Search results for: market research

Authors: Marius Nygaard, Ona Flindall

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The Palisaden student housing project was completed in August 2013 and was, with its eight floors, Norway’s tallest timber building at the time of completion. It was the first time cross-laminated-timber (CLT) was utilized at this scale in Norway. The project was the result of a concerted effort by a newly formed management company to establish CLT as a sustainable and financially competitive alternative to conventional steel and concrete systems. The introduction of CLT onto the student housing market proved so successful that by 2017 more than 4000 individual student residences will have been built using the same model of development and construction. The aim of this paper is to identify the key factors that enabled this breakthrough for CLT. It is based on an in-depth study of a series of housing projects and the role of the management company who both instigated and enabled this shift of CLT from the margin to the mainstream. Specifically, it will look at how a new building system was integrated into a marketing strategy that identified a market potential within the existing structure of the construction industry and within the economic restrictions inherent to student housing in Norway. It will show how a key player established a project model that changed both the patterns of cooperation and the information basis for decisions. Based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with managers, contractors and the interdisciplinary teams of consultants (architects, structural engineers, acoustical experts etc.) this paper will trace the introduction, expansion and evolution of CLT-based building systems in the student housing market. It will show how the project management firm’s position in the value chain enabled them to function both as a liaison between contractor and client, and between contractor and producer. A position that allowed them to improve the flow of information. This ensured that CLT was handled on equal terms to other structural solutions in the project specifications, enabling realistic pricing and risk evaluation. Secondly, this paper will describe and discuss how the project management firm established and interacted with a growing network of contractors, architects and engineers to pool expertise and broaden the knowledge base across Norway’s regional markets. Finally, it will examine the role of the client, the building typology, and the industrial and technological factors in achieving this breakthrough for CLT in the construction industry. This paper gives an in-depth view of the progression of a single case rather than a broad description of the state of the art of large-scale timber building in Norway. However, this type of study may offer insights that are important to the understanding not only of specific markets but also of how new technologies should be introduced in big and well-established industries.

Keywords: cross-laminated-timber (CLT), industry breakthrough, student housing, timber market

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Authors: Konstantopoulos N., Samitas A., E. Vasileiou, Kinias I.

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This article introduces a new view on the month effect study. Applying a Markov Switching Regime model on data from the Greek Time Deposits (TDs) market for the time span January 2003 to October 2013, we examine if there is a month effect on the Greek banking industry. The empirical findings provide convincing evidence for a new king of monthly anomaly. The explanation for the specific abnormality may be the upward deposits window dressing. Further research should be done in order to examine if the specific calendar effect exists in other countries or it is only a Greek phenomenon.

Keywords: calendar anomalies, banking crisis, month effect, Greek banking industry

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Authors: Magdi Elmessiry, Adel Elmessiry

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The fashion industry represents a significant portion of the global gross domestic product, however, it is plagued by cheap imitators that infringe on the trademarks which destroys the fashion industry's hard work and investment. While eventually the copycats would be found and stopped, the damage has already been done, sales are missed and direct and indirect jobs are lost. The infringer thrives on two main facts: the time it takes to discover them and the lack of tracking technologies that can help the consumer distinguish them. Blockchain technology is a new emerging technology that provides a distributed encrypted immutable and fault resistant ledger. Blockchain presents a ripe technology to resolve the infringement epidemic facing the fashion industry. The significance of the study is that a new approach leveraging the state of the art blockchain technology coupled with artificial intelligence is used to create a framework addressing the fashion infringement problem. It transforms the current focus on legal enforcement, which is difficult at best, to consumer awareness that is far more effective. The framework, Crypto CopyCat, creates an immutable digital asset representing the actual product to empower the customer with a near real time query system. This combination emphasizes the consumer's awareness and appreciation of the product's authenticity, while provides real time feedback to the producer regarding the fake replicas. The main findings of this study are that implementing this approach can delay the fake product penetration of the original product market, thus allowing the original product the time to take advantage of the market. The shift in the fake adoption results in reduced returns, which impedes the copycat market and moves the emphasis to the original product innovation.

