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This study aims to investigate the essential components needed to develop a practical mobile application for providing library services to its users.

The study was conducted in a descriptive-survey format. The statistical population constituted the libraries worldwide using mobile applications to provide library services to the users of academic and public libraries. The data were collected through the content-analysis method, World Wide Web and checklists.

It was found that services such as search, ask a librarian, database, renew, circulation and library hours were frequently used at academic libraries, while the services of search, search through barcode scanners and database were mostly common at public libraries. According to the users of academic and public libraries, circulation and renew, search, ask a librarian and library hours were considered as the most essential services to be included in library mobile applications.

Most libraries usually use mobile apps subjectively. Thus, it is important to identify the most important components of their usage and present them in a suitable pattern. The findings of this study identified the most important components in the design and development of mobile apps and proposed the right model for their integration into libraries.

The practical mobile application proposed here for library services is applicable to all types of libraries and provides an appropriate pattern for mobile application designers.

This survey aims to provide an appropriate prototype for the Digital Reference Desk of the National Library of Iran.

Using a content analysis method, 33 digital reference desks of the national libraries around the world which offer their services in English are examined. A checklist was used to gather data based on specialists' points of view.

The findings show that specialists suggested 21 features were important and crucial to be included in the model.

The results in the paper reveal that there is a considerable difference between the present situation of the digital reference desks studied and the optimum situation suggested by Iranian specialists.

The purpose of this empirical research is to understand the application of Lean practices (technical and social) and tools in the service sector, whose implementation is less studied, despite its economic relevance. The study aims to extend previous studies that focused on the relationship between Lean and operational and financial performance, and analyzing the impact on sustainability, encompassing economic, social and environmental perspectives.

A pilot survey was conducted with Lean experts in European service companies. The authors have utilized various professional contacts on LinkedIn and a satisfactory response rate was obtained for analysis.

The results of the study showed that there are several motivating factors for the implementation of Lean, the highlights being improving customer satisfaction, efficiency, delivery and cost reduction. The most frequently used Lean tools are related to the identification of improvement opportunities and causes of problems. The pilot survey also made it possible to identify the greater use of technical practices than social practices. The sustainability performance analysis showed that the better performance of service companies is in the economic dimension.

The authors have identified no empirical studies linking Lean and sustainable performance in the service sector. This study bridges this cognitive gap through a pilot study and therefore makes an original contribution to the current literature.

This study aims to highlight the importance of intellectual capital (IC) for the operation of waqf (Islamic endowment) institutions, as few studies have discussed this issue in relation to non-profit religious organisations, particularly waqf organisations. Consequently, this study hopes to contribute to the development of waqf institutions in terms of human capital proficiency, the efficiency of operations and the effectiveness and sustainability of performance.

The authors reviewed a significant body of relevant studies written on various aspects of IC, to highlight the significance of considering IC in the operation of non-profit organisations (NPOs) and waqf institutions.

This study highlights the importance of IC in the operation of waqf institutions. It provides a platform that facilitates understanding of the existing obstacles and challenges in waqf institutions (such as lack of accountability, lack of funding, mismanagement and lack of trained labour, among others) and offers potential solutions through the consideration of knowledge and IC.

This study is a conceptual analysis of IC in the context of NPOs. Future studies should conduct empirical testing, which will provide more detailed discussion and enriching insights into the issue of IC and the performance of NPOs, particularly in the case of waqf institutions.

This study provides several important implications for waqf institutions and other NPOs, as it sheds light on the consideration of knowledge and IC in their operations.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to discuss the issues of waqf in the light of IC and provide an integrated framework for the operation of waqf institutions.

Existing research on knowledge management processes (KMPs) and absorptive capacity (ACAP) is primarily conceptual and descriptive in nature, and empirical research confirming the real impact of KMPs when developing ACAP is lacking. Furthermore, the relationship between ACAP and organizational performance (OP) has not been adequately studied. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to introduce a comprehensive, delineated and integrated conceptual model which encompasses KMPs, ACAP and OP. Then, an empirical investigation is undertaken to test the relationships among the proposed study model variables.

