Illegal Fishing and Fisheries Crime as a Transnational Organized Crime in Indonesia

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is increasingly drawing international attention and coastal states strengthen their efforts to address it as a matter of priority due to its severe implications for food, economic, environmental and social security. As the largest archipelagic country in the world, this is especially problematic for Indonesia. In this already complex geographical and security environment, the authors test the hypothesis that IUU fishing and fisheries crime(s) classify as transnational organized criminal activities. The article argues that IUU fishing is much more than simply a fisheries management issue, since it goes hand in hand with fisheries crime. As a result, although the two concepts are quite distinct, they are so closely interlinked and interrelated throughout the entire value chain of marine fisheries, that they can only be managed effectively collectively by understanding them both within the framework of transnational organized crime. To make this argument, the research utilizes qualitative and quantitative data collected from approximately two thousand trafficked fishers, rescued in 2015 from slavery conditions while stranded in two remote Indonesian locations: Benjina on Aru island and on Ambon island. The article’s findings also unveil new trends relating to the inner workings of the illegal fishing industry, in four different, yet interlinked categories: recruitment patterns and target groups; document forgery; forced labor and abuse; and fisheries violations. The paper concludes by confirming the hypothesis and highlights that IUU fishing provides the ideal (illegal) environment for fisheries crimes and other forms of transnational organized crimes to flourish

Pancreatic surgery outcomes: multicentre prospective snapshot study in 67 countries

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic surgery remains associated with high morbidity rates. Although postoperative mortality appears to have improved with specialization, the outcomes reported in the literature reflect the activity of highly specialized centres. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes following pancreatic surgery worldwide. METHODS: This was an international, prospective, multicentre, cross-sectional snapshot study of consecutive patients undergoing pancreatic operations worldwide in a 3-month interval in 2021. The primary outcome was postoperative mortality within 90 days of surgery. Multivariable logistic regression was used to explore relationships with Human Development Index (HDI) and other parameters. RESULTS: A total of 4223 patients from 67 countries were analysed. A complication of any severity was detected in 68.7 per cent of patients (2901 of 4223). Major complication rates (Clavien–Dindo grade at least IIIa) were 24, 18, and 27 per cent, and mortality rates were 10, 5, and 5 per cent in low-to-middle-, high-, and very high-HDI countries respectively. The 90-day postoperative mortality rate was 5.4 per cent (229 of 4223) overall, but was significantly higher in the low-to-middle-HDI group (adjusted OR 2.88, 95 per cent c.i. 1.80 to 4.48). The overall failure-to-rescue rate was 21 per cent; however, it was 41 per cent in low-to-middle- compared with 19 per cent in very high-HDI countries. CONCLUSION: Excess mortality in low-to-middle-HDI countries could be attributable to failure to rescue of patients from severe complications. The authors call for a collaborative response from international and regional associations of pancreatic surgeons to address management related to death from postoperative complications to tackle the global disparities in the outcomes of pancreatic surgery (NCT04652271; ISRCTN95140761

Outcomes of elective liver surgery worldwide: a global, prospective, multicenter, cross-sectional study

Background: The outcomes of liver surgery worldwide remain unknown. The true population-based outcomes are likely different to those vastly reported that reflect the activity of highly specialized academic centers. The aim of this study was to measure the true worldwide practice of liver surgery and associated outcomes by recruiting from centers across the globe. The geographic distribution of liver surgery activity and complexity was also evaluated to further understand variations in outcomes. Methods: LiverGroup.org was an international, prospective, multicenter, cross-sectional study following the Global Surgery Collaborative Snapshot Research approach with a 3-month prospective, consecutive patient enrollment within January–December 2019. Each patient was followed up for 90 days postoperatively. All patients undergoing liver surgery at their respective centers were eligible for study inclusion. Basic demographics, patient and operation characteristics were collected. Morbidity was recorded according to the Clavien–Dindo Classification of Surgical Complications. Country-based and hospital-based data were collected, including the Human Development Index (HDI). (NCT03768141). Results: A total of 2159 patients were included from six continents. Surgery was performed for cancer in 1785 (83%) patients. Of all patients, 912 (42%) experienced a postoperative complication of any severity, while the major complication rate was 16% (341/2159). The overall 90-day mortality rate after liver surgery was 3.8% (82/2,159). The overall failure to rescue rate was 11% (82/ 722) ranging from 5 to 35% among the higher and lower HDI groups, respectively. Conclusions: This is the first to our knowledge global surgery study specifically designed and conducted for specialized liver surgery. The authors identified failure to rescue as a significant potentially modifiable factor for mortality after liver surgery, mostly related to lower Human Development Index countries. Members of the LiverGroup.org network could now work together to develop quality improvement collaboratives

