Search

PurposeThe crucial action program of United Nations is sustainable development. In the context of lockdown and food supply chain disruptions in many developing countries due to COVID-19, sustainable agribusiness entrepreneurship (SAE) must be investigated to contribute to the global safe-food supply chain resilience. Furthermore, this pandemic might have changed cognitive social capital (i.e. perceived shared norms, civicness and community cohesiveness) and relational social capital (i.e. social trust). Therefore, this study aims to examine their role in forming agribusiness entrepreneurs’ SAE intentions under the lens of sustainable development in the pandemic context.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a mixed-methods approach with resources for structural equation modeling. A sample of 499 Vietnamese agribusiness entrepreneurs to reconcile scales and test hypothesized relationships.FindingsThe study reconciles the existing constructs’ scales and develops a new scale measuring SAE intention. The findings show that the extended theory of planned behavior (ETPB) model is an ideal theoretical framework for predicting behavioral intentions in sustainability. The study also discovers the role of cognitive social capital and relational social capital in motivating SAE intentions. Also, some managerial implications are suggested for agribusinessmen to survive and succeed during the COVID-19 crisis.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is considered the first to investigate the role of cognitive social capital and relational social capital in motivating SAE in an emerging market using the ETPB. The findings will help emerging economies, where most farmers are family-business owners or micro-scaled entrepreneurs who have been facing the increasing trend of sustainable production and consumer.

PurposeThis research examines the effects of the context on the relationship between work design, learning mechanism and total quality management (TQM). The exploratory study examines the differential effects in context on how human resources and their activities are strategically managed for achieving TQM. Two theoretical frameworks – activity theory and contextual learning theory – are concurrently used for analysis. Specifically, the manufacturing companies, the authors examine are (1) technology-intensive company which has bought technology from a global foreign establishment (MU1), (2) technology-intensive companies having their own technology (MU2) and (3) labor-intensive units (MU3) of varying organizational sizes.Design/methodology/approachThis case study-based research consists of 27 in-depth interviews with managers and employees of different hierarchies in each manufacturing unit. The authors interviewed them using semi-structured questions that were pre-validated by five senior HR experts from the manufacturing industry. Document analysis, multiple site visits and website content helped triangulation. The data are coded and analyzed using Dedoose software for qualitative research.FindingsActivity diagrams for each manufacturing unit provides task and interaction analysis. Within and cross-case analysis address complexity and challenges of contextual reality, influences on work design and learning mechanism. HRD executives must recognize that there may be well-differentiated learning behaviors that align with organizational strategy. The learning behaviors may not be well-differentiated and become very dynamic. This dynamism may be characterized by double loop and single-loop learning feeding into each other.Practical implicationsThis study provides substantial practical implications for HRD and other managers in the manufacturing sector.Originality/valueThe new theoretical framework adds to organizational behavior studies through multi-level and cross-contextual approach. It informs strategic combinations and interactions between internal and external context, and learning needs implicating work design and TQM.