Accounting is widely regarded as a complex subject, and traditional teaching methods often fail to fully engage students or enhance learning outcomes. This study investigates the effectiveness of gamification and vocational programmes as pedagogical approaches to improve student engagement and academic performance in accounting education. A quantitative research design was employed, with primary data collected from 254 undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled in accounting and vocational accounting programmes across India. Measurement scales were adapted from validated studies, and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied using SmartPLS 4.0 to test the proposed hypotheses. The results indicate that gamification has a significant positive effect on student engagement (β = 0.683, p < 0.001) but does not directly influence academic performance (β = 0.017, p = 0.448). Conversely, vocational programmes positively affect both engagement (β = 0.264, p = 0.014) and academic performance (β = 0.903, p < 0.001). These findings suggest that while gamified interventions enhance motivation, participation, and collaboration, practical and skill-based vocational training is essential for improving measurable learning outcomes. This study contributes to the accounting education literature by demonstrating the complementary roles of gamification and vocational programmes, emphasizing the importance of integrating motivational and performance-oriented pedagogical strategies. For educators and curriculum designers, combining gamified learning with vocationally oriented activities offers a promising approach to increase engagement, reinforce conceptual understanding, and prepare students for real-world professional challenges. The study also provides implications for curriculum design, policy development, and future research on hybrid pedagogical models.
Business ethics, Social responsibility of business
Purpose: This study aims at analyzing the leadership challenges that administrators in transgender partially inclusive schools in Punjab, Pakistan encounter. It seeks to investigate the effects of institutional, social, cultural and policy related factors in terms of their effects on leadership practices in these educational environments.
Design/Methodology/Approach: The research design of the study is a qualitative one based on the phenomenological approach to research the experiences of leadership in transgender partially inclusive schools. The sampling method used is purposive since it was used to select participants with first-hand experience on institutional leadership and teaching in these schools. The sample was comprised of 24 participants who were 12 school leaders/administrators and 12 teachers of 18 schools in Punjab. The collection of data was done using semi-structured in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and non-participant observations.
Findings: The results demonstrate that there are a few important leadership obstacles that influence transgender inclusivity schools to some extent. Social stigma and discrimination became key issues that affect the level of trust in the community, the rate of student enrollment and parental participation. The persistent financial shortages were found to be one of the major problems that restricted the growth of infrastructure, wages of teachers, and the stability of institutions. There was also lack of sufficient governmental support, and vague policy frameworks in relation to transgender education as reported by administrators. There was a low level of professional development opportunity among teachers and school leaders, which further undermined institutional capacity. Also, emotional pressure and administrative load were identified to have a significant effect on leadership performance.
Implications/Originality/Value: The research paper is a contribution to the paucity of research on leadership in transgender-based schools in South Asia. It offers useful lessons to policymakers and educational leaders who want to enhance the inclusive educational governance.
Melissa Liset Santos-Peláez, Karla Stefanny Huertas-Vilca, Franklin Cordova-Buiza
El objetivo de la investigación se orienta a determinar los criterios jurisdiccionales que se consideran para el otorgamiento de medidas de protección frente a hechos de violencia intrafamiliar en Latinoamérica, tomando como base de datos a páginas registradas como Legis Pe, Colectivo Derecho de Familia y Corte Constitucional de Colombia. La metodología aplicada fue proyectada bajo un enfoque cualitativo, de diseño no experimental y con un nivel descriptivo aplicando la revisión documental a través del análisis de tres jurisprudencias emitidas en procesos judiciales en los países de Perú, Argentina y Colombia. Según el análisis se determinó que, en Perú los jueces emiten medidas de protección extra y ultra petita aplicando criterios jurisdiccionales. Respecto a Argentina, se identificó que los conflictos de violencia contra la mujer se abordan bajo la perspectiva de la afectación a derechos humanos y la libertad individual que ello implica. Por otro lado, para Colombia, al dictarse medidas de protección, el órgano judicial se basa en el enfoque diferencial de género. Finalmente, se concluye que, en Perú, Argentina y Colombia, los órganos judiciales aplican criterios jurisdiccionales orientados a un fin preventivo, pues, se busca prever nuevos actos de violencia en cualquiera de sus modalidades.
