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Decoding Digital Dilemmas: The Indonesian Journey from Facebook-Commerce Anxiety to Engaged Participation delves into Indonesia's unique trajectory in the digital marketplace landscape, primarily focusing on Facebook as a platform for commerce. This paper uncovers the initial trepidation and uncertainties experienced by local merchants and consumers, attributed largely to unfamiliarity with the digital ecosystem and concerns about security, trustworthiness, and cultural fit. Drawing upon a mix of qualitative and quantitative data, we trace how these anxieties have evolved over time. A convergence of improved technological infrastructure, community-led knowledge sharing, and Facebook's localized strategies has led to an environment where digital commerce now thrives. The Indonesian case exemplifies how societies can transition from hesitation to active engagement in digital platforms, offering insights for other emerging markets navigating their own digital transformations.

EDITORIAL: Introduction to the Special Issue based on papers presented at the Business Model Conference 2023

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide the theoretical insights with regard to the green purchasing intention–behavior gap and the role played by social media influences in abating this gap. This paper takes into consideration a wider aspect with regard to the antecedents of behavioral intention through personal and social identities in place of the antecedents presented in the theory of planned behavior and social-identity theory. Furthermore, as the theories lack an explanation of how to reduce the intention–behavior gap, this paper also argues the source credibility model (SCM) in explaining the impact that social media influences can have on the behavioral gap. Design/methodology/approach – Hypothetical deductive method is proposed for this concept paper under the positivism research paradigm. Findings – Not applicable as this is a concept paper. However, the paper discusses the theoretical and managerial implications. Research limitations/implications – This is a concept paper. Yes this paper discusses the theoretical, managerial, and social/ecological implications. Practical implications – This paper highlights the relevance of consumers' personal and social identities when consumers make purchasing decisions regarding green products. How managers can make marketing strategies, based on credibility model, involving social media influences as product endorsers and ambassadors, as well as the policy makers to design products, earmark consumer behavior and to conduct marketing campaigns in time to come. Social implications – As to how policies can be designed and adopted for bio-based economies where sustainability and circularity are given priority and to increase the attention of businesses moving toward sustainable practices. Originality/value – Original thought developed based on research, theoretical and market gaps.

AbstractInternationalization makes possible the competitive development of firms. This study proposes a methodology for the selection of international markets that identifies the most favourable international destinations for the paper and paperboard export industry in Colombia. For this purpose, a set of 23 factors divided into 5 categories are defined through literature: costs, trade barriers, logistics, environment and culture, and economy. This comprehensive model is applied to a set of 15 exporting firms and a combination of the multi-criteria models Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), and Evaluation Based on Distance from Average Solution (EDAS) is used for its development. The results indicate that the priority factors when choosing an international market are import costs (0.1974), transit time (0.1392), transport frequency (0.1174) and international transport costs (0.0971). Also, considering these priorities, the most viable markets for companies in this sector are Netherlands (0.9894), the United Kingdom (0.9740), Belgium (0.9409) and Germany (0.9351). The results obtained represent the identification of new possible alternative markets for Colombian companies in the paper sector to expand their international reach and develop in significantly more attractive and convenient markets according to their priorities. Also, this article contributes significantly to the development of methodologies for international markets exploration.

ABSTRACT: This study aims to investigate the role of the indigenous construct lokasamgraha in the context of social entrepreneurship. We identified lokasamgraha through content analysis of the Bhagavad Gita, employing the methodological approaches proposed by Bhawuk (2010). Using the lens of paradox theory, we investigated commonly accepted tensions in social enterprises. We developed a framework to explain how lokasamgraha can assist social enterprises in managing tensions and achieving the triple bottom-line. Furthermore, we validated this framework by citing a lokasamgraha-based social enterprise in India. Finally, before concluding, we discussed the implications and future research directions.

In this phenomenological study, the author proposes a spiritual triple bottom line framework (STBL) to develop and measure the three bottom lines: individual prosperity, impact on people, and impact on the planet through the lens of spirituality. The results are presented as an interpretation of the individual's perceptions of spirituality and their spiritual experiences. The result comprises three themes of spirituality and its nomological linkage i.e., inner sustainability with a triple-bottom-line framework (external sustainability). The themes are: the source of spirituality, the process of experiencing spirituality, and the outcome of being spiritual.

