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As publishers and academia swiftly head towards e-textbooks, it is important to understand how students feel about using e-textbooks as a primary learning tool. This paper discusses results of a small-scale study looking into how a group of language learners view and use e-textbooks as learning tools in ESL classrooms. The paper concludes by offering teaching implications that could ease integrating e-textbooks in language classrooms in a more effective and efficient manner.

The research investigated relations between factors used to evaluate the quality of buyer-supplier relationships (BSRs): perceived performance of the supplier, satisfaction with supplier, and trust in the supplier; and to develop an instrument to evaluate BSRs (a BSRs evaluation scale).

We applied the psychometric testing of the BSRs measurement using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. We applied structural equation modeling (SEM) to understand the interrelations of factors underlying BSRs.

The BSRs evaluation scale consists of three factors: perceived performance of the supplier, satisfaction with the supplier, and trust in the supplier. The results provide empirical evidence of the validity, reliability, and generalizability of the presented measurement.

The study developed a novel measurement instrument that integrates BSRs’ multidimensional constructs. It explains and confirms the significant roles of satisfaction with the supplier, trust in the supplier, and perceived performance of the supplier in shaping the BSRs’ quality. Furthermore, we provide evidence that in BSRs goodwill- and competence-based trust integrate into a single factor.

This study examines the role of technology as a driver of sustainable tourism perceptions among Generation Z.

The work considers the perspective of locals in Pakistan and uses a multi-method, multiphase embedded research design approach.

The research findings demonstrated that technology has a positive correlation with the environmental, socio-cultural and economic dimensions of sustainable tourism perception among Generation Z. Therefore, technology could be considered a dimension of sustainable tourism perception for locals, but perceptions differ significantly depending on the size of the city of the participant. The results of the experimental design phase that utilized picture stimuli demonstrated a linear relationship between technology and sustainability and enhanced their definition and implementation for developing countries.

This research diverges from most past research on these topics by focusing on Generation Z, for whom digital media and technology play a crucial role and for whom these technologies are positively correlated with sustainability and its overall perception. Implications for policies and practices for emerging country governments are provided.

This paper aims to propose a conceptual model of policy components for software that supports modularizing and tailoring of information security policies (ISPs).

This study used a design science research approach, drawing on design knowledge from the field of situational method engineering. The conceptual model was developed as a unified modeling language class diagram using existing ISPs from public agencies in Sweden.

This study’s demonstration as proof of concept indicates that the conceptual model can be used to create free-standing modules that provide guidance about information security in relation to a specific work task and that these modules can be used across multiple tailored ISPs. Thus, the model can be considered as a step toward developing software to tailor ISPs.

The proposed conceptual model bears several short- and long-term implications for research. In the short term, the model can act as a foundation for developing software to design tailored ISPs. In the long term, having software that enables tailorable ISPs will allow researchers to do new types of studies, such as evaluating the software's effectiveness in the ISP development process.

Practitioners can use the model to develop software that assist information security managers in designing tailored ISPs. Such a tool can offer the opportunity for information security managers to design more purposeful ISPs.

The proposed model offers a detailed and well-elaborated starting point for developing software that supports modularizing and tailoring of ISPs.

Congruent with the world-wide call to combat global warming concerns and advance intellectual capital (IC), organisations are being pressured to ensure that IC is managed effectively to encourage green initiatives. In this regard, green entrepreneurial orientation (GEO) is emerged as a relevant IC. GEO is recognised as a mitigating factor of environmental degradation in the literature. Although prior literature has observed the nexus between GEO and firm performance, the role of GEO in leveraging sustainable performance has been limitedly explored. This study explored the relationship between IC as a GEO and enterprises' sustainable performance through the moderating roles of environmental consciousness and green technology dynamism (GTD) in the context of two developing countries (Pakistan and Malaysia).

Data provided by 296 respondents from 264 manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Pakistan and Malaysia were analysed through a three-wave research design. AMOS 23 software was used to perform covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM), while hierarchical regression analysis was applied using the SPSS 25 software to examine the causal relationships in the model.

IC as a GEO significantly influences sustainable performance, akin to environmental consciousness and GTD. Besides, GTD has a significant moderating effect between GEO and financial and environmental performance in Pakistan and Malaysia but not between GEO and social performance. Environmental consciousness has a significant moderating role in the impact of GEO on financial performance in Pakistan and Malaysia, but not on social and environmental performance.

The study's findings are useful for managers of Pakistani and Malaysian manufacturing SMEs to identify ways to encourage GEO to improve sustainable performance in their firms. The findings suggest that managers should effectively implement GTD and environmental consciousness to strengthen the GEO and sustainable performance relationship. Managers can use GEO concretely as a reference for the companies that intend to support the United Nation SDG-2030 agenda and to find new business opportunities for the implementation of sustainable development.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to examine the link between GEO and sustainable performance in developing countries such as Pakistan and Malaysia. Although the influence of various intangible assets or IC on sustainable performance has been widely examined in the literature, the role of GEO as IC has been limitedly explored. This study extends the literature by adding to the knowledge of GEO as a form of firms' IC that enhances boundary conditions in developing countries.

There has been a steady increase in tourism in biosphere reserves necessitating the future thereof to be embedded in sustainability. Communities’ sense of place (SoP) is central to branding destinations within these socio-ecological designations. This study aims to operationalise the branding of a biosphere reserve using a SoP toolkit as the nexus between sustainable tourism and participatory action research.

