Search results for: small and medium sized company

Authors: Gupta Indu

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This paper aims to examine the relationship between foreign direct investment and globalization. Foreign direct investment plays an important role in globalization. It is dramatically increasing in the age of globalization. It has played an important role for economic growth in this global process. It can provide new markets and marketing channels, cheaper production facilities, access to new technology, products to a firm. FDI has come to play a major role in the internationalization of business. FDI has become even more important than trade. Growing liberalization of the national regulatory framework governing investment in enterprises and changes in capital markets profound changes have occurred in the size, scope and methods of FDI. New information technology systems, decline in global communication costs have made management of foreign investments far easier than in the past. FDI provide opportunities to host countries to enhance their economic development and opens new opportunities to home countries to optimize their earnings by employing their ideal resources. Smaller and weaker economies can drive out much local competition. For small and medium sized companies, FDI represents an opportunity to become more actively involved in international business activities. In the past decade, foreign direct investment has expanded its role by change in trade policy, investment policy, tariff liberalization, easing of restrictions on foreign investment and acquisition in many nations, and the deregulation and privatization of many industries. In present competitive scenario, FDI has become a prominent external source of finance for developing countries.

Keywords: foreign direct investment, globalization, economic development, information technology systems new opportunities

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Authors: Hui Zhu, Yuan Wang, Shibo Kuang, Aibing Yu

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The inertial difference induced by the microfluidics inside a curved micro-channel has great potential to provide a fast, inexpensive, and portable solution to the separation of micro- and sub-micro particles in many applications such as aerosol collections, airborne bacteria and virus detections, as well as particle sortation. In this work, the separation behaviors of different sized particles inside a reported curved micro-channel have been studied by a combined approach of computational fluid dynamics for gas and discrete element model for particles (CFD-DEM). The micro-channel is operated by controlling the gas flow rates at all of its branches respectively used to load particles, introduce gas streams, collect particles of various sizes. The validity of the model has been examined by comparing by the calculated separation efficiency of different sized particles against the measurement. On this basis, the separation mechanisms of the inertial microfluidic separator are elucidated in terms of the interactions between particles, between particle and fluid, and between particle and wall. The model is then used to study the effect of feed solids concentration on the separation accuracy and efficiency. The results obtained from the present study demonstrate that the CFD-DEM approach can provide a convenient way to study the particle separation behaviors in micro-channels of various types.

Keywords: CFD-DEM, inertial effect, microchannel, separation

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Authors: Eneken Titov, Ly Hobe

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The collaboration between the universities and companies has been a challenging topic for many years, and although we have many good experiences, those seem to be single examples between one university and company. In Ülemiste Smart City in Estonia, the new initiative was started in 2020 fall, when five Estonian universities cooperated, led by the Ülemiste City developing company Mainor, intending to provide charge-free university courses for the Ülemiste City companies and their employees to encourage university-company wider collaboration. Every Ülemiste City company gets a certain number of free educational credit hours per year to participate in university courses. A functional and simple web platform was developed to mediate university courses for the companies. From January 2021, the education credit platform is open for all Ülemiste City companies and their employees to join, and universities offer more than 9000 hours of courses (appr 150 ECTS). Just two months later, more than 20% of Ülemiste City companies (82 out of 400) have joined the project, and their employees have registered for more than in total 3000 hours courses. The first results already show that the project supports the university marketing and the continuous education mindset in general, whether 1/4 of the courses are paid courses (e.g., when the company is out of free credit).

Keywords: education, educational credit, smart city, university-industry collaboration

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Authors: Ekramul Hoque, Zinat Ara Eakut Zarin, Ershad Ali

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The growth and development of explants is governed by the effect of nutrient medium. Ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) as a major salt of stock solution-1 for the preparation of tissue culture medium. But, it has several demerits on human civilization. It is use for the preparation of bomb and other destructive activities. Hence, it is totally ban in our country. A new chemical was identified as a substitute of ammonium nitrate. The concentrations of the other ingredients of major and minor salt were modified from the MS medium. The formulation of new medium is totally different from the MS nutrient composition. The most widely use MS medium composition was used as first check treatment and MS powder (Duchefa Biocheme, The Netherland) was used as second check treatment. The experiments were carried out at the Department of Biotechnology, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Two potato varieties viz. Diamant and Asterix were used as experimental materials. The regeneration potentiality of potato onto new medium was best as compare with the two check treatments. The traits -node number, leaf number, shoot length, root lengths were highest in new medium. The plantlets were healthy, robust and strong as compare to plantlets regenerated from check treatments. Three subsequent sub-cultures were made in the new medium to observe the growth pattern of plantlet. It was also showed the best performance in all the parameter under studied. The regenerated plantlet produced good quality minituber under field condition. Hence, it is concluded that, a new plant tissue culture medium as discovered from the Department of Biotechnology, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh under the leadership of Professor Dr. Md. Ekramul Hoque.

