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Value co‐creation as a research topic has been a critical proposition of interest to a wide range of disciplines. In recent years, the field of cultural heritage has also developed a range of information practices to promote different forms of value co‐creation. While the body of literature has begun to accumulate, we still lack a comprehensive understanding of conceptual foundations and how value co‐creation is implemented in cultural heritage information practices. This paper conducted a hermeneutic literature review to understand and conceptualize the core aspects of value co‐creation in various cultural heritage information works. In particular, this paper provides a research mapping of the genres of co‐creation in cultural heritage information practices, the actors, and the roles played by the stakeholders. Further, this review provides an overview of the dominant value co‐creation models in the cultural heritage field. It distills the drivers of value co‐creation and the core value consequences that arise from a process perspective. Finally, this paper puts forward a thematic, theoretical, and methodological agenda for future work based on these findings. The review contributes to the literature by proposing an integrated conceptual framework that summarizes the core elements of value co‐creation in cultural heritage information practices. The framework also serves as a call for action, providing a general understanding of the conceptual foundation for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The marketisation of European home care has given rise to significant private for-profit providers growth. However, little research has focused directly on commercial companies to examine the mechanisms through which they emerge, grow and shape long-term care policy – this is this paper's task. Drawing on the literature on business power, the recent concept of "institutional business power" is introduced, defined as the power flowing from the entrenched position of business actors in the provision of public social services. The paper identifies the mechanisms through which private providers have grown and assesses the extent of their institutional power by examining their influence on policy and the support they obtain from relevant home care stakeholders. The limits of providers' institutional power are also discussed. The paper relies on semi-structured interviews with representatives of public, private and non-profit home care providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores a theoretical and empirical discussion of the ability of business form a particular sector to transition towards sustainability. The paper contextualises the discussion within the theoretical framework of a 'Risk Society' as outlined by Ulrich Beck. In particular, the paper highlights the relationship between sustainable development, and what Beck describes as the emergence of an emancipatory catastrophism. This theoretical framework is then applied to a novel approach for exploring sustainability through the process of branding ultimately highlighting an industry's receptiveness to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Uniquely, this paper challenges and expands on the narrative of branding as a discursive process that moves beyond a narrow marketing framework. Using a mixed methods approach of in‐depth observation, interviews and surveys, the paper focuses on a case study of the largest lifestyle retailer in the surf skate and snow sector. The empirical research is applied both within the case study company itself and over 300 brands in the surf skate and snow sector. Results point to a receptiveness to embedding the sustainable development goals in business models whilst highlighting the challenges that exist from both a business operation and resourcing perspective through to external factors. Furthermore, results highlight the disparity between internal business processes and the process branding. A typology is presented that highlights the relationship between business, the sustainable development goals and theoretical debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business actors create and operate in global production networks that bring them in contact with regulatory frameworks across multiple levels and domains. Importantly, they also participate in shaping those regulatory frameworks. But what are the specific interests they pursue in their involvement in regulation? Traditionally, scholars tended to assume that the focus of business actors is primarily on avoiding (stringent) public regulation. Recent developments have highlighted a broader range of business interests, however. Accordingly, this paper investigates business positions on the ascription of duties and rights in regulation, specifically in the fields of due diligence, supply chain liability, and extraterritorial jurisdiction. The paper explores these issues in the context of business regulation in the field of Human Rights, looking at the United Nations Guiding Principles on human rights, their German implementation in the 'Nationaler Aktionsplan Wirtschaft und Menschenrechte' and the associated processes, in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advancements in artificial intelligence have contributed significantly to various aspects of the business landscape. As a continuously growing field, AI has the potential to revolutionize the realm of business, leading to increased efficiency and improved business outcomes. This research paper aims to discover and analyze the role of artificial intelligence in business decision-making and process automation. Through conducting case studies and interviews in the field, this paper will compare differences in the implementation of AI between small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and large businesses. Additionally, a literature review can be conducted to determine the current findings on the relationship between AI and business within the workplace. By understanding the impact of AI on business workforces, organizations can make informed decisions about adopting and implementing AI into their business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clear legal content of white papers provides certainty, stability and trust in the relations between all the participants in initial coins offering (ICO) procedures and contributes to the successful introduction of blockchain technologies in business. A white paper defines the relationship and interaction between a regulated social reality and program code, which is by itself not susceptible to legal regulation. This article investigates the legal conditions of the white papers that describe the projects of ICO. The author provides a legal analysis of numerous white papers published during ICO implementation around the world. Based on extensive data on implemented ICO projects, the correlation between the legal content of a white paper and the amount of funds collected as a result of the ICO is considered. Having analysed the determinants of the white paper legal content, the author suggests the legal provisions that any ICO white paper should have. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employment subsidies are important active labour market policy (ALMP) tools, suited to a variety of labour market challenges. This paper engages with recent ALMP categorisation debates by appraising Cronert's (2019) recent typology of employment subsidies. It uses empirical material to assess the typology's explanatory power and produce insights to inform further typological development. The illustrative case of the British ' Wage Incentive' (2012-2014) is used to assess the typology's analytical purchase. Cronert's typology helpfully identifies key distinctions in the distributional profiles of employment subsidies, but further understanding of the category is impeded by the practice of defining them as demand-side interventions. The paper argues for a reappraisal of their supply-side characteristics, maintaining that the (potential) worker should be included in the analysis, and that employment subsidies' relationship with training and job creation should be acknowledged. It proposes a redefinition of employment subsidies reflecting their real-world use, and suggests a framework for further exploring varieties of employment subsidy design from the perspective of beneficiaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The analysis of strengths and weaknesses is very important in the strategic management of an enterprise. The article uses TOWS/SWOT analysis in one of the manufacturing companies. Based on the analysis, it was proposed to adopt an aggressive strategy (maxi-maxi). Design/methodology/approach: The aim of the article was to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of an industrial enterprise. As part of the research, a TOWS/SWOT analysis was carried out, based on which the company's strengths and weaknesses were presented. In the next stage, survey research was carried out. Findings: Based on the TOWNS/SWOT analysis, it was found that the most desirable option for the company is to adopt an aggressive strategy (maxi-maxi). Research limitations/implications: The major limitation of the paper is that it is based on one case of an organization. In the future, it will be necessary to conduct studies in more organizations so as to find out if the same result can be achieved. Practical implications: The analysis shows that the basic strengths on which the company's strategic advantage should be built are the leading position on the market of aluminium profiles (51%) and flexible packaging (21%) and the company's constant development. Investing in the development of the company through the development of activities in segments (investments in modern technologies, elimination of costs) and obtaining their shares in the country and on the foreign market. Originality/value: The examined company has not yet conducted a TOWN/SWOT analysis that would indicate what strategy should be implemented to improve