Business Perspectives and Research, Ahead of Print.
This article aims, in the context of financial liberalization, to examine the impact of several internal and external factors in relation to the profitability of banks listed on the Moroccan stock exchange. The study uses the panel data method on a sample of the six banks with the largest market shares over the 2010–2019 period to investigate the influence of ownership structure, bank governance, capital structure, prudential regulation, and also a macroeconomic variation on bank profitability. Accordingly, the empirical results indicate a negative relationship between concentration, foreign ownership, and bank profitability. Further, high capital structure ratios, especially solvency, liquidity, and capitalization ratios appear to have an undesirable effect on the performance of Moroccan banks. In contrast, the impact of domestic institutional ownership is positive, implying that profitability is more favored by domestic ownership than by foreign ownership. Our findings also highlight the importance of independent directors and board size. Therefore, liberalizing ownership and opening up the board to the expertise of outside directors is essential for the banking sector’s development.In terms of policy implications, central banks and regulators need to ensure that banks rigorously adhere to specified leverage and fixed capital adequacy ratios while ensuring optimal liberalization for bank performance.

Business Perspectives and Research, Ahead of Print.
Scales are developed with rigorous theoretical and statistical procedures, and they play a paramount role in the predictions of the outcome of constructs. However, it was found in the extant literature that the development of several scales was done without adherence to standard practices. This article aims to critically review the procedures used for the scales developed in the context of online consumers, highlight limitations, discuss their implications, and recommend the best practices for future research. Scale development studies published in journals indexed in reputed international databases were selected for meta-synthesis. The present study analysis was divided according to the primary stages of the scale development process namely development, data collection, analysis, and reporting. Common issues, such as unsuitable qualitative analysis methods, improper sampling technique, sample size, sample composition, and non-adherence to the reporting standards were recorded. At the end of this study, 15 recommendations were formulated, which would help strengthen the future scale development process in the context of online consumers.

Business Perspectives and Research, Ahead of Print.
This paper aims to analyze the investor’s perspective toward municipal bonds and to inspect the success potential of municipal bonds in India from 2010 to 2020. The research’s conceptual model is drawn using PLS-SEM for the factors impacting investor decisions toward investment in bonds issued by urban local bodies in India. Results show that “credit rating,” “yields,” “tax benefit,” and “financial soundness” significantly affect the choice of investment in municipal bonds by retail investors. However, “transparency,” “liquidity,” and “investor awareness” are not found to be significant. Bond issuers can use the model to recognize the factors impacting investors’ prioritization for investments in municipal bonds, which can also help them target a bigger investor base. The study relies on subjective data provided by retail investors and may not be the clear-cut performance indicators. The limitation of the time frame for the study over 10 years will restrict the results specifically for that period. The importance of retail investors in developing countries’ municipal bond markets has been overlooked. The study’s key contribution will be to assist and empower new retail investors to have confidence in participating in this fixed-income financial instrument.

Business Perspectives and Research, Ahead of Print.
The small savings scheme plays a vital role in mobilizing savings for the economy, and the post office provides a variety of products to people to promote a savings habit. The current research attempts to analyze the moderation effect of financial consultants in relationship between the small savings scheme of the post office, financial literacy and behavior, and the savings habit of people. The study exhibits a significant positive impact of predictors and moderation variables on savings habits. In this regard, a two-phase structural equation modeling (SEM) has been employed to validate the hypothesized measurement model using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and in the next phase, the structural model verifies the hypothesized association between exogenous and endogenous variables to draw rational inferences. And a positive effect of predictors and interaction variables is observed. Finally, the study concluded with an important suggestion for the investment manager and other intermediaries: integrate the financial engineering process by giving due importance to investor needs.

Business Perspectives and Research, Ahead of Print.
Drawing on the knowledge-based view and insights from a literature review, the author built up a conceptual framework aiming at investigating the complex relationships between three learning processes and servitization and, more importantly, the interplay between servitization, radicalness, and firm performance. This conceptual framework was tested using data gathered from senior managers of manufacturing firms in Vietnam. PLS-SEM was utilized to analyze the measurement and structural models. The results illustrate that exploitative learning has a positive impact on servitization. Additionally, servitization was found to influence firm performance through radicalness. To that end, manufacturing firms are encouraged to develop an acceptable level of exploratory learning and a significant level of exploitative learning to facilitate servitization. Particularly, servitization was found to be a promising strategy for manufacturing firms in developing countries and could help these manufacturing firms obtain substantial benefits. Given that manufacturing firms in developing countries normally lack critical resources and capabilities, servitization has an even more critical role to play in bringing about a competitive advantage. Managers in manufacturing firms should also offer a variety of integrated services because these services could bring firms novel ideas for innovations that can result in considerable competitive advantage.