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This study investigates the impact of public procurement procedures on the efficacy of public projects within Zambia's Ministry of Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development (MIHUD) and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD).  Inefficient procurement methods, characterised by delays, cost overruns, and inferior project quality, have impeded the successful execution of public projects, especially in infrastructure and rural development.  The research is to evaluate the impact of Supplier Qualification Screening (SQS), Competitive Bidding (CB), and Supplier Evaluation (SE) on project performance.  A quantitative research methodology was utilised, employing a survey-based descriptive design to gather data from 120 procurement experts and project managers within the designated ministries.  Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was employed to examine the correlations between procurement methods and project outcomes.  The results demonstrate that SQS and CB enhance project performance by facilitating timely delivery and cost effectiveness.  Nonetheless, SE exerted a detrimental impact, indicating that too rigorous evaluation processes may result in delays and impede project accomplishment.  Hypothesis testing validated these findings, corroborating the alternative hypotheses for SQS and CB, however SE demonstrated an inverse correlation with project outcomes.  The report advocates for the fortification of regulatory frameworks, the augmentation of capacity-building programs, the rectification of bureaucratic inefficiencies, and the encouragement of e-procurement platform usage to enhance procurement efficiency.  A review of supplier evaluation procedures is essential to avert needless delays in project execution.  The study's results have substantial implications for procurement reforms and efficiency enhancements in Zambia.  Improving openness, accountability, and stakeholder collaboration in procurement procedures can result in superior project outcomes, fostering national infrastructure development and socio-economic advancement, especially in rural regions.  Enhancing procurement policies and using digital solutions will be crucial in developing a more efficient and accountable public procurement system.

In today's competitive business landscape, organizations constantly seek strategies to enhance their market position and profitability. One of the pivotal inquiries that many industry experts and scholars are delving into is: How do cost leadership, service innovation, and customer value creation influence business performance? Cost leadership, often seen as a way to gain a competitive edge through operational efficiency, might offer immediate financial benefits. Given the frequent economic challenges, it has become increasingly crucial for hotel businesses to embrace strong competitive and marketing strategies. The hospitality sector, particularly susceptible to the ramifications of such crises, has long been scrutinized to discern the strategic measures they employ during turbulent times. This empirical investigation, encompassing insights from 437 industry professionals, underscores that initiatives centered on corporate service innovation yield a direct and favorable augmentation in organizational performance. However, the study found inconclusive evidence regarding the mediating impact of value creation through customer engagement.

There has been increasing studies that details the transmission channels through which financial development permeates to speed up growth to higher echelon. Studies have underpinned that financial development yield more growth when these channels are optimized. With studies on real sector performance sparse, this paper contributes to this discussion as it examined the effect of financial development in fostering industrial growth under the condition of high and low human capital endowment. This was investigated for a sample of five (5) West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) countries from 1990 to 2022. The study developed a panel threshold regression (PTR) model where human capital functioned as threshold variable and data collected from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), World Development Indicator (WDI) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) databases. The study finds a threshold effect of financial development on industrial sector growth. The PTR estimator shows financial development can produce more industrial growth if human capital exceeds a gross of 62.9493%. Additionally, other factors such as trade openness, natural resource rents and higher labour participation in economic activities support industrial sector growth. In the design of industrial growth enhancing policies, policy mandarins should implement measures that improve human capital and further develop the financial system by scaling up education expenditure to the UNESCO prescribed 26% of GDP, educating women, leveraging technology to improve human capital productivity and outcomes, reducing loan collateral requirements, strengthening legal frameworks, and boosting banking competition by allowing entrant of capitalized financial institutions and timely exist of insolvent ones.

There has been an increase in the elderly population worldwide in recent years. This situation creates some needs both at individual and social level. In particular, elderly individuals need support in carrying out their daily activities. Therefore, elderly care centers are seen as an important supporter in this respect. This study aims to identify the criteria affecting the selection of elderly care centers and prioritize them with SWARA method. The SWARA method was used to weight the criteria affecting the selection of elderly care centers in order of priority. Eight criteria identified through literature review were evaluated by five experts experienced in the relevant field. The experts evaluated the criteria by ranking them according to their importance and the final prioritization was carried out by taking the geometric mean of the evaluations. According to the results of the analysis, the most important factor affecting the selection of an elderly care center was the Quality-of-Life Comfort and Service with a weight of 22%. This was followed by Financial Status with 20%, Health Services with 16%, and Professional Staff with 13%. Location and Transportation criterion was determined as the least important factor with a weight of 0.7%. The fact that life comfort and service quality have the highest weight indicates that elderly individuals expect a quality and comfortable living environment. The results obtained from the study show that policies for elderly care homes should be organized in a way that aims to increase the comfort of living, improve service quality, ensure economic accessibility and ensure the sustainability of health services.

