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The current study focuses on the relationship between total quality management (TQM) and sustainable performance (SP) and examines how TQM practices can facilitate firms' achievement of sustainable performance. Knowledge management (KM), with its four dimensions, i.e. knowledge creation (KCR), knowledge acquisition (KAC), knowledge sharing (KSH) and knowledge application (KAP), is also an essential factor for organizations. Therefore, this study also focuses on the mediating role of KM in the relationship between TQM and sustainable performance.

This study used a survey method to collect data from the managers of 485 manufacturing SMEs working in five major industrial cities in Pakistan. Collected data were analyzed through PLS-SEM with the help of smart-PLS.

The study's findings reveal that TQM practices positively influence the environmental and economic sustainability of the firm. At the same time, there is no evidence that TQM practices positively affect the social sustainability of the firm. Results further elaborate that TQM practices significantly affect all four dimensions of KM. Moreover, KM positively affects the two dimensions of SP, i.e. economic and social sustainability, but surprisingly, the impact of KM on environmental sustainability is not found. Finally, results indicate the significant mediating role of KM between TQM and SP.

This study contributes to bridging research gaps in the literature and advances how TQM, directly and indirectly, helps firms improve sustainable performance via the mediating role of KM.

This study aims to propose a model to elevate the financial empowerment of Muslim women by rejuvenating the practice of Mahr in society and facilitating the affordability of men to pay that Mahr amount.

The approach of this study is to offer a model through the interest-free savings-based finance concept. The model comprises four stages; each stage of the model is mathematically formulated and graphically explained to ensure clarity and coherence. To further investigate the issue, the authors use a convenient sampling method to ask a small sample size of respondents (women) from different countries about their financial contribution and empowerment in the family.

This model enables women to turn their exclusive financial right into a source of earning without borrowing from any source or paying interest on the principal amount. Besides, it encourages accelerating men’s obligation to pay the Mahr to the women immediately during the marriage ceremony by facilitating men’s affordability. Almost 45% of respondents state that a woman’s financial contribution exalts her decision-making power and strengthens her financial position in the family.

The authors attempt to revitalize Mahr practice in Muslim society to accelerate the process of receiving a woman’s exclusive financial right and empower a family as a whole through the Mahr model.

Considering the model’s uniqueness, the developed and proposed Mahr model in this research is novel; to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other study has been conducted and developed such a model using the Mahr concept.

This study delves into the intricate dynamics between technological readiness, knowledge sources and their collective impact on firms' ability to achieve ambidextrous green innovation (GI). It specifically aims to dissect the moderating influence of resource orchestration capability (ROC) in this nexus, proposing a nuanced exploration into how technological preparedness and the strategic utilisation of both internal and external knowledge sources can significantly steer firms towards successful exploitative and exploratory GI endeavours.

The study draws upon resource orchestration theory, integrating a cross-sectional approach that incorporates primary data from Pakistani manufacturing firms. The data consisting of 452 responses was analysed employing Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM).

The research verifies that technological readiness has a substantial influence on exploitative and exploratory GI. Moreover, it reveals that both internal and external knowledge resources mediate the link between technological readiness and ambidextrous GI. Notably, while ROC enhances the favourable impact of external knowledge resources on both types of GI, it does not significantly moderate the effect of internal knowledge sources.

Managers must prioritize enhancing technological preparedness and strategically coordinating knowledge resources to drive both exploitative and exploratory environmentally friendly innovation. Investments in technology and collaborations with external partners, guided by strong resource management capabilities, are crucial for achieving sustainable innovation.

This research contributes to ambidextrous GI literature by examining the roles of technological readiness, mediated by internal and external knowledge sources and moderated by ROC. It offers detailed insights into the mechanisms that promote sustainable innovation, enriching the current understanding of the subject.

This study aims to investigate the impact of academic leadership on the organizational commitment of faculty members in private universities in Punjab. Work engagement was examined as a mediator, and co-worker support was considered as a moderator.

The study used a quantitative, cross-sectional approach with convenience sampling. Regression and correlation analyses were used for hypothesis testing. Social exchange theory guided the exploration of academic leadership’s impact on faculty members’ organizational commitment.

Results of the current study indicated a positive and significant effect of academic leadership on organizational commitment. Work engagement was identified as a partial mediator in this relationship. However, co-worker support was found to be an insignificant moderator, indicating no substantial influence on the relationship between academic leadership and work engagement among faculty members in private-sector universities.

The similarity of the paper is less than 18%.

This research designed, optimized and tested a context-specific scale to evaluate public sector employees' pension choices.

The authors developed the scale using a comprehensive process of interviews and focus groups with experts across academia and finance. The authors used the refined scale to collect data from 564 faculty members in public sector universities following a multistage systematic cluster sampling technique. The findings revealed diversity in choice across different socio-economic and demographic variables.

The results revealed that items related to the defined benefit pension system explain most of the data variance and are preferred widely. This is followed by a preference for monetizing pension benefits and a defined contribution system. These findings indicated the need for flexible pension plans.

Therefore, the progressive movement towards monetization and the shift from defined benefit to a defined contribution pension system due to economic pressures must be accurately calculated and introduced where it is suitable.

Although the theory of introducing a defined contribution pension system and monetization system is appealing, its practical implementation may not be encouraging for all employees.

This research examined the effect of information literacy (IL) on academic engagement (AE), cognitive engagement (CE) and academic performance among business students in Pakistan.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted to collect data from business students, recruited through a proportionate stratified convenient sampling technique, of the top 13 business institutions in Pakistan. The questionnaire was personally administered by visiting each institution with permission for data collection. A total of 554 responses were received and analyzed using the partial least squire-structural equation modeling approach.