In total, 245 questionnaires were useable. Partial least square 3.3.3 is utilized to examine the validity of the measurement model and test the hypotheses.

The findings of this study suggest that KMPs influence ACAP and ACAP affects OP. Finally, the results show that KMPs affect OP directly and indirectly through ACAP (mediator).

The results of this study help managers to ascertain the managerial practices that can be employed as well as determine the level of effort and resources necessary to enhance ACAP. Additionally, managers should shed additional light on the ACAP's positive implications for OP.

This study focuses on the conceptualization of KMP and empirically tests the effect of these individual processes on ACAP and on OP. Finally, the relationship between KMPs and OP, although implied, needs to be addressed empirically in the research literature through utilizing ACAP as mediator between KMPs and OP, this appears to be the first study to try to achieve this main objective.

Several previous studies showed strong social stigma toward mental illness patients from the health-care providers (HCPs) in Saudi Arabia. This stigma affects the level of care provided by HCPs. Stigma is a major barrier in treating schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients. Thus, it is important to clarify the difference regarding the social stigma between both diagnoses. This study aimed to identify and compare the existence of social stigma among HCPs towards schizophrenia patients compared to OCD patients.

A total of 283 HCPs from King Abdullah Medical City (KAMC), Makkah, Saudi Arabia, were enrolled in this cross-sectional questionnaire-based study between middle and end of January 2021. The scale included a demographic questionnaire plus two vignette cases reflecting OCD and schizophrenia patients’ symptoms without mentioning diagnosis. Each case was followed with 18 questions, which measured some of the thoughts and attitudes of the social stigma of mental illnesses including negative stereotypes, discrimination, social distancing and emotional and cognitive prejudices against mental illness patients. The scale was validated by a pilot study (which included 15 other participants) with acceptable validity and reliability (Cronbach’s alpha: 81.4%).

Most participants’ responses were “low” in the total score of their stigma score for both diagnosis [OCD (84.1%), mean ± SD (1.15  ±  0.366) and schizophrenia (74.2%), mean ± SD (1.25  ±  0.438)]. However, those who responded “high” in their stigma score regarding the schizophrenia section were higher in their number than those who responded “high” in the OCD section (25.8% vs 15.9%). Most participants had “low” total stigma scores for both diagnoses [OCD (84.1%), mean ± SD (1.15  ±  0.366) and schizophrenia (74.2%), mean ± SD (1.25  ±  0.438)]. However, of those with “high” stigma score responses, more were for the schizophrenia section compared to the OCD section (25.8% vs 15.9%). Being flexible to recruit any of them was more related to promoting them if they deserve promotion. The sample that answered wrong regarding OCD vignette diagnosis and had “high” stigma score was higher (n = 40) than the sample that answered correctly and had “high” stigma score (n = 5). In contrast, the sample that answered wrong regarding the schizophrenia case diagnosis and had “high” stigma score (n = 41) was not significantly different in terms of its number compared to the one that answered correctly and had “high” stigma score (n = 32).

One aspect that reduces the strength of this study is that the target number of the participants could not be reached, meaning a 95% confidence level with a ±5% margin of error could not be reached. Another limitation is the lack of contact between HCPs at the KAMC in Makkah with mental illness patients owing to lack of psychiatric inpatient departments. However, this limitation may be a strength for this study, as we were able to primarily measure medical HCPs rather than psychiatric HCPs. Although the vignette methodology in stigma studies has many benefits, the participants do not respond to real patients, and therefore miss appearance and other nonverbal cues that are typically present in real interactions.

The social stigma level among HCPs against schizophrenia patients is higher than that against OCD patients. The factor of knowing the diagnosis of the case has a positive effect on decreasing stigma toward OCD patients but not toward schizophrenia patients. Educational awareness about stigma against mental illness patients to HCPs, rather than focusing on increasing literature knowledge, may decrease stigma among HCPs.