The study aims to investigate the extent to which the concepts of social innovation and talent management will affect the innovation performance of enterprises as a result of the literature studies on the concepts of social innovation and talent management in family businesses in the Marmara Region. A questionnaire consisting of 78 questions was applied to the employees of small, medium and large-sized family businesses operating in the Marmara Region. A total of 460 questionnaires were evaluated. SPSS program was used for the survey results and the answers were analyzed by reliability analysis, factor analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis methods. With the analysis study, the impact of social innovation and talent management on innovation performance was tried to be determined. As a result, it has been determined that there is a significant relationship between talent management practices and innovation performance. In other words, it has been determined that talent management is a strong factor in increasing the innovation performance of enterprises. In addition, no effect of social innovativeness on innovation performance was observed. In the light of the findings, the results of the research are discussed and recommendations are presented for both managers and academicians.

This study explores the influence of digital marketing strategies on brand loyalty among young airline passengers, specifically targeting Millennials and Gen Z individuals aged 18-35 years old. With the increasing reliance on digital channels such as social media, email marketing, and search engine marketing, it is crucial to understand how these strategies impact the customer-brand relationship, brand trust, and ultimately, brand loyalty. The research employs a quantitative approach, gathering data from 230 participants who are frequent users of digital platforms and have recent travel experiences with airlines. The findings reveal that social media marketing has the most significant impact on the customer-brand relationship, followed by email and search engine marketing. Additionally, the study confirms that brand trust acts as a critical mediator between digital marketing activities and brand loyalty. These results highlight the importance of tailored digital marketing strategies for airlines aiming to engage and retain young passengers in a highly competitive industry.

Food prices in Nigeria have experienced significant increases due to rising fuel costs, unstable exchange rates, and socio-political challenges. This study examines the effects of fuel prices and exchange rate changes on food inflation using a Structural Vector Autoregressive (SVAR) model, which provides insights into both immediate and long-term impacts. Monthly data from June 2015 to May 2024 shows a stable long-term relationship between food inflation, energy prices, and exchange rates, making it clear that these factors are key drivers of inflationary trends in Nigeria. Our findings reveal that increases in fuel prices, particularly for petrol and diesel, drive up the cost of food production and transportation, with noticeable impacts appearing within three to six months. Similarly, shifts in exchange rates raise the cost of imported foods, with effects becoming evident in about two to ten months. Recent economic reforms, such as the fuel subsidy removal in 2023, have intensified inflationary pressures, exposing structural weaknesses in Nigeria’s food supply chain, including poor infrastructure and insecurity. The study recommended a direct approach to tackle food inflation, we recommend the creation of a Food Price Stabilization Fund (FPSF), which would help manage extreme price volatility caused by energy price fluctuations and exchange rate changes among others.

The study focused on the people’s perception of Coronavirus, traditional health, and western health in fight against Coronavirus. Experts contend that government agencies and health officials should join forces with traditional healers rather than oppose them to successfully combat COVID-19. Traditional health care, through several trado-medical scientists seemed to be mostly patronized by all sector of health institution and the youth. This obviously signifies that traditional health which has long been taken for granted and rejected for many years has a critical role to play in making reasonable health care delivery system to the African communities. The indigenous health care system and its methods are being demonized by youth and certain scientific institutions because they are linked to witchcraft and other wicked customs. The researcher noticed that, in the twenty-first century, there appeared to be an idea of interfacing Traditional Health Practices (THPs) with Western doctors. It appears that basic health care systems were provided by traditional medical professionals in civilizations prior to the arrival of colonialism. The objective of the study was as follows, to explore the perceptions of traditional health and western health practitioners in fight against Coronavirus. The study adopted an employ African healing theory. The study used a qualitative research design and was exploratory in nature. Data was generated using semi-structured interviews as data collection instruments. The study’s finding shows that symptoms of coronavirus are the same in traditional health care and western health care perspectives as the traditional practitioner and western practitioner observe the common symptoms such as coughing, sweating, high temperature having mucus, unable to breath and diarrhea or vomiting which are the same symptoms of normal influenza. The study recommends Integration of traditional health and western healthcare system in leveraging the strength of both approaches to combat corona virus and promote overall health well-being and Future research on traditional health care in advancing rural livelihoods.

