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Introduction: The experiences of UK Government response-focused employees, who were considered frontline workers during the coronavirus response, are missing from current literature. Meeting the demands of being on the frontline, whilst also adjusting from a normal and practiced way of working to having to work from within one's home, may bring a plethora of new barriers and facilitators associated with providing an effective pandemic response. Method: This interview study collected and analysed data from 30 UK Civil servants who worked on the COVID-19 pandemic response from their own homes. Interviews aimed to: (1) explore UK Government employee's experiences of working from home whilst contributing to the pandemic response; and, (2) establish what support and guidance employees were offered, and what they would recommend for future public health emergencies requiring homeworking. Results: Seven themes were extracted from the data: overall experience of working from home; preparedness for working from home; experience of contributing to the response effort; work life balance; relationships with colleagues; space and equipment; and, inclusivity. Findings suggested that during the pandemic, participants reported feeling a strong sense of purpose and achievement for contributing to the response. But, the work was demanding, particularly for those who had to rapidly, and unexpectedly, transition from office or lab work to home working. More generally, the nature of their homeworking experience depended on a range of practical (e.g., space in the home), organisational (e.g., relationships with managers) and personal factors (e.g., caring responsibilities). Many participants were underprepared to work from home, but participants provided a plethora of information relating to what support offers they would find useful during future work on the frontline from their own homes. Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate that frontline UK Civil servants may need more tailored and flexible multilevel support (i.e., from peers, managers, organisations) during future public health emergencies when they are required to work from home. A series of data-informed recommendations are created and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The accelerated advancement of information technology and artificial intelligence in the modern globalized world has necessitated a high level of technology competence from translators to adapt to the increasing needs of clients and the language industry. Prior research indicated that emotional intelligence, self-esteem, and innovation capability independently affected students' translation competence. However, no research has investigated how these psychological factors influence student translators' proficiency in translation technology. Methods: This research engaged 663 senior EFL students through an online questionnaire to investigate the systematic associations among the identified variables. Descriptive statistics, structural equation modeling, and the bootstrap method were adopted to analyze the collected data. Results: The results showed that students' translation technology competence (TTC) was significantly influenced by emotional intelligence, self-esteem, and innovation capability. Furthermore, self-esteem and innovation capability were independent and sequential mediators in the connection between emotional intelligence and TTC of college EFL students. Conclusions: This study provides theoretical and practical insights for designing curricula and interventions to enhance TTC by integrating psychological and pedagogical strategies. By emphasizing emotional intelligence, fostering self-esteem, and cultivating innovation capability, educators and institutions can prepare students to meet the demands of the technology-driven language service market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A competent management workforce is crucial to achieve the effectiveness and efficiency of health service provision and to lead and manage the health system reform agenda. However, the traditional recruitment and promotion approach of relying on clinical performance and seniority provides limited incentives for competency development and improvement among hospital managers in Iran. There is limited evidence on the competency development needs of hospital managers in Iran that can guide setting training and development direction. This study aims to identify the competency development needs of three management levels (senior, mid-level, and frontline) in public hospitals and explore the difficulties that managers experienced. Methods: The study adopted a cross-sectional survey using the validated management competency assessment partnership (MCAP) tool. The MCAP tool, consisting of 82 behavioral items that measure six core management competencies, was distributed to 162 public hospitals in 19 provinces in Iran between September 2021 and March 2022. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics including the mean and standard deviation, chi-square test, independent-samples t-test, and one-way analysis of variance. Results: In total, 1051 managers completed the survey either online or on paper. Peer and team conflict, employee performance, loss of skilled staff, and supervisor confrontation were the five difficulties most often encountered by all three levels of managers. The survey confirmed that only a small proportion of managers had the opportunities to participate in formal and informal management-related education/training, such opportunities were much lower for middle and frontline managers (P < 0.001). Middle managers were less confident in their demonstration of the core management competencies than that of senior and frontline managers (P < 0.001). Managers who completed management training organised internally by the hospitals consistently received higher mean competency scores for all competencies (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The study provides compelling evidence highlighting the importance of developing strategies to systematically enhance the capabilities of hospital managers, particularly mid-level managers. Incentives to encourage hospital managers to participate in both formal and informal management training, along with the commitment from hospitals to establish mechanisms that build management capacity, support managers, and guide the preparation and recruitment of management positions, are essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digitalisation has facilitated the cultivation of corporate social responsibility through the channels of information disclosure and financial stability of the enterprises under the background of globalisation and informationalization. This study explores the influence of digitalisation on the enhancement of Corporate Social Responsibility within 512 Born Global Firms (BGFs) listed on the Second-board Market during the period from 2014 to 2020. The study focuses on the extent to which digitalization contributes to corporate social responsibility, and the degree to which this impact is moderated by information disclosure and financial stability. The study employs the entropy weight method to accurately measure BGFs' digitalisation. Moreover, both the information disclosure and financial stability exert important mediating role in bridging digitalisation and corporate social responsibility. The study designs enterprises' information disclosure and financial stability as mediating paths and employs spatial mediating model to measure the shaping effect of digitalisation on corporate social responsibility. The digitalisation increased by 3.22%, and it had positively stimulated corporate social responsibility by 1.54% from 2014 to 2020. Enterprises' information disclosure is identified as a significant mediator in this dynamic relationship between digitalisation and CSR to 10.34%. In contrast, financial stability did not have a significant mediating effect. The results underscore the strategic importance of leveraging digitalisation to enhance information disclosure, thereby bolstering BGFs' CSR in response to external environmental pressures.The study provides a new perspective on embedding digital technologies into BGFs' corporate stakeholder management and internal governance, and highlights information disclosure and corporate social responsibility through digitalisation. This study provides insights for seeking to leverage digital strategies to strengthen their corporate social responsibility stance and enhance stakeholder engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While software entrepreneurship has experienced a substantial expansion in recent years, the existing body of literature is yet to explore the regional opportunities and challenges encountered within this nascent field. Through semi-structured interviews with 42 software representatives and using city, company, and human resource perspectives, this study aims to investigate the resource capabilities and major obstacles faced by software entrepreneurs in Izmir's software ecosystem. Results of our content analysis show that resource capabilities and opportunities include an intention to collaborate, a positive city image, and a skilled workforce whereas challenges involve the absence of a robust investment culture, brain drain, and bureaucratic impediments. The potential and obstacles faced by software entrepreneurs in Izmir vary depending on the level of analysis, according to findings at the city, company, and human resource levels. By examining the resource capacities and challenges within Izmir's software entrepreneurship ecosystem, with a focus on identifying the software-related strengths and barriers that shape an innovative urban environment supportive of entrepreneurial efforts, our research highlights both external factors that impact software investments and internal conditions enhancing Izmir's attractiveness as a business hub. The findings suggest that Izmir's software ecosystem has substantial potential to drive the city's economic growth and position itself as a key contributor to urban innovation. Building on previous research that underlines the