Purpose: The paper aims to study the methodology and functional of Internal Audit (IA) during the transition to remote working methods necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis period. Design/methodology/approach: Data are collected over a sample of 352 internal audit departments in retail SMEs distributed in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. The six variables are measured using a reflective model. An exploratory factor analysis is applied to gauge the measurement model’s validity and reliability. Findings: The research findings revealed that internal auditing within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the Qatari retail sector is not sufficiently advanced. The focus of internal auditing primarily revolves around compliance audits rather than performance audits, thereby limiting their degree of agility and strategy which negatively affects the IA methodology. Conversely, for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) retail companies the research hypotheses were validated showing an IA functions evolution, an IA reassurance and IA agility that are conducted throughout a remote working and a strategic design that affect positively IA working methodology. Originality: The originality impregnates by the fact that reviews of traditional audit working methods were updated and shaped according to the deficiencies that couldn’t be identified during a pre COVID-19 period. A traditional audit plan may not work in this situation. The originality of the study consists of estimating IA methodological review through an agile approach that provides internal reassurance and risk attenuation.

The Moroccan economy has undergone significant structural changes since the 1980s. Attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been a key strategy for the country’s economic growth and development, particularly in some specific high value-added sectors, such as the automotive supply industry. This paper uses the results of a survey to examine the reasons why multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the automotive supply sector set up in Morocco. Our findings show that proximity to Europe and labor costs and skills are the most important considerations for investing in this sector in Morocco. However, some institutional issues are still of concern to these MNEs.

This study explores the determinants of auditor performance, focusing on the moderating role of organizational commitment within the Tangerang City Inspectorate. Employing stratified random sampling, a sample of 250 auditors was chosen to ensure diversity across experience, departmental affiliation, and roles. Quantitative analysis used SPSS to examine the relationships between auditor performance, organizational commitment, and other relevant variables. Findings indicated that organizational commitment significantly moderates the effects of various social pressures on auditor performance. This underscores the necessity for auditing organizations to foster organizational commitment to enhance auditor efficacy and uphold ethical standards. These results hold substantial implications for governance and audit quality assurance, suggesting that reinforced organizational commitment could lead to more robust auditor performance and ethical conduct within similar urban governance settings. This study contributes valuable insights into the influence of organizational dynamics on auditor behaviour and performance outcomes.

This study aims to analyze the effect of financial literacy and financial education on digital financial inclusion in Mexico. The analysis is carried out with 13,554 data from the National Survey of Financial Inclusion 2021, corresponding to Mexican adults who use digital financial services. The population under study comprises people over 18 years old, residing in Mexico, disaggregated by size of locality, and divided into six geographical regions. The dichotomous Probit model is used to estimate the effect of financial literacy and sociodemographic variables on digital financial inclusion. The results show that financial literacy and financial education have a marginal effect, of 0.94% and 4.42%, respectively, on digital financial services. Results also show that the marginal effect of financial literacy and financial education is greater on the use of mobile payments than on the acquisition of online accounts or apps and online credit. The results also show that gender, locality size, educational level, income and asset holding have a statistically significant relationship with the use of digital financial services. The findings confirm that financial literacy and financial education contribute to the digital financial inclusion of Mexicans, in this sense, providing financial education can especially benefit vulnerable population groups such as those living in rural areas and those with low income and low education levels.

This paper investigates the elements affecting dividend yield in developing Southeast Asian countries—more specifically, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. Examined here are the roles of financial information including debt to equity ratio, free cashflows, property, plant, and equipment (PPE) and total sales with controlling factors of size, institutional ownership, and firm age using both short-run and long-run analytical frameworks including the Error Correction Model and Engle and Granger’s approach. The results reveal different trends in the three nations. Higher debt and free cashflows lower dividend yield in Thailand; institutional shareholders benefit from maintaining greater dividend payouts. Aging companies in Malaysia are more likely to pay more dividends while rising revenues are linked to smaller short-term payouts. Leveraged and asset-heavy companies are more likely to keep paying dividends in Singapore. These discoveries have important ramifications for investors and business management trying to maximize dividend policies and improve shareholder value in developing economies.

This study examined the factors influencing online purchases among consumers in Bangladesh, employing a modified version of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Data from 353 individuals in Bangladesh revealed that perceived ease of use, social influence, security, convenience, trust, emotional experience, and functional experience significantly positively affect the intention to purchase online. Additionally, results show that the intention to purchase online significantly positively affects actual online purchases. Findings further highlighted that intention to make online purchases mediated the influence of perceived ease of use, social influence, security, convenience, trust, emotional experience, and functional experience over online purchases. The study provides significant practical recommendations to help businesses and consumers support online purchasing with diverse advantages.