Keywords: fashion, infringement, blockchain, artificial intelligence, textiles supply chain

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Authors: Fauziah Aziz, Mohd.fadzil Arshad, Hazrina Mansor, Sedat Kömürcü

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Masonry is an isotropic and heterogeneous material due to the presence of the different components within the assembly process. Normally the mortar plays a significant role in the compressive behavior of the traditional masonry structures. Biaxial interlocking concrete block is a masonry unit that comes out with the interlocking concept. This masonry unit can improve the quality of the construction process, reduce the cost of labor, reduce high skill workmanship, and speeding the construction time. Normally, the interlocking concrete block masonry unit in the market place was designed in a way interlocking concept only either x or y-axis, shorter in length, and low compressive strength value. However, the biaxial interlocking concrete block is a dry-stack concept being introduced in this research, offered the specialty compared to the normal interlocking concrete available in the market place due to its length and the geometry of the groove and tongue. This material can be used as a non-load bearing wall, or load-bearing wall depends on the application of the masonry. But, there is a lack of technical data that was produced before. This paper presents a finding on the compressive resistance of the biaxial interlocking concrete block masonry wall compared to the other traditional masonry walls. Two series of biaxial interlocking concrete block masonry walls, namely M1 and M2, a series of solid concrete block and cement sand brick walls M3, and M4 have tested the compressive resistance. M1 is the masonry wall of a hollow biaxial interlocking concrete block meanwhile; M2 is the grouted masonry wall, M3 is a solid concrete block masonry wall, and M4 is a cement sand brick masonry wall. All the samples were tested under static compressive load. The results examine that M2 is higher in compressive resistance compared to the M1, M3, and M4. It shows that the compressive strength of the concrete masonry units plays a significant role in the capacity of the masonry wall.

Keywords: interlocking concrete block, compressive resistance, concrete masonry unit, masonry

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Authors: Usama Shahid, Muhammad Zunnurain Hussain

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This research paper presents a comprehensive analysis of a sentiment analysis approach that employs valence and arousal as its foundational pillars, in comparison to traditional techniques. Sentiment analysis is an indispensable task in natural language processing that involves the extraction of opinions and emotions from textual data. The valence and arousal dimensions, representing the intensity and positivity/negativity of emotions, respectively, enable the creation of four quadrants, each representing a specific emotional state. The study seeks to determine the impact of utilizing these quadrants to identify distinct emotional states on the accuracy and efficiency of sentiment analysis, in comparison to traditional techniques. The results reveal that the valence and arousal-based approach outperforms other approaches, particularly in identifying nuanced emotions that may be missed by conventional methods. The study's findings are crucial for applications such as social media monitoring and market research, where the accurate classification of emotions and opinions is paramount. Overall, this research highlights the potential of using valence and arousal as a framework for sentiment analysis and offers invaluable insights into the benefits of incorporating specific types of emotions into the analysis. These findings have significant implications for researchers and practitioners in the field of natural language processing, as they provide a basis for the development of more accurate and effective sentiment analysis tools.

Keywords: sentiment analysis, valence and arousal, emotional states, natural language processing, machine learning, text analysis, sentiment classification, opinion mining

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Authors: Mohammad Azam

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The purpose of this study is to investigate risk and real excess portfolio returns using inflation adjusted risk-free rates, a measuring technique that focuses on the momentum augmented Fama-French six-factor model and use monthly data from 1994 to 2022. With the exception of profitability, the data show that market, size, value, momentum, and investment factors are all strongly associated to excess portfolio stock returns using ordinary lease square regression technique. According to the Gibbons, Ross, and Shanken test, the momentum augmented Fama-French six-factor model outperforms the market. This technique discovery may be utilised by academics and professionals to acquire an in-depth knowledge of the Pakistan Stock Exchange across a broad stock pattern for investing decisions and portfolio construction.

Keywords: real excess portfolio returns, momentum augmented fama & french five-factor model, GRS-test, pakistan stock exchange

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Authors: Alimshan Faizulayev, Eralp Bektas, Abdul Ghafar Ismail, Bezhan Rustamov

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This paper performs empirical analysis on determinants of profitability in Islamic and Conventional Banks. The main focus of this study is to evaluate and measure of financial performance of Islamic banking firms operating in Egypt, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey, UAE in contrast to Conventional ones in those countries. To evaluate empirically performance of the banks, various financial ratios are employed. We measure performance in terms of liquidity, profitability, solvency, and efficiency. In this work, t-test, F-test, and OLS analysis are used to make hypothesis tests. Our findings reveal that there are similarities and differences in profitability determinants of Islamic and Conventional banking firms. The cost to revenue ratio has inverse relationship with profitability indicators in both banking systems. However, there are differences in financial performances between Conventional Banks and Islamic banks which are found in overall picture of all banks in terms of net income margin.

