Purpose: In recent decades, the concept of strategic alignment has been a center of concern for researchers and practitioners. This alignment is associated with the process of strategic planning to achieve high strategic performance and competitiveness. This study aims to investigate the impact of strategic alignment on decision effectiveness.Design/methodology/approach: Primary data were collected from 383 employees of the Directorate of Health Affairs in the Dakahlia Governorate in Egypt, through a self-administered questionnaire. The PLS-SEM approach was used to analyze the collected data.Findings: The results revealed that strategic alignment significantly and positively affects decision effectiveness and its dimensions, emphasizing the importance of considering all four dimensions of strategic alignment in an integrated model to achieve the greatest impact on the decision effectiveness.Research limitations/implications: This study is applied to a developing country, so a comparative study between both developing and developed countries may be needed. Second, the study was restricted to the nonprofit organization, so further research may examine the profit organizations.Originality/value: Despite the existence of several studies on the relationship between strategic alignment and decision effectiveness in developed countries, studies conducted in the developing countries are still few. This is one of the earliest studies that adopt the multidimensional approach of strategic alignment in the public sector in emerging economies, which could help directors understand the interdependencies and different roles of strategic alignment dimensions in a novel comprehensive model.

Regardless of its advantage, generally, statistics show low levels of mobile application retention for a long time by users. Thus, the current study tries to provide a deeper understanding of the health and fitness app users’ engagement and stickiness based on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model, as well as testing the moderating role of the health consciousness in the effect of users’ satisfaction and app-love on stickiness, WOM, and continuance intention. Data was collected from 394 respondents recruited using Google Forms using the self-selection sample technique. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the data. According to the findings, ISS model components (information quality, system quality, and service quality) significantly influence user engagement with health and fitness applications. Furthermore, user engagement has a significant and positive influence on user satisfaction and app-love. Furthermore, app satisfaction and app-love positively impact stickiness intention, word-of-mouth, and continuance intention. Moreover, the influence of user satisfaction on WOM and continuance intention is moderated by health consciousness. Additionally, the influence of app-love on stickiness intention, WOM, and continuance intention is moderated by health consciousness. This is the first study to integrate the ISS model and the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model, as well as the health consciousness construct as a moderator, to propose a holistic framework of user engagement, satisfaction, app-love, stickiness intention, WOM, and continuance intention with health and fitness apps in the emergent markets.

Purpose: Since the advent of augmented reality (AR) technology, “Smart Retailing” has become the dominant business model in the retail sector. Therefore, comprehending the dynamics of AR adoption is essential if retailers are to successfully encourage customers to embrace this extremely innovative form of technology. As a result, the authors propose and evaluate a more comprehensive model, consisting of the task-technology fit (TTF) and unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTUAT2) models, for use in low-income countries.Design/methodology/approach: The present research uses variance-based partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using WarpPLS.7 to examine 398 responses from Egyptian retail consumers.Findings: TTF, performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI), facilitating condition (FC), hedonic motivation (HM) and customer innovativeness (CI) positively affect shoppers' behavioral intentions (BI) to adopt AR Apps in retail, while perceived risk (PR) negatively affects BI.Originality/value: The current study is the first to investigate the determinants of shoppers' BI toward AR Apps adoption in the retail context using UTAUT2 and TTF models.

As the success of the mobile payment services depends on the considerable facilitators and inhibitors which affect customers’ continuance intentions and recommendation of these services, the current study aims to investigate the effects of “reasons for” and “reasons against” on Egyptian customers’ continuance intentions to use and recommendation of m-payment services. Based on the behavioral reasoning theory (BRT), the predicted links between values, reasoning constructs, consumer attitudes, continuance intentions to use, and word-of-mouth were constructed. A representative data sample from 350 Egyptian banking customers was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the hypotheses. The findings indicate that both “reasons for” and “reasons against” affect attitude and continuance intention to use m-payment services, which affects WOM. Moreover, relative advantage, mobility, gamification, and service quality are reasons for the intention to continue using m-payment services. In the same vein, image barriers, anxiety, skepticism, and perceived time risk are reasons against continuance intention. In addition, the relative advantage is the major determinant of “reasons for” continuance intention to use m-payment, while perceived time risk is the major determinant of “reasons against” continuance intention to use m-payment . Furthermore, consumer attitude influences customers’ continuance intentions to use m-payment services. The results also show that the value of “openness to change” significantly impacts reasons for and against continuance intention to use m-payment . Finally, the current study is the first to investigate continuance intention and actual recommendation of m-payment services using BRT.

Purpose: Despite the increasing utilization of webpages for the purposes of information seeking, customers’ concerns have become a crucial impediment for online shopping. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of the effectiveness of web assurance seals services (WASS) and customers’ concerns on customer’s willingness to book hotels through perceived website trust and perceived value. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was administrated to measure the study variables. Using partial least squares–structural equation modeling approach to analyze the data collected from 860 users of online hotel websites. Findings: The results indicate that WASS influence positively on perceived website trust and negatively on consumers’ concerns. As well as, perceived value and trust play a mediating role in the link between WASS and consumers’ concerns and their intentions. Finally, perceived website trust and perceived value have greater effect on intention to book hotel for low-habit consumers. Research limitations/implications: This study ignored the cross-culture issue as it concentrates on the customers from developing countries, so further research may need to compare between two or more than two samples from different societies that could give a significant insights. Second, this study stresses on the WASS to predict customers booking intentions that indicates significant results, so further research may need to examine the role of online reviews as a predictor of customers purchase decision as well. Originality/value: To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first empirical research that investigates and examines the influence of the effectiveness of WASS and consumers’ concerns on consumers’ intentions through perceived value and trust. This research also investigates the moderating role of habit in the link between perceived website, perceived value and consumers’ intentions.

Purpose: The success of an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system is determined by the numerous facilitators and obstacles that influence physicians' intentions toward using these technologies. This study examines physicians' intentions to use EHR by applying the extended technology readiness and acceptance model (TRAM) factors, the result demonstrability, colleagues' opinions, perception of external control, and organizational support.Design/methodology/approach: Convenience sampling was used to collect data from physicians in Egypt (n = 520). To evaluate the model's hypotheses, this study used the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method with WarpPLS.7.Findings: The results revealed that positive TR factors (innovativeness and optimism) positively affect perceived usefulness and ease of use, while negative TR factors (discomfort and insecurity) negatively impact perceived usefulness and ease of use. Furthermore, the result demonstrability and colleagues' opinions positively influence perceived usefulness, while the perception of external control and organizational support positively influence perceived ease of use. In addition, significant relationships between perceived ease of use and usefulness and adoption intention were identified.Originality/value: This is the first study to apply the TRAM to understand physicians' adoption intentions to use EHR systems. Moreover, this study determined the different roles of positive and negative TR affecting physicians' cognition regarding using EHR systems.