China-Africa economic integration generally looks lucid, as evidenced by rising bilateral trade, as well as Chinese FDI, aid, and debt financing for infrastructure development in Africa. The engagement, however, appears to be strategically channeled to benefit China’s resource endowment strategy. First, Chinese FDI in Africa is primarily resource-seeking, with minimum manufacturing value addition. Second, China has successfully replicated the Angola model in other resource-rich African countries, and most infrastructure loans-for-natural resources barter deals are said to be undervalued. There is also a resource-backed loan arrangement in place, in which default Chinese loans are repaid in natural resources. Third, while China claims that its financial aid is critical to Africa’s growth and development processes, a significant portion of the aid is spent on non-development projects such as building parliaments and government buildings. This lend credence to the notion that China uses aid to gain diplomatic recognition from African leaders, with resource-rich and/or institutionally unstable countries being the most targeted. The preceding arguments support why Africa’s exports to China dominate other China’s financial flows to Africa, and consist mainly of natural resources. Accordingly, this study aims to forecast China-Africa economic integration through the lens of China’s demand for natural resources and Africa’s demand for capital, both of which are reflected in Africa’s exports to China. The study used a MODWT-ARIMA hybrid forecasting technique to account for the short period of available China-Africa bilateral trade dataset (1992–2021), and found that Africa’s exports to China are likely to decline from US$ 119.20 billion in 2022 to US$ 13.68 billion in 2026 on average. This finding coincides with a period in which Chinese demand for Africa’s natural resources is expected to decline.
This paper presents an overview of the policies and efforts of the Provincial Government of Bali, Indonesia, to tackle the development of HIV/AIDS. This study considers the socio-cultural context and analyzes the factors that are most likely to influence its spread, the response of the community, and the local government’s efforts to form Provincial AIDS commission whose movement is supported by the village government and the community to suppress the spread of HIV/AIDS. The authors observe the micro factors that most determine this program, such as attitudes, behaviors, and desires of policy-making actors, stakeholders, implementing organizations, adequacy of human resources, financial funds, information, education, communication, advocacy, regional languages, the role of students, and field workers, and local culture in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. Therefore, this research does not focus on just one dimension in efforts to deal with this outbreak. Following the application of the public policy theory, all potential contributing elements must be addressed simultaneously. This requires a truly interdisciplinary and multisectoral approach that requires to be comprehended by policymakers in other provinces where the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is quite high. This effort also requires commitment and strong political will from levels of government.
The study explores the relationship between authentic leadership, psychological capital, and work engagement among educators in the Makhado Municipality. The primary aim was to assess how authentic leadership influences educators’ psychological capital and examine how psychological capital impacts work engagement. A quantitative research design was employed, utilizing a survey-based approach to collect data from a sample of educators across 15 primary schools within the Makhado Municipality. Structural Equation Modeling was used to analyze the data and test the relationships between authentic leadership, psychological capital, and work engagement. Results indicate that authentic leadership has a significant positive influence on the psychological capital of educators. In turn, psychological Capital was found to have a strong positive impact on work engagement, suggesting that educators who perceive their leaders as authentic are more likely to experience higher levels of psychological well-being and engagement in their work. This study contributes to the literature on leadership and educator well-being by demonstrating the value of authentic leadership in promoting a supportive work environment that enhances educators’ psychological capital and engagement. The educational management and policy implications emphasize the need for leadership development programs that foster authentic leadership behaviors to improve educator performance and overall school effectiveness.
Problem statement: An environmentally conscious consumer’s perspective can shift as they look for things that are gentler on the planet. Conversely, businesses engage in greenwashing when they try to cover up their lacklustre environmental initiatives. The current research was used the theory of rational choice behaviour to examine a model that connects corporate green washing and consumers’ green purchase intentions via the mediating roles of perceived risk, green trust and green confusion about food and beverage brands in Saudi Arabia. Research motivation: Sustainable business practices have been developed and adopted by corporations in response to the growing interest in environmentally friendly lifestyles and green products. However, green washing has become increasingly common as a means for businesses to give off the impression that they care about the environment when they really don’t. Research methodology: The online survey was used to obtain data directly from consumers about their views on green washing by corporations. Primary data was analysed using appropriate statistical tools and techniques in SPSS, AMOS and SmartPLS software, such as Correlation, Regression, Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), etc. Results: In terms of perceived greenness and confusion, the results showed that green wash mediates the relationship between green purchasing intention and greenness. There is a two-way correlation between consumers’ intentions to buy environmentally friendly products and their levels of green perception, and green confusion. The findings of this study were broadening our understanding of the consequences of green washing. Conclusions: All things considered, the study was encouraging more research on the subject and be a useful tool for academics, corporate managers, and students interested in environmental sustainability, product innovation, and green branding. According to the results, businesses can improve their green purchasing intentions by cutting down on green washing and focusing instead on building a positive reputation for their brand and encouraging customer loyalty. Corporate performance and social environment sustainability can both benefit greatly from this paper’s expansion of knowledge regarding the processes of individual customer psychological effects after perceptions of corporate greenwashing behaviour.
Private banking institutions serve the financial sector’s wealthiest clientele via a dedicated value proposition. Based on the relevant tendencies and statistics, a remarkable expansion can be outlined since the mid-1990s. The aim of this study is to elaborate the Hungarian private banking market’s development as a case study. The paper also intends to add to the literature on this unique segment of the financial market. Based on the available statistics, the analysis primarily focuses on the Hungarian private banking market’s rapid development process. This can be underpinned by the clientele’s savings, number of accounts and respective segmentation limits of the institutions. Referring to the amount of savings, a correlation analysis indicates significant co-movements with specific social and economic variables. The growth rate of the Hungarian clientele’s savings outperformed the respective indicator in Western Europe during the review time period (2007–2020). The current paper also includes a section that summarises general challenges that private banking managers need to address during the development process. Generally, the literature on private banking can still be considered scarce, whereas there is a lack of studies on the Central-Eastern European region. The analysis of the Hungarian sector’s development path can serve with relevant information to any financial expert in the field.
Food safety in supply chains remains a critical concern due to the complexity of global distribution networks. This study develops a conceptual framework to evaluate how food safety risks influence supply chain performance through predictive analytics. The framework identifies and minimizes food safety risks before they cause serious problems. The study examines the impact of food safety practices, supply chain transparency, and technological integration on adopting predictive analytics. To illustrate the complex dynamics of food safety and supply chain performance, the study presents supply chain transparency, technological integration, and food safety practices and procedures as independent variables and predictive analytics as a mediator. The results show that supply chain managers’ capacity to anticipate and control risks related to food safety can be improved by predictive analytics, leading to safer food production and distribution methods. The research recommends that businesses create scalable cloud-based predictive model solutions, combine data sources, and employ cutting-edge AI and machine learning tools. Companies should also note that strong, data-driven approaches to food safety require cooperative data sharing, regulatory compliance, training initiatives and ongoing improvement.
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