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The phase-field method of interfacial damage is used to simulate the damage in composite structures containing the brittle orthotropic materials and their interface.

In the brittle fracture modeling, the strain tensor is decomposed into positive and negative parts characterizing tension and compression behaviors. By requiring an elastic energy preserving transformation involving the elastic stiffness tensor, these two strain parts must satisfy the orthogonality condition in the sense that the elastic stiffness tensor responds as a metric. However, most of the recent phase-field methods for brittle fracture do not verify this orthogonality condition. Additionally, to describe the damage in structures with anisotropic phases, recent studies have used multiple phase-field variables, with each preferential orientation represented by a phase-field variable to describe the bulk damage of component materials. This approach increases the complexity of simulation procedure. These disadvantages motivate the present study aimed at enhancing the simulation method.

The present study improves the phase-field method of interfacial damage by (1) incorporating the strain orthogonality condition into the phase-field method; (2) using only one phase-field variable instead of multiple phase-field variables to simulate damage in component orthotropic phases; and (3) investigating the interaction between interfacial damage and bulk damage as well as the effect of orientation tensor of preferential orientation in each orthotropic phase and the interfacial parameters on crack branching in composite structures.

Through several simulation examples, the present simulation method is proven to be accurate, effective, and helps the simulation process simpler than previous relevant methods.

Drawing on scholarships of workplace romance, LGBT at work and sexual fluidity, this present research aims to investigate the effect of female sexually fluid romantic relationships at work on their work and life.

The authors used qualitative approach and interviewed 30 female workers who experienced sexual fluidity at work.

From interviews with 30 female employees in Vietnam who experience fluidity in their romance, the authors find out positive and negatives effects on their psychology at work (affective/behavioral/cognitive change and mental health), work outcome (job attitudes and performance/productivity) and relations with coworkers.

This research discovers common and distinct features in the workplace romance of female sexually fluid employees. The research finding supports queer perspective which is exerting more salient impacts on our contemporary society and workplace.

The purpose of this paper is to show the adaptation of participatory concept: “from passive to active community” which is the key point to achieve successes of the case study project – a cultural village in Tam Thanh, Tam Ky, Quang Nam, Vietnam. Its achievements result from the employment of three principal steps including identifying core issues in the community, creating changes in human perceptions and living conditions, and demanding operation and maintenance of the community further. The project can seem to be an outstanding showcase for the applicability and possibility of other community projects around Vietnam.

The paper uses the previous community projects developed in Vietnam. However, they are less effective for the community in long-term due to ignoring/underestimating the role of local people. The case study is an impoverished residential neighbourhood in Tam Thanh, Quang Nam. The authors along with the colleagues observed and conducted the workshops on site to understand the problems, values and expectations of people and the land. The paper likes as a summary for achievements and lessons extracted from that field study. The comparison to the previous projects shows the efficiency of participatory design with the active involvement of the local community.

The practical experiences to find successes for the community projects in Vietnam: collaboration of experts, architects, volunteers and local people; classification of roles for groups of participants; the involvement of the local government. engagement of a collaborative relationship with the community under the patience, comprehension and sympathy of all members of the community; and role of the architects involving the projects should be supported for people’s participation to come up with the idea instead of proposing strict ideas.

The appropriate approaches on the right subjects and right time are the key of successes and sufficiency for the community projects, particularly to the impoverished neighbourhoods or places with sensitive issues. The Tam Thanh village is a typical example and its experiences can be disseminated for the other projects. It indicates the active and respectful involvement of like-minded people (experts, volunteers, sponsors, managers and in particular local people) is very important to achieve the final expected destination in the purpose for/by/with the community.

The huge effect of community projects is directly on the local people. The approaching and understanding them is challenging. An achievable community project is that the real needs of the people are provided; they are aware of their roles and benefits; and finally, the values are retained and developed sustainably in long term. The community projects are characterised by the participation of many people in many different stages: analysis, design and implementation. Therefore, for the experts, volunteers and managers, they learn to listen to the voice of the local people and to avoid the forced thoughts and underestimation of local people’s involvement.

The value of the study is that the nature of participatory design method is shown through activities and results of the community project in Tam Thanh. The delivery from theoretical features to practical works is not easy and needs observation and understanding of local culture and life. Depending on each specific location, the application of this design theory is flexible and adaptive. An idea for every project is initiation; however, the participation of local people is key to the project’s achievement.

This research examines how bank competition and corporate social responsibility (CSR) affect the stability of Vietnamese commercial banks.

Utilizing data collected from 24 commercial banks spanning the period from 2015 to 2022, the paper employs the two-step system generalized method of moments (SGMM) regression method to find the impact of competition and CSR on commercial banks’ stability in Vietnam.

The key findings are (1) increased competition boosts commercial bank stability; (2) economic and environmental CSR initiatives adversely affect bank stability, while social CSR has a positive impact; (3) seven other factors are also identified to enhance bank stability, including bank size, cost management efficiency, independent management, inflation, gross domestic product (GDP) growth, monetary policy and volatility time.

Prior studies have not concurrently incorporated both CSR and bank competition in their investigations of bank financial stability. Specifically, the comprehensive components of CSR remain underexplored, with a predominant focus on its environmental dimension. This research stands out as one of the few endeavors scrutinizing the influence of competition and CSR on commercial bank financial stability in Vietnam, with a detailed investigation of all three components of CSR.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-04-2024-0316

Nowadays, under climate change contexts, natural disasters are becoming stronger in intensity and probability. The impacts of natural disasters on people and the environment are also getting worse. The purpose of this study was conducted to provide a method of assessing disaster risks, in particular, floods for human life in Mid Central Vietnam.

