The purpose of the current study is to investigate the role of the Islamic financial system in recovery post-COVID-19 and the way Fintech can be utilized to combat the economic reverberations created by COVID-19. The global financial crisis of 2008 has established the credentials of the Islamic financial system as a sustainable financial system which can save the long run interests of the average citizens around the world while adding value to the real economy. The basic ethical tenets available in the Islamic financial system make it more suited and readymade to fight the economic aftershocks of a pandemic like COVID-19. The basic principles of ethical Islamic finance have solid connections to financial stability and corporate social responsibility within the wide-reaching business context. With the emergence of Financial technology (Fintech) it has provided a missing impetus to the Islamic financial system to compete on equal ground with its conventional counterpart and prove its mettle. The study uses discourse analysis along with the content analysis to extract content and draw a conclusion. The findings of the study indicate that COVID-19 pandemic has provided the opportunity for the social and open innovation to grow and finance world have turned to open innovation to provide a speedy, timely, reliable, and sustainable solution to the world. The findings of the study provide significant implications for governments and policy makers in efficient application of Fintech and innovative Islamic financial services to fight the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Novel Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, is a health emergency that is having an ever-growing impact on the global economy. COVID-19 has caused economic disruption at an unprecedented speed and scale. The economic costs it will bring to society can only be measured in times to come. Millions of people across the globe have already become unemployed, and similarly, millions of businesses have either shut down or are on the verge of collapse. It is a great challenge for policymakers to minimize the economic impact of COVID-19 and put the economy on a growth trajectory once again. Unfortunately, there is so far no country in the world that can be viewed as a role model for its economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study proposes Islamic finance as a potential tool to help affected economies safely pass through the economic crisis resulting from the pandemic. This study identifies a four-stage COVID-19 model and proposes ten innovative Islamic financial services for each stage of the pandemic. In addition, it analyzes how these services can be effectively utilized at different stages to overcome the economic damage caused by the pandemic.

Distress in online classrooms and problematic internet use are two issues that have caused student burnout and affect perceived learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the high pressure placed on students throughout COVID-19, it is critical to understand the influence of problematic internet use (PIU), psychological stress, academic burnout, and resilience on perceived learning (PL). A cross-sectional analytical study was chosen to collect data from 350 learners pursuing undergraduate and postgraduate business/management degrees in Karnataka, India. The data were analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) and Smart PLS 3. The present study reports a non-significant negative total effect of stress on PL, while there was a significant positive direct effect but a significant indirect negative effect of multiple mediators, namely PIU, burnout, and resilience. In the relationship between stress and PL, burnout has full competitive mediation, and the suppressive effect of burnout and resilience wipes out the beneficial benefit of stress on PL, resulting in reduced PL. As a societal problem, a change in educational policy and prevention strategies for students and organizations (reducing the number of courses, number of exams, and handling parental expectations) would be effective. Emotional intelligence to improve resilience, which assists students in sailing through a current challenging situation and using IT for reducing negative and unexpected emotional outbursts should be encouraged.

In the present era, women-owned firms are one of India’s fastest increasing entrepreneurial communities in the form of women entrepreneurs. The objective of the study is to identify the factors that influence women’s entrepreneurial orientation and firms’ performance. The research study discusses the influencing factors and their effect on firms’ performance and satisfaction in this regard. The proposed framework and hypotheses have been tested using data gathered from boutiques, beauty parlors, carpet manufacturers, and retail shops in Karnataka, India. Data analysis was done using univariate, bivariate, and multivariate techniques. In Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), paths were created for evaluating the cause-and-effect relationship between different factors viz., social, psychological, financial, and resource factors and entrepreneurial performance and satisfaction. Seven relationships were significant, while two relationships were insignificant in this structural equation. The key finding of the paper is that all factors have a significant impact on the firm’s performance. The implications of research results for researchers and practitioners are discussed, and suggestions have also been made.

No abstract

No abstract

The impact of COVID-19 has revamped all aspects of human life including education sector, and it has completely changed the educational environment across the globe. Due to the pandemic, the methodical functions of educational institutions have stopped, and new phases have started like online class, online evaluation, and indoor activities. Students are the vital players in education sector, and their opinions play an indispensable role while formulating the policies by the government. In the pandemic, students’ perspective on education environment finds new dimension. Therefore, this paper has made an honest attempt to know the coastal Karnataka students’ stance on college educational environment. In this study, six major components of education environment are considered, namely (1) online class, (2) teaching and learning, (3) evaluation, (4) college administration, (5) extracurricular activities, and (6) teachers. The study is descriptive in nature, and data was collected from 347 college students of Coastal Karnataka. To support the main objective, a hypothesis has been developed with the help of review of literature and is tested by using ANOVA and independent t-test. The path analysis is used to analyze the casual relationships among components of college educational environment, overall perception, and student performance. The result of the study found that the college students have positive perception towards online class (M=3.14), teaching and learning (M=3.704), evaluation (M=3.38), college and administration (M=3.83), extracurricular activities (M=3.87), and teachers (M=3.63). The result of the hypothesis testing revealed that there is no significant difference in the student perception towards various components of college education system. Path analysis results show that there is relation and effect between components of college education, overall perception, and students’ performance. The study concludes that students agree with policies and actions taken by colleges to carry out classes during COVID-19 pandemic irrespective of demographic and educational difference.

Having a positive environment and enforcement in a social-political economy is necessary to poster an effective entrepreneurial climate. The passion for self-startups and risk-taking attitude are entrepreneurs’ traits with effective motivations, innovation, creativity, persistence, and flexibility. This helps the entrepreneur succeed and excel in their business. The success of a new project adventure is a crucial matter in business and investment. The literature review revision allows detecting the most attractive factors, the main reasons for startup failure, and the challenges facing entrepreneurs and new projects. This review paper enlightens Bahrain’s entrepreneurship ecosystem’s attractiveness and argues how the economy in the Kingdom of Bahrain encourages startup companies to establish and develop their business. The analysis results illustrate that the Government of Bahrain’s support system with effective public institutions and encouraging society are significant factors contributing to the success of the startup project. Nourishment extended by the government institutions and other supportive organizations like Tamkeen, Injaz, and EDB simplifies the formation of startup projects and support their sustainable growth. Analyzing the most common reasons for startup failure, the paper presents the proposed solutions to avoid these traps. It suggests the appropriate bodies in the entrepreneurship ecosystem, supporting and helping entrepreneurs overcome these difficulties.