Search results for: business success

Authors: Mustapha Shitu Suleiman, Francis Neshamba, Nestor Valero-Silva

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Small businesses are considered as engine of economic growth, contributing to employment generation, wealth creation, and poverty alleviation and food security in both developed and developing countries. Nigeria is facing many socio-economic problems and it is believed that by supporting small business development, as propellers of new ideas and more effective users of resources, often driven by individual creativity and innovation, Nigeria would be able to address some of its economic and social challenges, such as unemployment and economic diversification. Using secondary literature, this paper examines the role small businesses can play in the creation of jobs in North-West Nigeria to overcome issues of unemployment, which is the most devastating economic challenge facing the region. Most studies in this area have focused on Nigeria as a whole and only a few studies provide a regional focus, hence, this study will contribute to knowledge by filling this gap by concentrating on North-West Nigeria. It is hoped that with the present administration’s determination to improve the economy, small businesses would be used as vehicles for diversification of the economy away from crude oil to create jobs that would lead to a reduction in the country’s high unemployment level.

Keywords: job creation, north-west, Nigeria, small business, unemployment

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Authors: Shahnewaz Khan

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Machine learning (ML) techniques are often used in projects for creating data-driven applications. These tasks typically demand additional research and analysis. The proper technique and strategy must be chosen to ensure the success of data-driven projects. Otherwise, even exerting a lot of effort, the necessary development might not always be possible. In this post, an effort to examine the workflow of data-driven software development projects and its implementation process in order to describe how to manage a project successfully. Which will assist in minimizing the added workload.

Keywords: data, data-driven projects, data science, NLP, software project

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Authors: Anne Tan, Kok-Sing Tang, Audrey Cooke

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Play has always been a prominent pedagogy in early childhood. However, there is growing evidence of success in students’ learning using explicit instruction, especially in literacy in the early years. There is also limited research using explicit instruction in early childhood mathematics, and play is usually prominently mentioned. This proposed research aims to investigate the possibilities and benefits of integrating guided play with explicit instruction in early childhood mathematics education. While play has traditionally been a prominent pedagogy in early childhood, there is growing evidence of success in student learning through explicit instruction, particularly in literacy. However, limited research exists on the integration of explicit instruction in early childhood mathematics, where play remains prominently mentioned. This study utilises a multiple case study methodology to gather data and provide immediate opportunities for curriculum improvement. The research will commence with semi-structured interviews to gain insights into educators' background knowledge. Highly structured observations will be conducted to record the frequency and manner in which guided play is integrated with specific elements of explicit instruction during mathematics teaching in early childhood. To enhance the observations, video recordings will be made using cameras with video settings and Microsoft Teams meeting recordings. In addition to interviews and observations, educators will maintain journals and use the Microsoft Teams platform for self-reflection on the integration of guided play and explicit instruction in their classroom practices and experiences. The study participants will include educators with early childhood degrees and students in years one and two. The primary goal of this research is to inform the benefits of integrating two high-impact pedagogies, guided play, and explicit instruction, for enhancing student learning outcomes in mathematics education. By exploring the integration of these pedagogical approaches, this study aims to contribute to the development of effective instructional strategies in early childhood mathematics education.

Keywords: early childhood, early childhood mathematics, early childhood numbers, guided play, play-based learning, explicit instruction

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Authors: Frederick Johnson

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Product management has a long and well-established history within the consumer goods industry, despite being one of the most obscure aspects of brand management. Many global manufacturing organizations are now opting for external cloud-based Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) to replace costly and outdated monolithic MES solutions. Other global manufacturing leaders are restructuring their organizations to support human-centered values, agile methodologies, and fluid operating principles. Still, industry-leading organizations struggle to apply the appropriate framework for managing evolving external MES solutions as internal "digital products." Product management complements these current trends in technology and philosophical thinking in the market. This paper discusses the central problems associated with adopting product management processes by analyzing its traditional theories and characteristics. Considering these ideas, the article then constructs a translated internal digital product management framework by combining new and existing approaches and principles. The report concludes by demonstrating the framework's capabilities and potential effectiveness in achieving digital maturity and business agility within a manufacturing environment.