Keywords: new medium, potato, regeneration, ammonium nitrate

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Authors: Javier Barraycoa, Olga Lasaga

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Work experience placements are one of the main routes to employment and acquiring professional experience for recent graduates. The effectiveness of these work experience placements is conditioned to the training in skills, especially teaching skills, of company tutors. For this reason, a manual specifically designed for training company tutors in these skills has been developed. Similarly, a pilot semi-attendance course to provide the resources that enable tutors to improve their role as instructors was carried out. The course was quantitatively and qualitatively evaluated with the aim of assessing its effectiveness, detecting shortcomings and areas to be improved, and revising the manual contents. One of the biggest achievements was the raising of awareness in the participating tutors of the importance of their work and of the need to develop teaching skills. As a result of this project, we have detected a need to design specific training supplements according to knowledge areas and sectors, to collate good practices and to create easily accessible audiovisual materials.

Keywords: company tutors, employability, teaching skills, work experience

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Authors: Mohammad Arabi

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Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is a systematic approach to fundamentally redesign organizational processes to achieve significant improvements in organizational performance. At Fars Regional Electric Company, implementing BPR is deemed essential to increase productivity, reduce costs, and improve service quality. This article examines how BPR can help enhance the performance of Fars Regional Electric Company. The objective of this research is to evaluate and analyze the advancements in process modeling and reengineering at Fars Regional Electric Company and to provide solutions for improving the productivity and efficiency of organizational processes. This study aims to demonstrate how BPR can be used to improve organizational processes and enhance the overall performance of the company. This research employs both qualitative and quantitative research methods and includes interviews with senior managers and experts at Fars Regional Electric Company. The analytical tools include process modeling software such as Bizagi and ARIS, and statistical analysis software such as SPSS and Minitab. Data analysis was conducted using advanced statistical methods. The results indicate that the use of BPR techniques can lead to a significant reduction in process execution time and overall improvement in quality. Implementing BPR at Fars Regional Electric Company has led to increased productivity, reduced costs, and improved overall performance of the company. This study shows that with proper implementation of BPR and the use of modeling tools, the company can achieve significant improvements in its processes. Recommendations: (1) Continuous Training for Staff: Invest in continuous training of staff to enhance their skills and knowledge in BPR. (2) Use of Advanced Technologies: Utilize modeling and analysis software to improve processes. (3) Implementation of Effective Management Systems: Employ knowledge and information management systems to enhance organizational performance. (4) Continuous Monitoring and Review of Processes: Regularly review and revise processes to ensure ongoing improvements. This article highlights the importance of improving organizational processes at Fars Regional Electric Company and recommends that managers and decision-makers at the company seriously consider reengineering processes and utilizing modeling technologies to achieve developmental goals and continuous improvement.

Keywords: business process reengineering, electric company, Fars province, process modeling advancements

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Authors: Moustafa Osman Mohammed

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This paper will explore formation of HCl aerosol at atmospheric boundary layers and encourages the uptake of environmental modeling systems (EMSs) as a practice evaluation of gaseous emissions (“framework measures”) from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The conceptual model predicts greenhouse gas emissions to ecological points beyond landfill site operations. It focuses on incorporation traditional knowledge into baseline information for both measurement data and the mathematical results, regarding parameters influence model variable inputs. The paper has simplified parameters of aerosol processes based on the more complex aerosol process computations. The simple model can be implemented to both Gaussian and Eulerian rural dispersion models. Aerosol processes considered in this study were (i) the coagulation of particles, (ii) the condensation and evaporation of organic vapors, and (iii) dry deposition. The chemical transformation of gas-phase compounds is taken into account photochemical formulation with exposure effects according to HCl concentrations as starting point of risk assessment. The discussion set out distinctly aspect of sustainability in reflection inputs, outputs, and modes of impact on the environment. Thereby, models incorporate abiotic and biotic species to broaden the scope of integration for both quantification impact and assessment risks. The later environmental obligations suggest either a recommendation or a decision of what is a legislative should be achieved for mitigation measures of landfill gas (LFG) ultimately.

Keywords: air pollution, landfill emission, environmental management, monitoring/methods and impact assessment

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Authors: H. Nacef, L. Larous

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Salin soils occupy about 7% of land area; they are characterized by unsuitable physical conditions for the growth of living organisms. However, researches showed that some microorganisms especially fungi are able to grow and adapt to such extreme conditions; it is due to their ability to develop different physiological mechanisms in their adaptation. The aim of this study is to identify qualitatively the osmolytes that the biotechnological important fungus A. oryzae accumulated and/or produced in its adaptation, which they were detected by Thin-layer chromatography technique (TLC) using several systems, from different media (Wheat brane, MNM medium and MM medium). The results showed that The moderately halotolerant fungus A. oryzae, accumulates mixture of molecules, containing polyols and sugars , some amino acids in addition to some molecules which were not defined. Wheat bran was the best medium for the extraction of these molecules, where the proportion was 85.71%, followed by MNM medium 64.28%, then the minimum medium MM 14.28%. Properties of osmolytes are becoming increasingly useful in molecular biology, agriculture pharmaceutical, medicinal, and biotechnological interests.

