Religiosity and entrepreneurship: A systematic review and future research lines

The literature on religiosity and entrepreneurship is fragmented, and yet, this concept hardly discussed by scholars in terms of integrating the available studies. The purpose of this study is to provide systematic review of contributions related to religiosity and entrepreneurship, and propose future research lines. The synthesis of literature evaluates research studies that are covered in the Web of Science index. This study provides grey areas that need to explore further by connecting dots between religiosity and entrepreneurship using theoretical integration, methodological and empirical investigation. A new research avenue arises for both empirical and conceptual by highlighting religiosity as a driving force for entrepreneurial activity. Future research lines can examine the effectiveness of different type of temporal collaboration approach under shed of religiosity principals in an entrepreneurial ecosystem. In addition, this review provides opportunity to scholars, academicians and practitioners a better understanding of the religiosity value and link with entrepreneurship

Food and beverage industry competitiveness and halal logistics: perspective from small and medium enterprises in Malaysia

Purpose: This paper investigates the competitiveness of the food and beverages (F&B) industry in Malaysia and examines the Small and Medium Enterprises' (SMEs) demand and key perceptions towards challenges in halal logistics. Methodology: This paper adopted SWOT analysis to understand the internal (strengths, weaknesses) and external (opportunities and threats) competitiveness of the industry. Interview sessions were conducted with 10 SMEs’ owners in the food industry from December 2020 until February 2021. Findings: The SWOT analysis identified several strengths (e.g. workforce diversity, well-established equipment, and facilities), weaknesses (e.g. a limited number of skilled workforce, lack of industrial collaboration, lack of distribution channel), opportunities (e.g. increasing food demand, advanced technology, supportive government initiatives, favorable business environment) and threats (e.g. high cost, new and changing regulation). The SMEs’ perception towards key challenges in halal logistics was also identified. Research limitations/implications: This paper provides an understanding of the competitiveness of the F&B industry, sheds light on the key challenges faced by SME owners in halal logistics, and offers strategies to solve the issues. This study, however, is limited to Malaysia’s experience. Practical implications: This paper will contribute to future studies in the similar field and offers a guide for Halal logistics players, including practitioners and policymakers, to understand their business environment better. The identification of SMEs’ SWOT will be helpful for the businesses to move forward. Originality: The value of this paper lies in the knowledge of SMEs, especially in the F&B industry

An Exploration of the Relationship Between Technostress, Employee Engagement and Job Design from the Nigerian Banking Employee’s Perspective

The introduction of technology in the banking sector has induced benefits to this sector. ICTs has facilitated the delivery of efficient and reliable banking services. Despite all the benefits associated with the use of technology, organizational researchers have argued that technology is a double-edged sword because its ability to induce stress in its users, this kind of anxiety is technostress, a strain that is caused by the lack of knowledge of individuals to cope and adapt to the use of technologies.  The increasing use of technologies has resulted in work-family conflict, role-overload, work-overload, and multi-tasking. Additionally, technologies have resulted in consistent task reengineering, which has created knowledge gaps for employees. Past studies on technostress have demonstrated that can affect employees, performances, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction. However, the association of technostress with employee engagement and job design has not been established. Hence, the objective of this current study is to explore the association of job design with technostress and employee and the impact of technostress on employee engagement. Using a purposive sampling method, a total of 319 Participants were recruited from front desk employees of the Nigerian commercial banks and data has been analyzed using smart PLS. The findings of the study show a significant positive relationship between job design and technostress and positive relationship between technostress and employee engagement contrary to the negative relationship proposed based on the stress and engagement literature is an indication that job design alone may not reduce the impact of technostress if other organizational-stressors are not addressed. While technostress does not reduce employee engagement instead a moderate level of stress can serve as a motivator, but extreme stress can have a damaging impact on employees and the organization. Equally, the study also found a positive association between job design and employee engagement, while technostress has a mediating effect on job design and employee engagement

Understanding Research Paradigms: A Scientific Guide

Knowledge of research paradigms is crucial as they guide scientific research and discoveries through their assumptions and principles. Besides, different disciplines utilize different research approaches. There are four different research paradigms available - positivism, realism, critical theory, and interpretivism. Knowledge of the various research paradigms will reduce research method bias and allow for better research instruments. This paper aims to highlight to budding researchers the research paradigms available and their employment in scientific research