company management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's fast way of living and ever-changing business landscape, companies need to keep up with the latest technological advancements to stay competitive. Digitalization of all company management processes is associated with the fourth industrial revolution Industry 4.0. Traditional business processes are slowly disappearing, because new technologies take their place. Digital transformation is the process of integrating digital technology into all aspects of business, fundamentally changing how businesses operate and deliver value to customers. Digital technologies transforming internal processes and opening up opportunities for identifying and implementing new methods of distributing products and opportunities for monetizing services. This paper aims to demystify the abstract term digital transformation and the development process, to stimulate critical thinking about a company's and how digital transformation changes entire way of doing business. Firstly, analyzes the main difference between digitization, digitalization and digital transformation, then it focuses on digital transformation of business models and trends in the business, digital technologies and how companies to achieve digital transformation. This paper enables to stimulate thinking about digital transformation and how to acquire business growth, what steps to take, what tools are available and what are the benefits that brings companies to success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Degree apprenticeships (DA) help employees gain new knowledge and skills by allowing them to study towards a university degree while working full time. For these programmes to be effective, the learning design should be adapted to the needs of these students, who are goal oriented (i.e. they want to gain only knowledge that can be applied within their workplace), have limited time for studying, and usually have not attended formal education for some time. As these programmes are relatively new, there is limited research on how these students can be supported to achieve the programmes' learning goals by using information and communication technologies. Objectives: This paper aims to understand whether a learning design that combines game‐based learning with online flipped classrooms can engage DA students in their learning and help them develop their reflective skills. Methods: Two focus groups were conducted with DA students that study at a UK Business School towards gaining the Chartered Manager status. The focus groups recordings have been analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results and Conclusions: The three main themes, "change can be helpful and challenging at the same time", "the ideal game", and "the effect of others", show that DA students find game‐based learning and online flipped classrooms useful, with the right support. Simulation games can be more fulfilling to DA students than quiz games, even if they take more of their out‐of‐class time. In addition, instructors are advised to work more closely with diverse teams to enable students share their work experiences and learn from each other. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic?: Online flipped classrooms offer flexibility in learning, but instructors need to find solutions to challenges, like students' limited e‐learning readiness and lack of motivation.Game‐based learning has been found to facilitate learning in general, but there is a need to identify the specific circumstances (i.e. settings, gaming elements) under which it is effective.Degree apprenticeship students need more support with their learning compared to traditional university students, as they face additional challenges in terms of family life‐work balance and connecting their learning to their working experience. What this paper adds?: Game‐based learning can be useful to degree apprenticeship students providing that focuses on the application of knowledge and provides feedback.Despite facing challenges related to maintaining work‐study‐life balance, degree apprenticeship students are willing to complete the flipped classroom's out‐of‐class activities, if they see a clear benefit from doing so.Online group activities can be challenging for degree apprenticeship students, if they are not able to form teams with other learners that work for the same organisation. The implications of study findings for practitioners: Avoid quiz‐like games and select the ones that use real‐life scenarios for degree apprenticeship students to help them link their learning to their practice.Formative feedback should be provided by both the instructor and the game to motivate degree apprenticeship students to spend the additional time to complete the out‐of‐class activities.Students should be reminded frequently of the purpose of any new learning elements (e.g. learning analytics) as they may not have the time to explore them on their own.When forming student teams based on students' workplace is not possible, spend more time in each breakout room to facilitate the online group discussion and help students bring their different working experiences together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, an interdisciplinary debate on the social and political role of business corporations has evolved. With this special issue, we would like to facilitate a comprehensive discussion of three questions that are especially pertinent in that debate: (1) How is the social and political agency of corporations to be understood? (2) How should the power of corporations be analyzed? (3) Under which conditions would the social and political roles of corporations be legitimate? In this introduction to the special issue, we start with a short outline of the debate. In the next step, we provide an overview of the five contributions. We conclude by summarizing what can be learned from those contributions with respect to the three research questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In difficult times, people turn to poetry, reading, and writing for solace and peace. In emotionally intense and traumatic times, people use poetry to process and understand the lived eyepieces. The havoc wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the emotional and psychological well-being of individuals all across the world. Poetry has emerged as a savior in these difficult times. A phenomenon, "lockdown poems", came into existence as individuals all across the globe processed and shared their lived experiences of isolation, pain, and suffering through poems. In the present paper, students of a management program process and share their experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the subsequent lockdowns, and their community work experience. Poetry as a therapeutic and hope-building tool is discussed in the paper along with the original poems written by the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary economies worldwide appreciate the underlying importance of service sectors, culminating in sectorial growth and satisfactory performance of agri-preneurship. This study is premised on two simple explanations that cascaded into two hypothetical questions: (i) Are there inspiring factors for individuals to start up their own agri-preneurship business? (ii) Are there factors hindering individuals from starting up their own agri-preneurship business? These two hypothetical constructs triggered four primary arguments established in the study. This study was conducted in Mbombela local Municipality in category 'B', which is made up of the Ehlanzeni District, Mpumalanga South Africa. From a population of 1021 farmers, 458 samples of respondents were obtained and considered to be realistic for the study. The study embraced the mixed research approach, and the field survey was done between the months of February 2022 and June 2022. Descriptive statistics, involving the frequency count and percentages, were used to determine the motives and obstacles of starting up one's own business. The hypothesis was assessed by employing multinominal logistic regression to determine the relationship between demographic variables and predictor variables. The findings revealed that potential agri-preneurs are affected by an array of inspiring factors in the decision-making process. Further, the results revealed that agri-preneurial spirit is inhibited by numerous challenges. In the shared view of respondents, there was a portmanteau of obstacles impeding the commencement of one's own business. The results also showed that, in the self-realization variant, age (p < 0.035) and marital status (p < 0.033) were found to be correlated and statistically significant as an inspiration for setting up an agri-preneurship business, while the self-satisfaction variant specified marital status (p < 0.001) to be significant and to negatively (β −1.564) influence inspiration for agri-preneurship. In the independence variant category, two crucial variables, level of formal education (p < 0.005) and farm experience (p < 0.007), were found to be correlated and statistically significant in determining agri-preneurial decisions. This study has several policy propositions: the government and allied stakeholders must consider the motives that inspire potential investors in agriculture. The government must also oversee the reasons for young and old agri-preneurs leaving agri-businesses because of failure. This study underscores the need to subjectively analyze agri-preneurial inspiring factors and obstacles to performance. The contributions of agri-preneurial businesses to economic growth and poverty alleviation justify the need for a concerted effort to motivate potential investors. Another pertinent contribution of the study is highlighting the obstacles of agri-preneurs to enable the government to support and prepare responsive, innovative, and resilient agri-preneurs in South Africa. This paper recommends that starting up one's own agri-preneurial business is a good idea for abating hunger and unemployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context