Search results for: firm objective

Authors: V. Naciti, L. Pulejo, F. Cesaroni

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This study empirically analyzes whether the composition of the board of directors (BoD) enhances sustainability performance, in order to understand how the BoD contribute to the integration of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their businesses. Hypotheses are developed based on the agency theory and stakeholder theory. Using a system generalized method of the moment (SGMM) two-step estimator, with data from Sustainalytics and Compustat databases for 362 firms in six regions, we find that firms with more diversity on the board and a separation of chair and CEO roles have higher sustainability performance. Moreover, our findings provide that a higher number of independent directors is negatively associated with sustainability performance. This study contributes to the literature on corporate governance and the firm’s performance by demonstrating that the composition of the board of directors contributes to a better sustainability performance: by the implementation of a particular corporate governance mechanism, it is possible to integrate SDGs in the corporate strategy.

Keywords: sustainable development goals, corporate governance, board of directors, sustainability performance

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Authors: Monica Lia

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This paper has set the objective of researching how education is influenced by the information society. The first step was to define more precisely the information space. Second step was to identify how information space intersects the family space and institutional space educational levels represented by pre-school / school and pre-university (kindergarten, at elementary / middle school / high school). Interrelationship between the above-mentioned areas was another objective of the research. All these elements have been investigated through the original intention to identify how the information space can become an educational tool to support for the family space, education and institutional space. In addition, the aim of this research is to offer some solutions in this regard. Often the educational efforts appear to be blocked by the existence of this space. However, this paper demonstrates that Informational space can be an enemy of the educational system or be support systems if we know the internal structure and mechanisms. We can make the Informational Space to work for accomplish the educational objectives.

Keywords: informational space, education, educational tool, social diagram, information, information structure, lessons

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Authors: Balwinder Singh, Veerpaul Kaur Mann

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The COVID-19 had a dramatic impact on several countries across the world. National governments have imposed widespread restrictions to prevent the growth of this pandemic. The new health competitive scenario induced by the COVID-19 crisis raised many issues on how business activities should be reorganized due to the difficulties of physical interactions with distributors, suppliers and customers. The pandemic has particularly affected the whole marketing processes because of the relevant issues emerged in managing physical sale channels and interactions with one another, both in the Business-to-Consumer and in the Business-to-Business markets. Recent research about the appropriate actions and strategies that could help firms overcome the crisis has highlighted the key role of digital technologies that may ensure connections and, thus, help business activities to run smoothly. This could be true, especially with the emergence of strong limitations on physical interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic. In such a scenario, the online channel becomes the most important conducive for online customers to get in contact with the firm and carry out online purchasing activities.

Keywords: COVID-19, business, digital marketing, online customers

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Authors: Natina Yaduma, Allan Williams, Sangwon Park, Andrew Lockwood

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This paper analyses flexible working, and the employment of migrants, as determinants of productivity in hotels. Controlling for the institutional environment, by focussing on a single firm, it analyses data on actual hours worked and outputs, on a weekly basis, over an 8 year period. The unusually disaggregated data allows the paper to examine not only inter-establishment, but also intra-establishment (departmental) variations in productivity, and to compare financial versus physical measures. The findings emphasise the complexity of productivity findings, sometimes contrasting evidence for establishments versus departments, and the positive but scale and measure-specific contributions of both the employment of migrants and flexible working, especially the utilisation of zero hours contracts.

Keywords: labour productivity, physical productivity, financial productivity, numerical flexibility, functional flexibility, migrant employment, cero-contract employment

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Authors: Qasim M. Kriri

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Few Saudi Arabia production companies face financial profit issues until this moment. This work presents a linear integer programming model that solves a production problem of a Saudi Food Company in Saudi Arabia. An optimal solution to the above-mentioned problem is a Linear Programming solution. In this regard, the main purpose of this project is to maximize profit. Linear Programming Technique has been used to derive the maximum profit from production of natural juice at Saudi Food Co. The operations of production of the company were formulated and optimal results are found out by using Lindo Software that employed Sensitivity Analysis and Parametric linear programming in order develop Linear Programming. In addition, the parameter values are increased, then the values of the objective function will be increased.

