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Although leadership style plays a critical role in succession planning practices and succession success, empirical examination of its influence on the relationship between succession planning and success of succession in family-owned SMEs has received little attention in the literature. This study examines the interactive effect of the various types of leadership styles as internal branding mechanisms on the success of succession in family-owned SMEs.

We analyzed the data from 124 managers/CEOs of family-owned SMEs that have at least transitioned beyond one incumbent leader using SPSS Version 29.

The result shows that succession planning practices are positively associated with succession success. It further shows that leaders who brand themselves as transformational and participatory leaders have a positive, significant interactive effect on the relationship between succession planning activities and succession success. The positive relationship between succession planning activities and succession success is dampened when managers rely too heavily on a transactional leadership style. Both autocratic and laissez-faire types of leadership have no significant interactive effect on the relationship.

The study is distinct from past studies. Until now, knowledge about the interactive effect of the various leadership styles as internal branding mechanisms on the relationship between succession planning practices like coaching, mentoring, job rotation and training and succession success in family-owned businesses remains limited. Theoretically, the study is pioneering in the sense that it is among the first studies that extends internal branding to succession planning in family-owned businesses. The study enlightened our understanding of how the various leadership styles and internal branding mechanism influence succession success in family-owned SMEs.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between green human resource management (GHRM), corporate social responsibility (CSR) and organizational performance (OP) of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by examining corporate reputation (CR) and employee engagement (EE) as mediators in Vietnam.

This study used the quantitative method with 458 valid responses from mid- to senior-level managers and chief executive officers (CEOs) were obtained and used for data analysis. To analyze and explore the relationships between constructs and mediators, SmartPLS version 4.0 structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data of the SMEs of Vietnam in 2023.

The results showed strong and positive relationships between GHRM, CSR and OP in SMEs, with CR and EE serving as significant mediators.

This research provides new insights into how GHRM and CSR enhance OP by using an integrated model that examines how CR and EE mediate this relationship. It demonstrates that businesses implementing GHRM and CSR can promote sustainable development among stakeholders, leading to improved OP in Vietnam’s dynamic economic environment. The findings have practical implications for executives and managers, emphasizing the need to balance stakeholder, environmental and social interests to optimize GHRM and CSR initiatives and foster sustainable growth. This study’s insights could significantly influence SMEs in the Vietnamese economy.

Sustainability assessment of risk-management policies has been needed to analyze their corporate social impact on stakeholders in terms of environmental, social and governance (ESG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) accountability aspects. Thus, weather index insurance (WII) is a significant risk-management policy; there is a need to explore the corporate socio-environmental impact of WII on stakeholders. Thus, the purpose of this study is to develop a theoretical framework for theorizing the sustainability reporting aspect of WII.

This study performs qualitative exploratory research using in-depth interviews with ten experts. It has been carried out through semi-structured interviews with academic and professional experts and analyzed the interview transcripts using qualitative analysis.

This study’s outcomes contribute a new paradigm in the ESG and CSR accountability domain from the perspectives of stakeholder theory. The findings of this study reported a novel conceptual framework for integrated sustainability reporting of WII based on ESG and CSR constructs. The thematic content analysis of interview transcripts and WII literature exposed the significant accountability of WII towards human, ecological and financial capital.

This study provides valuable insights into the theoretical development of WII sustainability domain by developing a theoretical framework that provides a further pathway for future researchers.

This study attempts to analyze the WII exposure toward ESG and CSR dimensions that are helpful for insurers, farmers, managers and governments.

This study firstly bridges the gap between WII theoretical knowledge and professional practice in terms of sustainability assessment of WII.

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of ESG practices on green innovation with the moderating effect of innovation orientation in Malaysian manufacturing listed companies.

This study employed a quantitative research approach by using a well-structured questionnaire for data collection. The questionnaire was distributed to 204 Malaysian manufacturing listed companies in consumer products and services sector. Finally, partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was utilized to examine the relationship between constructs.

Based on stakeholder theory, results indicated that environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices significantly improve green innovation. The insignificant moderating effect of innovation orientation was identified between the relationship of environmental and social practices and green innovation. Interestingly, results affirmed the negative moderating effect between the relationship of governance practices and green innovation.

