https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/ Interdisciplinary Journal of Management Studies en daily 1 Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 +0330 Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 +0330 https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_102692.html The customer experience in tourism has become increasingly advanced and complex, requiring a comprehensive review of its evolution and emerging trends. This study aims to provide a quantitative review of existing research, highlighting the evolution and paradigm shifts over time. To achieve this, bibliometric and visualization techniques were employed to analyze 1,918 papers published between 1982 and 2023 using VOSviewer. The analysis highlights highly cited authors, countries, institutions, and key articles, alongside collaboration patterns identified through co-authorship analysis. Additionally, keyword co-occurrence analysis reveals three distinct periods in the evolution of customer experience. Initially centered on satisfaction and service quality, customer experience has now evolved into an independent construct. The adoption of service-dominant logic has facilitated value co-creation, further enhanced by technological advancements that enable personalized experiences. The findings offer valuable insights for scholars and practitioners, guiding future research and introducing modern approaches for delivering value to customers within the tourism industry. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104274.html This study examines whether the audit firm ranking (AFR) mandated by the Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO) in Iran in 2013 is associated with audit fees for initial audit engagements. We propose that such regulation, in a highly competitive and compliance-driven market, could differently impact the bargaining power of auditors. Our findings indicate that audit fee discounts in initial engagements have decreased in the post-AFR era. Additionally, in line with the bargaining power perspective, audit fee discounts are greater when switching to non-Top auditors compared to Top auditors (first-ranked Trusted Audit Firms by SEO), when switching within non-Top auditors as opposed to Top auditors, and when switching from Top to non-Top auditors rather than from non-Top to Top auditors. The results are robust across several sensitivity tests and offer policy, practice, and research implications by exploring audit fee discounts in initial engagements arising from regulatory initiatives. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104318.html The aim of the present research is to model and prioritize components to provide optimal viral marketing rules in online businesses. It is a mixed-methods applied research study. In the qualitative section of this research, 15 individuals were selected through purposeful sampling by the researcher to ensure their relevance and expertise regarding the research topic, and the quantitative part includes 460 customers of online businesses using a stratified random sampling method. The data collection tools in the qualitative section used the projection technique and in-depth interviews. Using the MAXQDA software, the interviews were analyzed and summarized, through which six components were identified. Then, in the quantitative section, 12 experts determined the Lavash index, and subsequently, exploratory factor analysis was conducted using the SPSS software. Using the SWARA technique, the identified indicators were ranked based on expert opinions according to their degree of importance, and to identify the most influential component, the genetic metaheuristic algorithm was used, with WEKA and RAPIDMINER software employed in this section. Finally, utilizing the decision tree method and MATLAB software, viral marketing optimization rules were identified. The findings in the qualitative section showed that online persuasion, online trust, online support, online services, and online attractiveness were the components of viral marketing, and in the quantitative section, online persuasion and online trust were determined as the best feature or component. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104297.html A key issue for planning and consulting is the accurate prediction of students’ rankings in important national university entrance exams, such as Iran’s nationwide university entrance examination, commonly known as the Konkur. Although machine learning has been increasingly used in educational data mining, most existing models have shown limited accuracy, are inadequately formulated, and lack sufficient optimization for practical application. This study introduces a novel stacking-based ensemble learning model that incorporates XGBoost, LightGBM, and CatBoost as base learners, with a linear regression model as a meta-learner to improve national rank prediction. The proposed model’s main hyperparameters were adjusted using the Optuna optimization framework to enhance the performance of each model. The model was trained and validated on a large dataset of over 73,000 student records from Ghalamchi Institute and evaluated using five-fold cross-validation with NRMSE and R² as performance measures. The results showed that the proposed model significantly outperformed baseline models, such as Random Forest, Gradient Boosting, and MLP Regressor, achieving NRMSE of 0.0659 and R² of 0.7735, which could be attributed to the effective integration of advanced learners with systematic hyperparameter optimization. This research provides a practical and scalable predictive tool that can support academic advisors, educators, and policymakers in making informed decisions, promoting equity in education, and guiding students through data-driven interventions. The use of stacking-based ensemble learning and automated hyperparameter optimization via Optuna distinguishes this study from prior research and is a meaningful step forward in the application of predictive analytics in high-risk educational settings. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104288.html This study aims to develop a model that quantifies the key issues influencing digital integration within the supply chain (SC) as a single numerical value, termed the integrity index. This index value helps organisations in identifying and addressing various SC issues related to digital integration. The model calculates the integrity index by analysing the interactions among different issues involved in digital integration. The graph theoretic approach (GTA) technique is applied to examine the integrity index value by analysing the interactions among different issues involved in digital integration. In GTA, the various issues influencing the digital integration are identified, and a model with the help of a digraph is prepared based on their interdependencies. From this digraph, an adjacency matrix is created, and the permanent function of this matrix is computed to derive the integrity index. The integrity index is evaluated by using GTA in the context of Indian small and medium enterprises (SMEs). By using the GTA framework, the integrity index is also calculated in the best- and the worst-case scenarios. Findings from the study reveal that financial issues are the most influencing ones impacting digital integration, followed by organisational and technological issues, providing key focus areas for improvement. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104265.html This study examines how Digital Financial Intuition (DFI) and AI-Driven Personalized Marketing (AIPM) influence Customer Retention (CR) in Islamic banks, with Perceived Fairness (PF) as a mediating construct. Drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which emphasizes ease of use and usefulness, and Equity Theory, which highlights fairness in exchange relationships, the framework integrates usability and ethical evaluation in digital Islamic banking. Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey of 254 users of Islamic digital banking services in Malaysia and analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). Results show that both DFI and AIPM have significant positive effects on CR, directly and indirectly through PF, which acts as a key psychological mechanism linking digital service experiences to loyalty. These findings extend TAM by introducing intuitive cognition and enrich Equity Theory by demonstrating fairness as a mediating driver of behavioural outcomes in AI-mediated services. The integrated framework provides stronger explanatory power for loyalty than conventional trust- or satisfaction-based models. Practically, Islamic banks should prioritize intuitive, inclusive interfaces and transparent personalization to build long-term trust. Policymakers should also adopt fairness audits and algorithmic transparency guidelines to align digital transformation with Malaysia’s Financial Sector Blueprint. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104298.html This study addresses the necessity of analyzing the ecosystem to identify systemic and institutional failures that hinder its effectiveness and to propose actionable solutions for reform. The research employs a qualitative analysis of national policy documents, development plans, and scholarly literature, complemented by expert validation, to extract, categorize, and interpret the main challenges and policy responses. The findings reveal nine categories: (1) Financial System of Higher Education and Research Institutions, (2) Government's Role in Supporting Strategic Research, (3) Supporting Demand-Driven Research, (4) Diversifying Financial Mechanisms and Tax Incentives, (5) Research Budget of Government Organizations and SOEs, (6) Supporting Financial Institutions, (7) Supporting science, technology, and innovation (STI) Financing through the Capital market, (8) Coordination and Cooperation among STI Financing Bodies, (9) Encouraging Private Sector Investment in R&D. To overcome these barriers, the study suggests various solutions, such as mission-oriented and performance-linked budgeting, expanding financial and legal autonomy for STI actors, activating legal capacities of knowledge-based acts, strengthening the capital market’s role in innovation financing, diversifying financial institutions and instruments, and promoting university–industry–government collaboration. By categorizing both challenges and solutions into systemic and institutional domains, the paper provides policy solutions to reform Iran’s STI financing ecosystem and strengthen its contribution to long-term development goals. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104286.html The transition to a circular economy is essential for addressing environmental challenges and resource scarcity, yet workforce capabilities required for its adoption, particularly in developing economies, remain underexplored. This study examines the role of three key competencies: green skills, systems thinking, and digital literacy in shaping circular economy readiness and the implementation of circular practices in India’s urban waste management sector, a critical context due to high waste generation and resource inefficiencies. Using a novel Skills Framework for Circular Economy Transition, integrating cognitive, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and technological dimensions of workforce competencies, data were collected from 100 professionals in the Delhi National Capital Region. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) assessed the influence of these competencies on readiness and practice adoption. Results show that green skills have the strongest impact on readiness, followed by systems thinking and digital literacy, with readiness mediating the translation of these competencies into actionable circular practices. These findings provide practical guidance for policymakers, municipal authorities, and educational institutions to strengthen workforce capabilities, accelerate circular practice adoption, and offer a validated framework for future research in emerging economies. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104287.html This study investigates the influence of TikTok Shop’s live stream shopping on Generation Z consumers’ impulse buying behavior, integrating the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) and Uses and Gratifications (U&G) theories. Using an empirical approach, this study examines three dimensions—entertainment value, informativeness value, and parasocial interaction—and their impacts on trust and attitudes toward live streams. Additionally, this study explores the direct and indirect effects of perceived product scarcity on impulse buying. Findings reveal that entertainment value and parasocial interaction positively shape trust and attitudes, which in turn drive impulse buying. However, informativeness value has no significant effect on trust or attitudes. Perceived product scarcity directly influences impulse buying without mediating effects through trust or attitudes. This research highlights the critical role of entertainment and parasocial engagement in fostering trust and positive attitudes, while scarcity remains a strong direct driver of unplanned purchases. The study contributes to the growing literature on e-commerce, offering practical insights for optimizing live stream content to enhance consumer engagement and sales. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104289.html This study aims to investigate the relationship between consumer attitudes and perceptions of corporate behavior regarding sustainable consumption. It focuses on understanding the influence of various factors, such as knowledge, consumer social responsibility, and corporate marketing strategies, on sustainable consumer behavior. A sample of 555 responses was collected from consumers in North India. The primary data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and factors were then employed in Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to measure the relationships between consumer attitudes, corporate behavior, and sustainable consumption. The study reveals that knowledge and consumer social responsibility have a significant influence on consumer attitudes towards sustainable consumption. Corporate behavior, encompassing marketing strategy and business responsibility, served as a mediating factor between consumer attitude and intention. The results also show that consumer intention has a significant impact on sustainable consumer behavior, with corporate behavior acting as a partial mediator. The study contributes theoretically by integrating key constructs into a single model explaining sustainable consumption. Empirically, it validates seven factors using EFA and SEM on North Indian data, offering region-specific insights for both research and practice. Additionally, future research could explore other potential mediating factors that influence the relationship between consumer attitudes and sustainable consumption behavior. