Search results for: institutional ownership

Authors: Hossein Rezaie

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Academic institutions, esp. universities, have been known as cradles of learning and teaching great thinkers while creating the type of knowledge that is supposed to be bereft of utilitarian motives. Nonetheless, it seems that such intellectual centers have entered into a competition with each other for attracting the attention of potential clients. The traditional values of (higher) education such as nurturing criticality and fostering intellectuality in students have been replaced with strategic planning, quality assurance, performance assessment, and academic audits. Not being immune from the whims and wishes of marketization, the system of higher education in the UK has been recalibrated by policy makers to address the demand and supply of student education, academic research and other university activities on the basis of monetary factors. As an immediate example in this vein, the Russell Group in the UK, which is comprised of 24 leading UK research universities, has explicitly expressed it policy on its official website as follows: ‘Russell Group universities are global businesses competing for staff, students and funding with the best in the world’. Furthermore, certain attempts have been made to corporatize the system of HE which have been manifested in remodeling of university governing bodies on corporate lines and developing measurement scales for indicating the performance of teaching practitioners. Nevertheless, it seems that such structural changes in policies toward the system of HE have bearing on the practices of practitioners and educators as well as the identity of students who are the customers of educational services. The effects of marketization have been examined mainly in terms of students’ perceptions and motivation, institutional policies and university management. However, the teaching practitioner side seems to be an under-studied area with regard to any changes in its expectations, satisfaction and perception of professional identity in the aftermath of introducing market-wise values into HE of the UK. As a result, this research aims to investigate the possible outcomes of market-driven values on the practitioner side of HE in the UK and finally seeks to address the following research questions: 1-How is the change in the mission of HE in the UK reflected in institutional documents? 1-A- How is the change of mission represented in job adverts? 1-B- How is the change of mission represented in university prospectuses? 2-How are teaching practitioners represented regarding their roles and obligations in the prospectuses and job ads published by UK HE institutions? In order to address these questions, the researcher will analyze 30 prospectuses and job ads published by Russel Group universities by taking Critical Discourse Analysis as his point of departure and the analytical methods of genre analysis and Systemic Functional Linguistics to probe into the generic features and representation of participants, in this case teaching practitioners, in the selected corpus.

Keywords: higher education, job advertisements, marketization of higher education, prospectuses

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Authors: Tristance Kee

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With the unprecedented increase in elderly population globally, it is critical to search for new sustainable housing and urban development alternatives to traditional housing options. This research examines concepts of elderly migration pattern in the context of a high density city in Hong Kong to Mainland China. The research objectives are to: 1) explore the relationships between soon-to-be-old elderly and their intentions to move to Mainland upon retirement and their demographic characteristics; and 2) What are the desired amenities, locational factors and activities that are expected in the soon-to-be-old generation’s retirement housing environment? Primary data was collected through questionnaire survey conducted using random sampling method with respondents aged between 45-64 years old. The face-to-face survey was completed by 500 respondents. The survey was divided into four sections. The first section focused on respondent’s demographic information such as gender, age, education attainment, monthly income, housing tenure type and their visits to Mainland China. The second section focused on their retirement plans in terms of intended retirement age, prospective retirement funding and retirement housing options. The third section focused on the respondent’s attitudes toward retiring in Mainland for housing. It asked about their intentions to migrate retire into Mainland and incentives to retire in Hong Kong. The fourth section focused on respondent’s ideal housing environment including preferred housing amenities, desired living environment and retirement activities. The dependent variable in this study was ‘respondent’s consideration to move to Mainland China upon retirement’. Eight primary independent variables were integrated into the study to identify the correlations between them and retirement migration plan. The independent variables include: gender, age, marital status, monthly income, present housing tenure type, property ownership in Hong Kong, relationship with Mainland and the frequency of visiting Mainland China. In addition to the above independent variables, respondents were asked to indicate their retirement plans (retirement age, funding sources and retirement housing options), incentives to migrate to retire (choices included: property ownership, family relations, cost of living, living environment, medical facilities, government welfare benefits, etc.), perceived ideal retirement life qualities including desired amenities (sports, medical and leisure facilities etc.), desired locational qualities (green open space, convenient transport options and accessibility to urban settings etc.) and desired retirement activities (home-based leisure, elderly friendly sports, cultural activities, child care, social activities, etc.). The finding shows correlations between the used independent variables and consideration to migrate for housing options. The two independent variables indicated a possible correlation were gender and the frequency of visiting Mainland at present. When considering the increasing property prices across the border and strong social relationships, potential retirement migration is a very subjective decision that could vary from person to person. This research adds knowledge to housing research and migration study. Although the research is based in Mainland, most of the characteristics identified including better medical services, government welfare and sound urban amenities are shared qualities for all sustainable urban development and housing strategies.

Keywords: elderly migration, housing alternative, soon-to-be-old, sustainable environment

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Authors: Mohammed Nishat, Ahmad Ghazali

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This study empirically inspects the corporate governance and firm performance, and attempts to analyze the corporate governance and control related variables which are hypothesized to have effect on firm’s performance. Current study attempts to assess the mechanism and efficiency of corporate governance to achieve high level performance for the listed firms on the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) for the period 2005 to 2008. To evaluate the firm performance level this study investigate the firm performance using three measures; Return on assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE) and Tobin’s Q. To check the link between firm performances with the corporate governance three categories of corporate governance variables are tested which includes governance, ownership and control related variables. Fixed effect regression model is used to examine the relation among governance and corporate performance for 267 KSE listed Pakistani firms. The result shows that governance related variables like block shareholding by individuals have positive impact on firm performance. When chief executive officer is also the board chairperson then it is observed that performance of firm is adversely affected. Also negative relationship is found between share held by insiders and performance of firm. Leverage has negative influence on the firm performance and size of firm is positively related with performance of the firm.

