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"Ismail, Ismail J"
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New multicultural identities in Europe : religion and ethnicity in secular societies
\"How to understand Europe's post-migrant Islam on the one hand and indigenous, anti-Islamic movements on the other? What impact will religion have on the European secular world and its regulation? How do social and economic transitions on a transnational scale challenge ethnic and religious identifications? These questions are at the very heart of the debate on multiculturalism in present-day Europe and are addressed by the authors in this book.\"
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Seeing through digitalization! The influence of entrepreneurial networks on market participation among smallholder farmers in Tanzania. The mediating role of digital technology
Smallholder farmers have for a long time preferred to sell at the farm gate, where the prices have been very low compared to market places. This has been fueled by several challenges related to market participation. The purpose of this study is therefore aiming at developing an empirical understanding that uncovers whether digital technology can mediate the relationship between entrepreneurial networks and market participation. Entrepreneurship and digital technology are novel concepts in agriculture, especially for smallholder farmers. Therefore, this study presents new insights on how the challenges of market participation can be solved through entrepreneurial networks and digital technology. The study used validated items adopted from previous studies, from which the structured questionnaires were distributed to 298 smallholder farmers. In addition, structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse relationships in which digital technology was found to be a mediator of the relationship between entrepreneurial networks and market participation among smallholder farmers. Further, the study suggests that smallholder farmers can overcome challenges and increase market participation if they change their attitudes through training conducted by rural extension officers and embrace digital technologies by designing new or joining existing entrepreneurial networks.
Journal Article
Understanding the triangular theory of love in entrepreneurial ventures! Linking love dimensions to business performance through employee loyalty
PurposeThis study examines the mediating effect of employee loyalty on the relationship between love dimensions as adapted from the triangular theory of love and business performance of entrepreneurial ventures.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed structural equation modelling in data analysis. However, before conducting confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis, exploratory factor analysis was conducted because most of the items used were new to human resource management (employee–organization relationship), especially among entrepreneurial ventures. Additionally, a Hayes’ PROCESS mediation test was conducted to analyze the mediation effect of employee loyalty.FindingsThe findings suggest that love dimensions such as employee intimacy, employee passion and employee commitment have positive and significant relationships with employee loyalty. It also appears that employee loyalty plays a significant mediation role in the relationship between love dimensions and business performance of entrepreneurial ventures.Practical implicationsThe study’s findings have several implications. However, all of them are developed to include initiatives related to improving business performance through increasing employee intimacy, employee passion, employee commitment and employee loyalty.Originality/valueThe application of the triangular theory of love adds to human resource management and entrepreneurship literature. Very few studies have focused on the love relationship between employees and their organizations especially among entrepreneurial ventures in developing countries. Since in the current settings of business practices employees are considered as important internal customers, extending the triangular theory of love to employee and organizational relationships is critical, because creating an employee–job relationship is considered a short-term emotional feeling. Therefore, there is a need to look into a long-lasting love relationship between employees and their organizations. This is important for increasing employee intent to stay and loyalty within the entrepreneurial ventures.
Journal Article
Entrepreneurs' competencies and sustainability of small and medium enterprises in Tanzania. A mediating effect of entrepreneurial innovations
Many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) do not often survive beyond five years. The major challenge is the transition from the maturity stage to a sustainable stage. However, apart from a few studies done on SME sustainability with the majority engaged in SME performance, a gap has been identified in the body of literature, especially the exclusion of the mediating effects of key variables. This study, therefore, aims at looking into the mediating role of entrepreneurial innovations on entrepreneurs' competencies and the sustainability of SMEs in Tanzania. The study applied a cross-sectional design, in which a structured questionnaire was adopted to capture information from 384 sampled SMEs. The study used structural equation modeling (SEM) in doing a confirmatory factor analysis and a path analysis. The findings show that entrepreneurs' competencies have positive and significant effects on entrepreneurial innovations, and the effects of entrepreneurial innovation on SME sustainability are also positive and significant. The study further found partial mediation effects of entrepreneurial innovations on entrepreneurs' competencies and SME sustainability. It was found that establishing SME sustainability is the outcome of competencies and innovation. Therefore, this study's findings can help enrich the limited literature on competencies and innovations and increase the chances of SME sustainability. Further, the current study recommends providing key competence-based training that will help equip entrepreneurs with innovative skills for the sustainability of SMEs.
Journal Article
When love leads the way! Conceptualizing triangular theory of love and expectations-confirmation theory in Islamic banking
Purpose
This study aims to analyze the mediating effect of brand love (BRL) on the relationship between service quality and brand addiction (BRA) among Islamic banks. Past studies have noted that customer satisfaction as the primary means of studying customer behaviour needs to be reconsidered because even satisfied customer switch brands, and the dissatisfied customer have repurchasing intentions. Therefore, considering BRL and BRA can be a new way of studying customer behaviour in Islamic banking.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a structured questionnaire administered to 380 customers of Islamic banks. The study used structural equation modelling and Process Macro test in the analysis.
Findings
The empirical findings of this study suggest that service quality is positively and significantly related to BRL and that BRL positively and significantly relates to BRA. Furthermore, the findings indicate that BRL mediates the relationship between service quality and BRA.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this study have revealed that the triangular theory of love and expectation-confirmation theory can be combined to explain the relationship between service quality and loving relationships among customers of Islamic banks.
Practical implications
The study provides ways in which service providers can use service qualities to manage BRL and addiction. Based on the positive and significant relationships, managers of Islamic banks can build service qualities that are vital for creating BRL and BRA.
