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Nowadays, it is essential to realise the importance of time in a person's life. It is necessary to know how to manage it effectively. Today's time management involves us with many tools, thanks to which we can properly manage our time and keep it under control. The paper deals with time management, which, in the current result-oriented era, is of the highest importance in business and education. The topic of this paper is based on the fact that the most valuable resource for success is time. It has a significant value called the value of life because we lose the opportunity to fulfil our goals and needs every minute that is not fully used. Time is necessary for work, education, thinking, rest, friendship or entertainment. The paper aims to perform a comparative analysis of modern time management tools used in business and education. Based on the literature review, we have chosen individual criteria for assessing those tools. We considered their form, efficiency, compatibility, quality, reliability, availability and cost when evaluating. The main scientific research methods were research, processing and collection of sources, excerpting, analysis and comparison, synthesis, and induction. Based on research conducted by TrackTime24, Reclaim, Stanza.com, ECAL, Robert Half Management Resources, ThePredictive Index, Professor John Hunt, Cloudwards, Lifewire and Profitwell, it was possible to carry out the planned comparative analysis. As a result, we can state that in the corporate and educational spheres, users usually use online applications such as Google Calendar and Outlook calendars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universally, it remains unknown which clauses used in international sales contracts are seen by the business sector as crucial for reducing perceived risks. It is also unknown whether there is a relationship between companies' attitudes toward risks and the number of clauses they consider essential in international sales contracts for this purpose. The paper surveys how Czech companies assess the importance of selected clauses in an international sales contract when trying to reduce the risks they perceive. The primary purpose is to learn whether there is a concordance with the available literature on the number of clauses considered important, key, or necessary for reducing risks. Companies were offered nine clauses commonly used in international sales contracts and were asked to rate them according to their importance for reducing risks. Furthermore, possible relationships between companies' attitudes toward risk and the number of clauses these companies perceive as important from the point of view of their risk attitude were investigated. Whereas the existing literature provides different numbers of key clauses a sales contract shall include to make such a contract safe enough from the perspective of the perceived risks, the 114 surveyed Czech companies mostly gave the highest level of importance to four of the nine assessed clauses only. These clauses are the identification of parties, price setting, the object of sale and payment terms. There is an indication that companies with an aggressive attitude toward risks could consider fewer clauses as important. The study suggests that the number of clauses that are formulated with enough care for the sake of risk reduction is lower than the numbers proposed by the existing sources. The authors contradict extant academic business literature and expert texts on the issue in question by launching the first survey among companies ever. This paper is a significantly modified and extended version of a text presented at the 48th EIBA Annual Conference – Oslo, in December 2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the mediating effect of employee engagement on the relationship between generic business strategies and the competitiveness of Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja (FCT). Design/methodology/approach: The research design used a cross-sectional survey approach, focusing on SMEs registered with the SMEDAN in FCT-Abuja. A total of 349 SMEs were used. Data collection relied on a questionnaire-based survey instrument. The data were analysed using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Model (SmartPLSv3.1). Findings: The results revealed several significant findings. Firstly, the study confirmed a direct and positive relationship between the cost leadership strategy and SME competitiveness, indicating that cost leadership significantly enhances competitiveness. Secondly, a significant and positive relationship was identified between the focus strategy and SME competitiveness, suggesting its significant contribution. However, the relationship between the differentiation strategy and SME competitiveness was found to be non-significant. Moreover, the research established that employee engagement has a significant positive effect on SME competitiveness. The study also confirmed the mediating effect of employee engagement on the relationship between cost leadership strategy and competitiveness, as well as between focus strategy and competitiveness. Lastly, employee engagement significantly mediated the relationship between differentiation strategy and SME competitiveness. Originality/value: The paper advances a new perspective by linking internal resource's role in strategic management effort towards ensuring increased firm competitiveness especially in SMEs. The paper offers scholars a new area of research, as it draws scholarly attention to internal behaviour mechanisms that drives top managements activities through lower-level employee participation towards ensuring improved competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Knowledge: International Journal is the property of Institute for Knowledge Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Organizations achieve their goals thanks to their employees. Therefore, those