International Journal of Social and Management Studies

Integrating ESG Principles in MSME Management: A Qualitative Study of Governance and Accountability in Banten, Indonesia

Tue, 06 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles has increasingly been promoted as a pathway toward sustainable and accountable business practices. However, empirical understanding of how ESG principles are interpreted and implemented within micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) remains limited, particularly in developing economies. This study aims to explore how ESG principles are understood, operationalized, and embedded in governance and accountability practices among MSMEs in Banten Province, Indonesia. Adopting a qualitative and interpretive research design, the study draws on in-depth interviews, non-participant observations, and document analysis involving 24 participants, consisting of MSME owners, managers, and supporting institutional stakeholders. The findings reveal that ESG integration within MSMEs is largely implicit, fragmented, and highly context-dependent. While most participants lack formal familiarity with ESG as a comprehensive framework, many engage in practices aligned with its social and ethical dimensions, driven primarily by personal values, community norms, and relational trust. Governance practices are predominantly informal and centralized in owner-managers, with ethical leadership serving as the main mechanism shaping accountability rather than formal structures or standardized reporting systems. Financial accountability remains operational in nature, social accountability is relationally grounded, and environmental accountability is largely compliance-oriented. Key drivers of ESG integration include owner values, ethical orientation, and external pressures from markets and regulations, whereas major barriers consist of resource limitations, conceptual complexity of ESG frameworks, and fragmented institutional support. The study highlights that ESG implementation in MSMEs constitutes a socially embedded governance process rather than a formal compliance exercise. By providing qualitative evidence from an underexplored regional context, this research contributes to ESG and MSME governance literature and offers policy-relevant insights for developing adaptive, context-sensitive ESG frameworks suitable for small enterprises in emerging economies.

Crisis Leadership and Financial Resilience in MSMEs: Qualitative Insights from Banten, Indonesia

Ervana Chyrinne — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) play a crucial role in sustaining economic resilience in emerging economies; however, their vulnerability to external shocks exposes significant financial fragility. While existing studies predominantly emphasize financial instruments and policy interventions, the role of leadership—particularly crisis leadership—in shaping financial resilience remains underexplored, especially from a qualitative perspective. This study aims to examine how crisis leadership is enacted by MSME leaders and how it influences financial resilience during periods of disruption. Employing a qualitative interpretive research design, this study draws on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 15 MSME owners and owner-managers operating across diverse sectors in Banten, Indonesia. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis to capture leadership cognition, behaviors, and financial decision-making processes during crisis situations. The findings reveal four interrelated dimensions of crisis leadership that significantly contribute to financial resilience: crisis awareness and sense-making, adaptive financial decision-making, relational and communicative leadership, and psychological resilience accompanied by moral commitment. MSME leaders relied heavily on experiential judgment, relational networks, and ethical considerations to manage liquidity constraints, restructure costs, and sustain stakeholder trust. Financial resilience emerged not merely as a function of resource availability, but as an outcome of leadership agency and adaptive capability in navigating uncertainty. This study contributes to the literature by positioning crisis leadership as a central explanatory mechanism within financial resilience frameworks for MSMEs in emerging economy contexts. Practically, the findings highlight the need for leadership-focused capacity-building initiatives alongside financial support programs to enhance MSME sustainability during crises.

The Influence of Health Insurance Sales Strategy, Corporate Branding, and Risk Management on the Decision to Choose BRI Life Products: The Mediating Role of Customer Satisfaction

Nadya Ulfa Wardani Nuryanto, Syafrizal Chan — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The purpose of this study is to examine and analyze the influence of health insurance sales strategies, corporate branding, and risk management on the decision to choose health insurance products, with customer satisfaction as a mediator. The research population for this study is BRI Life customers in the Jabodetabek area, with a total population of 9.90 million policies. The sample size is 119 respondents. The sampling technique used non-probability sampling with the purposive sampling method. The data analysis method used is the Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) model. The research results indicate that health insurance sales strategy and corporate branding do not significantly affect customer satisfaction, while risk management does. Health insurance sales strategy and customer satisfaction significantly influence the decision to choose a product, but not corporate branding and risk management. Customer satisfaction does not significantly mediate the relationship between health insurance sales strategy and corporate branding, while it does for risk management.

