Journal of Excellence in Management Sciences

The Role of Access to Finance, Learning Orientation, and Innovation on the Small and Medium Enterprises Performance: Moderating Effect of Business Risk

2024-09-18T10:39:45+00:00

The study aims to identify the role of Access to Finance, Learning Orientation, and Innovation on the performance of SMEs. The moderating effect of business risk also examined the relationship of Access to finance, learning orientation, innovation, and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). For this purpose, Data is collected from 300 SMEs in the textile sector operating in Faisalabad, Pakistan. Primarily, the data is analyzed to check the normality and multicollinearity, and then Structure Equation Modeling (SEM) is developed in the Smart PLS-3. The significant contribution of the present research study is to identify the moderating effect of business risk on the relationship between Access to finance, learning orientation, innovation, and SMEs performance. The findings revealed that Access to finance, learning orientation, and innovation have a positive and significant impact on the performance of SMEs. Moreover, results also show the contribution of business risk, which moderates the relationship between Access to finance, innovation, and SMEs performance. However, business risk does not affect the relationship between learning orientation and SMEs performance. The practitioner and policy maker would be the beneficiary of the study while making policy and strategic decisions of the SMEs.

Ethical Considerations and Challenges in the Integration of Artificial Intelligence in Education: A Systematic Review

2024-08-01T10:20:51+00:00

This systematic review examines those challenges in light of data privacy, algorithmic bias, ethical implications, technological hurdles, and acceptance of AI by educators and students. First, data privacy should be a primary concern, as AI systems require extensive data, bringing up the potential for breach and misuse. Secondly, there must be a robust mechanism concerning data protection and against the application of GDPR. Another critical point is algorithm bias: biased training data sets may lead to discriminative decisions that will increase inequalities in education. It talks about AI's impact on teachers and classroom dynamics because the takeover of responsibilities may lower the intensity of necessary human contact. From a technical perspective, there is so much infrastructure and expertise required that too many educational institutions lack, especially in developing countries. In addition, educators themselves may feel that the change resists and fears job loss and therefore acts as a deterrent to AI integration. The review underscores the imperative for extensive training of teachers to support enabling the integration of AI. It now demands a collaborative effort on the part of all stakeholders to maximize the gains and reduce the drawbacks of AI in educational aspects. Continuous research in, policy-making for, and ethical guidelines on AI are required to benefit all aspects of education equitably and effectively.

Customers Incivility, Country-of-origin Effects on the Tourism Sector, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Testing a Mediational Model

2024-08-16T17:07:48+00:00

In the recent era, the country of origin (COO) effect is crucial to measure consumer behavior in the tourism industry. The present study delves into how customer incivility affects employees' emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction levels with COO effects. It also investigates how these elements influence tourism sector employees' desire to go beyond the job responsibilities as part of organizational citizenship behavior with the origin of the local country (COO). Analyzing the received data from the tourism and hotel industries reveals that customer incivility significantly contributes to emotional exhaustion, thereby negatively affecting employees' job satisfaction and their inclination to be involved in organizational citizenship behavior with COO effects. Emotional exhaustion reduces job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior. The current study is confined to Pakistani tourism sector employees showing country of origin (n =287), supporting the majority of the proposed linkages. The study narrated the research consequences to examine how customer incivility, emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behavior are all related to country origin. The findings provide a valuable contribution to the literature on the chosen subject.