Keywords: internal product management, digital transformation, manufacturing information technology, manufacturing execution systems

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Authors: Awadh O. Al-Anazi

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As part of the organizational needs toward successful maintaining activities, a proper management system need to be put in place, ensuring the effectiveness of maintenance activities. The management system shall clearly describes the process of identifying, prioritizing, planning, scheduling, execution, and providing valuable feedback for all maintenance activities. Completion and accuracy of the system with proper implementation shall provide the organization with a strong platform for effective maintenance activities that are resulted in efficient outcomes toward business success. The purpose of this research was to introduce a practical tool for measuring the maintenance efficiency level within Saudi organizations. A comprehensive study was launched across many maintenance professionals throughout Saudi leading organizations. The study covered five main categories: work process, identification, planning and scheduling, execution, and performance monitoring. Each category was evaluated across many dimensions to determine its current effectiveness through a five-level scale from 'process is not there' to 'mature implementation'. Wide participation was received, responses were analyzed, and the study was concluded by highlighting major gaps and improvement opportunities within Saudi organizations. One effective implementation of the efficiency enhancement efforts was deployed in Saudi Kayan (one of Sabic affiliates). Below details describes the project outcomes: SK overall maintenance wrench time was measured at 20% (on average) from the total daily working time. The assessment indicates the appearance of several organizational gaps, such as a high amount of reactive work, poor coordination and teamwork, Unclear roles and responsibilities, as well as underutilization of resources. Multidiscipline team was assigned to design and implement an appropriate work process that is capable to govern the execution process, improve the maintenance workforce efficiency, and maximize wrench time (targeting > 50%). The enhanced work process was introduced through brainstorming and wide benchmarking, incorporated with a proper change management plan and leadership sponsorship. The project was completed in 2018. Achieved Results: SK WT was improved to 50%, which resulted in 1) reducing the Average Notification completion time. 2) reducing maintenance expenses on OT and manpower support (3.6 MSAR Actual Saving from Budget within 6 months).

Keywords: efficiency, enhancement, maintenance, work force, wrench time

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Authors: Frew Yirgalem Mane

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This study has examined Africa’s experiment with authoritarian model of development drawing from the experience of Ethiopia. With the tectonic crisis of neoliberal ideology, the dominant policy agenda in Africa pertains to bringing the state back to development. More concretely, countries epitomized by Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda have been constructing a highly interventionist state with authoritarian character. The central motive appears to facilitate development and salvage people out of appalling and grinding poverty. Each country warrants closer inspection. However, this study focuses on Ethiopia- a country often applauded as ‘Africa’s Great Run’ for delivering socio-economic success over the past two decades. In fact, inspired by East Asia’s including Chinese model of authoritarian development, Ethiopia orchestrated a vanguard party, centralized rent control system with politicized bureaucracy and militaristic mobilization resources for development. This arrangement may explain Ethiopia economic success story as one the fastest growing countries in the world. However, this paper detected, Ethiopia’s attempt to bring the state back in development has precipitated institutionalization of a new breed of authoritarianism and informalization of public institutions. Ethiopia’s model of state-led development may constitute a noticeable shift away from the vengeful adherence to neoliberal policies. However, the manner the model has been practiced proved to be neither smooth nor appears to address Ethiopia’s aspiration for political and economic transformation. Partly, this can be illustrated by recent widespread grievances that fed into the popular uprising and animated opposition against the state. Sources of the grievance are complex, but they are highly ingrained with the way the authoritarian model of development is functioning and also the model’s dis-functioning in terms of benefiting people. In light of these findings, the study has arrived at the following conclusion. Africa’s attempt to emulate development models from other countries is not such a ‘bad’ thing. However, emulation makes sense if it is contextualized and sensitive to complex local socio-economic interests.

Keywords: Africa, authoritarianism, development, Ethiopia, neoliberalism

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Authors: Anastasia Tsakiridi

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Geographic information systems (GIS) have been utilized in numerous spatial problems, such as site research, land suitability, and demographic analysis. Besides, GIS has been applied in scientific fields like geography, health, and economics. In business studies, GIS has been used to provide insights and spatial perspectives in demographic trends, spending indicators, and network analysis. To date, the information regarding the available usages of GIS in supply chain management (SCM) and how these analyses can benefit businesses is limited. A systematic literature review (SLR) of the last 5-year peer-reviewed academic literature was conducted, aiming to explore the existing usages of GIS in SCM. The searches were performed in 3 databases (Web of Science, ProQuest, and Business Source Premier) and reported using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology. The analysis resulted in 79 papers. The results indicate that the existing GIS applications used in SCM were in the following domains: a) network/ transportation analysis (in 53 of the papers), b) location – allocation site search/ selection (multiple-criteria decision analysis) (in 45 papers), c) spatial analysis (demographic or physical) (in 34 papers), d) combination of GIS and supply chain/network optimization tools (in 32 papers), and e) visualization/ monitoring or building information modeling applications (in 8 papers). An additional categorization of the literature was conducted by examining the usage of GIS in the supply chain (SC) by the business sectors, as indicated by the volume of the papers. The results showed that GIS is mainly being applied in the SC of the biomass biofuel/wood industry (33 papers). Other industries that are currently utilizing GIS in their SC were the logistics industry (22 papers), the humanitarian/emergency/health care sector (10 papers), the food/agro-industry sector (5 papers), the petroleum/ coal/ shale gas sector (3 papers), the faecal sludge sector (2 papers), the recycle and product footprint industry (2 papers), and the construction sector (2 papers). The results were also presented by the geography of the included studies and the GIS software used to provide critical business insights and suggestions for future research. The results showed that research case studies of GIS in SCM were conducted in 26 countries (mainly in the USA) and that the most prominent GIS software provider was the Environmental Systems Research Institute’s ArcGIS (in 51 of the papers). This study is a systematic literature review of the usage of GIS in SCM. The results showed that the GIS capabilities could offer substantial benefits in SCM decision-making by providing key insights to cost minimization, supplier selection, facility location, SC network configuration, and asset management. However, as presented in the results, only eight industries/sectors are currently using GIS in their SCM activities. These findings may offer essential tools to SC managers who seek to optimize the SC activities and/or minimize logistic costs and to consultants and business owners that want to make strategic SC decisions. Furthermore, the findings may be of interest to researchers aiming to investigate unexplored research areas where GIS may improve SCM.