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104218.html In an era marked with growing environmental concerns, this study delves into the nexus between environmental performance and firm performance with the moderating role of governance mechanisms in the non-financial sectors of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS). The research employs a Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) by taking data from 176 companies for 11 years (2012-2022). The findings reveal a significant positive influence of environmental performance on business performance, indicating the importance of sustainable practices in enhancing business outcomes. Furthermore, internal governance has an advantageous influence on the environment and firm performance nexus. External governance mechanisms, encompassing government efficiency, political stability, regulation, rule of law, voice and accountability, and control of corruption, also play a crucial role. While these mechanisms partially increase the association between environmental and company performance, some elements show an unfavourable affinity, highlighting challenges in regulatory frameworks and institutional environments. Such results have ramifications for regulators, firms, and financiers, giving perspectives on the significance of adopting ecological sustainability to business management procedures. By understanding the moderating effects of governance mechanisms, organizations can navigate their challenges and capitalize on opportunities presented by environmental initiatives. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104305.html Robotics innovation, encompassing the Internet of Things and AI, has created vast scenarios in the workplace. Flexibility, precision, and efficiency are some of Industry 4.0's possible advantages. Industry 4.0 deployment calls for several adjustments, encompassing the Human Resources (HR) department. The HR department's skills are crucial in Industry 4.0 and provide an advantage for the company, more caution and flexibility in the HR department's capacity to respond to the necessities and challenges. We explore the role of AI in the digitalization of HR and practices associated with Industry 4.0. A total of 258 HR experts from administration, manufacturing, and information technology (IT) were chosen to take part in this evaluation, which investigated three aspects of HR readiness and five AI applications in HR operations. The collected data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software along with Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS). The findings suggested that a key factor in achieving sustainable development is the analysis of hierarchical structures. The five components of AI application areas in HR all improve the abilities and adaptability of human resources. Enhancing safety and well-being was also considered essential for AI integration in HR. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_98797.html The purpose of this study is to investigate how creative search capability helps promote innovation in private universities. In this study, the type of research is exploratory and thematic analysis method was used, which was done in three stages. First, we conducted an extensive Internet search to identify Iraqi private universities that have been operating for more than a decade. From the search results, 28 private universities were identified. Second, we conducted online interviews with 19 private university administrators representing institutions from five regions: South, Northeast, Center, North, and West. Third, we analyzed the factors of creative search capability that can facilitate innovation in private universities, and based on these insights, we identified the main factors of creative search capability in Iraqi private universities: innovation-based learning environment, interdisciplinary teams, platforms Innovation, research funding and access to information resources. These findings provide valuable insights into the literature on innovation in universities. Also, it increases our understanding of the effective mechanism of creative innovation search capability in private universities. Finally, it provides implications for policy makers in Iraqi higher education in terms of constructive engagement with and support for universities. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_102120.html University competitiveness has been enhanced by internal marketing and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). This study is novel in integrating internal marketing and OCB within the context of public-sector universities, an area that has received limited attention in previous literature. A relatively significant gap in prior literature exists regarding integrating internal marketing and OCB in public-sector universities. Grounded on the resource-based view and social exchange theory, this study examines external and internal factors that influence internal marketing practices within public universities and their effects on staff engagement, satisfaction, and OCB. Data was collected from 525 faculty members from the top ten public universities in Iran. Findings indicate that various internal and external factors, such as leadership, customer-oriented culture, customer pressure, and competitor pressure, influenced the internal marketing practices of the universities. Findings further revealed that internal marketing practices of universities influence the employees' emotional attachment, satisfaction, and OCB. Moreover, a significant moderating effect of perceived staff value on the relationship between staff satisfaction and OCB was observed. These insights provide theoretical contributions by bridging internal marketing with OCB in the context of public universities and offer managerial implications for university administrators seeking competitive advantage. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104203.html Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) is a strategy that incorporates environmental responsibility and employee involvement into HR strategies. This research will address a major research gap in the role of GHRM in emerging frugalities by establishing the impacts of GHRM practices on ES (ES) in IT firms located in Telangana, India. The mixed-method design was employed to collect data on 214 employees, which consisted of quantitative questionnaires and qualitative semi-structured interviews. In order to identify the correlation and significance of different GHRM processes, statistical methods were used, including multiple regression, correlation and chi-square. The most important practice in our investigation was Green Performance Management (GPM) that measures ES and has a positive effect on GPM. Legislation, resource constraints and resistance to change will not necessarily dominate, despite the eco-friendly HR practices reducing participation, morale and general well-being. Companies that may want to adopt GHRM practices to achieve sustainable objectives and enhance the happiness of their employees will find this paper useful. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104264.html This study's main goals are to evaluate how green banking activities (GBA) affect bank environmental performance (BEP) and sources of green financing (SGF), in addition to how SGF affects BEP. It also determines the SGF's function as a mediator between the GBA and the BEP. Additionally, this study investigates the moderating effect of green knowledge sharing (GKS) on the link between the GBA and SGF as well as the moderating effects of individual green values (IGV) on the association between the SGF and BEP. The first step in the two-step data analysis procedure involved reviewing the measurement model to determine the accuracy and dependability of the measurements. While in second step the structural model used to observe the connections between the underlying variables. The empirical findings back up both the favorable and significant impacts of GBA on SGA as well as the SGA effect of BEP. This study, however, is unable to substantiate the effect of GBA on BEP. Additionally, this study discovered that SGF acted as a bridge between the GBA and the BEP. This study also supports the moderating effects of GKS and IGV on the relationships between GBA and SGA as well as between SGF and BEP. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104362.html Purpose – This study examines the significance and effectiveness of halal-endorsed advertisements within the Muslim market and addresses the lack of a comprehensive model for assessing their impact. Specifically, it aims to develop and validate a model focused on key factors such as endorser-audience congruency, familiarity, trustworthiness, and likability to understand their influence on consumer attitudes and purchase intentions. Design/methodology/approach – A survey-based quantitative approach was used to collect data from a sample of Iranian students. The model was tested and validated using structural equation modeling (SEM) within the context of the halal fashion industry to assess the effectiveness of these advertisements. Findings – The study confirms the role of congruency, familiarity, trustworthiness, and likability as crucial factors in halal endorsements, significantly impacting Muslim consumers' attitudes and intentions. The model reveals that well-aligned endorsers enhance ad effectiveness, particularly collectible when values and cultural expectations resonate with the audience. Originality/value – This study is a pioneering effort in the halal market, providing a validated model tailored to halal-endorsed advertising. It fills a theoretical gap in Islamic marketing literature and offers practical insights for marketers seeking to engage the expanding Muslim consumer base with culturally aligned and effective endorsements. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104393.html Emotions play a key role in decision-making, particularly for investors, who can be influenced by emotional factors that lead to irrational decisions. While financial decisions are often seen as rational, emotions impact reasoning, attitudes, and behaviors, which can affect investment strategies and risk assessments. This study emphasizes the importance of recognizing emotions in understanding investor behavior, suggesting that emotional awareness can improve decision-making, especially for risky investment intentions. It goes beyond existing literature by incorporating psychological and emotional factors, such as personality traits, unconscious emotions, phantasy, and mindfulness, to predict investment intentions. Findings from a survey of 220 mutual fund investors support the hypothesis that emotional biases affect decision-making states, emphasizing the importance of being aware of emotional states for risky investment intentions leading to sound investment decisions. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the significant influence of personality traits on the risky investment intentions, while the combination of phantasy and mindfulness with psychological factors also yields robust results. The study stresses the need to consider emotional factors for a thorough understanding of investors' intentions and decision-making behavior. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104439.html Recent advances in information technology help users to experience reality. Augmented reality and virtual reality tools are considered among the most destructive novel technologies in marketing and advertising. AR marketing, as a type of mobile marketing, can shape and improve customers’ experiences. Because of progressing consumer experience expectations and the growing complexity of the product, traditional packaging methods have become insufficient in the packaging industry. AR packaging can save the day and bring about numerous advantages for companies. This research aims to investigating the impact of AR packaging on consumer behavior, based on the S-O-R framework. The hypotheses of this research were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) and Smart-PLS3 software. The findings revealed the positive impact of authentic experience on cognitive and affective responses, positive impact of cognitive and affective responses on intention to continue AR, intent to continue to recommend AR and, purchase intention. using AR in packaging can change the customer's experience with the product. This research provides practical insights for marketing managers expecting to find innovative strategies to engage consumers emotionally and willing to have empirical evidence encouraging their decision to invest in such emerging technologies. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104547.html This study examines the physiological responses of Malaysian and Iranian consumers to caffeinated beverage brands using biometrics on e-commerce websites. Specifically, this study seeks to identify patterns in δ, θ, α, β, and γ waves across different brain regions that differentiate Iranian and Malaysian consumers’ subconscious engagement with caffeinated beverage brands during online purchase stages, utilizing biometric data-sensitive neuromarketing. A sample of 24 individuals was analyzed via Brain Mapping software and mixed ANOVA. Results revealed differences in Delta, Theta, and Beta band frequencies between groups. Iranian participants exhibited greater brain wave variation in response to brands like Hype and Rockstar, whereas Malaysians responded more to Red Bull and Monster. In the coffee category, Iranians reacted to Starbucks, Lavazza, and Ali Cafe, while Malaysians primarily responded to Nescafé. Product viewing showed Alpha wave changes opposite to Delta, Theta, and Beta waves. During purchase decisions, Beta and Gamma wave activity was higher in Iranians, notably in frontal and parietal lobes. These findings highlight cultural impacts on online consumer behavior and illustrate the role of beta and gamma waves in driving purchasing choices. The research offers valuable insights for tailoring neuromarketing strategies to different audiences and enhances understanding of consumer neuroscience. