FAIR TAXATION UNDER THE GLOBAL ANTI-BASE EROSION RULES?

In 2021 the OECD launched the Global Minimum Company Tax to implement the Action 1 of the BEPS Project. This instrument has seen as a good mechanism to prevent company avoiding taxes at the global level and to stop existence of the harmful tax regimes worldwide, as well as a good mechanism to achieve fair taxation in the era of global digitalization. However, the broke-out of the COVID-19 pandemic and, consequently, the close of the national borders, then armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, boost financial crisis and the crises in almost all social and industrial spheres at the global level. Such unwilling trend, between all, has influenced behavior of the companies and the initial optimism of the OECD and other international organizations that the global minimum company tax, at the very end, would end existence of the harmful tax regimes, tax avoidance and unfair taxation, dropped significantly. Therefore, at the very end of the 2022 and the beginning of the 2023, the OECD launched consultation document on tax certainty in the application of the Pillar Two of the global minimum tax known as a GloBE (Global Anti-Base Erosion) Model Rules. This paper deals with mentioned issue and actual problems that the application of the GLoBE rules is faced with.

Liquidity effects of COVID-19 in the European tourism industry

We examine the influence of COVID-19 on liquidity of the tourism industry in the UK, Europe and Spain. In the short run, the pandemic causes significant negative stock market reaction in the tourism industry. In the long run, the tourism industry recovers from the fall in returns due to the pandemic. Liquidity significantly decreases due to COVID-19, for the UK, European and Spanish tourism markets, even when we encapsulate the influence of stock prices, trading volume and volatility. Our findings suggest that European equity markets have declined in efficiency due to the pandemic in the tourism industry. Our empirical analysis has important implications for policy makers. Tourism recovery strategies from the pandemic are required with immediate effect in order to restore the valuation of the tourism companies, given that the negative stock price reaction and lack of liquidity significantly reduces market value of the tourism firms across Europe. In order for the tourism industry to fully recover from COVID-19, investors need to have the confidence to buy large volumes of tourism company stocks, which will increase the price and liquidity, leading to a substantial increase in market capitalization.

DO WE REALLY NEED "HUMAN-CENTRIC LEADERSHIP" AND NEW COMMUNICATION CONTENT?

The business environment has been rapidly changing after the Covid-19 pandemic. Many organizations have been adopted a hybrid workforce. Employees can work from the corporate office, their home, or an alternative third space. Employee location became more important than company location, so countries started to create incentives to attract individuals. Organizations need new skills, they look to reskill capabilities of existing workforce or to "rent" talents to fill those skills gap. In 2022, exactly 35,174 foreigners worked in Serbia, which is about 12,000 more than in 2021. The most work permits were issued to citizens of China, Russia, followed by Turkey and India. Some authors suggest that next wave of flexibility will be around the question „when" employees are expected to work. The new work conditions had changed employee expectations as well. They expect flexibility in work policies, new well-being benefits, they want their organizations take actions on issues they care about and that their organization see them as a person, not just employee. Those trends are challenging traditional definitions of the manager and HR manager role. Managers will have to put more attention on employee outputs then on the processes. Kropp, Cambon and Clark (2021) said "When interactions become primarily virtual, managers can no longer rely on what they see to manage performance, and when relationships become more emotional, they can no longer limit the relationship to the sphere of work". We will probably need new methods and content in communication, empathic leaders and human-centric leadership. HR function will have to develop empathy skills in existing managers and show them how to use it as management tool or will have to find new managers. The paperwork will analyze the new circumstances in which organizations should function and the expectations and demands of employees today.

Air cargo company selection under a state of chaos: An integrated bayesian BWM and WASPAS approach.