Purpose – The paper describes patterns of study on innovation in the regional economic resilience literature regarding methods and findings. Design/methodology/approach – This study is a descriptive one and it uses, as a method, the scoping review based on Scopus and Web of Science databases. Forty-eight theoretical-empirical papers were thematically coded, and analyses were conducted using R packages and MaxQDA. Findings – Innovation has been used narrowly in the regional resilience literature, considering the variables, the types of shocks and the analyzed loci. From the sampled papers, this study suggests that, depending on the operationalization, the addressed relationship can be positive or negative, which still needs further investigation. In addition, the study identified two lines of research. The first, characterized by quantitative research, secondary sources and multivariate analyses, focuses on testing predictive regional resilience models based on innovation-related variables. The second, characterized by qualitative or multi-method approaches, is more concerned with explaining the knowledge accumulation and the learning capacity related to regional innovation. Research limitations/implications – The paper’s findings show a restricted view of the innovation–resilience relationship. Although this study does not present a meta-analysis, it reveals gaps for future research. Some suggestions can be highlighted, such as (1) expanding knowledge about innovation as a predictor of resilience, (2) the theoretical development of this relationship to guide empirical investigations and (3) studies that consider the meso or micro level, approaching the role of actors in fostering innovation in the regional resilience process. Originality/value – This paper fulfills an identified need to investigate how innovation has been operationalized in regional resilience empirical research.

ABSTRACTPredictive maintenance strategies are becoming increasingly more important with the increased needs for automation and digitalization within pulp and paper manufacturing sector.Hence, this study contributes to examine the most efficient pre-processing approaches for predicting sensory data trends based on Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) neural networks. To validate the model, the data from two paper pulp presses with several pre-processing methods are utilized for predicting the units’ conditions. The results of validation criteria show that pre-processing data using a LOWESS in combination with the Elimination of discrepant data filter achieves more stable results, the prediction error decreases, and the predicted values are easier to interpret. The model can anticipate future values with MAPE, RMSE and MAE of 1.2, 0.27 and 0.30 respectively. The errors are below the significance level. Moreover, it is identified that the best hyperparameters found for each paper pulp press must be different.

Every enterprise seeks to determine as accurately as possible the cost of the products or services it produces. The allocation of indirect costs causes considerable difficulties in this process. In the search for the most accurate alternatives for allocating indirect costs, the Activity Based Costing (ABC) method has become more popular in recent decades and is increasingly used by companies. The ABC method has many advantages, but it also has disadvantages, which have led to further development of the method by proposing newer versions. These include Fuzzy Activity Based Costing (FABC), which reduces the risk of uncertainty in data collection conditions and inaccurate cost allocation. However, while the literature provides a theoretical model of the FABC approach, there is very little research focused on sector-specific companies. Given that the issue of indirect cost allocation is particularly relevant for manufacturing companies, this paper explores the possibilities of applying the FABC method in manufacturing companies, using the example of a paper and cardboard manufacturing company. The aim of the research: after revealing the principles of ABC and FABC implementation, to improve the indirect cost allocation process in a paper and cardboard manufacturing company using the FABC method. The methods used for the study were document analysis, observation, conversation, interview, and fuzzy set analysis. The results showed that the FABC method has lower cost drivers for some activities and higher cost drivers for others than the ABC method. The improvement path developed for the allocation of indirect costs using the FABC approach could serve as a good model for its implementation in other manufacturing sectors.

Purpose: Doing a bibliometric analysis of the papers on Total Quality Management published in Algerian Scientific Journals Platform (ASJP). Methodology/Approach: Following Bibliometric analysis approach that reaches the export of scientific papers from ASJP during 2005-2022 and using Bibiloshiny based on the R language (RStudio). Findings: The study highlighted the prominent authors, universities, and journals, identifying both opportunities and research advancements in TQM research and urging scientific collaboration. TQM practices in different sectors remain a current and relevant research topic, however, the analysis outlined some conceptual structure gaps within particular areas. The outputs provide insights and suggestions for scholars and practitioners in the field of TQM. Research Limitation/Implication: The study examines only papers published in ASJP until 2022. Findings could be useful for TQM stakeholders in emerging countries. Practitioners benefit from experiments to deal with the TQM method. Originality/Value of paper: In Algerian context, the study’s substantive contribution denotes that Industrial and Health care Areas constitute knowledge and empirical gaps in the TQM field; for future, researchers should exploit key words used by prominent authors; the TQM performance and higher education are the most explored topics as Motor themes; organisational culture as emerging theme had grown interest need exploration; total quality or continuous improvement themes are important for the TQM research require further works.

