Financial Technology (FinTech), Entrepreneurship, and Business Development

The fourth Industrial Revolution is the ongoing automation of current manufacturing practices and industrial methods using contemporary innovative technology. 4IR has integrated mega-scale machine-to-machine (M2M) communication through the Internet of Things (IoT) targeted for improved communication tools, best automation, self-monitoring. In this fourth industrial revolution, the data support an increase in educated women participation and employment. United Nations has targeted the year 2030 in achieving gender equality goal through Sustainable Development. “Global leaders are committed to achieving targeted goal of total and prolific employment, reasonable and decent work for all women and men, including young and people of determination, equality in pay for equal work, gender parity and enablement of all women and young girls, around the world. However, women and girls have limited access to education, employment opportunities, financial resources, material resources, and violent freedom at home and in society. Further access to IT, and the clean path to socio-political participation, are restricted to women. They recognize the importance of gender equality as per a report by the Int. Labor Organization (ILO), only forty-eight and a half percent of women participate in the labor market, twenty-six and a half percent less than men (Dwivedi 2017). Further, in the Asian and Indian context, women are mostly work in the unorganized sector; further relevant data on their number remains secluded. (Harvard Kennedy School) However, as IMF (International Monetary Fund) better, women’s participation in employment leads to economic and social empowerment at the individual, society, and national level (International Labor Organization 2018). These path-breaking technologies are changing how companies in manufacturing and services are changing the industrial fabric, as per founder and president of the WEF (World Economic Forum), Mr. Klaus Schwab, coined the term 4IR (International Labor Organization 2018). However, with the introduction of nascent technologies, digitization, and computerization, there is also apprehension about women working in low-skilled and low-remunerating jobs may be displaced from their place in the workforce (International Monetary Fund 2018). It looks that globally and especially in Asia and the Indian sub-continent, girls and women have low access to education, training, financial, IT, employment opportunities, and physical resources. Further, women are also constrained regarding political participation and family inheritance but are subject to higher family violence. Making women ready through education, skills training, and providing (360°) opportunities can empower women and help India’s economic advantage.

The aim of this study is to explore opinions and attitudes concerning the emergence of FinTech on the Future of Financial Services Industry in Palestine. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, eleven in-depth interviews have been conducted with a group of managers working in the banking and financial services sectors represented by administrative staff from departments specialized in technical fields, product and software development, information technology, and electronic payments services. In addition, the study conducts a content analysis for the reports and articles provided by the participating institutions. Data collected were analyzed using thematic analysis. Data Findings on such Themes and Patterns were developed and organized using NVivo software. The study finds that there is an important role of the incumbent banking and Financial Institutions, academic bodies, technology companies, and business incubators to create a conducive environment for FinTechs ecosystem in Palestine. In addition, the findings show that FinTech in Palestine face several challenges most prominently rules and regulations, cybersecurity, customers’ lack of trust toward digital services, etc.

Mobile banking (M-banking) refers to the advanced method to use various commercial services and perform daily life financial requirements via mobile devices. Yet, M-banking’s growth is still less than expected. The study aims at exploring the effect of the dimensions of the perceived risk on customer’s intention in using M-banking. To collate the required data, the quantitative approach has been adopted by using the questionnaire survey. The results show that the whole dimensions of the perceived risk, i.e. time risk, security risk, social risk, performance risk, and financial risk have been validated. The results also show that these dimensions have negatively affected the intention of using M-banking. Largely, the dimension of security risk is ranked first in influencing the intentions to use M-banking. Besides, the study gives an insight into the conclusion, limitations, and future research.

This research aimed to investigate; the extent to which Fintech affects the development of entrepreneurship and; the moderation role of banking institutions in the relationship between Fintech and entrepreneurship development during the Covid-19 pandemic. A detailed literature review of studies was undertaken to provide an academic and theoretical basis from which fieldwork could be carried out, studying impact of Fintech subtitles on entrepreneurship development; Fintech awareness, fintech data security and trust, ease of use of fintech, quality of fintech services and time spent on fintech. Lastly, conclude that the increased usage of information technology boosts enterprises’ capacity to innovate and increase their administrative and marketing processes.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) is associated with the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0 in business settings. The business benefits of the Internet of Things (IoT) differ depending on how it is implemented; typically, agility and efficiency are top priorities. IoT applicable in banking services, namely banking 4.0, but the biggest concern for businesses to apply IoT is security. In the Islamic online banking system, unscrupulous individuals hack online banking services, placing bankers’ low-security plans at risk. This study aims to identify fundamental factors that influence community perception in Islamic online banking transactions, such as confidence, protection, ease of use, and frequency. Besides, this study used a quantitative analysis with descriptive research and a questionnaire distributed to 150 communities in the University Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) Pengkalan Chepa. Questionnaires formed by Google Forms were used to collect data for this study. The statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 was used to analyze respondents’ data. Furthermore, this study examines the relationships between customers’ perceptions of Islamic online banking transactions regarding confidence, protection, ease of use, and frequency in the UMK group.

The British pillbox in Kelantan has become an attraction for tourists. The pillbox used to be the defender for the British in Malaysia, considering an attack on the Japanese who come from various angles. The pillbox still exists around the residential area. The passage of time has made the pillbox suffer various damages and deteriorations. This pillbox cannot be conserved physically. There are structural differences such as the number of blocks, size, and height of these monuments which may have certain functions and reasons too. This research aims at two locations of pillbox which is located on Pantai Chap, Bachok and Pulau Kundur, Kota Bharu. This research aims to identify the potential of Augmented Reality for conserving the British pillbox in Kelantan. It is also to determine the appropriate Augmented Reality to use in conserving the British pillbox in Kelantan. Detailed research was carried out to obtain evidence such as photographs, structural details, and pillbox location. The data has been applied to Unite AR, one of Augmented Reality (AR) applications to conserve this British pillboxes’ heritage monument. Through this research, the AR was created to expose the real structures of two British pillboxes located in Kg. Pantai Chap and Kg. Pulau Kundur. This research intended to extend the uses of Augmented Reality (AR) in conservation since many museums use this technology to conserve artifacts and monuments and attract people to exhibitions. By using this conservation method, the monuments will remain and new generations will appreciate more about history.

The article examines the influence of factors caused by the COVID-19 package on the activities of modern enterprises. It was established that quarantine measures had been imposed by the state, the main spheres of business were affected, such as respectable and cultural institutions, hotel and restaurant business, tourist services and passenger transportation, etc. A critical analysis of scientific works of scientists covering the problematic state of modern enterprises has been performed. In the works of many scientists, innovative thinking is defined, which is the key to the emergence of enterprises from the crisis. Therefore, the articles reveal one of the significant areas that are created on the new introduction to the development of personnel management. It is established that among the most effective, clear and easy to use in the business management system in modern pandemic conditions are innovative solutions for employee cooperation, rights and responsibilities at all levels of the enterprise hierarchy.The article proposes a simulation model of the distribution of rights and responsibilities in the management system of innovative development of enterprise personnel. When modeling employee cooperation, rights and responsibilities at all levels, the hierarchy of the enterprise must be appropriate, any theoretical model is a hypothesis. The proposed model was implemented and determined by the results of research, which allowed identifying the main critical factors affecting the internal environment of the enterprise.Applying a simulation model of the distribution of rights and responsibilities of staff has led to real positive results. In the study of enterprises at the level of the coefficient of staff stability, there were no changes in this income of enterprises, which have hardly changed. By focusing on the customers and addressing their needs, as well as examining the views of employees on the relationship of duties, rights and responsibilities of all levels of hierarchical enterprises in terms of meeting their needs and expectations, a questionnaire has been developed; the research has determined the effectiveness of simulation models. The proposed innovative personnel development measures make it possible to state that they are effective and can be applied in the activities of enterprises in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.Thus, the innovations described and proposed in the article, regardless of their application, can increase the efficiency of management decisions and respond quickly to the preparation of external and internal environments, and hence a large number of ideas for managing enterprises in crisis.

Supply chain management (SCM) is relatively not a newly founded area of research. It is rather the underlying theory that always exists in a society without official recognition. However, the concept of educational supply chain management (EduSCM) is still limited. The purpose of this paper is to review the philosophy of SCM in current higher educational institutions (HEIs) in which is hoped to be the foundation for better ideas that can be put into practice for better management of the HEIs. This paper uses a semi-systematic review approach for the acknowledgement of all related literature throughout time and places. According to an exploratory study conducted by one of the researchers, 87% of SCM studies are done in the industrial context, 13% for the service businesses, and the remaining five per cent for the educational sector. However, there is an increase in research trends in the educational sector, indicating a hopeful improvement in a country’s education system. Researchers create a few theories, models and frameworks; in a broad and specific topic to better understand SCM in the educational sector. Each level in the educational supply chain (EduSC) was given a fresh and alternative approach and a new focus. The involvements from a lot of different associates and contributors to an EduSC were considered. There are plenty of opportunities and methods to be studied in the backgrounds and developments of the EduSC, EduSC practices, and attributes related to the EduSC. Failing to address these needs may impede the country’s education quality and the quality of the graduates produced.

