Collective Action in Institutional Entrepreneurship: The Case of a Government Agency

This paper seeks to analyze how and why divergent institutional changes occurred in a government agency. While there is evidence of research on the concept of collective action and involvement in the literature on institutional entrepreneurship, the focus has been at the macro and field levels, with scarce attention being given to the topic at the micro and organizational levels. This study addresses this gap in the literature, drawing on the institutional entrepreneurship process model of Battilana, Leca, and Boxenbaum (The Academy of Management Annals), in combination with literature on collective action. The methodology involved a longitudinal case study, in which data were collected through extensive interviews and documentation analysis. Based on findings showing that the divergence change process could not be achieved without the support of organizational collective involvement, a refined version of the Battilana et al. entrepreneurial model is proposed. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-02-017 Full Text: PD

An Empirical Analysis of Fintech's Impacts on the Financial Performance of Banks in Kosovo

This analysis aims to empirically investigate the impact of different forms of Fintech on the financial performance of banks in Kosovo from 2010 to 2021. The research is based on secondary data, accounting for 48 observations at quarterly frequencies. The model treats bank performance (i.e., net profits of the bank sector) as an endogenous variable of ATMs, POS, and e-payments. The methodology applied in the research is based on the OLS technique and diagnostic tests for evaluating the normality of distribution, multicollinearity, autocorrelation, specification error, and heteroscedasticity. Results show that the variability of ATMs and e-payments determines bank performance variability. In particular, e-payments show a significant positive impact on bank profitability, whereas ATM payments display a negative impact on bank profitability. In addition, an increase in ATM payments by 1% decreases bank profitability by 0.367%. While an increase in e-payments by 1% increases bank profitability by 0.11%. The POS payments were found to have no significant relationship with bank profitability. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-03-016 Full Text: PD

Effect of a Classroom-based Intervention on the Social Skills of Students with Learning Difficulties

Children with learning difficulties often face challenges in social skills, hindering their ability to adjust and interact within society. The present study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a training program designed to enhance the social skills of individuals with disabilities. The quasi-experimental study involved 20 primary school students with learning difficulties exhibiting deficits in social skills in the United Arab Emirates. To evaluate the level of social skills of the sample children, a social skills assessment scale was employed, which was developed by the researchers. The assessment scale consisted of 24 statements that were organized into three dimensions based on previous research and theoretical frameworks. The results of the present study showed that the training program significantly and positively impacted the social skills of these children. There were statistically significant disparities between the mean ranks of the experimental group and the control group's scores on the social skills assessment scale after program completion. In conclusion, the study recommends integrating the developed training and similar programs into the public and private education curricula, including both government and private schools, to improve the social communication abilities of children with learning difficulties. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-SIED2-011 Full Text: PD

The Impact of CSR on Brand Identification, Word of Mouth and Consumer’s Repurchase Intention in the Retailer Industry

This study explored and measured the influence of corporation social responsibility (CSR) on consumers' re-purchase intentions through the mediators of brand identification and word of mouth (WOM). The quantitative method was applied in the research, and there were 287 valid respondents who had purchased something from the retailer store brands. The collected data was checked for reliability, convergence, and discriminant validity among the constructs before testing the hypothesis and the theoretical research model. In particular, the Cronbach alpha reliability, exploring factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation model (SEM) were used to analyze the research data under the support of SPSS and AMOS software. The results indicate that CSR has significant effects on brand identification, WOM, and consumers' re-purchase intentions. Brand identification has a positive impact on consumers' repurchase intentions, whereas WOM has not. The findings have significant contributions to the marketing theory and provide management implications for managers, especially in retail store brands. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-06-021 Full Text: PD

Global Metabolic Changes by Bacillus Cyclic Lipopeptide Extracts on Stress Responses of Para Rubber Leaf