Keywords: corporate governance, agency cost, KSE, ROA, Tobin’s Q

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Authors: Marcelo T. Okano, Oduvaldo Vendrametto, Osmildo S. Santos, Marcelo E. Fernandes, Heide Landi

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Teaching of entrepreneurship and innovation in Brazilian universities has increased in recent years due to several factors such as the emergence of disciplines like biotechnology increased globalization reduced basic funding and new perspectives on the role of the university in the system of knowledge production Innovation is increasingly seen as an evolutionary process that involves different institutional spheres or sectors in society Entrepreneurship is a milestone on the road towards economic progress, and makes a huge contribution towards the quality and future hopes of a sector, economy or even a country. Entrepreneurship is as important in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and local markets as in large companies, and national and international markets, and is just as key a consideration for public companies as or private organizations. Entrepreneurship helps to encourage the competition in the current environment that leads to the effects of globalization. There is an increasing tendency for government policy to promote entrepreneurship for its apparent economic benefit. Accordingly, governments seek to employ entrepreneurship education as a means to stimulate increased levels of economic activity. Entrepreneurship education and training (EET) is growing rapidly in universities and colleges throughout the world, and governments are supporting it both directly and through funding major investments in advice-provision to would-be entrepreneurs and existing small businesses. The Triple Helix of university–industry–government relations is compared with alternative models for explaining the current research system in its social contexts. Communications and negotiations between institutional partners generate an overlay that increasingly reorganizes the underlying arrangements. To achieve the objective of this research was a survey of the literature on the entrepreneurship and innovation and then a field research with 100 students of Fatec. To collect the data needed for analysis, we used the exploratory research of a qualitative nature. We asked to respondents what degree of knowledge over ten related to entrepreneurship and innovation topics, responses were answered in a Likert scale with 4 levels, none, small, medium and large. We can conclude that the terms such as entrepreneurship and innovation are known by most students because the university propagates them across disciplines, lectures, and institutes innovation. The more specific items such as canvas and Design thinking model are unknown by most respondents. The importance of the University in teaching innovation and entrepreneurship in the transmission of this knowledge to the students in order to equalize the knowledge. As a future project, these items will be re-evaluated to create indicators for measuring the knowledge level.

Keywords: Brazilian universities, entrepreneurship, innovation, entrepreneurship, globalization

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Authors: Lenshie, Nsemba Edward

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This paper examines political sexuality as an identity construct, which imparts on democratic practices globally. The manifestation of political sexuality reflect on the dynamics of social, economic, cultural and political relations among different gender affecting a number of issues, such as the questions of citizenship, poverty alleviation, property rights, ownership and inheritance, rights to sexual consent, polygamous marriage, governance and representation among other issues. This paper is concerned with the aspect of political participation among different genders in Nigeria. This paper posit that political sexuality is an outcome of ‘sexuality differences’, which seeks to glorify and gratify the superiority of a particular sexuality over another. Political sexuality, therefore, motivate and exacerbate socio-cultural, economic, and political struggles among different sexualities. The paper asserts further that majority of women have been discriminated, sexually harassed, and are often denied certain rights and privileges in Nigeria. A few number of women who have found themselves at the corridors of government have used the Beijing protocol on Women to demand for ‘affirmative action’ to expand their political space. It contends that the ‘affirmative action’ in Nigeria is far from achieving it throughout the country. The paper conclude that women require more than just a ‘self-rediscovery’ to assertively demand for a more and proper inclusion in Nigeria’s democratic process.

Keywords: gender democracy, identity, politics, political sexuality

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Authors: Inka Maria Vilhelmiina Hiltunen

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The crisis of liberal democracy has been recognized from many sites of political literature; scholars of Marxist critical political economy and deliberative democracy, as well as critics of neoliberalism, have become concerned about how either the rise of populism and authoritarianism, institutional decline or the overarching economic rationality erode political democratic citizenship in favor of economic technocracy or conservative protectionism. However, even if these bodies of literature recognize the generalized crisis that haunts Western democracies, dialogue between them has been very limited. That said, drawing from contemporary Marxist perspectives, this article aims at bridging the gap between the criticism of neoliberalism and theories of deliberative democracy. The first section starts by outlining what is meant by neoliberalism, liberal democracy, and the crisis of liberal democracy. The next section explores how contemporary capitalism acts upon society and transforms it. It introduces Jurgen Habermas’ thesis of the ‘colonization of the lifeworld’, Wendy Brown’s analysis of neoliberal rationality and Étienne Balibar’s concepts of ‘absolute capitalism’ and ‘total subsumption,’ that the essay aims at connecting in the last section. The third section is concerned with the deliberative democratic theory and practice. The section highlights the qualitative socio-political impacts of deliberation, as predicted by theorists and shown by empirical studies. The last section draws from contemporary Marxist perspectives to examine the question if deliberative democratic theories and practices can resolve the crisis of liberal democracy in the current financially driven era of neoliberal capitalism. By asking this question, the essay aims to consider what is required to reverse the current global trend of rising inequality. If liberal democracy has declined towards commodified and reactionary forms of politics and if ‘market rationality’ has shaped social agency to the extent that politicians and the public struggle to imagine ‘any alternatives’, the most urgent political task is to bring to life a new political imagination based on democratic ideals of equality, inclusivity, reciprocity, and solidarity, that thereby enables the revision of the transnational institutional design. This part focuses on the hegemonic role of finance and money. The essay concludes by stating that the implementation of substantive global democracy must start from the dissolution of the hegemony of finance, centered on U.S., and from the remaking of the conditions of socioeconomic reproduction world-wide. However, given the still present overarching neoliberal status quo, the essay is skeptical of the ideological feasibility of this remaking.