Our multidisciplinary review paper aims to explore the research paradigms of unethical behavior from different academic perspectives. By doing this, our paper contributes to a better understanding of unethical behavior by drawing knowledge from alternative understandings of such behavior. More specifically, our multidisciplinary inquiry aims to summarize the main findings documented by scholars from different disciplines that conducted independent research on the topic using unique perspectives and ideas associated with the field. As such, in order to gain a better understanding of how unethical behavior is examined through a range of different disciplines and areas of research we assessed the highly cited papers found at the intersection of various categories and research areas such as management, business economics, and psychology, ethics, engineering, and environmental sciences and ecology, public environmental occupational health. Having the goal to offer the most representative research on the topic, we based our review on the highly cited papers examining unethical behavior from the Clarivate Analytics’ Web of Science (WoS), the world`s leading scientific citation search and analytical information platform. The results show that the highly cited papers analyzed cluster around two major research themes as antecedents and factors increasing/enabling unethical behavior (e.g. propensity of moral disengagement, psychological entitlement, self-serving justifications, job insecurity, air pollution, polluted social contexts, creativity, favorable attitudes of upper-class toward greed, etc.) and factors deterring or limiting it (e.g. religion, ethical leadership). Given our multidisciplinary review, our study helps provide alternative understandings and important insights on the research of unethical behavior to serve for novel investigations in both practice and theory.

Vietnam’s pulp and paper industry has contributed significantly to socio-economic growth but is also one of the industries with a very high risk of environmental pollution. Stems from the goal of economic growth coupled with environmental protection operations in Vietnam, this study examines the factors affecting the implementation of environmental management accounting (EMA) in manufacturing enterprises in Vietnam’s pulp and paper industries. The data used in the study were collected through survey questionnaires in the form of face-to-face interviews or sent by e-mail or post to survey respondents at 290 manufacturing enterprises pulp and paper in provinces and cities of Vietnam. Survey subjects are managers (directors, deputy directors, chief accountants) and accountants who have knowledge of EMA in these enterprises. The survey results were obtained from 250 valid survey questionnaires used in this study. This study uses Cronbach’s alpha analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and linear regression analysis using SPSS 20 statistical software. The results show that coercive pressure, normative pressure, awareness of the benefits of applying EMA, environmental strategy, managers’ perception, and qualifications of accountants have a positive impact on EMA implementation. In which, coercive pressure has the strongest impact, and awareness of the benefits of applying EMA has the weakest impact on EMA implementation in these enterprises.

Research work carried out in any institution could be meaningfully administered, and the outputs generated rendered more rewarding for its key stakeholders, if a set of critical success factors (CSFs) are outlined ex-ante. When CSFs are neither clearly identified nor practised in a vital sector such as commercial agriculture, difficulties arise with timely monitoring and evaluation, and tallying the achievements with intended Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – particularly the goal of ‘zero hunger’. This article proposes a Key Performance Index (KPI index) that takes into account CSFs that would aid in evaluating the success of research linked with commercial agriculture development. How such an index is used to facilitate monitoring of scarce resource utilisation and internal processes of research institutes, and thereby support evidence-based decision-making to sustain a conducive research culture is explored with a special focus on underutilised performance drivers (e.g., societal development and environmental sustainability) in line with agriculture research.

Sustainable agricultural production is essential for an adequate food supply to feed the global population. One facet of efforts in making the agricultural sector more sustainable is the dramatic increase in organic farming (OF). With its current popularity, people across the globe are increasingly interested in the sustainable performance of organic production. However, accurate and timely information is scarce and there is a lacuna of knowledge among organic farmers about Sustainability Assessment (SA). Many promising SA measurement tools have been developed for the organic farming sector. However, improved procedures and a broader common knowledge are still necessary. In response, this paper provides a comprehensive comparison and scientific underpinning of the prominent tools for assessing farm sustainability to provide support for monitoring sustainable development in OF practices. This comparison can contribute to the adoption of suitable SA tools, and, thereby, the achievement of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development goals by 2030.

