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Prior work has shown that the board of directors can alleviate market imperfections that lead to capital investment inefficiency. The authors extend previous work by exploring how board characteristics influence the efficiency of human capital investment, a critical production factor that has remained insufficiently examined. Specifically, this study aims to investigate how board activity, size, the presence of a separate chairman, female directors and board independence affect firm labour investment efficiency in the European context.

The sample contains 4,331 firm-year observations traded on the STOXX® Europe 600 index from 2009 through 2022. This paper applies a lagged ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to test the proposed hypotheses. It also uses a dynamic panel generalised method of moments (GMM) regression to tackle potential endogeneity concerns.

The results show that board gender diversity and the level of independent directors are positively linked to labour investment efficiency, whereas board size and meeting frequency are negatively related to labour investment efficiency. Meanwhile, the presence of a separate chairman on the board does not appear to be significantly associated with labour investment efficiency. In additional subgroup analyses, the authors find that board gender diversity mitigates managers’ inclinations towards both overinvestment and underinvestment in labour. The authors also find that the level of independent directors helps greatly in reducing the underinvestment in labour, while it fails to attenuate the overinvestment in labour. Moreover, the authors find board size to be significantly associated with the tendency to make suboptimal labour decisions, manifesting as both overinvestment and underinvestment in labour. Finally, the results show that board meetings are significantly associated with overinvestment problems, while underinvestment problems seem to be unrelated to meeting frequency.

The empirical results have implications for policymakers and market participants in Europe. Firstly, firms may improve the efficiency of their labour investments by increasing directors’ independence and adding more female voices to corporate boards. Secondly, the evidence shows that some board attributes, such as board activity and size, do not necessarily have a beneficial impact on corporate decisions, particularly labour investment decisions. Finally, market participants are likely to benefit from this paper by understanding the role of board attributes in promoting the efficient allocation of firm resources.

This paper makes two significant contributions. Firstly, it extends the literature on the role of boards of directors in shaping corporate decision-making processes, particularly concerning human capital investment decisions within European firms. By doing so, the authors provide new evidence confirming that certain board attributes, such as board size, director independence and board gender diversity, are important for optimising firms’ resource allocation. Secondly, although numerous studies investigate boards’ role in capital investment decisions, relatively few empirical studies exist on the role of boards in labour investment decisions. This paper, therefore, tries to tackle this void in the literature by investigating firms’ decision-making concerning labour investments.

The aim of this research study is to examine the role of emotional solidarity on religious tourism support. Data for the present research work were attained from various groups of residents in Amasya province/Türkiye.

The Google form-based questionnaires were self-managed by the participants. In the context of the survey, 306 complete questionnaires were gathered. For the data analysis, partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique was used via SmartPLS 4.0 software in conjunction with SPSS version 23.

The analysis results show that the emotional solidarity dimensions such as welcoming nature and sympathetic understanding were found to be positively related with religious tourism support at different coefficient levels; however, emotional closeness was not statistically related.

This study adds fresh insights into the field of tourist literature and has beneficial ramifications for business development in the area of religious tourism.

There are two main objectives in this study. First, we aim to develop a set of constructs for health task management support (HTMS) features to evaluate which health-related tasks are supported by mobile health application (mHealth app) functions. Second, drawing on innovation resistance theory (IRT), we examine the impacts of the newly developed HTMS dimensions on perceived usefulness, alongside other barrier factors contributing to technology anxiety.

Using a mixed-method research design, this research seeks to develop new measurement scales that reflect how mHealth apps support older adults’ health-related needs based on interviews. Subsequently, data were collected from older adults and exploratory factor analysis was used to confirm the validity of the new scales. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze survey data from 602 older adults.

The PLS-SEM results indicated that medical management task support, dietary task support, and exercise task support were positively associated with perceived usefulness, while perceived complexity and dispositional resistance to change were identified as antecedents of technology anxiety. Perceived usefulness and technology anxiety were found to positively and negatively influence adoption intention, respectively.

This study enriches the information systems literature by developing a multidimensional construct that delineates how older adults’ health-related needs can be supported by features of mHealth apps. Drawing on IRT, we complement the existing literature on resistance to innovation by systematically examining the impact of five types of barriers on technology anxiety.

The effects of dust exposure in buildings and its health and comfort consequences continue to concern occupants, particularly those who spend most of their time indoors. This study examines the influence of building opening characteristics on surface dust loading in indoor environments to determine the dust particles' impact on different opening configurations.

Indoor Harmattan dust surface loading data were collected from Maiduguri, Northeastern Nigeria, using model rooms with six different window configurations. A simple mathematical relationship was employed to assess surface dust loading characteristics in the model rooms. The study measured dust thrice between December and February for three days (72 h). The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

The results determined the highest average surface dust loading of 12.03 g/m2 in the room with awning windows at an indoor-to-outdoor (I/O) ratio of 0.7. In contrast, the experiment in the room with a closed window recorded the lowest average surface dust loading of 5.24 g/m2 at an I/O ratio of 0.30, which is infiltration. The outcomes further indicate that the average surface dust loading varies with the building opening type and position, as higher surface dust loadings were recorded in locations closer to the openings (doors and windows), reaffirming that the dominant source of the dust particles is outdoors. According to the study, dust incursion due to infiltration accounts for 30% of the outdoor surface loading.

