Employee Well-Being During COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Adaptability, Work-Family Conflict, and Organizational Response

Well-being has always been a topic of interest for individuals, organizations, and policy-makers. COVID-19 pandemic made it tremendously relevant as employees were forced to work from home due to the successive lockdowns that governments have implemented to curb the spread of the virus. This crisis has raised concerns about employees’ well-being due to the implementation of these tight measures. In the present study, we examined the direct and indirect effects of employees’ adaptability, work-family conflict, and organizational response on employees’ well-being through the mediating role of perceived stress. Data have been collected from 184 employees working in various organizations in Malaysia and analyzed using Smart-PLS Structural Equation Modeling with the bootstrapping procedure. The results indicated that organizational response, work-family conflict, and adaptability directly affect perceived stress and well-being, except for organizational response, which has no direct effect on well-being. Furthermore, it was found that perceived stress mediates the relationship of organizational response and work-family conflict with well-being but not adaptability

Attitude of youth towards self-employment: Evidence from university students in Yemen

Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files: Self-employment intention questionnaire (available at: https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Self-employment_intention_questionnaire_/16612528); Data used in the study (available at Data used in the study).Copyright: © 2021 Al-Qadasi et al.. This study assesses whether final-year undergraduate students at Sana’a University, Yemen intend to start their own business. The study employs the theory of planned behaviour and two environmental factors to explore whether the theory’s behavioural factors and the contextual factors of Lüthje & Franke’s model have an impact on students’ intentions to start their own business. A questionnaire survey with a random sample of 335 final-year university students from the largest public university in Yemen has been conducted. Data has been analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation and structural equation modelling. The findings indicate that students’ perceptions of entrepreneurship have a strong, direct impact on self-employment intention, excluding social norms and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Students’ self-employment intention is directly affected by perceived barriers and support factors in the entrepreneurship-related context. To increase their entrepreneurial abilities, university students require more training and education to be able to start new businesses. Developing entrepreneurial skills among citizens may improve the societal norms of business. The outcomes provide significant implications for policymakers, academic communities and international bodies.Jilin Universit

Employee Well-Being During COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Adaptability, Work-Family Conflict, and Organizational Response

Ethical Approval: As a voluntary survey, there were no ethical issues associated with this survey. The responses were fully anonymous.Copyright © The Author(s) 2022. Well-being has always been a topic of interest for individuals, organizations, and policy-makers. COVID-19 pandemic made it tremendously relevant as employees were forced to work from home due to the successive lockdowns that governments have implemented to curb the spread of the virus. This crisis has raised concerns about employees’ well-being due to the implementation of these tight measures. In the present study, we examined the direct and indirect effects of employees’ adaptability, work-family conflict, and organizational response on employees’ well-being through the mediating role of perceived stress. Data have been collected from 184 employees working in various organizations in Malaysia and analyzed using Smart-PLS Structural Equation Modeling with the bootstrapping procedure. The results indicated that organizational response, work-family conflict, and adaptability directly affect perceived stress and well-being, except for organizational response, which has no direct effect on well-being. Furthermore, it was found that perceived stress mediates the relationship of organizational response and work-family conflict with well-being but not adaptability.The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article

The Prospect of Waqf in Financing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Yemen

The role of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in economic development has been duly recognised. However, SMEs encounter a number of challenges. The most pressing obstacle SMEs face is the lack of finance. Therefore, it is extremely important to find new and suitable finance sources in order to support SMEs either in their establishment or growth phases. Waqf is regarded one of the best sources of finance in the Islamic financial system. There is much potential in its use to finance SMEs financing. The present study explored the prospect of Waqf as an Islamic financial instrument to finance SMEs. It further examined a proposed modified Waqf model and whether it was applicable in Yemen. The study has adopted a qualitative method in the form of semi-structured interviews with 6 experts from Waqf institutions and from SMEs developmental institutions. The experts interviewed are mainly SMEs owners, Waqf directors and beneficiaries specialized in the areas of Waqf and SMEs. The findings of the study indicate that Waqf appeared to be one of the most important instruments in financing such economic activities as it can play a crucial role in financing SMEs. Further, the study significantly contributed by suggesting a new method that will help in financing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Yemen. Thus, providing a finance for these firms will help to create more jobs for the low income, which in turn helps in the economic development

How to Build a Returnee Entrepreneurship Technology Capacity in Developing Countries Using A Learning Economy Approach? Replicating the Chinese Experience in Malaysia