The results exhibited that these business students perceived themselves as information literate. Furthermore, IL of business students appeared to predict positively their AE, CE and academic performance.

These results provided empirical and pragmatic insights for business educators, business librarians and accreditation bodies about IL effectiveness in academia. These findings may also inform policy and practice for IL instruction programs being carried out in business-related educational institutions not only in Pakistan but also in other countries of South Asia as they share similar characteristics.

This research would be a great contribution to the existing literature on IL, especially in the academic context as the interrelationship between IL, AE, CE and academic performance has not been investigated so far.

Blockchain technology is one of the major contributors to supply chain sustainability because of its inherent features. However, its adoption rate is relatively low due to reasons such as the diverse barriers impeding blockchain adoption. The purpose of this study is to identify blockchain adoption barriers in sustainable supply chain and uncovers their interrelationships.

A three-phase framework that combines machine learning (ML) classifiers, BORUTA feature selection algorithm, and Grey-DEMATEL method. From the literature review, 26 potential barriers were identified and evaluated through the performance of ML models with accuracy and f-score.

The findings reveal that feature selection algorithm detected 15 prominent barriers, and random forest (RF) classifier performed with the highest accuracy and f-score. Moreover, the performance of the RF increased by 2.38% accuracy and 2.19% f-score after removing irrelevant barriers, confirming the validity of feature selection algorithm. An RF classifier ranked the prominent barriers and according to ranking, financial constraints, immaturity, security, knowledge and expertise, and cultural differences resided at the top of the list. Furthermore, a Grey-DEMATEL method is employed to expose interrelationships between prominent barriers and to provide an overview of the cause-and-effect group.

The outcome of this study can help industry practitioners develop new strategies and plans for blockchain adoption in sustainable supply chains.

The research on the adoption of blockchain technology in sustainable supply chains is still evolving. This study contributes to the ongoing debate by exploring how practitioners and decision-makers adopt blockchain technology, developing strategies and plans in the process.

This study aims to determine whether knowledge creation processes (KCPs) – knowledge exchange and knowledge integration affect digital innovation (DI), including information technology (IT)-enabled capabilities (ITECs) as a mediator and absorptive capacity (AC) as a moderator.

With a survey data set of 390 employees from Pakistani software small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the current study employed Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using Smart Partial Least Squares to estimate the structural relationships in the conceptual model.

The results confirm that KCPs – knowledge exchange and knowledge integration positively enhance software SME's DI; ITECs play a partial mediating role in the linkage between KCPs and DI; AC positively moderates the relationship between knowledge integration and ITECs, and ITECs and DI, while AC doesn’t moderate the relationship between knowledge exchange and ITECs. The AC positively moderates the mediating role of ITECs amongst KCPs (knowledge exchange and knowledge integration) and DI, respectively.

This research uniquely integrates the knowledge-based view and dynamic capability theory to present a comprehensive framework that explains the interdependencies between knowledge process, ITECs and AC in driving DI. This approach advances the understanding of how software SMEs can strengthen internal knowledge and IT resources to achieve superior innovation outcomes.

Due to extensive industrial activities, the manufacturing sector is deteriorating the environment through resource depletion and rising pollution levels which led to a significant transition toward green supply chain practices (GSCP). Therefore, internal and external GSCP and green training (GT) gaining momentous attention. This study aims to explore the interconnections among the internal and external GSCP, GT, green innovation (GI), pro-environmental behavior (PEB), competitive advantage (CA), green knowledge sharing (GKS), green self-efficacy (GSE), environmental and financial performance (EP) and (FP).

To check the hypothesized model, researchers used cross-sectional data based on survey questionnaires which were gathered from Pakistani manufacturing firms. The theoretical framework was validated through the utilization of partial least square structural equation modeling.

The findings suggest that internal and external GSCP and GT are correlated with GI, PEB, CA, EP and FP. Additionally, this study discovers that PEB and GI act as intermediaries among internal and external GSCP, GT and CA. GKS positively moderates the connection among internal and external GSCP, and GT, GI, and PEB. Similarly, GSE also serves as a moderator among between PEB and GI.

This study is a significant contribution to the literature by studying potential mediators and moderators that improve the association among outlined constructs. Moreover, findings suggest that firms should adopt an integrated and holistic green approach to combat environmental deterioration, maintain environmental integrity and attain sustainable development.

There is a scarcity of studies concerning the holistic framework of interrelated constructs studied in this research and it is the pioneer research to offer insights with an innovative model and empirical evidence.

Considering the importance of green knowledge in firms' sustainability, this study investigates the mediating mechanism of green knowledge acquisition (GKA) and the moderating role of resource orchestration capability (ROC) in the relationship between green entrepreneurial orientation (GEO) and corporate sustainable performance (CSP).

Using a sample of 388 executives from 195 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UAE, this study used partial least squares structural equation modelling to examine the proposed relationships among the constructs.

The research shows that GEO affects CSP's environmental, economic, and social aspects of CSP. This study also highlights the mediating role of GKA in the relationship between GEO and CSP. The moderated mediation analysis results indicate that when ROC is elevated, GEO's indirect influence on environmental and economic performance through GKA is more pronounced.

This study provides useful insights and a novel approach for manufacturing industries and authoritative bodies to alleviate environmental deterioration and improve CSP by encouraging GKA through green entrepreneurship.

This study enriches the existing literature on GEO, GKA, and CSP by focusing on environmental challenges and applying the resource-based view (RBV) framework. The study's findings broaden the theoretical basis for green entrepreneurship, provide guidance on enhancing CSP in manufacturing firms, and advance green entrepreneurship research.