importance of clusters in promoting entrepreneurship and creating regional business opportunities, our study indicates a promising opportunity to foster software company clusters in Izmir. The study provides recommendations tailored for policymakers and industry leaders with an interest in advancing the software entrepreneurship ecosystem in Izmir as well as analogous emerging country ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing studies that directly measure the three types of overconfidence—overprecision, overplacement, and overestimation—are largely exploratory, highlighting the need for further confirmatory research to establish robust overconfidence measures. Moreover, there is no comprehensive instrument for analyzing these types of overconfidence in the context of investment decisions. To address these gaps, the present study aims to develop and validate a scale for assessing overconfidence in investment decisions, considering its three forms. The research involved 380 Brazilian participants and employed confirmatory factor analysis and standard multivariate validation methods. The scale, based on a theoretical framework of the three types of overconfidence, consisted of 30 questions (10 for each type) designed to measure the degree of overconfidence in investment decision-making. The scale demonstrated acceptable factor loadings and internal and external validity, indicating its suitability for evaluating overconfidence in investment decisions. The standardized factor loadings showed p values < 0.01 for all factors. The average variance extracted was above 0.5, and the composite reliability exceeded 0.7 for all three constructs analyzed. These results support the convergent validity of the proposed measurement model. In this way, the developed scale fills a gap in the literature by providing a valid tool to assess overconfidence in investment decision-making, which can be practically applied by financial market participants, such as investors, fund managers, and financial professionals. This instrument enables more informed and personalized investment decisions, mitigates the risks of bias in decision-making, and contributes to a more efficient and resilient financial market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to identify trends in returnee migrant entrepreneurship research through a comprehensive bibliometric analysis. Despite growing research interest in this area, a vigorous conceptual framework linking returnee migrant entrepreneurship to the broader field remains underexplored. The existing literature has not done enough to integrate diverse theoretical frameworks, methodological approaches, and geographical contexts toward a deeper understanding of the subject. We analyzed scopes indexed 356 journal articles from 1993 to 2024. We processed the data using the Biblioshiny package in R and the VOSviewer software. The research employed trend and thematic analyses to understand the research dynamics and changing patterns in the returnee migrant entrepreneurship literature. We used keyword analysis, citation patterns, keyword co-occurrence techniques, collaboration networks, and emerging trends to examine publications' knowledge structures and patterns in the field. The study found a steady increase in publications, with a decline in 2016. This trend showed a consistent improvement after 2017. The study sheds light on the fact that citations fluctuated but were generally good, reaching a peak in 2019 and flattening thereafter. The thematic evolution analysis showed that early research focused on entrepreneurship, migrant entrepreneurs, socio-economic development, self-employment, social capital, empowerment, and the impact of COVID-19 integrating the theory of planned behavior (TPB), push–pull motives, mixed embeddedness, and social capital theory. The study underscored the field's diverse theoretical, thematic, and practical relevance. In conclusion, the study emphasizes the importance of global collaboration, knowledge transfer, and resource sharing as critical factors for impactful returnee migrant entrepreneurship research and theoretical integration. Based on the gaps identified, we suggest that future research examine socio-economic impacts, national and political contexts, digital entrepreneurship, global collaboration dynamics, and interdisciplinary approaches to deepen understanding and inform support policies that impact migrant entrepreneurship globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, entrepreneurship is an important driver of economic growth, job creation, and innovation. There is an increasing recognition of the significant contributions made by women entrepreneurs. This study analyzes the factors influencing the success and satisfaction of women entrepreneurs in the state of Karnataka in India. Data were collected from a sample of 257 women entrepreneurs across 29 Rural Self-Employment and Entrepreneurship Development Institutes. The key variables such as age, government subsidies, satisfaction, and societal factors were investigated using statistical techniques. The study revealed that age has no significant correlation with business success, while women receiving government subsidies showed higher rates of success. Satisfaction with training programs was found to have significant effect on business success. The study also found that persistent barriers such as gender disparities and societal challenges continue to limit potential of women entrepreneurs. The findings from this research stress the need for targeted programs to empower women entrepreneurs and reduce the obstacles they face. There is still greater need for research that give valuable insights into the complex dynamics of success and satisfaction of women entrepreneurs, which could contribute to the discourse on policies and programs globally. Highlights: Socio-cultural factors are important influencers in women's entrepreneurship, with effect on path and success. Age, despite expectations, demonstrates negligible impact on women's entrepreneurial performance. Government subsidies have a significant effect on the success trajectory of women entrepreneurs. The participation in training programs has a positive correlation with increased business success among women entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to understand employees' attributions of human resource management (HRM) practices and how these attributions confluence with employees' creativity. We propose the concept of human resource attribution (HR attribution) as a construct that can aid in understanding employees' creativity. This research studies how human resource (HR) attributions play a part in the creativity of employees in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Colombia's Atlántico Region. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 SME employees. Our results were analyzed with reflexive thematic analysis. Generated themes enclosed individual factors (the HR attribution participants made, and the employees' level of organizational commitment) and organizational factors (managerial practices). The results indicate that a key construct of employees' creativity is their interpretation of why HRM practices are implemented. This suggests that the actual HRM practices are not always the elements that matter for employees' creativity in all contexts. Furthermore, other individual and social constructs were found to be relevant to Colombian employees' creativity. Future studies should quantitatively test the impact of HR attributions on SME employees' creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of board diversity—precisely age, nationality, and experience—on the financial performance of 13 Palestinian banks and insurance companies listed on the Palestine Stock Exchange (PEX) from 2011 to 2022. Using a comprehensive panel data approach and controlling for endogeneity with a two-step system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator, the analysis explores how diverse board characteristics influence financial outcomes measured by ROA and ROE. Unlike previous studies focused mainly on developed markets or gender diversity, this research offers new insights into the role of board diversity in emerging economies, particularly in the Middle Eastern context. The results reveal that while age diversity negatively impacts firm performance, experience diversity positively correlates, underscoring the importance of industry-specific expertise in financial governance. Nationality diversity, however, exhibits no significant effect, suggesting that foreign representation may introduce complexity without necessarily enhancing performance. These findings contribute to Agency Theory, Upper Echelons Theory, and Resource Dependence Theory, offering practical recommendations for regulators and firms in developing markets to optimise board composition. This study expands the discourse on board diversity by highlighting the nuanced effects of specific diversity dimensions in the financial sector, providing valuable insights for governance practices in similar economic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing environmental, social, and economic challenges has become a pressing global priority. The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework offers a holistic approach for evaluating corporate performance by integrating economic, environmental, and social perspectives. Despite its increasing adoption in both managerial and academic research, there remains a significant gap in understanding how the TBL framework influences business performance. To address this, the study conducts a bibliometric review of 207 publications from the Web of Science database. The review highlights the multifaceted impact of practices linked to the TBL dimensions on business performance while introducing the TBL Influence on Business Performance model. This model provides valuable insights into how businesses can effectively apply TBL principles to address socio-environmental challenges, foster innovation, and achieve sustained long-term performance. The findings contribute valuable theoretical and practical insights into how organizations can utilize TBL principles to strengthen