Keywords: deliberative democracy, criticism of neoliberalism, marxist political economy, crisis of liberal democracy

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Authors: Swapna Begum, Higano Yoshiro

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Dhaka is the capital city of Bangladesh. It is considered as one of the traffic congested cities in the world. The growth of the population of this city is increasing day by day. The land use pattern and the increased socio-economic characteristics increase the motor vehicle ownership of this city. The rapid unplanned urbanization and poor transportation planning have deteriorated the transport environment of this city. Also, the huge travel demand with non-motorized traffics on streets is accounted for enormous traffic congestion in this city. The land transport sector in Dhaka is mainly dependent on road transport comprised of both motorized and non-motorized modes of travel. This improper modal mix and the un-integrated system have resulted in huge traffic congestion in this city. Moreover, this city has no well-organized public transport system and any Mass Transit System to cope with this ever increasing demand. Traffic congestion causes serious air pollution and adverse impact on the economy by deteriorating the accessibility, level of service, safety, comfort and operational efficiency. Therefore, there is an imperative need to introduce a well-organized, properly scheduled mass transit system like (Bus Rapid Transit) BRT minimizing the existing problems.

Keywords: air pollution, BRT, mass transit, traffic congestion

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Authors: Auwal Nata'ala

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The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has had impacts in almost every area human endeavor. From business, industries, banks to none profit organizations. ICT has simplified business process such as sorting, summarizing, coding, updating and generating a report in a real-time processing mode. However, the use of these ICT facilities such as computer and internet has also brought unintended consequences of criminal activities such as spamming, credit card frauds, ATM frauds, phishing, identity theft, denial of services and other related cyber crimes. This study sought to examined cyber-crime and its impact on the banking institution in Nigeria. It also examined the existing policy framework and assessed the success of the institutional countermeasures in combating cyber crime in the banking industry. This paper X-ray’s cyber crimes, policies issues and provides insight from a Nigeria perspective.

Keywords: cyber crimes, e-banking, policies, ICT

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Authors: Sandhya Manjunath

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The World Association for Sport Management (WASM) was established in 2012, and its mission is "to facilitate sport management research, teaching, and learning excellence and professional practice worldwide". As the field of sport management evolves, it have seen increasing globalization of not only the sport product but many educators have also internationalized courses and curriculums. Curricula should reflect globally recognized issues and disseminate specific intercultural knowledge, skills, and practices, but regional disparities still exist. For example, while India has some of the most ardent sports fans and events in the world, sport management education programs and the development of a proper curriculum in India are still in their nascent stages, especially in comparison to the United States and Europe. Using the extant literature on professionalization and institutional theory, this study aims to investigate the source of knowledge and professionalism of sports managers in India with limited sport management education programs and to subsequently develop a conceptual framework that addresses any gaps or disparities across regions. This study will contribute to WASM's (2022) mission statement of research practice worldwide, specifically to fill the existing disparities between regions. Additionally, this study may emphasize the value of higher education among professionals entering the workforce in the sport industry. Most importantly, this will be a pioneer study highlighting the social issue of limited sport management higher education programs in India and improving professional research practices. Sport management became a field of study in the 1980s, and scholars have studied its professionalization since this time. Dowling, Edwards, & Washington (2013) suggest that professionalization can be categorized into three broad categories of organizational, systemic, and occupational professionalization. However, scant research has integrated the concept of professionalization with institutional theory. A comprehensive review of the literature reveals that sports industry research is progressing in every country worldwide at its own pace. However, there is very little research evidence about the Indian sports industry and the country's limited higher education sport management programs. A growing need exists for sports scholars to pursue research in developing countries like India to develop theoretical frameworks and academic instruments to evaluate the current standards of qualified professionals in sport management, sport marketing, venue and facilities management, sport governance, and development-related activities. This study may postulate a model highlighting the value of higher education in sports management. Education stakeholders include governments, sports organizations and their representatives, educational institutions, and accrediting bodies. As these stakeholders work collaboratively in developed countries like the United States and Europe and developing countries like India, they simultaneously influence the professionalization (i.e., organizational, systemic, and occupational) of sport management education globally. The results of this quantitative study will investigate the current standards of education in India and the source of knowledge among industry professionals. Sports industry professionals will be randomly selected to complete the COSM survey on PsychData and rate their perceived knowledge and professionalism on a Likert scale. Additionally, they will answer questions involving their competencies, experience, or challenges in contributing to Indian sports management research. Multivariate regression will be used to measure the degree to which the various independent variables impact the current knowledge, contribution to research, and professionalism of India's sports industry professionals. This quantitative study will contribute to the limited academic literature available to Indian sports practitioners. Additionally, it shall synthesize knowledge from previous work on professionalism and institutional knowledge, providing a springboard for new research that will fill the existing knowledge gaps. While a further empirical investigation is warranted, our conceptualization contributes to and highlights India's burgeoning sport management industry.

