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A highly competitive market incentivizes private healthcare providers to deliver high quality services. The purpose of this paper is to identify the perceived expectations of a new private multi-speciality hospital in a non-metro city. To this end, the paper develops a model using identified relevant factors.

A structured questionnaire was administered to 900 people. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were then applied to the data, and partial least square-structural equation modelling was used to test the moderated mediation model.

Word-of-mouth and safety (WM) and access to the hospital and the cost of medical services are found to be important factors for the perceived expectations of the hospitals by medical facility and treatment at a hospital. High quality medical facilities can lead to improved perceived expectations of hospitals, mediated by positive WM. Levels of access to the hospital and the cost of services can significantly moderate the perceived expectations of a hospital, despite good medical facilities.

The study has implications for policymakers and hospital authorities in the context of private sector multi-speciality hospitals in non-metro cities. It will help healthcare managers and service providers to better understand customer perceived expectations, and thereby develop effective strategies for customer service. Decision-makers are encouraged to focus on positive word-of-mouth and enhancement of customer safety to bring about favourable expectations of hospitals. Beyond merely having excellent medical facilities, hospitals that ensure ease of access to the hospital and keep costs low can achieve positive consumer expectations and satisfaction levels.

The paper makes three novel contributions as follows: the mere presence of high quality medical facilities and practices does not equate to positive expectations about the hospital among the patients; access to the hospital and the cost of its services are important in bringing about positive expectations among healthcare consumers; and WM can significantly moderate positive expectations of the hospital. The authors are not aware of any of these findings being previously reported.

The purpose of this paper is to study the general trends in the area of dividend policy which will help to identify fertile research streams in this area with a potential for further investigation.

To conduct a systematic literature review, the authors use a three-step methodology to collect resources and thus evaluate the research work done in the area of dividend policy. First, the necessary data are extracted from the Scopus database using the relevant keywords. The initial search results are then narrowed down to include only English language journal publications which are stored in the file. Finally, this file is used as primary data for data analysis. Data analysis is done using bibliometric and network analysis tools to recognize the trends in dividend policy to help researchers identify emergent areas for future work to be done.

This study reveals that research in the area of dividend policy is rapidly expanding since 2005; affiliation statistics show that majority of the publications are done in the USA and the UK; and many questions linked to dividend decision remain unanswered, especially in respect of emerging markets.

There is a need to organize the literature and understand the different areas that have been explored by many researchers. This study attempts to recognize the important research studies, determine the current areas of research attention, provide an understanding for current research interest and provide guidelines for future studies in the area of dividend policy.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the determinants of effective teaching–learning (ETL) from students’ perspective in B-schools and build a model for the satisfaction of students of B-schools from teaching–learning processes.

The study employs the descriptive research design, and the cross-sectional data are collected through a structured questionnaire. Out of 320, 302 accurately filled questionnaires were used for the empirical analysis. The data are collected from the masters of business management (MBA) students. An exploratory factor analysis is applied to appraise factors appropriate for ETL. A confirmatory factor analysis is used to establish reliability and validity of the identified factors. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is applied to empirically test the proposed model for ETL.

The major findings of the current study are as follows: this paper identifies extracurricular activities (ECA), conducive environment (CE) and project work and practical exposure (PWPE) as the determinants of ETL in MBA Programs. These determinants have been identified individually; however, collectively authors do not find any other study that discusses them. This paper explores a suitable and apt model of ETL through the identified determinants of ETL (ECA, CE and PWPE). This is also a contribution of the paper, which has not been observed by the authors, in the literature.

The scope of the research can be enhanced to the all level of management students and colleges of all sorts can be taken.

Findings of this paper are a long-term plan with a futuristic vision. Determinants affecting ETL will help the administrators and faculty members at the MBA programs to realign their focus for the future.

This study determines three determinants (from the students’ points of view) for the effectiveness of the teaching–learning process in the management (MBA) programs. The determinants in this study are ECA, CE and PWPE. SEM is applied to test the model of ETL and to specify these three determinants (constructs). Decision makers for MBA programs can prudently use the model to bring about transformation in teaching–learning processes in business schools.

We investigate the influence of promoters’ ownership and state-based underpinnings (proxied as national governance) on the financial distress of successful entrepreneurial firms. In this study, we consider listed small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to be successful entrepreneurial firms because some level of success is required before the firms, which once started as entrepreneurial ventures, qualify for market listing.

