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Farmers in India are hesitant to adopt organic farming (OF) despite high demand for organic products and favorable policy measures to encourage the practice. Therefore, this study aims to assess the OF adoption barriers faced by Indian farmers using a systematic method of multi-criteria decision making (MCDM).

The authors explored eighteen barriers to OF adoption by conducting a literature survey and discussion with experts on OF. Then the authors used a combined method of Grey Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) methodology to rank the barriers and analyze their interactions.

The analysis reveals that “Lack of knowledge and information,” “lack of financial capacity of farmers’ and “lack of institutional support” are the cause (independent) barriers that significantly impact other barriers. The top three effect (dependent) barriers are “lack of availability of organic inputs,” “personal characteristics such as age, attitudes and beliefs” and “lack of premium pricing,” which are affected by the other barriers.

This research work will help the decision makers understand the barriers to OF adoption in India and their interrelationships. The proposed framework enables them to focus on the high-priority independent barriers, which will subsequently impact the other dependent barriers.

Previous research on OF adoption barriers lacked a multifaceted scientific approach, which is necessary because OF is a complex system and needs a thorough investigation to assess the interaction between the barriers. The research attempts to fill this gap and addresses the complex nature of adoption barriers.

With increasing globalization, the importance of referring to cross-cultural contexts is also amplifying in the contemporary era. The models, framework and dimensions devoted to such situations are increasingly mannered in practice today. With due consideration derivation to the input manner, an organization’s performance is also taken aside for its increasing marginality. The following study aims to examine the American multinational oil and gas company operating in Kuwait's oil sector to evaluate the respect. The branch has a total of 600 employees, which were all included in the data collection phase. Hence, the results derived with cumulative aspects of leadership, power distance and organizational value as their impact on human resource management (HRM) functions.

Through the quantitative approach of a self-adapted questionnaire, 101 responses were collected, and through SPSS Version 22, results were discreet.

The results reverted with the manual that the cultural dimension of Hofstede, i.e. power distance, did not have an apparent impact on the HRM functions. Whilst leadership and organizational values had their dissolved set of effects on HRM functions of the chosen firm. However, HRM functions were apparent enough to have its impact upon leadership, power distance (PD) and organizational value accumulated. Opening to the opportunities where in the future studies, a greater extent of population as well as variables could be considered for a better impact.

The Major limitation of the study is related to the number of respondents as the research was conducted solely for the chosen branch of this private oil and gas firm in Kuwait, which makes its results limited and narrowed in the analysis phase. Moreover, the methodology selection did not do justice to the resulting research’s agenda, which was restricted due to the pandemic’s situation. Where with a better and respective methodology approach, better results could be attached.

The rationale of research refers to the gap concerning theoretical aspects within a field of business. As for the resulting study, in a cross-cultural management setting, the relevancy and implication of HRM functions concerning their transparency have not been explored. Globally, in different industries, the, study of similar nature has been conducted but has not examined, the fossil fuel industry particularly, which would be the focal point of this research.

Exploring the current phenomenon of the cash waqf-linked sukuk (CWLS) program issuance that involves Islamic banks in Indonesia, this paper aims to investigate the key barriers and intentional behaviors in realizing wealthy Muslims’ contribution to the program using the intermediary function of Islamic banks. Moreover, this study provides a conceptual framework to set effective marketing strategies to encourage wealthy Muslims to become cash waqf founders and sustain their contribution.

This qualitative study used a literature review and in-depth interviews to generate insights for developing a model of wealthy Muslims’ behavior toward cash waqf programs held by Islamic banks.

The study identified low trust, literacy and transparency as the biggest barriers to cash waqf contributions, but suggests that a greater role for Islamic banks, personal engagement and innovative product offerings can help to overcome these barriers. The study also identified three new behavioral dimensions that are important for understanding wealthy Muslims’ contributions to cash waqf: personal financial planning, accountability and political issues. Based on these findings, the study proposes 10 strategies for all stakeholders to pursue in the short and medium term to promote cash waqf contributions from wealthy Muslims.

This study only involved respondents from three major cities in Indonesia: Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya because these cities have a large number of wealthy Muslims. Future research can collect more samples from all major cities in Indonesia or other Muslim majority countries, and use other qualitative methodology such as phenomenological, ethnographic, grounded theory, case study or action research. The findings of this study can be the starting point for further research and the proposed conceptual framework requires empirical testing in the future.

The findings of this study can be a basis for policymakers and the Islamic financial industry in formulating marketing, education and socialization strategies for innovative cash waqf programs.

The findings of this study will support the acceleration of cash waqf collection for cash waqf initiatives through Islamic banks. Moreover, with a better understanding of the factors impeding and motivating the most potential Muslim groups to contribute to the innovative cash waqf program, the ultimate goal of higher national socio-economic development becomes more attainable.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to investigate wealthy Muslims’ behavioral factors for contributing to innovative cash waqf held by Islamic banks, from various stakeholder perspectives. It fills a research gap in the literature on innovative cash waqf and behavior.