who have the strongest effect on the efficiency of the organization are those who work. It is a desired situation for businesses to use their production resources rationally without wasting production resources and to obtain the most output with the least input. By conducting a survey on labor productivity valuation in a paper manufacturing enterprise, 21 questions were answered. The first 4 of these questions aimed to measure the demographic characteristics of the personnel, and the other 17 questions were applied to 126 people to measure the effect of the change in the factory and working conditions on the personnel productivity. The excel program was used in the analysis of the survey, and frequency distribution graphics were used. In addition to the frequency and percentage values of the obtained data, 13 hypotheses were established, and the results of the t-test and one-way analysis of variance (One Way ANOVA) and Pearson chi-square test were also given. As a result, it has been seen that the work of the personnel is not appreciated most of the time, but they are warned in case the work is interrupted or not completed. According to the personnel, success is determined as meeting the production targets. It has been revealed that age does not affect labor productivity, but gender affects labor productivity. The most important factor affecting the productivity of employees has been wages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of introducing a new sustainable development paradigm to safeguard the entire planet is now undisputed. One of the tools aiming to respond to this need consists of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) contained within the 2030 Agenda. Businesses play a crucial role in achieving these objectives and must prove themselves to be active actors in promoting sustainable practices. However, the integration of these objectives within their business models turns out to be a complex operation, which requires numerous skills and resources. This paper consists of a systematic literature review on the topic of research on the SDGs in the areas of business, management and accounting with the aim of identifying the barriers facing communities and tools to support companies in this process, as well as possible areas for improvement. Furthermore, it allows us to identify gaps on which future research should focus. To achieve this aim, papers related to the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs published in journals indexed in the Scopus database between January 2015 and June 2024 were analysed. The results demonstrated a great heterogeneity within the research area and the emergence of some important concepts, such as the circular economy, artificial intelligence and Industry 4.0, and some recurring themes, such as the role of stakeholders in achieving the SDGs and the financial and non-financial benefits of SDG strategies and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presented scientific paper arises mainly in the context of solving current issues, problems of theory and practice of entrepreneurship. In particular, in the field of dispositional solutions, dimensions of the formation of normative basis of sustainable development in the field of production and logistics. It is an expression and continuation of the previous opinion, thought march, experiential expression of the authors on the issue. It focuses mainly on the current challenges associated with the development management of production and logistics, on the parameters that will need to be respected and, to a greater extent, applied in the future. It is also a response to the fact in the sense that the results of research, predispositions in the field are insufficient. Especially in terms of the approach to solving the problems of the normative base, not only in the responsible authorities, institutions in this area, but also in the business units themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preserving human well-being has become challenging for businesses, which continue efforts to overcome managing business processes concurrently, due to the cumulative effects of psychosocial risks at work that may seriously impair one's health. By focusing on this need, this paper proposes a more effective and realistic way of measuring job satisfaction comprising psychosocial risks by integrating multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methodology. Simplified PIvot Pairwise RElative Criteria Importance Assessment (PIPRECIA-S), i.e. the selected MCDM method, is used for weighting domains based on the opinions of employees working for a company in Türkiye, who also provide their attitudes towards job satisfaction through 36 items of Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS). This paper uses nine subscales of JSS to represent domains relevant to psychosocial risks. Three developed scenarios discuss the effectiveness of the proposed subscale-weighted job satisfaction measurement by presenting the subscales having different ranges in standard scores relative to the subscale-weighted scores. PRACTITIONER SUMMARY: This paper proposes a novel subscale-weighted job satisfaction measurement, indicating a more effective and realistic way of measuring job satisfaction comprising psychosocial risks by integrating MCDM methodology. The proposal's effectiveness is discussed through different scenarios using the opinions of nearly all employees working for a company in Türkiye. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this study is to research the importance of critical reflectivity in practice-based management research. To achieve this, this paper seeks to demonstrate how candidates on the Doctor in Business Administration (DBA) programme at the University of Gloucestershire, have managed to integrate the dynamic tensions associated with 'real life' practice with their scholarly activities. It contends that rather than applying a Cartesian logic to education, the interplay of theory and practice can provide an essential component for studyat a doctoral level. The proposal here is that it is no longer necessary to maintain the thinking that scholarship and 'real-life' practice need to have a critical reflectivity ethos embedded into the candidate's journey throughout the programme. Adopting a qualitative approach, 12 candidates at various stages of their professional doctorate journey were interviewed, including 5 at the submission or viva stage. To inform the interviews the research drew on Heidegger's three physical placements of 'ready to hand', 'present to us' and 'mitsein' or 'being with others' to contextualise the candidates' experiences. This was also viewed in terms of anticipatory resoluteness. This study also highlights that the DBA, being a practice-based doctorate, needs to embrace the importance of co-production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to sustainability in business, emphasizing the need for integrated perspectives from the angles of accounting, management, and governance. It argues that addressing the complex and multifaceted environmental and social impacts of business requires more than just sustainability reporting frameworks. While reporting holds businesses accountable, it is not sufficient on its own without meaningful action. Business management plays a crucial role in implementing sustainability initiatives, and executives, as key decision-makers, must align organizational strategies and resources to achieve sustainability goals. A bibliometric analysis of sustainability-related literature across three business research domains—accounting, management, and governance—has been undertaken. Web of Science has been used as the data source to identify key themes, trends, and relationships. In the analysis, co-authorship, citation patterns, and keyword co-occurrence analysis have been implemented to uncover interconnections between the domains. The findings highlight both commonalities and unique aspects of each literature stream, offering insights into how business practices can more holistically address sustainability challenges. The article concludes with recommendations for a combined approach to sustainability that encourages comprehensive action by researchers, practitioners, and decision-makers to address the pressing environmental and social issues that businesses face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using advanced technologies in general, and AI in particular, are enabling and bringing valuable services and contributions to society in many directions. Likewise, for nature, their contribution is significant in different areas. But, as we consider the positive aspects of AI for society and nature, we must bear in mind that at the same time the advancement of technologies and the use of AI are causing societal side effects and external costs, which are tangible and visibly damaging society and nature. In this presentation, through literature sources and empirical findings, we will highlight the positive and side effects of the application of AI, assessing that the challenge of society and professionals in the field is to minimize side effects and external costs of AI, making the AI beneficial for humanity. The paper conveys the hypothesis that the application of AI Ethics is an effective tool to make AI useful and beneficial both for society and for nature. For this purpose, corporations and businesses of all sizes, must clearly articulate their attitude and behaviour in regard to the use of technologies. The collection of literature, empirical findings, analysis, comparison, generalization, and evaluations will be used as research instruments to testify the idea presented. The paper recommends that business organizations should apply the AI Code of Ethics as an integral part of their daily activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a problem for all of us and must be tackled as a priority, not just as the responsibility of national economic policies. It has not only environmental but also economic and social consequences. Climate change can change people's daily lives, strongly affecting their health and mood. It will reshape the way the economy works, affect the way we use our resources, and impact on the state of our environmental assets. Emissions are one of the most important causes of global warming and are largely responsible for adverse changes in the ecosystem. Many businesses will need to fundamentally transform their operations to become climate neutral. Entire sectors will have to innovate and abandon current (polluting) solutions in order to allow businesses to do business in new and greener ways. This requires money, skills, knowledge, innovation and of course, leadership commitment. This paper sets out to examine the business case for greening. The study focuses on the behavior of enterprises and draws conclusions on environmental awareness by comparing two countries. The paper presents the results of quantitative primary research on a Hungarian and a Slovak sample, using a pre-tested standardized questionnaire survey. We analyzed responses from 427 enterprises in the Hungarian sample and 181 in the Slovak sample. The results show which enterprises in each country can be relied on most to implement sustainable, green policies and what the main challenges are in terms of promoting more sustainable behavior among enterprises in the two countries under study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aimed to analyse the situation on the market of the main enterprises from Romania involved in the processing and preservation of the poultry meat. The research method is based on a quantitative approach, and it is made at county and national level. We grouped the specialized enterprises in processing and preservation of poultry meat by county and analysed their dimensions, related with their number of employees, the turnover and the profit