Explore the vast range of titles available.

This research intends to evaluate the effect on the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of technological developments, including digital marketing, and to determine the variables that affect the relationship. Because these businesses are essential to driving local economies, boosting local economic growth, and creating job opportunities, this is a very important question, and figuring out how to best help them succeed through digital marketing is critical. The data were generated from a sample of 190 marketing companies, and each of the managers of these companies was surveyed for the information needed. This research focuses on the impact of SMEs’ performance through digital marketing strategies, including online advertising, social media marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and customer engagement through digital channels. A further analysis was performed looking at the mediating effect of digital transformation on the relationship between digital marketing and firm performance. The theoretical lens in the current study is the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which argues that technology use depends on perceived use and perceived usefulness. The results revealed that digital marketing is essential for SME effectiveness, as a driver of digital transformation, leading to stronger economic results and an enlarged market presence. Engagement with customers on digital channels to understand their behavior and preferences helps organizations create better experiences and products, and sell smarter as well. This offers application insights to the practitioners and proves the empirical data telling the SMEs how to plan the adoption of digital marketing. It also offers policy recommendations to authorities on how to promote digital innovation and provide financial and technical assistance to SMEs in this vital area.

Using adaptive learning technologies, personalized feedback, and interactive AI tools, this study investigates how these tools affect student engagement and what the mediating role of individuals’ digital literacy is at the same time. The study will target 500 students from different faculties such as science, engineering, humanities, and social sciences. With the changing trends in educational technology, it is important to know if these tools allow students to interact with learning materials. Through this study, we explore how adaptive learning technologies, which adapt content to students’ progress, are influenced by student motivation and participation during the learning process using AI tools that provide real-time feedback and interaction. Also, digital literacy is presented as a moderating factor that may either accelerate or impede the effectiveness of these tools. These findings demonstrate that more adaptive learning technologies, which have organized feedback, and interactive AI tools help improve student engagement. Additionally, students with higher levels of digital literacy are more involved with digital tools. This research recognizes that teachers should incorporate these technologies into their courses in such a manner as it synergizes with student’s digital capabilities to reap the benefits of technology on students’ engagement and learning outcomes.

This research aims to explore the complex interplay between supply chain resilience (SCR), digital supply chain (DSC), and sustainability, focusing on the moderating influence of supply chain dynamism. The goal is to understand how these elements interact within the framework of contemporary supply chain management and how they collectively contribute to enhancing sustainability outcomes. The sample size is 300 CEOs and managers. The study approach integrates quantitative research methods. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is utilized to quantitatively analyze the direct and indirect effects of SCR and DSC on sustainability. The numerous surveys we conduct among supply chain ecosystem stakeholders provide a rich picture of practical implications and contextual nuances. In sum, our early findings generally support a positive relationship between SCR and sustainability in and of itself, declaring the need for more resilient supply networks for sustainability. We further find the beneficial impact of digital technologies in promoting sustainability via enhancing environmental control and controlling for efficiency in supply chains. We also offer evidence to show that supply chain dynamism compounds the positive logic between SCR and DSC and sustainability. As a final word, it must be noted that our work speaks to the burgeoning literature on supply chain dynamism as a moderator by examining the direct and contingent effects of SCR and DSC not only on performance but sustainability. By shedding light on the moderating role of dynamism, the study provides fresh insights into the multifaceted nature of supply chain management and sustainability practices. The study’s findings enhance theoretical understanding by elucidating the synergistic effects of SCR, DSC, and sustainability in dynamic supply chain settings. The study augments the existing theoretical frameworks by integrating the concepts of resilience, digitalization, and sustainability into a comprehensive model. Practical and economical, the research offers actionable guidance for organizations aiming to improve sustainability performance through resilient and digitally advanced supply chains. By acknowledging the role of supply chain dynamism, managers can tailor strategies to manage disruptions effectively and leverage digital innovations. Economically, adopting sustainable practices can result in cost savings and competitive advantages. The research emphasizes the importance of aligning supply chain strategies with sustainability goals to drive long-term value and societal impact.

