Search results for: strategic focus

Authors: Anila Hayat

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Pakistan is one of those developing countries that are least involved in emissions but has the most vulnerable environmental conditions. Pakistan is ranked 8th in most affected countries by climate change on the climate risk index 1992-2011. Pakistan is facing severe water shortages and flooding as a result of changes in rainfall patterns, specifically in the least developed areas such as Tharparkar. Nagarparkar, once an attractive tourist spot located in Tharparkar because of its tropical desert climate, is now facing severe drought conditions for the last few decades. This study investigates the present socio-economic situation of local communities, major impacts of droughts and their underlying causes and current mitigation strategies adopted by local communities. The study uses both secondary (quantitative in nature) and primary (qualitative in nature) methods to understand the impacts and explore causes on the socio-economic life of local communities of the study area. The relevant data has been collected through household surveys using structured questionnaires, focus groups and in-depth interviews of key personnel from local and international NGOs to explore the sensitivity of impacts and adaptation to droughts in the study area. This investigation is limited to four rural communities of union council Pilu of Nagarparkar district, including Bheel, BhojaBhoon, Mohd Rahan Ji Dhani and Yaqub Ji Dhani villages. The results indicate that drought has caused significant economic and social hardships for the local communities as more than 60% of the overall population is dependent on rainfall which has been disturbed by irregular rainfall patterns. The decline in Crop yields has forced the local community to migrate to nearby areas in search of livelihood opportunities. Communities have not undertaken any appropriate adaptive actions to counteract the adverse effect of drought; they are completely dependent on support from the government and external aid for survival. Respondents also reported that poverty is a major cause of their vulnerability to drought. An increase in population, limited livelihood opportunities, caste system, lack of interest from the government sector, unawareness shaped their vulnerability to drought and other social issues. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that the local authorities shall create awareness about drought hazards and improve the resilience of communities against drought. It is further suggested to develop, introduce and implement water harvesting practices at the community level to promote drought-resistant crops.

Keywords: migration, vulnerability, awareness, Drought

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Authors: Antonia Tsaknaki

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There are many and divergent views on how the science of translation should be taught in academic institutions or colleges, meaning as an independent study area or as part of Linguistics, Literature or Foreign Languages Departments. A much more debated issue refers to the question of whether translation theory should be included in syllabuses and study programs or the focus should be solely on practicing the profession, that is translating texts. This dissertation examines prevailing views on the significance of translation theory in translation studies in order to design an open course on moodle. Taking into account that there is a remarkable percentage of translation professionals who are self-taught without having any specific studies, the course aims at helping either translation students or professional translators familiarize with concepts, methods and problem-solving strategies that are considered necessary during the process. It is organized in four modules where the learner is guided through a series of topics (register, equivalence, decision-making, level of naturalness, Skopos theory etc); after completing these topics, they are given assignments (further reading) and texts to work on in order to practice the skills obtained. The course does not focus on a specific language pair and therefore is suitable for every individual who needs a theoretical background to boost their performance or for institutions seeking to save classroom time but not at the expense of learners’ skills.

Keywords: MOOCs, moodle, online learning, open courses, translation, translation theory

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Authors: Bu Kyung Park

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Background: The survival rate of pediatric cancer patients has been increased. Thus, the needs of long-term management and follow-up education after discharge continue to grow. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of pediatric cancer patients and their families from first diagnosis to returning their social life. The ultimate goal of this study was to assess which information and intervention did pediatric cancer patients and their families required and needed, so that this could provide fundamental information for developing educational content of web-based intervention program for pediatric cancer patients. Research Approach: This study was based on a descriptive qualitative research design using semi-structured focus group interview. Participants: Twelve pediatric cancer patients and 12 family members participated in a total six focus group interview sessions. Methods: All interviews were audiotaped after obtaining participants’ approval. The recordings were transcribed. Qualitative Content analysis using the inductive coding approach was performed on the transcriptions by three coders. Findings: Eighteen categories emerged from the six main themes: 1) Information needs, 2) Support system, 3) Barriers to treatment, 4) Facilitators to treatment, 5) Return to social life, 6) Healthcare system issues. Each theme had both pediatric cancer patients’ codes and their family members’ codes. Patients and family members had high information needs through the whole process of treatment, not only the first diagnosis but also after completion of treatment. Hospitals provided basic information on chemo therapy, medication, and various examinations. However, they were more likely to rely on information from other patients and families by word of mouth. Participants’ information needs were different according to their treatment stage (e.g., first admitted patients versus cancer survivors returning to their social life). Even newly diagnosed patients worried about social adjustment after completion of all treatment, such as return to school and diet and physical activity at home. Most family members had unpleasant experiences while they were admitted in hospitals and concerned about healthcare system issues, such as medical error and patient safety. Conclusions: In conclusion, pediatric cancer patients and their family members wanted information source which can provide tailored information based on their needs. Different information needs with patients and their family members based on their diagnosis, progress, stage of treatment were identified. Findings from this study will be used to develop a patient-centered online health intervention program for pediatric cancer patients. Pediatric cancer patients and their family members had variety fields of education needs and soak the information from various sources. Web-based health intervention program for them is required to satisfy their inquiries to provide reliable information.

