Goat farming plays an important economic role in numerous developing countries, with Africa being a home to a considerable portion of the global goat population. This study examined the socioeconomic determinants affecting goat herd size among smallholder farmers in Lephalale Local Municipality of the Limpopo Province in South Africa. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 61 participants. The socioeconomic characteristics of smallholder goat farmers in Lephalale Local Municipality were identified and described using descriptive statistics on one hand. On the other hand, a Multiple linear regression model was employed to analyse the socioeconomic determinants affecting smallholder goat farmers’ herd sizes. Findings from the Multiple linear regression model highlighted several key determinants, including the age of the farmer, gender of the farmer, education level, and marital status of farmers, along with determinants like distance to the markets, provision of feed supplements, and access to veterinary services. Understanding these determinants is crucial for policymakers and practitioners to develop targeted strategies aimed at promoting sustainable goat farming practices and improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the region.

Purpose: There have been many studies on corporate social responsibility. Still, research on the dual relationship showing the impact of management control on corporate social responsibility and business performance has not been exciting researchers. The article also identifies and measures the elements of management control that affect compliance with corporate social responsibility and business performance. At the same time, the paper also analyzes the influence of compliance with corporate social responsibility on business performance. From the research results, listed companies will see the importance of designing management control and complying with corporate social responsibility to maximize the business’s profits. Findings: The article demonstrates the practicality of institutional theory in the relationship between management control, corporate social responsibility, and business performance. Institutional theory influences the relationship between management control, CSR, and business performance by highlighting the role of external institutional pressures, legitimacy, and conformity to societal norms. Companies that strategically integrate institutional expectations into their management control systems can enhance their CSR efforts, improve their reputation, and contribute to better business performance. Methodology: We collect data on 195 manufacturing enterprises listed on the Vietnam stock market in 6 sectors. This study’s main data analysis method is the structural equation modeling method (SEM). The article used AMOS software to evaluate and measure the influence of each factor. Practical implications: The article has analyzed five aspects of management control to corporate social responsibility and business performance: Size of the Board of Directors (BOD), percentage of independent members in the BOD, and concurrence. CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors, state ownership ratio and foreign shareholder ownership rate. The results show that a company with a CEO who is not the Chairman of the BOD will have a higher level of CSR compliance than a company with a CEO who is also the Chairman of the BOD. The larger the Board size, the higher the level of CSR, but This has not been verified for the company’s business performance. The higher the foreign ownership ratio, the better the CSR compliance; however, this has the opposite direction for the state ownership rate. The higher the percentage of independent members on the Board of Directors, the lower the level of CSR compliance. In terms of impact on business performance in the enterprise: The higher the company’s compliance with corporate social responsibility, the better it’s business performance. A company with a CEO who holds the position of BOD will have lower business performance than companies with a CEO who does not hold the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors. Companies with a high percentage of state ownership will have lower business performance. The higher the percentage of independent members on the Board of Directors, the lower the business performance. Originality: This attests that the research paper I submitted is the result of my original and independent work. I have duly acknowledged all sources from which the ideas and quotations have been obtained. The project does not contain any plagiarism and has not been sent elsewhere for publication.

What personal competences of successful project managers are determined by their former career as an elite athlete? To answer the question, comprehensive research is carried out, implemented as part of the EEIG-EU/P-Kr/06.12/23 project. The primary aim is to establish conclusively which particular personality traits, identified and analysed using the Big Five Inventory-2 and supplemented by structured interviews, directly contribute to the success of former elite athletes transitioning into roles as effective project managers. We found that successful project managers who were also elite athletes possess personality traits that can be identified as positive determinants of success in either sport or professional careers. Among these personality traits, we can include a low level of neuroticism and a high level of conscientiousness, then extraversion and agreeableness. This paper contributes to a nuanced understanding of how the realms of sports and management intersect and overlap. The presented paper can serve as a basis for further research in the field of personality psychology and management studies.

Local community members play a critical role in the success of conservation projects, which in turn have the potential to influence the perceptions of local people. Relationships matter when it comes to sustainable long-term conservation and community well-being. The study aims to establish the relationship between local communities and wildlife conservation organizations in the context of Phinda Private Game Reserve and the Mnqobokazi community, located in South Africa. Data was collected using the qualitative methods of interviews and focus group discussions. The findings show that a symbiotic relationship between conservation organizations and local community members is critical in conserving the environment. The research indicates that both participation and benefits result in improved perceptions towards the protected area and a strong positive relationship. The accrual of benefits also appears to result in pro-environmental consciousness amongst community members. Several existing studies examine participation or benefit-sharing in community-based tourism in developing nations. However, less is known about the relationships between local communities and conservation organizations and the effect of participation and beneficiation on these relationships. This research narrows this gap in the body of knowledge by qualitatively examining a single case study. The findings add value to global collaborative efforts aimed at achieving positive relationships between communities and conservation management.

The scientific discourse on university towns (UT) has progressed for a long time, with a surge of interest in recent years. However, a global overview of the research conducted on this topic have yet to exist. This paper aims to re-examine the relationship between UT and urbanization in literature. Built environment and people are often the most talked aspects in UT literatures. The variety of definitions remains largely uncharted. Policies behind UT development are also rarely studied. This article used an R studio-based bibliometric literature review to synthesize findings from various scientific literature. Keywords related to university towns and urban were used in digital search engines to examine and analyse the literature. Results revealed a significant gap in scientific research on critical theoretical concepts that planners can use as a guide in creating, formulating, and evaluating UT, especially in developing countries. This study promotes simplification of existing literature by examining the impact of UT on the stakeholders involved.

This study investigated the changing land use patterns and their impacts on ecosystem in the Teesta River Basin of northwestern Bangladesh. Although anthropocentric land use patterns, including agricultural land use, settlements, built areas, and waterbody loss, have been increasing in the Nilphamari district, by negatively affecting local ecosystems, they have not been identified by prior research. Limitations of contemporary literature motivated me to work on this crucial ground in the Teesta River Basin in Northwestern Bangladesh. This study applied a mixed research approach to identify the study objectives. Firstly, the land use and land cover (LULC) changes which occurred between 2000 and 2020 were detected using satellite imagery and supervised classification method. In addition to the detection of LULC changes, the study explored the people’s perceptions and experiences about the ecosystem changes resulted from the LULC changes over the last 20 years, conducting stakeholders’ consultations and household surveys utilizing a semi-structured questionnaire. The findings indicated that waterbodies in Nilphamari district have significantly decreased from 378 km² in 2000 to 181 km² in 2020. In the same way, the vegetation coverage has reduced 187 km² between the years 2000 and 2020. On the contrary, agricultural lands (croplands) have increased from 595 km² to 905 km² and settlements have increased from 81 km² to 206 km² between the years 2000 and 2020. From the chi-square test, it was found a significant association between ecosystem change and biodiversity loss. It was further identified that waterbody decreases have significant impacts on aquatic ecosystems. The results of this study also indicated that due to the introduction of foreign tree species, local and native species have been significantly decreasing over the time. This study emphasizes the non-anthropocentric and inclusive land use policy implications for protecting life on land and preserving the aquatic ecosystem in Bangladesh.