Keywords: supply chain management, logistics, systematic literature review, GIS

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Authors: Bishal Baniya

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This paper proposes the sustainability related policy areas for decarbonisation and value addition at an organizational level. General and public sector organizations around the world are usually significant in terms of consuming resources and producing waste – powered through their massive procurement capacity. However, these organizations also possess huge potential to cut resource use and emission as many of these organizations controls supply chain of goods/services. They can therefore be a trend setter and can easily lead other major economic sectors such as manufacturing, construction and mining, transportation, etc. in pursuit towards paradigm shift for sustainability. Whilst the environmental and social awareness has improved in recent years and they have identified policy areas to improve the organizational environmental performance, value addition to the core business of the organization hasn’t been understood and interpreted correctly. This paper therefore investigates ways to align sustainability policy measures in a way that it creates better value proposition relative to benchmark by accounting both eco and social efficiency. Preliminary analysis shows co-benefits other than resource and cost savings fosters the business cases for organizations and this can be achieved by better aligning the policy measures and engaging stakeholders.

Keywords: policy measures, environmental performance, value proposition, organisational level

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Authors: Mohammad-Javad Eslami, Mahtab Zargham, Farshad Gholipour, Mohammadreza Hajian, Katayoun Bakhtiari, Sakineh Hajebrahimi, Melina Eghbal, Ziba Farajzadegan

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Introduction: To study the mid-term safety and functional outcomes of transvaginal anterior vaginal wall prolapse repair using polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) mesh (DynaMesh®-PR4) by the double trans-obturator technique (TOT). Methods: Between 2015 and 2020, we prospectively included women with symptomatic high-stage anterior vaginal wall prolapse with or without uterine prolapse or stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in the study. The patients underwent transvaginal repair of the prolapse using PVDF mesh in two medical centers. We followed all patients for at least 12 months. We recorded the characteristics of vaginal and sexual symptoms, urinary incontinence, and prolapse stage pre- and postoperatively using International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Vaginal Symptoms (ICIQ-VS), International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence-Short Form (ICIQ-UI-SF), and Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification (POP-Q) system, respectively. Results: One hundred eight women were included in the final analysis with a mean follow-up time of 34.5 ± 18.6 months. The anatomical success was achieved in 103 (95.4%) patients. There was a significant improvement in patients’ vaginal symptoms, urinary incontinence, and quality of life scores postoperatively (p < 0.0001). Only six patients (5.5%) had mesh extrusion, five of whom were managed successfully. The total rates of complications and de novo urinary symptoms were 21.3% and 7.4%, respectively. Significant pain was reported in 17 cases (15.7%). Conclusion: Our findings show that using PVDF mesh in the double TOT technique for anterior vaginal wall prolapse repair is a safe procedure with high anatomic and functional success rates and acceptable complication rates in mid-term follow-up.

Keywords: stress urinary incontinence (SU, incontinence questionnaire-vaginal symptoms (ICIQ-VS), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) mes, double trans-obturator technique (TOT)

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Authors: Ngong Eugene Ekia

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Education is the foundation for the success of any society as its impact transcends across all sectors, including economics, politics, and social welfare. It is through education that individuals acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to succeed in life and contribute meaningfully to society. However, the world is changing rapidly, and it is vital for education systems to adapt to these changes to remain relevant. In this paper, we will discuss the current trends and challenges in education and management and propose solutions that can enable individuals to thrive in an ever-evolving world.