Keywords: focus group interview, family caregivers, pediatric cancer patients, qualitative content analysis

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Authors: Abdullah Alsaeed

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Virtualized computing and cloud computing infrastructures are no longer fuzz or marketing term. They are a core reality in today’s corporate Information Technology (IT) organizations. Hence, developing an effective and efficient methodologies for data backup and data recovery is required more than any time. The purpose of data backup and recovery techniques are to assist the organizations to strategize the business continuity and disaster recovery approaches. In order to accomplish this strategic objective, a variety of mechanism were proposed in the recent years. This research paper will explore and examine the latest techniques and solutions to provide data backup and restoration for the cloud computing platforms.

Keywords: data backup, data recovery, cloud computing, business continuity, disaster recovery, cost-effective, data encryption.

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Authors: Mehrnoosh Askarizadeh

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In an ever changeable and globalized world with new economic and global competitors competing for the same customers and resources, is increasing the pressure on organizations' competitiveness. In addition, organizations faces additional challenges due to an ever-growing amount of data and the ever-bigger challenge of analyzing that data and keeping the data secure. Successful companies are characterized by exploiting their intellectual capital in an efficient manner. Thus, the most valuable asset an organization has today has become its employees' knowledge. To enable this, there is a tool that supports easier handling and optimizes the use of knowledge, which is knowledge management. Based on the theoretical framework and careful review as well as analysis of interviews and observations resulted in six essential areas: structure, management, compensation, communication, trust and motivation. The analysis showed that the scientific articles and literature have different perspectives, different definitions and are based on different theories but the essence is that they all finally seems to arrive at the same result and conclusion, although with different viewpoints and perspectives. This is regardless of whether the focus is on management style, rewards or communication they all focus on the individual. The conclusion is that organizational culture affects knowledge management and dissemination of information, because of its direct impact on the individual. The largest and most important underlying factor why we choose to participate in improvement work or share knowledge is our motivation. Motivation is the reason for and the reason behind our actions.

Keywords: lean, lean production, knowledge management, information management, motivation

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Authors: Mohammed Bashir Uddin

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Human trafficking remains as a persistent problem in many parts of the world. It is considered by many countries as an issue of a threat to national security. Border enforcement to prevent trafficking has been the main incentive, which eventually causes human insecurity for vulnerable people, especially for women. This research argues that focus needs to be placed on the political economy of trafficking, hence on the supply and demand sides of trafficking from a broader socio-economic perspective. Trafficking is a global phenomenon with its contemporary origins in the international capitalist market system. This research investigates particularly the supply-demand nexus on the backdrop of globalization and its impact on human security. It argues that the nexus varies across the countries, particularly the demand side. While prostitution has been the sole focus of the demand side in all countries in Asia, the paper argues that organ trade, bonded labor, cheap and exploitable labor through false recruitment (male trafficking) and adoption are some of the rising demands that explore new trends of trafficking, which could be better explained through international political economy (IPE). Following a qualitative research method, the paper argues that although demands vary in destination countries, they are the byproducts of IPE which have different socio-economic impacts both on trafficked individuals and the states.

Keywords: globalization, human security, human trafficking, political economy

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Authors: Adam Marks, Munir Majdalawieh, Maytha Al Ali

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While research is rich with what criteria could be included in the academic program review processes, there is rarely any mention of how this significant and complex process should be managed. This paper proposes using project management methodology in alignment with the program review criteria of the Dickeson’s Prioritizing Academic Programs model. Project management and academic program review share two distinct characteristics; one is their life cycle, and the second is the core knowledge areas they use. This aligned and structured approach offers academic administrators a step-by-step guide that can help them manage this process and effectively assess academic programs.

Keywords: project management, academic program, program review, education, higher education institution, strategic management

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Authors: Sarah Mohammed, Huda Allagany, Ayah Barakat, Muna Elyas

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This paper delves into the history and development of ChatGPT, tracing its evolution from its inception by OpenAI to its current state, and emphasizing its design improvements and strategic partnerships. It also explores the performance and applicability of ChatGPT versions 3.5 and 4 in various contexts, examining its capabilities and limitations in producing accurate and relevant responses. Utilizing a quantitative approach, user satisfaction, speed of response, learning capabilities, and overall utility in academic performance were assessed through surveys and analysis tools. Findings indicate that while ChatGPT generally delivers high accuracy and speed in responses, the need for clarification and more specific user instructions persists. The study highlights the tool's increasing integration across different sectors, showcasing its potential in educational and professional settings.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, chat GPT, analysis, education

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Authors: Claire Norman-Maillet

