An Overview on Business, Management and Economics Research Vol. 7

This chapter examines how the board composition of a family firm, which is a part of a inter-firm network, can improve that firm’s capacity to create net value. With this aim, we established a panel of 431 sampled companies belonging to inter-firm networks. All of our hypotheses refered to the concept of net value creation. We measured innovation in the firm as a proxy for the creation of net value. We found that the firm that modifies the composition of its board of directors, to take into account partners’ needs for greater protection and to gain better access to critical resources controlled by partners, creates a higher net value. In particular, outside members and interlocking directorship of a firm’s board have a positive and statistically significant impact on the capacity to create value of the individual firm in a network.

This chapter explores the interconnected roles of entrepreneurial orientation (EO), organizational reconfiguration, absorptive capability, and organizational resilience, particularly in the context of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This multifaceted approach addresses a notable gap in existing literature, where these relationships have not been simultaneously examined, especially in the SME sector. Two important research topics in management and organizational studies are entrepreneurship and organizational resilience. Although there may be connections among EO, organizational reconfiguration, absorptive capacity, and resilience, few studies—particularly those focusing on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)—have looked at these connections concurrently. By investigating the mediating roles of organizational reconfiguration and absorptive aptitude in the relationship between EO and organizational resilience, this study fills this knowledge vacuum. The study findings revealed that entrepreneurial orientation dimensions have a significant and positive impact on organizational resilience. Highlighting EO's positive impact on resilience, the research emphasizes the critical role of an entrepreneurial mindset in adapting to market changes and seizing opportunities. It specifically underlines the mediating role of absorptive capabilities, indicating their importance in enhancing SMEs' resilience. While organizational reconfiguration showed no direct impact, the findings offer practical guidance for SMEs to focus on entrepreneurial behavior and invest in absorptive capacities, thereby contributing to economic growth and informing policies that support a more resilient SME landscape in Ghana. The results suggest that SMEs that are more entrepreneurial are better equipped to adapt to changes in the market, take calculated risks, be proactive, and seek new opportunities. The study provides considerable contributions to academic research in the fields of entrepreneurship and organizational resilience, especially in the context of SMEs. Its findings are academically relevant and offer practical insights for business leaders and policymakers, making it a valuable addition to the current body of knowledge.

This study investigates the mediating role of soft skill competency and employee capacity in linking training effectiveness with health workers' performance in Indonesia, framed within the Human Capital Theory. Analyzing data from 222 healthcare professionals in South Sulawesi via Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with AMOS software, the findings highlight the critical role of soft skill competency and employee capacity as mediators in the training effectiveness-health workers' performance relationship. This research underscores the Human Capital Theory perspective, emphasizing the importance of investing in healthcare workers' soft skills and capacities as key intellectual assets. The insights contribute to HR planning and policy in healthcare, particularly relevant in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study examines the impact of organizational resilience on innovation performance and firm performance in the hospitality sector in Ghana. the study employed a quantitative research method - using data from key informants within the hospitality landscape, the findings indicate organizational resilience has a positive and significant impact on innovation performance. Innovation performance is particularly important in a rapidly changing business environment, where the ability to develop new products, services, and processes can give businesses a competitive edge.  Participants will be selected using a random sampling technique to ensure an adequate representation. Specifically, our results suggest that firms that develop resilience capabilities are more likely to engage in exploratory innovation, which involves developing new products, services, or business models that are not directly related to existing offerings. We also find that firms that invest in developing resilience capabilities, foster a culture of innovation, and focus on incremental innovations are more likely to achieve competitive advantage and long-term success. In addition, social ties appear to be particularly important for firm resilience. Using cross-sectional details from respondents in the hospitality landscape, the findings revealed there is a positive association between organizational resilience, innovation and firm performance. The relationship between organizational resilience and the firm performance had an R2 value of 0.238. These findings have important implications for managers in the hospitality industry in Ghana, as they highlight the importance of developing resilience capabilities to facilitate innovation and enhance firm performance in a highly uncertain and volatile industry.

Objective: Burnout is a prevalent issue in healthcare. However, investigations into experiences of burnout among mainly administrative health systems’ personnel have not been conducted. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate burnout experiences among health systems’ personnel in administrative positions who do not medically treat patients as part of their daily work.

Methodology: This is a mixed-methods study measuring burnout using an 18-question burnout scale and by conducting 23 semi-structured interviews. Mean responses and a correlation analysis of the survey results were conducted. Interview transcripts were coded using ATLAS.ti 22.

Findings: The quantitative results show low burnout scores. However, the interviews show that all administrative personnel had experienced burnout or stress, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic, workload, and volatility drove burnout. Recognizing employees, promoting a strong work/life balance, and self-care practices may alleviate burnout.

Implications: Similar to nurses and physicians, administrative health systems’ personnel are susceptible to burnout. Therefore, health systems’ leaders should cultivate strategies to mitigate and prevent burnout among administrative personnel. Additionally, this study uses interviews to obtain a context for survey results, unlike previous studies. Leaders should recognize not only clinicians but also administrative employees for their work to alleviate burnout. Additionally, leaders should promote work/life balance, especially among remote workers and attempt to reduce workload to mitigate burnout.