This study mainly aimed to investigate the impact of seasonal changes on media advertising revenues (AR) in R environment through a visual-print media company example. So, the study primarily aimed to examine whether visual, print and internet ARs were affected by seasonal change. The study also aimed to indicate the trends of visual/ print/ and internet ARs over time in the light of seasonality. Furthermore, it was also aimed to make AR estimates for the next year with the best performing methods covering ARIMA and ETS. Methodologically, R programming language and its libraries were used together with ARIMA and ETS time series models. The data set consisted of a monthly ARs series consisting of 180 rows covering the period between January/2007-December/2021 and having a sufficient number of observations for the application of the models. Data were analyzed with R and next year’s forecasts were done with ARIMA and ETS. The study revealed that all AR types were affected by seasonal changes in the specified period and included seasonality, i.e. specially in the summer months.  Additionally, it was observed that AR types have different trends despite containing seasonality. The study found that visual ARs denoted a slight downward trend including seasonality during the period. It was also indicated that print ARs reflected a very rapid and drastic downward trend covering seasonality. The study also revealed that internet ARs showed a very rapid and sharp upward trend compared to the other two AR types despite having seasonality. Furthermore, taking into account the calculated error metrics, it was found that the ARIMA model showed the best estimation performance in both i.e. visual and internet ARs. On the other hand, the ETS model indicated the best estimation performance in print ARs. Accordingly, estimations of the visual/print and internet ARs for the next year were made with the best performing methods. It was pointed out that estimated ARs included seasonality in the summer months and revealed similar results to the previous trends based on historical data.

This study explored the role of ICT in preserving proverbs among Vhavenda communities. From time immemorial, proverbs were valuable cultural practices of oral tradition, which were used to empower the young generation on morals, norms, behaviour, education, and other African values. It has been noticed that due to modernisation and lack of preservation, proverbs have been abounded by the majority of Vhaven?a youths, which seems to be resulting in moral degeneration because youth no longer acquire moral knowledge and skills through proverbs. This study grounded by diffusion of innovation theory. This study intended to adopt a qualitative research design. Therefore, participants were selected through purposive sampling. Furthermore, semi-structured was used to collect data. Thematic data analysis was used to analyse data. The envisioned findings of the study could be convenient in preserving the Vhaven?a proverbs.

This study mainly aimed to examine the perceptions of Accounting Professionals-APs (Certified Accountant, Certified Public Accountant, Sworn-in Certified Public Accountant) working in Istanbul on accounting culture and fraudulent financial reporting. It also aimed to investigate whether there is a significant relationship between APs’ perceptions of accounting culture and fraudulent financial reporting, and whether these perceptions differ according to demographic characteristics. Methodologically, a descriptive online survey method covering a questionnaire was applied to collect data. The sample consisted of 314 APs operating in Istanbul. Data were analyzed with SPSS-22. The study revealed that there is a significant relationship between the perceptions of APs on accounting culture and fraudulent financial reporting. It also indicated that these perceptions differ according to demographic characteristics. In the light of subvalues of accounting culture, the perceptions of “The Flexibility of Accounting Culture versus Uniformity” and Professionalism versus Status quo” vary according to the gender. In this respect, it was determined that female professionals exhibited more professionalization and uniformity tendencies than men, while male professionals exhibited more flexibility and status quo tendencies compared to women. Furthermore, it was understood that other demographic characteristics (age, years of service, education level, title, number of clients) are not effective variables on the accounting culture perception. On the other hand, it was found that the perceptions of APs on fraudulent financial reporting differ according to demographic characteristics (such as gender, age, years of service and title), however, it does not differ according to the number of customers and education level. In other words, those characteristics do not have any effect on the perception of fraudulent financial reporting.

Researchers continue to conduct research within South African indigenous communities pertaining indigenous knowledge with little consideration of the existing indigenous research methodologies. This little consideration continues to exist because these indigenous research methodologies are merely taught in universities and the approach that is often used by most university researchers in conducting research on indigenous communities has elements of coloniality such as power that rests on the researchers over the communities where communities are labelled as the researched than contributors. This paper provides reflections on the participatory action research study conducted on the lenses of indigenous research paradigm in Ga-Mamabolo in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The reflections concludes that the indigenous research paradigm offers a suitable roadmap for conducting research in indigenous communities. The contradicting research language between the western and indigenous paradigm is presented to improve the practice of research in indigenous communities. Research in indigenous communities is often conducted with little or no consideration of collaboration with the indigenous people. Thus, this paper contends that the review of existing Western research ethics may lay a foundation for new ethics that are culturally sensitive and promoting collaboration on research that affects the indigenous people.