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104566.html Banking organizations are adopting green practices to mitigate their ecologically hazardous impacts. This study aims to investigate the effects of green human resource management (GHRM) on the least explored types of employee ecological behaviors: eco-helping and eco-civic engagement. It does this by drawing on the social exchange theory (SET) and the self-determination theory (SDT). Additionally, it looks at the effects of GHRM in the presence of environmental managerial support (EMS) as a conditional factor. Employing a purposive sampling approach, the research model was validated based on data from a judiciously chosen sample size of 875 respondents who worked for Pakistani Islamic banks, PLS-SEM was employed for conducting statistical analysis. The results revealed that both eco-helping and eco-civic engagement were positively impacted by GHRM, and eco-helping and eco-civic engagement associations with GHRM were positively moderated by EMS. One-of-a-kind in its exploration of the conditional role of EMS on the integrated relationship of GHRM practices with eco-helping and eco-civic engagement, this study adds to the body of knowledge. It also provides evidence from the understudied Islamic banking sector, which is crucial to the transition of nations toward sustainable evolution. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104567.html Phishing attacks pose a significant risk to cybersecurity and are especially troublesome in cloud-based settings as the risk is heightened due to shared and multi-device access. To counteract this, the current paper presents a Sharable Device-Aware Phishing Attack Detection system that integrates Variational Autoencoder (VAE) with a Clustering Mechanism and Support Vector Machine (SVM) to make the detection of phishing attacks more effective. The VAE is employed to perform feature extraction and to support the unsupervised learning of phishing behavior by giving the clustering mechanism the ability to group threats in a way that classification can be done with the SVM model being the one that classifies phishing cases accurately afterwards. The presented model is compared on a dataset of phishing behaviors harvested from cloud-based IoT environments, showcasing high performance in terms of detection accuracy, recall, and F1-score. Results show 99.5% accuracy, 99% precision, 98.5% recall, and 99.95% F1-score, better than the current phishing detection algorithms. The combination of device-aware learning with more sophisticated machine learning concepts offers an effective, scalable, and flexible phishing detection algorithm for cloud security. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104568.html Digital assistants such as Siri and Google Assistant have become ubiquitous companions in modern life, supporting users in tasks ranging from information retrieval to daily decision-making. Despite their widespread use, existing research has primarily emphasized technical performance, overlooking the interactive and psychological mechanisms that shape customer satisfaction. In particular, the interactive dimensions of human–AI communication—controllability, synchronicity, and bidirectionality—remain underexplored, limiting understanding of how real-time responsiveness and user control influence satisfaction. As digital assistants increasingly resemble social partners, user satisfaction is shaped not only by functional performance but also by perceptions of agency, trust, and cognitive comfort. To address this gap, this study draws on Expectation–Confirmation Theory and analyzes survey data from 453 users using the R statistical environment (version 4.5.1). The results demonstrate that controllability, synchronicity, and bidirectionality significantly enhance satisfaction. Moreover, perceived trust and self-efficacy strengthen the positive influence of expectation confirmation, while information privacy concerns do not significantly moderate this relationship. These findings highlight the psychological foundations of satisfaction in AI-mediated interactions and shift the focus from technical optimization to human-centered interaction design, providing practical insights for developers and marketers seeking to create transparent, trustworthy, and emotionally engaging digital assistants. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104576.html In recent years, the concept of marketing and the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in marketing have garnered significant attention. The core innovation of this research lies in demonstrating how AI competencies can transform the marketing landscape for SMEs by driving both marketing innovation and capabilities. This dual focus not only boosts operational and strategic effectiveness but also ensures that SMEs can achieve sustainable growth and competitive advantage in an increasingly digital and dynamic business environment. With marketing innovation and marketing capabilities as mediating factors, this study aims to explore how AI competencies influence sustainable marketing performance. The research methodology is quantitative and descriptive-correlational. The target population comprises employees and managers of SMEs in Iran with a workforce of over 100 individuals. The sample size for the statistical population of 423 was calculated using Morgan's table, 200 people, and a non-probability convenience sampling method was employed. This research was conducted in April 2024. Data were collected through standardized questionnaires and analyzed using structural equation modeling with PLS-Smart 4 software. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104654.html Uncertainty reduction mechanisms have attracted considerable attention since the emergence of online commerce. However, social commerce constructs have increased the potential of these mechanisms in recent years. The aim of this study is to systematically investigate the reduction of uncertainty in online transactions over the past two decades. To that end, 113 relevant references were identified by developing a systematic review protocol during the planned search. In addition, 171 uncertainty mechanisms were identified in these references. Through a systematic review of the literature, we identified all dimensions of uncertainty in online commerce, including types of factors, theoretical perspectives, timeframes, cognitive maps, and key topics of focus. In this review, we study and examine in detail the role of social commerce constructs. This study serves as an important reference and provides a detailed and practical roadmap for researchers intending to conduct any type of study on uncertainty in online commerce. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104655.html This study investigates the relationship between managerial knowledge heterogeneity and sustainability reporting, with an emphasis on the moderating role of internal and external corporate governance mechanisms. To test the research hypotheses, panel data from 147 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange over a 10-year period (2014–2023) were used. Multivariate regression analysis indicates that managerial knowledge heterogeneity has a positive effect on sustainability reporting. Furthermore, internal corporate governance mechanisms, including board structure and managerial ownership, positively moderate the relationship between knowledge heterogeneity and sustainability reporting. In contrast, external governance mechanisms, such as institutional ownership percentage, auditor size, and free float, do not have a significant moderating effect on this relationship. These findings suggest that sustainability disclosure is more strongly influenced by internal corporate factors than by external ones. The results offer a new perspective on the role of the executive management team and provide valuable insights into how strategic leadership of senior managers enhances sustainability disclosure. Accordingly, attention to top management team composition and internal governance factors can help companies improve their environmental, social, and economic disclosures. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104777.html This study aims to design a model for establishing a Sports System Organization in Iran by identifying barriers, strategies, contexts, and consequences. Using a qualitative approach and grounded theory methodology, the research involved 17 participants, including sports science faculty members, managers and experts from the Ministry of Sports and Youth, and physical education graduates with relevant research and professional experience. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, continuing until theoretical saturation was achieved. The findings revealed a final model comprising five main categories related to causal conditions (e.g., the entry of non-specialists and the need to industrialize sports), five strategies (e.g., meritocracy, sports diplomacy, and leveraging successful international models), five intervening and limiting factors (e.g., lack of strategic planning, weak political influence in sports, and bureaucratic inefficiencies), and four contextual factors (e.g., cultural acceptance and economic constraints). These elements contribute to five positive outcomes for the sports sector, including the establishment of a systematic educational framework, infrastructure improvement, prevention of non-specialist entry, enhanced community health, and increased international competitiveness. The results suggest that, given the existing causal conditions and the implementation of appropriate strategies, the groundwork for forming this organization can be established. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104787.html Abstract This paper also examines the perception of auditors regarding some concerned factors to money laundering (ML), including what role and obligation they are anticipated to play as insurers of accounting reports, what audit process was used, and some characteristics of the country in which they performed the audit, influence auditors' detection of ML. The current study employed questionnaires and distributed among Iraqi auditors whose names were registered in the list of official auditors in Iraq for 2024. Results reveal that ML is perceived as a developing issue, which is driven predominantly by political corruption, weaknesses in banking and the system of governance, and weak monitoring by experts such as accountants and auditors. The recipient destinations of the laundered funds reflect local and external channels, where personal networks and business investments dominate. Further analyses show that auditors' mindset toward their work and incorporation of ML factors into audit procedures are pivotal to detecting money laundering. Conditions of individual countries, including legal frameworks, cultural settings, and economic environments, are critical in determining the role of auditors in preventing ML. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104809.html This study examines whether Pinjaman Online (Pinjol) helps or harms women micro-entrepreneurs in Medan, Indonesia. Using survey data from 302 borrowers, the study employs a two-stage design: Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to estimate the average treatment effect of Pinjol use on business outcomes, and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze the behavioral and structural drivers of credit decisions. The findings show that Pinjol users experience short-term gains in sales compared to matched non-users; however, high borrowing costs and tight repayment cycles compress margins and weaken overall performance. Financial literacy and risk perception significantly reduce the likelihood of adopting Pinjol, while larger loan needs increase it; age and education condition these effects. The results indicate that demand-side factors and liquidity pressures have a more substantial influence on digital credit uptake than price awareness. Theoretically, the study integrates credit rationing and behavioral finance by demonstrating a shift from collateral-based exclusion in formal banking to literacy and risk-awareness constraints in fintech borrowing. Policy implications include transparent cost disclosure, repayment schedules aligned with micro-enterprise cash flows, gender-sensitive financial literacy programs, and pathways from high-cost digital credit to safer, lower-cost financing options. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104824.html The current study identified the factors affecting the knowledge hiding behavior and proposed a systematic model of the causal relationships among them. Analyzing the causal effects of these factors on one another helped formulate several scenarios for managing knowledge hiding behavior in Iranian public universities using the fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) approach. This applied and explanatory study utilized a mixed-methods approach (qualitative-quantitative). Interviews were conducted until theoretical saturation was achieved to identify influencing factors, and purposive sampling was employed. Effectiveness of human resources management measures and knowledge management system, collaborative innovation culture and organizational justice are the most important factors in the FCM mapping model. These factors were used to formulate scenarios for managing knowledge hiding behavior. The scenario formulation showed that a combination of the aforementioned factors can play an important role in managing the factors that create and reduce the knowledge hiding behavior, such as workplace bullying, political decisions, organizational pessimism and ostracism, professional commitment, ethical leadership, organizational structure and emotional intelligence. The study introduces a systemic perspective to behavioral research using FCM, emphasizing causal feedback loops among variables. This innovation provides a multi-level understanding of how individual-level factors influence broader organizational outcomes, addressing gaps in prior research. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104865.html Unfortunately, it is unknown how Russian Zoomers form their purchase intentions towards co-branded products. The research goal was to advance a comprehensive framework of marketing stimuli that facilitate purchase intention of Russian consumers of Generation Z. Stimulus–Organism–Response paradigm and Theory of Planned Behaviour were integrated in the theoretical framework. 