and background A global land rush -driven by a variety of factors-is driving transformative change in African rural communities that depend on land for their livelihoods. This increased demand has resulted in the acquisition of large areas of land on the continent. While the pace and scale of land acquisition may be levelling off,1 in many cases, some or all of the land acquired by investors stands idle.2 Land return- in which a private company legally transfers all or part of its land holdings back to a community or government-is an emerging phenomenon that may be on the rise as companies seek to limit their exposure to risk, governments redesignate lands and communities push for the return of their land. Land return holds promise as a way to correct for overzealous and misguided land acquisition and historical injustices amidst a growing understanding of the value of land to communities. Goal and Objective Yet land return presents challenges, many of which may be unexpected. Though existing frameworks and guidelines regarding responsible investments require effective community consultation, there is less clarity and limited guidance on what risks, mitigation strategies, and tools are needed to safeguard the rights of communities in the context of land return. Methodology This paper brings forward experience from a recent land return process in Tanzania in which Landesa and its partners worked to identify and put into practice standards and approaches that protect community rights while supporting a company's efforts to comply with best practices, national and international requirements and expectations for responsible corporate practice. The tools and processes tested and shared through this project align with efforts to support implementation of the Acceleration of the African Continental Free Trade Areas (AfCFTA) and achieve the aspiration of the Africa We Want (Agenda 2063). Results: This paper highlights the importance of inclusive and transparent land governance practices by presenting a case study of Landesa's experience working with a forestry company to engage with communities and local land administration to understand needs and expectations around the companys intention to return approximately 14,000 hectares of land. The case study will highlight land return-related risks, present a model for community benefit sharing arrangements, and will share lessons learned, highlighting potential best practices that companies holding idle land might consider and employ to reallocate to landscarce communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the globe has faced a series of topics of growing concern, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the international financial crisis, rising socio-economic inequalities, the negative outcomes of greenhouse gas emissions, which resulted in climate change, and many others. Organizations worldwide have confronted these new challenges of sustainable finance by incorporating environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) factors and digital transformation (DT) in their innovation business strategies. The healthcare sector represents a large share of the global economy (about 10% of global economic output), employs a large number of workers, and needs to rely more on an open innovation model where interested parties, especially patients, are going to have a say in their own well-being. Thus, it is imperative that healthcare providers be efficient, effective, resilient, and sustainable in the face of significant challenges and risks. At the same time, they must offer sustainable development goals and digital transformation to healthcare users through limited governmental resources. This study investigates the role, importance, and correlation of ESG factors and digital transformation to the sustainable finance of healthcare systems through an innovative model. The main purpose of the paper is to present the already implemented ESG and DT factors in the healthcare sector and to propose a mutual and combined implementation strategy based on common evaluation tools, methods, and actions. A set of proposed actions and strategies are presented for the sustainability and resilience of the healthcare sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the article. This paper attempts to reveal the effect of the study by visually presenting the analysis of the studies on the concept of "financial literacy". Methodology. Bibliometric analysis of the studies published in the Web of Science (WOS) database between 1991 and 2023 was analyzed with the VOSviewer (Version 1.6.9) package program. Since the title, content, and keyword of the concept of "financial literacy" were intended to be scanned in all languages and all publication types, 2,889 works were accessed and analyzed. The limitations of the study are that only the studies in WOS are analyzed. No data from Scopus and PubMed databases has been included. For future studies, research from the Scopus and PubMed databases should be added. Results of the research. When the most frequently included keywords in the publications related to the concept of "financial literacy" have a relationship between them at least twice in the study, the keywords "financial literacy" with 825 repetitions in terms of 1841 total connection strength, "financial education" with 111 repetitions in terms of 315 total connection strength, "financial behavior" with 65 repetitions in terms of 217 total connection strength and "financial knowledge" with 71 repetitions in terms of 213 total connection power are seen. As a result of the analysis performed, it was determined that there were 2265 connection powers and 4069 total connection powers for a total of 36 clusters. When we look at the year-by-year distribution, the most works were published in 2022 with a maximum of 426 works. At least one work was published in 2004, 2003, 1998, 1994 and 1991. Among the published studies, journal article 2,515, proceedings paper 280, early access 135, book chapters 101, review article 68, editorial material 29, correction 6, book 5, book review 3 were determined as works. When we look at the languages in which the published works are published, they are in English with a maximum of 2,814 works. At least two works are in French and Chinese. In order to determine the year-based stratification status of the published studies for country-based citations, it was noted that a country should have at least 1 study published and at least 1 citation obtained. As a result of the analysis, analysis was carried out on 78 observation units that were found to have a relationship between them, and it was determined that there were 14 clusters, 1065 connection power and 9417 total connection power. The countries with the most citations are the USA (11981 citations), the Netherlands (2445 citations) and England (1685 citations). In terms of the number of works, the ranking is the USA (197 publications), China (77 publications), India (73 publications), and Australia (70 publications). When the stratification status of the citation ties of the countries on a yearly basis is examined, it is seen that they are limited between 2017 and 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Skills development for business students is increasingly becoming more important in business education and the workplace. In this paper, students' research skills are examined. The purpose of this paper is to identify some of the issues and challenges students face in developing research skills and how these can be addressed. Design/methodology/approach: The study combines external marker evaluation and content analysis to evaluate one hundred 2,000-word essays and identify issues and challenges associated with students' development of research skills. Findings: Results show that the essays rate well in collecting and using sources and summarising key topics but miss on integrating sources in writing and inconsistency in citations and referencing. Research limitations/implications: One of the paper's limitations is using a sample from a single course in a business school in Australia. Nonetheless, the sampled essays represent similar writing tasks elsewhere that require students to display research skills. Practical implications: Some implications for business and higher education are offered, including suggestions to address the issues and challenges raised in business education. For example, academics are encouraged to communicate clear expectations for writing tasks, provide support and show exemplars of business writing that incorporates practical research skills. Social implications: Business students who develop effective research skills contribute to society by developing skills in effectively searching and evaluating information. This ensures business graduates in industry workplaces reach considered conclusions before making recommendations that could impact people's lives. Originality/value: The study is original in its approach to investigating the nuances of research skills deficiencies by using external expert examination combined with content analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article delves into the significance and utility of literature review articles in the field of management research, encompassing their three most prominent forms: structured literature reviews, bibliometric analyses, and meta-analyses. It discusses the evolving role of literature reviews as essential tools in a research process, their methodological intricacies, and their contribution to shaping the landscape of management studies. Through a thorough examination of their merits, limitations, and best practices, our article sheds light on how literature review articles serve as valuable resources for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners in the field of management. In addition, the article points towards opportunities for using AI tools, for example Google Colab, ChatGPT, Methods Wizards, or Petal for single or multiple stages and tasks of structured literature analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of the current state of physician leadership. Theory of expert leadership (TEL) was applied to explore the effects of physician inherent knowledge, industry experience and leadership capabilities on leader behaviors and outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: This review (August 2011–February 2022) applied the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis strategy. Our search began with 3,537 studies and a final sample of 12 articles. Findings: The findings offer a number of studies that note the relationship between physician leadership and the three dimensions of TEL. How influential these are on leadership behaviors and health-related outcomes varies. We also found a number of studies that described general physician leadership behaviors that were not directly linked to factors of TEL, as well as two additional themes: leader identity and trust. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first systematic review that has applied a highly cited theory (i.e. TEL) to the data and the first that has focused solely on a U.S. population. These findings offer healthcare organizations insight into the potential strengths and challenges of physician leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a systemic model on the intertwined relations among managerialization, professionalization and firm economic performance, considering both business‐ and family‐specific features and issues. It sheds light on the role that, in the family business, the firm economic performance may play in favouring a positive development of both the business and the family itself. It aims at understanding how, in family businesses, the firm managerialization and professionalization may represent relevant drivers of firm performance. A Systems Thinking model based on causal loop diagrams was developed, to provide a clear framing of the interrelationships among the various aspects at stake. The conceptual model combines with systemic perspective all the variables and relationships that come into play when considering jointly the growth and development of the company and the family. This paper provides not only a conceptual background but also practical insights for family business' owners, managers and consultants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the association of COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths with mental health, unemployment and financial markets-related search terms for the USA, the UK, India and worldwide using Google Trends. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use Spearman's rank correlation coefficients to assess the relationship between relative search volumes (RSVs) and mental health, unemployment and financial markets-related search terms, with the total confirmed COVID-19 cases as well as deaths in the USA, UK, India and worldwide. The sample period starts from the day 100 cases were reported for the first time, which is 7 March 2020, 13 March 2020, 23 March 2020 and 28 January 2020 for the US, the UK, India and worldwide, respectively, and ends on 25 June 2020. Findings: The results indicate a significant increase in anxiety, depression and stress leading to sleeping disorders or insomnia, further deteriorating mental health. The RSVs of employment are negatively significant, implying that people are hesitant to search for new jobs due to being susceptible to exposure, imposed lockdown and social distancing measures and changing employment patterns. The RSVs for financial terms exhibit the varying associations of COVID-19 cases and deaths with the stock market, loans, rent, etc. Research limitations/implications: This study has implications for the policymakers, health experts and the government. The state governments must provide proper medical facilities and holistic care to the affected population. It may be noted that the findings of this study only lead us to conclude about the relationship between COVID-19 cases and deaths and Google Trends searches, and do not as such indicate the effect on actual behaviour. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first attempt to investigate the relationship between the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the USA, UK and India and at the global level and RSVs for mental health-related, job-related and financial keywords. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bushmeat is a resource exploited by thousands of people around the world, especially in tropical and neotropical regions, constituting an important source of protein and income. But what is known, so far, about the consumption and trade of wild vertebrate meat (hereinafter "bushmeat") in a megadiverse country like Brazil? This question was answered through a systematic survey of publications on the consumption and trade of wild vertebrate meat made in Brazil between 2011 and 2021. Methods: We selected 63 scientific articles available on "Google Scholar," "Science Direct," "Scopus," " Web of Science" and "Portal de Periódico da CAPES." The articles were categorized as: exclusive to (1) consumption or (2) bushmeat trade, totals of 54 and three articles, respectively; both (3) consumption and trade bushmeat, totaling six articles. We applied a nonparametric Spearman's correlation analysis to verify the association between the number of papers and the species richness of wild vertebrates cited for consumption by Brazilian state. Results: The results revealed that the publications were concentrated in the Northeast (36), North (26) and Southeast (1) regions, distributed across 16 states of the federation. These data reinforce the need for more researches in states and other regions of the country. Our research hypothesis was confirmed, since the richness of species cited for meat consumption was positively associated with the amount of work carried out by the states of the federation. We identified a total of 321 species of wild vertebrates mentioned in the categories involving the consumption of bushmeat. We had a greater bird species richness mentioned for consumption (170) to the detriment of mammals (107), reptiles (40) and amphibians (4). Furthermore, in the articles involving the bushmeat trade categories we had 57 species of vertebrates mentioned, with mammals being the most representative in terms of species richness (29), to the detriment of birds (20) and reptiles (8). These data reinforce that birds and mammals have been the groups most used both for consumption and trade in bushmeat in the country's regions, and it is necessary to mitigate the hunting exploitation of these groups. We recorded that socioeconomic, biological, environmental and sociocultural factors were the most cited predictors of the consumption and trade of bushmeat in the articles. We identified that the bushmeat trade chain is dynamic and ramified, made up of several actors, including specialized and diversified hunters, intermediaries, market sellers, market vendors, restaurant owners and final customers. Public markets and open-air fairs were the most cited places for buying and selling wild meat in commerce. Conclusions: In general, our results indicate that we have made significant advances in publications on the consumption and trade of bushmeat in Brazil over the last few years. However, we highlight the need to better understand the patterns of consumption and trade of bushmeat in different regions of the country, as well as the factors associated with the dynamics of the trade chain and uses of wildlife by local communities. We emphasized that a multidimensional understanding of hunting activities is important to face socio-ecological problems and improve the conservation of target species which have continually been explored for uses by populations in different regions of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the global economic activities. Businesses entities experienced the disruption of their normal operations. The dynamic nature of modern working conditions and the pivotal role of change management approaches in navigating this complexity is analysed. Pandemic-induced changes in the working environment, global workforce and productivity, sales and profit, as well as consumer behavior and management practices are highlighted in this paper. Analysis of the competition and market challenges caused by the pandemic is also provided. Additionally, an overview of the various aspects how businesses organizations have adapted to the challenges posed by the pandemic is presented with emphasis on the need for organizational changes in response to the pandemic. The results show that business leaders need to focus on sustainable and inclusive growth which will require innovations and will be based on flexible and agile management driven by data and technology. Each sector and industry should be dedicated to reinvent itself for recovery and development, recognizing the importance of resilience and flexibility to adapt quickly to changing conditions as the top priorities in the post pandemic global business environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The future of work is constantly evolving and changing, making it increasingly challenging for businesses to anticipate and respond to these changes. Strategic foresight, the process of systematically exploring the future to identify and understand potential opportunities and threats, has become an essential tool for organisations that want to remain competitive and adapt to the changing nature of work. This paper focuses on the futures triangle tool, a widely used strategic foresight tool, and provides examples of how it can be used by organisations to prepare for the future of work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This paper aims to comprehensively review the conceptualizations of "business resilience" in the context of entrepreneurship and gather different perspectives on the topic. The goal is to provide conceptual clarity and enhance theoretical and practical outcomes in entrepreneurship research. Method: This research is a descriptive study carried out using the qualitative