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This paper provides a snapshot of educational and economic trends across South Asia with an exploratory and comparative approach. Before COVID-19, South Asia was the world’s fastest-growing regional economy, concurrently achieving major strides in poverty reduction and access to education. Despite the region’s economic and educational accomplishments, the countries of South Asia fall short of international benchmarks in public education expenditure, resulting in a persistent lag in educational quality that hampers individuals, the workforce, and overall economic productivity. The paper highlights themes in the literature, including context-specific evidence for the various theories of economic growth, the returns to education, and educational inputs (e.g., teachers and private schools) that highlight how spending can be leveraged to increase educational outcomes. In addition, it examines the relationship between education, poverty, and marginalization factors that explain why some populations are deprived of education and its benefits. We provide a broad perspective of the dynamics of the economics of education and the related challenges in this region. This discussion aims to enhance the understanding of the inefficiencies in South Asia’s educational systems and, ultimately, in the development of the region’s human capacities.

The purpose of this study is to examine knowledge management (KM) infrastructure and processes on automobile manufacturing firm innovative performance through the mediating role of agile project management (APM) practice.

The data collection involved purposive and convenience sampling techniques to gather information from 692 employees employed in various public and private automobile manufacturing firms operating in Pakistan. To test the hypothesis, data analysis was conducted using Smart PLS software version 4, using the partial least squares and structural equation modeling technique.

The result revealed that knowledge management infrastructure and processes has a positive and significant effect on firm innovative performance. Moreover, agile project management practices positively and significantly mediate the relationship between knowledge management infrastructure and processes and firm innovative performance.

The performance of high-tech automobile manufacturing firms can be enhanced by implementing agile project management practices, especially when stimulated by external factors such as innovation. In an increasingly dynamic environment, innovation acts as a favorable factor that amplifies the positive impact of agile methodologies on firm performance.

Researchers can use these findings to identify knowledge gaps that need to be addressed in future studies and understand how strategies relate to processes within the KM-APM framework. This study provides practitioners with insights on applying KM practices in an APM context to enhance knowledge performance. Practitioners can use the framework to plan KM activities that support corporate strategy across all organizational layers, ensuring the appropriate knowledge is conveyed at each level.

This paper aims to discuss the concepts of Industry 4.0, Industry 5.0, the New Normal and sustainable development (SD). The simultaneous existence of two Industrial Revolutions raises questions, thus, necessitating discussions and clarifications. The issue of SD has become a compulsory prerequisite for the future survival of humanity.

An exploratory and inductive methodology was used to examine the phenomenon under analysis. Qualitative and quantitative data were gathered through a multi-step methodological process. A brief analysis using VoS viewer software enabled the authors to comprehend recent theoretical developments and analytical perspectives.

The findings underscore the relationship between the new sustainability challenges, digital transactions and organisational competitiveness. These intricate competitive challenges can be surmounted by focusing on educational offerings, particularly in universities. By forging international educational connections, the challenges posed by SD can be relatively easily overcome.

The authors conducted a comparative study of university students from four different countries: Georgia, Hungary, Italy and Ukraine. The authors observed differences in the average values across various countries, as well as disparities among respondents from the same country. Moreover, the results reveal a tendency among female respondents to be more inclined towards issues of green management and sustainability. SD cannot be realised without international collaboration. The authors present a schematic representation of the systemic connections among the universities of the participating countries to achieve SD.