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Given the lack of focus on a standardized measurement framework (e.g. benchmarking tool) to assess and quantify complexity within the supply chain, this study has developed a unified supply chain complexity (SCC) index and validated its utility by examining the relationship with firm performance. More importantly, it examines the role of firm owners' business knowledge, sales strategy and board management on the relationship between SCC and firm performance.

In this study, the unit of analysis is Indian manufacturing companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). This research has merged panel data from two secondary data sources: Bloomberg and Prowess and empirically operationalized five key SCC drivers, namely, number of suppliers, the number of supplier countries, the number of products, the number of plants and the number of customers. The study employs panel data regression analyses to examine the proposed conceptual model and associated hypotheses. Moreover, the present study employs models that incorporate robust standard errors to account for heteroscedasticity.

The results show that complexity has a negative and significant effect on firm performance. Further, the study reveals that an owner's business knowledge and the firm's effective sales strategy and board management can significantly lessen the negative effect of SCC.

This study develops an SCC index and validates its utility. Also, it presents a novel idea to operationalize the measure for SCC characteristics using secondary databases like Prowess and Bloomberg.

This study aims to examine the performance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) equity indices in Latin America (LA), evaluating their risk-return characteristics in comparison to conventional benchmark indices.

Using a quantitative empirical approach, the authors analyze ESG equity indices from Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru and Colombia, employing metrics such as Sharpe, Sortino and Omega ratios to measure risk-adjusted returns. Regression analysis is employed to assess the replicability of ESG indices by benchmark indices. Monte Carlo simulations are conducted to explore the potential increase in risk-adjusted returns when ESG equity indices are incorporated into portfolios.

The study addresses critical questions for investors: Can ESG indices outperform their benchmarks? Can these ESG indices be replicated by benchmark counterparts? Do ESG equity indices enhance portfolio diversification? The findings reveal that investing in ESG indices has the potential to enhance risk-adjusted returns and portfolio diversification.

While this study focuses on various LA economies, it’s important to note variations in currency and volatility.

For investors in LA, this study highlights the importance of considering ESG indices as part of their investment strategies. While not all ESG indices outperform conventional ones, some may improve diversification and risk-adjusted performance. Investors should carefully assess market-specific conditions and national factors when making investment decisions.

The primary contribution of this study is its focus on LA countries in the examination of diverse portfolios. The research provides valuable insights into the performance of ESG indices in this region compared to conventional benchmark indices. This approach addresses an important gap in the existing literature and offers a more comprehensive perspective on ESG investing and portfolio diversification.

Se examina el rendimiento de los índices-ESG en América Latina (AL), evaluando sus características de riesgo y retorno en comparación con los índices convencionales.

Utilizando un enfoque cuantitativo, analizamos los índices-ESG de Brasil, México, Chile, Perú y Colombia, empleando ratios de Sharpe, Sortino y Omega para medir los rendimientos ajustados al riesgo. Se utiliza análisis de regresión para evaluar la replicabilidad de los índices-ESG por parte de los índices de referencia. Se realizan simulaciones de Monte-Carlo para explorar el aumento en los rendimientos ajustados al riesgo cuando se incorporan los índices-ESG en las carteras.

El estudio aborda preguntas críticas: ¿Pueden los índices-ESG superar a sus índices de referencia? ¿Pueden estos índices-ESG ser replicados por sus contrapartes de referencia? ¿Mejoran los índices-ESG la diversificación de las carteras? Los hallazgos revelan que la inversión en índices-ESG tiene el potential de mejorar los rendimientos y la diversificación de las carteras de inversión.

Aunque este estudio se centra en diversas economías de AL, es importante tener en cuenta variaciones en moneda y volatilidad.

La principal contribución de este estudio radica en su enfoque en países de AL en el examen de carteras diversas; ofrece valiosos conocimientos sobre el rendimiento de los índices-ESG en esta región en comparación con los índices convencionales.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between corporate governance (CG) and financial performance in the case of publicly listed companies in Vietnam for the period from 2019 to 2021. The topic is crucial in understanding how effective governance practices can influence the financial outcomes of companies. The study sheds light on the link between CG practice and firm financial performance. It also provides insights for policymakers and practitioners to improve CG practices.

Due to the potential dynamic endogeneity in CG research, this study uses the generalized system methods of moments to effectively address the endogeneity problem. Financial performance is measured by Tobin’s Q, return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA). Based on organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD) standards, these indices were calculated to assess the influence of CG practices on corporate financial performance, namely, for accounting information (ROA and ROE) and market performance (Tobin’s Q and service à resglement différé (SRD) – stock price volatility) for the period 2019–2021. In addition, the study examines the relationship between changes in the CG index and changes in financial performance.

