Sustainable Innovation in Small Medium Enterprises: The Impact of Knowledge Management on Organizational Innovation through a Mediation Analysis by Using SEM Approach

Unravelling the shift: exploring consumers' adoption or resistance of E-Pharmacy through behavioural reasoning theory

In the ever-evolving nature of the healthcare sector, the advent of electronic-Pharmacy introduces a dynamic shift in how consumers acquire and access medical and pharmaceutical products. The research utilized the behaviour reasoning theory. The study evaluated the reasons for adopting and against adopting electronic-Pharmacy. By employing the qualitative approach, this study unravels rich contextual and narrative insights, shedding light on the complexities of individual decision-making processes. The study received responses from 28 through an in-depth interview, and thematic data analysis was employed for the data analysis. The outcome of the research is summarized as follows. The respondents indicated that essential reasons for adopting electronic pharmacy services include convenience and accessibility, prescription management, cost and affordability, logistics, and timely delivery. On the other hand, the reasons against adoption include trust and security concerns, regulatory challenges and legal uncertainties, lack of internet access and privacy concerns. As technology changes healthcare delivery, this research closes the knowledge gap between theory and practice by offering crucial insights into the behavioural aspects influencing electronic-Pharmacy adoption or resistance. The findings are anticipated to significantly impact the academic discourse surrounding electronic-health and the practical implementation of strategies to enhance the integration of electronic-Pharmacy services into conventional healthcare systems.

Determinants of behavioral intentions to use an E-Pharmacy service: Insights from TAM theory and the moderating influence of technological literacy

BACKGROUND

The growing significance of E-Pharmacy services in healthcare necessitates investigating the factors influencing users' behavioral intentions on these platforms. Comprehending these variables is imperative to maximize service provision, elevate customer satisfaction, and ultimately elevate healthcare accessibility and results.

OBJECTIVE(S)

The main goal of this study is to explore the factors that shape consumers' inclination to use E-Pharmacy services, focusing on the framework provided by the Technology Acceptance Model. Additionally, we aimed to investigate how technological literacy plays a moderating role in this context, specifically within the South African setting.

METHODS

Using a sample of 480 South African clients, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) were used to investigate the factors influencing behavioral intention to use E-Pharmacy services.

RESULTS

The findings underscore perceived usefulness, trust, performance expectancy, and social Influence as fundamental drivers influencing users' intentions to adopt E-Pharmacy systems. Additionally, the study shows that consumers' intention to use E-Pharmacy services is significantly and favorably affected by their desire to utilize such services. This suggests that individuals are more likely to act on positive intentions when they are interested in using E-Pharmacy platforms. Intriguingly, technological literacy has emerged as a moderating factor in the relationship between the intention to use and the actual behavior of utilizing E-Pharmacy platforms. This demonstrates the importance of consumers' technical knowledge and skills in bridging the intention-behavior gap and highlights the necessity of adapting treatments and instructional strategies to account for various levels of technological literacy.

CONCLUSION

This study provides valuable insights into the complex relationships between factors influencing the acceptance of E-Pharmacy services in South Africa. This knowledge can have practical implications for lawmakers, developers of E-Pharmacy platforms, and healthcare professionals who aim to enhance user acceptance and utilization.

Organizational learning and innovation: A bibliometric analysis and future research agenda

Organizational learning and innovation research have received increasing attention from researchers in recent years. However, there is a need to understand the research development of this topic and its trends. Therefore, this study aims to provide a comprehensive view of this field by conducting a bibliometric analysis of 773 research articles published over the past 41 years. The study identifies the journals, researchers, countries, institutions, and references in terms of productivity, citations, co-citations, common keywords, and their developments over three periods using the VOS viewer software. The results show a strong connection between organizational learning and organizational innovation. The number of publications related to organizational learning and innovation has continuously increased. The United States of America (USA) ranked first, contributing 21.86 % of the total publications. Additionally, the "Universidad de Granada" has been ranked first in overall publication output (16 publications, 2.07 %). The focus of researchers in this field has expanded to include different and new topics such as innovation performance and ambidexterity. The results of this paper may help academics and practitioners better understand research development trends and hotspots in the field of organizational learning and innovation and provide a comprehensive view of future research.

Mediating effect of firm efficiency on the controlling shareholdings–firm performance nexus: evidence from public listed firms in Malaysia

This study examines how controlling shareholders influence firm performance through the mediating role of firm efficiency in transforming inputs into outputs. To achieve this objective, it conducts a mediation analysis with 5,000 bootstraps on a dataset of 2,849 firm-year observations of publicly listed firms in Malaysia from 2009 to 2019. The findings reveal a positive relationship between controlling shareholdings and firm performance, with both total and indirect effects having this positive relationship. Moreover, while controlling shareholdings improve firm performance, firm efficiency partially mediates this relationship. Thus, improved firm efficiency plays a critical role in understanding the relationship between governance by controlling shareholders and enhanced firm performance. In summary, this study contributes to the existing literature by expanding our understanding of the complex relationship between controlling shareholdings, firm efficiency, and firm performance. In addition, the findings shed light on the importance of indirect channels in shaping organizational outcomes. As such, this study provides a valuable direction for future research in this area.

The Moderating Role of Psychological Safety in the Relationship between Job Embeddedness, Organizational Commitment, and Retention Intention among Home Care Attendants in Taiwan

As Taiwan's population ages, the need for long-term care, such as home care, is increasing due to improved medical services and longer life expectancy; however, the current coverage rate for home care services is only 50%, highlighting the importance of retaining home care workers. This study applies job embeddedness, organizational commitment, and psychological safety as variables to explore the retention intention of Taiwan's home care workers. A questionnaire survey was distributed among home care workers using convenience sampling, resulting in 547 collected questionnaires, of which 458 were valid. Data analysis was conducted with SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 22.0, and a structural equation model (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses. Our findings suggest that job embeddedness has a positive impact on organizational commitment (γ = 0.649, γ = 0.607, and γ = 0.628; p < 0.001) and retention intention (γ = 0.253, γ = 0.242, γ = 0.271; p < 0.001), similar to organizational commitment (γ = 0.721, p < 0.001). Additionally, organizational commitment mediates job embeddedness and retention intention, while psychological safety moderated organizational commitment and retention intention (β = 0.639; p < 0.001). This study aims to provide information for the development of more effective human resource policies and contribute to practical advancements in the home care service environment and management structure of home care organizations. By analyzing and exploring the main factors contributing to home care workers' retention intention, we hope to enhance the overall benefits of home service organizations and the industry.

