Impact of universities’ partnerships on students’ sustainable entrepreneurship intentions: A comparative study

This study investigated the impact of entrepreneurial attitude, perceived desirability, and perceived feasibility on sustainable entrepreneurship intentions under the moderating impact of entrepreneurial passion among undergraduate students of Malaysia. It was a quantitative study that compared two groups of students, i.e., Group A, comprised of students who have studied entrepreneurship modules and whose programmes did not offer any dual/triple award degrees and Group B, made up of students who have studied entrepreneurship modules and whose programmes offered dual/triple award degrees. Data were collected from 542 undergraduate students of universities located in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor through survey questionnaire. WarpPLS Software version 7.0 was used to analyse the data. The findings of this study revealed that Group B students’ entrepreneurial attitude, perceived desirability, and perceived feasibility positively and significantly impacted the sustainable entrepreneurship intentions under the moderating impact of entrepreneurial passion. However, the impact of entrepreneurial attitude was found positive and significant on sustainable entrepreneurship intentions among students of Group A and entrepreneurial passion was found to be significant moderator to improve the impact of only entrepreneurial attitude and perceived desirability on sustainable entrepreneurship intentions but not for the impact of perceived feasibility on sustainable entrepreneurship intentions among these students. Moreover, the direct impacts of perceived desirability and perceived feasibility were also found non-significant on sustainable entrepreneurship intentions among Group A students. The findings reveal that universities having partnership with other overseas’ universities may offer high quality entrepreneurship modules due to which their students have high entrepreneurial passion and develop more entrepreneurial attitudes, and are more willing and capable to start their own businesses as compared to students of other local universities who have no partnership with overseas’ universities

Entrepreneurial intentions among University’s students in Malaysia

The issue of employability is rising year by year, and Malaysia is also taking it as a serious challenge. The Malaysian government has carried out various initiatives to address the issue of employability; conversely, one of them was successfully promoting the development of entrepreneurship by increasing entrepreneurial courses for instance. The intention was to increase the entrepreneurial intentions amongst university's students to create job opportunities for themselves which could lead to a boost for a developing nation's economy as well. However, the government's initiatives did not succeed as they were expected. The main reason for it ending as a flopped plan was due to failing to identify an individual's intentions. Therefore, the primary purpose of this research is to inspect the Malaysian universities student's intention of being an entrepreneur because, without intention, they might not even consider the option of initiating their own business. This research adapted and integrated the two most common models of examining the entrepreneurial intention, i.e, Theory of Planned Behaviour ('TPB') by Ajzen and Shapero and Sokol's model of an Entrepreneurial Event ('SEE'). This is a quantitative study and a total of 160 students from different Malaysian universities were surveyed using non-probability sampling techniques and by a well-established instrument with the standardized questionnaire, to examine hypothesized relationships. SPSS was used for analyzing the demographic profile and SMART-PLS was utilized for testing the developed hypotheses. The results show that attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control positively affect the perceived desirability as well as perceived feasibility. Moreover, perceived desirability and perceived feasibility are also positively associated with an entrepreneurial intention. Furthermore, perceived desirability is found as a mediator for the relationship among predictors of entrepreneurial intention but perceived feasibility fails to mediate the association of subjective norm and entrepreneurial intention. By understanding the background of university student's intentions towards entrepreneurship, the Malaysian government and organizations can better present themselves in formulating better initiatives to stimulate and encourage youth to have entrepreneurial intentions in order to initiate their own business. This study also offers some useful managerial implications using the advanced technique of IPM to enhance the H1 H2 H3 H6 H5 H4 H7 H8 performance of critical factors that contribute towards entrepreneurial intentions

HRM practices for knowledge management and retail firms’ performances: a comparative study among Malay and Chinese firms

The current study examines the impact of human resource management (HRM) practices for knowledge management (KM) on perceived business performances among Malay and Chinese firms in Malaysia. Data were collected through a face-to-face survey with 200 owners of firms, comprising 100 Malay entrepreneurs and 100 Chinese entrepreneurs, operating in the retail sector of Klang Valley, Malaysia. Data were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and Multi-Group Analysis (MGA). The results of PLSSEM revealed that HRM practices for KM have a direct and positive impact on the perceived financial performance, perceived non-financial performance, and perceived business growth of Malay and Chinese firms. However, non-significant impact of HRM practices for KM on perceived performance relative to competitors was found among Chinese firms. Results of MGA revealed significant differences between Malay and Chinese firms in relation to the impact of HRM practices for KM on perceived financial performance and perceived performance relative to competitors

Impact of green training on environmental performance through mediating role of competencies and motivation

This work aims to examine the impact of green training on green environmental performance through the mediating role of green competencies and motivation on the adoption of green human resource management. The convenience sampling technique was employed to collect data through an online survey undertaken at public and private universities in Malaysia. The analyses were conducted using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) v.25 and Smart PLS v.3 software, with the aim of testing the predefined hypotheses. It was revealed that green training has a significant impact on green environmental performance, and all six dimensions of green competencies, namely, skills, abilities, knowledge, behavior, attitude and awareness, were also green motivations. Both green competencies and motivations positively and significantly mediated the relationship between green training and environmental performance

