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The purpose of this paper is to depict how entrepreneurs improve community vitality in the economic, social and environmental dimensions. The paper joins the conversation of business spirituality as the study participants were Sri Lankan Buddhist entrepreneurs from the emerging venture context (i.e. from enterprises which are less than 1–10 years old). The aim of the paper is to introduce spiritually informed entrepreneurial actions, thus contributing to a better understanding of entrepreneurial impact on communities.

The paper involves a qualitative, interpretivist research design. Data was collected by conducting 28 semi-structured interviews with 18 Sri Lankan Buddhist entrepreneurs. Research participants were selected from diverse business sectors. The research applied inductive thematic analysis for structuring and interpreting data.

For Sri Lankan Buddhist entrepreneurs, improving community vitality is an essential altruistic goal of their business agenda. During the operations of their ventures, this altruistic goal is translated into altruistic actions that improve the economic, social and environmental vitalities of communities. Research findings highlight that in the case of Sri Lankan Buddhist entrepreneurs, altruistic actions are informed by compassion, which is a fundamental value in the Buddhist religion. Drawing on the findings, an integrated model of community vitality, which describes the role of compassion and the mechanisms of entrepreneurial actions in a Buddhist setting was developed inductively.

Studying entrepreneurial actions to focus on the motivations behind improving community vitality is a new research topic. The paper provides valuable knowledge on business spirituality regarding the compassionate motivations of Buddhist entrepreneurs. The integrated model of community vitality, which describes the mechanisms of entrepreneurial actions to improve community vitality in a Buddhist setting could be an essential compass not only to entrepreneurs but also research scholars in the field of business spirituality.

The purpose of this study is to explore Chinese women’s pursuit of entrepreneurship as a career choice through the intersectional lens of gender and culture. The study aims to identify factors that influenced Chinese women’s decisions to pursue entrepreneurship.

In this exploratory qualitative study, we conducted qualitative, in-depth, semi-structured and one-on-one interviews with 16 Chinese women entrepreneurs.

We identified various factors that influenced Chinese women’s career choice of entrepreneurship. The factors include entrepreneurial attributes, rapid economic growth, societal and cultural influences, the dual role of family influences and strategic entrepreneurship.

Our study provides a contextualized understanding of the experience of Chinese women’s entrepreneurship career choices. It enriches the existing literature on career choices within the career development for Chinese women entrepreneurs. By applying social cognitive career theory (SCCT) to a specific cultural and gendered setting, we proposed the social cognitive women’s entrepreneurial career theory, which offers fresh insights into the interplay of personal, contextual and behavioral dimensions in shaping Chinese women’s entrepreneurial career choices.

When the repercussions of COVID-19 were being absorbed by the world, the higher educational institutions (HEIs) were conceiving of strategies to run educational institutions on remote basis too, including the challenges linked with the teaching–learning as well as the management and other departmental needs. Leaning itself on the teaching–learning tectonic shifts amid the COVID-19 climes, the study reviews the status of “readiness” of the HEIs in Oman while bearing this in mind that the usage of information and communications technology (ICT) for distance learning and conventional learning has been considered as one of the parameters to judge the “quality” of the HEIs in Oman.

Documentary analysis alongside an in-depth reading of the quality audit reports sourced from the Oman Academic Accreditation Authority, which are publicly accessible are being referred for driving home the arguments in the study.

The study concludes that despite the case being in favor of distance learning from early on, the same doesn’t get reflected in the conclusions derived in the research conducted for assessing the teaching–learning mechanisms during the COVID-19 period. Therefore, the HEIs’ “readiness” in terms of ensuring the smooth transitioning to the remote learning pedagogical arrangements for meeting the challenges of the COVID-19 wasn’t efficacious.

The present study may be followed up with an understanding as to how the HEIs of Oman need to incorporate the perspectives of all the concerned stakeholders for the refurbishment of the teaching–learning process, especially in times of contingencies.

Apart from the policy-makers, the management of the HEIs of Oman needs to appreciate the need to be proactive and appreciative of the inclusion of ICT tools and techniques in the mainstream pedagogical settings.

Notwithstanding the emphasis upon the preparedness and readiness for tackling the challenges posed by the COVID-19 for the HEIs in Oman, no study has attempted to delve into the issue succinctly—the present study fills this gap.

Given the workplace’s reinvention to accommodate the global pandemic’s novel conditions, knowledge hiding (KH) behaviour in knowledge-intensive organisations must be examined from a fresh perspective. In this context, the relationship between workplace ostracism (WO) as KH’s antecedent and quiet quitting (QQ) as its consequence is undertaken via the mediating role of KH behaviour among knowledge workers (KWs).

Through stratified sampling, data from 649 KWs is obtained to test the model. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) using SMART-PLS 4.0. software establishes a significant influence of WO on KH and QQ. KH significantly mediates the relationship between WO and QQ, highlighting its critical intermediary role PLSPredict evaluates the model’s predictiveness. WO and KH’s effects on QQ are examined using necessity logic by collectively applying PLS-SEM and necessary condition analysis (NCA).

