Issue #2 (Volume 23 2025)

Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) have become a cornerstone of modern organizational practices, offering solutions to enhance employee engagement and adapt to evolving workplace demands. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of flexible work arrangements on job engagement, focusing on how dimensions such as workload flexibility, workplace flexibility, and flexible working hours influence employee vigor, dedication, and absorption within the Egyptian telecommunications sector. A descriptive-analytical approach was adopted, and data were collected through a structured questionnaire distributed to 300 employees across different departments in the Egyptian Telecom Company. Statistical analyses, including correlation and regression, were employed to test the relationships between the variables. The findings reveal that FWAs significantly enhance job engagement, explaining 62% of the variance in engagement levels. Flexibility in workload emerged as the strongest predictor (β = 0.28), followed by flexible workplace (β = 0.25) and flexible working hours (β = 0.22). Flexible workplace and working hours also had substantial impacts, reflecting the importance of spatial and temporal flexibility in addressing employee needs. While flexible working procedures contributed positively, their influence was comparatively lower, indicating the operational constraints of the telecommunications sector. The results underscore the practical value of FWAs in enhancing workforce motivation and organizational performance. By strategically implementing tailored FWA policies, organizations in dynamic sectors like telecommunications can foster a more engaged and adaptable workforce, ensuring resilience and competitiveness in a rapidly changing environment.

Acknowledgment
The authors are thankful to the Deanship of Graduate Studies and Scientific Research at University of Bisha for supporting this work through the Fast-Track Research Support Program.

This study investigates the mediating and moderating roles of data analytics and business intelligence in the relationship between e-HRM practices and job satisfaction in Jordanian SMEs. The data were obtained from a survey of 368 employees through questionnaires; the data were analyzed via SPSS and PROCESS Macro v3.5. The results show that e-HRM practices, such as e-recruiting, e-training, e-compensation, and e-performance, have a high and significant positive impact on job satisfaction (R² = 0.93, F = 1221.14, β = 0.613, p = 0.01). More precisely, concerning the dimensions of e-HRM, both e-training (β = 0.356, p < 0.001) and e-performance (β = 0.072, p = 0.02) were positively related to job satisfaction, while e-compensation had no statistical effect. Data analytics mediated this relationship positively by increasing its impact by 0.33 and contributing to an R² of 0.875 (p < 0.01). Furthermore, data analytics had a direct influence on job satisfaction (R² = 0.48, F = 333.93, β = 0.691, p < 0.001). Business intelligence moderated e-HRM-job satisfaction relationships through the amplification of its effect by 0.40 and had an indirect R² of 0.875 (p < 0.01). These results have presented the critical roles that data analytics and business intelligence play in the optimization of HR practices and employee satisfaction. The study has shown the need for Jordanian SMEs to adopt these technologies to enhance their HR capabilities and workforce engagement.

Limited resources have always been critical for the sustainability, growth, and development of micro and small enterprises. Understanding how the available limited resources can be best utilized during adverse conditions seems essential. Accordingly, this study attempts to understand key factors enhancing entrepreneurial bricolage (EB) among micro and small entrepreneurs, leading to better growth aspirations (GA). The study gathered a sample of 280 micro and small entrepreneurs from December 2024 to January 2025 through online and in-person visits to their business locations. Data were analyzed with the help of partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The study has reported that commitment (COM) and soft skills development (SSD) are positively and significantly correlated with EB, and EB positively and significantly influences GA. Furthermore, EB mediates the relationship between COM, SSD, and GA. However, COM reveals no direct connection with GA, but SSD reports a positive connection with GA. The study provides theoretical and practical implications for policymakers, stakeholders, and academic researchers.

Acknowledgment
This work was supported by the Deanship of Scientific Research, Vice Presidency for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia [Grant No. KFU251164].

Green accounting is becoming a top issue in global opinion, especially given the environmental and climatic conditions that have become a concern for all countries. The study aims to explore the role of environmental sustainability as a mediator in the relationship between green accounting and corporate performance in Jordan. In the sample of industrial company managers, 259 responses were deemed suitable for in-depth statistical analysis. Smart PLS 4 was employed to analyze sample responses. The structural modeling findings demonstrate a positive association between green accounting and environmental sustainability with a p-value of 0.000, which is significant at the 0.05 level. Path coefficients corroborated the statistically significant positive association between green accounting and company performance, which was significant at the 0.05 level with a p-value of 0.029. The findings also demonstrate an influential correlation between environmental sustainability and company performance with a p-value of 0.000, which is significant at the 0.05 level. The results confirmed that environmental sustainability had an influential mediating influence on the relationship between green accounting and corporate performance with a p-value of 0.000.

This study explores the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into project management through a bibliometric analysis of scholarly publications and patents from 2001 to 2024. The paper aims to identify key trends, emerging applications, and global contributions to this evolving field. The study analyzes 51,752 patents from Lens, 5.5 million scholarly records from Google Scholar, and 436,380 records from Web of Science, providing a comprehensive overview of AI’s impact on project management. The analysis maps the evolution of AI-driven project management practices, focusing on resource allocation, risk management, and scheduling optimization. The findings reveal a substantial increase in AI-related project management research, with China and the United States leading in research output. A notable surge in publications post-2019 suggests acceleration due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the growing demand for digital transformation in project execution. Despite the rising adoption of AI in project management, research gaps persist, particularly in interdisciplinary methodologies, practical AI applications, and ethical concerns related to algorithmic decision-making. This study contributes to understanding AI’s transformative role in project management and highlights future research directions to enhance AI adoption for improved efficiency, decision-making, and project performance. The findings underscore the need for continued exploration of interdisciplinary approaches, practical implementations, and ethical considerations to foster innovation and efficiency in AI-driven project management.

Telecommunication technologies have entered all spheres of society, creating wide chances for improvement. The splendid, safe, and effective digital revolution in best practices and the productive use of resources in this field are the driving force behind the improvement of innovation. The aim of the study is to identify the main problems of the arrangement and evolution of the digital economy in Azerbaijan, as well as to offer recommendations for the successful usage of digital technology opportunities. Using regression analysis, the impact of the digital economy on economic growth was determined. The analysis showed a direct relationship between the indicators (r = 0.857) and a high closeness of the relationship on the Cheddock scale. The outcomes showed that during the last eight years (2015–2023), there has not been a significant growth in the ICT Development Index in Azerbaijan. According to the ICT Development Index, Azerbaijan ranks 87th, the Development Index of e-government – 83rd, and the Network Readiness Index – 75th in the world. The results stressed the necessity of state support for the digital economy in Azerbaijan to solve problems in this area and the significance of applying the progressive foreign countries’ experience in the digitalization of the economy. The study examines the factors influencing the development of the digital economy in Azerbaijan and offers proposals and recommendations for the effective use of digital technologies that have practical and scientific significance.

COVID-19 has propelled the tech industry in India into a cycle of extensive downsizing, leaving numerous layoff survivors in a vulnerable state and demanding an urgent need for appropriate strategies to counter this precarious situation. Hence, the objective of the study is to investigate the impact of layoff-induced role conflicts on the task performance of layoff survivors, along with the moderating role of perceived family support and perceived organizational support in Indian tech companies. A descriptive survey method was adopted, and data were collected through a structured questionnaire. A total of 256 responses were collected from 25 major tech companies that executed layoffs in the recent past. SPSS AMOS and Jamovi 2.4.11 were used for the analysis. The result reveals that layoff-induced role conflicts were significantly associated with the task performance of surviving employees (p < .026), though the impact was negative (β = –0.106). The moderating effect of both perceived organizational support (β = 0.647, [LLCI = 0.505], [ULCI = 0.785], p < 0.001) and perceived family support (β = 0.324, [LLCI = 0.181], [ULCI = 0.459], p < 0.001) was significant between role conflict and task performance. The results also demonstrate that the task performance of surviving employees is significantly diminished by role conflicts as it leads to work-related stress. Furthermore, the study also highlights that perceived organizational and family support plays a crucial role in tackling the overall negative impact of layoff-induced role conflicts on the task performance of surviving employees in post-layoff scenarios.

This study investigates the relationship between perceived job insecurity and employee creativity, emphasizing the roles of social cyberloafing and talent management practices as mediators and moderators in this relationship. Data were collected from 308 supervisor-subordinate pairs across various sectors in Jakarta, Indonesia. This study utilized Macro Process 4.0 for data analysis, hypotheses testing, and assessing moderation and mediation effects. The findings indicate that job insecurity is positively associated with social cyberloafing and negatively impacts employee creativity. Additionally, social cyberloafing positively influences creativity and mediates the relationship between job insecurity and employee creativity. Furthermore, talent management practices significantly mitigate job insecurity’s negative effects on social cyberloafing and creativity and influence the relationship between social cyberloafing and creativity. This study enhances the understanding of the process model connecting job insecurity and employee creativity in the workplace, highlighting the crucial roles that social cyberloafing and talent management play as mediators and moderators in these relationships.