200 Russian representatives of Generation Z participated in a study based on hypothetical scenarios of collaborations between local Russian brands. Structural Equation Modelling and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were conducted. The results show that the influence of country-of-origin factor, cause-related nature of initiative and celebrity endorsement on purchase intention towards co-branded products is mediated by attitude and subjective norms within the organism stage of cognitive information processing. Meanwhile, the mediating role of perceived behavioural control was not statistically significant. If Zoomers perceive the design or social relevance of a co-branded product positively, they are likely to purchase the product. The study provides a theoretical contribution by integrating Stimulus–Organism–Response paradigm and Theory of Planned Behaviour to explore the relevance of co-branding initiatives for business-to-customers brands. Also, the research emphasizes a new perspective of the country-of-origin factor in co-branding studies. The study provides guidance for marketing and branding managers developing co-branding initiatives for Zoomers. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104961.html As global warming intensifies, transformative action is increasingly essential, with the banking sector playing a crucial role in fostering sustainability. However, the Pakistani banking sector has yet to adopt green initiatives fully. This study, grounded in the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity theory, investigates how green HRM practices influence green employee behavior, with environmental managerial support as a moderating factor and the mediating roles of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Employing a quantitative approach, data was collected from 385 respondents through surveys across six Islamic banking branches in Punjab (Pakistan). Data analysis was conducted via IBM SPSS statistics (version 26), using regression and process macro techniques. The findings reveal important insights into the relationships among these variables, addressing the previously unexplored mediating roles of well-being in this context. This research emphasizes the need for Pakistani Islamic banks to adopt green HRM practices as both a moral obligation and a strategic necessity for market sustainability. Additionally, the integration of green HRM practices enhances employee well-being and promotes green behavior, highlighting the importance of coordinated efforts between banks and managers to cultivate sustainable practices. Ultimately, this study offers valuable implications for enhancing the appeal of green banking initiatives within the Islamic banking sector. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_104963.html Complex national innovation systems (NIS) in developing countries need advanced analytical tools to identify and optimize key drivers of science, technology, and innovation (STI) policy outcomes. This study applies a hybrid machine learning framework—combining Random Forest, Support Vector Machines, K-means clustering, and Principal Component Analysis—to evaluate Iran's STI policy performance from 2010 to 2024. Drawing on multi-source data, including R&D expenditures, university-industry collaboration indices, human capital metrics, and innovation outputs, the proposed model uncovers nonlinear relationships among policy variables and prioritizes the most influential factors. The results reveal that R&D intensity, institutional collaboration quality, policy implementation coherence, and human capital development are the dominant predictors of policy success. By integrating soft computing methods and empirical policy data, this work offers a replicable approach for evidence-based policymaking in emerging economies. The findings align with recent advancements in AI-driven decision support systems and contribute to the growing body of research advocating for data-driven innovation governance. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_105110.html This study explores the potential of Metaverse tourism by addressing cultural and geographical barriers to traditional travel. Metaverse tourism may offer culturally appropriate experiences by enabling women to engage in global tourism virtually. Grounded in the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the research extends the framework to include emotional engagement and travel risk perception, offering a comprehensive understanding of user satisfaction in Metaverse tourism. Data were collected from 248 Omani women in a two-wave survey, analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results confirm that perceived ease of use and usefulness significantly enhance satisfaction, mediated by emotional engagement. Travel risk perception moderates this relationship, amplifying satisfaction when physical travel risks are high. The findings highlight that Metaverse tourism has the potential to support women's empowerment, aligning with Oman Vision 2040’s goals of digital inclusion and gender equality. The study advances TAM by integrating socio-cultural and emotional dimensions, providing a foundation for future research on Metaverse tourism in conservative societies. Limitations include the focus on a single demographic, warranting cross-cultural comparisons in future work. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_105190.html Tourism market polarization is one of the consequences of sanctions, boycotts, and economic or political obstacles. In recent years, many countries have faced increasing polarization in their tourism markets. This study aims to investigate the factors influencing Iran’s tourism market polarization, as a country under sanctions, where the level of polarization has more than doubled over the past decade. To achieve this aim, the analysis distinguishes between different origins of tourists. The study employed panel data analysis for 51 origin markets over the period 2009–2022, a method that combines time-series and cross-sectional data. The findings are divided into two categories. First, the results related to the main explanatory variables show that factors such as visa removal and the gravity index do not have a significant effect on polarization. While sanctions as a whole and the number of inbound tourists significantly influence the level of tourism market polarization. Second, the results of country-specific effects indicated that some countries have stronger influences on Iran’s tourism market polarization than others. By combining these effects with the volume of inbound tourists from existing or targeted markets, potential markets can be identified to help reduce polarization. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_105276.html The working environment influences employees and their work outcomes, but its effects may vary for individuals. There are many conditional factors that change the way the environment is translated by individuals, while gender is one of the most significant. Building on these lines, the research endeavor is aimed at investigating the relationship between fun at work and employee voluntary communication behavior (EVCB), with moderating the role of gender of employees. Data for the current study is collected at two points of time using questionnaires, where all in all 337 responses are used for data analysis. The hierarchical regression results reveal that fun significantly influences EVCB, while the relationship is moderated by gender. The findings highlight that female workers display more response for fun than their male counterparts. Implications are drawn from the study findings and future directions are also given at the end. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_105294.html Purpose:Service quality is a critical issue in online shopping and one of the main components shaping customers’ perception of value. This study examines how the quality of online and offline service systems influences purchase intention, emphasizing the mediating role of hedonic value. Method:Drawing on prior researchs, this study developed and tested a conceptual framework using the SmartPLS-SEM approach. Data were collected from 384 respondents with online shopping experience. Findings:The results provide valuable insights into how both online and offline service system quality affect purchase intention through hedonic value in an online retail context. Hedonic value emerged as a significant driver of consumers’ purchase intentions, while improvements in online security, privacy, and service levels were found to enhance purchasing behavior. Originality/value:This study refines the research objective and foregrounds the mediating role of hedonic value within a dual-channel (online–offline) service system quality model. Findings highlight hedonic value as a key mechanism through which service quality translates into purchase intention, revealing differences in the strength of indirect effects between channels. The study contributes to e-commerce literature by extending understanding of how emotional value mediates service quality effects and by offering practical implications for online retailers seeking to enhance engagement and loyalty. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_106672.html The present study aims to investigate the role of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven media exposure in shaping boycott intention and boycott behaviour during the Israel-Gaza crisis since the end of 2023. A questionnaire survey was adopted. Social media distributed an online questionnaire to respondents in some Indonesian provinces. Five hundred four observations were used in statistical analysis using a higher-order construct under CB-SEM with smartPLS 4. The result demonstrated the following facts. Boycott intention was directly affected by media exposure (measured through social media use and viral-recommended content) and indirectly by media exposure through perceived behavioural control. In addition, boycott behaviour was directly affected by media exposure and, indirectly, by media exposure through boycott intention. The boycott behaviour was successful because of the development of AI technology, which supports content recommendations for social media users through content-based filtering, collaborative filtering, and hybrid recommendation systems. The present study confirmed the extended model of social cognitive theory of media exposure, in which the role of the social system in affecting behavioural change was not well established. The present study has some academic and scientific implications. Moreover, the present study successfully combined the TPB model with cultivation theory and social cognitive theory. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_106823.html This systematic literature review examines how organizations utilize their internal resources to attain sustained strategic advantage (SSA) in a dynamic and competitive environment. The review emphasizes understanding the strategic mechanisms through which resources- including human capital, knowledge, routines, and digital infrastructure are implemented over the long term to sustain competitiveness. Specifically, the study seeks to⁠ investigate mechanisms through which firms transform resources into long-term competitive advantages, analyze methodological approaches in existing research, and highlight promising directions for future inquiry. The PRISMA 2020 and PCC (Population-Concept-Context) guidelines are utilized to yield 3702 records from a comprehensive search of five scholarly databases. By applying stringent inclusion criteria, 43 peer-reviewed articles published between 2017 and 2025 were included for review. The results highlight five significant themes: the move from resource ownership to orchestration, the integration of leadership cognition and knowledge, the development of hybrid resource strategies, sustainability as a strategic resource, and the contextual factors in emerging markets. The findings suggest that SSA relies on flexible positioning and adjustment of internal resources rather than fixed possession. Future research should address longitudinal, cross-regional studies and discover the roles of digital technologies, soft assets, and hybrid strategies to expand the consideration of internal resource leveraging. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_106827.html This study‎ presents new multiplicative models to evaluate and merge decision-making units in the production possibilities set with convex geometry and variable returns to scale technology‎. The first proposed model evaluates the decision-making units as non-radial and input and output-oriented and accurately identifies all Pareto-efficient and inefficient units. Then, in the second model, a new unit is formed by merging units with optimal inputs and outputs, based on predetermined efficiency targets; in this regard‎, ‎the contribution of each input and output from each merged unit is determined, and it is shown that the contribution ratio of each input and output is the same in all units. By using the new non-radial model, managers can manage the efficiency of all inputs and outputs of the newly obtained unit in the merger procedure. ‎In the numerical section‎, ‎the proposed models are employed to evaluate and merge banks in Iran‎. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_106859.html This study examines the impact of Political Connection on Capital Structure and Corporate Governance, and their combined effect on the Quality of Financial Report. The study used 97 Indonesian listed companies with over 10 years of operation, including those with political, family, and government ownership. Using random sampling and panel data regression, the study found a significant positive relationship between Political Connection and the Quality of Financial Report, proxied by Earnings Management using Modified J. Models. Interestingly, Capital Structure had no direct link to Earnings Management, but its relationship with Earnings Management became significantly negative when moderated by Political Connection. Regarding Corporate Governance, Board Size was negatively associated with Earnings Management, while the Proportion of Independent Commissioners had a significant positive relationship. When moderated by Political Connection, Board Size's influence on Earnings Management became significantly positive, whereas the Proportion of Independent Commissioners' influence turned significantly negative. The study concludes that political connections are a key strategy for management, often leading to financial report manipulation to benefit the company and its shareholders. Due to its limited scope (Indonesia, 2018-2020), the findings cannot be generalized to other countries. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_106860.html This study investigates the interrelationships among free cash flow (FCF), agency costs (AC), financial leverage (DA), and financial performance (FP) in Vietnamese listed firms during 2019–2023, a period marked by heightened uncertainty due to the COVID-19 shock. Using firm-level panel data and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), the study simultaneously examines direct effects, mediating mechanisms, and moderating roles. The results show that FCF has a positive and significant impact on FP and reduces both AC and DA. While AC does not exert a significant direct effect on FP and fails to mediate the FCF–FP relationship, DA has a consistently negative effect on performance and emerges as the dominant mediating channel through which FCF enhances FP. Although interaction terms involving firm size and firm age are statistically significant, their very small effect sizes indicate negligible moderating influence, suggesting broadly homogeneous leverage-related performance effects across firms. Overall, the findings extend Pecking Order Theory, partially support Trade-Off Theory, and challenge traditional agency-based predictions by demonstrating that financial leverage—rather than agency costs—constitutes the central mechanism linking free cash flow to firm performance in an emerging-market context. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_106862.html Boycott intention is an interesting domain of research and an exciting area to explore. The study is conducted to investigate the relationship between religious animosity (RG), ideological incompatibility (II), rumour (RM), brand hate (BH), boycott Intention (BI), Country of origin (CO), and market uncertainty (MU). Current research collected data in two time-waves over a period of three months and seventeen days, starting in February 2024. A convenience sampling method was employed to gather the data, and 307 final responses were analyzed. The results supported all hypotheses. It is noted that the positive effect of ideological incompatibility on brand hate is observed. Additionally, there are positive impacts of rumour on brand hate. It is also observed that brand hate has an impact on boycott intention. The results have also supported the partial mediation of brand hate. Moderation of Country of origin and market uncertainty has also been supported. The current research makes a significant contribution to a valuable understanding of negative consumer-brand relationships (CBRs) by examining the antecedents of brand hate and its moderators, including boycott intention. The current study also contributes to the body of knowledge by providing an in-depth explanation of the entire model based on social identity theory. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_106863.html In today’s dynamic work environments, job autonomy is often seen as a key driver of performance, but how and under what conditions does it truly deliver results? This study investigates the mechanisms linking job autonomy to task performance, drawing on the job demand–resources model and self-determination theory. Survey data from over 800 employees in five multinational companies in Italy were analyzed using linear regression. Results show that job autonomy boosts individual agility, which significantly enhances task performance. Moreover, organizational agility acts as a catalyst, amplifying the positive effects of autonomy. These findings underscore the strategic value of cultivating agility at both individual and organizational levels to unlock the full potential of job autonomy. The article offers fresh insight into how modern organizations can empower employees and drive performance in increasingly agile workplaces. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_106982.html This study examines the impact of CEOs’ decision-making horizons on dividend stickiness of firms. We test this framework using panel data from 1,140 firm-year observations of companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange between 2014 and 2023. The findings indicate that (a) longer CEO decision-making horizons are associated with greater dividend stickiness; (b) this effect diminishes in firms experiencing high earnings volatility or intense financial performance pressure, reflecting heightened manager–shareholder conflicts; and (c) CEOs’ behavioral traits are influential: myopic CEOs tend to reduce dividend stickiness, whereas risk-averse CEOs strengthen it, particularly in financially credible firms. These results remain robust across multiple sensitivity analyses. Overall, the findings align with agency and upper echelons theories, suggesting that managers with long-term decision-making horizons enhance dividend stickiness by aligning their actions with shareholders’ long-term interests and prioritizing stable, predictable payouts over short-term adjustments. By integrating CEOs’ behavioral characteristics with firm-level financial conditions, this study offers novel insights into how executive traits interact with environmental factors to shape dividend policy. It contributes to the literature on behavioral corporate finance and governance by highlighting the mechanisms through which top executives’ long-term orientation and psychological traits influence financial decision-making and corporate stability. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107106.html Purpose: This research investigates the impact of family ownership, cost leadership strategy, managerial narcissism, and corporate social responsibility on the speed of working capital adjustment. Design/Methodology/Approach: Data from 166 Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE)-listed companies from 2010 to 2023 were used to test the research hypotheses with multiple linear regression. Findings: The results showed that the speed of working capital adjustment varies significantly across industries, reaching 79% in industries with a high presence of peer firms, whereas 39% in the machinery and automotive sectors. In addition, family ownership, corporate social responsibility, cost leadership strategy, and managerial narcissism positively increased the speed of working capital adjustment. Originality/Value: Managers in family companies are more interested in preserving the company's capital and reputation, and they can make better investments toward long-term goals and maximize value for investors by optimizing short-term capital. Moreover, applying the cost management strategy can increase the company's revenues. Since adherence to social interests is highly important, it can yield higher profits in terms of reputation and income. In all the above-mentioned cases, managers' role as final decision-makers cannot be ignored, and their behavioral biases, such as narcissism, can affect their decisions. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107111.html This study examines the effectiveness of traditional asset pricing models—namely the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), Fama-French Three-Factor (FF3), and Five-Factor (FF5) models—in capturing skewness anomalies in the Vietnamese stock market from 2010 to 2023. Using long-short portfolios sorted by return skewness and employing the Gibbons-Ross-Shanken (GRS) test, we find that stocks with negative skewness yield significantly higher returns, while positively skewed stocks tend to be overpriced. The long-short strategy delivers an average monthly return of 1.25% with statistically significant alphas across all models. GRS test results (p < 0.01) further confirm that conventional models fail to explain these anomalies. These findings highlight a persistent pricing inefficiency in an emerging market context and underscore the importance of incorporating skewness into asset pricing frameworks and investment strategies. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107112.html This study aims to investigate a mediation model where Social Networking Sites (SNSs) use mediates the impact of self-expression and social acceptance on psychological distress, alongside a moderation model examining whether self-esteem affects the relationship of SNSs addiction and psychological distress. Using a quantitative research design with purposive sampling approach the study targets exclusively women on Facebook due to their specific SNSs engagement patterns and potential vulnerability to psychological distress. Data were gathered from 262 participants through online close-ended questionnaires. Validated instruments were used, including Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (10K) (α = 0.93), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (α = 0.934), SNSs addiction (α = 0.861), self-expression (a = 0.927), and social acceptance (a = 0.879). Descriptive analysis was conducted using SPSS version 21, while hypotheses were tested using SmartPLS 4.0. The findings revealed a significant positive relationship between self-expression and SNSs addiction, and a negative relationship between social acceptance and SNSs addiction. SNSs addiction was positively correlated with psychological distress. Furthermore, the self-esteem did not moderate relationship between SNSs addiction and psychological distress, possibly due to cultural and demographic factors. These findings highlight the need to mitigate the negative consequences of SNSs use and fostering better mental health outcomes. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107113.html The purpose of this paper is to investigate the antecedents of QR code payment adoption in Indonesia and its effect on users' impulsive buying behaviour (IBB). This study endeavours to extend the UTAUT2 model by introducing two additional constructs: personal innovativeness, and compatibility and the impact on impulsive buying behaviour. The survey was administered online via Google Forms, and 781 responses were received over the course of three months. This study employs partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Social Influence, Price Value, Habit, Compatibility, and Personal Innovativeness have a significant influence on the adoption of QR code payment in Indonesia. In addition, the adoption of QR code payment has a significant effect on impulsive buying behaviour. The results of this study can help the government in developing marketing campaigns and promotional materials that encourage customers to take advantage of QRIS. It can help future researchers understand the use of the UTAUT2 development model with additional variables of compatibility and personal innovativeness in analysing the use of QR code and their influence on impulsive buying behaviour in other developing countries with socioeconomic characteristics similar to Indonesia. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107114.html The limited evidence on the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education (EE) and its dimensions in emerging economies has raised concerns among stakeholders. This may be linked to differing entrepreneurial outcomes across countries, underscoring the importance of contextual factors such as Institutional Entrepreneurial Culture (IEC). This study examines the mediating role of IEC in the relationship between EE dimensions and entrepreneurial intention (EI) within Nigerian universities, where EE is considered crucial for reducing youth unemployment and fostering economic growth. Using a quantitative survey design, data were collected from 981 students across 10 universities through multi-stage and snowball sampling. The data were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The results indicate that curriculum content (CC) and faculty profile (FP) significantly enhance students’ entrepreneurial intentions, while delivery methods (DM) negatively influence EI. Moreover, IEC was found to strongly mediate the relationship between EE and EI, reinforcing the role of an enabling entrepreneurial culture in shaping behaviour. These findings stress the need to strengthen entrepreneurial culture within and beyond educational institutions to ensure EE translates into tangible entrepreneurial action. Future studies should examine informal aspects of IEC and assess its long-term societal impacts. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107115.html This study aims to empirically examine: (1) the effect of financial compensation on turnover intention, (2) the effect of supervisor support on turnover intention, (3) the mediating role of career adaptability in the relationship between financial compensation and turnover intention, and (4) the mediating role of career adaptability in the relationship between supervisor support and turnover intention. A quantitative approach was employed, involving a random sample of 347 employees from 17 consumer goods companies in the Greater Jakarta (Jabodetabek) area. Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results indicate that: (1) financial compensation has a significant negative effect on turnover intention, (2) supervisor support has a significant negative effect on turnover intention, (3) career adaptability mediates the effect of financial compensation on turnover intention, and (4) career adaptability also mediates the effect of supervisor support on turnover intention. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107119.html Enhanced Index Funds (EIFs) have become increasingly popular due to their ability to generate higher returns than the tracked index. This study introduces a customized EIF for the stock market, utilizing the blue-chip index, with the primary objective of generating superior returns while considering investors' risk tolerance. To effectively manage investment risk, a novel risk control index is developed, enabling regular assessment and appropriate measures to mitigate risk. The methodology aims to balance between risk and returns. Tradable funds were introduced to cater to different risk tolerance levels, providing investors with diversified options aligned with their risk appetites. The multi-NAV (Net Asset Value) fund structure is employed to lower operating expenses and improve returns, ultimately enhancing overall performance. The findings demonstrate that this approach yields returns proportionate to the level of risk undertaken. Remarkably, these returns surpass those achieved by the blue-chip index and the total stock market index, indicating the effectiveness of the proposed EIF strategy. Implementing the multi-NAV fund structure significantly enhances returns by mitigating operating costs. These results reinforce the importance of cost management in optimizing EIF performance and provide valuable insights for investors and financial practitioners seeking to maximize their returns in the dynamic market. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107148.html In an environment where financial crimes are characterised by increasingly complex structures, artificial intelligence is positioned as a technology with the potential to redefine forensic auditing. The present study employs a systematic review in accordance with the PRISMA 2020 protocol, with the objective of analysing how the incorporation of AI techniques transforms this practice beyond its operational functions. The analysis reveals a high level of disciplinary fragmentation and the absence of a cohesive conceptual framework, which hinders the consolidation of knowledge. It is imperative to comprehend that AI-assisted forensic auditing should not be perceived as an independent technical apparatus, but rather as a praxis that functions within the confines of institutional, ethical, and epistemological frameworks. This standpoint enables us to examine the conditions that legitimise its adoption, as well as the limits of its effectiveness. The study calls for a re-evaluation of the principles that guide forensic auditing in digital contexts. This is because intelligent systems are now being used, which demands new forms of analysis, control and accountability. The study does not propose immediate answers. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107149.html This study aims to investigate the impact of the level of disclosure on Related Party Transactions on Real Earnings Management in the Middle-East. We test three hypotheses on six countries in the Middle-East using a disclosure index that we developed based on the requirements of IAS24 and the indices suggested in prior studies. We assess REM through Roychowdhury's (2006) models. We estimate our panel data models with the GLS method. We estimate simultaneous equations models using 2SLS in robustness analyses. We identify a negative relationship between REM and RPT disclosure except for Kuwait, supporting the tunnelling hypothesis. In contrast, we observe a positive relationship, validating the propping hypothesis for companies involved in transactions with Associated-Companies or Joint-Ventures and in companies operating in key-sectors. Regulatory authorities, rating agencies, and auditors should distinguish between RPT used for legitimate purposes and those exploited to realize opportunistic gains, and increase intervention to minimize the latter. Although the tunnelling hypothesis is the most commonly used to explain the association between RPT disclosure and EM, we cannot validate it in all contexts. By scrutinizing uncontrolled entities, rather than focusing on controlled ones, we show that the propping hypothesis supersedes the tunnelling one for this special category. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107183.html Risk management is a cornerstone of organizational resilience in volatile environments, yet its scholarly development remains fragmented across theories, contexts, and methods. This study conducts a bibliometric review of 1,890 peer‑reviewed articles published between 1970 and 2024 in the Web of Science database, complemented by a structured conceptual synthesis of highly cited sources. It addresses gaps such as limited integration of behavioral and organizational learning dimensions, fragmented theorization, and weak translation of bibliometric insights into actionable design. Using co‑occurrence and co‑citation analyses integrated with the Antecedents–Decisions–Outcomes (ADO) and Theories–Contexts–Methods (TCM) frameworks, the study systematically maps antecedents, decisions, outcomes, theories, contexts, and methods, offering a unified lens for synthesizing quantitative and qualitative insights. The analysis identifies four dominant clusters: enterprise risk management, financial hedging strategies, supply chain resilience, and forecasting. Quantitative findings highlight their prominence, interlinkages, and temporal shifts, while qualitative synthesis reveals neglected intersections such as behavioral risk sensing and cross‑context validation. The study contributes to scholarship and practice by providing a replicable, theory‑driven framework for literature reviews, guiding adaptive risk management systems, and informing managerial and policy decision‑making. By integrating bibliometric mapping with conceptual synthesis, it advances resilience and strategic risk governance. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107201.html Despite the significant influence of both long-term and short-term financial objectives on real-world capital budgeting decisions, their simultaneous integration into optimization models has received limited attention in the literature. In this regard, a multi-objective model is proposed to maximize shareholders’ equity while minimizing violations of predefined financial ratio goals. The research introduces an accrual accounting system that distinguishes between liquidity flows and profit-and-loss accounts, incorporates the short-term interests of shareholders and the board of directors, and considers project financing from various sources at different interest rates. To investigate the business parameter uncertainty, multiple scenarios are considered, while a robust possibilistic approach is developed to solve the model. Moreover, a Pareto-optimal solution is proposed to analyze trade-offs among objectives and decision variables. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis of the conservatism level is conducted, and a comparison between accrual- and cash-basis accounting is provided to help decision-makers gain managerial insights. The findings reveal that greater conservatism reduces shareholders’ equity under both the accrual and cash bases of accounting. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107202.html Masstige‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‌ represents a different type of luxury consumption that blends the mass and prestige features. Luxury brands target consumers through masstige marketing that combines status, exclusivity, and price affordability. Despite research on masstige consumption has increased in the past, major studies still focus on products, leaving service contexts untouched. This study addresses these gaps by combining cognitive, social, and affective drivers to explain consumers’ intentions to use masstige hotels. Data was collected from a target population of Delhi NCR, a total of 717 respondents were targeted through purposive, non-probability sampling by using online and offline channels. Finally, for the study a total of 296 valid responses were analyzed using SmartPLS 4. Findings show that TPB constructs significantly influences positive anticipated emotions and intention. Further, positive anticipated emotions also have a strong and significant impact on intention. Finally, it was shown that positive anticipated emotions partially mediated the relationship between TPB constructs and intentions towards masstige hotels. The results suggest that hospitality managers can enhance consumer intention by fostering positive emotional expectations, leveraging social cues, and reducing procedural barriers across the service experience. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107239.html This research aims to investigate the factors that shape a destination’s image — specifically travel motivation, tourist experiences and experiences of harassment and how these factors are associated with tourists' behavioral intentions. Using a mixed-method approach, the research began with in-depth interviews of international tourists, followed by a quantitative study with 278 valid responses. A two-stage PLS-SEM analysis v.3.2.8 was employed to test the research hypotheses. Results indicate that travel motivation, memorable tourism experiences, and tourist harassment significantly impact the three dimensions of destination image (cognitive, affective, and conative). Both affective and conative images positively influence tourists' behavioral intentions. However, past experience does not moderate the relationship between destination image dimensions and behavioral intention. The findings of the study provide tourism companies and Destination Marketing Organizations with insights to help in designing targeted image campaigns that align with tourists’ expectations and develop strategies to enhance visitor experiences. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107240.html This study presents a Data-Centric Sustainable Financial Governance (SFG) Framework that integrates accounting integrity, audit assurance, tax compliance, and ESG principles. Conventional governance mechanisms often operate independently, resulting in fragmented management of financial information, limited transparency, and inconsistent regulatory application. To address these gaps, the proposed framework leverages Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine the relationships between Data-Centric Accounting Systems (DAS), Audit Assurance (AA), Tax Compliance Modules (TCM), and ESG integration (ESG) as predictors of SFG. A sample of 220 finance professionals from various industries was analyzed. Empirical results indicate that DAS (β=0.284, p<0.001), AA (β=0.325, p<0.001), TCM (β=0.241, p<0.001), and ESG (β=0.198, p<0.001) positively influence SFG, although the model’s explanatory power was limited (R²=0.874). These findings support the theoretical alignment between digital data integration and sustainable governance while highlighting the need for enhanced construct reliability and contextual flexibility. This research is novel in combining conventional financial functions and ESG-driven data analytics within a single empirically validated model. The hybrid framework identifies performance and data integrity gaps across audit and tax systems, promoting scalability, transparency. The study provides a robust, data-driven foundation for policymakers and financial institutions to advance effective, ethical, and sustainability-oriented financial management practices. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107241.html In brand-oriented organizations, employees' innovative work behavior is essential for sustaining competitiveness and achieving brand renewal. Drawing on ambidextrous leadership theory, this study examines how leaders' ability to balance exploratory (opening) and exploitative (closing) behaviors fosters employee innovation. Specifically, the study investigates employee voice as a mediating mechanism and creative self-efficacy as a moderating condition. Survey data were collected from 282 employees working in brand-oriented organizations in Punjab, Pakistan, and hypotheses were tested using Hayes PROCESS macro (Models 4 and 7). The results reveal that ambidextrous leadership positively influences innovative work behavior both directly and indirectly through employee voice. Furthermore, creative self-efficacy strengthens the relationship between ambidextrous leadership and employee voice, thereby enhancing the indirect effect on innovative work behavior. These findings advance understanding of ambidextrous leadership and offer practical insights for brand leaders seeking to stimulate employee innovation through balanced leadership, empowered voice, and strengthened creative confidence. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107242.html Entrepreneurial creativity is increasingly considered an information-based process. We employed the Serendipity-Mindsponge-3D (SM3D) knowledge management framework, an information-processing-based analytical approach for making creativity and innovation, to examine the entrepreneurs’ mental process behind creativity performance through the lens of the information process. Using Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics on data from 3,071 entrepreneurs in Vietnam, we found that entrepreneurs who gave more time to their startup efforts tended to develop less creative business models, products, or services. In contrast, greater knowledge level within an entrepreneur’s discipline (i.e., prior experience in business and management) and better connections to out-of-discipline knowledge (i.e., learning from the failures of others) were both positively linked to creativity. Moreover, open-mindedness amplified the positive association between out-of-discipline knowledge and creativity. Overall, the findings offer empirical support for the SM3D framework and contribute to a deeper understanding of creativity as a non-linear, information-driven processes. Practically, the results inform policies and strategies for fostering entrepreneurial creativity in Vietnam’s transition toward a knowledge- and innovation-based economy. The study also recommends future research to adopt an information-based lens to examine how the integration of scientific, socio-cultural, ecological, and business–economic knowledge streams shapes creativity and innovation https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107260.html Portfolio management is the strategic process of selecting, allocating, and continuously monitoring financial assets such as equities, bonds, cash equivalents, and alternative investments to maximize returns while managing risk. A key enhancement to portfolio performance and risk management is the use of derivatives, which provide tools for hedging, leverage, and strategic exposure. Among these instruments, options are a particularly versatile derivative that supports risk control, income generation, and advanced trading strategies within portfolio frameworks. Although options have important practical applications and academic interest in portfolio management, existing research remains fragmented and lacks a comprehensive overview of the field’s evolution and intellectual structure. Given the theoretical complexity and practical significance of this topic, this study conducts a detailed bibliometric analysis focused on the use of options in portfolio management. Using 690 documents from the Web of Science Core Collection, it applies a multidimensional bibliometric approach to map the knowledge structure and highlight the developmental trends and future research directions. The study aims to provide an overview of recent advancements while identifying emerging research trends that may guide future investigations. This paper clarifies the evolution of academic research at the intersection of options and portfolio management and offers direction for future research. