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The health and environmental hazards associated with synthetic dyes have led to a revival of natural dyes that are non-toxic, environmentally benign and coupled with various functions. The study aims to investigate and develop the potentiality of a popular herb called Chromolaena odorata (C. odorata) as a sustainable and stable dyestuff in textiles.

Natural colorant extracted from C. odorata leaves is used to dye the worsted fabric, which is one of the premier end-use of wool in fashion, via the padding method associated with pre-, simultaneous and post-mordanting with chitosan, tannic acid and copper sulfate pentahydrate. The effects of extraction, dyeing and mordanting processes on fabric’s color strength K/S and color difference ΔE_CMC are investigated via International Commission on Illumination’s L*a*b* color space, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, color fastness to washing, rubbing, perspiration and light.

The results obtained indicate extraction with ethanol 90% with a solid/liquid ratio of 1:5 within 1 h, and coloration with a liquor ratio of 1:5 (pH 5) within 2 h under padding pressure of 0.3 MPa are the most effective for coloring worsted fabric.

The C. odorata’s application as a highly effective dyestuff possessing good colorimetric effectiveness has expanded this herb's economic potential, contributing partly to economic growth and adding value to wool in global supply chain.

C. odorata dyestuff has prevailed over other natural colorants because of its impressive color fastness against washing, rubbing, perspiration and especially color stability for pH change.

This study aims to investigate the conditional indirect effect of academic self-efficacy in the interplay between academic motivation and academic satisfaction through academic engagement among university students.

A cross-sectional study was performed on 1,638 Vietnamese university students (31.9% males and 68.1% females) aged 16 to 36 (Mean = 20.06, SD = 1.428). The participants filled out a questionnaire with the Vietnam versions of the General Self-Efficacy Scale, Academic Motivation Scale, Academic Life Satisfaction Scale and Academic Engagement Scale. Model 4 and Model 7 in the PROCESS macro were used for the mediation analysis and the moderated mediation analysis.

Results showed that the indirect effect of academic engagement on the academic motivation-academic satisfaction link was significant. Furthermore, academic self-efficacy moderated this indirect effect. The indirect effect was stronger among students with high academic self-efficacy and weaker among students with low academic self-efficacy.

This study’s findings contribute to educational research on academic satisfaction and can be used by institutions of higher education and educators to enhance academic satisfaction among university students.

Cambodian and Laotian students (CLS) are among the largest groups of international students in intra-ASEAN student mobility as well as in Vietnamese higher education institutions (HEIs). However, little has been researched on the factors influencing CLS’s decision to choose Vietnam as destination country. The purpose of this study is to investigate why CLS decide to go overseas and choose Vietnam as their host country among other opportunities as well as their perceptions of the decision.

Using qualitative methods and employing purposive sampling, data were collected by semi-structured interviews from CLS studying in a HEI in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. The data were analysed against the push–pull framework to understand factors influencing the participants’ decision.

The findings show that CLS in the study were “pushed” by the perceived higher value of a foreign qualification and family encouragements. In terms of pull factors, they were attracted to choose Vietnam as the host country most observably due to scholarship opportunities. However other pull factors were also significant, especially the lack of certain skills in home countries and its congruence with Vietnam’s competitive strength in offering courses for those skills. In retrospect, the participants expressed a sense of optimism, though there was also certain reservation.

The small sample restrict the generalisability of the findings.

As an exploratory study, the findings can lay the ground for largerscale studies investigating CLS mobility in Vietnam and be employed for inbound student mobility policymaking reference for HEIs in Vietnam as well as in other developing countries.

This study investigates why Cambodian and Laotian international students decide to go to Vietnam, a developing country in the lesser-known part of international student mobility landscape. This is a topic that remains under-researched in the Asia-bound student mobility literature. Insights from the study can not only contribute to the scholarly gap but also offer implications for HEIs in Vietnam and other Asian countries.

