The COVID-19 outbreak is a black swan event that has uncovered the delicateness of global supply chains and business architecture. Underpinned by the agency theory and institutional theory, a proposition for business continuity in the highly regulated pharma industry is presented in this paper. A cross-sectional quantitative study was carried out on a sample of 102 pharma supply chain executives in Malaysia. The primary data were gathered by administering a self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The result reveals that supply chain orientation directly influences supply chain resilience. Also, introducing collaborative regulation as a mediator in this relationship shows partial mediation. The notion of collaborative regulation as a behavioral governance mechanism is relatively new, thus, presenting interesting opportunities for further exploration of the subject matter.

This research was undertaken to examine the effect of low corporation tax rate on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Investors and multinational firms are very rational and therefore prefer to invest in countries where the cost of taxation will be at the barest minimum to maximize their profit. The study aimed to critically analyze the Corporate Income Tax (CIT) rates of the randomly selected countries of the world, and their respective impacts on FDI and GDP. The study is descriptive in nature, based on quantitative data, sourced from various reports of Statutory Corporate Income Tax Rates of Tax Foundation, World Bank and UNCTAD World Investment Report of 2022. Ex-post Facto research design was deployed; while data were analyzed with a General Linear Model of Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) with the aid of SPSS version 25. The study found that low rate of corporation tax has a positive and significant effect on FDI as well as on GDP. That is, CIT rate is a dominant determinant for FDI and GDP of countries.

The introduction of derivatives at the financial market of the United Arab Emirate (UAE) is to enhance liquidity and broadens the range of securities. This is because it brings exciting opportunities for investors to diversify their investment in an efficient and cost-effective way. Evidence from previous studies has shown that financial market derivatives help to reduce risk. Even though trading losses produced by unsuitable derivative activity are frequently big enough to create financial problems and even bankruptcy, there is minimal research on how bank profitability and performance are affected. The study examines the determinants of financial derivatives on the performance of commercial banks in UAE and the financial risk exposure between derivatives financial assets and derivatives financial liabilities. The research employs Pecking order theory, panel ARDL and data from 30 commercial banks’ financial statements in 2020 in UAE. The study found that an increase in the level of return on assets will create an increase in traded financial derivatives that will enhance bank performance by a high level of percentage. Stability of the banking sector in UAE is recommended to enhance better performances of commercial banks on financial derivatives in UAE.

Celebrities are individuals who are popular in public arena because of their physical attractiveness and trustworthiness. To take advantage of these components, marketers use celebrities for product promotion to create awareness and enhance the credibility of their advertisement. However, the use of celebrities to endorse consumer products by the Nigerian telecommunication industry led to huge cost of acquiring physically attractive endorsers and lack of celebrity trust because customers perceived that the celebrities were paid to feature in the brand and not necessarily, they believed in the brand. This study, therefore, examined the effect of celebrity physical attractiveness and trustworthiness on consumer purchase intentions of selected telecommunication in Nigeria. Survey design was employed and a target population of 519 students was used in the study. Random sampling technique was adopted to select the sample size and a well-structured questionnaire was adopted for the study. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the constructs ranged between 0.71 and 0.85. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (Structural equation modeling). Findings from the study reveal that celebrity physical attractiveness had positive effect on consumer purchase intention of selected telecommunications companies in Nigeria (P=0.000, R²= 0.533). Celebrity trustworthiness had positive and significant effect on consumer purchase intention of selected telecommunication companies in Nigeria (P=0.000, R²= 0.314). The study concludes that celebrity endorsement components were jointly important in explaining the changes in the consumer purchase intentions of selected telecommunications companies in Nigeria. The study recommends that telecommunications companies should focus on the recruitment of physical attractiveness and trustworthiness whose images align with theirs for endorsement purpose.

A 100% overlap double pass friction stir process technique was developed for the fabrication of AA1100/17-4 PH stainless steel composites, using an H13 tool steel cylindrical threaded pin with shoulder diameter of 21 mm, pin diameter of 7 mm and pin height of 5 mm. Grooves of 2 mm width and 3.5 mm depth were machined on the 6 mm thick AA1100 plate, where the 17-4 PH stainless steel powder was packed and compacted using a pinless tool. Friction stir processing was conducted at rotational speeds of 2100, 2450 and 2800 rpm, while the travel speed of 20 mm/min, tilt angle of 2.5° and plunge depth of 0.2 mm, were kept constant. Investigations were carried out on the microstructure, elemental composition, and tensile testing and microhardness as well as structural analysis using X-ray diffraction. Defect-free micrographs with good mechanical and metallurgical connections were obtained from all the employed process parameters. However, agglomeration of reinforcements became noticeable at 2450 and 2800 rpm. Uniform distribution of reinforcements were observed at 2100 rpm. Elemental analysis confirmed matrix and reinforcements blending and mixing. Superior SZ hardness of as high as 4 times that of the base metal were achieved, while ultimate tensile strength properties with joint efficiencies as high as 97.29% were attained at 2450 rpm. However, the percentage elongation of the fabricated samples dropped by around 10% due to the reinforcements-induced hardness. Nonetheless, the fabrications retained superior mechanical properties. All the X-ray diffractograms had 5 intense peaks with different phases and crystal planes. However, an Al syn (111) crystal plane was common to all diffractograms at around 39° 2θ range. The obtained crystallite sizes of as small as 4 nm revealed the attainment of ultrafine grains, while the observed high dislocation densities and micro strains gave an indication that the fabricated AA1100/17-4 PH stainless steel composite is of high strength.

