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Large supermarket chains are adopting customer-service robots to improve service delivery in physical stores. Successful deployment of these robots depends on shoppers' willingness to interact with them, requiring an understanding of influencing factors. This study, grounded in the Cognitive-Affective-Normative (CAN) theory, seeks to systematically explore the factors influencing Gen Z shoppers' willingness to interact with customer-service robots.

A hybrid approach combining Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA) was employed to analyze survey data collected from 945 Gen Zs in the Czech Republic.

The results from SEM highlight significant cognitive, normative, and affective factors that influence the intention of Gen Z shoppers to interact with a customer-service robot. Specifically, cognitive factors such as effort and performance expectancy, along with normative factors like subjective norms, emerged as critical determinants. Furthermore, affective factors such as technology anxiety and positive emotions significantly influence users' readiness to use customer-service robots for service requests. The study also underscores that positive emotions, effort expectancy, performance expectancy, and subjective norms are vital prerequisites for interacting with customer-service robots.

The originality of this work lies in its two significant contributions to the burgeoning field of SRs in retail literature. First, it extends the CAN theory to the context of SRs among Gen Z shoppers in Czechia, thereby enriching the existing literature on SRs in retail. Second, by employing a hybrid analytical approach, our research offers both empirical and methodological advancements, providing rigorous insights crucial for enhancing the understanding of the pivotal factors influencing shoppers' interactions with SRs in physical store environments.

This study aims to examine the three dimensions of market orientation, namely, customer orientation, competitor orientation and inter-function coordination, which influence the accountability in the financial and social performance of tourism operators in large touristic cities.

In total, 95 usable questionnaires as the required data were collected from the top managers of four- and five-star hotels in Iran.

Partial least squares (PLS) results confirm that customer orientation and inter-function coordination influence both the financial and social performance of the hospitality sector yet reveal that competitor orientation has no significant relationship with social performance.

These findings not only highlight the compatibility of PLS with various forms of statistical analyzes but also furthers the current understanding of hospitality networks in megacity economies, where literature are scarce.

The findings of this study can help policymakers, tourism associations and practitioners enhance the accountability and sustainable financial and social performance of the hospitality industry in megacities. This study proposes some unique measurements for the social and financial performance of the hospitality sectors.

The paper states some new measurements for the social performance of the hospitality sectors. In addition, measuring the impacts of market orientation on the financial and social aspects of hotels is totally unique.

The study aims to examine the independence and effectiveness of the Shariah department officers of the Islamic banks in Bangladesh as the Shariah supervisory board (SSB) provides the annual Shariah report and Shariah resolutions based on the reports of the Shariah department officers.

The study applied a qualitative case study to achieve the research objectives. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with the regulators, Shariah supervisory boards, Shariah department executives, and experts from the central bank and Islamic banks of Bangladesh.

The study illustrates that Shariah department officers/Shariah officers in Bangladesh seem to lack independence and decision-making authority in accomplishing ex-post Shariah governance functions (i.e. Shariah audit, Shariah compliance and Shariah review) as well as ensuring Shariah compliance. The Shariah officers cannot work spontaneously on practical issues without any interference. The Shariah officers also have to answer to the management regarding their Shariah functions and are not allowed to come up with any opinions without the authority’s authorization.

The study has significant contributions to the central bank and Islamic banks in Bangladesh. This research suggests that regulators, SSB, and Islamic banks should focus on ensuring Shariah compliance and protecting the independence of Shariah department officers as they are mainly related to practical monitoring of Shariah issues. It also suggests that Shariah department officers should directly report to SSB rather than the management regarding Shariah’s compliance and audit issues.

This study is unique in the context of Bangladesh and the global context as a whole for Shariah department officers.

The study aims to investigate the reasons behind the growing diverse practices of Shariah governance (SG) among Islamic banks in Bangladesh.

Data has been collected through a semi-structured interview process from the concerned authorities (Shariah supervisory board members, Shariah department officers, central bank executives and banking professional experts) related to SG and Islamic banks in Bangladesh. The data has been analyzed by NVivo software.

The results of the study show that SG mechanisms are different due to the lack of unique comprehensive SG guidelines and the absence of a Centralized Shariah Supervisory Board (CSSB) under the Central Bank. The self-developed practices, the diversified opinions and viewpoints of the Board of Directors (BOD), banks' policies, business motivations and profit intention are also responsible for diversified SG practices. The diverse understandings and explanations of Shariah, Madhab (school of thought) and rulings are also responsible for the different practices of SG in Bangladesh.

The study has unique implications for the regulatory authorities and Islamic banks in Bangladesh. The study explored the diverse reasons for numerous applications of SG guidelines which will be beneficial for the central bank and regulators to resolve the issues by outlying unique SG guidelines.

This study outlines the reasons for dissimilar practices of SG by the Islamic banks in Bangladesh, which will be beneficial for Islamic banks and the central bank of Bangladesh.

Sharīʿah Secretariat plays a significant role in assisting Sharīʿah Supervisory Boards (SSBs) in their role in achieving Sharīʿah compliance in Islamic banks (IBs). The key objective of the study is to develop a organizational framework of the Sharīʿah Secretariat for the IBs in Bangladesh.

