Adoption and Implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): An Empirical Study

The study is an attempt to unearth the current state of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) adoption and implementation in both manufacturing and service firms. Drawing on the conceptualization of multiple theories based in technology acceptance and innovation diffusion model, this study examines the above objectives with a particular reference to the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Following the deductive reasoning approach, we applied a self-administered questionnaire survey and used 235 replies from 255 collected responses, leaving the data affected with missing and un-matched responses. The result is applied using the structural equation modeling via SmartPLS 2, a second generation regression model, for testing hypothesized relationships. Findings reveal that all the hypothesized influences are found significantly linked through the explanatory variables with the endogenous variables at different levels of significance, except the impact of effort efficiency and resistance to change. Policy implications are also proposed for the full adoption and utilization of ERP to achieve sustainable development goals. Furthermore, we recommend future researchers to focus on action research or experimental data for preventing the generalizability of the observed results

Blue Biotechnology, Renewable Energy, Unconventional Resources and Products as Emerging Frontiers at Sea

Blue biotechnology, renewable energy and unconventional marine living resources are considered as emerging frontiers for enhancing ocean-based blue economy in Bangladesh. Blue biotechnology can help both fisheries and aquaculture industry by producing fish varieties that can become quicker, more beneficial, and greater with tastier flesh, by developing gene transfer technology to be used to develop the growth of fish or by using of monoclonal antibodies and DNA probes to new diagnostic strategies for pathogens. Transformation of marine bioresources (main, co-product and by-products) into food, medicine, animal feed and related bio-based items i.e. cosmetics, nutritional supplements, enzymes, agrichemicals etc could help in meet the Bangladesh future challenges for the 21st century. Given that majority of conventional living resources is facing over-exploitation, non-conventional marine living resources, specifically mollusk (squids, oyster, mussel), seaweeds, marine echinoderms, marine micro algae and others can be utilized as a source of new fishery products that could straightforwardly consumed as nutritionally balanced marine food. In terms of non-living resource, renewable energy comes from hydro power, solar, biogas and wind, however, tide and wave energy have good potential. Towards sustainable utilization of these sector-specific resources there are several challenges, such as little knowledge about their current status, limited focus by policy makers. To escape this situation, marine policy relatives must have to include the marine fisheries, mariculture, marine food, health, natural resources and industrial application. Research activities can create information to advise the policy and strategy, which thus stimulates future development by informing how the marine environment can be monitored and managed reasonably and realize its role in giving ecological facilities to the country as well as the world

Teaching the Structures of Academic Writing through Peer Review: A Study on the Beginners of English Language Courses at BRAC University

Substantial peer feedback of the students through peer review in the context of EFL or ESL can help them become skilled at different structures and strategies of academic writing in English rather than receiving feedback from teachers in the classroom. However, most of the students at English language classes in Bangladesh do not appreciate the significance of following the structures of academic writing from the lectures of the respective teachers immediately. On the other hand, most of the English language instructors in their classes are not used to encouraging their students to provide peer feedback through peer review. Therefore, this paper will be focusing on the issues regarding how peer review can be utilized for the beginners of English language courses in terms of making them aware of the structures of academic writing. Moreover, this paper will make an attempt to find out whether peer review makes them a better writer, a more rational thinker or a more critical appreciator of peers’ writings. At last, this paper will present some recommendations on how peer review can develop the students’ creativity while producing thought provoking and critical comments on their peers’ writing

Examining the Relationships between Emotional Intelligence and the Components of Transformational Leadership

The purpose of this study is to identify the relationships between emotional intelligence and the components of transformational leadership behavior of the supervisors. Data for this study were collected from 166 subordinates (who rated their supervisors’ emotional intelligence and the components of transformational leadership behavior) working at different organizations around the UK with the help of a structured questionnaire. Results indicated that emotional intelligence positively correlated with all the components of transformational leadership behavior. Implications, limitations, and future research directions are also discussed

Measuring inflation during the pandemic with the benefit of hindsight

This study has adopted the actual household expenditure data from the national accounts to construct a true inflation rate (using the Fisher index) and found that the official inflation rate in the 33 OECD countries was an overestimate of true inflation for 22 and underestimate in 11 countries in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The result obtained for the countries where true inflation was higher than the official rate in this study matches the results obtained by Cavallo (2020) and Reinsdorf (2020). However, a significant difference has been detected for the countries where the official inflation exceeds the true measure in this study. The core reason behind the discrepancies is in the use of appropriate expenditure weights. This suggests caution in using credit-card based expenditure data when spending behaviour has changed dramatical

Empirical study on transformational leadership, deviant behaviour, job performance, and gender : evidence from a study in Bangladesh

This paper studies the relationships between transformational leadership, deviant behaviour, job performance, and gender. Data collected from 160 respondents from different organisations using the convenience sampling method was analysed using descriptive statistics, bivariate correlation, and regression analysis. Results reveal that there is a negative relationship between transformational leadership and deviant behaviour, while a positive association exists between transformational leadership and job performance, with a negative correlation between deviant workplace behaviour and job performance. Gender analysis shows that female ratings for different indicators, such as transformational leadership, deviant behaviour, and job performance were not significantly distinct from those of males. The main implication of this research is that it informs executives how transformational leadership and deviant behaviour affect job performance. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Maternal and fetal outcome among pregnant women following open heart surgery

The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to evaluate the pregnancy outcome following open heart surgery for three years. Group I (n = 37) included pregnancy with history of intracardiac repair except valvular heart disease, while Group II (n = 19) included pregnancy with prosthetic valve received anticoagulation therapy. In total, 78.6% pregnancies ended in healthy live births, and 19.6% pregnancies terminated in abortion (8.1% patients in Group I and 42.1% patients in Group II). 5.3% baby was born with congenital malformation in Group II. Mean birth weight was found 2.8 ± 0.6 kg in Group I and 2.5 ± 0.3 kg in Group II. The mean APGAR score was found 8.5 ± 0.7 in Group I and 8.1 ± 0.7 in Group II. 19.6% patients developed cardiac complications during the pregnancy. Majority of the patients (89.2% in Group I and 63.2% in Group II) was found good health status. Proper antenatal care and early risk stratification are the fundamental measures to improve the maternal and fetal outcome in a patient of open heart surgery

Exploring the Relationships among Transformational Leadership, Deviant Workplace Behavior, and Job Performance: An Empirical Study

The present study aims to explore the relationships among transformational leadership, deviant workplace behavior, and job performance. Data were collected with the help of a self administered questionnaire from 175 working executives in Bangladesh using convenience sampling technique. Data that have been collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, bivariate correlation, and regression analysis. Results indicated a negative correlation between transformational leadership and deviant workplace behavior while a positive correlation was found between transformational leadership and job performance. It also reported that there is a negative correlation between deviant workplace behavior and job performance. The main implication is that the development of transformational leadership attributes of the executives will ameliorate the job performance and abate the deviant workplace behaviors. The important limitation was in using convenience samples that might limit the generalizability of the results. Future research directions are also discussed