they made. The results indicated that the number of active businesses in this field is not large enough and their economic results can be in most cases highly improved in the next years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Host states of transnational corporations are often unwilling and unable to exercise their duty to protect individuals from business-related human rights violations. Attributing an extraterritorial duty to protect to the home states of transnational corporations could realistically contribute towards a more robust system of human rights protections. This paper discusses the permissibility of an extraterritorial duty to protect under public international law and the potential emergence of such an obligation under international human rights law. It relies on the concept of extraterritorial jurisdiction to address both. In view thereof, it also introduces a novel basis of extraterritorial jurisdiction, a so-called cause-and-effect jurisdiction, under which an extraterritorial home state duty to protect is tenable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature loss threatens businesses, the global economy and financial stability. Understanding and addressing these risks for business will require credible measurement approaches and data. This paper explores how natural capital accounting (NCA) can support business data and information needs related to nature, including disclosures aligned with the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures recommendations. As businesses seek to measure, manage and disclose their nature-related risks and opportunities, they will need well-organized, consistent and high-quality information regarding their dependencies and impacts on nature, which few businesses currently collect or track in-house. NCA may be useful for these purposes but has not been widely used or applied by businesses. National NCA guided by the U.N. System of Environmental-Economic Accounting may provide: (i) a useful framework for businesses in conceptualizing, organizing and managing nature-related data and statistics; and (ii) data and information that can directly support business disclosures, corporate NCA and other business applications. This paper explores these opportunities as well as synergies between national and corporate natural capital accounts. In addition, the paper discusses key barriers to advancing the wider use and benefits of NCA for business, including: awareness of NCA, data access, business capabilities related to NCA, spatial and temporal scales of data, audit and assurance considerations, potential risks, and costs and incentives. This article is part of the theme issue 'Bringing nature into decision-making'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital health technologies (DHTs) at the intersection of health, medical informatics, and business aim to enhance patient care through personalised digital approaches. Ensuring the efficacy and reliability of these innovations demands rigorous clinical validation. A PubMed literature review (January 2006 to July 2023) identified 1250 papers, highlighting growing academic interest. A focused narrative review (January 2018 to July 2023) delved into challenges, highlighting issues such as diverse regulatory landscapes, adoption issues in complex healthcare systems, and a plethora of evaluation frameworks lacking pragmatic guidance. Existing frameworks often omit crucial criteria, neglect empirical evidence, and clinical effectiveness is rarely included as a criterion for DHT quality. The paper underscores the urgency of addressing challenges in accreditation, adoption, business models, and integration to safeguard the quality, efficacy, and safety of DHTs. A pivotal illustration of collaborative efforts to address these challenges is exemplified by the Digital Health Validation Center, dedicated to generating clinical evidence of innovative healthcare technologies and facilitating seamless technology transfer. In conclusion, it is necessary to harmonise evaluation approaches and frameworks, improve regulatory clarity, and commit to collaboration to integrate rigorous clinical validation and empirical evidence throughout the DHT life cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to investigate how sustainability and ethics are being addressed both by the literature and companies. Furthermore, it seeks to identify the specific strategies that these companies use to foster ethical behaviour and promote sustainability in their business operations. Design/methodology/approach: The study entails a bibliometric analysis and a set of case studies from a sample of companies working in different industry sectors. Based on these tools, it analyses whether – and how – enterprises are placing an emphasis on sustainability and ethics as part of their businesses. In addition, the selected companies' unethical practices or socially irresponsible corporate activities were investigated and presented. Findings: The findings suggest that using an ethics perspective can be a valuable tool in improving the accuracy and correctness of business decision-making. In addition, the paper has identified the fact that sustainability standards can be used to improve customer satisfaction as many important issues are addressed. Finally, the paper highlights the importance of ethical considerations when designing and implementing sustainability standards at enterprises and the need for regulatory guidance in this regard. Originality/value: The paper addresses the need for studies on how sustainability and ethics are being discussed by both the literature and companies. The paper presents some elements that can be used as possible corporate indicators for a wider implementation of sustainability and ethics objectives in enterprises. [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]