Role of adaptive leadership in learning organizations to boost organizational innovations with change self-efficacy

The present study investigates the direct impact of learning organizations on organizational innovations and investigates the mediating mechanism of change self-efficacy between learning organizations and organizational innovations. Furthermore, this study proposes adaptive leadership as a moderator between learning organizations, change self-efficacy, and organizational innovations. Three hundred seventy-three permanent employees from the pharmaceutical industry voluntarily participated. Data was collected using a simple random sampling technique through the temporal separation method (One-month interval between two temporal separations). SPSS v.25, AMOS v.22, and Smart-PLS were utilized to analyze reliability, validity, descriptive statistics, and correlations, and PROCESS-macro v3.4 was used for direct, indirect (mediation), and interaction (moderation) effects analysis. The study supports the hypothesized link between learning organizations and organizational innovations. In addition, change self-efficacy partially mediates the learning organizations - organizational innovations relationship. Moreover, adaptive leadership moderates the association between learning organization and organizational innovation, learning organizations and change self-efficacy, and change self-efficacy and organizational innovations relationship. The study's findings suggest that adaptive leadership is imperative not only for higher change self-efficacy of the individuals but also helps the organizations for organizational innovations with the utilization of learning organizations phenomenon. Additionally, this study highlights the importance of change self-efficacy, which plays a vital role in learning organizations for organizational innovations.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-023-04669-z.

The moderating role of technological innovation between tourism and carbon emission: short and long-run panel analysis

In contemporary times of globalization, tourism and travel are among the fastest-growing economic sectors and are highly related to climate change; however, technological innovations as a powerful tool positively contribute to the environment. The present study examines the tourism receipt and CO2 emission relationship and the triple interaction effect of technological innovation, energy consumption, and tourism receipts on CO2 emissions in the short and long run. To achieve study objectives, we utilized panel data of 64 Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries over the period of 1995 to 2019. Considering the cross-sectional dependence in the panel data set, we employed a series of econometric panel data estimation techniques-including the panel unit root tests, panel co-integration tests, and the generalized method of moments (GMM). The panel unit root results confirmed the level of stationarity, and the panel co-integration results verified the long-run relationship among study variables. The sys-GMM results indicate that tourism receipts and CO2 emissions have an inverse relationship for 64 BRI countries. In addition, the negative coefficients for joint interaction imply that tourism receipts, technological innovation, and energy consumption reduce CO2 emissions. Considering the theoretical underpinnings of the study outcomes, we discussed significant policy implications to reduce CO₂ emissions and achieve sustainable tourism.

The moderating role of leadership on the relationship between green supply chain management, technological advancement, and knowledge management in sustainable performance

The escalation of regulatory obligations in order to reshape and implement eco-friendly operations make it essential for firms to execute the related strategies and enhance their position in a competitive market. Scholars and practitioners, thereby, have aligned their search in the area of sustainability to get to know regarding activities that might improve the outcomes of business practices. To contribute in a particular area, the study attempts to explore the critical role of knowledge management, technological advancement, and green supply chain (SC) management on SBP in the presence of a moderator-leadership. China is used as a study sample, and the study model was evaluated through structural equation modelling. Statistical findings indicate that knowledge management, technological advancement, and green SC management have a positive influence on SBP in China. The findings reveal that leadership support significantly moderates knowledge management, technological advancement, green SC management, and SBP in China. These outcomes guide regulators in making regulations related to sustainable performance using the best practice of SC, technology advancement, and knowledge management.

Sustainability oriented innovation and organizational values: a cluster analysis

Purpose: Sustainability is an important priority for CEOs according to a recent Mckinsey (2021) survey. However, despite growing pressure from capital investors, employees and consumers, few organizations are satisfied with the sustainability objectives achieved beyond objectives related to economic savings. The sustainability challenge is even more difficult for organizations when dealing with designing their innovation portfolio strategies since the markets´ demands and competitors´ strategies may contradict organizations’ sustainability objectives and thus jeopardize their continuity. Some researchers argue that a commitment to sustainability in organizations is not so much a matter of managerial practice but rather is rooted in organizational values (Globocnik et al., 2020). Therefore, this research aims to explore what types of organizational values more effectively promote sustainability-oriented innovation in organizations. Using as a conceptual framework the competing values theory (Quinn & Rohrbaugh, 1983), and adding one dimension, risk aversion, we empirically define some clusters of business typologies from which we derive patterns of value profiles. We show how these clusters’ patterns of values relate to the success of a firm’s sustainability-oriented innovation.

Methodology: To make sense of our literature review and ensure managerial relevance, we surveyed 128 senior managers from different industries and countries to understand how their perceived organizational values may impact their firms’ sustainability-oriented innovation success. As a result, we group the studied organizations into four clusters according to the informed organizational values, and we assess how the different clusters are more or less prone to succeed with a sustainability-oriented innovation strategy.

Findings: Our results show that not all organizational values contribute equally to the success of sustainability-oriented innovation in the market. As a theoretical contribution, we advance current knowledge about how organizational values may impact sustainability-oriented innovation success by providing a framework to measure and follow up on the evolution of necessary organizational values to embrace sustainability-oriented innovation within an organization. From a managerial perspective, we advance knowledge on how organizational values should evolve and change to efficiently deliver more sustainability-oriented innovation. In addition, we describe specific values that organizations should measure and track and otherwise establish as an important first step toward implementing sustainability-oriented innovation within them.

Originality: Our research provides original results by expanding current knowledge on organizational values to better understand which values more efficiently promote competitive sustainability-oriented innovation in organizations. We expand the four organizational cultural archetypes of organizational values to develop a more flexible and actionable framework of five dimensions by adding an important dimension to the model, risk aversion. Together, these dimensions generate new insights through a cluster analysis of organizational differences and inform priorities and courses of actions to undertake.

Research limitations and implications: This research is based on self-report surveys and is therefore exposed to the expected limitations of the survey research methodology.

"Nice You Share in Return": Informational Sharing, Reciprocal Sharing, and Life Satisfaction Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Social media become an important space where people receive and share up-to-date health-related information during the rapid global spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). While information sharing in social media has been shown to improve relations, reduce stress, and enhance life satisfaction, little is known about reciprocal sharing. Situated in COVID-19 pandemic, this study conceptualizes information sharing as a communication process during which sharers expect the receivers to reciprocate, while receivers feel obligated to return the favor. Building upon social exchange theory and studies on social media sharing, the study tested a model of moderated mediation in which sharing of COVID-19 information was predicted to enhance life satisfaction by encouraging reciprocal sharing, i.e., information reciprocity. Subjective norms, attitudes, and perceived usefulness of the information was predicted to moderate the mediation. The hypothesized mediation was supported by data from a survey of 511 online participants in China. Furthermore, the indirect effect appeared stronger among the respondents who found the information more useful, reported more positive attitude, or perceived more subjective norms. The findings suggest that expected reciprocation may be an important incentive for social sharing, and received reciprocation may be a central part of the mechanism through which sharing benefits the sharer. Policymakers and communicators may need to take information reciprocity into consideration when designing health information campaign to confront communal threats.

