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Today, financial viability and the creation of social value form the main axis for the operation of inclusive firms. However, depending on who offers the ideas for inclusive enterprises, there can be questionable presumptions regarding what is promised in relation to poverty. One dubious premise is that all poverty can be solved by the market. Markets may be a prerequisite but not sufficient condition for resolving social problems. Financial inclusion through microfinance is a crucial facet of social inclusion. At the World Summit for Social Development (WSSD) in March 1995, governments made a commitment to eradicate poverty on a global scale, citing it as a moral, social, political and economic imperative. One of the three main objectives of the WSSD was the eradication of poverty. Microfinance provides financial services for persons living below the poverty line and for small businesses that lack access to traditional banking services and related products. Microcredit is the lending of small amounts of money to underserved consumers. Microfinance succeeded where institutional financing failed, but its viability is in question. An all-encompassing approach is required to support the growth of the new microfinance sector and manage the balance that must be struck between outreach and sustainability. It is well known that only efficient institutions can greatly lower the long-term expense of serving irregular and low revenues.

Business-society relations have weakened in recent years due to evidence of greenwashing and misleading corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices, resulting in a lack of trust and interest amongst the stakeholders regarding CSR efficiency. Therefore, this paper aims to analyse the major antecedents and customer-related outcomes of perceived CSR authenticity. In addition, the study provides an integrated model of CSR authenticity and empirically validates the model in Indian settings.

A structured questionnaire was developed to collect data from 250 bank customers living in a major city situated in the northern part of India. The analysis was conducted using structural equation modelling.

The findings of the study demonstrate that extrinsic motives, intrinsic motives, CSR impact and corporate reputation significantly influence CSR authenticity, while CSR fit was reported to exhibit no significant influence on CSR authenticity. Additionally, the results of the mediation analysis indicated that CSR authenticity had no direct effect on customer loyalty; rather, this effect was found to be mediated through customer trust.

This study/research adds insight into the concept of CSR authenticity, which is relatively under-researched, especially in the Indian context. Furthermore, the study focuses on less-explored antecedents, including CSR impact and corporate reputation. In addition, the paper also examines the mediating effect of trust between CSR authenticity and consumer loyalty, which has not been explored yet in the context of CSR authenticity. The analysis also delved into the moderating effect of gender and age on CSR authenticity.

This paper aims to examine the relationship between board structure and risk-taking, exploring how this association is influenced by advanced technologies in the banking sector.

This study uses a panel sample of 22 Pakistani banks from 2011 to 2018. To test the authors’ hypothesis, the authors use regression analysis with two-way cluster robust standard errors. Further, the authors also check the robustness of the authors’ findings using alternate proxies of board structure and bank risk-taking behavior. To address endogeneity concerns, the authors use the two-stage least square technique.

In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Pakistani banks’ digitalization is modeled by the presence of Temenos-T24/Oracle as their core banking system (software providing end-to-end operational integration). Its interactional effect with corporate governance is evaluated to implicate informed risk-taking by the board as a result of improved information access and analysis. The authors find that board size has a positive association with risk-taking, and the use of modern technology reshapes this association in the banking sector.

The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, the impact of board structure on bank risk-taking has not been extensively researched in Pakistan – a highly volatile and unpredictable economy. Second, the evaluation of the role of technology on bank risk is being researched for the very first time – a uniqueness of this paper.

The use of quality management (QM) to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) is a topic of growing interest in academia and industry. The IAQ (International Academy for Quality) established Quality Sustainability Award in 2020, a testament to this growing interest. This study aims to investigate how QM philosophies, methodologies and tools can be used to achieve sustainable development in organizations.

Five large manufacturing organizations – three from India and two from China – who reported their achievements about using QM in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were studied using multiple sources of data collection. A detailed within-case and cross-case analysis were conducted to unearth this linkage's practical and theoretical aspects.

The study finds that QM methodologies effectively met the five organizations' UNSDGs. These organizations successfully used OPEX (Operational Excellence) methodologies such as Lean, Kaizen and Six Sigma to meet UNSDGs 7, 11, 12 and 13. Moreover, UNSG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) is the most targeted goal across the case studies. A cross-case analysis revealed that the most frequently used quality tools were Design of Experiments (DoE), Measurement Systems Analysis (MSA), C&E analysis and Inferential statistics, among other essential tools.

The study's sample size was limited to large-scale manufacturing organizations in the two most populous countries in the world. This may limit the study's generalizability to other countries, continents, or micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Additionally, the study's conclusions would be strengthened if tested as hypotheses in a follow-up survey.

This practical paper provides case studies on how to use QM to impact SDGs. It offers both descriptive and prescriptive solutions for practitioners. The study highlights the importance of using essential QM tools in a structured and systematic manner, with effective teams, to meet the SDGs of organizations.

The study shows how QM can be used to impact UNSDGs, and this is very important because the UNSDGs are a set of global objectives that aim to address a wide range of social and environmental issues. This study could motivate organizations to achieve the UNSDGs using essential QM tools and make the world a better place for the present and future generations.

This case study is the first to investigate at a micro-level how QM can impact UNSDGs using live examples. It uses data from the IAQ to demonstrate how QM can be integrated into UNSDGs to ensure sustainable manufacturing.

This paper aims to investigate whether all the dimensions of institutional pressures matter for energy management (EM) of manufacturing small and medium enterprises using evidence from Uganda.

This study used a cross-sectional design using evidence from 195 manufacturing small and medium enterprises in Uganda. The study was conducted by administering a questionnaire to obtain quantitative data which were analyzed using Smart Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling.

The findings revealed that two dimensions of institutional pressures (coercive and mimetic) positively and significantly predict EM, unlike normative pressures. Notable is that coercive pressures contribute more to EM than mimetic pressures.

This study uses a quantitative design; thus, future studies through interviews would offer more knowledge on EM. The government should reinforce regulations to achieve sustainable energy for all communities. Additionally, governments and industry associations should pay attention to the critical pressures (coercive and mimetic) to step up EM. Moreso, enterprise managers should comprehend government regulations and peers’ actions for effective EM.

This study contributes to EM literature by using institutional theory to examine the contribution of individual dimensions of institutional pressures to EM from the context.