Keywords: Islamic banking, conventional banking, GDP growth, emerging market economies

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Authors: A. Yakub AbdurRaheem

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Urban violence in the form of ethnic and religious conflicts have been on the increase in many African cities in the recent years of which most of them are the result of intense and bitter competition for political power, the control of limited economic, social and environmental resources. In Nigeria, the emergence of the Boko Haram insurgency in most parts of the northeastern parts have ignited violence, bloodshed, refugee exodus and internal migration. Not only do the persistent attacks of the sect create widespread insecurity and fear, but it has also stifled normal processes of trade and investments most especially real property investment which is acclaimed to accelerate the economic cycle, thus the need to evolve strategies for an improved property market in such areas. This paper, therefore, examines the impact of this social crisis on effective and efficient utilization of real properties as a resource towards the development of the economy, using a descriptive analysis approach where particular emphasis was based on trends in residential housing values; volume of estimated property transactions and real estate investment decisions by affected individuals. Findings indicate that social crisis in the affected areas have been a clog on the wheels of property development and investment as properties worth hundreds of millions have been destroyed thereby having great impact on property values. Based on these findings, recommendations were made to include the need to strategically continue investing in property during such times, the need for Nigerian government to establish an active conflict monitoring and management unit for the prompt response, encourage community and neighborhood policing to ameliorate security challenges in Nigeria.

Keywords: social crisis, economy, resources, property market

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Authors: Sisaye Tamrat Ayalew

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This paper focuses on the educational philosophy of universities in Ethiopia and the debates surrounding it. It highlights the contradictory views on the role of universities, with some perceiving them as practical problem-solving institutions and others emphasizing the production and dissemination of knowledge. The aim of this study is to critically explore the debates around the educational philosophy of universities in Ethiopia. It also seeks to examine how the understanding of this philosophy contributes to the marginalization of youth in the country. This research adopts a phenomenological qualitative research design. It aims to understand the impact of socio-economic and political factors on university education and how youth from disadvantaged backgrounds experience marginalization in the job market. The study reveals that the understanding of educational philosophy varies across different contexts and over time. In the Ethiopian context, the philosophy of universities lacks a disinterested pursuit of knowledge and instrumentalist epistemology. Instead, it oversimplifies the philosophy to the point of devaluing knowledge and treating certificates as commodities, even in the absence of formal training. In conclusion, this research highlights the need for a critical appraisal of the educational philosophy of universities in Ethiopia. It emphasizes the negative impact of an oversimplified and commodified approach to knowledge on the empowerment of youth. By bringing attention to these issues, this study contributes to the broader understanding of the role of universities in society and calls for reforms in the Ethiopian education sector to promote empowerment rather than disempowerment.

Keywords: philosophy of universities, marginalized youth, diploma mill, instrumentalist epistemology, disinterested pursuit

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Authors: Sadeq Al Yaari, Ayman Al Yaari, Adham Al Yaari, Montaha Al Yaari, Aayah Al Yaari, Sajedah Al Yaari

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Objective: The study is a summary of a book on research ethics in the scientific field. It aims at investigating ethics that researchers should follow before, during and after doing research. Method: It is an analytic research design wherein the researchers attempted to cover the phenomenon at hand from all specialists’ viewpoints by giving their answers to the most frequent asked questions. Results Questions on the research draft can only be answered when doing the research. This determines understanding the usage of research, questions on the on-line research, specializations and research-related concepts. Questions on the university’s library determines understanding where the library sections do exist, the periodicals, forums, and all about journals, theses and dissertations along with references.

Keywords: research ethics, most frequent questions, scientific answers, journals, library

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Authors: Dharamvir Mangal

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Supply chain management has increasingly become an inevitable challenge to most companies to continuously survive and prosper in the global chain-based competitive environment. The current challenges of the Indian automotive world, their implications on supply chain are summarized and analyzed in this paper. In this competitive era of ‘LPG’ i.e. Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization, modern marketing systems, introduction of products with short life cycles, and the discriminating expectations of customers have enforced business enterprises to invest in and focus attention on their Supply Chains (SCs) in order to meet out the level of customer’s satisfaction and to survive in the competitive market. In fact, many of trends in the auto industry are reinforcing the need to redefine supply chain strategies layouts, and operations etc. Many manufacturing operations are designed to maximize throughput and lower costs with modest considerations for the crash on inventory levels and distribution capabilities. To improve profitability and efficiency, automotive players are seeking ways to achieve operational excellence, reduce operating cost and enhance customer service through efficient supply chain management.

