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.

Ancestral knowledge is essential in the construction of learning to preserve the sense of relevance, transmit and share knowledge according to its cultural context, and maintain a harmonious relationship with nature and sustainability. The objective of this research is to study and analyze the management of ancestral knowledge in the production of the Raicilla to provide elements to rural communities, producers, and facilitators in decision-making to be able to innovate and be more productive, competitive, sustainable, and improve people’s quality of life. The methodological strategy was carried out through Bayesian networks and Fuzzy Logic. To this end, a model was developed to identify and quantify the critical factors that impact optimally managed technology to generate value that translates into innovation and competitive advantages. The evidence shows that the optimal and non-optimal management of knowledge, technology, and innovation management and its factors, through the causality of the variables, permits us to capture the interrelationship more adequately and manage them. The results show that the most relevant factors for adequate management of ancestral knowledge in the Raicilla sector are facilitators, denomination of origin, extraction and fermentation, and government. The proposed model will support these small producers and help them preserve their identity, culture, and customs, contributing greatly to environmental sustainability.

This study investigates the application of Operational Agility Management in Thai SMEs, examining its impact on Employee Dynamic Capability and the resulting Employee Value Proposition. Using a quantitative approach with a questionnaire survey targeted at Thai SME executives, the research analyzes the relationships between “Value of Work”, “Goal Orientation”, and “Network Communication” as independent variables, “Employee Dynamic Capability” as a mediating variable, and “Employee Value Proposition” as the dependent variable. The findings reveal that Thai Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) struggle particularly with “Network Communication” in enhancing their “Employee Value Proposition”, primarily due to their predominant hierarchical command structure. This challenge highlights the need for Thai SMEs to reassess their organizational structures and communication practices to improve employee dynamic capabilities and overall employee value proposition. The study provides novel insights into the application of Operational Agility Management in Thai SMEs, bridging the gap between high-performance management theories and the practical realities faced by SMEs in unpredictable business environments, thus offering a unique perspective on cultivating employee dynamic capabilities in this setting.

Nowadays investors are measuring the performances of a business organization not only based on their operating efficiency but also fulfilling their social responsibility. At least the investors need to know whether the activities of the business have any adverse impact on the society and environment. This study explores the accountability of the business from the social and environmental context. This empirical study tends to investigate the nature of the ownership structure that influences the environmental disclosure of a business entity. Based on the sample of fifty-five DSE-listed textile companies, this study used multiple regression to assess the causal relationship between the ownership structure and corporate environmental disclosure. Moreover, this cross-sectional study also considers the agency theory and stakeholder theory to explain the relationship between the ownership structure and environmental disclosure. The findings indicate that corporate environmental disclosure is positively influenced by foreign ownership and institutional ownership whereas director ownership and public ownership have no significant association with the environmental disclosure. These insightful results challenge conventional assumptions and highlight the need for a nuanced understanding of the factors that drive environmental reporting practices in the context of an emerging economy. The main contribution of this article lies in its provision of empirical evidence from an emerging economy, Bangladesh, which helps in understanding sustainable practices in a global context. Additionally, it aids in developing effective corporate governance policies and strategies tailored to similar emerging economies by recognizing the role of ownership structures in influencing environmental accountability. These findings further assist policymakers, managers, and other sustainability advocates in understanding how different ownership structures affect corporate environmental disclosure.

There are numerous studies reported on the usage of the sapindus emarginatus (SE) fruit in cancer and other treatments in the past few years. In this study, crude SE fruit extract was prepared and it was further used to synthesis gold nanoparticles (Au Nps). The synthesized Au Nps were left embedded in the SE fruit extract. The Au Nps embedded in the SE fruit extract (SE-Au Nps) were characterized using UV-Visiable Spectroscopy, Centrifugal Particle Size analyzer (CPS), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). MTT assay was carried out for both SE fruit extract and SE-Au Nps on MCF7 breast cancer cell line and thus compared. The UV-Visible Absorbance for the SE-Au Nps was obtained at 543 nm. The centrifugal particle size analysis of the Au Nps embedded in SE fruit extract showed the size of the nanoparticles to be widely varying with higher fraction of particles between the size ranges of 15 to 20 nm. The morphology of the Au Nps embedded in SE fruit extract was observed using SEM. The presence of Au Nps in SE fruit extract was confirmed using FTIR. The results of the MTT assay on MCF7 breast cancer cell line proved that the % cell viability was less for SE-Au Nps than that of the SE fruit extract alone. Thus, the antiproliferative activity of the SE fruit extract was significantly enhanced by embedding it with Au Nps and it can be effectively used in therapeutic applications after further studies.

There is a large literature on public-private-partnership, covering many different areas and aspects. This article deals with a specific but important aspect: the decision-making mechanisms to choose the management of PPP enterprises. In this sector, a suitable choice of managers is of particular importance because the persons chosen must balance the public and private interests. This is often difficult to achieve. Two new procedures are discussed, “Directed Random Choice” and “Rotating CEOs”. In each case, the advantages and disadvantages of the procedure of choosing the managers of PPP enterprises are discussed and evaluated. It is concluded that the two novel mechanisms should be seriously considered when choosing the managers of PPP enterprises.