Muhammad Azizuddin

Purpose: The study aims to investigate the factors influencing the fluctuations in shipping costs due to Covid-19 in the Malaysian shipping industry and provide recommendations to mitigate future price fluctuations during pandemics. It analyses the causes of shipping freight price fluctuations, assess their impact on the industry. Design/methodology/approach: This is a qualitative study using inductive content analysis to examine shipping costs in the maritime transport industry in the Southeast Asian context. The study conducted desk research to gain a deeper understanding and insight into the maritime industry. Findings: The maritime sector plays a crucial role in global trade as it oversees the transport of various goods by sea, making it a significant industry worldwide. Strict lockdowns during Covid-19 affected economies around the world, which negatively impacted the shipping sector and affected freight rates, as the demand for ships correlates with the economy. Research limitations/implications: It contributes to the literature that expands the knowledge of global trade and the maritime industry. They are interrelated as they are precursors to the development of global trade in countries. Practical implications: The findings show that the use of dynamic pricing, the use of Lean Six Sigma and the setting of a minimum and maximum price could strengthen the resilience of the industry. Nevertheless, tactics need to be regularly re-evaluated to respond to changing circumstances as the pandemic evolves and changes. This paper intends to be a resource for further research on this topic. Originality/value: This is the first qualitative study to shed light on the relationship between price volatility and Covid-19 in the maritime industry in the context of Southeast Asian Malaysia.

The Roma population—with a unique history marked by migration, settlement issues, and ongoing resilience—has always faced significant social marginalization and has often been subjected to forced migration. Despite being one of the largest and most diverse ethnic groups in Europe, Roma continue to face systemic discrimination and social exclusion, leading to poor outcomes in education, employment, health, and housing. This article analyses the migration pathways, settlement experiences, and persistent obstacles faced by Roma. We argue that removing historical and systemic barriers to create a more equitable and welcoming environment for the Roma community is their right. The resilience of the Roma community in the face of adversity is a testament to their cultural strength and adaptability. This research aims to document these aspects and thus provide a basis for policies that promote social inclusion, equality, and respect for cultural diversity.

Purpose: The main goal of the study is to participate in academic debates and explore women's leadership and related challenges and opportunities in governance, and the extent to which women’s leadership has been enhanced by administrative reforms. The goal is to broaden the scope of action by promoting women's engagement and leadership in local government.Design/methodology/approach: This is a qualitative study that uses inductive content analysis to examine the relationship between administrative reforms and women’s leadership development in the context of local government in Southeast and South Asia.Findings: There is a positive impact of administrative reforms on women's leadership development. There is evidence that women are preparing for leadership roles in administration, which is a sign of progress in political change and modernization of society. They have been empowered by political and administrative education in a transformative way.Research limitations/implications: This article contributes to the literature that expands knowledge about governance, female leadership and administrative reform. They are interrelated because they are precursors to the development of women's leadership in countries.Practical implications: The findings of this study can help governments in South and Southeast Asia become more aware of strategies to promote gender balance in governance. The unsatisfactory situation was found to exist because of problems related to socio-political, economic, cultural, and personal development.Originality/value: This study is the first to highlight the relationship between administrative reform and the development of women in leadership positions in a rarely studied developing country.

Climate change is the most serious threat that the modern world has ever faced. This has led to increasing attention from the government, industries, researchers, and practitioners on the theme of green practice. Due to the heightened awareness of climate change, the hospitality industry is under pressure to implement green practices and reduce the environmental impact of their operation. The research aims at understanding the indicators that define green practice in the hospitality industry and then developing a model that can be used to measure the green score. The research identifies twenty-six indicators of green practice in the hotel industry. These indicators were clustered into six different criteria. Based on the identified indicators and criteria, an integrated fuzzy AHP-TOPSIS method is proposed to calculate the green score. The fuzzy AHP method is used to calculate the weight of the criteria and indicators, while the fuzzy TOPSIS method is used to calculate the green score and rank hotels. The fuzzy AHP result shows that the criterion “Recycling and Reuse” has the highest weight among the identified criteria, while “Green Training and Incentives” has the lowest weight. The application of the proposed method is demonstrated by using a case study of hotels situated in the Sultanate of Oman. The result shows that the 4-star and 5-star hotels in the Sultanate have green scores between 0.56 and 0.641 out of 1.0 at a 95% confidence interval. The results further show that having a high star ranking hotel does not necessarily mean that the hotel is better in terms of green practice. The developed model helps the hotel industry to understand the indicator and criteria, as identified in this research work, they need to improve in order to improve their overall green management practice.

This paper highlights the extent of the relationships between circular economy (CE) practices and the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Specifically, the paper takes part in academic debates regarding CE and SDGs. It qualitatively investigates national governments’ policy response and practices, with a focus on Bangladesh. The study finds varying degrees of momentum in the national policy response to SDGs and thus, it answers two research questions: (i) what is the relevance of CE practices to the United Nations (UN) SDGs? (ii) What are the responses from the Bangladeshi government to fulfil the UN SDGs regarding sustainable consumption and production with CE? As CE is a global trend, the research suggests that broad, conscientious connection and collaboration at the national level are essential. The findings implicate national governments in developing countries and UN SDGs for their policies and programme reassessment, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sustainable development.

The paper aims to review public administration education in the higher education institutions in Bangladesh, and their role in ensuring modern public services. Most universities in the country offer public administration degrees; however, minimal contributions to nationbuilding have been observed. The study asks: what are the pitfalls behind this? How to address the limitations? This is a qualitative study with gleaned data, using inductive content analysis to investigate the phenomenon with three case universities indicating the link between curriculum and learning delivery at the universities in Bangladesh. The research finds that poor development-oriented public administration education has little correlation to national development. The education system is traditional, where typical cultural features are nonchalance and indifference towards domestic demands. The discipline cannot create a distinctive identity and position in academia, which has consequences for the advancement of the administrative system in a developing country like Bangladesh. A research-informed curriculum with innovative pedagogical approach might be an alternative. The paper enlightens both academics and practitioners, as literature on public administration education in Bangladesh has been scarce. It calls for higher education institutions to reassess public administration education, teaching methods and research for national development.

Migration specific methodologies for research have not yet emerged in a unified manner; hence, a void in scholarship persists which has resulted in the growing dilemmas in conducting research on migrant populations. The growing attention given to the research that involves migration has not yet been passably translated into corresponding research on the methodological challenges researchers generally handle. Quantitative methods have come under criticism for not providing an in-depth description of a phenomenon. Hence many researchers employ the mixed-method approach. This allows numerical data to be supplemented by qualitative findings and contextual explanations of both researchers and researched. We argue that no way is researching in a normal condition similar to the precarious conditions migrants go through. Due to the vulnerable positions of migrants who are the main population of migration research, it demands special attention in selecting and implementing appropriate methods.

The last quarter of the twentieth century witnessed the rise of liberal and neo-liberal doctrines of governance, development and politics that overwhelmed the socialist alternatives, once admired a...