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Insider fraud, including its various synonyms such as occupational, employee or internal fraud, is a major financial crime threat whereby an employee defrauds (or attempts to defraud) their current, prospective, or past employer. ‘Employee’ covers anyone employed by the company, including contractors, directors, and part time staff; they may be a solo bad actor or working in collusion with others, whether internal or external. Insider fraud is even more of a concern given the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic, which has generated multiple opportunities to commit insider fraud. Insider fraud is something that is not necessarily thought of as a significant financial crime threat; the focus of most academics and practitioners has historically been on that of ‘external fraud’ against businesses or entities where an individual or group has no professional ties. Without the face-to-face, ‘over the shoulder’ capabilities of staff being able to keep an eye on their employees, there is a heightened reliance on trust and transparency. With this, naturally, comes an increased risk of insider fraud perpetration. The objective of the research is to better understand how companies are impacted by insider fraud, and therefore how to stop it. This research will make both an original contribution and stimulate debate within the financial crime field. The financial crime landscape is never static – criminals are always creating new ways to perpetrate financial crime, and new legislation and regulations are implemented as attempts to strengthen controls, in addition to businesses doing what they can internally to detect and prevent it. By focusing on insider fraud specifically, the research will be more specific and will be of greater use to those in the field. To achieve the aims of the research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 individuals who either work in financial services and deal with insider fraud or work within insider fraud perpetration in a recruitment or advisory capacity. This was to enable the sourcing of information from a wide range of individuals in a setting where they were able to elaborate on their answers. The principal recruitment strategy was engaging with the researcher’s network on LinkedIn. The interviews were then transcribed and analysed thematically. Main findings in the research suggest that insider fraud has been ignored owing to the denial of accepting the possibility that colleagues would defraud their employer. Whilst Coronavirus has led to a significant rise in insider fraud, this type of crime has been a major risk to businesses since their inception, however have never been given the financial or strategic backing required to be mitigated, until it's too late. Furthermore, Coronavirus should have led to companies tightening their access rights, controls and policies to mitigate the insider fraud risk. However, in most cases this has not happened. The research concludes that insider fraud needs to be given a platform upon which to be recognised as a threat to any company and given the same level of weighting and attention by Executive Committees and Boards as other types of economic crime.

Keywords: fraud, insider fraud, economic crime, coronavirus, Covid-19

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Authors: Ellen M. Lukasik

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In coordination and support of the Center for Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources (CISTAR) Research Experience for Teachers (RET) at the University of Texas at Austin and under the guidance and direction of Professor Joan Brennecke, this study examined the addition of silver in an ionic liquid used to separate cyclohexane from cyclohexene. We recreated the liquid-liquid separation experimental results from the literature on cyclohexene, cyclohexane, and [allylmim][Tf2N] to verify our method, then evaluated the separation performance of silver - ionic liquid (IL) mixtures by various characterization techniques. To introduce the concepts of this research in high school education, a lesson plan was developed to instruct students on the principles of liquid-liquid separation.

Keywords: ionic liquids, liquid-liquid separation, hydrocarbon, research experience for teachers

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Authors: Alireza Zabihi, Saeed Peyghami, Hossein Mokhtari

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With the increasing deployment of renewable power plants, such as solar and wind, it is crucial to measure the harmonic situation of the grid. This paper proposes a global voltage harmonic index to measure the harmonic situation of the power grid with a focus on power transformers. The power electronics systems used to connect these plants to the network can introduce harmonics, leading to increased losses, reduced efficiency, false operation of protective relays, and equipment damage due to harmonic intensifications. The proposed index considers the losses caused by harmonics in power transformers which are of great importance and value to the network, providing a comprehensive measure of the harmonic situation of the grid. The effectiveness of the proposed index is evaluated on a real-world distribution network, and the results demonstrate its ability to identify the harmonic situation of the network, particularly in relation to power transformers. The proposed index provides a comprehensive measure of the harmonic situation of the grid, taking into account the losses caused by harmonics in power transformers. The proposed index has the potential to support power companies in optimizing their power systems and to guide researchers in developing effective mitigation strategies for harmonics in the power grid.

Keywords: global voltage harmonic index, harmonics, power grid, power quality, power transformers, renewable energy

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Authors: Giuseppe Maria Russo, Patrícia Amélia Tomei, Antônio Linhares, André Moreira Santos

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Alignment between management strategies, policies and practices with organizational cultures holds great potential to meet the challenges of retaining professionals and maintaining their commitment. In this article, authors consider that when it is aligned with company strategy, compensation acts as an incentive for developing common visions within the organizational culture. This article verified the correlation between types of culture and compensation’s strategic components and provided inputs for the definition of strategies aligned with cultural typologies. We conclude that the impact of compensation variables varies according to the type of organizational culture. This result reinforces the theory that different cultures define different organizational strategies. Thus, compensation strategies may explain types of organizational culture.

Keywords: compensation, Handy’s cultural typology, organizational culture, rewards

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Authors: Eda Kocakaya, Sebahat Seker, Dogan Argun

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The aim of this study is to determine the process of information technologies and the connections between concepts in accounting management services in Turkey. The objective of this study is to determine the adaptation and evaluation process of information technologies and the connections between concepts and differences in accounting management services in Turkey. The situation and determination of the IT applications of Accounting Management were studied. The applications of • Billing • Order Processing • Accounts Receivable/Payable Management • Contract Management • Bank Account Management Were discussed in this study. The IT applications were demonstrated and realized in actual accounting services. The sectoral representative's companies were selected, and the IT application was searched by bibliometric analysis.