Analysis of Factors Enhancing Green Purchase Intention Among Consumers of Environmentally Friendly Products in Indonesia

Muhamad Teguh Wafa Satria, Totok Haryanto, Erny Rachmawati, Hermin Endratno — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study aims to analyze the factors influencing green purchase intention among consumers of environmentally friendly fashion products in Indonesia, focusing on environmental attitude, green brand image, green perceived value, and green trust. The research employs a quantitative approach through an online questionnaire distributed using purposive sampling, resulting in 118 respondents who met the specified criteria. Data were analyzed using PLS-SEM to evaluate the relationships among variables in the research model. The findings indicate that environmental attitude, green brand image, and green trust have a significant positive effect on green purchase intention, while green perceived value does not have a significant effect on green purchase intention. These results highlight the importance of sustainability values and the credibility of environmental claims in driving purchasing decisions. The study is limited by the scope of product categories and sample characteristics. Future research is recommended to expand the research objects, such as involving multiple brands or fashion products, consider mediating variables, or apply a cross-industry comparative approach.

Leading Digital Transformation in MSMEs: A Qualitative Study of Leadership and Innovation in Banten, Indonesia

Didi Sutardi, Muhammad Johan, Masduki Asbari, Nuri Wiyono — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Digital transformation has become a critical imperative for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in responding to rapidly changing market dynamics and technological disruptions. While prior studies have largely emphasized technological adoption, limited attention has been given to the leadership processes that shape digital transformation and innovation within MSMEs, particularly in emerging economies. This study aims to explore how leadership drives digital transformation and innovation among MSMEs in Banten Province, Indonesia. Adopting a qualitative and interpretive research design, the study draws on in-depth interviews with 15 MSME owners and senior managers across diverse sectors, complemented by thematic analysis of their lived experiences. The findings reveal that digital transformation in MSMEs is fundamentally a leadership-driven process, rooted in leaders’ mindsets, sense-making, and strategic interpretations of digital technologies. Leaders who perceive digitalization as a long-term strategic opportunity tend to adopt proactive, integrative approaches that foster incremental innovation in marketing, operations, and customer engagement. Conversely, reactive leadership orientations result in fragmented and superficial digital adoption. The study further identifies hands-on leadership, employee empowerment, and resource mobilization as key practices enabling digital adoption and innovation despite significant resource constraints. Contextual factors such as limited digital skills, financial uncertainty, and regulatory complexity shape transformation trajectories; however, leadership agency plays a decisive mediating role in navigating these challenges. This research contributes to the digital transformation and leadership literature by highlighting the centrality of leadership in shaping innovation outcomes within MSMEs and offers practical insights for policymakers and development institutions seeking to strengthen leadership capacity as a foundation for inclusive and sustainable digital transformation.

Macroeconomic Determinants: The Mediating Effect of Net Income on Share Price

Nugroho Ridhwan, Felina C. Young — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This research focuses on analyzing the impact of exchange rate, interest rate, and inflation on share prices within Indonesia's industrial sector companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2012 to 2024, while excluding the COVID-19 pandemic era (2020-2022). Employing Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and the Partial Least Squares (PLS) method through SmartPLS 4.0, the study examines five key variables, including net income as a mediating factor between the independent variables (exchange rate, interest rate, inflation) and the dependent variable (share price). The findings reveal that exchange rate volatility has a significant positive influence on net incomes reported by industrial firms. Conversely, interest rates negatively affect net income, suggesting that higher interest charges may hinder financial performance by increasing costs of borrowing. Interestingly, inflation does not significantly impact net income across the surveyed companies, indicating that other factors may mitigate inflation's effects within this context. Furthermore, the study shows that fluctuations in the exchange rate do not directly influence share prices, raising questions about the sensitivity of stock prices to macroeconomic variables in this industrial sector. Nevertheless, net income emerges as a critical determinant positively influencing share prices among the companies analyzed, corroborating the notion that financial performance is closely linked to market valuation. Additionally, the study demonstrates that while net income mediates the relationship between both exchange rate and interest rate with share prices, it does not serve as a mediator in the relationship between inflation and share prices. These results highlight the complexity of financial dynamics within Indonesia's industrial sector and underscore the importance of robust financial performance indicators in shaping market valuations. This research contributes to the broader understanding of investment dynamics in emerging markets, particularly by illuminating the unique interactions between macroeconomic factors and corporate financial health in Indonesia’s industrial sector.