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Environmental dynamics affect all sectors, and retailing is no exception. Scholarships reveal that, in such turbulent times, entrepreneurial characteristics are essential for business. In academic research, entrepreneurial characteristics like entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and entrepreneurial competence (EC) are seldom evaluated for retailers. This study aims to decode the impact of small retailers’ EO and EC on firm business performance (BP). It also traces the mediation effect of EC in the relationship between EO and BP.

The study executed among 740 small retailers is a pioneering work to trace EO’s efficacy via EC on the retailer’s BP. The present research is a primal work in the Indian context. This work redesigns the EC scale to suit the retail context and evaluate its mediation role in the EO and BP relationship.

Examining the mediation model through structural equation modelling (SEM) adds empirical evidence to entrepreneurial value creation (EVC) theory and throws light on the indispensable qualities required for small business retailers. The outcomes of the SEM model portray that there is an association between the EO, EC and BP.

This study, though carried out methodically, it is constrained by the ensuing intricacies. The investigation was limited to the small- and medium-retailers engaged in retailing with a floor space from 500 to 5,000 square feet. All three constructs used in the study are measured using the self-reported perceptual scale, which infuses the subjectivity in the data. Exploring the EO and EC of widely dispersed retailers, examining the entrepreneurial character of large-format independent retailers and evaluating financial performance measures through retailers will add value to the study in future.

The study verified the central role of EC in the intangible resource-reward relationship. Among the five pillars of EVC theory, the role of intention and external finance are not considered in this work. The present work explored the EO and EC of existing retailers, and hence intention is excluded. The study concentrates on small retailers, and the role of external financing is not explored. Mishra and Zachary (2014b) opined that the EVC process should be studied in different context and listed out several prepositions. Considering the role of intention and external financing and studying several prepositions spelt out in the theory in varying contexts will throw more lights on the EVC process.

This study examined the factors that affect attitudes and intentions for sustainable adoption of mobile financial services (MFS) in Nigeria.

The study expands the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by incorporating constructs like perceived service quality, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived credibility, perceived trust and attitude. It includes an empirical analysis with 382 participants and qualitative insights from semi-structured interviews to investigate the challenges and opportunities associated with MFS adoption in Nigeria.

The findings show that perceived service quality, perceived usefulness and attitude positively influence the adoption of MFS. However, perceived ease of use and perceived credibility have little impact on adoption. Qualitative insights from Study 2 shed light on the challenges and opportunities as well as the reasons behind the insignificant effects of perceived ease of use and perceived credibility.

This research stands out by using a mixed-methods approach, blending quantitative and qualitative analysis to provide a more detailed understanding of the factors influencing MFS adoption.

This study investigates the influence of the wisdom of the crowd (WSC), trust and perceived value on consumer purchase intentions within social commerce (s-commerce) platforms. By constructing a novel theoretical model, the research aims to delineate the interrelationships among these variables, addressing an emerging area in social interactions and information technology.

To empirically test and validate the proposed model, the study collected data from 442 Facebook users familiar with online shopping. The analysis employed Structural Equation Modeling – Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) to test the hypotheses and examine the relationships between WSC, trust, perceived value and purchase intentions.

The findings confirm that WSC significantly influences trust, perceived value and the intention to purchase on s-commerce platforms. Both perceived value and trust are substantial determinants of purchase intentions. Notably, the PLS analysis revealed that WSC accounts for 36.8% of the variance in trust and 33.1% of the variance in perceived value related to purchasing decisions on s-commerce platforms.

This research contributes uniquely to the ongoing discourse on s-commerce adoption by integrating WSC as a pivotal factor in understanding perceived value and consumer adoption intentions. It provides a fresh perspective on how collective intelligence affects consumer behavior in digital marketplaces, enriching the theoretical and practical understanding of s-commerce dynamics.

Several challenges and issues are involved in successfully managing and improving the port logistics system (PLS) performance. Ports still face issues, including insufficient cargo handling equipment or equipment sharing during loading and unloading, which requires manual container inspection and delays clearance. This research aims to enhance the port logistics performance at one of India's cargo-handling ports. This paper seeks to identify various situations, actors, processes, learnings, actions and performance metrics particular to India's major container handling port.