Keywords: sport management, professionalism, source of knowledge, higher education, India

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Authors: J. Luché-Thayer, C. Perronne, C. Meseko

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We reviewed how certain institutional policies and practices, as well as questionable research, are creating obstacles to care and informed consent for Lyme and relapsing fever Borreliosis patients. The interference is denying access to treatments that meet the internationally accepted standards as set by the Institute of Medicine. This obstruction to care contributes to significant human suffering, disability and negative economic effect across many nations and in many regions of the world. We note how evidence based medicine emphasizes the importance of clinical experience and patient-centered care and how these patients benefit significantly when their rights to choose among treatment options are upheld.  

Keywords: conflicts of interest, obstacles to healthcare accessibility, patient-centered care, the right to informed consent

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Authors: Djehich Mohamed Yousri

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In recent years, the world has witnessed a phenomenon of displacement that is unprecedented in history. The number of refugees has reached record levels, due to wars, persecution, many conflicts and repression in a number of countries. The interest of United Nations bodies and international and regional organizations in the issue of refugees has increased, as they have defined a refugee and thus Determining who is entitled to this legal protection, and the 1951 Convention for the Protection of Refugees defines rights for refugee protection and sets obligations that they must perform. The institutional mechanisms for refugee protection are represented in the various agencies that take care of refugee affairs. At the forefront of these agencies is the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as well as the various efforts provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA).

Keywords: protection, refugees, international, persecution, legal

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Authors: Tan Hui Ying Renee, Stella Rizalina Sasha, Farah Safdar Husain

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Introduction: Menopause Hormone Therapy (MHT) is an effective drug indicated for the treatment of menopausal symptoms and as replacement therapy in women who undergo premature menopause. In 2020, less than 8.8% of perimenopausal Singaporean women are on hormonal therapy, as compared to the Western population, where up to 50% may be on MHT. Factors associated with MHT utilization have been studied from patient characteristics, but the impact of locally prescribing physicians resulting in low MHT utilization has yet to be evaluated. The aim of the study is to determine the level of knowledge physicians in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology specialty have and their attitudes toward MHT. We believe that knowledge of MHT is lacking and that negative attitudes towards MHT may influence its use and undermine the benefits MHT may have for women. This paper is a part of a larger study on Singaporean physicians’ knowledge and attitudes towards MHT. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study intended to assess the knowledge and attitudes of physicians toward Menopausal Hormone Therapy. An anonymous questionnaire was disseminated via institutional internal circulations to optimize reach to physicians who may prescribe MHT, particularly in the fields of Gynaecology, Family Medicine and Endocrinology. Responses were completed voluntarily. Physicians had the option for each question to declare that they were ‘unsure’ or that the question was ‘beyond their expertise’. 21 knowledge questions tested factual recall on indications, contraindications, and risks of MHT. The remaining 6 questions were clinical scenarios crafted with the intention of testing specific principles related to the use of MHT. These questions received face validation from experts in the field. 198 responses were collected, 79 of which were from physicians in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology specialty. The data will be statistically analyzed to investigate areas that can be improved to increase the overall benefits of MHT for the Singaporean population. Results: Preliminary results show that the prevailing factors that limit Singaporean gynecologists and obstetricians from prescribing MHT are a lack of knowledge of MHT and a lack of confidence in prescribing MHT. Risks and indications of MHT were not well known by many physicians, with the majority of the questions having more than 25% incorrect and ‘unsure’ as their reply. The clinical scenario questions revealed significant shortcomings in knowledge on how to navigate real-life challenges in MHT use, with 2 of 6 questions with more than 50% incorrect or ‘beyond their expertise’ as their reply. The portion of the questionnaire that investigated the attitudes of physicians showed that though a large majority believed MHT to be an effective drug, only 40.5% were confident in prescribing it. Conclusion: Physicians in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology specialty lack knowledge and confidence in MHT. Therefore, it is imperative to formulate solutions on both the individual and institutional levels to fill these gaps and ensure that MHT is used appropriately and prescribed to the patients who need it.

Keywords: menopause, menopause hormone therapy, physician factors, obstetrics and gynecology, menopausal symptoms, Singapore

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Authors: Sourabh Jain, Sukhvir Singh Jain, Gaurav V. Jain

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Intelligent Transportation System is an integrated application of communication, control and monitoring and display process technologies for developing a user–friendly transportation system for urban areas in developing countries. In fact, the development of a country and the progress of its transportation system are complementary to each other. Urban traffic has been growing vigorously due to population growth as well as escalation of vehicle ownership causing congestion, delays, pollution, accidents, high-energy consumption and low productivity of resources. The development and management of urban transport in developing countries like India however, is at tryout stage with very few accumulations. Under the umbrella of ITS, urban corridor management strategy have proven to be one of the most successful system in accomplishing these objectives. The present study interprets and figures out the performance of the 27.4 km long Urban Bus route having six intersections, five flyovers and 29 bus stops that covers significant area of the city by causality analysis. Performance interpretations incorporate Passenger Boarding and Alighting, Dwell time, Distance between Bus Stops and Total trip time taken by bus on selected urban route.