Keywords: access to education, effective teaching and learning, strong management practices, and empowering and personal development

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Authors: Abrar Al-Enzi

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This study investigates the role of the popular utilization of Wasta within Arab societies. Wasta, by definition, is a set of personal networks based on family or kinship ties in which power and influence are utilized to get things done. As Wasta evolved, it became intensely rooted in Arab cultures, which is considered as an intrinsic tool of the culture, a method of doing business transactions and as a family obligation. However, the consequences related to Wasta in business are substantial as it impacts organizational performance, employee’s perception of the organization and the atmosphere between employees. To date, there has been little in-depth organizational research on the impact of Wasta. Hence, the question that will be addressed is: Does Wasta influence human resource management, knowledge sharing and innovation in Kuwait, which in turn affects employees’ commitment within organizations? As a result, a mixed method sequential exploratory research design will be used to examine the mentioned subject, which consists of three phases: (1) Doing some initial exploratory interviews; (2) Developing a paper-based and online survey (Quantitative method) based on the findings; (3) Lastly, following up with semi-structured interviews (Qualitative method). The rationale behind this approach is that both qualitative and quantitative methods complement each other by providing a more complete picture of the subject matter.

Keywords: commitment, HRM practices, social capital, Wasta

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Authors: Thandokazi Nyangiwe, Christopher Amoah, Charles P. Mukumba

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The South African construction sector is threatened by emerging black business forums called construction mafias. The emergence of the construction mafia has culminated in the disruptions and abandonment of construction sites resulting in the loss of jobs for construction workers. The paper examines the origin of construction mafias and their impact on the construction sector, including the potential ways to cope with their operations. A qualitative research approach was adopted for this study using open-ended interview questions to gather information from 30 key construction industry stakeholders, including contractors, subcontractors, consultants, and the construction project communities. Content and thematic analysis were used to analyse the data collected. The findings suggest that most participants do not fully understand the existence and operations of construction mafias in the construction industry. Construction mafias claim to be part of the local business forums. They disrupt construction projects and demand a certain amount, usually 30% of the construction value. Construction mafias frequently resort to intimidation and violence if their demands are unmet. Their operations have resulted in delayed completion of construction projects, abandonment of projects, and loss of income for the contractor and jobs for the construction workers. The interviews were limited to construction stakeholders. Because of the nature of the mafias’ operations, they could not be accessed for interviews for fear of being identified because of the connotation attached to their role as construction mafias. Construction project owners face disruptions of projects resulting in loss of equipment, materials, and income. Therefore, there is a need to sensitise the construction stakeholders in the construction industry regarding the existence and operations of the construction mafia and the implications on construction project performance and delivery. The findings will give insight into the operations of the construction mafias in the South African construction industry, which has caused disruptions in construction project sites. Stakeholders must find solutions to address the construction mafias’ disruptive actions on construction projects. The study presents an initial inquiry that will come up with how to manage and cope with the growing operations of construction mafias in the South African construction industry.

Keywords: black business forums, construction mafia, emergence, implication

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Authors: Abhay Vir Singh Kanwar

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The pharmaceutical industry today is a multi-billion dollar business and yet disadvantages people in many corners of the globe who are still dying in large numbers from curable illnesses for lack of access to drugs. The astronomical prices of essential and life-saving drugs is not just an economic problem that can be settled through clever market strategies but is an ethical issue, given the accumulated wealth of today’s humanity and the sense of global justice that it increasingly comes to share. In this paper, I make a very practical argument for what I shall call ‘the ethical healthcare paradigm’, which, I propose, can replace the economistic paradigm that can still drive the healthcare sector without creating spillover effects on the market. Taking off from the ethical-philosophical argument for recognizing every individual’s right to capability to be healthy, I shall come to the focused practical proposal of the cost-rationalization and universal availability of essential, life-saving drugs through the undertaking of research and development funding for drug innovation by the business establishment as such in terms of the concept of CSR. The paper will first expose the concepts of basic and fundamental capabilities in relation to education and health, after which it will focus on the right to capability to be healthy of every person. In the third section, it will discuss the ‘ethical healthcare paradigm’ as opposed to the economistic health paradigm and will argue that the patient will have to be considered the primary stakeholder of this paradigm or the very ‘subject’ of healthcare. The next section will be on an ethical-historical critique of the pharmaceutical industry’s profit driven economism. The section after that will look at the business operation and the stages in the life cycle of a drug that comes to the market in order to understand the risks, strengths and problems of the pharmaceutical industry. Finally, the paper will discuss the concept of CSR in relation to the ethical healthcare paradigm in order to propose CSR funding in research and development for innovation on drugs so that life-saving drugs can be made available to every sick person cost-effectively.

Keywords: capability approach, healthcare, CSR, patient

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Authors: Deepa Kapoor, Rajshree Singh

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This paper appreciates the emergence and growing importance as a new production factor makes the development of technologies, methodologies and strategies for measurement, creation, and diffusion into one of the main priorities of the organizations in the knowledge society. There are many models for creation and management of knowledge and diverse and varied perspectives for study, analysis, and understanding. In this article, we will conduct a theoretical approach to the type of models for the creation and management of knowledge; we will discuss some of them and see some of the difficulties and the key factors that determine the success of the processes for the creation and management of knowledge.