The study objectives are accomplished using the Situation-Actor-Process–Learning-Action-Performance (SAP-LAP) framework, Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and Interpretive Ranking Process (IRP). The FAHP prioritises or ranks actions in a fuzzy environment. The ranking obtained by the FAHP method is assessed using the IRP approach.

This study examined action criteria and sub-attributes that define a PLS's effective implementation regarding handling containers in India. The results illustrate that strategic action must be prioritized first, followed by infrastructural and operational development, Technology upgradation and new methods and Training and Development initiatives.

This research provides a logical framework for evaluating the importance of various actions throughout the decision-making process. It would assist managers and practitioners in interpreting the impact of critical actions on performance and improving the operation of PLS by constructing resilient and adaptable solutions.

The study integrates methodologies like the IRP, SAP-LAP and FAHP. It focuses on various actions for an effective port logistics implementation system. The findings of this study allow decision-makers to understand interpretative reasoning by performing pairwise comparisons among the factors.

This study aims to provide a comprehensive theoretical model based on stimulus-organismresponse, social impact, and signaling theory to examine the factors influencing the successful application of the celebrity endorsement strategy in social commerce (SC). Three aspects involved in the model include social experience, content quality and endorser credibility, which have yet to be comprehensively compared in previous studies. The process, therefore, involved thoroughly examining the social and quality factors associated with endorser quality, leading to brand image.

In total, 340 pieces of valid feedback from Indonesian respondents were used to validate the proposed model using structural equation modeling analysis. The model includes endorser expertise, attractiveness, brand credibility, content quality, parasocial interaction and herd behavior.

The study showed how parasocial interaction, herd behavior and content quality in SC platforms affect the credibility of endorsers, affecting brand credibility and leading to customer purchase intention.

This study explains how social experience and content quality affect endorsers’ credibility, leading to the brand’s credibility, which affects consumer purchase decisions in the SC context. It was discovered that most of the prior related studies focused on celebrity and brand credibility without adequate attention to other constructs existing in SC, such as social interaction and content quality. It also contributes to the practical aspect by proposing managerial action based on direct and indirect effect analysis, which is not comprehensively indicated in previous related studies.

This paper presents the approximate limit pressure solution for shape-imperfect and through-wall circumferential cracked (TWCC) 90° pipe bends at the intrados region. Finite element (FE) limit analysis was used to estimate the limit pressure by considering the small geometrical change effects.

Three-dimensional (3D) geometric linear FE methodology was implemented to investigate the limit pressure of structurally deformed TWCC 90° pipe bends. The material considered in the analysis is elastic perfectly plastic (EPP). The limit pressure of TWCC shape-distorted pipe bends was predicted from the corresponding internal pressure when von-Mises stress was equal to or just exceeded the material’s yield strength for all the models. The theoretical solution which was published in the literature was used to evaluate the current FE approach.

Ovality C_o and TWCC at the intrados region caused a considerable impact on pipe bends, while the thinning? C_t produced a negligible effect and hence was not included in the analysis. With the combined effect, the bend portion of pipe bend experiences substantial influence, and the TWCC effect consequently increases with 45^o, 60^o and 90^o crack angles and decreases the limit pressure of pipe bends. An improved closed-form empirical limit pressure solution was proposed for TWCC shape-distorted pipe bends at the intrados region.

In the limit pressure analysis of 90° pipe bends, the implications of structural irregularities (ovality and thinning) and TWCC have not been examined and reported.

This study proposes a theoretical model to explain user intention to continue engaging with Social Commerce (SC) from a habit perspective. The research uses social impact theory, user personal traits, and SC quality to explain how user habits are formed in SC, leading to continued usage.

The study collected data from 868 Indonesian respondents using a cross-sectional field design. SEM analysis confirmed the proposed theoretical model, calculating direct, indirect, and moderating effects.

The results showed that the social aspect is the dominant construct influencing users’ habit of using SC. Further, the outcome indicates that habit significantly predicts Continuity usage. Profoundly, subjective norms are the most significant predictors of habit, followed by self-efficacy, content quality, and herd behavior. Meanwhile, Trust and Social Support only indirectly affect Habit through self-efficacy and content quality, respectively, as mediators. Additionally, the moderating effect analysis revealed that age and gender play a role in habit formation.