Keywords: management, accounting, information technologies, adaptation

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Authors: Antonio V. Romana, Rizaide A. Salayo, Maria Lavinia E. Fetalino

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This study assessed the subjective task value and research culture of SLSU faculty. It used the sequential explanatory mixed-method research design. For the quantitative phase, a questionnaire on the research culture and task value were used. While in the qualitative phase, the data was coded and thematized to interpret the focus group discussion outcome. Results showed that the dimensions of the subjective task value, intrinsic, got the highest rank while the utility value got the lowest. It is worth mentioning that all subjective task values were "Agreed." From the FGD, faculty members valued research and wanted to be involved in this undertaking. However, the limited number of faculty researchers, heavy teaching workload, inadequate information on the research process, lack of self-confidence, and low incentives received from research hindered their writing and engagement with research. Thus, a policy brief was developed. It is recommended that the institution may conduct a series of research seminar workshops for the faculty members, plan regular research idea exchange activities, and revisit the university's research thrust and agenda for faculties specialization and expertise alignment. In addition, the university may also lessen the workload and hire additional faculty members so that educators may focus on their research work. Finally, cash incentives may still be considered upon knowing that the faculty members have varied experiences in doing research tasks.

Keywords: task value, interest value, attainment value, utility value, research culture

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Authors: Yves Alain Ach, Sandra Rmadi Said

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An extensive review of literature in relation to brands has shown that little research has focused on the nature and determinants of the information disclosed by companies with respect to the brands they own and use. The objective of this paper is to address this issue. More specifically, the aim is to characterize the nature of the information disclosed by companies in terms of estimating the value of brands and to identify the determinants of that information according to the company’s characteristics most frequently tested by previous studies on the disclosure of information on intangible capital, by studying the practices of a sample of 37 French companies. Our findings suggest that companies prefer to communicate accounting, economic and strategic information in relation to their brands instead of providing financial information. The analysis of the determinants of the information disclosed on brands leads to the conclusion that the groups which operate internationally and have chosen a category 1 auditing firm to communicate more information to investors in their annual report. Our study points out that the sector is not an explanatory variable for voluntary brand disclosure, unlike previous studies on intangible capital. Our study is distinguished by the study of an element that has been little studied in the financial literature, namely the determinants of brand-related information. With regard to the effect of size on brand-related information disclosure, our research does not confirm this link. Many authors point out that large companies tend to publish more voluntary information in order to respond to stakeholder pressure. Our study also establishes that the relationship between brand information supply and performance is insignificant. This relationship is already controversial by previous research, and it shows that higher profitability motivates managers to provide more information, as this strengthens investor confidence and may increase managers' compensation. Our main contribution focuses on the nature of the inherent characteristics of the companies that disclose the most information about brands. Our results show the absence of a link between size and industry on the one hand and the supply of brand information on the other, contrary to previous research. Our analysis highlights three types of information disclosed about brands: accounting, economics and strategy. We, therefore, question the reasons that may lead companies to voluntarily communicate mainly accounting, economic and strategic information in relation to our study from one year to the next and not to communicate detailed information that would allow them to reconstitute the financial value of their brands. Our results can be useful for companies and investors. Our results highlight, to our surprise, the lack of financial information that would allow investors to understand a better valuation of brands. We believe that additional information is needed to improve the quality of accounting and financial information related to brands. The additional information provided in the special report that we recommend could be called a "report on intangible assets”.

Keywords: brand related information, brand value, information disclosure, determinants

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Authors: Matthew J. Flynn

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In early 2022, a thirty-mile column of Russian armor and assault vehicles sat poised to move south on the road to Kiev. That force has withdrawn as the Russians concentrate on attacking eastern Ukraine. Vladimir Putin’s armies appear content to destroy cities in an effort to attrit the Ukrainian will to continue fighting. That pivot signifies the acceptance of the ascendancy of the defense that now dictates any battlefield world-wide. To defeat what military theorist Carl von Clausewitz labeled “the stronger form of war” with a successful offensive requires an exercise in future war. In the past, the ascendancy of the defense has been overcome by a number of things including the application of superior leadership, better technology, organizational adaptation, and surpassing environmental limitations. A look at how each of these factors came to impact battle can tell us a great deal about what Ukraine means to tomorrow’s fight, and where the focus should lie to win the next war. Civilians presently secure the defensive ascendancy impacting warfare by dominating the shifts from domain to domain thanks to controlling access to cyberspace. That mandate will be tested and eventually falter. This paper tests the desirability of that proposition, as well as hoping for something more from humanity other than repeated and frequent wars making future war look much like past wars. As nations struggle to control cyberspace, a referendum on war as part of the human condition comes into focus.

Keywords: cyber, domains, future war, Putin, Ukraine

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Authors: Hajra Hussain

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Positive education, the inclusion of social, emotional and intellectual skills across a curriculum, is fundamental to the optimal functioning of young people in any society because it combines the best teaching practices with the principles of positive psychology. While learning institutions foster academic skills, little attention is being paid to the identification and development of character strengths and their integration into teaching. There is an increasing recognition of the important role education plays in equipping today’s youth with 21st century social skills. For youth to succeed in this highly competitive environment, there is a need for positive education that is focused on character strengths such as the growth of social, emotional and intellectual skills that promote the flourishing of well-rounded individuals. Character strength programs and awareness are a necessity if the human capital within a region is to be competitive, productive and happy. The Counselling & Wellbeing Centre at Amity University Dubai has consistently implemented Character Strength awareness workshops and has found that such workshops have increased student life satisfaction due to individual awareness of signature strengths. A positive education/positive psychology framework with its key focus on the development of character strengths can be fundamental to individual's confidence and self-awareness; thus allowing both optimum flourishing and functioning.