Keywords: knowledge creation, knowledge management, organizational development, organization learning

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Authors: Saeed Al Amoudy

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During the last decade, the rapidly growing prestige of so-called Creative Cities has inspired many other cities seeking to enhance their attractiveness, creativity, and success. However, the concept of a creative city seems to be an elusive one because it reflects a set of distinct ideologies which apply distinct ideas of creativity to physical and economic urban development. The main aim of this study is to investigate the ways in which the theoretical concept of the creative city can be usefully and practically employed to develop the urban services and global identity of Makkah, Saudi Arabia. This is a challenging prospect since no research on creative cities in the Middle East has previously been conducted. The city of Makkah and its holy sites is known as the focus of religious devotion for one and half billion Muslims around the globe, with millions travelling there on annual pilgrimage. The ideas of three of the key authors who have addressed relevant aspects of the concept of the creative city, Landry, Howkins and Florida, were explored in depth for the purpose of identifying the model which would be best suited to Makkah’s identity as a sacred city. Of these, it was the approach of Landry and others whose work was originally focused on finding creative solutions to the problems faced by cities which proved most suitable for the context of Makkah. The development strategies of five case studies of Creative Cities situated in different parts of the world, namely Vancouver, Yokohama, Glasgow, Barcelona, and Sydney, were also examined. Inspired by their diverse experiences, a model, referred to by the acronym CREATIVE, was developed by bringing together the key elements which seemed to ,account for the success of these five creative cities: Concept, Resources, Events, Attractiveness, Technology, Involvement, Vision and Enthusiasm. Expert opinion was sought on the model by presenting this for discussion at five international conferences. This model was used to guide both the process of data collection via interviews, documentation and field notes, and for analysing this, revealing that Makkah has great potential to become a Creative City. The results suggested that implementation of the CREATIVE model in Makkah would help produce creative solutions to address the problems that the city currently faces due to the growing number of pilgrims every year.

Keywords: creative city, city imaging, Makkah, sacred city

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Authors: Nikita Valluri, Vatcharaporn Esichaikul

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With the popularity of data-driven decision making on the rise, this study focuses on providing an alternative outlook towards the process of decision-making. Combining quantitative and qualitative methods rooted in the social sciences, an integrated framework is presented with a focus on delivering a much more robust and efficient approach towards the concept of data-driven decision-making with respect to not only Big data but also 'Thick data', a new form of qualitative data. In support of this, an example from the retail sector has been illustrated where the framework is put into action to yield insights and leverage business intelligence. An interpretive approach to analyze findings from both kinds of quantitative and qualitative data has been used to glean insights. Using traditional Point-of-sale data as well as an understanding of customer psychographics and preferences, techniques of data mining along with qualitative methods (such as grounded theory, ethnomethodology, etc.) are applied. This study’s final goal is to establish the framework as a basis for providing a holistic solution encompassing both the Big and Thick aspects of any business need. The proposed framework is a modified enhancement in lieu of traditional data-driven decision-making approach, which is mainly dependent on quantitative data for decision-making.

Keywords: big data, customer behavior, customer experience, data mining, qualitative methods, quantitative methods, thick data

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Authors: Mouhoubi Nedjima, Sassi Boudemagh Souad

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In this article, and through the modernization project of metropolis of Constantine (PMMC) experience in Algeria, discussed to highlight the importance of management in an urban project at various levels: strategic and operational. The statement we attended to reach is to evaluate the modernization project of metropolis of Constantine in the light of management and prove the relation between a good urban management and the success of an urban project.

Keywords: urban project, strategic management, operational management, the modernization project of constantine

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Authors: Tiberiu Socaciu, Tudor Colomeischi, Eugenia Iancu

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Business failure affects in various proportions shareholders, managers, lenders (banks), suppliers, customers, the financial community, government and society as a whole. In the era in which we have telecommunications networks, exists an interdependence of markets, the effect of a failure of a company is relatively instant. To effectively manage risk exposure is thus require sophisticated support systems, supported by analytical tools to measure, monitor, manage and control operational risks that may arise. As we know, bankruptcy is a phenomenon that managers do not want no matter what stage of life is the company they direct / lead. In the analysis made by us, by the nature of economic models that are reviewed (Altman, Conan-Holder etc.), estimating the risk of bankruptcy of a company corresponds to some extent with its own business cycle tracing of the company. Various models for predicting bankruptcy take into account direct / indirect aspects such as market position, company growth trend, competition structure, characteristics and customer retention, organization and distribution, location etc. From the perspective of our research we will now review the economic models known in theory and practice for estimating the risk of bankruptcy; such models are based on indicators drawn from major accounting firms.

