An emerging area of study in today’s society is the increasing number of crowdfunding platforms across the world. Crowdfunding plays an integral role in global economic development as they are continuing to multiply throughout various professional disciplines. Empirical research is needed that covers the recent growth of crowdfunding projects and assists researchers and experts in providing knowledge on the economic impact of this trend. Multidisciplinary Approaches to Crowdfunding Platforms is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research on the emerging programs of crowdfunding in the global digital economy and its numerous applications in professional industries. While highlighting topics such as digital entrepreneurship, business intelligence, and e-commerce, this publication explores the latest findings as well as the risks and limitations of crowdfunding. This book is ideally designed for researchers, managers, practitioners, economists, academicians, instructors, sociologists, developers, consultants, policymakers, and students seeking developing research on crowdfunding platforms and the latest trends in various disciplines.

This book offers a comprehensive review of crowdfunding at Higher Education Institutions, both in theory and practice. In addition, it sheds new light on the emerging concept of crowdfunding at Higher Education Institutions and presents an overview of current academic discussions and best practices regarding crowdfunding in education. Approaching crowdfunding from an integrated perspective, the book explores the relationship between crowdfunding and higher education institutions from both theoretical and practical perspectives. The theory part outlines why higher institutions should interact with crowdfunding platforms beyond the goal of simply raising funds. It continues to define science crowdfunding and education crowdfunding and provides a literature review of education crowdfunding. It follows with an outline of teaching alternative finance theory. The practice part consists of an attempt to develop a core curriculum for teaching crowdfunding, with cases stemming from university education as well as professional education. Two contributions deal with the implementation of crowdfunding platforms at universities. Furthermore, crowdfunding is then connected to non-fungible tokens used to alleviate student debt. Lastly, crowdfunding is put into the context of crowdsourcing practices. It includes contributions from international academics, scholars and professionals in the field and provides a global, multidimensional perspective on crowdfunding. Lastly, the book is unique in that it points the way forward, both for policymakers and for the research community, in terms of thinking about crowdfunding at Higher Education Institutions and the complex issues surrounding its development.

This book collates selective outputs from the 1st International Conference on Contemporary Islamic Studies, focusing on interdisciplinary research that is relevant and timely. One of the most vital areas for national development in Malaysia, and other parts of the Muslim world, is the field of Islamic studies. With a selection of regional and international contributions, the volume covers several topics, including Zakat, Wakaf, Islamic philanthropy, Islamic Turath, Islamic astronomy, Islamic texts - both ancient and modern - Halal, the Muslim family, fiqh, and Islamic finance. Cutting across both academia and religious practice, the book seeks to demarcate various aspects within Islamic law and culture, in the context of the IR 4.0 era. It is relevant to students and researchers working within the interdisciplinary landscape of Islamic studies, from Asia to beyond.

In recent years, state legislatures in the United States have been transformed based on the social identities of their membership. At its most fundamental level, the debate over LGBTQ rights always has been a debate over the right of LGBTQ people to exist. While the role faith plays in legislative decision making is rooted within government functions, careful examination and change must be conducted to protect the humanity of those at risk through these influences. Faith-Based Influences on Legislative Decision Making: Emerging Research and Opportunities explores the balance between religious freedoms of legislators and the human rights of members of the LGBTQ community. Examining the politics and institutional forces brought to bear on LGBTQ claims for visibility, recognition, and dignity, this book is organized into three sections, each of which uses a distinct institutional lens—historical, legal, and religious. The author attempts to demonstrate that while the clash of cultures between these groups is real, it is not simple. The faith worldviews of each share common structural features but often reach extremely different conclusions. Covering topics such as marriage equality, religious liberty, and court cases, this book is an essential resource for students and educators in political science, policymakers, legislators, historians, sociologists, researchers, universities, administrations, community leaders, and academicians.

A level of decision making is concerned with deciding the organization’s objectives, resources, and policies. A significant problem at this decision-making level is predicting the organization’s future and its environment as well as matching the organization’s characteristics to that environment. This process generally involves technology and knowledge from the market and clients. In the current era, the implementation of marketing information systems supported with AI techniques is crucial to being a unique opportunity to leverage marketing strategies with cutting-edge technologies. Global Perspectives on the Strategic Role of Marketing Information Systems communicates the recent advances in marketing information systems. Covering topics such as digital entrepreneurship, international business, and micro and small enterprises, this premier reference source is a cutting-edge resource for marketers, entrepreneurs, business leaders and managers, IT managers, students and educators of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.

Those who venture into the realm of ecosystem advantage will discover a complex web of relationships, interfaces, and processes designed to efficiently deliver customer value. One important factor in the process of building an enterprise that is often overlooked is that a business's success is inevitably entwined with the performance of its surrounding ecosystem. Spanning a tapestry of firms, institutions, and individuals, this ecosystem forms the linchpin of success. However, the journey to prosperity demands more than the mere existence of a thriving ecosystem; it necessitates adept management and cultivation of relationships within it. Ecosystem Dynamics and Strategies for Startups Scalability uncovers the nuances of connecting complementary participants, navigating uncertainty among diverse partners, and securing a substantial share of the created value. As a testament to its academic rigor, the book discerns that fostering an ecosystem often hinges upon a "lead firm" orchestrating key value-contributing elements, or that the government enacting conducive policies. The book also extends far into diverse facets of resource management, ecosystem construction, and startup scalability, all rooted in comprehensive theoretical analysis. Bridging theory and practice, it furnishes case studies and best practices to accentuate these concepts. As economies worldwide reset post-pandemic, the book assumes greater relevance, illuminating the path for startups to thrive in emerging markets. Scholars, postgraduates, practitioners, and policymakers alike stand to gain a wealth of knowledge, from the evolution of resource management and ecosystems to their pivotal roles in startup success.

Esports have attracted considerable attention over the past few years and become an industry that is projected to continue to increase rapidly. Intersecting with the esports industry are organizations and businesses that develop and support the esports game experience. Included is the entrepreneurial spirit of gamers, who are interested in creating their own career paths through capturing and posting gaming microassists on different public venues that are driven by advertising dollars, invitational competition monetary winnings, and other forms of marketing their expertise for financial gain. All these organizations and industries form satellites of career opportunities as well as opportunities for research and enhanced forward-leaning study. Such career opportunities can be explicitly addressed within the structure of university degree and micro-credential certificate programs, some of which have begun to offer esports-directed degrees, but most of which have not yet moved from esports clubs into a recognition of the business and industry monetization of esports. The Handbook of Research on Pathways and Opportunities Into the Business of Esports addresses the intersection of esports gaming and the business and industry of esports, rather than an exploration of the video games themselves. It is the supporting and intersecting industry driven by esports and the vast opportunities this brings that are the foci of this book. Covering topics including digital learning, esport marketing curriculum, and gaming culture, this text is essential for business professionals, industry analysts, entrepreneurs, managers, coaches, marketers, advertisers, brand managers, university and college administrators, faculty and researchers, students, professors, and academicians.