Keywords: positive psychology, positive education, strengths, youth, happiness

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Authors: Emily Gould, Walter Wehremeyer, David Greaves, Rodney Turtle

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This paper considers current thinking on the pathway for electric vehicles, identifying the development blocks of alternative innovation within the market and analyse technological lock-in. The relationship between transition pathways and technological lock-in is largely under-researched particularly in the field of e-mobility. This paper is based on a study with three commercial-urban fleets that examines strategic decisions in new technology adaption alongside vehicle procurement and driver perspective. The paper will analyse the fleet’s decision matrix upon electric vehicles and seek to understand the influence of company culture, strategy and technology applicability, within the context of transition pathways.

Keywords: electric vehicles, fleets, path dependencies, transition pathways

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Authors: Aysegul Salikutluk, Zehra Altinay, Gokmen Dagli, Fahriye Altinay

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The aim of the study is to reveal the performance of special education schools as regards the service quality and management within the school culture. The project management and school climate are the fundamental elements for the quality in organisations. Having strategic plans, activities and funded projects improve service quality and satisfaction for the families who have children with disabilities. The research has qualitative nature, self-reports were used to examine the perceptions of teachers upon project management and school climate for service quality. The results show that special education schools' teachers are aware of essence of school climate and flow of communication for service quality and project management.

Keywords: disability, education, service quality, project management

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Authors: Bhavana Gulaty, Arshia Chaudhri

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Great civic projects contribute integrally to a city, and every city undergoes a recurring cycle of urban transformations and regeneration by their insertion. The M.I.C.E. (Meetings, Incentives, Convention and Exhibitions) industry is the forbearer of one category of such catalytic civic projects. Through a specific focus on M.I.C.E. destinations, this paper illustrates the multifarious dimensions that urban catalysts impact the city on S.P.U.R. (Seed. Profile. Urbane. Reflections), the theoretical framework of this paper aims to unearth these dimensions in the realm of the COEX (Convention & Exhibition) biosphere. The ‘COEX Biosphere’ is the filter of such catalysts being ecosystems unto themselves. Like a ripple in water, the impact of these strategic interventions focusing on art, culture, trade, and promotion expands right from the trigger; the immediate context to the region and subsequently impacts the global scale. These ripples are known to bring about significant economic, social, and political and network changes. The COEX inventory in the Asian context has one such prominent addition; the proposed India International Convention and Exhibition Centre (IICC) at New Delhi. It is envisioned to be the largest facility in Asia currently and would position India on the global M.I.C.E map. With the first phase of the project scheduled to open for use in the end of 2019, this flagship project of the Government of India is projected to cater to a peak daily footfall of 3,20,000 visitors and estimated to generate 5,00,000 jobs. While the economic benefits are yet to manifest in real time and ‘Good design is good business’ holds true, for the urban transformation to be meaningful, the benefits have to go beyond just a balance sheet for the city’s exchequer. This aspect has been found relatively unexplored in research on these developments. The methodology for investigation will comprise of two steps. The first will be establishing an inventory of the global success stories and associated benefits of COEX projects over the past decade. The rationale for capping the timeframe is the significant paradigm shift that has been observed in their recent conceptualization; for instance ‘Innovation Districts’ conceptualised in the city of Albuquerque that converges into the global economy. The second step would entail a comparative benchmarking of the projected transformations by IICC through a toolkit of parameters. This is posited to yield a matrix that can form the test bed for mapping the catalytic trajectory for projects in the pipeline globally. As a ready reckoner, it purports to be a catalyst to substantiate decision making in the planning stage itself for future projects in similar contexts.

Keywords: catalysts, COEX, M.I.C.E., urban transformations

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Authors: Rati Sandeep Choudhari

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Mobility flows are considered one of the most important elements of urbanisation, with transport infrastructure serving as a backbone of urban fabrics. Although rapid urbanisation and changing land use patterns have led to an increase in urban mobility levels around the globe, mobility, in general, has become an unpleasant experience for city dwellers, making locations around the city inconvenient to access. With public transport featured in almost every sustainable mobility plan in developing countries, the intermodality and integration with appropriate non–motorised transport infrastructure is often neglected. As a result, people choose to use private cars and two-wheelers to travel, rendering public transit systems underutilised, and encroaching onto pedestrian space on streets, thus making urban mobility unsafe and inconvenient for a major section of society. On the other hand, cities in the West, especially in Europe, depend heavily on inter–modal transit systems, allowing people to shift between metros, buses, trams, walking, and cycling to access even the remote locations of the city. Keeping accessibility as the focal point while designing urban mobility plans and policies, these cities have appropriately refined their urban form, optimised urban densities, developed a multimodal transit system, and adopted place-making strategies to foster a sense of place, thus, improving the quality of urban mobility experience in cities. Using a qualitative research approach, the research looks in detail into the existing literature on what kind of strategies can be applied to improve the urban mobility experience for city dwellers. It further studies and draws out a comparative analysis of cities in both developed and developing parts of the world where these strategies have been used to create people-centric mobility systems, fostering a sense of place with respect to urban mobility and how these strategies affected their social, economic, and environmental dynamics. The examples reflect on how different strategies like redefining land use patterns to form close knit neighbourhoods, development of non – motorise transit systems, and their integration with public transport infrastructure and place-making approach has helped in enhancing the quality and experience of mobility infrastructure in cities. The research finally concludes by laying out strategies that can be adopted by cities of the Global South to develop future mobility systems in a people-centric and sustainable way.