The study’s main objective is to determine the relationship between CG performance scores and financial performance. The study found a positive relationship between transparency disclosure and financial performance and a positive correlation between CG and company size. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a decrease in transparency and information index scores in 2021 compared to 2019 and 2020 due to delayed General Meetings of Shareholders. The study failed to find a relationship between shareholder rights index (“cg_rosh”) and board responsibility (“cg_reob”) and financial performance, concerning which the findings of this study differ from those of previous studies. Reasons are put forward for these anomalies.

Policymakers need to develop a set of criteria for assessing CG practices. They also need to promulgate specific regulations for mandatory and voluntary information disclosure and designate a competent authority to certify the transparency of company information. The study also suggests that companies should develop CG regulations and focus on regulations relating to the business culture or ethics, as well as implementing a system to ensure equal treatment among shareholders. The study found that good CG practices can positively contribute to a company’s financial performance, which is crucial for investors to evaluate the quality of CG practices for each listed company so that investment risks can be limited.

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a systematic literature review of research conducted in the economic Islamicity (EI) index field, in terms of non-Islamic countries.

This study thoroughly assessed the literature on the EI index by conducting extensive systematic literature reviews.

The critical analysis of these indices shows the need for amendments, which can be achieved by improving the Islamicity index seen in non-Islamic countries. This step will help validate the Islamicity index assessment and help Islamic countries develop and strengthen Islamic economic values.

As the first comprehensive literature review in the Islamicity indices domain to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research may contribute for Islamic country to increase the Islamicity index in terms of economic issue for future research themes.

This study aims to predict the financial performance of Islamic banks with sentiments of management from the textual information in annual reports.

The study uses data from 33 Islamic banks in six Islamic countries from 2006 to 2020. The authors estimate the model using the system GMM because it helps dealing with endogeneity problem, which are inherent in panel data.

The findings of the study reveal that there is a strong relationship between the sentiment expressed by management in annual reports and the current (future) financial performance of Islamic banks. The higher the positive sentiments of management, the better financial performance. In addition, the study also suggests that negative sentiments using term frequency-inverse document frequency is linked to a decrease in banks’ financial performance.

The study does not present the Islamic view on sentiment analysis in the context of Islamic scriptures due to the unavailability of a relevant dictionary.

The findings of the study suggest that developing accurate models with the help of textual information for performance prediction of Islamic banks help shareholders, regulators and policymakers avoid devastating events. Using textual information may also help reduce the information asymmetry between the management and shareholders, which may lead to more efficient bank supervision. The study can also help investors evaluate their prospective investments in the Islamic bank.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind that uses management sentiments for performance prediction of the Islamic banking sector. It may add a valuable contribution to the existing literature.

This research investigates Airbnb’s financial implications in emerging economies and their potential to influence stock market profitability.

Employing a multifaceted approach, the study combines parametric and nonparametric tests, robustness checks, and regression analysis to assess the impact of Airbnb’s announcements on emerging economy stock markets.

Airbnb’s announcements affect emerging economies' stock markets with a distinct pattern of cumulative abnormal returns (CAR): negative before the announcement and positive afterward. Informed investors strategically leverage this opportunity through short selling before the announcement and acquiring positions following it. Regression analysis validates these trends, revealing that stock index returns and inbound tourism affect CAR before announcements, while GDP growth influences CAR afterward. Announcements pertaining to emerging economies exert a more pronounced impact on stock indices compared to city-specific announcements, with COVID-19 period announcements demonstrating greater significance in abnormal returns than non-COVID-19 period announcements.

This study advances existing literature through a comprehensive range of statistical tests, differentiation between emerging countries and cities, introduction of five macroeconomic variables, and reliance on credible primary Airbnb data. It highlights the potential for investors to leverage Airbnb announcements in emerging markets for stock market profits, emphasizing the need for adaptive investment strategies considering broader macroeconomic factors.

Rapid urbanization and development of pilgrimage cities cause significant problems for the environment and society, leading to long-term challenges. Despite several discussions on city sustainability, the literature does not address some of the specific problems of pilgrimage cities. Hence, this study attempts at developing a method to examine the growth pattern and sustainability of pilgrimage cities in southern part of India.

The benchmarking method and the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability are considered to construct the Pilgrimage City Sustainability Index (PCSI). Appropriate variables and categories are identified through a literature review and expert opinion survey. The benchmark values of the variables are derived by contemplating the pilgrimage cities of Tamil Nadu, one of the states with the largest tourist arrivals in India. Subsequently, three prominent pilgrimage cities from Tamil Nadu were chosen for the case study and the method was tested.

The result reveals that the cities investigated are performing above average in the sustainability index, with slight variations in their dimension scores. While the category scores of cities assist in identifying macro-level issues, the variable scores provide an insight into micro-level issues. Furthermore, the gap analysis between the benchmark and the present value of each variable discloses the immediate area of attention in each city. Thus, the cities could set more specific targets, frame strategies and/or collaborate with matching cities to bridge these gaps.