This paper presents mental model of dynamics of globalization using systems thinking approach. The purpose is to investigate the forces of globalization and their interdependence among each other. The behaviour generated is the result of positive and negative influencers which either may speed up the evolutionary and revolutionary element of globalization or dampen the surge of globalization spreading the wave of antagonistic and dissonant behaviour. A global approach towards quality management highlights the need for constructing a new body of knowledge that views the field of global quality from a systems perspective. The current article presents the results of an ongoing research based on quantitative and qualitative studies. The qualitative study used Grounded Theory as its theoretical and methodological framework. The subjects of this study were experts in systems thinking, including project managers and engineers who were interviewed in depth about their work in global organizations in a business environment characterized by complex and dynamic challenges. In addition, several qualitative and quantitative tools were applied in a field study of 18 multinational companies. In view of the requirement for developing new global quality management terminology, this article presents several new key concepts in this field, which have resulted from the ongoing research, with emphasis on a systems-oriented rationale and perspective. As such, the article is an important stage in building this new body of knowledge, and towards the conceptualization of key variables used in global quality management, from a systems approach that interacts with the fields of international management and strategic management.

Furniture and other products designed with traditional cultural elements are carriers of traditional culture from one generation to another. Chinese elements in furniture design has a long history, into the elements of Chinese traditional culture. However, the loss of furniture designed with Chinese traditional cultural elements and the failure of traditional Chinese furniture to be fully absorbed and applied in modern furniture design and other product design make the situation of Chinese furniture industry not objective. This study will discuss the application of Chinese traditional cultural elements in modern furniture and product design.

Information systems (IS) are designed to deliver useful information in support of business operations such as corporate strategy, general operations, management analysis and decision making process. Regardless of the state of the economic market, the investments in implementing and maintaining information systems must enable an organisation to fulfil their business demands in a more efficient manner. However, there are very few options available to decision makers that provide guarantees on the effectiveness of information systems. Therefore, decision makers and managers that are responsible for adopting or retaining information systems must rely primarily on conceptual or theoretical models for measuring the quality of information systems which increases the margin of error or inaccuracies. This overarching issue of measuring the quality of information systems means that the effectiveness and cost benefits of implementing information systems may not be realised until a considerable amount of time has passed since the initial investments. This issue, amongst many other that will be identified throughout this paper, is applicable to both the private and public sector. However, the measuring of information systems effectiveness in the public sector raises some unique and significant additional challenges that the private sector is often immune to. This paper highlights some of the novel challenges identified in the public sector in order to invoke additional studies or models of measuring the success of information systems that are designed specifically for the public sector that do not rely upon profit-based outcomes and measurables.

Workplace safety becomes a concern for most countries globally, particularly in a high-risk industry like a manufacturing organization. Thus, such organizations call for different safety leadership in the context of the organization. Therefore, this study aims to design a safety leadership to describe and provide empirical support of the relationship between safety leadership, safety climate, and safety performance in the small manufacturing enterprise setting. The paper is centered on the literature review through a rigorous, in-depth analysis; based on the following themes safety leadership, Transformational Leadership, Transactional Leadership, safety climate, safety performance, and safety behaviors. The study's discussions were based on a proposed framework on Leadership's role in safety climate and safety performance. Finally, this paper concludes that small manufacturing enterprises need high-quality safety leadership that influences employees to increase safety performance, which can be a role model and exhibit profound safety concerns.

The purpose of this study is to identify the key factors that drive the trust of Foodpanda delivery service among customers during the Covid-19 pandemic. We extended the theory of Planned Behaviour which we examined the impact of product information, after sales service and payment security to increase the trust on Foodpanda delivery service. Data were collected from 341 students from faculty of entrepreneurship and business, University Malaysia Kelantan and analyzed using SPSS. The result shows that all three variables are equally important for developing a trust among customers using Foodpanda service and they decided to continue using this mobile application. The result of this study proves that payment security with 68.5% of the respondents indicate that it is the significant variable that influence user’s trust on Foodpanda service. The study further provides recommendations for service providers, customers and researchers.

Under the background of the digital age, with the development of information technology, the interactive design method is gradually introduced into the field of modern furniture design, which has good applicability and promotion prospects. The interaction design method shows advantages in exploring complex behavior and the relationship between humans, products, and the environment. Furniture interactive design aims to solve the connection and interactive experience of people, furniture and living space, follow the user-centered principle, emphasize the importance of user experience, and pay attention to solving user needs. This study makes a substantive comparison and analysis between furniture design and interaction design, summarizes the main characteristics of interaction design of modern furniture products, briefly classifies and summarizes the existing methods and practices of furniture interaction design, and then analyzes the existing problems, precautions, and development trend of interaction design in combination with the characteristics of the furniture market, It provides a reference for the in-depth practice and effective development of furniture interactive design in the future.

This research aimed to analyze the use of smart city system support by local governments in Indonesia to combat COVID-19. The research used web- and device-based systems that provide data to the public and for decision-making. The research compared the smart city systems of selected local governments: Banten, Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java, and Jogjakarta. However, there are six provinces in the Java islands that provide this in Indonesia. The results show that provinces with strict procedures and that make proactive efforts can better mitigate the spread of COVID-19, and data transparency results in people being more aware of COVID-19 and trying to avoid it.

The aim of this study was to examine the state of Knowledge Management (KM) in medical libraries in Bangladesh. It also explores the awareness and viewpoints of the doctors, researchers, students and librarians regarding KM during the pandemic. The questionnaire survey was adopted for this study. The Data gathering procedure was performed through Google forms. The questionnaire was distributed using email and social networking sites. Among 29 public medical colleges, this quantitative research was conducted in three medical college libraries in Bangladesh. The selected medical libraries were: Dhaka medical college library, Chittagong medical college library and Sylhet MAG Osmani medical college library. This study explored the barriers to KM in medical libraries and the possible implementation areas of KM. The study found that participants are aware of the concept of KM. They are also aware of the necessary KM tools and the probable KM implementation areas in the medical libraries. Present paper also revealed that lack of institutional policy, inadequate support from top management, scarcity of resources as barriers towards implementing KM in the medical libraries in Bangladesh. Further studies should be conducted on the same issues in other sectors as present study was limited to three medical libraries. This study is novel, in the sense that it is the first of its kind to examine KM implementation in medical libraries during pandemic situations in Bangladesh.

The coronavirus pandemic has contributed toward the prevalence of numerous fake news and misleading information over the social media especially Twitter. Therefore, a task of identifying whether a tweet is informative or uninformative has caught many researchers’ attentions. The literature showed high dependency on transformers architectures. Yet, since the task requires more concentration on domain-specific terms, there would be a need for lexicon-based expansion. Hence, this paper proposes a word-by-word lexicon replacement method for the task of informative tweet extraction. A pretrained model of medical word embedding has been utilized to perform the replacement. In addition, multiple replacement conditions have been employed. Consequentially, different feature space representations have been applied upon the new tweet document with replaced terms. Lastly, a Logistic Regression (LR) classifier has been used to classify documents into Informative and Uninformative. Using the benchmark dataset of WNUT-2020 at Task 2, results of applying the proposed replacement method showed better performance than without the replacement by obtaining 0.91 of f1-score. This result emphasizes the importance and usefulness of the proposed replacement method in terms of improving the classification accuracy of informative tweet identification.

The current study aimed to shed light on the banking sector in the Palestine Stock Exchange before and during the spread of the Corona virus; the researchers had decided to analyze the performance indicators of the first quarter of 2019 as the pre-crisis period and compare them with the performance indicators of the first quarter of 2020 and the period between the third quarter of 2019 and the third quarter of 2020 as the crisis period. The study sample consisted of 6 companies from the banking sector; the independent samples T-test was used in order to test the study hypotheses. The study results showed that in the first quarter of 2019, the percentage of profits (profit after tax) ranged between $10,784,284 and $1,062,702. On average it amounted to $4,201,265. As for the hypotheses of the study, the results did not show any differences. The results of the Mann-Whitny U test showed that the Z-value was 0 for the hypotheses and this is not statistically significant at 1%, and therefore the null hypothesis, which states that there are no statistically significant differences between the first quarter of 2019 compared to the first quarter of 2020 in terms of all variables, is accepted. The same results apply to the third quarter of 2019 and the third quarter of 2020.

The article is devoted to the topical problem of family business development in the conditions of COVID-19 influence. The basis of the research is to form a concept of active policy of entrepreneurial potential in rural areas, which includes measures for the development of farms and family farms, in particular through the transformational mechanism of formalization of private farms into a market environment. The situation regarding the impact of quarantine measures in the conditions of COVID-19 and their consequences and interaction in the process of development of farms and family farms in rural areas is analyzed. On the basis of generalization in the development of mechanisms to ensure the efficiency of the agricultural sector of the economy it is necessary to take into account the features and vulnerabilities of the organizational and legal form of management. It was found that the most vulnerable to the introduction of quarantine restrictions are small and medium-sized farms, mostly those that operate in the field of vegetable growing, including the production of early vegetables and berries. The main measures to counteract the impact of restrictive measures under COVID-19 were revealed, which allowed to assess the prospects for the development of farms, including family farms, as well as to make predictive calculations of the impact of the proposed measures on their formation and development.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been affecting the educational and social systemsworld over, and Bangladesh is no exception. Insufficiency of trained human resources in dealing with the pandemic has been prompting the populous at large to clamor for more. Therefore, this paper analyzes the experiences and perceptions of the students of the Faculty of Arts about learning continuity practices during the ongoing COVID-19. Quantitative approaches were used for this study. From the various departments of the Faculty of Arts, 205 students replied to the online survey questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. The study shows the learners agree with the learning continuity practices. However, high costs of internet bandwidth are causing major impediments for sustaining online education in the long run. Results of the chi-square test showed there was no major difference in the use of personal computers between male and female students. This study was limited to only the Faculty of Arts at the University of Dhaka. The findings of this study would be helpful for universities in Bangladesh to improve the quality of e-learning and implement clear policies and guidelines. Present paper also provides some policy level implications based on the findings. The current study offers several areas for future research.

