This study attempts to explore the perception of secularism among the present generation in Bangladesh when this country celebrates its golden jubilee of independence. This paper follows mixed methods, namely convenience surveys and content analysis of credible secondary sources. This study attempts to explore the meaning of secularism that the educated young population comprehends and to understand their perception. It is interesting to see that many of them opine about having ‘state religion’ besides ‘secularism’ as a basic constitutional principle (61.9%/38.1%). They believe in equal treatment for all minority religions, while at the same time they share their perception of giving priority to ‘Islam’ as the dominant religion (57.1%), which could be labelled ‘paradoxical’. This article argues that the ideological perception is going into transition among young people in Bangladesh, which is different from the previous linear understanding of pro-secular and anti-secular dynamics. This paper also provides some pragmatic way outs from young people on how to secure the rights of minority religions in Bangladesh.

In this article, the Hoover index and asymmetry coefficient of the Pareto curve were tested to measure the state of the systems. When applying the new concept to the analysis of party systems in 18 European countries (158 election cases), we found that most of them showed a left-hand asymmetry of the Pareto curve and a concentration of inequality close to the Pareto principle

In this paper, the main motivation of this research study is to measure inter-regional intra-industry disparity within the selected Indian manufacturing industry groups and industrial states. Using three measures Output-Capital Ratio, Capital-Labour Ratio, and Output-Labour Ratio, we critically measured the disparity level of average labour productivity, the marginal efficiency of capital, and capital intensity. The paper also measured and compared the rate of disparity of per-capita income between six major industrial states. We determined the reasons for lack of industrialization: unequal distribution of skillful labours and upgraded technologies. We suggested in this chapter to the policymakers to campaign more for the labour training schemes and new technologies promotion schemes equally in every corner of the country.

This case study outlines the sequence of events that resulted in NYC supporting an existing syringe service program (SSP) to open the first two publicly recognized overdose prevention centers in the nation, including lessons learned to inform other jurisdictions considering offering such services.

The change in moral attitude due to discrimination of the degree of reality of thought is an unexplored potential effect of mindfulness training. In this article we examine whether the mindfulness training of novices reduces the defensive reaction to normative transgressions when the socio-moral threatened thought is salient. To test the study hypotheses we used a bifactorial design mindfulness training (pre vs. post) x threatened thought salience (low vs high). The dependent variable (punishment of social norm transgression) was measured on two different occasions: 1) pre-training (T1), 2) after training (T2). One group receives training in mindfulness in the threatened thought salience low condition, and a second group receives the same training in the threatened thought salience high condition. The results show that training mindfulness reduces moral punishment with high threatened thought salience, and reduce moral jugdment with low threatened thought salience. Thought of threatened socio-moral norms affects socio-moral reactivity, but does not affect soico-moral judgment. Implications of the results and limitations of the study are also explored.

Mergers and acquisitions are widely seen as a long-term strategy for resolving financial problems in corporations. This research study that is primarily based on a desk review established that this commercial enterprise approach has given mixed findings, such as failing to establish that the stated factors led to the manner of mergers and acquisitions, nor has it published an increase in profitability of commercial enterprise financial performance due to mergers and acquisitions. However, all mergers and acquisitions are no longer unsuccessful due to some factors like monetary, advertising, and operational problems. Thus, there are other important factors that influence mergers and acquisitions, such as value creation, “cultural” integration, and profitability. According to the study’s findings, mergers and acquisitions have a positive impact on financial institutions’ net income in the form of increased wealth, decreased effective spending, and increased revenue growth.

This article outlines historical shifts in US and Canadian space policies using the sanctuary-contested policy framework. It highlights that sanctuary policies were born out of necessity rather than the pursuit of a peaceful global common; they never intended to, and did not, prevent the militarization and weaponization of space. It then describes challenges to global space governance and argues that diplomacy will not prevent conflicts in space. After introducing elements of deterrence theory, this paper concludes that Canada should move beyond the sanctuary ideology, make space a national whole-of-government issue, and align its space policy and strategy with allies and partners, credibly communicating Canada’s resolve to protect and defend space assets. It further recommends that Canada develops niche capabilities that contribute to more effective national and collective deterrence and defence in space. Those capabilities should build upon existing niche strengths, not create space debris, and leverage industrial innovation in space.