Keywords: parameter linear programming, objective function, sensitivity analysis, optimize profit

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Authors: Zineb Abidi, Marc-Arthur Diaye

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There exists a large empirical literature concerning the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance. This literature, however, applies mainly to large corporations and/or listed firms. To the best of our knowledge, the question of whether meeting CSR requirements impacts the financial performance of small and medium-sized unlisted SMEs has not so far been analyzed. This paper aims to analyze, for the first time, the effect of CSR on the financial performance of SMEs. Using an original database including 5,257 French SMEs, we show that adopting CSR practices has a positive but weak effect on a firm’s financial performance. To develop this further, we analyzed CSR practices interactions assessing the best combination of CSR components that positively influence SME financial performance. Our results show that French SMEs benefit more from their pro-social behavior when they choose a combination of CSR components best adapted to their individual characteristics.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, financial performance, unlisted firms, SMEs

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Authors: Safak Baykal

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The purpose of this study is analyzing the relationship between self leadership and social capital of people with using Social Network Analysis. In this study, two aspects of social capital will be focused: bonding, homophilous social capital (BoSC) which implies better, strong, dense or closed network ties, and bridging, heterophilous social capital (BrSC) which implies weak ties, bridging the structural holes. The other concept of the study is Trust (Tr), namely interpersonal trust, willingness to ascribe good intentions to and have confidence in the words and actions of other people. In this study, the sample group, 61 people, was selected from a private firm from the defense industry. The relation between BoSC/BrSC and Tr is shown by using Social Network Analysis (SNA) and statistical analysis with Likert type-questionnaire. The results of the analysis show the Cronbach’s alpha value is 0.73 and social capital values (BoSC/BrSC) is highly correlated with Tr values of the people.

Keywords: bonding social capital, bridging social capital, trust, social network analysis (SNA)

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Authors: Ida Srdić, Luka Mandić, LidijaMandić

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Digitization and intensive use of tablets, smartphones, the internet, mobile, and web applications have massively disrupted our habits, and the way audiences (especially youth) consume content. To introduce educational content in games and animations, and at the same time to keep it interesting and compelling for kids, is a challenge. In our work, we are comparing the different possibilities and potentials that digital games could provide to successfully mitigate direct connection with education. We analyze the main directions and educational methods in game-based learning and the possibilities of interactive modeling through questionnaires for user experience and requirements. A pre and post-quantitative survey will be conducted in order to measure levels of objective knowledge as well as the games perception. This approach enables quantitative and objective evaluation of the impact the game has on participants. Also, we will discuss the main barriers to the use of games in education and how games can be best used for learning.

Keywords: Bloom’s taxonomy, epistemic games, learning objectives, virtual learning environments

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Authors: G. Shahzadi, A. Soulaimani

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This research work aims to identify the physical parameters of the constitutive soil model in the design of a rockfill dam by inverse analysis. The best parameters of the constitutive soil model, are those that minimize the objective function, defined as the difference between the measured and numerical results. The Finite Element code (Plaxis) has been utilized for numerical simulation. Polynomial and neural network-based response surfaces have been generated to analyze the relationship between soil parameters and displacements. The performance of surrogate models has been analyzed and compared by evaluating the root mean square error. A comparative study has been done based on objective functions and optimization techniques. Objective functions are categorized by considering measured data with and without uncertainty in instruments, defined by the least square method, which estimates the norm between the predicted displacements and the measured values. Hydro Quebec provided data sets for the measured values of the Romaine-2 dam. Stochastic optimization, an approach that can overcome local minima, and solve non-convex and non-differentiable problems with ease, is used to obtain an optimum value. Genetic Algorithm (GA), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Differential Evolution (DE) are compared for the minimization problem, although all these techniques take time to converge to an optimum value; however, PSO provided the better convergence and best soil parameters. Overall, parameter identification analysis could be effectively used for the rockfill dam application and has the potential to become a valuable tool for geotechnical engineers for assessing dam performance and dam safety.