resilience, innovation, and performance in the face of global socio-environmental challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The purpose of the study was to investigate the various aspects of employees' work environment, including their job characteristics; the level of support provided by supervisors, job coaches and coworkers; and their perceptions of job performance and productivity from the perspectives of both employees and supervisors in the context of sustainable employability in supported employment interventions. This study was part of the Finnish Work Ability Programme Evaluation Study (2020–2024). Methods: This study is theoretically informed by the concepts of specific work ability and sustainable employability, as well as how health affects productivity at the task level—approach. The research is based on qualitative data obtained through ethnographic fieldwork, nonparticipating observing with interaction at work, which includes observing employed individuals in their workplaces. Additionally, we recorded discussions, took photos at work, and conducted interviews with supervisors and job coaches. Results: The main findings were that persons with disability or decreased work ability were employed in precarious low-productivity work, with limited opportunities for more sustainable employment. Several means from public employment services to decrease the employer's personnel costs were used. The supervisors appeared to have a strong grasp of each employee's task-specific productivity level. Supervisors had to adapt their usual tasks to provide extra support for employees, often focusing more on work performance. The role of coworkers and the work community as whole was also important. The personal support of job coaches during the employment phase was crucial, but their role in the workplace was unclear, especially to employers. Conclusions: To strengthen sustainable careers, the matching of jobs and individuals should be promoted through closer and productivity-oriented cooperation with employers and work communities in vocational rehabilitation and re-employment. The chosen qualitative research strategy, ethnographic fieldwork at work and multi-perspective data collection provided new interpretations of the possibilities for sustainable employability using the Supported Employment method. From the perspectives of both enabling prolonged working careers for employees and providing a clear understanding of task-performance-based productivity to employers, there is a need for more microlevel data on what happens in work and workplaces, particularly the social mechanisms through which results are achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Platform leadership (PL) has been increasing in digital transformation enterprises. This study explores the effects, pathways, and boundary conditions of PL on employee deviant innovation (EDI). In this study, 444 valid questionnaires were collected from ten digital transformation enterprises. Using conservation of resources theory and digital leadership theory, we built a parallel mediation model in which PL influenced EDI through psychological safety (PS) and creative self-efficacy (CSE), and verified the moderating effect of digital leadership (DL). The empirical results are as follows: (1) PL positively impacts EDI. (2) PL positively influences PS and CSE. (3) PS and CSE positively contribute to EDI. (4) PS and CSE mediate the relationship between PL and EDI. (5) DL moderates the relationship between PL and EDI, as well as between CSE and EDI. This study departs from traditional leadership theories by examining a new leadership style, PL, to inspire deviant innovation behavior among employees in digital transformation enterprises. This reveals the influencing mechanisms and provides new theoretical support for leadership and innovation management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid evolution of technology and the business landscape has introduced the Metaverse, a virtual realm with immense potential for transforming communication and collaboration. The pandemic accelerated the shift to online channels, making the Metaverse a crucial investment for businesses in the digital age. However, there remains a lack of understanding regarding how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) perceive the Metaverse. This study aims to bridge this gap by investigating the factors driving Metaverse adoption, using task-technology fit theory, social capital theory, and social cognitive theory. By analyzing data from 264 SMEs in Fiji, it was revealed that task-technology compatibility and social factors significantly influence the intention to adopt the Metaverse. Additionally, self-efficacy is critical in determining the performance outcomes associated with eventual adoption. These findings offer valuable insights for SMEs, policymakers, and platform developers in the post-pandemic landscape. Additionally, they support inclusive growth and partnerships for small island developing states like Fiji, contributing to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used structural equation model (SEM) to investigate the mechanism of integrated development of rural industries (IDRI) on the performance of college students' returning entrepreneurial enterprises (CSREE). The results show that: (1) IDRI significantly promotes the performance of CSREE, which is consistent with the theory of "sixth industry". (2) The length, width, and depth of rural industrial integration have a significant effect on CSREE. Among them, the depth of rural industrial integration has the greatest degree of direct influence on CSREE, followed by the width of rural industrial integration, and finally the length of rural industrial integration. (3) IDRI indirectly has a positive impact on the performance of CSREE through internal technological innovation ability and cooperative development ability. Seize the great opportunity of rural integration development to further improve the performance of CSREE. The specific ways are as follows: (1) The government should make overall planning, first determine the local leading industries, establish the whole industrial chain, and give full play to the various functions of agriculture. At the same time, the government should actively guide agricultural enterprises to develop in the direction of internal integration of planting and breeding, three-dimensional agriculture, and other industries, extend the length of the industrial chain, broaden the width of the industrial chain, and deepen the depth of industrial integration, so as to optimize the external environment for college students to return home and start businesses. (2) In the process of returning to their hometowns to start businesses, college students should attach importance to improving internal technological innovation capability and cooperation development capability, cultivate "internal strengths", and comprehensively improve enterprise performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AIMS: This study investigated the status and influencing factors of organizational silence among 624 nurses in general hospitals in eastern coastal cities of China. Methods: This study followed STROBE guidelines. During the period from January to April 2024, the researchers investigated 624 clinical in-service nurses in terms of general information, employee silence behavior, work engagement, and peer support, and analyzed the related factors affecting nurses' organizational silence. Results: The total average score of nurses' organizational silence was (33.88 ± 6.88), and the total score of work engagement was (69.23 ± 10.76); The total score of the colleague support scale was (90.02 ± 13.72), which was at the medium level. Univariate analysis showed that the scores of organizational silence of 610 nurses had statistical differences in departments, employment methods and professional titles (P < 0.05); Pearson correlation analysis showed that nurses' work engagement (r=-0.530, P < 0.05), perceived colleague support a scale (r=-0.530, P < 0.05), colleague support B scale (r=-0.363, P < 0.05) were negatively correlated with organizational silence; Multiple linear regression analysis showed that department (β'value = 0.256, P = 0.001), employment mode (β'value = 0.115, P = 0.001), professional title (β'value = 0.741, P = 0.023), working years (β'value = 1.1110, P = 0.000), work engagement (β'value6.182, P = 0.000), colleague support scale A (β'value = 0.198, P = 0.003), and scale B (β'value = 0.485, P = 0.001) were the main influencing factors of nurses' organizational silence behavior. Conclusions: In this study, nurses' organizational silence is at the medium level, and nursing workers with low outpatient service, contract system, professional title and working years, less work investment and poor support from colleagues are prone to silence behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bullwhip effect in supply chains causes mismatches between demand and production, and the emergence of digital transformation offers a potential prominent avenue for firms to address this uncertainty. This study draws on the organizational information processing theory to investigate the impact of digital transformation on the firm-level bullwhip effect and how this relationship may be contingent on customer concentration. We empirically examined our hypotheses by using hierarchical linear modeling with multiple high-dimensional fixed effects on a large panel dataset of 2,159 listed Chinese manufacturing firms (8,540 firm–year observations) from 2016 to 2020. The results show that digital transformation significantly mitigates firms' bullwhip effect. Moreover, customer concentration weakens the negative relationship between digital transformation and the bullwhip effect. Specifically, the negative effect of digital transformation on the bullwhip effect will be stronger in firms with a diffuse customer base. The present research findings provide important theoretical contributions to the supply chain and technology management literature and offer valuable practical implications for managers to minimize the bullwhip effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Strong