Keywords: urban mobility, sustainable transport, strategic planning, people-centric approach

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Authors: Auzair Mehmood, Mohammad Arif

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The LCT (Li, Cs and Ta rich)-type pegmatites, genetically related to peraluminous S-type granites, are being mined for strategic metals (SMs) and rare earth elements (REEs) around the world. This study investigates the SMs and REEs potentials of pegmatites that are spatially associated with an S-type granitic suite of the Himalayan sequence, specifically Mansehra Granitic Complex (MGC), northwest Pakistan. Geochemical signatures of the pegmatites and some of their mineral extracts were analyzed using Inductive Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS) technique to explore and generate potential prospects (if any) for SMs and REEs. In general, the REE patterns of the studied whole-rock pegmatite samples show tetrad effect and possess low total REE abundances, strong positive Europium (Eu) anomalies, weak negative Cesium (Cs) anomalies and relative enrichment in heavy REE. Similar features have been observed on the REE patterns of the feldspar extracts. However, the REE patterns of the muscovite extracts reflect preferential enrichment and possess negative Eu anomalies. The trace element evaluation further suggests that the MGC pegmatites have undergone low levels of fractionation. Various trace elements concentrations (and their ratios) including Ta versus Cs, K/Rb (Potassium/Rubidium) versus Rb and Th/U (Thorium/Uranium) versus K/Cs, were used to analyze the economically viable mineral potential of the studied rocks. On most of the plots, concentrations fall below the dividing line and confer either barren or low-level mineralization potential of the studied rocks for both SMs and REEs. The results demonstrate paucity of the MGC pegmatites with respect to Ta-Nb (Tantalum-Niobium) mineralization, which is in sharp contrast to many Pan-African S-type granites around the world. The MGC pegmatites are classified as muscovite pegmatites based on their K/Rb versus Cs relationship. This classification is consistent with the occurrence of rare accessory minerals like garnet, biotite, tourmaline, and beryl. Furthermore, the classification corroborates with an earlier sorting of the MCG pegmatites into muscovite-bearing, biotite-bearing, and subordinate muscovite-biotite types. These types of pegmatites lack any significant SMs and REEs mineralization potentials. Field relations, such as close spatial association with parent granitic rocks and absence of internal zonation structure, also reflect the barren character and hence lack of any potential prospects of the MGC pegmatites.

Keywords: exploration, fractionation, Himalayas, pegmatites, rare earth elements

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Authors: Wike Wike

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The aim of this study is to investigate the experience of mothers of autistic children in Indonesia in raising the children and obtaining services for them through the adequate of information. The study seeks to contribute to the knowledge emerging from the women as a mother of children with autism on health and disability area. There is silence in the Indonesian literature on this perspective, especially about the parents and/or mothers of autistic children that is the focus of this analysis. Therefore, in order to capture the points of view emerging from the mothers, a qualitative study design has been applied. The main data for this qualitative study was collected from interviews (semi-structured interview and focus group discussion) with the mothers of children with autism who are member of parenting group in autistic schools and rehabilitation centers in one of Indonesian regional cities. This study reveals that the mothers’ experience in raising a child who is diagnosed with autism is rooted in limited knowledge on autism, limited knowledge on availability of services and limited knowledge on service options. Compounding this is limited availability and accessibility of the services that are important to their child's development. An important contribution of this study is to show how tapping into the experience of mothers can provide much needed information to policy making and service planners and implementers that can improve the services for children with autism and their families.

Keywords: mothers, children with autism, disability services and policy, services

