International Journal of Technology Management & Sustainable Development - Current Issue

Building on strategic framing and sustainability communication research, this article finds that trust in firms’ sustainability commitment varies with differing evaluative mental models across stakeholders, such as investors, customers and the general public. Stakeholders’ perceived trust depends on their level of expertise and firms’ ways of framing their sustainability narratives. Using publicly available data of firms’ sustainability communications and experimental survey data of 300 participants, this study shows that firms benefit from deploying sustainability narrative framing strategies congruent with audiences’ mental models. Experts, such as sustainability or industry experts, appreciate sustainability narratives framed in concrete ‘how’ terms, while non-experts, i.e., laypeople, are more receptive to abstract ‘why’ terms. The study offers insights into and a framework based on the fieldwork on how managers may use framing tactics to improve the odds of achieving the desired perception of their sustainability narratives towards different stakeholders.

Based on blockchain technology, smart contracts promise to revolutionize the way parties legally agree. Smart contracts could enable tourism service providers to trade directly with customers bypassing some intermediaries. The study aims at identifying the provided services, economic impact, partners, popularity, technical and technological factors of smart contract applications in various tourism areas. It investigates ten popular smart contract applications that cover a wide spectrum of tourism areas such as hotel reservations, airline tickets, car rentals, payment management, reward programmes, traveller identity, luggage tracking, validity of reviews and ratings and more. These applications are analysed with respect to their purpose, business model, economic impact, partners, provided services, popularity, as well as what cryptocurrency and blockchain they use. Smart contracts enable time and transaction cost savings, convenience, flexibility, security, trust, ease verification of personal data and more. Most applications gained popularity mainly during 2018–19. Almost every application uses a different cryptocurrency. Ethereum is the most popular platform followed by Hyperledger Fabric and Stellar. The development of a universal legislation as well as interoperability is a necessity for the wide adoption of smart contracts.

The present study investigates how increasing bank accounts and bank concentration affect mobile money innovations in 148 countries. It builds on scholarly and policy concerns in the literature that increasing bank accounts may not be having the desired effects on financial inclusion on the one hand and on the other, that bank concentration which is a proxy for market power is a relevant mobile money innovation demand factor. The empirical evidence is based on Tobit regressions. From the findings, it is apparent that boosting bank accounts is positively related to the three mobile money innovations (i.e. mobile bank accounts and the mobile phone used to send money). Moreover, some critical levels of bank account penetration require complementary policies in order to maintain the positive relationship between boosting bank accounts and positive outcomes in terms of money mobile innovations. Conversely, financial inclusion in terms of the three mobile money innovations is not significantly apparent upon enhancing bank concentration. Policy implications are discussed in the light of the provided thresholds for complementary policies.

COVID-19 imposed a lockdown on all economic and social activities and contemporary organizations adapted to the challenge by shifting to a remote working model and individuals struggled for work–life balance. The purpose of this article is to systematically review the literature on work–life balance during a pandemic and comprehensively analyse the quality of work–life problems that are associated with it. Twenty-seven articles published between 2019 and 2021 were selected for review from Scopus and Web of Science (WOS) based on the research questions framed in the study. A four-step process suggested by Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines was used to perform the scoping literature review (SLR). The findings of the review highlight the emerging gender inequalities with a focus on how this phenomenon has evolved during a pandemic. The article makes an important contribution by reporting gender disparity concerning each gender issue related to work–life balance raised during COVID-19. The review also synthesizes the finding of previous studies by identifying the top contributing authors, most influential journals, and co-citation analysis and cluster analysis. Additionally, content analysis and cluster analysis based on multiple correspondence analyses were performed that confirm the two important clusters highlighting gender issues. We conclude the review by proposing various research directions.