Changing environmental conditions can generate abiotic stress, such as the scarcity of water and exposure to chemicals. This includes biotic stress like Phytophthora palmivora infection, which causes leaf fall disease and inhibits the growth rate of para rubber seedlings, resulting in economic loss. To prevent abiotic and biotic stresses, biocontrol agents such as cyclic lipopeptides (CLPs) from Bacillus spp. have been introduced to reduce the use of chemically synthesized fungicides and fertilizers. This study aimed to use Bacillus CLP extracts as a biological agent to stimulate the plant growth system in para rubber seedlings under stress conditions compared with the exogenous plant hormone (salicylic acid, SA). CLP extracts obtained from B. subtilis PTKU12 and exogenous SA were applied to the leaves of para rubber seedlings. The extracted metabolites from each treatment were analyzed by untargeted metabolomics for metabolite identification and metabolic networks under stress responses. In both treatments, 1,702 and 979 metabolites were detected in the positive and negative ion modes of electrospray ionization, respectively. The differential analysis revealed that the accumulation of up-regulated metabolites in the treatment of CLP extracts was higher than in the exogenous SA treatment, belonging to 56 metabolic pathways. The analysis of metabolic pathways indicated that CLP extracts employed alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolisms for stress responses leading to plant growth promotion. These findings revealed that the metabolic network for plant growth promotion induced by BacillusCLP extracts could be considered a protective option for para rubber plantations. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-03-022 Full Text: PD

University Students’ Rejection to Learning Statistics: Research from a Latin American Standpoint

Introduction: Negative beliefs, fear, avoidance behaviors, and superficial attitudes surrounding the learning of statistics create significant problems for university students in Latin America. Objective: To analyze the impact of fearful behavior, superficial work, and avoidance displayed by university students when it comes to statistics. Method: In this article, we give details about a quantitative research project carried out by two independent studies. The first (N = 310) focused on the development of a scale to assess negative beliefs, fears, and avoidance behaviors towards statistics, in which goodness of fit was determined in a 3-factor model. In the second study (N = 250), it was hypothesized that undergraduates perform superficially due to negative beliefs and avoidance behaviors when learning statistics. Findings: The proposed model explained 42% of the variance. In addition, in the analysis of the proposed mediation model, an adequate adjustment was found. In the discussion of this research project, the need to intervene in the negative beliefs, fears, and avoidance behaviors displayed by university students towards statistics is highlighted. Novelty:This research project explains why college students dislike or avoid learning statistics in depth. The findings will allow for a modification in the way statistics is taught so that Latin American professionals achieve better performance in this field. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-SIED2-07 Full Text: PD

Modeling Plasmonics and Electronics in Semiconducting Graphene Nanostrips

In recent decades, both academia and industry have shown noteworthy interest in investigating the semiconducting properties of graphene. Nevertheless, the lack of a suitable bandgap in graphene has restricted its practical applications in the current semiconductor industry. To overcome this limitation, graphene micro/nano-strips have been actively explored. The focus of the present study centers on modeling the electronic and plasmonic characteristics of graphene strips with varying widths: 2.7, 100, 135 nm, and 4 m. This analysis is conducted at ultralow energies (0.3 eV, or ~73 THz). We employ conventional density functional computations to estimate the Fermi velocity of graphene, refining the results via the GW approximation. Utilizing the accurate Fermi velocity, we employ a semi-analytical model to explore the ground state and plasmon properties (frequency and dispersion) of these graphene strips. Notably, this approach effectively replicates the density of states observed in narrow experimental graphene nano-strips (2.7 nm) grown on Ge(001) and, similarly, reproduces the plasmon spectrum found in synthesized graphene microstrips (4 μm) on Si/SiO2. Interestingly, our study also offers insights into the potential application of this approach in comprehending the plasmon frequency and plasmon dispersion of graphene nano-strips (~135 nm) acquired through liquid-phase exfoliation. The outcomes of this investigation present compelling evidence that the properties of graphene-based strips can be customized to fulfill specific requirements and applications. These findings hold significant promise for advancing graphene-based technologies, bridging the gap between fundamental research and tangible applications. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-05-01 Full Text: PD