Depending on whether or not there is a chaotic condition, the outcomes of decision problems and the factors determining the outcomes of the problem may differ. Different criteria can be introduced for decision makers' preferences in chaotic conditions, and the importance levels of the criterion can fluctuate. Despite the fact that the COVID-19 epidemic has had an impact on the aviation industry, air cargo transportation has performed well during this time. From this perspective, the impact of chaotic events on the selection of an air freight firm is investigated in this study. With Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methodologies, a new decision-making framework is proposed, which is an effective solution method for choice makers to finalize decision problems. The Bayesian BWM (Best-Worst) method, which is one of the new ways, is used to establish the criterion weights, while the WASPAS method is utilized to rank the air cargo businesses, due to the more sensitive reaction of the newly proposed methods. As a result, these two approaches are combined, and the ranking results are compared to the TOPSIS and COPRAS methods, with the outcomes examined. As a result, in a chaotic environment, the most essential consideration for selecting an air freight company appears to be economic criteria. (English) [ FROM AUTHOR] Karar problemlerinin sonuçları ve bu sonuçları etkileyen faktörler, herhangi bir kaos durumunun bulunup bulunmamasına göre değişiklik gösterebilmektedir. Kaos durumları altında, karar alıcıların tercihleri için farklı kriterler eklenebilmekte ve kriterlerin önem düzeyleri değişebilmektedir. COVID-19 pandemisi her alanda olduğu gibi havacılık sektörünü de etkilemiş olmasına rağmen hava kargo taşımacılığı bu dönemde güçlü bir performans göstermektedir. Bu noktadan hareketle, bu çalışmada kaos durumlarının hava kargo şirketi seçimine yansıması incelenmektedir. Karar vericilerin, karar problemlerini sonuçlandırmasında etkili bir çözüm yöntemi olan Çok Kriterli Karar Verme (ÇKKV) yöntemleri ile yeni bir karar verme çerçevesi önerilmektedir. Yeni önerilen yöntemlerin daha hassas yanıt vermesinden dolayı, hava kargo şirketi seçiminde etkili olan kriter ağırlıklarının belirlenmesinde yeni yöntemlerden olan Bayesian BWM (En Íyi-En Kötü) yöntemi kullanılırken, hava kargo şirketlerinin sıralanmasında ise WASPAS yöntemi kullanılmaktadır. Böylece bu iki yöntem bütünleştirilmekte ve aynı zamanda sıralama sonuçları TOPSIS ve COPRAS yöntemi ile kıyaslanarak sonuçlar analiz edilmektedir. Elde edilen sonuçlara göre, kaos ortamında hava kargo şirketi seçimi için en önemli kriter ekonomik kriterler olarak görünmektedir. (Turkish) [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of the Faculty of Engineering & Architecture of Gazi University / Gazi Üniversitesi Mühendislik Mimarlık Fakültesi Dergisi, is the property of Gazi University, Faculty of Engineering & Architecture and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

A NEW FLOW-BASED MODEL OF END-TO-END INTEGRATION IN PREMIUM PRODUCT SUPPLY CHAINS

Gedryf deur die totale koste van eienaarskap, handel en tegnologiemededinging tussen die Verenigde State van Amerika en China, en die COVID-19-pandemie, ondergaan wereldwye voorsieningskettings 'n groot herstrukturering wat binnekort die besigheid en ekonomie oor die hele wereld sal transformeer. Onlangs het voorsieningskettings met end-totend-integrasie vir premium landbouvoedselprodukte as 'n nuwe sakemodel na vore gekom. Hierdie artikel ondersoek hoe hulle moet funksioneer, en identifiseer die voorsieningskettingstruktuur / - produksie / - besigheids toestande wat nodig is vir hul ontwikkeling. Ons bestudeer 'n premium voorsieningsketting wat bestaan uit baie klein plase wat piesangs van topgehalte produseer, een integreerfirma en duisende kleinhandelwinkels. Ons gebruik industrie- en besigheidsdata om 'n meervoudige roete-vloei-gebaseerde model te kalibreer van plase tot integreerder tot kleinhandelaars/markte. Ons gebruik dan sensitiwiteitsanalise om die belanghebbendes se besluitgedrag te analiseer, en identifiseer en bespreek drie hoofbesluitkwessies: kontrakboerdery, kapasiteitstrategie en besigheidsrobuustheid. Vir kontrakspesifikasie is kontraktering op prys, eerder as hoeveelheid, bevorderlik om die belange van die belanghebbendes te koördineer. Vir die kapasiteitstrategie moet die integreerder rou produkte van baie klein plase verkry eerder as minder groot plase. Vir besigheid se robuustheid kan die integreerder steeds robuuste winste verseker deur sy produkaanbod te reguleer wanneer nuwe mededingers ontstaan of vraag verander. Hierdie resultate word onder verskeie scenario's getoets om die impak van insetparameters of voorsieningskettingstruktuur te bepaal, en word geverifieer met 'n bedryfspraktisyn wat ondervinding het met veelvuldige premium agri-voedselprodukte. Die resultate, tesame met die vloeimodel en sy berekeningsprosedure, kan deur voorsieningskettingbeplanners gebruik word om nuwe besighede te begin of om kleinhandelaars se premium produkaanbiedinge in mededingende besigheidsomgewings te onderskei.Alternate :Driven by the total cost of ownership, US-China trade and technology competition, and the COVID-19 pandemic, global supply chains are undergoing a major restructuring that will soon transform business and economics all over the world. Recently, supply chains with end-to-end integration for premium agri-food products have emerged as a new business model. This paper examines how they should function, and identifies the supply chain structure/production/business conditions necessary for their development. We study a premium supply chain consisting of many small farms that produce top-quality bananas, one integrator firm, and thousands of retail stores. We use industry and business data to calibrate a multiple-route flow-based model from farms to integrator to retailers/markets. We then use sensitivity analysis to illuminate the stakeholders' decision behaviour, and identify and discuss three main decision issues: contract farming, capacity strategy, and business robustness. For contract specification, contracting on price rather than quantity is conducive to coordinating the interests of the stakeholders. For the capacity strategy, the integrator should source raw products from many small farms rather than fewer large farms. For business robustness, the integrator could still ensure robust profits by regulating its product supply when new competitors arise or demand changes. These results are tested under various scenarios to determine the impact of input parameters or supply chain structure, and are verified with an industry practitioner who has experience with multiple premium agri-food products. The results, along with the flow model and its computation procedure, could be used by supply chain planners to start new businesses or to differentiate retailers' premium product offerings in competitive business environments.