The model wherein WO plays a significant role in increasing KH and QQ, with KH as a partial mediator in the relationship, has high predictive relevance. Moreover, NCA confirms WO as the key predictor variable that provides variance in QQ, followed by KH. The Importance-performance map analysis technique supports the study’s managerial implications.

This study enriches QQ’s emerging literature by empirically identifying its antecedents-WO and KH. Methodologically, this paper gives a model for using PLS-SEM and NCA together in relation to QQ by identifying WO as its necessary condition. Evidence of selected constructs’ interrelationships may help organisations draft leadership programmes to curtail KH and QQ behaviour.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on all facets of education. This led to educational institutions deploying blended and online systems for teaching and learning. The purpose of this study was to assess the role of blended learning in promoting quality education during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The qualitative research design was deployed in this study and enabled the researcher to collect data via in-depth interviews. Twenty-five (25) tertiary institutions accredited by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) were randomly selected to participate in this study. The registrars of the institutions were purposively selected and served as the participants for the study. Thematic content analysis was used to analyze the data collected via the interview. Ethical considerations were adhered to during the study.

The study established that COVID-19 had a devastating effect on tertiary institutions; multiple technological and open-sourced systems were deployed for teaching and learning; blended learning was adopted to augment the traditional face-to-face mode of teaching and learning due to its ease of use, usefulness and accessibility as it was used for quizzes and assignments, accessing lecture notes, among others. Despite these, the deployment of technological and blended systems was met with challenges that somehow affected effective teaching, learning.

The study was limited to 25 tertiary educational institutions in Ghana. It was again limited to the COVID-19 era.

This research aids in understanding the extent of the impact of COVID-19 on teaching and learning and how blended learning is currently deployed and used in tertiary institutions in Ghana. The findings are relevant to policymakers and management of educational institutions as it informs them of the right method and tools to deploy for teaching and learning during pandemics.

As educational institutions globally are dealing with the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is prudent to look into how tertiary institutions in Ghana deploy blended learning to facilitate teaching and learning. Thus, this paper is original as it fills the relevant literature gap in terms of scope, setting, methodology and findings.

Online food shopping has emerged as a fast-growing market. However, the retail online food supply chain (ROFSC) is attracting increasing attention due to its social, environmental and financial impacts. This study aims to empirically evaluate food waste prevention and mitigation (FWPM) strategies in a real-world case study within the UK ROFSC.

Advanced methodologies are required to explore and address FWPM problems across ROFSC. Surveys and interviews were conducted with practitioners. Hard and soft data were collected from the case online retailer. Experts from an FWPM non-profit organization checked and validated the data collected.

Results revealed that inter/cross-organization integrated collaboration and visibility in the ROFSC influence FWPM. Findings established that consumers are the main source of food waste, followed by suppliers and online retailers, with 18, 11 and 1%, respectively. Worryingly, only 1% of respondents expressed that there is a strong commitment to a zero-waste strategy, emphasizing the necessity for more effective waste reduction initiatives and awareness.

The research outcome calls for further efforts by policymakers and practitioners to guide consumers toward efficient food waste management practices.

The study extends previous literature by proposing a holistic framework for reducing food waste from suppliers and consumers. The study captured interesting insights on food waste, including measuring, reasoning and destinations of online food waste.

In the digital age, enterprise social media (ESM) has been broadly used to break the barrier of space and time for knowledge sharing involving two activities—knowledge donating and knowledge collecting. Yet, hardly any study has thus far explored how and when knowledge donating and knowledge collecting through ESM impact employees’ innovative work behavior (IWB). Therefore, drawing on the social exchange theory, this study aims to introduce relational social capital as a mediator and performance climate as a moderator to examine differential impact mechanisms of knowledge donating and knowledge collecting through ESM on employee IWB.

First, we collected 225 survey data from employees who used ESM at work. Then, according to the two-stage procedure of the partial least square structural equation modeling method, we established and analyzed a moderated mediation model based on the context of ESM.

Results demonstrate that knowledge donating through ESM has a positive relationship with IWB, but knowledge collecting through ESM has no such relationship. Through the mediation of relational social capital, both knowledge donating and knowledge collecting through ESM have indirect positive relationships with IWB, but knowledge collecting through ESM has a greater one. Moreover, when employees perceived a relatively high-performance climate, the positive relationships of knowledge donating and knowledge collecting through ESM with IWB via relational social capital would be stronger.

On the one hand, organizational managers should not only focus on different innovation benefits caused by knowledge donating and knowledge collecting through ESM but also should realize differences in the direct/indirect effect of knowledge donating and knowledge collecting through ESM on IWB. On the other hand, employees need to proactively enhance their innovative ability by considering knowledge donating/collecting channels (e.g. ESM), gaining successful competitiveness. Moreover, both managers and employees should realize that different innovation benefits of knowledge sharing activities through ESM can be further strengthened when establishing a high-performance climate.

Different from prior literature on knowledge sharing or ESM, this study contributes to analyzing the differential effects of two dimensions (i.e. knowledge donating and knowledge collecting) of knowledge sharing on employees' IWB in the context of ESM.