Elisabetta Biondi, Chiara Boldrini, Andrea Passarella
et al.
Online social networks (OSNs) have transformed the way individuals fulfill their social needs and consume information. As OSNs become increasingly prominent sources for news dissemination, individuals often encounter content that influences their opinions through both direct interactions and broader network dynamics. In this paper, we propose the Friedkin-Johnsen on Cascade (FJC) model, which is, to the best of our knowledge, is the first attempt to integrate information cascades and opinion dynamics, specifically using the very popular Friedkin-Johnsen model. Our model, validated over real social cascades, highlights how the convergence of socialization and sharing news on these platforms can disrupt opinion evolution dynamics typically observed in offline settings. Our findings demonstrate that these cascades can amplify the influence of central opinion leaders, making them more resistant to divergent viewpoints, even when challenged by a critical mass of dissenting opinions. This research underscores the importance of understanding the interplay between social dynamics and information flow in shaping public discourse in the digital age.
M. González‐Rodríguez, R. Martín-Samper, M. Köseoglu
et al.
Abstract Corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices are considered one of the key success factors influencing firm performance. However, how CSR practices should be integrated into an organization’s business practices has not been investigated empirically. The present research proposes an integrated model incorporating the interrelationships among CSR practices, organizational culture, and corporate reputation to improve firm performance in the hotel industry. The proposed model is developed using stakeholder theory and the perceptions of the general managers. According to the study’s results, organizational culture influences different dimensions of CSR. The results further indicate that hotels using CSR practices related to employees and customers strengthen their reputation. Through improved reputation, CSR practices positively influence firm performance. Furthermore, hotel managers perceive that CSR activities in the local community and related to the environment do not significantly affect a hotel’s reputation. Theoretical and practical implications are provided, and the limitations of the study and future lines of research are discussed.
Oleh Pasko, Li Zhang, Edward Markwei Martey
et al.
This study aims to assess the intricate interplays between managerial ability, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and firm value, focusing on 3,498 company-year observations sourced from the RANKINS CSR RATINGS and China Stock Market & Accounting Research (CSMAR) databases representing China’s Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2018. Employing a rigorous sample selection process and utilizing data from reliable databases, the research employs a comprehensive methodology to explore the intricate corporate sustainability-related dynamics influencing organizational success and societal impact.The findings reveal a compelling negative correlation between managerial ability and CSR performance, corroborating previous research and suggesting potential challenges in reconciling managerial competence with social responsibility priorities. Furthermore, this paper establishes a negative correlation between CSR and firm value, with managerial ability influencing the magnitude of this impact, underscoring the significance of managerial skills in moderating the relationship between CSR initiatives and overall corporate performance. Moreover, the study uncovers a robust positive correlation between managerial ability and firm value, emphasizing the pivotal role of adept leadership in achieving higher corporate valuation. It provides valuable insights for practitioners, policymakers, and scholars, creating a conducive environment for well-informed decision-making. In the ever-changing corporate landscape, a deep understanding of these interconnections is essential to nurture business practices that are both sustainable and value-oriented.
AcknowledgmentThis paper is co-funded by the European Union through the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) within the project “Embracing EU corporate social responsibility: challenges and opportunities of business-society bonds transformation in Ukraine” – 101094100 — EECORE – ERASMUS-JMO-2022-HEI-TCH-RSCH-UA-IBA/ERASMUS-JMO-2022-HEI-TCHRSCH https://eecore.snau.edu.ua/Oleh PASKO expresses sincere gratitude for the support from the Kirkland Research Program, generously provided by the Leaders of Change Foundation established by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation.