Research Question: In this paper, the processes that characterize the transition process to Society 5.0 are analysed. Motivation: The wide application of Industry 4.0 technologies has positively affected the economic aspects of conducting business. However, issues arise in the social and ecological aspects. Overcoming these challenges is not an easy task for both enterprises and countries as well. Multiple processes across multiple industries take place that pave the way towards a new business and social paradigm - Society 5.0. The main goal was to determine what processes characterize the transition to Society 5.0 and how managing some of these processes can affect the transition. Additionally, the role of managers in Society 5.0 is discussed. This is important, as the number of studies that address this subject in this manner is small. The motivation is to expand the existing body of literature in this domain. Idea: The main idea was to conduct a systematic review of studies regarding Society 5.0 from various aspects. Based on the findings, the role of managers is investigated. In addition, a theoretical model of the transition process is developed. Data: For this review study, 54 papers from credible sources were qualitatively analysed. The papers refer to Society 5.0 in various domains (sustainability, business, environment, ICTs, education, technology, data, Industry 4.0, Industry 5.0 etc.). Tools: The well-established PRISMA protocol was used for the review process. The findings were noted and labelled for easier development of the theoretical model. Findings: The findings and the developed model indicate the imperative role of managers across all industries for organic and sustainable results that come from the transition processes. Managers must embrace change and thrive towards the concept of Society 5.0 when it comes to conducting business. Contribution: The results of the review contribute to the existing body of literature, as there are few studies that address Society 5.0 in this manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Body Project (BP) intervention for body image issues is supported by extensive efficacy and effectiveness research, most of which has been conducted in the United States. The BP uses cognitive dissonance to help participants critique the ideal appearance through written, verbal, and behavioral exercises. This reduces the internalization of the appearance ideal, which in turn decreases body dissatisfaction symptoms and, in some individuals, the onset of eating disorders. To broadly implement this program in Mexico and Latin America, Comenzar de Nuevo (CdN), a non-profit organization for eating disorder treatment, partnered with the Body Project Collaborative in 2014. Together, they created a training and implementation infrastructure. This paper explores the adaptation of BP and its implementation in Mexico and Latin America. We used sustainable business, marketing, and educational models to fulfill CdN's mission to reduce eating disorder risk factors, including weight stigma, in the Latin American region. By integrating strategies to combat weight stigma within our program delivery, we strive to contribute to a more inclusive and supportive environment. We trained master trainers, regular trainers, and/or group facilitators from Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, and Spain; and implemented the BP in 15 public schools supported by sponsorship programs. This paper provides crucial lessons learned, future directions, and implications for dissemination and implementation efforts in this region of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Slawistik is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Inequalities in breastfeeding programmes and practices have slowed global progress in providing the life‐saving protection of breastfeeding for millions of infants despite well‐known life‐long impacts. As breastfeeding interventions are scaled up, inequalities in coverage and breastfeeding practices should be tracked, particularly in disadvantaged groups, who are likely to suffer the most serious health and developmental impacts of poor childhood nutrition. The literature provides evidence of inequalities in breastfeeding practices, but research is limited on socioeconomic disparities in the coverage of breastfeeding interventions. This paper (1) compares inequalities in breastfeeding practices in intervention and nonintervention areas and (2) documents inequalities in programme coverage by type of intervention. We disaggregated endline evaluation surveys in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso and Vietnam, where rigorous evaluations had documented significant overall improvements, and analysed whether inequalities in breastfeeding practices and programme coverage differed by treatment areas. We used Erreygers index to quantify inequalities and found that breastfeeding practices were largely pro‐poor; intervention coverage was not consistently pro‐poor. While counselling coverage often favoured women from the poorest quintile, public education/media coverage consistently favoured better‐off women. Inequalities favoured more educated mothers in the coverage of combined interventions. None of the programmes had explicit equality objectives. The results indicate the need for introducing specific actions to reduce inequalities in breastfeeding policies and programmes. This is a priority unfinished agenda for nutrition programming. Key messages: Exclusive breastfeeding and early breastfeeding initiation were found to be higher in intervention areas. Exclusive breastfeeding was pro‐poor in all intervention areas. Early initiation and colostrum feeding were pro‐poor in Bangladesh and Vietnam but not in Burkina Faso.Exposure to breastfeeding interventions was higher in intervention areas in all countries. While coverage was slightly pro‐poor for interpersonal communication, public education and mass media favoured the better‐off and more educated mothers, although less so in intervention areas.None of the programmes had explicit