Strategic management and organizational culture of medical device companies in relation to corporate performance.

AIMS: Strategies focus on securing the competitiveness of medical device corporations by strengthening their organizational capabilities, which, in turn, ensure their continuous development. This study aims to investigate both management strategies and organizational culture, which may affect the performance of these companies, and analyzes the influence of education and training investment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used data from the 3rd to 6th Human Capital Corporate Panel surveys by the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training as well as data from the Korea Information Service and 6,112 workers and 260 companies were analyzed. For the analysis, management strategy and organizational culture were set as independent variables, and corporation performance was set as the dependent variable. Additionally, investment in education and training was set as a control variable between the independent and dependent variables. Corporate performance was analyzed by dividing into organizational satisfaction and organizational commitment. RESULTS: Differentiation strategy and innovative culture had a positive (+) effect on organizational satisfaction, while cost leadership strategy and hierarchical culture had a negative (-) effect. On the other hand, in the case of interaction with education and training investment, cost leadership strategy and hierarchical culture had a positive (+) effect, while differentiation strategy and innovation culture had a negative (-) effect. In organizational commitment, innovation culture had a positive (+) effect, and hierarchical culture had a negative (-) effect. In the case of interaction with investment in education and training, only the hierarchical culture had a positive (+) effect. CONCLUSIONS: The innovation culture positively influenced the performance of medical device companies. Furthermore, cost leadership strategy, hierarchical culture, education and training investment improved the corporate performance of these companies. To enhance corporate performance, these companies should create an innovation culture and invest in education and training in accordance with the organizational culture.

COVID-19 has proven the excellence of Korea's medical devices, and the medical device industry is expected to continue to grow due to the increase in chronic disease and non-face-to-face treatment. However, the current medical device industry is monopolized by global companies with capital and technological prowess. To overcome this, Korean medical device companies are developing innovative medical devices centered on start-ups, but now is the time to strategically respond to them in order to compete with global companies. In general, companies establish management strategies for survival and growth by analyzing threats and opportunities based on the market environment to maintain the optimal organization according to market competition, government policies, and changes in consumer needs. Strategies are often established based on the culture of the organizations that make up the company. When it comes to strategy establishment, the medical device industry has special characteristics compared to other industries. The medical device industry is based on advanced technology and puts patient safety first, requiring continuous product upgrades. Therefore, it is an essential industry for employees to invest in education and training. The analysis shows the effectiveness of investment in education and training according to the management strategy and organizational culture of medical device companies. It was confirmed that when medical device companies create an Innovation culture, their performance improves. It also shows that when medical device companies adopt a cost leadership strategy, they need to increase their investment in education and training to improve corporate performance.

