Haoyu Zhao, Pei-Lin Chen, Shahnawaz Khan and Osamah Ibrahim Khalafe
Quality is considered one of the essential competitive priorities for managing the Small, Medium Electronics Enterprises (SMEE) market in China; here, the most critical competing…
Abstract
Purpose
Quality is considered one of the essential competitive priorities for managing the Small, Medium Electronics Enterprises (SMEE) market in China; here, the most critical competing priorities and precondition for sector survival and growth are analysed. Instead, small and medium-sized enterprises are significantly disadvantaged and limited to validation capital.
Design/methodology/approach
Quality results are controlled by continuous measurement, irrespective of the product form, as a fundamental issue among firms. Hence, it enables the electronics markets to deal with various aspects of quality programs with effective deployment of IoT-assisted identify management (IIDM) model.
Findings
It enables the electronics markets to deal with various aspects of quality programs with effective deployment of IIDM model available to them without wasting in unimportant and non-productive areas. IIDM makes it essential for SMEEs to analyze total quality management (TQM) towards better understanding the relationship between internal structures and external ones to achieve better quality results.
Originality/value
Analyzes TQM towards better understanding shows the relationship between internal and external structures to achieve better quality results.
Details
Keywords
There is need for exhaustive studies to be undertaken to identify various probiotic strains and to understand the actual mechanism of action by which these probiotics exert their…
Abstract
Purpose
There is need for exhaustive studies to be undertaken to identify various probiotic strains and to understand the actual mechanism of action by which these probiotics exert their health benefits in order to exploit its fullest health benefits expressed by various kinds of the probiotic strains. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The health effects of the probiotics can be accessed by in vivo as well as the in vitro studies of live microorganisms and their biological active compounds on various disease-causing organisms and their harmful metabolites.
Findings
The paper is a brief review of recent findings about the health benefits of probiotic strains of microorganisms. The health effects of fermented food items were known since the time immemorial, but the actual cause of this was a mystery. Recent discoveries led to the author's knowledge about the mechanism through which they exert these curative effects which is either by competitive inhibition of harmful microbes in gut or by production of biological active compounds against disease-causing organisms and their harmful metabolites.
Originality/value
Probiotics are commonly consumed as part of fermented foods which are produced with active live cultures, so various new types of these probiotic cultures can be introduced which can act as food as well as curative agents for treating and preventing various types of diseases at nominal costs.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic content review and bibliometric analysis of the current research trends, core concepts and knowledge mapping on the topic…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic content review and bibliometric analysis of the current research trends, core concepts and knowledge mapping on the topic Islamic Banking and Finance (IBF) during Covid-19. Apart from highlighting the contributions of prolific authors, prominent institutions and countries, a comprehensive review of a significant number of documents using co-citation and co-word analysis is carried out for the science mapping.
Design/methodology/approach
A data set of 125 papers was collected published in Scopus database during the period December, 2019 and January 5th, 2023. Yearly publications, most-cited papers and authors, active sources, affiliations and countries are highlighted with descriptive analysis. Knowledge structure of the topic was mapped with investigating the social, intellectual and conceptual structures of IBF research. Content analysis is carried out to uncover the underlying research clusters that shape the scientific knowledge structure of studies.
Findings
A diverse group of authors and institutions contribute to the growing body of knowledge on the topic. IBF is adopting new paradigms and frameworks to integrate FinTech, crowd funding and Islamic social finance to provide sustainable solutions in both crisis and normal periods. The research on IBF is classified in to three themes: “financial markets in Covid-19,” “modeling risk and market regimes” and “FinTech and Islamic social finance.”
Research limitations/implications
This study collects data only from Scopus database. Future studies must include research articles from other databases such as, Web of Sciences.
Originality/value
This study highlights research gaps in the existing literature and provides directions for future research.