The objective of this study is to explore the factors that contribute to disputes in contract farming and to understand the motivations behind selecting a dispute resolution method. Data for this study were obtained through in-depth interviews and group discussions with 15 lawyers, as well as surveys conducted among 525 respondents, comprising 323 farmers and 202 agribusiness representatives in the Central Coast region of Vietnam. The results of the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) indicate that all research hypotheses are supported. The factors influencing the occurrence of disputes in contract farming agreements, ranked in ascending order of impact, are contract content, social influence, price volatility, risk perception, environmental uncertainty, and legal understanding. Additionally, these factors indirectly affect the intention to resolve disputes through courts, commercial arbitration, and mediation via the mediating role of contract farming disputes. Furthermore, the study reveals that when contract farming disputes arise, the preferred order of dispute resolution methods is courts, followed by commercial arbitration, and finally, mediation. This empirical analysis also provides evidence of significant differences in perceptions between two groups – farmers and agribusiness enterprises – regarding the intention to resolve disputes through courts and the impact of environmental uncertainty on contract farming disputes. The findings enrich empirical research on contract farming dispute resolution in emerging countries with conditions similar to those of Vietnam.

Acknowledgment
This study is the result of collaboration between a group of scientists from the University of Law, Hue University, and School of Business and Economics, Duy Tan University. The authors would like to acknowledge the support and facilitation provided by both institutions for the publication of this research.

The growing number of undergraduate students juggling jobs and studies poses problems for attaining work-life integration. Understanding the factors influencing this integration is critical, especially in the context of flexible work arrangements (FWA) and workload. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of FWA and workload on work-life integration among working students in Indonesia, focusing on the contradiction that flexibility promotes balance and increases job demands. Data were obtained from 125 working students in the service industry on Indonesia’s two most populous islands, Java and Sumatra, using structural equation modeling partial least squares (SEM-PLS). The study found that FWA considerably increases workload (β = 0.846, p = 0.000) and improves work-life integration (β = 0.638, p = 0.000). Workload is a mediator between FWA and work-life integration (β = 0.540, p = 0.000), indicating that flexibility increases job demands but improves work-life integration. Workload has an adjusted R² of 0.714, explaining 71.4% of the variance. Work-life integration is explained by workload and FWA combined, accounting for 83.0%. These findings emphasize that, while a higher workload may appear contradictory, it promotes better time management and financial stability, improving well-being and work-life integration. Institutions and employers must ensure that task expectations remain moderate to prevent stress from negating the benefits of flexibility. This study presents empirical evidence to support policies that promote flexibility while avoiding excessive job demands.

This study examines the impact of authentic leadership on job satisfaction in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam, focusing on the mediating role of psychological empowerment and the moderating effect of organizational culture. A survey of 638 employees in the trade and service sectors in Ho Chi Minh City was conducted, and structural equation modeling was used for analysis. The findings reveal that authentic leadership positively influences psychological empowerment (β = 0.195, p < 0.001). Further, this factor also impacts job satisfaction both directly (β = 0.364, p < 0.001) and indirectly through psychological empowerment (β = 0.459, p < 0.001). Psychological empowerment significantly enhances job satisfaction (β = 0.424, p < 0.001), while organizational culture moderates the relationship between authentic leadership and job satisfaction (β = 0.234, p < 0.001). These results underscore the importance of transparent, ethical, and empowering leadership in fostering a supportive workplace environment. The study contributes to understanding leadership dynamics in non-Western, collectivist cultures and provides practical insights for improving employee satisfaction in Vietnamese SMEs.

A proactive personality is crucial for individuals and organizations, including lecturers in higher education institutions. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate how proactive personalities affect the innovative behavior of Indonesian lecturers through the sequential mediation of job involvement, organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior. The paper employed a quantitative approach, and the data were operationalized through a survey using a Likert-scale questionnaire. The sample included 230 lecturers at private universities in Indonesia spread across four provinces (Central Jawa, West Jawa, Jakarta, and Banten). Correlational matrices and descriptive statistics supported data analysis using structural equation modeling. The results demonstrate a significant relationship between lecturers’ proactive personality and job involvement, organizational commitment, and innovative behavior. Additionally, a proactive personality influences innovative behavior through job involvement, organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior. This study produces a new empirical model that explains how proactive personalities affect lecturers’ innovative behavior through job involvement, organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior.

Knowledge sharing in MSMEs refers to sharing information, skills, or experiences between business owners, employees, customers, or other parties such as mentors, business communities, or educational institutions. This study aims to analyze the relationship between innovation performance and knowledge-sharing outcomes within handicraft MSMEs in Medan, Indonesia. It highlights the role of absorptive capacity as a crucial intermediary, emphasizing its importance in enhancing the connection between shared knowledge and improved innovation performance. A quantitative methodology is applied in alignment with the study’s objectives, as the research involves numerical and statistical data. Methods for collecting the data included interviews and questionnaires. The total population for this study comprises 165 managers/owners of handicraft MSMEs in Medan, Indonesia. The analysis is conducted using the SEM-PLS technique. The findings indicate that knowledge-donating and knowledge-collecting, as pillars of knowledge sharing, are key in bolstering absorptive capacity and advancing innovation performance. This relationship is statistically supported with a p-value of less than 0.05. Indirectly, knowledge-donating significantly affects innovation performance through absorptive capacity (p < 0.05), and knowledge-collecting significantly affects innovation performance through absorptive capacity in handicraft MSMEs in Medan, Indonesia (p < 0.05). Based on this study’s results, MSMEs in the craft sector can increase innovation by building a culture of knowledge sharing internally among employees and externally with business partners, communities, or clients.

Acknowledgment
The study was funded in 2024 under the Basic Research - Regular (PF-R) category by the Republic of Indonesia’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology. The administration of the Faculty of Economics and Business, as well as the staff of the Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM) at Universitas Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara, were also thanked, along with the other levels of administration at the university.

Even though women entered the corporate world in the twenty-first century, there are still relatively few in leadership roles across all industries. Women’s advancement may be hampered by a few unseen circumstances. Thus, the study sought to determine the glass ceiling elements (organizational culture, organizational climate, organizational practice, and women’s career aspirations) that could impede women’s career development in Nepalese financial institutions. Descriptive and analytical research designs were used. Women working as supervisors and above made up the population. Nepalese financial institutions were separated into three groups (commercial bank, development bank, and finance company) using multi-stage sampling. Statistical tools like frequency, mean, one-way ANOVA, and multiple regression were used for the 396 sample. The result showed that organizational culture (11 items, β = –0.335, p < 0.05) seemed more influencing to affect the career development of women negatively followed by organizational climate (18 items, β = –0.209, p < 0.05), organizational practice (10 items, β = –0.176, p < 0.05) and women’s career aspirations (18 items, β = –0.169, p < 0.05) accounting for approximately 52.3% of the variation. Post hoc analysis showed that women working in commercial banks have fewer career development opportunities compared to development banks. However, there is no difference between commercial banks and finance companies, as well as between development banks and finance companies. Finally, the study findings will help policymakers understand invisible barriers that hamper women’s careers and help women become aware of corporate and personal factors leading to improved careers.

Acknowledgment
This study was funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC), Nepal, under UGC Award Number PhD-77/78-Mgmt-03. The author wants to express gratitude to UGC Nepal for its generous funding.

This study aims to evaluate how green HRM enhances sustainable performance in Indonesian SMEs by integrating green supply chain management and fostering pro-environmental behavior. By analyzing data from 645 SMEs across various industries, this paper explores the mediating effects of green supply chain management and pro-environmental behavior. The findings demonstrate that while green HRM has a direct negative impact on sustainable performance, its integration with green supply chain management and pro-environmental behavior significantly enhances sustainability outcomes. Additionally, green supply chain management and pro-environmental behavior mediate the relationship between green HRM and sustainable performance, indicating that green HRM indirectly fosters sustainability through these pathways. The study also shows that pro-environmental behavior moderates the effects of green HRM and green supply chain management on sustainable performance, strengthening both relationships. These results suggest that while green HRM alone may not directly improve sustainable performance, its integration with green supply chain management and pro-environmental behavior significantly enhances sustainability outcomes for SMEs. This study underscores the importance of fostering pro-environmental behavior and incorporating green supply chain practices within green HRM frameworks. It provides valuable contributions to the literature on sustainable business practices and offers practical guidance for SMEs to improve their sustainability performance.