This paper examines the impact of conditional conservatism on the decision to provide loans for a borrower in the first year of the health crisis, pandemic Covid 19. The samples are banks listed on the stock exchanges of Asia Pacific countries, namely Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia, and Thailand for 2019 and 2020. The 2019 period is for observing the application of conditional conservatism in normal conditions, while 2020 is for investigating the global health crisis, the covid 19 pandemic. The amount of the observation is 68 bank years. The determination of the sample countries was based on consideration of countries with high and low COVID-19 cases. We employ a multivariate model with cross-sectional data to test the hypothesis. The findings show that in the first year of the pandemic COVID 19, the loan provided by banks is lower than before the pandemic. However, to anticipate the default risk, banks increase the allowance for loan loss. The stressing factor, conditional conservatism, is higher during the crisis but does not influence the loan. Besides, operating cash flow is getting higher and significantly affects the loan. Otherwise, profitability and liquidity are lower but significantly affect the loan.

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the society, and this pandemic has prompted higher education institutions to shift to remote work at the administrative and educational level, which prompted the leaders of educational institutions to practice remote leadership as one of the appropriate leadership styles in post-COVID 19 era. Blended learning is one of the methods offered by different academics and scientific researchers as a sustainable and best-fit alternative for educational establishments for at least a few quarters post-pandemic. Therefore, the present study aims to examine the impact of remote leadership on blended learning effectiveness in higher education institutions. Survey data were collected from 385 instructors in UAE universities via an online survey distributed (google forms). Path coefficients analysis was used to test the instructor’s perspective by scales and the measurement model fit, using SEM. The findings of this study Remote Leadership (RL), leadership traits, technology adoption, technology skills, trust in leadership and learning flexibility are more likely to adapt to Blended Learning (BL) with (58.9%). The more positive the perceptions, the more adaptable the instructors will be, and the more prepared they will be to use a BL approach in the post-pandemic era for their professional growth, did only when necessary by (41.1%) in order to maintain remote leadership measures.

The people, the businessmen, students, and the economy of Malaysia are all affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The evolution of this disease has significantly impact the social well- being, both psychological and physiological health, and economic condition of the people and the country. This study aims to determine the impact of Covid-19 has on the small and medium enterprises in Kelantan. Kelantan economic is well known of being driven by the SMEs. Nonetheless, less has been studied on Covid-19 impact on SMEs in Kelantan. Most studies focus on present impact of Covid-19 on employees and SMEs in general without in-depth analysis of cultural and social elements (The Star 2020). On the other hand, the Economic Stimulus Package (PRE) announced by the YAB Prime Minister on 27 March 2020 and 6 April 2020 has certainly motivated the people and SMEs at large, however, the question is—how long this stimulus programme can help SMEs to sustain? Based on the SME Annual Report 2017/2018, the number of SMEs in Kelantan is 46,618 which is considering high as compared in other states. Therefore, this study will focus on SMEs in Kelantan and addressing the cultural, sociological, health and economic impact. The study will be further significant as the culture of Kelantan, consumer behaviour, and local surroundings differ from the other states in Malaysia; and secondly, it will allow researchers to distinguish post-Covid-19 intervention programmes. Thus, the psychological aspect of SMEs and consumerism behaviour coupled with social and economic impacts are important elements to be investigated in the context of Kelantan during Covid-19 condition. In sum, the study will identify the impact variables of Covid-19 has on the present social aspect (which covers consumerism behaviour and cultural behaviour), psychological and physiological health aspect, and economic values aspect among SMEs in Kelantan, during Covid-19.

This conceptual paper embraces the concept of the hub model as the alternative distribution approach for sustainable farm-based business during the pandemic crisis. It is believed that the conventional distribution approach which is typically developed by a longer chain that involves multi-levels of intermediaries might less significant for farm produce due to perishability, especially when all supporting services like transportation and small retail stores are disrupted. The study focuses on small-scale farmers in Ranau, Sabah who have affected by the logistic disruption during the movement control order amid the Covid-19 outbreak. The Covid-19 has caused an unstable supply of farm produce to the market due to several physical and logistic restriction, thus has led to the dumping of farm produce and loss of regular market. This paper is based on the key informant interviews with two key small farmers in Ranau who employs the different approach of distributing their farm produce to customers during the pandemic through the appointed agents who served as one-stop collection hub in the city. The findings provide useful insights into the development of the conceptual idea for a sustainable distribution system by embracing the hub model through a mobile app, integrating the farmer, hub agent, runner and customer in the supply chain. This paper hopes to contribute ideas to policymakers to provide appropriate support facilities on the sustainable distribution system for farm produce in Malaysia.

The main objective of this paper is to study technological capabilities as a key enabler for internationalization among Malaysian SMEs in food and beverage (F&B) manufacturing sectors. Technological capabilities play an important role in determining the success of new ventures or SMEs because it enable companies to gain market acceptance and achieve long-term competitive advantage through continuous innovation in improving existing products and/or creating new products in the market. Drawing on the existing literature review, we are going to conduct a qualitative research model by interviewing 6–12 F&B manufacturing companies in which technological capabilities not only influence firm performance but to identify its role as the key enabler in the internationalization process for SMEs to penetrate the international market. The finding of this research is going to contribute to the development of F&B industries in developing countries especially in Malaysia. It will provide important information about technological capabilities that will be useful for Malaysian F&B industries in penetrating the international market and it will contribute to the body of internationalization knowledge and international entrepreneurship.

We are happened to be bounded with the outbreak of very dangerous virus, Corona virus-19 since the end of 2019 until today. An overview that has been release by World Health (2019), WHO about Corona Virus-19, which famously known as COVID-19, by saying that it is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered virus. This paper will be discussing the actions taken by New Zealand and Croatia countries as well as the comparisons between the approaches taken by the selected countries based on few variables such as media coverage of COVID-19 and supporting assistance by government. New Zealand and Croatia provides a contrast in how countries handled Covid-19 crisis. Based on conceptual review analysis, both countries have a quite similar numbers of population but have huge differences in COVID-19 cases, either on death cases, infected cases and others. The question of ‘comparison’ has been answered throughout the lesson as the researcher seen how different types of administration that has been taken by both countries. If New Zealand has been praised for a quick response by their Prime Minister, Croatia also been applauded for their government service on changing the situation of the nation from zero to hero. Basically, both countries combatted COVID-19 existence through different ways. This article serves as a guidance in providing a best approach for a future crisis.

Digitalization in Malaysia shapes the nature of entrepreneurial opportunities and the effectiveness of governmental policies, practices, and funding to improve those opportunities. The positive impact of the digital age, in terms of job creation and economic expansion, has prompted a set of cyber-development initiatives during the Coved-19 pandemic to alleviate poverty; first to boost the productivity potential of digital entrepreneurs, and second to forward progress towards Cyberpreneurship, especially during lockdown protocols, which is in line with promoted Working from Home (WFH) efforts. This study explores the potential factors of the initiatives needed for Covid-19 pandemic situational poverty eradication. Next, to analyses how these factors relate to a single mothers’ participation in Cyberpreneurship. This study highlights several entrepreneurial and policy ideas to decrease poverty among single-mother entrepreneurs. The study relies on in-depth qualitative research that includes a systematic literature review and Focus Group Discussions (FGD). A total of n = 12 interviews were conducted with seven single, micro-entrepreneurs, mothers, two Officers of The Ministry of Women, Family, and Community Development (KPWKM) Department, and three local Community Welfare Officers. The findings of this research indicate that competency among single mothers has a significant influence on poverty alleviation. The correlation between the constructs has shown that most participant members actively contribute to the human, economic, cultural, and social capitals. This research is critical for understanding the circumstances that facilitate digital entrepreneurship which guides public policies to support single, low-income, women and suggests potential improvements to their socioeconomic conditions by using cyber technology as an entrepreneurship option, particularly during this ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The Pandemic Covid-19 outbreak cause a negative shock to the world economy, throwing many countries into economic uncertainty, facing an economic recession and if Covid-19 continuously actively spread possibly many countries face an economic depression. This study assessing the economic impact of Covid-19 by analyzing on the three main economic indicators which are GDP growth rate, inflation, and unemployment. This study using estimation proposed by Aditya and Acharyya (Aditya and Acharyya J. Int. Trade Econ. Dev. 22:959–992, 2013), applies generalized methods of moments (GMM) estimators. Data consist of 171 countries of the quarterly data set. The results of the study indicate that the most significant effect of the Covid-19 outbreak is on the GDP growth rate. However, the effect of the Covid-19 outbreak on inflation and unemployment is no exception. The findings suggest that the world economy can recovery or expand if policymakers and government focusing to stimulate investment through fiscal intervention which is likely to give a positive multiplier effect on economic activity.

