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This paper aims to examine whether the audit committee moderates the relationship between audit quality and market reactions.

Using fixed effects and the GMM model for robustness, the study used 472 publicly listed firms on South Africa’s Johannesburg stock exchange spanning a period of six years from 2014 to 2019.

Results obtained show that audit quality impacts market reactions through share price and adjusted market returns. And, that the audit committee moderates the relationship between audit quality and market reactions in South Africa’s publicly listed firms. An effective audit committee is expected to play a crucial role in overseeing the audit process, ensuring the independence of auditors and promoting transparency and accountability which in turn impacts asset prices.

The study implies that governments and regulatory bodies in other developing economies could strengthen regulations about companies’ Acts, how firms regulate themselves and more so audit committees. Firms can also strive to make sure that audit committees are staffed with experts to promote higher audit quality and investor attention to get access to the much-alluded capital.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study adds value by being the first to explore the subject matter of the importance of audit committees in defining audit quality and market reactions in publicly listed firms. The research adds to the body of knowledge on corporate governance and audit quality. It provides a case study specific to the South African context, contributing to the global literature on these topics.

This study aims to explore how the structure of the board of directors is influenced by national informal culture values and the strength of formal institutional environments, as measured through legal regulations, market conditions and investor protection regulations.

This study analyzes data from 432 companies listed in the S&P Global 1200 index using structural equation modeling. National cultural dimensions from Hofstede’s (2011) framework capture informal cultural aspects, while the World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators assess formal institutions. This study examines board structure in terms of leadership style, board size, board independence, board committee structure and board diversity.

The results reveal that national cultural values are negatively associated with rule of law institutions, indicating that culture can substitute for legal institutions, acting as “soft” regulation. Cultural values establish social norms and accountability when legal frameworks are weak. In addition, national culture positively relates to open market institutions, enhancing transparency, fairness and competition in strong markets. The findings also show that national culture and formal institutions significantly shape managerial perceptions of the board’s role and structure, impacting how firms prioritize monitoring versus resource provision.

The findings offer valuable insights for managers in diverse institutional contexts, enabling them to adjust board structures according to cultural and institutional factors.

The research advocates for tailored governance practices that fit specific institutional and cultural contexts. Multinational corporations can benefit from customizing their governance structures according to the cultural and institutional environments of the countries in which they operate.

This paper contributes to existing literature by focusing on complementarity as well as substitution mechanisms between national cultural characteristics and formal institutions in shaping board structure.

This paper aims to investigate the principles guiding sustainable waste management practices within the framework of Maqasid al-Shari’ah. The purpose is to address the environmental challenges arising from economic expansion, population growth and resource consumption, which often lead to unsustainable waste management practices and hinder economic growth. The focus is on aligning waste management principles with the ethical objectives outlined in Shari’ah.

Adopting a qualitative content analysis method and an inductive approach to outline the constituent elements that formulate the framework, this study investigates the objectives of Maqasid al-Shari’ah to identify underlying elements crucial for sustainable waste management.

The study reveals how the principles embedded in Maqasid al-Shari’ah provide a foundation for effective waste management practices. The findings emphasize the importance of integrating these principles into human behavior to ensure that waste management aligns with the Shari’ah viewpoint. The insights shed light on the role of Maqasid al-Shari’ah in managing waste sustainably and contributing to environmental conservation efforts.

This research contributes to the field by offering a unique perspective on waste management practices through the lens of Maqasid al-Shari’ah. The study’s originality lies in its exploration of how Islamic ethical objectives can guide sustainable waste management, providing a framework that goes beyond conventional approaches. The incorporation of a comprehensive literature review enhances the authenticity and novelty of the proposed waste management framework.

Given the expansion of cities and urbanization, developing efficient and reliable transportation infrastructure, especially urban tunnels, is essential. Failure to maintain such complex construction facilities with intelligent equipment systems could result in human losses and impose huge costs on governments. Therefore, it is necessary to have practical maintenance plans and operational safety monitoring for urban tunnels, which leads to their long lifespan, increases users’ safety and reduces operation risks.

