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In the textile dyeing industry, the foam dyeing has been recognized as a significantly sustainable alternative for the cotton fabrics. However, this efficient technology undergoes the many issues related to the foam generation, foam optimization and the required performance of the resultant fabrics. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues through the development and optimization of the novel reactive foam dyeing recipes for the cotton fabrics.

The foam dyeing recipes were generated and optimized using the different stabilizers, foaming agents and three primary colors of reactive dyes. The different recipes were applied onto the cotton fabric using laboratory scale foam coating machine. The performance of the foam coated and padded fabrics was evaluated using different criteria including the shade depth, rubbing fastness, air permeability, washing fastness, perspiration fastness, light fastness and tear strength. Then, a complex decision-making approach, namely, analytic hierarchy process (AHP), was applied for the ranking of the key recipes based on the main criteria.

The newly optimized foam dyeing recipes were found very competitive with the conventional pad dyeing process with respect to the shade-depth and the other performance properties. The optimization of foaming parameters and addition of stabilizers have advanced the foam dyeing process, which would accelerate the implementation of foam dyeing methods in the textile industry. Furthermore, significant water and energy savings would be achieved as compared to the conventional foam dyeing. AHP model offered a comprehensive and rational way to identify the most important recipes amongst the selected recipes.

In this research, novel foam dyeing recipes have been developed for the cotton fabrics through the optimization of the different stabilizers, foaming agents and the three primary colors of reactive dyes. Until now, the exiting literature has not reported the combination of these stabilizers with the different foaming agents and three primary reactive dyes for the improvement of sustainable foam cotton dyeing process.

The present study aimed at analyzing the hypothesized relationship between human resource (HR) flexibility and firm performance with the mediating effect of firm innovation and the moderating role of firm-level power distance orientation.

The proposed hypotheses were tested with the two-wave data collected from 209 registered information technology (IT) firms operating in Pakistan. The SMART-PLS examined the model’s hypothesized moderated, mediated and moderated-mediation relationships.

The results confirmed significant relationships between HR flexibility, firm innovation and performance while showing that the link between HR flexibility and firm performance is mediated by firm innovation. The results demonstrated that the firm-level power distance orientation negatively affected the HR flexibility–firm innovation link. These findings provide implications on how HR flexibility leverages firm innovation and performance. However, a power distance orientation in firms may diminish the positive effect of HR flexibility.

HR practitioners and top management can leverage these findings to design and implement policies that promote HR flexibility within IT firms for superior innovation and performance.

Our study offers valuable insights into the contribution of HR flexibility to firm innovation and performance. Specifically, the findings indicate that power distance orientation negatively affects the relationships between HR flexibility, firm innovation and performance. Therefore, HR practitioners and top management can leverage these findings to design and implement policies that promote HR flexibility within IT firms for superior innovation and performance.

The aim of the current study is to empirically assess the effects of organizational flexibility on project portfolio (PP) performance, with the mediating role of innovation and moderating effects of environmental dynamism (ED) and absorptive capability (AC).

Data were collected from 173 manufacturing firms and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with the help of a partial least squares (PLS) approach.

Results show that innovation partially mediates the relationship between organizational flexibility and PP performance. Furthermore, the moderating effect of ED between organizational flexibility and innovation was analyzed. Additionally, AC also observed as a moderator between innovation and PP performance.

Based on the resource-based view, this study contributes to the literature by addressing the roles of innovation, ED and AC in the relationship between organizational flexibility and PP performance. Implications for managers also discussed in the end; for example, to be more competitive, they should incorporate flexibility into the firm to encourage innovation. It also emphasizes to select new innovative opportunities that correspondingly have effects on the PP performance.

Based on the principles of the social capital theory (SCT), this study aimed to generate hypotheses and evaluate a mediated moderated model that examined the impact of social capital on online brand community happiness (OBCH).

Using 215 online questionnaires from users of private online brand communities (OBCs) , researchers examined the hypothesized connections between variables. The SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 26.0 were applied to fulfill the purpose.