Accounting for integrity: esg and financial disclosures: the challenge of internal fraud in management decision-making

This Doctoral Thesis presents a comprehensive examination of the controversies surrounding Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), focusing on the integrity of financial disclosures, the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and the growing issue of ESG fraud in the global business environment. In addition, it employs a mixed-methods research design, exploring the interplay between ESG controversies and corporate governance, with a particular focus on the role of gender diversity, ethical oversight, and mitigation of controversial practices. A combination of financial and digital systems using qualitative bibliometric analysis through the R programming language and a quantitative generalized linear model (GLM) clarifies the important role that women's leadership plays in mitigating ESG controversies, advocating for a governance model that is both empathy-led and ethically rigorous. The thesis studies/research: i) the complex relationship between controversies, political instability, and the mechanism of direct democracy, which empowers public participation in decision-making. An interesting paradox emerges from the data: higher levels of democracy correlate with higher levels of controversy. This raises critical questions about the effectiveness of democratic processes in ensuring transparency and limiting corruption and illegal practices in corporate governance, ii) the impact of the IFRS transition on the quality of narrative disclosures in financial statements during major economic events in Northern and Western Europe and the US. Applying the Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) method, Prometheé II yields remarkable findings; European companies demonstrate superior financial literacy and quality in voluntary financial disclosures compared to their US counterparts, which predominantly follow the mandatory disclosure provisions. iii) ESG Fraud - where phenomena of misreporting of ESG criteria are observed - adding a key dimension to the debate on corporate transparency and governance. The increasing reliance of stakeholders on reliable ESG metrics for investment decisions makes the growing trend of ESG fraud a significant risk to investor confidence and, by extension, corporate reputation. This highlights the urgent need for solid control mechanisms and legal frameworks to prevent such fraudulent activities and maintain the integrity of ESG reporting, which is vital for sustainable business operations. In addition, by analyzing geographical and sectoral differences in reporting practices, the thesis argues for harmonizing financial reporting to suit different corporate environments across nations. The use of multi-criteria analysis in combination with the ESG framework minimizes potential manipulation of information, highlighting the need for balanced leadership, overall transparency, and differentiated standardization in financial disclosures. This thesis highlights the importance of internal and external audits in the "green frauds" that are growing exponentially and details the new trends that business executives, investors, and regulators should follow, highlighting the importance of integrating anti-corruption standards into corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and promoting equitable leadership structures. Finally, it notes the urgent need for further research on the impact of ESG controversies on business performance, particularly in the context of the European Union (EU). It urges an expanded dialogue on the role of democratic processes in corporate accountability and the reduction of ESG-related corporate fraud.