Keywords: Anglo-Saxon models, continental models, national models, statistical models

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Authors: Lonna Mabandla, Godfrey Musvoto

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Transportation is a catalytic feature in cities. Transport and land use activity are interdependent and have a feedback loop between how land is developed and how transportation systems are designed and used. This recursive relationship between land use and transportation is reflected in how public transportation routes internal to the inner-city enhance accessibility, therefore creating spaces that are conducive to business activity, while the business activity also informs public transportation routes. It is for this reason that the focus of this research is on public transportation within inner-city areas where the dynamic is evident. Durban is the chosen case study where the dominating form of public transportation within the central business district (CBD) is minibus taxis. The paradox here is that minibus taxis still form part of the informal economy even though they are the leading form of public transportation in South Africa. There have been many attempts to formalise this industry to follow more regulatory practices, but minibus taxis are privately owned, therefore complicating any proposed intervention. The argument of this study is that the application of collaborative planning through a sustainable partnership between the public and private sectors will improve the social and environmental sustainability of public transportation. One of the major challenges that exist within such collaborative endeavors is power dynamics. As a result, a key focus of the study is on power relations. Practically, power relations should be observed over an extended period, specifically when the different stakeholders engage with each other, to reflect valid data. However, a lengthy data collection process was not possible to observe during the data collection phase of this research. Instead, interviews were conducted focusing on existing procedural planning practices between the inner-city minibus taxi association (South and North Beach Taxi Association), the eThekwini Transport Authority (ETA), and the eThekwini Town Planning Department. Conclusions and recommendations were then generated based on these data.

Keywords: collaborative planning, sustainability, public transport, minibus taxis

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Authors: Oluwatosin Oyewale

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This research work seeks to take technology used for business systems as a product that requires marketing activities. Technology is invented and innovated upon in developed countries and are introduced into Africa through marketing activities. Businesses in Africa now adopt this technology for global competitiveness and hitherto unemployed but educationally advantaged people are trained in handling and utilising the technology. The aim of this study is to examine how marketing activities make this technology help in solving the unemployment problem in Africa. The areas of study are both the premier local government and the local government of the industrial haven in Ogun State, Nigeria. Area or cluster sampling technique was employed and Questionnaires were administered to two hundred respondents in the areas of study. Findings revealed that marketing has contributed to the promotion of technology; thereby making businesses globally competitive. In addition, technology has helped in reducing unemployment in developing countries. Recommendations are that training programmes that will address existing knowledge gap in technology utilisation needs to be conducted for the labour force in Africa. Moreover, adequate power supply that will aid effective utilisation of these technologies needs to be put in place by the government in these various African countries.

Keywords: marketing, unemployment, problem, panacea

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Authors: Shuai Yang, Bin Li, Sixing Chen

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Engaging and co-creating value with buyers (i.e., the buying organizations) have rapidly become a rising trend for sellers (i.e., the selling organizations) within Business-to-Business (B2B) environments, through which buyers can interact more with sellers and be better informed about products. One important way to achieve this is through engaging with buyers on social media, termed as brand engagement on social media, which provides a platform for sellers to interact with customers. This study addresses the research gap by answering the following questions: (1) Are B2B firms’ brand engagement on social media related to their firm value? (2) To what extent do analyst stock recommendations channel B2B firms’ brand engagement on social media’s possible impact on firm value? To answer the research questions, this study collected data merged from multiple sources. The results show that there is a positive association between seller-initiated engagement and B2B sellers’ firm value. Besides, analyst stock recommendations mediate the positive relationships between seller-initiated engagement and firm value. However, this study reveals buyer-initiated engagement has a counterintuitive and negative relationship with firm value, which shows a dark side of buyer-initiated engagement on social media for B2B sellers.

Keywords: brand engagement, B2B firms, firm value, social media, stock recommendations

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Authors: Lisa M. Coleman

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The focus on disability, LGBTQ+, and internationalization has certainly been the subject of much research and programmatic across higher education. Many universities have entered into global partnerships with varying success and challenges across the various areas, including laws and policies. Attentiveness to the specific nuances of global inclusion, diversity, equity, belonging, and access (GIDBEA) and the leadership to support these efforts is crucial to the development of longstanding success across the programs. There have been a number of shifts related to diversification across student and alumni bodies. These shifts include but are not limited to how people identify gender, race, and sexuality (and the intersections across such identities), as well as trends across emerging and diverse disability communities. NYU is the most international campus in the United States, with the most campuses and sites outside of its county of origin and the most international students and exchange programs than any other university. As a result, the ongoing work related to GIDEBA is at the center of much of the leadership, administrative, and research efforts. Climate assessment work across NYU’s diverse global campus landscape will serve as the foundation to exemplify best practices related to data collection and dissemination, community and stakeholder engagement, and effective implementation of innovative strategies to close gap areas as identified. The data (quantitative and qualitative) and related research findings represent data collected from close to 22,000 stakeholders across the NYU campuses. The case study centers on specific methodological considerations, data integrity, stakeholder engagement from across student-faculty, staff, and alumni constituencies, and tactics to advance specific GIDBEA initiatives related to navigating shifting landscapes. Design thinking, incubation, and co-creation strategies have been employed to expand, leverage, actualize, and implement GIDBEA strategies that are – concrete, measurable, differentiated, and specific to global sites and regions and emerging trends.

