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Even after establishing their business successfully, many business owners get demotivated, and it leads to unwillingness to grow. This study aims to propose a comprehensive model that represents interrelationships among various personal factors affecting “unwillingness to grow.”

The personal factors for unwillingness to grow were identified by extant literature, and expert interviews were conducted to establish the contextual relationships among these factors. The interrelationships among the filtered variables have been done using interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and MICMAC analysis was done to determine the importance of each factor in influencing “unwillingness to grow.”

In total, 30 personal attributes were identified from previous literature, out of which 15 were selected for the final study. The result identifies 7 variables having a strong impact on “unwillingness to grow.” These attributes are “absence of strong network,” “lack of vision,” “lack of proactiveness,” “reluctance to involve external consultants,” “absence of/small founding team,” “lack of ambition” and “improper attitude.”

The research attempts to create a bricolage of all the important personal factors affecting “unwillingness to grow.” Previous researches have used few attributes, but with the help of ISM, a graphical modeling technique, it became possible to draw interrelationship between 15 attributes. Further, with the help of MICMAC, the importance of each attribute was determined.

This paper aims to conduct an interdisciplinary systematic literature review (SLR) of fake news research and to advance the socio-technical understanding of digital information practices and platforms in business and management studies.

The paper applies a focused, SLR method to analyze articles on fake news in business and management journals from 2010 to 2020.

The paper analyzes the definition, theoretical frameworks, methods and research gaps of fake news in the business and management domains. It also identifies some promising research opportunities for future scholars.

The paper offers practical implications for various stakeholders who are affected by or involved in fake news dissemination, such as brands, consumers and policymakers. It provides recommendations to cope with the challenges and risks of fake news.

The paper discusses the social consequences and future threats of fake news, especially in relation to social networking and social media. It calls for more awareness and responsibility from online communities to prevent and combat fake news.

The paper contributes to the literature on information management by showing the importance and consequences of fake news sharing for societies. It is among the frontier systematic reviews in the field that covers studies from different disciplines and focuses on business and management studies.

Using the resource-based view and dynamic capabilities theory, we explore the impact of strategic management practices, innovation and social capital on small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) performance in three developing Arab countries, namely, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.

Drawing upon firm-level data derived from the standardized World Bank Enterprise Surveys, we use quantile regressions and the marginal effects analysis to test our hypotheses.

Our results show heterogeneity among the three countries as to the factors affecting firm performance. The configuration of performance determinants also differs among firms within each country, depending on their level of performance.

Our findings further the understanding of the performance determinants of SMEs in developing countries within their own local context. They imply important theoretical, methodological, managerial and policy implications.

This study is the first to investigate simultaneously strategic management practices, innovation and social capital as determinants of SMEs’ performance in developing countries. We confirm an important premise of the resource-based view and dynamic capabilities theory, which has not been thoroughly investigated in the literature, claiming that strategic management, innovation and social capital cannot be separately investigated as determinants of firm performance. We do so by going beyond the mere inclusion of interaction terms in regression equations to computing marginal effects.

This study aims to examine theme park visitor interactions and their effects on experiences. It specifically aims to investigate perceived similarity’s impact on immersion and memorable experiences and how these experiences influence revisit intention and recommendations while exploring the mediating role of immersion within theme park settings.

A cross-sectional survey design was used, collecting data through purposive sampling from 494 respondents through a face-to-face survey at Jatim Theme Park, Indonesia.

The analysis confirms visitors’ perceived similarity significantly influences their sense of immersion and, in return, contributes to creating memorable experiences. In return, their memorable theme park experiences significantly impact their revisit intentions and willingness to recommend. In addition, this study also found that sense of immersion substantially mediates the relationship between perceived similarity and memorable experiences.

This research bridges gaps in the existing literature by integrating social interaction factors with experiential outcomes, contributing to current theoretical advancement and practical applications in theme park research.

This study contributes to the advanced understanding of social identity theory, similarity-attraction theory and flow theory within theme park management settings, providing valuable practical insights for theme park managers.

This study’s originality lies in its integrated analysis of the interplay between perceived similarity among theme park visitors and their immersive experiences and how these elements collectively enhance memorable tourism experiences. By highlighting the mediating role of immersion, it offers novel insights into the mechanisms that drive visitor engagement and behavioral intentions, thus providing a better understanding of visitor dynamics in theme parks.

本研究考察了主题公园游客互动及其对体验的影响。具体来说, 旨在调查感知相似性对沉浸感和难忘体验的影响, 以及这些体验如何影响游客的重游意图和推荐意愿, 同时探索沉浸感在主题公园环境中的中介作用。

采用横断面调查设计, 通过在印度尼西亚贾丁主题公园进行面对面调查, 从494名受访者处收集数据, 采用目的性抽样方法。

结构方程模型（SEM）分析确认, 游客的感知相似性显著影响他们的沉浸感, 进而有助于创造难忘的体验。反过来, 这些难忘的主题公园体验显著影响了他们的重游意图和推荐意愿。此外, 本研究还发现, 沉浸感在感知相似性与难忘体验之间的关系中起到了显著的中介作用。

