Nowadays, the economic situation in different parts of the world is witnessing unparalleled crises across different sectors. Globally, the growth rates of GDP of different countries around the world, flows of trade, investments in international markets, and supply chains are negatively affected. In particular, the continued growth of the health crisis pose significant effects on the global economy further than the traditional measures with a possibility for long-lasting and far-reaching difficulties. The economic predictions reveal increasing risks to a sustained worldwide recovery modelled by a renaissance of infectious COVID 19 cases and probable pressures allied with high consumer demand powered by growing personal savings. In the perspective of supply chain, visible shortages reveal enduring disturbances to labour markets, bottlenecks of production and supply chains, interruptions in the markets of global energy, and increased constraints towards shipping and transportation which are contributing to inflationary pressures.

The current issue of the Skyline Business Journal is a collection of five articles discussing key issues in business management with some highlights about the challenges faced by organizations and nations during the current pandemic. The first article focuses on testing the extent to which the antecedents of nation branding can be leveraged to create a strong nation brand for emerging economies with a prime emphasis on Republic of Zimbabwe. The outcomes of this paper reveal that nations should rebrand themselves towards the creation of country-of-origin brand identity which attracts investment, tourism and economic development. The second paper aimed to evaluate the performance based financing practices among health workers in Nigeria. This paper provides a significant contribution to the literature on health care financing and aimed to stimulate the intellectual discussion among policy makers on long-term viability and sustainability of their businesses. In the third paper, the main focus was centered on assessing effectiveness of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives in promoting sustainable wildlife conservation in Zimbabwe. The findings suggest that more effort should be put to ensure that the implementation of legal instruments can help alleviate some of the challenges which are affecting the conservation of wildlife. The fourth paper emphasized on assessing the role of human resource management during COVID-19 pandemic in enhancing the effectiveness of higher education institutions. The results established the important role of Information and Communication Technology as a vitable tool in adhering to COVID-19 protocols. The fifth paper aimed to identify the role of human resource practitioners in attracting local workforces for serving in Malaysian construction industry. The results showed that employee skills and effective policies and procedures play important roles in affecting the involvement of workforce in Malaysia construction industry.

I hope that the issue will be useful for scholars in advancing future research on these topics and provide valuable insights for business practitioners to thrive in today’s dynamic environment. Finally, I express my sincere thanks to all the reviewers, contributors, and editorial board of our journal for their continued support. I wish you all a happy New Year and stay safe, and I look forward for future collaborations with you. Thank you!

Prof. (Dr.) Mohammad In’airat,
Editor- In-Chief
Skyline Business Journal