Hence, this research aims to evaluate the maintenance risks of urban tunnel lighting systems (UTLS) using a hybrid risk-based maintenance (RBM) approach. In this vein, three rounds of a fuzzy Delphi survey were conducted to consolidate the specific operation criteria and maintenance risk factors to the circumstances of Iran and UTLS. Furthermore, the fuzzy DEMATEL method was applied to determine the cause-and-effect relationships among the identified critical operation criteria. The identified risks associated with maintenance in UTLS were then analyzed and ranked using a combination of fuzzy ANP-VIKOR techniques.

The ranking of the various risks revealed that the “poor performance of switchboards in power supply due to faults in switchboard equipment” risk was ranked first, followed by the “poor performance of panels in the power supply due to unfavorable environmental conditions,” “The poor performance of panels in the power supply due to problems with switches (key failure)” and “The poor performance of panels in power supply due to burning fuses due to unauthorized current” risks. The findings of this study indicate that this hybrid maintenance method, developed as a risk-based network, provides reliability for maintaining urban tunnel lighting systems (UTLS).

It is anticipated that the findings of this research will considerably contribute to improving UTLS maintenance management while enhancing different stakeholders’ understanding of the most critical risks in maintenance, particularly toward the UTLS in Iran. An RBM management program can result in preparing and formulating policies, comprehensive guidelines or regulations for the maintenance of urban tunnels that are recommended for future research.

This study aimed to address a gap in subcontractor management by focusing on previously unexplored complexities surrounding subcontractor management in developing countries. While past studies concentrated on selection and relationships, this study delved into how effective subcontractor management impacts project success.

This study used the Bayesian Network analysis approach, through a meticulously developed questionnaire survey refined through a piloting stage involving experienced industry professionals. The survey was ultimately distributed among participants based in Accra, Ghana, resulting in a response rate of approximately 63%.

The research identified diverse components contributing to subcontractor disruptions, highlighted the necessity of a clear regulatory framework, emphasized the impact of financial and leadership assessments on performance, and underscored the crucial role of main contractors in Integrated Project and Labour Cost Management with Subcontractor Oversight and Coordination.

Previous studies have not considered the challenges subcontractors face in projects. This investigation bridges this gap from multiple perspectives, using Bayesian network analysis to enhance subcontractor management, thereby contributing to the successful completion of construction projects.

This paper aims to describe the role of corporate social performance as a potential mechanism for reducing earnings management. This paper contributes to the existing literature by addressing the moderator effects of national culture on the relationship between CSR and earnings management.

This study investigates the moderating impact of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions on the association between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and earnings management. The data set covers 71,893 firm-year observations spanning 2006–2022 and involving 4,229 firms listed in common law countries.

The result confirms that corporate social performance reduces the use of real earnings management and controls the change of method AEM to REM method. When testing the indirect effect, the results show that cultural dimensions moderate the relationship between CSR and earnings management. These findings have many theoretical and practical implications for researchers, investors and decision-makers.

This paper contributes substantially to extant literature by comprehensively exploring the moderating influence of national cultures on the intricate nexus between CSR and earnings management, encompassing the pre- and post-COVID-19 periods. The implications of these findings extend to researchers, investors and policymakers, offering valuable insights for informed decision-making.

This study explores the sophisticated processes involved in knowledge dissemination and the regulatory framework of digital construction (DC). Specifically, it assesses the interaction between organizational sustainability, knowledge sharing and corporate social responsibility as essential factors in enhancing digital innovation in high-tech enterprises. The role of corporate governance is examined to engage organizational social structures and sustainability.

The research empirically evaluates the adaptation processes of organizational social networks (OSNs) and corporate collaboration to drive digital innovation. By integrating perspectives from social exchange theory and social cognition theory, a comprehensive model is developed to understand the influence of corporate social networks and collaborative creativity within enterprises. Hierarchical regression analysis is conducted on a sample of high-tech companies located in the Yangtze River Delta region of China.

The findings reveal a significant positive relationship between robust OSNs and enhanced collaborative innovation in business environments. Notably, the connection between OSNs and corporate collaborative creativity is partially mediated by the dissemination of information and expertise within the networks. Additionally, the integration of DC tools enhances both OSNs and collaborative innovation. This underscores the need for strategic investments in nurturing corporate social networks and fostering a culture of knowledge sharing among employees.