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Authors: Lisa Rudolfsson

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Socio-cognitive factors, such as social support and attribution of blame, influence the victim’s psychological adjustment after the abuse. Furthermore, the response from the person that the victim first confides to effect adjustment following the abuse. In Sweden, although police are investigating most of the reported cases of rape, very few rape-cases leads to trial and sentence. For many women who have been raped, contact with the police officer when reporting the crime will, therefore, be the most notable experience of how representatives for the Swedish society regard and handle what has happened. Hence, it seems urgent to gather information about these initial meetings. This study is part of a three-year research project, titled 'Female rape victims: Quality of initial police and medical care contact', funded by the Swedish Crime Victim and Support Authority. The focus of this study was on police officers in Sweden: their thoughts and experiences of meeting with raped women. Forthcoming are interviews with raped women about their experiences of meeting with police. Sixteen police officers participated in three focus groups and one interview. The participants consisted of five men and eleven women. Focus groups and interview were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. The material was analyzed using thematic analysis. Participants described how violence against women was not a priority in Swedish society or within the Police Authority. They talked about rape cases as a Sisyphean work-task that put high demands on them, while they also lacked training and support. They expressed a wish to offer the woman some kind of restoration, and they talked about their work as potentially making a difference for the woman – even if she did not get juridical justice. However, participants also described that they did not feel validated in their hard work. They talked about working rape cases as causing them a great deal of frustration - directed towards the Police Authority, the juridical system, colleagues, and sometimes towards the woman. Participants also described how meeting with raped women was a work that affected them in a personal manner. Listening to stories about sexual violence made the participants sad, and they described it as a struggle to understand. They described wondering how the woman’s life turned out and how they sometimes questioned if they had done enough. Some of the conclusions concern the lack of prerequisites needed for police officers to be able to offer a good-enough treatment of raped women, as well as the lack of tools needed for police officers to care for themselves. In lack of training, validation, and support, the knowledge of how to offer a good- enough treatment of raped women becomes a task learned by doing. Attempts to offer, if not legal justice, then at least some kind of restoration becomes a personal task, dependent on individual police officers. It seems urgent that we address the risk of police officers’ frustration building up to be detrimental for both the crime victim and the officer her/himself.

Keywords: focus groups, police, raped women, restoration

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Authors: Maja Martinovic, Valentina Zarkovic, Hrvoje Maljak

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Europe is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, in which tourism occupies a significant place among the most relevant economic activities, and this applies to the Republic of Croatia as well. Based on this study, the authors intended to encourage and support the creation of an effective tourism policy in Croatia that would be based on the profiling of certain target groups. Another objective was to compare the results obtained from the customer analysis with the market analysis of the tourism industry in Croatia. The objective is to adapt the current tourist offer according to the identified needs and expectations of a particular tourist group in order to increase the attractiveness of Croatia as a tourist destination and motivate greater attendance of the targeted tourist groups. The current research was oriented towards the Russian market as the target group. Therefore, the authors wanted to encourage a discussion on how to attract more Russian guests. Consequently, the intention of the research was a detailed analysis of Russian tourists, in order to gain a better understanding of their travelling motives and tendencies. Furthermore, attention was paid to the expectations of Russian customers and to compare them with the Croatian tourist offer, and to determine whether there is a possibility for an overlap. The method used to obtain the information required was a survey conducted among Russian citizens about their travelling habits. The research was carried out on the basis of 166 participants of different age, gender, profession and income group. The sampling and distribution of the survey took place between May and July 2016. The results provided from the research indicate that Croatian tourism has certain unrealized potential considering the popularization of Croatia as a tourist destination, and there is a capacity for increasing the revenues within the group of Russian tourists. Such a conclusion is based on the fact that the Croatian tourist offer and the preferences of the Russian guests are compatible, i.e. they overlap in many aspects. The results demonstrate that beautiful nature, cultural and historical heritage as well as the sun and sea, play a leading role in attracting more Russian tourists. It is precisely these elements that form the three pillars of the Croatian tourist offer. On the other hand, the profiling revealed that the most desirable destinations for the Russian guests are Italy and Spain, both of which provide the same main tourist attractions as Croatia. Therefore, the focus of the strategic ideas given in the paper shifted to other tourism segments, such as type of accommodation, sales channels, travel motives, additional offer and seasonality etc., in order to gain advantage in the Russian market, the Mediterranean region and tourism in general. The purpose of the research is to serve as a foundation for analysing the attractiveness of the other tourist destinations in the Russian market, as well as to be a general basis for a more detailed profiling of the various specific target groups of the Russian and other tourist groups.

Keywords: Croatia, Russian market, target groups, tourism, tourist destination

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Authors: Vikram Munjal, Harpreet Munjal

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A few years ago we could hardly think of Libraries' strategic plan that includes the bold and amazing prediction of a mostly digital environment for a library system. However, sheer hard work by the engineers, academicians, and librarians made it feasible. However, it requires huge expenditure and now a day‘s spending for electronic resources (e-resources) have been growing much more rapidly than have the materials budgets of which such resources are usually a part. And many libraries are spending a huge amount on e-resources. Libraries today are in the midst of a profound shift toward reliance on e-resources, and this reliance seems to have deepened in recent years as libraries have shed paper journal subscriptions to help pay for online access. This has been exercised only to cater user behavior and attitudes that seem to be changing even more quickly in this dynamic scenario.

Keywords: radio frequency identification, management, scanning, barcodes, checkout and tags

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Authors: A. Maruf Aytekin

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We present our approach on using continuous delivery pattern for release management. One of the key practices of agile and lean teams is the continuous delivery of new features to stakeholders. The main benefits of this approach lie in the ability to release new applications rapidly which has real strategic impact on the competitive advantage of an organization. Organizations that successfully implement Continuous Delivery have the ability to evolve rapidly to support innovation, provide stable and reliable software in more efficient ways, decrease the amount of resources need for maintenance, and lower the software delivery time and costs. One of the objectives of this paper is to elaborate a case study where IT division of Central Securities Depository Institution (MKK) of Turkey apply Continuous Delivery pattern to improve release management process.

