This research aimed to 1) evaluate the demographic characteristics, economic, social, and environmental conditions, and characteristics of the senior people in Ranong province, 2) discover the most relevant work characteristic factors for the older persons, and 3) propose appropriate work characteristics model for older people to improve quality of life. This mixed-methods research, for the quantitative part, utilizes the techniques of MRA & CFA with a sample size of 378 individuals, and for the qualitative part, utilizes a documentary study, in-depth interviews with 19 key informants, and a focus group of 17 individuals. The quantitative data were analyzed using a statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS), and content and categorization analysis with a triangulation verification were used for qualitative data. The results showed that: 1) Ranong province is blessed with rich resources, having minerals that can generate income for the province, life-long learning is given priority in senior school to enhance knowledge and necessary life skills, 2) from the regression analysis, the six predicted work characteristic factors; physical, emotional, autonomous, resistant, low-technology and safety were found relevant with statistically significant at 0.05, and the CFA consistency indices also withstood with the six dimensions above, 3) the appropriate work characteristics is articulated in the form of PEARLS model where physical, emotional, autonomous, resistant, low-technology and safety dimensions are the key.

Loans are a critical transmission channel for commercial banks as well as an important revenue source. Macroeconomic factors are not within the control of commercial banks, however, select factors are observed to have a direct impact on lending behaviour in studies around the world. This study examined the relationship between macroeconomic variables and the lending behaviour of banks in South Africa for the period ranging from 2001 to 2022. Quarterly time series data was employed using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL). The empirical results of the paper revealed that there is a long-run relationship between the repurchase rate (repo rate), inflation, the real effective exchange rate (REER) and lending behaviour in South Africa. The REER and inflation were both found to have a positive relationship, whilst the repo rate had a negative relationship. In addition, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the activity rate and sovereign credit rating (SCR) changes returned insignificant results. Overall, these findings show that select macroeconomic factors do influence lending behaviour in South Africa. Furthermore, the results suggest that monetary policy decisions have a direct influential effect on lending and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has implemented their policies effectively.

In the realm of contemporary business, Business Intelligence (BI) offers significant potential for informed decision-making, particularly among executives. However, despite its global popularity, BI adoption in Malaysia’s service sector remains relatively low, even in the face of extensive data generation. This study explores the factors influencing BI adoption in this sector, employing the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as its conceptual framework. Drawing on relevant BI literature, the study identifies key TAM factors that impact BI adoption. Using SEM modelling, it analyses quantitative data collected from 45 individuals in managerial roles within Malaysia’s service sector, particularly in the Klang Valley. The findings highlight the crucial role of Perceived Usefulness in influencing the Behavioral Intention to adopt BI, serving as a mediating factor between Computer Self-efficacy and BI adoption. In contrast, Perceived Ease of Use does not have a direct impact on BI adoption and does not mediate the relationship between Computer Self-efficacy and Behavioral Intention. These insights demonstrate the complex nature of BI adoption, emphasizing the importance of Perceived Usefulness in shaping Behavioral Intentions. The outcomes of the study aim to guide executives in Malaysia’s service sector, outlining key considerations for successful BI adoption.

This research investigates the safety status of water transport in Lake Towuti, South Sulawesi, employing the MICMAC and MACTOR methodologies to discern the factors that affect navigation safety and the interactions among the relevant stakeholders. The MICMAC analysis reveals that the effectiveness of sustainable transportation in Lake Towuti is significantly dependent on technical elements such as vessel certification, maintenance practices, and safety monitoring, alongside robust relationships among key entities like The South Sulawesi Class II Land Transportation Management Center (BPTD), The East Luwu District Transportation Office (Dishub), and the Timampu Port Service Unit (Satpel). When implementing the MICMAC-MACTOR model, it is essential to consider the technical implications of the proposed recommendations from the perspectives of social justice, environmental sustainability, and economic feasibility. The outcomes derived from the MICMAC and MACTOR assessments in Lake Towuti provide critical insights that can be utilized in other lakes across Indonesia, especially those that exhibit deficiencies in safety measures and adherence to inland water transport safety regulations.

This research reviews the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and technology innovation development, and analyzes the impact of technology innovation on ESG performance and its influencing mechanism. In additional, the main purpose of this study is to gain an understanding the relationships of ESG performance, CSR and technology innovation in Art industry. We found that technology innovation impact CSR of art firm, and ESG performance with the moderating variable of technology innovation has a significant and positive impact on CSR. Likewise, the study is based on primary panel data collected from 161 consumer, product and service manufacturing companies through an electronic questionnaire (Google, Microsoft online survey) with five-point Likert measurement scale. The exploratory factor analysis is proposed to be carried out using IBM SPSS 27.0 and the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA analysis) is proposed to be carried out using SmartPLS.4.0 analysis software, and this study investigate the measurement factors and the reliability of the construct items and to validate the factorial structure of the research variables. Moreover, digital technology and CSR has the potential to contribute to this impact. Based on these findings, we propose relevant ESG performance recommendations to improve technology innovation and CSR. Our findings offer an excited knowing and learning of the impact of ESG performance, CSR and technology innovation in Chinese art industry. Furthermore, this study extends stakeholders theory and Schumpeter’s Innovation Theory by proving their utility in the perspective of CSR, ESG performance.

The Primary and secondary shadow education refers to a kind of unofficial education that exists outside the traditional mainstream primary and secondary education system in China, with both commercial and educational attributes. As the primary and secondary school stage is an important key stage for further education, existing research mainly focuses on the spatial distribution of primary and secondary school basic education facilities and non-subject training, with fewer studies targeting primary and secondary school subject tutoring shadow education. With the changes in China’s education industry and the introduction of the Double Reduction Policy, there is an urgent need to conduct in-depth research on the spatial aggregation characteristics and influencing factors of Shadow Education Enterprises for primary and secondary school students. This paper takes the main urban area of Zhengzhou City as the study area, and takes primary and secondary school Shadow Education Enterprises as the research object, and applies spatial analysis methods such as kernel density, nearest-neighbor index, and geographic detector to quantitatively analyze the spatial distribution characteristics of primary and secondary school shadow education tutoring enterprises in Zhengzhou City and the factors affecting them The results show that: 1) The overall spatial pattern of primary and secondary school tutoring Shadow Education Enterprises in the main urban area of Zhengzhou City has largely formed a core-edge structural feature that spreads from the urban center to the periphery, and presents the spatial agglomeration feature of “double nuclei many times” distributed along both sides of the Beijing-Guangzhou Line. 2) The distribution of mentoring Shadow Education Enterprises in the main urban area of Zhengzhou City in relation to provincial model primary and secondary schools is significant and there is a significant difference between the distribution around secondary schools and primary schools. 3) The spatial distribution of Shadow Education Enterprises in the main urban area of Zhengzhou City is mainly influenced by factors such as the size of the school-age population, the level of commercial development, the location of school buildings and the accessibility of transport.