Non-profit Organizations (NPOs) have a wide range of social missions and impacts. This organization is supported by volunteers and needs to survive amidst competition and move in a sustainable direction. They see the necessity to be involved in the many stages of creating value for an organization. One of the underlying phenomena of value creation is the tacit knowledge-sharing process. However, academic research and scientific publications on tacit knowledge sharing (TKS) in non-profit organizations in Indonesia are still minimal and even rare. This paper aims to explore how tacit knowledge (TK) sharing occurred among volunteers in Non-Profit Organizations and drivers of TK sharing (TKS), including individual and organizational factors. This study explores the abovementioned topics through in-depth interviews with volunteers utilizing open-ended questions to acquire deep insights into the TKS issue. Thematic analysis has been carried out using data coding to extract themes. The findings revealed that various drivers for the smooth transfer of TK have been identified based on individual and organizational elements. These findings will be beneficial to academics and practitioners looking for accurate data on the enabling aspects of TKS based on two factors (individual and organizational). Moreover, the use of knowledge sharing in NPOs would be filling a gap in the literature on the topic.

AbstractSolid waste management has become one of the critical environmental concerns in developing countries. Information and communications technology have revolutionized traditional organizational management processes, increased efficiency, and significantly reduced paper use. The recruitment process in higher education institutes (HEIs) includes job applications and certificates of degree, and previous job-related documents. Such recruitment policies are causing paper waste and need the attention of policymakers. This study aims to provide empirical evidence for a policy shift that can have a broader impact on the environment. The current study aims to contribute to the existing research by considering the traditional recruitment approaches of public sector HEIs in Pakistan as a source of solid waste. The study highlights the previously disregarded aspect of the research on solid waste and explores the traditional practices of government-owned HEIs that lead to excessive amounts of paper waste. A mixed-methods approach is performed to confirm this hypothesis. We observed newspaper advertisements and then floated a questionnaire among employees of the HEIs. Findings confirm that traditional recruitment is one of the primary antecedents of paper waste generation. Results suggest that technology-driven recruitment reduces paper waste and leads to sustainable development.

Cellulose is an organic component that is widely found in wood fibers. Cellulose is the main component in the pulp/paper industry. As in wood, the raw material for pulp contains cellulose fibers. Cellulose is often used and processed to produce various types in the paper industry. Pulp is the primary material for different paper products, ranging from factories’ boards to daily necessities such as paper, tissue, tea bags, and magazines. Meanwhile, paper is a new change in literature and language that has played a significant role in the history of the development of human civilization. The pulp and paper industry in Indonesia provides a reasonably good contribution to the Indonesian economy. Several pulp & paper companies are listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The results of previous studies indicate that several pulp & paper companies are in a stage of financial difficulty. This study aims to prove empirically that the Z-score as a measure of the company's economic challenges affects stock prices. The results showed that the Z-score affected stock prices. From several ratios that make up the Z-score, it is known that the ratio of working capital to total assets, market value of equity to book value of debt, and sales to total assets have a significant effect on stock prices.

The tobacco industry has made a gradual move from developed countries to developing countries to expand its market. As part of this trend, tobacco companies in India invest a substantial amount of money in marketing activities. Although the government of India has gradually been increasing restrictions on marketing and sales of tobacco products, the creative and evolving marketing practices of tobacco companies have ensured that such measures have little effect. In this perspective paper, a critical evaluation of marketing practices used by the tobacco industry in India suggests that pro-tobacco marketing is a major hurdle towards bringing effective tobacco control policies and their successful implementation. It is demonstrated that the big tobacco companies in India backed by immense resources have been capable of countering the various legislative provisions for tobacco control in India through creative and manipulative marketing practices.