Thus, Harmattan dust is a serious challenge to the health, productivity and hygiene of building occupants in the study area. The built-environment professionals must use the study's outcome to optimize building openings' designs (shape, size and form) for effective indoor dust control.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that influence Saudi Arabian users’ intentions to continue using fintech payment applications and their satisfaction with these applications.

The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology 2 and DeLone and McLean’s IS success model were integrated to provide a comprehensive framework. A questionnaire was distributed to 401 users of fintech payment applications, and the data collected was analysed using structural equation modelling to test the hypotheses.

The results reveal that factors such as social influence, price value and habit have a positive influence on the continued desire to use fintech payment applications, that the performance expectancy is positively influenced by the level of effort expectancy. Additionally, the quality of the system, service and information provided by the applications has a direct association with user satisfaction, as indicated by the IS Success Model. Moreover, it was observed that customer satisfaction with fintech payment applications positively affects their intention to continue using them.

This study addresses an important gap in the existing literature by examining the factors influencing Saudi Arabian consumers’ intentions to sustain the usage of fintech payment applications. Despite governmental support for the industry, understanding consumer behaviour and satisfaction with these applications remains limited, making this research timely and valuable.

This study aims to investigate how online teaching of faculty members is affected by technological readiness (TR) of using online teaching platforms. The study sheds light on how many faculty members were ready to use different online platforms during COVID-19 period.

This study used TR measures to determine the impact of optimism regarding the perceived usefulness and ease of usage, impact of innovativeness in terms of perceived usability and ease of use, the influence of discomfort on perceived usefulness and ease of usage, the effect of uncertainty on perceived usefulness and ease of use and the influence of perceived usefulness and ease of use on behavior. An online questionnaire survey was conducted among 255 faculty members of different private universities of Bangladesh. The sample was chosen based on a convenience method. The responses were analyzed using partial least square (PLS) approach with the help of software Smart PLS 3.

The finding supported all of the hypotheses except that discomfort and insecurity have a positive relationship with ease of use and usefulness.

The study will help faculty members in developing their competency in using technologies in their pedagogy. Also, this study will provide some guidelines to the university management in developing adequate technological infrastructure to aid teaching.

The aim of the study was to investigate the faculty members' readiness level with respect to online teaching. The technology assessment model (TAM) was used to determine the readiness index. The study intended to validate the hypotheses regarding the extent to which the faculty members perceived that TAM factors affect Ease of Use and Usefulness of online teaching. Also, this research analyzed the perception of faculty members that Ease of Using online teaching affects its Usefulness. Lastly, the study examined how their perception of Ease of Use and Usefulness affect Intention to Use online as a mode of teaching. It was found from the study that each of the TAM factors, Optimism, Innovativeness, Insecurity and Discomfort has positive and significant contribution on the Ease of Use. On the other hand, Optimism, Innovativeness, Insecurity and Discomfort have positive and significant contributions on the Usefulness. The study also revealed that Ease of Use has positive and significant contribution on the Usefulness. Lastly, it was found that Ease of Use and Usefulness have positive and significant contribution on the Intention to use. Teaching remotely is still a novel concept, and it is more difficult for people who have not done it before. Many teachers became burned out as a result of trying to adjust to new teaching methods, especially after the lockdown began. They were having a difficult time since there was so much ambiguity. When a teacher is well-versed in communication tools, it can improve learning efficiency. When they are properly trained, deploying engaging features of virtual learning, such as audio-visual lessons, quizzes, and so on, becomes simple, and students become eager to learn more. Teachers can plan their classes, prepare and master technology and create innovative and stimulating discussion topics (Mishra et al., 2020). They need to utilize a variety of technological options. They can rehearse virtual classroom management with colleagues if they face any difficulty. All of the aforementioned abilities can be honed with the assistance of an integrated academic system. Teachers can be trained by educational institutions to ensure a smooth learning process through the use of ICT (information and communication technologies) (Scherer et al., 2021; Mishra et al., 2020). The training will assist teachers in efficiently taking online classes. Institutions should ensure that teachers are well-suited to teach online and are skilled at keeping students engaged during remote learning. To make every chapter engaging, aspects such as videos, slides, images and digital copies of books and workbooks can be used. This allows students to receive personalized support and counseling in order to maintain their motivation (Sahu et al., 2022; Lapitan et al., 2021). Every other day, group doubt resolution classes ensure that there are no gaps in learning (Lapitan et al., 2021). All teachers require is a digital mindset, the appropriate tools and a committed approach (Sahu et al., 2022). If teachers can hold their students' attention, they can easily deliver an effective learning experience (Lapitan et al., 2021).

This study was conducted to identify technological preparedness of faculty members of private universities in Bangladesh during COVID-19 period. Some studies were there to assess such kind of preparedness but none of those used TAM and technology readiness model either in isolation or in combination. Also, this paper focused on teachers' readiness in contrast to students' readiness specific to private universities.