A qualitative approach using the nominal group technique (NGT) was applied.

The results suggest that sustainability should feature prominently in the process of identifying a community’s SoP in protected areas and that place meaning plays a pivotal role in place making, like branding, of protected areas.

The paper furthers the discourse of practise-academic research in sustainable tourism settings. To this effect, a sense and care of place toolkit is proposed.

This research aims to contribute to the ongoing debate on the prospective advantages of implementing accrual accounting in countries where such a transition is underway, with a focus on Italian municipalities. The research seeks to ascertain the requisite conditions, in public sector accounting mangers’ perception, for a useful transition from modified cash accounting to full accrual accounting within the Italian context.

The methodology adopted is Qualitative Comparative Analysis, which involves conducting a survey through semi-structured interviews with accounting managers in municipal accounting departments. The sample is drawn from municipalities in the Emilia-Romagna region with populations exceeding 15,000 inhabitants.

The study shows that some stakeholders have a tangible demand for financial statement information. They believe that accrual accounting statements provide accurate insights into municipal financial health and that these statements are comparable across municipalities. All these factors together constitute sufficient conditions for considering useful the implementation of accrual accounting in local governments, in the opinion of public sector accounting managers.

This paper contextualises the broader international debate on transitioning to full accrual accounting in the New Institutional Sociology framework. The Qualitative Comparative Analysis is an underutilised methodology within the field of public sector accounting, and the public sector accounting managers’ point of view is scarcely investigated in literature.

This study analyses to what extent politicians use public sector entities' financial statements along with the politicians' perceptions of the usefulness of such statements in the politicians' decision-making. The authors analyze financial statements' use and usefulness when the statements are prepared on a modified accrual basis and in the setting where there is the intention of full accrual accounting adoption. In addition, this study provides information about the use of the individual components of financial statements and investigates the reasons why the statements may not be used.

This study was conducted using a questionnaire. The authors surveyed politicians that are members of Croatian public sector bodies. To conduct this research, the politicians were contacted by telephone over the period from February to April 2022.

The findings of this study are of potential interest to researchers, regulators and policy makers. The findings show that most politicians use financial statements, but the politicians' perception of the statements' usefulness when the statements are prepared on a modified accrual accounting basis is greater than the politicians' actual use of the statements. The findings also show that in the process of making decisions, politicians use the selected financial statements that contain information of interest to the politicians; that the politicians tend to gravitate to the use of reports on revenue, expenses, receipts and expenditure prepared on modified accrual bases which are closer to budgetary reporting; that the politicians use the information that supports the politicians' sphere of responsibility as enforced by legislation.

This study provides insights into the use and usefulness of financial statements in public sector setting where modified accrual accounting is used to prepare the statements and reports. This study provides additional evidence on the significance of legal setting to the financial reporting in public sector.

Short-term rentals (STRs) (like Airbnb) are reshaping social behaviour, notably in gastronomy, altering how people dine while travelling. This study delves into revenue management, examining the impact of seasonality and dining options near guests’ Airbnb. Machine Learning analysis of Airbnb data suggests owners enhance revenue strategies by adjusting prices seasonally, taking nearby food amenities into account.

This study analysed 220 Airbnb establishments from Madrid, Spain, using consistent monthly price data from Seetransparent and environment variables from MapInfo GIS. The Machine Learning algorithm calculated average prices, determined seasonal prices, applied factor analysis to categorise months and used cluster analysis to identify tourism-dwelling typologies with similar seasonal behaviour, considering nearby supermarkets/restaurants by factors such as proximity and availability of food options.

The findings reveal seasonal variations in three groups, using Machine Learning to improve revenue management: Group 1 has strong autumn-winter patterns and fewer restaurants; Group 2 shows higher spring seasonality, likely catering to tourists, and has more restaurants, while Group 3 has year-round stability, fewer supermarkets and active shops, potentially affecting local restaurant dynamics. Food establishments in these groups may need to adapt their strategies accordingly to capitalise on these seasonal trends.

Current literature lacks information on how seasonality, rental housing and proximity to amenities are interconnected. The originality of this study is to fill this gap by enhancing the STR price predictive model through a Machine Learning study. By examining seasonal trends, rental housing dynamics, and the proximity of supermarkets and restaurants to STR properties, the research enhances our understanding and predictions of STR price fluctuations, particularly in relation to the availability and demand for food options.

The objective of this research was to test the effect of information and communication technology (ICT) resources, library facilities, teacher lecturing skills and physical classroom environment on student satisfaction and university image. This paper also sought to contribute to the existing body of knowledge by confirming the role of student satisfaction as a mediator among the stated factors and university image.

Data were collected from 314 students at higher education institutions (HEIs) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) using a survey instrument. Throughout the data analysis stage, the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed in order to validate the research instrument and test the hypotheses.

The findings verified that teacher lecturing skills and ICT resources have a positive effect on both student satisfaction and university image. Moreover, the study revealed that the library facilities and physical classroom environment positively affect both student satisfaction and university image. Lastly, the analysis showed that student satisfaction mediates the link between the stated factors and university image.

This paper adds to the published literature by investigating the direct and indirect effects of teacher lecturing skills, ICT resources, physical classroom environment and library facilities on university image via student satisfaction at HEIs in the UAE. This study is the first to integrate all of these factors into a single research model.