SUSTAINABLE E-COMMERCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ON SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability is one of the most important socio-economic-environmental topics of the time. Consumers are increasingly demanding companies to have eco-friendly approaches that ensure sustainable ecommerce. There is a great challenge to e-commerce business, taking into account that e-commerce is connected with frequent shipping, high return rates, and non-recyclable packaging, which cause a negative impact on the environment. The studies show that ecommerce is rapidly growing and widely accepted. However, the challenge is how to sustain the growth of e-commerce in the long run considering the environmental impact. Therefore, the research gap on sustainable e-commerce should be considered in the light of the environmental impact. Qualitative, quantitative and cluster analysis methods are applied in this study. The results indicate that investing in more sustainable processes has a positive environmental impact. According to the survey, two out of three customers find online retailers adopting sustainability policies important. Only one out of four customers has decided to refuse firms that do not meet sustainability practices. Therefore, the studies of sustainable ecommerce are crucial. The findings indicate that most European countries have adopted e-commerce sustainability policies while countries in Africa have adopted only few (Kenya). Thus, theoretical and managerial implications are proposed in this study. In addition, all stakeholders should apply policies governing sustainable e-commerce and environmental impact: the government, retailers, and consumers.

A comparative study of the policy response to COVID-19 in the ASEAN region: A dynamic simulated ARDL approach.

The COVID-19 epidemic is the most significant global health disaster of this century and the greatest challenge to humanity since World War II. One of the most important research issues is to determine the effectiveness of measures implemented worldwide to control the spread of the corona virus. A dynamic simulated Autoregressive-Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach was adopted to analyze the policy response to COVID-19 in the ASEAN region using data from February 1, 2020, to November 8, 2021. The results of unit root concluded that the dependent variable is integrated of order one while the independent variables are stationarized at the level or first difference, and the use of a dynamic simulated ARDL technique is appropriate for this paper. The outcomes of the dynamic simulated ARDL model explored that government economic support and debt/contract relief for poor families is substantially important in the fight against COVID-19. The study also explored that closing schools and workplaces, restrictions on gatherings, cancellation of public events, stay at home, closing public transport, restrictions on domestic and international travel are necessary to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Finally, this study explored that public awareness campaigns, testing policy and social distancing significantly decrease the spread of COVID-19. Policy implications such as economic support from the government to help poor families, closing schools and public gatherings during the pandemic, public awareness among the masses, and testing policies must be adopted to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Moreover, the reduction in mortality shows that immunization could be a possible new strategy to combat COVID-19, but the factors responsible for the acceptability of the vaccine must be addressed immediately through public health policies.

Energy Security and Energy Transition to Achieve Carbon Neutrality

Successful energy transitions, also referred to as leapfrog development, present enormous prospects for EU nations to become carbon neutral by shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Along with climate change, EU countries must address energy security and dependency issues, exacerbated by factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, rising energy costs, conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, and political instability. Diversifying energy sources, generating renewable energy, increasing energy efficiency, preventing energy waste, and educating the public about environmental issues are proposed as several strategies. The study draws the conclusion that central European countries may transition to a clean energy economy and become carbon neutral on economic and strategic levels by locating alternative clean energy supply sources, reducing energy use, and producing renewable energy. According to the study, the EU energy industry can be decarbonised and attain energy security using three basic strategies, such as supply diversification, energy savings, and quicker adoption of renewable energy to replace fossil fuels. The energy transformation industry still needs to improve energy efficiency, incorporate a circular and sustainable bioeconomy, and support renewable energies, including solar, wind, hydropower, nuclear, and hydrogen.

Food Security and the COVID-19 Crisis from a Consumer Buying Behaviour Perspective-The Case of Bangladesh.

Since COVID-19 was confirmed in Bangladesh in March 2020, the government have enacted stringent measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which has had a significant impact on people's lives. Food consumption habits of consumers have shifted as a result of declining grocery shopping frequency, negative income shock, and food prices shooting up. This paper aims to explore Bangladeshi consumers' buying behaviour in association with the stress generated from a food supply shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic and the post-outbreak perception of the food industry, using a dataset with 540 online samples collected between July and August 2021. A two-stage cluster sampling method and self-administrated questionnaire techniques were adopted for collecting the data during the third wave of COVID-19. Using partial least squares path modelling (PLS-PM) and multivariate multiple ordered logit regression (MVORD) to reveal the pertinent structure between all the blocks, this study provides two key findings. First, a higher intensity of COVID-19 impact translates into higher food stress associated with income reduction and higher food prices. Second, food stress directly affects consumer buying and consumption behaviour. We strongly recommend connecting consumers with local producers and collective use of shared warehouses through institutions, policies, and reforms to prevent disruption in the food supply chain and to keep food prices stable. Additionally, food producers, distributors, stakeholders, and policy planners should strengthen the food supply chain to stabilize food security.

Death Reflection and Employee Work Behavior in the COVID-19 New Normal Time: The Role of Duty Orientation and Work Orientation

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a destructive affair for both workplace and community. However, with the strengthen of global anti-pandemic measures, COVID-19 becomes the norm and there is an increased trend for people to reflect on life or death. Moreover, regardless of its facilitating role in advancing organizational behavior (OB) study, very few studies empirically examine the effects of death reflection in the work domain. Drawing on the generativity theory, we identify how death reflection influences employees’ in-role and extra-role performance under the COVID-19 pandemic. A longitudinal study is performed by using multi-source data from 387 employees in China. Our results reveal that the COVID-19-triggered death reflection is associated with the stronger in-role performance and organizational citizenship behaviors. We find that duty orientation is the mechanism that can explain the effects of the COVID-19-triggered death reflection on employees’ work behaviors. Furthermore, employees who reflect on death with high (vs. low) career and calling orientations tend to have higher in-role and extra-role performance, while employees who reflect on death with low (vs. high) job orientation are likely to have lower in-role and extra-role performance.