in tourist destinations after natural disasters in the Indonesian context.

This study aims to investigate the influence of various risk factors, specifically investment risk, legal risk and technology risk, on the decision of investors to invest in equity crowdfunding ventures in Malaysia.

A total of 169 valid responses out of a total of 195 questionnaires were distributed to individuals with prior knowledge of equity crowdfunding. The data from the responses are used to test the relationships using structural equation modeling partial least squares (SEM-PLS).

Investigation into the influence of risk factors on the willingness to support equity crowdfunding shows that investment risk and legal risk significantly influence the decision to support equity crowdfunding ventures, but technology risk does not. However, while the influence of investment risk is negative, legal risk is found to have a positive influence.

This study is important as, to the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to empirically test the relationship between the various risks inherent in equity crowdfunding investments and the decision to invest. The study is also important to entrepreneurs and start-ups as it provides evidence that while the equity crowdfunding investment community follows the norms of investment, i.e. lower risk is preferred, stricter laws and regulations governing equity crowdfunding may not be needed or may only be relevant in countries where there are more retail, unsophisticated investors.

This paper aims to examine the influence of accounting information system (AIS) success on planning process effectiveness (PPE) in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of Yemen, a less developed nation (LDN).

This study developed a theoretical model based on IS success model (DMISS2003). The model’s components were tested using structural equation modeling via SmartPLS on a sample of 325 SMEs.

The empirical results imply that AIS success positively affects PPE if SMEs focus on AIS information quality, system quality, user satisfaction and usage.

This study focused on SMEs in Yemen. Thus, it can be expanded to include different other countries.

The results of this study could be considered by owners and managers of SMEs, policymakers and AIS designers/vendors. This study could provide them insight into the role of AIS success in promoting PPE in SMEs. This study could assist policymakers in analyzing the work of SMEs and assessing their success, referring to AIS. Moreover, knowing the most critical determinants of AIS success could direct designers’/vendors’ efforts toward upgrading and improving the present AIS.

Government policymakers in LDNs considering how to motivate SME development in their nation should be aware of the significance of AIS success and implementation among SMEs and its role in the nation’s economic development.

This research is one of the first that investigates the impact of AIS success on PPE in SMEs. Current literature largely lacks the investigation of such an impact, especially among SMEs in LDNs such as Yemen. Most AIS’s prior research focused on SMEs in developed nations, which may not fully apply to LDNs such as Yemen. Indeed, no existing literature is available where AIS success impacts PPE in SMEs of LDNs. In this respect, this study claims its uniqueness.

Our findings show that the academic culture is base for quality teaching and education delivery and it impacts employee experience through employee involvement in decision-making and employee engagement demonstrating benefits for universities such as increased employee attraction, higher retention, greater productivity and improved student service. Higher education institutions that offer development opportunities to their faculty are likely to have less turnover than those that do not. Globally tuned curriculum matching the expectation of students one hand and developing a conducive environment for implementing the changes on the other hand is the need of the hour. Branding and student employability needs the focus of policymakers, and it can highly impact the visibility of institute.

This research has been undertaken to examine the role of critical success factors (CSFs) for augmenting quality of higher education institutes in India. The aspects considered are: branding, employability, employee experience, student experience. The study tries to analyse their impact on overall performance. The results highlight that academic culture mediates between student experience and overall performance. The current research also indicates that academic culture mediates between employee experience and overall performance. Employee experience through academic culture emerges as a strongest predictor of overall performance. Student experience through academic culture emerges as another important predictor of overall performance. Employability was next to follow. The beta values were low for branding. The results highlight that for improving performance Indian higher educational institutes need to focus on branding. Implementing this model will enable educational institutions to focus on these predictors to boost overall performance and equip engineers with requisite skills through academic culture.

