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When the repercussions of COVID-19 were being absorbed by the world, the higher educational institutions (HEIs) were conceiving of strategies to run educational institutions on remote basis too, including the challenges linked with the teaching–learning as well as the management and other departmental needs. Leaning itself on the teaching–learning tectonic shifts amid the COVID-19 climes, the study reviews the status of “readiness” of the HEIs in Oman while bearing this in mind that the usage of information and communications technology (ICT) for distance learning and conventional learning has been considered as one of the parameters to judge the “quality” of the HEIs in Oman.

Documentary analysis alongside an in-depth reading of the quality audit reports sourced from the Oman Academic Accreditation Authority, which are publicly accessible are being referred for driving home the arguments in the study.

The study concludes that despite the case being in favor of distance learning from early on, the same doesn’t get reflected in the conclusions derived in the research conducted for assessing the teaching–learning mechanisms during the COVID-19 period. Therefore, the HEIs’ “readiness” in terms of ensuring the smooth transitioning to the remote learning pedagogical arrangements for meeting the challenges of the COVID-19 wasn’t efficacious.

The present study may be followed up with an understanding as to how the HEIs of Oman need to incorporate the perspectives of all the concerned stakeholders for the refurbishment of the teaching–learning process, especially in times of contingencies.

Apart from the policy-makers, the management of the HEIs of Oman needs to appreciate the need to be proactive and appreciative of the inclusion of ICT tools and techniques in the mainstream pedagogical settings.

Notwithstanding the emphasis upon the preparedness and readiness for tackling the challenges posed by the COVID-19 for the HEIs in Oman, no study has attempted to delve into the issue succinctly—the present study fills this gap.

Sexual harassment on public transport puts women at risk of mental health problems, apart from disrupting their lives and the harmful social consequences. This is especially the case for Pakistani women, for whom sexual harassment has been on the rise for the past decade. This study aims to explore how Pakistani women use strategies to cope with sexual harassment when using public transport and its mediating role in their issues with mental health.

Given that the data collection task on such a culturally sensitive topic was crucial, a mobile application for anonymized data collection was used, which appeared to be an effective strategy. Using the mobile application, 1,054 women who use public transport submitted their responses; however, the analysis is based on 250 usable responses. Their experience of harassment was measured using the Sexual Harassment Experience Questionnaire, their mental health using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales and their coping strategies by the Brief Cope Inventory.

The results indicate that adaptive coping is a significant negative mediator between sexual harassment and mental well-being, whereas maladaptive coping is non-significant. Adaptive coping, i.e. “Acceptance” to admit the reality that the problem exists with all, and “Religion” to seek help spiritually to deal with the problem. Unfortunately, the findings show no suitable coping means to deal with the impact of sexual harassment on women who travel on public transport. This study also illustrates that using the right technologies can encourage participants to submit responses for culturally sensitive topics.

This study provides insight into the experience of street harassment in Pakistani women and how it is related to mental health. This study also explores the role of adaptive and maladaptive coping as an intervening variable between street harassment and mental health.

The environmental deterioration has become one of the most economically consequential and charged topics. Numerous scholars have examined the driving factors failing to consider the structural breaks. This study aims to explore sustainability using the per capita ecological footprints (EF) as an indicator of environmental adversities and controlling the resources rent [(natural resources (NR)], labor capital (LC), urbanization (UR) and per capita economic growth [gross domestic product (GDP)] of China.

Through the analysis of the long- and short-run effects with an autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL), structural break based on BP test and Granger causality test based on vector error correction model (VECM), empirical evidence is provided for the policies formulation of sustainable development.

The long-run equilibrium between the EF and GDP, NR, UR and LC is proved. In the long run, an environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) relationship existed, but China is still in the rising stage of the curve; there is a positive relationship between the EF and NR, indicating a resource curse; the UR is also unsustainable. The LC is the most favorable factor for sustainable development. In the short term, only the lagged GDP has an inhibitory effect on the EF. Besides, all explanatory variables are Granger causes of the EF.