metaanalysis (QMA) method. The purpose of this method is to qualitatively summarize a set of researches in terms of concepts, methods, results, context, etc. This method especially is used when the central issue has been investigated from various perspectives. By searching for research published between 2000 to 2020, containing “resilience” in the title, approximately 10,500 records were found. Filtering the document and journal titles with certain words led to 1260 records. At this stage, a group of papers was selected for further analysis by reviewing titles and abstracts. After detailed examination, 85 studies were selected for qualitative analysis and coding. Thereafter, subsequent steps for conducting a qualitative meta-analysis research including the appraisal of primary studies, preparing data, data analysis and credibility checks are followed. Results: The final results of the analysis are provided in three main parts. At first, the definitions of resilience were categorized into six groups. Then, similar concepts to resilience were classified into four groups based on crisis occurrence time. Finally, a network of related concepts to business resilience was developed. This network has eight parts. According to this conceptual network, resilience is assumed to have three main definitions in general. Some define “resilient business” as “a business that has survived after the disaster”, some assume it to be “a business that has recovered to the same performance level in comparison to the pre-disaster state”, and others describe it as “a business that has improved its performance to a higher level”. Also, resilience has been explained at four levels: “regional economic resilience”, “social resilience”, “business resilience”, and “resilience of the entrepreneur”. Moreover, resilience has been studied by three main approaches, namely “engineering”, “ecological” and “adaptive”. Considering the required duration to evaluate resilience, some believe that resilience could be evaluated at any “point” in time, while others declare that it is necessary to consider a “duration” of time for evaluation. Conclusion: The literature on business resilience is rich at the individual and business levels but lacks research at macro levels. Integrating ecological and adaptive approaches with the engineering approach would contribute significantly to the field. It is suggested to categorize concepts into "active-passive" and "absorptive-adaptive" dualities and avoid the use of numerous overlapping terms and definitions found in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of social media adoption on the performance of construction small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach: Construction SMEs owners and managers in Nigeria were surveyed using questionnaires to gather data. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to assess measurement reliability and validity, as well as the hypothesized paths provided in the conceptual model that formed part of the final conclusions. Findings: The empirical finding showed that social media usage increased knowledge accessibility, reduced costs and improved customer relations and service for organizations. Overall, social media adoption was significantly and positively related to SMEs business performance. Also, the paper revealed that learning capability mediates the relationship between social media and SMEs performance. Research limitations/implications: Data for the study came from only one industry and one related line of business; thus, including more companies from different sectors or industries could be more interesting. The study's findings contributed to the growing body of knowledge about the impact of social media on the efficiency of businesses. Small and medium-sized businesses also need to understand and recognize the impact of social media on the organization's performance in order to achieve a long-term competitive edge from the adoption of social media. Practical implications: According to the findings, small construction firms can benefit from marketing the brands through social media channels and improved learning capability. In terms of accessibility, cost savings and improved relationships with customers, research shows that social media promotion can be beneficial to businesses. A study like this has the potential to show how social media can help striving small businesses interact cost-effectively with customers all over the world, opening new doors for sales and continuous improvement. Originality/value: The relationship between SME performance in Nigeria and the use of social media has received very little attention despite social media's promising potentials, particularly for small businesses. The authors hoped that this study will fill a gap in the authors' understanding of how social media affects the performance of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in the construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cutting-edge technologies, with a special emphasis on the Internet of Things (IoT), tend to operate as game changers, generating enormous alterations in both traditional and modern enterprises. Understanding multiple uses of IoT has become vital for effective financial management, given the ever-changing nature of organizations and the technological disruptions that come with this paradigm change. IoT has proven to be a powerful tool for improving operational efficiency, decision-making processes, overall productivity, and data management. As a result of the continuously expanding data volume, there is an increasing demand for a robust IT system capable of adeptly handling all enterprise processes. Consequently, businesses must develop suitable IoT architectures that can efficiently address these continually evolving requirements. This research adopts an incremental explanatory approach, guided by the principles of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). A rigorous examination of 84 research papers has allowed us to delve deeply into the current landscape of IoT research. This research aims to provide a complete and cohesive overview of the existing body of knowledge on IoT. This is accomplished by combining a rigorous empirical approach to categorization with ideas from specialized literature in the IoT sector. This study actively contributes to the ongoing conversation around IoT by recognizing and critically examining current difficulties. This, consequently, opens new research possibilities and promotes future developments in this ever-changing sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This conceptual paper explores the surprising impact exerted by third elements on the escalation and de‐escalation of conflicts in business families. To this end, we draw on core concepts of Batesonian cybernetic theory to perform a reconceptualisation of pertinent literature on changing conflict dynamics gathered in family business research and consultancy. Based on this reconceptualisation, we identify explanations and key mechanisms for the impact of third elements on conflict dynamics. Our study thus contributes to research at the interface of family business research, conflict research and cybernetic theory development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the growing relevance of business corporations to the lives of older persons, gerontology has given very little, if any, attention to this field. Further, it seems that both the conceptual and the empirical study of what we firstly term "corporate gerontology"—the rich and diverse ways that corporations interact with, influence, and are influenced by older persons and the aging of society—are quite rare. This systematic literature review was designed and executed to explore and present the current state of academic research in the multidisciplinary realm of aging and the business corporation. Of the 46 papers surveyed, the majority belong to the category in which aging is an independent variable that influences the performance of business corporations. Only 27% belong to the second category, which explores how the conduct of corporations can influence various aspects of aging. In light of the retreat of the welfare state and the rising neoliberal system, the lack of adequate governmental responses to aging has paved the way for profit-guided business corporations to enter the field. Their conduct should not be overlooked, and in establishing a new theoretical framework of corporate gerontology, we hope it will draw future research and public attention and raise awareness of this phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the decline of the fraternity of St. George in Nottingham between 1459 and 1546. It uses the guild's accounts in conjunction with Nottingham's rich surviving documentary materials to investigate the financial management of the fraternity by its officers. It argues that the officers were adept at negotiating shifting economic conditions by switching between various revenue streams. However, this adroit management did not stem the tide of membership decline. It discusses the role of religious reform in the guild's ultimate demise. It investigates why the decline in membership started long before any moves towards state-sponsored religious reform in the 1540s. It examines the impact of key individuals upon the guild's history. It argues that, for a more nuanced view of the decline of fraternal organizations in this period, a recognition of individuals' impact upon institutions needs to be incorporated into our understanding of institutions' influences upon the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The workplace accommodation process is often affected by ineffective and inefficient communications and information exchanges among disabled employees and other stakeholders. Information systems (IS) can play a key role in facilitating a more effective and efficient accommodation process since IS has been shown to facilitate business processes and effect positive organizational changes. OBJECTIVE: Since there is little to no research that exists on IS use to