Keywords: Rockfill dam, parameter identification, stochastic analysis, regression, PLAXIS

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Authors: L. Aparecida Bastos, J. Leige Lopes, J. Crepaldi, R. Monteiro da Silva

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The objective of this study is to analyze the evolution of some social and economic indicators of Mercosur´s economies from 1980 to 2012, based on the statistics of the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA). The objective is to observe if after the accession of these economies to Mercosur (the first accessions occurred in 1994) these indicators showed better performance, in order to demonstrate if economic integration contributed to improved trade, macroeconomic performance, and level of social and economic development of member countries. To this end, the methodologies used will be a literature review and descriptive statistics. The theoretical framework that guides the work are the theories of Integration: Classical Liberal, Marxist and structural-proactive. The results reveal that most social and economic indicators showed better performance in those economies that joined Mercosur after 1994. This work is the result of an investigation already completed.

Keywords: economic integration, Mercosur, social indicators, economic indicators

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Authors: Mehmet Bozca

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Singular value decomposition based optimisation of geometric design parameters of a 5-speed gearbox is studied. During the optimisation, a four-degree-of freedom torsional vibration model of the pinion gear-wheel gear system is obtained and the minimum singular value of the transfer matrix is considered as the objective functions. The computational cost of the associated singular value problems is quite low for the objective function, because it is only necessary to compute the largest and smallest singular values (µmax and µmin) that can be achieved by using selective eigenvalue solvers; the other singular values are not needed. The design parameters are optimised under several constraints that include bending stress, contact stress and constant distance between gear centres. Thus, by optimising the geometric parameters of the gearbox such as, the module, number of teeth and face width it is possible to obtain a light-weight-gearbox structure. It is concluded that the all optimised geometric design parameters also satisfy all constraints.

Keywords: Singular value, optimisation, gearbox, torsional vibration

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Authors: Yi-Jung Chen, Yunshi Liu

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To explain how followers can perceive whether or not transformational leaders are authentic on the basis of their leadership behaviors based on value-based leadership theory, this study adopts the dual-focus model of transformational leadership and evaluates leaders’ corporate social responsibility values along with followers’ perceptions of leaders’ values. Using dyadic questionnaires, the final study sample consisted of 252 followers and 43 leaders at a private firm in Taiwan. Results show that followers perceive corporate social responsibility values of transformational leaders through their group-focused leadership behaviors because such group-focused leadership is in line with these values.

Keywords: authentic transformational leadership, corporate social responsibility value, value-based leadership theory, dual-focus leadership

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Authors: Mohammed Benlemlih

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Using a sample of 22,839 US firm-year observations over the 1991-2012 period, we find that high CSR firms pay more dividends than low CSR firms. The analysis of individual components of CSR provides strong support for this main finding: five of the six individual dimensions are also associated with high dividend payout. When analyzing the stability of dividend payout, our results show that socially irresponsible firms adjust dividends more rapidly than socially responsible firms do: dividend payout is more stable in high CSR firms. Additional results suggest that firms involved in two controversial activities -the military and alcohol - are associated with low dividend payouts. These findings are robust to alternative assumptions and model specifications, alternative measures of dividend, additional control, and several approaches to address endogeneity. Overall, our results are consistent with the expectation that high CSR firms may use dividend policy to manage the agency problems related to overinvestment in CSR.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, dividend policy, Lintner model, agency theory, signaling theory, dividend stability

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Authors: Ejaz Ali, Muhammad Younas, Tahir Saeed

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In this age of information technology, organizations are revisiting their approach in great deal. E-administration is the most popular area to proceed with. Organizations in order to excel over their competitors are spending a substantial chunk of its resources on E-Administration as it is the most effective, transparent and efficient way to achieve their short term as well as long term organizational goals. E-administration being a tool of ICT plays a significant role towards effective management of HR practices resulting into optimal performance of an organization. The present research was carried out to analyze the impact of moderating role of e-administration in the relationships training and performance appraisal aligned with perceived organizational performance. The study is based on RBV and AMO theories, advocating that use of latest technology in execution of human resource (HR) functions enables an organization to achieve and sustain competitive advantage which leads to optimal firm performance.

Keywords: e-administration, human resource management, ict, performance appraisal, training

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Authors: Qiang Fu, Abu Saleh

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Research studies are highly fragmented when an innovation management framework is being discussed. With the aim to identify an innovation management framework/assessment tool suitable for small & medium enterprises (SMEs) in the service industry, this researcher critically reviewed existing innovation management frameworks and assessment models/tools and discovered a number of literature gaps. It is established that existing literature lacks generally agreed innovation management dimensions, commonly accepted knowledge creation through empirical studies on innovation management in SMEs, effective innovation management performance measurements, and studies on innovation management in the service industry, in particular in retail SMEs. As such, there is a dire need to develop an appropriate firm-level innovation management framework suitable for SMEs in the service industry for a future research project and further study. In addition, this researcher also discussed the significance of establishing such an innovation management framework.