Keywords: congestion, dwell time, passengers boarding alighting, travel time

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Authors: Zhe Wang

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The fashion week, as a critical international fashion event in shaping world fashion cities, is one of the most significant world events that serves as the core medium for designers to stage new collections. However, its role in bringing about and shaping design ideologies of major fashion cities have long been neglected from a fashion ecosystem perspective. With the expanding scale of international fashion weeks in terms of culture and commerce, the organizational structures of these fashion weeks are becoming more complex. In the emerging fashion city, typified by Shanghai, a newly-formed 'hodgepodge' transforming the current global fashion ecosystem. A city’s legitimate fashion institutions, typically the organizers of international fashion weeks, have cultivated various cultural characteristics via rules and regulations pertaining to international fashion weeks. Under these circumstances, designers’ participatory behaviors, specifically show design and production, are influenced by the cultural ideologies of official organizers and institutions. This research compares international based Chinese (IBC) independent designers’ participatory behavior in London and Shanghai Fashion Weeks: specifically, the way designers present their clothing and show production. both of which are found to be profoundly influenced by cultural and design ideologies of fashion weeks. They are, to a large degree, manipulated by domestic institutions and organizers. Shanghai fashion week has given rise to a multiple, mass-ended entertainment carnival design and cultural ideology in Shanghai, thereby impacting the explicit cultural codes or intangible rules that IBC designers must adhere to when designing and producing fashion shows. Therefore, influenced by various cultural characteristics in the two cities, IBC designers’ show design and productions, in turn, play an increasingly vital role in shaping the design characteristic of an international fashion week. Through researching the organizational systems and design preferences of organizers of London and Shanghai fashion weeks, this paper demonstrates the embeddedness of design systems in the forming of design ideologies under various cultural and institutional contexts. The core methodology utilized in this research is ethnography. As a crucial part of a Ph.D. project on innovations in fashion shows under a cross-cultural context run by Edinburgh College of Art, School of Design, the fashion week’s organizational culture in various cultural contexts is investigated in London and Shanghai for approximately six months respectively. Two IBC designers, Angel Chen and Xuzhi Chen were followed during their participation of London and Shanghai Fashion Weeks from September 2016 to June 2017, during which two consecutive seasons were researched in order to verify the consistency of design ideologies’ associations with organizational system and culture.

Keywords: institutional ideologies, international fashion weeks, IBC independent designers; fashion show

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Authors: Ali Ahmad AlGassim

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The objective of this study is to explore the local community perceptions toward the impact of tourism from the COR theory perspective. The current study used qualitative methods and purposive sampling to engage informants. Data was collected using an online survey with closed-ended and open-ended questions from 57 informants living in Al-Jufa Village, and then data was analysed using content analysis. The findings showed that COR theory help explains the residents’ perception of the threat and stress of losing resources. The findings showed the residents feel stressed about losing resources, such as lands, houses, heritage, sociocultural and Islamic values, as well as job and investment opportunities if the village is developed for tourism. Findings also present that one group of residents declared rejections and aiming to resist the development if it takes place, and they will not allowing foreigners to come and live in the village. The findings also show that this stress and strain can be alleviated by allowing residents to participate in the development. Finally, the residents of Al-Juhfa showed a high level of feeling of ownership towards their resources.

Keywords: perception of threat, effect of tourism, COR theory, local community, impact of tourism, Saudi Arabia

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Authors: Senait Belay Adugna, Mirutse Giday, Tsegahun Manyazewal

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Background: The emergence and resurgence of zoonotic diseases have continued to be a major threat to global health and the economy. Developing countries are particularly vulnerable due to agricultural expansions and the domestication of animals by humans. Scientifically sound clinical trials are important to find better ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat zoonotic diseases, while there is a lack of evidence to inform the clinical trials’ capacity and practice in countries highly affected by the diseases. This study aimed to investigate researchers’ perceptions and experiences in conducting clinical trials on zoonotic diseases in Ethiopia. Methods: This study employed a descriptive, qualitative study design. It included major academic and research institutions in Ethiopia that had active engagements in veterinary and public health research. It included the National Veterinary Institute, the National Animal Health Diagnostic and Investigation Center, the College of Veterinary Medicine at Addis Ababa University, the Ethiopian Public Health Institute, the Armauer Hansen Research Institute, and the College of Health Sciences at Addis Ababa University. In-depth interviews were conducted with 14 senior researcher investigators in the institutions who hold a proven exhibit primarily leading research activities or research units. Data were collected from October 2019 to April 2020. Data analysis was undertaken using open code 4.03 for qualitative data analysis. Results: Five major themes, with 18 sub-themes, emerged from the in-depth interview in connection. These were: challenges in the prevention, control, and treatment of zoonotic diseases; One Health approach to mitigate zoonotic diseases; personal and institutional experiences in conducting clinical trials on zoonotic diseases; barriers in conducting clinical trials towards zoonotic diseases; and strategies that promote conducting clinical trials on zoonotic diseases. Conducting clinical trials on zoonotic diseases in Ethiopia is hampered by a lack of clearly articulated ethics and regulatory frameworks, trial experts, financial resources, and good governance. Conclusions: In Ethiopia, conducting clinical trials on zoonotic diseases deserves due attention. Strengthening institutional and human resources capacity is a precondition to harnessing effective implementation of clinical trials on zoonotic diseases in the country. In Ethiopia, where skilled human resource is scarce, the One Health approach has the potential to form multidisciplinary teams to systematically improve clinical trials capacity and outcomes in the country.

