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Marriage is one of the most important social institutions, as it greatly influences the stability of families, population, and socio-economic well-being. The changing trends of marriages and divorces in South Africa confirm the importance of predictive analysis on the stability of marriages. Marriage duration prediction is a challenging task, as it is affected by a number of factors. Recent developments in machine learning techniques provide new opportunities to model this problem. This experiment used the following seven different classifications: Random Forest, Gradient Boosting, XGBoost, Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machine, K Nearest Neighbours, and Decision Tree, which aimed to forecast the categories of marriage length (short, medium, and long). The models used the following metrics: accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, macro ROC-AUC, and the ROC curve. The results showed that ensemble-based approaches performed better than conventional classifiers. Gradient Boosting had the best performance in macro ROC AUC and was best at discriminating classes, especially for long and medium-length marriages. Random Forest had the best overall accuracy and was best at balancing classes. XGBoost had a similar performance to that of Random Forest in predicting. SVM had a high precision value but a lower recall value. Decision Trees and KNN had poor performance. Gradient Boosting was found to be the best-performing method for multi-class prediction of duration of marriage and achieved a balance between sensitivity and specificity. The results obtained from these studies prove that ensemble learning methods can be effectively utilized for modelling complex societal events.

This research analyses how a service firm develops an ecosystem and serves as the orchestrator. A unique coffee shop in a mountainous area was used as the subject because it has abundant resources to become an orchestrator and various distinctive traits. A single case study design was selected to enable researchers to analyse depth and rich data, covering all participants within the ecosystem. Using a holistic case study design enables investigators to explore complex interplays of ecosystem participants. This study demonstrates that a firm uses elements of dynamic capabilities to manage the evolving process of ecosystem dynamics, starting from the initial formation of the ecosystem to the maturity stage. Our analysis identifies what derivative capabilities can be created from each element of dynamic capabilities and how these derivative capabilities are employed for developing and managing partners involved in the ecosystem. This study establishes a contribution by examining a coffee shop, representing a small service firm, and its evolution into an ecosystem orchestrator role - an under-explored setting in prevailing orchestration literature concentrated on large platform corporations. Single case studies are often criticized because their generalizability is thin and their findings are narrow. However, this weakness has led to the advantage of presenting insights in detail and depth.

Office employees dedicate a significant portion of their time within the confines of a building, where the physical surroundings have a profound impact on their overall well-being and directly influence their effectiveness and productivity. Within the professional setting, it is commonly believed that employees who find satisfaction in their physical environment are more inclined to achieve superior work outcomes and performance. Consequently, this document presents an extensive analysis of various environmental factors that have a direct or indirect influence on the performance of employees. This research is a descriptive research design using a quantitative re-search method studying the relationships between office environment facilitations and employee performance. Survey questionnaires technique was used 829 samples were analyzed. Regression analysis, correlation analysis, mediation analysis and hypothesis testing were devised to deter-mine the significance level of the hypotheses. The study also examined the direct effects of office environment on employee communication, interactions, productivity, and performance. The findings revealed significant outcomes, indicating that the office environment has an influence on these employee-based factors. Both communication and interactions, as well as employee productivity, as an indirect effect, were found to significantly mediate the connection between the office environment and employee performance. The practical implications are that these findings can be utilized by organizations to effectively evaluate the costs and benefits associated with different office concepts. By acknowledging the potential issues identified in this study regarding various office concepts, organizations can strive to create a more favorable working environment.

This study systematically reviews literature to explore the Moderated Mediation Model of Customer Intention in Omnichannel Technology, particularly under the transformative influence of technologies like AI, AR, and big data analytics. Amidst evolving consumer expectations and the drastic shifts induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, the retail industry's shift from multichannel to omnichannel strategies has become crucial. This review analyzes 59 studies published between 2018 and April 2023 to discern the dynamics influencing customer intention within the omnichannel framework. Our research highlights the sparse but critical discourse on the mediating roles of perceived value and trust and the moderating effects of factors like age and product involvement. Although extensive, the literature reveals gaps, particularly in unified frameworks integrating these diverse insights. We propose a novel conceptual framework centered on these mediators and moderators to better understand and harness customer intentions toward omnichannel technology adoption. Key findings indicate that seamless integration across online and offline channels, responsive to the nuanced needs and behaviors of consumers, significantly enhances customer engagement and loyalty. This synthesis not only offers a consolidated view of the omnichannel retail landscape but also provides strategic pathways for retailers aiming to optimize customer interactions and satisfaction in a digitally dominated era. Our review contributes to the omnichannel retail literature by offering a structured overview of the factors driving customer intentions and suggesting directions for future research to bridge identified gaps, particularly through longitudinal studies and expanded demographic analyses.

