This paper mainly explores the system identification and control of an automatic car pedal pressing system. Specifically, the system identification was achieved using an artificial neural network, with the help of MATLAB’s System Identification Toolbox. The proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller and fuzzy logic controller were designed, and normalized with membership functions. These functions were scaled with a gain as a scaling factor. The controller gains were tuned by a metaheuristic algorithm named particle swarm optimization (PSO). On this basis, the two controllers were compared with a number of performance indices, including integral squared error (ISE), integral absolute error (IAE), integral time absolute error (ITAE), and mean squared error (MSE). The car pedal pressing performance was measured at different speed levels for each controller.

This study aims to analyse how contemporary stakeholder-engagement methods can enhance and acknowledge stakeholders' voices in the CSS and ensure better outcomes. Hence, this paper aims to narrow this gap by developing specific aspect profiles for sustainability strategies. The method of the current study relied on both primary data and secondary data. Hence, a questionnaire survey was developed to collect the required data. While, secondary data sources are obtained through the website sustainabilityexcellence.com. The data processing techniques were carried out using Stata 16 software and using the Multiple Linear Regression method. The sample of the study consisted of 422 people from different Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) i.e. Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman. The results revealed a high degree of stakeholders' perception of corporate sustainability strategies in the GCC. Also, people are aware and ready to afford the cost and efforts to generate more reliable and advanced strategies that promote corporate sustainability. The study also underscores three suggested recommendations that are based on a novel model (Reachable, Meaningful, and Fun “RMF”), as each element of this model is a recommendation that It believed to be highly-impactful actions that supports corporate leaders/teams to engage more fruitfully with stakeholder (more specifically customers and communities) and enrich the CSS. Lastly, this research effort is concluded with implications on the suggested recommendation (RMF), followed by some of the most critical takeaways for our corporate practices. The paper helps companies that already commit to sustainability to verify whether they are consistent in the implementation of a distinct sustainability strategy.

The decentralization of blockchain technology greatly improves the trust relationship in the supply chain network. In view of the lack of trust, uncertainty, and asymmetry in the supply chain network, this paper integrates the blockchain technology to build a network dynamics model of trust representation, calculation, and propagation, and explores how the blockchain influences the supply chain network. The result indicates that the network scale increased by 115.89%, the network connectivity increased by 60.31%, and the average shortest path decreased by 4.95%, after the blockchain trust framework had been deployed in the agricultural supply chain. Meanwhile, the network topology performance such as degree distribution and average clustering coefficient were optimized to varying degrees. Taking agricultural supply chain as an example, the practical significance of topological change was explained. Overall, the blockchain trust mechanism improves the topology of the supply chain network by affecting the trust relationship between nodes.

Purpose: This study was carried out to analyse the impact of Covid- 19 Lockdown towards working capital management and profitability of companies in Zimbabwe. The main complications faced were loss of market whilst operational costs remained on the same level. Enforcement of lockdown regulations such as curfews and intercity travel bans posed a threat in profit statuses of many firms. A challenge also faced was reduction of workforce to meet World Health Organisation requirements of social distancing and health safety protocols.

Methodology: Documentary research approach, which consists of reviewing, analysing, and examining information, recorded media and texts was adopted for the study. In terms of data collection, the authors sourced and reviewed literature on the topic. Among others, these sources included journal articles, books, magazines, and newspapers.

Findings: The research found that effective working capital management techniques had to be applied to continue operations. It also emerged that sudden increase in debtors would result in cash shortages to fund other operations and pay the current liabilities.

Originality value: The research will bring light to assist financial managers on ways that they can effectively manage their working capital during lockdown periods and improve profitability by doing so. They need to understand good working capital management and its importance in reducing insolvency in the economy.

The United Nations 2030 Agenda places universities as a hub of idea generators, which impulse and improve sustainable development. In the agenda, universities are considered vital to realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), because they are where experienced actor and young actor converge. These actors are good at developing actions of change, breeding innovation and creating a vision to the future. South Korea is one of the countries that took hold of the 2030 Agenda, providing an example of good international cooperation. The country is also known for its adaptable educational programs, which suits the complex and fast-changing demands of the world. South Korea has been working about its capacity to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals into the body of university students and academic research from the base generations. In the MERCOSUR, the Sustainable Development Goals advance in the university’s agenda have been pragmatic and differs from country to country. This paper treats a South Korean university, Yonsei University, as a role model of a research hub for the Sustainable Development Goals, and demonstrates that the model has been evoked for students and to stimulate its replicability in the MERCOSUR. This action would be highly benefited because of the Free Trade Agreement between MERCOSUR and South Korea.

