The primary objective of this research is to investigate how non-financial incentives impact employee motivation within the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) operating in Saudi Arabia. Employing a positivist research approach, we employed a carefully crafted survey to collect data from 365 employees employed by SMEs situated in Jeddah. The study explores various aspects, including the most common non-monetary motivators, the interplay between non-monetary and monetary incentives, and the effects of non-financial incentives on employee engagement, job satisfaction, and commitment. The results of the study indicate that employees working in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia place a significant emphasis on a good work environment, recognition, possibilities for personal and professional development, and career growth as prevalent non-monetary motivators. Additionally, the research illustrates a notable difference in the perceived efficacy of non-financial and financial incentives, whereby non-financial incentives are seen to have an equal, if not greater, impact on both motivation and work satisfaction. Moreover, the study reveals robust positive correlations between non-financial incentives and employee outcomes, underscoring the significance of these incentives in augmenting work satisfaction, job engagement, and commitment. The consequences of employee motivation are influenced by control factors, which have diverse influences, highlighting the complex nature of this phenomenon.

Despite Cameroon’s immense sand reserves, several enterprises continue to import standardized sands to investigate the properties of concretes and mortars and to guarantee the durability of built structures. The present work not only falls within the scope of import substitution but also aims to characterize and improve the properties of local sand (Sanaga) and compare them with those of imported standardized sand widely used in laboratories. Sanaga sand was treated with HCl and then characterized in the laboratory. The constituent minerals of Sanaga sand are quartz, albite, biotite, and kaolinite. The silica content (SiO₂) of this untreated sand is 93.48 wt.%. After treatment, it rose 97.5 wt.% for 0.5 M and 97.3 wt.% for 1 M HCl concentration. The sand is clean (ES, 97.67%–98.87%), with fineness moduli of 2.45, 2.48, and 2.63 for untreated sand and sand treated with HCl concentrations of 0.5 and 1 M respectively. The mechanical strengths (39.59–42.4 MPa) obtained on mortars made with untreated Sanaga sand are unsatisfactory compared with those obtained on mortars made with standardized sand and with the expected strengths. The HCl treatment used in this study significantly improved these strengths (41.12–52.36 MPa), resulting in strength deficiencies of less than 10% after 28 curing days compared with expected values. Thus, the treatment of Sanaga sand with a 0.5 M HCl concentration offers better results for use as standardized sand.

Universities continue to provide solutions to private and public sectors of the economy by providing a skilled economy, increasing employment potentials, and improving employee performance. This study offered a theoretical model on the contributing factors to graduate employability among student entrepreneurs in Malaysian Higher Education and the mediating mechanism of perceived support and usefulness in social entrepreneurship to solve the graduate unemployment problem. We attained data using purposive and face-to-face sampling methods with acceptable data from 296 undergraduates and analyzed with the SEM software from respondents of various cultural backgrounds. Findings suggest a positive significant relationship between motivations, skills in social entrepreneurship, knowledge, and social elements on graduate employability. Similarly, perceived support explained skills, knowledge and social elements’ relationship to graduate employability except for perceived usefulness. The outcome further discovered the perceived support role for graduates of social entrepreneurship in fostering job crafting and future employability with various implications and recommendations. The results require the application of other research approaches to provide concrete implementations and social and economic solutions. Insightful results and proposals helpful to policymakers like higher education curricula developers and implementers, scholars, government and private universities of this study can help curb graduate unemployment through social entrepreneurship.

The paper proposes a methodology for the analysis and evaluation of the traffic scheme of Bulgarian cities. The authors combine spatial, network, and socio-economic analyses of cities with transport operators’ financial-economic evaluation, sociological studies of transport habits, and the possibilities of new information technologies for transport modeling (such as geographic information systems). The model proposes several approaches to optimize the municipality’s transport scheme. It results from a new need to improve urban traffic, the quality of transport services, and the integration of urban transport into the regional economy of Stara Zagora municipality. It presents a description, analysis, and outline of the opportunities for developing urban transport connectivity and mobility in Stara Zagora municipality. The research results show a deficit of transport connectivity between the different parts of the city, reflecting on the regional economy’s development and the efficiency of the environment and the population.

This paper aims to advance the knowledge in the domain of youth entrepreneurship and empowerment in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The rationale is to address the gap in knowledge on entrepreneurship and youth empowerment in the UAE by analyzing strategies and initiatives that support empowering millennials to achieve sustainable development, with the aim of promoting youth entrepreneurship and supporting sustainable economic development. The primary research question guiding this study is: “What strategies and initiatives in the UAE foster the empowerment of the millennial generation for sustainable development?” This study relies on a mixed methodology that combines a descriptive approach, content analysis, and data meta-analysis, with the aim of exploring the relationship between youth entrepreneurship and sustainable development in the United Arab Emirates. with a focus on the future sustainability leaders (FSL) program. While the FSL program demonstrates its significance in promoting youth entrepreneurship and empowerment, it also reveals certain limitations in its design and implementation that may hinder sustainable economic development. To address these challenges and support youth entrepreneurship, the paper proposes three essential action-oriented approaches: promoting participatory diversity and engagement, managing entrepreneurship drivers, and ensuring access to essential support mechanisms. These recommendations are intended to guide multilateral agencies, voluntary sectors, and private entities in the UAE in designing, evaluating, and implementing effective youth entrepreneurship programs. This paper underscores the importance of continued discourse and critical input to refine existing theories and establish a normative framework for youth entrepreneurship and empowerment. Such efforts are crucial for poverty reduction, sustainable development, and the promotion of intergenerational equity.

Global CO₂ emissions pose a serious threat of climate change for high-growth countries, requiring increased efforts to preserve the environment and meet growing economic needs through the use of renewable energies. This research significantly enhances the current literature by filling a void and differentiating between short-term and long-term impacts across economic growth, renewable energy consumption, energy intensity, and CO₂ emissions in BRIC countries from 2002 to 2019. In contrast to approaches that analyze global effects, this study’s focus on short and long-term effects offers a more dependable insight into energy and environmental research. The empirical results confirmed that the effect of economic growth on CO₂ emissions is positive both in the short and long term. Moreover, the effect of energy consumption is negative in the short term and positive in the long term. The effect of energy intensity is positive in the short term and negative in the long term. Accordingly, policy recommendations must be adopted to ensure that these economies respond to the notion of sustainable development and the relationship with the environment. BRIC countries must strengthen their industries in the long term in favor of the use of renewable energies by introducing innovation and technology. These economies face the challenge of a transition to renewable energy sources by creating a new energy and industrial sector environment that is more environmentally friendly atmosphere.