The pre-disaster assessment method was used based on the analysis of hazard factors (Hazard-H), exposure to hazards (Exposure-E) and vulnerability (Vulnerability-V).

Flood disaster risks in the area are assessed and displayed on spatial maps. The districts in coastal plains of Quang Ngai and Thua Thien Hue provinces have the highest levels of risk. These assessments will play an important role in supporting flood prevention and mitigation in the region.

According to the authors, this is the first study assessing the flood risk in Vietnam on the pre-disaster perspective. The assessment provides a plain point of view on natural disaster impacts that supporting disaster prevention services.

The purpose of this study is to examine factors that affect smallholders' adoption of improved rice varieties in Vietnam.

This study used a cross-sectional survey design. A random sample size of 257 was drawn from a total of 725 smallholders. Descriptive statistics and a binary logistic regression were used to analyse the data.

This study concludes that younger smallholders who participate in credit and training programs have a high level of education, receive government support, have both owned and rented land for growing rice and those who have a larger farm size have a greater tendency to adopt improved rice varieties. In addition, if improved rice varieties have higher productivity potential, palatability and marketability compared with the traditional ones as perceived by smallholders and seed of these rice varieties are available in local markets, then they are likely to be adopted by smallholders.

A combination of socio-technological characteristics of smallholders should be considered when promoting smallholders' adoption of improved rice varieties and when choosing agricultural extension strategies to improve small-scale farmers' uptake of improved crop varieties in developing countries.

This research provides important understanding of the determinants of smallholders' adoption of improved rice varieties and highlights factors that need to be considered when designing policies to enhance the uptake of improved rice varieties in developing countries.

This article aims to draw a conceptual model that integrates the view from the entrepreneurial event model with entrepreneurial education and prior self-employment experience. The model tests the role of entrepreneurial education on the formation of intentions to become an entrepreneur and examines whether prior self-employed experiences moderate the route from entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial perceived feasibility (PF) and perceived desirability (PD) into the entrepreneurial intention (EI).

The authors operated on a sample of 389 master's students by applying Cronbach's alpha, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling to illustrate the links between constructs.

The study found that entrepreneurial education is positively correlated with PF, PD, and intention to enter entrepreneurial activities. PD is determined as a partial mediator in the entrepreneurial education–intention link and full mediator in PF and EI. Moreover, the study revealed that prior self-employed experiences serve as a positive moderator in the path from entrepreneurial education and PD to EI.

The study offers several recommendations based on research findings so as to nurture and promote entrepreneurial activities among master's students.

The current research provides novel insights about the relationship between entrepreneurial education and intentions to become an entrepreneur over and about the central antecedents in the entrepreneurial event model and moderation effects of prior self-employed experiences.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors that influence farmers' adoption of Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices (VietGAP) in Vietnam.

A case study design was employed. A purposive and snowball sampling strategy was used to select 54 participants for semi-structured interviews. Qualitative data analysis techniques were applied to analyse the data.

This study found that the social, cultural and institutional dimensions that define the dominant traditional agri-food system determined farmers' adoption of VietGAP and this was expressed in: (1) there was a lack of concern about food safety amongst value chain (VC) actors, particularly consumers and this limited demand for VietGAP-certified vegetables; (2) subjective rather than objective measures were used to assess vegetable quality by actors throughout the domestic vegetable VC and (3) the coordination of this vegetable VC was dominated by informal, trust-based relationships between VC actors rather than through formal written contracts.

This study employed a case study approach and focussed on a local VC for fresh vegetables. The findings of this research may therefore differ to those concerning other produce.

This study highlights that farmers' uptake of VietGAP requires changes to the socio-technical regime of the traditional agri-food system.

This research provides a systemic view of the determinants of GAP adoption by farmers and highlights areas that need to be considered when designing policies to enhance the uptake of public GAP programmes and introduce agri-food systems in developing countries.

The qualitative (focus group) portion of this study aims to examine the perceptions and opinions of corporate and nongovernmental organization (NGO) executives in Vietnam about corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, issues and priorities in Vietnam, the role of various external stakeholders in supporting CSR practices and how corporates and NGOs can work together to support each other’s CSR agendas. The quantitative (survey) portion of this study aims to examine how Vietnamese companies across different sectors prioritize CSR issues and goals, budget for CSR, report on CSR and centrally (or decentrally) manage CSR programs.

This is a qualitative and quantitative research study of executives in NGO, multinational and domestic-only firms operating in Vietnam. Qualitative (focus group) data were collected from 20 participants in three focus groups. Quantitative data were collected through an online survey of respondents from 186 companies throughout Vietnam.

The focus group findings support the research literature that CSR agenda and priorities amongst Vietnamese domestic companies are strongly influenced by long-standing norms, values and religious beliefs embedded in the Vietnamese culture that support their role in charitable giving and improving the welfare and well-being of Vietnamese citizens. The findings also indicate that CSR and sustainability programs are more fully funded and developed by multinational subsidiaries in Vietnam who have more capital and human resources to support their initiatives. The survey findings indicate that enhanced reputation, attracting new customers, securing more sustainable supply chains, developing innovative or new products/services and improving risk management are the top five business goals amongst the 186 companies surveyed.

While the qualitative research uncovered important trends and issues in CSR amongst NGO and corporate participants, the focus was limited to the defined geographic areas of two main urban hubs.