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The purpose of this study is to identify the effects of MNCs measured by the foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows on the promotion of renewable energy consumption and non-renewable energy in Bangladesh. It is an emergency issue these days and makes some policy suggestions.

Based on the literature review, the study sets a time series models to empirically test FDI degrades the environmental quality in Bangladesh, using the parametric (GMM, IV estimations) and non-parametric approaches (quantile regression).

The main findings drawn from the empirical analysis are as follows. First, the FDI inflows lead to more CO₂ emissions in the Bangladeshi economy. In other words, the MNCs promote the usages of non-renewable energy which causes an increase in pollution. Second, the FDI inwards discourage renewable energy consumption and in terms of magnitude, the negative impacts of FDI on renewable energy are higher than the positive effect of FDI on CO₂ emissions. This makes the situation worse.

This study is limited to Bangladesh and explores the total impact of FDI on the environment. For further investigation, it would be better to do a detailed investigation on the FDI-renewable and nonrenewable energy relationship. For instance, one could test which type of FDI promotes green energy consumption and which one is dirtier. So, the sectorial FDI effects on pollution.

Most past studies parametric techniques and did not compare the effects of FDI on renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, Unlike the previous empirical studies, this paper uses GMM and IV estimations for the parametric approach and quantile regression (QR) as a robustness check. Also, it is the first study that approves the crowding-out effect of non-renewable using the FDI channel.

This paper aims to report the first iteration on the Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) Engineering Model altimeter named HELENA. HELENA is a Time of Flight (TOF) altimeter that provides time-tagged distances and velocity measurements. The LIDAR can be used for support near asteroid navigation and provides scientific information. The HELENA design comprises two types of technologies: a microchip laser and low noise sensor. The synergies between these two technologies enable developing a compact instrument for range measurements of up to 14 km. Thermal-mechanical and radiometric simulations of the HELENA telescope are reported in this paper. The design is subjected to vibrational, static and thermal conditions, and it was possible to conclude by the results that the telescope is compliant with the random vibration levels, the static load and the operating temperatures.

The Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA) is a collaboration between the NASA DART mission and ESA Hera mission. The aim scope is to study the asteroid deflection through a kinetic collision. DART spacecraft will collide with Didymos-B, while ground stations monitor the orbit change. HERA spacecraft will study the post-impact scenario. The HERA spacecraft is composed by a main spacecraft and two small CubeSats. HERA will monitor the asteroid through cameras, radar, satellite-to-satellite doppler tracking, LIDAR, seismometry and gravimetry.

The HELENA design comprises two types of technologies: a microchip laser and low noise sensor. The synergies between these two technologies enable developing a compact instrument for range measurements of up to 14 km.

In this paper is reported the first iteration on the LIDAR Engineering Model altimeter named HELENA. HELENA is a TOF altimeter that provides time-tagged distances and velocity measurements. The LIDAR can be used for support near asteroid navigation and provides scientific information. The HELENA design comprises two types of technologies: a microchip laser and low noise sensor. The synergies between these two technologies enable developing a compact instrument for range measurements of up to 14 km.

This study aims to provide a measurement model, and the underlying constructs and items, for Logistics 4.0 in manufacturing companies. Industry 4.0 technology for logistics processes has been termed Logistics 4.0. Logistics 4.0 and its elements have seen varied conceptualizations in the literature. The literature has mainly focused on conceptual and theoretical studies, which supports the notion that Logistics 4.0 is a relatively young area of research. Refinement of constructs and building consensus perspectives and definitions is necessary for practical and theoretical advances in this area.

Based on a detailed literature review and practitioner focus group interviews, items of Logistics 4.0 for manufacturing enterprises were further validated by using a large-scale survey with practicing experts from organizations located in Central Europe, the Northeastern United States of America and Northern Thailand. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to define a measurement model for Logistics 4.0.

Based on 239 responses the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses resulted in nine items and three factors for the final Logistics 4.0 measurement model. It combines “the leveraging of increased organizational capabilities” (factor 1) with “the rise of interconnection and material flow transparency” (factor 2) and “the setting up of autonomization in logistics processes” (factor 3).

Practitioners can use the proposed measurement model to assess their current level of maturity regarding the implementation of Logistics 4.0 practices. They can map the current state and derive appropriate implementation plans as well as benchmark against best practices across or between industries based on these metrics.

Logistics 4.0 is a relatively young research area, which necessitates greater development through empirical validation. To the best of the authors knowledge, an empirically validated multidimensional construct to measure Logistics 4.0 in manufacturing companies does not exist.

