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Recent research has highlighted the beneficial role of supply chain resilience for ensuring efficient production and business processes. The purpose of this study is to explore enablers of supply chain resilience. In particular, the authors examine whether and how dynamic capabilities and knowledge management can help firms develop a resilient supply chain in times of high disruption and uncertainty.

A single longitudinal case study design was adopted. Data was collected over 8 years from a Pakistani textile producer and supplier through semi-structured interviews and was analyzed through NVivo to generate codes and themes that contributed to the development of the supply chain resilience model.

The analysis of case study shows that our focal firm strategically acquired, transferred and integrated market knowledge by investing in digital technologies and idiosyncratic resources and consequently developed a supply chain model that was resilient in addressing logistics and delivery challenges in uncertain & critical times.

The study brings together three main research streams of organizational theory, namely supply chain, knowledge management and dynamic capabilities, and proposes a nuanced resilient supply chain model.

By applying the research findings, managers can adjust, develop and adopt supply chain resilience to address market volatilities, thereby creating value and longevity in their supply chain operations. However, the findings are context specific and should be applied cautiously.

The outcomes provide early hints on how companies in emerging economies can adopt and integrate novel digital technologies, and overhaul their organizational routines to facilitate knowledge management and develop dynamic capabilities, and consequently enhance the resilience of their supply chain operations.

Drawing on organizational learning and dynamic capabilities literature, this study aims to explore how suppliers from traditional emerging economies (STEE) can acquire, assimilate and use new knowledge essential for the development of production and marketing capabilities. These capabilities then facilitate suppliers in climbing the value chain from B-to-B to B-to-C.

The study adopted a longitudinal and multiple case study design to examine the practices of suppliers operating in a traditional emerging economy setting. This study selected Pakistan textile industry as an empirical setting, which is a predominantly supplier market for global buyers. Data sources entail semi-structured interviews with top executives and senior-level managers in four case firms and secondary data obtained from diverse sources.

The study identified transitionary phases of capabilities development that are facilitated by boundary-spanning knowledge acquisition and transformation in a dynamic manner. These capabilities are essential for a supplier’s entry into downstream international markets (i.e. launching its own products/brands in the end consumers’ market).

The findings could help managers in STEEs to understand the strategic importance of supply chain ties in their learning and capabilities development. It also provides strategic insights on what, how and why involved parties do engage over an extended period of time. Moreover, the findings of this study could help other firms to know and adopt the right type of technology(s) and systems that can help them reduce the technological gap in producing and marketing market-winning products.

This study advances the recent academic discussion that focusses on learning by supplying and the value-chain movement of suppliers (i.e. B-to-C) from their B-to-B engagements. The findings identified the vital and beneficial role of long-term relationships with global value chain partners in learning and capabilities development that led to value creation in the traditional emerging economy.

Building information modelling (BIM) has transformed the traditional practices of the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. BIM creates a collaborative digital representation of built environment data. Competitive advantage can be achieved with collaborative project delivery and rich information modelling. Despite the abundant benefits, BIM’s adoption in the AEC is susceptible to confrontation. A substantial impediment to BIM adoption often cited is data interoperability. Other facets of interoperability got limited attention. Other academic areas, including information systems, discuss the interoperability construct ahead of data interoperability. These interoperability factors have yet to be surveyed in the AEC industry. This study aims to investigate the effect of interoperability factors on BIM adoption and develop a comprehensive BIM adoption model.

The theoretical foundations of the proposed model are based on the European interoperability framework (EIF) and technology, organization, environment framework (TOE). Quantitative data collection from construction firms is gathered. The model has been thoroughly examined and validated using partial least squares structural equation modelling in SmartPLS software.

The study’s findings indicate that relative advantage, top management support, government support, organizational readiness and regulation support are determinants of BIM adoption. Financial constraints, complexity, lack of technical interoperability, semantic interoperability, organizational interoperability and uncertainty are barriers to BIM adoption. However, compatibility, competitive pressure and legal interoperability do not affect BIM adoption.

Finally, this study provides recommendations containing the essential technological, organizational, environmental and interoperability factors that AEC stakeholders can address to enhance BIM adoption.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first studies to combine TOE and EIF in a single research model. This research provides empirical evidence for using the proposed model as a guide to promoting BIM adoption. As a result, the highlighted determinants can assist organizations in developing and executing successful policies that support BIM adoption in the AEC industry.

