Medium entropy alloys (MEAs) are new emerging engineering alloys comprising four principal elements characterised by a low enthalpy of mixing and entropies of formation between 1 and 1.5 molar gas constant. They have high strength, wear, and thermal properties. MEAs have generated interest as an alternative material in the last two decades in nuclear, aerospace, and high strength engineering applications. In this research a medium entropy alloy Fe20Cr20Mn20Ni20Ti10Co5V5 with principal elements Fe, Cr, Mn, and Ni was fabricated using spark plasma sintering. Elemental powder mixture was sintered at temperatures of 870oC, 900oC and 950oC under 35 bar pressure under an inert argon atmosphere for 45 minutes using an FCT Systeme GmbH spark plasma sintering machine. After sand blasting the densities of the samples were measured before grinding, polishing, and etching for characterisation. Microstructure analysis was carried using scanning electron and optical microscopy. Microhardness was measured using Falcon 507 hardness tester, modulus using by Anton-Paar Nanoindenter and wear using Anton-Paar TRB3 Tribometer. The elements form a solid solution with presence of a hard μ phase and soft γ-phase were observed. The hardness of the alloys sintered at 870oC and 900oC were 397 and 424 Vickers respectively. The alloy sintered at 950oC showed a hardness of 674 Vickers. After annealing the hardness increased to 736 Vickers. The modulus of elasticity and creep resistance increased after heat treatment at 700oC.The other alloys showed a decrease in hardness and other properties after annealing. Unlike in steels, where annealing reduces, in this alloy annealing increased hardness at an appropriate temperature. Fe20Cr20Mn20Ni20Ti10Co5V5 MEA exhibited good thermal stability. Further work on the alloy will involve its crystallography, and feasibility for use elevated temperature energy applications such as fuel cells, turbines and wear resistant machine components.

Perhaps the most significant global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is that it has catalysed accelerated innovation and change across various sectors. Businesses have had to pivot and innovate to survive in the “new normal”, medical and health care industries have had to adapt rapidly in order to stay ahead of the growing global health crisis brought on by the pandemic, and governments have had to think out of the box to manage the political, social and economic challenges engendered by Covid-19. Amidst all of this, the Higher Education sector has also been forced to adapt to the challenges of the pandemic. In the South African context, innovation in higher education has focused mostly on teaching and learning, specifically the accelerated shift from traditional face-to-face teaching to the use of online learning platforms. However, what has been neglected is innovation in knowledge production and research. This article explores the role of academic researcher coaching as a support mechanism to enhance innovation and knowledge production through postgraduate academic research. It is argued that academic researcher coaching will become an increasingly valuable tool to provide holistic support to researchers, and that complements the traditional research supervisor role.

Organisations are increasingly dependent on their employees’ strength; therefore, they need energetic and engaged employees. Engaged employees develop an abundance of resources which they devote to their job activities. When tackled with difficulties and limitations, engaged employees are determined to overcome challenges. A cross-sectional quantitative research design making use of a questionnaire is used in this study. The questionnaire was administered to n=124 employees (availability sampling) in Windhoek, Namibia across three institutions to collect data on the biographical details, emotional intelligence, job demands-resources, and the work engagement of employees. Data on the social skills, growth opportunities, and advancement opportunities predicted employees' work engagement. Positive organisational outcomes may be enhanced by focusing on job resources. This study also suggests that emotional intelligence is critical in ensuring that employees can withstand overwhelming job demands that they may encounter. Organisations need to expose employees to growth and advancement opportunities to foster work engagement. This study adds to the knowledge related to work engagement within Namibia and the field of psychology.

Contemporary business continues to leverage the opportunities of internet connectivity for marketing, sales, and visibility. Digital payment plays an imperative role in online shopping transactions. With the evolution of online shopping, there has been a paradigm shift from traditional payment methods to a faster digital payment method. This paper assesses millennials’ perceptions of digital payments for online shopping. A cross-sectional study was undertaken using a quantitative method. Three hundred and ninety-three millennials completed a self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were utilised to summarise and analyse the results. Respondents used different types of digital payments for online shopping, namely, credit card, debit card, micropayment, digital wallet, PayPal, Bitcoin, and in-app purchase. Some of the challenges pertaining to digital payment methods are security, privacy, and trust issues. There is a dire need to develop various interventions and strategies such as standardisation of the browser and device support to educate consumers, integrate more banks, develop synergy with credit card companies, reduce fees for low-risk transactions, make digital payment easier, and personalise the digital payment process and its value chain to make digital payments more secure and safe for effective transaction and online payments.

Previous studies in both developed and developing economies have reported that firm growth declines with firm age and size. However, review of literature showed that there are limited studies to empirically assess the validity of this fact on firm growth in developing countries. As such, this paper assesses the role of firm size and age on firm growth in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. The study employed a unique balanced three-year panel dataset of 191 manufacturing Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in the province. As expected, the results showed a negative relationship between firm growth and size especially in the short term. However, contrary to the wider body of literature, the study established a positive relationship between firm age and growth. The study also established that older firms grow faster than their younger counterparts despite their size. On the other hand, small sized firms despite their age grow faster than large firms when employment and total assets were used as measures of firm size. It was recommended that the government should be cognisant of the complexity of SMMEs when crafting various sector policies.

Distance learning (DL) means that students work online or students’ study online at home while the teacher assigns work and checks in digitally, or they lecture digitally. Distance learning has been regarded as a more flexible way of learning that requires accountability and good time management. On the other hand, the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic could contribute to the advantages associated with DL. This study discusses this from the perspective of institutional innovation, either as a potentially disruptive innovation or potential constructive innovation. The paper also re-imagines the conceptual and ethical considerations and the requirements associated with distance learning. It conceptualises further that ethics are a fundamental part of teaching pedagogy and, more importantly, DL, but the advent of COVID-19 poses further demands for educators and students in maintaining ethical principles. During the Covid-19 pandemic, DL was proposed alongside social distancing (SD) measures and served as a method of engaging students in a learning environment. Although, the physical distance also poses a difficulty in obtaining students' levels of understanding in terms of course content, thus, this study concludes that distance learning uncovers far more problems, such as the level of readiness (of stakeholders; teachers, students, government, and parents) in the process of transitioning to online teaching platforms, educational equity, and a lack of infrastructure or resources to facilitate online teaching as a result of Social Distancing (SD) emanated from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The paper sets to examine the impact of multimedia technology in the teaching and learning of oral English in secondary schools in Osun State. The researchers’ main objectives are to determine the availability of multimedia technology in secondary schools and also find out the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills possessed by oral English teachers. Further, the study explores strategies to improve on the usability of multimedia technology in secondary schools. Data were collected through questionnaires distributed among 80 teachers in Osun State central senatorial district. The results and discussions of findings are presented based on the demographic information of the respondents as well as their views towards the utilisation of ICT. Recommendations are made to the language planners, government, and the relevant agencies in the education sector as it was observed that challenges in pronunciation were not limited to students alone; it also affected teachers. This study further suggests that refresher courses be organised periodically for oral English language teachers and particularly, that the teaching of oral English should start at a primary school level.