Search results for: financial irregularities

Authors: B. O. Oyedoyin, M. O. Ilori, T. O. Oyebisi, B. A. Oluwale, O. O. Jegede

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The study was designed to evaluate the business development and transfer of technologies to small manufacturing companies by research institutes in South Western Nigeria. The study covered all the industrial research institutions with headquarters in South Western Nigeria. The study showed that the involvement of scientists in innovation process was rated highest in the idea generation (4.14) and idea screening (4.29) phases; high in R&D (3.86) and fairly high in pilot plant development (2.71) and commercialization (2.43) phase. Their involvement was rated low in business analysis and development (2.14), and test marketing (2.29) phase. The involvement of engineers was rated highest in idea generation (3.28), fairly high in R&D (2.71), pilot plant development (2.57), and idea screening (2.40) phases. However, their involvement was rated low in business analysis and development (2.0), test marketing (2.0), and commercialization (1.28) phases. The involvement of technology marketers in innovation process was generally rated fairly high in R&D (2.7) and business analysis and development (2.6), and low in all the other phases of innovation. However, their involvement at IAR&T, FIIRO, and NIOMR in all the phases was rated very high (3.0-5.0). The involvement of entrepreneurs was generally rated from fairly high to low (2.7-2.3) in all the phases of innovation. The involvement of financial institutions in all the phases of innovation was generally rated low (1.28-1.71). In conclusion, the study showed that the involvement of stakeholders like entrepreneurs and financial institutions in technology packaging for commercialization is very low.

Keywords: research institutes, national innovation system, Nigeria, entrepreneurs, financial institution

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Authors: Shivam Adhikary

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Sports stadiums are not merely public amenities for entertainment and recreation for a city. They are buildings with extremely high construction investment and running costs which holds the supreme responsibility of social integration, nation building and financial upliftment of the community apart from its primary motive of conducting and promotion of the sports. But the present scenario of sports performances at international events and growing physical inactivity among the youth in India show that the sports facilities are far behind in achieving these goals. A pilot study of Indira Gandhi Sports complex in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh gave an indication of underutilization of sports stadia in India. This probed a crying need for the assessment of the present usage and functioning of the major sports (non-cricketing) facilities within the country. This paper assesses the sustainability of stadiums built for national and international sporting (non-cricket) events in terms of sporting, socio-cultural and financial sustainability by mainly focusing on their usage in non-event days. The criteria for the assessment and comparison of the stadiums within the nation is done using World Stadium Index and GDI (Gross Domestic Income) while with international counterparts using WSI and GNI (Gross National Income). The pilot case of India Gandhi Sports complex in Vijayawada is further investigated for a deeper understanding of the present usage, the existing issues for its underutilization and the way-forward (at least a few) to reach its sustainable potential. The paper finally concludes with the discussion on whether sports stadiums are being utilized to its financial potential and if it is at par with its international counterparts.

Keywords: economic sustainability, social sustainability, sports infrastructure, stadium efficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 200

Authors: Dávid Kovács, Bálint Csanády, Dániel Boros, Iván Ivkovic, Lóránt Nagy, Dalma Tóth-Lakits, László Márkus, András Lukács

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The modeling practice of financial instruments has seen significant change over the last decade due to the recognition of time-dependent and stochastically changing correlations among the market prices or the prices and market characteristics. To represent this phenomenon, the Stochastic Correlation Process (SCP) has come to the fore in the joint modeling of prices, offering a more nuanced description of their interdependence. This approach has allowed for the attainment of realistic tail dependencies, highlighting that prices tend to synchronize more during intense or volatile trading periods, resulting in stronger correlations. Evidence in statistical literature suggests that, similarly to the volatility, the SCP of certain stock prices follows rough paths, which can be described using fractional differential equations. However, estimating parameters for these equations often involves complex and computation-intensive algorithms, creating a necessity for alternative solutions. In this regard, the Fractional Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (fOU) process from the family of fractional processes offers a promising path. We can effectively describe the rough SCP by utilizing certain transformations of the fOU. We employed neural networks to understand the behavior of these processes. We had to develop a fast algorithm to generate a valid and suitably large sample from the appropriate process to train the network. With an extensive training set, the neural network can estimate the process parameters accurately and efficiently. Although the initial focus was the fOU, the resulting model displayed broader applicability, thus paving the way for further investigation of other processes in the realm of financial mathematics. The utility of SCP extends beyond its immediate application. It also serves as a springboard for a deeper exploration of fractional processes and for extending existing models that use ordinary Wiener processes to fractional scenarios. In essence, deploying both SCP and fractional processes in financial models provides new, more accurate ways to depict market dynamics.