This study explores the adoption of crowdfunding in Pakistan, focusing on the challenges and opportunities within its unique entrepreneurial ecosystem. The research aims to provide insights into the regulatory mechanisms, stakeholder engagement and institutional factors influencing crowdfunding adoption.

Seventeen semi-structured interviews were conducted using a purposive sampling technique. Data was collected from diverse stakeholders involved in the crowdfunding process including investors, entrepreneurs, platform owners and regulators.

The study identifies various challenges, including regulatory gaps, investor concerns, platform-related issues and systemic challenges such as political instability and weak institutions. These challenges hinder the effective implementation of crowdfunding in Pakistan. Moreover, the study highlights opportunities for financial inclusion, bridging the gap between investors and entrepreneurs, and leveraging Pakistan’s entrepreneurial landscape for crowdfunding growth. While several challenges were common to both developed and developing countries, the study also identified distinct challenges such as digital literacy, reliance on the undocumented economy, insufficient regulatory frameworks and investor mindset specific to developing countries.

Since crowdfunding is an emerging phenomenon in Pakistan, this study had limitations as no official crowdfunding platform other than the Pakistan National Investor Portal had started operations. Therefore, this study involved only those stakeholders who were involved in designing regulatory sandbox suggestions. The sample size could be increased to include stakeholders from other developing countries in the future. This article, however, provides significant strategic guidance for policymakers in developing a framework to improve financial inclusion in development.

The study provides critical areas of concern for regulatory authorities for developing appropriate legislation to help overcome the challenges to the institutionalization of crowdfunding. This study also encourages stakeholders like investors and entrepreneurs to participate in crowdfunding while looking at the perspective of other parties.

This research highlights the need for the Pakistani society to be well-informed about alternative investment opportunities, like crowdfunding. The micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector, along with the government, can also explore the benefits of crowdfunding to address their lack of access to capital and enable the inclusion of an informal economy to reduce poverty in a developing country.

Crowdfunding is a new phenomenon in Pakistan, and the scope of its application in the MSME sector has not been thoroughly investigated. This study reveals how micro and small firms can use crowdfunding to boost their economic operations by overcoming challenges and taking advantage of fintech (financial technology) to achieve financial inclusion, leading to economic sustainability.

This paper aims to address the issues of Asian countries toward why females are discouraged and more likely to be removed from the formal financial system than males. Further, whether there is any connection between religion and women’s financial inclusion is also addressed.

This paper explores gender disparities in the use of structured financial services through multilevel models tailored to the individual. The data from 2004 to 2017 have been used for eight South Asian countries, including Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan. We used a multilevel modeling methodology to estimate the impact of the socio-economic climate on women’s financial inclusion while controlling for individual-level features, with all control variables included, the two-level logistic regression model used for this study.

The results of this study demonstrate that sex appears to be strongly correlated with the usage of financial services. The study also found that in nations where religious restrictions limit women’s willingness to work for a living, they are less likely than males to own a bank account. However, through legislation and regulations, countries that encourage gender equality in the labor market and have effective regulatory mechanisms to maintain these initiatives appear to have more financially active women.

This research advises that government authorities strengthen women’s empowerment in South Asian countries.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper that explains the linkage between financial inclusion and women empowerment and will contribute to existing knowledge.

This study aims to investigate the research productivity of library and information science (LIS) authors affiliated with the 22 countries of the Arab League. It also identifies the top countries, organizations, authors, journals, natures of collaboration, and frequently used keywords in LIS research in the Arab world.

Bibliometric methods were used to evaluate the research performance of the authors affiliated with library organizations in the Arab region. The Elsevier Scopus database was selected for data retrieval. A comprehensive search strategy was adopted to retrieve 863 publications contributed by LIS authors affiliated with the Arab countries. VOS viewer, Biblioshiny, BiblioAnalyitics, Microsoft Access and Microsoft Excel were used for data visualization and analysis.

This paper presents the dynamics and the state of the LIS research in the Arab region published between 1951 and 2021. The results of the study have highlighted an upward trend in the growth of the publications, especially in the past four years. The largest number of studies were published in the year 2020. The country-wise analysis ranked Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as the top LIS research producing countries with five and four researchers, respectively. The Kuwait University, the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals and the Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University were the three most productive organizations. Academic libraries, social media, bibliometrics, information-seeking behavior, information literacy and knowledge management were identified as the major areas of interest for the researchers. Internet and open access were topics that had gained recent popularity, while the digital library, research data management, green librarianship, link data, cloud computing, library leadership, library automation and artificial intelligence were identified as areas requiring further attention. Furthermore, the single-author pattern was found to be the most preferred pattern.

