The speed of progress in information technology has evolved continuously and has changed the way entrepreneurship is carried out in running its business. The rapidity of internet users also influences economic development indicated by the shifting of the idea of buying and selling transactions which previously emphasized face to face, now it is more comfortable and done without face to face or known online. This study aims to provide an overview and examine the use of social commerce, the uniqueness of resource capabilities and competitive advantage in influencing the business performance of MSMEs in Jambi Province. The study also explores the competitive advantage of mediating social commerce and the uniqueness of resource capacity to the business performance of MSMEs in Jambi Province. This research was conducted in three districts in the Jambi Province, namely Jambi city, Tanjung Jabung Barat district, and Sungaipenuh city. The research method used is quantitative research and verification with Smart PLS application version 3.0. The unit of analysis of this study is MSMEs with an observation unit that is the manager of MSMEs businesses in the three locations of research objects. The number of respondents used was 150 selected MSMEs business units from two cities and one district, namely Jambi city, Sungai Penuh city, and Tanjung Jabung Barat District, representing Jambi Province. The results show that social commerce had a significant influence on competitive advantage. Still, on the other hand, it shows that the uniqueness of resource capabilities did not have any substantial impact on competitive advantage. Social commerce did not have any significant effect on the business performance of MSMEs in Jambi Province, as well as the uniqueness of resource capabilities, apparently not significantly influenced the business performance of MSMEs in Jambi Province. On the contrary, competitive advantage can control MSMEs Business performance in Jambi Province. However, the model of social commerce utilization and the uniqueness of resource capabilities affect the business performance of MSMEs in Jambi Province, mediated by competitive advantage.

The study aimed at exploring the impact of three smart innovative solutions, i.e., Internet-of-Things, Big Data Analytics, and Cloud Computing on supply chain performance. Collecting data by questionnaires administered to a sample consists of supply chain managers of industrial firms. The results pointed out that these three smart solutions significantly and positively lift firms’ supply chain performance. That is, the hypotheses that Internet-of-Things, Big Data Analytics, and Cloud Computing have significant impacts on supply chain performance were supported. Therefore, the study concluded that for industrial firms to improve supply chain performance, such smart solutions should be assessed and applied. The study contributes to both academics and practitioners through providing empirical results on concurrent impacts of three advanced technologies in supply chain management context.

The increasing demand for good and improved polymeric composites has led to a surge in the number of researches on hybrid composites, strengthened and enforced with the natural fibres. This paper mainly analyses and presents the attributes of hybrid composites made from natural fibres and carbon nano-tube (CNT) nanoparticles. A novel hybrid composite considered in this research includes kenaf and coir fibres with CNT nanoparticles embedded in an epoxy matrix. The proposed hybrid nanocomposite’s elastic features are calculated by using different analytical models like Chamis, Mori-Tanaka, Nielson elastic models etc and also with the help of Representative Volume Element Analysis (RVE). The content of fibre volume is varied in four different samples and it is found that upon varying the content of fibre volume, the mechanical properties like longitudinal modulus and transverse modulus got affected. The results evaluated from different analytical models are observed to be in good agreement with each other and also with the results of RVE analysis.

Under solvent free conditions and in presence of a base 3-(2-(subsituted-(trifluoromethyl)phenylamino)acetyl)-2H-chromen-2-one derivatives were synthesized by grinding technique. Structural investigations were carried out with IR studies, HRMS, ¹HNMR and ¹³CNMR. The compounds were checked for their in vitro anticancer activities against three different human cancer cell lines viz human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7), human cervical cancer cell line (HeLa) and human oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC-40) using SRB method. All the title compounds showed low toxicity towards non-malignant PBMC cells indicating their tumour selectivity. The compounds exhibited good in vitro anti-proliferative potency at lower concentrations against HeLa and MCF-7 cell lines and remain moderately active against SCC-40.

Three simple metaphor-less optimization algorithms are developed in this paper for solving the unconstrained and constrained optimization problems. These algorithms are based on the best and worst solutions obtained during the optimization process and the random interactions between the candidate solutions. These algorithms require only the common control parameters like population size and number of iterations and do not require any algorithm-specific control parameters. The performance of the proposed algorithms is investigated by implementing these on 23 benchmark functions comprising 7 unimodal, 6 multimodal and 10 fixed-dimension multimodal functions. Additional computational experiments are conducted on 25 unconstrained and 2 constrained optimization problems. The proposed simple algorithms have shown good performance and are quite competitive. The research community may take advantage of these algorithms by adapting the same for solving different unconstrained and constrained optimization problems.

