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Food sustainability is a world-acknowledged issue that requires urgent integrated solutions at multi-levels. This study aims to explore how food firms can improve their sustainability performance through digital traceability practices, considering the mediating effect of sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI) and the moderating effect of supply chain learning (SCL) for the food supply chain therein.

Hierarchical regression with a moderated mediation model is used to test the proposed hypotheses with a sample of 359 food firms from four provinces in China.

Digital traceability has a significant positive impact on the three pillars of sustainability performances among food firms. SOI (product innovation, process innovation and organisational innovation) mediates the relationship between digital traceability and sustainability performance. SCL plays moderating roles in the linkage between digital traceability and both product and process innovation, respectively.

This paper contributes as one of the first studies to develop digital traceability practices and their sustainability-related improvements for Chinese food firms; it extends studies on supply chain traceability to a typical emerging market. This finding can support food sustainability practice in terms of where and how to invest in sustainability innovation and how to improve economic, environmental and social performance.

This research aims to examine the relations between Shariah compliance and earnings quality.

The authors study three Shariah features: Shariah compliance status, level of Shariah compliance (H-Score) and Shariah compliance persistence. The sample consists of 463 firms from the Middle East and North Africa from 2011 to 2018. A variable determining the level of Shariah compliance was created in accordance with the methodology of S&P 500 Shariah and its underlying index, S&P 500. Then, a probate relapse study was created to identify the link between Shariah compliance and earnings quality.

Results show that Shariah-compliant firms engage in lower earnings management compared to their Shariah-non-compliant counterparts. This paper reveals that Shariah compliance status and high level of Shariah compliance have significant positive association with earnings quality. The authors also find novel evidence that persistence of the Shariah-compliant status has a significant negative association with earnings quality.

This study only examines firms listed on MENA stock markets. It is recommended to further study different markets in addition to the emerging Arab markets in order to compare and contrast the results. Further, larger sample observations from a greater date range can be used.

Few studies have examined the earnings management behavior of Shariah-compliant firms vs Shariah-non-compliant ones in emerging markets; however, no study has focused on Shariah-compliant firms and their level of Shariah compliance. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study which uses all four proxies for earnings quality in association with Shariah compliance and used new Shariah variables such as Level of Shariah Compliance and Persistent Shariah Compliance status.

This study explores value-added food products in smallholder dairy farming in developing countries by analyzing external pressures, supply chain learning, farmer innovation, education level, and food safety compliance.

We employed a quantitative approach by surveying 418 smallholder dairy farmers in three districts of Pakistan using interviewer-administered questionnaires. Data analysis involved confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

The results indicate that external pressure significantly affects value-added smallholder dairy farms. This relationship is mediated by supply chain learning and farmers' innovative behavior, and moderated by farmers' education level and compliance with food safety standards.

Further research is required to explore the drivers of value addition at the supply chain level.

This study contributes to the understanding of smallholder dairy farming dynamics and provides practical implications for improving value addition by managing the interplay between antecedents and promoting best practices in the industry.

The construction industry is complex, human-intensive and driven by monetary values. Hence, disputes are widespread. Initial conflicts among parties may develop into a disastrous dispute that costs the project success and good relationships and affects stakeholders' expectations. There has been a focus on causes of construction-related disputes, and studies over the past three decades have attempted to identify a more comprehensive list of reasons for disputes. Some of these studies' limitations were geographical, project delivery methods and project types. The purpose of this study is to identify the most recent and conclusive list of causes of disputes based on current literature by undertaking a systematic literature review (SLR).

Considering the large number of studies that focused on causes of disputes, this study aims to develop a comprehensive list of causes, using a SLR, as it ensures that all previous articles in multiple databases are reviewed to produce a comprehensive outcome. A six-stage SLR was followed from background study to analysis and reporting.

Not surprisingly, the number of publications has increased over time, most from the Middle East region. The interconnected nature of the causes was widely emphasised. The SLR has produced eight common core causes of disputes. They are: poor contractual arrangements, employer-initiated scope changes, unforeseen site changes, poor contract understanding and administration, contractor’s quality of works, the inability of the contractor to achieve time targets, non- or delayed payments and poor quality of design. The majority of previous authors realised that disputes could be avoided by parties’ involvement during the early stages, avoiding being opportunistic and acting collaboratively.

Even though numerous studies have been carried out to identify the causes of disputes in the construction industry, none did a SLR. This study aggregates all the previous studies that focused on construction-related disputes systematically. Categorising causes based on the party primarily responsible help various stakeholders by providing a distinct list of factors to avoid that contribute to disputes.

Many investors have less interest in tendering for public-private partnership (PPP) construction projects as a result of the uncertain risks associated with the project delivery. Moreover, PPP project stakeholders have inadequate information about the probable impacts of time-based delay imposed on PPP projects under the PPP arrangement. This study aims to identify and categorize construction stakeholders’ perceptions of the impact of time-based delays on PPP construction projects.

A purposive sampling technique was adopted where questionnaires were used as the primary instrument for gathering data from PPP experts. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and Kendall’s concordance were used to measure the reliability of the scale and the respondent’s level of agreement, respectively. One sample t-test, mean score ranking and principal component analysis were used to analyse the identified time-based delay impacts.

The study revealed seven significant impacts of time-based delay on PPP construction project delivery as: “project schedule overrun”, “idling of project resources”, “project cost overrun”, “poor quality of completed works”, “delayed realization of project benefits”, “frequent arbitration/litigation in PPP projects” and “total abandonment of PPP projects”. The study further identified the top five significant impacts of time-based delay on PPP project stakeholders as: “reduction in motivation to attract investment”, “high interest on finance (loans)”, “contractor in financial crisis”, “loss of public confidence in government” and “reduction in parties’ reputation”.

The identified significant impacts of time-based delays will increase stakeholders’ awareness of the repercussions and effects that time-based delays may impose on PPP construction projects if not appropriately managed throughout the project implementation. This awareness will further guide stakeholders to implement targeted risk management strategies to minimize the negative consequences of delays on PPP project performance.

As a pioneering study that provides a better understanding of the impacts of time-based delays on PPP construction projects, this study enhances knowledge of PPP construction project implementation.