The lethal coronavirus illness (COVID-19) has evoked worldwide discussion. This contagious, sometimes fatal illness, is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. So far, COVID-19 has quickly spread to other countries, sickening millions across the globe. To predict the future occurrences of the disease, it is important to develop mathematical models with the fewest errors. In this study, classification and regression tree (CART) models and autoregressive integrated moving averages (ARIMAs) are employed to model and forecast the one-month confirmed COVID-19 cases in Nigeria, using the data on daily confirmed cases. To validate the predictions, these models were compared through data tests. The test results show that the CART regression model outperformed the ARIMA model in terms of accuracy, leading to a fast growth in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. The research findings help governments to make proper decisions on how the prepare for the outbreak. Besides, our analysis reveals the lack of quarantine wards in Nigeria, in addition to the insufficiency of medications, medical staff, lockdown decisions, volunteer training, and economic preparation.

This study proposes a new simplified technique allowing to pass from the static to the dynamic framework of computable general equilibrium models (CGEM). Emphasis is placed on the treatment of convergence which can be constant or variable. We show that in convergence with variable coefficient, the definition of an adjustment parameter is necessary and makes it possible to operate the right choice of the values which correspond to the studied economy.

Purpose: Starting from the goal of economic development associated with environmental protection activities, this study examines the factors affecting the application of environmental accounting (EA) in manufacturing enterprises in Vietnam.

Methodology: This study is conducted using a combination of qualitative research methods (review of previous theories and research papers related to the research) and a quantitative research model (testing the degree of the appropriateness of the scale and the theoretical model through Cronbach's Alpha reliability coefficient, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), multivariable regression analysis to determine the relationship between factors affecting the application environmental accounting in manufacturing enterprises in Vietnam.

Results: Multivariable regression analysis shows that all factors (six factors) included in the study have an impact on the application of environmental accounting in manufacturing enterprises in Vietnam. Which stakeholder pressure has the strongest impact and financial resources have the weakest effect on the application of EA in these enterprises.

Originality/Value: This study provides empirical evidence about the impact of each factor on the application of environmental accounting, thereby helping state management agencies, professional associations, and businesses in the process of developing and promulgating policies affecting these factors to promote the application of environmental accounting in Vietnamese enterprises.

China faces the key issue of improving the efficiency of carbon emissions, in its endeavor of building a low-carbon economy and reducing carbon emissions. This paper adopts the super-slack-based measure (SBM) model with a bad output to measure the carbon emission efficiency of each Chinese province from 2000 to 2019, and further uses the Tobit model to analyze the impact of environmental regulation, technological progress, and the interaction between the two on carbon emission efficiency. The results show that: China's carbon emission efficiency presents a large inter-provincial difference. Only a few provinces like Shanghai and Beijing reached the efficient frontier, while all the other provinces failed to do so. Overall, most Chinese provinces have a huge potential for improving carbon emission efficiency. By dividing China into three regions, it could be seen that the eastern region had the highest carbon emission efficiency, followed in turn by the central region and the western region. According to the spatiotemporal variation of carbon emission efficiency, most provinces with a high carbon emission efficiency belong to the economically developed eastern region, while most central and western provinces did not realize satisfactory carbon emission efficiency. With the elapse of time, the carbon emission efficiency in most provinces declined to varied degrees, while that of a few provinces was on the rise. The results of the Tobit model show that both environmental regulation and technological progress both significantly promoted carbon emission efficiency, but their cross term clearly suppressed carbon emission efficiency. When it comes to the control variables, carbon emission efficiency has a significantly positive relationship with opening-up, and a significantly negative relationship with industrial structure, financial development, energy structure, and urbanization level.

Green energy, a hot topic of recent energy studies, is any type of energy created using renewable resources, such as sunlight, wind, or water. Despite several variations between it and renewable energy, green energy typically comes from renewable energy sources. The use of these energy sources should not damage the environment by means like emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Producing power with minimal carbon footprint is a huge step toward a future that is more environmentally friendly. The global energy system has been moving away from fossil fuels towards carbon-free energy sources. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimates that energy efficiency and renewable energy policies have the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 90 percent. Our research focuses on the usage of renewable energy, and assesses how it affects carbon emissions in Germany and Finland. The recent panel causality test of Yilanci and Kilci was performed to examine the causality relationships between variables in 1990-2020. This study offers important insights into how using renewable energy affects carbon emissions for the two countries.

