The persistence of coastal ecosystems is jeopardized by deforestation, conversion, and climate change, despite their capacity to store more carbon than terrestrial vegetation. The study’s objectives were to investigate how spatiotemporal changes impacted blue carbon storage and sequestration in the Satkhira coastal region of Bangladesh over the past three decades and, additionally to assess the monetary consequences of changing blue carbon sequestration. For analyzing the landscape change (LSC) patterns of the last three decades, considering 1992, 2007, and 2022, the LSC transformations were evaluated in the research area. Landsat 5 of 1992 and 2007, and Landsat 8 OLI-TIRS multitemporal satellite images of 2022 were acquired and the Geographical Information System (GIS), Remote Sensing (RS) techniques were applied for spatiotemporal analysis, interpreting and mapping the output. The spatiotemporal dynamics of carbon storage and sequestration of 1992, 2007, and 2022 were evaluated by the InVEST carbon model based on the present research years. The significant finding demonstrated that anthropogenic activity diminished vegetation cover, vegetation land decreased by 7.73% over the last three decades, and agriculture land converted to mariculture. 21.74% of mariculture land increased over the last 30 years, and agriculture land decreased by 12.71%. From 1992 to 2022, this constant LSC transformation significantly changed carbon storage, which went from 11,706.12 Mega gram (Mg) to 9168.03 Mg. In the past 30 years, 2538.09 Mg of carbon has been emitted into the atmosphere, with a combined market worth of almost 0.86 million USD. The findings may guide policymakers in establishing a coastal management strategy that will be beneficial for carbon storage and sequestration to balance socioeconomic growth and preserve numerous environmental services.
Despite noticeable research interest, the labor-intensive Readymade Garments (RMG) industry has rarely been studied from the perspective of workers’ productivity. Additionally, previous studies already generalized that rewards and organizational commitment lead to employee productivity. However, extant research focused on the RMG industry of Bangladesh, which consists of a different socio-cultural, economic, and political environment, as well as profusion dependency on unskilled labor with an abundance supply of it, hardly considered job satisfaction as a factor that may affect the dynamics of compensations or rewards, commitment, and employee productivity. To address this research gap, this study analyzes the spillover effect of compensation, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction on work productivity in Bangladesh’s readymade garments (RMG) industry. Besides, it delves into the analysis of job satisfaction as a mediator among these relationships. We examined the proposed model by analysing cross-sectional survey data from 475 respondents using the partial least squares-structural equation model in Smart PLS 4.0. The findings show that higher compensation and organizational commitment levels lead to higher levels of job satisfaction, leading to greater productivity. This research also discovered that job satisfaction is a mediator between compensation and productivity and commitment and productivity, respectively. Results further show that increased organizational commitment and competitive wages are the two keyways to boost job satisfaction and productivity in the RMG industry. Relying on the findings, this study outlines pathways for organizational policymakers to improve employee productivity in the labor-intensive industry in developing countries.
The aim of this study is to examine the contributions of the components of employee engagement on knowledge-sharing behavior alongside possible mediating effect of management support. This study collected data from 395 respondents purposively selected from pharmaceutical organizations in Bangladesh. For input and incorporation of sample data, SPSS version 26 was used, whereas the PLS-SEM (version-4) tool was used to test the hypotheses relationships. The findings reveal significant positive effects of adaptation, devotion, and vitality on both knowledge sharing behavior and management support. Adaptation to new technologies and processes enhances employees' ability and intention to share knowledge, facilitated by robust management support. Similarly, devotion and vitality among employees fosters a supportive environment that is conducive for knowledge exchange. Management support emerges as a critical mediator, amplifying the positive impacts of adaptation, devotion, and vitality on organizational outcomes. These findings address a critical gap in understanding the conditions that enhance knowledge-sharing behaviors in highly regulated industries and provides a valuable framework for organizations to nurture knowledge-sharing cultures that will drive innovation and resilience within emerging markets.
Presently, any development initiatives without considering sustainability can barely be imagined. There has been a paradigm shift in the focus of the development partners from the mere development to sustainable development. However, the role of development partners in bringing sustainability in livelihood assets of the rural community has long been questioned. Hence, this study aims to explore the sustainability in the form of changes in livelihood assets of a local community in Bangladesh. This study considers the changes in livelihood assets of the community over the three-time frames - before, during, and after a project implemented by a national NGO called ‘UST’ and subsequently identifies the community’s capacity to sustain the project outcomes after the completion of the project. ‘Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF)’ developed by Department for International Development (DFID) was utilized in this study to analyse the vulnerability and livelihood issues of the community members. Data has been collected through focus group discussions, household survey and key informants’ interviews from three distinct villages of ‘Khutamara’ union in the ‘Nilphamari’ district of Bangladesh. The finding of the study states that all the livelihood assets such as the social capital, human capital, natural capital, financial capital, physical capital have positively changed due to the interference of the development partners. This study further finds that even after the completion of project tenure, such positive trends continue to exist among the community members indicating sustainable development. Moreover, political capital- a new type of livelihood has also emerged because of the project implementation which was not quite evident before the inception of the project. In addition, this study explored the unique phenomenon of the Shabolombee Gram, where the transformation altering farmers’, livelihoods does not come from the government or the private sector but originates from a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). Therefore, the government and its development partners may adopt and incorporate the Modified Sustainable Livelihood Framework (MSLF) to ensure the sustainable development.
This study examined the factors influencing online purchases among consumers in Bangladesh, employing a modified version of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Data from 353 individuals in Bangladesh revealed that perceived ease of use, social influence, security, convenience, trust, emotional experience, and functional experience significantly positively affect the intention to purchase online. Additionally, results show that the intention to purchase online significantly positively affects actual online purchases. Findings further highlighted that intention to make online purchases mediated the influence of perceived ease of use, social influence, security, convenience, trust, emotional experience, and functional experience over online purchases. The study provides significant practical recommendations to help businesses and consumers support online purchasing with diverse advantages.
Copyright © by EnPress Publisher. All rights reserved.