facilitate the workplace accommodation process, this paper, as a critical first step, examines how IS have been used in the accommodation process. METHODS: Thirty-six interviews were conducted with disabled employees from various organizations. Open, axial, and selective coding were part of the analysis. Fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis was used to identify different levels of IS use based on participants' descriptions. RESULTS: An IS used in the workplace accommodation process consists of electronic request form, accommodation checklist, special budget, specific role, ancillary service, formal policy and procedure. There are different levels of IS use in the current accommodation process. The high-level IS use often results in a better accommodation performance than the low-level IS use, including high efficiency, high effectiveness, and low emotional tolls. Nevertheless, the high-level IS use often uses a specific, inflexible template as well as disregards human elements in the accommodation process. CONCLUSION: This work provides implications that future IS design should raise awareness of disability and accommodation, account for individual differences, involve multiple stakeholder inputs, as well as address the fundamental social issues in the accommodation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim/Purpose Business schools need to design, develop and deliver courses that are relevant to business problem-solving. Current pedagogies do not often provide the insight - or experience - necessary to close the gap between theory and practice. Background The paper describes an initiative to design, develop and deliver courses in business-technology problem-solving that thoroughly immerses students in the actual world of business. Methodology The methodology included case-based analysis where actual cases where selected to model problem-solving scenarios. Contribution Several courses are developed that immerse students into actual problemsolving experiences. Findings The courses will be delivered to business students to assess the impact of immersive/experiential learning. Recommendations for Practitioners Additional courses should be informed by actual cases; the commitment to relevance should be expanded. Recommendations for Researchers Ongoing research to measure the impact of immersive/experiential learning is recommended. Impact on Society Business schools should rethink the content of their courses and the pedagogies that have dominated business schools for many decades. Future Research Additional research will include more courses and additional immersive/experiential pedagogies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovative digital technologies, together with new sustainable practices, push for new business models and skillsets, pressuring companies to adapt to external change in order to gain competitive advantage. Higher education institutions could offer support. More than 20% of university graduates in the European Union study "business, administration or law", with some of them being future top-level managers and entrepreneurs. This paper aims to provide an understanding of the factors shaping business students' perspectives and decisions in the modern business landscape. It reunites their career preferences, personality characteristics and knowledge regarding technology's utility for business and compares them between two cohorts (i.e., first year bachelor students and second year master students). The results of an online survey with a sample of 154 respondents show that business students' entrepreneurial intention is influenced by their entrepreneurial confidence, their boldness when considering risks, as well as by being further along their educational journey. While almost 80% of business students are daring, oriented toward results and confident in their entrepreneurial abilities, and around 50% would feel most comfortable having their own business, approximately half of first year bachelor students and 14% of second year master students tend to be "not sure" regarding how eight out of ten modern technologies mentioned in this paper (i.e., robotic process automation, big data, artificial intelligence, computer vision, industrial robots, internet of things, virtual reality, enterprise resource planning) could improve a company's innovation and performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Hospital activities restore health and save lives; yet they produce infectious waste that might harm people and the environment if not handled carefully. The sudden increase in bio-medical waste (BMW) generation was caused due to the outbreak of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the beginning of year 2020. There is a huge potential of businesses from BMW generated in the developing economies. The document destruction process would prove to be beneficial in determining the strategies and policies for the business from BMW. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify and evaluate the factors that influence the business prospects from BMW in developing economies. Design/methodology/approach: The study focuses on identifying 18 factors based on an extensive literature review, questionnaire, theoretical foundations and interviews with experts in the context of developing economies. These factors are categorized into four groups namely "Culture, education and microeconomics", "Infrastructure, social provision, and technology", "Policy and institution" and "Integrated waste management system". Consequently, these factors are prioritized to assist the decision-maker in comprehending the most critical aspects of accomplishing the best business practices. A framework based on the Best–Worst Method (BWM) is applied to evaluate and determine the significance of each identified factor. Findings: The major contribution of this paper is to identify key factors that are responsible for successful implementation of the business practices from the generated BMW. The study also explains their nature, significance and inter-relationship among them using BWM. Current study applied a distinctive modeling approach to examine the contextual relationship among the key factors and to rank them as per their importance. The findings of the study suggest that "Setup for collection and segregation is the best alternative for business from BMW produced". Originality/value: The paper also presents strategies, which can be adopted as a guiding step by the decision-makers to formulate policies for the effective business practice from BMW. This research is expected to stimulate future applications of the BWM to facilitate long-term decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tenors like "bring in the arts and get the creativity for free" have attracted business practitioners and researchers, and this "intersection" of business and arts has developed into a study field. Metaphorical learning from arts involves musical, also theatrical, and terpsichorean improvisation. Not surprisingly, several subfields in business - entrepreneurship, project, process, and service management - as well as other business and non-business fields - have been "jazzed". Another strengthening trend is linking different (sub)fields and fostering mutual learning. The paper seeks for novel possibilities to learn from jazz and to support further mutual learning and linking of disserted business, also non-business fields. Nowadays traditional business models and services are moving towards problem-solving and adaptation to change, implementing creativity and improvisation. Taking a fresh stock of relevant academic literature and discussion revealed the increasing importance of organizational improvisation. Jazz (music and arts) appeared to be a fruitful metaphor and source of learning. As differences appeared across the examined fields, possibilities for learning from jazz, as well as for mutual learning are not yet depleted. This paper provides insights to further learning from the jazz approach, as well as mutual learning and enrichment between the examined subfields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological changes in business, both in how business is conducted and the services it may provide, have demonstrated failures by regulatory bodies to accurately address and properly understand these issues. From the Wayfair decision on sales tax, to California's Assembly Bill 5 distorting the definition of "employee," to President Reagan legislating computer fraud based on a White House viewing of WarGames, executives, legislatures, and courts have relied on a forced approach to understanding and regulating technology: doing is better than understanding. The approach has relied on two false assumptions: (i) technological advancements are only different methods of conventional business; ride sharing is simply a digital way to hail a cab at the street corner; the gig economy is just parttime or a stopgap measure for those who cannot find full-time employment; ecommerce is the digital door-to-door salesman, and (ii) technological innovation necessitates innovative solutions when existing law already covers the issues. A technological educational awakening must occur amongst those seeking to regulate it. While others have written about the odd outcomes of regulation in regards to particular laws or court cases, this paper aims to illustrate how the failures to understand emerging technology are systemic within governmental entities. The paper analyzes failures to understand technology through three different examples: from Ronald Reagan's Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986, South Dakota vs. Wayfair, and California's Assembly Bill 5. In each of these instances, government actors have failed to understand how and what the technology is doing. Instead of seeing a developing or emerging technology as an innovation and taking steps to foster it, it is erroneously and contradictorily viewed and regulated as a digital version of an already existing business dynamic, yet is addressed by requiring new laws. That is, by viewing