Keywords: fractional Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process, fractional stochastic processes, Heston model, neural networks, stochastic correlation, stochastic differential equations, stochastic volatility

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Authors: Iman Shawky, Mohamed Elsayed

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Every hotel works in the hospitality market tends to have its own merit and character in its products marketing in order to maintain both its brand's identity and image among guests. According to the growth of global competition in the hospitality industry; the concept of competitive advantage is becoming increasingly important in hotels' marketing world as it examines reasons for outweighing hotels in their dimensions of strategic and marketing plans. In fact, Egypt is the land of appeared and submerged secrets as a result of its ancient civilization ongoing explorations. Although underwater antiquities represent ambiguous treasures, they have auspicious future in it, particularly in Alexandria. The study aims at examining to what extent underwater antiquities represent a competitive advantage of four and five-star hotels in Alexandria. For achieving this aim, an exploratory study conducted by currying out the investigation and comparison of the closest and most popular landmarks mentioned on both hotels' official websites and on common used reservations' websites. In addition to that, two different questionnaire forms designed; one for both revenue and sales and marketing hotels' managers while the other for their guests. The results indicate that both official hotels' websites and the most common used reservations' websites totally ignore mentioning underwater antiquities as attractive landmarks surrounding Alexandria hotels. Furthermore, most managers expect that underwater antiquities can furnish distinguished competitive advantage to their hotels. Also, they can help exceeding guests' expectations during their accommodation as long as they included on both official hotels' and reservations' websites as the most surrounding famous landmarks. Moreover, most managers foresee that high awareness of underwater antiquities can enhance the guests' accommodation frequencies and improve the financial performance of their hotels.

Keywords: competitive advantage, financial performance, hotels' websites, underwater antiquities

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Authors: Alireza Ghaffari, Hassan Saghi

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Project management is more complex than managing the day-to-day affairs of an organization. When the project dimensions are broad and multiple projects have to be monitored in different locations, the integrated management becomes even more complicated. One of the main concerns of project managers is the integrated project management, which is mainly rooted in the lack of accurate and accessible information from different projects in various locations. The collection of dispersed information from various parts of the network, their integration and finally the selective reporting of this information is among the goals of integrated information systems. It can help resolve the main problem, which is bridging the information gap between executives and senior managers in the organization. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to design and implement an important subset of a project management information system in order to successfully control the cost of construction projects so that its results can be used to design raw software forms and proposed relationships between different project units for the collection of necessary information.

Keywords: financial performance, cost subsystem, PMIS, project management

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Authors: Pooree Sakot, Marndarath Suksanga

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Organizations are under increasing pressure to improve performance and maximize the contribution of every employee. Employee engagement has become an attractive business proposition. The triple bottom line consists of three Ps: profit, people and planet. It aims to measure the financial, social and environmental performance of the corporation over a period of time. People are the most important asset of every organization. Most of the studies suggest that employee engagement improves the bottom line in almost every instance and it is well worth all organizational efforts to actively engage employees. Engaged employees have an impact on productivity and financial performance. Efficient leadership and effective management can take place if emerging paradigm like employee engagement is appropriately understood and put into practice. Employee engagement starts at the first step i.e. recruitment of an employee to the last step i.e. retirement .The HR Practices of an organization play the most major role in helping the employees walk the extra mile. Effective employee engagement is the key component for improved organizational performance.

Keywords: employee engagement, higher education, tool, success

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Authors: Mohamed Radwan

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Introduction: Polycystic ovary syndrome is becoming very common among girls from ages 14 to 21 years old, alongside women in their childbearing period. A combination of menstrual irregularities, overweight or obesity, insulin resistance (type 2 diabetes), and symptoms of virilization are characteristics of these cases. Background: A multidisciplinary team should be involved in managing these cases and may consist of A gynecologist, endocrinologist, nutritionist, and psychologist. The role of nutritionists is crucial in these cases in weight reduction and nutritional management. It is mandatory to present some questions that may help in expanding further our understanding of the nutritional management of this syndrome, such as it is not an easy process to reduce the weight of PCO patients (2) we need to know what suitable nutritional plans for these cases are. Methodology: It is not successful to use one diet plan for all patients or a specific plan, but we need to give tailored plans for each patient. We will summarize the medical, nutritional therapy and weight management in polycystic ovary patients and highlight the best eating plan and dietary composition in the treatment of these women. We will also discuss the role of dieticians in treating polycystic ovary cases and overcoming the challenges these women face. Conclusion: All diet plans would decrease the weight of Polycystic ovary cases as low calory diet, low glycemic index diet, high protein diet, as well as Dash diet, but the most suitable diet plan to improve hormones and lead to spontaneous pregnancy is the Mediterranean diet.

