Volume 17 (2022): Issue 2 (August 2022)

This study aims to analyze the relationship between employment opportunities and income before and during COVID-19. The research data collection is divided into two time periods, including January to March 2020 which is the period before COVID-19, while April to June 2020 is the period of during COVID-19. Each time period in this study analyzed 100 samples measured using a Likert scale. The method used in this research is simultaneous equation analysis with the Indirect Least Squares (ILS) approach. An important finding in this study for the period before and during COVID-19 is that employment opportunities are positively and significantly affected by infrastructure, economic conditions, government incentives and price stability. Meanwhile, income is positively and significantly influenced by employment opportunities, economic conditions, government incentives and price stability. Although the results of the research are the same for different time periods, based on the results of comparisons there has been a decrease in the contribution to employment and income during COVID-19. This study recommends that the government needs to maintain the stability of the indicators of employment opportunities and income used in this study so that turnover and community income do not decrease, especially during the COVID-19 period.

This study empirically investigates the relationship between perceived pressure, perceived opportunity, perceived rationalization, and fraud tendency in people’s trust at the individual level in Malaysia. The study adopted a case study that focuses on the Indigenous People’s Trust Fund (Majlis Amanah Rakyat, MARA), a trust body fully supported by Malaysia’s government. Recently, corporate fraud has gained much attention in Malaysia, which negatively affects foreign investors’ perception. In Malaysia, several empirical studies were done on fraud, but fraud study in people’s trust and organization linked to the government is scanty. This study applied a quantitative method of correlation and multiple regression. From 177 respondents, the study uncovered that fraud tendency is high in people’s trust. This study suggests that follow up analysis and fraud control policy needs to be done in Malaysia’s organization. The study also reveals that perceived opportunity is considered as a significant variable influencing employees to commit fraud. The study’s outcomes are in line with past studies on the actual and generalization of “Fraud Triangle Theory.” It has practical implications in governance, internal control, fraud control, and employee hiring process.

This article analyses the sociodemographic determinants associated with the financial literacy levels of the Chilean population based on three dimensions: (1) knowledge; (2) behaviour; and (3) attitude. The study draws from data of the first and, thus far, the only national survey that has measured financial competency, conducted in 2016 by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), funded by the Financial Market Commission (CMF in Spanish) and the Andean Development Corporation (CAF in Spanish). It analyses the impact sociodemographic factors such as sex, age, education, and employment situation have on the financial literacy level of the population surveyed (N = 1.224). For each dimension, logistic regression models were adjusted consistent with the global financial literacy index. This method aimed to calculate, based on these variables, the probability that an individual may possess adequate knowledge, behaviour, and financial attitude. The findings indicate that a person between 30 and 60 years old, with a high education level, who earns a high income, will have a greater probability of possessing an adequate financial literacy level.

The agricultural branch of the Portuguese cooperative sector assumes an important role in rural development and in the inter-cooperation with local, regional, national, and international structures. Given the principles and values that guide cooperatives, they have a greater responsibility in respecting the pillars of good governance such as transparency, integrity, and accountability. However, cooperatives may not be exempt from corruption. The objective of this paper is to assess farmers’ perception of corruption in the agricultural cooperative sector and to analyse if that level depends on their personal characteristics, on farm-specific characteristics, and the relations with the cooperative. With data collected through a survey, a logistic model was estimated to analyse the impact of personal characteristics of farmers and of their farms in the odd of score very high the level of corruption in the agriculture cooperative sector. Results suggest that farmers perceive high levels of corruption and that gender, age, turnover, and seniority as members of the cooperative are relevant predictors of the said level of corruption. These results raise awareness for the greater need of social accountability, more attention for management and supervisory bodies for the ethics of governance, as well as the need to implement internal control systems.