How do firms create business value and dynamic capabilities by leveraging big data analytics management capability?

Despite researchers having averred that big data analytics (BDA) transforms firms' ways of doing business, knowledge about operationalizing these technologies in organizations to achieve strategic objectives is lacking. Moreover, organizations' great appetite for big data and limited empirical proof of whether BDA impacts organizations' transformational capacity poses a need for further empirical investigation. Therefore, this study explores the association between big data analytics management capabilities (BDAMC) and innovation performance via dynamic capabilities (DC), by applying the PLS-SEM technique to analyzing the feedback of 149 firms. Consequently, we ground our arguments on dynamic capability and social capital theory rather than a resource-based view that does not provide suitable explanations for the deployment of resources to adapt to change. Accordingly, we advance this research stream by finding that BDAMC significantly enhances innovation performance through DC. We also extend the literature by disclosing how BDAMC strengthens DC via strategic alignment and social capital.

The contingent roles of market turbulence and organizational innovativeness on the relationships among interfirm trust, formal contracts, interfirm knowledge sharing and firm performance

Purpose

Prior research on interfirm collaborations has demonstrated that trust and contract are two central governance mechanisms that influence a firm’s knowledge sharing decision and the subsequent effect on performance. However, we know little about how effective these mechanisms are in different market conditions and levels of organizational innovativeness. This study aims to advance the literature on interfirm knowledge sharing by exploring these contingencies and by providing an alternative explanation of the contradictory effects of knowledge sharing on firm performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors collected 156 firms’ relationships with their suppliers in two batches from 300 firms in the 2017 list of Statistics in the Zhejiang province in China. The authors used unstructured interviews and formal questionnaires to collect data from these firms.

Findings

Market turbulence served as a boundary condition for the effect of interfirm trust and formal contracts on knowledge sharing. Both interfirm trust and formal contracts, as governance mechanisms, are effective in raising interfirm knowledge sharing only when the firms operate in high turbulent markets. On the contrary, knowledge sharing negatively affected firm performance when firms exhibit low organizational innovativeness. Moreover, a three-way interaction among market turbulence, organizational innovativeness and knowledge sharing revealed that when market turbulence and organizational innovativeness were both low, interfirm knowledge sharing was detrimental to firm performance.

Practical implications

Based on the results, this study recommends managers consider external (market turbulence) and internal (organizational innovativeness) when firms decide to share knowledge and benefit from such activities.

Originality/value

This study extends prior research on the determinant of knowledge sharing and clarifies the inconsistent findings of knowledge sharing on firm performance. Thus, strategic organizational leaders need to pay attention to when they need to share information with suppliers to best benefit from those collaborations.

Total Quality Management and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises’ (SMEs) Performance: Mediating Role of Innovation Speed

This study focuses on investigating the role of innovation speed in mediating the relationship between total quality management and small and medium-sized enterprise performance. Cross-sectional data from 484 Nigerian small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises were collected using judgmental sampling, which was targeted at the owners and managers of small-scale manufacturing enterprises within Nigeria. The obtained data were evaluated using both descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. Hence, the heuristic model for the relationship was subjected to a string of tests using the partial least squares structural equation modeling technique. The results show that total quality management is positively related to operational performance as well as innovation speed, which has a substantial influence on the nexus between total quality management (TQM) and small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SME) performance. The study expands the understanding of innovation, regarding speed and its measures within total quality management, where the five basic dimensions of total quality management are top management quality practices, employee quality management, customer orientation, process management, and employee knowledge and training. Furthermore, the model contributes to the scarce literature on the mediating factors needed to boost the operational performance of small-scale manufacturing firms.

From Cultural Tourism to Social Entrepreneurship: Role of Social Value Creation for Environmental Sustainability

Cross-cultural exchanges among the locals and the tourists have been beneficial in terms of social value creation and sustainability. The present study has examined the role of cultural tourism and social entrepreneurship on social value creation and environmental sustainability. The study has drawn a sample through a non-probabilistic convenience sampling method for desired data collection, as investigators approached tourists visiting the tourism destinations. The study reports data received with the help of tourists visiting cultural heritage in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. The study has employed the PLS_SEM approach for analysis purposes to draw the results. The findings showed a significant relationship between cultural tourism, environmental sustainability, and social value creation that significantly predicts environmental sustainability. The results revealed a significant positive association between social entrepreneurship, social value creation, and environmental sustainability. Besides, results showed that social value creation mediates the relationship between cultural tourism and environmental sustainability and social entrepreneurship and environmental sustainability. The study's findings climax the importance of cross-cultural interactions that enriches the cultural understanding and gives new perspectives to the existing cultural traditions. Pursuing environmental sustainability through social value creation requires an excellent combination of the administrative and political collaborative strategy that integrates cultural tourism and social entrepreneurship in tourist destination development and aims to attain improved tourist attractions. Besides, this research identifies a significant effect of cultural tourism on environmental sustainability. However, the relationship between tourism and environmental sustainability is bidirectional. It might provide direction for further study. The findings deliver valuable insight into global cultural tourism and social entrepreneurship activities that provide tourism destinations for community development. This investigation produces a systematic and holistic research framework to help explore the influence of cultural tourism and social value creation on the environmental sustainability at tourism destinations. The generalizability of the findings supplies helpful directions for future research on environmental sustainability related to social entrepreneurship and cultural tourism that leads to social value creation.

Investigating the Effects of Capital Structure and Corporate Governance on Firm Performance: An Analysis of the Sugar Industry

The objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of capital structure and corporate governance on firm performance. To test the hypothesis of study, data was collected from annual reports of sugar sector companies listed in PSX. This study data covers from 2015 to 2020. The results of study showed that both proxies of capital structure, i.e., D/A and D/E negatively influence the company performance. Whereas two out of three proxies of corporate governance, i.e., board size and chairman/CEO duality negatively indicate association with company performance while audit committee size has a positive impact on the company performance.

