Strategic Risk Determinants Influencing Growth of SMEs: The Case of Vietnam

Risk is inherent in all business functions and in every kind of activities. This is especially true for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that are most exposed to the harmful effects of the risks, due to limited resources and structural features. Therefore, this study is conducted for identifying the relationship and impact strategic risk determinants including Political risks, Technological risks, Social risks on the growth of 30 small and medium forest enterprises (SMFEs) in Dien Bien as the case study. Political risks, Technological risks, Social risks are independent variables and the growth of SMFEs is a dependent variable. Data were collected through the questionnaire survey and using mean, correlation and regression analysis for this paper. The results show that there is a statistically significant negative correlation between strategic risk determinants on SMFEs growth. Keywords: Political risks, Technological risks, Social risks, Growth, SME

Effects of plant essential oils and their constituents on Helicobacter pylori : A Review

Essential oils (EOs) obtained from different medicinal and aromatic plant families by steam distillation have been used in the pharmaceutical, food, and fragrance industries. The plant EOs and their broad diversity of chemical components have attracted researchers worldwide due to their human health benefits and antibacterial properties, especially their treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection. Since H. pylori has been known to be responsible for various gastric and duodenal diseases such as atrophic gastritis, peptic ulcer, gastric adenocarcinoma, and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma, several combination antibiotic therapies have been increasingly used to enhance the eradication rate of the bacterial infection. However, in the last decades, the efficacy of the therapies has decreased significantly due to widespread emergence of multidrug resistant strains of H. pylori. In addition, side-effects from commonly used antibiotics and recurrence of the bacterial infection have drawn public health concern globally.Therefore, this review focuses on in vitro effects of plant EOs and their bioactive constituents on the growth, cell morphology and integrity, biofilm formation, motility, adhesion, and urease activity of H. pylori. Their inhibitory effects on expression of genes necessary for growth and virulence factor productions of the bacterial pathogen are also discussed. Further in vivo and clinical evaluations are required so that plant EOs and their bioactive constituents can be possibly applicable in pharmacy or as adjuvants to the current therapies of H. pylori infection

WORK MOTIVATION AND PERFORMANCE OF ADMINISTRATORS IN SEDLECTED PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES OF HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM

This article discusses the determination of the work motivation of administrators in selected private universities of Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. It stresses the profile of the administrators, the impact of work motivation, the administrators’ perception of work motivation and performance, and the problems faced by the administrators. The findings of the study consist of personal professional profile of the administrators, the administrators’ perception of work motivation and performance, the impact of work motivation, the influence of work motivation on the profile of the administrators, the influence of the level of work motivation on the impact, and common problems encountered by the administrators. Based on the research findings and conclusions, some recommendations are forwarded.  Article visualizations

Joint Transaction Transmission and Channel Selection in Cognitive Radio Based Blockchain Networks: A Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach

To ensure that the data aggregation, data storage, and data processing are all performed in a decentralized but trusted manner, we propose to use the blockchain with the mining pool to support IoT services based on cognitive radio networks. As such, the secondary user can send its sensing data, i.e., transactions, to the mining pools. After being verified by miners, the transactions are added to the blocks. However, under the dynamics of the primary channel and the uncertainty of the mempool state of the mining pool, it is challenging for the secondary user to determine an optimal transaction transmission policy. In this paper, we propose to use the deep reinforcement learning algorithm to derive an optimal transaction transmission policy for the secondary user. Specifically, we adopt a Double Deep-Q Network (DDQN) that allows the secondary user to learn the optimal policy. The simulation results clearly show that the proposed deep reinforcement learning algorithm outperforms the conventional Q-learning scheme in terms of reward and learning speed

Vocational Orientation and the Need for Establishing Career Counselling Office in Vietnamese Schools