A conceptual model of social entrepreneurial intention

The emerging concept of social entrepreneurship (SE) has attracted the attention of researchers in the last few years. Social entrepreneurs are motivated to tackle social problems via business technics, the problems that neither the government nor the non-profit sector could solve to date. In fact, they are considered important actors of the economic system and change-makers in the world. Hence, it is very timely to investigate factors that determine the intention of individuals to be a social entrepreneur. Drawing from the theory of social entrepreneurial behaviour this paper aims to formulate a new conceptual model by reviewing the literature and identifying existing gaps. We suggest that first; the intention of social entrepreneurs are influenced by empathy, proactively and religiosity as the proxy to attitude, and then, by social entrepreneurial self-efficacy and subjective norms. Additionally, the relationship between empathy and social entrepreneurial intention (SEI) is moderated by gender. The proposed conceptual model contributes to the body of knowledge by extending theory and new relationships

Do Islamic values impact social entrepreneurial intention of university students in Malaysia? An empirical investigation into the mediating role of empathy

Social entrepreneurship is considered a powerful means that provides sustainable solutions to existing problems, especially in developing societies. Since intention significantly affects the individuals' involvement in social entrepreneurship, it is extremely important to support the intention of the young generation to move toward social entrepreneurial activities. To achieve this goal, the determinants of social entrepreneurial intention (SEI) need to be recognized and well understood. Literature suggests that Islamic values influence decision-making processes and individuals' intention to become a social entrepreneur. However, little research has been undertaken to understand social entrepreneurship from an Islamic perspective and the mechanism through which values impact social entrepreneurial intention. Using the theory of planned behavior, this study aims to examine the interrelationship between Islamic values, empathy, and SEI. The researchers employed structural equation modeling-partial least square technique to analyze the data. Based on a sample of 202 Muslim students selected from public and private universities in Malaysia, we found that empathy mediates the relationship between Islamic values and SEI. More specifically, Islamic religious values only affect SEI indirectly through empathy. Additionally, empathy positively affects individuals' intention to establish a social venture. Bringing religion into play sheds light on the antecedents of SEI

Validating new product creativity in the eastern context of Malaysia

This paper examines the etic vs. emic nature of the new product creativity (NPC) construct often used in the strategic marketing and management literatures. The current study compares the NPC measure developed by Im and Workman (2004) in the West in an Eastern context by utilizing data from 172 Malaysian companies. The results show that NPC, which is the combination of new product (NP) novelty and NP meaningfulness, has a different connotation in Malaysia. The findings demonstrate that from the novelty perspective NPC is an emic phenomenon. After the construct validation process, the Western claim that NPC is a seed of firm performance is tested. The results verify NPC's relationship with NP performance as a source of competitive advantage for Malaysian firms and thus suggest that this relationship is etic in nature. These findings have significant implications for firms' global innovation strategies

The relationship between technostress creators and counterproductive work behavior: A cross-sectional study of Nigerian banks

The use of technologies by organizations has brought about increased multitasking, increased workload, work-family conflict, and has created a knowledge gap. Organizational researchers have argued that the use of technologies can result in technostress. Previous research on technostress has shown that technostress affects job satisfaction, productivity, performance, and commitment. However, the relationship between technostress and counterproductive work behavior (CWB) has been neglected. Hence, the main objective of the current study is to explore the relationship between technostress and CWB. This cross-sectional study was conducted using a purposive sampling method with a sample of 227 employees working in Nigerian commercial banks. Additionally, multidimensional analysis technostress creators and CWB were made to ascertain which of the technostress creating conditions has a stronger effect on CWB. The findings of the current study show a significant positive relationship between unidimensional measurement technostress creators and CWB. The results show a significant positive relationship between techno-overload and CWB, a weak significant positive relationship between techno-invasion and CWB. There is no significant relationship between techno-complexity and CWB. This study provides new insight into the research of technostress by introducing counterproductive work behavior (CWB) as a behavioral outcome of technostress. Future study may explore other behavioral effects of technostress