Keywords: innovation management, innovation management framework, innovation management assessment tools, SMEs, service industry

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Authors: Vithaya Intraphimol

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The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between market orientation and business performance through innovations that include product innovation and process innovation. Auto parts and accessories companies in Thailand were used as sample for this investigation. Survey research with structured questionnaire was used as the key instrument in collecting the data. The structural equation modeling (SEM) was assigned test the hypotheses. The sample size in this study requires the minimum sample size of 200. The result found that competitor orientation, and interfunctional coordination has an effect on product innovation. Moreover, interfunctional coordination has an effect on process innovation, and return on asset. This indicates that within- firm coordination has crucial to firms’ performances. The implication for practice, firms should support interfunctional coordination that members of different functional areas of an organization communicate and work together for the creation of value to target buyers they may have better profitability.

Keywords: auto parts industry, business performance, innovations, market orientation

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Authors: Berfin Yildiz

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These days, increasing global warming effects, limited amount of energy resources, etc., necessitates the awareness that must be present in every profession group. The architecture and construction sectors are responsible for both the embodied and operational energy of the materials. This responsibility has led designers to seek alternative solutions for energy-efficient material selection. The choice of energy-efficient material requires consideration of the entire life cycle, including the building's production, use, and disposal energy. The aim of this study is to investigate the method of material selection of external thermal insulation composite systems (ETICS). Embodied and in-use energy values of material alternatives were used for the evaluation in this study. The operational energy is calculated according to the u-value calculation method defined in the TS 825 (Thermal Insulation Requirements) standard for Turkey, and the embodied energy is calculated based on the manufacturer's Energy Performance Declaration (EPD). ETICS consists of a wall, adhesive, insulation, lining, mechanical, mesh, and exterior finishing materials. In this study, lining, mechanical, and mesh materials were ignored because EPD documents could not be obtained. The material selection problem is designed as a hypothetical volume area (5x5x3m) and defined as a multi-objective discrete optimization problem for external thermal insulation composite systems. Defining the problem as a discrete optimization problem is important in order to choose between materials of various thicknesses and sizes. Since production and use energy values, which are determined as optimization objectives in the study, are often conflicting values, material selection is defined as a multi-objective optimization problem, and it is aimed to obtain many solution alternatives by using Hypervolume (HypE) algorithm. The enrollment process started with 100 individuals and continued for 50 generations. According to the obtained results, it was observed that autoclaved aerated concrete and Ponce block as wall material, glass wool, as insulation material gave better results.

Keywords: embodied energy, multi-objective discrete optimization, performative design, thermal insulation

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Authors: Joshua Chew, Vesa Cheng, David Thomson

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Background: Hereditary angioedema (HAE) or C1 esterase deficiency is a relatively rare entity that has a potential for significant anesthetic complications. Methods: A literature review was performed of published cases of surgery in patients with HAE. Results were limited to English language only and cases were examined for management strategies and successful prevention of acute attacks. Results: The literature revealed the successful use of C1 esterase inhibitors as the most common agent in surgical prophylaxis therapy. Other therapeutic targets described included kallikrein inhibitors and bradykinin B2 receptor antagonists. Conclusions: Therapeutic targets that exist for the management of acute attacks in HAE have been successfully employed in the setting of surgery. The data is currently limited and could not be used as a firm evidence base, but the limited outcomes seen are positive and reassuring for the prospective anesthetic management of this potentially fatal condition.

Keywords: anesthesia, C1 esterase deficiency, hereditary angioedema, surgical prophylaxis

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Authors: Vaishali P. Joshi, Pallav Joshi

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The objective of this study is to examine the differences fashion innovators and non-fashion innovators in their fashion consumption behavior in terms of their pre-purchase behavior, purchase behavior and post purchase behavior. The questionnaire was distributed to a female college student for data collection for achieving the objective of the first part of the study. Question-related to fashion innovativeness and fashion consumption behavior was asked. The sample was comprised of 81 college females ages 18 through 30 who were attending Business Management degree. A series of attitude questions was used to categorize respondents on the Innovativeness Scale. 32 respondents with a score of 21 and above were designated as Fashion innovators and the remainder (49) as Non-fashion innovators. Findings showed that there exist significant differences between innovators and non-innovators in their fashion consumption behavior. Data was analyzed through frequency distribution table. Many differences were found in the behavior of innovators and non-innovators in terms of their pre-purchase, actual purchase, and post-purchase behavior.