Monitoring and Efficiency in Governance: A Measure for Sustainability in the Islamic Banking Industry

Corporate governance is a set of rules, regulations, procedures, processes, and practices through which an organization is controlled and directed. The present study aimed to examine the monitoring methods used in Islamic banking, including standardized measures for better performance, an individual's aptitude towards Islamic financial markets, risk propensity, and the level of efficiency of the Islamic banking industry in Pakistan and Malaysia. There is room to improve monitoring systems for Islamic banking operations and standardized measures could improve efficiency, leading to more sustainable performance. The study uses a self-developed semi-structured scale based on literature and expert interviews, after content and context validity to gain a wide range of diverse information. In Pakistan and Malaysia, individuals' perceptions are different because of differences in the banking environment and preferences. Eventually, the Islamic banking growth rate may differ in Pakistan and Malaysia. Thus, there should be regular monitoring to improve banking performance. Similarly, standardized measures for Islamic banking operations and governance performance in Pakistan and Malaysia will result in more sustainable performance. The antecedents of Islamic corporate governance could be improved to enhance banking performance, which helps individuals make decisions based on available product information. The business growth of the banking industry is based on convenient monitoring policies, standardized performance measures, and, most importantly, excellent corporate governance mechanisms. Improved monitoring measures will further enhance these business operations.

Do Embedded and Peripheral Corporate Social Responsibility Activities Lower Employees' Turnover Intentions?

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) remains a topic of interest for both theory and practice due to its multifaceted avenues and potential for growth. We have chosen embedded CSR and peripheral CSR measures to evaluate how these activities affect the employee turnover intentions via a mediation mechanism of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). In doing so, this study addresses important stakeholder concerns and provides meaningful managerial contributions for the employers to encourage more employee participation (through lowering turnover intention) toward sustainable corporate performance. This study incorporates four hypotheses that are tested in a structural equation modeling framework by employing Warp-PLS software. Data were collected from 297 employees working in firms that are renowned for their CSR initiatives. We found support for our key hypotheses leading to strong theoretical contributions to the stakeholder theory. We have addressed the main issues of stakeholders' response to the CSR tradeoffs and have tried to develop a deeper understanding of managers in initiating peripheral and embedded CSR activities for their firms.

Analyzing the ecological relations of technology innovation of the Chinese high-tech industry based on the Lotka-Volterra model

Technology innovation has become an important driving force of economic and social development and has received wide attention from academics. Most scholars mainly take technology innovation as an overall variable to explore its impact on the economy and society. The main contribution of this study is to open the black box of technology innovation and introduce the lotka-Volterra model to explore the internal structure of technology innovation in the Chinese high-tech industry and to analyze the ecological relationships, evolutionary trends, equilibrium states of six technology innovation species including independent innovation (II), technology import (TI), research & development (RD), technology renovation (TR), foreign technology acquisition (FTA), and domestic technology purchase (DTP). The results of the study show that, First, the ecological relationship between prey and predator is observed between RD and TR, DTP and FTA, and II and TI. Second, no equilibrium state is observed between TD and TF and II and TI. Third, an unstable equilibrium state is observed between RD and TR.

Corporate Business Strategy and Tax Avoidance Culture: Moderating Role of Gender Diversity in an Emerging Economy

Tax payments stimulate business enterprises to choose tax management through tax avoidance activities, which is the legal practice to reduce the amount of tax payable. In developing economies, taxation is considered more critical for budget and revenues of a country. This paper investigates whether various business strategies influence corporate tax avoidance decisions of firms by adopting business strategies. Besides, it explores how gender diversity can ease this relationship. This study has chosen a sample of organizations from non-financial sector in Pakistan. The time frame is 5 years, including once a year. The present model employed a generalized moment method (GMM) and tested the proposed hypothesis to draw the results. The study has taken the size, leverage, and business profitability as control variables of firms. The study outcomes by using the GMM method demonstrate that the presence of female directors reduces tax avoidance behavior in prospector companies. This study provides insight into future research for stakeholders, government officials, tax authorities, and policymakers. The findings offer valuable recommendations and practical insights and implications. The findings provide future directions for research to test different frameworks to attain beneficial results to promote the responsibility of tax payment culture.

Examining the Relationship Between Product Market Competition and Chinese Firms Performance: The Mediating Impact of Capital Structure and Moderating Influence of Firm Size

This study emphasized the relationship between the Chinese companies' product market competition and organizational performance. This article explored the mediating effect of capital structure and the moderating impact of firm size in achieving better performance of Chinese companies. This study employed a sample of 2,502 Chinese firm observations and identified that market competition positively influenced firm performance. Additionally, capital structure partly mediated the relationship between product market competition and firm performance. Similarly, the present study also tested the moderating effect of firm size (both small and large) on the association between product market competition and firm performance. The results showed that moderating large businesses affects the nexus between product market competition and firm performance. Conversely, small firms' moderating role revealed a substantial adverse impact on the association between product market competition and firm performance. These findings contribute to the literature on the complex implications of market competition on business firms' performance. The results provide insightful and practical implications for future research directions.

The Effects of Transformational Leadership, Organizational Innovation, Work Stressors, and Creativity on Employee Performance in SMEs

Purpose of the Study

The significance of creativity and performance in the workplace has been illustrated on various occasions. This study aims to find out if there is a link between transformative leadership, organizational innovation, psychological issues such as hindrance and challenge stressors, and employee creativity and employee performance. There is still a lack of awareness of the factors that influence employee performance in small and medium businesses (SMEs) in Pakistan. Pakistan’s SMEs have struggled to survive in their early years, with an initial failure rate of 90 percent to 95 percent.

Methodology

The relationship between hindrance and challenge stressors, organizational innovation, transformational leadership, employee creativity, and their effect on overall employee performance is established through employing Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). In this study, constructs were developed from existing theories, hypotheses were generated, data were collected from 424 SME employees, and SEM analysis was conducted to prove the suggested hypothesis. The employees of SMEs are the research study’s unit of analysis.

Findings

The findings of this study demonstrated that challenge stressors, transformational leadership, and employee creativity all had positive and significant effects on employee performance.

Originality/Value

This is one of the first studies to study and extends existing understanding of psychological research in this manner and following correlations in a developing country, Pakistan: the links between transformational leadership and employees’ perception of creativity and performance along with organizational innovation and work stressors. Based on theoretical considerations, a model is proposed, and hypotheses are established and explored. The findings of this study can help businesses increase employee performance by informing employee performance improvement methods. Business executives might learn more about how to engage and motivate employees to improve their performance.