Keywords: salinity, aspergillus oryzae, halo tolerance, osmolytes, compatible solutes

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Authors: Hermanus J. Moolman

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The COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on the society and companies in South Africa. This raises questions about the position of creditors of companies facing financial distress and the actions that directors should take to cater to the interests of creditors. The extent to which directors owe their duties and consideration to creditors has been the subject of debate. The directors of a solvent company owe their duties to the company in favour of its shareholders. When the company becomes insolvent, creditors are the beneficiaries of the directors’ duties. However, the intermittent phase between solvency and insolvency, otherwise referred to as the realm of insolvency, is not accounted for. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether South African company law appropriately addresses the duties that directors owe to creditors and the extent of consideration given to creditors’ interests when the company is in the realm of insolvency and has started business rescue proceedings. A comparative study on South Africa, the United States of America, the United Kingdom and international instruments was employed to achieve the purpose statement. In the United States of America and the United Kingdom, the focus shifts from shareholders to the best interests of creditors when business recue proceedings commence. Such an approach is not aligned with the purpose of the Companies Act of 2008 that calls for a balance of interests of all persons affected by a company’s financial distress and will not be suitable for the South African context. Business rescue in South Africa is relatively new when compared to the practices of the United States of America and the United Kingdom, and the entrepreneurial landscape in South Africa is still evolving. The interests of creditors are not the only interests at risk when a company is financially distressed. It is recommended that an enlightened creditor value approach is adopted for South Africa, where the interests of creditors, albeit paramount, are balanced with those of other stakeholders. This approach optimises a gradual shift in the duties of directors from shareholders to creditors, without disregarding the interests of shareholders.

Keywords: business rescue, shareholders, creditors, financial distress, balance of interests, alternative remedies, company law

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Authors: Bela Sulistyaguna, Yuli Chomsatu Samrotun, Endang Masitoh Wahyuningsih

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The purpose of this research was to analyze the influence of company size, liquidity, profitability, leverage, company age, industry type, board of director, board of commissioner, audit committee and public ownership on the corporate social responsibility disclosure. The grand theories of this research are agency theory, stakeholders theory, and legitimacy theory. Analysis of data using multiple linear regression method with SPSS 22.0 for mac. The sample consists of companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) and disclosed the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability reports from 2013 to 2018. The final sample of this research was 19 companies that obtained by purposive sampling. The results of the research showed that, simultaneously, company size, liquidity, profitability, leverage, company age, industry type, board of director, board of commissioner, audit committee and public ownership has an influence on the corporate social responsibility disclosure. Partially, the results showed that liquidity and leverage has an influence on the corporate social responsibility disclosure. Meanwhile, company size, profitability, company age, industry type, board of director, board of commissioner, audit committee and public ownership has no influence on corporate social responsibility disclosure.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, CSR disclosure, Indonesia

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Authors: Tiberiu Socaciu, Tudor Colomeischi, Eugenia Iancu

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Business failure affects in various proportions shareholders, managers, lenders (banks), suppliers, customers, the financial community, government and society as a whole. In the era in which we have telecommunications networks, exists an interdependence of markets, the effect of a failure of a company is relatively instant. To effectively manage risk exposure is thus require sophisticated support systems, supported by analytical tools to measure, monitor, manage and control operational risks that may arise. As we know, bankruptcy is a phenomenon that managers do not want no matter what stage of life is the company they direct / lead. In the analysis made by us, by the nature of economic models that are reviewed (Altman, Conan-Holder etc.), estimating the risk of bankruptcy of a company corresponds to some extent with its own business cycle tracing of the company. Various models for predicting bankruptcy take into account direct / indirect aspects such as market position, company growth trend, competition structure, characteristics and customer retention, organization and distribution, location etc. From the perspective of our research we will now review the economic models known in theory and practice for estimating the risk of bankruptcy; such models are based on indicators drawn from major accounting firms.

Keywords: Anglo-Saxon models, continental models, national models, statistical models

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Authors: Divya Kanchibhotla, Shashank Kulkarni, Shweta Singh

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Chronic stress and sleep quality reduces mental health and increases the risk of developing depression and anxiety as well. There is increasing evidence for the utility of meditation as an adjunct clinical intervention for conditions like depression and anxiety. The present study is an attempt to explore the impact of Sahaj Samadhi Meditation (SSM), a category of Automatic Self Transcending Meditation (ASTM), on perceived stress and sleep quality in adults. The study design was a single group pre-post assessment. Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were used in this study. Fifty-two participants filled PSS, and 60 participants filled PSQI at the beginning of the program (day 0), after two weeks (day 16) and at two months (day 60). Significant pre-post differences for the perceived stress level on Day 0 - Day 16 (p < 0.01; Cohen's d = 0.46) and Day 0 - Day 60 (p < 0.01; Cohen's d = 0.76) clearly demonstrated that by practicing SSM, participants experienced reduction in the perceived stress. The effect size of the intervention observed on the 16th day of assessment was small to medium, but on the 60th day, a medium to large effect size of the intervention was observed. In addition to this, significant pre-post differences for the sleep quality on Day 0 - Day 16 and Day 0 - Day 60 (p < 0.05) clearly demonstrated that by practicing SSM, participants experienced improvement in the sleep quality. Compared with Day 0 assessment, participants demonstrated significant improvement in the quality of sleep on Day 16 and Day 60. The effect size of the intervention observed on the 16th day of assessment was small, but on the 60th day, a small to medium effect size of the intervention was observed. In the current study we found out that after practicing SSM for two months, participants reported a reduction in the perceived stress, they felt that they are more confident about their ability to handle personal problems, were able to cope with all the things that they had to do, felt that they were on top of the things, and felt less angered. Participants also reported that their overall sleep quality improved; they took less time to fall asleep; they had less disturbances in sleep and less daytime dysfunction due to sleep deprivation. The present study provides clear evidence of the efficacy and safety of non-pharmacological interventions such as SSM in reducing stress and improving sleep quality. Thus, ASTM may be considered a useful intervention to reduce psychological distress in healthy, non-clinical populations, and it can be an alternative remedy for treating poor sleep among individuals and decreasing the use of harmful sedatives.

