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The purpose of this study is to examine how formal and informal institutions play a role in the Iranian context in shaping corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and practices.

Using a multiple case-study approach combining comparative and cross-sectional methods with semi-structured interviews, primary data was collected from eight corporations that actively participated in CSR activities in Iran. A microanalysis approach was used to examine the meanings and dynamics in the data. Through thematic analysis and pattern-matching techniques, the authors separately examined the roles of formal and informal institutions. Cross-case analysis was used to highlight the cases’ similarities and differences.

This study demonstrates that both formal and informal institutional structures exist in Iran and that both types influence CSR. This study also shows that informal institutions (such as personal values, culture, religion, traditions, charity and philanthropy) play a more explicit role than formal institutions (such as legal regulations and laws) in shaping CSR adoption policies and practices. The results indicate that, among institutions linked to CSR, formal and informal institutions are complementary and potentiate each other in Iran. Nevertheless, compared to formal ones, informal institutions play a more prominent role in shaping CSR policies and practices.

The authors recognize that, although the eight corporations are large, and although they interviewed their key personnel, they do not claim that these findings are generalizable, owing to the qualitative nature of the study and the small number of selected corporations.

This study makes relevant theoretical and empirical contributions. First, it contributes to the growing body of CSR literature that highlights the necessity of linking informal and formal institutions. Although the CSR literature lacks research on informal institutions in developing economies, researchers have yet to push forward and explore how the CSR adoption process works in developing economies that have influential informal institutions.

This paper aims to explore the factors of social media adoption by zakat institutions.

This study uses qualitative data as the main source of evidence. Data were collected using semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Ten respondents from eight zakat institutions across Malaysia were interviewed. Judgement sampling and snowballing techniques were used to select respondents. Data analysis was done in three phases, namely, data reduction, data display and conclusion confirmation.

The findings of this study found perceived benefits, ease of use, accessibility, formalization, training, management push and indirect public push to be the determinant factors that contribute to the adoption of a social media application in zakat institutions. They are discussed and organized into a few groups under four categories, namely, technological, organizational and environmental contexts based on the TOE framework.

This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge in technology adoption understanding with the engagement of a range of Technology Organization Environment (TOE) framework. However, for future research, quantitative data involving the zakat payers should be anticipated to further understand the issue.

Output from this study may be useful to the adoption champions within zakat institutions, such as decision-makers and marketing officers. These people can help to provide guidelines and steer managers to focus on the identified factors in this study when adopting social media.

The finding from this study may help to increase the efficiency of two-way communication between zakat institutions and the community. It was found that the adoption of social media improved communication activities with the public and better handling of negative perceptions towards zakat institutions. The findings proved that using social media applications in zakat institutions can help create a better organizational image for the public by publishing instant and continuous news feeds on activities that specifically cater to the need of the asnaf. This can alleviate negative perceptions that zakat institutions are only good in collecting money, but not effective in helping the poor.

Previous zakat literature has focussed on different issues such as the determinants of zakat compliance behaviors, zakat fund management, distribution of funds, zakat information system and digital marketing; however, little is known about how and why zakat institutions adopt social media applications as a communication tool with the public. Thus, this research makes a difference by focussing on a new aspect of study in the zakat environment, which aims to explore the factors of social media adoption by zakat institutions. This study also proposes the new appropriate TOE framework to understand the adoption behaviour by the zakat institution towards social media application.

This study aims to elaborate on the antecedents of muzakki (zakat payers) paying zakat (Islamic philanthropy) through institutions with social media arrangements, while the drivers of social media engagement are used in the conceptual model with trust and intention.

Overall, the final sample of 230 respondents was obtained through the database of official zakat management institutions. Regarding analytical tools, this study combines the partial least square structural equation modelling and necessary condition analysis approaches to explore research findings.

The findings show that firm-generated information and trust play an important role directly and indirectly. At the same time, other constructions, such as social factors and user-based factors, provide variations in necessary conditions to increase the muzakki’s intention to channel their zakat through institutions.

Zakat institutions must focus on improving social media-based services by integrating important information, such as credibility and transparency, with muzakki’s preferences. Additionally, zakat information on social media must be attractively packaged and contain facilities that muzakki can use in communicating, such as; their opinions, suggestions and input. The findings, in general, underscore the attachment between muzakki and zakat institutions through social media, which can significantly impact the positive environment of zakat institutions.

To the author’s knowledge, this study is pioneering in conceptualizing and testing a theoretical model linking drivers of social media engagement, trust and intention to pay zakat through the institution, particularly in the levels of necessity.

This study aims to explore how the shift from traditional to digital banking transforms the nature of trust between banks and their younger clients (aged 18–35) from the perspective of bank employees.

Qualitative semi-structured interviews with representatives of Ukrainian classical banks and neobanks were conducted. The interviews were analysed using the theoretical approach of institution-based and social network-based trust to identify the key distinctions between the nature of trust in traditional and digital banking.