Entrepreneurship Education and Social Entrepreneurial Intentions: The Mediating Effects of Entrepreneurial Social Network

Social entrepreneurship has received considerable recognition from universities in recent years. This study aimed to examine the mediating effect of the entrepreneurial social network on entrepreneurship education and social entrepreneurial intention (SEI) of students at the university level. This study adopted a cross-sectional quantitative approach. A convenience sampling method was utilized to choose 392 students studying at the public and private universities in Chattogram, Bangladesh, who then completed a self-administered survey. The data were then analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results revealed a significant positive relationship between entrepreneurship education and students' social entrepreneurial intention on the one hand and between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial social network on the other hand. It was also found that entrepreneurial social networks had a significantly positive link with students' SEIs. Furthermore, the study found that entrepreneurial social networks significantly mediate the relationship between entrepreneurship education and students' SEI. Based on these outcomes, it is suggested to pay attention to entrepreneurship education further and strengthen the entrepreneurial social network to enhance SEI among students. Research findings have provided valuable insights regarding how entrepreneurship education can significantly impact SEI and emphasize the importance of entrepreneurial social networks as a mediator in social entrepreneurship. This study aims to contribute to the relevant social entrepreneurial literature by providing insights on practical issues related to the role of the entrepreneurial social network at the entrepreneurship education level.

Investigating the factors of enterprise social media strain: The role of enterprise social media's visibility as a moderator

The significant effect of enterprise social media (ESM) usage has been extensively researched. However, recent studies and analysis have also emphasized the importance of understanding the negative aspects of ESM's use. By applying uses and gratifications theory (UGT), this study proposes a research model that tests how employees' ESM usage (hedonic, social, and information values) leads to ESM-related strain through perceived information overload. The study collected data from 315 Chinese employees using a survey method and analyzed the results using AMOS 21.0 software. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to analyze the proposed hypothesis. The results indicate that perceived hedonic, social, and information values are significant predictors of perceived information overload. Such overload is also significantly associated with ESM-related strain. The results also indicate that ESM visibility strengthens the significant relationship between perceived information overload and ESM-related strain. Furthermore, managers can also train individuals to use ESM appropriately. We recommend that employees can better control and manage their ESM usage by recognizing the causes of excessive use.

A Sustainable Innovation Strategy Oriented toward Complex Product Servitization

Enterprises performing complex product servitization are more vulnerable to the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic because of their large number of suppliers and wide coverage, among other things. The present research focuses on how to promote the sustainable innovation of complex product servitization. We investigate complex products and sustainable innovation—factors influencing the sustainable innovation of complex product servitization—based on the characteristics of product servitization and by combining the definitions of product servitization. We find that inadequate innovation ability and poor technical research and development (R&D) competence are the primary concerns in the sustainable innovation of complex product servitization. Specific to innovation ability improvement, the sustainable innovation of complex product servitization must follow an innovation-driven development strategy, a hard power cultivation strategy, and a soft power cultivation strategy. In terms of technical R&D competence enhancement, technological innovation strategies, integrated outsourcing of technical R&D competence, and independent improvement of technical R&D competence must be implemented to facilitate the sustainable innovation of complex product servitization.

“A system that will do magic”: organizational perspective on the technological layer in knowledge management

Purpose

This study aims to give expression, for the first time, to the contemporary perceptions of knowledge management (KM) professionals regarding the technological layer in KM. From an organizational-holistic view, the authors strive to provide a deeper understanding of the position and role of technology in KM in knowledge-intensive organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

As part of the adoption of the qualitative-constructivist paradigm, the research started with in-depth interviews and continued with focus groups. The data were collected from 21 KM experts and analyzed according to the thematic analysis method, based on the grounded theory.

Findings

Although many hopes depend on technological tools, the authors learn why KM cannot be considered a purely information technology (IT)-based process. The study raises significant concern regarding the leadership of KM efforts by IT units, due to the possible lack of focus on strategic aspects supported by that support closing knowledge gaps. KM experts support technological changes and anticipate the introduction of automated mechanisms for knowledge flow processes.

Originality/value

Understanding the technological component of KM provides a window of opportunity for the meanings ascribed by the professionals to the whole KM discipline. The results improve the understanding that the KM community should be required to be more aware of the business-organizational aspects for which the practice of KM in the organization is required, as well as the centrality of human resources in knowledge creation and sharing. Moreover, the paper provides a unique glimpse into the future of organizational KM.

Comprehensive partitions and optimisation strategies based on tourism urbanisation and resources environment carrying capacity in the Yellow River Basin, China

A better understanding of the spatial coordination relationship between tourism urbanisation and resources environment carrying capacity (RECC) is vital for the regional selection of key eco-liveable tourist cities in the Yellow River Basin. This study addressed this research issue by evaluating and partitioning tourism urbanisation level and RECC of the Yellow River Basin in 2005, 2011, and 2018 using a geographic information system (GIS) technology, spatial autocorrelation model, and partition method. Empirical results suggest that the tourism urbanisation level of Shaanxi Province maintains its leading position, while Shanxi Province has great development potential. The high-value areas of RECC are concentrated in Gansu, Inner Mongolia, and Shandong provinces. The degree of spatial agglomeration of the tourism urbanisation level and RECC has been improved. The RECC exhibits a greater restrictive effect on the current high-level areas of tourism urbanisation, and the spatial correspondence between them is weak. Based on the findings of this study, a series of optimisation strategies have been proposed to promote the sustainable development of tourism urbanisation in the Yellow River Basin.

Entrepreneurship Intentions Analysis of Mexican University Students Using an Artificial Neural Network to Promote Sustainable Businesses: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

This paper shows an analysis of the entrepreneurship intentions patterns in the short, medium, and long term of Mexican university students. The entrepreneurship patterns analysis was carried out using a customized artificial neural network considering as inputs the self-assessment of multiple intelligences from an interdisciplinary perspective. Thus, many important findings reveal that not all multiple intelligences have a direct and proportional impact on entrepreneurship intention. In fact, Linguistic–Verbal Intelligence, Intrapersonal Intelligence, and Interpersonal intelligence are the types of intelligence that have the greatest influence on entrepreneurial intentions. In addition, the performance metrics of the ANN for classifying the entrepreneurship intentions are higher than the ones reported in the literature (i.e., accuracy ≈ 99.29%, precision ≈ 98.89%, sensitivity ≈ 99.53%, and specificity ≈ 99.01%). The paper contributes to the literature on the deep understanding of entrepreneurs’ behavior concerning the strengths and weaknesses of their multiple intelligences. Besides, this interdisciplinary empirical work contributes to improving the design of methods and techniques to strengthen entrepreneurship from the earliest stages of students’ lives and promote sustainable businesses. The most surprising finding was the minimal relationship of Naturalistic Intelligence to undertake sustainable and robust projects, which demands more detailed and in-depth analysis. Finally, some proposals are presented to improve the teaching process of entrepreneurship and sustainability, considering the artificiality, sustainability, and entrepreneurship involved in academic programs at universities.