Keywords: automotive industry, supply chain, challenges, market potential

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Authors: Rani Fernandez

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As global concerns regarding environmental degradation and climate change intensify, the imperative for sustainable living has never been more critical. This research delves into the role of eco-products in everyday life as a pivotal strategy for achieving sustainability. The study investigates the awareness, adoption, and impact of eco-friendly products on individual and community levels. The research employs a mixed-methods approach, combining surveys, interviews, and case studies to explore consumer perceptions, behaviours, and motivations surrounding the use of eco-products. Additionally, life cycle assessments are conducted to evaluate the environmental footprint of selected eco-products, shedding light on their tangible contributions to sustainability. The findings reveal the diverse range of eco-products available in the market, from biodegradable packaging to energy-efficient appliances, and the extent to which consumers integrate these products into their daily routines. Moreover, the research examines the challenges and opportunities associated with widespread adoption, considering factors such as cost, accessibility, and efficacy. In addition to individual consumption patterns, the study investigates the broader societal impact of eco-product integration. It explores the potential for eco-products to drive systemic change by influencing supply chains, corporate practices, and government policies. The research highlights successful case studies of communities or businesses that have effectively incorporated eco-products, providing valuable insights into scalable models for sustainability. Ultimately, this research contributes to the discourse on sustainable living by elucidating the pivotal role of eco-products in shaping environmentally conscious behaviours. By understanding the dynamics of eco-product adoption, policymakers, businesses, and individuals can collaboratively work towards a more sustainable future. The implications of this study extend beyond academia, informing practical strategies for fostering a global shift towards sustainable consumption and production.

Keywords: eco-friendly, sustainablity, environment, climate change

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Authors: Muhamad Afiq Faisal, Yahaya, Mohd Faizal, Hamzah

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Genetic modification technology allows scientists to alter the genetic information of a particular organism. The technology allows the production of genetically modified organism (GMO) that has the enhanced property compared to the unmodified organism. The application of such technology is not only in agriculture industry, it is now has been applied extensively in biopharmaceutical industry such as transgenic vaccines. In Malaysia, Biosafety Act 2007 has been enacted in which all GMO-based products must be labeled with adequate information before being marketed. This paper aims to determine the awareness level amongst Malaysian consumers on the GM products available in the market and the efficiency of information supplied in the GM product labeling. The result of the survey will serve as a guideline for Malaysia government agency bodies to provide comprehensive yet efficient information to consumers for the purpose of GM product labeling in the near future. In conclusion, the efficiency of information delivery plays a vital role in ensuring that the information is being conveyed clearly to Malaysian consumers during the selection process of GM products available in the market.

Keywords: genetic modification technology, genetically modified organisms, genetically modified organism products labeling, Biosafety Act 2007

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Authors: Nikita Koradia

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Hyundai Motor Company, which started off as a small fish in a big sea, paved its way out successfully and established itself as an independent group from the conglomerate. Hyundai, with its officious power across the globe and particularly in South Korea in the automobile industry, has one the most complex yet fascinating governance structure. Being the second largest contributor to the Gross Domestic Product of South Korea after Samsung and having a market share of 51.3% domestically in automobile industry, Hyundai has faced its part of criticism owing to its anti-labor union approach and owing to its internalization of supply chain management. The censure has been coming from across jurisdictions like China, India, Canada, the EU, etc. The paper focuses on the growth of Hyundai and its inward and outward investment structure. The paper questions the ability of Hyundai to become a mini-state in itself by focusing on its governance structure. The paper further elaborates on its compliance and disclosure regime in the field of Corporate social responsibility and explores how far the business structure adopted by Hyundai works in its favor to become one of the leading automobile contenders in the market.

Keywords: compliance regime, disclosure regime, Hyundai motor company, supply-chain management

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Authors: Shaheena Erkiah, Adjnu Damar Ladkoo

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Worldwide, improving tourism competitiveness has been on the agendas of many stakeholders of the hotel sector, and they seem to have agreed that one of the best ways to compete is via the implementation of electronic customer relationship management (e-CRM). In so doing, the organizations enjoy strategic positioning on the competitive market by managing better not only the customers but, other business components including knowledge and employee management. Over the recent years, the tourism industry in Mauritius has witnessed a drastic economic boom at international and national levels; providing a new outlook to boost business performance through existing and potential customers. E-CRM has been one of the management tools used to achieving this position. Thus, this insightful context- Mauritius- was opted for the study. The aim was to assess the effectiveness of e-CRM as a strategic tool in the hotel sector in Mauritius through the implementation of business strategy to create competitive advantage and impact on the business performance. To achieve the objectives of the study, a quantitative research methodology was adopted and the research revealed that e-CRM is indeed an effective strategic tool in the hotel industry in Mauritius that can provide a competitive advantage and impact positively on the organization’s performance.