these technologies as merely modern versions of preexisting business practices or products, they have been regulated as if they are as well by creating modern new versions of existing laws. This paper discusses how the regulated technologies should be viewed in the context of their innovation rather than a normative pigeonhole. Bringing these examples together offers a more complete perspective of the issue facing emerging technologies. They cannot be viewed and treated as a transformed predecessor rather than a creator of a new business model where existing law and tradition allowed the innovation to come to fruition and still have the necessary effect given proper understanding of the underlying technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research presents a bibliometric analysis of the main advertising trends used as a means of investigation in the business area. This article identifies leading journals and provides a collaborative network researcher for future use in the generation of knowledge. This study examines 4,449 publications from the Web of Science Core Collection database for the 1992–2016 period. The authors analyze bibliometric indicators including the number of publications and citations, the citations per paper, five-year period analysis (quinquennial), h-index, citation thresholds and co-occurrence of authors keywords analysis. It develops bibliographical coupling and co-citations analysis by using the visualization of similarities Viewer Software. Results show a growing trend in the number of advertising´s publications. The Journal of Advertising has been the most cited and the Journal of Advertising Research has the largest number of papers. In regards to the h-index, the three most relevant journals in advertising are Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, and the International Journal of Advertising. This article is the first one that contributes with a complete overview of the field of advertising research as a mean of investigation, in a 25-year period. Especially from the business scientific research area through bibliometric indicators, journal rankings, content, citations, and bibliographic coupling, co-citations, and keywords analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurs play a very significant role in the development of a nation. These are the people who bring new ideas to the market and work hard to make their ideas achievable with profits. Women Entrepreneurs is meant to be a group of women who commence, manage, control, and exercise a business organization. Any enterprise run by a woman or group of women comes under the head of women entrepreneurs. The Government of India (GOI 2006) has defined a female entrepreneur as "A women entrepreneur is defined as an enterprise owned and controlled by women having a minimum financial interest of 51% of the capital and giving at least 51% of employment generated in the enterprise to women". In other words, Women Entrepreneur is someone who takes up challenges to meet their personal desires, needs, and wants and becomes financially independent. Earlier, it was observed that women were the most unexplored resource in the field of entrepreneurship. But, today, females entrepreneurs have gained much recognition and importance in view of establishing a new venture and contributing to the development and growth of the economy as a whole. In the city of Lucknow, the women entrepreneurs didn't face the challenges of funding or ideas, but the main problem was the 'log kya kahengey' attitude, and this is the main reason most women had not put their dreams to work. This research paper tries to know about the problems and challenges faced by female entrepreneurs while doing business in the city of Lucknow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health budget allocation choices are increasingly aided by medical technology's economic evaluation (EE). With thousands of new items launched each year, the medical device (MD) business is one of the most active domains of medical advancement among providers of innovation. Some of these considerations have to do with the specifics of how the gadget works. The paper examines the investment assessment of new medical devices from an industrial viewpoint. The strategy EE-MD presented should lead to more inventive and cost-effective surgical supplies for the medical industry. The study's purpose is to better the decision-making process for medical device development. Small and medium-sized firms are a crucial source of innovation for the future, and the research focuses mostly on them. Design economy and professional engineering literature are linked in the article. The proposed multi-attribute and team method to construct selection discusses the financial factor and provides a strong foundation for ongoing program management by identifying project-specific risks and strategic alliances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paid carers play an important role in helping older adults with care needs to remain living in their own homes. This paper examines changes in the home care field, specifically the emergence of self‐employed care entrepreneurs ('microentrepreneurs'). To do this, it employs Bourdieu's concepts of field, capital and habitus. Drawing on 105 semi‐structured interviews with stakeholders working in home care, the paper describes how the interaction of changes to field structures, and altered practices of care have challenged the taken‐for‐granted acceptance of traditional, transactional forms of care provision. This process has been highly dependent on local state actors, their ability to mobilise relevant forms of capital and the factors which shaped their habitus. It should be seen within the context of changes to local field structures and the hierarchical classification processes which underpin them. These changes threaten the distribution of capital in the home care field in ways that are beneficial to microentrepreneurs. Bourdieu might categorise these developments as 'partial revolutions', which do not challenge the fundamental axioms of the field. However, for care entrepreneurs, formerly employed as low‐paid home‐care workers, a revolution that is only partial may be better than none at all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youth unemployment remains a major political and socioeconomic challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, particularly given the region's young population. Literature points to two key barriers facing youth employment in the region, skills deficiencies and weak fundamentals that inhibit job creation and growth. Labor supply challenges are not unique to the younger population, and employment interventions adopted by the Nigerian government to combat these challenges in the formal wage sector, are primarily focused on graduates and non-graduates. This paper makes a case for encouraging the education system, employers, and governments to better prepare post-secondary students for the labor market before graduation through cooperative education. Cooperative education, a strategic policy response geared towards increasing youth employability and smoothing school-to-work transition, can help address the gap in the current suite of government intervention strategies and allow for a more proactive, dynamic and progressive response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been increasing attention given to the relationship between children's rights and business due to a greater understanding of the direct and indirect impacts that businesses have on children and youth. Concomitantly, many businesses are involved in charitable work. Do charitable activities performed by businesses provide an entry point for considering children's rights? Further, do these charitable activities facilitate an opportunity for the amalgamation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and business and human rights? It is hypothesised that charitable contributions can facilitate a greater understanding of children's rights and subsequently advance implementation. Accordingly, businesses can recognise their capacity to do more than mitigate their negative impacts, and positively influence the realisation of children's rights. This can be facilitated through the improved assessment of charitable contributions using a child-rights-based approach. This research paper is informed by qualitative individual interviews with 15 stakeholders from pertinent professional sectors, five focus groups with 38 children and youth, and academic and grey literature reviews. It is concluded that attention to impact assessment offers a valuable avenue forward by which to knit the threads of activity regarding both human rights and corporate social responsibility through accountability. A proposed checklist may stimulate future actions and developments in children's rights within and outside of businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business Information Systems (BIS) is a professional discipline that combines Computer Science, Management, and Business Administration. In this article the researchers evaluate the evolution of BIS curriculum in terms of its past, present and future, considering its historical background, the existing strengths and weaknesses, and how it can be developed to meet market needs. The study reveals the skills required by a BIS graduate and highlights how the existing/existed BIS curricula have made their graduates weaker when compared with Computer Science and Business Administration specialists. The research further compares the existential crisis of BIS with Library and Information Science (LIS) discipline, which have also faced a similar controversial crisis concerning their disciplinary boundaries, whether it belong to Social and Behavioral Sciences or Computer Science and Engineering and yet succeeded in its growth and contributions. This research concludes that the BIS curriculum is still budding and needs to be re-evaluated and updated regularly to meet the changing demands of the market highlighting the need for collaboration