Design Thinking (DT) is increasingly recognized as a critical capability for leaders in business and other sectors, including education, where schools operate as complex organizations requiring innovation and adaptability similar to businesses. This study positions school administrators as strategic human capital whose DT attributes drive organizational innovation and transformation toward design thinking–oriented schools. Using a mixed-methods design, the study examined DT practices across diverse school contexts and developed implementation guidelines to enhance DT-based leadership. A quantitative survey of 480 administrators was used to assess DT attributes, implementation levels, outcomes, and barriers. This was followed by qualitative interviews and focus groups with administrators and DT experts to explore leadership development pathways, practical DT practices, and context-specific challenges. Results indicated that DT implementation levels were primarily explained by DT attributes—especially acceptance and beliefs—accounting for 44% of the variance, while DT outcomes were influenced by DT attributes and policy implementation within a supportive learning culture, with school context playing a secondary but significant role (44.6%). Qualitative findings highlighted both enablers and barriers, emphasizing the need for context-sensitive strategies. The proposed framework for design-oriented leadership in school leaders, offers actionable guidance for cultivating innovation-oriented, human-centered leadership and aligning educational organizations with design thinking practices commonly applied in progressive business contexts. These findings provide a foundation for context-based strategies to empower the application of DT in schools.

Food loss is a pressing global issue, with significant economic, environmental, and social ramifications. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which constitute a substantial share of food production, often face higher levels of food loss during processing due to limited resources and production capacity. Digital technologies present a promising solution for managing food loss and enhancing sustainable food security. However, SMEs frequently encounter barriers, such as resource constraints, limited budgets, and inadequate technical expertise, when adopting such technologies. This study investigates the factors influencing the adoption of digital technologies for food loss management among SMEs in the food manufacturing industry by employing an integrated framework that combines the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) with the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) perspective. Data were collected through a census approach, using questionnaires emailed to representatives of food manufacturing SMEs registered with the Department of Business Development in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, Thailand, yielding 371 usable responses. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were utilized for data analysis. The findings revealed that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and facilitating conditions, significantly impact the adoption of digital technologies, with facilitating conditions being the most influential factor. Conversely, social influence does not have a significant effect. The study highlights the importance of robust digital infrastructure, accessible technology specialists, and tailored training programs to enhance SMEs’ digital adoption. Furthermore, promoting awareness of the benefits of digital technologies and ensuring user-friendly solutions can improve confidence, motivation, and operational efficiency, ultimately reducing food loss in SMEs.

This study contributes new insights into dividend policy by investigating how debt levels and firm size moderate the relationship between cash holdings and dividend payouts. Grounded in the MM theory of capital structure, the research challenges the traditional assumption of dividend irrelevance by incorporating real-world financial constraints and governance dynamics. The sample consists of 475 non-financial firms listed in Thailand, covering data from 2019 to 2023. Using Hayes’s PROCESS Macro for moderated moderation analysis, the findings reveal that cash holdings positively influence dividend payouts, and this effect is contingent upon both the firm’s leverage and size. Specifically, small firms with low debt levels tend to offer higher dividend payout, whereas large firms with below-average industry debt show diminished dividend payouts. This interaction presents a novel theoretical contribution by linking liquidity management, capital structure, and firm scale in explaining dividend behavior dimensions that have rarely been integrated in prior research. The study extends the existing literature on investment returns and corporate financial policy and provides practical implications for investors and corporate decision-makers operating in emerging markets.

Community-Based Tourism (CBT) operators increasingly rely on “win–win” marketing strategies that combine pro-community appeals with direct economic incentives for tourists. While such mixed-incentive campaigns are widely assumed to broaden appeal, their effectiveness depends critically on how they are symbolically interpreted by different audiences. Drawing on signaling theory, cognitive coherence, and authenticity research, this study examines how the salience of a tourist’s moral versus deal-seeking identity shapes responses to mixed-incentive CBT promotions. Using a between-subjects experiment (N = 294), participants were primed with either a moral-identity or a deal-seeking identity before evaluating the same CBT promotion that bundled community revenue sharing with tourist discounts. Results show that identity priming does not directly affect engagement intention at the aggregate level. Instead, engagement is driven by symbolic perceptions—perceived authenticity, perceived fairness, and greenwashing suspicion. Crucially, the negative association between greenwashing suspicion and engagement is significantly stronger when a moral identity is salient. Among participants with a high ecotourism orientation, moral-identity priming is associated with lower engagement, revealing a counterintuitive backlash against mixed-incentive framing. These findings demonstrate that mixed incentives can function as symbolic contaminants rather than value enhancers when they conflict with a salient moral identity. The study contributes to tourism marketing and signaling theory by showing that the effectiveness of ethical appeals is contingent on identity-based interpretation, highlighting the limits of “one-size-fits-all” incentive strategies in sustainable tourism.

Current understanding of the basic characteristics that affect the perceived quality of cruise destinations remains lacking. In order to create a set of perceived destination quality (PDQ) variables, this study intends to investigate and verify cruise destination attributes in both reflective and formative terms. Data was gathered using a questionnaire survey as part of the study’s quantitative research technique. The study sample comprised 350 participants, with GSCA Pro software version 1.1.8 being used to analyze the data that was gathered. The research results confirmed the essential components of perceived destination quality (PDQ), which were composed of the following six important categories as first-order constructs: natural and well-known attractions, the variety of tourist services and culture, the quality of general tourist atmosphere, entertainment and recreation, the general environment, and accessibility. The 23 observed variables in this study, which comprised important reflective and formative components, were used to evaluate these constructs. The study’s findings can serve as a reference for executives, cruise tourism managers, and port destinations as they create policies and plans to grow cruise tourism in the destination region. Meanwhile, researchers may use these sets of variables for consideration in conjunction with other elements in subsequent studies.