Both ar-Rahnu institutions and micro-entrepreneurs contribute greatly to the country’s economic growth. Unemployment and economic recession can be better-handled businesses are prepared to face any catastrophe, such as pandemics. Then, the aim of this study is to explore the use and role of ar-Rahnu as an alternative for micro-enterprises to revive in this pandemic crisis. The study will adopt a qualitative approach, gathering data from micro-entrepreneurs in the selected areas. Data from the in-depth interviews will be analyzed and categorized thematically to see how ar-Rahnu can help micro-entrepreneurs in reviving their businesses in this environment. It is expected that the findings of the study will identify various issues such as awareness, understanding, and acceptance of ar-Rahnu, which will then be used to prove that it is an alternative source of funds to help micro-entrepreneurs deal with the crisis. This study will also demonstrate the role that ar-Rahnu plays in safeguarding the financial security of micro-entrepreneurs. This study will not only benefit the individual entrepreneurs but also the society and institutions by explaining the role of ar-Rahnu in ensuring business continuity. Therefore, this research will give a broad review of the significance of Islamic pawnshops in improving the economy of businesses and the country after showing that they have a significant impact in overcoming this pandemic crisis.

Providing good quality service in business activity is an important aspect for a sustainable competitive advantage. Customer satisfaction leads to an organization’s success. The relationship between service quality dimensions and customer satisfaction and the factors influencing customer satisfaction of Pos Laju Malaysia service during Pandemic Covid-19 were examined in this study. By applying the modified SERVQUAL model, four service quality dimensions (reliability, assurance, empathy and responsiveness) were used as the independent variables. Quantitative research and convenience sampling methods were used for data collection among Pos Laju Malaysia’s users. 383 questionnaires were collected through an online survey. Both spearman’s rho correlation analysis and multiple linear regression through IBM SPSS were applied. The findings found that reliability, empathy, assurance, and responsiveness were positively and significantly associated with customer satisfaction toward Pos Laju Malaysia services. Among four service quality dimensions tested, reliability was the strongest factor influencing customer satisfaction on courier services (Pos Laju Malaysia) during Pandemic Covid 19. These findings are essential to the practitioners specifically Pos Laju Malaysia in improving their existing practice in order to make sure their service meets customer satisfaction consistently.

Since the coronavirus pandemic spread in Malaysia, there are increase discussions on the issue related to SMEs in Malaysia. These conversations have included social media users’ assistance to SMEs. The government extended assistance to SMEs either in kind or through various programs. Twitter, a popular social network site (SNS) is the leading platform to engage in online conversation related to the SMEs enhancement and related programs. The understanding of who starts the conversation engaged into and responds to the information spread are important so as to enhance the government service and delivery of the assistance to SMEs. Hence, the objective of this study is to examine the social network metrics from Twitter data to find the influencers, URLs, and drivers of the news spreading in a selected SNS i.e., Twitter. A social network analysis and brief content analysis of Twitter data were conducted in August 2021. There are 982 networked users of Twitter collected for the analysis. The influential users were identified using social network analysis (SNA) and graph clusters for visualization. The influencers were ranked by their betweenness centrality score, and the graph’s vertices were grouped by cluster using the Clauset-Newman-Moore algorithm to visualize the network structure. The top words in conversation, top hashtags, and top URLs were also examined. The result identified the 10 most influential Tweeters, most popular hashtags, and URLs in the social network of 982 users. This study implies that SNA and its tools help for improving the information spread and sharing on the issue related to SMEs in Malaysia.

Malaysia government imposed stay-at-home ruling during COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic and stay-at-home ruling created stress to the Malaysian consumers. Some consumers turned to online platform for purchase of food and home essential. This study aims to investigate the impacts of pandemic stress, cognitive appraisal, coping style, online normative social influences, and risk averse on the changes in online planned consumption behaviors. Theory of Stress and Coping is used to develop a research framework to examine the planned consumption behavior in this study. Quantitative research with survey questionnaire is used to collect data. Data collected was analyzed with PLS-SEM. Findings confirmed that stress trigger cognitive appraisal, however cognitive appraisal of emotion only related to emotional coping style. Physical coping style, normative social influences and risk averse predicted planned online consumption behavior. This study provided bother academic and managerial implications in the context on consumer consumption behavior.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an increased in food insecurity worldwide. Sustained attention is needed to reinforce the resilience of food systems to such disease outbreaks nonetheless likewise to other shocks. This qualitative study aimed to realize how people involved in food insecurity resulting from the pandemic. This study objective is to explore and analyze the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on food insecurity. Comprehensive initiatives and policy reactions are required to alleviate food insecurity as the pandemic progresses.

Small and medium industries facilitate stimulate economic growth by providing employment opportunities to fogeys besides the larger firms. SMEs with their limited ability to hedge risks and bear the costs as a results of the economic stalled are also fighting the difficulties of funds and liquidity, employees, customers, and adapting technology overcoming the pandemic. Problem Statement: As SMEs area unit severely wedged by the Covid-19 scenario, some of them were reduced to the purpose of powerless to service their clientele, pay salary to their staff and be con-summated their commitment with their suppliers. Methodology: The study is determine the Covid-19, economic impacts of e-commerce on small and medium businesses in territorial do-minion. A few methodologies were explored to conduct the analysis including the stage of digital adoption among SMEs, the analysis of causes and barriers for e-commerce adoption including its edges amid the context of COVID-19. Qualitative study with a deep dive interviews conducted to collect primary data. No quota or target was set as there is no known population census knowledge on SMEs with the main focus on e-commerce. Result: Although some of the barriers may well be insurmountable for currently to the purpose that not all industries are ready to adopt e-commerce because of every industries’ structure and business operations. SMEs that had adopted e-commerce is expected to perform better than typical businesses but this can be not enough to mitigated total damages from a broken economy because of the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic is today regarded as one of the largest global public health crisis. The pandemic has not only endangered people’s lives, but has also jammed economic outputs of many countries the world over. As a result, different economic levels in various parts of the world have experienced a massive direct impact as a result of COVID-19. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs), in particular, had taken the worst blow, and the sectors of SMEs badly affected by this ongoing public health crisis include transportation, tourism, and food services, as well as accommodation. Government intervention is henceforth becoming increasingly important amidst the current extraordinary circumstance and are certainly required to be more comprehensive and unconventional than usual. In order to minimize the negative effects of the pandemic on SMEs, which are a vital organ of a nation’s economy, a comprehensive and creative form of assistance is therefore urgently needed to save them. Hence, this study aims to identify priority assistance programs most needed by SMEs. Besides, this study also examines how the assistance programs launched by the government match the actual needs of SMEs. Last but not least, this study also explores SMEs’ ability to survive the current crisis, in particular, by measuring their capacity to survive from possible risks of insolvency. Notably, this study finds that the role of government in supporting the growth of micro SMEs is becoming increasingly important and critical. Micro SMEs support programs therefore must be comprehensive and not focused on financial support programs alone. Advisory services and trainings, especially in the field of e-commerce and social media need to be made more accessible to micro SMEs. Undeniably, skills in the digital economy and social media are added values and offer great convenience for entrepreneurs to market their products more widely today. In essence, the findings of this study support policymakers in their efforts to improve current policies and at the same time, formulate new strategies related to the use of e-commerce for micro SMEs. Finally, the study also suggests that future researches incorporate more contextual variables into this study model and investigate those variables in more diverse geographical or cultural environments, thus revealing other relationships necessary to maintain the sustainability of micro SMEs.

Low profitability of enterprises encourages employers to seek reserves to increase wages not by raising prices for goods and services, but by using a rational organization of the production process and the introduction of automation of production operations that increase productivity. Therefore, in modern conditions, the process of enterprises’ personnel remuneration effective system formation as a complex of the actions directed on maintenance of workers motivation for the purpose of their work efficiency increase acquires special urgency. Creating an effective motivational environment at the enterprise, which will contribute to the productive activities of staff, involves the development of methodological bases for reconciling the interests of all participants in the process of providing services. Therefore, there is a need to develop new approaches to improving economic relations between employers and employees, to translate the identified reserves into possible management actions. In this regard, there is a need to expand the methods and tools for forming an effective system of the enterprise’s personnel remuneration as a basis for the timely and adequate choice of available alternatives. In order to make effective management decisions, it is necessary to create modern tools that allow on unstable market conditions to choose an effective system of remuneration.The study aims to develop methodological tools for assessing the quality of enterprises’ remuneration systems for personnel on the example of motor transport enterprises of Ukraine.The study results allow applying a methodical approach to the verbal evaluation of remuneration system effectiveness, which considers the needs of employees and is based on the use of different from existing practice principle of unilateral establishment of the remuneration system from the standpoint of production capacity. The application of the reciprocity principle in the formation of the remuneration system contributes to the improvement of the general economic situation in connection with the increase of effective demand and expanding the supply of services provided by the production team.