This study is limited to Malaysian manufacturing companies of consumer products and services sector in Bursa Malaysia. Hence, the findings of this study cannot be generalized to manufacturing companies of other geographical contexts.

This work provides constructive implications to management and policymakers of Malaysian manufacturing companies in strategic planning toward enhancing green innovation and developing business competitiveness to achieve sustainable business performance.

This research magnifies valuable insights into the literature through a comprehensive model that simultaneously investigates the relationships between ESG practices, innovation orientation and green innovation. In addition, this is the first attempt to investigate the influence of ESG practices on green innovation with a moderating effect of innovation orientation, which indeed strengthens the originality of this study.

The purpose of this paper is to compare how the various sectors among the largest companies in Ghana have incorporated sustainability into their mission, vision and value statements.

The mission, vision and value statements of the 100 largest corporations in Ghana, known as Ghana Club 100 (GC100), were extracted from the firms’ official websites. These firms were grouped into nine sectors, and the sustainability components in the mission, vision and value statements were subjected to cross tabulation and thematic contents analysis to establish the sectoral variations.

In formulating their mission, vision and value statements, GC100 firms were more than six times likely to include economic sustainability themes than environmental sustainability themes. Even though three out of every five GC100 firms are financial institutions, the manufacturing and the extractive sectors and firms ranked 1st−20th are three times likely to incorporate all the sustainability dimensions (i.e. economic, social and environmental) into their mission, vision and value statements. Firms in the financial sector and those ranked 80th−100th were more likely not to publish either a mission, vision or value statements online.

This study reveals the magnitude of the strategic pronouncements such as mission, vision and value statements of large firms in emerging economies and how they are aligned with sustainability. This could serve as a basis for formulating guidelines to reinforce efforts that contribute to corporate sustainability.

Research on how large firms align sustainability into their mission, vision and value statements is not a new agenda, but fragmented in the context of the emerging economies. The novelty is that this study addresses this gap and contributes to this topic from a sectoral comparative perspective of largest organization in Ghana, an emerging economy.

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the effect of free senior high school on the quality of basic education in Ghana.

A convergent mixed method design as indicated in Sharma et al. (2023) is used in this work to collect both quantitative and qualitative data from documents available from the stakeholders of education. Quantitative data from already-existing reports with data on basic education are analysed to identify the effects of the FSHS on basic education in Ghana and ascertain the impact of the FSHS on the educational budget as well as the indicators of basic education in the country. This is followed by a qualitative data analysis of the reports to ascertain the gravity of the results in the quantitative data. The Ministry of Education in charge of education in the country and the Ministry of Finance in charge of resource distribution to various sectors of the country’s economy are the major institutions with relevant reports and data which assist in this research. Reports from organisations and institutions with a keen interest in education are also considered. The secondary data is therefore the source for this research using a document analysis.

The poor performance of learners is largely attributed to the inadequate resources for effective management of basic education. Government expenditure on education is managed by reducing the spending on basic education. Compensation which is the inevitable expenditure for basic education is the only expenditure the parliamentary committee could identify. This is clear evidence that goods and services at the basic education level are sacrificed to manage the government’s spendings on education.

This research is limited to Ghana, a Sub-Sahara African country which introduced a free senior high school policy. The research only looks at the effects of the policy on the quality of basic education.

Educational policymakers should ascertain the consequences of a policy on the economy before implementation. The devastating effect of educational policy on other educational policies should also be considered when bringing in a new policy. As policies leverage existing policies, new policies must not devour already existing policies which are still relevant. An educational policy at any level must consider the basic policies of education that enhance inclusivity and equity at the lower levels of education. This will help in maximizing the effective implementation of the policies. Through this, nations can promote life-long learning with inclusivity and equity in education.

This research work has never been published elsewhere.

Government incentives are critical for successful indigenous innovation commercialisation, yet there are concerns about the efficacy of these incentives. Therefore, this study examines the effectiveness of government incentives on successful indigenous innovation commercialisation in the context of low-income economies by testing the effects of demand and supply-side incentives on firm performance in the small-scale industry in Ghana.

The theoretical framework for this study is built on the below-the-radar theory of innovation (Kaplinsky et al., 2009). Using a sample of 557 firms engaged in commercialising various indigenous innovations in the small-scale industry in Ghana, PLS-SEM was deployed to assess 11 hypothesised paths based on a validated questionnaire.