Η παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή (ΔΔ) παρουσιάζει μια ολοκληρωμένη εξέταση των αντιπαραθέσεων (controversies) σχετικά με τα Περιβάλλον, την Κοινωνία και την Διακυβέρνηση - Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), εστιάζοντας στην ακεραιότητα των χρηματοοικονομικών γνωστοποιήσεων, την υιοθέτηση των Διεθνών Προτύπων Χρηματοοικονομικής Αναφοράς (ΔΠΧΑ) και το διογκούμενο ζήτημα της απάτης στα ESG στο παγκόσμιο επιχειρηματικό περιβάλλον. Χρησιμοποιώντας έναν ερευνητικό σχεδιασμό μεικτών μεθόδων, το πρώτο (Α) μέρος διερευνά την αλληλεπίδραση μεταξύ των αντιπαραθέσεων ESG και της εταιρικής διακυβέρνησης, με ιδιαίτερη έμφαση στον ρόλο της ποικιλομορφίας των φύλων, στην ηθική εποπτεία και στον μετριασμό των αμφισβητούμενων πρακτικών. Ένας συνδυασμός χρηματοοικονομικών και ψηφιακών συστημάτων με τη χρήση ποιοτικής βιβλιομετρικής (Bibliometric) ανάλυσης μέσω της γλώσσας προγραμματισμού R και ενός ποσοτικού, γενικευμένου γραμμικού μοντέλου (GLM) διασαφηνίζει τον σημαντικό ρόλο που διαδραματίζει η γυναικεία ηγεσία στον περιορισμό των αντιπαραθέσεων ESG, συνηγορώντας υπέρ ενός μοντέλου διακυβέρνησης που καθοδηγείται με ενσυναίσθηση και είναι ταυτόχρονα ηθικά αυστηρό. Η διατριβή μελετά/διερευνά: i) τη σύνθετη σχέση μεταξύ των αντιπαραθέσεων, της πολιτικής αστάθειας και του μηχανισμού της άμεσης δημοκρατίας, ο οποίος ενδυναμώνει τη συμμετοχή του κοινού στη λήψη αποφάσεων. Από τα δεδομένα προκύπτει ένα ενδιαφέρον παράδοξο: υψηλότερα επίπεδα δημοκρατίας συσχετίζονται με αυξημένες αντιπαραθέσεις. Αυτό εγείρει κρίσιμα ερωτήματα σχετικά με την αποτελεσματικότητα των δημοκρατικών διαδικασιών όσον αφορά τη διασφάλιση της διαφάνειας και τον περιορισμό της διαφθοράς και των παράνομων πρακτικών στην εταιρική διακυβέρνηση, ii) τον αντίκτυπο της μετάβασης στα ΔΠΧΑ στην ποιότητα των αφηγηματικών γνωστοποιήσεων των οικονομικών καταστάσεων κατά τη διάρκεια σημαντικών οικονομικών γεγονότων στη Βόρεια και Δυτική Ευρώπη και στις ΗΠΑ. Η εφαρμογή της μεθόδου Πολυκριτήριας ανάλυσης αποφάσεων (MCDA), Prometheé II αποδίδει αξιοσημείωτα ευρήματα, ένα από τα οποία είναι ότι οι ευρωπαϊκές εταιρείες επιδεικνύουν ανώτερη χρηματοοικονομική παιδεία (αλφαβητισμό) και ποιότητα στις προαιρετικές (εθελοντικές) χρηματοοικονομικές γνωστοποιήσεις (disclosure) σε σύγκριση με τις αντίστοιχες αμερικανικές εταιρείες, οι οποίες ακολουθούν κατά κύριο λόγο τις διατάξεις υποχρεωτικών γνωστοποιήσεων. iii) την απάτη στα ESG (ESG Fraud) - όπου παρατηρούνται φαινόμενα παραποιημένης πληροφόρησης σχετικά με τα κριτήρια ESG – προσθέτοντας μια καίρια διάσταση στη συζήτηση για την εταιρική διαφάνεια και τη διακυβέρνηση. Η αυξανόμενη εξάρτηση των ενδιαφερομένων μερών σε αξιόπιστες μετρήσεις ESG για επενδυτικές αποφάσεις καθιστά την αυξανόμενη τάση της απάτης στα ESG σημαντικό κίνδυνο στην εμπιστοσύνη των επενδυτών και κατ’ επέκταση στην εταιρική φήμη. Αυτό υπογραμμίζει την επείγουσα ανάγκη για αυστηρούς μηχανισμούς ελέγχου και νομικά πλαίσια για την πρόληψη τέτοιων δόλιων δραστηριοτήτων και τη διατήρηση της ακεραιότητας (integrity) των εκθέσεων ESG, η οποία είναι ζωτικής σημασίας για τις βιώσιμες επιχειρηματικές δραστηριότητες. Επιπρόσθετα, αναλύοντας τις γεωγραφικές και κλαδικές διαφορές στις πρακτικές υποβολής εκθέσεων, η διατριβή συντάσσεται υπέρ της εναρμόνισης της χρηματοοικονομικής πληροφόρησης που θα προσαρμόζεται στα διάφορα εταιρικά περιβάλλοντα μεταξύ των εθνών. Η χρήση Πολυκριτήριας ανάλυσης σε συνδυασμό με το πλαίσιο ESG ελαχιστοποιεί πιθανή χειραγώγηση των πληροφοριών, τονίζοντας την ανάγκη για ισορροπημένη ηγεσία, συνολική διαφάνεια και διαφοροποιημένη τυποποίηση στις χρηματοοικονομικές γνωστοποιήσεις. Η παρούσα διατριβή επισημαίνει τη σημασία του εσωτερικού και εξωτερικού ελέγχου, στις «πράσινες απάτες» που αυξάνονται εκθετικά και αποτυπώνει αναλυτικά τις νέες τάσεις που θα πρέπει να ακολουθούν τα στελέχη των επιχειρήσεων, οι επενδυτές και οι ρυθμιστικές αρχές, υπογραμμίζοντας τη σημασία της ενσωμάτωσης των προτύπων κατά της διαφθοράς (corruption) στις πρωτοβουλίες εταιρικής κοινωνικής ευθύνης (ΕΚΕ) και της προώθησης ισότιμων δομών ηγεσίας. Τέλος, επισημαίνει την επιτακτική ανάγκη για περαιτέρω έρευνα σχετικά με τον αντίκτυπο των αντιπαραθέσεων που αφορούν τα ESG στις επιδόσεις των επιχειρήσεων, ιδίως στο πλαίσιο της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης (ΕΕ), και προτρέπει σε έναν διευρυμένο διάλογο σχετικά με τον ρόλο των δημοκρατικών διαδικασιών στην εταιρική λογοδοσία (accountability) και τη μείωση της εταιρικής απάτης που αφορά τα ESG