There has been remained a supporting linkage between the sustainable performance and the green supply chain through quality management practices. However, the main objective or aim of this research study is to understand the green supply chain and its role in lean manufacturing and analyze its impact on the performance of Thailand’s garment industry, whereas there is a need to analyze the mediating role of lean manufacturing practices (LMP) and green supply management on environmental performance of garment industry. In this case, the data were assembled through a survey questionnaire, in which questions regarding LMP were asked. The selected sample size for this research study was 411 employees that belonged to garment firms in Thailand, in which 56.4% were men and 43.6% were women. The researchers analyzed the data through different techniques and procedures such as confirmatory factors analysis, structural equation modeling (SEM), discriminant validity and other related techniques. The results of the research indicated that there is a significant impact of 4.0 technologies on environmental performance, whereas both of these, the green and the lean management practices also play a significant mediating role, because all the hypothesis are accepted. Moreover, it is recommended for future researchers to use other techniques to analyze data.

Lean implementation has become popular over the past three decades in the industry and is becoming more prevalent in, service organizations. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of social and technical Lean practices on sustainable performance (i.e. economic, environmental and social) in service organizations.

The methodology includes the analysis of global results obtained from 139 managers from the service sector.

The results demonstrate that Lean practices have a positive effect on the three perspectives of sustainable performance, regardless of the company size and duration of Lean implementation. Furthermore, both social and technical Lean practices have a similar impact on environmental and economic performance, but their impact on social performance differs, since social Lean practices have a stronger impact on social performance.

This study has a significant contribution to Lean practitioners in service sectors, as it demonstrates that efforts to apply Lean practices can benefit economic results as well as environmental and social performance.

Majority of existing studies focused on the isolated impact of Lean on one of the triple bottom line performance aspects and with a scarcity of studies within the context of services. The intersection of these three strategic areas – Lean, sustainability and services – has not been extensively addressed. There is also a lack of studies that observe sustainability in environmental, social and economic performance, mainly in the service sector.

Financial problems of football clubs during economic crises (such as COVID-19 pandemic) highlight the necessity of achieving economic sustainability. In addition, the economic sustainability of football clubs is accepted as a principle of the development of sports business. Therefore, it is reasonable to conduct a study with the aim of examining economic sustainability in the field of sports club management.

The present study adopted a qualitative approach to research and used semi-structured interviews in order to develop a framework for the economic sustainability of football clubs. A total of 13 members of football clubs in the Iranian premier league participated in this study.

The findings highlighted the fact that a number of factors, including media and social networks, entrepreneurship and development of club business, commercialization of the club, privatization, investment and ownership, strategic communication plan, financial management and management instability, promoted the economic sustainability of football clubs and improved their financial performance.

This study highlighted the importance of the changes in the structure of football clubs and the strategic plans for promoting entrepreneurship and commercialization. Moreover, it underlined the major role of the environmental and management components of football clubs in their financial sustainability.

This paper aims to present a numerical investigation into heat transfer and entropy generation resulting from magnetohydrodynamic laminar flow through a microchannel under asymmetric boundary conditions. Furthermore, the authors consider the effects of viscous dissipation and Joule heating.

The finite difference method is used to obtain the numerical solution. Simulations are conducted across a broad range of Hartmann (Ha = 0 ∼ 40) and Brinkman (Br = 0.01 ∼ 1) numbers, along with various asymmetric isothermal boundaries characterized by a heating ratio denoted as ϕ.

The findings indicate a significant increase in the Nusselt number with increasing Hartmann number, regardless of whether Br equals zero or not. In addition, it is demonstrated that temperature differences between the microchannel walls can lead to substantial distortions in fluid temperature distribution and heat transfer. The results reveal that the maximum entropy generation occurs at the highest values of Ha and η (a dimensionless parameter emerging from the formulation) obtained for ϕ = −1. Moreover, it is observed that local entropy generation rates are highest near the channel wall at the entrance region.

The study provides valuable insights into the complex interactions between magnetic fields, viscous dissipation and Joule heating in microchannel flows, particularly under asymmetric heating conditions. This contributes to a better understanding of heat transfer and entropy generation in advanced microfluidic systems, which is essential for optimizing their design and performance.