Purpose: This study aimed at implementing lean six sigma to evaluate the productivity and manufacturing waste in the production line of a paper company Methodology/Approach: The study is a case study in nature. The method illustrates how lean six sigma (LSS) is used to evaluate the existing production process in a paper production company with focus on productivity and manufacturing waste. The study considered a real-time problem of customer’s dissatisfaction. The gathered data is based on machine functionality (up time, down time and cycle time); materials and labour flow at every process stages of the production line. The optimization of the production process was based on lean tools like value stream mapping, process cycle efficiency, Kaizen, 5S and pareto chart Findings: Based on lean six sigma application, it was discovered that the present production performance was below standard and more manufacturing wastes were generated. The present productivity and manufacturing wastes are reported as low process cycle efficiency (23.4 %), low takt time (4.11 sec), high lead time (43200sec), high number of products not conforming to six sigma values, high down time (32.64 %) and excess labour flow (33). After the implementation of the lean six sigma tools for certain period of time, there are lots of improvements in the production line in terms of all the parameters considered. Research Limitation/ Implications: The study has demonstrated an application of lean six sigma in the case of solving real-time problems of productivity and manufacturing wastes which have a direct implication on customer’s satisfaction. The lesson learned and implications presented can still be further modeled using some lean based software for validity Originality/Value: The study has contributed to the body of knowledge in the field of LSS with focus to process based manufacturing, unlike most literature in the field concentrate more on discrete based manufacturing.

The Business Model Conference 2021, held at Aalborg University’s Copenhagen campus in early October, provided the members of the academic community with a great opportunity to discuss the latest research, innovative teaching methods, and best practices in business models research. Following the cancellation of the Business Model Conference 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis, the 2021 edition represented a new beginning and restored the familiar sense of community feeling experienced before the pandemic.

Industrialisation in its true sense began in India only after her independence in 1947. It has been a long journey since then. Initially, for about four and half decades since 1947, based on the Import-substitution strategy, Indian industry functioned in a highly regulated and protected environment dominated by the public sector. However, a paradigm shift occurred in India’s industrialisation strategy in the early 1990s as a new policy regime aimed at opening up and deregulation of Indian industry was adopted to facilitate the growth of competition. While the Indian industry has been functioning according to this policy regime for the last three decades, new issues have started to emerge. The paper attempts to unravel the cause and consequence of the process of industrialisation that has unfolded in India over the last seven decades and tries to analyse the challenges confronting the Indian industry at present and suggest the policy initiatives that could tackle them.

Street vending has persisted for centuries and pervasive across the globe since it plays a remarkable role in fulfilling customer needs in the context of the informal economy. In the contemporary business context, authorities have not paid sufficient attention towards street vendors. The paper addresses the specific features of street vending in the context of Sri Lanka, various challenges faced by street vendors and possible courses of action for the empowerment of street vendors. Accordingly, location issue with lack of infrastructure, less support from the government, insecurity and unstable conditions, slow growth, lack of financing opportunities and less support from banks were identified as major challenges faced by street vendors in Sri Lanka. Proper location and infrastructure development, assurance of security including a specific insurance scheme and financial assistance are proposed to empower street vendors to enhance their performance.

The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) issued its Integrated Reporting () framework in 2013 intending to promote integrated thinking in organisational contexts for corporate sustainability. However, arguments are mounted against limitations in these guidelines and their potential to create integrated thinking. Mainly, the maintenance of the financial prominence, neglecting sustainability needs is among the criticisms. Nevertheless, still, the framework contains some guidelines relevant to promote integrated thinking. An organisational change towards integrated thinking requires effective communication of the right message. This paper, benefitting from the Stakeholder Theory and the Stakeholder Agency Theory perspectives, sheds light on the potential of those guidelines to communicate the knowledge of integrated thinking to managers and concludes finding their failures. Utilising a content analysis of relevant guidelines contained in the framework, this paper contributes to the discussion of integrated reporting and integrated thinking for corporate sustainability.

This study aims to analyze the relative efficiency of graduate programs in terms of the quality of their scientific publications in journals. To this end, we applied Data Envelopment Analysis to the fields of Public and Business Administration, Accounting, and Tourism, using data from the 2017 Quadrennial Evaluation developed by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior “Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel”, CAPES. The results suggest that efficient graduate programs are concentrated in the center-south axis of Brazil, in the areas of Administration and Accounting. Despite the overall publishing strategy in journals of various ranks (strata), efficient graduate programs allocate their efficiency primarily to Qualis A1 journals, A1 being the excellence rating in the CAPES scale. We conclude that legitimized research practices pressure graduate programs to improve the quality of their publications while threatening the survival of programs that fail to conform to the assessment rules.