Purpose: W The objectives of the paper are to assess the effectiveness of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in Maltese listed companies on acquirers’ financial performance, to examine the market reactions to M&A announcements and to seek to obtain further insights on the perceived value arising from M&A activity.

Methodology: The methodology involved an Event Study on acquirers’ share price movements and semi-structured interviews with relevant company representatives and Maltese stockbrokers.

Findings: The findings of the paper indicate that the few M&A cases wherein profitability -measured by growth in earnings before EBITDA - was enhanced and operational efficiency was improved took sound financing decisions despite facing challenging circumstances. The Maltese market was generally non-reactive within relatively short timeframes around announcements although with positive reactions within longer estimation periods. Furthermore, the perceived value by acquirers and stockbrokers varied considerably, yet such value was commonly attributed to effective due diligence and successful integration. The study therefore concludes that recent M& A activity in Malta has often been limited in its effectiveness towards enhancing shareholder value.

Originality/Value: the paper provides both corporate managers and stockbrokers with insights into M&A activity particularly in a small-state market.

• The purpose of the article is to study the peculiarities of managing the development of human capital in the conditions of digitalization. In the course of the study, the method of measuring the human potential index, developed by the UN - the Human Development Index, including taking into account socio-economic inequality, the Gender Inequality Index and the multidimensional poverty index, was applied as basic indicators that reflect the level of development of human capital, which is especially important in the conditions of digitalization of society. The article discusses the concept of human potential, its components, methods of determination. The dynamics of changes in the human development index of Ukraine and its components during 1990-2020 were analyzed. A comparative analysis of the values of the human development index, the human development index taking into account socio-economic inequality, the gender inequality index of Ukraine and other countries was carried out. The importance of the development of human potential in the context of the development of the information society and the digital economy is proven, the specifics of working conditions, requirements for the workforce are given. The factors affecting the development of human potential in the conditions of the digital economy are considered, and ways of solving the identified problems are proposed like creating conditions for development of the population, to ensure a positive balance of reproduction of the population and migration, development of social infrastructure, access of the population to quality medical, educational, and social services, etc.

Southeast Nigeria witnessed the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing public health crises. The crises manifest as the conflicts between citizens, policy-makers and leaders over public health policies, creating the circumstance for innovative research. This study examines the public response to the public health and social measures (PHSMs) implemented by the federal government of Nigeria in curtailing the spread of COVID-19, during the height of the pandemic. The focus is to unravel the underlying factors of the public response to the PHSMs, as well as their implications to the overall public health policies and institutions in the region. Guided by the ethnomethodology model, the authors applied qualitative methodology to the research. In-depth interview (IDI) and focused group discussion (FGD) were adopted to gather data from leaders of religious institutions, public and private health institutions, local market institutions, and state security institutions in the 5 states of Southeast Nigeria. The collected data were parsed through thematic analysis and interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). The results reveal a range of problems, such as shallow knowledge and misinformation at the local level, gap in public health knowledge and policy, crises of mistrust and misinterpretation of public health objective, citizens-policy-leadership crises, as well as the abuse of PHSMs. These problems were put in perspectives to portray the lessons and the public health policy implications of citizens-policy-leadership crises.

The way agri-food companies conduct business has changed as a result of changes in the market. These companies must start working in a more environmentally friendly manner. This study aims to examine, assess, and compare how various fuzzy methodologies are applied in green supplier selection (GSS), using an agri-food industry as an example. The company Biljana Brko, which engages in GSS, was observed in this study. The selection aids in the acquisition of raw materials and materials whose environmental impact will be minimized. Ecological and economic factors were taken into consideration when choosing green suppliers. Experts who assessed the weight of the criteria and the suppliers with linguistic values were chosen to carry out this selection. In order to do this, a fuzzy set that effectively applies these linguistic values was employed. The fuzzy SWARA (FSWARA) approach was utilized to calculate the weights of the criteria, revealing that the criterion of Environmental Management System has the highest weight. Drawing on the opinions of experts, suppliers were ranked using the fuzzy MABAC, MARCOS, and CRADIS techniques. The results show that supplier S2 receives the highest ratings. Along with this provider, supplier S3 is noteworthy because it excelled in the sensitivity analysis across a variety of scenarios. In light of this, Biljana Brko should give preference to these suppliers. Further, the results of the three adopted techniques were compared. The comparison reveals that the ranking order produced by all three techniques is remarkably similar. This supplier order differed slightly from the FMABAC method just in one scenario. Hence, this work demonstrates that the three fuzzy techniques can solve the GSS problem and other problems by ranking alternatives.

