As an emerging e-commerce model, live-streaming commerce has attracted widespread attention from merchants. Since many merchants do not have their own anchors, they need to hire professional anchors, who are called commissioned live-streaming commerce. Merchants can choose either agent anchors or celebrity anchors, that is, a choice between two different live-streaming channels. Choosing celebrity anchors with large fan bases can crank up higher sales for merchants, but comes with higher commission expenses and potential competition from the anchors’ own brand products. Conversely, choosing agent anchors whose popularity is far less than that of celebrity anchors may still bring high profits, as these agents charge lower commissions. Inspired by this interesting phenomenon, the present study examines the challenges faced by merchants in live-streaming channel selection using commissioned live-streaming commerce. The study employs a Cournot model to investigate the issues at hand and analyze the impact of different factors on merchants' channel selection based on simulation. The results show that when the effort cost of a merchant choosing anchors is high and the merchant's brand image advantage is significant, the merchant is more inclined to choose agent anchors; otherwise, the inclination is to choose celebrity anchors. The findings provide support for the decision-making process of different parties involved in live-streaming commerce and thus, promote the sustainable development of the live-streaming commerce industry.

Chinese residential developers face complex challenges during the construction process. In particular, schedule management often becomes uncontrolled, leading to delays that hinder timely fund returns and economic losses, and inevitably reputational damage. Grounded in the theory of project progress management, this study uses the Yun Yue Dong Fang (YYDF) project in China as a case in point to explore and rank optimization strategies for schedule management. As a qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were used to gather data from seven project managers from seven participating developers. Participants included key decision makers, such as contractors and supervisors from the study sample. Interview data were coded and analyzed in NVivo for classification and theme extraction. Six key optimization themes were identified, namely optimization in construction, communication, project planning, design, procurement, and funding. The findings highlight strategies applicable to clients and construction units and emphasize the need to strengthen management and control across units and links in the delivery chain. The study also provides a reference value for the management schedule of project progress in Chinese residential development companies. The six strategies identified possess conditional cross-regional adaptability. Although construction projects commonly suffer from management fragmentation and difficulties in resource coordination, the proposed strategies can inform residential development projects in other developing countries or emerging markets after appropriate localization. Overall, this in-depth case study translates theory into practice, providing an empirically derived, ranked set of strategies for mitigating schedule delays, and offers actionable guidance for stakeholders seeking to stabilize schedules, secure cash-flow cycles, and protect corporate reputation.

Disruptive times happen, and there is a chance of unpreparedness confronting the populace. However, it offers opportunities to adopt new methods or reinforce alternative processes in delivering value to customers. Remote work has always been practised globally, but the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic reinforced its practice. This study examined the connection between remote work management practices (RWMPs) and the operational performance of companies in the Nigerian telecommunication industry. The study’s population comprised the workers of the four (4) prominent telecommunication firms in Nigeria. The telecommunication firms in Nigeria at the point of time of this study were GLO, MTN, AIRTEL, and 9Mobile. A well-structured questionnaire was administered to 400 randomly selected respondents from a target population of 7,756, with 340 participants completing the survey, providing valuable primary data for this study. Descriptive statistical tools and structural equation modelling (SEM) were employed to analyze the data collected. Findings from the empirical study showed that RWMPs significantly and positively influence companies' operational performance in the Nigerian telecommunication industry. It was found that RWMPs substantially improve the operational performance of telecommunication companies in a developing economy like Nigeria. Consequently, it was recommended that the management of the companies in the Nigeria telecommunication industry provide more ICT facilities and other resources to sustain their RWMPs. To ensure that the operational performances of these firms will continue to improve at a geometrical rate management should not allow their staff to waste productive hours in their daily commute to work. The study was limited to telecommunication firms in Nigeria, therefore future studies could expand the scope to include other countries or regions, enabling a more comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon.

Senior entrepreneurs are increasingly turning to social media platforms, notably Facebook, to promote and grow their businesses. Despite often having limited technical skills, senior entrepreneurs recognize the benefits of using social media as an essential tool for business communication and marketing. While there may be initial resistance to adopting social media, its benefits for businesses are widely recognized, making it a valuable entrepreneurial tool, facilitating communication and marketing efforts. This area of research is significant due to the global rise in the aging population and the growing trend of seniors transitioning into entrepreneurship after reaching retirement age. This qualitative investigation employed semi-structured interviews complemented by observations to explore the use of Facebook among senior entrepreneurs. Ten participants were interviewed face-to-face, with observations conducted based on insights gathered from these interviews. The findings indicate that senior entrepreneurs utilize Facebook to a moderate extent, primarily constrained by their limited digital knowledge. However, numerous features on Facebook remain unexplored, presenting potential opportunities for further business innovation within this demographic. This investigation provides insights into the adaptation of senior entrepreneurs to social media, particularly Facebook, as a tool for enhancing their business activities.