Knowledge Management in Relation to Innovation and Its Effect on the Sustainability of Mexican Tourism Companies

An essential aspect of today’s companies is to convert their knowledge into innovative applications that have a sustainable effect; therefore, this study focuses on determining the relationship between the three mentioned constructs. To verify this, a questionnaire was applied to 492 companies in the tourism sector in southern Sonora, Mexico, whose information was captured in SPSS and analyzed with structural equations in the SmartPLS software. The main findings affirm that knowledge management has a direct, positive, and significant relationship with sustainability and innovation, as well as a positive and direct relationship between innovation and sustainability. Companies can focus on knowledge management that will generate innovation and in turn will be distinguished by achieving sustainability, with a possible generation of competitive advantage, as well as sustainable innovation.

Pathways to Financial Success: An Empirical Examination of Perceived Financial Well-Being Based on Financial Coping Behaviors

The current study empirically tests a financial well-being (FWB) model built on financial socialization (FS) and early childhood consumer experience (ECCE). The current study was conducted based on primary data obtained through structured questionnaires. By using a convenient sampling technique, data were collected from 1,500 respondents from Pakistan. Results advocated that childhood experiences directly affect the FWB in adults. In addition, FS agents, such as parents, have direct and indirect effects on the FWB in adults. Findings revealed that financial coping behaviors mediate the relationship among FS agents, such as parents, students, and the FWB. Surprisingly, FS agent peers do not impact adult FWBs. The study concluded that FWB could be improved by socializing with parents and teachers and using childhood experiences. Considering the importance of the role of parents and teachers, they should discuss financial issues with children. Policymakers should work to provide some opportunities for children so that they can practice and gain experience.

Intellectual capital, knowledge management and competitive advantage: a resource orchestration perspective

Purpose

This study aims to examine the influence of intellectual capital and knowledge management on competitive advantage with the mediation role of innovativeness in the Pakistan manufacturing industry. Moreover, differentiation strategy is used as a moderator between innovativeness and competitive advantage.

Design/methodology/approach

The data was collected from 387 manufacturing firms in Pakistan through questionnaires. Purposive random sampling was used to collect data. The partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method is used to test the proposed hypotheses. This study followed multiple regression analyses to see the influence of intellectual capital, knowledge management, innovativeness and differentiation strategy on competitive advantage.

Findings

The results elucidate that intellectual capital and knowledge management significantly determines innovativeness and competitive advantage. Moreover, innovativeness significantly mediates between intellectual capital, knowledge management and competitive advantage. Besides, innovativeness significantly determines competitive advantage. Business strategies significantly lead to competitive advantage. Finally, business strategies significantly moderate between innovativeness and competitive advantage.

Practical implications

The research highlight an important issue that how manufacturing sector management uses intellectual capital, knowledge management, innovativeness and business strategies in determining competitive advantage. Besides, it covers the gap and assists the management of the manufacturing sector to focus on exogenous constructs to examine competitive advantage.

Originality/value

This study adds value to the body of knowledge by focusing on predictors that impact competitive advantage. This initial study determines intellectual capital and knowledge management influence on competitive advantage and innovativeness as a mediator by using resource orchestration theory. Moreover, differentiation strategy is used as moderating variable between innovativeness and competitive advantage. The managers, students and researchers can obtain benefits from this study.

The Effect of Strategic Human Resource and Knowledge Management on Sustainable Competitive Advantages at Jordanian Universities: The Mediating Role of Organizational Innovation

The higher education sector faces considerable competition around the world. Accordingly, universities need to make more efforts to increase their competitive advantages. This study aimed to empirically investigate the effect of organizational innovation (OI), knowledge management (KM), and strategic human resource management (SHRM), with a dependent variable of sustainable competitive advantages (SCAs), at Jordanian Universities. For this aim, a specially designed questionnaire has been distributed to study a convenience sample of 400 academic and administrative staff at Jordanian private and public universities, to obtain the required quantitative data. The study’s hypotheses were verified by Baron and Kenny’s mediation regression approach using the software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The results of the study demonstrate that there is a significant positive relationship between the following pairs of variables: KM and SCA; SHRM and SCA; SHRM and OI; KM and OI; and OI and SCA, whereas OI was found to have a partial and indirect significant mediation impact on the direct relationship between KM and SHRM and universities (organizations) gaining SCAs. Finally, it was concluded that more attention needs to be paid to the OI aspect in organizations and to integrate it with KM and SHRM in a way that promotes SCAs. In addition, we propose that similar studies should be conducted in industries other than education or the education sector in different countries in a way that obtains generalized and representative results.

Linking knowledge development with sustainable supply chain performance: mediating effects of innovativeness, proactiveness and risk taking

Purpose

The current study provides new insights into the relationships between knowledge development (KD) and sustainable supply chain performance (SSCP) by exploring the mediating effects of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in terms of innovativeness, proactiveness and risk taking.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected by questionnaire survey from 242 manufacturing organizations. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The results reveal that innovativeness and proactiveness have full mediating effects on the relationship between KD and SSCP. Though KD is negatively related to risk taking and has insignificant indirect effect on SSCP via risk taking, the mediating effect of risk taking remains moderate positive on the relationship between KD and SSCP.

Research limitations/implications

Given that the current study focuses on manufacturing sector, future research is needed for more comparative studies conducted in different sectors and cultural contexts. The negative link between KD and risk taking also warrants future investigation.

Practical implications

Organizations may reduce their level of risk taking due to the increase in KD. However, in order to enhance SSCP, risk taking is still needed as it mediates the relationship between KD and SSCP.

Originality/value

The mediating effects of innovativeness, proactiveness and risk taking on the relationship between KD and SSCP are unknown. Current study aims to address this gap.