The COVID-19 lockdown has forced many organizations and employees to work from home. In such uncertain and unprecedented context, it is crucial for organizations to stimulate their employees’ creativity to adapt to new working environment and thus to sustain and improve organizational performance. This paper aims to examine how to stimulate employees’ creativity by focusing on their online knowledge sharing (OKS) behaviors, their use of online platforms and their organizations’ innovation climate in a working from home (WFH) context because of the lockdown. For empirical analysis, this research uses data from Vietnam – a developing country in the Southeast Asia.

Data are collected from employees working in Ho Chi Minh City but WFH during the COVID-19 lockdown. Structural equation models are used for analyzing the data.

Online platform use and organizational innovation climate are positively associated with creativity directly and indirectly via the mediating roles of internal and external OKS.

This research provides policymakers, organizational leaders and managers with an important evidence on how to stimulate creativity by emphasizing the roles of knowledge sharing, online platforms and innovation climate. Accordingly, relevant practical implications are also drawn to sustain or improve organizational performance in the context of WFH context because of COVID-19 lockdown. This research also contributes to knowledge management literature by providing an evidence on the relationships between online platform use, organizational innovation climate, OKS and creativity.

This research is among the early attempts that explore the associations between employees’ use of online platforms, their organizations’ innovation climate, their internal and external OKS behaviors and their creativity in the context of WFH because of a lockdown.

Farmers' risk attitudes and risk perceptions play an essential role in shaping risk management strategies to address risks and uncertainties. Contract farming is considered as one of the feasible approaches to tackle farmers' concerns. However, risk perspectives under various categories have not been included in studies on farmers' preferences for contract farming in the literature, especially in Vietnam. This study aims to determine factors affecting farmers' choices of different contract farming practices.

The explanatory factor analysis (EFA) and multinomial logit model (MNL) were applied to explore the impacts of risk perspectives on farmers' preferences for contract farming. Data have been collected from 211 rice farmers in An Giang Province, “the rice bowl” of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam.

The study found that farm size, cooperatives, extension, market access and trust have significantly impacted on contract participation while a delay payment was a barrier for farmers' motivation to opt for the contract. Farmers' contract choices were also influenced by their risk attitudes and perceptions under different risk dimensions. The financial, policy and human risk-averse behavior predisposed farmers to single out the full contract while the policy and human risk-loving and production, market and finance risk-averse respondents were in favor of the marketing contract. Moreover, the findings indicated that the more farmers concerned about risk of weather and market, the more choices for the full contract, whereas the risk perceptions of weather and policy encouraged farmers to use the limited contract. By contrast, farmers who perceived the impacts of risk of diseases/pests and human were likely to adopt the marketing contract.

This study just focuses on collecting data from farmers’ perspective. Future studies involving stakeholders such as enterprises and policy makers are strongly recommended so as to design suitable contracts and enforce contract schemes effectively in Vietnam.

The findings also contribute to the literature on different types of contracts and the multidimensional aspect of risk for rice production in Vietnam.

Dehydrated bacterial cellulose’s (BC) intrinsic rigidity constrains applicability across textiles, leather, health care and other sectors. This study aims to yield a novel BC modification method using glycerol and succinic acid with catalyst and heat, applied via an industrially scalable padding method to tackle BC’s stiffness drawbacks and enhance BC properties.

Fabric-like BC is generated via mechanical dehydration and then finished by using padding method with glycerol, succinic acid, catalyst and heat. Comprehensive material characterizations, including international testing standards for stiffness, bending properties (cantilever method), tensile properties, moisture vapor transmission rate, moisture content and regain, washing, thermal gravimetric analysis, derivative thermogravimetry, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and colorimetric measurement, are used.

The combination of BC/glycerol/succinic acid dramatically enhanced porous structure, elongation (27.40 ± 6.39%), flexibility (flexural rigidity of 21.46 ± 4.01 µN m; bending modulus of 97.45 ± 18.20 MPa) and moisture management (moisture vapor transmission rate of 961.07 ± 86.16 g/m²/24 h; moisture content of 27.43 ± 2.50%; and moisture regain of 37.94 ± 4.73%). This softening process modified the thermal stability of BC. Besides, this study alleviated the drawbacks for washing (five cycles) of BC and glycerol caused by the ineffective affinity between glycerol and cellulose by adding succinic acid with catalyst and heat.