Weathering the crash: Do customer-company relationships pay off during economic crises?

Do stronger relationships with customers (customer-company relationships [CCR]) help firms better weather economic crises? To answer this question, we examine firm performance during the stock market crashes associated with the two most severe economic crises of the last 15 years-the protracted Great Recession crisis (2008-2009) and the shorter but extreme COVID-19 pandemic crisis (2020). Juxtaposing the predominant expected utility theory perspective with observed deviations in investor behavior during crises, we find that both pre-crash firm-level customer satisfaction and customer loyalty are positively associated with abnormal stock returns and lower idiosyncratic risk during a market crash, while pre-crash firm-level customer complaint rate negatively affects abnormal stock returns and increases idiosyncratic risk. On average, we find that one standard deviation higher CCR is associated with between $0.9 billion and $2.4 billion in market capitalization on an annualized basis. Importantly, we find that these effects are weaker for firms with higher market share during the COVID-19 crash, but not during the Great Recession crash. These results are found to be robust to a variety of alternate model specifications, time periods, sub-samples, accounting for firm strategies during the crises, and endogeneity corrections. When compared to relevant non-crash periods, we also find that such effects are equally strong during the Great Recession crash and even stronger during the COVID-19 pandemic crash. Contributing to both the marketing-finance interface literature and the nascent literature on marketing during economic crises, implications from these findings are provided for researchers, marketing theory, and managers. Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11747-023-00947-1.

[COVID-19 as an insurance case of the statutory accident insurance: occupational disease or occupational accident : Relevant knowledge for the (general and abdominal) surgeon]. / COVID-19 als Versicherungsfall der gesetzlichen Unfallversicherung: Berufskrankheit oder Arbeitsunfall : Relevantes Wissen für den (Allgemein­/Viszeral­)Chirurgen.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic resulted in many infections with the virus and sickness due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Therefore, there was a dramatic increase in the number of reported and recognized occupational diseases (Berufskrankheit, BK) and occupational accidents (Arbeitsunfall, AU) at the German Social Accident Insurance Institutions (BG) and accident insurance funds (Unfallkassen).The publication aims to show the differences between BK and AU and to review the current data on occupational diseases. It deals with the definitions of BK and AU, the differences in the conditions for recognition as BK or AU. Furthermore, the claims for benefits are presented. Finally, statistical key figures of the BK according to No. 3101 and the AU are presented.Results (key points)- According to § 7 SGB VII, AU and BK are insured events of the statutory accident insurance.- In surgery, like specifically in the rest of the healthcare system, the relevance of the SARS-CoV­2 infection with post-COVID in personnel for occupational medical prevention and as a case to be recognized by the statutory accident insurance (BK or AU) becomes clear.- Relevant for the recognition are the duration and the intensity of the contact (local proximity) and the SARS-CoV­2 occupational health and safety rule of 20 August 2020 essentially recognizes a contact duration of at least 15 min at a spatial distance of less than 1.5-2 m (further aspects: more intensive shorter contacts, number of verifiably infected persons in the closer activity environment or the usual personal contacts, spatial situation, work route, special constellations).- No case numbers can be elicited for the detailed presentation of the surgery setting.- There are still immense problems and challenges in the assessment of COVID-19 consequences or post-COVID as occupational disease, as numerous uncertainty factors, such as insufficiently secured knowledge about the further long-term course over the years or the widely varied symptom spectrum complicates the medical assessment of the consequences of this disease.Conclusion: the SARS-CoV­2 pandemic is a special challenge for surgery with intensive patient contact and for the entire healthcare system. This caused long-lasting changes and the adequate health care as well as insurance law processing of the (case-specific) consequences might still require considerable efforts and resources.