Researching on the concept of work life balance (WLB) becomes imperative for any organization in order to enhance performance efficiency especially the sector concerned. This empirical research is focused on investigating the effect of work-life balance on the performance of money deposit banks in south-south region of Nigeria. In reviewing literature, the study explores alternative work ar-rangement and managerial support as dimensions of work like balance (the predicting variable), and performance as a criterion variable used for goal attainment as measure. 2562 staff of 12 banks spanning through six states was used as population size. Cochran sample size determination statistical technique was used to determine 485 sample size for the study. Questionnaire was used to col-late data and was analyzed with Simple Linear Regression and Pearson product moment correlation with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 17.0 windows). The result shows that work life balance demonstrated a great significant effect on the performance of money deposit banks as the dimensions alternative work arrangement such as compress work weeks, telecommut-ing, flexi time, job sharing and managerial supports predict employee goal attainment. Based on the findings, the study recommends that management should judiciously adopt and implement alternative work arrangement in order to offer a family-friendly atmosphere to attract and retain qualified employees to increase productivity.

Drawing from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF, G7) recommendations and the Nigeria Anti-Money Laundering Act that provides the penance and dissuasion for crimes in Nigeria, this study sought to interrogate the efficacy of money laundering conviction rate as an instrument of anti-money laundering policy on capital formation in Nigeria. The study is hinged on contemporary deterrence theory. The study adopted the ex-post facto research design and used quarterly data from 1Q 2010 to 4Q 2019, which was sourced from the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and CBN statistical reports. Hence, Error Correction Model (ECM) was utilized to analyze the data. The findings indicate that the current money laundering conviction rate (MLCR) has a negative and non-significant effect on capital formation in Nigeria. Therefore, the study concludes that the current conviction rate is too weak to deter the act. Hence, it is recommended that the judicial system be rejigged with enabling legislation and autonomy to strengthen it to hasten the trial of such cases and ease conviction of culpable individuals, without necessarily putting innocent victims at jeopardy. Such autonomy should also be granted to the EFCC, ICPC, NFIU etc. and inter-agency synergy should be encouraged.

Despite its well-reported application in a few welding processes, the use of reinforcing powders in weld joints to improve weld integrity has not garnered ample research attention for Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) process. In this study, the adoption of Titanium alloy powders as metallic reinforcement for mild steel butt welds was investigated. By adopting Taguchi’s L4 orthogonal array, process optimisation for titanium-reinforced mild steel butt welds were first carried out. In the second phase of welding, the optimum parameters were used to create and compare two sets of weldments; one set was reinforced with titanium alloy powder and the other set left unreinforced. It was observed that in the Weld Metal (WM) region, the titanium-reinforced samples had higher micro-hardness values than their unreinforced counterparts with an average of 285.62 HV and 211.6 HV respectively. However, there was no substantial improvement in the ultimate tensile strength of the mild steel butt welds due to titanium powder reinforcements. Interestingly, the formation of acicular ferrite microstructure was more prevalent in the titanium-reinforced weldments and this was attributed to the presence of titanium inclusions in the weld metal. This prevalence of acicular ferrite suggests improved toughness properties in the weld joint region. While the higher hardness values in the Weld Metal of the reinforced sample indicates improved wear resistance.

The paper examined the influence of internal control systems on financial performance of Nigeria’s construction firms. It utilized ridge regression to analyze data from a self-administered questionnaire administered to 305 employees at a company. Internal control had a strong positive impact on financial performance, as evidenced by an R2 of 82.92 percent. In the majority of cases, internal control had positive and statistically significant effects and correlations with financial performance. The positive effects of the control environment and risk assessment were statistically insignificant. It suggests upgrading the control system; the control system must be present and functional.

Although the relationship between resilience and career success has been well documented, very few studies relate these variables in developing economies, and especially in entrepreneurship in Nigeria. Additionally, how commitment actually shapes this relationship is conspicuously neglected. This empirical investigation was aimed at examining the influence of entrepreneurial career resilience on the three facets of entrepreneurial career success, i.e. career satisfaction, perceived career achievement and perceived financial attainment through the mediating role of entrepreneurial career commitment. The study used cross sectional data approach to collect data from 390 active entrepre-neurs. The participants were selected using purposive sampling technique. PLS-SEM statistical software (Smart-PLS 3) was used to test the formulated hypotheses. The findings suggested that; entrepreneurial career resilience was a positive predictor of the career satisfaction and perceived ca-reer achievement but it did not predict perceived financial attainment; that, entrepreneurial career resilience predicted entrepreneurial career commitment; that, entrepreneurial career commitment predicted career satisfaction, perceived career achievement and perceived financial attainment. Moreover, entrepreneurial career commitment significantly influenced the relationships of entrepreneurial career resilience and the two facets of entrepreneurial career success.