This study aims to identify the determinants of customer disengagement (CD) and negative customer engagement (NCE) behaviours following service failure.

This study distributed a survey on negative service experiences to 404 customers in Vietnam and analysed the data using structural equation modelling.

Based on the findings, this paper developed a comprehensive model of the determinants of CD and NCE behaviours. CD manifests as “neglect”, while NCE manifests as vindictive, third-party and online complaints and negative word of mouth. The key drivers of CD and NCE are negative expectancy disconfirmation and perceived injustice, mediated by customer outrage. A novel finding is that self-efficacy and risk-taking traits enhance NCE behaviours. Vietnamese customers tend to adopt less confrontational NCE behaviours.

The findings provide brand managers with insights into unfavourable customer responses to service failure, including CD and NCE behaviours. Customers in Vietnam were predominantly found to disengage. Fulfilling the firm’s promises and treating customers fairly are paramount for preventing customer outrage, CD and NCE.

This study identifies the determinants of CD and NCE, namely, disconfirmation of service quality expectations and perceived injustice, in the context of an emerging market.

The increased importance of sports and athlete brands highlights the need for athletes to pay attention to branding as it has positive impacts. As athletes, Muslim women have not succeeded in building their brands. This study aims to understand the branding challenges facing Muslim female athletes and how to overcome them.

These branding obstacles and guidelines were explored using qualitative methods – specifically semi-structured interviews with Muslim female athletes and focus groups with experts. Data were analysed using open and axial coding to identify the codes.

The study identifies three major obstacles to branding by Muslim female athletes. Self-related obstacles, such as knowledge of brand building, social media, personal pressure and a lack of role models, impact the brand-building decision. Social-related (family and society) and sport-related obstacles (participation as women and as Muslims) further complicate this task. Experts provide additional insights regarding these obstacles, suggesting strategies to overcome them.

The research focuses on athletes from one geographical area and has limitations associated with using qualitative methods.

The study suggests how self-, social- and sport-related obstacles are faced by athletes. It provides suggestions for federations, sports codes and other stakeholders to support athletes to overcome these barriers.

This study expands the understanding of the struggles Muslim women face in building their brands as part of an under-represented group.

The changes in the service context due to COVID-19 have challenged service marketers to understand and react to consumers’ feelings that impact their shopping behavior in services. Moreover, consumers had to face a challenging situation with an impact on mental health. This study aims to assess the impact of spirituality and compassionate love as coping mechanisms that might increase hope, which, in turn, decreases anxiety. Hope also mitigates the impact of fear on anxiety. The authors also investigate the mediate effect of hope in its relationship to spirituality and well-being during the pandemic in Brazil and its potential impact on services marketing.

To investigate the relationship between fear, anxiety, hope, compassionate love, spirituality and well-being, the authors conducted an online survey with 469 Brazilians who had been in quarantine for more than 45 days. To conduct the investigation, the authors used a purposive sampling to reach respondents due to the exceptional situation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Using a structural equation model, the authors found that hope is a mediator with a buffer effect on the relationships between anxiety and fear and between spirituality and anxiety. Moreover, the authors found that hope mediates the relationship between spirituality and well-being, leading to greater levels of well-being. Service companies in general can benefit from using these findings to better manage their relationships with consumers during and after COVID-19 pandemic.

The sample included only Brazilian respondents, and pre-pandemic well-being was not measured.

There is evidence that traumatic events (e.g. war) influence feelings and consumer behavior. The findings suggest that the adoption of practices related to spirituality during an extreme, stressful situation has an influence on people’s hope and potentially mitigates anxiety. Increasing spirituality and hope can also benefit perceptions of well-being. Besides, in this context, the authors recommend that service providers communicate unobservable elements in a transaction (e.g. care, safety) by providing observable signals of spirituality and hope to reduce negative emotions.

The purpose of this study, most recent advancements in threedimensional (3D) printing have focused on the fabrication of components. It is typical to use different print settings, such as raster angle, infill and orientation to improve the 3D component qualities while fabricating the sample using a 3D printer. However, the influence of these factors on the characteristics of the 3D parts has not been well explored. Owing to the effect of the different print parameters in fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology, it is necessary to evaluate the strength of the parts manufactured using 3D printing technology.

In this study, the effect of three print parameters − raster angle, build orientation and infill − on the tensile characteristics of 3D-printed components made of three distinct materials − acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA), polycarbonate ABS (PC-ABS) and ULTEM-9085 − was investigated. A variety of test items were created using a commercially accessible 3D printer in various configurations, including raster angle (0°, 45°), (0°, 90°), (45°, −45°), (45°, 90°), infill density (solid, sparse, sparse double dense) and orientation (flat, on-edge).

