Journal of Economics, Management and Trade

Readiness for Process Innovation of the Manufacturing Enterprises in Misamis Oriental

Junelyn Louvena B. Ruiz, Isaias S. Sealza — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Aims: This study examined the readiness for process innovation among manufacturing enterprises in eight lower-income municipalities of Misamis Oriental, Philippines, in relation to municipal income classification, entrepreneurs’ educational attainment, and compliance with regulatory requirements.

Study Design: A quantitative correlational research design was used.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in eight (8) municipalities of Misamis Oriental, Philippines, between January 2025 and June 2026.

Methodology: Forty-six micro-manufacturing entrepreneurs were interviewed: 65% were female and 35% were male entrepreneurs from the lower-class municipalities in Misamis Oriental. Using the quantitative research design, the collected data were coded and analysed using the Kruskal-Wallis Test, Chi-Square Test, and Spearman Correlation Analysis.

Results: A Kruskal-Wallis Test showed that the mean readiness for process innovation differed significantly by municipality classification, with P=.02 at the .05 level of significance. Another finding showed a significant difference among the categories of educational attainment with respect to readiness for innovation, P=.04, at the .05 level of significance. However, a Kruskal-Wallis test showed no significant difference among municipality classifications with respect to compliance with regulatory requirements, P=.33. Further, there was no statistically significant relationship between municipality classification and educational attainment, with χ²(4) = 3.76, P=.44, Cramér’s V = 0.2, at the .05 level of significance. Finally, a Spearman correlation showed a low positive correlation between readiness for process innovation and compliance with business regulatory requirements; however, it was not statistically significant, with r(44)=0.23, and P=.12.

Conclusion: Higher municipal income classification and higher educational attainment among entrepreneurs may positively influence the readiness of manufacturing enterprises for process innovation. However, municipality classification may not influence entrepreneurs’ educational attainment or their compliance with business regulatory requirements. Further work may be undertaken to assess the reliability of these findings.

The Influence of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction: A Case of Selected Supermarkets in Douala I, IV, and V Municipalities

Arrey Arreyanyoh Angele Tudor, Abonwi Chenaa Takwa — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study examined the influence of service quality on customer satisfaction in selected supermarkets in Douala I, IV, and V municipalities, Cameroon. Guided by the Retail Service Quality Scale (RSQS), the study assessed four service quality dimensions: physical aspects, reliability, personal interaction, and problem solving. A descriptive survey research design was adopted. Data were collected from 302 supermarket customers using structured questionnaires and analysed with descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression through SPSS version 25. The correlation results showed that all four service quality dimensions had positive and statistically significant relationships with customer satisfaction at the 0.01 level. Personal interaction recorded the strongest relationship with customer satisfaction (r = .713, p < .001), followed by reliability (r = .666, p < .001), problem solving (r = .590, p < .001), and physical aspects (r = .490, p < .001). The regression analysis further indicated that personal interaction (β = .420, t = 6.368, p < .001) and reliability (β = .251, t = 4.040, p < .001) had significant positive effects on customer satisfaction. Physical aspects (β = .088, t = 1.810, p = .071) and problem solving (β = .090, t = 1.551, p = .122) showed positive but non-significant effects. The findings suggest that customer satisfaction in the selected supermarkets is more strongly associated with dependable service delivery and effective staff-customer interaction than with the physical retail environment or problem-resolution practices alone. Supermarket managers should therefore prioritise reliable service systems, consistent communication, and staff training aimed at improving courteous, responsive, and professional interactions with customers.

Strategic Planning, Business Innovation, and Market Adaptation as Drivers of SME Financial Performance: The Role of SMEs Owner–manager Gender in Zanzibar

Hafidh Ali Hafidh, Mazen Mohammed Farea — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Entrepreneurship research has long debated whether the financial performance returns to strategic practices differ according to the gender of the decision-maker who enacts it, and the accumulated evidence remains mixed. This study tests whether owner–manager gender moderates the effects of strategic planning, business innovation strategy, and market adaptation strategy on the financial performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Data were collected during the February–May 2026 fieldwork period from 350 SME owners and managers in Zanzibar, evenly divided between men and women (175 each), and analysed using bootstrapped regression with a permutation-based two-group comparison (5,000 permutations), preceded by a formal assessment of measurement invariance. In the pooled sample, strategic planning (β = 0.172), business innovation strategy (β = 0.236), and market adaptation strategy (β = 0.192) each significantly predicted financial performance (R² = 0.116). Business innovation strategy and market adaptation strategy showed no significant gender differences in their effects (permutation p = .747 and .864). Strategic planning showed a descriptively larger effect among women (β = 0.268, p < .001) than among men (β = 0.096, p = .194); however, the permutation test for this difference did not reach conventional significance (p = .079). The findings indicate gender-invariant financial returns to business innovation and market adaptation, while the relative importance of strategic planning for women warrants targeted investigation with larger samples. The study contributes gender-disaggregated evidence from an under-researched African island economy and supports gender-neutral innovation and adaptation training alongside further evaluation of structured planning support.

Insurance Knowledge and Insurance Choice across Generations: A Critical Narrative Review of Literacy, Life-course Needs and Decision Environments

Armi Abonales Ordoñez — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Insurance choices require consumers to translate uncertain future losses, contractual exclusions, premiums, deductibles, benefit limits and household constraints into decisions whose quality may not become observable for years. This critical narrative review evaluates how insurance knowledge influences such choices and whether the influence differs across generations. The review integrates evidence from life insurance, health insurance and personal insurance markets, while treating generational labels cautiously because age, historical period and birth cohort are intrinsically entangled. Literature was selected through live searches of accessible scholarly indexes, bibliographic databases and institutional sources, with emphasis on verified peer-reviewed evidence and direct confirmation of bibliographic metadata and Digital Object Identifiers. The synthesis indicates that insurance-specific knowledge is usually associated with greater confidence, information use and, in several settings, insurance ownership or more defensible plan selection. Yet knowledge is neither a universal nor a sufficient predictor. Associations weaken when affordability, household need, product design, institutional rules, advice, trust and behavioural biases dominate the choice environment. Evidence interpreted as a generational effect is frequently consistent with life-course mechanisms: younger adults often combine lower accumulated financial experience with weaker immediate protection needs and constrained resources; middle-aged households commonly face peak dependency, income-replacement and asset-protection needs; older adults possess more experience but may confront declining financial capability and especially complex health-insurance menus. Direct cross-generational insurance evidence remains sparse, geographically concentrated and largely observational. Strong causal claims are therefore unwarranted. The most defensible interpretation is that insurance choice emerges from the interaction of knowledge, capability, need, resources and decision architecture, with age and cohort shaping exposure to each component rather than acting as independent behavioural causes. Future research should prioritise longitudinal age-period-cohort designs, harmonised insurance-literacy measures, field experiments, administrative purchase data and cross-national comparisons that can separate knowledge deficits from structural barriers.