partnerships, community engagement, and multisectoral collaboration in the health supply chain are synergistic pillars towards achieving universal health coverage. In Rwanda, the health supply chain involves the collaboration of various stakeholders, including distributors, manufacturers, wholesalers, and customers. However, since the eruption and ending of COVID-19, there has not been any study to assess stakeholders' perspectives on the status of the benefits, challenges, and best practices of collaborative partnerships among health supply chain stakeholders in Rwanda. Therefore, this research was conducted to fill that gap in order to devise ways for improved visibility, coordination, and efficiency of the health supply chain management system in Rwanda. Methods: This quantitative cross-sectional study, collected data from 11th April to 18th May 2024. It involved 103 respondents from 54 institutions engaged in the management of the health commodities supply chain in Rwanda. These were the Ministry of Health, Rwanda Biomedical Center, Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority, Rwanda Medical Supply Ltd, other Central Medical Stores namely Bureau des Formations Médicales Agréées du Rwanda (BUFMAR) and Medical and Allied Service Solutions (MEDIASOL); private wholesale pharmacies, non-government organizations, and Health Facilities (hospitals). A sample size of 103 respondents was determined by the Yamane formula, and purposive sampling was used to select the respondents to complete a self-administered questionnaire specifically developed for this study. The outcome measures were perceived benefits, challenges, and strategies to overcome challenges of collaborative partnerships among health supply chain stakeholders in Rwanda. Results: Availability of health commodities ranked at 98.0%, infrastructure/accessibility of health services (86.4%), and cost-effectiveness (84.5%) were the most mentioned benefits. Most stated challenges included insufficient financial resources from stakeholders (84.5%), shortage of skilled staff (77.7%), and limited dialogue or lack of information sharing (69.9%). Most respondents agreed that collaborative partnerships can be improved by political will (96.1%), supply performance measurement (92.2%), improved financing policies (84.5%), fostering trust and transparency building (78.6%), and a well-structured health supply chain (72.5%). Conclusion: Establishing and strengthening stakeholder collaborations are essential for improved performance. Staff capacity strengthening and mutual information sharing will reduce risks, and improve forecasting, leading to cost-effectiveness and customer satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Midwifery faces global workforce shortages exacerbated by the pandemic. Understanding job satisfaction drivers is vital for creating supportive work environments. This study explored the multifaceted nature of job satisfaction of midwives in the post-COVID era in order to understand the elements that contribute and the ones that don't to midwives' sense of fulfilment and engagement at work. Methods: Employing a quantitative descriptive methodology, a nationwide cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 169 actively practicing female midwives in Slovenia using the McCloskey-Mueller Satisfaction Scale. The survey focused on various dimensions of job satisfaction. Results: Results revealed that midwives place high importance on praise/recognition, scheduling satisfaction, and work-life balance but exhibit a very weak non-significant negative relationship between job satisfaction and the importance they place on these factors. The study also identified a weak but statistically significant positive correlation between midwives' satisfaction with praise/recognition and the importance they attribute to it. Conclusions: The study emphasises the need for a holistic approach in enhancing job satisfaction among midwives, fostering an environment that supports their professional development and acknowledges their contributions. It emphasizes the critical role of healthcare policymakers in developing inclusive and gender-sensitive workplace policies to improve the quality of maternal care and support the well-being and job satisfaction of midwives. Management strategies should focus on reinforcing positive work environments that facilitate professional development and work-life balance. Prioritizing these factors can improve job satisfaction, retention, and healthcare outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital connectivity view (DCV) represents a distinct strategic framework for understanding how firms leverage interconnected digital technologies to create sustainable competitive advantages in global markets. While digital connectivity promises enhanced innovation performance, organizations face significant challenges in effectively leveraging these capabilities, with outcomes remaining highly uneven across industries. This study examines how different configurations of digital connectivity elements and organizational capabilities drive innovation performance in manufacturing firms through an integrated theoretical framework combining dynamic capabilities theory and DCV. Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis of 63 Chinese high-tech manufacturing firms, the research identifies multiple distinct pathways to high innovation performance. The findings reveal four key mechanisms that explain how firms effectively leverage digital connectivity, with digital-architecture resources playing a central role. Different capability configurations produce varying levels of radical and incremental innovation outcomes. The research advances innovation management literature by empirically validating configurational patterns, developing a novel theoretical framework bridging DCV with dynamic capabilities theory, and providing practical insights for manufacturing firms in emerging economies navigating global crises while maintaining innovation vitality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expansion of brands adopting artificial intelligence services with human characteristics, such as chatbots, has revolutionized digital marketing strategies, transforming how companies reach and engage customers. This technological innovation is reshaping digital interactions between companies and consumers, offering a more personalized and efficient experience. This study explores the influence of chatbot anthropomorphism on customer engagement and purchasing decision-making with brands that use this artificial intelligence service. Data from a questionnaire with 1319 participants was analyzed using partial least squares method. Chatbot anthropomorphism has a more positive influence on purchasing decision-making when this relationship is mediated by customer engagement. In turn, customer involvement also has a positive influence on decision-making. The results emphasize that for a greater influence of the chatbot's anthropomorphism on purchasing decision-making, the customer must first be engaged with the chatbot. This research illuminates a new path in the domain of AI-enabled brand interactions, showing the distinct influence of anthropomorphism in chatbots on customer satisfaction, trust and loyalty, thus revolutionizing traditional paradigms of consumer-brand engagement and decision-making processes. By exploring the intricate dynamics between customer engagement with anthropomorphized chatbots and purchasing decisions, this study breaks new ground, offering unprecedented insight into the transformative potential of human-like chatbot interactions in shaping consumer behavior and brand relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the weak-form efficiency and asymmetric multifractal scaling behavior of rare earth stock indices in the global, U.S. and Chinese markets during the trade war and the COVID-19 period. We examine the scaling behavior across overall, upward (bullish), and downward (bearish) market states from 2013 to 2021, employing an asymmetric multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis approach. Our findings indicate asymmetric multifractality in U.S. rare earth stock prices, caused by fat tails and long-range correlations. Weak-form price inefficiency and asymmetry in U.S. rare earth stock prices are prominent during market downturns, such as the trade war and COVID-19 periods. Chinese rare earth stocks demonstrate greater efficiency than U.S. and global stocks; thus, the latter markets provide arbitrage opportunities during upward and downward trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores correlations and risk spillovers, essential concepts for financial risk management, among commodities (crude oil, gold, and a global commodities index) and emerging stock markets. Using the Asymmetric Dynamic Conditional Correlation–Conditional Value-at-Risk (ADCC-CoVaR) model and a bootstrapped Kolmogorov–Smirnov (KS) test, we analyze the period from December 30, 2005, to February 28, 2024, examining correlations, downside and upside risk spillovers, and highlighting the effects of major events such as the global financial crisis of 2008, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russia-Ukraine war. The results show heightened correlations during crises and significant risk spillovers across market pairs, with downside risks often outweighing upside risks. Gold displays minimal risk spillover, highlighting its unique role as a haven asset. We find that spillovers between gold, global commodities, and stocks increased during the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, while those involving crude oil remained stable. These findings provide valuable guidance for portfolio managers in navigating volatile markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investing in cryptocurrencies is progressively becoming a norm; however, these assets are excessively volatile and often decrease or increase in value instantly. Thus, rational investors holding cryptocurrencies for extended periods firmly search for assets that can diversify their risk, preferably with assets other than cryptocurrencies. In this study, we consider the two most studied cryptocurrencies with the