International Research and Academic scholar society

IRASS Journal of Economics and Business Management

Issue-12(December), Volume-2 2025

1. Advancing Entrepreneurship and Commerce in the Nadapal Cross-border Li...
8

Ekiru Francis Anno*
Unicaf University (UUM), School of Doctoral Studies, Lilongwe, Malawi
1-7
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17797180

In the border regions of Turkana, Kenya, and Kapoeta, South Sudan, interethnic pastoralist communities utilize the diverse rangeland and montane ecosystems, Ilemi Triangle included for livestock production activities. Livestock traders have emerged, engaging in the buying and selling of animals, particularly in cross-border trade, which faces policy and regulatory challenges from national and local governments. A study on entrepreneurship and commerce at Nadapal cross-border livestock trade corridor aimed to assess the entrepreneurial capacities of local traders, map trading activities in Lokichoggio and Narus areas, and identify the challenges and opportunities in this trade. The research included 132 primary respondents (livestock traders) and 26 secondary respondents (from government and civil organizations) utilizing a survey methodology. The study reveals that livestock domestication is hampering entrepreneurship and trade growth among the cross-border communities in the Horn of Africa. The pastoralists focus on livestock domestication restricts market-driven output, thereby undermining livestock trading as a viable business. Local traders lack the necessary business skills and knowledge to expand and compete successfully in different market segments. The primary trading unions i.e., livestock marketing associations (LMAs), need better structure and organization by integrating trained individuals and promoting gender inclusivity. Additionally, traders require training in market functionality, regulations, and cross-border relations to improve trade efficiency. The study highlights the necessity for behavioral adaptations in livestock farming and trading to mitigate risks such as disputes and theft that characterize the study area, alongside the development of innovative systems. Inadequate banking services further deter bulk transactions, impacting the safety and profitability of livestock trade.

2. Digital Transformation as a Strategic Tool for Improving Operational E...
11

Chiakanma Osuala*, Nnamdi Okek...
Independent researcher
8-22
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17873920

Digital transformation represents a fundamental shift in how businesses integrate digital technologies to reshape processes, culture, and customer experiences. For U.S. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), this transformation serves not merely as a technological upgrade but as a critical strategic tool for enhancing operational efficiency and securing competitive advantage in an increasingly digital economy. This paper examines the empirical evidence on how U.S. SMEs are leveraging digital transformation—including the adoption of cloud computing, data analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), and automated workflow systems—to streamline operations, reduce costs, and improve productivity. The analysis synthesizes findings from recent industry case studies, surveys, and academic research, revealing that SMEs which strategically implement digital tools achieve significant gains in supply chain optimization, inventory management, customer relationship management, and internal communication. Key drivers of success include leadership commitment, a culture of digital agility, and targeted investments in scalable technologies. However, the evidence also highlights persistent barriers such as limited capital, cybersecurity concerns, and skills gaps that can hinder effective adoption. The study concludes that for U.S. SMEs, digital transformation is a potent catalyst for operational efficiency, but its benefits are maximized when aligned with clear strategic objectives and organizational readiness. The findings offer insights for SME owners, policymakers, and technology providers aiming to support the digital maturation of this vital sector of the U.S. economy.

3. Scaling Ai Features in Large Organizations: A Product Management Persp...
5

Obianuju Gift Nwashili*
Independent researcher
23-30
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17880330

Scaling AI capabilities from a promising Proof-of-Concept (POC) to a widely adopted, production-ready product has become one of the most important and complex organizational challenges of our time. Recent studies have indicated a failure rate of over 80% for AI projects not making it past the pilot phase and into scaled production, resulting in vast amounts of talent and resources being consumed with no value delivered to the organization. This comprehensive review will serve as an expansive guide to help product managers develop a pragmatic, tactical approach to the ―scaling AI‖ problem. We believe that scaling AI to production is first and foremost a product-led orchestration problem. AI scaling is a multifaceted problem that must be solved in parallel with respect to ―bleeding edge‖ technology and proven business value, operational maturity and cross-functional alignment. The framework shared here describes a four-phase lifecycle (Strategic Pilot, Operational Crucible, CrossCompany Scaling, Monetization) where the product manager needs to ―own the whole stack‖ of the execution in order to methodically de-risk scaling. The product manager is the chief integrator and orchestrator of technical feasibility, human-centric design, business strategy and operational pragmatism. The goal is to productize AI to transform it from an interesting science experiment to a sustainable core differentiator and engine of profit for the company.