Keywords: obesity, PCO mediteranian diet, dash diet, high protein diet

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Authors: Raptis Sotirios

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Health and social care (HSc) services planning and scheduling are facing unprecedented challenges due to the pandemic pressure and also suffer from unplanned spending that is negatively impacted by the global financial crisis. Data-driven can help to improve policies, plan and design services provision schedules using algorithms assist healthcare managers’ to face unexpected demands using fewer resources. The paper discusses services packing using statistical significance tests and machine learning (ML) to evaluate demands similarity and coupling. This is achieved by predicting the range of the demand (class) using ML methods such as CART, random forests (RF), and logistic regression (LGR). The significance tests Chi-Squared test and Student test are used on data over a 39 years span for which HSc services data exist for services delivered in Scotland. The demands are probabilistically associated through statistical hypotheses that assume that the target service’s demands are statistically dependent on other demands as a NULL hypothesis. This linkage can be confirmed or not by the data. Complementarily, ML methods are used to linearly predict the above target demands from the statistically found associations and extend the linear dependence of the target’s demand to independent demands forming, thus groups of services. Statistical tests confirm ML couplings making the prediction also statistically meaningful and prove that a target service can be matched reliably to other services, and ML shows these indicated relationships can also be linear ones. Zero paddings were used for missing years records and illustrated better such relationships both for limited years and in the entire span offering long term data visualizations while limited years groups explained how well patients numbers can be related in short periods or can change over time as opposed to behaviors across more years. The prediction performance of the associations is measured using Receiver Operating Characteristic(ROC) AUC and ACC metrics as well as the statistical tests, Chi-Squared and Student. Co-plots and comparison tables for RF, CART, and LGR as well as p-values and Information Exchange(IE), are provided showing the specific behavior of the ML and of the statistical tests and the behavior using different learning ratios. The impact of k-NN and cross-correlation and C-Means first groupings is also studied over limited years and the entire span. It was found that CART was generally behind RF and LGR, but in some interesting cases, LGR reached an AUC=0 falling below CART, while the ACC was as high as 0.912, showing that ML methods can be confused padding or by data irregularities or outliers. On average, 3 linear predictors were sufficient, LGR was found competing RF well, and CART followed with the same performance at higher learning ratios. Services were packed only if when significance level(p-value) of their association coefficient was more than 0.05. Social factors relationships were observed between home care services and treatment of old people, birth weights, alcoholism, drug abuse, and emergency admissions. The work found that different HSc services can be well packed as plans of limited years, across various services sectors, learning configurations, as confirmed using statistical hypotheses.

Keywords: class, cohorts, data frames, grouping, prediction, prob-ability, services

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Authors: Morteza Gharibi, Abdolghader Pakniat, Somayeh Bahrampouri

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Introduction: Emergency department (E.R.) crowding is a serious widespread problem in hospitals that leads to irregularities, a slower rate of delivery of services to patients, and a long-term stay. In addition, the long-term stay in the E.D. reduces the possibility of providing services with appropriate quality to other patients who are undergoing medical emergencies, which leads to dissatisfaction among patients. This study aimed to determine the relationship between ED-crowding and the mortality rate of the patients referred to the E.D. In a retrospective cohort study, all patients who expired in first 24 hours of admission were enrolled in the study. Crowding index at the moment of admission was calculated using Edwin Score. The data including history and physical examination, time of arrival in the E.D., diagnosis (using ICD 10 code), time of death, cause of death, demographic information was recoded based on triage forms on admission and patients’ medical files. Data analysis was performed by using descriptive statistics and chi square test, ANOVA tests using SPSS ver. 19. The time of arrival in E.D. to death in crowded E.D. conditions, with an average of five hours and 25 minutes, was significantly higher than the average admission Time of arrival in E.D. to death in active and crowded E.D. conditions. More physicians and nurses can be employed during crowded times to reduce staff fatigue and improve their performance during these hours.

Keywords: mortality, emergency, department, crowding

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Authors: Kay Fielden, Eelin Tan, Lan Nguyen

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In this research project, data was gathered at a Covid 19 Conference held in June 2021 from industry leaders who discussed the impact of the global pandemic on the status of the New Zealand hospitality industry. Panel discussions on financials, human resources, health and safety, and recovery were conducted. The themes explored for the finance panel were customer demographics, hospitality sectors, financial practices, government impact, and cost of compliance. The aim was to see how the hospitality industry has responded to the global pandemic and the steps that have been taken for the industry to recover or sustain their business. The main research question for this qualitative study is: What are the factors that have impacted on finance for the hospitality industry in New Zealand due to Covid 19? For financials, literature has been gathered to study global effects, and this is being compared with the data gathered from the discussion panel through the lens of resilience theory. Resilience theory applied to the hospitality industry suggests that the challenges imposed by Covid 19 have been the catalyst for government initiatives, technical innovation, engaging local communities, and boosting confidence. Transformation arising from these ground shifts have been a move towards sustainability, wellbeing, more awareness of climate change, and community engagement. Initial findings suggest that there has been a shift in customer base that has prompted regional accommodation providers to realign offers and to become more flexible to attract and maintain this realigned customer base. Dynamic pricing structures have been required to meet changing customer demographics. Flexible staffing arrangements include sharing staff between different accommodation providers, owners with multiple properties adopting different staffing arrangements, maintaining a good working relationship with the bank, and conserving cash. Uncertain times necessitate changing revenue strategies to cope with external factors. Financial support offered by the government has cushioned the financial downturn for many in the hospitality industry, and managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) arrangements have offered immediate financial relief for those hotels involved. However, there is concern over the long-term effects. Compliance with mandated health and safety requirements has meant that the hospitality industry has streamlined its approach to meeting those requirements and has invested in customer relations to keep paying customers informed of the health measures in place. Initial findings from this study lie within the resilience theory framework and are consistent with findings from the literature.