Originality/value
The link between service quality, BRL and BRA is not adequately established, especially in Islamic banking. This is important to be established because studying consumer psychology is currently considered a vital strategy for customer repurchasing and switching barriers in the modern banking business. Furthermore, integrating two theories, the triangular theory of love and expectation-confirmation theory, provide a new way of combining two theoretical aspects from different disciplines.
Journal Article
Learning orientation and response of micro and small food agro-processing enterprises to the customers' needs in Tanzania
Response to customers' needs is considered a key to success of micro and small food agro-processing enterprises. However, these firms tend lose customers as a result of fast changing customers' tastes and preferences in the market. Arguments are directed on the learning culture of micro and small food processing enterprises to appropriately capture and provide for the requirements of customers. This paper assessed the learning orientation of micro and small food agro-processing enterprises by specifically determine the extent to which learning orientation influence the response of micro and small food agro-processing firms to the customers' needs. The study employed quantitative method approach and a cross sectional survey design. A stratified sampling technique was used in the study, whereby data were collected using structured questionnaire from 302 owner-managers in Arusha, Morogoro and Dar es Salaam regions in Tanzania. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression. The findings revealed statistically significant relationship between learning orientation and response of micro and small food agro-processing enterprises to customers' needs. More specifically, commitment to learning was found to be positive significant related to response to customers' needs. Again, open-mindedness was found to be positive and significant related to response to customers' needs. Furthermore, the relationship between shared vision and response to customers' needs was found to be positive and significant. The results provide an implication that, enterprises with strong learning orientation are in better position to respond to customers' needs than enterprises with low learning orientation. This shows that, to be able to appropriately respond to the needs of the customers, the entrepreneurs need to put commitment in learning, open-up for new ideas and information and have a shared-vision which provide a clear direction for learning. This study advocates for policy makers and trainers to establish relevant tools to support learning environment for the micro and small enterprises to improve response to the varying needs of customers in the market.
Journal Article
Market participation among smallholder farmers in Tanzania: determining the dimensionality and influence of psychological contracts
PurposeSmallholder farmers in Tanzania were investigated in this paper to determine the dimensions and influence of psychological contracts on smallholder farmers' decisions to participate in the market.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through structured questionnaires, of which a cross-sectional design was conducted in central Tanzania, the Dodoma region in which 467 smallholder farmers were surveyed. First, a preliminary Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted by involving psychological contracts and market participation items derived from previous studies. This was followed by the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to verify the items obtained in the EFA. The regression analysis was then performed to test the causal effects of psychological contracts on market participation among smallholder farmers.FindingsThe path analysis revealed that transactional, relational, and ideological contracts have a positive and statistically significant impact on the participation of smallholder farmers in the market. Therefore, smallholder farmers have own set of expectations for participating in the marketplace. As a result, smallholder farmers' relationships with market participation decisions can be strengthened.Research limitations/implicationsThis study covered only smallholder farmers. However, future studies can include large-scale farmers, because psychological contracts and market participation difficulties also apply to them. This may increase the generalizability of the findings.Originality/valuePast studies have not extensively covered the psychological contracts in smallholder farming, especially in market participation. Based on prior empirical and theoretical research from other disciplines, the findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of the psychological contract framework and the significance of multiple psychological obligations between smallholder farmers and market management.
Journal Article
Imported or locally made products? Building customers' resilience to negative word of mouth (NWOM) about locally made products: Mediation of message quality in Tanzania
The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of word of mouth (WOM) attributes on the resilience of customers to negative word of mouth (NWOM) about locally made products when mediated by message quality. The study's findings contribute to a variety of areas. To begin, available empirical evidence has primarily examined WOM from a source perspective, with an emphasis on the message's design and delivery to receivers. Thus, it is necessary to study WOM from the perspective of the receiver, as the decision to accept or reject products is highly dependent on the perspective of the receiver (user). Further, available literature has not sufficiently connected the attributes of WOM with resilience to NWOM when mediated by message quality, especially of locally made products. This study attempts to cover that gap in knowledge. The study used a cross-sectional design involving 201 customers. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) revealed that WOM attributes such as expertise, homophily, and trustworthiness between the sender and the receiver positively and significantly influence the message quality, and that message quality influences the resilience of NWOM about locally made products. Furthermore, message quality was found to partially mediate the relationship between WOM attributes and resilience to NWOM. The findings have both theoretical and practical implications.
Journal Article
Supplier development and public procurement performance: Does contract management difficulty matter?
This paper investigates the relationship between supplier development and procurement performance in the public sector. Furthermore, the paper examines the moderating role of contract management difficulty on the relationship between supplier development and procurement performance. Using cross-sectional data collected from 179 public procuring entities, the main findings of the study are two-fold. Firstly, the relationship between supplier development and procurement performance in public sector is positive and significant (Ø = 0.2343 and p = 0.0014). Also, contract management difficulty negatively and significantly moderates the relationship between supplier development and procurement performance (Ø = −0.1447 and p = 0.0190). In this aspect, the influence of supplier development on procurement performance is negatively affected by contract management difficulties. The study contributes to the supplier management, procurement performance, and contract management literature by providing empirical evidence on the role of supplier development on procurement performance in developing countries like Tanzania. Also, the conditional effects of contract management difficulty on the relationship between supplier development and procurement performance matter. The study's findings have important implications for procurement practitioners in the public sector and policy makers.
Journal Article