This paper aims to comprehensively review the main benefits, limitations, and challenges associated with the uptake of Blockchain technology in supply chain management (SCM). The study utilizes the literature review method, examining articles published from 2016 to 2022 and exploring the factors influencing the adoption and implementation of Blockchain in SCM. Multiple scholarly insights have shown no more hacking or cherry picking of options given for presenting data with high confidence and, therefore, reliability, as well as an ability to see everything in a highly limited way. An SCM looking at these multi-party evolutionary models shows that for Blockchain, the key advantages center on significantly increased security, confidentiality, traceability, transparency, data accuracy, privacy, efficiency, accountability, and trust. In contrast, the review has also detailed several limitations and challenges that must be overcome by firms and industries looking to adopt Blockchain within their SCM processes, which include problems with scaling, lower performance as a result of interoperability issues, legal and regulatory matters, very high initial implementation and ongoing maintenance costs, a struggle with standardization of the technology and the needed surveillance of this space, avoidance of technology adoption because of trust, the substantial energy used, low awareness, complexity of integrating with existing systems, being in its last mile in partnerships, and privacy. Even with this potential to transform and be disrupted across industry and its sectors, there are still very significant challenges for Blockchain. For those looking to actually utilize SCM and other sectors, understanding this from a variety of perspectives is of great interest to understand if the technology is fit for that sector and what strategies or networks need to be established or linked into with existing firms. Regardless, if these challenges can be overcome and responded to, then the greater protection and efficiency of current and future SCM processes will not only occur, but it can be the first significant node for broader industry-wide innovation and gains in efficiency.

This research aims to investigate the effect of green supply chain management (GSCM) on the competitive advantage (CA) of Jordanian pharmaceutical manufacturing (JPM) organizations. Data were collected by questionnaires from managers who were working in JPM organizations, then checked and coded against SPSS. After confirming the tool validity, reliability, and relationship between variables, the hypotheses were tested by multiple regressions. The results show that JPM organizations implement green purchasing and green selling, while weakly implementing green operations. At the same time, for CA dimensions, the results show that JPM organizations are more concerned with quality, speed (time), and reliability than cost reduction and innovation. Moreover, the results show that the relationship between GSCM and CA is very strong. The results also show that green supply chain components affect the CA of JPM organizations, where green operations have the highest effect on total CA, followed by green purchasing and finally, green selling. Additionally, the green supply chain affects CA dimensions of JPM organizations, where GSCM has the highest effect on quality, followed by innovation, then time, while GSCM does not have any significant effect on reliability and cost.

The goal of this research is to investigate blockchain technology’s influence on digitizing courier supply chains and advancing Industry 4.0, which leads the digitization revolution by integrating blockchain to digitize processes that would serve the circular economy. It evaluates how blockchain enhances transparency, traceability, and digital processes in logistics, promoting sustainability through waste reduction and improved reuse. The study aims to identify the benefits and challenges of blockchain integration, develop a conceptual framework, and provide actionable insights to improve supply chain management, operational efficiency, and sustainability. This research uses a qualitative research method including a literature review as well as interviews for case studies to explore both the benefits and challenges when applying blockchain technology in courier organizations in Industry 4.0 within the circular economy. The results show that blockchain technology can enhance the security, traceability, and efficiency of courier supply chains, reduce theft, error risk, and fraud, as well as facilitate specific process automation via smart contracts. Blockchain technology can support the digital transformation of logistics organizations and enhance circular economy networks in Industry 4.0 by enabling automation, transparency, traceability, and maintaining responsibility for the environment. This research is an exploration of the effect of blockchain technology on the courier supply chain in the logistics firms in Industry 4.0 within the circular economy and the development of a conceptual framework for usage. In addition, it capitalizes on both coordination and collaboration among players through decentralization to obtain maximum fruitful benefits.

