The impact of digital human resource management on employee innovation behavior: The mediating role of organizational learning in the ICT sector in the Middle East

Financial strength ratings (FSRs) have become more significant particularly since the recent financial crisis of 2007–2009 where rating agencies failed to forecast defaults and the downgrade of some banks. The aim of this paper is to predict Capital Intelligence banks’ financial strength ratings (FSRs) group membership using machine learning and conventional techniques. Here the authors use five different statistical techniques, namely CHAID, CART, multilayer-perceptron neural networks, discriminant analysis and logistic regression. They also use three different evaluation criteria namely average correct classification rate, misclassification cost and gains charts. The data are collected from Bankscope database for the Middle Eastern commercial banks by reference to the first decade of the 21st century. The findings show that when predicting bank FSRs during the period 2007–2009, discriminant analysis is surprisingly superior to all other techniques used in this paper. When only machine learning techniques are used, CHAID outperform other techniques. In addition, the findings highlight that when a random sample is used to predict bank FSRs, CART outperform all other techniques. The evaluation criteria have confirmed the findings and both CART and discriminant analysis are superior to other techniques in predicting bank FSRs. This has implications for Middle Eastern banks, as the authors would suggest that improving their bank FSR can improve their presence in the market.

The service industry is currently facing the era of Industry 4.0, which results in an increasing need for talents who master information and technology to increase company productivity. Innovation is one of the strategies that service companies need to improve in order to compete with other companies. Organizational learning is also a company’s effort that is used to determine and meet the increasingly diverse needs of consumers to improve company performance. This study aims to investigate the role of innovation and organizational learning as mediating variables between human capital and organizational performance. The sample consisted of 305 managers in the service industry of Indonesia using a purposive sampling technique, with the minimum sample size determined using GPower software. Data were collected using a self-reported questionnaire distributed online via a Google form. Furthermore, data were analyzed using structural equation modeling partial least squares with the SmartPLS 3 software. The results reveal that human capital significantly affects organizational performance, innovation, and organizational learning. Then, innovation and organizational learning have a significant effect on organizational performance. Furthermore, innovation and organizational learning act as mediators between human capital and organizational performance. These findings shed new light of the importance of effective human capital management in improving organizational performance. Furthermore, innovation and organizational learning are variables that can bridge the two relationships in the service industry.

Acknowledgments
This study is funded by the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education, Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia.

Despite progress in reducing air pollutants in several countries, freight transport continues to have undesirable effects on environmental quality, human health, and the economy. Road freight transport, in particular, is associated with various negative externalities, including environmental and health damages, and the overexploitation of non-renewable natural resources. This paper investigates how ICTs interact with road freight transport to affect environmental quality regarding reducing CO2 emissions. The empirical strategy is focused on the yearly dataset from 2002 to 2014 in 43 countries. Using the two-step GMM techniques, the findings suggest that ICTs can decrease road freight transport’s negative impacts on environmental sustainability. Besides, the interactions of mobile phone and fixed telephone technologies with road freight transport are more efficient in reducing pollution than using internet networks. This paper underlines the importance of using ICTs to dampen road freight transport’s negative effects on environmental sustainability.