This systematic mapping review examines how Decent Work (DW) has been studied through three complementary lenses: Precarity/Uncertainty, Labor Governance, and Career Adaptability. A search covering 2017–2023 across SAGE Journals, Wiley, Taylor & Francis, and ScienceDirect produced a final corpus of thirty-two peer-reviewed studies published between 2018 and 2023. Eligible studies used DW as a substantive construct, framework, outcome, or analytical lens; each study was assigned to one primary thematic domain for descriptive counting. The largest cluster concerned Precarity/Uncertainty (fifteen studies; 46.9%), followed by Career Adaptability (eleven studies; 34.4%) and Labor Governance (six studies; 18.8%). Precarity research foregrounded the structural production and lived experience of insecurity. Labor Governance research examined institutional rules, supply-chain power, worker participation, corporate governance, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) assessment. Career Adaptability research concentrated on individual resources and outcomes within unequal opportunity structures. The journal distribution suggests partial clustering across publication communities, although the review did not conduct formal discipline-level coding. The review proposes a non-causal macro–meso–micro analytical framework and an illustrative measurement schema linking objective employment conditions, perceived DW, governance mechanisms, and worker resources and outcomes. The findings support cross-level research designs while underscoring that adaptive resources cannot substitute for rights, social protection, worker voice, or enforcement.
The international movement of cargo by road in Central European land-locked countries is a very important consideration for their economies. On one hand, these activities represent a source of revenue for many firms and, for governments, an income stream through taxes. On the other hand, these activities represent negative external effects, such as congestion and infrastructure overuse. There is a definite close bond between international trade development and the business of transport, as goods need to be moved across national boundaries into foreign markets. The goal of this study is to explore the assumption that the economic situation of transportation firms in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and Austria would be similar. We chose these countries because of their similar market size, and we compared these on the basis of specific financial indicators during the period between 2012 and 2019. Our hypothesis was that the financial indicators of companies and their values would be similar across these countries. We tested our hypothesis using three indicators, namely return on assets, return on sales, and asset turnover ratio, using the statistical analysis ANOVA. The total number of active international road freight transport firms in the target countries was 1,759, of which we analyzed approximately 75%. The findings revealed there are differences in economic performance in each of these countries, and that further research about the economic situation of firms and the overall market in these nations is needed, using different approaches.
As Lebanon struggles with ongoing political and economic challenges, we examined how employees at both local companies and multinational corporations (MNCs) are faring in terms of job motivation. Using Expectancy Theory and Equity Theory, this research explores the relationships among the work environment, leadership, organizational culture, perceived economic security, and organizational policies and employee motivation in local Lebanese organizations and multinational companies. The study focuses on employee motivation as the primary outcome of the empirical analysis, situating its findings within the broader literature on workplace experiences during periods of economic instability. We surveyed employees using standardized questionnaires to gather quantitative data. The results suggest no significant difference in employee motivation between the employees of local Lebanese firms and those of MNCs. For the entire sample, motivation showed a positive correlation with the organizational factors studied. However, some predictors did not meet the standard thresholds for statistical significance in the multivariate regression analysis. Consequently, these findings should be considered initial and exploratory. We acknowledge the limitations of our sample size and the restraints of generalizing these findings. Nevertheless, this exploratory study provides practical recommendations to improve human resource (HR) activities and offers preliminary insight for future studies in developing economies facing similar conditions.
This study examines the emergence of embedded finance (EmFi) in South Africa’s financial sector, assessing whether it signifies a disruptive transformation or a gradual enhancement in financial service delivery. It aims to understand EmFi’s influence on financial inclusion, business strategy, and the broader financial ecosystem. Building on Christensen’s disruptive innovation theory, the study employs a qualitative methodology. It integrates a comprehensive review of global and local EmFi applications with expert interviews from South Africa’s financial industry. The analysis focuses on consumer engagement, business benefits, and challenges in relation to regulation and data protection. EmFi improves access to financial services by embedding financial products into everyday digital platforms, enhancing convenience and personalization. While it supports inclusion, it also introduces regulatory uncertainty and data privacy concerns. The findings show that EmFi is reshaping traditional banking, encouraging collaboration between established institutions and fintech companies within evolving regulatory frameworks. South African financial entities and regulators must adapt to EmFi’s growth using strategic partnerships, flexible regulation, and robust data governance. Businesses should reevaluate their delivery service to stay competitive. This research fills a gap in the African EmFi literature, offering practical insights for stakeholders navigating the fusion of finance and technology in emerging markets.
Since Gray’s extension of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions into the accounting domain, culture has become one of the most influential explanations for international differences in financial reporting. However, the widespread adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has raised questions regarding the continued relevance of cultural explanations in increasingly harmonized accounting environments. This study revisits four decades of Hofstede–Gray-based accounting research through a theory-building systematic literature review. Based on a sample of seventy peer-reviewed studies published between 1988 and 2024, this review synthesizes evidence on the mechanisms through which culture continues to influence accounting outcomes despite regulatory convergence. The findings reveal three dominant channels of influence: financial reporting transparency and disclosure behavior, professional judgment in the interpretation and application of accounting standards, and managerial reporting incentives associated with earnings management. The review shows that culture remains a significant determinant of accounting outcomes, although its influence has shifted from the development of national accounting systems toward behavioral and organizational processes. Furthermore, institutional quality, enforcement mechanisms, and governance structures are found to moderate cultural effects. Based on these findings, this study proposes a revised Hofstede–Gray framework in which culture influences accounting outcomes indirectly through behavioral mechanisms operating within harmonized reporting environments. The article contributes to the literature by integrating fragmented findings across multiple accounting domains and offering a contemporary theoretical perspective on the persistence of accounting diversity in the post-IFRS era.
