Digital financial inclusion and fiscal solvency in Uganda’s local governments: A review of regulation mediation

Fiscal solvency has become a popular phenomenon in numerous decentralizing countries in recent years. The ability to mobilize adequate revenue to fund expenditure in a given budget period, and provide public goods and services, makes fiscal solvency very pertinent, especially in local government. However, policy, practice, and research, claim that most local entities, both in the developed and developing world, rarely achieve required fiscal solvency standards. While no clear explanation of the problem abounds, digital financial inclusion dominates the ongoing debate. Besides, regulation is also considered a very crucial factor for fiscal solvency. This study examines the probable mediation effect regulation has on the digital financial inclusion-fiscal solvency relationship in local governments in Uganda, East Africa. Based on a cross-sectional research design, data were collected from 21 districts, nine municipalities, and many sub-counties in the country’s post-conflict northern regions. The data were then subjected to structural equation modeling analysis. Its findings reveal that digital financial inclusion explains changes in fiscal solvency in surveyed local governments. Moreover, regulation has an indirect influence on the digital financial inclusion-fiscal solvency formation. Findings implications to practice and theory are discussed, and future research direction is provide

The relationship between communication, customer knowledge and customer loyalty in Saudi Arabia insurance industry companies

The main target of this article is to examine the relationship between communications, customer knowledge and customer loyalty in insurance companies in Saudi Arabia.This study adopted Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLSSEM) to test the association between communication, customer knowledge and customer loyalty.The sample comprised of 399 from insurance companies in Saudi Arabia and data was obtained from questionnaires distributed to the sample. Moreover, the questionnaire was adopted from many authors as explained in methodology section.This article found a positive and significant relationship between communication and customer loyalty.In the same path, this study found that customer knowledge has a positive and significant effect on customer loyalty.Moreover, this study has significant contributions in the theoretical, practical and policy market that may be integrated together in order to improve customer loyalty. Finally, the limitation and future recommendations were provided at the end of this study

An Integrated Model of Media Satisfaction and Engagement: Theory, Empirical Assessment and Managerial Implications

Media satisfaction theorists suggest that satisfaction with media vehicles is linked to audience loyalty, greater vehicle usage, and other media related behaviors. More recently, similar claims are made by media engagement theorists regarding levels of newspaper readership and receptivity to advertising messages. The dilemma for media managers charged with making decisions about how best to manage and strengthen customer relationships through the delivery of high quality business operations is which model to choose. To date no study has examined the relative effects of customer satisfaction and engagement resulting from business operations onto the future intentions of media audiences. This study presents a comprehensive model that blends both approaches for a newspaper vehicle. The results indicate that media satisfaction and engagement play complementary roles in predicting the future intentions of media audiences, and media managers need to consider both as they evaluate how their business operations impact customer relationships

Supply Chain Simulation:A Survey

This paper provides a survey of simulation in supply chain management.It reviews four types of simulation, namely spreadsheet simulation, system dynamics, discreteevent simulation, and business games.Which simulation type should be applied, depends on the type of managerial question to be answered by the model.Moreover, this paper summarizes novel sensitivity and robustness analyses.This sensitivity analysis yields a shortlist of the truly important factors in large simulation models with (say) a hundred factors.The robustness analysis optimises the important factors controllable by management, while accounting for the noise created by the important non-controllable, environmental factors.Both analyses are illustrated by a case study involving the simulation of a supply chain in the mobile communications industry in Sweden.In general, simulation is important because it may support the quantification of the benefits resulting from supply chain management.

Supply Chain Integration and Supply Chain Performance: The Mediating Role of Supply Chain Resilience

The objective of this study is to examine the influence of supply chain integration (SCI) on supply chain resilience (SCRES) on supply chain performance (SCP) dimensions of large – scale manufacturing firms in Pakistan. It also examines the indirect effects of all the SCI dimensions on all the SCP dimensions through the SCRES. A quantitative approach using questionnaire survey was employed to examine the hypotheses and theoretical framework. Data were collected from 182 manufacturing firms in Pakistan and the SMART PLS version 3.2.7 was used for data analysis. The results showed that the SCI contributed significantly to the SCRES while the SCRES impacted on the SCP substantially. However, the association between the SCI and the SCP was not linear; it was determined by the level of the SCRES. This study fills the research gap by integrating the SCRES as a mediator between the SCI and the SCP