Mergers and acquisitions have been pronounced and adopted with the profound need to combat the economic crisis and neutralize the detrimental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The uncertainty and risks involved in undertaking business operations have rapidly given rise to the strategic and systematic execution of cost-cutting measures and survival techniques. Mergers and acquisitions are one of the most effective strategies for the survival of a company through the creation of synergies and leveraging on economies of scale. The aim of the study was to establish the economic impacts of mergers and acquisitions in the corporate world. The study specifically sought to analyze and determine the extent to which mergers and acquisitions affect the selected variables constituting market share, shareholders' wealth, portfolio diversification, employment, and economies of scale. The analysis apparently observed that mergers and acquisitions have no significant impact on shareholders' wealth in the short run, as indicated by stock price movements, despite commanding an extensive customer base and market share, reduction of operation costs based on economies of scale, and mitigation of financial risks through portfolio diversification. The corporate employees always impede any kind of mergers and acquisitions due to the uncertainties and apprehensions associated with their engagements and organizational culture pitting them against the conventional narrative that change is inevitable.

Abstract  SMEs’ survival and performance continue to be a central concern for strategy experts. There are numerous factors that affect the SMEs’ survival for new entrants in the industry. This study incorporates research on the survival and performance of new entrant SMEs in a relationship with initial capital investment, experience, R&D, and innovation culture. We examined the influence of the SMEs’ initial investment, experience, R&D, and innovation culture on its survival and performance guided by the evolutionary model of entry and exit to conclude whether these are positively related to each other. Further, we investigated moderated role of innovation culture between initial capital, experience, R&D, and firm performance. The outcomes of this study established on a large size sample of 337 SMEs suggest that firms with a large initial investment, prior experience, and R&D have higher probabilities of survival and economic performance and innovation culture strengthens the relationship between predictor and outcome constructs.

Abstract The fundamental goal of this research is to investigate the quantitative relationship between technology-oriented knowledge management, innovation, e-governance, and smart city performance using knowledge management-based service science theory and diffusion of innovation theory. Previous research has found a connection between knowledge management, innovation, e-governance, and e-service delivery. We believe that these are not only direct connections but also contextual and interactive relationships, so we explored the significance of innovation as a mediator between knowledge management and e-service delivery. Furthermore, we investigated the moderating impact of e-governance on the relationship between innovation and e-service delivery. Using SPSS to analyze data from 569 participants in South Korea, Pakistan, Japan, and Bangladesh, we discovered that these direct relationships are contextual in the sense that innovation mediates the relationship between knowledge management and e-service delivery and e-governance moderates the correlation between innovation and e-service delivery. Based on the outcomes from quantitative analysis, all our proposed hypotheses in this study were supported significantly.

Entrepreneurial opportunity stimulates action. Does it only stimulate entrepreneurs to action? Or to non-entrepreneurs as well? What it is, and what it is not? Who is an entrepreneur? The concept of opportunity has been a bedrock in entrepreneurship research since Shane and Venkataraman’s seminal work in 2000. Researchers have explored the emergence, the role and the purpose of opportunity since then. Despite more than two decades of scholarship on the construct that has moved us well beyond what Shane and Venkataraman originally defined and with seminal papers that have moved us toward a better and more sophisticated understanding of the opportunity, we are still asking who an entrepreneur is? Ramoglou, Gartner and Tsang argue that this is the wrong question. The definitional varieties and fragments move Davidsson to suggest dismantling the construct and re-contextualising it with a more suitable and coherent framework. Foss and Klein suggest doing away with the opportunity concept altogether. This paper articulates that opportunity still provides a fundamental scaffold to organise entrepreneurial research. We propose that opportunity exists as an artificial imaginative construct in the minds of entrepreneurs. We argue that the concept of an imagined opportunity can overcome the fragmented definitions with an elasticity that can clarify and sharpen its utilitarian value. This paper aims to shift the dialogue on how opportunity emerges, exists and changes according to the information presented and subjectively interpreted through mental visualisation/imagination.

Teachers were surveyed across the United States between January and February 2021 (n=355). Participants were asked about learning modalities employed at their school as well as other factors related to COVID-19 mitigation, job satisfaction, teacher self-efficacy, burnout, teacher autonomy, and student access to resources.