The model results, at a 5% significance level, indicate that supply-side incentives are statistically insignificant on sales and profitability but have significant positive effects on employment. The direct and moderating influence of supply-side incentives and market factors on overall firm performance is also insignificant, while demand-side incentives to buyers have significant positive effects on all the performance metrics and positively moderate the effects of market factors.

The research focused on commercialising indigenous innovation in the context of low-income economies. Few studies, if any, have separately explored the effect of demand and supply-side government incentives on indigenous innovation in the context of low-income economies. The findings suggest that innovation support should focus more on the demand side of the innovation value chain.

South Africa’s textiles and clothing sector is positioned by the government to support economic growth and development. However, its expansion can increase carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions because of the high energy consumption and natural resource requirements. A proposed option to make the sector environmentally friendly is the adoption of renewable energy. This study aims to assess whether the CO₂ emissions effect of the textiles and clothing sector can be reduced by adopting renewable energy.

CO₂ emission function is formulated within the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology (STIRPAT) Model. Data for the analysis ranged from 1990 to 2022. Regression analysis is performed using the autoregressive distributed lag, fully modified ordinary least squares, canonical cointegrating regressions and dynamic ordinary least squares methods.

The textile and clothing sector positively affects CO₂ emissions. Although renewable energy consumption has a direct positive long-run effect, it reduces the effect of the textiles and clothing sector on CO₂ emissions.

The implications from the study include the formulation of policies that will hasten the adoption of renewable energy by the textiles and clothing sector for their activities.

This study contributes to the literature by assessing the carbon emissions effect of the textiles and clothing sector within the STIRPAT model. It also analyses the moderation effect of renewable energy on the textiles and clothing sector–carbon emissions nexus.

This study investigates the factors influencing the saving behaviour of Chinese Generation Z (Gen Z) through Internet wealth management (IWM) services. It adopts the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) as the theoretical framework, focusing on key determinants such as performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI) and facilitating conditions (FC). The research also explores the mediating role of the intention to save via IWM and its subsequent influence on actual saving behaviour.

The hypotheses were assessed using data collected from 274 Gen Z users in China. The data were analysed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling.

The results suggest that the formation of intention among Gen Z to save through IWM services is directly affected by factors such as PE, EE, SI and FC. Intention to save via IWM positively influences actual saving behaviour. Mediation analysis further confirms the mediating role of intention to save via IWM in these relationships.

The findings have direct implications for financial institutions and policymakers engaged in promoting the practice of saving via IWM services among Gen Z, thereby fostering a culture of proactive financial management and encouraging saving behaviour.

The study contributes to the existing literature by being among the first to examine Gen Z’s IWM adoption as a personal saving tool through the theoretical lens of the UTAUT.

Online learning has come to stay in a technologically advancing world with increasing populations. The search for ways to make online learning more efficient and effective in some developing countries continues as the accompanying issues in developing country contexts abound. This paper explores the issues that underlie online learning management in a developing country context, focusing on the Moodle, Sakai and Zoom platforms used in some selected public universities in Ghana.

The study relied on the qualitative approach to data collection and a descriptive design for analysis. Using the social constructivism theory, the paper discussed the critical issues students, and to a lesser extent, instructors encounter in their engagement on these platforms for academic learning.

The study found that the inefficient use of these platforms is due to several factors including the high cost of data, poor perception of the quality of online learning compared to traditional in-person contacts, poor attitude of students, low participation in online learning, lack of computers and poor internet connectivity among others.

It is important to mention that this study was limited to some selected public universities in Ghana. Data could have been collected from a wider sample including other Ghanaian tertiary institutions or some other developing countries. The similarity of study outcomes in other developing countries, however, suggests that similar results would have been obtained in an international sample.

Despite the robustness of the Learning Management systems in place, the evidence suggests that their utilisation is far less than optimal. However, with relevant policies and the provision of needed technical support, training, provision of equipment like computers for use by both students and instructors and efficient internet connectivity, the LMS platforms could be more efficient for online learning.

The authors conducted this research using original data from interviews in the selected public universities in Ghana. The data was meant to inform the discussion on some of the critical issues that underlie online learning in a developing country context. Although the study relied on data from selected public universities in a single country, its outcomes reflect fundamental issues of online learning in a developing country context which find relevance in available study outcomes.