This study considers the relationship between capital structure and firm value among Thai listed firms, comparing this relationship across three time phases—pre-COVID-19 (2018–2019), during COVID-19 (2020–2021), and post-COVID-19 (2022–2023). Using firm-level accounting and market data from the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) (n=423), the study estimates period-specific regressions that link leverage to standard determinants and assess the leverage value association (Tobin’s Q). The results reveal a crisis-phase decoupling: the positive association between leverage and firm value observed before the pandemic disappears during the pandemic and re-emerges afterward. Determinants of leverage also shift across phases: higher operating cash flow is consistently associated with lower leverage, tax-related incentives are effective mainly in normal times, and the roles of asset tangibility and liquidity invert in the Thai context when market conditions tighten. These findings highlight the context-specific nature of financing decisions in emerging markets and clarify why leverage can alternately amplify or dampen firm value across macroeconomic regimes. The study contributes comparative evidence for a three-phase COVID framework and underscores practical levers, particularly liquidity backstops and calibrated tax instruments that can help firms sustain investment and employment during downturns while discouraging excessive debt during recovery. SET firms have overcome COVID-19, serving as a positive signal for both domestic investors and foreign investors.

This study examined how green hotel practices influence international tourists’ intentions to stay, using the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework. It also investigated the moderating roles of personal innovativeness and nationality. Data were collected from 539 international tourists who stayed at certified green hotels in Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC). The study employed exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM) to validate the green practice dimensions and test the hypothesized relationships. The results revealed four key dimensions of green hotel practices: resource efficiency, energy conservation, water efficiency, and green certifications. All dimensions were found to positively influence perceived value, which, in turn, mediated their effects on green satisfaction and the intention to stay, confirming a cognitive-affective-behavioral pathway. Personal innovativeness was found to significantly moderate the relationship between resource efficiency and perceived value, as well as between water efficiency and perceived value, highlighting the role of innovation orientation in sustainability perceptions. A multi-group analysis showed that nationality (categorized as European vs. Non-European) moderates the relationship between satisfaction and intentions to stay, suggesting that cultural context influences how green satisfaction translates into behavioral intentions. This study advances sustainable hospitality theory by identifying the green practices that have the greatest influences on guest behavior and exploring the boundary conditions that shape their effectiveness. The findings offer practical implications for hotels, advising them to prioritize visible, tangible sustainability practices, adopt differentiated communication strategies based on guest innovativeness, and develop culturally tailored approaches to enhance the impact of green initiatives across international markets.

Sustainable tourism in heritage-rich green destinations is shaped by complex motivational forces that are not fully explained by conventional extensions of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). This study reinterprets the TPB and investigates the interplay between attitudinal, normative, and heritage-based motivations in Bang Kachao, Thailand. Using a correlational, cross-sectional design, data were collected from general tourists and local residents and analyzed through a hybrid strategy integrating Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), and Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA). The SEM results demonstrate that subjective norms are the strongest predictor of sustainable visitation intentions, highlighting a context-dependent normative dominance characteristic of collectivist green tourism. Attitude contributes positively but less strongly, while a green destination image influences intentions primarily through evaluative pathways. A central contribution of the study is the identification of Green Heritage Capital (GHCA) as a compensatory motivational engine that can generate high intentions even when green image is weak. fsQCA further reveals two qualitatively distinct, equifinal motivational pathways—one norm-driven and the other heritage-value driven—while behavioral outcomes indicate a transition from social-normative influences at the intention stage to heritage-based and mixed configurations during the development of support for sustainable tourism and in behavior stages. NCA and SCA triangulate the robustness of this dual-route system by confirming quasi-necessary conditions and sufficiency patterns. Collectively, the results advance sustainable tourism theory by establishing culturally contingent mechanisms, demonstrating dual-route motivational architecture, and elucidating motivational transitions across behavioral stages. Practical implications aligned with SDG 8.9 highlight the need for interventions that leverage both normative cues and heritage-based value framing to cultivate long-term, internalized sustainability commitments in green–heritage destinations.

This study investigated the market reactions to connected transaction announcements in the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) and examined investor perceptions of wealth expropriation from minority shareholders within business groups. The event study methodology was used to analyze cumulative abnormal returns for all connected transactions announced by SET-listed firms from 2014 to 2019. The sample was further divided into two subgroups based on the majority stockholder’s cash-flow rights in the listed firm compared with those of the connected party. To assess statistically significant differences in market responses between these subgroups, Propensity Score Matching (PSM) was employed. The results showed positive market reactions to announcements in the days preceding formal disclosure—potentially due to information leakage or anticipatory trading—but provided no evidence of a sustained positive reaction following the announcement date (day 0). Specifically, transactions involving firms with high cash-flow-rights, generated negative abnormal returns after the announcement, suggesting that the overall market response was not uniformly favorable. Investors appear to perceive these transactions as potential channels for wealth expropriation (“propping”) rather than unequivocally value-enhancing events, a view confirmed by the PSM analysis. This study contributes to understanding how markets respond to connected transactions and highlights implications for wealth transfer within business groups. The findings have practical significance for companies engaging in connected transactions and for investors seeking to incorporate propping risk in portfolio and risk management.