The article reveals the essence of HR (personnel) profiling. HR profiling includes not only the establishment of truthful, honest information provided by the candidate, but also determines its characteristics, the leading psychotype with the basic emotion, motivation. The main tools of profiling are described, in particular in the field of personnel management. Knowledge of HR profiling is needed in many areas as an additional specialization, namely: for staff and coaches, for entrepreneurs, for managers. The possibilities of HR profiling are determined. The use of profiling technologies is a powerful tool for psychodiagnostic work. They are indispensable in the field of personnel management and are the most successful tools for research and analysis of the reliability of information in the implementation of personnel inspections and interviews. For recruitment and evaluation professionals, profiling skills are indispensable, as it allows not only to select and hire the best candidates, but also to build harmonious and long-term relationships within the organization. Attention is focused on the step-by-step algorithm of using profiling technologies to work with staff. Personnel profiling also allows to implement a set of measures to minimize the possible risks associated with the dismissal of employees who are in critical positions, namely: to prevent possible harm to the interests of the organization and the development of reputational risks, to maintain possible ties with the previously dismissed employees, to assist in its possible employment, forming a positive reputation of the organization. The practice of applying knowledge in the field of personnel profiling is expanding every year, which indicates the need to introduce in the staff of organizations and enterprises specialists in personnel profiling.

The millions of fatal accidents and work-related diseases occurred due to workplace accidents and injuries globally, emphasizing the importance of safety research in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), known as the accident-prone industry. Although safety research has contributed to identifying antecedents of safety performance, a limited study was conducted on why and how safety motivation to turn employee to react safely at the workplace and how safety climate factors interact to promote respectable safety performance. Using a systematic literature review based on the following themes; safety motivation, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, safety climate, safety performance, and safety behaviors. This present study investigates the usefulness of safety motivation on safety performance and identifies the most common antecedents, consequences of safety motivation, dimensions, and links to safety performance. The study’s hypothesis development was based on a proposed framework on safety motivation role in the indirect relationship between safety climate and safety performance. Finally, this study adds to the understanding of the mechanisms behind the extensive effects of safety climate on safety motivation and safety performance and help to reduces injuries and accidents and enhances occupational safety performance in small and medium enterprises.

The world is revolving, and populations are expanding. Communities all around the world are surviving to live peacefully. SDG has underlined 17 goals which aim for the nations in the world sharing responsibility moving towards the world’s sustainability agenda. Goal 3 promotes better well-being and life for all generations that include the older generations. These elderlies are one of the keys to help younger generations to develop future needs sustainably. One important issue that seems to become a persistent challenge for the elderly after their retirement is the care and support in managing their daily life. Ageing affects people in different ways. There is a wide range of attitudes among the elderly. Requirements, goals, and resources. Thus, this paper will look into the potential of the sustainable retirement village establishment as to provide care and support for the elderly and the challenges in introducing the new concept to the local community. The outcome of this paper can help to path a way for more discussion among academicians and the community.

The retail industry is going through a transformation and the emerging market is witnessing a significant change in its growth pattern; modernization and post pandemic Covid-19 recovery safety SOP. Both existing and new players are experimenting with new retail formats without neglecting the health safety SOP by the government. Customers are also in favor of these retail formats; for trendy shopping environment and safety. This study was conducted to assess the impact of the emerging modern fashion stores design mainly regarding store environment attributes towards existing small local business fashion retails. Also the actions needed to remain competitive. A qualitative approach was chosen by performing interview with several existing small local fashion store retailers. The study used structured questionnaires for collecting primary data followed by data analysis and interpretation. The early findings revealed that there was gaps that existing small local fashion retailers faced. Lacking on the knowledge and guidelines on creating good fashion store environment design mainly after the post-pandemic strategies left them with little information in deciding which store design attributed more appropriate for their operations in an attempt to stay competitive without set aside the safety SOP. Therefore to survive into and through the next decade, it is important for the existing small local fashion business retailers to repositioning themselves by upgrading providing an exciting store environment shopping experience with comply to the current post-pandemic issued health safety (SOP). Thus this study underlines the dilemma that existing small store retailers faced due of modernization and after pandemic.

Many zakat institutions have introduced asnaf entrepreneurship program as a mechanism to empowering productive asnaf in generating income. Various methods of entrepreneurship support have been introduced by the institution such as training, coaching, mentoring, financing and many more. However, the effectiveness of the programs are subjective as a few of the asnaf are successful while others are vice versa. The aim of this study is to explore the types of the entrepreneurship support which are being considered effective by the asnaf entrepreneur toward her own business performance. This study found that the non cash assistance by way of product distribution is among the good entrepreneurship support that enabling asnaf entrepreneur to capture bigger market size of the business. On top of that, it also enhanced the entrepreneurship spirit, skills and experience through the real practice of the business activities. A qualitative approach was implemented in this study by intervieweing a successful asnaf entrepreneur who received assistance from one of zakat institutions in Malaysia. This study suggested that the zakat institutions and researchers to explore a few methods other than training and financing in supporting the asnaf entrepreneurs.

According to empirical studies on women entrepreneurs, women have made significant contributions to the area of entrepreneurship. According to relevant research, entrepreneurial skills have an effect on a firm’s performance. Despite the growing popularity of female entrepreneurs, there are currently few studies examining the relationship between entrepreneurial skills and female entrepreneurs’ performance. A questionnaire-based study of female entrepreneurs was undertaken under the aegis of Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia. As a result, this research examined the four aspects of entrepreneurial skills-opportunity, organization and leadership, commitment, and personal competencies related to company success. The scales used to assess the above-mentioned variables were adapted from those found in the literature. Although 230 questions had been received by mail, only 184 surveys qualified for analysis. The results indicate that three entrepreneurial skill categories, namely commitment, organization, and leadership, as well as personal, are significantly associated with women entrepreneurs’ company success. According to this research, women entrepreneurs and relevant skills are critical components of women’s business performance. As a result, the purpose of this research is to complement the prevailing body of knowledge about women entrepreneurs and the relationship between their skills and company success. The results are applicable to financial institutions, academics, and women’s micro-enterprises in terms of entrepreneurial financial management, entrepreneurial management, and entrepreneurs’ personality. Apart from that, this research demonstrated the need to further explore the concept of entrepreneurial talents within the context of women entrepreneurs in many ways.

Their increasing participation in the labour force has also seen women making impressive inroads into occupations in the secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy. However, despite these advances, the wage differentials in favour of men appear to be persisting. The data used here were drawn from the Department of Statistics and covers the 10-year period, from 2010 to 2019. Increased educational attainment by women has not been large enough to be the major drivers to close the gender wage gap entirely. This paper examines the gender earnings distribution in numerous submarkets in the Malaysian labour marketplace and discusses a few policies aimed toward decreasing earnings disparities therein. Most of the previous studies did not cover a 10 year period when examining gender earnings disparities in Malaysia.

In essence, the government business support services (GBBS) were first initiated with a primary aim to help many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) overcome various obstacles and constraints that are unique to them. Therefore, this study was set out to empirically investigate the influence of the business support services provided by the Malaysian government on the overall performance of Malaysian SMEs.The resource-based view (RBV) theory was used as a basis for the development of the theoretical framework of this study. Plus, this study employed a deductive approach which saw primary data that were collected being administered on a cross-sectional study design through structured interviews using questionnaires on a sample population of 335 randomly selected SMEs representing all business sectors from each state in Malaysia. Subsequently, data analysis was carried out using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to empirically test this study’s proposed hypotheses.Results from the data analysis revealed that only three of the four hypotheses proposed by the study were eventually supported. These findings significantly indicate that not all business support services sourced by the government had a significant impact on the performance of SMEs. On top of that, the study’s findings also suggest that technical support services do not contribute significantly to the achievement and progress of SMEs. This means more proactive measures need to be taken in order to increase awareness and promote the use of technology among SMEs in Malaysia.

This study aimed to empirically examine the mediating effect of competitive advantages between entrepreneurial competencies and socioeconomic performance as well as the direct effect of entrepreneurial competencies and access to financial, social and human capitals on the socioeconomic performance of informal micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in Senegal through the lens of a resource-based view (RBV) theory. Utilizing a cross-sectional design, data for the study were randomly gathered from 356 micro and small entrepreneurs operating in the informal sector. The outcomes of the study indicated that opportunity-recognition competency, relationship competency, commitment competency, financial capital and competitive advantages all have a significant and positive impact towards the socioeconomic performance of Senegal’s informal economy. On the contrary, organizing competency, conceptual competency and social capital displayed a positive but insignificant effect on the socioeconomic performance, whereas strategy competency and human capital have both a negative and insignificant effect on the socioeconomic performance of Senegal’s informal economic sector. The results highlight the importance of entrepreneurial competencies and access to capital towards improving the socioeconomic performance of informal MSEs across developing countries. The paper ended by presenting the discussion and implication of the study.