4. Building Trustworthy AI Products: A Checklist for Product Managers on...
6

Obianuju Gift Nwashili*, Kehin...
Independent researcher
31-39
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17880417

1. In the rapidly advancing landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) integration into consumer and enterprise products, the dual potential of AI to drive positive impact or cause unintended harm is unprecedented. For product managers (PMs), whose traditional role involved delivering functional and delightful user experiences, the new mandate is to proactively ensure that their systems are fair, safe, and understandable to users and other stakeholders. This research paper tackles the urgent need for an actionable bridge between aspirational high-level AI ethics principles and their concrete operationalization in the day-to-day product development lifecycle (Smith et al., 2025; Sun et al., 2024). Our central thesis is that engineering trustworthy AI systems is not solely a technical endeavor but is also squarely in the product manager’s domain and requires a well-structured, repeatable, and proactive risk management framework to manage the inherent tension and pushback of delivering innovation rapidly with high business value. This paper presents a comprehensive and actionable checklist and framework designed for product managers to effectively manage, often iteratively, the three critical dimensions of bias, safety, and transparency. Structured to guide decision-making and implementation from foundational governance pre-conditions to practical execution on the product team, the framework begins with foundational pillars, critical for the PMs to build a house on to construct trustworthy products – with the essential pre-conditions for establishing trust, including a clear AI Ethics Charter aligned with company values and Responsible AI (RAI) Team structures and Accountability Maps with clear owner designation (Smith et al., 2025). The checklist's content is structured into three major pillars which represent essential intervention zones for bias management along with safety and transparency considerations. For each of the pillars, we provide specific and actionable steps across various stages of the product lifecycle that span from building contextual and technical understanding to building robust solutions to managing the system in production. This includes: 1. Bias & Fairness Management: Provide actionable steps for assessing, mitigating, and continuously monitoring and auditing bias across the AI pipeline (Jacob, 2025). This includes guidance on implementing a thorough Contextual Risk Assessment to understand the characteristics and distribution of impacted user groups; Robust Data Provenance & Evaluation to source, document, and vet the datasets; Definition of Fairness Metrics & Guardrails and Formal Continuous Bias Monitoring & Mitigation plans for any unacceptable impacts discovered after product launch. 2. Safety & Harm Prevention: Identify strategies for assessing and mitigating both technical and social operational risks (Sun et al., 2024). This section covers Rigorous Failure Mode Analysis with tools like adversarial testing and stress testing for edge cases, Designing Human-in-the-Loop Intervention & Fallback Mechanisms to allow users or stakeholders to intervene, having a defined Incident Response Protocol when things do go wrong and cause harm, and Robust Security & Access Controls to prevent misuse. 3. Transparency & Explainability: Transparency and explainability are the operationalization of trust in the technology and managing expectations of the stakeholders on how it is working to help and where it will not. The amount of transparency and explainability is modulated by both the technical and operational constraints and the user and stakeholder needs (Olorunfemi et al., 2024). This section provides a framework for Determining Staged User Communication from simpler system status information to explanations of final decisions. It differentiates the internal technical aspects for explainability (for auditors) versus the user-facing aspect of transparency, and Recommendations for Documentation Standards for explainability that travel with the model such as model cards, model datasheets. The paper also emphasizes that the checklist is not a one-time box-checking activity, but an integrated process to be woven into agile product workflows and covers detail on how the PM can use it in specific product phases – from Scoping & Definition (set requirements and key thresholds) to Development & Testing (what to validate and how) to Launch & Monitoring (set up for continued operational oversight). Finally, the research also explores the organizational and trade-off issues that PMs will need to navigate and influence with their teams and stakeholders, such as how to advocate for the resources to do responsible AI product development, how to make principled trade-off decisions when two fairness metrics in conflict with one another, or how to make the business case and communicate the value of building trust as a key differentiator, risk mitigation, and long-term competitiveness strategy. In sum, this paper provides a crucial operational framework and tools to fill the ‘values into practice’ gap. It offers product managers an essential management process that breaks down the critical but high-level ethical considerations and abstract principles into specific and actionable steps that can be practically operationalized. It empowers product managers and their teams to build AI-powered products that are not only innovative and commercially viable but also socially responsible, trustworthy, and ultimately sustainable.