The application of green prevention and control techniques (GCTs) is a vital measure for improving the quality of agricultural products and enhancing the safety of the ecological environment and agricultural production. However, realistically, limited by the small-scale, part-time and decentralized business model, the adoption of GCTs by family farms in China faces practical problems such as insufficient internal transformation force and ability, as well as low external supervision efficiency. To reveal the directions of promoting family farms' GCTs adoption behavior, we establish a comprehensive theoretical model through the application of a novel integrated approach combining two dominant psychological theories of behavior change: the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Norm Activation Model (NAM). We apply this framework to targeted research of vegetable growers in Henan Province in China using survey data (sample n = 653) analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM). The integrated TPB-NAM model provides insight into both internal motivation and external environmental conditions for farmers' predicted adoption of GCTs. First, internal motivation, value cognition and personal norms are all driving factors affecting the GCTs behavioral intention of vegetable family farms. When GCTs are driven by the dual motivations of “self-interest” (personal norms) and “others-interest” (value cognition), personal norms can be activated by two factors: awareness of consequences and responsibility attribution. Furthermore, social norms, capital endowment and government regulation are the pressure and obstacle factors affecting the GCTs application of vegetable family farms. Social norms can indirectly affect the application of GCTs by forming personal norms. In addition, there are differences between the influencing factors and mechanism of GCTs adoption behavior intention of family farms of different sizes. Based on this, we propose some specific policy suggestions from three aspects: enhance value cognition, improve environmental awareness and responsibility perception, fill in the shortcomings of capital endowment, and implement differentiated incentive and restraint policies.
This study investigates the critical role of entrepreneurship in driving the growth and success of digital startups, highlighting its significance in fostering innovation, technological advancement, and economic transformation. Using a qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten digital startup founders to explore the opportunities, challenges, and strategies shaping their ventures. The findings reveal that entrepreneurship enables startups to leverage technological advancements, access global markets, and optimize operational costs through digital tools, scalable platforms, and partnerships with accelerators and venture capitalists. Despite these opportunities, digital startups face significant challenges, including limited funding access, intense competition, and regulatory compliance issues. The research identifies effective strategies such as adopting agile methodologies, building robust networks, fostering innovation, and emphasizing leadership, team-building, and customer-centric approaches as critical to sustaining growth and achieving long-term success. By addressing gaps in existing literature that often focus on technological and operational factors, this study underscores the strategic importance of entrepreneurship in navigating the complexities of the digital business landscape. The implications extend beyond academic discourse, providing actionable insights for entrepreneurs to refine their approaches, policymakers to create enabling regulatory environments, and ecosystem stakeholders to support innovation. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of entrepreneurship’s transformative potential and its role in empowering digital startups to thrive in a dynamic and competitive global economy.
Business ethics, Social responsibility of business
Grasping the themes of social media content is key to understanding the narratives that influence public opinion and behavior. The thematic analysis goes beyond traditional topic-level analysis, which often captures only the broadest patterns, providing deeper insights into specific and actionable themes such as "public sentiment towards vaccination", "political discourse surrounding climate policies," etc. In this paper, we introduce a novel approach to uncovering latent themes in social media messaging. Recognizing the limitations of the traditional topic-level analysis, which tends to capture only overarching patterns, this study emphasizes the need for a finer-grained, theme-focused exploration. Traditional theme discovery methods typically involve manual processes and a human-in-the-loop approach. While valuable, these methods face challenges in scalability, consistency, and resource intensity in terms of time and cost. To address these challenges, we propose a machine-in-the-loop approach that leverages the advanced capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs). To demonstrate our approach, we apply our framework to contentious topics, such as climate debate and vaccine debate. We use two publicly available datasets: (1) the climate campaigns dataset of 21k Facebook ads and (2) the COVID-19 vaccine campaigns dataset of 9k Facebook ads. Our quantitative and qualitative analysis shows that our methodology yields more accurate and interpretable results compared to the baselines. Our results not only demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in uncovering latent themes but also illuminate how these themes are tailored for demographic targeting in social media contexts. Additionally, our work sheds light on the dynamic nature of social media, revealing the shifts in the thematic focus of messaging in response to real-world events.
Abstract Besides profit, which might be the objective of any business, firms have recently shown more interests toward demonstrating Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). As many firms are practicing CSR, they are increasingly realizing the benefits of adopting CSR as one of their main operations. Inspired by the increasing CSR practices of business firms, this study takes a practical step in implementation of a CSR activity. It develops a socially responsible closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) model that takes into account donation, as a CSR activity, and recycling of the used products for environmental sustainability. Considering the effects of selling price and social work donation (SWD) on demand, it develops optimal closed form solutions for three decentralized and a centralized channel structures. A comparative analyses is presented to find the best socially responsible environmental friendly decentralized channel structure. Furthermore, the channel coordination problem between the manufacturer and the retailer is investigated using two part tariff contract. The numerical analysis showed that among the three decentralized models, the model in which the retailer promotes and collects the used products from customers generates the best channel performance.