Keywords: automatic self transcending meditation, Sahaj Samadhi meditation, sleep, stress

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Authors: Mohammad Abbas Nejad

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Tuka Sabz service production company (private shares), with more than 30 years of history, is considered as one of the first holding companies of Tuka Foulad, which takes steps in the direction of increasing service quality and customer satisfaction. Manpower supply is one of the most important activities of Tuka Sabz company, in addition to car supply services; light and heavy transportation services; management of entertainment, sports, tourism and accommodation centers; design, creation and maintenance services of land space; preparing, cooking, distributing and serving all kinds of personal and ceremonial foods; design, construction, repair and reconstruction of non-industrial buildings; industrial laundry services; public and industrial cleaning services are also among other activities of Tuka Sabz. This company has a high capacity of specialized and committed human resources as the main pillar of its success and spent most of its years of activity in Mobarakeh steel company as one of the reliable contractors in the field of automotive service contracts, green space, industrial cleaning, management cultural, recreational and tourism places, consulting, maintenance and repair of buildings and facilities, industrial laundry, management of cooking centers and personnel transportation. The final result of this article states that Tuka Sabz company is trying to get the satisfaction of three main groups of stakeholders, i.e., employees, customers, and shareholders, for this purpose, by improving the competence and competence of employees, trying to establish a system of meritocracy and respecting the human status of employees. On the one hand, the implementation of quality management and assurance to employers with the timely and favorable implementation of contracts takes a step in this direction.

Keywords: Mubarakeh steel company, Tuka Sabz company, human resources, industrial laundry services

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Authors: Mahmoud Nassar

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This paper was designed for interviews with companies that had implemented Management Accounting Innovations (MAIs) within Jordanian Industrial Sector in full. Each company in this paper was examined as an entity to obtain an understanding of the process of MAIs adoption and implementation as well as the respondents’ opinions and perspectives of each individual company as to what are considered to be the important factors in the company. By firstly using within-case analysis has the potential to aid in-depth views of the issues and their impact on each particular company. Then, cross-case analysis was used to analyse the similarities and differences of the six companies. The study concludes that, the six companies interviewed gradually moved to using MAIs over the last ten years. The length of time required to implement the MAIs varied across the companies. Interviewees revealed several factors from both the demand and supply side that influence implementation of MAIs within the Jordanian industrial companies. Respondents mentioned and emphasised the important effect of the following factors: top management support, education about ABC concept and benefits, training programmes, shortcoming of existing cost system, competition, size of company, professional accounting bodies, management accounting journals, management accounting research and PhD degrees, and cooperation between universities and companies.

Keywords: industrial sector, innovations, Jordan, management accounting

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Authors: Mohamed M. Emara, Heba Ashraf

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This study is to investigation the effect of silicon carbide (SiC) particle size and thermo-mechanical processing on dimensional stability of aluminum alloy 2124. Three combinations of SiC weight fractions are investigated, 2.5, 5, and 10 wt. % with different SiC particle sizes (25 μm, 5 μm, and 100nm) were produced using mechanical ball mill. The standard testing samples were fabricated using powder metallurgy technique. Both samples, prior and after extrusion, were heated from room temperature up to 400ºC in a dilatometer at different heating rates, that is, 10, 20, and 40ºC/min. The analysis showed that for all materials, there was an increase in length change as temperature increased and the temperature sensitivity of aluminum alloy decreased in the presence of both micro and nano-sized silicon carbide. For all conditions, nanocomposites showed better dimensional stability compared to conventional Al 2124/SiC composites. The after extrusion samples showed better thermal stability and less temperature sensitivity for the aluminum alloy for both micro and nano-sized silicon carbide.

Keywords: aluminum 2124 metal matrix composite, SiC nano-sized reinforcements, powder metallurgy, extrusion mechanical ball mill, dimensional stability

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Authors: Tareq Issa

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Lean manufacturing is concerned with the implementation of several tools and methodologies that aim for the continuous elimination of wastes throughout manufacturing process flow in the production system. This research addresses the implementation of lean principles and tools in a small-medium industry focusing on 'fused' plastic bags production company in Amman, Jordan. In this production operation, the major type of waste to eliminate include material, waiting-transportation, and setup wastes. The primary goal is to identify and implement selected lean strategies to eliminate waste in the manufacturing process flow. A systematic approach was used for the implementation of lean principles and techniques, through the application of Value Stream Mapping analysis. The current state value stream map was constructed to improve the plastic bags manufacturing process through identifying opportunities to eliminate waste and its sources. Also, the future-state value stream map was developed describing improvements in the overall manufacturing process resulting from eliminating wastes. The implementation of VSM, 5S, Kanban, Kaizen, and Reduced lot size methods have provided significant benefits and results. Productivity has increased to 95.4%, delivery schedule attained at 99-100%, reduction in total inventory to 1.4 days and the setup time for the melting process was reduced to about 30 minutes.

