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Small talk, often regarded as a superficial interaction unrelated to work, is a pervasive and inescapable aspect of daily life and professional settings. In China, where the notion of guanxi – the cultivation of strategic relationships – is deeply valued, workplace small talk (WST) is a strategic tool used by employees to strengthen their interpersonal networks. This study aims to investigate the positive impact of WST on task performance within the Chinese workplace and explores the mechanisms underpinning this relationship.

This study adopted a time-lagged research design to test its hypotheses using data from 516 employees across various Chinese firms.

This study revealed that WST exerts both direct and indirect positive effects on task performance. It boosts task performance indirectly via two mediators: relational energy and positive affect. This study also delineated a chain mediation model wherein WST sequentially elevates task performance by first enhancing relational energy and then fostering positive affect.

Counter to the prevailing focus on the negative repercussions of WST, this study sheds light on its beneficial outcomes, proposing novel pathways connecting WST to task performance. These insights contribute to both academic discourse and the development of practical management strategies.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, immigrants faced new challenges that increased their precarity which often perpetuated existing social and health-related inequities. This compounded inadequate access to healthcare, harsh working conditions, marginalization due to legal status and fear of deportation, all of which were worsened during the height of the pandemic. This article aims to examine how existing social factors that marginalize immigrant populations were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic based on a study with immigrant farmworkers in Apopka, Florida.

The author analyzes how they were affected by stress both before and during the pandemic, and how these factors affected their mental health.

The author concludes that im/migrants’ often precarious status negatively affects their experiences with mental health, and that this was heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the long-term nature of precarity for this vulnerable population, this study captures these issues as they were experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This research contributes to emerging scholarship concerning social factors and mental health during the pandemic by examining the experiences of one of the most marginal populations in the United States.

The purpose of this study was to explore employees’ perceptions and firsthand experiences of the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) productivity tools, specifically Microsoft 365 Copilot, on individual and collective learning processes within a multinational corporation. In doing so, the study provides insights into how these tools can shape workplace learning dynamics, fostering both individual skill development and collaborative knowledge-sharing practices.

The authors collected responses from 357 participants through a survey that included both multiple-choice and open-ended questions. This study focuses exclusively on the qualitative responses. The reflexive thematic analysis method was used to capture and interpret employees’ perceptions of the role of Microsoft 365 Copilot – a generative AI-powered assistant integrated into the Microsoft 365 suite of applications (e.g., Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams) – in enhancing their work and learning opportunities in the workplace.

The results highlight four key themes contributing to workplace learning. At the individual level, Task Support illustrates the extent to which generative AI productivity tools transform work practices and facilitate both formal and informal learning pathways, while Meaningful Work underscores the tools’ role in enhancing employees’ foundational knowledge through enriched information. At the organisational level, organisational culture suggests the importance of fostering a supportive environment for AI integration, while organisational socialisation highlights its influence on team cohesion and the informal knowledge-sharing processes essential for effective collaboration within and among team members.

The results of this study offer actionable insights for organisations integrating generative AI productivity tools in the workplace. Understanding employees’ perceptions of the role of AI in workplace learning can inform the design of targeted training programmes that promote individual skill development and foster collaborative knowledge sharing. Furthermore, a supportive organisational culture that positions AI as a complementary resource can improve employee engagement, reduce resistance to new technologies and encourage a growth-oriented mindset, ultimately driving both personal and organisational development.

This study shifts the narrative around the role of AI in the workplace by examining how generative AI productivity tools can enhance workplace learning at both individual and organisational levels, rather than focusing solely on their potential to disrupt work through displacement and automation. By positioning AI-based applications as complementary to human work, this approach highlights their potential as enablers of skill development, knowledge sharing and job enrichment, fostering a more adaptive and learning-oriented work environment.

Market share gain is one of the key objectives for all firms for seeking growth. It is also a fundamental aspect of competitive rivalry. The extant review of the literature points to a gap among market share performances of emerging market multinationals (EMNEs) firms, advanced economy multinationals (AMNEs) and local firms. The purpose of this study is to delineate and contrast the market share performance of EMNEs, AMNEs and local firms in Africa.