<p>The comfort of the urban environment is one of the key factors influencing the quality of life for the population. A particular focus is placed on examining small towns (with a population of up to 50,000 people) from the perspective of their suitability for local community living. In order to comprehensively study the issue of a comfortable urban environment in the Russian provinces, the dynamics of the urban environment quality index in a number of cities in the Vologda Region were analysed, and survey materials from local residents (n = 1400) were also utilised. It is argued that sociological diagnostics complements and reveals statistical information on problem areas in urban development, allowing for the development of a unified approach to overcoming these issues, taking into account the opinions of the residents themselves. The study concluded that over the past five years, the development of small towns in the region has shown a positive trend, with an increase in the urban environment quality index being observed. However, based on the data for 2022, only 4 out of 13 small towns (Veliky Ustyug, Kharovsk, Totma, Sokol) can be considered as having a favourable urban environment. According to statistical data, the most problematic areas of the urban environment in small areas are social and recreational infrastructure and public business infrastructure. According to the opinions of residents, the quality of medical and educational services and housing availability are also significant issues. More positively, the environmental situation is evaluated in cities (as indicated by the index indicators and local residents’ judgments), as well as the level of safety and crime rates. Despite the presence of problematic areas in the development of small towns and their lag in terms of living comfort, the overall attitude of the local community toward their place of residence is positive, with a willingness to take responsibility for the city’s development. The results obtained serve as a basis for the policy of preserving and developing small areas, addressing social contradictions, and establishing promising directions for creating a comfortable living environment in these areas, taking into account the opinions and participation of the local community in these processes.</p>
Sociology (General), Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology
HamidReza Ganji, Mehran Jahandoust Marghoub, Vahid Menati
et al.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) concept is closely related to the notion of sustainable development, and the outcome of the sustainable development approach is specific consideration to disclosure and reporting of CSR. One factor that is less considered in the Iranian economic environment and research is the competitive nature of the product market in today's highly competitive and sensitive environment. So, the main aim of this paper is to investigate the moderating effect of competition in the product market on the debts ratio and the CSR relation among companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. The independent variable in this study is CSR, and the dependent variable is the debts ratio. In order to investigate this issue, the research sample was determined using the systematic elimination method, and 97 companies were selected for seven years from 2012 to 2018. Multivariate regression was used to analyze the data and test the hypothesis. For this purpose, the output-oriented BCC model has been used to measure companies' CSR, and the Lerner index has been used to represent competition in the product market. The results show that high competition in the product market moderates the relationship between CSR and debts ratio. In other words, when competition in the product market is high, Firms adopt lower debt ratios by fulfilling their social responsibilities. The investigation of the moderating effect of the competition is the distinguishing feature of our research compared to other studies. Therefore, players of industry, business, creditors, and investors should pay attention to the intensity of competition in the market.
Mojtaba Eshghie, Wolfgang Ahrendt, Cyrille Artho
et al.
Logical flaws in smart contracts are often exploited, leading to significant financial losses. Our tool, HighGuard, detects transactions that violate business logic specifications of smart contracts. HighGuard employs dynamic condition response (DCR) graph models as formal specifications to verify contract execution against these models. It is capable of operating in a cross-chain environment for detecting business logic flaws across different blockchain platforms. We demonstrate HighGuard's effectiveness in identifying deviations from specified behaviors in smart contracts without requiring code instrumentation or incurring additional gas costs. By using precise specifications in the monitor, HighGuard achieves detection without false positives. Our evaluation, involving 54 exploits, confirms HighGuard's effectiveness in detecting business logic vulnerabilities. Our open-source implementation of HighGuard and a screencast of its usage are available at: https://github.com/mojtaba-eshghie/HighGuard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZYVV-slDaY