Keywords: automation, continuous delivery, deployment, release management

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Authors: Charles Mazhazhate

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This study interrogates and analyses the intricate kin- and- kith network patterns of corruption and mismanagement of resources prevalent in public sector supply chains bedeviling the developing economies of Sub-Saharan Africa with particular reference to Zimbabwe. This is forcing governments to resort to harsh fiscal policies that see their citizens paying high taxes against a backdrop of incomes below the poverty datum line, and this negatively affects their quality of life. The corporate world is also affected by the various tax-regime instituted. Mismanagement of resources and corrupt practices are rampant in state-owned enterprises to the extent that institutional policies, procedures, and practices are often flouted for the benefit of a clique of individuals. This interwoven in kith and kin blood human relations in organizations where appointments to critical positions are based on ascribed status. People no longer place value in their systems to make them work thereby violating corporate governance principles. Greediness and ‘unholy friendship connections’ are instrumental in fueling the employment of people who know each other from their discrete backgrounds. Such employments or socio-metric unions are meant to protect those at the top by giving them intelligent information through spying on what other subordinates are doing inside and outside the organization. This practice has led to the underperforming of organizations as those employees with connections and their upper echelons favorites connive to abuse resources for their own benefit. Even if culprits are known, no draconian measures are employed as a deterrence measure. Public value along public sector supply chains is lost. The study used a descriptive case study research design on fifty organizations in Zimbabwe mainly state-owned enterprises. Both qualitative and quantitative instrumentations were used. Both Snowball and random sampling techniques were used. The study found out that in all the fifty SOEs, there were employees in key positions related to top management, with tentacles feeding into the law enforcement agents, judiciary, security systems, and the executive. Such employees in public seem not to know each other with but would be involved in dirty scams and then share the proceeds with top people behind the scenes. The study also established that the same employees do not have the necessary competencies, qualifications, abilities, and capabilities to be in those positions. This culture is now strong that it is difficult to bust. The study recommends recruitment of all employees through an independent employment bureau to ensure strategic fit.

Keywords: corruption, state owned enterprises, strategic fit, public sector supply chains, efficiency

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Authors: Kwasi Dartey-Baah, Mias De Klerk

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Project complexity has been cited as one of the essential areas of project management. It can be observed from environmental, social, technological, and organisational viewpoints, and its handling is critical to project success. Conceptualised in varied industries, this paper seeks to ascertain the meaning and understanding of project complexity within the Ghanaian construction industry based on the three dimensions of complexities (faith, fact, and interaction) using experts' opinions. Taking the form of a focus group discussion, the paper sought to gain an in-depth understanding of project complexity issues in Ghana’s construction industry. The method use obtained data from experts (a purposely selected group) comprising project leaders and project management academics. The findings indicated that the experts broadly agreed with the complexity items but offered varied reasons for their agreement. In the composite assessment of the complexity dimensions of (faith, fact, and interaction), it emerged that there was some agreement with the complexity dimensions of fact and interaction within Ghana’s construction industry. On the other hand, with the dimension for complexity by faith, it was noted that the experts in Ghana’s construction construed complexity by faith, not as the absence of evidence but the evidence that hinges on at least a member of the project team. It is expected that other researches on project complexity will focus on other industries to enhance the knowledge of the same within the field of project management.

Keywords: project complexity, complexity by faith, complexity by fact, complexity by interaction, construction industry, Ghana

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Authors: Uzma Ahmad

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hyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) is the most turbulent province of Pakistan, sharing a longborder with Afghanistan. For about four decades, KPK is facing a series of international events. The peak was reached after 9/11when region was labelled as posing a major theatre of militancy and terrorism which was intensified when Tehrik Taliban Pakistan (TTP) began attempts to seize the authority of state. One of the main focus of TTP was to damage and uprooting of female education system and infrastructure in KPK which later became the site of a massacre of school children of Army Public School Peshawar on 16 December 2014.It resulted to the launching of Zarb-e-Azb against the TTP insurgency,casualty and crime rates in the KPKas a whole dropped by 40.0% as compared to 2011–13. All this has badly hampered the female education both in terms of quantity and quality. Malala Yousafzai who is now an advocate of female education has been a victim of Talibans brutality in that area. And thelanguage in which she managed to express herself to the International community is English.Keeping in view the situation, the present project was designed with a sole aim to focus on female students of the area which are few in numbers and to investigate some specific area, where they have been confronting problems in the use of grammar, vocabulary,tenses and organization of ideas in writings. The reasons might be the careless attitude, insufficient reading habits, lack of interest and poor knowledge of English language. The methodology was a descriptive one as it shows the effects of the internal efficiency(independent variables) on an intermediate college’s progress(dependent variables). It was a case study since data was collected from a focused group of 60 female students of arts and humanities at Swabi college at Intermediate level. The ultimate focus was to explore the possibilities of creating a Gender friendly environment for female students. This research has proved how the correct use of English language has given them confidence to move ahead side by side with men and to acknowledge their right of self-determination.

Keywords: capacity building, female education, gender friendly, internal efficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 145