The study applied qualitative case study research. The data have been collected from 17 respondents through semi-structured interviews from IBs and professional experts in Bangladesh.

This study proposes a full-time Sharīʿah Secretariat and several departments for further enhancement of the Sharīʿah functions in IBs in Bangladesh. The framework proposed in this study covers the formation, functions, composition, qualification, reporting line, independence, remuneration and terms of appointment of the Sharīʿah Secretariat to set a uniform benchmark for all IBs in Bangladesh. It is anticipated that the outcomes of this research will assist to further strengthen the Sharīʿah governance of IBs in Bangladesh.

This research contributed to the national and global regulatory authorities and IBs by proposing a Sharīʿah Secretariat framework for the smooth functioning of the IBs in Bangladesh. The framework proposed in this study covers the formation, functions, composition, qualification, reporting line, independence, remuneration and terms of appointment of Sharīʿah Secretariat.

This study proposed a framework which is considered the first organizational framework so far for the Sharīʿah Secretariat of IBs in Bangladesh. IBs can apply this proposed framework to form their Sharīʿah Secretariat structure.

Islamic crowdfunding, an alternative way to finance social projects, is a new development in Malaysia. Little is known about its operation. This study aims to explore the practice of Nusa Kapital, the first Islamic crowdfunding platform in Malaysia.

This study adopted a descriptive approach. The data was collected through document analysis and interviews with two officials of Nusa Kapital. The data gathered was analyzed through the thematic analysis technique.

This research discovered that Nusa Kapital was established considering the financing needs of the growing number of small medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. It uses the murabahah concept to make financing arrangements for entrepreneurs. Murabahah is a debt-based concept where the investors, instead of giving cash to the entrepreneurs, purchase an asset and sell it to them at a cost-plus profit. The Securities Commission Malaysia (SCM) regulates the crowdfunding operation of Nusa Kapital, which sets guidelines for the different types of investors, entrepreneurs and platforms. Nusa Kapital conducts an extensive background check of the company for its creditworthiness and takes the necessary measures for the transparency of the project's operation.

This study has unique implications for the regulatory authorities and practitioners in Malaysia and global industries. The study explored the practical scenario of the crowdfunding institution, which will be beneficial for similar industries within and outside of the country.

While previous literature provides a theoretical discussion of Islamic crowdfunding, this study contributes to the body of knowledge by demonstrating its practice.

This study aims to evaluate the current educational opportunities available to hermaphrodite (Hijra) students, analyze their difficulties while pursuing academic degrees and suggest potential approaches to address these issues.

This research used a qualitative method to analyze the challenges Hijra individuals face in pursuing education. A total of 20 interviews were conducted with two Hijra groups those who are pursuing an education and those who have abandoned it to collect primary data. The purposive sampling technique was used to identify and choose diverse sources of information. Moreover, the phenomena have been comprehended using the Access Theory and the Gender Stratification Theory.

The findings show that although every Bangladeshi has the right to a decent education, few Hijra youngsters attend schools. Numerous barriers, such as discriminatory views and remarks about third-gender people, physical and mental harassment, a lack of emotional and financial support, family issues, discrimination in the school community and hostility from classmates and teachers, make it difficult for hermaphrodite students to receive a proper education.

This research paper fills a gap in the current body of knowledge by presenting empirical evidence regarding young people’s perceptions of the third-gender, the societal barriers faced by Hijra individuals in their pursuit of quality education, their future opportunities, the root causes of these challenges and possible solutions.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influences of Shariah governance (SG) mechanisms on Islamic banks' performance and Shariah compliance quality in the context of Bangladesh.

A semi-structured personal interview tactic was applied to accomplish the research objectives. The data were collected from the regulators, Shariah supervisory boards, Shariah department executives and Shariah experts from the Central Bank (Bangladesh Bank) and Islamic banks in Bangladesh.

The study discovers that the quality of the Board of Directors (BODs), Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB), management and Shariah executives have both positive and negative influences on the Shariah compliance quality, image, goodwill and performance of Islamic banks' in Bangladesh. The compositions, formations and quality of SSB and Shariah officers positively influence the Islamic banks' fatwas, Shariah decisions, compliance quality and firm performance. The study also finds that prevailing banking pressure, current political situation, the willingness of BOD and management and social limitations impact Islamic banks' performance, Shariah compliance quality, image and goodwill.

Based on our findings, if the regulators, BODs and Islamic banks can manage effective and efficient executives, it will create a positive impact on Islamic banks' performance, image, goodwill and quality compliance. As the prevailing banking pressure, current political situation and social limitations hinder the functions and employment system of the Islamic banks as well as result the Islamic banks' image, performance, Shariah implementations and compliance. Thus, the theorist needs to consider these mechanisms in extending the agency, stakeholder and resource dependence theories.

This research extends the literature concerning the influences of Islamic banks' SG mechanisms in Bangladesh. The study also argued not only the efficient and effective mechanisms but also the prevailing banking pressure, current political situation and social limitations impact on Islamic banks' performance and Shariah compliance quality.