The results show that employee experience is the most importance significant performance indicator to enhance the performance of the engineering institute when academic culture is taken a mediator (Anderson et al., 1994; Owlia and Aspinwall, 1997; Pal Pandi et al., 2016). The direct effect of employee experience (Beta = 0.473) is less in comparison to the indirect effect (beta = 0.518). The student experience is also second important indicator that is very significant for the overall performance, and this level of signification is even more enhanced when academic culture acts as a mediator. On the other hand, employability of students (EM) (Ashok Pandit and Wallack, 2016) and branding (BR) play an important role to influence the overall performance of the HEIs. However, branding has least impact on the performance compared to the other indicators as it has lowest beta value (0.169). This reveals that engineering institutes need to emphasis on developing strategies to improve branding by participating in activities that enhance outreach and visibility of the institutes (Nandi and Chattopadhyay, 2011). The results of the study showed the academic culture acts as critical pathway to reach the performance peak.

Competition is spreading in the higher education sector with widespread consequences, and in order to effectively respond to the pressures, universities have to be able to draw attention and retain their precious human capital. Developing linkages for faculty and student will generate mutually beneficial sustainable outcomes. Institutes preferably be multi-disciplinary or inter-disciplinary and have both teaching and research focus of an exceptionally high quality. Developing diverse programmes and activities targeting at developing quality of mind, ethical standard, social awareness and global perspectives, let the students shape their own experience and growth. Solid linkages with industry to impart a practical dimension to technical training is must, and an effective semester internship in industry is a testimony of project-led teaching. Research excellence and quality teaching are the basis of quality education. Engagement in external collaborations that extend and deepen institution impact through increasing international engagements. In future, empirical studies can also be conducted on the AQAR model by collecting data through questionnaires based on the perception of students, and it can be tested through hypotheses employing R software to determine the extent of implementation of AQAR in EEIs in India.

The results show that employee experience is the most important significant performance indicators to enhance the performance of the engineering institute when academic culture is taken a mediator (Anderson et al., 1994; Owlia and Aspinwall, 1997; Pal Pandi et al., 2016). The direct effect of employee experience (Beta = 0.473) is less in comparison to the indirect effect (beta = 0.518). The student experience is also second important indicator that is very significant for the overall performance, and this level of signification is even more enhanced when academic culture acts as a mediator. On the other hand, employability of students (EM) (Ashok Pandit and Wallack, 2016) and branding (BR) play an important role to influence the overall performance of the HEIs; however branding has least impact on the performance compared to the other indicators as it has lowest beta value (0.169). This reveals that engineering institutes need to emphasis on developing strategies to improve branding by participating in activities that enhance outreach and visibility of the institutes (Nandi and Chattopadhyay, 2011). The results of the study showed the academic culture acts as critical pathway to reach the performance peak.

The results show that student experience is the most importance significant performance indicators to enhance the performance of the engineering institute when academic culture is taken a mediator. The direct effect of student experience (Beta = 0.101) is less in comparison to the indirect effect (beta = 0.412). The employee experience is also second important indicator that is very significant for the overall performance, and this level of signification is even more enhanced when academic culture acts as a mediator. On the other hand, employability of students (EM) (Ashok Pandit and Wallack, 2016) and branding (BR) play an important role to influence the overall performance of the HEIs; however branding has least impact on the performance compared to the other indicators as it has lowest beta value (0.169). This reveals that engineering institutes need to emphasis on developing strategies to improve branding by participating in activities that enhance outreach and visibility of the institutes (Nandi and Chattopadhyay, 2011). The results of the study showed the academic culture acts as critical pathway to reach the performance peak.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) often gives a humanistic touch to the marketing activities of firms and even creates the atmosphere that businesses are reliable. Yet, little is known about its interaction effect on the relationship between market orientation (MO) and financial and marketing performance in emerging economies. The present study aims to comparatively examine the interaction effect of CSR on the direct link between MO and financial and marketing performance in manufacturing firms in Ghana and Ethiopia.