The objective of this study is to provide insights on whether NZX 50 and sectorial indices of different industries in New Zealand have been impacted differently under the influence of COVID-19 and the measurements that government have taken in responding to the global pandemic. Results indicated that the New Zealand businesses are not immune from this pandemic despite the New Zealand government’s “go hard, go early” measure to eliminate the spread of Coronavirus. Statistical findings show that stock market and sectorial performances between the pre- and post-global pandemic period are significantly different. Most of the industries reported poorer performances except Healthcare and Consumer Staples. In addition, the NZX 50 and sectoral indices reported a significant relationship with the S&P 500 indicating that as the world become more integrated, stock market performances are displaying co-movements while responding to major events.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how social media marketing engagement efforts mediate the relationships between CRM and the business performance. We argue that social media marketing engagement efforts used by the companies will enhance the positive influence of CRM on business performance. We used Hunt and Morgan’s (1995) resource–advantage theory (R-A theory) as the theoretical framework for understanding the relationship between CRM and business performance mediated by online social media marketing efforts. Data for the study is collected using face-to-face personal surveys conducted with n=152 top management team members of randomly selected companies across a broad spectrum of industries located in Turkey. The study findings indicate that traditional CRM approach had positive effect on firm performance, but the relationship was partially mediated by the social media marketing engagement (SCRM) activities. The strength of the relationship along with the explained variance improved when SCRM was introduced into the structural model. This study provides additional empirical support for the role of the SCRM in modern organizations. It fills the gap in the literature in shedding light to the value of SCRM in the context of an emerging market environment to realize the full benefits of CRM.

This paper examines the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure compliance on firm value in the context of the Indian firms by applying instrumental approach of the stakeholder theory and the P/B-ROE valuation model. The study hypothesizes that CSR expenditure compliance will positively affect the firm value. Price-to-book (P/B) ratio of the firm is used as a proxy of the firm value. The sample of firms is selected from NSE-500 Index companies for the period of five years from 2014-15 to 2018-19 and the method adopted is a portfolio grouping approach to form a cross-sectional portfolio regression model. The results reveal that CSR expenditure compliance negatively influences firm value. Thus, instrumental approach which hypothesizes that CSR initiatives improve firm performance is not supported. However, to form a cross-sectional portfolio regression model by using portfolio grouping approach is found to be more appropriate than the individual cross-sectional regression model.

This study examines the link between leader motivating language and follower performance feedback perceptions It also explores whether follower/leader gender compositions moderate this relationship. Results show that a follower’s performance feedback perceptions benefit from a leader’s use of motivating language. This relationship is further positively moderated by the presence of certain follower/leader gender matches and mismatches. The results provide support for a stronger use of motivating language in diverse workforces. This characteristic gives motivating language the potential to support diversity in organizations. Implications of the study’s findings and future avenues for research are discussed. Considering the increasing need for more effective performance reviews, motivating language might be one of the future tools to increase their positive perceptions and ultimate success, especially in a diverse workforce.

Recessions and natural disasters continually slow down the economy. The scale of the effects depends on the origin of the crisis, the response capacity, among other factors. The objective of this article was to study the impact of the recession due to covid-19 on business creation. Using indicators of related and unrelated variety, the industrial diversity of 16 states of Mexico was measured. The main source of information was administrative data. The results show that a region with higher related industrial diversity has greater resilience and more firms. In times of crisis, these results could be used to assess the loss of businesses, given the type and scale of industrial variety.

The study aimed to analyze the impact of corruption on economic growth, for a sample of 131 countries, during the year 2018. Three indicators of corruption were used. The economic growth variable was an ordered variable that arranges the country’s income into four categories of income. A set of control variables was also used. The relationship between the variables was analyzed using Ordered Probit and Ordered Logit Models. Three model parameters were estimated using STATA software. The results of the study showed that the three indicators of corruption had a negative and significant impact on the income levels of the studied countries. The results also showed that each income level has specific threshold values for corruption indicators. The higher the level of corruption in a country than that threshold. The greater the need for an effective anti-corruption policy. And allocate more funding for its success.