In today’s rapidly evolving business environment, customer requirements and expectations are continually increasing. Many service-oriented companies, including airlines, are struggling to accurately understand and meet the true needs and desires of their passengers. Often, they rely on outdated views of airline services. This study investigated how various dimensions of service quality impact customer satisfaction at Iraqi Airways. Using a convenience sampling technique, data were collected through questionnaires distributed at Baghdad International Airport and Erbil International Airport in Iraq. A total of 381 valid responses were analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The results indicate that five service quality dimensions—airline tangibles, terminal tangibles, security and safety, personnel services, and airline image—have a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction. However, empathy does not significantly influence customer satisfaction. The findings suggest that Iraqi Airways should focus on differentiating its services to enhance customer satisfaction. Managers are encouraged to concentrate on factors that elevate service quality, thereby improving customer satisfaction. This study can assist Baghdad International Airport and Erbil International Airport in understanding the importance of service quality, which could lead to higher passenger satisfaction and foster long-term relationships with their customers.

Green manufacturing practices (GMP) are promoted by the United Nations through an effort known as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which has been welcomed by Malaysia to address global environmental problems, with manufacturing sectors becoming the primary focus, in line with the National Policy goals to enhance the capacity of the manufacturing sector by 2025. However, Malaysia’s green commitment is less encouraging globally, as most manufacturers are still struggling to implement GMP due to weak leadership, resulting in low acceptance within the organization. Servant leadership is proposed as a mediator to help manufacturers implement GMP effectively, where this leadership is less concerned with the context of green practices in Malaysia. In this paper, the influential factors of GMP implementation will also be identified. A total of 40 factory managers responded to the survey used in a pilot study. The initial results show that the most influential factor is law enforcement, based on mean score, followed by proactive communication and technology advancement. Meanwhile, servant leadership did not mediate the relationships between the business environment and organizational factors, except for individual factors and GMP, as employees are empowered to be creative in their own ways. This study offers new perspectives to manufacturers who intend to maintain their commitment towards GMP.

The unstoppable use of the Internet, especially in big cities, has led to changes in payment patterns and financial transactions. Originally, wallets have transitioned to electronic wallets, driven by perceived benefits, ease of use, and social influence among e-wallet users. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate the intention to continuously use e-wallets among young people who have become accustomed to Internet usage. The method employed for processing the data collected through questionnaires is SEM-PLS. The research sample consisted of 240 young e-wallet users in Seoul and Jakarta who participated in the study. The results showed a discrepancy in the effect of perceived ease of use on the continuous usage intention of e-wallets among the young users in the two cities. Young users in Seoul found e-wallets easy to use, whereas users in Jakarta perceived the opposite. However, the perceived usefulness and social influence had a positive and significant effect on the continuous usage intention of e-wallets in both cities. This indicates that Generation Z believes e-wallets will continue to be used due to their benefits and the influence of social factors. This implication underscores the penetration of Internet users and mobile applications associated with e-wallet users. The findings of this research hold significant importance for the rapidly expanding e-wallet industry today, serving as a valuable reference for the development of the e-wallet market.

In a number of nations, the economic uncertainty that began several years ago has manifested its negative effects, and the COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated the situation. Many nations struggle to finance their social and economic public healthcare due to limited resources and fiscal space. In order to save their economies, this has pushed them towards high levels of debt. This study’s objective is to examine the effect of government debt on productivity, GDP growth, tax revenue, and corruption. Panel data analysis was used to identify the significant factors that affect government debt in 16 Western European countries based on their severe subprime crisis in 2008 and sovereign debt in 2009, which fall between the timeframes of this study. The findings revealed that government debt impacts productivity, GDP growth, and corruption. As a result, effective productivity control is critical when dealing with government debt. Efforts to develop world-class human capital, equipped with sophisticated skills or talent management, in order to increase a sector’s income and competitiveness should be aligned with efficient and effective public spending. Public projects must be thoroughly evaluated and monitored in terms of feasibility, economic and social returns. As a consequence, this study suggests that a profound and comprehensive reformation across various sectors in the country is required, particularly through productivity, growth, and corruption, in order to control a country’s debt.

Creativity is a psychological phenomenon mainly affected by the motivation of employees. Nonetheless conflicting results can be found in the literature for the link between intrinsic motivationcreativity relationship. The purpose of this research is to reinvestigate this inconsistent relationship. We took a technological perspective to determine whether technology had an answer to this question. We conducted a laboratory experiment with 119 newly hired bankers of the same batch in four different training sessions to generate creative ideas to solve business problems. Here, intrinsic motivation and digital-technology-use were both manipulated, independently. For field study, data was collected from 467 employees and their respective 41 supervisors working at a software house in Pakistan. Using lab and field data in two studies, we analysed data with Mplus for random coefficient models. We also performed a satorra-bentlerdifference test, using the log-likelihood method with scaling correction factor. Drawing on the motivation-opportunity-ability framework for intrinsic motivation-creativity relationship, we found that knowledge integration ability enhances the potential of employees to generate creative ideas. Based on a lab experiment and a field study, we found that creativity is contingent upon the technological opportunity provided to employees directly and indirectly by affecting their ability to integrate knowledge. Our research suggests that providing employees with relevant technological tools and ensuring utilisation of these technologies will fuel higher levels of employee creativity. Technological initiatives will help struggling economies to boost their creative potential. This research has made a significant contribution by bringing together creativity and digital technology literature.