The interaction effect of CSR is examined using a quantitative methodological study design. A total of 439 usable questionnaires across manufacturing firms in Ghana and Ethiopia were collected and analyzed using SEM-PLS 3.0. Analytically, the study used product indicator approach to test the interaction effect of CSR on the nexus between MO and financial and marketing performance, while PLS-multigroup analysis (PLS-MGA) was used to test the significance of the observed differences in the results among the manufacturing firms in the two countries.

Results show that MO significantly improves financial and marketing performance. However, CSR reveals both “suppression” and “spurious” effects on the direct link between MO and financial and marketing performance under varying market conditions. The relationship between MO and financial performance is weakened in Ghanaian manufacturing firms but is strengthened in Ethiopian manufacturing firms when the level of CSR is high. Results, moreover, show that the nexus between MO and marketing performance is strengthened when CSR actions are high in both Ghanaian and Ethiopian manufacturing firms. The PLS-MGA revealed that these differences in findings in the two countries are statistically significant.

The findings suggest that company managers and marketing practitioners can use CSR in their marketing orientation campaigns to keep high performance and to remain competitive in today’s globalized market.

Findings illustrate that incorporation of social interests and sustainability initiatives into firms’ marketing orientation strategies can meet stakeholders’ interest and expectation.

This is one of the few studies that examine comparatively the interaction effect of CSR on the MO–financial and marketing performance linkage in two emerging economies. The study extends our understanding of the RBV and stakeholder theories regarding the role of CSR in firms’ marketing strategies.

The primary aim of this research was to investigate the mediating effect of the decision-making structure on the relationship between perceived environmental uncertainty and hospital performance.

Online and manual survey questionnaires were used to collect data in this study. The target population of this study consists of all middle managers within 11 COVID-19 referral hospitals in Surabaya. A total of 189 responses were collected, however, 27 incomplete responses were excluded from the final dataset. Data was analyzed using SEM-PLS.

The study's findings indicate that decision-making structure plays a role in mediating the link between perceived environmental uncertainty and hospital performance assessed via the Balanced Scorecard, highlighting the significance of flexible decision-making processes during uncertain periods. Moreover, based on our supplementary test, respondents' demographic characteristics influence their perceptions of hospital performance.

Hospital administrators can consider the significance of decision-making structures in responding to environmental uncertainties like the COVID-19 pandemic. By fostering adaptable decision-making processes and empowering middle managers, hospitals may enhance their performance and resilience in challenging situations. Additionally, based on supplementary tests, it is found that differences in the perception of the three Balanced Scorecard perspectives imply that hospitals categorized as types A, B, C, and D should prioritize specific areas to improve their overall performance.

This research adds substantial originality and value to the existing body of knowledge by exploring the interplay between decision-making structures, environmental uncertainty, and hospital performance. It contributes to the literature by specifically focusing on the Covid-19 pandemic, a unique and unprecedented global crisis.

One of the crucial elements of addressing global climate challenges through urban tourism is the continuing existence of urban forests. The reasoning is that the ecological attraction of urban forests can impact visitors’ intention to conduct pro-environmental behavior, including low-carbon actions. Thus, more visitors to urban forests will positively affect enhancing the quality of the urban environment. However, the extent to which ecological attraction can influence pro-environmental behavior warrants further investigation due to the complexity of psychosocial factors that impact behavioral intention. The main objective of this research is to examine the effects of the ecological attractiveness of urban forests on the pro-environmental behavior of visitors by exploring motivation, ecological experience, perceived value and knowledge as mediators. Moreover, whether the nature of the urban forest and facilities attract visitors simultaneously is also studied.

Data were collected from 615 respondents who visited three urban forests in Bandung, the second-most populous city in Indonesia, by five-point Likert questionnaires. As an analytical tool, SEM PLS was applied to establish the effect of the ecological performance of the urban forest on the increase in environmentally conscious behavior among urban forest visitors.