The research uses unbalanced panel data regression analysis to examine a sample of 80 Indian-listed SMEs over seven years (2017–2023). The SMEs are sampled from the Bombay Stock Exchange’s SME listing platform in India.

The main findings signify that both promoters’ ownership and national governance have linear and significant effects on financial distress. Further, national governance does not significantly moderate the linkage between promoters’ ownership and financial distress. Our findings provide a comprehensive understanding of how internal and external governance mechanisms should interact to mitigate financial distress.

The study highlights the inadequacy of interaction as well as the significance of the coexistence of internal and external governance mechanisms for better financial stability in successful entrepreneurial firms.

Funding startups is usually perceived as a risky investment for money lenders and investors due to the high failure rate of such early-stage firms. Therefore, funding startups may negatively impact the profitability of the lending institutions. The current study aims to test how financing startups (the percentage of financed enterprises that are startups) affects the profitability of microfinancing institutions (MFIs). It also attempts to determine the conditions that allow MFIs to limit the negative effects of such risky investments on their profitability.

The study considers panel data of 2,694 global MFIs hosted on the Microfinance Information Exchange Market on the World Bank website. Dynamic panel data methodology (generalized methods of moment) is applied to conduct the econometric analysis. In addition to regression analysis, to test the main and interaction effects, interaction graphs are plotted to elaborate on the findings.

Direct evidence implies that financing startups negatively impacts the profitability of MFIs. Therefore, MFIs should act per two necessary conditions to reduce risks associated with startups financing. First, MFIs should optimize their risk cover and use these funds to finance startups. Second, an increased use of non-earning liquid funds to finance startups is recommended to maintain profitability.

The findings of our study will help MFIs continue lending to startups while protecting their profitability.

The findings contribute to the institutionalization approach of MFIs while providing favorable conditions for financing startups and protecting profitability at the same time.

This paper aims to examine the relationships among two distinct yet interconnected forms of value orientations, namely, terminal and instrumental values, brand consciousness and behavioral intentions. This study validated the conceptual model for branded fashion apparel consumption in an emerging market, e.g. India.

The research design followed a two-step approach to test the measurement and structural models for partial least squares structural equation modeling with SmartPLS (v.3.0) as recommended by Anderson and Gerbing (1988).

The results illustrated that both the instrumental and terminal values influence brand consciousness and, consequently, brand consciousness had an impact on behavioral intentions for fashion apparel consumption. Instrumental values had a greater influence on brand consciousness and behavioral intentions than terminal values. Brand consciousness mediated the relationship between instrumental/terminal values and behavioral intentions.

This study defined two value orientations (i.e. instrumental versus terminal) using cross-sectional data from an emerging market. Future studies may examine the research findings’ generalizability using diverse data sets (longitudinal and cross-sectional) and evaluate the value orientation and customers’ favorable behavioral intentions for luxury fashion consumption.

This study provides insights into luxury marketers and practitioners to understand the contribution of instrumental and terminal values on brand consciousness and behavioral intentions for luxury fashion apparel. The findings would assist in developing marketing strategies for an emerging market, i.e. India.

With the rapid proliferation of materialism, the Indian market has witnessed the dawn of a new era of luxury fashion acceptance. The research offers evidence that in emerging markets such as India, consumers exhibit value orientation toward luxury brands while holding a sense of fashion involvement in their consumption behavior.

This study is a pioneering attempt to understand the relationships between the value orientation, namely, instrumental and terminal values and their underlying influence on brand consciousness and behavioral intentions toward fashion apparel. Rokeach’s (1973) two-dimensional value dichotomy was adapted to understand luxury apparel consumption in an emerging market context, specifically India.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between value orientation, i.e. terminal and instrumental values, consumer sustainability consciousness and behavioral intentions toward environmental-friendly products and its influence on the sustainable development goals (SDGs) endorsement.

Structured questionnaires were administered on 410 respondents from northwestern India. The two-step approach proposed by Anderson and Gerbing (1988) was employed to assess the measurement and structural models.

Terminal and instrumental values influenced consumer sustainability consciousness. Sustainability consciousness influenced behavioral intentions which endorsed consumers' SDG. Instrumental value had a greater impact on consumer sustainability consciousness and behavioral intentions than terminal value. Consumer sustainability consciousness partially mediated the relationship between terminal/instrumental value and behavioral intentions for SDG endorsement.