The proposition of thinking about the Organizational Studies from Latin America (LA) has as its premise to acknowledge that epistemology is political and that there exists an epistemology of domination which is inseparable from its material foundation. First, this essay discusses the meaning of LA, arguing that it is both a geopolitical space and a category of analysis. It then analyzes Organizational Studies in LA from the Brazilian perspective. Finally, the study emphasizes the importance of knowledge based on a critical ethic that contributes to make organizational processes that confront the multiple concrete expressions of coloniality visible, which be also relevant to struggling communities and collectives.

This editorial briefly explains the overview of the special session papers of ICAMA (International Conference of Asian Marketing Associations)-KAS (Korea Advertising Society). We also present the general direction for progressing the development of AMJ. Most of all, this special session was made possible because of the contribution of Professor Kyunghee Bu, The Rhizomatic Revolution Review and the BTS ARMY.

Purpose: Islamic, as well as modern literature, on the issue of halal/haram (permissible and prohibited), primarily circulates around the product’s ingredient aspect, categorizing a particular object specifically into one of the mentioned dichotomist heads. On contrary to the usual individualistic consumer/product-centric approach, this paper discusses several macros, systems-level models, which follow the top-bottom approach. Methodology: A discourse, through conceptual framework analysis, this paper discusses the concept of halal and haram, to understand the nature and antecedents to the concepts as narrated in the revealed texts of Quran and Hadith. Findings: It is proposed that although the terms of halal and haram are elaborated extensively in literature, there are several gaps in the understanding of the concept at the systems level. Therefore, this paper presents a comprehensive understanding through conceptual framework of halal/haram using the conceptual analysis method, which grounds into Islamic literature to trace the phenomenon’s major concepts and dimensions at various systems levels, such as society and environment. Conclusion: The research would enrich the understanding of how the Creator has created filters to provide the believers the best to consume and balances the cosmic systems through commandments to individuals, compliances to which supplement and support the Islamic lifestyle and Islamic social structure and sustained global development.

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh biaya pencegahan, biaya pencegahan, penilaian, biaya kegagalan internal dan eksternal terhadap produk cacat pada PT. RAPP. Data yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah biaya pencegahan, biaya penilaian, dan biaya kegagalan internal serta laporan produk cacat dari tahun 2013-2017. Variabel bebas dalam penelitian ini adalah biaya pencegahan, biaya penilaian, biaya kegagalan internal dan eksternal. Variabel terikat dalam penelitian ini adalah produk cacat. Model analisis yang digunakan adalah analisis regresi linier berganda dengan pengujian hipotesis uji parsial (t) dan uji simultan (F). Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa Biaya Pencegahan, Biaya Penilaian, dan Biaya Kegagalan Internal berpengaruh secara parsial terhadap produk cacat, sedangkan biaya kegagalan eksternal tidak berpengaruh terhadap produk cacat. Selanjutnya dari hasil uji secara simultan Biaya Pencegahan, Biaya Penilaian, Biaya Kegagalan internal dan Eksternal berpengaruh terhadap produk cacat.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused many events around the world to be cancelled, including the Business Model Conference 2020. The Conference Chairs, the Scientific Committee, and the Conference Committee discussed the possibility of hosting an online conference but thought that meeting virtually would not have provided participants with the same sense of community feeling experienced in previous years, when the Business Model Conference brought together international academics and practitioners from a multitude of disciplines to discuss the latest research and innovative teaching methods. Therefore, the decision was made to cancel the 2020 Conference. Despite this, the Editorial Board of the Journal of Business Models did not want the papers submitted to be a wasted effort; thus, it selected and reviewed the 11 papers included in this Special Issue. Originality, significance, and rigor were the three criteria that guided the selection and the review process, leading to a mix of papers that tackle business model issues from different angles and employ different research methods.

This paper explores the factors potentially responsible for the overconsumption of office paper and estimates the adverse environmental and economic impact of overconsumption. Data were collected from the employees of selected higher educational institutions in Oman. Technical factors, workplace environment, printing preferences and lack of awareness were found the main cause of overconsumption. Environmental and economic impact of the paper was estimated from the actual amount of paper consumed using standard formulas from literature. The institutions have used 5,200 reams (13 tons) of 80gm A4 size paper in one year. The economic cost of the paper was 7,800 OMR (20,280 US$). The environmental impact estimated are: cutting of 312 trees, 73,970 Ibs of CO2 gas emission, 144,742 KWh of energy consumption, solid waste produced 29,614 lbs and 247975 gallons of water were wasted. Changing printing preferences, a significant amount of economic and environmental resources to the tune of 44.8% can be saved.