Women, as craft business owners, must possess knowledge about financial inclusion and financial stability because it has an impact on business sustainability. This paper aims to test the effect of financial literacy and financial well-being on business sustainability, with digital financial inclusion as a moderating variable. This paper uses 236 female export craft MSME actors in East Java Province. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses. The findings show that financial literacy and financial well-being affect business sustainability. Financial knowledge of MSME actors, both knowledge of debt and bookkeeping with the ability to record finances, impact business sustainability. Financial well-being also contributes to business sustainability with healthy finances and a perception of financial adequacy and financial resources to manage the business. Financial well-being can mediate the influence of financial literacy on business sustainability, where increasing financial well-being is necessary because the role of financial literacy can improve the business sustainability of female MSME actors in East Java. Digital financial inclusion can moderate financial well-being’s influence on business sustainability by using digital products and digital systems. The research findings can be taken into consideration by the government and used as material for policy studies on the importance of mastering digital financial inclusion in the sustainability of MSMEs.

Acknowledgments
Gratitude is extended to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, Technology, and Higher Education for providing complete financial support to this research project through a Regular Fundamental Research grant.

As cities increasingly adopt smart technologies and seek to foster innovation-driven economies, it is vital to understand how smart city development relates to the strength of local startup ecosystems. This study investigates whether a statistically significant relationship exists between a city’s performance in the smart city ranking and the strength of its startup ecosystem. The study employed available data from the Global Startup Ecosystem Report (by Startup Genome) and the Smart City Index (SCI by the IMD World Competitiveness Center). A balanced panel regression analysis was conducted on a dataset comprising 77 cities across the years 2020, 2021, and 2023 (2022 is excluded as the SCI was not published). The findings reveal that the Random Effects model yielded statistically significant results, indicating a weak (R² = 25.63%) but significant inverse relationship between SCI and startup ecosystem development, which means cities that rank higher on smart city metrics tend to show lower levels of startup ecosystem performance. This counterintuitive result challenges the assumption that technologically advanced cities automatically provide fertile ground for entrepreneurial activity. One possible explanation is that smart cities, dominated by large tech players and rigid governance structures, may present entry barriers for emerging startups. High operational costs, regulatory constraints, and a focus on large-scale infrastructure projects may disincentivize startups from localizing their innovations within these environments. Although the R² suggests that other variables beyond the smart city ranking influence startup development. This study highlights the need for urban policies that actively integrate startup-supportive mechanisms into smart city strategies.

As commercial space activities continue to expand, establishing a comprehensive regulatory framework is crucial for ensuring sustainable growth, fostering private sector investment, and maintaining alignment with international legal standards. This study aims to examine the managerial and regulatory aspects of the UAE Space Regulation Law No. 12 of 2019, analyzing its impact on private sector participation and the broader commercial space industry. The paper specifically evaluates the role of the UAE Space Agency in facilitating investment, managing risks, and ensuring compliance with international treaties such as the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and the 1979 Moon Agreement.
The study uses a doctrinal legal research methodology to assess the legal mechanisms governing liability, space resource ownership, and private sector engagement. Findings indicate that while the UAE has developed a progressive framework for space commercialization, key regulatory gaps remain, particularly in space resource management and liability distribution. These challenges present barriers to investment and require strategic adjustments to enhance legal clarity and operational efficiency.
The study recommends a managerial approach to regulatory development, emphasizing risk mitigation strategies for private operators, stronger policy incentives for new market entrants, and enhanced international collaboration to create a globally harmonized framework for commercial space activities. Addressing these issues will strengthen the UAE’s position as a competitive player in the space industry while ensuring legal certainty for businesses and investors.

This study investigates the relationships between women economic empowerment, self-efficacy, and women technology entrepreneurship intention among women operating online businesses in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study design was utilized, with data collected from 256 women entrepreneurs engaged in various online business ventures through a convenience sampling technique. This sample was chosen due to its direct relevance to the study’s objective of understanding the entrepreneurial intentions of economically active women in the digital space. The analysis, conducted using structural equation modeling, revealed several important findings. Women economic empowerment was found to have a significant positive effect on self-efficacy (β = 0.607), indicating that increased economic resources and opportunities enhance women’s confidence in their abilities. Additionally, self-efficacy was identified as a significant predictor of women technology entrepreneurship intention (β = 0.44), suggesting that women with higher self-confidence are more likely to pursue technology entrepreneurship. Moreover, women economic empowerment was found to have a direct effect on technology entrepreneurship intention (β = 0.351). Importantly, self-efficacy mediated the relationship between economic empowerment and entrepreneurial intentions (β = 0.267), highlighting that economic empowerment influences entrepreneurial aspirations both directly and indirectly through its impact on self-efficacy. These findings underscore the importance of economic support and confidence-building initiatives in promoting technology entrepreneurship among women. The study suggests that targeted policies and programs should focus on enhancing economic opportunities and building self-efficacy to foster greater participation in technology entrepreneurship.

Acknowledgment
The authors extend their appreciation to the Arab Open University for funding this work through research fund No. (AOUKSA-524008).

This study aims to explore and identify key past research directions and propose future research avenues related to the legal framework of free trade zones (FTZs). The bibliometric data were collected through the Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) database systems. After merging the datasets and filtering English-language publications from 2004 to 2024, a total of 103 documents were retained. The research methodology employed in this study includes descriptive statistics and keyword co-occurrence analysis, supported by the VOSViewer software. The findings reveal that China is the leading country in publishing research on the legal aspects of FTZs. Past studies have formed four clusters corresponding to four fundamental research directions. They include (1) Arbitration and dispute resolution in China’s free trade areas; (2) The impact of international trade laws and regulations on risk assessment and tax systems in global trade, including FTZs; (3) The role of financial and governance regulations in pilot FTZs; and (4) The legal framework and impact of FTZs in Shanghai and special economic zones on international trade. This study contributes evidence showing that China is a pioneering country in researching, developing, and refining legal policies for free trade zones in order to enhance its impact on the global economy.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Editor-in-Chief and a reviewer for their helpful comments, which, in our view, have significantly improved the quality of the manuscript. This study is also the result of collaboration between researchers from the University of Law, Hue University, and Duy Tan University. The authors would like to thank both institutions for their support and facilitation in the publication of this research.

Leadership style is a key factor shaping employee engagement and performance, which in turn determines organizational success. This study investigated the relationship between leadership style, work engagement, and employee performance in women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. Over three months (March to May 2024), 1,000 questionnaires were distributed via Google Forms to employees working in women-owned SMEs in Vietnam; 465 responses were received, of which 376 were considered valid for analysis. The workforce was predominantly female, aged 36–45, with a high school education or less, and the highest proportion was those with 3–6 years of work experience. SMART PLS Version 4.0 software was used to test the research hypotheses. The findings showed that transformational leadership had the most positive effect on work engagement and employee performance, followed by transactional and democratic styles. In contrast, the authoritarian and laissez-faire leadership styles had lower impacts on employee engagement and performance than the previous three leadership styles, but in the opposite direction. Notably, work engagement played a mediating role in the relationship between leadership style and employee performance. This study suggests that leaders should adopt a flexible approach to leadership, particularly by leveraging the strengths of transformational, transactional, and democratic styles, while minimizing the use of authoritarian and laissez-faire approaches.

SMEs are the backbone of the economy in various countries. SMEs are usually associated with their entrepreneurial capabilities and organizational culture to create sustainable innovation. This study aims to analyze the relationship between learning orientation and entrepreneurial orientation on SME innovation performance and examine the role of organizational learning as a mediator in this relationship. A quantitative approach was used. Data were collected through a survey of SME owners or managers from West Java who focused on the food and beverage, handicraft, and fashion industrial sectors. The questionnaire collection took place from August to November 2024. Two hundred thirty-seven questionnaires were retrieved for the analysis. The structural equation modeling (SEM) approach has been used to test the hypotheses. This study found a positive and significant relationship between learning orientation and organizational learning (p < 0.05, β= 0.54), entrepreneurial orientation and innovation performance (p < 0.05, β = 0.501), entrepreneurial orientation and organizational learning (p < 0.05, β = 0.5), and organizational orientation and innovation performance (p < 0.05, β = 0.446). In contrast, the relationship between learning orientation and innovation performance was insignificant (p > 0.05, β = 0.098). A good understanding of entrepreneurial orientation will allow SMEs to innovate better and survive amidst business competition. Learning orientation, which is considered to improve innovation performance, did not significantly influence SMEs in West Java. On the other hand, SMEs in West Java must improve their organizational learning, especially organizational culture related to shared vision, which is expected to influence innovation performance.