Relocation trends determined by increasing risks in Eastern Europe: An ANP-TOPSIS approach

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has changed companies' perspective on relocation and brought uncertainty into people's lives. Uncertainty, a decisive factor in today's global environment, requires new research about human resources and companies. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unexpected need for change within organizations, especially in terms of human resources management, creating a complex and challenging environment that interferes with business continuity, forcing employees to cope with this challenging situation. OBJECTIVE: The article aims identifying the changes generated by the COVID 19 pandemic in the relocation of businesses from the European Union, assessing the relocation trends of companies around the world in European countries in this volatile macroeconomic environment. The sustainability of companies, the way they can overcome the crises generated by the pandemic depend mainly on economic, social, financial, political factors and human resource involved in the relocation process. Studying the influence of the pandemic on relocation decision contributes to better management of crises in the future and to reducing risks. METHODS: The study proposes an integrated ANP-TOPSIS (Analytic Network Process-Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) for ordering preference according to the ideal solution framework. Priority should be given to solutions that consider the interactions between factors involved in decision-making. The proposed model will increase the efficiency of the transfer decision-making process and help managers choose solutions effectively based on their importance and impact on the company and the human resources involved. RESULTS: The synthesis of the indicators and methods used, in addition to the factors that affect relocation, complements the specialized literature. The results showed a shift in business relocation options from east to west, demonstrating the current trend in the relocation issue associated with the COVID-19 virus. Eastern European countries are no longer as attractive for companies relocating compared to the pre-pandemic period. The countries with more stable economies, characterized by lower risks, seem to become more attractive to companies that relocate their facilities. CONCLUSIONS: The strategic positioning of the firm, its growth or adaptation to the present environment, and its geographic focus are fundamental components of a company's migration. The selection of an ideal site is a research problem;not only to find a place where firms will have access to qualified human resources, to lower their costs, to be close to raw materials or the market, but also to prevent associated relocation hazards. According to research, today's reality necessitates a risk-focused strategy.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Remote Working and Coworking Spaces in Germany—Narrative Literature Analyses

The COVID-19 pandemic has been hit the whole German society and with that the way of working as well as the trend of coworking, as it happened similarly in other western societies. With information about governmental measurements, the world of work, mobility and transportation, people's behavior, companies' strategies, the real estate market, and changes in new working spaces from different sources this article creates a narration of immediate impacts, medium-term and long-run effects. Finally, this article aims to draw potential coming changes and further trends for coworking spaces. © 2023, The Author(s).

The challenges faced by women-owned companies in Afghanistan under COVID-19 and Taliban

The COVID-19 pandemic and the shift of power to the Taliban have negatively affected women-owned companies. This study aimed to explore the external and internal challenges of women-owned businesses from March 2020 to January 2022 in Afghanistan. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted from December 2021 to January 2022 with 29 women-owned company owners and chief executive officers (CEOs) based in five provinces of Afghanistan. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The themes are COVID-19 external challenges: movement restriction, inability to access the market, and financial issues. COVID-19 internal challenges: financial and production problems. Taliban governance external challenges: regulation on women's activities, economic crisis, and market downturn, and Taliban governance internal challenges: financial issues, production issues, and staff mental wellbeing. The study concluded that challenges due to the COVID-19 and Taliban governance presented strong shocks to women-owned companies that may precipitate the closure of these companies or the immigration of businesswomen. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Academic Framing of Computational Representations in the Virtual Classroom during Covid-19

Keywords: Agenda;Framing;Social representations;Expectations;Computer Introduction The development of research projects often requires the competition of computers, software and data analysis techniques, but the acceptance, appropriation and intensive use of them presents limitations in terms of utility and risk expectations [1]. Some explanatory models of human capital formation suggest that the formation of talent or intellectual capital in intangible assets of organizations is due to habitus [3]. [...]the predictive models of the social representations of these determinants have not been observed in the explanation of the relations with the intensive use of technologies, devices and electronic networks. [...]the objective of the present work was to establish the academic link relative to the social representations of computer computers, considering the dimensions of the organizational, educational and cognitive models. Methodology A documentary, retrospective and exploratory study was carried out with a selection of sources indexed to international repositories Table 1, considering the indexing period from 2019 to 2021, as well as the search by allusive keywords for negative (stigma, risk, rejection) and positive (utility, acceptance, appropriation) (Table 1) Content analysis and opinion matrices were used, considering the inclusion of findings, ratings and comparisons of coded data such as;-1 for negative dimensions (stigma, risk and rejection) and +1 for positive dimensions (utility, acceptance and appropriation) The qualitative data analysis package was used, considering equation (1) in which the contingency relations and the proportions of probabilities of taking risks in permissible thresholds of human capital formation stand out The contrast of the null hypotheses was made from the estimation of these parameters.