5. Environmental Cost and Economic Performance of Listed Multinational Co...
3

Philip Ibitayo TAIWO, Olusola...
Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria
40-53
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17921387

Economic performance is a crucial measure of corporate success, but businesses globally encounter difficulties in accurately implementing it, which can result in misreporting financial stability and obstruct sustainable development. Consequently, this study seeks to examine the impact of environmental costs on the economic performance of listed multinational corporations in Nigeria. This study employed an ex-post facto research design; population of the study comprised 55 multinational corporations listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) as of 31st December 2023 and 44 firms that fully complied with sustainability reporting were selected using purposive sampling technique. The study spanned a twelve-year period from 2012 to 2023, and data were obtained from annual reports of the investigated firms. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. The empirical findings revealed that pollution control costs had negative and significant impact on economic performance. Waste management costs were found to have a negative but insignificant effect, while environmental remediation costs had positive yet insignificant effect on economic performance. The study concluded that spending on pollution control does not add economic value and negatively affects the firms' economic performance. It is recommended that multinational corporations restructure their economic activities to reduce spending on pollution control, thereby mitigating its adverse impact on their economic performance.

6. Impact of IFRS Adoption on Financial Reporting Quality: An Analysis of...
2

Philip Ibitayo TAIWO*, Niyi So...
Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria
54-62
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17921435

Nigeria and Uganda, as developing economies with vibrant banking sectors, have made significant strides in enhancing their financial reporting standards by adopting International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This study investigated the impact of IFRS adoption on the quality of financial reporting within the listed Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) of both countries. This study adopted an ex post-facto research design, collecting data from the yearly financial summaries and statements of listed deposit money banks (DMBs) in Nigeria and Uganda. The entire population was used as the sample size through census sampling techniques. Data were gathered from two distinct periods: 2009 – 2011, involving Ugandan and Nigerian banks (before the adoption of IFRS), and 2012 – 2023 (after the adoption of IFRS). Analysis of the data involved both descriptive and inferential statistics. The analysis revealed a substantial improvement in the accuracy, transparency, and reliability of financial reporting practices among listed DMBs in Nigeria and Uganda following the adoption of IFRS. These findings underscore the effectiveness of aligning accounting frameworks with the best global practices, particularly within the banking sector of emerging economies. The study concludes that the adoption of IFRS has positively influenced the quality of financial reporting within the banking sectors of Nigeria and Uganda. The transition to IFRS standards has resulted in enhanced accuracy, transparency, and reliability of financial information provided by listed DMBs, ultimately leading to better decision-making by stakeholders who rely on their financial statements. This highlights the importance of embracing global accounting standards to enhance the comparability and reliability of financial reporting practices across borders. The study therefore recommends that regulatory authorities in Nigeria and Uganda should continue to monitor the compliance of listed DMBs with IFRS standards to ensure the continued improvement of financial reporting quality.