The findings of this study would help prospective researchers in choosing the neglected areas of research that require further investigation. They would also help policymakers in identifying factors that need more attention and allocation of research funds.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first comprehensive bibliometric study that presents a holistic picture of the LIS research in the Arab region.

Discusses the management of different types of libraries in Saudi Arabia with reference to the existing practices in the country. Indicates various problems faced by these libraries, such as absence of library legislation, absence of a library association, lack of funding, scarcity of native librarians, etc. Suggests how to overcome these constraints.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate/review the skills required for library and information science (LIS) professionals in the 21st century and to propose an alternative approach as the suggested key skills.

Twenty-two LIS professionals from Pakistan were interviewed, and 10 LIS professionals were from abroad, including two from the USA; six respondents were from Saudi Arabia; one from Canada; and one from Malaysia. In-depth interviews with faculty members were conducted to ascertain their perceptions of the knowledge and skills necessary to be competent in delivering quality education to the future information breed.

The findings emphasise the importance of a variety of competencies for librarians and information educators, including subject knowledge and skills; information technology knowledge and skills; instructional skills; research skills; and managerial, leadership and social skills. Additionally, it was noted that LIS professionals require a diverse set of skills that should be fostered by educators and employers. By promoting these in the broader community, the author can encourage the next generation of LIS professionals to consider LIS as a viable career option.

The findings presented in this paper provide a unique window into the country’s workforce needs. Though the study was conducted from a Pakistani perspective, the findings may have implications for other countries with comparable circumstances, including social impact. It also provides a new analysis of the selected generic and LIS skills that can be communicated in an innovative manner to prospective LIS employees, employers and educators.

The single- and double-sided truncated normal distributions have been used in a wide range of engineering fields. However, most of the previous research works have focused primarily on the non-truncated population distributions. The authors present reference tables to estimate the values of density and cumulative density functions of truncated normal distribution for practitioners. Finally, the authors explain how to use the tables to estimate other properties, such as mean, median and variance. The purpose of this paper is to provide an efficient method to summarize tables, and furthermore, to provide readers with statistical tables on truncated standard normal distribution.

A new methodology is developed to summarize the tables with ordered values. The introduced method allows for the reduction of the number of pages required for such tables into a reasonable level by using linear interpolation. Moreover, it allows for the estimation of the required truncation values accurately with an error value less than 0.005.

The data in the tables can be summarized into a significantly reduced amount. The new summarized table can be designed for any number of pages and/or level of error wanted. However, with reducing the level of error, the number of pages increases and vice versa.

The value of this work is through two major points. First, all provided summarized tables in the literature are for single-sided and symmetry truncation cases. However, there is no attempt to summarize the tables of the asymmetry truncation normal distribution due to the requirement of huge number of pages. In this paper, the case of asymmetry truncation is included. Second, the methodology provided in this research can be used to summarize similar large tables.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical appraisal of the theme of zulm (injustice/exploitation) in light of the Islamic finance literature and the general attitude and approach of the Islamic finance industry and its advocates.

Based on an expanding theoretical and empirical knowledge base about Islamic finance and banking movement, and the emerging understanding about the role of profit and corporate behavior, a critical analysis of the role of riba, interest and profit in widespread injustice and exploitation is presented.

On the basis of the behavior of the Islamic finance industry, it seems that the industry's current practices are either neutral to the issue of injustice/exploitation or mirrors the tendencies of the conventional finance. Furthermore, when comparing the exploitative role of interest and profit, the latter seems to be more consequential than generally understood and acknowledged.

Islamic economics/finance literature should have more empirical research in identifying and understanding the nature of exploitation in the contemporary world and in how the current practices or tendencies are minimizing or abetting the challenge of exploitation.

The larger goal of the Islamic finance and banking movement should be to be in harmony with the maqasid of Islam to minimize zulm (injustice/exploitation) in the society.

The larger goal of the Islamic finance and banking movement should be to be in harmony with the maqasid of Islam to minimize zulm (injustice/exploitation) in the society.

While the literature of Islamic economics and finance is rather robust, this might be the first work that critically examines the riba‐interest reductionism, especially to focus on its implication for attention of the industry being away from exploitation in general and the relationship between profit and exploitation in particular.