Air cargo company selection under a state of chaos: An integrated bayesian BWM and WASPAS approach

Depending on whether or not there is a chaotic condition, the outcomes of decision problems and the factors determining the outcomes of the problem may differ. Different criteria can be introduced for decision makers' preferences in chaotic conditions, and the importance levels of the criterion can fluctuate. Despite the fact that the COVID-19 epidemic has had an impact on the aviation industry, air cargo transportation has performed well during this time. From this perspective, the impact of chaotic events on the selection of an air freight firm is investigated in this study. With Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methodologies, a new decision-making framework is proposed, which is an effective solution method for choice makers to finalize decision problems. The Bayesian BWM (Best-Worst) method, which is one of the new ways, is used to establish the criterion weights, while the WASPAS method is utilized to rank the air cargo businesses, due to the more sensitive reaction of the newly proposed methods. As a result, these two approaches are combined, and the ranking results are compared to the TOPSIS and COPRAS methods, with the outcomes examined. As a result, in a chaotic environment, the most essential consideration for selecting an air freight company appears to be economic criteria. (English) [ FROM AUTHOR] Karar problemlerinin sonuçları ve bu sonuçları etkileyen faktörler, herhangi bir kaos durumunun bulunup bulunmamasına göre değişiklik gösterebilmektedir. Kaos durumları altında, karar alıcıların tercihleri için farklı kriterler eklenebilmekte ve kriterlerin önem düzeyleri değişebilmektedir. COVID-19 pandemisi her alanda olduğu gibi havacılık sektörünü de etkilemiş olmasına rağmen hava kargo taşımacılığı bu dönemde güçlü bir performans göstermektedir. Bu noktadan hareketle, bu çalışmada kaos durumlarının hava kargo şirketi seçimine yansıması incelenmektedir. Karar vericilerin, karar problemlerini sonuçlandırmasında etkili bir çözüm yöntemi olan Çok Kriterli Karar Verme (ÇKKV) yöntemleri ile yeni bir karar verme çerçevesi önerilmektedir. Yeni önerilen yöntemlerin daha hassas yanıt vermesinden dolayı, hava kargo şirketi seçiminde etkili olan kriter ağırlıklarının belirlenmesinde yeni yöntemlerden olan Bayesian BWM (En Íyi-En Kötü) yöntemi kullanılırken, hava kargo şirketlerinin sıralanmasında ise WASPAS yöntemi kullanılmaktadır. Böylece bu iki yöntem bütünleştirilmekte ve aynı zamanda sıralama sonuçları TOPSIS ve COPRAS yöntemi ile kıyaslanarak sonuçlar analiz edilmektedir. Elde edilen sonuçlara göre, kaos ortamında hava kargo şirketi seçimi için en önemli kriter ekonomik kriterler olarak görünmektedir. (Turkish) [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of the Faculty of Engineering & Architecture of Gazi University / Gazi Üniversitesi Mühendislik Mimarlık Fakültesi Dergisi, is the property of Gazi University, Faculty of Engineering & Architecture and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

The Impact of the Scientific Metaverse on the Biotech Industry: How Virtual Reality Helped Researchers Fight Back Against COVID-19

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic not only precipitated a digital revolution but also led to one of the largest scientific collaborative open-source initiatives. The EXaSCale smArt pLatform Against paThogEns for CoronaVirus (EXSCALATE4CoV) consortium, led by Dompé farmaceutici S.p.A., brought together 18 global organizations to counter international pandemics more rapidly and efficiently. The consortium also partnered with Nanome, an extended reality software company whose software facilitates the visualization, modification, and simulation of molecules via augmented reality, mixed reality, and virtual reality applications. To characterize the molecular structure of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and to identify promising drug targets, the EXSCALATE4CoV team utilized methods such as homology modeling, molecular dynamics simulations, high-throughput virtual screening, docking, and other computational procedures. Nanome provided analysis of those computational procedures and supplied virtual reality headsets to help scientists better understand and interact with the molecular dynamics and key chemical interactions of SARS-CoV-2. Nanome's collaborative ideation platform enables scientific breakthroughs across research institutions in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and other diseases. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

China: The Bankable State

The volume on China: The Bankable State rejects neoliberal consensus and focuses on crucial contributions of the Chinese state in shaping Chinese economy. This book makes crucial theoretical contributions to the study of local political economy of China. This book engages with Chinese state responses to challenges China faces in the processes of reform, transition and development of both commercial and non-commercial banks. This book explores Chinese economic growth and development policy processes and its uniqueness in the wider world economy. The book examines Chinese financial policy praxis and offers an insightful account of its successes for the wider resurgence of alternative political economy of local development. Additionally, this book also showcases state led entrepreneurship in China. The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021.