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 examines the factors influencing accountability practices in funds management of local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Yemen. A total of 75 local NGOs operate in Yemen, receiving local and foreign funding. A structured online questionnaire was employed for data collection. This study found that accountability was not widely practiced among the NGOs in Yemen. The level of accountability practices of these NGOs was significantly influenced by funding competition and perceived motive. The results of the study offer important implications for both policymakers and NGOs. The relevant regulatory bodies must formulate policies to enhance the NGOs’ accountability for improved efficiency and transparency. The NGOs, on the other hand, are expected to be transparent in ensuring the resources are well managed, and services are delivered efficiently and effectively to the recipients.

Entrepreneurial orientation (ENO), social network ties (SOT) and market intelligence generation (MIT) are independently modeled as distinct antecedents of entrepreneurial intention (EIN). However, the intervening variables for such models are typically under-explored in their applicability to university students in sub-Saharan Africa. Accordingly, drawing on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the present study argues that ENO impacts EIN, primarily explained by SOT and MIT. Using cross-sectional data gathered from university students in Ghana, a sub-Saharan African country, our findings reveal that ENO has both direct and indirect relationships with EIN. Thus, this relationship is mainly mediated when students build and develop social network ties (SOT) instead of gathering marketing intelligence (MIT).

The increase of scandals involving non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has provoked concerns from the public for their accountability. In the case of Yemen, the NGOs receive financial support from both local and international donors. These organisations, however, are not obliged to disclose how they manage the donation funds, although the donors usually outline specific requirements on how the funds should be utilised. At the same time, the success of projects undertaken by the NGOs funded by the donors can help to enhance the organisation’s reputation and legitimize its activities to secure more funds. This study investigated the level of accountability practices in the Yemeni local NGOs. A questionnaire survey was sent to 75 active local NGOs. The findings show that the level of accountability practices among local NGOs is moderate. Most of these organisations evaluated the impact of their projects at their completion. However, they tend to avoid an independent assessment of any third party. They also restricted the local communities’ involvement in determining where and how the money of the project should be spent. This suggests that the local NGOs are more likely to be “seen” as being accountable rather than being accountable. A further improvement perhaps through policymaking is thus necessary to ensure effective accountability practices in funds management of the NGOs.

Despite official crime figures showing a continuous decline in the rate of crime, the perception of the high level of crime by many Malaysians suggests other factors are affecting their perception of safety from crime. The objective of this study is to identify and understand these factors through a qualitative study that employs online focus group discussions. This study argues that the perception of safety from crime is the result of interactions of a number of factors such as the experience of victimisation, crime information, neighbourhood conditions as well as the perception of law enforcement and government crime reduction policy. The sense of safety from crime is also contextual as it may fluctuate according to time, place, activities and situations. Analysis of the data from the focus group discussions found that participants generally have a high perception of safety from crime. However, participants felt less safe when they were in public places and when interacting with online services. In most circumstances, participants' sense of safety is affected by the pressure to be vigilant and to avoid criminal victimisation. This pressure is exacerbated by low-quality information on crime that is often received through social media. Crime information on social media has a significant impact on participants’ perceptions of crime. The overall analysis of the findings suggests that the most important factor which affects the perception of safety from crime among these selected Malaysians is their sense of safety in their homes and their neighbourhood.  Hence, efforts to increase the sense of safety among Malaysians should focus on this context.

The aspect of relevance becomes an indicator of the success of vocational education. In order for vocational school graduates to be able to compete in the era of technological disruption, Vocational Schools are required to be able to produce graduates who have the alignment of competencies possessed by each graduate with the competencies needed in the world of work. To achieve the relevance of vocational education, the development of an integrated solution model for the preparation of vocational education graduates needs to be based on the need for ICT-assisted career services. In this study, survey design was used to examine the mapping of student/graduate needs, career service managers, and graduate users and development design to design an integrated solution model for the preparation of vocational education graduates. The results of mapping the needs of students/graduates, career service managers, and users are used as the basis for developing an integrated solution model for preparing vocational education graduates. It is hoped that this model can be used to optimize career services for students and vocational school graduates in Indonesia in the era of technological disruption.