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107301.html Purpose - This study aims to examine the connection between Fear of Pandemic Crises, Sector Commitment (SC), and Turnover intention (TI) in 5-star hotels in Nigeria and to examine the mediating effect of Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the relationship between employee perceptions of pandemic crisis fear and behavioural outcomes. Design/Methodology/approach - Data were collected from 150 employees from various five-star hotels. The relationships were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with bootstrapping (5,000 subsamples, two-tailed tests). Findings - The study results indicate that CSR mediates the relationship between employee fear of pandemic crises and SC. Furthermore, our study and analysis demonstrated no relationship between CSR and TI and no mediating relationship. Originality/ value - The study shows CSR partially mediates pandemic-induced fear’s negative impact on sector commitment but not on turnover intention. CSR restores employees’ sense of belonging to the hospitality sector and reinforces sector commitment, buffering attitudinal resilience but not behavioral withdrawal under high fear. This differentiation advances theory on CSR’s contingent role in employee resilience, indicating stronger effects on attitudinal (commitment) than behavioral (turnover) outcomes. It contributes to social identity and stakeholder perspectives by revealing CSR as a selective buffer in high-vulnerability service sectors. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107302.html This study examines how the four dimensions of absorptive capacity influence the sustainable performance of tourism villages in East Java Indonesia. The mediating role of visitor experience in changing the ability of village tourism managers to improve performance is also analyzed, particularly in terms of economic, social, and environmental aspects. This quantitative study employs a cross-sectional design. Data collection was conducted from July to September 2025, involving tourism village managers in five cities. The data were analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) version 3.3. The results show that acquisition does not affect visitor experience and the sustainable performance of tourism villages either directly, and through indirect mediation. Assimilation, transformation, and exploitation do not have a statistically significant direct effect on the sustainability performance of tourism villages. Rather the effects of these three variables are fully mediated by visitor experience. This study highlights the importance of systematically applying external knowledge to create an authentic visitor experience. The findings also provide a basis for policymakers to develop programs that have sustainable and measurable results in community-based tourism. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107356.html Integrating environmental sustainability into operational decision-making is a critical yet underexplored aspect of new product development (NPD) project management. This study introduces a simulation-based framework to evaluate the impact of prioritizing projects based on green product development (GPD) criteria on scheduling performance. The methodology combines multi-criteria decision-making with simulation; first, project alignment with six GPD dimensions (energy efficiency, recyclability, material sustainability, pollution prevention, form, and style) was quantified using fuzzy TOPSIS. Second, a discrete-event simulation model was constructed to compare the performance of a GPD-based rule against six established prioritization heuristics. The results demonstrate that prioritizing green-aligned projects yields a tardiness cost (1776.6) that is statistically indistinguishable from the performance of traditional, highly efficient rules like Critical Ratio (CR) and Earliest Due Date (EDD). This finding provides empirical evidence that the adoption of sustainability-driven scheduling does not necessarily compromise operational efficiency. The primary contribution of this work is a practical and replicable framework that empowers managers to integrate environmental responsibility into project portfolio selection, thereby bridging the gap between strategic sustainability ambitions and tactical project execution https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107461.html This paper proposes a novel hybrid framework for resilient supplier selection within the retail industry by integrating data mining approaches with MCDM techniques. Specifically, we present a methodological structure that effectively avoids rank reversal in supplier ordering, which has been a common issue in traditional methods. Our proposed hybrid approach comprises: (1) identify key resilience criteria for supplier selection in retail companies; (2) the Analytic Network Process (ANP) to weight these criteria and factor analysis to identify strategic resilient factors; (3) a K-medoids clustering technique to enhance the efficiency of the MCDM process; and, (4) the VIKOR method to rank the clusters. A case study involving a major retail chain is utilized to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed approach. The performance analysis is conducted in two parts. First, the results are compared with those from an ANP-VIKOR method for validation and verification, yielding a correlation coefficient of 0.856. Second, we introduce a procedure to assess the proposed method's ability to avoid rank reversal, resulting in a score of 0.83. Numerical results reveal that the proposed framework effectively addresses the complexities of resilient supplier selection in the retail industry, overcoming the limitations of traditional MCDM methods by preventing rank reversal. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107465.html This study provides a comprehensive meta-analysis of 47 quantitative articles (2014–2024) to synthesize these divergent results. The novelty of this research lies in its rigorous application of the DerSimonian-Laird random effects model to navigate an exceptionally high level of residual heterogeneity (I² = 99.998%), offering a more statistically robust generalization than previous fixed-effects syntheses. The results demonstrate that herd behavior exerts a significant positive influence on behavioral intentions (intercept 0.399, p < 0.001), particularly in emotional or high-risk decision-making contexts such as purchase and continuous usage intentions. The originality of this work further extends to its subgroup and moderation analysis, which identifies that the "herding effect" is not uniform; its strength is critically contingent upon contextual moderators, specifically socio-cultural dimensions (collectivism vs. individualism) and the type of media platform utilized. These findings bridge the gap between Herd Behavior Theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) by positioning herding as a dominant subjective norm. The study concludes that understanding individual decision-making in the digital age requires a nuanced consideration of these moderating factors to account for the complexity of social influence. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107466.html In the rapidly evolving landscape of startups, understanding the mechanisms that support entrepreneurial growth is crucial. This study examines the role of Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) in shaping startup ecosystem by exploring the relationships among access to resources, entrepreneurial perceptions, intentions, and development. It aims to understand how access to financing, networks, information, university support, and demographics influence perceived desirability and feasibility, which in turn affect entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurship development. Using a structured questionnaire, data were collected from 10 units of CFTIs (IITs & NITs) in India and their linked TBIs and analyzed through PLS-SEM. The findings reveal that access to finance, networks, information, and demographics significantly influence entrepreneurial desirability and feasibility. Entrepreneurial intentions and TBIs emerge as strong predictors of entrepreneurship development. The study provides original insights by identifying the distinct yet complementary roles of incubators, proposing an integrative framework that advances theoretical understanding. It offers context-specific empirical evidence and delivers actionable implications for practitioners and policymakers to enhance innovation, improve incubation effectiveness, and strengthen resilient and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107578.html The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between strategic HR practices, human capital, and public sector performance in Ethiopia. The authors use a cross-sectional study design and a quantitative methodology. The study employs structural equation modeling and AMOS to evaluate the hypotheses using a sample of Oromia regional public service organizations, directorates, team leaders, and employees (n=402). The results of the study showed a strong and positive relationship between strategic HR practices, human capital, and public sector performance. The study also showed that human capital fully mediates the strategic HR practices and public sector performance. Although the effect is less than that of the combined impact of HR practices, this study found that individual HR practices have a significant and positive effect on human capital and organizational performance. Keywords: Strategic HR practices, human capital, public sector performance, Oromia, Ethiopia https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107634.html Venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) have motivated significant attention from researchers over the past thirty years. Using an in-depth analysis of 2,386 research articles, we map the intellectual framework and rising topics in this area. Combining bibliometric network analysis, including co-citation, co-occurrence and bibliographic coupling, with Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modelling, provides a data-driven, complementary overview of the research landscape. Our analysis identifies and interprets five interdisciplinary themes: (1) Financial Performance and Market Economics, focusing on investment returns and economic impact; (2) Innovation and Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, examining the role of VC in technology development and new venture creation; (3) Governance, Agency, and Organizational Control, addressing investor oversight and value creation mechanisms; (4) Relational Networks and Strategic Alliances, exploring syndication and social capital impact; and (5) Firm-Level Transformation and Human Capital, focusing on operational and strategic changes post-investment. The study quantifies the influence of key publications, authors and conceptual pillars, and examines the distribution of topics in different time periods. We derive critical future research directions from our results, which have implications for researchers, practitioners and policymakers, offering a robust foundation for strategic planning and further academic enquiry within the VC and PE landscape. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107642.html Startup failure rates in Iran remain elevated despite ecosystem expansion. Existing research on startup outcomes has examined internal resources and external support mechanisms separately, limiting understanding of their interaction. This study applies the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem framework and the Resource-Based View to analyze startup outcomes in an emerging market context. The analysis draws on semi-structured interviews with founders of 253 operational startups and 96 failed ventures. The sample includes 103 accelerated and 246 non-accelerated startups. Interviews addressed venture development, team composition, product-market alignment, resource access, and ecosystem support. Thematic analysis identifies reported success and failure factors across groups. Accelerator participation is associated with reports of enhanced mentorship access, network expansion, and funding exposure but does not consistently differentiate outcomes when internal capabilities remain weak. Product-market fit, team cohesion, and adaptive capacity are reported as differentiating factors between operational and failed ventures. Market misalignment, team conflict, and resource constraints are reported as failure conditions. The evidence indicates that ecosystem support amplifies existing organizational strengths but does not systematically compensate for fundamental resource deficiencies. The study extends empirical evidence on entrepreneurial outcomes in emerging markets by comparing success and failure factors across accelerated and non-accelerated ventures within a dual-theoretical framework. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107772.html In the context of crowdfunding, it is posited that enhanced transparency and communication by financial institutions, such as banks and mutual funds, via detailed disclosures of managerial performance, articulated corporate objectives, and responsiveness to investor inquiries, significantly improve the comprehension of potential investors. This enhanced understanding positively influences their financial participation. The effect of social capital on the function of investment fund crowdfunding is examined through this study. Social capital is divided into three main types (structural, relational and cognitive) and the relationships between each type and crowdfunding performance are assessed by applying linear regression analysis to panel data of 50 investment funds from 2018-2022 (1397-1401 in the Iranian calendar). It is found that three types of social capital-structural (defined as the number of supporters), relational (defined as the fulfillment of commitments) and cognitive (measured by shared understanding) are all significant and positive to crowdfunding performance. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_107839.html This study investigates how social media influencers (SMIs) affect corporate reputation by connecting micro-level communication choices (narrative vs. non-narrative style and the presence or absence of sponsorship disclosure) to macro-level reputation outcomes, that earlier research has largely ignored because most studies have focused only on purchase intention or brand attitude. Using two experimental studies with realistic video stimuli and analysed through MANCOVA, the results show that when an influencer uses a personal narrative and does not disclose any sponsorship, followers rate the company’s reputation significantly higher. However, once a sponsorship disclosure (paid promotion) appears, the advantage of the narrative disappears, and corporate reputation is not enhanced. Mediation tests further confirm that narrative content lowers persuasion knowledge compared with non-narrative content, but disclosure activates persuasion knowledge and removes the protective effect of storytelling. This study bridges micro-level influencer communication with macro-level corporate reputation by extending signaling theory, institutional theory, and social learning theory. For practice, the findings offer clear guidance: companies can improve their overall reputation through influencer narratives only when sponsorship disclosure is absent or minimal. When disclosure is required, using a narrative style alone is not enough to prevent reputational damage. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_108084.html This article presents a systematic literature review of organizational resilience in business and management studies, with the aim of clarifying its conceptualization and operationalization at the organizational level. Following the PRISMA guidelines, 20 peer-reviewed articles published between 2011 and 2023 were analyzed using NVivo 14. The review reveals significant conceptual fragmentation: resilience is conceptualized either as an outcome, a capacity, or a dynamic process, yet the literature still lacks a unified definition and a standardized measurement approach. This ambiguity hinders theoretical development and empirical comparability. Nevertheless, thematic overlaps allow for a more integrative understanding. The study proposes an integrative definition of organizational resilience that combines the three dominant perspectives and introduces an innovative assessment framework based on robustness, recovery capacity, and antifragility, while also considering the organization’s overall level of resilience. This structured, multidimensional model improves the clarity and consistency of resilience assessment. Overall, the article contributes to the advancement of the field by reducing conceptual ambiguity and offering practical tools for empirical research, particularly in crisis-prone or resource-constrained environments. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_108085.html As the global fisheries sector continues to undergo rapid industrialization and commercialization, traditional fishing communities, particularly artisanal and small-scale fishers, face increasing marginalization. These communities, historically dependent on fisheries for their livelihoods and cultural identity, now confront significant economic and social challenges. Often undervalued and categorized as part of a low-income workforce, they risk being excluded from the evolving maritime economy. In response to these pressures, fishery tourism has emerged as an innovative and integrative model that combines traditional fishing practices with sustainable tourism, offering opportunities for economic diversification, cultural preservation, environmental education and community empowerment. By incorporating fishery-based experiences into the tourism sector, fishery tourism provides alternative income sources while promoting responsible marine stewardship. This review aims to examine fishery tourism's global development and potential by analysing case studies from various regions. The study will explore socio-economic, cultural, and environmental implications, identify best practices, and assess challenges in implementation. Particular emphasis will be placed on community participation, inclusive governance, capacity building, and cross-sectoral collaboration. The paper seeks to evaluate how fishery tourism, when effectively integrated, can empower marginalized communities and contribute to sustainable coastal development. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_108086.html This study examines how China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) related geopolitical investments shape tourist safety perception in conflict-prone tourism regions of Pakistan, and whether regional stability mediates this relationship. Grounded in geoeconomics theory, the study conceptualizes geopolitical investment in terms of regional connectivity, communication infrastructure, and tourism infrastructure. Data were collected through a structured survey of 328 domestic tourists visiting Gilgit-Baltistan, Swat, and Gwadar, and analyzed using SmartPLS 4.0. The results show that all three investment dimensions significantly enhance tourist safety perception, with tourism infrastructure having the strongest direct effect. Regional connectivity and tourism infrastructure also significantly improve regional stability, while communication infrastructure directly reassures tourists but does not significantly affect perceived regional stability. Regional stability significantly predicts tourists' safety perception and mediates the effects of regional connectivity and tourism infrastructure on it. The study contributes to geoeconomics and tourism safety literature by demonstrating that infrastructure-led geopolitical initiatives influence not only regional development but also the psychological conditions required for tourism recovery in conflict-prone destinations. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_108087.html The current research explores the integration of AI tools in teaching and assessment of EAP/ESP teachers working in Tourism and Hospital Management programs across Uzbekistan. An Explanatory Sequential Mixed-Methods Design was used, with two research instruments: a descriptive survey to collect quantitative data and semi-structured interviews to gather qualitative data. The study involved 48 EAP/ESP teachers from eight higher educational institutions, including four private and four public universities. The findings highlight a significant increase in the integration of AI tools in teaching and assessment practices to enhance efficiency, material development, student engagement, and creativity in EAP/ESP lessons. However, educators are concerned about the accuracy and reliability of the data, as well as ethical issues. Finally, the majority of the teachers face challenges such as limited access to technology, a lack of digital literacy on how to use AI, and insufficient institutional support and financial obstacles. The study findings reveal an urgent need for professional training on how to effectively apply AI in the teaching and assessment practices of EAP/ESP teachers. Institutional support should be provided to facilitate the integration of AI tools into their teaching and assessment practices. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_108113.html Consumer increasingly shifted to online platform during pandemic Covid-19. Thus, business must adjust themselves update with the alter demand to keep their business sustained. It aims to investigate the role of perceived effectiveness of e-commerce platforms (PEEP), regarding pandemic fear as moderating variable in encouraging sustainable consumption during the pandemic, in Indonesia. A great number of previous studies have explored e-commerce but limited research has examined how PEEP influences sustainable consumption through economic benefits (EB) under external pressure, such a pandemic fear (PF) in developing country. To address this gap, it applies Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT) to explain the mechanisms behind sustainable consumption through e-commerce platforms in particularly in developing country such as Indonesia. It applied qualitative method with online survey used for collecting 330 responses. Data analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings discovered that economic benefits positively mediate the relationship between PEEP and sustainable consumption. Nevertheless, pandemic fear does not moderate this relationship. It recommended that logical factors seem overbalance emotional concerns in formed sustainable online behavior. Extending UGT to the digital sustainability context, the study provide practical contributions for e-commerce platform and policymakers seeking to promote sustainable consumer engagement https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_108114.html In recent years, China’s cross-border e-commerce has grown rapidly in tandem with the Belt and Road Initiative, playing a significant role in foreign trade. The Belt and Road Initiative is a development policy by the Government of China that focuses on cooperation and connectivity between Eurasian countries. External factors, including inspection, foreign exchange management, quarantine, and customs, highly influence China's cross-border e-commerce. In this paper, China's cross-border e-commerce development model and challenges, based on the Belt and Road Initiative, are proposed using the Provider & Integrator Dominated Decision Model (P&IDDM). The P&IDDM model was used to collect the modelling time-series data, such as macroeconomic data, and to elaborate on the cross-border e-commerce development patterns, correlation analysis, and co-integration of affecting factors, with the help of the Belt and Road Initiative. The experimental results show that the proposed P&IDDM model enhances logistics construction data and e-commerce development among China's cross-border professionals. The proposed P&IDDM framework further supports innovations in production and distribution management by leveraging big data analytics to improve decision-making, logistics coordination, and cross-border e-commerce performance. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_108115.html Highway construction projects are essential for improving transportation efficiency and regional connectivity. However, project delays remain a major challenge that adversely affect project outcomes. This study evaluates project delays in the Sigli - Banda Aceh Toll Road Project Section 1 (Padang Tiji - Seulimum) using the Earned Value Management (EVM) approach and identifies the dominant factors contributing to schedule delays. A case study design was adopted using secondary data from project budget plans, weekly progress reports, and actual expenditure records, complemented by questionnaire data collected from 22 project personnel. Project performance was analyzed using EVM indicators, including Planned Value (PV), Earned Value (EV), Actual Cost (AC), Cost Performance Index (CPI), and Schedule Performance Index (SPI). Descriptive statistics were used to assess delay factors. The results show that the project maintained cost performance, with a CPI of 1.00, indicating expenditures remained within budget. However, schedule performance was below target, as reflected by an SPI of 0.91. Forecasting analysis estimated a project completion duration of 185 weeks. Land acquisition was identified as the most critical delay factor, with the highest mean score of 4.81. The findings provide practical insights for improving project control, mitigating delay risks, and enhancing highway project delivery performance. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_108133.html This study investigates the effect of working capital management efficiency on shareholder value creation, with particular emphasis on firms’ financial health conditions (healthy, financially distressed, and bankrupt firms) listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. Unlike prior studies relying on conventional working capital ratios, this research employs two efficiency-based measures—Efficiency of Net Working Capital (ENWC) and Efficiency of the Cash Conversion Cycle (ECCC)—derived from models combining Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and machine-learning optimization techniques. Using a sample of 136 firms over the period 2013–2023, efficiency scores were estimated through a Genetic Algorithm (GA)-based approach, and the hypotheses were tested using panel data techniques. The findings indicate that efficient working capital management positively affects shareholder value creation. However, this effect is significant only for financially healthy firms and not for financially distressed and bankrupt firms. Moreover, the value-enhancing effect of working capital efficiency is significantly stronger in healthy firms. The results suggest that financial health acts as a boundary condition in the relationship between working capital management efficiency and shareholder value creation. Overall, the study contributes to the literature by introducing efficiency-based measures of working capital management and demonstrating that the value implications of working capital efficiency depend on firms’ financial health. https://ijms.ut.ac.ir/article_108200.html This research addresses a notable gap in the existing literature concerning product branding for knowledge-driven enterprises within the Artificial Intelligence (AI) sector, specifically focusing on the application of ethical digital content marketing to enhance competitiveness in both local and global markets. The objective is to create and validate a model for the ethical marketing of digital content that aims to fortify the branding of knowledge-based AI products. Qualitative research was applied, utilizing snowball sampling to select 11 professionals, including university professors, senior managers, and seasoned content marketing consultants, until theoretical saturation was achieved. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and subsequently analyzed through thematic coding. The thematic analysis revealed five strategic pillars that are crucial for ethical digital content marketing: ethical alignment, organizational commitment, content leverage, background factors, and outcome metrics. The results highlight that overlooking ethics and cultural sensitivity in digital content, particularly on organizational websites, can significantly erode customer trust and reduce market success. This study addresses a vital gap by investigating ethical digital content marketing strategies for knowledge-centric firms in the AI industry, with the goal of improving their brand image of competitiveness on both national and international levels. The proposed framework provides a validated method for integrating ethics