本研究通过将社会互动因素与体验结果结合, 填补了现有文献中的空白, 为主题公园研究的理论发展和实践应用做出了贡献。

本研究有助于深入理解社会身份理论、相似吸引理论和流动理论在主题公园管理中的应用, 为主题公园经理提供了宝贵的实践洞见。

本研究的原创性在于对主题公园游客之间的感知相似性与他们的沉浸体验之间相互作用的综合分析, 以及这些因素如何共同增强难忘的旅游体验。通过突显沉浸感的中介作用, 本研究提供了关于驱动游客参与和行为意图的机制的新见解, 从而更好地理解了主题公园中的游客动态。

Este estudio analiza las interacciones de los visitantes de parques temáticos y sus efectos en las experiencias. En concreto, pretende investigar el impacto de la similitud percibida en la inmersión y las experiencias memorables y cómo estas experiencias influyen en la intención de volver a visitar el lugar y en las recomendaciones, al tiempo que explora el papel mediador de la inmersión en el entorno de los parques temáticos.

Se empleó un diseño de encuesta transversal, recogiendo datos mediante muestreo por conveniencia de 494 encuestados a través de una encuesta personal en el Parque Temático de Jatim, Indonesia.

El análisis confirma que la similitud percibida por los visitantes influye significativamente en su sensación de inmersión y, a su vez, contribuye a crear experiencias memorables. Asimismo, las experiencias memorables en los parques temáticos influyen significativamente en su intención de volver a visitarlos y en su disposición a recomendarlos. Además, este estudio también evidencia que el sentido de inmersión media significativamente en la relación entre la similitud percibida y las experiencias memorables.

Esta investigación cubre lagunas en la literatura existente al integrar factores de interacción social con resultados experienciales, contribuyendo al avance teórico actual y a las aplicaciones prácticas en la investigación de parques temáticos.

Este estudio contribuye a la comprensión avanzada de la teoría de la identidad social, la teoría de la similitud-atracción y la teoría del flujo en entornos de gestión de parques temáticos, proporcionando valiosas perspectivas prácticas para los gestores de parques temáticos.

La originalidad de este estudio radica en su análisis integrado de la interacción entre la similitud percibida entre los visitantes de parques temáticos y sus experiencias de inmersión y cómo estos elementos potencian colectivamente las experiencias turísticas memorables. El papel mediador de la inmersión ofrece nuevas perspectivas sobre los mecanismos que impulsan el compromiso y las intenciones de comportamiento de los visitantes, proporcionando así una mejor comprensión de la dinámica de los visitantes en los parques temáticos.

Environmental pollution has increased as a result of modern settlements' expanding demand and rapid population growth. In Ebonyi State, Nigeria, quarrying is one of the activities that has an impact on the environment and ecosystem. The aim of the study is to assess stream water’s quality in order to ascertain how quarry operations affect the streams’ water quality. The present study investigated the environmental impact of quarrying on the physicochemical properties of surface water in Ebonyi State, Nigeria.

A total of 288 surface water samples were taken in 2018, 2019 and 2020 from quarry locations and a Control location for the determination of physicochemical properties and heavy metal contents using standard analytical methods. Datasets were analysed using Fisher’s significance least difference (F-LSD) at the 0.05 probability level.

This study discovered that surface waters around quarries are severely polluted, according to the results of the physico-chemical and heavy metal contents of the surface waters. Most of the physical and chemical properties of the water downstream of the Ishiagu, Umuoghara and Ngbo did not meet World Health Organisation (WHO) standards, such as colour and pH. The heavy metal levels in the Ishiagu, Umuoghara and Ngbo streams were above WHO criteria for Pb, Cd and Fe. The results point to the obvious conclusion, without prejudice to other unexplained factors that the pollution is most likely the result of quarry contamination. Strict measures should be taken to regularly monitor the water quality of the streams.

This study focused on the assessment of physicochemical properties using standard analytical methods to evaluate the environmental impact of quarrying on surface water qualities. The study used the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2011) water guideline as a standard to compare with the study dataset and control measures.

The purpose of this study is to find the effect of heat treatment on the mechanical proeprties of aluminum. Aluminum exhibits a good response to heat treatment, especially quenching, according to the mechanical property improvement. The presence and orientation of secondary phases (Al-Fe-Mn-Si) are greatly affected by the quenching process.

The present work deals with the effect of water quenching on the mechanical properties of welded AA 6061 plates which were joined by using metal inert gas (MIG) welding, tungsten inert gas welding and friction stir welding (FSW). Three tests like tensile, bending and hardness were considered. The microstructural variation was analyzed by optical microscopy and elemental mapping through field emission scanning electron microscope.

A significant enhancement in the tensile strength and hardness was achieved on postquenched specimens. This improvement in mechanical properties is caused by the distribution of fine alloying elements throughout the metal solution rather than precipitation at the grain boundaries. In comparison to the “untreated specimens,” an improvement of 76.7%, 25.32% and 56.81% in the tensile strength of quenched TIGW, MIGW and FSW specimens, respectively, was observed.