The study yields an effective padding process for BC softening and a unique modified BC to contribute added value to textile and leather industries as a sustainable alternative to existing materials and a premise for future research on BC functionalization by using doable technologies in mass production as padding.

This study aims to develop a strategic framework for the success of coastal urban projects in Vietnam, which is one of the Asia Pacific countries significantly affected by climate change.

A questionnaire was used to collect data from practitioners in Vietnam. Principal component analysis (PCA) technique was used to identify critical success factors (CSFs) of coastal urban projects. A strategy map for the success of coastal urban projects was also proposed using the balanced scorecard (BSC) method.

This study identified 41 project success factors that could contribute to project success, and thence, extracted 11 CSFs for coastal urban projects using the PCA technique. In addition, 11 key performance indicators (KPIs) for coastal urban projects were listed and their linking with project success factors and CSFs was explored. Furthermore, a strategy map for the success of coastal urban projects was proposed using the BSC method. The strategy map included five perspectives: learning and growth, internal processes, social and environmental performance, financial performance, and stakeholders' satisfaction.

This study identified 11 CSFs for coastal urban projects and proposed a strategy map for the success of coastal urban projects.

This chapter explores the influences of Vietnamese culture coupled with national policies on gender equality on academic women’s advancement into senior leadership positions.

In-depth interviews with 20 mid-level women leaders and five top-level leaders were conducted at four different higher education institutions in the Mekong Delta (MD) in southern Vietnam. In addition, document analysis and participant observations contributed to the overall analysis, which allowed for the cross-check of data from multiple sources to investigate the participants’ understanding, perception, conceptualization, and interpretation of their experiences of advancing in their careers.

Findings show that there is a large gap between the policies and gender practices. Gender equality does not exist in reality, regardless of tremendous efforts from the Vietnamese government and policy makers to ensure it in all spheres of life. Additionally, patriarchal hierarchy remains dominant in the institutional administrative system, and Vietnamese Confucian ideology continues to confine and adversely affect both men’s and women’s perceptions of women’s social roles, status, and forms of social participation. Nevertheless, academic women still develop professionally and find their own ways to advance to a few key leadership positions at their institutions.

The sample of this study is limited to academic women in the MD in Vietnam. Future research should include more women and universities and colleges, from not only the southern part but also other regions of Vietnam. Further, international and comparative studies should be conducted to see differences in experiences of academic women from several Southeast Asian countries as they move up their career ladder.

Because there have not been any empirical studies about women and leadership in academia in the MD, this study serves as a resource and foundation for improving gender policies and practices as well as future research on this topic and gender issues of colleges and universities in Vietnam.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the input- and output-specific technical inefficiency of Vietnamese prawn-rice rotational crops (PRRC) and to identify the impacts of the socio-economic characteristics of farmers and farms on these technical inefficiencies.

This study first used a Russell-type (input-output) directional distance function to estimate the input- and output-specific technical inefficiency. Second, it applied a bootstrap truncated regression to analyze the factors influencing these technical inefficiencies. Data were gathered through a survey among 94 farmers, from Ben Tre and Kien Giang provinces, the two popular PRRC areas in the Mekong Delta.

Results show that Vietnamese PRRC farmers could reduce the water surface area by 3%, the use of seedlings by 15%, labor by 16%, fertilizers by 26%, and the use of others by 24%, while simultaneously increasing the revenue of farming system by 57% relative to the variable returns to scale (VRS) frontier. Farmers with more years of experience are generally better in managing the use of seedlings and in improvement of revenue. Farmers in Kien Giang province are more efficient in achieving revenue of the PRRC farming system than farmers in Ben Tre province.

Outcomes of this study are useful to identify strategies in minimizing the use of inputs while simultaneously maximizing PRRC production.

This paper relates to the comparison of two mostly different ecological zones, being the dominant production areas of PRRC, in which, Kien Giang represents the western part, while Ben Tre is in the eastern part of the Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. The findings not only expand the current understanding but also suggest various meaningful research questions regarding the development of Vietnamese PRRC under the impacts of climate change. The study also contributes to the literature on examining the input- and output-specific technical inefficiencies and influencing factors.