equality objectives. Development of targeted interventions to reduce socioeconomic inequalities remains an unfinished agenda for breastfeeding programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is not uncommon for multinational companies to establish subsidiaries outside their home countries, especially in developing regions to tap into emerging markets. It is however a different situation when multinationals establish businesses in unstable and violence-affected regions to take advantage of the local market structure that has suffered a hit by the continuous conflict. However, running a business in such regions may lead to distortion of the administration of these firms due to the violence which may destroy infrastructure and harm employees. Many firms are discouraged from investing in conflict zones because of the exposure to insecurity and violence. This paper adopts a case study and case analysis approach with an in-depth focus on the operation of a specific company and its operations in two conflict zones which resulted in distinct outcomes. In addition, a review of existing literature on the establishment and operation of a business in conflict zones was carried out to effectively examine the challenges of litigation and conflict resolution involving MTN Group as a corporate entity in Afghanistan and Northeastern Nigeria and the impact on the business operations in the respective regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review explores the influence of AI marketing on e-commerce sales, examining how AI-driven strategies affect key metrics such as customer acquisition and conversion rates. Given the growing importance of AI in online retail, this paper employs a critical review methodology, analyzing 50 documents from the Scopus database. The analysis reveals that AI tools like chatbots, personalization engines, and predictive analytics significantly enhance e-commerce performance. The study provides practical and theoretical contributions, offering recommendations for businesses and suggesting future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Throughout the world, mobility devices are usually distributed using product-based business models, where a device is provided to a user, and serviced or replaced when the user returns to the clinic with an issue. Moving to a service-based business model can provide continuous and customised support for the user, and provide the clinicians and manufacturers with better data to base their decisions on. This study reviews papers on assistive technology service-based business models and considerations in designing such a model to optimise economic and social value. It then applies the findings to the mobility device space. Method: A systematic literature search was undertaken in PubMed, Web of Science, and OVID databases to analyse studies that discuss service delivery models used to provide assistive products. Inductive thematic analysis determined the themes, facilitators and barriers associated with providing a service. Findings were applied to mobility device service provision. Results and conclusion: Themes from the 29 relevant papers were grouped into four categories: Access (affordability/availability/education), Utility (customisability/usability/adaptability), Integrity (quality/sustainability/impact), and Compliance (policy/privacy/security). The most common themes were customisability, affordability, availability, and education. There is a need for service-based delivery models to replace conventional product-based models, and many considerations to optimise their design. No publications discussed the design and implementation of a service-based model for mobility device provision that uses modern sensors, software and other digital technologies to optimise the service. Service-based models that use modern digital technologies are new for the mobility device field, but much can be learnt from other fields. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION: Service-based business models that make use of modern digital technologies are likely to improve ongoing individual rehabilitation, but they are new for the mobility device field and currently lack research and evidence-based practice. The systematic review found that modern digital technologies like sensors, apps, and AI might be useful for providing ongoing support and more personalised rehabilitation for users of assistive products. To provide ongoing support for end-users, a successful design of service-based business model for assistive products should be accessible, both physically and financially, as well as easy to customise and adapt over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Universitas, Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas is the property of Universidad Politecnica Salesiana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The global economy and its current state require major changes. The accelerated pace of economic growth and global industrialization has led to the fact that today just the national economy which encourages long-term innovations can be competitive. Innovations, in turn, are the basis of sustainable businesses. An opportunity for modern and sustainable business is eco-innovation. Eco-innovation is a circular economy promoter, it is a relatively new term, but with major importance and impact. The eco-innovation process improves the country's knowledge and skills, at the same time enhancing the productive capacity and competitiveness of the economy. It reduces costs, helps attract new growth opportunities, and strengthens the company's image with customers. The circular economy aims to create sustainable businesses and develop strong and sustainable economies. This paper aims to analyse the theoretical concepts and the legislative norms, but also the concrete actions to establish premises for sustainable business development. Furthermore, the study aims to identify the operating conditions of