This study aims to find out which factors, between the word of mouth (WoM) or marketing promotion programs (MPP), drive motivation (push and pull); to explore the influence of travel motivation toward satisfaction, and to investigate the satisfaction effect of medical tourists with loyalty. This study used a survey method by distributing questionnaires to medical tourists from Indonesia (N = 152) who have visited hospitals in Malaysia for medical care at least once. Data analysis was carried out using several statistical procedures. Firstly, a multivariate test was conducted to find out whether there is a statistically significant difference in the push and pull motives based on the influencers. Second, multiple linear regression is performed to find out the influence of push and pull variables on satisfaction. Finally, a simple linear regression is calculated to find out the influence of satisfaction on loyalty. The findings show that there is a statistically significant difference in the push and pull motives based on the influencers (WoM or MPP). The effect size of both push and pull is almost equal. The relationship between push or pull and satisfaction is also statistically significant as 41.3% of the variance in the satisfaction is explained by the push and 51.8% by pull factors. Finally, satisfaction is a significant predictor for loyalty while 90.2% of the variance in loyalty is explained by satisfaction.

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the correlation of perceived security, benefits, and usefulness that has been associate with the cashless transaction attitude. The chosen mode for this research is a quantitative approach. This method is favored because of its simplicity and systematic approach, The primary data were collected by distributing the respondents' questionnaires, A self-administered survey is a questionnaire that was developed exclusively for a respondent. This questionnaire is the most suitable approach for this research because respondents respond comfortably and don't need to make appointments with respondents. However, This study involves 120 participants from several locations in Selangor University, DarulHikmah Library at IIUM in the Gombak area, and Shah Alam area. In the part of the analysis, there is two measurementss that would be tasted in the context of demographic component and assess the relations between the structures and how independent variables affect the dependent variable. On the other hand, the mode of analysis is descriptive statistics and multiple regressions. Also, Both the results are presented by using the statistical tools which are IBM Social Science Statistical Package (SPSS) version 25.0. The findings indicate that the benefits perceived and the adoption of cashless transactions are linked positively and are of perceived importance and acceptance. From the study, this paper discovered that perceived protection correlates negatively. For future research of this subject, a greater variety of independent factors and more detailed models may have been used and further analyses required for the factor analysis. This can lead to further findings that will give the next generation a wider range of knowledge.

Medical tourism is a global phenomenon in many parts of the world. It features an activity where individuals travel from home country to the host country to seek or receive medical healthcare. Being the third largest sector, medical tourism has a significant contribution towards economic development in the Southeast Asia (SEA) region. However, the literature review depicts a scarcity of research on niche areas among the top player in this region. This study aims to explore the development of the medical tourism industry in the SEA region. An in-depth interview with stakeholders and private hospitals were conducted and analyzed using thematic analysis coupled with document analysis from various secondary data. Four SEA regions were chosen namely Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore which offer specific niche markets to promote the medical tourism industry. Interestingly, these countries are complementing and not competing with each other in the same industry. This study is vital in enriching the literature in the field of medical tourism in showcasing the niche market of medical tourism in the SEA region. This study also contributes greatly to comparative analysis between these countries in the medical tourism sector. 

This paper focuses on social security threats brought by the Rohingya refugees in Malaysia especially on healthcare services.  First, a brief historical background of Rohingya ethnic and how this ethnic became refugees is discussed. Secondly, this paper provides a preview of Rohingyas during post-Myanmar’s political transition. and a short background of Rohingyas in Malaysia. Third, this paper examines the healthcare services among the Rohingya refugees in Klang Valley, Malaysia, and the accessibility of healthcare.

This paper attempts to explore and improve the success of Facebook technology in undergraduate Sociology classes to enhance students’ engagement. Teaching Sociology in Bangladeshi colleges faces several challenges particularly in using Facebook which has been critically presented in this paper where student engagement has been defined from different aspects i.e. systematically and conceptually. It is found that Facebook is effectively used in various settings for strengthening academic achievements but is not used equally in developing countries like Bangladesh. Nevertheless, the scope of applying ICT technology like Facebook is widening as the use of devices becomes popular gradually. But for achieving the target a suitable plan and sincere efforts is essential which may ensure quality education and the output will be a valuable outcome in the ICT based globalized world

SME restaurants have reported declined earnings and faced challenges to remain open during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period imposed by the Malaysian government due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. SME decision-makers were observed to be making changes regarding their day-to-day operations and management strategies to mitigate MCO restrictions. This paper aims to review the significant adaptations made by SME restaurants in Malaysia throughout the MCO period. Three (3) prominent areas of adaptations made by decision-makers have been identified based upon ceaseless news reports and media contents. The adaptations made commonly depict actions to (i) Nurture Creativity, (ii) Sustain Reputation, and (iii) Maintain Profitability. The outcomes of this paper provide essential survival guides for SME restauranteurs to embrace the COVID-19 outbreak. These can be helpful to related policy and decision-makers to implement the crucial traits of SME restaurants to reduce the impact on SME restaurants for the foreseeable future.