Keywords: Ethiopia, clinical triak, zoonoses, disease

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Authors: Abdulsamad Qadir Hussien

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This paper examines the impact of funders on the media industry in the Kurdistan Region Iraqi (henceforth KRI). The key objectives of the study are also looking at: how the media industry funder influences the media organization and journalists’ practices in the Kurdish community; how the media organizations attempt to utilize the available capabilities to serve the goals of the funded entities, whether they are parties, NGOs, governments, commercial companies or have individual ownership of media institutes. Further, the research project seeks to discover the influence and role of the funder on the media content and determine the prioritizing that will broadcast on the media. Furthermore, the project tries to understand to what extent the media organizations have a commitment to achieve the public interest and public affairs by following the key ethical principles. The study also attempts to explain the situation of the public service media. These variables are measured through a survey questionnaire distributed among a sample of 108 journalists and media practitioners. This research project, therefore, explores a new topic for study in the Kurdish community regarding the media industry, funding, and financial support. This article adopted surveys (n=108) as data collection tools by using a statistical method (SPSS 21). The data of the study have been tabulated, coded, and presented in a descriptive form.

Keywords: funding, journalists’ practices, Kurdish media industry, public services media

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Authors: Xianghan O'Dea

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This article argues an urgent need to better understand the personal experiences of Chinese top-up students studying in the UK since the number of Chinese students taking year-long top-up programmes in the UK has risen rapidly in recent years. This lack of knowledge could potentially have implications for the reputation of some UK institutions and also the attractiveness of the UK higher education sector to future international students. This longitudinal study explored the academic and social experiences of twelve Chinese top-up students in a UK institution in-depth and revealed that the students felt their experiences were influenced significantly by their surrounding contexts at the macro and meso levels, which, however, have been largely overlooked in existing research. This article suggests the importance of improving the communications between the partner institutions in China and the UK, and also providing sufficient pre-departure and after arrival support to Chinese top-up students at the institutional level.

Keywords: articulation agreements, Chinese top-up students, top-up programmes, U-curve

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Authors: Paulette Henry

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If Caribbean Universities wish to remain sustainable in the global education market they must meet the new demands of the 21st Centuries learners. This means preparing the teaching and learning environment with the human and material and resources so that the University can blossom out into the entrepreneurial University. The entrepreneurial University prepares the learner to become a global citizen, one who is innovative and a critical thinker and has the competencies to create jobs. Entrepreneurship education provides more equitable access to university education building capacity for the local and global economy. The entrepreneurial thinking, the mindset, must therefore be among academic and support staff as well as students. In developing countries where resources are scarce, Universities are grappling with a myriad of financial and non-financial issues. These include increasing costs, Union demands for increased remuneration for staff and reduced subvention from governments which has become the norm. In addition, there is the political pressure against increasing tuition fees and the perceptions on the moral responsibilities of universities in national development. The question is how do small universities carve out their niche, meet both political and consumer demands for a high quality, low lost education, fulfil their development mandate and still remain not only viable but competitive. Themes which are central to this discourse on the transitions necessary for the entrepreneurial university are leadership, governance and staff well-being. This paper therefore presents a case study of a Caribbean University to show how transformational leadership and the change management framework propels change towards an entrepreneurial institution seeking to have a competitive advantage despite its low resourced context. Important to this discourse are the transformational approaches used by the University to prepare staff to move from their traditional psyche to embracing an entrepreneurial mindset whilst equipping students within the same mode to become work ready and creative global citizens. Using the mixed methods approach, opinions were garnered from both members of the University community as well as external stakeholder groups on their perception of the role of the University in the business arena and as a primary stakeholder in national development. One of the critical concepts emanating from the discourse was the need to change the mindset of the those in university governance as well as how national stakeholders engage the university. This paper shows how multiple non-financial factors can contribute to change. A combination of transformational and servant leadership, strengthened institutional structures and developing new ones, rebuilding institutional trust and pride have been among the strategies employed within the change management framework. The university is no longer limited by borders but through international linkages has transcended into a transnational stakeholder.

Keywords: competitiveness, context, entrepreneurial, leadership

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Authors: Eleanor Nel

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Research output is an indicator of institutional performance (and quality), resulting in increased pressure on academic institutions to perform in the research arena. Research output is further utilised to obtain research funding. Resultantly, academic institutions face significant pressure from governing bodies to provide evidence on the return for research investments. Research output has thus become a substantial discourse within institutions, mainly due to the processes linked to evaluating research output and the associated allocation of research funding. This focus on research outputs often surpasses the development of robust, widely accepted tools to additionally measure research impact at institutions. A publication writing programme, for enhancing research output, was launched at a South African university in 2011. Significant amounts of time, money, and energy have since been invested in the programme. Although participants provided feedback after each session, no formal review was conducted to evaluate the research output directly associated with the programme. Concerns in higher education about training costs, learning results, and the effect on society have increased the focus on value for money and the need to improve training, research performance, and productivity. Furthermore, universities rely on efficient and reliable monitoring and evaluation systems, in addition to the need to demonstrate accountability. While publishing does not occur immediately, achieving a return on investment from the intervention is critical. A multi-method study, guided by the New World Kirkpatrick Model (NWKM), was conducted to determine the impact of the publication writing programme for the period of 2011 to 2018. Quantitative results indicated a total of 314 academics participating in 72 workshops over the study period. To better understand the quantitative results, an open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine participants from a particular faculty as a convenience sample. The purpose of the research was to collect information to develop a comprehensive framework for impact evaluation that could be used to enhance the current design and delivery of the programme. The qualitative findings highlighted the critical role of a multi-stakeholder strategy in strengthening support before, during, and after a publication writing programme to improve the impact and research outputs. Furthermore, monitoring on-the-job learning is critical to ingrain the new skills academics have learned during the writing workshops and to encourage them to be accountable and empowered. The NWKM additionally provided essential pointers on how to link the results more effectively from publication writing programmes to institutional strategic objectives to improve research performance and quality, as well as what should be included in a comprehensive evaluation framework.