the circular economy and eco-innovation for the efficient development of sustainable industries based on innovations. When carrying out the research, several methods were used to make a comparative analysis of the normative acts regarding the policies developed and implemented by the states, related to the stimulation and implementation of innovations. Through observation and statistical data analysis, the indicators used to measure the efficiency of achieving some sustainable development objectives were analysed. The results of this study can serve as a theoretical and practical basis for larger studies developed at the national and international levels. It should be noted that eco-innovation is any innovation that leads to significant progress towards the objective of sustainable development, by reducing the impact of production methods on the environment, increasing nature's resistance to environmental pressures, or achieving more efficient and responsible use of natural resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While artificial intelligence has successful and innovative applications in common medicine, could its application facilitate research on rare diseases? This study explores the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in orphan drug research, focusing on how AI can address three major barriers: high financial risk, development complexity, and low trialability. This paper begins with an overview of orphan drug development and AI applications, defining key concepts and providing a background on the regulatory framework of and AI's role in medical research. Next, it examines how AI can lower financial risks by streamlining drug discovery and development processes, analyzing complex data, and predicting outcomes to improve our understanding of rare diseases. This study then explores how AI can enhance clinical trials through simulations and virtual trials, compensating for the limited patient populations available for rare disease research. Finally, it discusses the broader implications of integrating AI in orphan drug development, emphasizing the potential for AI to accelerate drug discovery and improve treatment success rates, and highlights the need for ongoing innovation and regulatory support to maximize the benefits of AI-driven research in healthcare. Based on those results, we discuss the implications for traditional and AI-powered business in the drug industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the Federation of Malaysia, the state government has a dominant role in the management and administration of local authorities as well as in allocating resources. This paper takes a bottom-up perspective to look at the dependence of the Sibu Municipal Council on the Sarawak state government and strongman. It begins by showing how the existing legal and political frameworks enable the formation of a strongman government and then addresses the state government's control over resources for local development. Then, it zooms into the local politics of Sibu, showcasing the patron–client relations between the state strongman and local business groups in Sarawak. However, it argues that the power of strongman politicians is not unchecked but constrained by the political framework. The later part of this paper features the political-economic networks of the state strongman in Johor to show that the strongman phenomenon is not particular to Sarawak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research and experimental development (R&D) is an important driver of economic growth and productivity. Gross expenditure on domestic R&D (GERD) is a country's total expenditure on R&D performed by all sectors of the economy. South Africa's GERD as a percentage of its GDP (GERD/GDP) remains below government targets and has stagnated over the past decade, largely due to declining business sector R&D. This paper aims to identify the drivers of firm-level R&D intensity, defined as the firm's R&D expenditure as a percentage of turnover. It is the first South African study to examine both micro- and macro-economic drivers of firm R&D, with a paucity of literature on this topic for middle-income countries. Using the South African National R&D Survey data, the study utilized the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) model and found that public financial support for firms, smaller firm-size, firm-level collaboration, political stability, foreign direct investment, and public R&D investment are positively associated with firm R&D intensity. The results highlight the importance of public financial support for smaller firms and investments in higher education and research institutions in promoting firm-level R&D, thereby providing useful policy insights for boosting business sector and economy-wide R&D expenditure and reaching national GERD/GDP targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inventive property rights (IPR) issues became very important after the announcement of the metaverse. As in the metaverse, the traditional laws of IPR are applicable, and research on new laws that are dedicated to the metaverse has started. In this research paper, we analyze development in this area. We use the Scopus database to examine how metaverse entrepreneurship and IPR rights have evolved over time. We used different parameters such as collaboration index, citation analysis, and keyword co-occurrences to measure the growth in the respective area. This study's results support the idea that studies examining this issue have been mushrooming in recent years. In addition, new issues and areas of study on intellectual property rights have emerged due to the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Metaverse is an immersive digital environment that enables users, through avatars, to create worlds, objects, and interact with each other for various purposes. Furthermore, its significance in Business and Management is increasingly evident. The objective of