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Supplier selection in the supply chain network (SCN) has strategic importance and involves multiple factors. The multi-criteria nature of the problem coupled with environmental uncertainty requires several procedures and considerations. The issue of decision-making in selecting the best among various qualified suppliers remains the major challenge in the pharmaceutical industry. This study investigated the multi-criteria multi-supplier decision-making process and proposed a model for supplier selection problems based on mixed-integer linear programming.

The concept of principal component analysis (PCA) was used to reduce data dimensionality, and the four best criteria have been considered and selected. The result is subjected to decision-makers’ (DMs’) reliability test using the concept of a triangular fuzzy number (TFN). The importance of each supplier to each measure is established using fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution approach, and the suppliers have ranked accordingly.

This study proposes a mixed integer linear programming model for supplier selection in a pharmaceutical company. The effectiveness of the proposed model has been demonstrated using a numerical example. The solution shows the model's applicability in making a sound decision in pharmaceutical companies in the space of reality. The model proposed is simple. Readily commercial packages such as LINDO/LINGO and GAMS can solve the model.

This research contributed to the systematic manner of supplier selection considering DMs’ value judgement under a fuzzy environment and is limited to the case study area. However, interested researchers can apply the study in other related manufacturing industries. However, the criteria have to be revisited to suit that system and might require varying ratings based on the experts' opinions in that field.

This work suggests more insights practically by considering a realistic and precise investigation based on a real-life case study of pharmaceutical companies with six primary criteria and twenty-four sub-criteria. The study outcome will assist organizations and managers in conducting the best decision objectively by selecting the best suppliers with their various standards and terms among many available contenders in the manufacturing industry.

In this paper, the authors attempted to identify the most critical attributes to be preserved by the top managers (DMs) while selecting suppliers in pharmaceutical companies. The study proposed an MILP model for supplier selection in the pharmaceutical company using fuzzy TOPSIS.

This study aims to address the inherent uncertainties within closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) networks through the application of a multi-objective approach, specifically focusing on the optimization of integrated production and transportation processes. The primary purpose is to enhance decision-making in supply chain management by formulating a robust multi-objective model.

In dealing with uncertainty, this study uses Pythagorean fuzzy numbers (PFNs) to effectively represent and quantify uncertainties associated with various parameters within the CLSC network. The proposed model is solved using Pythagorean hesitant fuzzy programming, presenting a comprehensive and innovative methodology designed explicitly for handling uncertainties inherent in CLSC contexts.

The research findings highlight the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed framework for addressing uncertainties within CLSC networks. Through a comparative analysis with other established approaches, the model demonstrates its robustness, showcasing its potential to make informed and resilient decisions in supply chain management.

This study successfully addressed uncertainty in CLSC networks, providing logistics managers with a robust decision-making framework. Emphasizing the importance of PFNs and Pythagorean hesitant fuzzy programming, the research offered practical insights for optimizing transportation routes and resource allocation. Future research could explore dynamic factors in CLSCs, integrate real-time data and leverage emerging technologies for more agile and sustainable supply chain management.

This research contributes significantly to the field by introducing a novel and comprehensive methodology for managing uncertainty in CLSC networks. The adoption of PFNs and Pythagorean hesitant fuzzy programming offers an original and valuable approach to addressing uncertainties, providing practitioners and decision-makers with insights to make informed and resilient decisions in supply chain management.

Institutional repositories constitute an integral part of present day digital libraries allowing global access to scholarly publications and provides an opportunity for future research enhancement and long term preservation of information. Electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) represent a growing segment of available content in institutional repositories where they contribute to the impact and ranking of their institutions. The present study traces the growth and development of online e-theses repositories in Asia within the broader framework of open access.

The present study tries to discover the composition of ETD repositories in Asia based on the seven key parameters, i.e. country, types, language, disciplines, software, content types and repository policies. To achieve the stated objectives, the ETD repositories developed by Asian countries were identified by selecting the database of OpenDOAR (Directory of Open Access Repositories) and the retrieved data were thoroughly analyzed for the necessary information.

Theses and dissertations are considered an important part of information resources in any institution. They are often the only source of research work. Unfortunately, access to these valuable unpublished resources is often restricted to parent institution only. The authors found that ETD repositories are addressing this problem by making institutional knowledge available online and thereby not only increasing its visibility and use, but also making them contribute to the impact and ranking of their institutions. Asian countries are beginning to embrace the idea of digitizing, archiving and making their theses and dissertations available online. The study found that more than half of all IRs listed in the directory of OpenDOAR contain ETDs. ETD system is growing fast in some Asian countries. However, the number of universities having e-theses repositories is meager considering the large number of quality academic and research institutions across Asian countries.

The paper argues that ETD repositories not only benefit students and institutions by enhancing education and expanding research, but also by increasing a university’s visibility and use and thereby contributing to the impact and ranking of its parent institutions.