Modelling smallholder farmers' preferences for soil fertility management technologies in Benin: A stated preference approach

The decline of soil fertility is a major constraint which results in lower levels of crop productivity, agricultural development and food security in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study is the first to perform a focalized investigation on the most interesting technological profiles to offer to each category of producers in Benin agricultural development hubs (ADHs) using the stated preference method, more precisely, the improved choice experiment method. The investigation focused on 1047 sampled plots from 962 randomly selected producers in villages of the Smallholder Agricultural Productivity Enhancement Program in Sub-Saharan Africa of the ADHs. An analysis of the experimental choice data with the endogenous attribute attendance and the latent class models was carried out to account for the attribute non-attendance phenomenon and the heterogeneity of the producers' preferences. However, three classes of producer with different socio-economic, demographic, and soil physicochemical characteristics were identified. Thus, the heterogeneity of preferences was correlated with the attributes linked to the cost, sustainability, and frequency of plot maintenance. All producers, regardless of the ADHs, had a strong attachment to accessibility of technologies with short time restoration of soil fertility, and the ability to obtain additional benefits. These latest attributes, added to that relating to cost, tended to have a low probability of rejection in the decision-making process. These results have implications for local decision-makers facing the complex problem of resolving land degradation and local economic development challenges. The generalizability of these findings provides useful insight and direction for future studies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Motivational antecedents, employee engagement and knowledge management performance

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the causal relationships between organisational practices, employee knowledge management (KM) engagement and organisational KM performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Following a quantitative research approach, an online survey of 536 knowledge workers from multinational knowledge-based organisations located in Sri Lanka was carried out. The data were analysed with structural equation modelling.

Findings

Teamwork, reward structure, learning, performance management and employee empowerment are found to be motivational antecedents of KM engagement while, subsequently, organisational KM performance is affected by employee KM engagement.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this study are based on the use of five key organisational practices derived from the literature. Further research is needed to establish whether the findings extend to other organisational practices such as resourcing strategy, organisational culture and communication. Further, the sample for this research comprised knowledge workers in Sri Lankan organisations which limit the generalisability of the findings.

Practical implications

Teamwork, rewards structure, learning, performance management and employee empowerment are organisational practices that foster employee KM engagement. Organisational practices and employee KM engagement are imperative for the organisational success of KM initiatives.

Originality/value

This research introduces the term KM engagement as the indicator of individual-level KM success and integrates the sequential linkage between individual-level KM outcomes (i.e. KM engagement) and organisational KM outcomes (KM performance) which has not yet been investigated.

Does cultural distance energize employees? The moderating role of psychological safety

The increasingly globalized workforce and the growing need for boosting employee energy have engendered both practical and research interest in stimulating employee energy in intercultural interactions. Yet neither the culture research nor the energy literature has explored the link between cultural distance and employee relational energy-the heightened level of psychological resources in social relations. This paper presents empirical evidence of cultural distance stimulating relational energy. Further, building upon the threat-rigidity theory, I propose that cultural distance stimulates relational energy more when employees perceive high levels of psychological safety. Two studies were conducted to test these two hypotheses. One laboratory experiment on 202 international students at a Dutch university provided causal evidence of the positive relationship between cultural distance and relational energy. Next, a two-wave field study on 373 international employees was conducted to replicate this main effect of cultural distance and further investigate the moderating role of psychological safety. Results supported that employees with higher levels of psychological safety are more prone to experience enhanced relational energy as a result of cultural distance. These findings contribute to the scarce research on possible positive influence of cross-cultural communication at work, and also advance the growing research on the antecedents of employee relational energy. The implications for practitioners to energize employees are also discussed.

Sustainable innovation in the context of organizational cultural diversity: The role of cultural intelligence and knowledge sharing

With the in-depth development of globalization, individuals are increasingly embedded in a culturally diverse environment. Effective communication and management ability (Cultural Intelligence) of employees in this type of diverse and heterogeneous environment impacts behavior and performance, affecting the sustainable innovation ability of organizations. Researchers have not yet fully assessed the impact of individuals' cross-cultural management ability on sustainable innovation. Using Cultural Intelligence Theory and Trait Activation Theory, this paper discusses the influence of individual cultural intelligence on sustainable innovation behavior. The results showed that employees' cultural intelligence positively affected their sustainable innovation behavior. Employee knowledge sharing plays an mediating role between intelligence and behavior. Differences in organizational culture have a negative moderating effect on the impact of employees' cultural intelligence on knowledge sharing and sustainable innovation behaviors. The research results provide theoretical guidance for managing organizational cultural diversity and advancing cultural intelligence and sustainable innovation behaviors among employees.

Leadership, religiousness, state ownership of an enterprise and unethical pro-organizational behavior: The mediating role of organizational identification

This study proposes a model in which organizational identification mediates the correlations among state-owned enterprises (SOEs), authentic leadership, Christian religiousness, and unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB). The proposed theoretical framework is based on moral identity theory, social identity theory, and social exchange theory. We tested the hypothesized model using data (N  =  389) from employees of various companies and industries in Poland. Of the respondents, 49.1% worked in SOEs. The reliability and validity of the measures were established. The correlation coefficients among the analyzed variables were obtained using the bootstrap confidence interval method. To thoroughly examine the causal relationships among the variables, covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) was adopted. Path analysis was conducted and used to verify a model in which organizational identification mediated the correlations among state involvement in the ownership of an enterprise, authentic leadership, Christian religiousness, and UPB. State involvement in the ownership of an enterprise, authentic leadership, and Christian religiousness were linked to increased organizational identification, which in turn was linked to the intensification of UPB. With the level of organizational identification controlled, state ownership of an enterprise was linked to lower UPB intensity. Limitations, implications and future research directions are discussed.

How environmental regulation affects China's rare earth export?

China's rare earth export trade has developed so rapidly since 1990s that China has gradually occupied a leading position in the international market. However, this fast development was proceeding at the cost of the rare earth energy consumption and environmental devastation. Now China begins to attach great importance to environmental protection, which attracts many researchers. This study aims to analyze the influence of environmental regulation on China's rare earth export trade. And the original study is amongst the few to examine the relationship between environmental regulation and China's rare earth export with the product-level data. Different from previous studies, this paper selects China's rare earth export data from 1995 to 2015 and introduces product heterogeneity based on the rare earth production process. Moreover, this study uses the entropy weight method to measure the intensity of environmental regulation. The core conclusions are as follows: (1) Environmental regulation significantly promotes rather than restrains China's rare earth export. (2) According to the rare earth production process, this paper divides rare earth products into 3 kinds, that is, rare earth raw materials, rare earth useful components and rare earth end-use applications. Then, it is found that rare earth useful component export in processing and smelting is positively affected by environmental regulation. Rare earth raw materials and end-use applications in China's export are hardly affected. (3) Technological innovation has a mediating effect on the impact mechanism of environmental regulation on China's rare earth export, which means that environmental regulation significantly promotes technological innovation of enterprises, and thereby the rare earth export is increased. The findings are helpful for policymakers to resolve the issue of environmental devastation.

Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility Activities in Heating Industry—Case Study

The paper focuses on problems connected with Environmental Corporate Social responsibility in the energy industry. The objective behind this article is to analyse pro-environment activities within Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility (ECSR) that heating operators carry out, using the example of a Poland-based company called Miejska Energetyka Cieplna Spółka z o.o. with headquarters in Koszalin. In particular, this study focuses on pro-environment activities that the company has been involved in from 2017–2020. The data and information found in this study demonstrate that the company systematically devoted its financial resources to pro-environment efforts in terms of both ISO 14001 maintenance as well as educational/promotional activities. According to the findings, the company has been highly committed to Environmental Corporate social Responsibility issues. The implementation of its strategy in this field can lead to ecological innovation and help establish an effective business model that will be founded on ecological assumptions.

Validation study of the Italian version of Temporal Focus Scale: psychometric properties and convergent validity

Background

Over the last decade, international research has produced a large number of studies that have stressed the importance of temporal focus in various aspects of the lives of individuals, groups and organizations. This first Italian validation study of the Temporal Focus Scale (TFS) has shown a reliable measurement to assess the tendency of individuals to characteristically think about different periods of their lives.

Methods

TFS/I was administered to a sample of 1458 participants, while three other convenience samples (N₁ = 453; N₂ = 544; N₃ = 168) were used for convergent validity testing.

Results

Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a three-factor solution (including 10 items) with good indices of fit to data, e.g., χ² = 49.533, CFI = 0.992, TLI = 0.986, RMSEA = 0.034, RMSEA 90% CI .018–.048. Convergent validity assessment confirmed predictive indications with variables such as life satisfaction, optimistic/pessimistic orientation, perceived general self-efficacy, self-regulatory modes, anxiety, depression.

Conclusion

The temporal focus has proven to be a significant feature associated with various aspects of both well-being and personal discomfort. By virtue of its good psychometric properties, the TFS can be an integrative tool along with others for a better evaluation of the person’s profile in different contexts such as education, coaching, psychotherapy, counseling and career guidance.

Impact of total quality management factors on knowledge creation in the organizations of Bangladesh

Purpose

Total quality management (TQM) and knowledge management (KM) are two similar and complementary management philosophies synergistic combinations that can form a cycle of improvement and development. This paper aims to investigate the impact of TQM factors on knowledge creation in the organizations of Bangladesh.

Design/methodology/approach

A list of TQM factors was identified through reviewing the relevant literature. Knowledge creation was analyzed through the framework proposed by Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995). Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire survey among 450 top and mid-level managers of the organizations. A quantitative research approach, namely, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used in the study. The data were analyzed in SmartPLS 3.

Findings

From the study, it is found that a positive and significant relationship exists between leadership, employee empowerment, benchmarking, customer focus and information technology with the knowledge creation process and four knowledge conversion modes. In contrast, a negative and significant relationship has been found between employee training and continuous improvement with the knowledge creation process and three knowledge conversion modes.

Research limitations/implications

Previous researches in Bangladesh empirically validated the effect of TQM on organizational performance, competitive advantage, financial performance, market performance and productivity. But, no such study was undertaken to empirically validate the effect of TQM on knowledge creation process for organizations of Bangladesh. Here, the study has a unique contribution. The empirical support for the hypotheses to explain and predict the contribution of the TQM in promoting knowledge creation.

Practical implications

The findings highlight the role of leadership practices. Organizational leadership needs to focus more on following issues: gathering required knowledge from the superior sources; transforming prevailing knowledge into a meaningful format to perform activities in better and innovative ways; employing opinions from experiences; facilitating mechanism for employees to update their knowledge; creating a virtual network; implementing customer relationship management system and providing tools and technologies to employees for performing KM activities more efficiently. On the other hand, negative effect of employee training and continuous improvement on knowledge creation sheds light on understanding the reasons for this kind of relationship and formulating effective strategies to resolve problems inside the organizations. In this regard, employees need to be well equipped through regular and appropriate training. Also, employees need to use problem-solving approach to identify problems inside the organizational system thereby availing opportunities for continuous improvement.

Originality/value

This study was conducted to identify factors that enable knowledge creation in organizations from developing countries like Bangladesh. TQM has been adopted in many organizations. But, its effect was mostly measured to determine its impact on improving organizational performance or competitiveness or identifying its critical success factors of implementation. Hence, this study sheds light on identifying the effect of TQM from a new perspective.

Open-Mindedness Culture, Knowledge-Sharing, Financial Performance, and Industry 4.0 in SMEs

Due to limited resources, the implementation of Industry 4.0 solutions is a big challenge in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Therefore, it is important to identify the factors that facilitate such implementation. However, empirical research in this area is insufficient. The purpose of this article is to investigate whether open-mindedness culture, knowledge-sharing, and financial performance have a significant impact on willingness to implement Industry 4.0 in SMEs. To achieve the purpose of the article, quantitative research was conducted. Data from 562 Polish manufacturing SMEs were collected and analyses were performed using partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM). The study results reveal that open-mindedness culture has both a direct and indirect (through knowledge sharing) impact on willingness to implement Industry 4.0 in SMEs. Results suggest that in terms of micro-enterprises, open-mindedness is more important and knowledge-sharing is less important for willingness to implement Industry 4.0 than in larger enterprises. Moreover, regardless of the company size, financial performance is positively related to willingness to implement Industry 4.0. The research results provide SME managers with guidelines on what activities within the company should be strengthened if the goal of the company is to implement Industry 4.0 solutions.

The Effects of Market Competition, Capital Structure, and CEO Duality on Firm Performance: A Mediation Analysis by Incorporating the GMM Model Technique

This current study is one of the few investigations to conduct a focalized examination of the relationship between CEO duality and firm performance; however, this relationship seems to be imprecise due to the impact of the invention mechanism. This study explores the effect of CEO duality to achieve firm performance through the mediating effects of capital structure and market competition, which is an innovative model. The study incorporated the generalized method of moments (GMM) model to examine the proposed association of the CEO duality and firm performance, and the findings specified a negative relationship between CEO duality and firm performance. The results indicated that capital structure partially mediated the association between CEO duality and firm performance. The results also showed that market competition fully mediated this linkage between CEO duality and firm performance, which in turn specified a significant positive relationship with market competition, which mediated a positive relationship. By incorporating these mediators, the results determined that CEO duality reduces firm performance through the capital structure; however, it enhances firm performance by stimulating market competition.