Keywords: lean implementation, plastic bags industry, value stream map, process flow

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Authors: M. De Maaijer, Wenxuan Shi, , Dolores Pose, Ditmar, F. Barati

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Friction has several detrimental effects on Blind performance, Therefore Ziptak company as the leading company in the blind manufacturing sector, start investigating on how to conquer this problem in next generation of blinds. This problem is more sever in extremely sever condition. Although in these condition Ziptrak suggest not to use the blind, working on blind and its associated parts was the priority of Ziptrak company. The purpose of this article is to measure the effects of lubrication process on reducing friction force between spline and track especially at windy conditions Four different lubricants were implicated to measure their efficiency on reducing friction force.

Keywords: libricant, ziptrak, blind, spline

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Authors: Mucahit Unal, Ibrahim Arslan

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The New Turkish Commercial Code (TCC) No. 6102 was published in the Official Gazette on February 14, 2011. As stated in the New Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102 and Law No. 6103 on Validity and Application of the Turkish Commercial Code, TCC came into effect on July 1, 2012. The basic purpose of the TCC is to form corporate governance coherent with the international standards; to provide transparency in company management; to adjust the Turkish Commercial Code rules with European Union legislations and to simplify establishing a company for foreigner investors to move investments to Turkish market. In this context according to TCC, joint stock companies and limited liability companies can establish with only one single shareholder; the one single shareholder can be foreigner; all board of director members can be foreigner, also all shareholders and board of director members can be non-resident foreigners. Additionally, TCC does not require physical participation to the general shareholders and board members meetings. TCC allows that the general shareholders and board members meetings can hold in an electronic form and resolution of these meetings may also be approved via electronic signatures. Through this amendment, foreign investors no longer have to deal with red tapes. This amendment also means the TCC prevents foreign companies from incurring unnecessary travel expenses. In accordance with all this amendments about TCC, to invest in Turkish market is easy, simple and transparent for foreigner investors and also investors can establish a company in Turkey, irrespective of nationality or place of residence. This article aims to analyze ‘Establish a Company in Turkey for Foreigners’ and inform investors about investing (especially establishing a company) in the Turkish market.

Keywords: establish a company, foreigner investors, invest in Turkish market, Turkish commercial code

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Authors: Kiana Taheri

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Rural tourism has garnered significant attention as a catalyst for rural development and sustainability, particularly in regions like Tuscany, Italy, where the convergence of cultural heritage, picturesque landscapes, and agricultural traditions provides a fertile ground for tourism activities. This paper investigates the pivotal role of women entrepreneurs in driving sustainable rural tourism development, with a specific focus on Tuscany. Drawing upon a synthesis of literature on rural tourism, entrepreneurship, and gender studies, this research offers insights into how women entrepreneurs contribute to the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of rural tourism in Tuscany. The conceptual framework of this study is rooted in the evolving landscape of rural development, shaped by shifting paradigms in agricultural policies, such as the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union. This framework underscores the transition from traditional agrarian economies to dynamic rural tourism destinations characterized by a consumer-centric approach and a focus on sustainable development. Against this backdrop, the study delves into the multifaceted contributions of women entrepreneurs within the rural tourism sector. Central to the analysis is the recognition of rural tourism as a nexus of social, cultural, economic, and environmental interactions, wherein women entrepreneurs play a pivotal role in leveraging local resources, preserving cultural heritage, and fostering community engagement. By capitalizing on their unique perspectives, skills, and networks, women entrepreneurs drive innovation, diversification, and inclusivity within the tourism sector, thereby enhancing its resilience and long-term viability. Moreover, the study highlights the symbiotic relationship between rural tourism development and women's empowerment, as evidenced by the increasing prominence of women entrepreneurs in Tuscany's rural economy. Through their leadership roles in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and agritourism ventures, women entrepreneurs not only contribute to economic growth but also challenge traditional gender norms and empower local communities. A key empirical focus of this research is a comprehensive case study of Tuscany, renowned for its successful rural tourism model and vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem. Through qualitative interviews, surveys, and archival analysis, the study elucidates the strategies, challenges, and impacts of women entrepreneurs on sustainable rural tourism development in Tuscany. By examining the experiences of women entrepreneurs across diverse sectors of rural tourism, including hospitality, gastronomy, and cultural heritage, the study offers nuanced insights into their contributions to regional development and empowerment. In conclusion, this research contributes to the burgeoning scholarship on rural tourism, entrepreneurship, and gender studies by shedding light on the transformative role of women entrepreneurs in driving sustainable development agendas in rural areas. By elucidating the interplay between gender dynamics, entrepreneurial activities, and tourism development, this study seeks to inform policy interventions and strategic initiatives aimed at fostering inclusive and sustainable rural tourism ecosystems.