This study investigates the asymmetric impacts of retail energy prices on inflation in Nigeria, focusing on the period from Q1: 2010 to Q2: 2024. Utilizing secondary data sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) e-library, we examine how fluctuations in petroleum prices (PMS and AGO) influence both food and headline inflation. The analysis employs a nonlinear ARDL approach to capture the distinct effects of rising versus falling energy costs, revealing significant asymmetries in their impact on inflation indices. Our findings indicate that increases in fuel prices exert a pronounced inflationary pressure, particularly on food prices, while decreases lead to muted deflationary effects. The results emphasize the need for comprehensive policy interventions to mitigate fuel-driven cost-push inflation. Specifically, we suggest revisiting the framework for fuel subsidy removal to prevent abrupt price shocks that could burden consumers. Additionally, establishing an Energy Price Stabilization Fund (EPSF) could help stabilize food prices during periods of high energy costs by providing targeted support to the food market. Moreover, managing the exchange rate to minimize extreme fluctuations could further alleviate inflation pressures associated with import costs. Finally, strengthening inflation monitoring systems will enhance the government's ability to respond proactively to inflationary trends, ensuring timely interventions. These policy recommendations aim to create a more stable economic environment, reducing the inflationary impact of volatile retail energy prices and improving overall economic resilience in Nigeria.

This research paper delves into the pervasive issue of the digital divide within African indigenous communities, specifically focusing on access to African Indigenous digital games. Employing Participatory Action Research (PAR) as the primary data generation approach, this study emphasises the collaborative involvement of community members in identifying, understanding, and addressing the challenges they face. The philosophical foundation of Ubuntu, with its emphasis on interconnectedness, mutual care, and communal support, underpins the research methodology, ensuring that the study remains deeply rooted in African values and perspectives. The digital divide in African Indigenous communities is a multifaceted issue, stemming from various socio-economic, infrastructural, and educational barriers. These barriers hinder the effective dissemination and adoption of digital technologies, including digital games that are culturally significant and educational. By leveraging the principles of Ubuntu, the research engages community members as co-researchers, ensuring that their voices, experiences, and insights are integral to the study. This approach not only enhances the authenticity and relevance of the findings but also empowers the communities to take ownership of the solutions developed. The study advocates for the development of digital game centres in indigenous communities which may be used as centre for accessing digital African indigenous games.

This paper explores the nonlinear dynamics relationship between petroleum product prices and inflation in Nigeria. By focusing on the role of exchange rate fluctuations in amplifying the relationships, the paper employs a multiplicative interaction approach to address the nonlinear effects of petroleum prices on inflation. Utilizing data from 2016: Q1 to 2024: Q2 from the National Bureau of Statistics and the Central Bank of Nigeria, the study introduces interaction terms to capture how petroleum prices and exchange rates interact to influence inflation. The methodology includes static and dynamic panel estimators, with a focus on the within effect model to account for unobserved state-specific factors. Key findings reveal that AGO and PMS prices significantly drive both headline and food inflation, while DPK's impact varies, and GAS shows minimal effect. The study highlights those geographical factors—proximity to seaports and fuel depots—significantly influence inflationary pressures. States closer to these facilities experience lower inflation due to reduced distribution costs. This suggests that policies aimed at partial subsidization for states farther from key infrastructure could mitigate regional inflation disparities. The findings contribute to the understanding of inflation dynamics, emphasizing the need for targeted policy interventions tailored to regional economic conditions in Nigeria.

This study evaluates resources allocated for risk management by business organisations (financial and non-financial firms) in developing countries, using Zambia as a case study. Primary data collected from 158 organisations were analysed using MegaStat. The findings revealed that the majority (54.5%) of organisations, especially non-financial institutions, only commit resources to risk mitigation on an Adhoc or post-event basis, while 45.5% showed a budgeted approach. A significant part of the budgeted 45.5% was used for risk management activities, and 54.5% was used for regular daily operations. Despite this variation, all organisations engaged reported a significant expenditure on risk management, at least on Adhoc. At 4 degrees of freedom (df), which was one less than the total number of possible outcomes, a non-parametric test for significance yielded a scientific P-value of 1.57e-0.7, (a numerical magnitude of 0.0014, P< 0.05). This suggests that the correlation and pattern of the findings were not random or by chance, but they carried a statistical significance. The study's main findings demonstrate that some business organisations in Zambia and other developing countries incur significant expenditure with a higher portion of their budgets to respond to risk management needs. Business organisations which do not have formal risk structures do so informally due to pressure from emerging business risks. The findings also indicated that financial institutions in developing countries allocate more resources towards risk management than non-financial institutions. The Phi coefficient (degree of association) was 0.486, showing a moderately significant relationship between the variables (risk management and resource allocation). Business organisations in Zambia and other developing nations must develop sound risk mitigation plans and allocate resources for risk management.