Keywords: fashion, innovativeness, consumption behavior, purchase

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Authors: Radhia Toujani, Jalel Akaichi

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In recent years, the study of community detection in social networks has received great attention. The hierarchical structure of the network leads to the emergence of the convergence to a locally optimal community structure. In this paper, we aim to avoid this local optimum in the introduced hybrid hierarchical method. To achieve this purpose, we present an objective function where we incorporate the value of structural and semantic similarity based modularity and a metaheuristic namely bees colonies algorithm to optimize our objective function on both hierarchical level divisive and agglomerative. In order to assess the efficiency and the accuracy of the introduced hybrid bee colony model, we perform an extensive experimental evaluation on both synthetic and real networks.

Keywords: social network, community detection, agglomerative hierarchical clustering, divisive hierarchical clustering, similarity, modularity, metaheuristic, bee colony

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Authors: Zaid Almahmoud, Rana Mahmoud

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To mitigate the environmental impacts of throwing away plastic waste, there has been a recent interest in manufacturing and producing biodegradable plastics. Here, we study a new class of biodegradable plastics which are mixed with external natural additives, including catalytic additives that lead to a successful degradation of the resulting material. To recommend the best alternative among multiple materials, we propose a multi-objective AI model that evaluates the material against multiple objectives given the material properties. As a proof of concept, the AI model was implemented in an expert system and evaluated using multiple materials. Our findings showed that Polyethylene Terephalate is potentially the best biodegradable plastic substitute based on its material properties. Therefore, it is recommended that governments shift the attention to the use of Polyethylene Terephalate in the manufacturing of bottles to gain a great environmental and sustainable benefits.

Keywords: plastic bottles, expert systems, multi-objective model, biodegradable substitutes

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Authors: Hong Fan, Lifang Gao, Feng Zhan

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This paper examines the influence of local gambling attitudes on a firm's long-term financial performance. Firms located in gambling-prone regions may be more willing to take risks, thus spending more on innovative projects. However, firms in such regions may also be likely to choose projects impulsively and allocate resources inefficiently. By studying Chinese publicly listed firms from 2010 to 2017, we find that firms in more gambling-prone regions invest more in R&D. Both local gambling attitudes and firms’ R&D spending are positively associated with firms’ long-term financial performance. More importantly, our study reveals that the positive impact of R&D spending on firms’ long-term financial performance is weakened by gambling-friendly attitudes, probably because firms in gambling-prone regions are more likely to overinvest in risky projects. This effect is stronger for larger firms, state-owned enterprises (SOEs), firms with more government subsidies, and firms with weaker internal control.

Keywords: regional gambling attitudes, long-term financial performance, R&D, risk, local bias

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Authors: Bruno Škrinjarić

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Rapid technological developments and increase in organizations’ interdependence on international scale are changing the traditional workplace paradigm. A key feature of knowledge based economy is that employers are looking for individuals that possess both specific academic skills and knowledge, and also capability to be proactive and respond to problems creatively and autonomously. The focus of this paper is workers with Economics and Business background and its goals are threefold: (1) to explore wide range of competences and identify which are the most important to employers; (2) to investigate the existence and magnitude of gap between required and possessed level of a certain competency; and (3) to inquire how this gap is connected with performance of a company. A study was conducted on a representative sample of Croatian enterprises during the spring of 2016. Results show that generic, rather than specific, competences are more important to employers and the gap between the relative importance of certain competence and its current representation in existing workforce is greater for generic competences than for specific. Finally, results do not support the hypothesis that this gap is correlated with firms’ performance.