Keywords: disability, LGBTQ+, DEI, research, case studies

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Authors: Haikal Achmad Thaha, Pujo Laksono, Dhamma Nibbana Putra

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Customer service is one of the core interest in a service sector of a company, whether as the core business or as service part of the operation. Most of the time, the people and the previous research in service industry is focused on finding the best business model solution for the service sector, usually to decide between total in house customer service, outsourcing, or something in between. Conventionally, to take this decision is some important part of the management job, and this is a process that usually takes some time and staff effort, meanwhile market condition and overall company needs may change and cause loss of income and temporary disturbance in the companies operation . However, in this paper we have offer a new concept model to assist decision making process in service industry. This model will featured information platform as central tool to integrate service industry operation. The result is service information model which would ideally increase response time and effectivity of the decision making. it will also help service industry in switching the service solution system quickly through machine learning when the companies growth and the service solution needed are changing.

Keywords: service industry, customer service, machine learning, decision making, information platform

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Authors: Eduardo Ruiz-Corzo, Luis Rodrigo Valencia Perez, Jorge Francisco Barragan Lopez

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The article shows the pressing conditions of marginalization prevailing in the Sierra Gorda, in the northern state of Queretaro, so it is essential to identify business options that generate a complementary source of income in a sustainable manner, in accordance with the fact that the area is a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. In this sense, the study identifies the enormous scenic richness of the area, the growing demand for leisure activities of the urban centers and the multifunctionality that adds, in a complementary way, the traditional activities that up to now have achieved the quality of life levels. From the application of the 43 interviews and 183 surveys, confirms the fact that the post-visit perception exceeds the expectations of the visitors emerges and affirms that the image that has been projected is attractive and timely. In order to understand how the current model of tourism promoted in the region is working, there is a need to evaluate it in a theoretical-methodological framework considering sustainable development assumptions. In order to determine the degree of contribution to business development, strengthening of social capital, and enjoyment and appreciation of cultural and natural heritage in the region.

Keywords: marginalization, rural tourism, multifunctionality, sustainability, revenue

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Authors: Saurabh Kumar

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In the fiercely competitive landscape of e-commerce, understanding and mitigating customer churn has become paramount for sustainable business growth. This paper presents a thorough investigation into the application of machine learning techniques for churn prediction in e-commerce, aiming to provide actionable insights for businesses seeking to enhance customer retention strategies. We conduct a comparative study of various machine learning algorithms, including traditional statistical methods and ensemble techniques, leveraging a rich dataset sourced from Kaggle. Through rigorous evaluation, we assess the predictive performance, interpretability, and scalability of each method, elucidating their respective strengths and limitations in capturing the intricate dynamics of customer churn. We identified the XGBoost classifier to be the best performing. Our findings not only offer practical guidelines for selecting suitable modeling approaches but also contribute to the broader understanding of customer behavior in the e-commerce domain. Ultimately, this research equips businesses with the knowledge and tools necessary to proactively identify and address churn, thereby fostering long-term customer relationships and sustaining competitive advantage.

Keywords: customer churn, e-commerce, machine learning techniques, predictive performance, sustainable business growth

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Authors: Elahe Memari, Ahmad Aslizadeh, Ahmad Memari

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Today strategic planning is counted as the most important duties of senior directors in each organization. Strategic planning allows the organizations to implement compiled strategies and reach higher competitive benefits than their competitors. The present research work tries to prepare and rank the strategies form effective factors on strategic planning in fulfillment of the State Road Management and Transportation Organization in order to indicate the role of organizational factors in efficiency of the process to organization managers. Connection between six main factors in fulfillment of State Road Management and Transportation Organization were studied here, including Improvement of Strategic Thinking in senior managers, improvement of the organization business process, rationalization of resources allocation in different parts of the organization, coordination and conformity of strategic plan with organization needs, adjustment of organization activities with environmental changes, reinforcement of organizational culture. All said factors approved by implemented tests and then ranked using fuzzy multivariate decision-making technique.

Keywords: Fuzzy TOPSIS, improvement of organization business process, multivariate decision-making, strategic planning

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Authors: Mustofa Mahmud Al Mamun

Abstract:

Government spending, one of the major components of gross domestic product (GDP), is composed of government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. A change in government spending during recessionary periods can generate an increase in GDP greater than the increase in spending. This is called the "multiplier effect". Accurate estimation of government spending multiplier is important because fiscal policy has been used to stimulate a flagging economy. Many recent studies have focused on identifying parts of the economy that responds more to a stimulus under a variety of circumstances. This paper used the US dataset from 1966 to 2020 and local projection method assuming standard identification strategy to estimate the multipliers. The model includes important macroaggregates and controls for forecasted government spending, interest rate, consumer price index (CPI), export, import, and level of public debt. Investment multipliers are found to be positive and larger than the consumption multipliers. Consumption multipliers are either negative or not significantly different than zero. Results do not vary across the business cycle. However, the consumption multiplier estimated from pre-1980 data is positive.