School psychology is a field that has been receiving a lot of attention recently in Vietnam as it prepares to restructure the general education curriculum. In particular, vocational orientation and career counseling are most concerned due to the emergence of new subjects in the educational curriculum - Experimental and Vocational Orientation Activities. The objective of this study is to investigate the current situation of vocational orientation problems and the need for career counseling of Vietnamese high school students to provide evidence to develop the school counseling activities and the School Psychology in Vietnam. This is a quantitative study used a questionnaire to examine the current situation of vocational orientation problems and the need for career counseling of 1200 high school students in Vietnam to illustrate the importance of vocational orientation work. The results showed that Vietnamese high school students faced many vocational orientation problems and wanted support from school counselors. But the reality did not meet the needs of students: Vietnamese schools lacked a team of school counselors both in quality and quantity, also lack of school counseling offices in almost high schools. This result is expected to contribute to the development of the School Psychology in Vietnam, but firstly, to promote the establishment of counseling office at least one office per school

Anatomical Characteristics of Facial Nerve Trunk in Vietnamese Adult Cadavers

BACKGROUND: In medical literature, there are few studies provided a precise and detailed description of the facial nerve rami and its branches. AIM: Identify several practical anatomic landmarks related to the facial nerve main trunk and its rami. METHODS: A descriptive study, 30 cadavers in the anatomy department of UPNT from October 2012 to April 2015. RESULTS: The average distance from the mandibular angle to the division of the facial nerve is 40.8 mm, and is 86.6% from range 36 – 50 mm. There is 86.7% case in which the facial nerve is in the lateral of the retromandibular vein, and there is a significant difference about both sides. Eighty percent of the case has the superior and inferior ramus in the lateral to the retromandibular vein. There are 2 cases in which the superior ramus makes the circle of the vein. Eighty percent of the facial nerve is in the lateral to the external carotid artery. CONCLUSION: The distance from the mandibular to the division of the facial nerve is longer. The relationship between the superior/inferior ramus and the retromandibular vein maybe not the same in both sides. In some cases, it makes the circle of the vein to cause some complication in the parotid gland surgery

Factors affecting intention to purchase organic agriculture products among Vietnamese

Globally, customer intention to purchase has become the essential part of the product and organization's success in the market. More recently, the idea has captured the attention of academic and policymakers alike. Therefore, the current article analyses product quality features such as agreeableness, emotional stability conscientiousness, openness to experience and extroversion on the intention to purchase organic agricultural products in the context of Vietnam. The study also analyses the mediating role of customer satisfaction between the association of product quality features and intention to purchase organic products in Vietnam. The present study uses questionnaires to collect data pertaining to the health sector of Vietnam. The current study employs the smart-PLS to analyze the constructs and items' reliability as well as the association among constructs. The results show that product quality features except extroversion have a positive and significant association with intention to purchase organic products in Vietnam. The results also reveal that customer satisfaction significantly and positively mediates among the associations of product quality features and intention to purchase organic products in Vietnam. This study is suitable for policymakers while formulating policies that may directly or indirectly affect customers' intention to purchase organic agricultural products.Luong Thu Thuy (Faculty of Economics, Academy of Finance, Vietnam), Tran Thi Phuong Diu (Faculty of Economics, Academy of Finance, Vietnam), Nguyen Dinh Hoan (Faculty of Economics, Academy of Finance, Vietnam), Vu Viet Ninh (Faculty of Economics, Academy of Finance, Vietnam), Nguyen Thi Thuy Nga (Faculty of Economics, Academy of Finance, Vietnam)Includes bibliographical reference

The Impact of FDI, International Trade, and National Economy on People’s Standard of Living in ASEAN Countries

This research paper analyzes the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI), international trade, and national economy on the standard of living of people in ASEAN member countries, using data from 2012-2021. The study uses data from this period to examine the effects of these variables on the standard of living in ASEAN member countries. The results indicate that international trade and national economy have a significant influence on people's standard of living in the region. However, the effect of FDI varies depending on the level of development of the country. While FDI doesn't have much effect on developing countries, it has a negative impact on developed countries. The study also provides insights for policymakers on how to promote economic growth and improve the quality of life for people in the ASEAN. Keywords: FDI, international trade, national economy, the standard of living, ASEAN DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/15-6-10 Publication date:March 31st 2023