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There is a renowned interest in adaptability as an important principle for achieving circularity in the built environment. Circular building adaptability (CBA) could enable long-term building utilisation and flexible use of space with limited material flows. This paper identifies and analyses design strategies facilitating CBA to propose a framework for enhancing the implementation of the concept.

Interviews were conducted with professionals experienced in circular building design to explore the questions “How do currently applied design strategies enable CBA?” and “How can CBA be implemented through a conceptual design framework?”. The interviews encircled multi-residential building examples to identify currently applied circular design strategies. The interviews were analysed through qualitative content analysis using CBA determinants as a coding framework.

The results show that all ten CBA determinants are supported by design strategies applied in current circular building design. However, some determinants are more supported than others, and design strategies are often employed without explicitly considering adaptability. The design strategies that enable adaptability offer long-term solutions requiring large-scale modifications rather than facilitating low-impact adaptation by dwelling occupants. The proposed conceptual design framework could aid architects in resolving these issues and implementing CBA in their circular building design.

This paper’s contribution to CBA is threefold. It demonstrates design strategies facilitating CBA, proposes a conceptual design framework to apply the concept and identifies the need for a more comprehensive application of available adaptability strategies.

This paper aims to extend the Shapley value (SV) into a discussion of Zakat, a Pillar of Islam. Lloyd Shapley was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2012. This study shows that their relationship is significant for all nations, that of levelling up. An important but neglected paper by Datta (1939) showed insights provided by the Power Law, or as it is sometimes called, the Pareto distribution, into the role of Zakat in raising the income of all above the subsistence level. The Pareto distribution describes the prevailing tendency. The SV illustrates the interdependence perspective of Zakat with the Pareto distribution, wealth, income and poverty. Payoffs apply equally to both givers and receivers. For this study’s purposes, payoffs are considered as transferable utilities. They are formed by individuals who willingly cooperate in society rather than atomistic individuals who act independently. Zakat represents the recognition that society needs to be cooperative rather than individualistic; people cooperate in groups or societies to create value. SV implications and axioms are evaluated with an illustration.

This study extends Datta’s approach by introducing distribution weights into the SV. The authors set out the concept of weighted Shapley values that retain the elements of randomness and marginal contribution to a coalition contained in pure/true SVs and weights that follow a ley-Pareto distribution. This paper is a viewpoint work that relies primarily on the author’s qualitative interpretation.

The findings indicate that individual members of a coalition make multiple contributions that are often unrewarded. The contribution of one member of a coalition is dependent upon the contribution of others. The measure of contributions is payoffs, which have both monetary and non-monetary aspects; transferable payoffs or utilities are usually assumed. Furthermore, the significant agents in society or an organisation are stakeholders rather than the usual categories: managers, staff, shareholders, etc.

Contextualising these concepts within the Islamic values and principles that guide Zakat administration is crucial to ensure that the distribution of Zakat funds is fair, equitable and meets the needs of all eligible recipients. By applying these concepts appropriately, Zakat administrators can ensure that the Zakat system functions effectively and fulfils its religious obligation.

The novelty of this paper is that it blends the SV and the idea behind Zakat by introducing the idea of alternatives of Shapley weights. The link between the institution of Zakat and SV in terms of equality, poverty elimination and wealth distribution should be at the top of the research agenda.

This paper aims to provide a case study of complex conflict management within the arms race on the Korean Peninsula. Exploring the complex nexus of nuclear weapons, asymmetry and a qualitative arms race, the study explains how the arms race between Seoul and Pyongyang has promoted stability on the Korean Peninsula.

Presenting the limits of arguments that the US security guarantee is the factor that saved the two Koreas from going to war again, this paper explores the utility of the inter-Korean arms race as a stabilizer that promotes indirect negotiations. While presenting Korean anomalies, this paper analyzes the three stages of the inter-Korean arms race – especially its nuclear weapons, its asymmetry and the nature of arms races – and provides extant explanations on the causes and consequences of the qualitative arms race. These key elements drive the states’ strategic motives.