Keywords: rural tourism, women empowerment, entrepreneurship, sustainable development, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

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Authors: Jim Shih-Chiao Chin , Tsai Lin Hsu, Shui Lien Chen

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This article extends the relation between company’s employee and customers in market. According to the previous researches, most researchers analyzed and focused on customers’ brand perception. In the recently, some scholars star to explore the brand management from company viewpoint. The aim of this study is to explore whether consumers perception would be affected by the firm brand. This research would like to examine the relationship between individual consumers and corporate brands in the business-to-consumers sector. First, the study develops a framework that the connection with consumer and company. Second, this article uses three dimensions, brand knowledge, brand commitment, and brand equity to measure employees’ loyalty of brand and applies brand relationship quality to gauge the level of brand’s importance in consumer’s mind. This paper uses SPSS 20.0 and AMOS 20.0 to test consumers’ minds toward the brand equity which the company provides. There are totally 862 valid questionnaires returned, and 431 participants are consumers; the other 431 participants are employees. Those questionnaires are one-by-one to consumer and employee so those are 431 pairs questionnaires. Based on 431 pairs of consumers and company’s employees, analyzed results show that brand knowledge and brand commitment play important roles influencing brand equity. The results also demonstrate the extra-role brand equity positively impact on the brand relationship quality of consumers. In addition, the findings reveal that the company can improve brand relationship quality of consumers by enhancing extra-role brand equity. There is a sufficient evidence denote that brand relationship quality not only shows about the brand of customers’ thought but also implies company how to build the brand to impress on consumers. These findings provide the degree of the brand in consumers’ cognition. The brand-owner employee can reference the conclusion to creative new strategic to the next time or can be one of the company’s competitive advantages. Those results and conclusions are contributed to management practice and future.

Keywords: brand knowledge, brand commitment, brand equity, brand relationship quality

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Authors: Sophie Lemoussu, Jean-Charles Chaudemar, Robertus A. Vingerhoeds

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Many innovative projects exist in the field of aeronautics, each addressing specific areas so to reduce weight, increase autonomy, reduction of CO2, etc. In many cases, such innovative developments are being carried out by very small enterprises (VSE’s) or small and medium sized-enterprises (SME’s). A good example concerns airships that are being studied as a real alternative to passenger and cargo transportation. Today, no international regulations propose a precise and sufficiently detailed framework for the development and certification of airships. The absence of such a regulatory framework requires a very close contact with regulatory instances. However, VSE’s/SME’s do not always have sufficient resources and internal knowledge to handle this complexity and to discuss these issues. This poses an additional challenge for those VSE’s/SME’s, in particular those that have system integration responsibilities and that must provide all the necessary evidence to demonstrate their ability to design, produce, and operate airships with the expected level of safety and reliability. The main objective of this research is to provide a methodological framework enabling VSE’s/SME’s with limited resources to organize the development of airships while taking into account the constraints of safety, cost, time and performance. This paper proposes to provide a contribution to this problematic by proposing a Model-Based Systems Engineering approach. Through a comprehensive process modeling approach applied to the development processes, the regulatory constraints, existing best practices, etc., a good image can be obtained as to the process landscape that may influence the development of airships. To this effect, not only the necessary regulatory information is taken on board, also other international standards and norms on systems engineering and project management are being modeled and taken into account. In a next step, the model can be used for analysis of the specific situation for given developments, derive critical paths for the development, identify eventual conflicting aspects between the norms, standards, and regulatory expectations, or also identify those areas where not enough information is available. Once critical paths are known, optimization approaches can be used and decision support techniques can be applied so to better support VSE’s/SME’s in their innovative developments. This paper reports on the adopted modeling approach, the retained modeling languages, and how they all fit together.

Keywords: aeronautics, certification, process modeling, project management, regulation, SME, systems engineering, VSE

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Authors: M. Youngsabanant-Areekijseree, C. Thepsithar, K. Sribuddhachart, J. Tananantayot

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Porcine oviductal fluid (pOF) from oviduct, an unused organ from the slaughterhouse, was effectively used for biotechnology studies. The fluid components consisted of micro- and macro-nutrients, amino acids, carbon source and proteins that played important roles in animal cell and embryo development. This was our knowledge on investigating pOF as growth promoting substance in culture medium of an orchid, Dendrobium mirbelianum. Two-leaf shoots were cultured in liquid Vacin and Went (VW) medium as a standard medium supplemented with 2 g/L peptone (Pe) or 100 g/ L boiled-potato water (Po) alone or in combinations, and added with 0, 1, 3 or 5 ml/L pOF. All explants were cultured in a stationary condition for 8 weeks. It was found that medium added with 100 g/L Po and 1 ml/L pOF provided the best results (1.02 g fresh weight, 4.2 shoots, 0.53 cm shoot height, 4.4 protocorms, 11.0 leaves and 5.7 roots with 100% survival) when compared to other medium, but not statistically significant difference from medium added with 100 g/L Po (0.86 g fresh weight, 4.3 shoots, 0.51 cm shoot height, 4.6 protocorms, 12.4 leaves and 6.6 roots with 100% survival). However, VW medium supplemented with 1 or 3 ml/L pOF alone showed the higher percentage of survival (100%) than VW medium (86.67%). It was shown the potential role of pOF as an organic supplement for promoting growth of plants. Acknowledgements—The project was funded by a grant from Silpakorn University Research & Development Institute (SURDI) and Faculty of Science, Silpakorn University, Thailand.