Details
Keywords
Suneel Kumar, Shekhar, Marco Valeri and Geetanjali Sageena
Divya Sharma, M. Vimalkumar, Sirish Gouda, Agam Gupta and Vignesh Ilavarasan
Consumers are increasingly choosing social media over other channels and mechanisms for grievance redressal. However, not all social media grievances elicit a response from…
Abstract
Purpose
Consumers are increasingly choosing social media over other channels and mechanisms for grievance redressal. However, not all social media grievances elicit a response from businesses. Hence, in this research the authors aim to explore the effect of the complainant's social characteristics and the complaint's social and content characteristics on the likelihood of receiving a response to a grievance from the business on social media.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors build a conceptual model and then empirically test it to explore the effect of the complainant's characteristics and the complaint's characteristics on the likelihood of response from a business on social media. The authors use data of consumer grievances received by an Indian airline operator on Twitter during two time periods – the first corresponding to lockdown during Covid-19 pandemic, and the second corresponding to the resumption of business as usual following these lockdowns. The authors use logistic regression and the hazard rate model to model the likelihood of response and the response delay, respectively, for social media customer grievances.
Findings
Complainants with high social influence are not more likely to get a response for their grievances on social media. While tagging other individuals and business accounts in a social media complaint has negative effect on the likelihood of business response in both the time periods, the effect of tagging regulatory bodies on the likelihood of response was negative only in the Covid-19 lockdown period. The readability and valence of a complaint were found to positively affect the likelihood of response to a social media grievance. However, the effect of valence was significant only in lockdown period.
Originality/value
This research offers insights on what elicits responses from a service provider to consumers' grievances on social media platforms. The extant literature is a plenty on how firms should be engaging consumers on online media and how online communities should be built, but scanty on grievance redressal on social media. This research is, therefore, likely to be useful to service providers who are inclined to improve their grievance handling mechanisms, as well as, to regulatory authorities and ombudsmen.
Details
Keywords
Subhash C. Kundu, Purnima Chahar and Prerna Tuteja
The paper has intended to advance the research on the relationship between COVID-adjusted HR practices (CAHRP) and employees' stress (ES) by exploring the mediating role of…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper has intended to advance the research on the relationship between COVID-adjusted HR practices (CAHRP) and employees' stress (ES) by exploring the mediating role of employees' satisfaction from remote working (ESRW). Further, a consolidative moderated mediation model with HR pandemic readiness (HRPR) as moderator on the above-stated relationship has also been proposed.
Design/methodology/approach
A data set of 2266 respondents from 84 countries across six continents of the world was analysed using techniques like factor analyses, correlations and bootstrapping through PROCESS Macro in SPSS 23.
Findings
The results highlighted that ESRW significantly mediated the relationship of CAHRP and ES. Further, HRPR moderated significantly the indirect relationship between CAHRP and ES via employees' satisfaction. This relationship was found stronger at highest level as against lower level of HRPR.
Originality/value
This study has augmented empirical evidences to the existing literature of COVID-19 by presenting HRPR as a new dimension of HR and its role in handling the challenging situations of pandemics.
Details
Keywords
Jaime Andrés Benavides Morales and Jéssica López Peláez
This paper aims to identify the risk factors that affect depression in students who sought psychological consultation during lockdown period in the health department at a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify the risk factors that affect depression in students who sought psychological consultation during lockdown period in the health department at a university in Colombia.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample consisted of 33 students (12 men and 21 women) with a mean age of 21 ± 2.5 years during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Convenience sampling was used. The beck depression inventory-II instrument and a sociodemographic questionnaire were used to determine levels of depression and associated risk factors. A Google Form was designed with the respective instruments and sent along with the informed consent by email.
Findings
The results indicated that the population is characterized by presenting a level of mild (24.2%), moderate (15.2%) and severe (21.2%) depression. Concerning the levels of depression and risk factors, a significant difference was found with a history of violence (p-value = 0.000), mainly during childhood and adolescence, as well as objection to psychological therapy, belonging to a medium–high socioeconomic stratum, lack of family support and recent significant losses coupled with the lockdown because of the pandemic, which increased symptoms of depression and suicidal ideation.
Research limitations/implications
This research was conducted using Google Forms, which meant that some questionnaires were incomplete. In addition, this study did not count with the full participation of patients who attended psychological consultation.
Practical implications
Universities should generate programs for early detection of risk factors and prevention of depression in students, which could affect academic performance, school dropout, interpersonal relationships and trigger suicidal ideation. These results can also be applied to reducing family violence, which has increased since the pandemic, by improving students' family dynamics.