Keywords: evaluation, framework, impact, research output

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Authors: Chandan Jha, Amit Sachan, Arnab Adhikari, Sayantan Kundu

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The purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) of India and examine the impact of urbanization on the performance of HEIs. In this study, the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has been used, and the authors have collected the required data related to performance measures from the National Institutional Ranking Framework web portal. In this study, the authors have evaluated the performance of HEIs by using two different DEA models. In the first model, geographic locations of the institutes have been categorized into two categories, i.e., Urban Vs. Non-Urban. However, in the second model, these geographic locations have been classified into three categories, i.e., Urban, Semi-Urban, Non-Urban. The findings of this study provide several insights related to the degree of urbanization and the performance of HEIs.

Keywords: DEA, higher education, performance evaluation, urbanization

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Authors: Amir Rashid

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Cloud Computing frameworks empower organizations to cut expenses by outsourcing computation resources on-request. As of now, customers of Cloud service providers have no methods for confirming the privacy and ownership of their information and data. To address this issue we propose the platform of a trusted cloud computing program (TCCP). TCCP empowers Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) suppliers, for example, Amazon EC2 to give a shout box execution condition that ensures secret execution of visitor virtual machines. Also, it permits clients to bear witness to the IaaS supplier and decide if the administration is secure before they dispatch their virtual machines. This paper proposes a Trusted Cloud Computing Platform (TCCP) for guaranteeing the privacy and trustworthiness of computed data that are outsourced to IaaS service providers. The TCCP gives the deliberation of a shut box execution condition for a client's VM, ensuring that no cloud supplier's authorized manager can examine or mess up with its data. Furthermore, before launching the VM, the TCCP permits a client to dependably and remotely acknowledge that the provider at backend is running a confided in TCCP. This capacity extends the verification of whole administration, and hence permits a client to confirm the data operation in secure mode.

Keywords: cloud security, IaaS, cloud data privacy and integrity, hybrid cloud

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Authors: Zainab Ajab Mohideen, Kiran Kaur, A. Basheer Ahamadhu, Noor Azlinda Wan Jan, Sukmawati Muhammad

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The corpus in the digital library is to provide an overview and evidence from library automation that can be used to justify the needs of the digital library. This paper disperses the approach and implementation of the digital library as part of best practices by the Automation Division at Hamzah Sendut Library of the University Science Malaysia (USM). The implemented digital library model emphasizes on the entire library collections, technical perspective, and automation solution. This model served as a foundation for digital library services as part of information delivery in the USM digital library. The approach to digital library includes discussion on key factors, design, architecture, and pragmatic model that has been collected, captured, and identified during the implementation stages. At present, the USM digital library has achieved the status of an Institutional Repository (IR).

Keywords: academic digital library, digital information system, digital library best practice, digital library model

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Authors: Mohsen Maraoui

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In the face of the growth in the quantity of data produced, several methods and techniques appear to remedy the problems of processing and analyzing large amounts of information mainly in the field of teaching. In this paper, we propose an intelligent cloud-based teaching system for E-learning content services. This system makes easy the manipulation of various educational content forms, including text, images, videos, 3 dimensions objects and scenes of virtual reality and augmented reality. We discuss the integration of institutional and external services to provide personalized assistance to university members in their daily activities. The proposed system provides an intelligent solution for media services that can be accessed from smart devices cloud-based intelligent service environment with a fully integrated system.

Keywords: cloud computing, e-learning, indexation, IoT, learning in Arabic language, smart tools

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Authors: Xiaojiao Duan, Zhaoxia Yi, Maria Assumpta Komugabe, Munirpallam A. Venkataramanan

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This study explores stakeholders' perceptions and use of AI in university admissions using a conceptual model. The model suggests that AI expertise mediates the relationship between various factors (positions, experience, perceived benefits, concerns) and the desire to adopt AI. By reviewing existing research, the study identifies variables, correlations, and research gaps. The findings highlight the influence of institutional positions, AI expertise, knowledge, perceived advantages, and concerns on attitudes and intentions toward AI implementation. The review provides a framework for future research, emphasizes ethical AI use, and offers practical insights for admissions stakeholders.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, college admissions, ethical considerations, technology adoption, perceptions of AI

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Authors: Michael T. Ajayi, Oluwakemi E. Fapojuwo

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Farmers are in need of regular and relevant information relating to new technologies. Production of extension materials has been found to be useful in facilitating the process. Extension materials help to provide information to reach large numbers of farmers quickly and economically. However, as good as extension materials are, previous materials produced are not used by farmers. The reasons for this include lack of involvement of farmers in the production of the extension materials, most of the extension materials are not relevant to the farmers’ environments, the agricultural extension agents lack capacity to prepare the materials, and many extension agents lack commitment. These problems led to this innovative capacity building of extension agents. This innovative approach involves five stages. The first stage is the diagnostic survey of farmers’ environment to collect useful information. The second stage is the development and production of draft extension materials. The third stage is the field testing and evaluation of draft materials by the same farmers that were involved at the diagnostic stage. The fourth stage is the revision of the draft extension materials by incorporating suggestions from farmers. The fifth stage is the action plans. This process improves the capacity of agricultural extension agents in the preparation of extension materials and also promotes engagement of farmers and beneficiaries in the process. The process also makes farmers assume some level of ownership of the exercise and the extension materials.