Sustaining heritage foods is fraught with obstacles due to the changing of consumers’ demographic landscape and modernization which have changed living styles across the globe and Malaysia is not spared from this onslaught. On the other side of the coin, as for some providers and vendors of heritage foods, they are grappling and facing inescapable issues to keep their business afloat. Notwithstanding with the close connection of women who are considered as the guardians of heritage foods, research pertaining to women vendors are often neglected, rendering them as less important than heritage foods. The same thing has been observed in Malaysia. This study surveys the demography and business profiles of Etak Salai Women Vendors in Kelantan. The findings of the survey provide valuable insights into both the demography and profiles of women entrepreneurs who run the business. Judging from the information gathered in the study, it is not exaggerated to claim this heritage food of Kelantan is here to stay as it provides a steady income to the women vendors. Financially, though, it is not much earned by them, as long as they continue the business, the said heritage food can be sustained.

The ability of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) to effectively carry out their business activities within and without their business social capital networks in Covid-19 pandemic in no doubt will increase their entrepreneurial orientation and performance especially in emerging countries like Ghana. The aim of this study is to investigate how social capital activates the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) of SMEs performance in an emerging country in Covid-19 pandemic. Through simple random sampling technique, data was obtained from 369 SME-owners and the analysis of the measurement and structural model performed by PLS-SEM approach. The findings demonstrated that social capital has significant effect on SMEs performance and proactiveness as well while autonomy, competitiveness, innovativeness and risk-taking though had positive effect were insignificant. The findings reveal that proactiveness had positive and significant mediating effect on social capital and SMEs performance relationship but the remaining four EO dimensions though demonstrates positive mediating effect but were not statistically significant. This study contributes to theoretical building on the role of social capital on EO and SMEs performance relationship especially in this global pandemic of Covid-19. The study focused on the need for SMEs to consider EO and social capital as pivotal to their performance based on the RBV and social capital theories with more emphasis on SMEs effective use of their internal and external resources to outperform their counterparts. The last section of the study further provides suggestions for SME-owners and future researchers.

This research aims to examine the nature of childcare safety practices and their babysitter traits from the childcare practitioner’s perspective. Moreover, this research study investigates the significant relationship between childcare safety practices and babysitter traits in the Malaysian childcare context based on the theory and concept of organizational culture. Thus, this research study adopts a quantitative questionnaire survey method for data collection purposes among childcare practitioners in Malaysia. A total of 37 organizations of the unit of analysis were involved as respondents through the online survey form. The research finding found a significant relationship between the childcare safety practices towards the babysitter traits based on the regression and correlation analysis performed by the SPSS software, 26th version. The result reveals that the traits of the babysitter are positively influenced by the childcare safety practices of management commitment, safety training, workers involvement, communication and feedback, rules and procedures, and promotion policies. Hence, the results finding will provide empirical evidence for childcare stakeholders, especially for authorities, the childcare industry, society, for continuous safety improvement in the childcare business setting.

The performance of SMEs is a major focus of emerging and developing economic growth. Furthermore, as the market environment became more dynamic and competitive, SMEs were forced to cultivate their competitive advantage in order to improve their performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of firm orientation for customer, supplier, innovation, and competitor, as well as the firm’s absorptive capacity on competitive advantage. Cross-sectional research design was used to gather data from batik SMEs industry in Malaysia’s Terengganu and Kelantan. For information collection, the structured interview yielded 213 relevant responses. PLS-SEM, a variance-based structural equation model, was used in the analysis. The findings showed that a firm’s absorptive capacity, competitor orientation, innovation orientation, and supplier orientation have a substantial and positive impact on competitive advantage of the firm in batik industry, while, customer orientation had a positive and insignificant influence on firm’s competitive advantage. Furthermore, absorptive capacity and competitor orientation were the most influential factors to competitive advantage of SMEs batik industry. Finally, the discussion, implications and conclusion of the study are discussed in the research paper.

Strategic orientation is strategic direction for enterprises to create appropriate behaviors to achieve excellent performance. Enterprises need strategy and market-oriented methods to keep them in line with stakeholders. Through innovative products, enterprises provide opportunities to grow in market, expand to new areas and gain competitive advantages. Market orientation is important for enterprises to recognize market and formulate appropriate product and service strategies to fulfill needs and requirements of customers. For service-oriented companies, coordination among market orientation (customer orientation, competitor orientation, inter-functional coordination), innovation orientation, learning orientation, and cost orientation ensure generation of market-centered knowledge to achieve long-term success. Objective of this research is studying relationships among strategic orientation, service innovation capability and financial performance are analyzed through quantitative survey of Chinese service-oriented SMEs. Based on analysis on 214 respondents, this research confirms that strategic orientation of learning orientation and cost orientation will enhance service innovation capability of service-oriented SMEs in China. Service innovation capability is also perceived can bring positive impact to financial performance of SMEs. This research able to provide suggestion to service-oriented SMEs to be innovative and achieve higher financial performance in industry.

Technology is a crucial factor for starting a business today and it is an important factor for disabled entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship has become one of the preferred fields of employment for disabled people due to the lack of other employment opportunities. However, the existing technology for disabled people is still insufficient to ensure that disabled people remain competitive in the entrepreneurship field. The Smart 3-Wheel Bike was developed to provide better facilities to entrepreneurs with disabilities. The study will examine the factors of acceptance of technology in assisting entrepreneurs with disabilities (PWDs) through the development of “Smart 3-Wheel Bike”. The factors are technical efficiency, the usability of technology, and attitude to use the technology towards the acceptance of the technology “Smart 3-Wheel Bike”. Using Smart-PLS analysis and the sample size is 37 people of disability (PWDs) from Kelantan. The results revealed that a direct relationship was supported. The study will help disabled people to increases their standard of living and at the same time increases their income. Thus is technology “Smart 3-Wheel Bike “is most valuable to them and this technology has become one of the tools to help them. For the novelty of the study are introducing new support technology for the disabled entrepreneurs with the safety and features for them.

Previous research has mentioned that lost places in urban areas, such as back alleys, are often hotbeds of crime and immoral acts. Most countries, including Malaysia, have chosen to use creative methods, such as placemaking, to regenerate deserted alleys and urban spaces to improve such locations. However, integrating interactive technology, such as Augmented Reality (AR), has not had enough study as a creative approach in placemaking projects to revitalize abandoned alleys or empty urban places. Therefore, a systematic literature review was conducted to evaluate the relationship among various street arts, using AR technology, in creative placemaking projects, to revitalize places for society’s well-being and to fulfill the government’s Shared Prosperity Vision 2030. Inclusion criteria added studies on street art, street art with augmented reality technology, and their relationship to placemaking. The excluded studies were unrelated methodology, samples, contexts, and findings. Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria using a systematic search strategy. Based on the review, a research model for revitalizing areas using street art projects integrated with AR technology was developed for society’s wellbeing and to fulfill two of the Key Economic Growth Activities (KEGA); namely, (KEGA 4) Content Industries and (KEGA 15) Tourism Malaysia, in the government’s Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 blueprint.

The alarming and rapid growth of technology has paved the way for many new business models. One such is social commerce, selling through social networks. The gaining attractiveness of social networking positions has enabled the E-tailers to sell without much hustle and get consumer feedback directly. Social commerce has rapidly grown with the array of new entrants in the sub-continent who majorly invest in the fashion industry. Understanding social networks and leveraging them for social commerce will be crucial to monetizing for business promotions. In this background, an empirical study was executed to analyze and understand the top social commerce apps in the framework. The data was collected through a questionnaire among 493 active online shoppers on fashion product(s) social networking sites. Based on statistical analysis, the study bought out the differences across social commerce apps crosswise phases of consumer decision making and social commerce constructs viz., Recommendations & Referrals, Forums & Communities, and Ratings and Reviews. The study results will be the basis for marketers and entrepreneurs to build their social commerce strategies appropriately.

In this study explores the effect of the three-way interaction effect of emotion (entrepreneurial passion), Islamic work ethic, and cognition (promotion regulatory focus and locomotion regulatory modes) on green innovation performance in the Muslim entrepreneur context in Indonesia. This study responds the gap of studies that discuss the role of Islamic Work Ethic (IWE) in improving green innovation performance in Indonesia as a country with majority Muslim population. In addition, the role of interaction between emotions, IWE, and cognition is rarely studied by researchers. Moderated multiple hierarchical regression analysis will be used to examine the three-way interaction effect. The theoretical implication of this study provides insight how several theories interact with each other to explain how emotions, work ethics, and cognition affect green innovation performance (affective event theory, regulatory focus theory, and regulatory mode theory). The practical implication of this study is that green innovation performance of Muslim entrepreneurs improves when Muslim entrepreneur has a strong passion for environmental friendly business fields accompanied by a good Islamic work ethic and has a high promotion regulatory focus and locomotion regulatory mode.