Using the case of the inter-Korean qualitative arms race and US extended nuclear deterrence on the Korean Peninsula, the study shows the complexities of conflict management today. This paper identifies three contributing factors – US nuclear weapons, asymmetry and the qualitative characteristic of the arms race – to explain the enduring stability on the peninsula despite the arms race’s intensification. The paper finds that although US nuclear-extended deterrence plays a critical role, it does not capture the full context of the ongoing, dynamic inter-Korean arms race; a prolonged arms race between the two Koreas has become a new regularity; the qualitative characteristic of the inter-Korean arms race, which is driven by technological advancement, contributes to stability in the arms race; and as the constant mismatch in priority technologies becomes more severe, the changes to the existing asymmetry could increase instability.

This paper offers a diverse perspective to the literature on conflict management and captures the complexities of 21^st-century conflict management. Through a thorough examination of the inter-Korean arms race, it brings readers’ attention to the nested dynamics within the arms race and shows how an intensifying arms race can promote stability. Furthermore, the paper explains the implications for potential instability – fueled by the comprehensive mix of a dynamic qualitative arms race and the US extended nuclear deterrence – in the Indo-Pacific region.

The purpose of this study is to explore the principal research query and whether strategic foresight deployed by entrepreneurial firms in energy transition aims at crafting future readiness.

With a focus on entrepreneurial firms working in the alternative energy segment in the Indian context, the intent is to examine the deployment of strategic foresight by incumbent firms and their entrepreneurial journey. The authors have adopted the approach of Eisenhardt for this research. The area of interest for the authors entailing strategic foresight by entrepreneurial firms in energy transition aligns with defining features reflecting the aim of Eisenhardt method for this exploratory research coupled with constructivism.

While the future scenarios in the energy sector have to be necessarily multiple, their alignment with different geographic, economic, demographic and political outlooks shall be defined by the pathways niched through the deployment of strategic foresight for arriving at those scenarios.

Strategic foresight deployed by entrepreneurial firms has the potential to create future readiness through self-reliant sustainable economic value chains for local populace, thus propagating holistic development in remote regions.

This paper attempts to knit together the domains of strategic foresight, entrepreneurial firms and energy transition through case research and present the future thinking deployed for navigation in uncharted pathways by capturing the foresight component of these incumbent firms chosen through careful case selection. The narrative has been strengthened by the varied interviews across participants and the observations made by the authors during the research work.

Adopting digital transformation is changing the methods through which companies' function, generating novel possibilities and difficulties that force firms to adjust to remain competitive in the digital era. It is critical for firms to embrace this change and utilize technology to develop a more flexible, proactive and effective approach as digital transformation continues to advance at an accelerating pace. Vietnam has been placed at the forefront of these changes in attracting investments and becoming a hub of international trade. As a result, Vietnamese firms have been implementing restructuring and adopting digital transformation to remain competitive with the flow of foreign investment. This paper aims to examine the effects of digital transformation on corporate restructuring in Vietnam. The authors then investigate the moderating role of corporate governance in the digital transformation – corporate restructuring nexus.

The authors employ content analysis to extract information from the annual reports of 747 Vietnamese listed companies, where the authors focus on specific phrases, such as “digitalization”, “big data”, “cloud computing”, “blockchain” and “information technology” over a period of 11 years, from 2011 to 2021. The frequency count of these keywords is calculated to represent the level of digital transformation for the Vietnamese listed firms. A final sample of 118 Vietnamese listed firms with sufficient data is selected for the analysis using the generalized method of moments (GMM) approach.

The results indicate that digital transformation and corporate governance negatively impact corporate restructuring when their effect on corporate restructuring is examined independently. However, corporate governance strengthens the effect of digital transformation on corporate restructuring.

This paper is one of the first to investigate the moderating role of corporate governance on the effect of digital transformation on corporate restructuring in Vietnam. The findings inspire listed firms in Vietnam to implement digital transformation during their corporate restructuring to enhance performance.