Keywords: customer, electronic, management, relationship, strategic

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Authors: Alina Hamid Bari

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Intellectual Property (IP) policies of a country have a huge impact on the pharmaceutical industry as this industry is all about patents. Developed countries have used IP protection to boost their economy; developing countries are concerned about access to medicine for poor people. U.S. company, Pfizer had a monopoly for 14 years for Lipitor and it all came to end when Pfizer decided to operate in India. This research will focus at the effects of Indian IP policies on USA by comparing Pfizer & Ranbaxy with regards to Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. For this research inductive approach has been used. Main source of material is Annual reports, theory based on academic books and articles along with rulings of court, policy statements and decisions, websites and newspaper articles. SWOT analysis is done for both Pfizer & Ranbaxy. The main comparison was done by doing ratio analysis and analyses of annual reports for the year 2011-2012 for Pfizer and Ranbaxy to see the impact on their profitability. This research concludes that Indian intellectual laws do affect the profitability of the U.S. pharmaceutical industry which can in turn have an impact on the US economy. These days India is only granting patents on products which it feels are deserving of it. So the U.S. companies operating in India have to defend their invention to get a patent. Thus, to operate in India and maintain monopoly in market, US firms have to come up with different strategies.

Keywords: atorvastatin, India, intellectual property, lipitor, Pfizer, pharmaceutical industry, Ranbaxy, TRIPs, U.S.

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Authors: Carlos Tapia Cortez, Serkan Saydam, Jeff Coulton, Claude Sammut

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Strategic mineral commodities (SMC) both energetic and metals have long been fundamental for human beings. There is a strong and long-run relation between the mineral resources industry and society's evolution, with the provision of primary raw materials, becoming one of the most significant drivers of economic growth. Due to mineral resources’ relevance for the entire economy and society, an understanding of the SMC market behaviour to simulate price fluctuations has become crucial for governments and firms. For any human activity, SMC price fluctuations are affected by economic, geopolitical, environmental, technological and psychological issues, where cognition has a major role. Cognition is defined as the capacity to store information in memory, processing and decision making for problem-solving or human adaptation. Thus, it has a significant role in those systems that exhibit dynamic equilibrium through time, such as economic growth. Cognition allows not only understanding past behaviours and trends in SCM markets but also supports future expectations of demand/supply levels and prices, although speculations are unavoidable. Technological developments may also be defined as a cognitive system. Since the Industrial Revolution, technological developments have had a significant influence on SMC production costs and prices, likewise allowing co-integration between commodities and market locations. It suggests a close relation between structural breaks, technology and prices evolution. SCM prices forecasting have been commonly addressed by econometrics and Gaussian-probabilistic models. Econometrics models may incorporate the relationship between variables; however, they are statics that leads to an incomplete approach of prices evolution through time. Gaussian-probabilistic models may evolve through time; however, price fluctuations are addressed by the assumption of random behaviour and normal distribution which seems to be far from the real behaviour of both market and prices. Random fluctuation ignores the evolution of market events and the technical and temporal relation between variables, giving the illusion of controlled future events. Normal distribution underestimates price fluctuations by using restricted ranges, curtailing decisions making into a pre-established space. A proper understanding of SMC's price dynamics taking into account the historical-cognitive relation between economic, technological and psychological factors over time is fundamental in attempting to simulate prices. The aim of this paper is to discuss the SMC market cognition hypothesis and empirically demonstrate its dynamic-cognitive capacity. Three of the largest and traded SMC's: oil, copper and gold, will be assessed to examine the economic, technological and psychological cognition respectively.

Keywords: commodity price simulation, commodity price uncertainties, dynamic-cognition, dynamic systems

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Authors: Yujie Wei

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Twitter uses a variety of narrative methods (e.g., messages, featured videos, music, and actual events) to strengthen its cultivation effect. Consumers are receiving mass-produced brand stores or images made by brand managers according to strict market specifications. Drawing on the cultivation theory, this quantitative research investigates how following a brand on Twitter for 12 weeks can cultivate their attitude toward the brand and influence their purchase intentions. We conducted three field experiments on Twitter to test the cultivation effects of following a brand for 12 weeks on consumer attitude toward the followed brand. The cultivation effects were measured by comparing the changes in consumer attitudes before and after they have followed a brand over time. The findings of our experiments suggest that when consumers are exposed to a brand’s stable, pervasive, and recurrent tweets on Twitter for 12 weeks, their attitude toward a brand can be significantly changed, which confirms the cultivating effects on consumer attitude. Also, the results indicate that branding activities on Twitter, when properly implemented, can be very effective in changing consumer attitudes toward a brand, increasing the purchase intentions, and increasing their willingness to spread the word-of-mouth for the brand on social media. The cultivation effects are moderated by brand type and consumer age. The research provides three major marketing implications. First, Twitter marketers should create unique content to engage their brand followers to change their brand attitude through steady, cumulative exposure to the branding activities on Twitter. Second, there is a significant moderating effect of brand type on the cultivation effects, so Twitter marketers should align their branding content with the brand type to better meet the needs and wants of consumers for different types of brands. Finally, Twitter marketers should adapt their tweeting strategies according to the media consumption preferences of different age groups of their target markets. This empirical research proves that content is king.