SMEs are very much affected by the current pandemic. Social media is believed to be needed by SMEs to improve performance. This study analyzes the marketing performance of SMEs, which are influenced by SM adoption. The performance of SMEs can be predicted from the availability of technology, management support, competition, convenience, and perceived usefulness. All of these variables make it easier for SMEs to adopt SM. The data in this study were 300 SMEs consisting of handicraft, tourism, and general trading. The research location is in the Special Region of Yogyakarta. Analysis of the data using a structural model with the help of the PLS-SEM program. The results show that the SME performance model with antecedents of SM adoption is acceptable. This study analyzes the adoption of SM with three categories of SMEs namely crafts, tourism and general trade in one model, which has never been done by other researchers. In addition, the condition of SMEs in Yogyakarta has a uniqueness that is different from SMEs in the world related to the absence of good management implementation in managing their business.

The essence of prospects for increasing the export potential of cereal crops of Ukraine, which specialize in growing maize for grain, is revealed. Following these positions, a very important task is to study the problem of forming the export potential of cereal industry in order to improve Ukraine’s competitive position in the world grain market and developing a national policy on Ukraine’s participation in global food security. This led to the choice of the topic of the article and indicates its relevance. It can be argued that Ukraine’s production potential is significant. It is proved that stimulating the development of the export potential of the grain industry is possible on the basis of modern structural and transformational conversion in the agricultural sector in order to stabilize and increase the production of competitive products. It is substantiated that the domestic branch of selection and seed production is not experiencing the best of times: the efficiency of the state program of formation and implementation of seed policy is very low, and control in seed production due to constant reform of relevant bodies is extremely insufficient. As a result, there is illicit circulation in seeds of varieties of dubious origin, unrecognized varieties or low quality seeds. However, large international companies consider Ukraine as a center for the production of maize seeds and a country with significant export potential. Therefore, it is crucial to finalize agreements with the European Union on the recognition of Ukrainian certificates and the opening of the EU market for seeds produced in Ukraine. At the same time, growing seeds is first of all a business where the speed of reaction to consumer requests is important. Thus, the main task is to invent a «compromise» between high quality and competitive price. It is proved that due to the introduction of high-yielding hybrids of maize and the intensification of innovative activities in the technology of growing this crop in 2011 for the first time in Ukraine received a record gross harvest of its grain—more than 22 million tons. In particular, in 2013 this index was 30.9 million tons, in 2018 it was more than 35.8 million tons. Such data confirm the real possibilities of increasing the production of this important forage crop in the country. It is noted that in industrial practice in the cultivation of this crop, farmers face a significant number of problems, both agro-technological, organizational and economic nature. The dynamics of development of maize production is characterized by significant variation in sown areas, and as a consequence, in gross yield.

This study focuses on repayment risk associated with Qarḍ al-Ḥasan financing in Islamic banks. The study aims to review repayment risk management of Qarḍ al-Ḥasan for SMEs Financing, which is proposed to be utilized for SMEs financing needs. The study initiated a model on how the Islamic banks can manage repayment risk and get sources for default Qarḍ al-Ḥasan. The proposed initiative suggests the use of Set-Aside Earning, Zakāt and Qarḍ al-Ḥasan Takaful for default Qarḍ al-Ḥasan. The Shariah model used for this initiative is Qarḍ al-Ḥasan financing model. The study follows series of approaches to achieve its objectives. A descriptive method was used to study the subject matter. The study also uses the comparative analytical approach to analyze and compare the annual financial reports issued by some Islamic banks. The study finds that Islamic banks possessed a perfect opportunity to manage repayment risk of Qarḍ al-Ḥasan financing SMEs by channeling the Set-Aside Earnings and Zakāt for default Qarḍ al-Ḥasan. The ReRMQAF model can be applicable for repayment risk to SMEs financing using Qarḍ al-Ḥasan default sources which that Set-Aside Earnings, part of Zakāt and Qarḍ al-Ḥasan Takaful. The study concludes with a few recommendations, including that the Islamic banks should offer their Set-Aside Earnings, part of Zakāt and Qarḍ al-Ḥasan Takaful for defaulted Qarḍ al-Ḥasan funds. The study also proposes that the Islamic banks can search for other sources such as waqf and crowdfunding to reduce the repayment risk of Qarḍ al-Ḥasan default to SMEs financing. The study has also recommended a particular supervisory policy and regulations that would guide and support the proposed model, which is named Repayment Risk Management of Qarḍ al-Ḥasan Financing (ReRMQAF).

The Syrian conflict is a well-known regional conflict, where Turkey is among the most affected countries in political, social, and economic terms. This study explores the Turkish public reflections on the Syria conflict by analyzing 450,000 Tweets posted in the Turkish language between Feb 1, 2015, and Feb 27, 2016. This chapter contributes to the literature by providing a broader perspective with the main research questions of: (1) What are the widely discussed topics on Twitter about Syria by the Turkish users? (2) Were these topics attracting more users to Twitter or encouraging the further engagement of the already existing users? (3) How can the fading-out characteristics of the most popular topics be described? (4) Why-under which conditions and with which features-Tweets about Syria end up extensively re-Tweeted by Turkish users? The authors report a predictive model of 86.12% accuracy to classify high and low Tweets based on the number of re-Tweets received via seven features. The analysis reveals that armed fighting, religious, and political sensitivities within the Turkish public inflate the volume of posted Tweets.

The purpose of this study is to examine entrepreneurs with disabilities’ views towards the need for technical support. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) were used as a basic model for study. A survey method was utilized among 40 respondents in Tumpat Kelantan, Malaysia that categorize as disabled entrepreneurs to investigate their technology needed. The data obtained were analyzed using Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software for descriptive statistics and regression analysis. The findings indicate that the most significant factor is effort expectancy that show the disabled entrepreneurs accept the development of Smart 3-Wheel Bike, which enable them in competing with the other business competitors and remain in the market.

Malaysia recognizes the critical role of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in its quest to become a developed country. As a result, Malaysia’s government has emphasized the importance of innovation with unique capabilities to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) become more competitive and sustainable. The purpose of this study is to examine the unique capabilities of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) when it comes to innovation in a dynamic competitive environment. It is important understand how Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) developed and enhanced their unique capabilities in order to increase their competitiveness when implementing their innovation strategies. This paper as expected to provide a comprehensive explanation of the unique capabilities that Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) possess in order to enhance and develop their competitiveness and sustainability. Additionally, these unique capabilities should shed light on the significance of the study’s underlying theory (The Dynamic Capability Theory). To summarize, this study will provide the depth of knowledge and understanding necessary for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) to remain competitive and viable for an extended period of time.

Through entrepreneurial orientation (EO) concept of the impacts upon firms on its improvement, this specific research includes the methodology and entrepreneurship research. The agriculture sectors in Sabah crucially contribute to the increase of the economy, in any case the capability abdicate isn’t totally met. With that, the targets of this have a see at had been to determine the relationship among EO dimensions (i.e. competitive aggressiveness, innovativeness and proactiveness) and firm growth in expansion to examine the moderating factor that have an effect on component of the government support programmes with EO dimensions and firm growth. The strategy connected with this research had been the quantitative methods. In this consider, proportionate stratified random sampling was applied. The area of this research included the zone of the Interior Division within the State of Sabah. The results confirmed that the EO dimensions shown measurably positive relationship with firm growth. The government support programmes, as a moderator ended up illustrated not significant and noninfluential to the relationship between EO dimensions with firm growth. In the expansion, the usage of the SMEs programmes were not exceptionally empowering as there were not a significant relationship of the government support programmes factor that ought to be rebuilt and streamlined. The expanded mindfulness of the programmes that exist within the small and medium agriculture firms should be complimented by adding up to disentanglement for the programmes provided.

This study aims to explore the role of technology on the organizational performance of SMEs in Islamabad, Pakistan during the ravages of Covid 19 pandemic. It has been widely accepted that the proper adoption of digitalization not only helpful to cushion the impact of the said pandemic but it also aids SMEs to stay afloat and gains profits. SMEs need to equip themselves with up-to-date technology to weather adversaries in their business. Compare to other developing countries, Pakistani SMEs still far behind in leveraging digitalization. There is a dire need for them to practice and embrace digitalization in entrepreneurship to improve their performances. The present study will find out the effects of technology on the organizational performance of SMEs in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan and float a conceptual model. A conceptual framework, which was derived from the OECD, will facilitate the investigation. Realising the data in paramount important and urgently needed, the nature of this study will be a cross-sectional and quantitative. The key technologies including digitalization will be employed as predictors and organizational performance will be regressed as predicted variable. The findings of this study would be instructive, demanding SMEs and other related stakeholders to make a concerted effort to plan and executive viable strategies to ensure SMEs which provided the largest employability in Pakistan can successfully embrace technologies to ensure the highest level of their performance.

SME has received much recognition as continue to be the backbone in the development and economic growth of a nation. Being the main players in economic activities, there were numbers of financial support made available by the government for SMEs. However, previous studies showed that the government business support services were not attractive to SMEs and perceived gave less impact on performance. Mixed results from empirical studies concerning the effectiveness of the services raise questions about the role of government business support services and SMEs characteristic on firms’ performance. To address this issue, based on the Resource Based View Theory this study empirically investigated the relationship between one of the support services dimensions, financial support services and firm performance. In addition, this study intended to investigate how the entrepreneurial orientation moderates the relationship between the utilisation of the financial support services and the firm’s performance. This study use Structural Equation Modelling to evaluate the impact of the financial support services on SME’s performance. The sample for this study involved the SMEs in Malaysia. The result indicates that financial support services significantly associated with the firms’ performance and entrepreneurial orientation failed to influence significantly the relationship between the usage of the services and the performance. The findings of this study could bring useful benefits for the government business support services providers to enhance further the quality of services and will provide an understanding of how effectively the characteristics of SMEs related to entrepreneurial orientation would help increase the effectiveness of the support services. To conclude, a number of suggestions were also made for service providers to assist in addressing the issue of effectiveness of the support services together with proposed future study.