Keywords: business cycle, consumption multipliers, forecasted government spending, investment multipliers, local projection method, zero lower bound

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Authors: Eko Budi Santoso, Kazia Laturette, Stanislaus Adnanto Mastan

Abstract:

This study aims to examine the association between disclosure of social responsibility and tax aggressiveness in developing countries, namely Thailand. This is due to the increasing trend of disclosure of social responsibility in developing countries, even though this disclosure of information is still voluntary. On the other hand, developing countries have low taxation rate and investor protection infrastructures that allow the disclosure of social responsibility to be used opportunistically as a tool to fool the attainment of interests. This study also examines the role of assurance on the association between corporate social responsibility disclosure and tax aggressiveness. The assurance aims to provide confidence that the disclosure of social responsibility by the company is valid. This research builds an index to measure the disclosure of social responsibility based on the rules issued by the innovative Global Reporting. The results of the study are based on a sample of publicly traded companies in Thailand, which showed a positive association between disclosure of corporate social responsibility and tax aggressiveness, but it was further discovered that these results were mitigated by the existence of assurance against disclosure of corporate social responsibility. The results of this study indicate that the disclosure of corporate social responsibility can show that the company cares about the issue of social responsibility but does not automatically make the company as one that holds ethical values ​​in its business practices.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility disclosure, tax aggressiveness, sustainability assurance, business ethics

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Authors: Ana Hol

Abstract:

We live in a constantly changing environment where technology has become an integral component of our day to day life. We rely heavily on mobile devices, we search for data via web, we utilise smart home sensors to create the most suited ambiences and we utilise applications to shop, research, communicate and share data. Heavy reliance on technology therefore is creating new connections between STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields which in turn rises a question of what the STEM education of the future should be like? This study was based on the reviews of the six Australian Information Systems students who undertook an international study tour to India where they were given an opportunity to network, communicate and meet local students, staff and business representatives and from them learn about the local business implementations, local customs and regulations. Research identifies that if we are to continue to implement and utilise electronic devices on the global scale, such as for example implement smart cars that can smoothly cross borders, we will need the workforce that will have the knowledge about the cars themselves, their parts, roads and transport networks, road rules, road sensors, road monitoring technologies, graphical user interfaces, movement detection systems as well as day to day operations, legal rules and regulations of each region and country, insurance policies, policing and processes so that the wide array of sensors can be controlled across country’s borders. In conclusion, it can be noted that allowing students to learn about the local conditions, roads, operations, business processes, customs and values in different countries is giving students a cutting edge advantage as such knowledge cannot be transferred via electronic sources alone. However once understanding of each problem or project is established, multidisciplinary innovative STEM projects can be smoothly conducted.

Keywords: STEM, curiosity, innovation, advancements

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Authors: Akunna Agunwah, Kevin Gallimore, Kathryn Kinnmond

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Entrepreneurship and project management are widely associated and seen as a vehicle for economic growth, but are studied separately. A few authors have considered the interconnectivity existing between these two fields, but relatively little empirical data currently exist in the literature. The purpose of the present empirical study is to explore whether successful entrepreneurs utilise project management approaches in enhancing enterprise growth by understanding the working practices and experiences of the entrepreneurs’ using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as a lens. In order to understand those experiences, ten successful entrepreneurs in various business sectors in the North West of England were interviewed through a face-to-face semi-structured interview method. The collected audio tape-recorded data was transcribed and analysed using the deductive thematic technique (qualitative approach). The themes were viewed through the lens of Theory of Planned Behaviour to identify the three intentional antecedents (attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control) and to understand how they relate to the project management approaches (Planning, execution, and monitoring). The findings are twofold, the first evidence of the three intentional antecedents, which make up Theory of Planned Behaviour was present. Secondly, the analysis of project management approaches themes (planning, execution, and monitoring) using the lens of the theory of planned behaviour shows evidence of the three intentional antecedents. There were more than one intentional antecedents found in a particular project management theme, which indicates that the entrepreneur does utilise these approaches without categorising them into definite themes. However, the entrepreneur utilised these intentional antecedents as processes to enhanced business growth. In conclusion, the work presented here showed a way of understanding the interconnectivity between entrepreneurship and project management towards enhancing enterprise growth by examining the working practices and experiences of the successful entrepreneurs in the North-West England.

Keywords: business growth, entrepreneurship, project management approaches, theory of planned behaviour

Procedia PDF Downloads 205