This paper analyzes the role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the hotel sector of Mérida State (Venezuela) and its contribution to the sociocultural dimension of local development. A theoretical framework is presented that supports the subsequent empirical analysis. Summary is made of the public policies related to CSR and the tourism sector, and the characteristics of the State of Merida where the tourism activity that is going to be analyzed is carried out. Next, the empirical part is developed. The managers of the hotels were surveyed, using a questionnaire adapted from indicators of the ETHOS Institute. Average values of the different items are obtained by dimensions, themes and indicators and a logistic regression model is applied. The Governance and Management dimension has high compliance with anti-corruption practices. In the Social dimension, three indicators are highly valued (relationship with consumers, monitoring the impact on human rights and relations with employees) and three less valued (support for the development of suppliers, commitment to the community and professional development). Additionally, three aspects of CSR contribute to the sociocultural dimension (vision and strategy, human rights and sustainable use of resources) and represent 58% of the larger hotels, with most category, and longest seniority.

The Europe 2020 strategy comes amid a deep economic crisis and long-term challenges: globalization, pressure on resource use and climate change. The Europe 2020 strategy seeks solutions to the 2008 crisis through action at an European level, based on the broad coordination of economic and fiscal policies among member states. The solutions adopted by the European Commission involve a number of common objectives, which do not take into account the level of development of each Member State. However, the Commission leaves it to Member States to set a national level of targets which may differ from what has been set at the European level, depending on their needs. This strategy has been implemented at Member State level with the help of the National Reform Programs and monitored throughout the European Semester. Romania has established its own values for all the objectives of the “Europe 2020” Strategy, and the results it obtained require an analysis.

This study examines the effect of sustainability reporting on financial performance from economic, social and environmental dimensions. The research sample consisted of 31 companies that published sustainability reports during 2015-2019. The results showed that the economic and environmental dimensions showed a negative effect on ROA. This means that companies that disclose economic and environmental performance will reduce the achievement of ROA. while disclosure of social performance will not affect ROA. This study proves that the theory of stakeholders is not sufficient to meet the achievement of profitability and companies need to look at the substantive aspects of sustainability reporting.

Human capital in corporate governance is composed of both individual knowledge, skills and capabilities, as well as the experience of employees and management staff. The translation of human capital, namely the knowledge, skills and degree of involvement of employees, into positive organizational results is an objective of performance management. This objective is based on the relations between management and subordinates regarding the establishment of future tasks, the ways of solving them, but also on the benefits granted following the materialization of the results. Starting from these aspects, the present work aims to analyze the link of intensity that is established between the creation of the knowledge asset and its effective use in solving the tasks. In this sense, we proceeded to identify those aspects related to the structural elements of human capital that refer to the knowledge asset, the accumulation of information and its transmission between employees, because a correct assessment of the level of employee involvement in increasing the general level of knowledge of the enterprise will have a positive and direct impact in the surplus of financial results.

High attrition rates among women employees has been a matter of concern in the recent times especially in the automotive sector. This study attempts to find reasons for this high attrition rate through the lens of work environment and work-life balance. This paper identifies variables that can help in segregating those women who plan to leave the automotive industry and the individuals who expect to remain with a company. This quantitative study was conducted across several leading automotive giants in India. A questionnaire covering several aspects relating to intention to stay, work-life balance, organisation culture, policies and rewards and recognition was designed using previous literature in this area. 250 samples were collected using convenience sampling technique. Hypotheses of the study were tested using Partial Least Square - Structural Equation Modelling method. The results show that organizational culture, work-life balance and organizational polices are the main factors influencing the intention to stay among the women workforce in automotive sector.

