This study analysed the behaviour of both economic and financial profitability of credit unions belonging to segment 1 in Ecuador, as well as its determinants. For this purpose, data from the financial statements of a sample of 30 credit unions between 2016 and 2022 were used by means of a multiple linear regression methodology using panel data with fixed effects after applying the Hausman test. The findings of this research showed that current liquidity and non-performing loans have a negative and significant effect on both economic and financial profitability while the past due portfolio has a positive and significant impact on the generation of profitability of the financial institutions under study. In addition, it was revealed that the rate of outflow absorption has a negative relationship with economic profitability but a positive relationship with financial profitability. Unlike previous research in the Ecuadorian context, this research is pioneering in presenting results that indicate that the determinants traditionally considered for nonfinancial institutions and banks are also valid for credit unions, even though they are organisations with different characteristics from the rest.

The research addresses the importance of ethics in public administration, focusing on public servants in the municipality of Rionegro, Colombia. Ethics is presented as an essential element to promote transparency and combat corruption in public management. Despite the fact that the 1991 Constitution establishes ethical principles, their application in practice remains a challenge, with a high level of immorality in public service. The study highlights the diversity of professional profiles in public servants, which hinders consistent ethical management. In addition, it mentions that many civil servants lack political training and understanding of the importance of their role, which contributes to corruption. Ethics, according to the authors, is a key tool for strengthening institutions and regaining public trust. The research evaluated the impact of a professional ethics training program on public servants, finding significant improvements in their ethical knowledge and behavior. It concludes that, although ethics will not solve all corruption problems, it is an indispensable component for strengthening accountability and justice in public administration. It underscores the need to implement continuous training programs that promote ethical values as part of a strategy to improve efficiency and transparency in public institutions.

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.

The scientific objective of this study is to demonstrate how a hybrid photovoltaic-grid-generator microsystem responds under transient regime to varying loads and grid disconnection/reconnection. The object of the research was realized by acquiring the electrical magnitudes from the three PV systems (25 kW, 40 kW, and 60 kW) connected to the grid and the consumer (on-grid), during the technological process where the load fluctuated uncontrollably. Similar recordings were also made for the transient regime caused by the grid disconnection, diesel generator activation (450 kVA), its synchronization with PV systems, power supply to receivers, and grid voltage restoration after diesel generator shutdown. Analysis of the data focused on power supply continuity, voltage stability, and frequency variations. Findings indicated that on-grid photovoltaic systems had a 7.9% maximum voltage deviation from the standard value (230 V) and a frequency variation within ±1%. In the transient period caused by the grid disconnection and reconnection, a brief period with supply interruption was noted. This study contributes to the understanding of hybrid system behavior during transient regimes.

This journal article aims to analyze the relationship between school culture and effective headteacher educational leadership, and how this relationship affects school performance and student learning outcomes. We will explore this important issue in depth and provide institutions and principals with practical advice on how to understand and use school culture to enhance the educational leadership of principals.

This study presents a simple yet informative bibliometric analysis of servant leadership literature, aiming to provide a basic overview of its scholarly landscape and identify general trends. We conducted this analysis in September 2023. We focused solely on the Scopus database to understand the current state of servant leadership research. Despite extensive search efforts, we found no similar bibliometric analyses within the servant leadership domain during our study period. Therefore, our focus is to present a brief and straightforward analysis of current research in this field based on identification trends over time, connection between co-occurrence of author keywords, most and less discussed keyword, and areas of high and low concentration. Our findings show an increase in scholarly publications, reflecting a growing acknowledgment of servant leadership’s relevance in management practices. Interconnected keywords and themes such as leadership, transformational leadership, job satisfaction, work engagement, authentic leadership, ethical leadership, organizational citizenship behavior, trust, and leadership development emerge prominently. Additionally, less-discussed keywords such as accountability, core self-evaluations, educational leadership, stewardship, customer orientation, and psychological well-being provide alternative perspectives on these research results. While acknowledging limitations inherent in our bibliometric research, such as potential publication bias and language restrictions, our study offers valuable insights for scholars and practitioners interested in this area.