Malaysia’s economic development strategies have evolved significantly since independence, focusing on reducing poverty, enhancing education, and integrating technology to foster sustainable growth. Despite substantial progress, challenges persist in achieving inclusive development across rural and urban sectors. This study examines the effectiveness of Malaysia’s New Economic Model (NEM) in addressing poverty and unemployment through technological and educational advancements. Employing a qualitative approach, it reviews literature on technology’s impact on economic growth, poverty alleviation, and the role of tertiary education in national development. Analysis reveals that while NEM initiatives have attracted foreign investment and improved infrastructure, gaps remain in educational access and technological self-reliance. The findings underscore the need for targeted policies that enhance educational outcomes, promote inclusive technology adoption, and address structural inequalities to achieve sustainable economic development. Recommendations include bolstering vocational training, enhancing rural infrastructure, and fostering public-private partnerships in technology innovation to ensure equitable economic progress.

Despite many investigations concerning antecedents of organizational commitment in the workplace, very few studies so far have analyzed the direct or indirect impact of HR change leadership role on organizational commitment via HR attribution. Therefore, given the reciprocal principle of social exchange theory, attribution theory and signal theory, this study formulated hypotheses and a model to test the relationships between included variables by employing the mixed-method approach. In-depth interviews were initially conducted to develop questionnaires to collect quantitative data. Employing PLS-SEM to analyze the data collected from 1058 employees working in 24 sustainable enterprises in Vietnam, the findings show that the degree of adopting HR change leadership role was positive, directly affecting organizational commitment. Also, both well-being and performance HR attribution play partially mediated roles in the relationship. The findings suggest that the organizational commitment depends on not only how the degree of adopting HR change leadership role is executed, but also how employees perceive and interpret the underlying management intent of these practices. In a sustainable context, adopting HR change leadership role plays a critical role in shaping employees’ interpretations of sustainable HR practices and their subsequent attributions. Besides, employees’ belief on why are sustainable HRM practices implemented has an influence on the organizational commitment that in turn contributes to the overall sustainable performance.

In response to the increasing global emphasis on sustainability and the specific challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in China, this study explores the integration of green reverse logistics within these enterprises to enhance their sustainability and competitiveness. The aim of this study is to understand the relationship between reverse logistics, green logistics, and sustainable development. Data analysis was conducted utilizing a combination of descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. A survey of 311 participants examined SMEs’ performance in reverse logistics practices and their initiatives in green logistics and sustainable development. The empirical findings reveal significant progress in reverse logistics practices among SMEs, reducing environmental impact and improving resource efficiency. Moreover, a notable positive correlation was identified between reverse logistics promotion and advancements in green logistics and sustainable development. SMEs’ investment in reverse logistics is closely linked to their efforts in environmentally conscious and sustainable supply chain management. These insights benefit SMEs and supply chain practitioners and offer a valuable reference for future research and practical applications in this field.

This study aims to examine the entrepreneurial activities of 240 women in the districts of Konaseema, East Godavari, and Kakinada during 2021–2022, focusing on the diverse range of 286 enterprises they managed across 69 business types. These enterprises were tailored to local resources and market demands, with coconut wholesale, cattle breeding, and provision shops being the most common. The study also analyzes income distribution, noting that one-third of the women earned between ₹50,000–1,00,000 annually, while only 0.70% earned over ₹5,00,000. More than half of the enterprises served as the primary income source for their families. The research highlights the significant role these women entrepreneurs play in their communities, their job satisfaction derived from financial independence and social empowerment, and the challenges they face, such as limited capital and market access. Finally, the study offers recommendations to empower these women to seize entrepreneurial opportunities and enhance their success.

Small-scale businesses have long been recognized as an important part of economic development and integrating them with industrial parks is both recommended and necessary for long-term success. In line of this, the objective of this study was to investigate the role of IPs entrepreneurial ecosystem in boosting the capabilities of small businesses. Data were collected from 245 small manufacturing business owners via simple random sampling and analysed using multivariate regression analysis. Thus, the ability of small enterprises is positively impacted by the presence of a more robust and appropriate entrepreneurial ecosystem. Similarly, a firm’s resource capabilities are more impacted by the entrepreneurial ecosystem when there is a better link between academia and industry. Furthermore, entrepreneurial skills are found to play a mediating role between the entrepreneurial ecosystem and firms’ technological capabilities. Another finding revealed that managerial expertise significantly mediates entrepreneurial ecosystems and firms’ resource capabilities. This finding suggested that the policymakers, better to formulate policies that encourages small businesses to engage in the industrial parks which results in an inclusive firm’s performance.

The application of quality management methods and tools is an important prerequisite for the success and performance increase of manufacturing enterprises. The paper deals with the application of methods and tools of quality management (MTQM) in manufacturing enterprises. The paper aims to analyze whether there is a relationship between the application of MTQM and the size of enterprises, the use of MTQM, and the performance of enterprises measured through the achieved profit. It also analyzes the impact of MTQM on the agility of manufacturing enterprises measured through the decrease in sales expressed in revenues during the pandemic period. The paper presents the results of the research which was conducted between 2020–2022. Several statistical tools such as the Chi-square goodness-of-fit test, Pearson’s chi-square test, and contingency analysis were used to evaluate the different analyses as well as the representativeness of the sample. Based on the results, it can be concluded that there are differences in the use of MTQM and the size of the enterprise as well as the performance of the enterprises. At the same time, the hypothesis that enterprises using a wider range of quality management methods and tools have a higher potential to adapt to unexpected market changes was also confirmed.