Keywords: competency gap, competency matching, key competences, firm performance

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Authors: Jędrzej Minda

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In aviation, a very narrow spectrum of control inceptors exists, namely centre sticks, side-sticks, pedals, and yokes. However, new types of aircraft are emerging, and with them, a need for new inceptors. A manned multicopter created at AGH University of Science and Technology is an aircraft in which the pilot takes a specific orientation in which classical inceptors may be impractical to use. In this paper, a unique kind of control inceptor is described, which aims to provide a handling quality not unlike standard solutions, and provide a firm grip point for the pilot without the risk of involuntary stick movement. Simulations of the pilot-inceptor model were performed in order to compare the dynamic amplification factors of the design described in this paper with the classical one. A functional prototype is built on which drone pilots carry out a comfort-of-use evaluation. This paper provides a general overview of the project, including a literature review, reasoning behind components selection, and mechanism design finalized by conclusions.

Keywords: mechanisms, mechatronics, embedded control, serious gaming for training rescue missions, rescue robotics

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Authors: T. Lazzarini, M. Imbiki, P. E. Sutter, G. Borragan

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While several strategies, such as the development of more efficient appliances, the financing of insulation programs or the rolling out of smart meters represent promising tools to reduce future energy consumption, their implementation relies on people’s decisions-actions. Likewise, engaging with consumers to reshape their behavior has shown to be another important way to reduce energy usage. For these reasons, integrating the human factor in the energy transition has become a major objective for researchers and policymakers. Digital education programs based on tangible and gamified user interfaces have become a new tool with potential effects to reduce energy consumption4. The B2020 program, developed by the firm “Économie d’Énergie SAS”, proposes a digital platform to encourage pro-environmental behavior change among employees and citizens. The platform integrates 160 eco-behaviors to help saving energy and water and reducing waste and CO2 emissions. A total of 13,146 citizens have used the tool so far to declare the range of eco-behaviors they adopt in their daily lives. The present work seeks to build on this database to identify the potential impact of adopted energy-saving behaviors (n=62) to reduce the use of energy in buildings. To this end, behaviors were classified into three categories regarding the nature of its implementation (Eco-habits: e.g., turning-off the light, Eco-actions: e.g., installing low carbon technology such as led light-bulbs and Home-Refurbishments: e.g., such as wall-insulation or double-glazed energy efficient windows). General Linear Models (GLM) disclosed the existence of a significantly higher frequency of Eco-habits when compared to the number of home-refurbishments realized by the platform users. While this might be explained in part by the high financial costs that are associated with home renovation works, it also contrasts with the up to three times larger energy-savings that can be accomplished by these means. Furthermore, multiple regression models failed to disclose the expected relationship between energy-savings and frequency of adopted eco behaviors, suggesting that energy-related practices are not necessarily driven by the correspondent energy-savings. Finally, our results also suggested that people adopting more Eco-habits and Eco-actions were more likely to engage in Home-Refurbishments. Altogether, these results fit well with a growing body of scientific research, showing that energy-related practices do not necessarily maximize utility, as postulated by traditional economic models, and suggest that other variables might be triggering them. Promoting home refurbishments could benefit from the adoption of complementary energy-saving habits and actions.

Keywords: energy-saving behavior, human performance, behavioral change, energy efficiency

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Authors: Kari Huhtala, Iiro Jussila

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The supervisory board is assumed to use power in the governance of a firm, but the actual use of power has been scantly investigated. The research question of the paper is “How does the supervisory board use power in the selection of the board of directors”. The data stem from 11 large Finnish agricultural cooperatives. The research approach was qualitative including semi-structured interviews of the board of directors and supervisory board chairpersons. The results were analyzed and interpreted against theories of social power. As a result, the use of power is approached from two perspectives: (1) formal position-based authority and (2) informal power. Central elements of power were the mandate of the supervisory board, the role of the supervisory board, the supervisory board chair, the nomination committee, collaboration between the supervisory board and the board of directors, the role of regions and the role of the board of directors. The study contributes to the academic discussion on corporate governance in cooperatives and on the supervisory board in the context of the two-tier model. Additional research of the model in other countries and of other types of cooperatives would further academic understanding of supervisory boards.