The employees of the banks reported that digitalization processes have helped to mitigate trust issues; as a result, their banks have not experienced any difficulties in this regard among young people. Furthermore, social networks, particularly social approval, were found to be significant factors for establishing trust in digital banking among young people.

The results of this study could assist bank managers in adapting their strategies for cultivating trust among younger clients and aiding international law regulators and government institutions in preventing unintended circumstances in financial services. These contributions were shaped by the study’s limitations, including its focus on only two concepts of trust building: institution-based and social network-based, as well as its specific Ukrainian context.

This study highlights social approval as a valuable constituent of the trust-building process that influences trust in institutions. Furthermore, while gaining social approval – particularly through digital platforms – can promote trust-building among young people, this “easy way” may have negative societal consequences by endorsing unscrupulous institutions.

Zakat is an important Islamic economic instrument that plays significant role in Sustainable Development Goals. Accordingly, Zakat Institutions must manage zakat in a proper and efficient manner. This study aims to examine the efficiency of Zakat Institutions based on their clusters which are government, business and social organizations.

This study uses three quantitative methods: data envelopment analysis (DEA), free disposal hull and super-efficiency DEA. The analytical method is based on production approach, variable return to scale assumption and output orientation. The sample consists of 14 Zakat Institutions from three clusters: Zakat Institutions managed by government, Zakat Institutions managed by corporation and Zakat Institution managed by social organizations.

The results revealed that all of three techniques culminate the same ranking order of efficiency. Zakat Institution managed by the government is the most efficient Zakat Institution, with the average value of 0.87 by using three approaches combined. Meanwhile, Zakat Institutions owned by company and social institutions cluster are in second and third position, with the average value of 0.65 and 0.4, respectively, based on the results of the three approaches. This study contends that the level of efficiency of Zakat Institutions may be supported by clusters (affiliations) in their management.

This study’s limitation is the inadequacy of the required data. Nonetheless, this study provides insights to improve the efficiency of Zakat Institutions based on their clusters. Zakat Institutions in each cluster can improve their efficiency by optimizing inputs to produce multiple outputs.

This study enhances research on the efficiency of Zakat Institutions using three methods to assess the consistency and strength of Zakat Institutions’ efficiency values. In addition, this study examines the efficiency level of Zakat Institutions based on their clusters.

The adoption of social procurement, the emerging practice of using a firm's spending power to generate social value, requires buying firms to navigate conflicts of institutional logics. Adopting an institutional work perspective, this study aims to investigate how buying firms change their existing procurement institutions to adopt and advance social procurement.

The authors conducted an in-depth case study of a social procurement initiative in the UK. This case study comprised of 16 buying firms that were actively participating in the social procurement initiative at the time of data collection (2020–2021). The data were largely captured through a set of 41 semi-structured interviews.

Four types of institutional work were observed: reducing institutional conflicts, crossing institutional boundaries, legitimising institutional change and spreading the new institutional logic. These different types of institutional work appeared in a sequential way.

This study contributes to various strands of literature investigating the role of procurement in generating value and benefits within societies, adopting an institutional lens to investigate the buying firms' purposeful actions to change procurement institutions. Secondly, this study complements the existing literature investigating the conflicts of institutional logics by illustrating the ways firms address such institutional conflicts when adopting and advancing social procurement. Finally, this work contributes to the recently emerging research on institutional work that examines the creation and establishment of new institutions by considering the existing procurement institutions in the examination of institutional work.

The authors enrich and extend the existing institutional anomie theory (IAT) in the hope of sharpening the understanding of the joint effects of selected cultural values and social institutional changes on women's pre-entrant entrepreneurial attempts. The authors theorize that women are culturally discouraged to pursue pre-entrant entrepreneurial attempts or wealth accumulation in a specific culture. This discouragement creates an anomic strain that motivates women to deviate from cultural prescriptions by engaging in pre-entrant entrepreneurial attempts at a faster speed. Building on this premise, the authors hypothesize that changes in social institutions facilitate the means of achievement for women due to the potential opportunities inherent in such institutional changes.

Using a randomly selected sample of 1,431 registered active individual users with a minimum of 10,000 followers on a leading entertainment live-streaming platform in the People's Republic of China, the authors examined a unique mix of cultural and institutional changes and their effects on the speed of women's engagement in live-streaming platform activity.

The authors find support for the impact of the interaction between changes in social institution conditions and cultural values. Unexpectedly, the authors also find a negative impact of cultural values on women's speed of engaging in pre-entrant entrepreneurial attempts.

The authors add institutional change to the IAT framework and provide a novel account for the variation in the pre-entrant entrepreneurial attempts by women on the platform.

Once introduced and conceptualized as a factor that causes erosion and decay of social institutions and subsequent deinstitutionalization, the notion of entropy is at odds with predictions of institutional isomorphism and seems to directly contradict the tendency toward ever-increasing institutionalization. The purpose of this paper is to offer a resolution of this theoretical inconsistency by revisiting the meaning of entropy and reconceptualizing institutionalization from an information-theoretic point of view.