Background: The increasing flow of information and the epidemiological situation of the last few years forces us to find tools for organizing a productive collaboration distributed team of a student research group. Method: Comparative analysis of six instruments (Trello, Office365, Meister, Bitrix24, Asana, Google Workspace) for collaboration on 12 criteria. Results and Discussion: A large selection of tools for managing a distributed team allows flexibly organizing a project of any complexity for a team of any size. Conclusion: Using tools to collaborate with a distributed team allowed us to simplify the organization of the student research group’s work and not stop working on projects under lockdown conditions.

Considerable interest lies in the growth in educational achievement that occurs over the course of a child’s schooling. This paper demonstrates a simple but effective approach for the comparison of growth rates, drawing on a method first proposed some 80 years ago and applying it to data from the Australian National Assessment Program. The methodology involves the derivation of a ‘meta-metre’ – a quantitative mode of variation in growth – which permits comparison between groups defined by time-invariant characteristics. Emphasis is placed upon the novel characteristics of the method and the valuable information it can provide. Unlike complex modeling procedures, the approach provides a parsimonious, easily-interpretable model of growth.

Inter-organizational networks are frequently used to execute large and megaprojects. This study develops a theoretical framework for the governance of these networks. Twenty-eight case studies, each representing a network for a project, were assessed using 124 interviews in ten countries. A three-layer governance model is derived from the analysis. At the lowest layer (network governance) is the individual network of organizations collaborating in a project. This layer is explained through Multi-level Governance Theory. The intermediate layer (governance of networks) addresses the steering of the different networks these organizations are part of, such as for training, certification, safety etc.. At the top layer (metagovernance) are the ground-rules, set by governments or other investors to regulate how the two other layers are allowed to set up their governance. The study’s resulting theory combines three so far separate levels of governance into an overall understanding of large inter-organizational networks for projects. It provides parameters for practitioners to optimize their networks for better project results.

This article investigates the issues of vaccine hesitancy and shaming, which arose in response to the implementation of World Health Organization (WHO) COVID-19 recommendations, on the social media platform of TikTok. By extending appraisal theory to include the use of visual attitudinal appraisals, the study examines the semiotic resources employed by TikTok users within the overarching context of the pandemic. A total of 254 videos expressing pro- and anti-vaccination viewpoints, posted by American and Australian users between 1 January 2021 and 31 January 2022, were extracted from the social network and subjected to a computer-assisted analysis. The study shows that vaccine hesitancy on the social networking service (SNS) is fuelled by the echo chamber effect, while any vaccine shaming on the platform may be seen as conspicuous virtue-signalling. The speakers’ evaluative language is mostly positive, since their main objective is to elicit the approval of members belonging to the same sub-cultural group. A few suggestions are made to reduce the impact of echo chambers and to encourage scientific literacy among TikTok users.

This research aims to identify the challenges of the food security indicators in the GCC countries for the period 2000-2020. The study applies three alternatives to panel data analysis. The results find that population is a significant driver of food security challenges in the GCC countries. Moreover, food price inflation has a significant affect the food availability and stability but show no significance on food access and utilization. Fertilizer consumption has significant challenges the food utilization. The results show that there is evidence of significant differences in food security across the GCC countries. The random-effects estimators of regression coefficients of food availability and stability challenges are more statistically efficient than those for pooled ordinary least square and fixed effects. While the fixed effects estimators are most preferred for the coefficients of food access and utilization challenges. The study recommends that decision-makers embark on interferences that stimulate food security to meet the continual increase in population also future research should be applied on the other factors that challenged food security.

This paper assessed energy conservation and efficiency awareness practices of households in the Cape Coast Metropolis. It examined the level and variability in energy conservation practices, and the level of energy-savings awareness education among households. The findings reveal that years spent in school by household heads, income levels, expenditure, age of households and the number of times electricity power triples off daily were among key factors influencing individual’s choice of energy-efficient appliances. There was significant variability between existing social strata in terms of income and use of electrical appliances among households. Based on the findings, this study recommends a robust energy literacy program to improve households energy efficiency practices awareness, and in order to ensure energy cost savings, environmental protection and climate change mitigation that will enhance the drive towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal Seven (SDG 7).