This article analyzes the status quo and cooperation mechanism between ASEAN and China, mainly, the non-traditional security issues in the South China Sea space (SCS). The non-traditional security threats confronting the SCS are complex, diverse and enormous. Amongst those are transnational maritime crimes, marine disaster threat, marine ecological environmental threat, and resource scarcity. Recent trends have demonstrated that the established regimes between ASEAN and China, for non-traditional security cooperation in the SCS, are fragmented mainly due to the absence of integrated and long-term mechanisms. Three reasons hinder the acceleration of the cooperation process: interference from outside powers, insufficient mutual political trust between China and ASEAN members, claimants and divergence of interests in advancing the Code of Conduct (COC) in the SCS. This article aims to analyze the problems and the causes existing between China and ASEAN in dealing with non-traditional security cooperation. It also examines the effectiveness of the rules-based cooperation mechanisms and offers a few recommendations. It is argued that ASEAN and China should take advantage of the low sensitivity of non-traditional security issues and high-quality development of the One Belt and One Road Initiative, to construct an integrated framework based on rules jointly and order for multilateral non-traditional security cooperation in the SCS. Three possible and workable measures are recommended to facilitate non-traditional security cooperation between ASEAN and China in the SCS. Both sides, primarily ASEAN member claimants, pursue an excellent willingness to cooperate and could promote functional cooperation, promote successful maritime cooperation modes as long-term cooperation mechanisms in the SCS, focus on strengthening the capacity-building of marine governance, and comprehensively establish a multilateral cooperation mechanism in marine environmental protection and fishery resources management.

This study aims to identify the most influential blockchain types for potential implementation areas in the transforming mobility ecosystem, considering application area-specific needs such as transparency, transaction speed, scalability, energy usage, security, and operating cost. The study demonstrated the hybrid blockchain suitability for most of the 13 distinguished mobility applications, while private and consortium blockchains are found applicable based on the needs of specific use cases. A public blockchain is only found suitable for two of the use cases. Proof of Authority and Proof of Stake matches well with most use cases, while Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance and Proof of Work could be suitable in particular.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the Gross National Happiness indicator and the actual lifestyle of the people of Bhutan. Gross National Happiness is a macroeconomic indicator calculated in Bhutan. It was constructed in contrast to the Gross Domestic Product. Gross National Happiness is designed to guide the country's public policies. Using visual methods in anthropology, this study proposes an immersion in Lamshey, a village in Bhutan. The daily life of the inhabitants is then observed and analyzed with the way gross national happiness is measured. The sociology of quantification provides a framework for analysis that reveals important and new implications. Indeed, to bring together the experience of happiness as it is lived by the Bhutanese, it will be appropriate to distinguish three complementary "Gross National Happiness", according to whether it is measured, lived, or in its ethical dimension.

The study examined the role of training needs assessment on the training outcomes in the insurance sector in Kenya. A desktop methodology was used to carry out this study. This necessitated the use of secondary data obtained from publicly available sources such as published studies, reports, and statistics. This approach of data collection is used by many researchers since it saves time and lowers the cost of data collection. It is also quite reliable and has a wide variety of insights since it is compiled from well-known sources. The current study made use of online journals and libraries, both of which make secondary data readily available. The results revealed that there exist conceptual and geographical gaps relating to the study on the role of training needs assessment on the training outcomes in the insurance sector in Kenya. Most of the results from the empirical review revealed that the main role of training needs assessment on training outcomes is to ensure that the training programs implemented are effective, meet the employees’ needs and to improve the performance of the insurance sectors in Kenya. In addition, TNA enabled organizations to implement flexible, practical oriented training programs so as to keep the employees motivated. The results of the study will be of great significance to the management team of the insurance sector, since it will provide a good knowledge base on what training needs assessment involves and its role on training outcomes in the insurance sector in Kenya. Employees in the insurance sector will also benefit from the findings of this study since it will provide a well-detailed information on some of the employee needs that spearhead the implementation of training programs. The results of the study will also benefit the policymakers in the insurance sector by identifying the appropriate training needs assessment models that will improve the training outcomes of insurance firms in Kenya. Lastly, the findings of this study will serve as a foundation for literature review of researchers and academicians interested in carrying out a study related to these research topics.