Abstract: The performance of two prominent microcredit providers—Grameen Bank and BRAC NGO—is examined in this paper, with particular attention paid to their different organizational structures and governance frameworks. As a borrower-owned cooperative, Grameen Bank promotes member involvement in decision-making, which, through group lending, encourages ownership and peer support but may also lead to social pressure. BRAC NGO, on the other hand, employs a centralized governance model and offers a thorough approach to micro credit that is in line with its larger social development initiatives. Although this strategy provides comprehensive assistance, it may not be as flexible to meet the needs of each borrower. Although borrower choices and economic conditions have an impact on their effectiveness, both groups aim to increase loan attachment and reduce poverty. While BRAC depends on a combination of donor money and revenue-generating operations, Grameen Bank places a higher priority on self-sufficiency. The impact and sustainability of microcredit systems might be improved by fusing the advantages of both models—BRAC's integrated approach and Grameen Bank's borrower ownership.
Abstract: Previous studies explain lots of insights on hotel management in terms of service quality, challenges, issues, and problems faced in the inns. However, there is a gap in bridging the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of hotels common faces. This study addressed the gap by approaching the customer-centric viewpoint. The study looks to ascertain the strengths (S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O), and threats (T) of the hotel management from a customer perspective and to find the connection among the hotel facilities and frequency of customer visits for staying. The results enlighten that there is significance between the hotel amenities, price affordability, and frequency of the visit of customers. Therefore, amenities consistently give guests a comfortable space to remain longer and foster a positive perception of the hotel. The research's results are restricted to the study region; they may vary over time and between regions. From a competitive perspective, service quality contributes to the hotels by increasing their strengths and opportunities and decreasing weaknesses and threats.
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digital adoption across sectors, rapidly restructuring Indian e-commerce. AI is a critical enabler of operational efficiency-from planning supply chains to automating customer support. The study attempts to understand post-COVID transformations in AI-related employment trends in various e-commerce subsectors in India. While AI threatens entry-level, routine applications, it creates a demand for professional jobs further involving AI development, data science, and digital operations. The study, thus, employs mixed methods, using secondary data sets and qualitative case studies, to comprehend the sectoral landscape of AI impacts on employment. It attempts to understand the potentials and challenges of AI, drawing on assessment of its socio-economic impact so as to arrive at recommendations on reskilling policies and inclusive employment strategies.
Abstract: This study aims to measure the impact of the level of voluntary disclosure transparency on improving the quality of published financial reports in Jordanian business enterprises during the year 2024. The study adopted a combination of the inductive and positive approaches by extrapolating previous research and studies on voluntary disclosure and using the positive approach to analyze the quantity and quality of information disclosed in financial reports.
To achieve the study’s objectives, a model for measuring the level of voluntary disclosure was developed based on models previously used in studies conducted in environments similar to the Jordanian context. This model includes 134 elements encompassing strategic, financial, and non-financial information, with the aim of assessing the impact of these components on improving financial report quality. The study defines report quality in terms of the ability of disclosed information to influence the decision-making process of report users within the research population, which consists of publicly listed companies on the Amman Stock Exchange.
Additionally, the study sought to analyze the relationship between several variables—board independence, family ownership percentage, audit committees, and international exposure—and the level of voluntary accounting disclosure. The research sample consisted of 20 publicly listed companies on the Amman Stock Exchange, selected based on specific criteria that serve and contribute to achieving the study’s objectives.
The results revealed a statistically significant positive correlation between board independence, international exposure, audit committees, audit firm size, company size, and company performance and the level of voluntary disclosure transparency. Furthermore, the study found a statistically significant negative correlation between the percentage of family ownership in Jordanian public shareholding companies and the level of voluntary disclosure in financial reports.
Abstract: Countries participating in a regional trading arrangement (RTA) are typically heterogeneous, as evidenced by their variations in geographic size, population, gross national product (GNP), economic systems—reflected in the various types of commodities and services manufactured when traded — and the policy instruments employed through monetary, financial, and trade-related measures that affect national production and trade activities. The diverse attributes of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) members significantly impact their benefits from a Regional Trade Agreement (RTA). The South Asian nations within the SAFTA distinctly illustrate their intrinsic disparities while also highlighting an unsettling situation about the inequitable distribution of prospective benefits from through regional collaboration initiative. Although the members of SAFTA members have low-income and the nations are developing, among these —Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Maldives, —are classified as least developed countries (LDCs) due to many significant challenges that impede their business expansion and development. Thus, the extent to which these issues may impact the SAFTA agreement and the measures India must implement is a crucial inquiry, which serves as the primary purpose of this article.
This research also considers the influence among the SAARC members. Analysis of data from several pertinent sources covering the period from 2016-17 to 2022-23 reveals that commerce among SAFTA members has not expanded as considerably as anticipated. The statistical analysis conducted validates the suspicions of numerous scholars, indicating that the SAFTA countries are not genuine trading partners; instead, they frequently compete by exporting identical product categories. Given that this context renders significant growth in mutual trade improbable, the paper finishes with views on enhancing India's regional commerce.