Halal and Islamic finance is under Islamic law and has been established in the context of halal economic development. This study aims to investigate the financial alternative resources among Halal entrepreneurs that may become a barrier in the adoption of Islamic financing among Halal Entrepreneurs. This study was employed a qualitative approach using interviews with halal food entrepreneurs. The result indicated that financial alternative resources of users and non-users of Islamic financing products are the reason for low adoption among Halal entrepreneurs. The implication of this study is the role of Islamic banking to educate the customers towards shariah practicing in the operations that would have an impact on customer decision to patronize Islamic financing products. This study’s finding is limited to producers of Halal Food Entrepreneur. Therefore, future research could extend beyond the current scope to Halal Pharmaceutical, Halal logistics, or Halal Cosmetic to investigate the research model in a different context. Also, future studies should include other Non-Muslim Halal entrepreneurs to enrich the attitude of Halal entrepreneurs towards Islamic financing adoption in their business survival.

This study examined the effects of innovativeness, risk-taking propensity, social integration, family support, entrepreneurship education services, and internship quality on entrepreneurial intention that leads to the start-up preparation among final year students in Malaysian private universities. A cross-sectional design was adopted in this study to collect quantitative data from 358 university students via an online survey. The study indicated the significant positive effects of innovativeness, social integration, entrepreneurship education services, and internship quality on entrepreneurial intention. The study also revealed the significant positive effect of entrepreneurial intention on the start-up preparation. In order to encourage entrepreneurship intention and start-up behaviour among students or graduates, related parties or policymakers should consider these findings. More entrepreneurship programmes and courses should be introduced to foster youngsters and students to pursue self-employment, rather than going for corporate jobs.

The innovation of the Internet has led to the revolution of consumer behaviour and purchase intention throughout the consumer decision-making process. It provides a huge opportunity for businesses to anticipate the increasing value of online retail. Particularly in Malaysia, the number of Internet users has given rise pertaining to current trends which involved exhaustive use of social networking in terms of patterns of getting information among users and e-commerce experience. As social media becomes a vital part of people’s daily life, the influence of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) surpasses the influence of traditional face-to-face WOM communication on consumers’ decision making. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the persuasiveness of eWOM messages and consumer’s attitude to use information which turns into behaviour intention in the online context among Malaysian young consumers. Convenience sampling was employed to select sample among young generation who at least have one social media account. Data were collected using questionnaires. A total of 440 effective samples were collected and the analyses were carried out using both descriptive analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM). The findings showed Source credibility, Source presence, eWOM quantity and eWOM attractiveness are the factors that influence online purchase intention.

This research examined effect of entrepreneurship education, technological adaptability, and self-perceived creativity on attitude towards entrepreneurship; and the effect of attitude towards entrepreneurship and subjective norms on intention to use social media as online business platform among the female university students in Malaysia. This study implemented quantitative approach and collected data from a total of 108 respondents through online survey. Findings of this study revealed that entrepreneurship education and self-perceived creativity have a significant positive influence on female university students’ attitude towards entrepreneurship and intention to use social media as online business platform. Besides, subjective norms are proved to have significant positive impact on female students’ entrepreneurial intention. Attitude towards entrepreneurship significantly mediates entrepreneurship education and self-perceived creativity on female students’ entrepreneurial intention. However, technical adaptability is proved not related to attitude towards entrepreneurship and female students’ entrepreneurial intention. With the aim of increasing female entrepreneurial intention, university can introduce entrepreneurship relevant training, seminar, and course in the campus and emphasize on creative and practical approach such as interaction and experimentation in the real world with real customers’ feedback to train students’ creative mindset.

This study contributes to the existing literature regarding the relationship between institutions and entrepreneurship. Building upon the institutional perspective, this study examines the influence of institutions on entrepreneurial intentions. While there is a growing number of studies on entrepreneurial intentions, the influence of various facets of institutions in supporting the development of entrepreneurial intentions has not been adequately studied. In an effort to contribute to this emergent area of inquiry, this study considers the interactive effects among the three institutional dimensions—regulatory, normative, and cognitive—in facilitating entrepreneurial intentions. Using Malaysia as the main context of the study, the hypotheses are supported based on data collected from 323 university business students. The findings reveal that normative institutions in which the students are embedded play a more substantial role in shaping their intentions to become entrepreneurs than regulatory institutions. Moreover, the findings suggest significant interactive effects between the three institutional dimensions on entrepreneurial intentions. The findings have important implications for policymakers.

Entrepreneurship agenda is an important agenda and one of the areas that can generate a country's economy. Previous study of entrepreneurship focuses on economic, psychological, cultural and social perspectives. However, entrepreneurship in a religious perspective still gives less emphasis. Therefore, this study will fill the gap by exploring the phenomenon of entrepreneurship from a religious perspective based on the hadith of Prophet PBUH. The specific goals are 1) to identify and collect the entrepreneurship substance in al-Kutub al-Tis’ah; 2) to explore the relation between selected substance and entrepreneurship phenomenon; 3) to segregate those substance into relevant disciplines in entrepreneurship. Qualitative research will be employed to achieve the mentioned objective. The narratives that explained the phenomenon were sought from the stories text hadith which also helped to increase the understanding of the entrepreneurship phenomenon. This also includes a model conceptual framework of entrepreneurship based on the relationship between individual, society, environment and Allah. This study is expected to fill up the gap in entrepreneurship from the perspective of Islam. In addition to being a catalyst for entrepreneurial development towards complementing and enriching existing theories and practices.

Entrepreneurship is a vital engine for economic growth and development. The success of small enterprises and startups is an important agenda given that the failure rate tends to be high. Failure is often caused by lack of reliable sources of financing, which most entrepreneurs cannot obtain from formal sources such as commercial banks or crowdfunds. In this paper, we analyze the role of microcredit as an important alternative source of business startup financing. In contrast to the mainstream literature, we analyze the role of both formal and informal sources of financing. Empirical findings are based on a unique household dataset compiled from a household survey of entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs in Uzbekistan. The findings indicate that startup capital, gender, education, and household size constitute the determinants of business success. However, these factors differ slightly depending on whether entrepreneurs can borrow from microfinance institutions or not.

This study aims to determine the factors affecting entrepreneurial intention among Vietnamese students, particularly in terms of family background and entrepreneurship education service quality. Quantitative data was collected from 422 students of selected universities in the South of Vietnam. It was found that specific dimensions of family background and entrepreneurship education service quality had a positive and statistically significant effect on entrepreneurial intention among Vietnamese students. It was recommended that government and policymakers focus on creating quality academic programmes and enhancing non-academic process to enhance innovative start-up among students. Besides, certain constructs of the family background paradigm could be utilised to develop future entrepreneurs.

Occupational safety in workplace is the main issues in many organizations. This issue particularly significant for labour intensive industry such as Small Medium Enterprise due to low implementation and lack of intention has been paid on safety in their operation. Based on previous study regarding the relationship between safety management practice and safety performance are somewhat inconsistent finding. This study examine the moderating effect of safety climate on the relationship between safety management practice and safety performance of SMEs in Kelantan. Data were collected from the SMEs in Kelantan using quantitative survey questionnaire and individual as unit of analysis. A total of 300 respondents from selected SME manufacturing in Kelantan voluntarily participated in this survey. The Partial Least Square – Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) estimation procedure to examine the hypotheses developed. The result indicated that safety management practice (management commitment, employee involvement, safety management system, safety culture, safety training) provided statistically significant contributions to the prediction of safety performance in SMEs. The research findings provide a substantial body of knowledge to the that enable SMEs to have better understanding on safety management practice and safety performance. For the future research, the need to consider other variable in safety management practice towards safety performance of the SMEs.

The car carrier is the heart of global shipping nowadays. This sector has often been considered one of among the foremost industry’s long-term challenges and Malaysia was offered vast opportunities for global automotive with competent manufacturers to line up manufacturing and distribution operations within the country. Looking at the statistic of registered passenger cars, Malaysia is ranked 44th with 341 cars per 1,000 people, one rank above Brunei's as at 327 cars (Nielson 2014) and this showed that the demand for car ownership will be getting higher in the future. Most of the automotive companies was using car carrier companies or we call transporter to deliver their goods because they are going to be receiving a lot of advantages like company specialization service, expertise or professionalism, insurance, easier to select and drop competitive rates where the customer can choose the company since it has many car carriers’ companies. Besides that, most of the automotive companies were practising a different level of management, either it is good or poor in their service quality. Therefore, this study has focused on determining the critical factors that influence the high demand for car carriers during automotive seasonal trends and proposed the guidelines to overcome the shortage of car carriers by managing their resources.