Keywords: global pandemic, hospitality industry, new Zealand, resilience

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Authors: Shazia Ali, Yves Mard, Éric Severin

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To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to have analyzed the impact of a) firm-specific product-market power and b) industry competition on earnings management behavior of European firms in distress versus healthy years while controlling for firm-level characteristics. We predicted a significant relationship between firms’ product market power and earnings management tools and their trade-off under the moderation effect of financial distress. We found that the firm-level market power hereinafter referred to as MP (proxied by the industry-adjusted Lerner Index) is positively associated with both real and accrual earnings management. However, MP is associated with a higher level of real earnings management compared to accrual earnings management in distress years compared to healthy years. On the other hand, industry product market power (representing low competition and proxied by the inverse of the total number of firms in an industry hereinafter referred to as NUMB) and firms product market power (proxied by firm market share hereinafter referred to as MS) are associated with lower inflationary accruals and higher deflationary accruals respectively. On the other hand, they are found to be linked with higher real earnings management in distress versus healthy years. When we divided the sample into small and big firms based on their respective industry-year median total assets, we found that all three measures of industry competition (Industry Median Lerner Index (hereinafter referred to as IMLI), NUMB, and Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (hereinafter referred to as HHI) indicate that small firms in low-competitive industries in financial distress are more likely to inflate their earnings through discretionary accruals. While big firms in this situation are more likely to lower the use of both inflationary and deflationary discretionary accruals as indicated by IMLI and HHI and trade-off accruals earnings management for real earnings management as indicated by NUMB. Moreover, IMLI and HHI did not show any interesting results when we divided the sample based on the firm Lerner Index/Market Power. However, the distressed firms with high market power (MP>industry median) are found to engage in income-decreasing discretionary accruals in low-competitive industries (high NUMB). Whereas firms with low market power in the same industry use downward discretionary accruals but inflate income using real activities (abnCFO). Our findings are robust across alternate measures of discretionary accruals and financial distress, such as the Altman Z-Score. The finding of the study is valuable for accounting standard setters, competition authorities, policymakers, and investors alike to help in informed decision-making.

Keywords: financial distress, earnings management, market competition

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Authors: Ela Ari, Aysi̇ma Findikoglu

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Consumers’ switching GSM operators’ has been an important research issue since the rise of their competitive offers. Recent research has looked at consumer switching behavior through the theory of planned behavior, but not yet extended the theory with identity, psycho-social and cultural influences within the service context. This research explores an extended version of the theory of planned behavior including social and financial risks and brand loyalty. Moreover, the role of individualism and collectivism at the individual level is investigated in a collectivistic culture that moves toward to individualism due to changing family relationships, use of technology and education. Our preliminary analysis showed that financial risk and vertical individualism prove to be a significant determinant of intention to switch. The study also investigates social risk and intention, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control relationship. The effect of individualism and collectivism and attitudes relationship has been also examined within a service industry. Implications for marketing managers and scholars are also discussed.

Keywords: attitude, individualism, intention, subjective norm

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Authors: Leonor Varandas, Pedro D. Gaspar, Martim L. Aguiar

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One of the biggest concerns in the field of agriculture is around the energy efficiency of robots that will perform agriculture’s activity and their charging methods. In this paper, two different charging methods for agricultural standalone docking stations are shown that will take into account various variants as field size and its irregularities, work’s nature to which the robot will perform, deadlines that have to be respected, among others. Its features also are dependent on the orchard, season, battery type and its technical specifications and cost. First charging base method focuses on wireless charging, presenting more benefits for small field. The second charging base method relies on battery replacement being more suitable for large fields, thus avoiding the robot stop for recharge. Existing many methods to charge a battery, the CC CV was considered the most appropriate for either simplicity or effectiveness. The choice of the battery for agricultural purposes is if most importance. While the most common battery used is Li-ion battery, this study also discusses the use of graphene-based new type of batteries with 45% over capacity to the Li-ion one. A Battery Management Systems (BMS) is applied for battery balancing. All these approaches combined showed to be a promising method to improve a lot of technical agricultural work, not just in terms of plantation and harvesting but also about every technique to prevent harmful events like plagues and weeds or even to reduce crop time and cost.

Keywords: agricultural mobile robot, charging methods, battery replacement method, wireless charging method

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Authors: Long Zhang, Ian Hampson, Loretta O' Donnell

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Practitioners in various industries, especially in the finance industry that conventionally benefit from financial capital and resources, appear to be increasingly aware of the importance of human capital resources (HCR) after the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Scholars from diverse fields have conducted extensive and fruitful research on HCR within their own disciplines. This review suggests that the mainstream of pure quantitative research alone is insufficient to provide precise or comprehensive understanding of HCR. The complex relationships and interactions in HCR call for more integrative and cross-disciplinary research to more holistically understand complex and intricate HCRs. The complex nature of HCR requires deep qualitative exploration based on in-depth data to capture the everydayness of organizational activities and to register its individuality and variety. Despite previous efforts, a systematic and holistic integration of HCR research among multiple disciplines is lacking. Using a retrospective analysis of articles published in the field of economics, finance and management, including psychology, human resources management (HRM), organizational behaviour (OB), industrial and organizational psychology (I-O psychology), organizational theory, and strategy literatures, this study summaries and compares the major perspectives, theories, and findings on HCR research. A careful examination of the progress of the debates of HCR definitions and measurements in distinct disciplines enables an identification of the limitations and gaps in existing research. It enables an analysis of the interplay of these concepts, as well as that of the related concepts of intellectual capital, social capital, and Chinese guanxi, and how they provide a broader perspective on the HCR-related influences on firms’ competitive advantage. The study also introduces the themes of Environmental, Social and Governance, or ESG based investing, as the burgeoning body of ESG studies illustrates the rising importance of human and non-financial capital in investment process. The ESG literature locates HCR into a broader research context of the value of non-financial capital in explaining firm performance. The study concludes with a discussion of new directions for future research that may help advance our knowledge of HCR.

