The Tunisian Economics’ Situations after the Revolution of Arab Spring 2011

The Tunisian economic facts after the so-called the Arab spring or social revolution have been marketed by numerous fluctuations and radical changes in the general situation of the management of the administrative affairs of the country. The most prominent of these facts, including the series of chaotic sit-ins and the political and security instability that has increased from 2011 to 2018, note in particular the emergence of the phenomenon of terrorism and assassinations. These negative results are too the expensive cost of the Tunisian national economy, which has been directed, affected by all vital sectors of the country’s economy, especially the tourism, trade and investment sectors. In addition, the increase in excessive wages during the first three years following the revolution and the increasing number of random sit-ins that led to the cessation of the production in the Gafsa phosphate mine and the failure to work for most of the public servants represented negative factors that led to a decline in productivity and an increase in the financial and trade deficit. Thus, the budget deficit and the accumulation of indebtedness represent the main obstacle to achieving social and economic stability.

Influence of Fieldwork on the Preparedness of Food Technology and Bioengineering students for the Job Market: A Case study of EAPI Student Skills Enhancement Program

This study aimed at evaluating the influence of fieldwork on the professional and personal skills among Food Technology and Bioengineering (FTB) students of Makerere University. The data was obtained from 40 respondents from three FTB programs (Food Science and Technology, Human Nutrition, and Agricultural Engineering). A semi-structured electronic questionnaire was used to collect the data. The questionnaire comprised of Part 1: Student biography, Part II: Participation in the EAPI student skills enhancement program, Part III: Professional skills, and Part IV: Personal growth. Part I and II consisted of closed-ended questions while Part III and Part IV were evaluated on a 5-point Likert scale (1- Strongly disagree and 5 – Strongly Agree). Descriptive analysis was used to evaluate the student demographic information and participation in the student enhancement program. The reliability of the Likert scale for professional development and personal growth was determined using the Cronbach’s alpha index. The study results indicated that 60% (n=40) of the respondents better understood their career goals through fieldwork, 83% (n=40) increased their skills and knowledge in performing particular tasks, 55% (n=40) changed their attitude and feelings about self and others, while 75% (n=40) had the opportunity to apply theoretical concepts to the actual work environment. Fieldwork stimulated the FTB students’ interest in the field of food processing, mindset change especially concerning job creation, conduct, and prospects. The study findings explain the need to adjust the mode of knowledge delivery and dispensation at the Higher Education Institutions to reduce the rate of unemployment and improve the employability of students.

Better than Nothing?: Consequence of Incomplete Treatment of COVID-19

With seemingly no end to the global pandemic in sight, high expectations are growing for the development of medicines to treat COVID-19, in addition to the vaccination which has been carried out recently. In Japan also, development of such medicines is accelerating and now four COVID-19 medicines have been approved.There is, however, concern that the COVID-19 medicines are not always effective, so that, in the present paper, we investigate the consequence of incomplete treatment of COVID-19-infected patients by constructing a simple intertemporal theoretical model. Main result we obtained is that incomplete treatment of infected patients increases number of the infected people, which is equivalent to say “worse than nothing”.

Reviewer acknowledgements for Business and Management Research, Vol. 10, No. 3

Reviewer acknowledgements for Business and Management Research, Vol. 10, No. 3, 2021.

Effects of Fringe Benefits on Employee Loyalty: A Study on University Teachers in Khulna City of Bangladesh

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of fringe benefits on employee loyalty in the context of university teachers. The study sample consisted of 100 university teachers who were randomly selected from both private and public universities situated in Khulna city of Bangladesh. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire survey. To test the study hypotheses, data were analyzed employing correlation and multiple regression analysis tools. Results of correlation analysis reveal that fringe benefits (insurance & retirement benefits, payments for time not worked, education & development opportunities, flexible working hours, and employee welfare benefits) are positively related to employee loyalty. Regression statistics shows that 25.6% variance of employee loyalty can be explained by the fringe benefits. The study findings also indicate that flexible working hours (β = 0.296, Sig. = 0.001) has the most significant contribution in explaining employee loyalty among the university faculty members employed in Khulna city of Bangladesh.

Effect of Entrepreneurial Education on Unemployment Reduction among Students in Nigeria

The study examined the effect of entrepreneurial education on unemployment reduction among students in Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbaria. The problem of the study is as a result of increasing rate of unemployment in Nigeria. The study was anchored on Human Capital Theory and risk taking theory. As a cross-sectional survey research design, a structured instrument developed by the researcher to reflect such options as strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree and strongly disagree popularly referred to as five (5) points likert scale was used to obtain information from the respondents. The population of the study was limited to final year students of Business Administration and Entrepreneurship Studies Department in Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam. The total population was 195. Business administration was 128 while entrepreneurship was 67. The study used convenience sampling technique in selecting the sample size for the study based on convenience and easy accessibility to the respondents. Research hypotheses were tested using Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA) which was carried out with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Findings from the study revealed that Skill acquisition has significant effect on unemployment reduction, Entrepreneurship empowerment affects unemployment reduction, Infrastructural development has significant effect on unemployment reduction in Anambra State. The study recommended that Entrepreneurial education in tertiary institutions should be practical oriented rather than theory as this will exposed the students to various lucrative skills. Government should provide a means of getting loans by small scale business owners in order to enhance the activities of small scale business in Nigeria.

