Open Access

The objective of this project is to enhance the operations of a micro-enterprise that deals with food ingredients. The emphasis is on streamlining procedures and executing effective tactics. By utilizing tools like SWOT analysis, evaluations, and strategy development, the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats were assessed. The company developed business-level and functional-level strategies to expedite growth and attain objectives based on the findings. Moreover, precise suggestions were given to minimize the quantity of SKUs and optimize operations. The work highlighted the significance of developing a process map for streamlining operations, boosting efficiency, and elevating customer contentment. Through the implementation of said recommendations and strategies, the company can strategically position itself for success within the highly competitive food ingredients industry.

This research was conducted to understand and investigate the impact of SPC waiver EU 933/2019 made as an amendment to EU 469/2019. The research was conducted for analysis and extraction of the data to compile the exact number of biological products impacted with the SPC waiver. The highest sale top-5 products were identified according to the expert’s opinion. The sales revenue opportunity valuable to the top-5 products in the top-5 non-EU markets for early exports is investigated. Additionally, a survey was conducted to assess the readiness of the industry for these changes. The information from this study will be very useful to students of the biopharmaceutical market research and to the stakeholders from the biopharmaceutical industry.

Singapore’s success in transforming itself from a poor, vulnerable economy to one of the richest countries in the world (IMF, 2016) is nothing short of inspirational to many small economies around the globe. Given its lack of resources, Singapore relied upon foreign investors to fuel its growth not only through cash injection into the economy in the form of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) but also to help upgrade its skills and technological stock. This study looks at how Singapore inspired many Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) into pouring a large sum of investments into this small ailing citystate and if this idea can be generalized to apply it in other economies, especially in Oman. In a bid to explain the large flow of Capital into an economy, this study moves on further to review most prominent literature in the field since Macdougall (1958) first laid the groundwork for the subsequent theories on FDI. Based on the review of several previous studies, the most significant determinants of FDI were found to be government policy and political stability, inflation rate as a proxy for economic stability, quality of infrastructure and institutions, market size of the host country, openness to trade, tax policies and access to low cost factors of production. Through a case study method with the inductive approach, this study finds that Singapore excels in all of the determinants of FDI except for the market size of the host country and access to low-cost factors of production. However, it more than compensates for these shortcomings with its strategic geographical location and numerous bilateral and regional trade agreements that give it access to markets around the region. Oman like Singapore ranks well in many of these determinants that make it a potential destination for investment. However, the sultanate could gain more interest from the MNC’s to help its growth by optimizing its policies to lower existing barriers, easing immigration laws to meet the short term skill shortage, allowing for 100 percent foreign ownership, allowing for more liberal property rights, working to improve corruption perception and opting for more trade agreements to give it easy access to larger markets. Moreover, the economy’s heavy reliance on hydrocarbon exports is seen as a major risk by investors as it creates an economic vulnerability which could potentially overshadow many other benefits of investing in the sultanate. Besides the aforementioned determinants, a lot also depends on the success of Oman’s diversification plans.

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is a key tool to have a complete understanding of the costs associated with an investment, as it allows to analyze not only the initial acquisition costs, but also the long-term costs related to operation, maintenance, depreciation, and other factors. In the context of the cement industry, TCO is especially important due to the complexity of the production processes and the wide variety of components and machinery involved in the process. For this reason, a TCO analysis for the cement industry has been conducted in this study, with the objective of showing the different components of the cost of production. This analysis will allow the reader to gain knowledge about these costs, in the industrial model will be to make informed decisions on the adoption of technologies and practices that will allow them to reduce costs in the long run and improve their operational efficiency. In particular, this study pursues to give visibility to technologies and practices that enable the reduction of carbon emissions in cement production, thus contributing to the sustainability of industry and the protection of the environment. By being at the forefront of sustainability issues, the cement industry can contribute to the achievement of environmentally friendly technologies and enable the development of people and industry. The Oxyfuel technology has been selected as a carbon capture solution for the cement industry due to its practical application, low costs, and practical adaptation to non-capture processes. The adoption of this technology allows for a significant reduction in CO2 emissions, which is a crucial factor in achieving sustainability in the cement manufacturing process. Carbon capture storage technologies represent a high investment, although these technologies increase the cost of production, the application of Oxyfuel technology is one of the most economically viable as the cheapest technology per capture according to the comparison. However, this price increase is a technical advantage as the carbon capture efficiency of this technology reaches 90%. This level of efficiency leads to a decrease in taxes for the generation of CO2 emissions, making the cement manufacturing process sustainable.

One of the most critical areas of research and expansion has been exploiting new technologies in supply chain risk management. One example of this is the use of Digital Twins. The performance of physical systems can be analyzed and simulated using digital twins, virtual versions of these systems that use real-time data, and sophisticated algorithms. Inside the supply chain risk management field, digital twins present a one-of-a-kind opportunity to improve an organization's ability to anticipate, address, and react to the possibility of problems within the supply chain. The objective of this study is to identify and assess the advantages that accrue to supply chain risk management as a result of Digital Twins' adoption into the system, as well as to identify the challenges associated with achieving those benefits. In the context of supply chain risk management, a thorough literature study is conducted to analyze the essential traits and capabilities of digital twins and how these qualities lead to enhanced risk management methods. This study investigates the essential properties and capacities of digital twins. In addition, the state of digital twin technology and its applications in supply chain risk management are evaluated, and prospective areas for further study and development are highlighted. The primary purpose of this investigation is to provide a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the digital twins' role in supply chain risk management through the utilization of digital twins, as well as to highlight the potential benefits and challenges associated with the implementation of digital twins. The research was carried out based on the existing body of written material and the replies of 27 individuals who had previous experience making use of digital twins and took part in an online questionnaire. The results of this study will be relevant to a diverse group of stakeholders, including specialists in risk management and researchers, amongst others.