The quenching process has increased the strength of the MIG welded joint over the base metal. The MIG welded joint has a larger flexural modulus than the other two welded plates, according to the results of the bending test. Furthermore, a uniform distribution of hardness was observed in postquenched welded specimens. It was found that welded zone was harder than heat-affected zone. Out of all the specimens, the base metal zone has the lowest hardness.

Drawing on the resource-based view, this study examines the effect of distribution adaptation on export performance. The study also examines the moderating role of responsiveness and commitment. Two distinct factors for commitment (i.e. managerial export commitment and financial export commitment) and two distinct factors for responsiveness (i.e. export customer responsiveness and export competitor responsiveness) are considered as moderators in the relationship between distribution adaptation and export performance.

Using a Spanish governmental database of exporting firms, this study collected data from 208 firms to run the analysis.

The results indicate that distribution adaptation has a positive impact on export performance. Findings also support the moderating roles of the two types of commitment and the two types of responsiveness. Managerial export commitment positively moderates the relationship, whereas financial export commitment plays a negative moderating role. Both export customer responsiveness and export competitor responsiveness have a positive moderating impact.

To consider distribution adaptation as a distinct variable rather than mixing it with other elements of the marketing mix. This distinction facilitates a clearer comprehension of its unique contribution to export performance. Two distinct factors for commitment and two distinct factors for responsiveness are considered. This approach offers a more detailed analysis of how the different aspects of commitment and responsiveness moderate this relationship.

The study provides an understanding of strategic planning through an assessment of its definitions, the planning process, and spells-out the outcomes as well as the associated competitive advantage from practicing strategic planning. Despite the popularity of strategic planning as a management tool, it is argued that its practice is one that is least understood.

A review of strategic planning was conducted. The definitions identified were drawn from definitions derived from the top 10 publications with the highest citations from each of the two decades between 2001 to 2020 following a systematic Scopus search of publications with “strategic planning” in their title, and other publications identified through a Google Scholar search on “strategic planning”. The most unique or differentiated definitions were identified and assessed. The identified publications were also analyzed using content analysis to gain insight from their research findings as it relates to strategic planning in general, the planning process and respective competitive advantage.

The review established that there are various definitions of strategic planning, however, they are largely aligned as it relates to the formulation of strategy, the widest difference in the definitions is in the scope of the implementation activities.

The review contributes to the body of knowledge by providing (i) an understanding of strategic planning; (ii) an assessment of the definitions of strategic planning; (iii) a proposed definition of strategic planning; (iv) provision of a theoretical framework to understand the practice of strategic planning; and (v) the positioning of strategic risk management in enabling strategic planning.

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way in which education was delivered in early 2020, and the impacts of these changes continue to be questionable. The aims of this study were to evaluate: (1) the results obtained by students of the Dentistry course in the progress test carried out both before and after the pandemic, (2) the results obtained by a specific group of students who took the test in 2019–2022, and compare their results and (3) subjects that showed a reduction in the percentage of correct answers when the two tests were compared.

The progress test consisting of 100 multiple choice questions was applied before and after the pandemic to all students in the Dentistry course. The analyses were performed using the IBM SPSS for Statistics v.26 software program. The level of significance of 5% was adopted (<0.05).

The test was applied to 320 students in 2019 and to 272 in 2022, of whom the sample of this study was composed. The mean score values in 2019 (M = 49.10; SD = 12.03) were significantly (p = 0.026) higher than those in the year 2022 (M = 46.97; SD = 12.15), with the disciplines in the area of specific knowledge showing a greater drop in the percentage of correct answers by students. This study showed that the emergency remote education had a negative effect on the academic performance of students, based on the progress testing as an evaluation method.

Many studies that assessed the impacts of the pandemic on teaching were focused on the opinions of students. However, the great advantage of our study was the use of a theoretical assessment tool to verify student performance. The post-pandemic landscape beckons for comprehensive inquiries into these domains. This type of research would be valuable for gathering evidence relative to the performance of students after the emergency remote education.

This study investigates the impact of open branding on consumer brand attitudes, as mediated by brand warmth and brand competence, and moderated by power distance belief.

This study employs two one-factor (brand strategy: open branding vs closed branding) between-subject experimental designs and a 2 × 2, namely (open branding vs closed branding) × (power distance belief: high vs low) between-subject experimental design to test the hypotheses.

The study indicates that open branding can enhance consumer brand attitudes, and that brand warmth and brand competence mediate the impact of open branding on consumer brand attitudes. Furthermore, power distance beliefs (PDB) moderated these relationships. Specifically, the impact of open branding on consumers brand attitudes is stronger for consumers with low PDB than for those with high PDB.

Brand managers should consider adopting an open branding strategy to enhance consumers brand attitudes when encountering consumers’ unauthorized use of brand-related intellectual property. Additionally, when implementing an open-branding strategy, brand managers should use appropriate language to enhance consumers’ perceptions of brand warmth and brand competence.

This study contributes to the interactive marketing literature by empirically examining the impact of open branding on consumer brand attitudes. Furthermore, it investigates the underlying mechanism of how and the boundary conditions when open branding increases consumer brand attitudes, enriching the current knowledge.