Conflicting views on corporate social responsibility have led to various studies on CSR. However, the previous studies focused mainly on large firms rather than small and medium entrepreneurs. It is important to study corporate social responsibility in the context of small and medium enterprises. This is because any initiatives taken by small and medium enterprises can affect society and the economy due their large contributions. Therefore, this paper provides a view on corporate social responsibility among Malaysian entrepreneurs, mainly small and medium enterprises.

I consider that the second edition of the book “Conceiving, Writing and Publishing a Scientific Paper. An approach in the context of economic research” is a work of high scientific standing, excellently documented, addressed to knowledgeable readers but also to the new generations of PhD students and researchers interested in attaining the highest academic and scientific performances in the field of Economics. From my point of view, both editions of the book are highly useful for the academic environment. I especially appreciate the authors’ efforts to improve and expand the second edition. This fact is due to the changes occurred in the evolution of scientometric indicators, to the feedback received from readers, but also as the result of the desire to include multiple networks and platforms that take into account professional and institutional profiles, such as to facilitate the researchers’ dissemination of their results obtained in the scientific research activity. The authors benefit on an unanimous recognition and are highly appreciated., fact proven for example by the ten existing reviews of the book’s first edition, published in journals indexed in Web of Science, Scopus and other international databases. I am mostly impressed by the authors’ permanent concern to improve their book’s scientific content. The first edition was awarded the distinction “The Best Book in the Field of Economics” published in 2016 in Romania by the Association of Romanian Economic Faculties, but also by The Association of Cultural-Educational Cooperation from Suceava (ACCES prize in 2016)

Female labor force participation plays a key role in economic development. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), as a developing economy, relies mainly on men rather than women to achieve its development objectives. Over a period of fifty years, Saudi female labor force participation is extremely low. This working research paper seeks to identify the challenges and issues of the female labor force in KSA. The study has employed regression model, in which the dependent variable is Female LFPR and independent variables are unemployment rate (u-rate), urban population, fertility rate & higher education. The results have shown that u-rate, fertility rate and urban population show statistical significance on Female LFPR, except higher education. It has been concluded that despite the challenges faced by the female labor force in Saudi Arabia, Vision 2030 paves a new path to empower women to contribute to the economic growth of the Kingdom.

Purpose: Gene therapy brings opportunities to discover cures for diseases for which there are no adequate treatments. As most gene therapies target rare diseases, several challenges are associated with their clinical development, such as limited population size, lack of established clinical pathways for development, and sometimes the absence of validated endpoints. The objective of this study was to systematically review and evaluate the methodology and design of European clinical trials (CTs) utilising gene therapy medicinal products (GTMPs). Methods: A systematic search of online CT databases was performed using keywords to identify CTs conducted with GTMPs in Europe, published from 1 January 1995 to 31 July 2019. Results: The search identified 1571 CTs, of which 199 were identified as published articles. A total of 159 CTs remained following the elimination of duplicated CTs, non-gene therapy trials, and those conducted outside Europe. Of these, only nine CTs were randomised, double-blind, with or without parallel groups, and placebo-controlled. Conclusions: The analysed randomised CTs were conducted in accordance with Good clinical practice with low risk of bias across domains. Only one CT was identified with some concerns of bias due to lack of information regarding the randomisation process and changes in protocol.

Nowadays, more than ever before, the companies are under the watchful eye of the stakeholders. However much energy, effort and also expertise a company brings in order to bear on the risks of the unethical behavior, many surveys have proved that fraud, bribery and also corruption are unlikely to completely disappear. In order to prevent an unethical behavior, companies must be able to identify, investigate and also remediate actions of different individuals who are prepared not to comply with the ethical principles. Ethics is an important aspect formalised through a Code of Conduct within companies, which has the role to articulate the core values and also employees’ behavioural expectations. It is the responsibility of the management to ensure that the personnel follows this code, otherwise it is informed about the penalties that might arise. Ethics is characterized also by transparency, supporting an increase in the trust of people and institutions.

AABFJ Editorial Volume 15 issue 2, 2021