Intrapreneurship (IP) and Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) are a paradigm in which the current global scenario of increased homeoffice and professional globalization can have the capacity to stimulate professionals’ autonomy and new business orientations able to re-invent new strategies, services, technologies and even leadership development. This study, of an exploratory nature, aims to analyze the synchronicities between IP and SHRM, raised by relational dynamics translated into leadership, organizational culture and individual practices having as a facilitating factor technology as an agent of change for continuous improvement (based on the Kaizen philosophy). It is supported by a qualitative analysis through a case study of a leading Portuguese group, Grupo Salvador Caetano, which has been in existence for 75 years.

The results demonstrate that dynamic relations are the synchronicities of IP and SHRM as long as stimulated and transmitted to collaborators, and that technology, facilitated these processes. The flexibility of SHRM, the sequence of delegation and implementation of relational dynamics must be the key for the synchronicities of SHRM and IP to be two phenomena that go side by side and contribute to more effective performance and evolution among collaborators, as they support each other in creating firms’ value for customers. Some contributions to theory and practice, raised through a logic of “in-house entrepreneurship,” are also presented at the end of the study.

Today, newly founded businesses are inevitably driven to start in a digital form from day 1. Moreover, most existing businesses conceive digitalization as an important part of their strategic orientation by developing and improving their digital assets and digitalizing their processes. By taking account of this development, this chapter investigates how entrepreneurial orientation (EO) affects a small firm’s proclivity to both digitization and internationalization and their performance that comes from it. Internationalization has been a key topic for many small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs) over the past decades. As digitization is currently taking over the helm from internationalization as the most pressing topic affecting business, we carried out research among SMEs to understand the interplay of these factors influencing business performance. The focus of the research was on the precursory factors inducing firm performance as well as on their interrelationships. Using a sample of 357 SMEs, EO is found to be significantly closely associated with an SME’s degree of digitization as well as with its overall performance. In contrast, EO does not affect the SME’s level of internationalization. This result is surprising considering that proactive and risk-taking firms tend to be more inclined to enter foreign and distant markets.

Few people with special educational needs (SEN) had access to higher education in Brazil until the 1980s, mainly due to their lack of access to basic education and a lack of specific public policies for this population. It was only in 2003 that the Brazilian government implemented strategies for the dissemination of the factors referring to inclusive education. The objective was one of the support for the transformation of educational systems into inclusive educational systems. As these policies are recent; few studies have been carried out in Brazil. According to Brazilian statistical data, the number of enrollments connected to special education in regular basic education classes, in 2015, was almost 751,000 students, while in higher education in diverse graduation courses the number was 38,000. In this sense, this chapter aims to unveil and discuss Brazilian public policies for the access and permanence of SEN students in higher education. Reflections will also be presented related to the evolution of the number of enrollments of students with specific SEN (visual, physical, hearing, and intellectual) in basic and higher education, as well as the implementation of public policies focused on this population in a Brazilian context.

Small businesses are dominant in most economies and their owners likely experience high levels of distress. However, we have not fully explored how these common businesses meaningfully differ with respect to the stress process. Understanding the meaningful variations or subgroups (i.e., heterogeneity) in the small business population will advance occupational health psychology, both in research and practice (e.g., Schonfeld, 2017; Stephan, 2018). To systematize these efforts, the author identifies five commonly appearing “heterogeneity factors” from the literature as modifiers of stressors or the stress process among small business owners. These five heterogeneity factors include: owner centrality, individual differences, gender differences, business/ownership type, and time. After synthesizing the research corresponding to each of these five factors, the author offers specific suggestions for identifying and incorporating relevant heterogeneity factors in future investigations of small business owners’ stress. The author closes by discussing implications for advancing occupational health theories.

The growing uses of digital technologies have been creating several new business opportunities. Recently, a new concept has emerged in the literature, the “digital entrepreneurship ecosystem” (DEE). However, it has been empirically understudied. Thus, this study aims to analyze the influence of DEE on entrepreneurial activity. The meta-organization theory was used as a perspective of analysis. A quantitative methodology was applied in a sample that includes data from 28 European countries through the generalized method of moments. It was concluded that the DEE pillars, informal and formal institutions, market conditions, physical infrastructure, human capital and talent and networking and support positively influence entrepreneurial activity. It was also found that the variables knowledge, creation and dissemination and finance have a negative impact on entrepreneurial activity. Several theoretical and empirical contributions are also left for the various stakeholders. The present study is original, as no known studies analyze the influence of DEE on entrepreneurial activity in European countries from the perspective of meta-organization theory.