Keywords: human capital resources, social capital, Chinese guanxi, human resources management

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Authors: Shraddha Jain Sharma, Ratnalata Gupta

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Predicting stock movements in the financial market is both difficult and rewarding. Analysts and academics are increasingly using advanced approaches such as machine learning techniques to anticipate stock price patterns, thanks to the expanding capacity of computing and the recent advent of graphics processing units and tensor processing units. Stock market prediction is a type of time series prediction that is incredibly difficult to do since stock prices are influenced by a variety of financial, socioeconomic, and political factors. Furthermore, even minor mistakes in stock market price forecasts can result in significant losses for companies that employ the findings of stock market price prediction for financial analysis and investment. Soft computing techniques are increasingly being employed for stock market prediction due to their better accuracy than traditional statistical methodologies. The proposed research looks at the need for soft computing techniques in stock market prediction, the numerous soft computing approaches that are important to the field, past work in the area with their prominent features, and the significant problems or issue domain that the area involves. For constructing a predictive model, the major focus is on neural networks and fuzzy logic. The stock market is extremely unpredictable, and it is unquestionably tough to correctly predict based on certain characteristics. This study provides a complete overview of the numerous strategies investigated for high accuracy prediction, with a focus on the most important characteristics.

Keywords: stock market prediction, artificial intelligence, artificial neural networks, fuzzy logic, accuracy, deep learning, machine learning, stock price, trading volume

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Authors: Nizar Ghali, Bernard Fortin, Guy Lacroix

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In Quebec, colonoscopies volumes have continued to rise in recent years in the absence of effective monitoring mechanism for the appropriateness and the quality of these exams. In 2010, November, Quebec Government introduced the colorectal cancer-screening program in the objective to control for volume and cost imperfection. This program is based on clinical standards and was initiated for first group of institutions. One year later, Government adds financial incentives for participants institutions. In this analysis, we want to assess for the causal effect of the two components of this program: clinical pathways and financial incentives. Especially we assess for the reform effect on healthcare quality and population health in the context that medical remuneration is not directly dependent on this additional funding offered by the program. We have data on admissions episodes and deaths for 8 years. We use multistate model analog to difference in difference approach to estimate reform effect on the transition probability between different states for each patient. Our results show that the reform reduced length of stay without deterioration in hospital mortality or readmission rate. In the other hand, the program contributed to decrease the hospitalization rate and a less invasive treatment approach for colorectal surgeries. This is a sign of healthcare quality and population health improvement. We demonstrate in this analysis that physicians’ behavior can be affected by both clinical standards and financial incentives even if offered to facilities.

Keywords: multi-state and multi-episode transition model, healthcare quality, length of stay, transition probability, difference in difference

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Authors: Prateep Wajeetongratana

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The objective of this research is to examine the effects of internal audit innovation on firm performance effectiveness influences of financial report reliability, organizational process improvement, and risk management effectiveness. This paper drew upon the survey data collected from 400 employees survey conducted at Nonthaburi province, Thailand. The statistics utilized in this paper included percentage, mean, standard deviation, and regression analysis. The findings revealed that the majority of samples were between 31-40 years old, married, held an undergraduate degree, and had an average income between 10,000-15,000 baht. And also the results show that auditing integration has only influence on financial report reliability. Moreover, corporate risk evaluation has effect on firm performance by risk management effectiveness and control self-assessment has effect influence on firm performance by organizational process improvement and risk management effectiveness as well.

Keywords: corporate risk evaluation, firm performance effectiveness, internal audit innovation, marketing management

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Authors: Elena Tkachenko, Elena Rogova, Daria Koval

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The paper examines the ways of cash flows forecasting in the dynamic external environment. The so-called new reality in economy lowers the predictability of the companies’ performance indicators due to the lack of long-term steady trends in external conditions of development and fast changes in the markets. The traditional methods based on the trend analysis lead to a very high error of approximation. The macroeconomic situation for the last 10 years is defined by continuous consequences of financial crisis and arising of another one. In these conditions, the instruments of forecasting on the basis of fuzzy sets show good results. The fuzzy sets based models turn out to lower the error of approximation to acceptable level and to provide the companies with reliable cash flows estimation that helps to reach the financial stability. In the paper, the applicability of the model of cash flows forecasting based on fuzzy logic was analyzed.