This study aims to examine the impact of transformational leadership on job performance, emphasizing the mediating roles of work engagement, work motivation, and organizational culture, as well as the moderating effect of power distance. A total of 500 survey questionnaires were distributed in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, with 341 valid responses analyzed using structural equation modeling (Smart-PLS). The findings indicate that transformational leadership has a small direct effect on job performance and work engagement but demonstrates a moderate impact on work motivation and a significant influence on organizational culture. Work engagement, work motivation, and organizational culture mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and job performance. Additionally, the results reveal that power distance moderates the effect of transformational leadership on work motivation but not on job performance, work engagement, and organizational culture. Employees with a high power distance tend to weaken the positive relationship between transformational leadership and work motivation, thereby reducing job performance. The study provides insights into leadership strategies in hierarchical healthcare environments of Vietnam.

Acknowledgment
This study was carried out within the framework of the doctoral thesis subject to Decision No. 2/QD-DHTD dated January 12, 2020, at Tay Do University, Vietnam.

In today’s volatile global market, supply chain performance is vital for maintaining business success, especially in Jordan, where companies face regulatory limitations, import dependence, and political uncertainty. The purpose of this study is to assess how strategic elements within supply chains contribute to business outcomes and whether their impact varies by firm size and industry. A cross-sectional survey was conducted between September and December 2024 in Jordan, targeting firms across key economic sectors. Using a stratified sampling method, 366 firms (152 small, 114 medium, and 100 large enterprises) across manufacturing, retail, pharmaceuticals, and other industries were selected. This sample was chosen to ensure diversity in supply chain structure and resource capacity, making it suitable for examining size- and sector-specific effects. Data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis. Results show that strategic supply chain actions significantly influence performance: internal collaboration enhances external partnerships (β = 0.42, p = 0.002), which increase responsiveness (β = 0.44, p = 0.001) and resilience (β = 0.41, p = 0.002). Larger firms benefit more from structured coordination and diversified sourcing (β = 0.50, p = 0.001), while SMEs face limitations due to resource constraints. Pharmaceutical firms show the strongest sector-based results (β = 0.54, p = 0.002). The findings highlight that universal supply chain strategies are ineffective. Customization by firm size and industry is essential for building agility and long-term success.

The purpose of this study was to summarize the motivational factors in a project team, focusing on three key roles: team members, project managers, and project leaders. A systematic review was conducted using the PRISMA approach to identify relevant studies published between 2004 and 2024. 127 peer-reviewed articles were selected from the Web of Science database. The bibliometric analysis was performed using VOSviewer software to visualize trends and clusters. The bibliometric analysis revealed a surge in interest in research after 2021, highlighting the motivation’s special role in project management. Transformational and shared leadership are identified as the most motivating in projects. The study identified seven main categories of motivational factors in the project team: psychological factors, goal orientation, social factors, job design, training and development, financial incentives, and organizational support. However, these categories have their characteristics, emphasizing that motivation is not a universal concept but a dynamic and role-dependent construct. While team members are motivated by emotional support, clear goals, and rewards, project managers value strategic influence and professional development, and project leaders are driven by task complexity and intrinsic rewards. The noticeable gap in the research was the lack of attention to the motivation of the project leader. These findings offer a structured framework for improving team motivation and project performance across various organizational contexts.

Acknowledgment
Gratitude is extended to Professor Darren Dalcher for his valuable advice and insightful suggestions to start this article.

Vietnam is a rapidly developing economy with a unique set of audit challenges. This study focuses on independent auditors in Vietnam to determine the impact and influence of the representative factors of auditor characteristics, such as knowledge, experience, ability, and working motivation, on the auditors’ judgment. The study chose 407 auditors (juniors, seniors, managers, and partners) who worked at 86 Big 4 and non-Big 4 firms in Vietnam in 2023. Respondents were selected at random, and data were collected through the distribution of questionnaires. The study used structural equation modeling (SEM) and path analysis to examine the relationship between knowledge, experience, problem-solving ability, working motivation, and auditors’ judgment performance. The findings, derived from normalized weights, indicate that knowledge has the most significant positive influence (0.330), followed by auditor experience (0.237), and lastly, problem-solving ability (0.151). The results also show that knowledge has a partially mediating role (in the form of support) in the relationship between experience and problem-solving ability to auditors’ judgment performance. The correlation relationships in the model are all statistically significant at a 95% confidence level (p = 0.000 < 0.05). This study contributes to refining the factors influencing auditors’ judgment performance, thereby supporting auditors, regulators, and policymakers in enhancing audit quality.

Acknowledgments
The author would like to sincerely thank the valuable contributions of Mr. (Mrs.) who participated in the semi-structured interviews and the auditors who participated in the survey at 86 Big4 and Non-Big4 auditing companies in Vietnam. Sincere thanks are also extended to the managers at the audit firms who facilitated the completion of this survey.

Firm performance is a business achievement through pro-growth capabilities and strategies. This paper aims to determine SME internal capabilities that can improve firm performance in Indonesia employing the resource advantage theory of competition. The research sample includes small and medium enterprises from the beauty product, food and beverage, and textile industries, the three primary industries that help Indonesia achieve a green economy. The respondents are managers or business owners who understand and handle overall business activities. Using convenience sampling techniques, 194 respondents were obtained and analyzed via partial least squares (PLS) with SMART PLS Ver 4.0 software. Empirical findings prove that service-dominant and responsive marketing orientations positively affect firm performance. Service-dominant orientation does not affect exploitative operational ambidexterity. However, exploitative operational ambidexterity has a significant positive effect on firm performance. The firm-specific marketing ecosystem does not affect firm performance. However, the firm-specific marketing ecosystem positively affects exploitative operational ambidexterity. Further findings indicate that responsive marketing orientation has a stronger relationship to exploitative operational ambidexterity. This paper offers managerial implications for business owners or managers who must modify service-dominant orientation and firm-specific marketing ecosystem to be more adaptive, innovative, and competitive to achieve superior firm performance.

This study aims to assess how much digital skills are prioritized in public sector recruitment and identify key competency gaps among civil servants. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining quantitative content analysis of 408 job postings from the official e-qyzmet.kz platform and an online survey among 200 “B” corps civil servants in central and regional government bodies. Survey participants were selected using purposive and nested sampling, with balanced regional representation. The findings reveal that 66.9% of job postings do not specify digital skills as a requirement, and 60% of surveyed civil servants reported that digital competencies were not mandatory for employment. Furthermore, 54.5% of respondents encountered difficulties in using government digital systems due to either a lack of experience or inadequate training. Regional government employees face greater barriers to accessing digital training than central agencies. Despite ongoing e-government initiatives, 56.5% of civil servants have never received formal digital skills training after being hired. These results highlight a misalignment between Kazakhstan’s digital transformation strategy and actual human capital development in the civil service. They emphasize an urgent need to introduce a standardized competency framework and structured digital skill assessments in civil service recruitment and training. Addressing these gaps is essential to strengthening digital governance and ensuring that civil servants are adequately prepared to operate in an increasingly digital administrative environment.

Acknowledgments
This study is funded by the Committee of Science of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (No. BR21882308) within the framework of program-targeted funding “Evolution of political institutions and structures in the history of Kazakhstan (XIX–XXI centuries).”

Knowledge transfer success in alliances can establish competitive advantages by enhancing an organization’s ability to identify, assimilate, and apply new knowledge, commonly referred to as absorptive capacity of knowledge. This process is facilitated through interorganizational relationships, connections, or links characterized by trust, reciprocity, and frequent interactions, which improve the flow of knowledge between partners. This study aims to investigate the impact of the absorptive capacity of knowledge on the success of knowledge transfer, with interorganizational link strength considered as a mediating variable. The analysis was conducted with an initial sample of 154 organizations from the agro-industry cluster in the Santander region of Colombia. Data were collected using a structured Likert-scale questionnaire, targeting leaders and project managers involved in collaborative initiatives. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the data and test the proposed hypotheses. The results reveal that absorptive capacity significantly and positively influences both the success of knowledge transfer and interorganizational link strength. Besides, interorganizational link strength has a positive and significant impact on the success of knowledge transfer. Furthermore, interorganizational link strength mediates the relationship between absorptive capacity and knowledge transfer success. The study demonstrates that enhancing a firm’s absorptive capacity of knowledge improves technology transfer outcomes in collaborative alliances. Also, it reveals that strong interorganizational relationships play a significant role in facilitating knowledge exchange. Together, these findings offer new insights into the synergistic interplay between absorptive capacity and link strength as key enablers of the success of knowledge transfers.