Purpose: The study aims to understand what CEOs (Chief Executive Officers) of Maltese PIEs (Public Interest Entities) expect from their CFOs (Chief Financial Officers). Furthermore, the study seeks to establish whether CFOs are expected to focus solely on finance, or whether they should also participate in strategy and planning. The study aims to identify the factors and skills that lead to a more effective CEO-CFO relationship.

Methodology: The study follows a qualitative approach. Primary data was collected from semi-structured interviews conducted with active and former CEOs and CFOs of Maltese PIEs.

Findings: Despite focusing primarily on their traditional finance roles, CFOs of Maltese PIEs are indeed dedicating a significant amount of time to strategic functions, as expected by CEOs. Strategic functions rank high on the average CFO’s agenda, with organisational transformation, strategic leadership and performance management ranking second, third and fourth, respectively. The research establishes that the strategic and the finance roles complement each other, such that an effective CFO is one who can establish an optimal balance between the two roles. In their CFO, CEOs seek a qualified and experienced person of integrity who is capable of: understanding, supporting and challenging them, complementing their skillset and of leading.

Originality/Value: It is anticipated that this research will give finance professionals, who are increasingly assuming high management positions, a strong insight into a critical relationship they may sometime play a role in.

The current challenges of globalization provide business entities of various economic systems with multifaceted opportunities, while creating new threats to economic security. These and other challenges require enterprises to pay attention to innovation, and improve their economic security. The study substantiates the importance of innovative development as a determinant of corporate economic security. The main purpose is to assess the innovative development state of enterprises, and evaluate its impact on economic security based on the available information and analytical support. To achieve the set goal, the authors proposed an assessment approach for corporate economic security based on the innovative component, and developed a monitoring algorithm for the factors affecting corporate development. The systemic approach was employed to consider the innovative component as a subsystem of corporate economic security, and to measure its impact on corporate development. In this way, the innovative component of corporate economic security could be calculated comprehensively. The methodology takes account of the systemic approach, as well as methodical support for the analysis of components, which is based on rating evaluations, systematic expert evaluations, and ranking scales. Industrial enterprises that pay special attention to innovative development were selected to test the proposed methodical support. In addition, the Harrington scale was adapted to establish the level of corporate economic security. Based on the calculations, it was determined that the studied enterprises have an average and below average level of economic security due to component innovation. Overall, this research presents a suitable algorithm for assessing the level of corporate economic security.

This paper examines the governance, efficiency, and development of the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) in Bulgaria. The Governance of AKIS includes diverse governing agents, a variety of rules, mechanisms and modes for agents, and the process of governing, and the outcome (specific order and efficiency) of the governance. First, participants in the country’s AKIS and the type of their relations are specified. Second, a diagnosis of the state and trends in AR&D is made.

The study is based on available data from statistical sources, official reports, fields surveys as well as assessments of a panel of leading experts in the area and stakeholders’ representatives. The study has found out that AKIS of the country consists of diverse and numerous organizations, for which activities and complex relations have no sufficient official or other reliable information. Bulgarian AKIS demonstrates low resource endowment and efficiency, domination of outdated public institutions and undeveloped private sector, insufficient sharing of knowledge and innovations, slow and uneven application of modern technologies, varieties, production and management methods, digitalization, etc. in different types of farms, subsectors of agriculture and regions of the country.

Over the past 15 years, online travel agencies (OTAs), such as Booking.com and Expedia.com, have grown significantly. This growth is correlated with their spending on R&D and marketing initiatives. Digital marketing promotes services and products by using an electronic platform. This study aims to ascertain the role of digital marketing in perceived quality and consumer confidence in hotel performance in the age of digital technology. This quantitative study employs statistical testing, namely the partial least squares (PLS) design, in order to understand the link between the two aforementioned variables. In the meantime, the authors conducted a data search by going through a Google form questionnaire on hotel visitors in Tangerang, specifically between October 2020 and October 2021. The survey questionnaires were distributed to 145 respondents, and Smart PLS 3.0 was used in the analytic procedure. The results of digital marketing, including consumer perceptions of quality and trust, play a key role in hotel success. This conclusion is a succinct summary of the research findings in the hope that it will be useful for future research on a comparable topic by academics and other hotel managers.