The study used available longitudinal data (2013–2022) of six industries across four African countries from Euromonitor Passport, a rich, proprietary database.

Applying contingency theory, the study shows that, over time, there is no clear-cut winner in all markets and industries. Rather, market share gain is contingent on country and industry settings in Africa. Empirical analysis demonstrates that high-tech EMNE firms operating in Africa will exceed those of high-tech AMNEs and local firms. The findings also show that local firms generally performed better during the pandemic.

As Africa is a region of interest for scholars and practitioners, critical international business (IB) research contributions in Africa have predominantly focused on foreign investments from a particular nation. The present study enriches the literature by comparing the market share performance of AMNEs, EMNEs and local firms in this important region – during and prepandemic. The study offers theoretical and managerial implications for understanding the long-term performance of these three types of firms.

The aim of the research reported here was to determine how Lithuanian citizens engaged in information-seeking behaviour in response to the stress caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

An interview survey was designed, using a semi-structured interview schedule. A convenience sample of 21 participants was obtained and the interviews lasted between 20 and 70 min. The schedule design was guided by the transactional theory of stress and coping and employed the Perceived Stress Scale.

A majority of participants experienced moderate to high levels of stress associated with the war in Ukraine. Information seeking and discussing information found with family members and friends played a significant role in helping to moderate stress. Most of the participants understood more than one language and, consequently, were able to compare local information sources with international sources. Only five participants were active users of social media, the rest were critical of these sources. All participants valued those sources they believed to be reliable and truthful.

The small convenience sample of educated urban participants limits generalizability but provides indicative findings for future investigations into information behaviour during prolonged international conflicts.

The study highlights the importance of media literacy in managing psychological stress during geopolitical tensions, demonstrating how strategic information seeking and social support can serve as effective coping mechanisms.

The research reveals psychological impacts of war beyond direct conflict zones, illustrating how communities develop collective emotional resilience through informed, critically engaged information practices.

The study provides unique insights by examining war-related stress in a neighbouring country not directly experiencing conflict, applying stress-coping theory to understand intricate information-seeking behaviours during a geopolitical crisis.

This study aims to investigate the impact of market competitiveness on investment efficiency, and the moderating role of ownership and regulatory structures.

In this study, the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI), Lerner Index (LI) and industry-adjusted Lerner Index (LIIA) were used to measure market competitiveness. The research population consisted of companies listed on Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). Using a systematic elimination, 199 companies were selected within eight years during 2014–2021.

The results showed that market competitiveness (based on the LI, LIIA and HHI) positively affected investment efficiency. Moreover, institutional ownership and managerial ownership affected the relationship between market competitiveness (based on all proxies of market competitiveness) and investment efficiency. Blockholders’ ownership also moderated the relationship between market competitiveness (based on LIIA and HHI) and investment efficiency. The hypothesis testing had robustness based on additional analyses.

In recent years, competitive environment and the ownership structure of companies have changed to a certain degree, paving the way for the private sector to enter many areas of activity especially in emerging Asian markets. Moreover, investment drivers and investment efficiency in developed markets may not be generalized to emerging Asian markets. Therefore, the present findings can show the significance of this research to fill the existing gap in the literature and provide insights into ownership and regulatory structures as a governance mechanism in market competitiveness and investment efficiency.

This study aims to explore the constituents of artificial intelligence (AI)-augmented knowledge management (AIKM) capability and its impact on clinical performance (CP) in the health-care sector. It further examines the mediating role of absorptive capacity (Abs Cap) and discusses the implications of these findings for marketing strategies, highlighting how enhanced CP through AIKM can lead to more effective and patient-centered marketing approaches.

This research uses a mixed-method design. A qualitative study through semi-structured interviews was conducted to explore the facets of AIKM. The synthesis of qualitative findings infused with the relevant literature to develop a hypothesized model of AKM, Abs cap and CP metrics (e.g. diagnostic accuracy, patient satisfaction and treatment effectiveness). A survey of health-care professional in India was conducted to assess the proposed model by using structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

The results demonstrate a significant positive relationship between AIKM and CP. Moreover, Abs Cap mediates this relationship partially, highlighting its crucial role in translating improved knowledge access and analysis enabled by AI into enhanced clinical outcomes.