People use social media not only for social purposes but also for business purposes. It is used in management and marketing as a tool to manage organizations and market products and services, especially to influence customers’ intention and satisfaction. Therefore, the research purpose is to define factors that influence continuous intention to use TikTok in Jordan and to what extent satisfaction with TikTok influences continuous intention to use TikTok. The current research uses a quantitative cross-sectional approach. Data was collected by online surveys and shared on several social media sites such as WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook. A total of 402 responses were valid for further analysis. Then, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was performed. The results indicate that the following factors significantly affect satisfaction: self-expression, informativeness, a sense of belonging, and trendiness in TikTok. However, the following factors do not significantly affect satisfaction: sociability, affection in TikTok, and past time in TikTok. The factors can explain 48.5% of satisfaction. Finally, satisfaction has a positive significant influence on users’ continuous intention to use TikTok and can explain 30.6% of the user’s continuous intention to use TikTok. In conclusion, the organizations have to heavily use the factors that influence the users’ satisfaction to increase users’ continuous intention.

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to empirically test the relationship between intellectual capital (i.e. human capital, structural capital, relational capital) and business performance within the pharmaceutical sector of Jordan.Design methodology approach - A valid research instrument was utilized to conduct a survey of 132 top- and middle-level managers from all 15 members of the Jordanian Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers.Findings - A correlation and path analysis were conducted to ascertain the validity of the measures and models. Statistical support was found for the hypothesized relationships.Research limitations implications - The findings offer valuable insights on the generalizability of intellectual capital in a novel research setting.Practical implications - Intellectual capital measurement is of primary interest for senior executives of pharmaceutical firms in Jordan.Originality value - The research reported is among only a few to investigate the issue of intellectual capital in Egypt and the first to study pharmaceutical firms.

To estimate the seroprevalence and temporal course of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies, we embedded a multi-tiered seroprevalence survey within an ongoing community-based cohort study in Bonn, Germany. We first assessed anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin G levels with an immunoassay, followed by confirmatory testing of borderline and positive test results with a recombinant spike-based immunofluorescence assay and a plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT). Those with a borderline or positive immunoassay result were retested after 4 to 5 months. At baseline, 4771 persons participated (88% response rate). Between April 24 th and June 30 th , 2020, seroprevalence was 0.97% (95% CI: 0.72−1.30) by immunoassay and 0.36% (95% CI: 0.21−0.61) when considering only those with two additional positive confirmatory tests. Importantly, about 20% of PRNT+ individuals lost their neutralizing antibodies within five months. Here, we show that neutralizing antibodies are detectable in only one third of those with a positive immunoassay result, and wane relatively quickly. Population-based studies of SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence are needed to understand levels of immunity and antibody dynamics. Here, the authors show that the seroprevalence in Bonn, Germany was low (<1%) following the first epidemic wave, and that neutralising antibodies waned within a few months.

Visual impairment and retinal neurodegeneration are intrinsically connected and both have been associated with cognitive impairment and brain atrophy, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. To investigate whether transneuronal degeneration is implicated, we systematically assessed the relation between visual function and retinal, visual pathway, hippocampal and brain degeneration. We analyzed baseline data from 3316 eligible Rhineland Study participants with visual acuity (VA), optical coherence tomography (OCT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data available. Regional volumes, cortical volume, and fractional anisotropy (FA) were derived from T1‐weighted and diffusion‐weighted 3 T MRI scans. Statistical analyses were performed using multivariable linear regression and structural equation modeling. VA and ganglion cell layer (GCL) thinning were both associated with global brain atrophy (SD effect size [95% CI] −0.090 [−0.118 to −0.062] and 0.066 [0.053–0.080], respectively), and hippocampal atrophy (−0.029 [−0.055 to −0.003] and 0.114 [0.087–0.141], respectively). The effect of VA on whole brain and hippocampal volume was partly mediated by retinal neurodegeneration. Similarly, the effect of retinal neurodegeneration on brain and hippocampal atrophy was mediated through intermediate visual tracts, accounting for 5.2%–23.9% of the effect. Visual impairment and retinal neurodegeneration were robustly associated with worse brain atrophy, FA, and hippocampal atrophy, partly mediated through disintegration of intermediate visual tracts. Our findings support the use of OCT‐derived retinal measures as markers of neurodegeneration, and indicate that both general and transneuronal neurodegeneration along the visual pathway, partly reflecting visual impairment, account for the association between retinal neurodegeneration and brain atrophy. Visual impairment and retinal neurodegeneration are associated with brain atrophy and brain integrity in areas involved in visual processing and cognition.