Originality/value
Because of the scarce research on this topic in Latin America, this study contributes to mental health in this population. The university becomes a fundamental scenario in which the ability to help students develop an adequate expression of emotions, positive coping strategies and sense of life as protective factors against depression can be enhanced.
Details
Keywords
Bahadur Ali Soomro, Shahnawaz Mangi and Naimatullah Shah
The study investigates the experience and significance of strategic factors in organizational innovation (OI) and organizational learning (OL). The study also examines the impact…
Abstract
Purpose
The study investigates the experience and significance of strategic factors in organizational innovation (OI) and organizational learning (OL). The study also examines the impact of OI and OL on organizational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The study takes a quantitative approach, with cross-sectional data collected to achieve its purpose. The respondents are CEOs of different organizations. The data collection tool, a survey questionnaire, is applied to a random sample. In total, data from 360 usable cases are analyzed to infer the results.
Findings
After employing structural equation modeling (SEM), the study findings reveal the positive and significant impact of strategic factors on OI and OL, with these factors comprising personal mastery, transformational leadership, a shared vision, proactivity, and the environment. Furthermore, OI and OL have a positive and significant impact on organizational performance.
Practical implications
The study's findings may reinforce knowledge of the different strategic factors/capabilities needed to attain a satisfactory level of organizational capabilities and, consequently, may increase organizational performance and encourage entrepreneurship. An investigation of these factors may impart benefits to an organization, such as becoming more innovative or providing a boost to learning. Managers of organizations may generate circumstances to make it easier to achieve the growth of these strategic factors/capabilities.
Originality/value
The study's findings may help to develop a better understanding of strategic factors, OI, OL, and organizational performance, particularly in a developing country context.
Details
Keywords
This chapter investigates pandemic impact in a variety of industries, including food, travel, education and pharmaceuticals, considering elements such as isolation, emotions and…
Abstract
This chapter investigates pandemic impact in a variety of industries, including food, travel, education and pharmaceuticals, considering elements such as isolation, emotions and social influences, which can lead to panic buying. The goal of this research is to ascertain how COVID-19 influences the buying decisions of customers. Additionally, the study aims to identify consumer consumption trends for a spectrum of products and services, including fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs), entertainment, pharmaceuticals, travel and tourism. A comprehensive review of different research papers is done to conclude. The papers considered are from 2020 to 2022. Different keywords are used to search the relevant papers such as ‘pandemic’, ‘COVID-19’, ‘behaviour’, ‘impulsive’, etc. TCCM framework has been applied while reviewing the articles. During the isolation, consumer behaviour moved to panic buying and stockpiling, favouring organic basics, and encouraging e-commerce, as well as economic nationalism favouring made-in-India products. This study helps in knowing the reasons for change in consumers' behaviour for different products and services due to unforeseeable situations like COVID-19 and can find possible ways to deal with them. Business owners learn about changing consumer purchasing behaviours and how to modify products. The government can change policies to improve medical tourism and social protection.
Details
Keywords
Bahadur Ali Soomro, Naimatullah Shah and Shahnawaz Mangi
The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that affect the entrepreneurial leadership in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of Pakistan.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that affect the entrepreneurial leadership in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual framework is developed after reviewing a vigorous literature. This is a quantitative methodology in which cross-sectional data are collected from top managers and founders in SMEs of Pakistan through a survey questionnaire. The random technique is applied for the collection of data. The total samples are 352. Initially, 500 survey questionnaires are distributed through personal visits in different cities of Pakistan. The returned rate is noticed as 70 percent.
Findings
The data are analyzed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 24.0. The overall Cronbach’s α reliability is 0.866. On the other hand, the α for all variables (dependent and independent) is observed within the adequate ranges. The overall findings reveal that there is a positive and significant relationship among strategic factor, motivational factor, personality factor, communicative factor and entrepreneurial leadership.
Practical implications
This study may contribute to existing efforts to assimilate the arenas of strategy, motivation, communication, leadership and entrepreneurship. In addition, by reviewing the outcomes of present study, the policy makers and planners may further concentrate for promoting SMEs sector that is famous as a backbone for economic development.
Originality/value
This study is original and valuable with respect to data and context. The findings of such study may play a substantial role in the stability of the economy in Pakistan through enriching the SMEs sector.