This study examines consumer attitudes toward cryptocurrencies in Slovakia, focusing on the perceived adequacy of their promotion and the influence of demographic factors such as education, gender, and age. The findings reveal that a significant majority of respondents view cryptocurrency promotion as insufficient, with 77.77% expressing dissatisfaction. Demographic factors were found to have minimal impact on attitudes, suggesting that universal barriers—such as trust, technological literacy, and perceived risks—play a more critical role. Social media emerged as a key platform for engaging consumers, particularly younger demographics, provided that campaigns are well-targeted and informative. These results highlight the need for innovative promotional strategies emphasizing transparency, education, and trust-building to bridge the gap between cryptocurrencies and broader consumer adoption. The study contributes to the growing literature on cryptocurrency marketing by providing actionable insights for addressing challenges in emerging markets like Slovakia.

Lifelong learning (LLL) is progressively recognized as a crucial component of personal and professional development, particularly for adult students. As a heavily populated developing country, China requires profound national education reform to support its economic development and maintain its competitive advantage on the global economic stage. The governmental policy endorses the execution of diverse forms of lifelong learning programs to bolster the national education reform. However, implementing such programs can be challenging for all the stakeholders of the programs, especially for adult students. The weaker foundational knowledge and insufficient online learning abilities of adult students particularly highlight the academic challenges they face. This study explores the academic challenges faced by adult learners in a Chinese vocational college’s LLL program. Focusing on ex-soldiers, unemployed individuals, migrant workers, and new professional farmers (aged 22–44), data were collected from 16 adult students via purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews and document analysis revealed recurring thematic academic challenges. Additionally, the study found that adult student attributes (highest education level, age) significantly influenced the unique academic challenges they encountered. This research provides practical solutions to improve LLL programs and promote successful lifelong learning experiences for adult students. 

In the context of digital transformation, Chinese small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) face significant challenges and opportunities in adapting to market dynamics and technological advancements. This study investigates the impact of coopetition strategy on the core competencies of SMEs, with a particular focus on marketing, technological, and integrative competencies. Data were collected from a sample of 300 SMEs in Anhui Province through an online survey, and reliability and validity were tested using SPSS and AMOS. The results indicate that dependency and trust significantly enhance the effectiveness of coopetition strategy from an external perspective, while managerial ambidexterity and strategic intent are critical internal factors driving the successful implementation of coopetition strategies. Both external and internal factors positively impact the core competencies of SMEs. Additionally, environmental uncertainty moderates the relationship between coopetition strategy and core competencies, underscoring the need for flexibility and adaptability in dynamic market environments. The findings suggest that SMEs can better integrate internal and external resources, optimize resource allocation, and improve operational efficiency through coopetition strategy, thereby enhancing their core competencies. This study provides valuable insights and practical guidance for policymakers and business practitioners aiming to support the digital transformation of SMEs.

This study investigated the relationship between telecommunications development, trade openness and economic growth in South Africa. It determined explicitly if telecommunications development and trade openness directly impact economic growth or whether telecommunications strengthen or weaken the link between trade openness and economic growth using the ARDL bounds test methodology. The findings reveal that both telecommunications development indicators and trade openness significantly and positively impact South Africa’s GDP in the short and long terms. The study also found that control variables like internet usage and gross fixed capital formation significantly and positively influence GDP. Conversely, inflation was found to consistently affect GDP negatively and significantly. The findings from the ARDL cointegration analysis affirm a long-run economic relationship between the independent variables and GDP. The study also established that telecommunications development slightly distorts trade in the foreign trade-GDP nexus in South Africa. Despite this, the negative interaction effect is not substantial enough to overshadow the positive impact of trade openness on economic growth. From a policy perspective, the study recommends that South African policymakers prioritise enhancing local goods’ competitiveness in global markets and reducing trade barriers. It also advocates for improving the accessibility and affordability of telecommunications technologies to foster economic development.

In Emerging economies, MNCs (Multinational corporations) encounter several issues while devising Strategies to penetrate foreign markets, examining these SMEs’ performance in present times and assessing their internationalisation process is crucial. The purpose of this research is to investigate how international entrepreneurial orientation affects SMEs’ international performance during internationalization, as well as how organizational culture in the Kingdom influences the international performance of these MNCs. To attain this objective (n = 206) MNCs in the Kingdom have adopted internationalisation strategies. Questionnaires were administered as part of a survey approach for this study. To forecast and estimate relationships, partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed. This study indicates that improving internationalization performance, mainly through active participation in foreign markets, is one of the SMEs’ strategies during the internationalization process. The empirical findings demonstrate that international entrepreneurial orientation influences the internationalisation performance of SMEs largely influenced by organisational culture. Previous research shows that the success of SMEs’ internationalization, however, is not directly impacted by their international entrepreneurial orientation. This study supports the significance of organisational culture during internationalisation. This study offers insightful information that motivates policymakers and owner-managers in developing nations, especially in KSA, to build organizational cultures and dynamic capacities that meet the demands of globalization in today’s business scenario.

Sustainable development is a foundational element in European Union (EU) policies, yet there remains a lack of coherence among member states regarding the perception and response to environmental challenges, resulting in regional inequalities. The “Fit for 55” initiative by the EU is an ambitious strategy aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030, as part of its broader goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. This study investigates the economic impact and intergovernmental dynamics of the “Fit for 55” plan, analyzing its potential to not only meet environmental targets but also to foster economic resilience and social equity across the EU. The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the “Fit for 55” initiative in harmonizing environmental goals with economic and social policies among diverse EU member states. The study reveals that while the initiative offers significant potential benefits, such as stimulating innovation and creating jobs in green industries, it also faces considerable challenges, including economic disparities among member states and the social impacts of rapid decarbonization. These findings highlight the need for integrated approaches that address both environmental sustainability and socio-economic equity.