Keywords: Dendrobium mirbelianum, pig, oviductal fluid, in vitro growth

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Authors: I. Rodionov, A. Semenov, E. Gosteva, O. Sokolova

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Currently, the venture capital becomes more and more advanced and effective source of the innovation project financing, connected with a high-risk level. In the developed countries, it plays a key role in transforming innovation projects into successful businesses and creating prosperity of the modern economy. Actually, in Russia there are many necessary preconditions for creation of the effective venture investment system: the network of the public institutes for innovation financing operates; there is a significant number of the small and medium-sized enterprises, capable to sell production with good market potential. However, the current system does not confirm the necessary level of efficiency in practice that can be substantially explained by the absence of the accurate plan of action to form the national venture model and by the lack of experience of successful venture deals with profitable exits in Russian economy. This paper studies the influence of various factors on the venture industry development by the example of the IT-sector in Russia. The choice of the sector is based on the fact, that this segment is the main driver of the venture capital market growth in Russia, and the necessary set of data exists. The size of investment of the second round is used as the dependent variable. To analyse the influence of the previous round such determinant as the volume of the previous (first) round investments is used. There is also used a dummy variable in regression to examine that the participation of an investor with high reputation and experience in the previous round can influence the size of the next investment round. The regression analysis of short-term interrelations between studied variables reveals prevailing influence of the volume of the first round investments on the venture investments volume of the second round. Because of the research, the participation of investors with first-class reputation has a small impact on an indicator of the value of investment of the second round. The expected positive dependence of the second round investments on the forecasted market growth rate now of the deal is also rejected. So, the most important determinant of the value of the second-round investment is the value of first–round investment, so it means that the most competitive on the Russian market are the start-up teams which can attract more money on the start, and the target market growth is not the factor of crucial importance.

Keywords: venture industry, venture investment, determinants of the venture sector development, IT-sector

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Authors: Elena V. Lysenko

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Motivating as the leading function of a modern Human Resources Management involves issues of increasing the effectiveness of the organization in a broader context. During the formation of motivational systems, the top-management of organization should pay equal attention to both external motivation (incentive system) and internal (self-motivation). The balance of internal and external motivation harmonizes the relations between employers and employees, increases the level of job satisfaction by the organization staff, which in turn leads the organization to success and ensures the organization`s profitability and competitiveness in the market environment. The article is devoted to the study of personnel motivation system in the small metal trade company, which is located in Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation. The study took place during November-December, 2016 ordered by the Company Director to analyze the motivational potential of work (managerial aspect of motivation) and motivation of personnel (personnel aspect of motivation) with the purpose to construct a system of employees’ motivation. The research tools included 6 specially selected tests of motivation, which are: “Motivation profile of your job”, “Constructive motivational attitudes”, Tests about Motivation of achievements (1st variant: Test by А.Mehrabian by the theory of D.С.McClelland and 2nd variant: Test about leading needs according with the theory of D.С.MacClelland), Tests by T.Elers (1st variant: “Determination of the motivation towards success or to avoid failure” and 2nd variant: “Trends to achieve results or to avoid failure”). The results of the study showed only one, but fundamental problem of the whole organization: high level of both motivational potential in work and self-motivation, especially in terms of achievement motivation, but serious lack of productivity. According the results which study showed this problem is derived from insufficient staff competence. The research suggests basic guidelines in order to build the new personnel motivation system for this Company, which is planned to be developed in the nearest future.

Keywords: incentive system, motivation of achievements, motivation system, self-motivation

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Authors: Kadiri Kayode Ibrahim

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Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play significant roles in the economic development of Nigeria. However, the performance of these SMEs is influenced by various factors, including cultural factors. Keffi Local Government Area (LGA) in Nasarawa State, Nigeria, has a large number of registered SMEs. Understanding the impact of cultural factors on the performance of these SMEs in Keffi LGA is essential for their growth and sustainability. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of cultural factors on the performance of selected SMEs in Keffi LGA, Nasarawa State. A cross-sectional survey research design was used to collect data from 165 purposefully selected SME owners out of the 283 registered SMEs in Keffi LGA. The data was collected using a questionnaire divided into three sections, and analysed using descriptive and ordinary least square regression (OLS). The results indicate that socio-cultural factors and ethical values have a positive and significant effect on the performance of SMEs in Keffi LGA, while attitude has a negative and significant effect on the performance of SMEs in Keffi LGA. Therefore, the study recommends that SMEs in Keffi LGA should understand the socio-cultural elements of their operating environment, adopt socio-cultural factors as elements to guide their planning and strategizing and take into consideration the ethical values of the business environment when offering new products or services. Additionally, SME Managers should take cognisance of people’s attitudes and use them to gauge their activities and ensure they support the overall performance of the business.