The findings will help marketers to endorse SDG promotion by linking them with values and develop an understanding of consumers' sustainability consciousness for SDG implementation.

Green marketers, policymakers and SDG promoters should develop messages to communicate and emphasize the importance of purchasing environmental-friendly products. From a functional perspective, it affects instrumentality orientation and societal responsibility toward the implementation of SDG.

The current study proposed an action-oriented, integrated, aspirational and universally applicable SDG framework. The findings may pioneer the way forward for sustainability-oriented consumption.

This research is the first of its kind that examined the relationships between value orientations (Rokeach, 1973) and their effect on consumer sustainability consciousness and behavioral intentions in SDG milieu.

The current study investigates the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown restrictions on air quality in an industrial town in Himachal Pradesh (HP) (India) and recommends policies and strategies for mitigating air pollution.

The air quality parameters under study are particulate matter₁₀ (PM₁₀), PM_2.5, SO₂ and NO₂. One-way ANOVA with post-hoc analysis and non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis test, and multiple linear regression analysis are used to validate the data analysis results.

The findings indicate that the lockdown and post-lockdown periods affected pollutant levels even after considering the meteorological conditions. Except for SO₂, all other air quality parameters dropped significantly throughout the lockdown period. Further, the industrial and transportation sectors are the primary sources of air pollution in Paonta Sahib.

Future research should include other industrial locations in the state to understand the relationship between regional air pollution levels and climate change. The findings of this study may add to the discussion on the role of adopting clean technologies and also provide directions for future research on improving air quality in the emerging industrial towns in India.

Very few studies have examined how the pandemic-induced lockdowns impacted air pollution levels in emerging industrial towns in India while also considering the confounding meteorological factors.

India has taken a successful step towards meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by providing access to basic amenities such as safe drinking water, waste management, drainage systems and bio-compost pits in households. The purpose of this study is to identify factors that significantly impact access to such basic amenities in villages in two states in the hilly regions of India.

Village-level secondary data collected from the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) website has been analyzed using multiple linear regression and non-parametric statistical tests. Socio-economic and demographic variables are the independent factors in regression whereas availability of basic amenities is the dependent variable.

Findings reveal that in Himachal Pradesh, gender ratio, annual income per family, percentage of BPL households, percentage of pucca houses, and percentage of village population above graduation, significantly impact access to piped water in village households. Also, literacy rate and percentage of population with education above graduation significantly impact availability of compost pits. Further, in Uttarakhand, percentage of pucca houses influences access to waste collection system and availability of compost pits. Availability of drainage systems is influenced by literacy rate. A comparison between the two hilly states reveals that Himachal Pradesh is better off in terms of ease of access to drinking water whereas Uttarakhand is ahead in terms of other amenities.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other studies have used socio-economic and demographic variables to study access to basic amenities in villages in hilly states in India.

The study aims to conduct an empirical research to examine how green human resource management (GHRM) can influence sustainable organizational performance (SOP) in terms of financial performance (FP) and operational performance (OpP), both directly and through employee green behavior (EGB), in the backdrop of the Indian information and communication technology (ICT) sector.

The study is based on primary data collected through a questionnaire survey from 387 employees engaged in the ICT sector. Confirmatory factor analysis validates the measurement model, while structural equation modeling (SEM) using the partial least squares (PLS) method examines the hypothesized relations.

Results confirm that GHRM significantly contributes to EGB, FP and OpP, with a theoretical underpinning concerning resource-based view (RBV) and ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) concepts. The study also confirms that connections of GHRM with both FP and OpP are significantly and positively mediated by EGB.

The study provides evidence-based implications of different GHRM practices toward EGB, FP and OpP, which are highly pertinent to strategists, policymakers, managers and supervisors in implementing GHRM for adding value to both operational and financial statements while protecting nature and natural resources through the green efforts of employees.

The study bridges a significant theoretical and practitioner gap by providing a deeper understanding of GHRM as a sustainable human resource management (HRM) model in the context of the Indian ICT sector. It empirically explores the connections between GHRM and OpP, which is a crucial dimension of SOP, and highlights noteworthy implications for promoting EGB, an individual micro-sustainability dimension directed toward the achievement of broader organizational goals, which are essentially oriented to macro-sustainability.