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The application of indigo dyes in the denim industries has been criticised due to the introduction of non-renewable oxidation products into the environment. Previous studies have investigated that reducing sugars can be used as green alternatives to sodium dithionite in the indigo dyeing of cotton fabric owing to their reduced and stable redox potential in the dye bath. The purpose of this study was to dye denim cotton fabric with indigo dye using various reducing sugars and alkalis. The use of sucrose and potassium hydroxide (KOH) for indigo dyeing has been explored for the first time.

A mixed factorial design with four variables including alkali, pH, number of dips and type of reducing sugar at different levels was studied to identify a significant correlation between the effect of these variables on the colour strength and fastness properties of the dyeings.

Investigations were made to examine the significant factors and interactions of the selected responses in the eco-friendly dyeing method. This process has the potential to reduce the load of sulphite and sulphate generated in the dyebath due to the use of a conventional reducing agent, sodium dithionite. The colour strength of the dyeing reduced with fructose was found to be better than other reducing sugars and significantly influenced by the number of dips, pH levels and the interaction between pH and reducing sugars. Using fructose for indigo dyeing with two dips at a pH of 11.5, using KOH as an alkali, results in higher colour strength values. The fastness properties of the indigo-dyed sample with reducing sugars ranging from fair to good or good to excellent. Specifically, colour change receives a rating of grey scale 3–4, staining 4–5, dry rubbing 4 and light fastness 3–4. These assessments hold true across various factors such as the type of reducing sugar, alkali, pH and the number of dips. The optimised parameters leading to improved colour strength and fastness properties are also discussed.

This dyeing technique is novel and a green alternative to dithionite denim dyeing. This process is found to be useful for indigo dyeing of denim fabric leading to reduced and stable redox potential in the dyebath and acceptable colour strength of the dyed fabric.

Porosity is one of the most important properties of the textile substrate. It can influence the comfort of a garment by affecting its breathability and thermal conductivity. During the process of dyeing, the dye liquor comes in contact with the substrate; the absorption of the dye liquor into the substrate will be dependent on its porosity. The concept of porosity between the yarns of fabric is a common phenomenon; however, the porosity between the fibres in the yarn can also influence the dyeing behaviour of the fabric.

In this research, ring and rotor yarns of 25/s and 30/s counts are considered as textile substrates. The porosity of yarns was determined theoretically and experimentally using the image analysis method.

It was found that theoretical porosity is independent of the yarn manufacturing method. In addition, 30/s yarn was more porous as compared with 25/s yarn having a higher pore area. Rotor yarns had higher porosity, dye fixation and K/S as compared with ring yarns. Dyeing behaviour was also dependent on the count of yarn. Specifically, 30/s yarns have higher dye fixation as compared with 25/s yarns. However, 25/s yarns were dyed with deeper shades showing higher K/S values. Also, 25/s yarns are coarser than 30/s yarns having higher diameters and cross-sectional area, thus resulting in deeper shades and higher K/S values.

This novel technique is based on the comparative study of the porosity of various types of yarns using the image analysis technique. This investigation shows that the porosity between the fibres in the yarn can also influence the dyeing behaviour of the yarn.

The application of synthetic dyestuffs in the dyeing and printing industries has been criticized because of the introduction of contaminants into the environment. With time, the increasing international awareness of environment and ecology preservation has led to the industry’s attention towards natural dyes and their efficient usage compared to synthetic counterparts. Because the need for “Green” goods and services are rising public awareness, this paper aims to use a banana bio-resource waste to dye cotton fabric.

Factorial design with three variables, including parts of a banana plant, combination of alkalis and application temperature at three different levels, was studied to identify a significant correlation between the effect of these variables on the colour strength and fastnesses of the dyed cotton fabrics.

Dyeing samples achieved with various parts of banana are found to offer significant colour strength and a good wash and rub fastness. Experimental design analysis helped to formulate a standard workable dyeing recipe with the minimum use of resources exhibiting reasonably good wash and rub fastness.

This dyeing technique is novel and can be found useful for partially replacing synthetic dyes with natural colourants possessing good washing and rubbing fastness.

The purpose of this paper is to review the literature and empirically examine a theory-based model in the context of social commerce (s-commerce). The study examined the popular photo-sharing platform “Instagram” to determine the value of s-commerce and its acceptance by customers.