Role of Talent Management in Business Continuity

Talent Management plays a crucial role to support the business continuity and empower the most important asset for the company - its people. The role that Talent Management has played was highlighted in different aspects across the organization, starting from developing competent HR team and HR department structure that can influence company culture by taking an active approach in this regard. The journey started by working with the executives and stakeholders across the business to evaluate the current company culture, assess potential gaps or opportunities, and create a strategic plan to align the organization's culture with its values and goals. Moreover, a deliberate building of core and supplementary HR systems serving the business strategy while respecting culture readiness has taken place. This started off with developing leadership development programs, conducting a competency management system for better training and skills development, relying on assessment tools in recruitment and using these tools in the on-boarding, knowledge sharing approach, creating a performance management culture and working on continuous development and improvement. The Leadership Development Program was achieved on 3 phases: Assessment phase, Development phase and re-assessment phase. One of the main objectives that we tried to focus on while implementing the leadership development program was to find employees who are potential leaders and nurture them early enough. In addition, it was crucial to identify a Leadership Competency Profile to have a clear, compelling vision of how the skills we were building in the leadership development program connect to the leadership road map in the company. In addition, and in the light of Covid-19 and the absence of Employee Training in 2020, the HR department came out with an initiative to carry out internal knowledge sharing workshops across the company. These workshops aimed at increasing employees' awareness with the different functions across the company in addition to increasing the level of engagement, communication, and presentation skills for employees. There is always a need to measure where we are and the progress done so far to know where we want to be and adjust the process accordingly. Therefore throughout all of these processes and programs, different feedback surveys were conducted to take necessary action plans. This helped in getting all employees onboard with us. Ultimately the alignment that was made between the Talent Management and the overall company's business strategy resulted in the company's ability to maintain a competitive advantage. A huge progress was made but the process continues to sustain this role. Copyright © 2023, Society of Petroleum Engineers.

ASYMMETRIC MULTIFRACTAL CROSS-CORRELATION DYNAMICS BETWEEN FIAT CURRENCIES AND CRYPTOCURRENCIES

This paper performs the asymmetric multifractal cross-correlation analysis to examine the COVID-19 effects on three relevant high-frequency fiat currencies, namely euro (EUR), yen (YEN) and the Great Britain pound (GBP), and two cryptocurrencies with the highest market capitalization and traded volume (Bitcoin and Ethereum) considering two periods (Pre-COVID-19 and during COVID-19). For both periods, we find that all pairs of these financial assets are characterized by overall persistent cross-correlation behavior (αxy(0) > 0.5). Moreover, COVID-19 promoted an increase in the multifractal spectrum's width, which implies an increase in the complexity for all pairs considered here. We also studied the Generalized Cross-correlation Exponent, which allows us to verify that there is no asymmetric behavior between Bitcoin and fiat currencies and between Ethereum and fiat currencies. We conclude that investing simultaneously in major fiat currencies and leading cryptocurrencies can reduce the portfolio risk, leading to improvement in the investment results.

Air cargo company selection under a state of chaos: An integrated bayesian BWM and WASPAS approach.

