University students’ readiness for the knowledge-based economy: Rethinking the strategic role of higher education

This paper studied the influence of strategic human resource management on human capital development through the mediation of employee commitment. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used to collect data from 514 participants (medical staff) from five hospitals in northern Jordan. The hospitals involved were from different sectors, including governmental, private, and university hospitals. Several analysis methods were used in the study: Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), discriminant validity, and composite reliability. Direct and indirect hypothesis testing was also utilized using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The study showed that the practice of strategic human resource management had a direct positive impact on employee commitment; the practice of strategic human resource management had a direct positive impact on human capital development; the impact of employee commitment on human capital development was positive and direct; employee commitment has a partial mediating effect between both of them. Accordingly, HR managers in hospitals should move from “softer” responsibilities and traditional HR activities to a more strategic level (i.e., developmental strategy), where HR strategies are aligned and reinforce the hospital’s vision and mission and link organizational strategy to HR strategies. Healthcare managers should invest more in human capital through formal education and training.

Acknowledgments
The Deanship of Research at Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) in Jordan is acknowledged by authors for providing facilities through the research No. 488/2020 and research environment to accomplish the goals of this work. The authors thank Professor Fareed Nusair at the Department of Health Management & Policy, the Faculty of Medicine.

Almost all human activity spheres, from the health care system to the education system, were unprepared for the pandemic. This, in turn, has slowed down the progress in achieving sustainable development goals. The Sustainable Development Goals 4 “Quality Education” and 8 “Decent Work and Economic Growth” were particularly vulnerable. In addition, the widespread concern was caused in the context of the transition to a “knowledge-based economy”. This paper analyzes the readiness of the scientific community to provide preconditions for the acceleration of these SDGs achievements. To do this, a meta-analysis of the academic literature on SDG 4, SDG 8, and the knowledge-based economy during 2015–2021 was conducted. Several special methods and instruments were used, including Scopus, WoS, VosViewer, Publish or Perish, Google Trends, and Google Books Ngram Viewer. The results show the inability of the modern academic community to provide a theoretical and empirical framework for a successful transition to a knowledge-based economy, taking into account the need to achieve sustainability. This is partly due to the relative subject novelty and the lack of academic attention. The challenges posed by the pandemic (lockdowns, unemployment, closing of educational institutions, financial flows reorientation, etc.) together with potential threats (new pandemic, climate change, population displacement, armed conflicts, etc.) necessitate a radical intensification of academic activity in economics to achieve SDGs.

The paper strives to investigate the influential factors that might significantly affect consumers’ intention to shop from online websites. On this premise, this paper aims to examine the impact of perceived trust (PT), convenience (CONV), perceived website quality (PWQ), and subjective norm (SN) on individuals’ intention towards online shopping (ITOS). The paper proposed a study framework based on previous relevant literature. The study has drawn samples from private university students of Bangladesh. A quantitative research approach was adopted, followed by a survey method. Only undergraduate and postgraduate students of two Bangladeshi universities were considered as respondents as it is believed that they were the primary online shoppers in Bangladesh perspective. The sample size in this paper is 339, which was deemed adequate to run regression analysis. SPSS software has been utilized to conduct correlation and regression analysis. The convenience sampling method was applied in the study as the population is not known. This paper applied a 95% confidence interval to accept the hypotheses. Correlation results confirm that all independent variables correlated with ITOS. The findings of the paper report that PT, CONV, PWQ, and SN have a significant impact on students’ intention towards online shopping (ITOS). Henceforth, the online business managers can utilize the findings of this paper to understand the young consumer behaviors and develop a solid and effective online marketing plan for sustainable business performance.