Acknowledgment
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the “IIoT Platform for Training Professionals in Fourth Industrial Revolution Technologies” project (code 2824 at the Universidad Industrial de Santander). This project’s resources and expertise in knowledge transfer processes were instrumental in the success of our study. Special thanks to the project team for their invaluable contributions.

Recognizing the importance of innovative work behavior in driving organizational success, this study investigates the influence of perceived organizational support to enhance employees’ innovative behavior, with person-organization fit positioned as a mediating factor. In pursuit of this goal, organizations must develop and sustain a competent and adaptable workforce, as human resources play a pivotal role in securing long-term competitive advantage. Consequently, implementing effective and innovative approaches to support employees, particularly by nurturing their capacity for innovation, has become increasingly essential. To accomplish the research objectives, data were collected from 251 employees from different sectors in Indonesia between November 2024 and February 2025. The collected data were subsequently examined using the SEM-PLS analysis tool, and the obtained findings highlighted that perceived organizational support possessed a clear and substantial effect on innovative work behavior (p = 0.012) as well as person-organization fit (p = 0.000). The results also reflected that person-organization fit significantly influenced innovative work behavior (p = 0.000) and partially mediated the relationship between innovative work behavior and perceived organizational support (p = 0.000). The investigation emphasized the importance of organizations providing a conducive work environment for employees and adopting activities that could increase the level of employee satisfaction with their respective jobs in the organization. This emphasis is especially crucial because the proper implementation of favorable work environments and adoption of relevant activities invariably can significantly enhance employees’ innovative work behavior.

Graduate unemployment poses a significant challenge in Nepal, necessitating a comprehensive examination of the psychological factors that influence job search behavior. This study examines the influence of motivation, self-efficacy, goal-setting, and self-regulation on job search behavior among college graduates, specifically those participating in career preparation courses. A systematic survey was conducted from January to March 2024, focusing on 387 job seekers and recent graduates in career preparation programs at universities in the Kathmandu Valley. The sample was chosen through stratified random sampling to guarantee representation of various academic disciplines. A quantitative methodology was utilized, employing regression analysis to evaluate the correlations between psychological factors and job search behavior. The findings demonstrate that goal-setting (β = 0.842, p = 0.000) and self-regulation (β = 0.842, p = 0.000) considerably improve job search behavior, underscoring the significance of emotional regulation and cognitive clarity in surmounting employment obstacles. Motivation significantly enhances job-seeking efforts (β = 0.341, p < 0.001), underscoring its importance in this context. Self-efficacy correlates negatively with job search behavior (β = –0.494, p < 0.001), indicating that excessive confidence may diminish persistence in job-seeking efforts. These findings highlight the necessity for specific policies and educational initiatives that improve goal-setting, self-regulation, and motivation while alleviating the negative impacts of overconfidence by promoting balanced self-efficacy and reasonable expectations. This study enhances the comprehension of psychological factors influencing employability, providing essential insights for creating inclusive, adaptive systems that foster innovation, entrepreneurship, and workforce preparedness via academic-industry collaboration.

The accelerating pace of digital and environmental transformation presents both opportunities and challenges for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the European Union. While digital tools like data analytics can significantly boost operational efficiency and sustainability, many SMEs lack the internal capabilities to fully leverage them. This study investigates how upskilling employees in digital competencies can help SMEs enhance their digital maturity and achieve long-term resilience. A descriptive trend analysis was based on Eurostat datasets focusing on enterprise size categories and examining indicators such as data analytics activities, the prevalence of ICT training, and difficulties encountered in recruiting ICT specialists. Visualized through Tableau, the data reveal notable disparities: in 2023, only 14.5% of small and 33.8% of medium-sized enterprises with high digital maturity performed data analytics, compared to 59.4% of large enterprises. Despite clear demand, only 5% of small and 20% of medium enterprises attempted to recruit ICT-skilled personnel, frequently citing a lack of qualified candidates or unaffordable salary expectations. SMEs rely on their own staff for data analytics tasks, yet many still do not offer structured training. While countries like Finland stand out, with 61.7% of medium enterprises providing ICT upskilling, others fall well below the EU average. These results underscore that internal skill development is not just a workaround but a strategic necessity for SMEs striving to keep pace with digital demands, overcome labor market constraints, and build a foundation for sustainable growth.

This study examines the effect of female representation on audit fees in listed UK companies, concentrating on the demographic characteristics of female directors, specifically age and nationality. Using a sample of 165 FTSE 350 companies from 2011 to 2021, generalized least squares regression models are employed to test the link between female audit committee members and audit fees from both the demand and supply sides. The results show a negative relationship between the proportion of females on audit committees and audit fees with a coefficient of –0.2273 (p < 0.05). Thus, higher female representation tends to lower audit costs. However, when considering demographic characteristics, the age and nationality of female members have a positive effect on audit costs, with coefficients of 0.0145 (p < 0.01) and 0.5546 (p < 0.01), respectively. Thus, while gender diversity reduces audit costs overall, experienced (older) female directors and those from diverse national backgrounds may add to audit complexity and, therefore, increase fees. The implications of these findings are relevant to policymakers and corporate governance bodies. Diversity policies should go beyond simple gender quotas. Instead, they should include a broader set of demographic attributes when promoting female representation on audit committees to achieve audit quality and cost efficiency.

Acknowledgment
This study received full funding from the Middle East University, Amman, Jordan.

The digital transformation of education is a modern trend, and it is essential to investigate its role in enhancing quality education as one of the Sustainable Development Goals. The purpose of the paper is to confirm the restraining or accelerating impact of education digitalization on achieving SDG4 in Azerbaijan compared with SDG4 leaders. The sample consists of the chosen data of 14 indicators in the education digitalization field (provided by the Statistics Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Institute for Statistics Data, and the International Telecommunication Union) in 2016–2023 from 10 countries: Azerbaijan (status ‘Challenges remain’ for SDG4) and nine leading countries (status 'Goal Achievement') according to 2024 SGD Index Rank. To achieve the Goal, the Granger causal test and regression analysis (linear modeling for time series and random-effects GLS regression for panel data) using Stata SE 18.0 software were applied. It was confirmed that in Azerbaijan (both separately and within a panel of studied countries), the impact of education digitalization on achieving SDG4 is positive and accelerating (for specific indicators, it is not significant but not restraining). The stronger impact is observed in Azerbaijan compared to the average on the panel level. The key accelerators are school-level Internet access, digital practical skills, and digital literacy, especially proportions of youth/adults who have used arithmetic in spreadsheets, connected and installed new devices, and created electronic presentations (increase in SDG4 achievement indicator by 2.63, 3.5%, and 9.89%).

This study investigates the influence of digital transformation capability and strategic learning capability on strategic agility as well as competitive and innovative performance of Thai hotels. The sample consisted of 303 4–5-star hotels, selected through simple random sampling from a total population of 2,079 hotels nationwide. Data were collected through questionnaires and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results revealed that digital transformation capability significantly influences strategic agility (β = 0.249, t = 5.182). Strategic learning capability, which encompasses strategic knowledge generation (β = 0.309, t = 5.759), strategic knowledge interpretation (β = 0.118, t = 2.325), strategic knowledge implementation (β = 0.266, t = 5.561), and strategic knowledge database (β = 0.106, t = 3.395), also has a positive impact on strategic agility. Furthermore, strategic agility positively affects competitive and innovative performance (β = 0.313, t = 4.984). It also serves as a mediator in the relationships between digital transformation capability (β = 0.078, t = 3.834), strategic knowledge generation (β = 0.097, t = 3.671), strategic knowledge interpretation (β = 0.037, t = 2.015), strategic knowledge implementation (β = 0.083, t = 3.704), and strategic knowledge database (β = 0.033, t = 2.651) on competitive and innovative performance. The findings offer hotel operators valuable insights into the importance of developing digital transformation capabilities and strategic learning capabilities to enhance strategic agility, which in turn leads to improved competitive and innovative performance, particularly within a volatile and uncertain business environment.