Keywords: capacity building, extension agents, dissemination, information/technologies

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Authors: Eriba Christopher Inyila, Godwin Egena Oga

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Statecraft appears to be one of the greatest cultural achievements in the history of man’s civilization. The state itself is often portrayed as the supreme community of the citizen’s collective goodness and will. However, history experience reveals that the state has often been held in captivity permanently in the hand of the political class to almost a total exclusion of the labouring class of workers, artisans and peasants. Consequently, the hallmark of the Nigerian state and society in contemporary era is state of permanent crisis characterized by poverty, unemployment and profound insecurity. A lasting solution to this state of anomie is often touted in terms of ethnic, religious and regional integration which border on non-material perception of realities. A neglected aspect of the approach to the study of recurrent problems in contemporary is the materialist conception of realties through class perspectives of the society. The cutting edge of the approach is found in the attempt to reconcile the contradiction between the productive forces and the social relation of production. In other words, the contemporary state is skewed in favour of ownership of properties/commanding height of economy predominantly in the hands of the few monopoly companies to the total exclusion of majority of Nigerian population classified as peasant, workers and artisan. The lopsided situation creates economic and social disequilibria.

Keywords: national development, class, the state, Nigeria

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Authors: Chandan M. S., Darshan G. A., Vyshnavi, Abhishek T.

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In the evolving world of technology and digital assets, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have emerged as the latest advancement. These digital assets represent ownership of intangible items and hold significant value. Unlike cryptocurrencies, like Ethereum or Bitcoin, NFTs cannot be exchanged due to their nature. Each NFT has an indivisible value. NFTs not only pave the way for financial services but also open up fresh opportunities for creators, buyers and artists. To revolutionize financing in the DeFi space, this proposed approach utilizes NFTs generated from digital arts. By eliminating intermediaries, this innovative method ensures trust and security in transactions. The idea entails automating borrower-lender interactions through contracts while securely storing data using blockchain technology. Borrowers can obtain funding by leveraging assets such as estate, artwork and collectibles that are often illiquid. The key component of this system is contracts that independently execute lending agreements and collateral transfers within predefined parameters. By leveraging the Ethereum blockchain, this project aims to provide consumers with access to a platform offering a wide range of financial services. The demonstration illustrates how NFT lending and borrowing is managed through contracts, providing a secure and trustworthy transaction environment.

Keywords: blockchain, defi, NFT, ethereum, marketplace

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Authors: S. K. Ashiquer Rahman

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This paper presents a knowledge mediation platform, “ePLANETe Blue” that addresses the challenge of building knowledge partnerships for higher education. The purpose is to present, as an institutional perception, the ‘ePLANETe' idea and functionalities as a practical and pedagogical innovation program contributing to the collaborative learning goals in higher education. In consequence, the set of functionalities now amalgamated in ‘ePLANETe’ can be seen as an investigation of the challenges of “Collaborative Learning Digital Process.” It can exploit the system to facilitate collaborative education, research and student learning in higher education. Moreover, the platform is projected to support the identification of best practices at explicit levels of action and to inspire knowledge interactions in a “virtual community” and thus to advance in deliberation and learning evaluation of higher education through the engagement of collaborative activities of different sorts.

Keywords: mediation, collaboration, deliberation, evaluation

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Authors: Stephanie Jo Marchese

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This oral presentation is a reflective piece regarding current social work teaching methods that value and devalue the lived experiences of survivor students. This presentation grounds the term ‘survivor’ in feminist frameworks. A survivor-defined approach to feminist advocacy assumes an individual’s agency, considers each case and needs independent of generalizations, and provides resources and support to empower victims. Feminist ideologies are ripe arenas to update and influence the rapport-building schools of social work have with these students. Survivor-based frameworks are rooted in nuanced understandings of intersectional realities, staunchly combat both conscious and unconscious deficit lenses wielded against victims, elevate lived experiences to the realm of experiential expertise, and offer alternatives to traditional power structures and knowledge exchanges. Actively importing a survivor framework into the methodology of social work teaching breaks open barriers many survivor students have faced in institutional settings, this author included. The profession of social work is at an important crux of change, both in the United States and globally. The United States is currently undergoing a radical change in its citizenry and outlier communities have taken to the streets again in opposition to their othered-ness. New waves of students are entering this field, emboldened by their survival of personal and systemic oppressions- heavily influenced by third-wave feminism, critical race theory, queer theory, among other post-structuralist ideologies. Traditional models of sociological and psychological studies are actively being challenged. The profession of social work was not founded on the diagnosis of disorders but rather a grassroots-level activism that heralded and demanded resources for oppressed communities. Institutional and classroom acceptance and celebration of survivor narratives can catapult the resurgence of these values needed in the profession’s service-delivery models and put social workers back in the driver's seat of social change (a combined advocacy and policy perspective), moving away from outsider-based intervention models. Survivor students should be viewed as agents of change, not solely former victims and clients. The ideas of this presentation proposal are supported through various qualitative interviews, as well as reviews of ‘best practices’ in the field of education that incorporate feminist methods of inclusion and empowerment. Curriculum and policy recommendations are also offered.

Keywords: deficit lens bias, empowerment theory, feminist praxis, inclusive teaching models, strengths-based approaches, social work teaching methods

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