Keywords: cash flow, industrial enterprise, forecasting, fuzzy sets

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Authors: Princess Ncube

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In the context of South Africa's banking sector, the prevention of bank failures is of paramount importance to ensure financial stability and economic growth. This paper focuses on the role of regulatory frameworks in safeguarding the resilience of South African banks and mitigating the risks of failures. It aims to assess the effectiveness of existing regulatory measures and proposes strategies to enhance the resilience of financial institutions in the country. The paper begins by examining the specific regulatory frameworks in place in South Africa, including capital adequacy requirements, stress testing methodologies, risk management guidelines, and supervisory practices. It delves into the evolution of these measures in response to lessons learned from past financial crises and their relevance in the unique South African banking landscape. Drawing on empirical evidence and case studies specific to South Africa, this paper evaluates the effectiveness of regulatory frameworks in preventing bank failures within the country. It analyses the impact of these frameworks on crucial aspects such as early detection of distress signals, improvements in risk management practices, and advancements in corporate governance within South African financial institutions. Additionally, it explores the interplay between regulatory frameworks and the specific economic environment of South Africa, including the role of macroprudential policies in preventing systemic risks. Based on the assessment, this paper proposes recommendations to strengthen regulatory frameworks and enhance their effectiveness in bank failure prevention in South Africa. It explores avenues for refining existing regulations to align capital requirements with the risk profiles of South African banks, enhancing stress testing methodologies to capture specific vulnerabilities, and fostering better coordination among regulatory authorities within the country. Furthermore, it examines the potential benefits of adopting innovative approaches, such as leveraging technology and data analytics, to improve risk assessment and supervision in the South African banking sector.

Keywords: banks, resolution, liquidity, regulation

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Authors: Süleyman Günes

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The crucial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have on social and economic systems in Turkey as well as all over the world. It has impacted logistic providers and worldwide supply chains. Unexpected risks played a central role in creating vulnerabilities for logistics service operations during the pandemic terms. This study aims to research and design qualitative and quantitive contributions to logistic services. The COVID-19 pandemic brought unavoidable risks to the logistics industry in Turkey. The Logistic Service Providers (LSPs) have learned how to ensure uncertainties and risks triggered by main and adverse effects. The risks that LSPs encounter during the COVID-19 pandemic have been investigated and unveiled, and identified uncertainties and risks. The cause-effect structures were displayed by the qualitative and quantitive studies. The results suggest that supply chains and demand changes triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic while it influenced financial failure and forecast horizon with operational performances.

Keywords: logistic service providers, COVID-19, development, financial failure

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Authors: Miyako Oulevey, David Lavallee, Naohiko Kohtake

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Retirement from sport can be stressful to athletes for many reasons. Accordingly, it is necessary to match coping strategies depending on the stressors. One of the athlete career assistance programs for Japanese top athletes in Japan, the Japan Olympic Committee Career Academy (JCA), has focused on the service contents regarding occupational supports which can be said to cope with financial and occupational stress; however, other supports such as psychological support were unclear due to the lack of psychological professionals in the JCA. Tailoring the program, it is important to match the needs of the athletes at athletic retirement with the service contents. Japanese Olympic athletes have been found to retire for different reasons. Especially female athletes who competed in the Summer Olympic Games were found to retire with psychological reasons. The purpose of this research was to investigate the types of stressors Japanese female athletes experience as a result of athletic retirement. As part of the study, 44 female retired athletes from 13 competitive sports completed an open-ended questionnaire. The KJ method was used to analyze stress experienced as a result of retirement. As a result, nine conceptualized stressors were aggregated such as “Conflict with athletic identity”, “Desire to live as an athlete”, and “Career plan after retirement”. In order to match the coping strategies according to the stressors, each stressor was classified with the four types of adjustments; psychological, social, financial, and occupational changes. As a result, the stressor relating to psychological adjustment accounted for 69.0% of coping-related needs, the financial and occupational adjustment was 21.8%, and social adjustment was 9.2%. In conclusion, coping strategies according to the stressors are suggested.

Keywords: athletic retirement, coping, female athlete, stress

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Authors: Abass Suara

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Following careful observation of the Bowling Green State University Ice Hockey Arena, it became imperative to study the reason for low racial minority participation in the game of Hockey. Therefore, this research aims to better understand the factors affecting diversity in Hockey. it conducted semi-structured interviews with two unique participants: a former hockey player who is now a coach and administrator while the other is a racial minority student-athlete. Following a content narrative analysis of the data gathered from observations and interviews, three higher-order themes emerged: economic, social, and relationship factors. The administrator's perceptions of low diversity bear heavily on the sport's financial demands while he also harps on how the sport fosters stronger team relationships. The perception of the student-athlete does not differ except that he added racism as a significant factor to the less racial minority participation in Ice Hockey. So, as much as Hockey has proved to be a costly sport to play, society also needs to pay some attention to the other psychological warfare racial minorities battle that has nothing to do with financial capabilities.