Purpose: In the current globalised economy, the brain-drain phenomenon is increasingly perceived as brain circulation. Returnee Entrepreneurs (REs) are vital players in this shift. REs are defined as people who return to their country of origin and start new businesses after settling overseas for some time as workers, students, or trainees. While REs have proven effective in assuming key roles in technology transfer and sustainable in some developing economies in the last two decades or so. This has been widely seen in China and some other Eastern countries, but is yet to find its way to other countries, particularly those enjoying global diaspora. In Malaysia -focused in this study-, despite the institutional efforts meant to attract both national and foreign talents, little research, if any, has dealt with issues related to returnee entrepreneurs in general and those in the technology sectors in specific. Theoretical framework: The study builds on the learning economy theory and proposes a relevant approach that is likely to boost the development of technology returnee entrepreneurship in the country. Method: Using a narrative review, the paper presents the Chinese model of developing returnee entrepreneurship and shows how its well-adjusted replication could benefit Malaysia as well as other developing countries to initiate, implement, and monitor an impactful returnee entrepreneurship in the technology sector. Result and conclusion: Malaysia’s strategies designed to attract technology returnee entrepreneurs must consider three principal components: infrastructure, training, and support, with primary emphasis on the establishment of advanced science and technology parks with university-industry linkages, university-overseas-student ties, conducive institutional framework, financial support, and updated understanding of return motives and conditions.RESUMO: Objetivo: Na economia globalizada atual, o fenômeno da fuga de cérebros é cada vez mais percebido como circulação de cérebros. Os Empreendedores Retornados (REs) são atores vitais nessa mudança. REs são definidas como pessoas que retornam ao seu país de origem e iniciam novos negócios depois de se estabelecerem no exterior por algum tempo como trabalhadores, estudantes ou estagiários. Embora as energias renováveis tenham provado ser eficazes na assunção de papéis fundamentais na transferência de tecnologia e sustentáveis em algumas economias em desenvolvimento nas últimas duas décadas, aproximadamente. Isso tem sido visto amplamente na China e em alguns outros países do Leste, mas ainda não foi encontrado para outros países, particularmente aqueles que desfrutam da diáspora global. Na Malásia - focada neste estudo -, apesar dos esforços institucionais destinados a atrair talentos nacionais e estrangeiros, pouca pesquisa, se houver, tem lidado com questões relacionadas a empresários retornados em geral e aqueles nos setores de tecnologia em particular. Estrutura teórica: O estudo se baseia na teoria da economia do aprendizado e propõe uma abordagem relevante que é susceptível de impulsionar o desenvolvimento do empreendedorismo de pessoas que retornaram à tecnologia no país. Método: Usando uma revisão narrativa, o artigo apresenta o modelo chinês de desenvolvimento de empreendedorismo para repatriados e mostra como sua replicação bem ajustada poderia beneficiar a Malásia bem como outros países em desenvolvimento para iniciar, implementar e monitorar um empreendedorismo voltado e impactante no setor de tecnologia. Resultado e conclusão: as estratégias da Malásia destinadas a atrair empreendedores repatriados de tecnologia devem considerar três componentes principais: infraestrutura, capacitação e apoio, com ênfase primária no estabelecimento de parques avançados de ciência e tecnologia com vínculos universidade-indústria, vínculos universidade-estrangeiros-estudantes, quadro institucional propício, apoio financeiro e compreensão atualizada dos motivos e condições de retorno

Entrepreneurial intention among University students in Malaysia: integrating self-determination theory and the theory of planned behavior

The present study endeavors to develop a deeper understanding of the motivational processes involved in intentional entrepreneurial behavior. For this purpose, it integrates the social cognitive approach of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the organismic theory of motivation of self-determination theory (SDT). More specifically, it tests the role of basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness as defined in SDT in shaping university students’ attitudes and intentions toward entrepreneurship. The sample of this study consisted of 438 (Males = 166, Females =272) 3rd and4th year university students from four Malaysian Public Universities. The results of the study show that the model strongly explains about 71% of the variance in entrepreneurial intention. Basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness have a strong indirect impact on entrepreneurial intention via their attitudinal antecedents: attitude,subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. This indicates a full-mediational model,where the attitudinal factors operated as transmitters of effects from the distal constructs ofSDT on entrepreneurial intention. These findings confirm that both SDT and the TPB provide complementary explanations of the motivational processes of entrepreneurial behavior. The study contributes to the existing knowledge by providing a theory-based understanding of the role of motivations in the formation of entrepreneurial intentions. It opens the way for future research to analyze how alternative motivations may affect new venture creation, survival and success