Keywords: cultural, factors, performance, SMEs

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Authors: Omar Said Almushyt

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Quality management, in all countries all over the world, has become recently necessary to face challenges among companies. Software companies in KSA suffer from two problems, namely, low customer satisfaction, and low product quality. Implementation of quality management for a software company can solve these problems, by improving the quality of products and enhancing customer satisfaction. This will lead the company to be competitive. Introducing quality management system onto system analysis followed by system design and finally implementing that system can achieve these goals. Results of the present work showed that the proposed method can increase both the product quality by 10 % and the customer satisfaction by 20 %.

Keywords: quality, management, software, information engineering

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Authors: Oliver Marunțălu, Elena Elisabeta Manea, Lăcrămioara Diana Robescu, Mihai Necșoiu, Gheorghe Lăzăroiu, Dana Andreya Bondrea

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In order to obtain efficient pollutants removal in small-scale wastewater treatment plants, uniform water flow has to be achieved. The experimental setup, designed for treating high-load wastewater (leachate), consists of two aerobic biological reactors and a lamellar settler. Both biological tanks were aerated by using three different types of aeration systems - perforated pipes, membrane air diffusers and tube ceramic diffusers. The possibility of homogenizing the water mass with each of the air diffusion systems was evaluated comparatively. The oxygen concentration was determined by optical sensors with data logging. The experimental data was analyzed comparatively for all three different air dispersion systems aiming to identify the oxygen concentration variation during different operational conditions. The Oxygenation Capacity was calculated for each of the three systems and used as performance and selection parameter. The global mass transfer coefficients were also evaluated as important tools in designing the aeration system. Even though using the tubular porous diffusers leads to higher oxygen concentration compared to the perforated pipe system (which provides medium-sized bubbles in the aqueous solution), it doesn’t achieve the threshold limit of 80% oxygen saturation in less than 30 minutes. The study has shown that the optimal solution for the studied configuration was the radial air diffusers which ensure an oxygen saturation of 80% in 20 minutes. An increment of the values was identified when the air flow was increased.

Keywords: flow, aeration, bioreactor, oxygen concentration

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Authors: Souid Wafa, Boudjenah-Haroun Saliha, Khacef Linda

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In this work, we focused on the valuation of discharges from the dairy industry. Whey is by-product of dairy industry, which is a formidable pollution factor and contains components (lactose, minerals and proteins) with high nutritional value. Whey is an excellent culture medium for microorganisms. The objective of our work is to investigate the ability of a lactic strain (of the genus Lactococcus) to grow in culture media based on whey of cattle and camels and comparing it with that recorded on M17 as indicator medium. In this study we isolated from a local sample of camel milk a lactic strain (S1).the strain had positive Gram shaped, cocci form and catalase (-). The strain has been purified by the method of streaks on M17 medium. Phenotypic identification allows us to classify this strain in the species: Lactococcus lactis subsp. Cremoris. We subsequently tested the ability of this strain to grow in cattle whey medium and camel whey, both media were deproteinized and unsupplemented. The obtained results revealed that: The cattle and camel whey are appropriate media for the growth of the strain Lactococcus lactis subsp cremoris but is more adapted to grow on a medium rich in lactose as the camel whey. In fact, after 48h and at initial pH 6.8 this strain acidified more camel whey (pH 3.99) than cattle whey (pH 4.8). And biomass produced in the camel whey is 1.50g /1 by contributing to the cattle whey which is 1g / l.

Keywords: cremoris, dairy industry, Lactococcus lactis subsp, medium, whey

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Authors: Jianwen Li, Hongfang Ma, Weixin Qian, Haitao Zhang, Weiyong Ying

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Methanol-to-propylene conversion was carried out in a continuous-flow fixed-bed reactor over nano-sized HZSM-5 zeolites. The HZSM-5 catalysts were synthesized with different Si/Al ratio and silicon sources, and treated with NaOH. The structural property, morphology, and acidity of catalysts were measured by XRD, N₂ adsorption, FE-SEM, TEM, and NH₃-TPD. The results indicate that the increment of Si/Al ratio decreased the acidity of catalysts and then improved propylene selectivity, while silicon sources had slight impact on the acidity but affected the product distribution. The desilication after alkali treatment could increase intracrystalline mesopores and enhance propylene selectivity.

Keywords: alkali treatment, HZSM-5, methanol-to-propylene, synthesis condition

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Authors: Reskino Resky

Abstract:

This research purposes to create a model to detecting financial statement fraud. This research examines the variable of fraud triangle and auditor industry specialization with financial statement fraud. This research used sample of company which is listed in Indonesian Stock Exchange that have sanctions and cases by Financial Services Authority in 2011-2013. The number of company that were became in this research were 30 fraud company and 30 non-fraud company. The method of determining the sample is by using purposive sampling method with judgement sampling, while the data processing methods used by researcher are mann-whitney u and discriminants analysis. This research have two from five variable that can be process with discriminant analysis. The result shows the financial targets can be detect financial statement fraud, while financial stability can’t be detect financial statement fraud.

Keywords: fraud triangle analysis, financial targets, financial stability, auditor industry specialization, financial statement fraud

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