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Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are vital for economic development, growth in production, and employment expansion. One of their key challenges is the financing gap. Therefore, offering alternative financing solutions can aid in their growth and development. This study aims to propose an efficient way to finance SMEs through the issuance of sukuk. At first, we identified challenges in financing SMEs by interviewing experts. Then based on challenges we propose two assumptions in designing a Sukuk model for financing SMEs and based on them, we designed 7 models. We use an intermediary in all models and we propose to finance a portfolio of SMEs instead of financing a single SME and, also we use contracts that originator could use them for any purpose. These models were based on Tawaruq, Ijarah, Musharaka, Manfaat, Salam, Wakalah and Bay' al-dayn. Then we ranked models using the TOPSIS method based on 6 criteria, and the wakalah sukuk model was chosen for SME financing from the capital market. Subsequently, a model based on wakalah sukuk was developed, addressing aspects such as parties involved in Wakalah Sukuk for financing SMEs, profit management in SME Wakalah Sukuk, wakil's fee, construction of SME’s portfolio by Wakil, and reporting and monitoring the performance of the originator.

The accurate imputation of missing values in time series data is paramount for maintaining the integrity and reliability of analyses and predictions. This article investigates the effica-cy of various missing values imputation methods, encom-passing well-known machine learning and statistical tech-niques. Moreover, for a better understanding, they imple-mented two financial data time series: S&P 500 and Bitcoin markets spanning from 2016 to 2023 on a daily frequency. Initially utilizing complete datasets, controlled missingness was introduced by randomly removing 45 data points. Then, these methods applied multiple imputation strategies for estimating and substituting these missing values. Experi-mental evaluation yielded insightful findings regarding the performance of the different methods. The examined ma-chine learning methods, including k-Nearest Neighbors (k-NN), Random Forest, Deep Learning, and Decision Trees, consistently outperformed their statistical counterparts, such as Mean Imputation, Regression Imputation, Hot-Deck Im-putation, and Expectation-Maximization Imputation. Nota-bly, Random Forest emerged as the most effective method, showcasing superior performance in terms of accuracy and robustness. Conversely, the Mean Imputation method exhibited com-paratively inferior outcomes, suggesting its limited suitabil-ity for financial time series data. This research contributes to the ongoing discourse on data integrity within finance ana-lytics and serves as a comprehensive guide for practitioners seeking optimal missing values imputation methods. The empirical evidence provided herein advances the under-standing of imputation techniques' relative performance and their application in financial data, facilitating enhanced de-cision-making processes and yielding more reliable predic-tions.

Board diversity is a topical discourse in firm governance and management. Diversity came up as a way of eliminating discrimination in employment and making sure there is equality, inclusion and affirmative action in the way firms do business. Board diversity has produced mixed results in relation to firm performance. On the one hand, diversity enables good governance to take place, ensures satisfaction of stakeholders and the firm to attain competitive advantage. Contrary, diversity may come with difficulties in communication, boardroom fights and decreased productivity among a plethora of negative contributions. The study investigates the various factors that affect board diversity from a Zimbabwean context. The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange’s 35 firms’ data is analysed to estimate the relationship between board diversity and firm performance. The study employed the quantitative methodology to establish factors that influence board diversity on firm performance of thirty-five (35) firms listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange using panel data collected over the period 2009 – 2015.The major factors that promote diversity are firm size, liquidity, leverage, operating experience (years listed), market share (Tobin’s Q) and being in the service sector. On the other hand, board size, being in the food, financial, real and industrial and manufacturing sectors negatively and significantly influence diversity. Based on the above results, the study recommends that companies should come up with diversity-enabling policies to enhance firm performance.

EXTENDED ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION The purpose of this study is to analyze the concept of "developed man" and determine the degree to which attention is paid in the Fundamental Transformation Document (FTD) in education in Iran approved in December 2011. This concept has been developed based on the theoretical basics of classical economics on description of "economic man" and also the Engels’s theory on the description of "modern man" and with regard to some of adapted and localized national and Islamic ideas and beliefs. What is meant by "Developed man" in this research is a person whose attitude and opinion has been developed and has the ability to turn the country's resources into wealth and prosperity for the people of society.  METHODOLOGY The instrument by which one can measure it, is a researcher-made content analysis checklist that involves 25 characteristics for developed human, and its face reliability and validity have been also verified and ranked by subject matter experts. Shannon entropy indices have been used to determine the importance and ranking of developed human components. In order to achieve a valid explanation and transparent results in this study, some important and fundamental concepts and components that were analyzed in the literature reviewing this document and their frequency was determined, were selected, and their frequency was compared with the total frequency of developed human components in the transformation document text. FINDINGS By use of word-counting the whole text of the Fundamental Transformation Document of education system, it also became evident that only about 1% (113 words out of 10914 words available) of this 64-page document are dedicated to the components of developed human and as a result it can be said that with regard to the weight and importance of the economy and its related issues in the country (such as unemployment, weak attitudes and skills of wealth creation and lack of efforts to increase production and improve public living and poverty alleviation) from the leaders and policymakers viewpoint, especially. CONCLUSION In recent decades, little emphasis and attention has been paid to developed human, and accordingly, it is worthwhile to pay close attention to these components in revision of the Transformation Document text.