The livelihood of ethnic minority households in Vietnam is mainly in the fields of agriculture and forestry. The percentage of ethnic minorities who have jobs in industry, construction, and services is still limited. Moreover, due to harsh climate conditions, limited resources, poor market access, low education level, lack of investment capital for production, and inadequate policies, job opportunities in the off-farm and non-farm activities are very limited among ethnic minority areas. This paper assessed the contribution of livelihood diversification activities to poverty reduction of ethnic minority households in Son La Province of Vietnam. The analysis was based on the data using three stages sampling procedure of 240 ethnic minority households in Son La Province. The finding showed that the livelihood diversification activities had positively significant contribution to poverty reduction of ethnic minority households in Son La Province. In addition, the factors positively affecting the livelihood choices of ethnic minority households in Son La Province of Vietnam are education level, labor size, access to credit, membership of associations, support policies, vocational training, and district. Thus, improving ethnic minority householder’s knowledge through formal educational and training, expanding availability of accessible infrastructure, and enhancing participation of social/political associations were recommended as possible policy interventions to diversify livelihood activities so as to mitigate the level of poverty in the study area.

Presently, any development initiatives without considering sustainability can barely be imagined. There has been a paradigm shift in the focus of the development partners from the mere development to sustainable development. However, the role of development partners in bringing sustainability in livelihood assets of the rural community has long been questioned. Hence, this study aims to explore the sustainability in the form of changes in livelihood assets of a local community in Bangladesh. This study considers the changes in livelihood assets of the community over the three-time frames - before, during, and after a project implemented by a national NGO called ‘UST’ and subsequently identifies the community’s capacity to sustain the project outcomes after the completion of the project. ‘Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF)’ developed by Department for International Development (DFID) was utilized in this study to analyse the vulnerability and livelihood issues of the community members. Data has been collected through focus group discussions, household survey and key informants’ interviews from three distinct villages of ‘Khutamara’ union in the ‘Nilphamari’ district of Bangladesh. The finding of the study states that all the livelihood assets such as the social capital, human capital, natural capital, financial capital, physical capital have positively changed due to the interference of the development partners. This study further finds that even after the completion of project tenure, such positive trends continue to exist among the community members indicating sustainable development. Moreover, political capital- a new type of livelihood has also emerged because of the project implementation which was not quite evident before the inception of the project. In addition, this study explored the unique phenomenon of the Shabolombee Gram, where the transformation altering farmers’, livelihoods does not come from the government or the private sector but originates from a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). Therefore, the government and its development partners may adopt and incorporate the Modified Sustainable Livelihood Framework (MSLF) to ensure the sustainable development.

This study explores how Jordanian telecom companies can balance Internet of Things (IoT) driven automation with maintaining genuine consumer-brand connections. It seeks strategies that blend IoT automation with personalized engagement to foster lasting consumer loyalty. Employing qualitative research via semi-structured interviews with IT and customer service managers from Jordanian telecom companies. IoT-driven automation in Jordan’s telecom sector revolutionizes consumer-brand relationships by enabling data-driven personalization. It emphasizes the importance of IoT proficiency, transformed marketing strategies, and the need to balance personalization with consumer privacy. Interviews stress the significance of maintaining authentic human connections amidst automation. Strategies for Jordanian telecom firms include integrating IoT data into CRM systems, employing omnichannel marketing, balancing automation with human interaction, adopting a consumer-centric approach, mitigating security risks, and leveraging IoT insights for adaptive services. These approaches prioritize consumer trust, personalized engagement, and agile service adaptation to meet dynamic consumer preferences. This research provides actionable strategies for telecom firms on effective IoT integration, emphasizing the need to maintain genuine consumer relationships alongside technological advancements. It highlights IoT’s transformative potential while ensuring lasting consumer loyalty and business success. Future research avenues could explore longitudinal studies and the interplay between AI and IoT in telecom services.

The consensus is that price stability promotes sustainable economic growth while excessive inflation harms growth. This study assesses the linkage between inflation and economic growth in South Africa to determine the optimal inflation rate threshold for the sustainable growth of the economy. Quarterly data from 1995 to 2022 was analysed through the ARDL and threshold regressions. The ARDL and threshold regressions estimate established a relationship between inflation and economic growth and computed the optimal inflation rate threshold for economic growth at 6 percent. The results also established that both the repo rate (repurchase rate) and real effective exchange rate have a negative relationship with economic growth. The Toda-Yamamoto causality test result indicated a unidirectional causality runs from inflation to economic growth. These results are crucial for the South African Reserve Bank to discharge its monetary policy functions to attain and maintain price stability. Therefore, this study offers the Bank a roadmap for targeting an inflation rate that aligns with the nation’s long-term objectives for sustainable economic growth.

Human resources are considered an important resource for companies today because the knowledge that a person has can be used to become an organisation’s competitive advantage. In addition, digital marketing has an important role in determining the performance of business entities because we have now entered the digital era, which certainly cannot be separated from the influence of technology on marketing through social media. Therefore, this study aims to examine the effect of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) in digital marketing on business entity performance, which is determined by digital marketing in a business entity. The data in this research was collected by distributing questionnaires to 455 Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Indonesia. Data analysis used the Moderated Regression Analysis (MRA) method. The research results show that strategic human resource management variables influence business performance, and the support of digital marketing capabilities and activities strengthens this influence. Based on the results of this research, existing business entities must strengthen organizational performance by strengthening human resources in basic soft skills and hard skills and skills in digital marketing and improving marketing activities using digitalization.

This study aims to analyze, investigate the implications, and identify differences in the progress of the effect of institutional changes and organizational transformation in Indonesian higher education. The structuration analysis shows that examining the conditions that have resulted in the replication and modification of social systems is the focus of the structuration analysis. The image of structuration theory conveys both a sense of regularity and continuity, as well as respect for the labor that must be done daily and the mundane but essential tasks that must be completed. The finding of this study is that with the mandate that universities have been given to implement the three primary pillars that support Indonesia’s higher education system, the difficulty level of the problem facing Indonesia’s higher education system has increased. We suggest a future research agenda and highlight the changes and transformations in power, interests, and alliances that affect the evolution of higher education institutions.

This paper provides a disaster resilience-based approach. For the definition of the approach, a three-step method (definition of components, analysis of the resilience pillars and definitions of resilience-based actions) has been followed. To validate the approach, an application scenario for mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic is provided in the paper. The proposed approach contributes to stimulating the co-responsibility quadruple helix of actors in the implementation of actions for disaster management. Moreover, the approach is adaptable and flexible, as it can be used to manage different kinds of disasters, adjusting or changing itself to meet specific needs.

Climate Compatible Development (CCD), which aims to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and promote economic growth while adjusting to the effects of climate change, necessitates integrated policy approaches across several sectors. However, little attention has been given to the types of institutional structures collaborating and competing in conceptualizing CCD and understanding its functioning. This paper develops and applies a qualitative analysis to determine the compatibility of national and local policies and multi-stakeholder roles with the aims of the three dimensions of CCD (development, climate adaptation, and climate mitigation) using the mangrove governance case. Results indicate that mangrove governance policies currently support shifts towards CCD, especially by national governments. The existence of Ministry of Development National Planning that play roles in formulating climate change policy and development planning in Indonesia proved beneficial for CCD attainment. However, several regulations showed that political intervention and sectoral interests were present in multilevel governance toward CCD. Institutional challenges in this context were described, particularly in the existence of a hierarchy of statutory powers in Indonesia.