Using the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) as the theoretical framework, the researcher examined the proposed research model and related hypotheses. A survey questionnaire of 441 Instagram users in Saudi Arabia was collected and analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The results revealed that social influence and trust are the most significant factors affecting behavioral intention. In contrast, the effect of facilitating conditions on behavioral intention was found to be not significant.

Very limited empirical research has been conducted in the context of s-commerce in the Arab region generally and in Saudi Arabia specifically. The findings of the present study will provide guidance that could be put into action for marketers and professionals in Saudi Arabia.

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (2017, pp. 14–15) identified that “industrialization is the seedbed for entrepreneurship, business investment, technological progress, the upgrading of skills, and the creation of decent jobs.” This placed studying different industrial sectors and their respective clusters, which are key drivers for economy, innovation, and knowledge creation (Slaper, Harmon, & Rubin, 2018), at the forefront of research. This chapter tackles the automobile industrial cluster in Egypt that possesses promising potential yet faces some challenges. It aims to provide an overview of the cluster, alongside underpinning its strengths and obstacles facing it. Moreover, the chapter displays the importance of the labor dimension in increasing the labor competitiveness of the cluster and showcases this through two cases of German automobile manufacturers that pioneered in venturing into the market through employing technical and vocational education and training. In conclusion, recommendations are provided to help in steering the cluster toward success.

The purpose of this paper is to examine and compare the market power and the efficiency-stability of Islamic and conventional banks in the MENA zone and South East Asia during the 2005-2012 period.

The author applied an empirical approach in two steps. First, the author estimates the Lerner indicator, which is a measure of competition. Then, this measure is regressed and other explanatory variables on the banking “stability-efficiency” are derived simultaneously from the estimation of a stability stochastic frontier.

The author concludes that increased competition in the Islamic banking sector promotes the overall banking stability. Besides, whether there is a low or high competitiveness, the size of an Islamic bank is positively related to financial stability. However, large conventional banks operating in market with limited competitiveness become more involved in the risk behavior. The author concludes that capitalization has a positive effect on stability only in case of low competitiveness.

The originality of this research lies in the application of the stochastic frontier approach (SFA) on the Z-score indicator. This methodology enables to take into account the differences between the current and the optimum stability that each bank can achieve, thus creating a new measure of financial stability called “efficiency-stability”.

The creation of partnerships among companies, governments and universities can improve innovation and the technological development of institutions. As innovation is a multidimensional concept, more nuanced research is needed to identify, which dimensions of innovation firms should focus on them. This paper aims to investigate the influence of attitude to knowledge sharing (KS) factors, learning organization and creativity on the innovation in marketing biotechnology firms. So, the purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of learning organization, attitude to KS, creativity, information technology (IT) acceptance, KS culture and trust on the innovation by presenting a new framework and a model.

The structural equation modeling technique is used to examine the reliability and validity of the measurement of the provided model. Data were collected by questionnaires. A case study was carried out in 100 marketing biotechnology firms in the Tehran of Iran. In this paper, smart partial least squares 2.0 was used to evaluate the measurement.

The result showed that all hypotheses of this research are proved. Also, the results have shown that the attitude to KS, learning organization and creativity affect the innovation in marketing biotechnology firms. As an overall result, the managers should create an enhanced knowledge bank to increase and encourage the KS among employees, thus creating and enhancing innovation in organizations. Also, the results have shown that marketing shortages were mostly connected to access to human resources with related management and marketing experiences and were mainly felt by firms introducing discontinuous novelties.

The main limitation of this paper is that the sample was retrieved from 384 employees in 100 marketing biotechnology institutions. The larger number of samples can yield better results. Next, even though the respondents’ profiles indicated a high probability of them being cognizant of their organization’s efforts in inter-firm KS, learning, creativity and innovation with three or four respondent from each organization answering all questions for such complicated issues always poses the risk of measurement bias and inaccuracy. An ideal situation for future studies would be to pool and compare multiple respondents from the same organization to obtain a more comprehensive firm-level measurement. In addition, this study only surveyed and sampled biotech marketing companies in Iran. Therefore, the model should be examined using samples from other countries because the varieties of culture could have an impact on employee apprehensions. So, future researchers can test the measurement instrument in different countries and/or conduct large multi-national comparisons.