Originality: This research is unique because it focuses on experiences of burnout among health systems’ employees who do not treat patients as part of their daily work. Previous studies have focused on mainly nurses and physicians. However, this study shows that non-patient-facing health systems’ employees can also suffer from burnout.

This chapter presents a real-life example of a mixed methods study in human resource development. It explores the research methodology and the rationale for using mixed methods in human resource development, outlines the research purpose and questions, and the participant recruitment procedures. The chapter then discusses the quantitative data collection procedures, including instrument development, reliability and validity, the qualitative data collection procedures, and the quantitative and qualitative data analysis procedures.  In the end, the chapter discusses the integration of the two data sets and concludes with a chapter summary. In short, the chapter can be a blueprint for mixed methods projects in HRD, offering practical guidance for social science researchers.

This study investigates the influence of corporate governance characteristics on the adoption of integrated reporting, recognizing the growing significance of integrated reporting in the contemporary business landscape. Utilizing content analysis and data from listed banks’ annual reports spanning 2016 to 2020, the research reveals that, while listed banks in Sri Lanka have not fully embraced integrated reporting, they have adopted approximately seven out of eight content elements outlined in the framework. Correlation analysis establishes a significant link between gender diversity, the presence of independent directors, the frequency of audit committee meetings, audit committee independence, and the adoption of integrated reporting. Regression analysis quantifies these relationships, collectively accounting for more than thirty-three percent of the impact on the adoption of integrated reporting. Importantly, the study emphasizes the pivotal role of gender diversity, independent directors, and regular audit committee meetings in shaping integrated reporting practices. The conclusion underscores the need for listed banks to prioritize initiatives such as enhancing female representation, fostering board independence, and ensuring consistent audit committee meetings to advance integrated reporting adoption. Furthermore, the study advocates for policymakers and regulatory bodies to disseminate knowledge and raise awareness, creating an environment conducive to the widespread adoption and implementation of integrated reporting by listed firms in Sri Lanka. Overall, the research offers valuable insights into the current state of integrated reporting, identifies influencing factors, and provides actionable recommendations for enhancing its comprehensive adoption in the future.

The article is dedicated to the Pós-Covid 19 new world of fashion. The article aims to investigate the Perceptions of customers through digital tools like e-commerce and e-marketplaces as a means of readapting customers to social life online and to provide recommendations for the new process of buying. References to customer adaptation using digital tools in the buying process have been analyzed. The results of a survey conducted by the authors of Pós-Covid-19 noted that digital learning tools can be beneficial to fashion.

In this sense, this research aims to explore Customer Perceptions in the World of E-Commerce and E-Marketplaces through a qualitative analysis. The questionnaires were shared via email and on social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook from January to December 2022, obtaining a non-probabilistic sample, by Snowball composed of 1266 consumers of luxury fashion brands in social networks.

The research concludes that the main contribution is the proximity to the customer and permanent contact, which enhances consumer loyalty. It is concluded that the luxury market favors social networks as a form of communication, valuing the fast transmission of messages and the ease of interacting and receiving feedback from consumers.

It was possible to verify that most luxury consumers spend more than 4 to 5 hours a day on the Internet, especially in the younger age groups. It was also clear that most of the sample consulted social networks through mobile phones for the sake of convenience and lack of time. The social networks privileged by these consumers are Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. This fact does not meet the study conducted. Effectively TikTok appears in both studies, but the passion for social networks "in motion", as is the case of TikTok and YouTube is something recent.

The study presented helpful information for luxury market managers to understand the usage of technology among customers. Appropriate support through mobile applications can contribute to the intention to continue using luxury social media and facilitate a long-term relationship between luxury brands and customers.  

This chapter primarily focuses on the relationships between the determinants that affect consumers’ use of food delivery apps in Malaysia. Food service businesses now rely on technology as a major information resource and marketing tool. Using an extended flow theory model, we explored consumers’ experiences in purchasing delivery food through mobile apps. This study chose Grab Food as the popular food delivery app in Malaysia. This study collected data from an online survey and an offline survey conducted among postgraduate students at public universities. This study used a dichotomous scale to measure online purchasing behaviour and the research model of this study was tested using Partial Least Squares (PLS) with PLS Graph 3.0.

We distributed a self-administered questionnaire online and used structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses. We found that consumer experience (web and digital) had a significant effect on buying intention behavior. The empirical findings show that consumers’ experience has significant effect on buying behavior when using the application. Consumer experience in term of the usability, interactivity and aesthetic of the web positively affects food delivery apps buying intention behavior. Additionally, this study found that consumers had experiences buying from the website based on functionality rather than psychology and content factors. Further, this study finds that consumers had experience buying from the website are based on the functionality rather than psychology and content factors. Furthermore, digital experience demonstrates a stronger effect on buying behavior with more experience using the food delivery application. This study is one of the early studies to investigate the role of consumer experience. In addition, we find that in user’s first interaction with food delivery apps, web experience (usability, interactivity, aesthetic) and digital experience have larger impact on their buying intention behaviour.