The dark side of artificial intelligence in retail innovation

Many academic scholars argue that the goal of using artificial intelligence (hereafter, AI) in business has been to serve humans in performing their jobs. Nevertheless, some scholars refute such arguments and warn against potential threats of AI to humankind in the future. AI or machine intelligence comprises three main aspects, i.e., learning, reasoning and self-correction, which aggregate to conjure up the artificial mind. In retailing, the employment of AI is progressively becoming a major theme of innovation and retailers are rapidly increasing the use of machine intelligence to efficiently simulate human intelligence and become more competitive through cutting costs and improving customer journeys. However, such benefits can be catastrophic in the long run. As a result of this, this chapter represents an attempt to produce a synthesis of current research on the use of AI in retailing and identify the possible benefits or ramifications on the ‘human’ pillars of the retail process (i.e., the employers, employees and customers). Finally, this chapter aims to reflect on relevant literature to conclude future research and industrial implications

The impact of responsible leadership on knowledge sharing behavior through the mediating role of person−organization fit and moderating role of higher educational institute culture

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of responsible leadership on knowledge sharing behavior. Furthermore, we investigated the mediating role of person-organization fit in the relationship between responsible leadership and knowledge sharing behavior. Moreover, higher educational institute culture moderates the relationship between responsible leadership and person-organization fit. The data collected from 295 respondents (teachers, head of department and management staff) from universities located in different cities of China. The data were gathered at one time, and therefore, the study is cross-sectional. Because of COVID-19, there have been a few universities closed; therefore, data were also collected online. The data were analyzed quantitatively using the partial least squares (PLS)−structural equation modelling (SEM) technique. The result indicated that responsible leadership is positively and significantly influential on knowledge sharing behavior directly, and also indirectly through mediator person-organization fit. Also, the higher educational institute culture positively and significantly moderates the relationship between responsible leadership and person-organization fit

The impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on the education sector

The COVID-19 outbreak has prevented students from contributing towards the economic growth of Pakistan. It first disrupted the education system in China and later entered Pakistan to close all levels of educational institutions/sectors since the middle of March 2020. This study aims to highlight the COVID-19 outbreak’s effects on educational sector in Pakistan. Pakistan’s overall public sector expenditure as a percentage of GDP before the pandemic was already low as compared to regional level, but due to the pandemic, it has dropped down significantly. This study seeks to answer two important questions: (1) What are the impacts of COVID-19 outbreak on Pakistan? (2) Will the closure of educational institutions impact the economic growth of Pakistan? According to empirical and theoretical findings, the results show that the lack of school education for a long period of time will contribute towards unskilled human capital. The COVID-19 outbreak has impacted student learning activities, which may increase the dropout rates, loss of mental health, and consequently, may impact the economic growth of Pakistan later

Does governance in information technology matter when it comes to organizational performance in Pakistani public sector organizations? Mediating effect of innovation

Information technology governance (ITG) is recognized as a vital organizational ability to exploit opportunities for innovation and enhance organizational performance. However, the potential of ITG for public sector innovation and performance has not been fully grasped in Pakistani public sector organizations (PakPSOs). This study has presented an explanatory model to investigate the mediating effect of innovation in the relationship between ITG and organizational performance in PakPSOs. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM)–based hierarchical component modeling approach has applied to analyze the model by taking sample data from 97 PakPSOs. The results revealed that ITG positively affected innovation and organizational performance. Innovation positively affected organizational performance. Innovation partially mediated the relationship between ITG and organizational performance. The study corroborates the strategic use of information technology (IT) to enhance innovation and organizational performance in this context. The study contributes to the existing knowledge base through a new theoretical model and promotes academic rigor. The results are also significant for the practice as they can help to achieve organizational performance in terms of operational efficiency, transparency in costs and results, planning and decision making, performance monitoring and control, and collaboration and synergy. The other countries operating in a similar environment can also take the benefit of this study

A literature review on agility- is there a need to develop a new instrument?

The current research provides a review of the literature while contributing to the academic understanding of agility concepts and their backgrounds. The study identified 73 peer reviewed articles on a systematic review process, based on a three-phase purification process. Data reduction processes use combinations, sentence strings, and keyword updates, title, abstract, and conclusion used in the search. The papers identified focused on agility subdomains business, organizational, strategic, and operational agility. The acknowledged gaps in understanding and developing the art and sub-domains have been identified and categorized according to the conceptual, contextual, and practical areas. Apart from that, the findings show that there is a need to develop separate scales for agility sub-domains to achieve, to get better results without having their scale researcher struggle to get the desired results using a simple agility scale. The paper concludes by highlighting the implications for managers, researchers and suggests a number of future research areas

Quantitative Three-Dimensional Tissue Cytometry to Study Kidney Tissue and Resident Immune Cells

Analysis of the immune system in the kidney relies predominantly on flow cytometry. Although powerful, the process of tissue homogenization necessary for flow cytometry analysis introduces bias and results in the loss of morphologic landmarks needed to determine the spatial distribution of immune cells. An ideal approach would support three-dimensional (3D) tissue cytometry: an automated quantitation of immune cells and associated spatial parameters in 3D image volumes collected from intact kidney tissue. However, widespread application of this approach is limited by the lack of accessible software tools for digital analysis of large 3D microscopy data. Here, we describe Volumetric Tissue Exploration and Analysis (VTEA) image analysis software designed for efficient exploration and quantitative analysis of large, complex 3D microscopy datasets. In analyses of images collected from fixed kidney tissue, VTEA replicated the results of flow cytometry while providing detailed analysis of the spatial distribution of immune cells in different regions of the kidney and in relation to specific renal structures. Unbiased exploration with VTEA enabled us to discover a population of tubular epithelial cells that expresses CD11C, a marker typically expressed on dendritic cells. Finally, we show the use of VTEA for large-scale quantitation of immune cells in entire human kidney biopsies. In summary, we show that VTEA is a simple and effective tool that supports unique digital interrogation and analysis of kidney tissue from animal models or biobanked human kidney biopsies. We have made VTEA freely available to interested investigators via electronic download