Investigating the influence of performance measurement on learning, entrepreneurial orientation and performance in turbulent markets

Purpose: This study aims to examine how comprehensive performance measurement systems (CPMS) influence entrepreneurial orientation, market-focussed learning (MFL) and employees’ perceptions of firm performance within a service-provision context. It also considers the moderating effect of low and high levels of perceived market-turbulence (low-turbulence environments [LMT] vs highly turbulent environments [HMT]) on the relationships between these concepts.Design/methodology/approach: PLS-SEM was used to test the hypothesised relationships using survey responses from 198 employees of a leading multi-branch travel agency in Iran.Findings: The findings demonstrate that CPMS positively influence MFL and, in doing so, have a positive effect on perceptions of firm performance. However, the findings also suggest that CPMS negatively influence entrepreneurial orientation, and therefore can also negatively influence perceptions of firm performance. Further, the relationships between CPMS, entrepreneurial orientation, MFL and firm performance are stronger for HMT when compared to LMT for all relationships.Practical implications: Industry managers should adapt their CPMS to include measures specific to intra-organisational entrepreneurship and innovation and should pursue greater understanding of changing customer preferences.Originality/value: This study highlights the importance of MFL as a means of avoiding the negative impact of underdeveloped market research on performance in the turbulent Iranian context. Contrary to previous literature, it provides an example of how CPMS can negatively influence entrepreneurial orientation in such environments.</p

The mediating effect of internal integration on the relationship between supply chain integration and operational performance: Evidence from Moroccan manufacturing companies

Purpose: This paper aims to explain the direct effect of supply chain integration on operational performance of manufacturing companies and the mediating effect of internal integration on the relationship between external integration and operational performance. Design/methodology/approach: From an organizational capabilities perspective we consider internal integration as a set of intra-organizational capabilities and customer integration and supplier integration as a set of inter-organizational capabilities. In the basis of a sample of 75 Moroccan manufacturing companies, we used PLS – Structural Equation Modeling to study the direct effect of customer integration, internal integration and supplier integration on operational performance of manufacturers and to analyze the mediating effect of internal integration. Findings: The results show that customer integration, internal integration and supplier integration are all positively and significantly related to operational performance of the manufacturer and internal integration mediates relationship between costumer integration and operational performance but not relationship between supplier integration and operational performance. Research limitations/implications: This study focuses on a set of best practices for integrating flows and business processes that industrial companies need to implement in order to create value for final consumer and show how to use internal integration practices to benefit more from external integration. Originality/value: The result of this study extends the developing body of literature on supply chain integration by analyzing the effect of interaction between internal and external integration on the operational performance towards an organizational capabilities perspective in a specific Moroccan industrial context.Peer Reviewe

The Impact of Automotive After-Sales Service Quality and Alternative Attractiveness on Customer Loyalty

This study intends to explore the impact of an industry-specific dimension of service quality in automotive after-sales service and how it influences the level of customer loyalty towards Malaysian national carmakers. Each service industry carries different characteristics of consumer behavior and thus, an industry-specific measure of service quality to capture the uniqueness of different service setting is required. In relation to that, this study has evaluated service quality in automotive after-sales service as a second-order construct which allows for identification of the relative importance of each dimension in influencing the level of customer loyalty. Aside from that, the fierce competition from the non-national brands in Malaysian automotive market and the attractive offers made by the alternative workshops for car service maintenance and repair have motivated this study to empirically examines the competition factor of alternative attractiveness and its influences on customer loyalty. The data collected through the technique of intercept survey in systematic sampling from 312 respondents were analyzed using PLS-SEM. The findings revealed that customer service was the most important dimension of service quality that contributes to the positive relationship with customer loyalty. Meanwhile, support service was found as the impotent element of service quality dimension, however, the positive significant relationship of service quality with customer loyalty showed that support service is still important to capture a higher level of customer loyalty. Aside from that, the finding also showed that the competition variable of alternative attractiveness was not a significant contributor to influence the level of customer loyalty. Further, this study benefited the Malaysian national carmakers as it provides empirical evidence on the relative importance of service quality dimension. The role of competitors also revealed to help in strategic decision-making in which may allow the national carmakers to sustain as a market leader in the local automotive arena