The findings suggest that health-care organizations should invest in developing AIKM alongside strengthening Abs cap to maximize the positive impact of AI on CP and ultimately improve patient care. Future research can explore specific AIKM components and Abs cap facets influencing different aspects of CP.

This study represents a pioneering effort to conceptualize AIKM within the health-care context and empirically establish it as a higher-order factor. The inclusion of marketing strategies underscores the potential of AIKM not only in improving clinical outcomes but also in transforming health-care marketing. The mediating role of Abs Cap emphasizes the importance of organizational structures and processes that facilitate the absorption and utilization of knowledge, thereby contributing to both clinical and marketing excellence.

Taking instances from extant findings from the literature, the study aims to examine the community perception toward renewable energy (RE) off-grid (mini-grid/microgrid) intervention, the underlying rationales for engagement of communities in RE off-grid projects, the different alternatives/models to engage communities in various phases of RE off-grid project deployment.

The study has followed the structured literature review to explore the identified research question of the study.

Based on findings from the review, the framework for effective community engagement in RE mini-grid projects is suggested. Furthermore, the study also draws suggestions and implications for future research and practice.

Based on such understanding the present study offers the framework which suggests the steps for the engagement of the communities in the off-grid projects. The key steps are managing the perception of the community (including generation of awareness among the community), planning for the benefits of the community, linkage the sustainable development goals (SDG), planning for the inclusion of the community and measuring performance (in the line of social and economic criteria and SDG).

This study finds the gap in the literature on the nexus of community, off-grid energy projects and SDG. Following the findings from the scholars in this field, a few gaps in the policy and practice have been highlighted which could be useful for practitioners and policymakers in this area.

This study examines the status of women’s empowerment and its socio-economic determinants based on living conditions across 22 Indian states and Union Territories by constructing a composite women empowerment index of six components including women participation in three household decisions(%) based on data from the National Family Health Survey(NFHS)-5, Phase I.

We carry out a principal component analysis (PCA) for constructing a women empowerment index based on the above six indicators using a correlation matrix. Then we apply a static panel data approach to find out the role of socio-economic determinants such as per capita income (State level per capita GDP), years of schooling, the underage marriage of girls, the standard of living conditions such as access to safe drinking water, sanitization facility, use of iodized salt, etc.

The constructed composite index based on PCA determines one composite index for each time period, that is 2015–2016 and 2019–2020. The static panel regression is run for the composite index and six components of the index. The regression results considering eight socioeconomic and living conditions parameters demonstrate that the variables like the use of clean fuel cooking, the underage marriage of women, access to improved sanitation facility have an important impact in explaining variations in women empowerment over the years.

The major observations of this study in understanding the status and determinants of women empowerment across Indian states clearly show that women education is the key to improving women empowerment apart from several living condition variables.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-01-2023-0015

This paper aims to explore the barriers and facilitators to psychosocial well-being among ethnic Nepali Bhutanese American older adults from the perspective of health care and service providers working with this population. Specifically, the authors aimed to understand health-care and service providers’ perceptions of the psychosocial well-being in this community and appropriate interventions.

Qualitative research methods were used to collect and analyze data in collaboration with a community-based organization. A total of ten participants were interviewed. Interviews were conducted in either English or Nepali, based on participant preference. An inductive thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the data.

Three major themes were generated from the analysis. The first two were in reference to perceived barriers to mental well-being among Bhutanese American older adults: isolation that older adults faced in the USA and shifting responsibilities and lifestyles that arose from the cultural and structural barriers in the USA. Throughout these themes, there was an understanding that acculturation threatened families’ connections to each other and impacted older adults’ connections with younger generations. The third theme, a perceived facilitator of well-being, was the power of storytelling to counteract feelings of isolation and disempowerment caused by shifting lifestyles felt by older adults, especially amid community events.

Bhutanese American older adults, many of whom have limited English proficiency, face numerous challenges, psychosocial stressors and factors contributing to well-being. Care for this population should prioritize dignity, empowerment and the incorporation of strengths within their narratives. Interventions and services tailored for older Bhutanese American adults need to be adapted to integrate multiple care systems.