A novel attempt is made to examine the long-term equilibrium and short-term dynamics under the prerequisites that the structural break points with its time and frequencies were examined by BP test and ARDL and VECM framework and the validity of the EKC hypothesis is tested.

Due to the increased pollution and global warming, the banking sector is also implementing green practices in their operations to improve business ethics. However, there are few studies that have looked at how green practices affect performance outcomes. Considering this, the study aims to examine the impact of green banking adoption practices (GRBP) on consumer-related performance outcomes (i.e. consumer green satisfaction, consumer green perceived quality, consumer green trust, environmental friendliness and continuing relations with bank). The study used resource-based view theory and triple bottom line in connecting GBRP and consumer-related performance outcomes.

The data was gathered via a Likert scale questionnaire from banking personnel and consumers using a non-probability purposive sampling technique. The data of GRBP was collected from the banking employees, whereas the data for consumer-related performance outcomes were gathered from the banking consumers, and “Partial least square-structural equation modeling” (PLS-SEM) was used to examine research hypotheses.

The results of PLS-SEM reveal that GRBP positively affects consumer green trust, green perceived quality and green satisfaction. However, GRBP does not have any impact on environmental friendliness. The results further reveal that GRBP largely affects consumer green trust followed by green perceived quality and green satisfaction, respectively. Moreover, consumer green perceived quality, green trust and environmental friendliness positively affect the continuing relationship with the bank.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study in the context of green banking, i.e. two-dimensional, as it examines the impact of GRBP on consumer-related performance outcomes and confirms that GRBP enhances consumer-related performance outcomes. The findings of the study provide numerous insights to bank managers, environmentalists and policymakers.

This study is intended to analyze the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, technological innovation, renewable energy consumption and financial development on carbon dioxide emissions in emerging economies.

The present study adopts the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) cointegration technique for the annual data collection of Vietnam from 1990 to 2020.

The results of the study unveil that renewable energy consumption, the interaction between renewable energy consumption and ICT infrastructure and financial development have significant predictive power for carbon dioxide emissions. In the long term, renewable energy consumption, export and population growth reduce CO2 emissions, whereas the interaction between renewable energy consumption and ICT infrastructure and financial development increases CO2 emissions, while ICT infrastructure does not affect emissions. In the short run, changes in ICT infrastructure contribute to carbon dioxide emissions in Vietnam. In addition, changes in renewable energy consumption, financial development, the interaction between ICT infrastructure and renewable energy consumption and population growth have a significant effect on CO2 emissions. Notably, technological innovation has no impact on CO2 emissions in both the short and long run.

The current study provides new insights into the environmental effects of ICT infrastructure, technological innovation, renewable energy consumption and financial development. The interaction between renewable energy consumption and ICT infrastructure has a significant effect on carbon dioxide emissions. The paper suggests important implications for setting long-run policies to boost the effects of financial development, renewable energy consumption and ICT infrastructure on environmental quality in emerging countries like Vietnam in the coming time.

This study aims to explore the associations between leadership styles (i.e. transformational and ethical) and innovative work behavior within higher education institutions (HEIs), additionally investigating the mediating role of work engagement and the moderating role of psychological empowerment.

The basis of this study rested upon adopting a cross-sectional research framework. The data were acquired from a sample comprising 825 academic staff and 275 leaders across 226 HEIs in China. Employing a quantitative methodology, the researchers used AMOS version 26.0 and SPSS version 22.0 for statistical analysis.

The results indicated that leadership styles (i.e. transformational and ethical) positively affected innovative work behavior, both directly and indirectly (via work engagement). Also, psychological empowerment moderated the linkage between leadership styles and innovative work behavior but not the association between work engagement and innovative work behavior.

Despite some existing literature having discussed the correlation between leadership styles and innovative work behavior, there appears to be a conspicuous dearth of research endeavoring to explore the mediator (i.e. work engagement) and the moderator (i.e. psychological empowerment) within the above nexus, especially in the context of HEIs. Thus, this study can be considered original, introducing novel perspectives and substantial contributions to the management literature on HEIs. In addition, it offers insights for organizational managers.