The aim of this study is to investigate how team-level leader-member exchange (LMX) and the instrumental use of artificial intelligence (AI) by team members influence team psychological empowerment and information systems development (ISD) team performance.

A survey approach was employed to collect time-lagged, multi-source data for testing the proposed model of this study (N = 514 responses from 88 teams). PROCESS macro was used to analyze the data to generate empirical results.

The results suggest that instrumental AI use indirectly influences ISD team performance by enhancing team psychological empowerment. Additionally, it moderates the effects of team-level LMX on team psychological empowerment and ISD team performance. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the interaction effect of LMX and instrumental AI use on ISD team performance is mediated by team psychological empowerment.

While research on ISD consistently demonstrates that teams, data, and technology collectively contribute to the success of these projects. What is less known, however, is how the exchange relationship between ISD teams and their leader, as well as technological factors, contribute to ISD projects. This study draws on LMX theory to propose how team-level LMX and the instrumental use of AI by team members influence team psychological empowerment and ISD team performance. The study puts forth a mediated moderation model to develop a set of hypotheses. It offers valuable contributions to AI and LMX, along with implications for ISD team management.

Building information modelling (BIM) has been established in the literature as a successful platform that creates an intelligent virtual model for processing data from conceptual design through construction to operational stage of a facility. However, its adoption for facilities management (FM) provision in Nigeria has been slow due to inherent barriers. The aim of this paper is to (1) assess and categorise using factor analysis BIM for FM barriers and (2) model the barriers using stakeholders' personal/professional attributes.

Anchored on quantitative research design, 205 copies of structured questionnaire were distributed to key stakeholders and facilities managers in Nigeria's three strategic cities while 135 valid responses were received giving a response rate of 65.8%. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics while multiple regression analysis was used to model the barriers. Kruskal Wallis test was used to test the only hypothesis postulated for the study.

The study established lack of awareness of BIM for FM, poor supporting infrastructure for Internet services, and lack of education and training as the top three rated barriers militating against adoption of BIM for FM in Nigeria while corruption, widespread mistakes and errors and cultural issues were established as the three least rated barriers. Besides, findings also established eight underlying factors that explained 23 barrier factors used for the study which were subsequently used to develop eight regression models. In effect, gender, professional affiliation, organisation, experience, education, expertise, BIM for FM project type, and location were found to statistically predict the 8 extracted factors driving perceived barriers of BIM for FM adoption in Nigeria.

The study has provided a framework of barrier factors to help stakeholders identify specific barriers for which appropriate measures can be taken to ameliorate consequences of the perceived barriers. Meanwhile, an improved and rejuvenated advocacy on inherent benefits of BIM for facilities management by frontline stakeholders could potentially steer up interests and increased participation of stakeholders on BIM for FM.

The unique study developed the first ever regression model that links BIM for FM barriers to professional attributes of facilities management stakeholders in Nigeria.

The purpose of the article is to shed light on how COVID-19 affects employee involvement in environmental responsibility and innovative performance in the banking industry, and whether employee engagement mediates the relationship between the variables. Thus, this study tries to understand bank employees’ perspectives in relation to the variables.

The study was collected during Time lag (1) and Time lag (2) from 156 to 216 bank employees, respectively. The study applied two types of analysis, to comprehend the impact of COVID-19 on employees, descriptive analysis and the partial least squares (PLS) are used.

The study's findings focused mainly on the influence of COVID-19 in Jordanian banks on employee innovative performance (EIP) due to pandemic, in addition to its effect on environmental responsibility engagement (ERE). The findings indicated a positive significant relationship between the variables. Meanwhile, employee engagement (EE) mediated the effect between the exogenous and endogenous variables.

The current research provide light on the value of employees' innovative performance and banks' commitment to environmental responsibility for those working in the banking industry, particularly during a pandemic. The findings have significant ramifications for the banking industry and in raising employee engagement.

Islam describes business as a legitimate means of halal income. However, little is known about what attracts people towards Islamic entrepreneurship or halalpreneurship. By applying the theory of planned behaviour, this study aims to contribute to this underexplored area by investigating the factors that affect Islamic entrepreneurial intention (IEI).

This study examined a mediation model using two country samples. First, the hypotheses were tested on a sample recruited from a high-income economy (i.e. Saudi Arabia) using structural equation modelling in AMOS V26. The authors then conducted a replication study to investigate the robustness of the findings using a sample recruited from a lower-middleincome economy (i.e. Bangladesh) and a different analysis technique, the PROCESS mediation model in SPSS V25.

The findings suggest that IEI depends on four antecedents, namely, attitude towards Islamic entrepreneurship, general entrepreneurial self-efficacy, Islamic entrepreneurial self-efficacy and perceived halal income. These antecedents also mediate the relationship between moral judgement and IEI.

This study offers an empirical framework that captures several perspectives on the formation of IEI. The findings contribute to entrepreneurial intention and motivation research by suggesting factors that motivate individuals to engage in Islamic entrepreneurship.

The findings imply that the framework of IEI can withstand diverse socioeconomic contexts. A novel perspective of this study is that Muslims who are motivated by perceived halal income show greater interest in becoming Islamic entrepreneurs.