Coronavirus Disease Incidence Resonance with Coastline Dynamics: An Evaluation on Global Resurgence of the Pandemic

Introduction: Many studies were done earlier to understand the role of climatic, environmental, and sociodemographic factors in the transmission, spread, and viability of SARS-CoV-2. Objectives: While there are principal climatic factors that influence the transmission and spread, specific factors such as latitude and water body mass are not critically examined. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the role of latitude and heat flux from water body mass in coastal environs on the resurgence and incidence of COVID. Methodology: A study was conducted examining the cases reported per million population, latitude degrees, and coastline length in two criteria groups (n = 120 and 10) spanning five geographic continental regions. The collected data were statistically analyzed to validate the three prepositions of the study. Findings: The cases reported per million population were least in countries lying below 25˚-degree latitude, and countries in this range have the mean highest coastline length. Our analysis in the n = 120 group reveals a moderate relationship among rises in cases with latitude degrees (r = 0.425, p < 0.01, n =120) but is associated negatively with coastline length. From the top countries having the longest coastline length, the association among the variables reveals a weak relationship exists between cases and latitude (r = 0.356, p = 0.312, n = 10), while no correlation is observed with coastline length. Novelty:A rise in the incidence rate and the global resurgence of cases can be explained by previous researchers considering climatic variables and socio-demographic factors. However, other parameters, such as the latent heat of evaporation from water body mass in coastal zones in different latitudinal countries, on the incidence and resurgence patterns are examined in this study. Observations indicate that the disease incidence trend is not similar across all countries and that no single factor fully influences the rise in cases. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-05-024 Full Text: PD

E-Learning Adoption: Designing a Network-Based Educational and Methodological Course on "Humans and Their Health"

This study aims to explore the factors influencing the adoption of e-learning platforms in biology education and examine the impact of online learning on students’ performance. This study investigates the relationships between perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude toward e-learning, flexibility, content quality, and students’ behavioral intention to adopt e-learning activities. A mixed-methods approach was employed consisting of two phases: a questionnaire survey with structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze data and an experiment with an independent sample t-test to assess the impact of online learning on student performance. Findings disclosed that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude toward e-learning, flexibility, and content quality positively impacted students’ behavioral intention to adopt e-learning and their performance. This study contributes to the theoretical understanding of the factors influencing e-learning adoption in biology education. Practical recommendations are provided for educators, instructional designers, and policymakers to facilitate the implementation of e-learning platforms in biology education. These recommendations include promoting the perceived usefulness and ease of use of e-learning platforms, fostering a positive attitude toward e-learning, enhancing flexibility, ensuring high-quality content, providing training and support for educators, and considering the needs of students with disabilities. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-06-014 Full Text: PD

Exploring Personality Traits in Elite Sport Players and Associate with a Good Project Managers

The paper deals with the issue of personality in the context of the professions of an elite tennis player and a project manager. The objective of the conducted research is to find a set of personality characteristics typical for tennis and project management and to find out which personality characteristics of the analyzed professions are similar, or different. To confirm the hypothesis H: "The personality characteristics of an elite tennis player correspond to the demands of his profession, just as the personality characteristics of a project manager correspond to the demands of his profession, and there is demonstrably a correlation in the personality characteristics of elite tennis players and project managers, which corresponds to a correlation in the demands of these two professions," we will use the Cattell's 16 Personality Factor Test, the Spearman correlation analysis, the evaluation of the relevant test indicators difference in statistical significance using the Student t-test, and the comparative analysis. A comparison of the demands of the analyzed professions on a person and a comparison of the personality characteristics of the elite tennis players and the project managers results in the conclusion that the personalities of an elite tennis player and a project manager are somewhat similar, as well as a striking difference between them in the emotional area. The hypothesis was confirmed. An elite tennis player can be a good project manager. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-04-019 Full Text: PD