Language is fundamental to human communication, allowing individuals to express and exchange ideas, thoughts, and emotions. In early childhood, some children experience communication disorders that impede their ability to articulate words correctly, posing significant challenges to their learning and development. This issue is exacerbated in developing countries, where limited resources and a lack of technological tools hinder access to effective speech therapy. Traditional speech therapy remains vital, but the latest technological advancements have introduced robotic assistants to enhance therapy for communication disorders. Despite their potential, these technologies are often inaccessible in developing regions due to high production costs and a lack of sustainable manufacturing models. For these reasons, this paper presents “FONA,” a robotic assistant that employs rule-based expert systems to provide tactile, auditory, and visual stimuli. FONA supports children aged 3 to 6 in speech therapy by delivering exercises such as syllable production, word formation, and pictographic storytelling of various phonemes. Notably, FONA was successfully tested on children with cochlear implants, reducing the number of sessions required to produce isolated phonemes. The paper also introduces an innovative analysis of the Make To Order (MTO) manufacturing system for producing FONA in developing countries. This analysis explores two key perspectives: collaborative networks and entrepreneurship, offering a sustainable production model. In a pilot experiment, FONA significantly improved children’s attention spans, increasing the period by 17 min. Furthermore, the economic analysis demonstrates that producing FONA through collaborative networks can significantly reduce costs, making it more accessible to institutions in developing countries. The findings suggest that the project is viable for a five-year period, providing a sustainable and effective solution for addressing communication disorders in children.

Improving the practical skills of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students at a historically black college and university (HBCU) was done by implementing a transformative teaching model. The model was implemented on undergraduate students of different educational levels in the Electrical Engineering (EE) Department at HBCU. The model was also extended to carefully chosen high and middle schools. These middle and high school students serve as a pipeline to the university, with a particular emphasis on fostering growth within the EE Department. The model aligns well with the core mission of the EE Department, aiming to enhance the theoretical knowledge and practical skills of students, ensuring that they are qualified to work in industry or to pursue graduate studies. The implemented model prepares students for outstanding STEM careers. It also increases enrolment, student retention, and the number of underrepresented minority graduates in a technology-based workforce.

Praxeology is the study of practice, i.e., human activity, primarily in the context of its rationality. The study of manager’s praxeological activity from the point of view of management theory is an important direction of modern science, since it contributes not only to improving the management effectiveness in an organization, but also to the development of new managerial concepts and techniques. In the article, the authors’ concept of praxeological managerial activity is proposed based on the analysis of existing scientific approaches to praxeology. An extended list of criteria for the manager’s praxeological activity efficiency was developed. These criteria include performance, productivity, accuracy of the decisions taken, purposefulness, reliability, innovativeness, quality, and ethics. The authors’ model of the manager’s praxeological activity includes the following elements: a subject (a manager), an object (a company, its staff and activities, etc.), motives (success, growth, profit, etc.), the goal (to ensure the effectiveness of the company’s activities), methods and tools (analysis, planning, organization, motivation, and control), process (praxeological activity), result (efficiency improvement), and reflexivity, correction and iteration. Within the framework of the model of praxeological managerial activity, the manager’s ability to influence the managed object (an organization, employees or the manager’s activities) is particularized. This influence should result in an increase in the employees’ performance, an increase in the managers’ performance, and an increase in the performance of the organization as a whole. The article will be of interest to specialists in the field of management, and corporate governance, as well as for anyone interested in the problems of effective management.

Business ethics plays a crucial role in developing modern business and the entire society. Thus, to develop the conceptual framework of business ethics, it is extremely interesting to study the concepts connected with it. The article identifies the main terms and concepts associated with business ethics. On this basis, the authors’ conceptual framework of business ethics was created. Within this conceptual framework, it is shown that each business unit builds and maintains relationships with stakeholders within two “circles of business ethics”: the inner circle of business ethics and the outer circle of business ethics. The article proves the hypothesis that business ethics should be considered in the context of relationships with all stakeholders, i.e., it is the ethics of business relationships with partners and competitors in the external environment, as well as within the internal environment (primarily with employees). The article will be of interest to specialists in the field of management, and corporate governance, as well as for anyone interested in the problems of corporate social management.