Acknowledgments
The authors declared that this study complied with ethical guidelines by the Institutional Review Board of the Human Research Ethics Committee of Walailak University (WUEC-23-264-01), Thailand. Dr. Kanokwan Meesook is also a co-first author of this article.

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the effects of the government role, community empowerment, green marketing, and corporate social responsibility based on Tri Hita Karana on the sustainability of tourism villages in Bali, Indonesia. Tri Hita Karana is a Balinese wisdom that teaches about harmonious relationships with God, humans, and the environment. The analysis was conducted from January to September 2024. The population consisted of managers from 239 tourism villages in Bali. The sample selection employed a purposive sampling technique, with the criterion of having served as a manager of the tourism village for at least 1 year. Data were collected through structured questionnaires distributed to 190 managers in the Bali province of Indonesia. Smart PLS was employed to analyze sample responses. Path coefficients corroborated the statistically significant effects of government role, green marketing, and corporate social responsibility based on Tri Hita Karana on the sustainability of tourism villages, with a p-value of 0.000, which is significant at the 0.05 level. The findings also demonstrated a significant effect of community empowerment on sustainable tourism villages with a p-value of 0.028. In addition, a government role, community empowerment, green marketing, and corporate social responsibility, based on Tri Hita Karana, lead to the development of a more responsible, inclusive, and sustainable tourism sector, which provides long-term benefits for all parties involved.

Acknowledgment
The authors would like to express sincere appreciation to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Republic of Indonesia, for financing this study through the Fundamental Research Scheme in 2024.

This paper investigates the impact of human AI skills and competitive psychological climate on organizational innovation in Jordan’s telecommunication companies: Zain, Orange, and Umniah. A descriptive-analytical method was employed whereby structured questionnaires were administered to 552 employees. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results provide evidence that human AI skills (β = 0.68, p < 0.001) have a strong positive impact, which is slightly lower than that of competitive psychological climate (β = 0.74, p < 0.001) on organizational innovation. Additionally, the competitive psychological climate moderated the effects of human AI skills and organizational innovation (β = 0.72, p < 0.001). Based on these findings, integrating advanced human AI competencies with a constructively competitive psychological environment is essential for innovation enhancement. The paper highlights the need to raise awareness of AI skill deficiencies and encourage a sense of ethical competition in the industry to drive innovation, thereby offering guidance to telecom companies in Jordan that face the need for digital transformation.

Acknowledgment
The author is grateful to Middle East University, Amman, Jordan, for the financial support to cover this article’s publishing fee.

The Lima Declaration established the basis for inclusive and sustainable industrial development, emphasizing industry as a driver of progress. This study aims to analyze the sustainable industrial development of the regions of Western Kazakhstan. Using a comparative approach and Sustainable Development Goal framework, an economic-static analysis was performed on data from the Bureau of National Statistics and the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2010, 2015, and 2019–2022 to evaluate the state and trends of structural shifts in the sectors forming the gross regional product, as well as the development dynamics of the manufacturing industry. The study revealed that the technological structure of industry in Western Kazakhstan is dominated by the IV technological paradigm (76–82%). The manufacturing industry accounts for 11.79% of gross domestic product and is characterized by a low share of gross value added of medium- and high-tech industries in the gross regional product (0.24–1.45%). Despite the steady growth of manufacturing development indicators, only the Aktobe region demonstrates high potential for sustainable industrial development, while the West Kazakhstan and Mangystau regions have medium potential, and the Atyrau region has low potential. In these regions, sectors such as mechanical engineering, pharmaceutical and chemical production, electrical equipment, computers, and electronic and optical products have significant development potential. An important direction in sustainable industrial development in these regions could be establishing strict environmental standards, the digital transformation of mining enterprises, the transition to low-carbon sources, increasing intellectual potential, and human capital development.

Acknowledgments
This study is supported by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (BR21882122 “Sustainable development of natural-economic and socio-economic systems of the West Kazakhstan region in the context of green growth: comprehensive analysis, concept, forecast estimates and scenarios”).

Studying the institution’s development process and its influence on economic results in countries rich in natural resources and whose export is mainly connected with the sale of natural resources can give new ideas for institutional theory. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of institutional quality on non-commodity economic growth in Azerbaijan. The study was conducted using the ARDL Bound Test based on data covering the years 1996–2022. The model included growth rates of non-oil GDP and indices of government effectiveness and regulatory quality. The results show that in Azerbaijan, regulatory quality has a positive influence on the growth of non-oil GDP in the long and short-run perspectives. Thus, a 1% increase in regulatory quality leads to a 19.8% increase in the growth rate of non-oil GDP. However, there was no statistically significant relationship between government effectiveness and non-oil GDP. These results confirm the idea of strengthening the work to improve the quality of regulation. It is also necessary to increase the indicator of government effectiveness, the quality of legal institutions, public services, and civil services. The insignificance of institutional quality influence on non-resource tradeable sectors determines the relevance of research on institutions’ impact on increasing the economic complexity of rich-resource countries.

This study aims to analyze the effects of explorative and exploitative skills, along with the moderating role of knowledge vacuum, on innovation process and performance during the merger of public research organizations (PROs) to better comprehend these organizational factors. During the merger of PROs, explorative and exploitative skills can prevent a slow innovation process and knowledge loss. Meanwhile, innovation also serves as PRO’s core activity. However, the effect of explorative and exploitative skills (and also the knowledge vacuum) on the innovation process in PROs is still debatable, as they often disregard the knowledge loss effect. This study used 314 questionnaires, which were responded to by scientists of basic and technological research in Indonesia’s merged PRO, namely the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN). Data were collected from 2023 to 2024 and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with Smart-PLS 4.0. The results reveal that the knowledge vacuum has a positive and significant influence on both exploratory-exploitative skills and absorptive-adaptive capabilities of scientists, which will eventually shape their distinctive competencies differently. However, despite the positive influence of the knowledge vacuum, the organization needs to strengthen scientists’ explorative and exploitative skills by reinforcing strategic human resource management through periodic training, performing joint activities or active innovation hubs, and guiding scientists to cope with the dynamic transition periods due to mergers. All of them aim to reinforce knowledge exchange and research networks.

Acknowledgment
This study had no funding and did not employ artificial intelligence. This article is original and was not published in any other language or concurrently submitted to other journals. This study is also clear from reuse of any material.
Acknowledgments are expressed to all scientists in National Research and Innovation Agency that voluntarily participated in this study.

Despite ongoing efforts to modernize the higher education sector in Kazakhstan, the integration of strategic management and the effective allocation of public investment continue to pose significant challenges. This study aims to assess the relationship between public investment in higher education, enrollment dynamics, and innovation activity measured through the share of innovative organizations. Official statistical data for 2004–2024 were obtained from the Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan and the World Bank. The study employs econometric analysis methods, including the evaluation of multiple linear regression models, vector autoregressive models, and Granger causality tests. According to the ordinary least squares (OLS) regression results, the impact of public investment in higher education on the number of students was not statistically significant (β = –0.00035; p = 0.507), suggesting insufficient targeting of funding and inefficient channels of distribution of funds. However, the number of higher education institutions shows a statistically significant positive effect on enrollment (β = 8048.5; p = 0.002), indicating that institutional infrastructure and territorial accessibility play a more significant role in expanding access to higher education than the overall level of funding. In addition, the constructed regression model is characterized by a high explanatory power (R2 = 0.8665), which indicates the estimates’ reliability and the correctness of the choice of explanatory factors. The findings highlight the importance of coordinating investment policy in higher education with the goals of innovative development.

Acknowledgments
This paper has been funded by the Science Committee MSHE RK (Grant “Modernization of the quality assurance system of higher education in Kazakhstan based on digitalization: development of approaches, mechanisms and information base” BR24992974).

Electronic commerce is gaining importance as a hub for product sourcing, helping businesses earn a competitive edge, and connecting with consumers. Despite its enormous benefits, very few microenterprises in Indonesia adopted electronic commerce. This study analyzes three determinants influencing electronic commerce adoption in microenterprises and evaluates the impacts of these three determinants on firm performance. The paper adopts the TOE (technology, organization, external environment) framework. The quantitative explanatory method uses a questionnaire distributed directly to 113 Indonesian microenterprises’ owners registered in the database of the East Java Department of Cooperative, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises from October 2023 to July 2024. The collected data were processed via structural equation modeling partial least squares (SEM-PLS). The findings indicate that a decision to adopt technology has a direct, positive, and significant impact on the adoption of electronic commerce in Indonesian enterprises. Second, organizational context (such as firm size or age) has a positive and significant effect on the willingness to adopt electronic commerce. Third, the external environment has a positive influence on the adoption of electronic commerce. The results confirm the positive impact of the adoption of electronic commerce on the performance of Indonesian microenterprises. These findings justify the importance of TOE contexts in supporting electronic commerce adoption in Indonesian microenterprises and, in turn, increase the performance of the corresponding micro-firms.