Keywords: tweeting, cultivation theory, consumer brand attitude, purchase intentions, word-of-mouth

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Authors: Tea Poklepović, Zdravka Aljinović, Branka Marasović

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Due to the importance of yield curve and its estimation it is inevitable to have valid methods for yield curve forecasting in cases when there are scarce issues of securities and/or week trade on a secondary market. Therefore in this paper, after the estimation of weekly yield curves on Croatian financial market from October 2011 to August 2012 using Nelson-Siegel and Svensson models, yield curves are forecasted using Vector auto-regressive model and Neural networks. In general, it can be concluded that both forecasting methods have good prediction abilities where forecasting of yield curves based on Nelson Siegel estimation model give better results in sense of lower Mean Squared Error than forecasting based on Svensson model Also, in this case Neural networks provide slightly better results. Finally, it can be concluded that most appropriate way of yield curve prediction is neural networks using Nelson-Siegel estimation of yield curves.

Keywords: Nelson-Siegel Model, neural networks, Svensson Model, vector autoregressive model, yield curve

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Authors: Karen Bell

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While there is broad agreement among governments and civil society globally about the need to develop more sustainable societies, the best way to achieve this is still contested. In particular, there are differences regarding whether to continue to implement market-based approaches or to move to alternative redistributive-based approaches. In this paper, ‘Green Economy’ and ‘Living Well’ strategies are compared as examples of these two different strategies for achieving social, ecological and economic sustainability. The paper is based on a 3-year ESRC funded project on transitions to sustainability which examines the implementation of the ‘Green Economy’ paradigm in South Korea and the 'Living Well' paradigm in Bolivia. As well as outlining and analysing secondary data, the paper also draws on over 100 interviews with a range of local stakeholders in these countries carried out by the author between and including 2016 and 2018. The work indicates that the Living Well paradigm seems to better integrate social, ecological and economic concerns and may better deliver sustainability in the time frame necessary than the dominant Green Economy paradigm. This seems to be primarily because Living Well emphasises redistribution to reduce inequality and ensure human needs are met; living in harmony with nature, taking into account natural limits and cycles; respecting traditional values and practices where these support sustainability and human well-being; sovereignty and local control of natural resources; and participative decision-making, based on grassroots community organising. It is, therefore, argued that to achieve inclusive, just and effective transitions to sustainability we should aim to foster equality, respect planetary limits, build on local traditions, bring resources into public ownership and enhance participatory democracy. This will require a radically different approach to that offered within the market-based agenda currently dominating global sustainability debates and activities.

Keywords: environmental transition, green economy, inclusive sustainability, living well, sustainable transition

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Authors: Geoffrey A. Wright

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In an attempt to address shortcomings revealed in international assessments and lamented in legislation, many schools are reducing or eliminating elective courses, applying the rationale that replacing "non-essential" subjects with core subjects, such as mathematics and language arts, will better position students in the global market. However, there is evidence that systematically pairing a core subject with another complementary subject may lead to greater overall learning in both subjects. In this paper, we outline the methods and preliminary findings from a study we conducted analyzing the influence learning programming has on student mathematical comprehension and ability. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate in what ways two subjects might complement each other, and to better understand the principles and conditions that encourage what we call lateral transfer, the synergistic effect that occurs when a learner studies two complementary subjects.

Keywords: programming, engineering, technology, complementary subjects

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Authors: N. S. Ajisha

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In today’s competitive world the quality of the service you deliver is one of the important factor that determine customer satisfaction. Service quality is considered to be one important determinant to evaluate customer satisfaction and the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction is considered as the foundation in researches on customer satisfaction. This research examines to do a gap analysis between the perception and expectation of the services delivered and find relation between the service quality and customer satisfaction. Service quality is found out here using the SERVQUAL model. And it finds out the dimension of service quality which is more important to measure customer satisfaction. The dimensions which we measure using SERVQUAL include the tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. This study involves primary data collection like market survey.

Keywords: customer satisfaction, service quality, retail service quality, Kochi

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Authors: Mouhamed Mbouandi Njikam

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This work assesses the trade potential of countries in the Economic Community of Central Africa States (ECCAS). The gravity model of trade is used to evaluate the trade flows of member countries, and to compute the trade potential index of ECCAS during 1995-2010. The focus is on the removal of tariffs and non-tariff barriers in the sub-region. Estimates from the gravity model are used for the calculation of the sub-region’s commercial potential. Its three main findings are: (i) the background research shows a low level of integration in the sub-region and open economies; (ii) a low level of industrialization and diversification are the main factors reducing trade potential in the sub-region; (iii) the trade creation predominate on the deflections of trade between member countries.