It Is Time for Anti-Bribery: Financial Institutions Set the New Strategic “Roadmap” to Mitigate Illicit Practices and Corruption in the Market

The financial sector is characterized by complexity due to the management of a large volume of transactions, which can lead to the difficulty of considering, identifying, and monitoring them. The lack of mechanisms in monitoring and control transactions can contribute to the development of illegal practices within a company, such as fraud, corruption, bribery, and money laundering. These phenomena can affect financial institutions negatively. Therefore, the development of an appropriate corporate governance system can ensure to members of the board and executives in a company that any illegal practice can be detected. This study aims to highlight the factors that contribute to the development of illegal practices within European financial institutions. This can help executives to plan and mitigate the illicit practices that may emerge. For this purpose, a binary logit regression analysis on panel data from 2018 to 2020 was applied to 336 European financial companies. The findings of this research emphasize the crucial role of corporate governance in the prevention of the development of illicit issues within European financial institutions, while human resources can be characterized as a pathway to corruption. Both factors, corporate governance and human resources, are main pillars of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG), which indicates the need of the financial sector in Europe for the elaboration of anti-corruption strategies. Thus, companies within the sector can improve their ESG score

Investigating the Strategic Role of Digital Transformation Path of SMEs in the Era of COVID-19: A Bibliometric Analysis Using R

The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent increased use of digital tools can be seen as an incentive for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to adapt to the digital age. SMEs, whose resilience and adaptability had already been tested during the previous period of the global financial crisis, were called upon to face a new emergency. The aim of this paper is twofold: (i) to investigate the evolution of digital transformation in small and medium enterprises during the pandemic of COVID-19 and (ii) to highlight the main research trends of digital transformation in the post-pandemic era. To approach these issues, a bibliometric analysis based on R package was conducted and examined 765 articles that were published in the timespan of 2014–2022. In the current bibliometric analysis, a range of indicators were applied, such as co-citation analysis of both sources and institutions, the annual scientific production, country collaboration map, world tree map and Multiple Correspondence Analysis. The bibliometric software of Biblioshiny and VOSviewer were used as the main tools to process the data and contributed to the visualization of the results. Findings of the research show that emerging technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning and 3D printing have started integrating SMEs in their business models. In addition, the technology–organization–environment framework (TOE) has emerged as a niche theme in the research field of digital transformation of SMEs. The above reveals the willingness and the effort of SMEs to adapt to the new circumstances created by the pandemic of COVID-19, by transforming their business models from conventional to digital one. The social media model is also highlighted, as a new product development of SMEs during the crisis of pandemic of COVID-19. The intention to adopt both TOE business model and social media are significantly influenced by emerging technologies and can raise the awareness of government to support SMEs in this effort

Investigating the Research Trends on Strategic Ambidexterity, Agility, and Open Innovation in SMEs: Perceptions from Bibliometric Analysis

The unprecedented conditions of restrictive measures that were suddenly imposed in 2020 due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic affected business activity globally. To deal with the consequences that were caused by the pandemic, most SMEs had to adopt strategies which will enhance their development and footprint in the business arena. With this study, we aim to propose a theoretical approach, via bibliometric analysis, of a new business model innovation that will be based on the triple-win formula of strategic agility, ambidexterity, and open innovation. Open innovation can help SMEs develop their ambidexterity and agility capacity and become more efficient, which can contribute to gaining competitive advantage. To approach this issue, a bibliometric analysis was conducted based on 606 articles that were published in the timespan of 2008–2021. The bibliometric analysis used various indicators such as the scientific production in the studied field, h-Index, co-occurrence collaboration, Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA), keyword analysis, and thematic mapping. Biblioshiny and VOSviewer were used to process the data, and contributed to the visualization of the results. Of the 476 sources that were analyzed, most of the articles were published by Journal of Business Research; British scholars are those with the highest number of citations on the topic. This research provides insights related to the state of the art of the study area under analysis and highlights the gaps, which contributed to the building of a new business model innovation that will integrate not only ambidexterity and strategic agility, but open innovation, too. The new business model can help SMEs quickly adapt in the new business environment created by the past successive series of crises, such as the most recent financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic

Illicit and Corruption Mitigation Strategy in the Financial Sector: A Study with a Hybrid Methodological Approach

In recent decades, experts from all around the world have been increasingly interested in illegal conduct and corruption in financial organizations. Utilizing the illegal and corruption hypothesis, we investigate the core traits and trends of this phenomenon in European financial institutions. We also examined how specific aspects are incorporated into financial firms’ anti-corruption strategies. The current study makes an effort to comprehend the afore-mentioned challenges using the tools of scientometrics and data analysis. More precisely, our empirical analysis was based on 336 European financial institutions for the years of 2018–2020, and our study also employed bibliographic data from 687 scientific documents indexed in the Scopus database in 2010–2021. The R language’s Bibliometrix tool was applied to analyze the body of the existing literature. A binary logistic regression approach was used to analyze the data. While the goal of our empirical study is to unveil the factors causing or mitigating illegal activity and corruption in the financial sector, the bibliographic analysis revealed the determinants validated in previous work. Our results highlight the need of policy makers to implement measures to limit illegal activity and reduce corruption in financial institutions to improve reputations and customers’ fidelity, which are necessary for the achievement of the sustainable development goals concerning financial institutions. Another conclusion is the emergence of a new source of corruption, which South Africa’s experience has confirmed. Our findings also support two components of the contemporary approach for reducing corruption and illicit activity, namely, the usage of new technology specialists and the incorporation of ESG factors

AI-SNIPS: A Platform for Network Intelligence-Based Pharmaceutical Security

This paper presents AI-SNIPS (AI Support for Network Intelligence-based Pharmaceutical Security), a production-ready platform that enables stakeholder decision-making, secure data sharing, and interdisciplinary research in the fight against Illicit, Substandard, and Falsified Medical Products (ISFMP). AI-SNIPS takes as input cases: a case consists of one or more URLs suspected of ISFMP activity. Cases can be supplemented with ground-truth structured data (labeled keywords) such as seller PII or case notes. First, AI-SNIPS scrapes and stores relevant images and text from the provided URLs without any user intervention. Salient features for predicting case similarity are extracted from the aggregated data using a combination of rule-based and machine-learning techniques and used to construct a seller network, with the nodes representing cases (sellers) and the edges representing the similarity between two sellers. Network analysis and community detection techniques are applied to extract seller clusters ranked by profitability and their potential to harm society. Lastly, AI-SNIPS provides interpretability by distilling common word/image similarities for each cluster into signature vectors. We validate the importance of AI-SNIPS's features for distinguishing large pharmaceutical affiliate networks from small ISFMP operations using an actual ISFMP lead sheet

Agriculture 5.0: A New Strategic Management Mode for a Cut Cost and an Energy Efficient Agriculture Sector

The farmers’ welfare and its interlinkages to energy efficiency and farm sustainability has attracted global scientific interest within the last few decades. This study examines the contribution of Agriculture 5.0 to the prosperity of the farmers in the post-pandemic era and the gradual transition to an energy-smart farm. To obtain an insight into the attributes of Agriculture 5.0 and the emerging technologies in the field, Bibliometrix analysis with the use of an R package was conducted based on 2000 data consisting of peer-reviewed articles. The data were retrieved from the Scopus database. A bibliometric approach was employed to analyze the data for a comprehensive overview of the trend, thematic focus, and scientific production in the field of Agriculture 5.0 and energy-smart farming. Emerging technologies that are part of Agriculture 5.0 in combination with alternative energy sources can provide cost-effective access to finance, weather updates, remotely monitoring, and future energy solutions for the establishment of smart farms. Keywords such as “renewable energy,” “Internet of Things,” and “emission control” remain the trending keywords. Moreover, thematic analysis shows that “economic and social effects”, “energy efficiency”, “remote sensing”, and “Artificial Intelligence” with their associated components such as “anaerobic digestion”, “wireless sensor network,” “agricultural robots”, and “smart agriculture” are the niche themes of Agriculture 5.0 in combination with green energy sources, which can lead to the cut cost, energy-efficient, and sustainable energy-smart farms