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This chapter seeks to explain the manufacturing industries that have gone a lot of transformation in recent years. The changes were brought as a result of implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies. The aim of this chapter is to study Smart Manufacturing (SM) and to implement Industry 4.0 in a Sustainable Supply Chain. The study is qualitative which employs secondary sources of data. The data of the study were sourced from relevant published articles from 2017 to 23. Also the data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results of the study revealed that, artificial intelligence (AI) Models, Cloud Connection, Smart Product, standard communication, cyber-physical system (CPS), virtual system builder among others are the requirements for adopting SM. While Augmented Reality (AR), 3D Printing, Big Data Analytics, AI, Internet of Things (IoT), among others are the major 14.0 technologies that enable Smart Manufacturing System (SMS). However, security issues, system integration, interoperability, multilingualism, standard interface, data quality, privacy concern, investment concern are the major challenges of implementing SMS for sustainable supply chain. This study concluded that, implementing SM in sustainable supply chain have significantly improved company's productivity, innovation, efficiency, effectiveness, cost-effective manufacturing operations as well as sustainable management.

Construction projects in Malaysia are often delayed and over budget due to heavy reliance on labor. Linear regression (LR) models have been used in most labor cost (LC) studies, which are less accurate than machine learning (ML) tools. Construction management applications have increasingly used ML tools in recent years and have greatly impacted forecasting. The research aims to identify the most influential LC factors using statistical approaches, collect data and forecast LC models for improved forecasts of LC.

A thorough literature review was completed to identify LC factors. Experienced project managers were administered to rank the factors based on importance and relevance. Then, data were collected for the six highest ranked factors, and five ML models were created. Finally, five categorical indices were used to analyze and measure the effectiveness of models in determining the performance category.

Worker age, construction skills, worker origin, worker training/education, type of work and worker experience were identified as the most influencing factors on LC. SVM provided the best in comparison to other models.

The findings support data-driven regulatory and practice improvements aimed at improving labor issues in Malaysia, with the possibility for replication in other countries facing comparable problems.

This study aims to delve into the intricate dynamics within local government authorities in Ghana, exploring the mediating role of political interest in the relationship between internal control systems and financial management.

Using a hypothesized model grounded on the accountability theory and survey data from 701 respondents across local government authorities in Ghana, this study used Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling as the data analysis approach.

The findings indicate that internal control systems have a positive influence on financial management. In addition, political interest was found to significantly mediate the relationship between internal control systems and financial management.

The study was, however, limited by the reliance on survey data obtained from the respondents. Although this study used survey data, it was not feasible to cover the entire country because this study was constrained by resources and time. Future studies may therefore explore same linkages by considering the entire country and adding other moderating variables to examine the nexuses. Future research could explore the subcomponents of internal control systems, including the control environment, control activities, risk assessment, monitoring of controls and information and communication in financial management. This would offer a nuanced understanding of how each dimension contributes to effective financial management.

This study offers two crucial contributions from a practical standpoint. This is accomplished by first allowing practitioners and decision-makers to understand the effects of political interest on organisation’s internal control system and financial management. This information can help practitioners and policymakers develop better systems that will reduce the mediating effects of political interest on the linkage between the internal control system and financial management in the local government authorities. In addition, policymakers will be better informed on how to enact legislation, specifically including sections of autonomous operations by these public agencies in the country, which can be undermined by external pressures or the ruling party.

To the best of authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to investigate such a phenomenon in a developing country context, such as Ghana, and it provides insights into why some local government authorities with seemingly robust internal control systems struggle with financial management issues.

Studies show that building information modelling (BIM) technology can improve construction productivity regarding the design, construction and maintenance of a project life cycle in the 21st century. Revit has been identified as a frequently used tool for delivering BIM in the built environment. Studies about BIM technology via Revit are scarce in training middle-level workforce higher education institutions. Thus, this study aims to investigate the relevance of BIM technology and offer measures to promote digitalisation in Nigeria’s built environment polytechnic undergraduates via Revit.

Given the unexplored nature of training the middle-level workforce in Nigeria, 37 semi-structured virtual interviews were conducted across Nigeria, and saturation was achieved. The participants were knowledgeable about construction-related BIM. The researchers used a thematic analysis for the collected data and honed them with secondary sources.

Improved visualisation of design, effective and efficient work productivity, automatic design and quantification, improved database management and collaboration and data storage in the centrally coordinated model, among others, emerged as BIM’s benefits. BIM technology via Revit is challenging, especially in Nigeria’s polytechnic education curriculum. The 24 perceived issues were grouped into government/regulatory agencies-related, polytechnic management-related and polytechnic undergraduate students-related hindrances in Nigeria’s built environment.

This study is limited to BIM implications for Nigeria’s built environment polytechnic undergraduates.

This study contributes to the literature paucity in attempting to uncover perceived issues hindering the implementation of BIM technology via Revit in training Nigeria’s built environment polytechnic undergraduates via a qualitative approach.