highest capitalization and trading volume/value, namely Bitcoin and Ethereum. Specifically, we examine whether high-performing leading US tech stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google [FAANG]) can provide any diversification benefits to cryptocurrency investors. To do so, we employ dynamic conditional correlation (DCC), asymmetric DCC, time-varying parameter vector autoregression-based connectedness measures, dynamic correlation-based hedge and safe-haven regression analyses, portfolio optimization and hedging strategies, time- and frequency-based wavelet coherence, and high-frequency 10-min intraday data from January 1, 2018 to January 31, 2023. We find that FAANG stocks can be considered (at least weak) safe havens for Bitcoin and Ethereum during the sample period. Our subperiod analyses reveal that the safe-haven role of FAANG stocks, specifically for Bitcoin, has noticeably increased. While the safe-haven property of Facebook is the most promising, for Netflix it is blurred between a weak–safe-haven and a hedge. Our findings may help investors, policymakers, and academicians to invest in cryptocurrencies, formulate relevant investment guidelines, and extend the literature on cryptocurrencies, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic precipitated a surge in the non-performing assets held by financial institutions, elevating systemic risk in financial networks. Therefore, developing strategies to alleviate this risk, with a focus on non-performing assets, has become a research area of interest. Supported by policies related to the Chinese insurance market, this study proposes the establishment of a non-performing assets disposal fund backed by insurance capital. This fund will invest in the non-performing assets of financial institutions with the aim of mitigating systemic risk. Using a linear threshold model, we identify an asymptotically optimal scheme for disposing of non-performing assets. Additionally, we construct a payment model integrated with non-performing assets, from which we derive an optimal payment and clearing strategy. Our research also proposes a robust set of criteria to assist regulators in determining whether to use the non-performing assets disposal fund. To demonstrate the efficacy of the fund in reducing systemic risk, we conduct simulations and analyze data from the Chinese interbank financial network. Through this rigorous analysis, we confirm the role of the fund in enhancing the stability of the financial system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological innovation activities are the most effective way to achieve corporate leapfrog development. Based on the Porter effect theory, this paper uses panel data on Chinese manufacturing firms from 2015 to 2018 to construct two-way fixed effects and threshold effects models to explore the impact mechanism of research and development (R&D) investment on corporate total factor productivity (CTFP) under heterogeneous environmental regulations. Baseline regression results indicate that R&D investment significantly promotes CTFP. Meanwhile, we also test the robustness of baseline regression results by replacing the dependent variable, shortening the time windows and adding omitted variables. Moreover, heterogeneity analyses indicate that the contribution of R&D investment to CTFP is more significant in the subgroup regressions of non-SOEs, CEO-dual enterprises and non-heavily polluting enterprises. Economic consequence analysis shows that R&D investment contributes to green innovation performance, financial performance and corporate social responsibility performance by increasing CTFP. Additionally, there is heterogeneity in the moderating effects of market-incentivized environmental regulation (MER), command-and-control environmental regulation (CER) and public participation environmental regulation (PER). MER and PER have moderated mediating effects, but CER does not have a moderated mediating effect. Extended analysis shows that according to the threshold effect test findings, two thresholds exist for MER and one threshold each for PER and CER in the relationship between R&D investment and CTFP. Our findings have important implications in that the government should adopt differentiated environmental regulation policies to support companies in actively carrying out innovation activities, thereby promoting high-quality development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paradigm shift from conventional stock market trading rings to computer-driven algorithmic trading has given rise to a new era characterized by specialized trading systems and indicators meticulously engineered to decode price charts and enhance the prospects of profitable trading. Nevertheless, despite these notable advancements, the majority of traders continue to grapple with losses rather than realizing gains, echoing the historical pursuit of the elusive philosopher’s stone by alchemists of yore. In response to this challenge, our research delves into the realm of artificial neural networks (ANNs) to cultivate more sophisticated trading methodologies. Our empirical investigations suggest that trading strategies relying on price chart analysis generally achieve a moderate level of accuracy. However, it is imperative to acknowledge that the intricate patterns that materialize over time, coupled with return metrics, persistently elude precise prediction within the framework of unsupervised automated trading. These findings underscore the critical importance of embracing a progressive approach to trading that synergizes human expertise with cutting-edge technological capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to conduct a thorough analysis to determine the key elements that contribute to the behavioral intention of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to adopt green transition. The statistical data used in this study were obtained from two rounds of data collected from individuals working in SMEs. This work utilized structural equation modeling to analyze the hypothesized interlinks. The analysis of the results confirmed the positive relationships between key elements in terms of their significance and effect size. The most stable elements of intention of green transition implementation were determined based on the degree of stability of the findings. In addition to expanding our understanding of the advantages of green transition in SMEs, the results of this study can provide guidance to SME leaders on how to improve their efficiency and effectiveness in the process of green transition practices. A more detailed understanding in this research can provide policymakers with the ability to establish laws and regulations for the transition towards sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current research aims to unveil the interconnection between effectiveness of digital accounting information system (EDAIS) and sustainable business model innovation (SBMI). In particular, the study investigates the mediating function of digital business ecosystem (DBE) between EDAIS and SBMI. In this regard, this study confirms and establishes the relationships between EDAIS, DBE, and SBMI by using a sequential exploratory strategy that combines literature review and qualitative interviews, together with a quantitative survey of 723 small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The results analysis indicated that EDAIS had a positive impact on SBMI. Furthermore, it was shown that DBE had a role in partially mediating the relationship between EDAIS and SBMI. Therefore, it is recommended that practitioners adopt digital transformation and harness national policies, in order to improve their company's use of digital technology in accounting. Additionally, policymakers and practitioners can use this investigation to enhance their comprehension of the governance of DBE and to elucidate strategies, procedures, and management for DBE in order to establish and attain SBMI in the digital environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study theoretically analyzes the causal mechanism of financial risk on enterprise green performance through the influential pathway of green ambidextrous innovation. A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2021 were selected as research samples for regression analysis. The empirical findings indicate that both internal and external financial risks significantly impede enterprise green performance. Internal financial risk hinders enterprise green performance by restraining green ambidextrous innovation, while external financial risk impedes green performance solely by inhibiting exploratory green innovation. The mediating effect of exploitative green innovation was found to be insignificant. The outcomes of this research can provide guidance to enterprises in enhancing their green innovation capabilities and fostering green performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to constrained resources, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often have a low capacity to innovate. While research has focused chiefly on empowering SMEs' innovation through tangible factors, this paper explores the contribution of intangible factors towards innovation under frugality conditions. We address this gap using data collected from Indonesian SME automobile component manufacturers. We employ the expanded CDM (Crepon Duguet Mairesse) model that divides innovation into three stages: effort, output, and productivity. The findings showed that in addition to common tangible factors, intangible factors contribute to all stages of innovation, though tangible factors appear to exert greater influence. The direct impact of product innovation on firm performance is moderated by tangible factors, whereas the indirect impact is moderated by intangible factors. By examining how intangible and tangible factors simultaneously empower SMEs' innovation and hence firms' performance, we significantly contribute to advancing the theory of frugal innovation, the competition and strategy theory, and the extended resource-based view (ERBV). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although momentum strategies result in abnormal profitability, thereby challenging the efficient market hypothesis (EMH), concerns persist regarding their reliability due to their significant volatility and susceptibility to substantial losses. In this study, we investigate the limitations of these strategies and propose a solution. Our literature review reveals that the volatile profits are due to statistical analyses that assume the persistence of past patterns, leading to unreliable results in out-of-sample scenarios when underlying mechanisms evolve. Statistical analysis, the predominant method in financial economics, often proves inadequate in explaining market fluctuations and predicting crashes. To overcome these limitations, a paradigm shift towards dynamic approaches is essential. Drawing inspiration from three groundbreaking economists, we introduce the extended Samuelson model (ESM), a dynamic model that connects price changes to market participant actions. This paradigm transition uncovers several significant findings. First, timely signals indicate momentum initiations, cessations, and reversals, validated using S&P 500 data from 1999 to 2023. Second, ESM predicts the 1987 Black Monday crash weeks in advance, offering a new perspective on its underlying cause. Third, we classify sequential stock price data into eight distinct market states, including their thresholds for transitions, laying the groundwork for market trend predictions and risk assessments. Fourth, the ESM is shown to be a compelling alternative to EMH, offering potent explanatory and predictive power based on a single, realistic assumption. Our findings suggest that ESM has the potential to provide policymakers with proactive tools, enabling financial institutions to enhance their risk assessment and management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presently, financial portfolio managers lack a solid basis for building a reliable risk management strategy for green debt instrument investments due to the lack of compelling growth and resilience data. Therefore, this study assesses the role of green bonds in financial markets by assessing and correlating their complex scaling behaviors across multiple periods with those of key benchmark assets (e.g., conventional bonds, high-yield bonds, Euro-Dollar exchange, Dow Jones Industrial Index, Bitcoin, and Gold). Specifically, we explore linear and nonlinear correlation patterns using cross-correlation tests and the dynamic conditional correlation model, focusing on bond interactions under various degrees of freedom. Our analysis reveals that although most assets exhibit nonlinear correlations, Bitcoin uniquely aligns linearly with U.S. bonds under certain conditions. Green bonds, however, display nonlinear correlations with Bitcoin and stand out for their distinct upward financial persistence. We find also that green bonds are primary drivers in the financial domain, highlighted by their pronounced interactions and the consistent cross-correlation with the Euro-Dollar exchange rate. Moreover, green bonds have the lowest multifractality, showing persistent upward trends and antipersistent downward trends, rendering them quite resilient during periods of high volatility. These results imply that green bonds may be advantageous to portfolio risk management strategies, especially during crises when diversification and hedging tactics are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The audit profession's technical and ethical standards require the application of professional skepticism throughout the financial statement audit process, as auditor skepticism is essential for detecting financial statement fraud and protecting the investing public. However, recent research suggests that audit supervisors often punish staff for exercising skepticism, presenting auditors with an ethical conflict between acting in their own self-interest and acting in a way that improves audit quality and protects the public. This research also suggests that supervisors who reward appropriate skeptical behavior, regardless of the outcome, appear to develop staff that are more likely to detect and convey fraud red flags to their superiors. Building on this research, we use a case-based survey to identify the characteristics of audit supervisors (audit seniors and managers) who are more likely to reward appropriate skepticism, even if it ultimately does not identify a misstatement. We find that trait skepticism, especially suspending one's judgment, positively drives the evaluations of professional skepticism in our setting. Also, we observe that when supervisors believe that their own audit partner will view the skepticism favorably, they "pay it forward" by rewarding their own staff who engage in skepticism. Our findings identify the characteristics that audit firms may want to develop and foster in auditors rising to supervisory levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Codes of governance have mushroomed in contexts operating under a single, dominant institutional logic, such as publicly listed corporations. These codes act as institutional prescriptions that help spread best practices throughout industries. More recently, in some countries, specific codes have been developed for hybrid organizations that integrate multiple, conflicting institutional logics simultaneously, such as cooperative enterprises. Drawing on an extensive set of qualitative data, we ask how such institutional prescriptions may (fail to) address governance challenges in organizations with multiple, conflicting institutional demands. In doing so, we extend current literature on governance of hybrid organizations, which has so far focused on individual and organizational levels, to include institutional-level strategies. While governance codes are often inspired by deontological ethics to solve issues in a single institutional logic, we find that governance codes for hybrid organizations should not prioritize a single institutional logic, nor follow a deontological approach to improving governance, but should, on a more pragmatist take, remain open to continuous learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability in family businesses is an increasingly important and ever-evolving topic in business research, due to the demands of sustainable development agendas for all types of companies. This study conducts a comprehensive literature review on sustainable entrepreneurship (SE) using bibliometric analysis, content analysis, and a systematic literature review. The systematic literature review helps in finding the 554 SE-related articles. The bibliometric and content analysis was carried out on these articles. The study also analyzed the recent articles separately to identify research gaps and current trends. The study identifies the research to be diversified in six broad themes: 'sustainable entrepreneurial enterprise', 'relationship between social entrepreneurship and the sustainable ecosystem', 'publications from different angles', 'model, framework, and conceptual papers', 'involvement of new entrants', and 'influence of financial support' and 'green start-ups'. The future research directions will help scholars identify clear research gaps to explore this area further. Researchers can focus on green agritourism, advanced recycling methods, eco-centric models, frameworks, operational procedures, financing partnerships, and transitioning into the digital era. Article highlights: Identifies research diversification in six themes and carried out literature review and content analysis. Article highlights five fresh research avenues. Several research directions in each broad research avenue are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In museums' dynamic and culturally rich environments, employee morale and productivity are crucial for achieving organizational goals. However, employees' perception of organizational politics can undermine these objectives. Hence, this study investigates the buffering role of authentic leadership in mitigating perceptions of organizational politics and its subsequent effects on organizational citizenship behavior (OCBI and OCBO) and task-oriented performance among museum employees. This research involved 436 employees across six public sector museums in Pakistan, including supervisors and their immediate subordinates. Data were collected in four waves and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The findings indicate that perceptions of organizational politics significantly negatively influence both organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBI and OCBO) and task-oriented performance. However, authentic leadership buffers these negative effects, significantly reducing perceptions of organizational politics and positively correlated with enhanced task-oriented performance and citizenship behavior. This study highlights the crucial role of authentic leadership in moderating the adverse impacts of organizational politics, fostering a positive work environment in museums, and enhancing both employee productivity and organizational outcomes. The insights from this research offer valuable implications for museum leaders aiming to enhance organizational performance through effective leadership practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the mandatory CSR disclosure policy enacted in China as a quasi-natural experiment, this study provides causal evidence that mandatory CSR disclosure regulation increases stock price synchronicity. Drawing upon signaling theory and behavioral finance perspective, I argue that mandatory CSR disclosure regulation as a market level signal may affect investors’ category-learning behavior, which can further have a positive impact on stock price synchronicity. I further show that this positive impact can be attenuated when firms are followed by more analysts, when more following analysts are affiliated with large brokerage firms, and when firms have better corporate governance. This study not only provides new evidence that mandatory CSR disclosure regulation can positively affect stock price synchronicity but also suggests that analysts’ capabilities to extract and understand CSR information and better corporate governance can alleviate such an effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluating firms' financial performance is important for survival in the competitive environment arising from technological advancements and gaining a competitive advantage. This study aims to assess the financial performances of firms traded on the Istanbul Stock Exchange 100 Index (Borsa Istanbul (BIST) 100 Index) between 2018 and 2022 using an integrated multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method. This is the first study to use a new combined approach proposed based on the indifference threshold-based attribute ratio analysis (ITARA) and cost estimation, benchmarking, and risk assessment (COBRA) methods, which have not been applied to corporate performance assessment. The ITARA method is used to find the weights of the criteria, and the ranking of the firms in terms of financial performance is obtained using the COBRA method. The results show that the firms with the highest financial performance are ISMEN, ALGYO, PGSUS, KOZAA, and IPEKE. The companies with the lowest financial performance are AKFGY, BAGFS, MGROS, KOZAL, and GOZDE. The results of this ranking provide important information for firms to recognize their position and for investors who want to invest in firms in the BIST 100 Index. Additionally, sensitivity analyses are performed to assess the impact of changes in the criteria on the ranking of the firms and to validate the results of the proposed method. A comparative analysis is made with different MCDM methods like the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), and combined compromise solution (CoCoSo) methods and Spearman's rank correlation test results are presented. This approach leads to the conclusion that the proposed approach can be a useful and effective tool for assessing the financial performance of firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on market integration theory, we investigate the static and dynamic connectedness between nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) equity markets using the Quantile Vector Auto Regressive model. We also compute optimal weights and hedge ratios for our variable of interest to establish their diversification and hedging potential. Our analysis infers a moderate level of return transmission at the median quantile, where equity markets evolved as the net recipients of return spillover from the system, while NFTs emerge as key transmitters. In extreme market conditions, transmission between variables is amplified, but the increase is symmetrical across extreme quantiles, suggesting a similar impact. However, the interlinkage among assets is symmetric across conditional quantiles. The dynamic analysis demonstrates that the system integration amplifies during uncertain times (e.g., COVID-19 and the Russia–Ukraine conflict). Our portfolio analysis shows that NFTs provide diversification and hedging in all market conditions. However, the period of turmoil dampened the diversification potential, and hedging became expensive. Our study offers detailed and insightful information about the transmission mechanism and enables the participants of financial markets to diversify and hedge their portfolio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the pursuit of advancing corporate social responsibility and various dimensions of intrapreneurship, this study investigates strategies to nurture employees' creativity and dedication in the workplace, encompassing innovation, proactivity, and risk-taking behaviors. Employing artificial neural networks (ANN) and structural equation modeling, we analyze survey data collected from workers in Tunisian public sector enterprises. In total, we sampled 500 employees, collecting 300 responses for the empirical study. Additionally, sensitivity analysis reveals noteworthy distinctions: single men and women hold a higher regard for CSR compared to their married counterparts, reinforcing the importance of considering marital status in CSR initiatives. The primary objective of this study is to establish a comprehensive research model elucidating how CSR-supportive measures influence employee outcomes, encompassing organizational commitment, individual work commitment, and creative contributions. This research endeavors to offer valuable insights to public enterprise managers, facilitating a precise understanding of strategies to enhance employee commitment at both the organizational and individual levels. Experts concur that when public enterprise employees perceive their management implementing creative and CSR-supporting initiatives, their commitment to the organization intensifies. In addition to enriching existing resource-based and commitment theories, this study provides practical guidance for human resource management in the context of public sector enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rehabilitation technology is a growing field, but the sustainable implementation of these technologies, particularly in home settings, is lacking. The aim of this study was to explore the factors influencing the uptake of stroke rehabilitation technology among various stakeholders, including developers, healthcare professionals, individuals who had strokes, strategic experts, management and innovation staff, health insurers, and the National Health Care Institute. Methods: In total, 22 semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive stakeholder sample. The Non-adoption, Abandonment, Scale-up, Spread, and Sustainability (NASSS) framework was used as the theoretical basis for the interview design. The interview content was analysed to generate (sub)themes representing factors influencing the implementation of home-based rehabilitation technology. These (sub)themes were organised according to the NASSS framework domains to ensure a systematic and theoretically grounded analysis. Results: Ten influencing factors emerged, nine of which fell within six of the seven NASSS domains. These factors include: (1) the unpredictable aftermath of stroke, (2) technology (mis)alignment with care delivery processes and end users' preferences, (3) disparities in the assessment of technology's value, (4) differences in commercial and university developers' interests, (5) patient group capabilities, (6) perceived workload, (7) formal implementation plans in rehabilitation centres, (8) laws and regulations, and (9) the financial system. The factor that did not align with a single NASSS domain was: (10) the fragmentation of responsibilities among diverse stakeholders. Conclusion: This study shows that the sustainable implementation of home-based rehabilitation technology faces several challenges across multiple domains of the NASSS framework. Effective collaboration among stakeholders is crucial for addressing these challenges but is currently hindered by fragmented responsibilities. To improve collaboration, it is essential to clearly define the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders. Additionally, national-level policies adopting a systems approach are necessary to align these responsibilities and foster effective collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractAdam Smith and David Hume strongly support commercial societies. But both do not assume that commerce necessarily promotes peace; it might even lead to more wars. Their respective reasoning, however, is very different. Smith claims that wars arise from the rapacity of merchants and manufacturers chasing monopolies, while Hume attributes them to human nature. Smith assumes that the martial spirit decreases, Hume that it is strengthened. Smith supports a standing army, Hume a militia. Hume approves of financing wars by debt; Smith fears escalating military debt. Consequently, Hume advocates expanding commerce to increase the military power of Britain, Smith proposes integrating the British colonies into the Union or abandoning them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Non-pharmacological dementia research products, such as social and behavioural interventions, are generated in traditional university settings. These often experience challenges to impact practices that they were developed for. The Netherlands established five specialized academic health science centres, referred to as Alzheimer Centres, to structurally coordinate and facilitate the utilization of dementia research knowledge. This study leverages implementation science to systematically explore the research utilization strategies used by academic researchers from each Alzheimer Centre, on the basis of the "knowledge-to-action" (KTA) framework that includes knowledge creation, adaptation, dissemination and implementation. Methods: Individual semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 29 respondents across the five Alzheimer Centres in the Netherlands. Participants were selected through purposive (snowball) sampling. Interviews were conducted in-person and virtually through Microsoft Teams, and all were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data analysis was guided by the dimensions of the KTA framework. Result: There was a high variation in the strategies used across the five Alzheimer Centres to bring non-pharmacological dementia research into practice. Selected strategies in each Centre were influenced by the typology of research products produced and the Centres' organizational heritage. The knowledge creation and adaptation phases were mainly facilitated by funders' guidance towards research impact and research product co-creation with patients and implementing organizations. Dissemination and implementation phases were often facilitated through utilizing support from university-based technology transfer offices to facilitate implementation and valorization and establishing and strategically leveraging formal infrastructure, such as public–private partnerships and professional collaborative networks. Conclusions: Successful research utilization requires evolving researcher competencies to meet environmental demands and facilitating co-creation with research end-users and implementing partners. Understanding external determinants influencing research utilization in the Dutch dementia research ecosystem is crucial for capacity-building and aligning cross-sector