Acknowledgment
This work was supported by the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology under fundamental research grant number 109/E5/PG.02.00.PL/2024.
The authors do not have permission to share the data because the raw data are collected under a license from the East Java Department of Cooperative, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises.

The progression of teleworking in the post-pandemic era and its diverging effects on employees are widely debated among global businesses. This study evaluates the impact of teleworking on employees’ physical activities, dietary patterns, job stress, and productivity through a moderated mediation approach. The research objectives are achieved by collecting data through a survey of 443 employees working in banking, insurance, health, and manufacturing institutions in Indonesia. The selection of these sectors was guided by their growing economic contribution to long-term developmental plans (2025–2045) and existing teleworking regulations for their employees. The findings show that teleworking has a significant positive effect on dietary patterns (SE = 0.481; UE = 6.458) and employee productivity (SE = 0.515; UE = 8.508), a significant negative effect on job stress (SE = –0.220; UE = –5.216) and an insignificant positive effect on physical activities (SE = 0.381; UE = 7.257). The mediation result confers that physical activities (SE = 0.436) and dietary patterns (SE = 0.517) have a significant positive impact on the productivity of teleworking employees. However, the mediating effect of job stress (SE = –0.321) shows an insignificant and negative impact on the productivity of teleworking employees. It is also observed that organizational culture plays a significant, positive moderating role (SE = 0.552) in enhancing the productivity of teleworking employees. These findings contribute to developing hybrid working policies for managers looking to address problems of maintaining employee health and productivity in the workplace.

Using the technology-organization-environment framework, this paper investigates elements that affect the adoption of e-commerce technology by Jordanian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Cloud computing, logistics digitalization, and AI-driven customer engagement serve as elements for technological readiness assessment. In contrast, regulatory compliance readiness and supportive government measures are other significant factors for the study. Survey questionnaires for 425 respondents, including SME owners and managers alongside employees from different Jordanian industries, were distributed between March and July 2024 through stratified random sampling. SEM served as the model for evaluating and testing the hypotheses. The examination shows cloud computing readiness (β = 0.34, p < 0.01) combined with AI-driven customer engagement (β = 0.42, p < 0.001) along with logistics digitalization (β = 0.38, p < 0.001) to be the vital drivers that boost e-commerce adoption among SMEs. The findings show that readiness for regulatory compliance failed to impact enterprises’ adoption rates of e-commerce substantially. The government support strengthened the positive impact of technological enablers on e-commerce adoption. The research results present crucial knowledge that shows policymakers and SME managers why they should invest in specific digital infrastructure, improved financial support systems, and less complex regulatory frameworks to support successful digital transformation among Jordanian SMEs.

This study examines the impact of corporate governance on the probability of financial statement fraud and evaluates the moderating role of financial distress in this relationship. This issue remains highly relevant given the persistence of fraudulent financial practices despite evolving governance regulations. The analysis is conducted on a sample of 330 non-financial companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2021 to 2022. Using purposive sampling and secondary data, the study measures financial statement fraud with the F-score, corporate governance through institutional ownership, ineffective monitoring, regulatory compliance, and financial distress using the Zmijewski model. The study applies moderated regression analysis across three models. The results from Model 1 show that corporate governance has a significant negative effect on the likelihood of financial statement fraud (β = –0.085; p < 0.05). Model 2 finds that financial distress alone has a significant positive effect (β = 0.315; p < 0.05). Model 3 confirms a significant moderation effect, where financial distress strengthens the relationship between governance and fraud (interaction β = 0.353; p < 0.05). These findings indicate that while effective governance can reduce fraudulent financial reporting, this effect is influenced by a company’s financial state. Therefore, robust governance structures are vital, particularly in times of financial hardship. Future studies should consider external institutional mechanisms to further understand these dynamics.

Since organizational commitment has been shown to contribute to the success of an enterprise and is acknowledged to be influenced by both personality and situational factors, a thorough investigation into how home office arrangements shape the personality-commitment bonds is needed to provide HR practitioners with guidelines on how to establish effective home office policies. Therefore, this study seeks to investigate whether the relationships between the Big Five personality traits and the three facets of organizational dedication still exist in the post-COVID-19 era characterized by an ever-increasing adoption of remote working and, if so, to reveal whether remote working arrangements shape these relationships. Using data collected from 730 Hungarian employees working in various industries in late 2023 via a self-administered questionnaire and employing PLS-SEM analysis, the study confirms that personality-commitment relationships persist in the post-COVID-19 era. On the other hand, the associated effect sizes, which range from 0.008 to 0.053, also reveal that organizational commitment is primarily driven by factors other than personality, which explains less than 10% of the variability in organizational commitment. Moreover, the non-significant moderating effect of the home office suggests that remote working practices do not fundamentally shape the strength of the relationships between the personality and the dedication toward an organization. Consequently, different personality traits required for fulfilling specific roles do not need special attention when developing remote work policies; rather, openness and extraversion, the two primary sources of dedication, are to be prioritized to promote organizational commitment.

This study examines the role of public administration tools in special economic zones (SEZs) in China and Kazakhstan. The aim of this study is to conduct a comparative analysis of public administration tools in SEZs of both countries, focusing on governance models, regulatory frameworks, investment incentives, and their impact on economic performance. The methodology includes a review of the historical development and current practices of SEZs in both nations, especially comparing the special economic zones of Shenzhen and Astana. This involves analyzing governance structures, tax incentives, and policies impacting FDI and technology transfer using both qualitative and quantitative data. The study concludes that the effectiveness of public administration tools in SEZs depends on governance structures and alignment with national economic goals, highlighting the need for flexible governance models to maximize the economic benefits of SEZs. Findings indicate that China’s decentralized governance was a key factor in its significant and rapid economic growth, providing an example for Kazakhstan to study further and potentially implement, as it grants more decision-making autonomy to local SEZ authorities. The key recommendations are that the adaptivity of public administration strategies plays a vital role in fostering the efficiency of SEZs and attracting high technological industries for Kazakhstan.

Acknowledgment
This research is funded by the Committee of Science of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Project No. BR24993082).

 

This study aims to examine how ethnic culture orientation influences the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Western Indonesia, particularly through the mediating role of resource orchestration capability as a strategic management tool. The analysis involved 232 SME owners and managers operating in food processing, handicrafts, and traditional textiles, i.e., industries known for their strong cultural foundations. Respondents were selected using purposive sampling to ensure they had embedded ethnic culture values in their business practices. Data collection was conducted from June to August 2024 using structured questionnaires distributed via Google Forms and WhatsApp. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with AMOS. Results show that ethnic culture orientation significantly affects both resource orchestration capability (β = 0.336; p = 0.002) and SME’s performance (β = 0.213; p = 0.012), while resource orchestration capability has a strong impact on SME’s performance (β = 0.785; p < 0.001). Mediation analysis reveals that resource orchestration capability fully mediates the relationship between ethnic culture orientation and SME’s performance, as the indirect effect is significant (p < 0.001), and the direct effect becomes insignificant. These findings underscore the importance of developing strategic capabilities that align with cultural values to improve SME’s performance in culturally rich regions.

Business intelligence (BI) systems are crucial to hospitals, as they enable organizations to make informed decisions through data analysis and enhance operational efficiency. BI adoption experiences barriers in Jordanian hospitals as a result of both organization-specific needs and technological limitations of their environments. This study assessed BI adoption by surveying employees at different departments in Jordanian hospitals. From January to May 2024, a total of 350 surveys were distributed, resulting in 312 valid responses collected through online and paper-based methods. The analysis involved participants from various departments, including administrative staff, clinical personnel, and IT department professionals, to gain a comprehensive understanding of BI readiness throughout the organization. The results demonstrate that technological compatibility and environmental factors are critical for successful BI adoption (p < 0.05), yet findings show organizational readiness has no direct effect (p > 0.05). Top management support has a positive effect on BI adoption, and user satisfaction serves as a critical moderating variable, positively influencing the relationship between these elements (p < 0.05). Business intelligence systems require dedicated leadership focus, along with proper technological infrastructure and active user engagement, for successful deployment. The study offers practical recommendations for hospital executives and policymakers with strategies to deploy BI using leadership initiatives plus technological integration and worker development. The establishment of digital healthcare advancement programs stands as a goal that government authorities must achieve. Furthermore, the establishment of national digital healthcare advancement programs and the expansion of cross-institutional data collection are essential in different settings.