The study hopes to heighten awareness of research being conducted in Asia and its contribution to a global knowledge base. Some of the suggestions to improve the existing conditions and strengthen the growth rate of ETDs in Asia are also presented.

The main objective of this paper is to highlight the unprecedented growth of Islamic banking and finance in the contemporary finance world. It captures the advancements of Islamic banking and finance industry across the tools, systems, sectors, markets and over 75 countries from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.

The paper deals with the paradigm of Islamic banking and finance. It constitutes a general review that bears special features, facts and figures over the recent developments of Islamic banking and finance across the globe. It takes stock of the growing institutional and infrastructure support for the Islamic banking and finance system in Muslim countries and Western financial markets.

The findings of the paper hold that Islamic banking and finance industry has been making breakthrough improvements to become a truly viable and competitive alternative to conventional systems at the global level. Islamic banking and finance institutions have acquired booming grounds in the Middle East, South East and South East Asia. These growing Islamic hubs have been acting as a launching pad to promote Islamic banking in Western business and financial markets. There are some core factors contributing to the recent success of Islamic banking and finance, such as spiraling oil prices worldwide, prolonged boom in the Middle Eastern economies, product innovation and sophistication, increasingly receptive attitude of conventional regulators and information technology advancements that have been acting as a catalyst for the Islamic banking and finance industry to go global. Given all growth patterns, Islamic banking may be able to win over the majority of customers from the Muslim world that constitutes almost 24 per cent of the world's population (over 1.3 billion), and other ethical groups across the globe in times ahead.

The paper takes stock of on‐going developments in Islamic banking and finance industry worldwide. It deals with latest information, facts and figures, which however do not amount to a substantive volume to allow statistical testing and analysis to figure out the main factors and their actual contributions in making Islamic banking and finance emerge as the fastest growing industry of the global finance. This paper mostly bears a subjective outlook.

The paper aims to attract the global attention towards the fastest growing industry of the contemporary world of finance. It presents the case of the Islamic banking and finance industry in the most powerful, comprehensive and logical fashions to remove all misgivings about it in some circles, and let it be seen as an industry adding more ethical, competitive, flexible and diversified tools and systems to global financial markets. The paper highlights the increasing moral and material support that Islamic banking has been enjoying from Muslim governments and the public, and Western market players and regulators. It draws attention towards the growing number of products, systems, infrastructures and supporting institutions of Islamic banking over the recent years. The current trends of Islamic banking industry worldwide captured in this paper can tell all about its strength and weakness, future prospects and ambitions to become a truly innovative, competitive and integrated part of contemporary global finance.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of different sukuk structures from a financial perspective. This examination includes murabahah and ijara‐based sukuk, the former offering a fixed return, and the latter, the most popular form of sukuk, a variable return. The potential for other more novel sukuk structures based on musharakah partnership contracts is also examined, and sukuk pricing issues are explored using alternative benchmarks to London Inter‐bank Offer Rate.

Flow charts are used to illustrate the financial transfers and the rights and obligations of sukuk investors as well as the beneficiaries of the funding. Historical data have used to assess whether the payments flows are more stable in the case of sovereign sukuk where the returns are based on gross domestic product (GDP) growth rather than interest.

The paper finds that special purpose vehicles are a prerequisite for the successful issuance and management of sukuk. The use of GDP‐based pricing benchmarks would have resulted in greater payments stability for sovereign debt in Saudi Arabia, but not for Malaysia.

The data analysis was restricted to two countries, but this could be extended. Alternative pricing benchmarks were suggested for sovereign sukuk but not for corporate sukuk.

Ministries of Finance and Central Banks of Muslim countries should review their debt financing policies and explore the potential of sovereign sukuk.

Little has been written previously on the use of musharakah partnership contracts for sukuk, and pricing issues have not hitherto been systematically investigated.

Intellectual capital (IC) plays a pivotal role in determining corporate risk profiles in the contemporary knowledge era. Consequently, this study aims to analyze the impact of IC on firm risk (FR) among the manufacturing companies listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).

The authors have adopted the modified value-added intellectual model which combines human capital efficiency, structural capital efficiency, efficiency of capital employed and relational capital efficiency. FR has been used as the dependent variable, measured as the standard deviation of the daily stock prices. The study has used panel data from a sample of 40 manufacturing companies listed in the KSE-100 Index from 2015 to 2021.

The results suggest that IC has a significant impact on the FR of manufacturing companies listed on the benchmark index of PSX. Moreover, this relationship is direct; thus, an increase in IC would also increase FR measured by the change in stock prices.

The current study has only used linear techniques. Future researchers may consider investigating the impact of IC at varying levels of FR using nonlinear techniques.

This study provides corporate managers and policymakers valuable insight into the need to strike a balance between investment in IC and their FR, particularly in an emerging market context.

IC is frequently associated with firm performance. However, the relationship between IC and FR has generally been underexplored. This study adds to the strand of limited IC literature by investigating the impact of a modified IC model on FR in an emerging economy.