Keywords: sport, ice hockey, diversity in sport, ethnography

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Authors: N. Choobkar, M. Rezaeimanesh, A. M. Emami Rad, M. Ghaeni, H. Norouzi, S. Pahlavani, M. S. Tamasoki, E. Nezafatian

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Antibiotics are used to increase the immune and wound healing in many animals . But due to the residual effects of a drug , researchers sought to replace them with natural materials such as Plant extracts. Falcaria vulgaris is the most attractive sources of the new drugs. Falcaria vulgaris (locally named Ghazzyaghi/Poghazeh) is a member of Umbelliferae family which grows near farmlands and is consumed as a vegetable in some regions of Iran. In the West of the country, in the wound healing and irregularities in the digestive system is also used. There were no scientific reports available in literature in support of the traditional claims of F. vulgaris in fish. The present study is therefore an attempt to assess the efficacy of this indigenous herb for its healing effect in common carp (Cyprinus carpio). Falcaria vulgaris at concentrations of 0, 2 and 10 % with Lophag foods used on wound healing of common carp and immune response, and weight grow and survival during periods of 21 days with feeding 2 times per day on the basis of body weight. The results showed that, compared with the control group, using of concentration 10 % F. vulgaris have significant effect on wound healing and stimulates the immune system by increasing white blood cells (WBC) and weight grow and survival of carp. The herb can used in wound healing, increased resistance to disease and weight grow in fish and the beneficial effects of this combination goes back to man.

Keywords: common carp, falcaria vulgaris, immune response, wound healing

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Authors: Anne Kariuki, Kellen Kiambati

Abstract:

The broad objective of this study was to establish the mediating effect of media visibility on the relationship between corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the corporate performance of firms listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The review of the literature provided conceptual and empirical gaps that formed the basis of the conceptual hypotheses. A survey questionnaire was distributed to the 50 heads of human resource departments in the different firms. A survey was conducted on fifty (50) companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The study findings reported a significant relationship between CSR and non-financial performance and the mediating role of media visibility on the relationship between CSR and performance. The findings of the study support the signaling theory and stakeholder’s theory. Conclusively, CSR activities have an effect on media visibility, which in turn affects performance.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, media visibility, corporate performance, non-financial performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 51

Authors: E. O. Echeweozo

Abstract:

This study evaluated radiation shielding and interaction characteristics of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymer separately doped with 10% and 20% nanoscale Bi₂O₃, respectively, for medical apron design and shielding special electronic installations. Prepared samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). The EDS results showed that Carbon (C), Oxygen (O), and bismuth (Bi) elements were the predominant elements present in the prepared samples. The SEM result displaced surface irregularities due to a special bonding matrix between PVA and Bi₂O₃. Mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), effective atomic number (Zeff), Half value layer (HVL), Mean free path (MFP), Fast neutron removal cross-section (R), Total Mass Stopping Power (TSP), and photon Range (R) of the prepared polymer composites (PV-1Bi and PV-2Bi) were evaluated with XCOM and PHITS computer programs. Results showed that the MAC of the prepared polymer samples was significantly higher than some recently developed composites at 0.662MeV and 1.25MeV gamma energy. Therefore, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymer doped with Bi₂O₃ should be deployed in medical apron design and shielding special electronic installations where flexibility and high adhesion ability are crucial.

Keywords: polyvinyl alcohol (PVA);, polymer composite, gamma-rays, charged particles

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Authors: Keshav Raj Dhakal, Jit Bahadur Rokaya Chhetri

Abstract:

The Micro Hydro (MH) is one of the successful technology in Rural Nepal. Out of 75 district, 59 districts have installed 1287 MH projects with a total capacity of 24 Mega Watt (MW). Now, the challenge is how to sustain them. Dolakha is a prominent district for sustainable endues of power to sustain the MH projects. A total of 37 MH projects have been constructed with producing 886 Kilo Watt (KW) of energy in the district. This study traces out the impact of earthquake in MH sector in Dolakha district. It shows that 59 % of projects have been affected by devastating earthquake in April and May, 2015 where 29 % are completely damaged. Most of the damages are in civil structures like Penstock, forebay, power house, Canal, Intake. Transmission and distribution line have been partially damaged. This paper analysis failure of the civil structural component of MH projects and its financial consequence to the community. This study recommends that a disaster impact assessment is essential before construction of MH projects.

Keywords: micro hydro, earthquake, structural failure, financial consequence

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Authors: Inese Tenberga

Abstract:

Undoubtedly, the focus of the present capitalist system of finance has shifted from the concept of productivity of money to the ‘cult of money’, which is characterized by such notions as speculative activity, squander, self-profit, vested interest, etc. The author is certain that a civilized society cannot follow this economic path any longer and therefore suggests that one solution would be to integrate the Islamic financial model in the banking sector of the EU to overcome its economic vulnerability and structurally transform its economies or build resilience against shocks and crisis. The researcher analyses the Islamic financial model, which is providing the basis for the concept of non-productivity of money, and proposes to consider it as a new paradigm of economic thinking. The author argues that it seeks to establish a broad-based economic well-being with an optimum rate of economic growth, socio-economic justice, equitable distribution of income and wealth. Furthermore, the author analyses and proposes to use the experience of member states of the Islamic Development Bank for the formation of a new EU interest free banking. It is offered to create within the EU banking system a credit sector and investment sector respectively. As a part of the latter, it is recommended to separate investment banks specializing in speculative investments and non­speculative investment banks. Meanwhile, understanding of the idea of Islamic banking exclusively from the perspective of the manner of yielding profit that differs from credit banking, without considering the legal, social, ethical guidelines of Islam impedes to value objectively the advantages of this type of financial activities at the non-Islamic jurisdictions. However, the author comes to the conclusion the imperative of justice and virtue, which is inherent to all of us, exists regardless of religion. The author concludes that the global community should adopt the experience of the Muslim countries and focus on the Islamic banking model.