Depending on whether or not there is a chaotic condition, the outcomes of decision problems and the factors determining the outcomes of the problem may differ. Different criteria can be introduced for decision makers' preferences in chaotic conditions, and the importance levels of the criterion can fluctuate. Despite the fact that the COVID-19 epidemic has had an impact on the aviation industry, air cargo transportation has performed well during this time. From this perspective, the impact of chaotic events on the selection of an air freight firm is investigated in this study. With Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methodologies, a new decision-making framework is proposed, which is an effective solution method for choice makers to finalize decision problems. The Bayesian BWM (Best-Worst) method, which is one of the new ways, is used to establish the criterion weights, while the WASPAS method is utilized to rank the air cargo businesses, due to the more sensitive reaction of the newly proposed methods. As a result, these two approaches are combined, and the ranking results are compared to the TOPSIS and COPRAS methods, with the outcomes examined. As a result, in a chaotic environment, the most essential consideration for selecting an air freight company appears to be economic criteria. (English) [ FROM AUTHOR] Karar problemlerinin sonuçları ve bu sonuçları etkileyen faktörler, herhangi bir kaos durumunun bulunup bulunmamasına göre değişiklik gösterebilmektedir. Kaos durumları altında, karar alıcıların tercihleri için farklı kriterler eklenebilmekte ve kriterlerin önem düzeyleri değişebilmektedir. COVID-19 pandemisi her alanda olduğu gibi havacılık sektörünü de etkilemiş olmasına rağmen hava kargo taşımacılığı bu dönemde güçlü bir performans göstermektedir. Bu noktadan hareketle, bu çalışmada kaos durumlarının hava kargo şirketi seçimine yansıması incelenmektedir. Karar vericilerin, karar problemlerini sonuçlandırmasında etkili bir çözüm yöntemi olan Çok Kriterli Karar Verme (ÇKKV) yöntemleri ile yeni bir karar verme çerçevesi önerilmektedir. Yeni önerilen yöntemlerin daha hassas yanıt vermesinden dolayı, hava kargo şirketi seçiminde etkili olan kriter ağırlıklarının belirlenmesinde yeni yöntemlerden olan Bayesian BWM (En Íyi-En Kötü) yöntemi kullanılırken, hava kargo şirketlerinin sıralanmasında ise WASPAS yöntemi kullanılmaktadır. Böylece bu iki yöntem bütünleştirilmekte ve aynı zamanda sıralama sonuçları TOPSIS ve COPRAS yöntemi ile kıyaslanarak sonuçlar analiz edilmektedir. Elde edilen sonuçlara göre, kaos ortamında hava kargo şirketi seçimi için en önemli kriter ekonomik kriterler olarak görünmektedir. (Turkish) [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of the Faculty of Engineering & Architecture of Gazi University / Gazi Üniversitesi Mühendislik Mimarlık Fakültesi Dergisi, is the property of Gazi University, Faculty of Engineering & Architecture and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Reasons for participating in musical activities and their relationship with well-being during and before Covid-19.

People tend to participate in musical activities-whether it is making or listening to music-for reasons that are related to basic psychological needs. This study explored whether the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) has changed the reasons for participating in musical activities and examined the relationship between these reasons and well-being during as well as before the pandemic. In total, 246 people (between 18 and 35 years) completed a survey during the pandemic, which contained questions relating to the reasons for participating in musical activities-namely the promotion of identity and agency, mood regulation, relaxation and company, enjoyment-and to subjective and eudaimonic well-being before and after the outbreak of the pandemic. Results showed that during the pandemic compared with before, people more often chose music to promote identity and agency, mood regulation, and relaxation and company. Two of the reasons that were invoked more often-namely identity and agency and mood regulation-positively predicted eudaimonic and subjective well-being, respectively, during the pandemic as well as before. Thus, people's reasons for participating in musical activities during the pandemic compared with before changed in a direction consistent with increasing both eudaimonic and subjective well-being.

Scale effects in ridesplitting: A case study of the City of Chicago

Ridesplitting – a type of ride-hailing in which riders share vehicles with other riders – has become a common travel mode in some major cities. This type of shared ride option is currently provided by transportation network companies (TNCs) such as Uber, Lyft, and Via and has attracted increasing numbers of users, particularly before the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous findings have suggested ridesplitting can lower travel costs and even lessen congestion by reducing the number of vehicles needed to move people. Recent studies have also posited that ridesplitting should experience positive feedback mechanisms in which the quality of the service would improve with the number of users. Specifically, these systems should benefit from economies of scale and increasing returns to scale. This paper demonstrates evidence of their existence using trip data reported by TNCs to the City of Chicago between January and September 2019. Specifically, it shows that increases in the number of riders requesting or authorizing shared trips during a given time period is associated with shorter trip detours, higher rates of riders being matched together, lower costs relative to non-shared trips, and higher willingness for riders to share trips.