Six Myths of Human Resource Management

Introduction: For decades the Human Resource Management (HRM) strategic role has been viewed as limited in its effectiveness. Human Resource Professionals (HRPs) have been criticized for their lack of formal preparation – when that preparation even exists. According to Gomez-Mejia (2015) and colleagues, fewer than one-third of all HRPs have any academic preparation in HRM and most lack an understanding of the legal, professional, and technical principles of their profession.Objective: The purpose of this paper is to focus on six myths about HRM and the role of HRPs that are frequently held by Top Management Team (TMT) members, business practitioners, and even many HRPs. The failure of so many HRPs and TMTs to recognize the fallacies in these myths is a cause of organizational dysfunction and undermines the ability of HRPs to be ethical stewards who serve and protect the best interests of their organizations.Methods: The paper begins by briefly identifying seven key strategic functions of HRM in distinguishing the HRPs’ staff role in successful organizations.Results: We describe the context of today’s challenging work environment in which HRPs perform their labors and identify six myths that plague the HRM profession and undermine the effectiveness of many modern organizations.Conclusions: We conclude the paper with a challenge to TMT members and HRPs to raise the bar and increase the accountability of those who deliver HRM services within their organizations.

Problems and Prospects of SME Financing in Bangladesh

To conduct a comprehensive study on the SME sector of Bangladesh of its present state, prospects, issues and emerging challenges this “problems & Prospects of SME Financing in Bangladesh” research is carried out. The main objective of the study is to find out the SME financing’s different types of strategies & policies in Bangladesh. The SMEs are playing gradually more significant role as a mainstream of economic escalation in Bangladesh as well as all over the world. The SME usually creates the opportunities of employment at lower costs and render flexibility to the economy. The SMEs are playing an indispensable role for overall economic development. Since this sector is a manual labor intensivewith the short period of time, usually it is capable of increasing the national income as well as hasty employmentcreation by achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as well as the abolition of extremepoverty and starvation, gender equality and women empowerment. This SME sector has played a vital role intheeconomic progress of some prosperous countries of Asia. In national economy of Bangladesh SMEs play mainly vital role by making manufacturing enterprises by providing the employment of industrial workers and contributing to the over one-third of industrial value-added to gross domestic product (GDP) and become accustomed quickly to change the market condition, create employment, help diversify economic activities, and also make a significantcontribution to the exports and trade. The economic competence and the overall performance of the SMEs are considerably depended upon the policy of environmental and specific promotional policies pursued for their benefits. Consequently, the policies and initiatives to develop the condition of SMEs and toincrease their competitiveness are a main concern of Bangladesh.

Reviewer acknowledgements for Business and Management Research, Vol. 10, No. 1

Reviewer acknowledgements for Business and Management Research, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2021.

Employee Engagement and the Ethic of Friendship

The failure of managers and supervisors to earn the trust and followership of the employees with whom they work is well documented in recent research about employee engagement (Clifton & Harter, 2019). Without that employee commitment, organizations inevitably struggle to compete in the global marketplace and fail to achieve their potential (Cameron, 2012). Although much has been discussed in the light of the findings of concerned scholars (HR Research Institute, 2019), disagreement nonetheless exists about the factors which make up employee engagement, as well as the most effective approach that can be taken to increase engagement and those factors. Though there has not been full agreement about the nature of employee engagement, it is widely accepted that the failure of organizations to engage employees has been a serious deterrent to achieving organization results (Clifton & Harter, 2019).Objective: The purposes of this paper are to offer insights into the precise nature of employee engagement and to identify the value of employers adopting the Ethic of Friendship – an ethical perspective that has begun to be written about more frequently in the management literature.Methods: We begin the paper by proposing an integrated and updated definition of employee engagement – identifying nine factors which contribute to its makeup.Results: We suggest that each of these nine factors significantly impact employee engagement and warrant increased attention by organizational leaders. We then address the Ethic of Friendship and its increasingly important role in today’s arms-length and transactional relationship between employers and employees.Conclusions: The paper then clarifies how the Ethic of Friendship addresses all nine of the factors which constitute employee engagement and explains how the Ethic of Friendship can increase the ability of organization leaders, managers, and supervisors to bridge the gap of distrust that often exists in the modern organization. After identifying five important contributions made by this paper, we conclude by encouraging leaders to adopt the Ethic of Friendship’s commitment to treating employees as valued partners and, by so doing, create a culture in which employee engagement is likely to thrive.