Assessment of country institutional factor on sustainable energy target achievement in European Union

national institutional frameworks designed to ensure higher energy efficiency and the distance to the achievement of the EU Commission targets in terms of energy consumption, using a panel of 21 EU member states. Through panel unit root tests and an estimated VAR model, our results reveal that the quality of a nation’s institutional and economic energy efficiency framework does not significantly influence the gap between annual energy consumption and related EU targets, as prescribed by the energy efficiency EU Directives. However, the results show a bi-directional causality relationship suggests that the nation’s institutional framework on energy efficiency should be improved. According to the impulse response function, this relationship is more related to a short-run perspective. Hence, a strong correlation exists between the level of achieving the reduction targets on energy consumption and the level of gas emissions. Our findings further reveal that the level of reported GHCs significantly influences national regulations and strategies for gas emission reductions. This research highlights the importance of each EU member state creating an appropriate legislative and institutional framework that promotes energy efficienc

A Knowledge Management Approach for The University-industry Collaboration in Open Innovation

AbstractIn the knowledge-based society, universities have re-considered the traditional academic roles, and placed them in a broader context as part of its new role in promoting innovation. Based on existing models there has been developed a framework to analyze how universities support their implication and contribution to local economic development. The proposed approach refers to the university-industry collaboration (UIC) based on the knowledge transfer processes in order to increase their contributions, and influence the socio-economic development at the local level. The framework was represented as an ontology consist of five dimensions and 57 relevant items for potential UIC that were described in order to facilitate the decision-making process when establishing a particular type of contract or project. The main ideas debates in the article are related to the new role of the university in the knowledge-based society; knowledge and innovation transfer processes; the UIC ontology design and development

Intercultural Education for Creative Entrepreneurship

Intercultural education is specific to the multicultural environment in Europe. The European focus on intercultural education is reflected in the documents, reports and measures taken through various financially supported projects. This article presents a research on the characterization of entrepreneurial potential in the case of an intercultural group of Romanian and Serbian trainees who became the target of a cross-border project between Romania and Serbia. The project, of which the designed Creative Entrepreneurship Training Program is part of, is entitled ‘InclusiveArt – Access to Culture for Disadvantaged Children and Youth.’ It implies a dynamic partnership formed by two NGOs (the Intercultural Institute Timisoara and ‘Nevo Parudimos,’ from Resita), one local public authority (the city of Zrenjanin) and one public cultural institution (the Centre for Fine and Applied Arts Terra, Kikinda). The proposed Creative Entrepreneurship Training Program (created in English) plans to help young potential entrepreneurs from the Banat Area in order to develop disadvantaged communities, by establishing commercially viable (self-sustaining) projects/businesses, based on a creative idea, as well as through the provision of a six-day training course for a group of 40 people aged 18 to 35. The training is delivered by a team of academics and training professionals from the Politehnica University Timisoara and the Intercultural Institute Timisoara, both from Romania. The proposed intercultural education program associated with the project implementation aims to the development of entrepreneurship competencies of young people that will be active in creative industries. The potential entrepreneurship characterization considered entrepreneurial traits, such as concerns, motivations, aptitudes and attitudes, as a result of data processing from a self-assessment test. The research results and conclusions support the definition of the structure, content and the didactic strategy adopted for the intercultural education program implementation

The Perception and Degree of Adoption by Urbanites towards Urban Farming

Malaysia is not shielded from the issues of food insecurity. Despite economic progression over the past few years, food insecurity is continuing to affect several vulnerable groups (Orang Asli, elderly, students, B40). It is a growing concern that should not be taken lightly, especially with the recent rise in food prices coupled with low income among vulnerable groups and the effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic. As cities develop and expand, they stretch out and occupy former farmlands forcing farms to stop operating or move further off from the city centre. New trends like urban farming are slowly emerging, which have the potential to be a solution to the developing crises of food insecurity. This research aims to determine how relevant each of the factors, ‘confidence,’ (CF) ‘societal,’ (SC) ‘pleasantness,’ (PL) and ‘naturalness,’ (NT) are towards adopting (AD) the idea of urban farming and, if relevant, among which has the most positive impact. A mixed‐method approach was used to obtain quantitative and qualitative data. One hundred and thirty‐three responses were recorded and used (a significant sample size according to the G‐power software). The validity and reliability of the data were also tested to affirm their quality and relevance according to the factors. The main findings revealed that ‘pleasantness’ and ‘confidence’ were strong factors for adopting urban farming, in line with Cohen’s R Square of more than 32%, which signifies a high impact toward influencing adoption. In addition, qualitative analysis shows that while positive outcomes complemented the quantitative study, practical constraints were highlighted. These constraints were space, time, supply chain, resources, tools, community and government support. Hence, this study provides two significant contributions to regulators and policymakers on urban farming (further explained in the discussions section)

An Exploratory Study on Corporate Governance From Neuro-Governance Lenses in the Malaysian Context