Successful marketing strategies depend very much on an organization’s ability to implement them. This paper provides an excellent study about the future of pharmaceutical KS and shows that innovation paths are linked with local and temporary occasions. Also, the results of this study provide valuable information in formulating marketing biotechnology programs. It is essential to study both economics and innovation for students and academics. The results also suggested that policies to increase economic research will also increase innovation. They could contain the consolidation of the legal framework and institutional resources for public organizations to protect intellectual properties. In general, for successful implementation of strategies an organization has to integrate KS, processes and IT.

The paper identifies the most critical factors in the innovation process of enterprizes in marketing biotechnology institutions. The implications derived from this study can shed new light upon policy-making both at the level of governance and in the management practice in Iran’s marketing biotechnology industry. Also, the paper increases understanding of the innovation process in Iran marketing biotechnology companies. This study contributes to innovating management research by offering a set of legal and dependable operational measures. These measures can help academics in theory analysis.

This is the first attempt examining the role of the learning organization, creativity and attitude to KS as a key contingency factor in innovation in Iran marketing biotechnology firms, an issue whose understanding is still developing in the literature. The paper adds to the body of knowledge by allowing better understanding the attitude toward KS and the influence of KS, learning and creativity on innovation. Previous studies did not investigate the KS in marketing biotechnology firms deeply, but, the present paper permits a more complete view on this topic. The guidelines are provided for the top directors to promote KS and innovation according to the research results. From a managerial point of view some critical elements, which are important for the success of KS and application of these elements for progressing institutional guidelines to develop KS, are considered. Theoretical foundations can be extracted from this study, and these foundations can be implemented to investigate connection in KS elements such as feasibilities processes and institution initiative abilities. So, the results could be suitable to managers when arranging an organization and shaping its culture to improve knowledge management.

This paper aims to investigate the potential application of Balanites aegyptiaca bark powder (BABP) for removing a basic textile dye, methylene blue (MB), from aqueous solutions.

The biosorbent (BABP) was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and point of zero charge (pH_PZC). Batch mode was selected to study the biosorption of MB onto BABP surface at different experimental conditions (shaking speed, contact time, initial solution pH, ionic strength, solution temperature, biosorbent dosage and initial dye concentration). Besides, the reusability of BABP for MB biosorption was also examined.

The biosorption results revealed that approximately 96% of MB was removed successfully at the optimized operational conditions. Pseudo-second-order and Langmuir models, respectively, better described the adsorption kinetics and isotherms. The monolayer biosorption capacity (q_max) for MB was about 97.09 mg/g. According to thermodynamics findings, the MB biosorption onto BABP is an exothermic and spontaneous process. The results demonstrate that BABP can be considered as potential eco-friendly, readily available and low-cost biosorbent for hazardous textile dyes removal from water bodies and also provides a promising method for minimization of agricultural solid wastes (e.g. plant barks).

The utilization of Balanites aegyptiaca bark powder (BABP), solid waste material, as low-cost and eco-friendly biosorbent for the removal of hazardous basic textile dye (methylene blue) from the aquatic environment.

Policymakers are developing government-level pandemic response strategies (GPRS) to assist architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) enterprises. However, the effectiveness of the GPRS has not been assessed. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the interrelationships between GPRS and AEC enterprises. To achieve that aim, the study objectives are to compare GPRS effectiveness between small-medium and large AEC enterprises, develop groupings to categorize interrelated GPRS and evaluate the effectiveness of the GPRS and interrelated constructs.

A systematic literature review and semi-structured interviews with 40 AEC industry professionals were carried out, generating 22 GPRS. Then, questionnaire survey data was collected among AEC professionals. In total, 114 valid survey answers were received and analyzed using the Kruskal–Wallis H test, normalized mean analysis, factor analysis and fuzzy synthetic evaluation.

Small-medium enterprises have four distinct critical GPRS: “form a special task force to provide support in maneuvering COVID-19,” “provide infrastructure investment budgets to local governments,” “develop employee assistance programs that fit all types of working groups” and “diversify existing supply chain.” Large enterprises have two distinct critical GPRS: “provide help in digitalizing existing construction projects” and “mandate COVID-19 as force majeure.” Eighteen GPRS can be categorized into the following five constructs: “market stability and financial aid,” “enterprise capability management,” “supply chain improvement,” “law and policy resources” and “information and workforce management.” The former two constructs are more effective than other GPRS constructs.

This is the first paper that evaluates the effectiveness of GPRS for AEC enterprises, providing new evidence to policymakers for well-informed decision-making in developing pandemic response strategies.