Keywords: board, co-operative, supervisory board, selection, director

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Authors: Theo Neethling

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The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) was established in 2007 as a military and diplomatic entity and is intended to assist African states and military actors to address their security needs. At the same time, AFRICOM is clearly an extension of US strategic interests on the African continent. The challenge for the US Department of Defence is to project AFRICOM as a cooperative and willing partner. This implies a partner that offers needed services and resources, and supports African security and military priorities with no presumption of having a privileged role in defining the African future. However, one of AFRICOM’s main challenges relates to the point that it has not been able to secure a firm partnership with South Africa as a key player on the continent: South Africa has continuously taken a lukewarm, if not cold, approach towards AFRICOM since its formation. The main aim of this article is to examine and discuss South Africa’s political-military relations with AFRICOM and to assess the underlying reasons currently inhibiting AFRICOM from achieving a fully productive relationship with the South African government.

Keywords: AFRICOM, South African foreign policy, US interests, defence capabilities in Africa, US-Africa relations

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Authors: Suvimon Wajeetongratana, Prateep Wajeetongratana

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The purpose of this research will study the organizational behavior including self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and resiliency that affect to the work motivation in the Dusit workplace and the sample consisted of the production workers in a private company in Dusit area for four hundred workers with approximately 10,000 employees and in this study will provide the multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the questionnaire survey data. The results of the analysis indicate the latent core confidence factor derived from the four components of self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and resiliency provided a significant positive impact on performance. The impact of the integrated latent core confidence factor was, in fact, more effective than derived from any one individual component, as well as any core trait-like self-evaluations such as self-esteem, general efficacy, internal locus of control, and emotional stability.

Keywords: firm performance effectiveness, organizational behavior, work motivation, Dusit workplace

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Authors: Varutorn Tulnawat, Padcharee Phasuk

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This paper investigates the issue of China’s dumping on border trade between Thailand and Laos. From the pass mostly, the border trade goods are traditional textile and garment mainly served locals and tourists which majority of traders is of small and medium size. In the present day the competition is fierce, the volume of trade has expanded far beyond its original intent. The major competitors in Thai-Laos border trade are China, Vietnam and also South Korea. This research measures and compares the efficiency and ability to survive the onslaught of Thai and Laos firm along Thailand (Nong Kai province) and Laos (Vientiane) border. Two attack strategies are observed, price cutting and incense such as full facilitation for big volume order. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is applied to data surveyed from 90 Thai and Laos entrepreneurs. The expected results are the proportion of efficiency and inefficiency firms. Points of inefficiency and suggested improvement are also discussed.

Keywords: border trade, dea, textile, garment

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Authors: Mohammad Moridzadeh, Gholamreza Mesri

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The effectiveness of lime treatment of soils has been commonly evaluated in terms of improved workability and increased undrained unconfined compressive strength in connection to road and airfield construction. The most common method of strength measurement has been the unconfined compression test. However, if the objective of lime treatment is to improve long-term stability of first-time or reactivated landslides in stiff clays and shales, permanent changes in the size and shape of clay particles must be realized to increase drained frictional resistance. Lime-soil interactions that may produce less platy and larger soil particles begin and continue with time under the highly alkaline pH environment. In this research, pH measurements are used to monitor chemical environment and progress of reactions. Atterberg limits are measured to identify changes in particle size and shape indirectly. Also, fully softened and residual strength measurements are used to examine an improvement in frictional resistance due to lime-soil interactions. The main variables are soil plasticity and mineralogy, lime content, water content, and curing period. Lime effect on frictional resistance is examined using samples of clays with different mineralogy and characteristics which may react with lime to various extents. Drained direct shear tests on reconstituted lime-treated clay specimens with various properties have been performed to measure fully softened shear strength. To measure residual shear strength, drained multiple reversal direct shear tests on precut specimens were conducted. This way, soil particles are oriented along the direction of shearing to the maximum possible extent and provide minimum frictional resistance. This is applicable to reactivated and part of first-time landslides. The Brenna clay, which is the highly plastic lacustrine clay of Lake Agassiz causing slope instability along the banks of the Red River, is one of the soil samples used in this study. The Brenna Formation characterized as a uniform, soft to firm, dark grey, glaciolacustrine clay with little or no visible stratification, is full of slickensided surfaces. The major source of sediment for the Brenna Formation was the highly plastic montmorillonitic Pierre Shale bedrock. The other soil used in this study is one of the main sources of slope instability in Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD), i.e. the Beaumont clay. The shear strengths of untreated and treated clays were obtained under various normal pressures to evaluate the shear envelope nonlinearity.

Keywords: Brenna clay, friction resistance, lime treatment, residual

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