It is a theoretical paper that offers an information perspective on institutionalization.

A mistaken understanding of the nature and role of entropy in the institutional theory is caused by conceptualizing it as a force that counteracts institutional tendencies and acts in opposite direction. Once institutionalization and homogeneity are seen as a product of natural tendencies in the organizational field, the role of entropy becomes clear. Entropy manifests itself at the level of information processing and corresponds with increasing uncertainty and the decrease of the value of information. Institutionalization thus can be seen as a special case of an increase in entropy and a decrease of knowledge. Institutionalization is a state of maximum entropy.

It is explained why institutionalization and institutional persistence are what to be expected in the long run and why information entropy contributes to this tendency. Contrary to the tenets of the institutional work perspective, no intentional efforts of individuals and collective actors are needed to maintain institutions. In this respect, the paper contributes to the view of institutional theory as a theory of self-organization.

The unique institution of waqf that was ignored during the colonization of the Muslim areas has to be revived to play its role in shared growth, social inclusion and cohesion in society. This research paper aims to explore the role of waqf as an instrument for a sustainable growth system and to suggest a model for socioeconomic development in an economy like that of Pakistan.

This qualitative research is based on analytical methods to arrive at the frameworks and a model that could facilitate the revival of waqf for community development/social inclusion in economies like that of Pakistan.

As most of the OIC member states like Pakistan are facing serious financial problems due to debt servicing obligations, promoting Waqf for various socioeconomic and cultural functions is a vital requirement for such economies. The inability of the state institutions in providing necessary civic, health and education facilities to the public is causing serious harm to the balance of the society. It requires promoting a formal system of charity and using FinTech for waqf-based donations and financing the micro businesses. The perpetuity complimented by the profitability of the waqf properties makes the waqf institutions sustainable and effective when compared to individual charities.

This is conceptual research discussing the potential of waqf in light of its historical role. Researchers may undertake empirical studies on awqaf operations in various jurisdictions and their role in the empowerment of the poor.

The research will provide the researchers with insight into the potential of waqf as a tool for community development. Besides, it will enable policymakers and implementation authorities to socialize charity for sustained benefits and welfare.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first major research that discusses the role of waqf in economies facing budgetary and trade deficits in the eradication of poverty and the promotion of social and economic entrepreneurship in realizing the community development targets for the economies like that of Pakistan.

In this study, we question: how do the social costs of failure interact with gendered institutions to affect the early stage entrepreneurship activity? We address this question by employing the institutional theory and a unique dataset of 286,989 entrepreneurs across 35 countries.

To test our hypotheses, we use a multilevel modeling analysis that nests individual entrepreneurs within the countries. To capture individual and country-level variables, we constructed a unique dataset that combines data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), European Flash Barometer (EUFB), World Bank Development Indicator (WDI), World Bank Doing Business Report (WBDB) and World Economic Forum (WEF).

Our analysis confirms that higher levels of the country-level gender equality positively correlate with the early-stage entrepreneurship activity of women. Moreover, we find that this positive relationship is amplified in institutional environments with high social costs of failure, suggesting that societal intolerance for failure can exacerbate the negative effect of gender inequality on the participation of women in entrepreneurship.

Our research contributes to academic interest on the role of legitimacy in women entrepreneurship and is of particular interest to international business scholars, seeking a better understanding of multidimensional construction of institutional frameworks across countries. In this study, we set out to address an important research question: how do the social costs of failure interact with gendered institutions to affect entrepreneurship activity? Our study provides a comprehensive portrait of gendered institutions by including the framework conditions of education, healthcare and political power. We found that in societies with gender equality, the likelihood of individuals engaging in the early-stage entrepreneurship activity is higher and that the positive relationship is strengthened in national environments with high social costs of failure.

Our study findings underscore the need for government policies addressing global gender gaps in economic empowerment. In particular, policies assisting women in obtaining education in high-growth industries like information technology or providing funding to women-dominated industries may foster activity for women seeking to do business in such industries. Such policies connect the early-stage entrepreneurship activities with gender equality concerns and initiatives.

Regarding the social costs of failure construct, specifically, prior studies generally focus narrowly on the context of failed entrepreneurs. We cast a wider net on men and women entrepreneurs’ entry decisions (irrespective of prior experience with business failure) and provide new views on the effects of social costs of failure on entrepreneurial ecosystems. We also extend the research on the legitimacy of women as entrepreneurs with the gender equality construct.

Unlike previous studies, which often focus on the “3Ms” of market, money and management, our research adopts a more holistic perspective. We recognize that the opportunities and challenges faced by entrepreneurs are shaped not only by individual skills and resources but also by the broader macroenvironment. By incorporating the framework conditions of education, healthcare and political power, alongside the intricate interplay of social costs and norms, our study paints a comprehensive picture of the landscape of female entrepreneurship.