On May 20, 2026, Dilafruz Kuchkorova, PhD candidate in Management, presented her study titled, "Financial Literacy and Business Performance: Evidence from Rural Female Micro-Entrepreneurs in Uzbekistan."

Using data from 173 female micro-entrepreneurs in the Khorezm region and PLS-SEM analysis, the research found that financial education, cash forecasting, bookkeeping, and financial self-efficacy all positively influence business performance. Bookkeeping had the strongest effect, highlighting the critical role of record-keeping for microenterprise growth.

During the presentation, Dilafruz received valuable recommendations from WIUT academic staff members to further improve her research.

On May 6, 2026, the Westminster School of Business (WBS) hosted a research colloquium featuring Fazilat Abdukhamidova, PhD candidate in Management. She presented her study titled, "Determinants of Online Subscription Adoption in an Emerging Market: Evidence from Uzbekistan Using the UTAUT2 Model".

The research explored the key factors influencing the adoption of online subscription services in Uzbekistan, an emerging and rapidly digitalizing market. Using the UTAUT2 framework and data from 372 respondents, the findings revealed that habit, ease of use, enjoyment, and access to infrastructure are the strongest drivers of adoption. Interestingly, traditional factors such as performance expectations, social influence, and price were found to play a limited role in shaping subscription behavior.

Following the presentation, the presenter received valuable recommendations from academic staff members to further strengthen her research.

On April 22, 2026, the Westminster School of Business (WBS) hosted a research colloquium featuring Anil Kumar, Senior Lecturer at WIUT. He presented a practical and interactive session titled, "Research Trends Made Easy: Hands-On Bibliometric Exploration."

The session was designed to unlock the secrets behind scientific publications using real Scopus data, demonstrating how to turn complex research data into clear insights and stunning visual maps that tell the story of innovation. Participants explored global collaboration networks—revealing how countries, institutions, and researchers are connected—as well as keyword clusters and research hotspots to identify emerging trends.

Using VOSviewer, a cutting-edge visualization tool, attendees learned to transform raw bibliographic data into interactive charts and network maps, making research trends easy to understand at a glance. The hands-on session equipped students, aspiring researchers, and faculty members with practical skills to explore, visualize, and interpret research like an expert.

The colloquium provided a valuable opportunity for the academic community to enhance their bibliometric analysis capabilities and stay at the forefront of research trend identification.

On April 15, 2025, the Westminster School of Business (WBS) hosted a research colloquium featuring Alessandro Saccal, Senior Lecturer and DSc candidate in Econometrics and Statistics. He presented his study titled, "A Money Search Model with Islamic Finance Constraints: Extending Neo-Monetarism to Halal Finance."

This work pioneers the extension of neo-monetarism to halal finance, specifically extending a first-generation money search model to incorporate Islamic finance's principal constraints: restrictions on time value return, speculation, and debt finance through the exclusive imposition of profit and loss sharing.

The research yielded several notable theoretical findings. At the notional level, it deduced a summary toleration of Islamic finance, whereby restrictions on time value interest, aversion to speculation, and profit and loss sharing cannot be expected to diminish money trade gains, albeit at the cost of money trade with surety. The model also demonstrated that time value interest exists irrespective of money, meaning that restrictions on time value interest penalize barter as well. Finally, the study concluded that while the introduction of Islamic finance may not increase social welfare, it need not decrease it either—except in the case of restrictions on commodity markups under barter or mixed trade in the presence of fiat money, as also prescribed by conventional finance.

On April 8, 2026, the Westminster School of Business (WBS) hosted a research colloquium featuring Yulia Paramonova, PhD candidate in Management at Westminster International University in Tashkent. She presented her study titled, "Managing Crowdsourcing Technology in the Framework of the Innovative Development of Uzbekistan."

The research investigates the antecedents of user participation within crowdsourcing platforms as a critical component of Uzbekistan's emerging Creative Economy. As the nation shifts toward an innovative development model, the study positions crowdsourcing as a vital bridge between collective intelligence and digital entrepreneurship.

Using a mixed-methods approach, Yulia identified the motivational antecedents that influence how individuals engage with these platforms. Her findings aim to provide a strategic framework for managing crowdsourcing technologies to accelerate digital transformation and support the creative labor market in Uzbekistan.

On March 4, 2026, the WIUT Business School (WBS) hosted a research colloquium featuring Pishenbay Umirbekov, PhD candidate in Econometrics and Statistics. He presented his study titled, "Role of institutional factors in multiple sustainable agricultural practices: Evidence from Uzbekistan."

The research provides a timely investigation into the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) among Uzbek farmers, addressing critical challenges such as climate change, water scarcity, and outdated infrastructure within rigid institutional settings. Using data from the UzFarmBarometer 2024 and a multivariate probit model, the study examines three key practices: biopesticide use, crop rotation, and sustainable manure application.

The findings reveal that these practices are often adopted together, reflecting the interconnected nature of sustainable farming decisions. Farmers with greater decision-making autonomy are more likely to adopt sustainable manure practices, while access to diverse training opportunities enhances adoption across all three practices. However, risk-averse farmers show lower inclination toward biopesticides and crop rotation.

On February 18, 2026, the WIUT Business School (WBS) hosted a research colloquium featuring Zubair Abbas, who presented his study on green human resource management and corporate sustainability.

Titled "Green HRM Transformation and Corporate Sustainability: Evidence from the Automotive Industry in the Czech Republic," the research provides a comprehensive investigation into how automotive companies integrate green HRM practices to advance sustainability goals. Rooted in AMO (Ability-Motivation-Opportunity) and paradox theories, the study employs a mixed-method approach, combining survey data from 194 employees with content analysis of sustainability reports from three automotive companies in the Czech Republic.

This research offers a novel theoretical framework and empirical evidence from the Central European context, contributing significantly to the underexplored intersection of green HRM and corporate sustainability.

On 11 February 2026, the School of Business and Economics (SOBE) hosted a research colloquium featuring Durdona Umarova, a PhD student in Management, delivered a presentation entitled "Improving the Mechanism for Ensuring Sustainable Growth of E-Government System Management Indicators."

Her talk examined the interdependencies among the three pillars of the E-Government Development Index—human capital, online service delivery, and telecommunications infrastructure—proposing a system dynamics approach to model their combined effect on national e-government performance. Highlighting persistent challenges in Uzbekistan’s global digital rankings, Umarova introduced a simulation-based framework aimed at diagnosing structural inefficiencies and forecasting long-term policy outcomes.

The session stimulated active exchange among faculty and researchers regarding the future of data-driven governance and offered strategic considerations for advancing Uzbekistan’s digital public infrastructure.