Purpose This paper aims to investigate the economic impacts of the current coronavirus disease, which is globally known as (COVID-19) pandemic, on small businesses in the tourism and hospitality industry, including food and beverages (F&B) industries in Malaysia during and after the enforcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO) and conditional (CMCO) with the emergence of new business models. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the implemented methodology involved a secondary qualitative research design based mainly on the existing literature, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reports, the government’s documents, in addition to online sources and observations regarding local business experiences. Findings The findings revealed that implementing effective strategies of recovery, shaping resilience solutions and supporting policies such as the National Recovery Plan, which is backed by the government played a pivotal role in avoiding the turndown of small businesses. Originality/value This critical review is submitted as an original research paper, which aims to provide important perspectives regarding the COVID-19 pandemic impacts on the tourism and hospitality industry in Malaysia. This paper serves as a scholarly platform for further in-depth studies on various resilience solutions of small businesses.

Purpose The current study aims to advance the research on the extra-industry network, innovativeness and performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by examining the mediation role of proactiveness. The study also aims to examine the mediating role innovativeness between extra-industry network and performance. Design/methodology/approach This study used the proportionate stratified random sampling method to select the study sample and the questionnaire survey approach to 580 SMEs. A total of 150 completed questionnaires were returned. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was administered to analyze data via Smart PLS 3.0 software. Findings The results reflect that proactiveness is mediated by the relationship between the extra-industry network and the performance of Iranian SMEs. In addition, the results illustrated that proactiveness is mediated by the relationship between innovativeness and the performance. The findings also address the limitation of previous studies on Iranian SMEs through the independent examination of the mediating role of innovativeness between firm extra-industry network and performance. Originality/value This article is one of few attempts that have addressed the significance of proactiveness as the key mechanism to transform the advantages of extra-industry network and innovativeness relationships to enhance performance.

Purpose The construction industry activities play a key role in achieving socio-economic development and sustaining economic growth in many countries. Increased awareness about the role of human resource management in employee performance has led construction firms to evaluate and focus on high-performance work practices (HPWPs) components, which intend to cultivate employee and organizational performance. This study aims to explain HPWPs affect employee performances through the mediating influence of trust in management in Aqaba, Jordan. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was administered to collect data among the contractors Grade1 across Aqaba, Jordan. This research was designed as a quantitative study and data were collected at one point of time. In total, 311 questionnaires were returned and only 279 completed questionnaires to test the relationship between HPWPs and employee performances according to the ability, motivation and opportunity conceptualized framework. The partial least squares technique was adopted to test the proposed relationships. Findings The results present that extensive training, rewards based on performance and job security have a significant relationship with trust in management. Trust in management exerts partial mediation effects between HPWPs (extensive training, rewards based on performance and job security) and employee performance (creativity and innovation). Originality/value The findings of the study provide useful and original information to improve the overall performance of construction firms.

Nowadays, the world is changing rapidly, with innovative technology, a new set of challenges need to be considered and addressed. The discussions about using technology in restaurants and food service sector only cover some of the main topics such as information system management and integration, automation, data analytics, and guest-facing technology. However, despite the positive prospects of smart technology in the hospitality industries, they have not been adopted widely in Food and Beverage (F&B) sectors in some Asian or Middle Eastern countries. This study aims to investigate the core motivations for adopting smart restaurant services in developing countries such as Malaysia. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the predictors' variables such as perceived cost, perceived enjoyment, novelty, and customers' acceptance level of smart restaurant services as a dependent variable. A research framework is developed based on the extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI). The quantitative research approach was applied to the empirical part of this study to test the conceptual model. Therefore, to achieve this purpose, a survey was conducted in Penang, Malaysia. The data was collected from 150 respondents and analysed by SPSS statistical software. The research results indicate that perceived enjoyment (PE) is the most significant predictor in customers' acceptance of a smart restaurant which is followed by perceived cost (PC). However, Implications of the findings is relevant and helpful to both academia and F&B operators along with future research opportunities with an industrial standard for restaurant entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurship training is an integral element that promotes entrepreneurship across a wide range of industries. In rural areas, the success of tourism destination heavily and solely depends on community involvement. Hence, community-based tourism enterprise (CBTE) appears to be a practical approach in encouraging the community to be involved in entrepreneurial activities. Nevertheless, efforts are scarce to document the training modules of CBTE program established in rural tourism. This study, hence, explored the training modules for CBTE development in the Lenggong Valley and measured the effectiveness of the training. The program has been initiated by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) with cooperation from Northern Corridor Economic Implementation (NCIA). The CBTE training was successfully conducted, wherein the community had placed high ranking for most of the items. The identified main challenge refers to sustenance of the business entity. This article contributes to CBTE literature by sharing a new perspective pertaining to training modules within the context of rural tourism. The study outcomes may be utilised by other CBTE programs with some modification to suit their specific needs and requirements.