For the goodness of model fit, the authors have applied cut off criteria for fit indexes given by Hu and Bentler (1999) and model-fit measures indicators, i.e. CMIN/DF 1.397, CFI 0.958, SRMR 0.045, RMSEA 0.043 and PCLOSE 0.866, which meet the minimum acceptable criteria. Based on the results, social capital significantly affects psychological well-being (PWB), which, consequently, leads toward increased happiness among OBCs. Furthermore, membership duration moderates the relationship between PWB and OBCs.

The authors have utilized a cross-sectional research design, and it limits the researcher’s ability to generalize the findings. These findings imply how social capital leverages PWB and OBCH. Moreover, the presence of membership duration helps to understand that members who spend more time in the community are happier in the OBCs.

In this age of social media, it provides valuable guidance to the administrators of private Facebook groups dedicated to specific brands, enhancing the definition and development of OBC operations and community interactions.

This research takes a broader look at social capital’s impact on happiness among private OBCs. The current research contributes to the existing body of work by emphasizing the role of PWB in generating happiness. The study is novel in examining the mediating moderating model of PWB and membership duration to explore deep insights for social media platforms.

This study aims to establish the psychometric properties of behavioural integrity scale at an organizational level from external stakeholders’ perspective and its subsequent influence on consumer trust and commitment with a brand. Moreover, the study also examines how different crisis response strategies moderate the relationship between consumer attributions of the responsibility and corporate brand behavioural integrity in the context of emotional product harm crisis caused by alleged violation of Halal certification by an MNC.

A quasi-experimental design was applied to test the impact of firm crisis response strategies on its corporate brand behavioural integrity.

The results provide evidence that behavioural integrity scale can be used to measure consumer perceptions of a corporate brand behavioural integrity. In addition, results indicate that crisis response strategies offer some moderating influence on the relationship between consumer attribution processes and corporate brand behavioural integrity.

Results indicate that existing corporate crisis response strategies are not very helpful in the context of emotional product harm crisis. This study demonstrates that behavioural integrity positively impacts customer relationship-oriented constructs. Furthermore, behavioural integrity scale offers excellent psychometric properties when used at the corporate level.

Organizations can use this proposed conceptual model to monitor and manage behavioural integrity of its corporate brand and its influence on customer-brand relationship constructs.

This study is first of its nature that underscores the importance of measuring and monitoring corporate brand behavioural integrity as a customer trust-building mechanism. It is also the first study that investigates consumer reaction towards alleged brand transgression of its Halal certified product.

The purpose of this study was to produce yarns from three different spinning techniques, i.e.Murata Vortex Spinning (MVS) ring spinning and rotor spinning. Those yarns were then used to produce fabrics. Then, the effect of silicone softener on tactile comfort of fabric was investigated.

Three different yarns, i.e. Ring, Rotor and MVS yarns, were used to make fabrics using CCI sample loom which were then subjected to post treatments like desizing, scouring and bleaching. After the completion of the dyeing process, silicone-based softener was used to improve the hand feel of fabrics. The structures of three yarns were evaluated using Scanning electron microscopy. The fabrics were evaluated against compression, bending and surface properties using Kawabata evaluation system.

The fabric made of MVS yarn depicted more geometrical roughness, coefficient of friction and bending rigidity but less compressibility as compared to fabrics made with other yarns. It was observed that softener concentration has a direct relationship with thickness and bending rigidity of the fabric, and inverse relationship with coefficient of friction and geometrical roughness of the fabric.

MVS yarn has some superior properties over rotor and ring spun yarn like high production rates, high resistance to pilling, clear appearance and stability against deformation but has disadvantage that it has less compressibility. Therefore, softener is applied on the fabric, to address this issue, so that it could also be used for apparels application.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which the critical relational variables of university reputation, student trust and student-university identification influence student behaviour towards transnational education partnerships.

Students undertaking British degrees at two transnational partnership locations (Hong Kong, n=203 and Sri Lanka, n=325) completed a quantitative survey questionnaire. A conceptual model was developed and tested using structural equation modelling.

University reputation and student trust were found to be significant predictors of student identification with each partner institution, and student-university identification was a significant predictor of student satisfaction, loyalty and extra-role behaviours towards both the local and foreign educational organisations.