This research aims to empirically assess the impact of supply chain 4.0 and supply chain risk on organizational performance in the food manufacturing industry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Based on empirical evidence, only a few empirical research in supply chain 4.0 have been conducted. Additionally, they stress the significance of supply chain risk management assistance in enhancing organizational effectiveness. A quantitative technique with convenient cluster sampling was used to evaluate the variables. Data from 54 food manufacturing companies based in Ajman, UAE, was used. A sample size of 289 respondents was used for statistical analysis. The research findings revealed a strong link between the significant impact of supply chain4.0 and supply chain risk to improve organizational performance. The use of supply chain 4.0 in manufacturing organizations was the main focus of this study. The model can be modified to reflect other businesses worldwide, for instance, the retail or service sectors. The findings aid businesses in making better-informed decisions about adopting supply chain 4.0. According to the research findings, food manufacturing companies should initiate and advance their transition to supply chain 4.0 for them to be competitive, effective, and productive.

This research examines the relationship between consumer attitudes and decisions. By examining the attitude forming variables, among others, usefulness, ease of use and risk which directly influence attitudes and the direct influence of consumer attitudes on consumer decisions. The population in this study is a large number of consumers and the amount is not known with certainty, the researchers, for the sample using a random sampling method which is part of the non-probability sampling technique with the criteria of respondents who have shopped in offline retail and online retail, over 17 years old and domiciled in Jakarta. Samples taken amounted to 160 with 32 questions for each respondent. The results show that usefulness and ease of use affect consumer attitudes. While ease of use is the most powerful variable and has the biggest contribution that influences attitude. In this research hypothesis there is one hypothesis that is rejected, namely the effect of risk on attitude attitudes, the results of the study found that risk has no effect on attitude.

Microbes generally develop resistance towards organic antibacterial agents like ampicillin, Sulfonamides, methicillin, etc., and progressively new drugs are being invented to replace them. Hence, replacement of organic antibacterial agents with inorganic analogues requires constant research and the present investigation reports alternatives for conventional antimicrobial agents like methylparaben, diazolidinyl urea, etc., in the cosmetic products with silver incorporated calcium borates. The chemically synthesized silver-calcium borates have been analyzed for phase purity using powder XRD analysis, nature of bonding using FTIR vibrations, and morphology using SEM. The antibacterial and antifungal studies were carried out for the novel inorganic silver-calcium borates incorporated cosmetic products. The products were also subjected to thermal & photostability studies and found to be comparable with that of commercially available products. A minimum quantity of 3 ppm of silver-calcium borate concentration was required to bring about nearly 100% bacterial reduction in the cosmetic products.

The rise in carbon disclosure has yet to be matched by evidence and understanding of how carbon disclosure affects a firm’s actual carbon performance? Therefore, this study examines the relationship between voluntary carbon disclosure and the carbon performance of the UK’s listed firms by applying the ‘outside-in’ management perspective. Panel data analysis of UK FTSE350 firms and their carbon disclosures for the period 2007–2015, made on the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) platform, indicates that enhanced carbon disclosure was associated with improved carbon performance in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. Additional analysis found that the carbon disclosure-carbon performance relationship is more pronounced in carbon-intensive industries. Moreover, during the financial crisis period, the relationship of interest is insignificant, however, during the recovery years, improved carbon reporting was associated with lower emissions. This study confirms that carbon disclosure motivates companies and creates a momentum effect for the subsequent reduction in their emissions. Our findings are useful for corporate stakeholders and governmental policymakers who are concerned about the quality and consequences of carbon disclosure.

Total quality management (TQM) is a method of managing a bank. TQM, which is considered as a critical instrument, directs the strategy of developing work and increasing performance in order to generate profits through quality services and products. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the function of TQM in improving customer relations in Jordanian Islamic banks. Primary data was gathered by surveying 163 workers of Jordanian Islamic banks. A questionnaire was employed as the data-gathering technique. To do the descriptive statistical analysis, SPSS version 25 was employed. The findings show that there is a statistical association between Jordanian Islamic banks' TQM, which includes customer satisfaction, strategic planning, continuous improvement, and relationships with customers.