between academia and industry to ensure that BIS graduates are equipped with the skills that employers require. The paper finally proposes a balanced model of BIS curriculum that incorporates the latest technology updates. The proposed curriculum model aims to address the current gaps in BIS education and meets the changing demands of the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Basketball and business organizations can be compared from various standpoints (organizational structure, type of teams, processes etc.). One such standpoint is regarding objective setting. By undergoing a literature review analysis on the topic of objective setting in basketball versus business organization, the author tried to answer the research question: "are there any differences in the way basketball and business organizations conduct their objective setting activities?" Considering this, the objective of this paper is to provide an insight into how objectives in basketball and business organizations are set, and if there are any similarities or differences in the way they conduct this activity. The results however, did not provide clear and sufficient information if there are any differences between how objectives are set and communicated in basketball versus business organizations. Furthermore, a simple literature review like this one cannot provide a clear answer to the research question, as the necessary information regarding objective setting in basketball organizations is, in most cases, not public or easily identifiable. Moreover, the author was not able to identify research on the topic of how exactly basketball organizations set their objectives or what criteria they take into consideration when setting these objectives. This proves the fact that topics like how basketball organization set their objectives for each season or what criteria they take into consideration when undergoing this activity could be considered relevant for a future and more detailed qualitative/quantitative research having as target group: basketball teams that play in the Euroleague/Romanian National Basketball League. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to measure the impact of perceived benefits offered by loyalty programmes on store patronage behaviour and repeat purchase behaviour of customers. Another purpose of this study is to assess the impact of mediating and influencing factors on patronage behaviour and customer loyalty. Design/methodology/approach: The convenience sampling method was adopted for the sample selection. Structured questionnaire instruments were distributed to subscribers who are enrolled or subscribed to any loyalty programme and asked them to mark their opinions about subscriptions to a loyalty programme and the benefits or perceived values that customers get from the subscribed loyalty program. To determine respondent responses, closed-end questions and Likert scales were used. A SmartPLS statistical programme was used to analyse the coefficient and p-value of the perceived value of the loyalty programme and its relation with patronage behaviour. Findings: The study finds a significant impact of various loyalty programme determinants on store patronage behaviour, supported by hypothesis testing. Researchers have used variable commitment to the test with satisfaction and trust and found it supportive. Another hypothesis tested for the impact of satisfaction on trust shows a significant relationship. They found a significant relationship between the perceived benefits of a loyalty programme and satisfaction with the store and trust. Another hypothesis tested for the impact of satisfaction on trust shows a similar relationship. The impact of commitment on loyalty behaviour (store patronage) was analysed and found to be significant. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, to date, this methodology has not been used to measure the influence of loyalty programme values on patronage behaviour in the present context. Based on the understanding that the measurement of the impact of perceived values of loyalty programmes on repeat purchase behaviour could be very useful in providing guidance for decision-making in consumer retention strategy, this paper contributes to the literature on the evaluation of store patronage behaviour with its influencing variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last 10 years the blockchain technology has become mainstream research topic because of its features that offers, as: decentralized system, peer to peer (P2P) transaction, distributed consensus, and anonymity properties. Also, the blockchain technology overshadows regulatory problem and technical challenges and one of the opportunities that offers the blockchain technology is the 'smart contract'. A smart contract is a set of programs that can be much better from the traditional contracts for some features which are self-verifying, self-executing and tamper resistant. Also, smart contract with the integration of blockchain technology without which cannot function, is capable of doing a task in real time with very low cost and provide a greater degree of high security level. The aim of this paper is to explain the concept of the smart contract and its components and function. The paper is aimed at presenting the issue of smart contract, blockchain technology. The specific focus was on the application of smart contracts in real estate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to see how critical and vital artificial intelligence (AI) and big data are in today's world. Besides this, this paper also seeks to explore qualitative and theoretical perspectives to underscore the importance of AI and big data applications in multi-sectoral scenarios of businesses across the world. Moreover, this paper also aims at working out the scope of ontological communicative perspectives based on AI alongside emphasizing their relevance in business organizations that need to survive and sustain with a view to achieve their strategic goals. Design/methodology/approach: This paper attempts to explore the qualitative perspectives to build a direction for strategic management via addressing the following research questions concerned with assessing the scope of ontological communicative perspectives in AI relevant to business organizations; exploring benefits of big data combined with AI in modern businesses; and underscoring the importance of AI and big data applications in multi-sectoral scenarios of businesses in today's world. Employing bibliometric analysis along with NVivo software to do sentiment analysis, this paper attempts to develop an understanding of what happens when AI and big data are combined in businesses. Findings: AI and big data have tremendous bearing on modern businesses. Because big data comprises enormous information of diverse sorts, AI-assisted machines, tools and devices help modern businesses process it quickly, efficiently and meaningfully. Therefore, business leaders and entrepreneurs need to focus heavily on ontological and communicative perspectives to deal with diverse range of challenges and problems particularly in the context of recent crises caused by COVID-19 pandemic. Research limitations/implications: There is hardly any arena of human activity wherein AI and big data are not relevant. The implication of this paper is that of combining both well so that we may find answers to the difficult and challenging multi-sectoral scenarios concerning not just businesses but life at large. Moreover, automated tools based on AI such as natural language processing and speech to text also facilitate meaningful communication at various levels not just in business organizations but other fields of human activities as well. Social implications: This paper has layered social implications, as it conceptually works out as to how strategically we may combine AI and big data to benefit modern business scenarios dealing with service providers, manufacturers, entrepreneurs, business leaders, customers and consumers. All the stakeholders are socio-culturally and contextually rooted/situated, and that is how this study becomes socially relevant. Originality/value: This paper is an original piece of research and has been envisioned in view of the challenging business scenarios across the world today. This paper underscores the importance of strategically combining AI and big data, as they have enormous bearing on modern businesses. The insights arrived at in this paper have implications for business leaders and entrepreneurs across the globe who could focus more on ontological and communicative perspectives of AI combined with Big Data to deal with diverse range of challenges and problems that modern businesses have been facing particularly in recent times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Network slicing is the key to enable virtualized resource sharing among vertical industries in the era of 5G communication. Efficient resource allocation is of vital importance to realize network slicing in real-world business scenarios. To deal with the high algorithm complexity, privacy leakage, and unrealistic offline setting of current network slicing algorithms, in this paper we propose a fully decentralized and low-complexity online algorithm, DPoS, for multi-resource slicing. We first formulate the problem as a global social welfare maximization problem. Next, we design the online algorithm DPoS based on the primal-dual approach and posted price mechanism. In DPoS, each tenant is incentivized to make its own decision based on its true preferences without disclosing any private information to the mobile virtual network operator and other tenants. We provide a rigorous theoretical analysis to show that DPoS has the optimal competitive ratio when the cost function of each resource is linear. Extensive simulation experiments are conducted to evaluate the performance of DPoS. The results show that DPoS can not only achieve close-to-offline-optimal performance, but also have low algorithmic overheads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]