The findings suggest that student relationship management strategies should focus on strengthening the higher education institution’s reputation, and increasing the students’ trust and identification with the institution. Moreover, universities should also assess potential partners for these qualities when entering into transnational education partnerships.

Drawing on theories of social and organisational identification, this is the first study to consider student-university identification as the linchpin between the exogenous constructs of reputation and trust, and the endogenous constructs of student satisfaction, loyalty and extra-role behaviours in both the international education and international business literatures.

Upon the premises of social exchange theory (SET), this study aimed at hypothesizing and examining a serial mediation model that investigated the underlying mechanism through which a high-performance work system (HPWS) affects individuals’ future time perspective (FTP).

The hypothesized relationships were examined using responses collected from 275 employees from 15 local private banks and 40 established branches through a proportionate stratified sampling technique. The statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) PROCESS macro 3.0 and analysis of moment’s structure (AMOS) 24.0 were employed for data analysis purposes.

The study revealed that HPWS is indirectly related to the individuals’ FTP through workplace social courage (WSC) and employee well-being (EWB) sequentially. Prescriptions for theoretical and managerial implications were discussed, and future research viewpoints with limitations were acknowledged.

This study illuminated the underlying mechanism and theoretical logic linking HPWS and individuals’ FTP by proposing the serial mediating effect of WSC and EWB.

International restaurant and fast food chains such as KFC, McDonald’s and Subway currently serve halal food in some non-Muslim countries, with mixed results. The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that most influence the product judgements of halal food amongst non-Muslim consumers in non-Muslim countries and to assess the extent to which these judgements are related to willingness to consume halal food.

A quantitative survey method was adopted, using a total sample of 1,100 consumers in Canada, Spain and the UK. The proposed model was tested using structural equation modelling.

The results suggest that it may be possible for firms to satisfy specific niche market segments with standardised mass market products. Consumer cosmopolitanism and non-Muslim religious identity were found to be positively related to halal product judgement, and consumer ethnocentrism and national identification were negatively related to halal product judgement. There was a strong relationship between product judgement and willingness to consume halal food.

The findings indicate that halal marketing may provide promising business opportunities for international restaurant and fast food chains, as well as food manufacturers and retailers. However, in countries or regions where there are many consumers with high levels of national identification or consumer ethnocentrism, firms should not expect non-target consumers to accept halal products.

This is the first study to suggest that, in non-Muslim countries, food companies may switch entirely to halal produce for certain products as an effective market segmentation strategy targeting Muslim consumers.

The basic intention of this research is to investigate the role of information transparency of financial institutions and psychological attitude of the individuals toward their attention to saving and borrowing. This study also tries to know how an individual's psychological factor affects a person's attitude to motivate them to save or borrow and contribute to well-being by giving them confidence that they can face financial challenges. So, the main concern of this study is to explore different factors that ultimately contribute to the financial well-being (FWB) of individual.

A survey was conducted by using a well-structured questionnaire to collect data and test the developed hypotheses by using SmartPLS. Data were collected from 120 customers of seven different commercial banks in Pakistan.

The findings of this study show that perceived information transparency positively affects FWB. It is also because transparent shared information creates positive change in individuals' perceived self-efficacy and leads to FWB. Furthermore, an individual's psychological attitude toward borrowing and saving did not contribute to the FWB of people who belong to Pakistan.

The research area is limited to one city of Pakistan and analysis is done with small numbers of sample, it can be increased and more areas can be explored.

This research provides significant implications for people and economists by providing awareness about the antecedents of FWB. The policymakers or managers who work in financial institutions should provide more transparent information and create less risky opportunities to improve the individual's well-being. If person, manager and financial institution can properly utilize the information of this study, then they are able to improve their FWB. By providing more transparent services and favorable experience with your dealings, it could help to obtain and retain more loyal internal (employees) and external customers. The loyal customers and sincere employees can increase the productivity level of organization. The more productive organizations in countries means better society and progress in the economy.

This research contributes to the body of knowledge that how perceived information transparency and psychological attitude of borrowing create improvement and upward changes in the FWB of a person.