The findings demonstrate that the attractiveness of an urban forest affects the growth of environmentally responsible behaviors. Nonetheless, the attractiveness of urban forests is dictated more by their infrastructure than their ecological function. On the contrary, the visitors’ knowledge level can improve their motivation, environmental experience and perceived environmental value. These findings show the significance of developing educational programs with an emphasis on the experience of the visitors so that their ecological performance can contribute to improved low-carbon behavior. In conclusion, this work contributes to the management of sustainable urban tourism.

This work also has some limitations. First, the medium R-square on intention behavior to low-carbon action suggests investigating other influential factors to produce a more robust conscious behavior. Mkono and Hughes (2020) mention that many complex factors that cause positive intention do not necessarily lead to environmental action. Thus, many psychosocial variables need to be explored in different models. Second, the convenient sampling used here does not represent the whole population, making generalization difficult. Thus, further work needs to apply more rigorous sampling techniques to validate the findings. Further investigations may also need to be conducted in other urban forests in another Asian country with a similar and different social context for benchmarking, as this study found that the type of attractive urban forest design is a more dense forest, which differs from other studies based in Europe. Exploring more influencing behavioral factors of pro-environmental action in the model is also suggested. Thus, we could contribute more to support recreational activities in urban forests.

As an implication for planning an urban forest to increase its recreational function, the authors illustrate the importance of producing educational programs. Although the improved knowledge of visitors has been shown to strengthen their commitment to perform pro-environmental actions, the mediating role of motivation, experience and perceived value reveals that some activities are required to achieve visitor motivation to actual behavior. Consequently, designing an urban forest requires not only the enhancement of eco-attractions and artificial elements for the convenience of visitors but also the development of an environmental education program that can improve visitors’ environmental experience and perception of ecological value. The designed educational program may use an experiential education approach incorporating objective knowledge of Earth’s current state. The urban forest education program must encourage visitors’ connection and participation with nature. Moreover, knowledge and information about Earth’s environmental quality can increase visitors’ perceived value, ensuring that their activities in the urban forest contribute to improved health, environmental quality and social environment. Thus, with well-managed and provided education, they are encouraged to adopt low-carbon action because it complements their contribution to a better quality environment.

The theoretical contribution of this research is generated through the role of urban forest attractiveness in the intention to conduct low-carbon action, which influences solutions to existing urban environmental problems. This work exhibits that both ecological attractiveness and attractiveness of artificial elements in urban forests can attract visitors and subsequently boost their outdoor recreation motivation, ecological experience and perceived value and then turn them to boost their intention to conduct low-carbon action. The physical characteristics of a site are behavioral stimuli that can increase a person’s motivation, experience and perception of the value of the environment, thereby increasing their intention to engage in low-carbon actions. This environment behavioral construction is fundamental in understanding that urban forests offer ecological benefits and influence the social quality of urban communities. Nevertheless, without visitor activity, urban forests are merely physical entities that become increasingly demanding to maintain. Due to this, an urban forest that is socially active and has an influence on promoting environmentally conscious behavior is needed, and its presence is becoming ever more crucial. This work shows the significance of integrating psychosocial approaches into managing tourism in urban forests.

This paper aims to delve into the factors influencing the adoption of Islamic Fintech and investigates the potential impact of Religious Orientation.

The study uses a questionnaire to collect data from 291 Jordanians, using Structural Equation Model – Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) to evaluate the research model and test hypotheses.

The outcomes of the Smart PLS path analysis revealed that several factors significantly influence the adoption of Islamic Fintech. Notably, perceived risk, financial literacy, trust and convenience were identified as pivotal determinants in shaping individuals' decisions to adopt Islamic Fintech. Additionally, the study unveils the noteworthy role of religious orientation as a moderator, impacting the relationship between perceived risk, financial literacy, trust and convenience concerning the adoption of Islamic Fintech.

This study contributes fresh insights to the existing literature concerning the adoption of Islamic Fintech, enhancing the understanding of the key drivers in this domain. Furthermore, it emphasizes the practical implications of religious orientation in shaping individuals' attitudes and behaviors pertaining to Islamic Fintech adoption.