This study is the first to examine the nexus among OSNs, Knowledge Sharing and Digital Innovation in high-tech enterprises, contributing valuable insights through the lens of social exchange and social cognition theories.

This study aims to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the existing literature on green human resource management (GHRM) and its correlation with environmental performance (EP) and energy saving behavior (ESB) by using the PRISMA methodology.

A thorough examination was undertaken involving a total of 25 articles which included a diverse range of years and geographic areas.

The findings suggest a growing emphasis on the intersection of GHRM, EP and ESB, supported by a substantial increase in research in recent times. The literature in question was mostly contributed by Malaysia, Pakistan, Canada and Thailand. Majority of research endeavors were carried out within the context of manufacturing companies. The studies under scrutiny mostly used quantitative research methodologies and often applied the resource-based view (RBV) and theory of planned behavior (TPB) frameworks to investigate the relationships between GHRM, ESB and EP. In addition, structural equation modeling (SEM) has garnered significant attention as a commonly used analytical methodology. This analysis emphasizes the growing importance of GHRM strategies such as green recruiting, green performance management and green remuneration, in fostering sustainable organizational results.

This work offers significant contributions to the existing body of research in this particular sector; shedding light on its present condition and pinpointing prospective avenues for future inquiries.

In the present study, a steel lifting lug is replaced with a composite (carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy [CFRP]) lifting lug made of a carbon/epoxy composite. The purpose of this paper was to obtain a composite lifting lug with a higher level of strength that is capable of carrying loads without failure.

The vibration and static behaviors of steel and composite lifting lugs have been investigated using finite element analysis (FEA), ANSYS software. The main consideration in the design of the composite (CFRP) lifting lug was that the displacement of both steel and composite lugs was the same under the same load. Hence, by using the FEA displacement result of the steel lifting lug, the thickness of the composite lifting lug is determined using FEA.

Compared to the steel lifting lug, the composite (CFRP) lifting lug has much lower stresses and much higher natural frequencies. Static behavior was experienced by the composite lifting lug, showing a reduction in von Mises stress, third principal stress and XZ shear stress, respectively, by 48.4%, 34.6% and 89.8%, respectively, when compared with the steel lifting lug. A higher natural frequency of mode shape swaying in X (258.976√1,000 Hz) was experienced by the composite lifting lug when compared to the steel lifting lug (195.935√1,000 Hz). The safe strength of the design composite lifting lug has been proven by FEA results, which showed that the composite (CFRP) lifting lug has a higher factor of safety in all developed stresses than the steel lifting lug. According to von Mises stress, the factor of safety of the composite lifting lug is increased by 76% when compared to the steel lifting lug. The von Mises stress at the edge of the hole in the composite lifting lug is reduced from 23.763 MPa to 20.775 MPa when compared to the steel lifting lug.

This work presents the designed composite (CFRP) lifting lug, which will be able to carry loads with more safety than a steel one.

The single-supplier multi-retailer cold chain is a widely adopted type of supply chain in the real-world food industry. This paper aims to consider the problem of effectively designing and managing a single-supplier multi-retailer cold chain for fresh produce with deterministic demand to minimize the total cost, which includes cooling, loss of value and carbon emission costs.

The global stability index (GSI) method and the non-Arrhenius model are integrated to describe the behavior of food quality degradation. The power-of-two (PoT) policy is adopted in determining the coordinated replenishment policies for the suppliers and retailers, and an appropriate wholesale price structure that can achieve the coordination of the chain is presented.

The properties of the cold chain are uncovered, and an appropriate wholesale price scheme that achieves chain coordination with the optimal PoT decision is provided. In the numerical examples, different scenarios are investigated, and it is found that the cold chain parameters influence the optimal decisions in certain ways.

The PoT policy – an efficient policy to determine the replenishment strategy – has not been adopted in finding the solution of a single-supplier multi-retailer cold chain in the literature. Also, no study has compared the uncoordinated and coordinated cold chain. Moreover, in the existing literature, the wholesale price is usually a constant rather than having a coordinated scheme. This research aims to fill these research gaps.