7. EQUITY OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE AND EARNINGS MANAGEMENT OF LISTED INDUSTRIA...
7

Isah Abdulmalik*, Audu Friday,...
Faculty of Management Sciences, Prince Abubkar Audu University, Anyigba, Nigeria
63-75
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17938749

Investors, creditors, and other stakeholders are significantly impacted by earnings management, a technique that can skew financial results. In light of this, the study looks at how listed industrial goods companies in Nigeria manage their earnings in relation to their equity ownership structure. The study's specific goal is to find out how managerial equity ownership, foreign equity ownership, institutional equity ownership, and concentrated equity ownership affect the way listed industrial goods companies in Nigeria manage their revenues. Thirteen (13) industrial products companies registered on the Nigerian Exchange Group as of December 31, 2023, make up the population of the study's corollational research design. The census sampling technique was utilized, and all 13 companies served as the sample size. The information utilized was taken from the annual reports of the Nigerian Exchange Group-listed industrial goods companies. Eleven (11) years, from 2013 to 2023, were covered by the data. Using STATA 13.0 software, the study's analysis method was the random effect regression model. According to the study, institutional equity ownership significantly improves the earnings management of Nigerian industrial goods companies, while foreign equity ownership and concentrated equity ownership have a significant negative impact. Managerial equity ownership has a negligible negative impact on earnings management. In order to improve the performance of Nigerian-listed industrial products companies, the study advises the board of directors to make sure that insider manager' shareholdings are neither excessively large nor excessively little. By making policy statements mandating that managers and executive directors hold more equity shares, companies should think about increasing managerial ownership. Additionally, businesses must have a large institutional ownership percentage, particularly in participatory institutions.

8. Bridging Finance and Marketing: The Role of Psychological Traits and S...
9

Prof. Poltak Sinaga*
Lecturer, Pelita Harapan University, Jakarta,Indonesia
76-84
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17938865

This study investigates the various factors that influence investment decisionmaking, specifically focusing on five key variables: Family Influence, Innovation, Need for Achievement, Risk-Taking, and the relationship between Investment Decisions and Positive Word of Mouth. A quantitative research approach was employed, and data were analyzed using SPSS version 22.0. The study surveyed 250 respondents, consisting mostly of e-commerce users in Indonesia. The purpose was to examine how psychological and social variables impact individuals’ investment behaviors and how these behaviors contribute to subsequent outcomes such as word-of-mouth promotion. Five hypotheses were formulated and tested to determine the significance of each factor. The findings revealed that four out of the five hypotheses were supported. Family Influence, Innovation, and Need for Achievement were found to have a significant and positive effect on investment decision-making. In contrast, Risk-Taking showed no significant effect. Furthermore, Investment Decisions were shown to have a meaningful and positive relationship with Positive Word of Mouth, suggesting that confident and well-informed investment behavior can lead to increased consumer advocacy. The results underscore the importance for marketers and business strategists to understand and enhance the key drivers of investment behavior. By addressing these factors effectively, companies can encourage more favorable consumer decisions and foster stronger brand loyalty through word-of-mouth communication.

9. EPRG Model of International Business
0

Vidya Hattangadi*
Babasaheb Gawde Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai
85-88
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18061625

The increasing globalization of business has compelled organizations to expand beyond domestic markets and adopt appropriate international strategies. One of the most widely used frameworks for understanding international orientation is the EPRG model, developed by Howard V. Perlmutter, Jerry Wind, and Douglas in 1969. The EPRG framework categorizes multinational corporations’ international strategies into four orientations: Ethnocentric, Polycentric, Regiocentric, and Geocentric. Each orientation reflects a distinct managerial mindset toward foreign markets, staffing policies, marketing strategies, and decision-making processes. This paper aims to explain the EPRG model in detail by examining the characteristics, advantages, and practical examples of each orientation. By analyzing how organizations align their strategies with cultural, regional, and global considerations, the study highlights the importance of selecting the right international orientation to achieve operational efficiency, market acceptance, and long-term global success.





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