This study specifically explores the factors affecting the development of habits in SC usage, leading to repeated behaviors. This area has not been thoroughly examined in previous research. Therefore, this study seeks to address this gap by investigating how habits are formed through social interactions on SC platforms. Understanding habit formation provides an alternative way of comprehending the continued use of SC, as it is considered a significant factor that leads to continued intention.

This paper aims to determine the impact of in vitro gastrointestinal digestion (IVD) on the bioaccessibility of phenolic compounds derived from tomato pomace flour (TPF) and amla pomace flour (APF), and to evaluate their potential health benefits as prebiotics on gut microbiota.

The nutritional and functional properties and the bioaccessibility of phenolic compounds obtained from APF and TPF were measured using IVD model and the potential prebiotic effects were assessed during in vitro fermentation.

APF and TPF contained significant amounts of total dietary fibre (55.83% and 48.29%, respectively) and protein (2.1% and 14.37%, respectively). After IVD, a considerable amount of polyphenols from APF and TPF were released. In the intestinal phase, APF and TPF showed significant (p = 0.05) release of total phenolics (81% and 57%, respectively) and flavonoids (84% and 76%, respectively). Additionally, in comparison to the control samples, IVD increased antioxidant capacity. The proliferation of bacteria (L. acidophilus) and the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), including propionate and butyrate, were both increased during in vitro fermentation of APF and TPF. Both the flours showed a positive prebiotic activity with the value of <1.50.

The study supports sustainable agriculture and global pollution reduction. Incorporating these by-products into diets might increase the availability of inexpensive, nutritious food choices, improve digestive health and create economic possibilities for food producers and farmers.

The research provides novel information on the bioaccessibility of polyphenols and antioxidants during digestion, and the prebiotic potential APF, which have not been previously documented.

The goal of this study is to better understand the driving force behind the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in pharmaceutical manufacturing firms (PMFs) that are recognized as developing countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region that are listed by the Chambers of the Industries of Jordan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Algeria. Furthermore, the effect of adopting and using AI in managing raw materials (RMs), products, parts, and components for PMFs through supply chains (SCs).

A self-administrated questionnaire survey was used to gather data from 95 out of 511 participating managers (e.g. manufacturing, supplying, IT, operational, and logistical managers) utilizing a quantitative technique with a random sample size. In fact, 18.8% of the 89 different manufacturing firms (MFs) in the MENA area responded, with five to six managers from each company. The raw data was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

The study’s findings show that the readiness to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) in the production management supply chain performance (PMSCP) of pharmaceutical manufacturing firms in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is positively and significantly influenced directly and indirectly by sustainable strategic supplier reliability (SSSR), shipping process dependability (SPD), technological factors (TFs), and infrastructure transformational development capability (ITDC).

As the studied countries are growing economies, such study findings might offer insightful consequences for stakeholders and policymakers regarding the significance of using artificial intelligence system adoptions in pharmaceutical manufacturing enterprises in the MENA region. The managers may also concentrate on the strong positive direct and indirect links between SSSR, SPD, TFs, and ITDC preparedness to accept AI adoption and its applications and systems in supply chain and production management departments and the consequences of informational and product delivery.

Researchers, with the widespread acceptance of Web-based technologies by companies, have recently discovered a new type of social capital through these mass communication tools, but there is still limited knowledge about its formation. Therefore, this study specifically aims to conceptualize and validate brand social capital (BSC) by analyzing the role of the online brand community’s social media capital (OBCSC).

Research data was collected using a questionnaire with 39 closed-ended questions. Participants, among the 220 questionnaires distributed, only returned 140 acceptable questionnaires, indicating a response rate of 64%. The statistical population of the study included managers and employees of e-commerce companies active in social media in the field of B2C who introduce and sell their products and services on various types of social networking websites. This study performed data analysis using structural equation modeling with partial least squares.

The results showed that OBCSC has a positive and significant effect on the integration of brand knowledge, branding co-creation and sense of belonging to the brand community, and in addition, using the mediating role of these three variables, it also has a positive effect on BSC. This study rejects only hypothesis 8 among all the hypotheses formulated, which shows that the sense of belonging to the brand community has no significant effect on branding co-creation.

By conceptualizing a new phenomenon called BSC and how its conversion mechanism is, this research defines a specific and formulated path to better identify the results of the organizational use of social media. In addition, it significantly contributes to increasing managers’ understanding of the importance of online brand community activities in internalizing customer brand knowledge within the company and turning it into wealth.