The outcome shows that variations in tensile strength and force are brought on by the effects of various printing conditions. In all possible combinations of the print settings, ULTEM 9085 material has a higher tensile strength than ASA and PC-ABS materials. ULTEM 9085 material’s on-edge orientation, sparse infill, and raster angle of (0°, −45°) resulted in the greatest overall tensile strength of 73.72 MPa. The highest load-bearing strength of ULTEM material was attained with the same procedure, measuring at 2,932 N. The tensile strength of the materials is higher in the on-edge orientation than in the flat orientation. The tensile strength of all three materials is highest for solid infill with a flat orientation and a raster angle of (45°, −45°). All three materials show higher tensile strength with a raster angle of (45°, −45°) compared to other angles. The sparse double-dense material promotes stronger tensile properties than sparse infill. Thus, the strength of additive components is influenced by the combination of selected print parameters. As a result, these factors interact with one another to produce a high-quality product.

The outcomes of this study can serve as a reference point for researchers, manufacturers and users of 3D-printed polymer material (PC-ABS, ASA, ULTEM 9085) components seeking to optimize FDM printing parameters for tensile strength and/or identify materials suitable for intended tensile characteristics.

Stock prices are subject to the influence of news and social media, and a discernible co-movement pattern exists among multiple stocks. Using a knowledge graph to represent news semantics and establish connections between stocks is deemed essential and viable.

This study presents a knowledge-driven framework for predicting stock prices. The framework integrates relevant stocks with the semantic and emotional characteristics of textual data. The authors construct a stock knowledge graph (SKG) to extract pertinent stock information and use a knowledge graph representation model to capture both the relevant stock features and the semantic features of news articles. Additionally, the authors consider the emotional characteristics of news and investor comments, drawing insights from behavioral finance theory. The authors examined the effectiveness of these features using the combined deep learning model CNN+LSTM+Attention.

Experimental results demonstrate that the knowledge-driven combined feature model exhibits significantly improved predictive accuracy compared to single-feature models.

The study highlights the value of the SKG in uncovering potential correlations among stocks. Moreover, the knowledge-driven multi-feature fusion stock forecasting model enhances the prediction of stock trends for well-known enterprises, providing valuable guidance for investor decision-making.

Prior institutional duality research asserts that ceremonial implementation of organisational practice protects multinational corporations’ subsidiaries. However, the temporal dynamics of the safeguarding function has been under researched. Public sector organisations have also been ignored. This research aims to explore how the safeguarding function is created, maintained and disrupted using the overseas offices (OOs) of a bilateral development agency (BDA) as a case.

A multi-case study, underpinned by neo-institutionalism, was conducted. Data obtained from in-depth remote interviews with 39 informants from the BDA OOs were analysed using the “asking small and large questions” technique, four analytical techniques, cross-case synthesis and theoretical propositions.

A three-phase process was identified. The first phase is the appearance of discrepancies due to institutional duality. The second is the emergence of ceremonial implementation as a solution. In the third phase, “the creation, maintenance and disruption of a safeguarding function” begins. When ceremonial implementation successfully protects the OOs, the safeguarding function is created. The OOs are likely to repeat ceremonial implementation, thus sustaining the function. Meanwhile, when conditions such as management staff change, ceremonial implementation may not take place, and the safeguarding function disappears.

The BDA OOs may not face strong host country regulative pressures because they are donors to aid-recipient countries. Hence, the findings may not directly apply to other public sector organisations.

Development cooperation practitioners should understand that ceremonial implementation is not exclusively harmful.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first institutional duality research that explores the temporal dynamics of safeguarding functions targeting public sector organisations.

The purpose of the study is to identify the soft skills and abilities that are crucial to success in the fields of operations management (OM) and supply chain management (SCM), using the O*NET database and the classification of a set of professional figures integrating values for task skills and abilities needed to operate successfully in these professions.

The study used the O*NET database to identify the soft skills and abilities required for success in OM and SCM industries. Correlation analysis was conducted to determine the tasks required for the job roles and their characteristics in terms of abilities and soft skills. ANOVA analysis was used to validate the findings. The study aims to help companies define specific assessments and tests for OM and SCM roles to measure individual attitudes and correlate them with the job position.

As a result of the work, a set of soft skills and abilities was defined that allow, through correlation analysis, to explain a large number of activities required to work in the operations and SCM (OSCM) environment.

The work is inherently affected by the database used for the professional figures mapped and the scores that are attributed within O*NET to the analyzed elements.

The information resulting from this study can help companies develop specific assessments and tests for the roles of OM and SCM to measure individual attitudes and correlate them with the requirements of the job position. The study aims to address the need to identify soft skills in the human sphere and determine which of them have the most significant impact on the OM and SCM professions.

The originality of this study lies in its approach to identify the set of soft skills and abilities that determine success in the OM and SCM industries. The study used the O*NET database to correlate the tasks required for specific job roles with their corresponding soft skills and abilities. Furthermore, the study used ANOVA analysis to validate the findings in other sectors mapped by the same database. The identified soft skills and abilities can help companies develop specific assessments and tests for OM and SCM roles to measure individual attitudes and correlate them with the requirements of the job position. In addressing the necessity for enhanced clarity in the domain of human factor, this study contributes to identifying key success factors. Subsequent research can further investigate their practical application within companies to formulate targeted growth strategies and make appropriate resource selections for vacant positions.