This index assessment provides a comparison of the pros and cons of these pilgrimage cities and helps identify their demand and supply. Policymakers can find appropriate tools and approaches that aid in sustainable urban development and tourism management.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in emphasizing the application of the benchmarking method to assess the sustainability of Indian pilgrimage sites. With appropriate modifications, this method can be used in varied contexts across the globe.

The aim of this paper is to analyse how technological innovations in performance measurement systems make it possible to overcome some of the challenges that public healthcare organizations face where management and control are concerned. The changes that could be applied to the performance measurement system of healthcare organisations were analysed together with an evaluation of the responses developed in order to achieve these changes.

The paper contains an in-depth case-study of a public university hospital which utilises an innovative information system.

The case-study highlights how technological innovations in performance measurement systems impact the management and monitoring information system in a public university hospital, through the implementation of a multidimensional management dashboard.

The limitation of this paper is that only one case-study is analysed, albeit in depth, while it would be interesting to consider more public university hospitals.

The paper highlights the fundamental role of middle management in change processes in the healthcare sector.

The case-study highlights how critical the active involvement of middle management is in performance measurement and management, and how this is achieved thanks to the adoption of a simple, clear method which ensures comprehensible communication of the objectives, as well as the measurement of performance by means of radar plots.

The purpose of this research paper is to recover the autonomous flight performance of a mini unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) via stochastically optimizing the wing over certain parameters (i.e. wing taper ratio and wing aspect ratio) while there are lower and upper constraints on these redesign parameters.

A mini UAV is produced in the Iskenderun Technical University (ISTE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Laboratory. Its complete wing can vary passively before the flight with respect to the result of the stochastic redesign of the wing while maximizing autonomous flight performance. Flight control system (FCS) parameters (i.e. gains of longitudinal and lateral proportional-integral-derivative controllers) and wing redesign parameters mentioned before are simultaneously designed to maximize autonomous flight performance index using a certain stochastic optimization strategy named as simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation (SPSA). Found results are used while composing UAV flight simulations.

Using stochastic redesign of mini UAV and simultaneously designing mini ISTE UAV over previously mentioned wing parameters and FCS, it obtained a maximum UAV autonomous flight performance.

Permission of the directorate general of civil aviation in the Republic of Türkiye is essential for real-time UAV autonomous flights.

Stochastic redesign of mini UAV and simultaneously designing mini ISTE UAV wing parameters and FCS approach is very useful for improving any mini UAV autonomous flight performance cost index.

Stochastic redesign of mini UAV and simultaneously designing mini ISTE UAV wing parameters and FCS approach succeeds confidence, highly improved autonomous flight performance cost index and easy service demands of mini UAV operators.

Creating a new approach to recover autonomous flight performance cost index (e.g. satisfying less settling time and less rise time, less overshoot during flight trajectory tracking) of a mini UAV and composing a novel procedure performing simultaneous mini UAV having passively morphing wing over certain parameters while there are upper and lower constraints and FCS design idea.

Sources highlight that lack of systematic labour training components results in low performance and productivity of labour, which leads the construction industry of many countries to face various challenges. This study aims to quantify the variations in the performance and productivity levels of labour in building construction projects through the applications of effective work-based training components.

A comprehensive literature review and a series of experts’ discussions with action-oriented communication approaches were conducted to develop a set of practices related to labour training, performance assessment and productivity measurements within a framework. The developed practices were applied to around 100 labourers working on nine building construction projects through a construction supervisory training programme.

The study presents the detailed patterns of the significant changes in labour performance and productivity levels. The majority of trained labourers have grown to perform the work process with some relevant theoretical and operational knowledge and skills. The overall results spotlight the significant behavioural changes that can be observed in workforce operations by improving labour performance, which resulted in implementing effective labour-rewarding practices within a framework.

Although the study findings were limited to the Sri Lankan context, the proposed practices can be applied to the industry practices of the construction sector of other developing countries and the other developing industries in similar ways/scenarios.

The study outcomes contribute to uplifting the work qualities of labourers with life-long learning opportunities and unlocking the potential barriers for expanding the local labour supply while controlling the excessive inclination of the local firms towards foreign labour. This paper describes further implications and future scopes of the study elaborately.

The study provides generalised mechanisms and practices that transform the labour characteristics and add new attributes for strengthening the values of construction supervision practices to obtain well-improved work outputs. The study outcomes reinforce the chain relationships among the training elements, labour performance and productivity levels, leading to upgrading current planning and operational management practices, especially adding constructive mechanisms in resource levelling and productivity benchmarking practices.