This work aims to verify, through an exploratory factor analysis, which are the determinants of the financial literacy of the Portuguese over 18 years old. The quantitative method is used, by using a questionnaire survey, and 839 surveys were obtained. It is observed that the factors resulting from the exploratory factor analysis are: (1) planning and financial goals to 1-2 years, (2) long-term savings and (3) the taste for numerical calculation. We analyse the statistically significant differences between means regarding gender, school education, the existence of household budgets and age. It is concluded that it is important to obtain some financial training at the beginning and throughout life, to better be able to make the financial family planning, to make applications with better return and to reduce the financial risk of the family. It is concluded that the closer to the retirement age, the more people tend to save, since during retirement income usually decreases.

Most economies in the world have been isolated from the global by regulations in the prevention of covid 19, and the international trading activities are greatly affected that then affects financial services activities in major financial centers around the world. The situation of London IFC is quite different from others because of the covid 19 pandemics and the negotiation process of Brexit, which makes London IFC in a period of double uncertainty. This paper set out to investigate some effects of double scenarios of the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit on the London IFC. The research will highlight some variations in payment activities, employment, the trading value in the financial and insurance sectors, foreign market activities, and fintech sectors in London.

The growing importance of creative knowledge workers as a resource of particular significance for the growth of organizations is becoming one of the greatest challenges of the knowledge-based economy. An organization that employs knowledge workers, is an organization that can develop itself. One characteristic of knowledge workers is that they are creative and always driven by a desire for change. Therefore, wherever they see an opportunity to develop or a problem that can be solved implicating a lower cost it represents an opportunity for the organization. In the end, if the organization knows how to cherish its knowledge workers, will have an advantage on the market that it activates, but also, will be easier for it to attract more knowledge workers. The purpose of the paper is to familiarized the readers with all these concepts, how can be influenced and stimulated knowledge worker productivity, for better understanding of their importance for modern organizations. We are aware that only the presentation of the theory of a complex economic concept is not enough, that s why we realized and present in the paper a case study about how much employees know about knowledge worker, employee satisfaction and employee productivity, constructed using information gathered from people around the globe throughout a survey.

Islamic banking is an essential element in the development and establishment of Indonesia’s economy, for that it is crucial for management to have a good marketing strategy to be sustainable. Thus, this research aims to explore the route of consumer loyalty by emphasizing religiosity, intimacy, and service quality as the factors of consumer satisfaction of Indonesian Islamic banking. This study applies a structural equation model (SEM) to analyze data collected from 308 Islamic bank consumers in Indonesian Islamic communities and Islamic institutions. The empirical results show that the service quality dimensions (PAKSERV scale); tangibility, reliability, assurance, sincerity, personalization, and formality play an essential role in increasing consumer satisfaction and consumer loyalty. There is no direct relationship between consumer religiosity and consumer loyalty, whereas consumer intimacy and service quality have a direct positive impact on consumer satisfaction and consumer loyalty. Furthermore, consumer satisfaction act as fully mediating role between service quality and consumer loyalty. Practically, the findings of this study can be used by Islamic banking management to focus on modifying service quality by emphasizing the dimensions of sincerity, personalization, and formality. And stay focused on the customer relationship with the company

Innovation has invariably been a precursor to development and competitiveness, while creating (at least temporary) barriers to differentiate between its leaders and its laggards. Although Europe is ranked the second most innovative region in the world, the EU faces a significant innovation divide, that is attenuating its footprint on the global competitiveness arena and weakening its mission of enhancing the wellbeing of all Europeans. The EU’s goal of the twin (green and digital) transition brings innovation (in its broadest sense) in the spotlight, while the EU Cohesion Policy (aiming to remedy the disparities between countries and regions) heavily relies on the smart specialization strategy as main methodology for reinforcing national and regional innovation eco-systems. In this context, the objectives of the paper are: (1) to explore Romania’s innovation performance (and profile over time) within the EU and identify the strengths and weaknesses of Romania’s innovation ecosystem – based on the analysis of the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) data; (2) to examine and assess how Romania and its eight development regions address the innovation challenges through their smart specialization strategies 2021(2)-2027 – based on the content analysis of the (national and regional) S3s using QDA Miner v6.0.