Financial institutions and banks are required to follow mechanisms to monitor the positions and create stimulas for sensible risk-taking by divisions a well as individuals. Risk measurement comprises of the quantification of risk exposures, whereas risk management demonstrates to the overall procedures by which managers fulfill these needs to identify the risks and recognise the category of the risks it faces. This research targerts on the economic instability faced by banks in financial arena in terms of the crises affairs in regard of economic distress. Here, the methodology followed is based on the CAMELS framework variables. CAMELS is a short form stands for: capital adequacy (C), asset (A), management (M), earnings (E), liquidity (L) and sensitivity to market risk (S). Based on these nomenclature, a couple of variables should be selected, such as capital asset ratio, cost income ratio, non-performing loan, non-interest income as component series and return on asset (ROA) as the reference series to identify turning points of economic volatility in banking sector of Bangladesh. Thus, by forecasting the directional deviations it could make financial policymakers aware of the changes at early stage in financial markets and banking industry and privilege them to undertake precautionary steps for preventive purposes. The constructed MPI should have a incredible lead time of about 5 to 7 months on an average in case of prediction against leading for the reference series. By renovating financial efficacy of venture banks, Bangladesh also should recover their subsequent banking system to execute these suggestions.

In perspective of the economic vulnerability faced by banks in financial sector, this study mirrors the methodology used by Shumway (2001) – the dynamic hazard model that is able to forecast systemic risk in financial market arena. Here, the terminology followed is based on the CAMELS framework variables: capital adequacy, asset, management, earnings, liquidity and sensitivity to market risk. The objective of this study is to construct a macroprudential indicator (MPI) for the case of Bangladeshi financial market. The result will then be tested for robustness with macro-stress test. Lagged independent variables will be used in the simple hazard model to allow early prediction of MPI in the year in which the crisis happens. The empirical findings can be used as a guideline for the Bangladesh Government and policy makers in accessing, examining and forecasting the health of the Bangladeshi financial system and formulate suitable financial system policies for control. MPI generates information about systemic risk allowing the detection of potential economic crises functioning as an early warning indicator. Government and policy makers will be able to make early preparation in cushioning any potential crises by means of the MPI. Thus the impact of the crises could be minimized and eventually reduce its impact on the Bangladesh economy. The specific objectives are to assemble a novel MPI that is able to recommend early signals of financial market vulnerability, to identify the MPI turning points and establish a comprehensive reference chronology for Bangladeshi financial market and to evaluate the predictive performance of newly constructed MPI on characterizing Bangladeshi financial sector.

This paper attempts to explore the issue of enhancing pedagogical skills among the college teachers of Bangladesh through CPD. This is a literature review paper that divided the topic into different themes and sub-themes in order to analyze the issue properly. After analyzing 60 studies including journal articles, conference proceedings, and research reports of different authors and organizations this study found several positive impacts of CPD on the teachers regarding uplifting their professional skills. It has also found some challenges of implementing CPD for college teachers identifying the scarcity of resources at the heart of all the challenges. Finally, the paper ends up with some recommendations to enhance the teachers’ professional skills through CPD in Bangladeshi colleges

Abstract For risk and capital measurement, banks and other financial institutions need to meet forthcoming regulatory requirements. However, it is a serious issue to think that meeting regulatory requirements is the sole or even the most important reason for establishing a scientific, sound risk management system. To direct capital to activities with the best risk/reward ratios, managers need reliable risk measures. To stay within the limits imposed by readily available liquidity, by creditors, customers, and regulators, they need estimates of the size of potential losses. They need mechanisms to monitor positions and create incentives for prudent risk-taking by divisions and individuals. Risk measurement deals with the quantification of risk exposures, whereas risk management refers to the overall process by which managers satisfy these needs and follows to define a business strategy, to detect the risks to which are visible, quantifying those risks, and to control and understand the nature of the risks it faces. This research focuses on the economic vulnerability faced by banks in the financial sector in terms of the crises issues perspective of economic distress. Here, the methodology followed is based on the CAMELS framework variables. CAMELS is an abbreviation for: capital adequacy (C), asset (A), management (M), earnings (E), liquidity (L) and sensitivity to market risk (S). Based on these terminologies, a couple of variables should be selected, such as capital asset ratio, non-performing loan, cost income ratio, industry production index, non-interest income, reserve of gold, inflation, stock turnover ratio, real interest rate as component series and return on equity (RoE) as reference series to identify the turning points of economic vulnerability in the banking sector in Bangladesh. Thus, by forecasting the directional changes it could make policymakers aware of changes in the financial markets and banking economy and allow them to undertake preventive steps for remedial purposes. The constructed MPI should have a remarkable lead time of about not less than 6 months on average in case of prediction against the leading for reference Series.By mending the financial efficacy of investment banks. Bangladesh also should improve their corresponding banking system to implement these suggestions.