We examine a channel through which corporate social responsibly affects firm performance. More specifically, we modeled the mediating role of enterprise risk management between corporate social ...responsibility and firm performance. We use the weighted average of environmental, social, and governance scores (as a proxy of corporate social responsibility) extracted from DataStream of Thomson Reuters‐ASSET4. Drawing on the stakeholder theory and using a large sample of 1021 Asia Pacific firms throughout 2006–2016, we show that corporate social responsibly is positively associated with firm performance. Our results suggest that corporate social responsibly is linked to enterprise risk management. However, the effect of corporate social responsibly on firm performance is both direct and indirect. We provide evidence that enterprise risk management partially mediates the relationship between corporate social responsibility and firm performance. We account for the issue of endogeneity and use alternative measures of firm performance for a robustness check. The findings offer important implications of socially responsible business processes through leveraging on the significance of enterprise risk management.
Microplastics were determined in pink Bombay-duck (Harpadon nehereus), white Bombay-duck (H. translucens) and gold-stripe sardine (Sardinella gibbosa) collected from the Northern Bay of Bengal at ...Bangladesh. Gastrointestinal tracts of fishes (n = 25 per species) were examined for microplastics following alkali digestion protocol, microscopic observations and chemical analysis by micro-Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscope (μ-FTIR). A total of 443 microplastic items were found in the intestines of H. nehereus, H. translucens and S. gibbosa, averaging in the range of 3.20–8.72 items per species. Among various shapes, colours and types of microplastics, irregular (37–43%), white/transparent (26–68%) and fiber (50–55%) were dominant. The size fraction of microplastics ranging between 1 μm and 5 mm was 68–84 items/kg biomass, and μ-FTIR analysis identified 13 particles of polyethylene terephthalate and 66 particles of polyamide. The study findings raised concern that microplastics in marine fish could be a threat to public health via the food chain.
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•Microplastics (MP) in marine fishes were determined from the Bay of Bengal.•A total of 443 MP items were found in the intestines of three fishes.•MPs content were dominated by fiber, irregular and white/transparent colour.•MPs were composed of polyamide and polyethylene terephthalate polymers.•MPs in marine fish may transfer to humans via food chain.
Drawing on stakeholder and socioemotional wealth theories, we empirically examine the influence of corporate social responsibility performance on investment efficiency in family‐controlled businesses ...versus non‐family‐controlled businesses. Our panel dataset consists of 190 Pakistani firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange over the period of 2007–2016. We use feasible generalized least square regression for model estimation. Our results suggest that firms with higher corporate social responsibility performance invest efficiently compared with firms with lower corporate social responsibility performance. Furthermore, the impact of corporate social responsibility performance on investment efficiency is higher in the family firms. The results suggest that family‐controlled businesses are more willing to engage in social responsibility activities to achieve their non‐economic goals, i.e. family image and trans‐generational control. Overall, our results indicate that corporate social responsibility is beneficial for the organization, and its implication is more fruitful in the context of family‐controlled businesses.
Binary NiO-Fe
2
O
3
, NiO-CdO nanocomposites, and ternary NiO-Fe
2
O
3
-CdO nanocomposite are synthesized using facile co-precipitation method, and their photocatalytic and antibacterial properties ...are studied. The as-obtained products are characterized using different analytical techniques. The microstructural parameters were calculated using X-ray diffraction data. UV–vis spectra technique was used to calculate the bandgap and listed 3.1, 2.7, and 2.5 eV for NiO-Fe
2
O
3
, NiO-CdO, and NiO-Fe
2
O
3
-CdO nanocomposite, respectively. The photocatalytic activity of as-obtained products was tested under visible light against methylene blue (MB) dye. The NiO-Fe
2
O
3
-CdO nanocomposite has shown higher degradation efficiency as compared to binary nanocomposites and revealed improve electron–hole separation efficiency. The photocatalytic performance of NiO-Fe
2
O
3
-CdO nanocomposite was also tested for other synthetic dyes such as rhodamine-B (RhB), methyl orange (MO), and cresol red (CR). The antibacterial performance of grown products was tested against
E. coli
bacteria. The ternary NiO-Fe
2
O
3
-CdO nanocomposite has shown higher antibacterial activity than binary NiO-Fe
2
O
3
and NiO-CdO nanocomposites.
