Search results

This paper is a response to the failure of construction firms to use sufficient attention to their working capital management (WCM) practices, resulting in operational challenges, and leading to the collapse of firms in most developing countries. Hence, this study aims to explore the empirical perspective of WCM practices among large building construction firms (LBCFs) in Ghana, to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 9.

The study collected primary data through structured survey questionnaires from LBCFs in Ghana. The CEOs/Directors, General Managers and Accountant/Finance of LBCFs in Ghana formed the unit of analysis based on a simple random sampling technique. Mean score, standard deviation and one-sample t-test were used to perform the empirical analysis of the study.

According to this study's empirical results, LBCFs appear to have effective WCM practices in place. This was evidenced in the surveyed responses which indicate that the sector’s WCM practices sound good based on the mean scores and statistically significant as the t-values > 1.664. Notably, LBCFs in Ghana pay their suppliers early to reduce the fear of adverse effect of late payments on their credit history, making them conservative in their approach toward financial management.

This is a pioneering paper in a developing country like Ghana, highlighting the significance of gaining an in-depth understanding of WCM practices among LBCFs. The findings of this study are expected to provide valuable information to industry players toward ensuring WCM efficiencies and can serve as a solid foundation for further empirical studies.

In the realm of postpandemic perspectives, tourism was awakened to see that atop economic viability is resiliency. Shift in the demand to visit ecotourism destinations became a valuable opportunity to the local community to capitalize on natural resources as primary precursor for livelihood, substantiating their communal role as bailiffs in the conservation of protected landscapes and mitigators of the negative tourism implications. As tourism initiates in rethinking sustainability and inclusivity, the postpandemic paradigm in destination planning became anew. Aside from being an agritourism destination, Nueva Ecija has been promoted as an emerging ecotourism destination. Various literature has evaluated local ecotourism destinations in the Philippines, yet few literature examined the potential of Nueva Ecija. The emerging popularity of the province's ecotourism postpandemic beckons the inflow of tourists compelling for an in-place policy toward sustainability. The study aims to underscore the destination branding of Nueva Ecija as a tourist destination using a strategic framework derived from ecotourism concepts and best practices. Qualitative data from various tourism stakeholders were collected, and internal and external factors were analyzed. Results of the study may serve as a foundation toward a unified framework to assess and strengthen ecotourism destinations toward sustainability and tourism destination resiliency.

Children are beginning to socialize as consumers earlier than ever, highlighting the importance of their saving behavior as an effective form of consumer protection. The paper explored the influence of parents, peers, attitudes, knowledge, past behavior, allowance and self-efficacy on saving intention.

With the aim to explore a range of determinants of adolescent saving and to specify the potential mechanisms through which different determinants operate, we adopted a multitheoretical approach based on theories of planned behavior, consumer and financial socialization, and self-efficacy. The paper investigates the formation of the saving intentions on a sample of 1,476 children 10–15 years old in Croatia.

The results indicate strong importance of parental influence and self-efficacy, implying that saving intention among tweens requires a supportive family structure as well as beliefs in the tweens themselves that they are able to save money and face difficulties.

This paper investigates the very nature of saving intention formation at a crucial developmental stage; it investigates the interplay of mechanisms through which determinants of savings operate at that developmental stage; and it explores the age-variance of the mechanism and the interplay of relevant variables, shedding light on the nature of the mechanism of development.

Indian Ocean region (IOR) is a coveted maritime space in the international arena because of its unique positioning and importance. The third largest water body on the planet Earth holds great economic significance and sustains the livelihood of its people. While the blue economy (BE) approach gains momentum worldwide, following this for the responsible consumption of ocean resources, India too pursues and has developed a draft policy on the BE. Maritime and coastal tourism is one of the prime areas contributing to this framework of BE. This study will explore the advances in BE prospects of Indian Tourism and highlight the elements of branding a BE Destination in the region. India being a key player and an emerging economy, situated at a transitional maritime position is strategic in nature. India as a country is a strong contestant for the title of tourism hotspot but with its highly regarded destinations, it surprisingly attracts fewer tourists. The paper examines secondary sources of data and attempts to review the untapped potential of the brand India in this vast maritime space. There is enough literature available on destination branding but this paper stands out with its unique and innovative approach that combines economic aspects with maritime sustainability and surely add value to this field of knowledge. This chapter presents the recommendations for BE-led repositioning of India tourism in the IOR. To achieve higher productivity and sustainability, a socioeconomic transformational shift is required in the segments of the tourism sector.

Sustainable Development Goal 14 of the United Nations aims to ‘conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development’. To achieve this goal, we must rebuild the marine life-support systems that provide society with the many advantages of a healthy ocean. Therefore, countries worldwide have been using Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to restore, create, or protect habitats and ecosystems. Palau was one of the first countries to use MPAs as a tool to develop biodiversity within its exclusive economic zone. On 22 October 2015, Palau placed approximately 80% of its maritime territory in a network of locally monitored MPAs, which has now shown a population increase in stationary and migratory fish species. This movement towards a MPA was intentional and because of increased pressure from tourism and the increasing incursion of foreign fishing vessels in Palauan territorial waters. Since countries worldwide are using and looking towards MPAs, secondary protection projects are becoming more and more popular. This chapter highlights the practical implementations and results in Palau, how to theoretically apply this within the Greater North Sea in combination with Windmill Farms, and how the Marine Strategy Framework Directive stimulates these practices.