Our minds are powerful, creative, forceful, and strong, controlling our thinking and behaviors. A series of high-profile accounting and financial scandals have been revealed in the past few decades, and the Enron case was the most representative of them all. Corporate decision-makers have traditionally enjoyed high remunerations, compensations, and social status. Hence, the underlying rationales and motivation drivers that motivate managers to conduct unethical behaviors have always been a heightened concern. This research aims to delineate the narratives of corporate governance misconducts and the underlying rationales of these unethical behaviors. This study incorporates independent variables of neuro-accounting, neuroeconomics, neuro-ethics, and human nature using a qualitative methodology. From this study, the social norm of fairness showed that the human nature of greed and selfishness would motivate corporate decision-makers to engage in any exchange that could benefit themselves, although it is unethical and illegal. Second, neuroeconomics revealed that scarcity of economic resources, level of risks and uncertainties, and expected rewards could be the factors that motivate managers to conduct unethical behaviors, especially when their remunerations are tightly linked to company performances. Third, neuroethics shows that managers who lack moral values, have unstable emotions, and possess negative moral intuitions or personal assumptions could be more likely to pursue their interests at the cost of others. Lastly, neuro-governance also proved that self-benefits and financial incentives will usually be the priority and would be a motivating factor for misconduct

Tertiary students maintaining control over depression, anxiety, and stress during the pandemic—An emerging market perspective

The higher education sector was affected by this pandemic, managing enduring challenges since early 2020. Institutions of higher learning (IHL) are prepared to address unsurmountable challenges to ensure that students are not deceived and are being given the proper nurture, coupled with adherence to syllabuses. Simultaneously, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused unscrupulous pressure on students of these institutions. The psychological waves are creating mammoth consequences, affecting the beneficiaries of the higher education system and their families. In recent years, with limited studies on psychological impact among tertiary students on a cross-country basis, general self-efficacy, and the degree of coping strategies, we were motivated to investigate the degree of depression, anxiety, and stress (DAS), among this cohort of students encompassing the pre-university/Diploma, 1st–4thyear undergraduate, and postgraduate students from private universities in Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Southern Africa, and China, representing the emerging economies. A cross-sectional survey was conducted, followed by quantitative analysis. The objective of this study was to recognize whether there is a relationship between the psychological impact of DAS and the coping strategies adopted by the undergraduate students responding during the lockdown. The findings of this study revealed that with a sample size of 397, DAS lacked any severe impact on students across gender, country, household income, and level of education. DAS was established to be well managed with a coping strategy and self-efficacy established. This study resulted in a deeper understanding of DAS among undergraduates in emerging economies and their degree of coping behavior, providing a glimpse of the approach of millennials to handle DAS during the pandemic

Measuring the Implications of Sustainable Manufacturing in the Context of Industry 4.0

Sustainability is increasingly being addressed globally. The manufacturing industry faces various constraints and opportunities related to sustainable development. Currently, there are few methodological frameworks for evaluating sustainable organizational development. Assessing and improving organizational capacity is important for producers and researchers in the field and local, national, and international authorities. This research proposes a hierarchical framework for sustainability assessment of manufacturing industry in Romania. The proposed framework integrates performance elements and measures to improve all the processes and activities from the triple perspective of sustainability. Sustainability assessment captures the entire supply chain of the organization, including stakeholder interests and end-of-life directions for products. To establish the elements to be integrated in the development of the proposed framework, market research (online questionnaire-for the characterization of Industry 4.0) and the Delphi method were used to identify the categories of performance indicators that must be measured to identify organizational capacity for sustainable development. The framework was tested by an automotive manufacturing organization. A number of improvements have been identified that relate to Industry 4.0 facilities and the application of the facilities related to recovering the value of the product at the end of its life cycle. This hierarchical framework can be customized in detail for the specific of each organization and can be adapted in other industries, including banking, retail, and other services. It can be observed that waste management and the interests of the stakeholders are major implications that must be measured and properly motivated

Waste Management in the Context of Sustainable Development: Case Study in Romania

AbstractSustainable development has become a central element in the work of national and international companies. From this perspective the focus is more and more on protecting the environment and society. So, waste management is a sensitive area for organizations. The present paper presents the situation of municipal solid waste management (MSW) in Romania, relative to EU requirements. Optimization of waste collection through source separation is mandatory, while the management based on waste land filling must be overcome. In this paper, some aspects are analyzed, related to the technologies used and the amounts collected in relation to the EU

Occupational Accidents Assessment by Field of Activity and Investigation Model for Prevention and Control

The rate of occupational accidents is increasing, leading to a number of organizational deficiencies. For European Union (EU), the non-fatal accident number in 2017 was 3,315,101. An increase in the number of accidents is recorded in many of the member states. In addition, the increase in accidents tends to focus on certain sectors and is due more to the increase in the incidence rate than the increase in the workforce. Companies in these industry sectors have also implemented less intensive prevention practices than firms in other sectors. Performing a statistical evaluation of non-fatal and fatal accidents is an important one. This assessment helps managers understand the importance of implementing prevention and control methods across organizations. For this research, we used series of data obtained from the Romanian National Institute of Statistics (NIS), Labor Inspection in Romania, and Eurostatof the European Commission. Data series evaluations were conducted for the EU and Romania. A qualitative assessment of the industry data series had been carried out. Furthermore, T-tests and analysis of variance analysis (ANOVA) were performed to identify the relationships between the frequency index of fatal and non-fatal accidents, and the categories chosen. The values obtained for men were significantly higher than those of female workers. Based on the results of the qualitative assessment and European and national strategies, an experimental model for the prevention and control of occupational accidents is proposed. At the end of the paper, the situation of labor accidents in Romania and Bulgaria, two EU member states, is assessed in the agriculture, forestry and fishing, manufacturing, construction and transport, and storage sectors. A series of trends are presented for the period 2018⁻2020. The results obtained from the evaluation of the data series represent an important core of the Romanian Labor Inspectorate for the development of strategic actions