this research is to examine the evolution, trends, and research approaches related to the Metaverse in the field of Business and Management. This study presents a comprehensive contextualization and bibliometric analysis of the existing literature in this area. In the contextualization phase, publications per year, citations received per year, most cited publications, and languages used in publications were examined. These analyses provided an overview of the temporal evolution of research, influential publications, and language diversity in the field of Business and Management. Subsequently, a bibliometric analysis was conducted using Co-citation, Bibliographic coupling, and Co-occurrence of author keywords. These analyses helped identify relationships between scientific works, thematic connections, and collaborations among researchers in the studied field. The use of the Web of Science database ensured the quality and comprehensiveness of the collected data, while the Vosviewer tool facilitated efficient visualization and analysis of the results. The findings of this study provide a detailed understanding of the research landscape in Business and Management, revealing key areas of focus, significant contributions, and existing collaboration networks. These insights can be valuable for researchers, professionals, and regulators in the field of Business and Management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's strong economic presence in Africa has resulted in an increased interdisciplinary debate. Our contribution is the incorporation of a business perspective by uncovering the prominence and role of business in China's diplomatic Africa engagement. Our theoretical contribution by applying the state-business relations (SBR) literature is to examine whether established frameworks can be expanded by an international dimension through intergovernmental initiatives like the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). The paper conducts a document analysis of all declarations and Action Plans of all FOCAC conferences in the period 2000–2021, combining both a content and a thematic analysis based on an explorative and iterative coding process. Our data suggests that the prominence of businesses has increased while the scope of their activities and the number of focus sectors (especially infrastructure) has risen particularly since 2012. Companies are considered as enablers for political and economic goals in the state-driven FOCAC. We find that SBR frameworks are applicable to international contexts and propose an expanded SBR approach integrating transnational intermediary institutions like the intergovernmental FOCAC and transnational business platforms which facilitate positive state-business relations across countries and a conducive business environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the increasing recognition and significance of emergency arbitration (EA) in the business and trade community in recent decades, almost all major arbitral institutions have introduced emergency arbitration into their arbitration rules. It is to be noted that the arbitral institutions have unilaterally developed these EA mechanisms to facilitate and aid the business or trade community, irrespective of any directive from states or UN-like agencies. As a result, there is some disagreement about whether EA decisions can be legally enforced in state courts. Consequently, a 2015 study by Queen Mary/White & Case found that 79% of respondents considered the enforceability of emergency arbitrator decisions to be the most important factor influencing their choice between State courts and emergency arbitration while seeking urgent relief. While investigating various EA procedures, the authors have discovered that the EA rules evidently lack enforcement mechanisms. In this paper, the authors explain the issue of the enforcement of EA rulings with particular emphasis on India. After examining various ways of enforcing EA decisions, the authors concluded that the ultimate solution, i.e., legislative amendment, is essential both internationally by amending the NY Convention 1958, or UNCITRAL Model Law, and domestically by amending national arbitration laws to remove the legal impediments and to enforce EA decisions in State courts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concepts such as "global work" and "cross-cultural interaction" have been used to refer to a variety of types of encounters, resulting in imprecise theorizing and difficulty drawing implications for practice. Integrating across disparate literatures, we developed a meta-theory for "global work encounters," defined as instances in which individuals associated with different cultural, national, or geopolitical institutional contexts interact for the purpose of completing organizationally sanctioned tasks. Our meta-theory incorporates theoretical perspectives from the domains of diversity, cross-cultural psychology, and international management, each of which focuses on different global work encounters and the processes and spaces they create: "cosmopolitan spaces," characterized by status entrenchment resulting from maintenance processes; "hybrid spaces," characterized by amalgamation resulting from adaptation processes; and "optimally distinctive spaces," characterized by both uniqueness and commonality resulting from adjustment processes. Our theoretical framework identifies the initial conditions—consequences at the individual level on identity, interpersonal level on mutuality, and task level on synthesized knowledge—that give rise to these three types of spaces and the processes that prompt evolution from one space to another. We thus offer a nuanced view of global work encounters to capture the range of experiences individuals may have in global work. [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]

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 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]