This study aims to examine the impact of transformational leadership on employees’ emotional commitment to organizational change and their intention to support change while evaluating the mediating role of innovative behavior. The analysis was conducted in the Jordanian tourism and hospitality sector between January and February 2025. A structured questionnaire was distributed to employees working in hotels, travel agencies, and tourist attractions across various regions of the country. Stratified random sampling ensured balanced representation by organization type and location. Out of 300 distributed questionnaires, 230 valid responses were collected, yielding a response rate of 76.7%. Participants had at least one year of experience and prior exposure to organizational change efforts, such as digital transformation or environmental sustainability programs. Relationships among the constructs were analyzed using structural equation modeling.
The findings show that transformational leadership significantly influences emotional commitment to change (standardized coefficient = 0.65, significance level = 0.001), intention to support change (standardized coefficient = 0.58, significance level = 0.003), and innovative behavior (standardized coefficient = 0.62, significance level = 0.002). Innovative behavior partially mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and both emotional commitment (indirect effect = 0.25) and support for change (indirect effect = 0.21). These results indicate that transformational leadership enhances employee adaptability when supported by creativity and psychological safety. The study concludes that culturally aligned leadership practices promoting innovation and trust are essential for improving organizational resilience and managing change in high-context service environments.

The development and wider use of information and communication technologies (ICT) are at the core of the EU’s strategic course to intensify digital transformation. This is complicated by significant differences between EU member states in this area, the alignment of which is becoming an important task for supranational policy. The paper, therefore, aims to cluster EU countries by their ICT development level and identify key differences. A dataset was generated based on 18 relative ICT development indicators used in the ICT Development Index and the Digital Economy and Society Index. In the first stage, based on the k-means method, the EU countries were divided into three clusters, which characterize their differences in the ICT development level. Then, using the decision tree method, indicators were identified that absolutely distribute the resulting clusters, confirming their specificity. The parameters that reflect the most significant differences between EU countries in ICT development include individuals using the Internet, active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, mobile data and voice high-consumption basket price, fixed-broadband Internet basket price, ICT graduates, fiber to the premises coverage, mobile broadband take-up, and 5G spectrum. This has demonstrated the critical importance of the spread and availability of the Internet, mobile technologies, and human resources for intensifying digital transformations within the EU. The results can be used in supranational policies to support the development of ICT and digital transformations and also serve as a guide in ensuring digital progress in individual member countries.

This study aims to examine the role of social capital dimensions (e.g., structural, relational, and cognitive) in influencing business transformation among new Chinese chambers of commerce in Thailand towards cultural preservation. A total of 525 members of the new Chinese chambers of commerce participated in Thailand. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the research hypotheses. Structural social capital has a positive and significant effect on relational social capital and cognitive social capital. Cognitive social capital also has a positive and significant effect on relational social capital. Furthermore, social capital dimensions (e.g., structural, cognitive, and relational social capital) also have a positive and significant effect on business transformation directly and indirectly towards culture preservation. The findings advance both theoretical knowledge and practical applications, offering insights for businesses and policymakers seeking to leverage social capital for sustainable transformation and long-term success. Social capital dimensions can enhance innovation, facilitate organizational change, and promote flexibility in an increasingly complex and competitive business environment across cultures, industries, and organizational settings.

Strategic management accounting techniques play a vital role in manufacturing enterprises by integrating financial and non-financial information to support strategy formulation and investment decision-making. Strategic management accounting techniques offer businesses a comprehensive view of internal operations and external market conditions, enhancing competitiveness and enabling more effective resource allocation. This study investigates how Strategic management accounting (SMA) techniques enhance investment decision-making by integrating financial and non-financial information. A survey of 650 manufacturing firms in Vietnam was conducted, and data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling to examine the impact of various factors on SMA adoption and investment decisions. The findings reveal eight significant factors influencing SMA adoption, with effect sizes as follows: accounting staff quality (0.258), business strategy (0.200), accounting information systems (0.199), perceived environmental uncertainty (0.178), risk acceptance (0.148), technology adoption (0.093), managerial characteristics (0.085), and cost-benefit considerations (0.056). Furthermore, firm size was found to moderate the relationship between SMA application and investment decision-making with an effect size of 0.02. The study concludes with several managerial implications aimed at improving SMA adoption and enhancing the effectiveness of strategic investment decisions.

Acknowledgment
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all individuals and organizations who contributed to this study.
First and foremost, we thank the manufacturing enterprises in Vietnam for facilitating our research process. We also acknowledge and highly appreciate the support and valuable contributions of colleagues and experts who assisted us in collecting materials, analyzing data, and finalizing this paper.
Finally, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to our families and friends for their constant support and encouragement throughout the research process.

This study undertakes an investigation into the nexus between board characteristics and research and development (R&D) investments within the specific context of Jordan. Employing a dataset comprising 24 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) operating in the service and manufacturing sectors and enlisted on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) throughout the period from 2010 to 2023, the empirical findings substantiate that the dimensions of the board, mainly board size and independence, exert a positive influence on the intensity of R&D expenditures. However, gender diversity exerts an inverse impact on R&D spending. Consequently, organizations with a tendency toward sustaining innovation endeavors are encouraged to accord heightened consideration to fostering gender diversity during the board selection process. However, CEO duality reveals an insignificant influence on R&D expenditures. To conclude, the study’s outcomes enrich the existing array of findings on the influence of women directors on board independence, particularly in R&D spending. Furthermore, the study offers policy recommendations, enhancing comprehension of the influence of women’s representation on R&D spending.

The modern industrial revolutions have significantly influenced social and political landscapes, prompting critical inquiries into the security and integrity of socio-economic systems, particularly in the context of military confrontation. This paper investigates the role of disruptive technologies associated with Industries 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0 in safeguarding socio-economic systems amid the ongoing russian war against Ukraine. The paper highlights how modern technologies have bolstered system resilience and adaptability by examining progress in green energy, transport transition, and the development of digital infrastructure and services before the war. Green energy and transport technologies have been instrumental in decentralization, energy networking, compensating for energy losses, and mitigating disruptions caused by the war. The proliferation of electric vehicles and the expansion of charging infrastructure have significantly reduced the potential impact of aggression, facilitating evacuations and supporting essential services during fuel shortages. Digital technologies have played a crucial role in ensuring continued access to education, employment, and communication, thereby strengthening societal resilience and reinforcing human capital, a key factor in socio-economic system security. This marks a shift from a technocratic to a system-synergistic, human-centered security model, where human capital becomes a core determinant of resilience, and technologies evolve from mere tools into integral elements of a sustainable socio-economic structure. Nevertheless, challenges related to technological dependencies, such as supply chain vulnerabilities and cyber threats, require further investigation in future research.

Acknowledgments
The paper is prepared within the scientific research projects “Digital Transformations to Ensure Civil Protection and post-war Economic Recovery in the Face of Environmental and Social Challenges” (No. 0124U000549) and “Fundamental Grounds for Ukraine’s transition to a digital economy based on the implementation of Industries 3.0; 4.0; 5.0” (No. 0124U000576).

The Listening State concept adopted in Kazakhstan aims to increase public trust in government institutions by incorporating citizen input into the policymaking process. However, empirical evidence suggests a substantial gap between declared principles and practical implementation. This study aims to examine the institutional factors that hinder the effective implementation of the Listening State concept within the framework of public administration based on an analysis of local-level public opinion. In 2024, a sociological survey involving 550 voluntary participants was conducted in the city of Turkestan, Kazakhstan, using a questionnaire based on the key principles of the concept. Analysis revealed that 73% of respondents are interested in political matters, but only 45% actively participate in decision-making due to limited awareness of governmental activities. Significant correlations emerged between consensus orientation and accountability (r = 0.65, p < 0.05) and also between rule of law and transparency (r = 0.66, p < 0.05). However, an insignificant link was found between participation in decision-making and political events (r = 0.02, p > 0.05). Linear regression showed that demographic variables have limited influence on principles. Salary impacts consensus orientation (0.18), gender affects accountability (0.20) and transparency (0.22), occupation influences the rule of law (0.16), while gender and education only slightly influence familiarity with civil society (0.10). The study highlights the need for targeted awareness-raising, simplification of civic engagement, and improvement of institutional accountability and transparency to bridge the implementation gap. The evidence recommends a targeted approach to strengthen the Listening State concept through coordinated efforts by responsible institutions.