This study proposes a novel research model to investigate the neglected and pivotal mediating role of knowledge-worker productivity between knowledge management processes (knowledge generation, ...knowledge sharing, and knowledge application) and innovation. The data were collected from the 369 knowledge workers in the IT sector of Pakistan and analyzed using the SmartPLS 3 Version 26. The results indicate that knowledge-worker productivity mediates between two knowledge management processes (knowledge creation and knowledge utilization) and innovation. However, surprisingly, it does not mediate between knowledge sharing and innovation. The results support the pivotal role of knowledge-worker productivity-the most striking challenge for the management discipline in the 21st century-in knowledge-based innovation. Moreover, the results signify the overarching role of the human and cultural approach to knowledge management over the Big Data and IT and system-based approaches.
The research paper proposes an enhancement to the Galois/Counter Mode (GCM) of authenticated encryption by introducing an “offset” mechanism. This modification aims to improve privacy and resist ...differential cryptanalysis without significantly impacting the mode’s efficiency and simplicity. The improved GCM maintains its original features, such as minimal block cipher invocations, the use of a single cryptographic key, and efficient offset computation. It provides a detailed analysis of the operational framework, including the integration and calculation of offsets in encryption and decryption processes. By complicating the predictability of differential cryptanalysis through unique offsets, the paper asserts this enhancement significantly increases GCM’s security within a concrete security model. The discussion emphasizes the benefits of the offset-enhanced GCM over other modes, highlighting its suitability for high-speed, parallelizable cryptographic applications while bolstering resistance against cryptanalytic attacks.
This study introduces the Counter-Offset mode, a novel advancement in block cipher encryption techniques designed to enhance the traditional Counter mode’s resistance to differential cryptanalysis. ...By integrating a unique input transformation mechanism, the Counter-Offset mode significantly improves upon the security features of the conventional Counter mode without compromising its efficiency and ability to process data blocks in parallel. Through a rigorous security analysis, we demonstrate that this innovative mode not only maintains the essential advantages of its predecessor—including parallelizability and low overhead—but also offers increased protection against cryptanalytic attacks. Our findings suggest that the Counter-Offset mode presents a compelling solution for applications requiring high security without the expense of reduced performance. This work lays the groundwork for future investigations into its application across various cryptographic systems, highlighting its potential to address emerging security challenges in the digital age.
In this paper, we introduce an advanced mode of operation for block ciphers, named Dual Key Chaining Mode (DKC), aimed at bolstering cryptographic security for safeguarding sensitive information. ...Building upon the foundations laid by established modes while adhering to guidelines set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), DKC innovates through a dual-key mechanism and the generation of highly unpredictable values. This novel approach markedly enhances security, particularly against chosen plaintext attacks, a common vulnerability in traditional modes. Through rigorous mathematical analysis, we demonstrate DKC’s superiority, proving its indistinguishability under chosen plaintext attacks (IND-CPA) and showing that an adversary cannot practically distinguish DKC-encrypted ciphertexts from those produced by a random permutation. Our security proof employs a structured approach, contrasting DKC with conventional modes to highlight its robust defense mechanisms and its capacity to mitigate error propagation, reduce chain dependency, and resist pattern recognition attacks. The DKC mode not only surpasses existing standards in cryptographic security but also offers significant improvements in efficiency and security complexity, making it particularly suited for environments demanding stringent data protection. This study’s findings underscore DKC’s potential as a leading candidate for securing communication channels, financial transactions, and cloud storage services against an array of cryptographic attacks.