Keywords: gravity model, ECCAS, trade flows, trade potential, regional cooperation

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Authors: Radhika Ramanchi

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The oil market during 2014-2015 in India with large price fluctuations is very confusing to individual investor. The drop in oil prices supported stocks of some oil marketing companies (OMCs) like Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation etc their shares rose 84.74%, 128.63% and 59.16%, respectively. Lower oil prices, and lower current account, a smaller subsidy burden are the reasons for outperformance. On the other hand, lower crude prices giving downward pressure on upstream companies like Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC) and Reliance Petroleum (RIL) Oil India Ltd (OIL). Not having clarity on a subsidy sharing mechanism is the reason for downward trend on these stocks. Shares of ONGC and RIL have underperformed so far in 2015. When the oil price fall profits of the companies will effect, generate less money and may cut their dividends in Long run. In this situation this paper objective is to study investment strategies in oil marketing companies, by applying CAPM and Security Market Line.

Keywords: petrol industry, price fluctuations, sharp single index model, SML, Markowitz model

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Authors: Jasman Tuyon, Zamri Ahmad

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Behavioral asset pricing research has been gaining momentum since in 1990s. However, it is still incomplete and has been criticized for some philosophical, theoretical and model specification limitations. Due to these drawbacks, investors’ behaviors as a source of risk in behavioral asset pricing modeling still remains disputable. This paper aims to address these issues with an alternative perspective based on behavioral finance paradigm. Specifically, this paper proposes a theoretical linkages of both fundamental and behavioral risks on stock prices formation and an extension of the multifactor stock pricing model by combining multi-factor fundamentals and behavioral risks factors.

Keywords: behavioral finance, multifactor asset pricing, behavioral risks, fundamental risks

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Authors: Lois Cheung

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This article examines the impact of League Tables on non-elite universities in the English higher education system. The purpose of this study is to explore the use of rankings in strategic planning by low-ranked universities in this highly competitive higher education market. A sample of non-elite universities was selected for a content analysis based on the measures used by The Guardian rankings. Interestingly, these universities care about their rankings within a single national system. The content analysis appears to be an effective approach to investigating the presence of such influences. It is particularly noteworthy that all sampled universities use these measure terminologies in their strategic plans, missions and news coverage on their institutional web-pages. This analysis may be an example of the key challenges that many low-ranking universities in England are probably facing in the highly competitive and diversified higher education market. These universities use rankings to communicate with their stakeholders, mainly students, in order to fill places to secure their major source of funding. The study concludes with comments on the likely effects of the rankings paradigm in undermining the contributions of non-elite universities.

Keywords: League tables, measures, post-1992 universities, ranking, strategy

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Authors: Ruyuf Y. Alnafisah, Nouf S. Alammari, Amani S. Alqahtani

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Background: Beverage choice can have implications for the risk of non-communicable diseases. However, there is a lack of knowledge in assessing the nutritional content of these beverages. This study aims to describe the nutrient content of pre-packaged beverages available in the Saudi market. Design: Data were collected from the Saudi Branded Food Data-base (SBFD). Nutrient content was standardized in terms of units and reference volumes to ensure consistency in analysis. Results: A total of 1490 beverages were analyzed. The highest median levels of the majority of nutrients were found among dairy products; energy (68.4(43-188]kcal/100 ml in a milkshake); protein (8.2(0.5-8.2]g/100 ml in yogurt drinks); total fat (2.1(1.3-3.5]g/100 ml in milk); saturated fat (1.4(0-1.4]g/100 ml in yogurt drinks); cholesterol (30(0-30]mg/100 ml in yogurt drinks); sodium (65(65-65].4mg/100 ml in yogurt drinks); and total sugars (12.9(7.5-27]g/100 ml in milkshake). Carbohydrate level was the highest in nectar (13(11.8-14.2] g/100ml]; fruits drinks (12.9(11.9-13.9] g/100ml), and sparkling juices (12.9(8.8-14] g/100ml). The highest added sugar level was observed among regular soft drinks (12(10.8-14] g/100ml). The average rate of nutrient declaration was 60.95%. Carbo-hydrate had the highest declaration rate among nutrients (99.1%), and yogurt drinks had the highest declaration rate among beverage categories (92.7%). The median content of vitamins A and D in dairy products met the mandatory addition levels. Conclusion: This study provides valuable insights into the nutrient content of pre-packaged beverages in the Saudi market. It serves as a foundation for future research and monitoring. The findings of the study support the idea of taxing sugary beverages and raise concerns about the health effects of high sugar in fruit juices. Despite the inclusion of vitamins D and A in dairy products, the study highlights the need for alternative strategies to address these deficiencies.