agendas. The KTA framework appears to reveal the intricacies of research utilization, guiding future studies to explore strategies employed across various contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Female entrepreneurs encounter several barriers before starting a business. The prevalent association of entrepreneurship with masculine stereotypes in many countries is a contributing factor as to why fewer women pursue entrepreneurial ventures. Yet our understanding of whether these barriers vanish once females have founded a new business remains limited. To shed more light on women's experiences, we conducted 32 semi-structured interviews to investigate German female entrepreneurs' perceptions of challenges post-foundation. Our findings show that female entrepreneurs are still affected by stereotypes of their private and professional surroundings after their business has launched. The main reasons for exiting their businesses are experienced role conflicts that may result in mental health issues. Based on these findings, we developed a framework illustrating how women navigate through the entrepreneurial lifecycle, encountering increased role incongruity as they become more deeply immersed in the entrepreneurial environment. Understanding the factors through which women decide about their future paths is important for researchers and practitioners to support female entrepreneurs after new business startup. We conclude that sustained private and professional as well as instrumental and non-instrumental support during the early stages after starting a new venture may help sustain the share of female entrepreneurs and reduce the share of females resigning and going into other labor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An entrepreneurial spirit is a crucial component of every nation's progress. For the majority of emerging nations, the biggest issue is unemployment. When it comes to lowering unemployment rates, entrepreneurs are crucial since they create jobs. Starting a business from scratch is not a picnic; it calls for meticulous preparation over the long haul. Expertise in creating and overseeing commercial ventures is also necessary. To achieve success as an entrepreneur, one must first understand his or her motivations and aspirations. Educated young people lack the necessary knowledge and skills to launch a new business. There are a lot of factors that influence students' entrepreneurial intents and attitudes while they are just starting out in the workforce, thus measuring students' intentions for starting a new firm is vital. An entrepreneur's desire to involve in an entrepreneurial action is defined by their level of commitment to the "Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)." The sample size was 600 students, drawn from a variety of universities, both public and private, in Punjab. A student's entrepreneurial purpose was significantly impacted by their perceived control over their behavior and their attitude towards the activity, according to the results. Students' aspirations to start their own businesses might be bolstered by an industry interface and a start-up fund. Students lack the necessary information and expertise to launch a company, and many are unsure of how to create an organization plan for an entrepreneurial initiative. There was no statistically significant association between students' subjective norm and their intention to start their own business in this study. A person's social circle may not have the sway they need to make decisions in the face of societal shifts occurring at a rapid pace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of a highly dynamic environment, there has been a notable focus on the development of innovative knowledge assets. The objective of this paper is to investigate whether there is a relationship between CEO power and innovative knowledge assets, and to examine the joint moderating effect of firm size and firm age on that relationship. This can help to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) like 8: promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth and 9: promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation. This paper empirically tested the hypotheses based on a sample of manufacturing firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges from 2009 to 2019. The fixed effect model was employed to examine the relationship between CEO power and innovative knowledge assets, as well as the joint moderating effect of firm size and firm age. The research results showed that there is a significant positive relationship between CEO power and innovative knowledge assets. Moreover, the significant positive relationship between CEO power and innovative knowledge assets is stronger in larger and older firms. This paper contributes to the existing literature on CEO power and firm innovation, and also offering valuable insights for firms seeking to develop innovative knowledge assets. Article Highlights: CEO power has significant positive impact on innovative knowledge assets. Firm size and firm age moderate the relationship between CEO power and innovative knowledge assets. Firm size and firm age can interact with each other to affect the relationship between CEO power and innovative knowledge assets [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrating the prescriptive and linear approach of NSD with the non-linear approach of service design can enhance value cocreation orientation in service innovation. Then, the objectives of this study are to explore these complementarities, propose an integrated model that enhances value cocreation in service innovation, and evaluate this model. The methodology involved a systematic literature review, focus group, and brainstorming session to propose the model, followed by evaluation through three case studies and expert interviews. As results, the model's main feature is the development of each service prerequisite through the service design cycle, prescriptively incorporating customer input throughout the service innovation process. Expert interviews and model application indicated that the model achieved its objectives, as the development of each service element was based on a deep understanding of customer demands and their active participation, resulting in services with high potential for resource integration and value cocreation. After applying and evaluating the model, this study provides evidence that (i) hybrid waterfall-cyclic dynamic contributes to managing complexity in service innovation, while maintaining customer focus and creativity; (ii) recurring studies of customer needs in distinct service innovation phases, each focusing on a specific service element, contribute to enriching the understanding of such needs; (iii) active customer involvement in proposing and selecting each service prerequisites across service innovation phases tends to enhance resource integration and value cocreation; (iv) waterfall and cyclic hybrid approach for service innovation contributes to generating detailed service prerequisites specifications, leading to more effective implementation; and (v) customer-centered dynamics throughout the service innovation process contribute to promoting cross-departmental integration, embedding customer needs across the organization. This paper contributes to deepening the discussion on implementing value cocreation in service innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The valuation of financial derivatives often assumes risk neutrality with respect to the risk-neutral martingale measure, which prevents arbitrage opportunities. However, casual traders may still incur substantial losses when trading at this risk-neutral price, especially when the price has to be paid now and the payoff is only realized in the future. This study proposes a new valuation framework that provides risk-sensitive investors with an additional safeguard. The proposed framework embraces a worst-case perspective while exploiting the underlier's stochastic process, representing a combination of robust optimization and stochastic programming. Notably, it aims to mitigate losses in the likelier scenarios of the underlying asset's prices. When the underlier's returns are independent and lognormally but not necessarily identically distributed, our approach for pricing variance and volatility swaps could be greatly simplified, benefit from parallel computing, and be solved by a two-dimensional grid search. We further derive a closed-form solution in some special stationary cases and provide experimental results to highlight the effect of risk aversion on fending off sizable trading losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the international environment changes, frequent geopolitical crises continue to hinder the healthy development of global stock markets. To analyze in-depth the risk contagion path between the international stock market and geopolitics under the impact of extreme events, this paper explores the tail risk interactive contagion mechanism and dynamic effects of the double-layer network between the international stock market and geopolitics from the perspective of complex networks. Empirical research finds that geopolitical conflicts exacerbate risk contagion among international stock markets, and there are significant differences in risk contagion between developed and emerging economies. The analysis of the complex interaction effect in the double-layer network of the international stock market and geopolitics shows that the intralayer risk spillover effect of geopolitics in the short term is significantly higher than that of the stock price volatility network layer. Finally, the study on the dynamic changes of the double-layer network connectedness between the international stock market and geopolitics found that the shock of extreme events, such as military conflict and public health security, is an important factor in triggering the cross-contagion of risks. The research conclusions provide new ideas for preventing the cross-contagion of geopolitical risks in the stock markets of various countries under the evolution of the global political and economic pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]