Keywords: credit sector, EU banking system, investment sector, Islamic banking

Procedia PDF Downloads 174

Authors: Rendong Cai, Bei Peng, Yanping Dong

Abstract:

In risk decision making, individuals are found to be susceptible to 'frames': people tend to be risk averse when the choice is described in terms of potential 'gains' (gain frame), whereas they tend to be risk seeking when the same choice is described in terms of potential 'losses' (loss frame); this effect is termed the framing effect. The framing effect has been well documented and some studies even find a developmental reversal in the framing effect: The more experience an individual has in a certain field, the easier for him to be influenced by the frame relevant to the field, resulting in greater decision inconsistency. Recent studies reported that using a foreign language can reduce the framing effect. However, it is not clear whether foreign language use can overcome the developmental reversal in the framing effect. The present study investigated three potential factors that may influence the developmental reversal in the framing effect: specialized knowledge of the participants, the language in which the problem is presented, and the types of problems. The present study examined the decision making behavior of 188 Chinese-English bilinguals who majored in Finance, with a group of 277 English majors as the control group. They were asked to solve a financial problem (experimental condition) and a life problem (control condition). Each problem was presented in one of the following four versions: native language-gain frame, foreign language-gain frame, native language-loss frame, and foreign language-loss frame. Results revealed that for the life problem, under the native condition, both groups were affected by the frame; but under the foreign condition, this framing effect disappeared for the financial majors. This confirmed that foreign language use modulates framing effects in general decision making, which served as an effective baseline. For the financial problem, under the native condition, only the financial major was observed to be influenced by the frame, which was a developmental reversal; under the foreign condition, however, this framing effect disappeared. The results provide further empirical evidence for the universal of the developmental reversal in risky decision making. More importantly, the results suggest that using a foreign language can overcome such reversal, which has implications for the reduction of decision biases in professionals. The findings also shed new light on the complex interaction between general decision-making and bilingualism.

Keywords: the foreign language effect, developmental reversals, the framing effect, bilingualism

Procedia PDF Downloads 370

Authors: Romain Ben Taleb, Aurélie Montarnal, Matthieu Lauras, Mathieu Dahan, Romain Miclo

Abstract:

To be competitive and sustainable, any company has to maximize its value. However, unlike listed companies that can assess their values based on market shares, most Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) which are non-listed cannot have direct and live access to this critical information. Traditional accounting reports only give limited insights to SME decision-makers about the real impact of their day-to-day decisions on the company’s performance and value. Most of the time, an SME’s financial valuation is made one time a year as the associated process is time and resource-consuming, requiring several months and external expertise to be completed. To solve this issue, we propose in this paper a value-oriented metamodel that enables real-time and dynamic assessment of the SME’s value based on the large definition of their assets. These assets cover a wider scope of resources of the company and better account for immaterial assets. The proposal, which is illustrated in a case study, discusses the benefits of incorporating assets in the SME valuation.

Keywords: SME, metamodel, decision support system, financial valuation, assets

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Authors: Syed Tahir Shah, Fazal Muhammad, Syed Kashif Shah, Maleeha Gul

Abstract:

In recent days, natural gas has become a relatively clean and quality source of energy, which is recovered from deep wells by expensive drilling activities. The recovered substance is purified by processing in multiple stages to remove the unwanted/containments like dust, dirt, crude oil and other particles. Mostly, gas utilities are concerned with essential objectives of quantity/quality of natural gas delivery, financial outcome and safe natural gas volumetric inventory in the transmission gas pipeline. Gas quantity and quality are primarily related to standards / advanced metering procedures in processing units/transmission systems, and the financial outcome is defined by purchasing and selling gas also the operational cost of the transmission pipeline. SNGPL (Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited) Pakistan has a wide range of diameters of natural gas transmission pipelines network of over 9125 km. This research results in answer a few of the issues in accuracy/metering procedures via multiple advanced gadgets for gas flow attributes after being utilized in the transmission system and research. The effects of good pressure management in transmission gas pipeline network in contemplation to boost the gas volume deposited in the existing network and finally curbing gas losses UFG (Unaccounted for gas) for financial benefits. Furthermore, depending on the results and their observation, it is directed to enhance the maximum allowable working/operating pressure (MAOP) of the system to 1235 PSIG from the current round about 900 PSIG, such that the capacity of the network could be entirely utilized. In gross, the results depict that the current model is very efficient and provides excellent results in the minimum possible time.

Keywords: natural gas, pipeline network, UFG, transmission pack, AGA

Procedia PDF Downloads 95