Search results

Bambara groundnut is a hard-to-cook grain and this has limited its utilisation to some extent. However, the grain is a good source of phytochemicals with antioxidant properties. This study investigated the total phenol content, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial potentials of hot-water extract of four Bambara groundnuts differentiated by their seed coats (cream, black, maroon and brown).

Bambara grains were heated in water at a ratio 1:20 (w/v) and the grains brought to boiling in a controlled water bath. As soon as boiling started, the temperature was reduced to 90 °C to reduce the evaporation rate. The extracts were withdrawn within 30 min, which was chosen from a preliminary study where beyond this time, the extract was drying off and the amount of solution obtained was not sufficient for the initial run. Grain colour and composition and antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties of the extract were determined using standard methods.

Protein (20.57–26.31%) and carbohydrate (55.43–61.09%) were the major components of the grain. Grain type and boiling time generally affected the total phenolic content of the extract. Cream Bambara displayed substantially lower total phenolic content at all boiling times compared with the maroon, brown and black Bambara groundnuts. The total flavonoid contents and total phenolic contents of the Bambara groundnut extracts were dependent on the boiling time and type of grain. The extracts showed no activity against Candida albicans, but the maroon coat Bambara demonstrated a peak inhibition of 6.00 mm against Escherichia coli. The total phenolic, flavonoid contents and the antioxidant properties of the grains generally followed the order Maroon > Black > Brown.

This study has demonstrated the possibility of promoting the use of Bambara groundnut beyond the current level of usage by using simple processing method of boiling to extract phytochemicals with medicinal properties.

Evidence reported by Geczy, Minton and Schrand (1997) showed that foreign exchange risk had a significant influence on the use of currency derivatives but that interest cover and financial leverage did not. In this study, we suggest that the reason why foreign exchange risk was significant but interest cover and financial leverage were not significant in the evidence was because currency derivatives were used to measure the dependent variable. We verify the validity of this suggestion by testing the influence of interest cover and financial leverage on the use of interest rate derivatives. Our sample comprises 140 firms in the UK, 48 of which use interest rate derivatives. Evidence observed shows that interest cover and financial leverage have a significant influence on the use of interest rate derivatives and that foreign exchange risk does not. We also compare the previous evidence referred to above with our results to determine whether there is a difference between the factors that motivate firms to use currency derivatives or interest rate derivatives. The result of the comparison indicates that dependence on overseas product and capital markets, tax, institutional shareholding and economies of scale are the factors that motivate firms to use currency derivatives. The result also indicates that high interest cover (i.e. interest/profit before interest and tax)or total debt ratio, economies of scale and directors’ shareholding are the factors that motivate firms to use interest rate derivatives.

Climate change is a global issue with far-reaching environmental, social and economic consequences. As more people become aware of these consequences, pressure is mounting on governments and businesses to implement ambitious and required climate mitigation and adaptation plans to reduce and finally stop making the climate crisis worse. One of these strategies is just transition, which is defined as the call for climate transformation that prioritises the social and environmental needs of workers and vulnerable groups, especially in the context of transitioning away from fossil fuels, while leaving no one behind. This chapter first provides an overview of just transition through a review of the literature and bibliometric analysis. Then, it discusses just transition in policymaking, comprising reactive, proactive and transformational just transition approaches. This is followed by a discussion on barriers to just transition. Finally, the chapter offers a practical example of transformational just transition approach by reporting some preliminary findings from a case study in the coal mining town of Collie on Wilman Boodja, Western Australia.

The study here responds to the view that the crucial problem in strategic management (research) is firm heterogeneity – why firms adopt different strategies and structures, why heterogeneity persists, and why competitors perform differently. The present study applies complexity theory tenets and a “neo-configurational perspective” of Misangyi et al. (2016) in proposing complex antecedent conditions affecting complex outcome conditions. Rather than examining variable directional relationships using null hypotheses statistical tests, the study examines case-based conditions using somewhat precise outcome tests (SPOT). The complex outcome conditions include firms with high financial performances in declining markets and firms with low financial performances in growing markets – the study focuses on seemingly paradoxical outcomes. The study here examines firm strategies and outcomes for separate samples of cross-sectional data of manufacturing firms with headquarters in one of two nations: Finland (n = 820) and Hungary (n = 300). The study includes examining the predictive validities of the models. The study contributes conceptual advances of complex firm orientation configurations and complex firm performance capabilities configurations as mediating conditions between firmographics, firm resources, and the two final complex outcome conditions (high performance in declining markets and low performance in growing markets). The study contributes by showing how fuzzy-logic computing with words (Zadeh, 1966) advances strategic management research toward achieving requisite variety to overcome the theory-analytic mismatch pervasive currently in the discipline (Fiss, 2007, 2011) – thus, this study is a useful step toward solving the crucial problem of how to explain firm heterogeneity.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors influencing the food insecurity status of the working poor households in south west Nigeria.

International Labour Organisation poverty line, Household Food Insecurity Access Scale as well as the Ordered Logit model were used to identify the factors influencing the food insecurity status of the working poor households in south west Nigeria.

The study revealed that more than half of the respondents were working poor households, with more than four-fifths of them being food insecure. Income irregularity, savings and level of education had major roles to play in the food insecurity status of working poor households.