Keywords: pre-packaged beverages, nutrients content, nutrients declaration, daily percentage value, mandatory addition of vitamins

Procedia PDF Downloads 58

Authors: Siti Dewi Aisyah

Abstract:

Islamic Modest Fashion has become one of the emerging industries. It is said that social media has making a role in its development. From designers, hijabi bloggers and then instagrammers, they are often seen posting their everyday outfits. They want to combine their faith with cutting-edge fashion trend. Muslim consumers has become a potential targeted market due to the increasing of people wearing hijab. Muslim consumers are projected to spend $327 bilion on clothing by 2020. Indonesia, as the biggest Muslim majority country, has targeted to be The World’s Center for Muslim Fashion in the world as its national branding by 2020. This study will examine how social media especially Blog and Instagram can lead the movement of Islamic Modest Fashion in Indonesia, how it also brings consumer culture to hijabi and as the result it triggers Indonesia to brand itself and how all the elements in Indonesia including the designers, bloggers or instagrammers and also Indonesian Agency for Creative Economy together work to make its dream come true. This research will be conducted through interviews with several elements mentioned, and internet, blog, Instagram and Youtube analysis through visual analysis that also examine the semiotic meaning behind the picture that are posted by the people on the social media especially about the Islamic Modest Fashion trend. This research also contains a literature review of a diverse group of works on topics related to the study. This research will be examined through several theoretical frameworks including the study of social media, fashion culture and consumer culture. Fashion and consumer culture are also two main topics because fashion furthermore leads to consumer culture. The possible benefit of this research is to be a reference literature of Islamic Modest Fashion and social media’s role especially in an Indonesian context.

Keywords: blog, instagram, consumer culture, modest fashion, social media, visual analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 366

Authors: Enas R. Shouman

Abstract:

Economic development with population growth is leading to a continuous increase in energy demand. At the same time, growing global concern for the environment is driving to decrease the use of conventional energy sources and to increase the use of renewable energy sources. The objective of this study is to present the market trends of solar energy photovoltaic technology over the world and to represent economics methods for PV financial analyzes on the basis of expectations for the expansion of PV in many applications. In the course of this study, detailed information about the current PV market was gathered and analyzed to find factors influencing the penetration of PV energy. The paper methodology depended on five relevant economic financial analysis methods that are often used for investment decisions maker. These methods are payback analysis, net benefit analysis, saving-to-investment ratio, adjusted internal rate of return, and life-cycle cost. The results of this study may be considered as a marketing guide that helps diffusion of using PV Energy. The study showed that PV cost is economically reliable. The consumers will pay higher purchase prices for PV system installation but will get lower electricity bill.

Keywords: photovoltaic, financial methods, solar energy, economics, PV panel

Procedia PDF Downloads 109

Authors: Dalia Kubiliūtė

Abstract:

Lithuania is known as a trusted location for global business institutions, and it attracts investors with it’s competitive environment for financial service providers. Along with the aspiration to offer a strong results-oriented and innovations-driven environment for financial service providers, Lithuanian regulatory authorities consistently implement the European Union's high regulatory standards for financial activities, including sustainability-related disclosures. Since European Union directed its policy towards transition to a climate-neutral, green, competitive, and inclusive economy, additional regulatory requirements for financial market participants are adopted: disclosure of sustainable activities, transparency, prevention of greenwashing, etc. The financial sector is one of the key factors influencing the implementation of sustainability objectives in European Union policies and mitigating the negative effects of climate change –public funds are not enough to make a significant impact on sustainable investments, therefore directing public and private capital to green projects may help to finance the necessary changes. The topic of the study is original and has not yet been widely analyzed in Lithuanian legal discourse. There are used quantitative and qualitative methodologies, logical, systematic, and critical analysis principles; hence the aim of this study is to reveal the problem of the implementation of the regulation on sustainability in the Lithuanian financial sector. Additional regulatory requirements could cause serious changes in financial business operations: additional funds, employees, and time have to be dedicated in order for the companies could implement these regulations. Lack of knowledge and data on how to implement new regulatory requirements towards sustainable reporting causes a lot of uncertainty for financial market participants. And for some companies, it might even be an essential point in terms of business continuity. It is considered that the supervisory authorities should find a balance between financial market needs and legal regulation.

Keywords: financial, legal, regulatory, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 102