Employment has always been considered as a route out of poverty and food insecurity. However, the intensity of poverty among working households should be considered in the design and development of policy and programmes, targeted towards workers. Laws should protect the right of workers against non-payment of salaries, advantages of family planning should be emphasised, social security allowance should be provided to serve as an alternative source of income during emergencies and more investment made in education.

This paper attempts to bridge the knowledge gap in the empirical link between employment, poverty and food insecurity. Particularly, its application to the working households.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-09-2019-0589

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors influencing the use of family planning and its link with multidimensional poverty in rural Nigeria.

The Alkire and Foster measure of poverty as well as the Logistic and Probit models were used to identify the factors influencing the use of family planning and its effect on the multidimensional poverty status of rural households in Nigeria.

The results indicate that 31.1 percent of rural households were poor with deprivations in health and education contributing the most to multidimensional poverty. The low use of contraception was closely linked to low level of literacy, lack of awareness of the different methods and high levels of poverty. The use of contraception reduced the level of poverty in the household.

The intensity of poverty should be considered in the design of policies and programs. The wide and proper use of family planning is a sine qua non for any significant reduction in poverty. Potent and assertive family planning programs by government could be achieved through public-private sector partnership and assistance of international development partners.

This paper attempts to bridge the knowledge gap in the empirical literature on the link between multidimensional poverty and family planning. In particular`, its application to the rural context, often characterized by high rate of poverty and unmet needs for family planning employing nationally representative data is of immense value for social policy.

Nigeria has been ravaged by terrorist activities which has made the country unsafe for Nigerians and foreign investors. The motivation of this study arises from the dearth of research applying quantitative empirics to the determinants of terrorism in a specific country. To achieve this goal, vector autoregressive (VAR) model was applied using data from Global Terrorism Database (GTD), International Country Risk Guide (ICRG) data, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) data, and Transparency International. Stata 13 software was used for estimation. The results show that ethnic violence, absence of good governance, presence of corruption, and rises in military expenditure are part of the causes of terrorism in Nigeria. It is, therefore, recommended that internal security should be maintained to minimize the occurrence of ethnic violence and ethnoreligious biases (sentiments) in the discussion of issues concerning Nigeria. Also, politicians should stop the proliferation of arms, as this will cease the violent reactions before and after elections. Finding lasting solutions to corruption using constitutional means will improve the quality of governance, which will improve the welfare state of the people and reduce restiveness.

Ọsẹ dúdú production and sale constitute a major indigenous business among the Yoruba people. Scholars have noted that the business is capable of boosting the socio-economic status of black soap entrepreneurs and of countries. However, ọsẹ dúdú enterprise has some significant threats and problems that are yet to be researched. This chapter examined the challenges of osẹ dúdú entrepreneurs in Southwest Nigeria. Twenty-six interviews were conducted among indigenous black soap producers and sellers in Ogun, Oyo and Lagos States. Data were analysed in themes. Weather, financial, spiritual, copyright and succession challenges, as well as issues such as a large number of sellers, debt, lack of support, pricing and brand competition, were found to be problems faced by black soap entrepreneurs. This chapter concluded that certain controllable and uncontrollable factors were not only capable of limiting the development of osẹ dúdú business but also have adverse implications for the achievement of the sustainable development goals through the indigenous resource. This chapter suggests that osẹ dúdú business actors such as mechanical engineers, local fabricators, financial institutions, and governmental and non-governmental agencies collaborate with black soap entrepreneurs to ameliorate the challenges of the latter. It is only through this alliance that black soap entrepreneurs can contribute to indigenous business development and the achievement of sustainable development goals in Africa.

The aim of this study is to examine how knowledge-intensive born global firms operating in international markets develop and maintain long-term relationships with their customers that insure their continued growth beyond the initial stage of internationalization. The study adopts a case study approach, focusing on two Indian born global firms operating with the knowledge-based services sector. The study shows that getting to know the customer intimately helps firms to retain customers over long periods of time. Customer-relationship management strategy is in line with the entrepreneurial orientation of the firms under consideration.

The purpose of this research is to identify non‐sector‐specific brand and reputation‐based factors that distinguish successful entrepreneurs and small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) from their larger counterparts. These distinguishing factors provide the building blocks for a theoretical (resource‐based view) model for demonstrating the pivotal role of brand, organizational identity (OI), and reputation building for large enterprises and small businesses in knowledge economies.

To explore (theoretically) and explain (empirically) observed reality through qualitative investigation. This approach conceptualises and explains reality, and puts forward empirical findings as representations of theoretically postulated relationships between entrepreneurial success and brand/OI/reputation. The primary data are from in‐depth interviews with a sample of firms located in Staffordshire/West‐Midlands/regions, UK.

Suggest that branding and reputation building are key resources, which allow an organization to be successful over an extended period of time. In terms of research design and methods, we found that an interdisciplinary approach is important in further exploration of the nexus between brand/organization identity/reputation and entrepreneurship. Because they are fuzzy concepts loaded with meaning and interpretations, they are explored better through qualitative data in the first instance. These findings are germane for paradigmatic development to distil the ideas, explanations and the reality that binds the concepts (brand/organization identity/reputation).

This work is original and innovative because it goes beyond inductively derived “theory” to an unswerving location of brand, OI, and reputation within commensurable theory at the heart of successful market strategy for SME organizations. Supporting empirical observations, development of coherent conceptual framework and theoretical rigour mark out this work as beyond those identified within previous studies.