Search results for: person–organization fit

Authors: Muhammad Waqas

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In this competitive environment, organizations in the service sector and industrial sector are trying their best to win the loyalty of their customers by providing superior quality services and innovative products to remain competitive in the market. The objective of this study is to focus on the concept that public dealing and tripping of electricity have a significant impact on customer satisfaction. This study is focused on the banking sector. It is concluded that quality in service sectors strongly depends on employees' commitment to the organization for providing superior services to the customers to enhance customers' satisfaction.

Keywords: customer complaints, banking sector, customer satisfaction, Islamic banking

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Authors: I. Pina, M. Painho

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Increased knowledge about the nature of place and the conditions under which space becomes place is a key factor for better urban planning and place-making. Although there is a broad consensus on the relevance of this knowledge, difficulties remain in relating the theoretical framework about place and urban management. Issues related to representation of places are among the greatest obstacles to overcome this gap. With this critical discussion, based on literature review, we intended to explore, in a common framework for geographical analysis, the potential of stories to spell out place meanings, bringing together qualitative text analysis and text mining in order to capture and represent the singularity contained in each person's life history, and the patterns of social processes that shape places. The development of this reasoning is based on the extensive geographical thought about place, and in the theoretical advances in the field of Geographic Information Science (GISc).

Keywords: discourse analysis, geographic information science place, place-making, stories

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Authors: Betul Zehra Karagul

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A game consists of strategies that each actor has in his/her own choice strategies, and a game regulates the certain rules in the strategies that the actors choose, express how they evaluate their knowledge and the utility of output results. Game theory examines the human behaviors (preferences) of strategic situations in which each actor of a game regards the action that others will make in spite of his own moves. There is a balance between each player playing a game with the final number of players and the player with a certain probability of choosing the players, and this is called Nash equilibrium. The insurance is a two-person game where the insurer and insured are the actors. Both sides have the right to act in favor of utility functions. The insured has to pay a premium to buy the insurance cover. The insured will want to pay a low premium while the insurer is willing to get a high premium. In this study, the state of equilibrium for insurance pricing was examined in terms of the insurer and insured with game theory.

Keywords: game theory, insurance pricing, Nash equilibrium, utility function

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Authors: Muhammad Arif Khan, Haroon Idrees, Imran Aziz, Sidra Mushtaq

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The purpose of this study is to investigate the current level of knowledge mapping skills of the public sector employees in Pakistan. National Institute of Management is one of the premiere public sector training organization for mid-career public sector employees in Pakistan. This study is conducted on participants of fourteen weeks long training course called Mid-Career Management Course (MCMC) which is mandatory for public sector employees in order to ascertain how to enhance their knowledge mapping skills. Methodology: Researcher used both qualitative and quantitative approach to conduct this study. Primary data about current level of participants’ understanding of knowledge mapping was collected through structured questionnaire. Later on, Participant Observation method was used where researchers acted as part of the group to gathered data from the trainees during their performance in training activities and tasks. Findings: Respondents of the study were examined for skills and abilities to organizing ideas, helping groups to develop conceptual framework, identifying critical knowledge areas of an organization, study large networks and identifying the knowledge flow using nodes and vertices, visualizing information, represent organizational structure etc. Overall, the responses varied in different skills depending on the performance and presentations. However, generally all participants have demonstrated average level of using both the IT and Non-IT K-mapping tools and techniques during simulation exercises, analysis paper de-briefing, case study reports, post visit presentation, course review, current issue presentation, syndicate meetings, and daily synopsis. Research Limitations: This study is conducted on a small-scale population of 67 public sector employees nominated by federal government to undergo 14 weeks extensive training program called MCMC (Mid-Career Management Course) at National Institute of Management, Peshawar, Pakistan. Results, however, reflects only a specific class of public sector employees i.e. working in grade 18 and having more than 5 years of work. Practical Implications: Research findings are useful for trainers, training agencies, government functionaries, and organizations working for capacity building of public sector employees.

Keywords: knowledge management, km in public sector, knowledge management and professional development, knowledge management in training, knowledge mapping

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Authors: Edwin Foo, Woei Wen, Lui, Meijun Zhao, Shigeru Kuchii, Chin Sai Wong, Chung Sern Goh, Yi Hao He

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This presentation presents an elderly care and assistive social robot development work. We named this robot JOS and he is restricted to table top operation. JOS is designed to have a maximum volume of 3600 cm3 with its base restricted to 250 mm and his mission is to provide companion, assist and help the elderly. In order for JOS to accomplish his mission, he will be equipped with perception, reaction and cognition capability. His appearance will be not human like but more towards cute and approachable type. JOS will also be designed to be neutral gender. However, the robot will still have eyes, eyelid and a mouth. For his eyes and eyelids, they will be built entirely with Robotis Dynamixel AX18 motor. To realize this complex task, JOS will be also be equipped with micro-phone array, vision camera and Intel i5 NUC computer and a powered by a 12 V lithium battery that will be self-charging. His face is constructed using 1 motor each for the eyelid, 2 motors for the eyeballs, 3 motors for the neck mechanism and 1 motor for the lips movement. The vision senor will be house on JOS forehead and the microphone array will be somewhere below the mouth. For the vision system, Omron latest OKAO vision sensor is used. It is a compact and versatile sensor that is only 60mm by 40mm in size and operates with only 5V supply. In addition, OKAO vision sensor is capable of identifying the user and recognizing the expression of the user. With these functions, JOS is able to track and identify the user. If he cannot recognize the user, JOS will ask the user if he would want him to remember the user. If yes, JOS will store the user information together with the capture face image into a database. This will allow JOS to recognize the user the next time the user is with JOS. In addition, JOS is also able to interpret the mood of the user through the facial expression of the user. This will allow the robot to understand the user mood and behavior and react according. Machine learning will be later incorporated to learn the behavior of the user so as to understand the mood of the user and requirement better. For the speech system, Microsoft speech and grammar engine is used for the speech recognition. In order to use the speech engine, we need to build up a speech grammar database that captures the commonly used words by the elderly. This database is built from research journals and literature on elderly speech and also interviewing elderly what do they want to robot to assist them with. Using the result from the interview and research from journal, we are able to derive a set of common words the elderly frequently used to request for the help. It is from this set that we build up our grammar database. In situation where there is more than one person near JOS, he is able to identify the person who is talking to him through an in-house developed microphone array structure. In order to make the robot more interacting, we have also included the capability for the robot to express his emotion to the user through the facial expressions by changing the position and movement of the eyelids and mouth. All robot emotions will be in response to the user mood and request. Lastly, we are expecting to complete this phase of project and test it with elderly and also delirium patient by Feb 2015.

Keywords: social robot, vision, elderly care, machine learning

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Authors: Wen Jiayuan

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This article traces the broadening of the refugee definition from the early 1970s onwards. It first discusses Article 1A(1), the core universal legal definition of ‘refugee’ provided by the 1951 Geneva Convention. It then focuses on Article 1A(2), read together with the 1967 Protocol, which without time or geographical limits, offers a general definition of the refugee as including any person who is outside their country or origin and unable or unwilling to return there or to avail themselves of its protection, owing to a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, social group or political opinion. It then shifts to the contemporary alternative refugee definitions adopted in regional areas, namely Africa, Latin America, and Europe. By looking deeply into the 1969 OAU Convention, the 1984 Cartagena Declaration, and ECtHR, the assertation is that while the appearance of new definitions may lead to a more responsive international environment, it may also undermine the consistency of the international refugee regime.

Keywords: refugee definition, 1951 Geneva Convention, 1969 OAU Convention, 1984 Cartagena Declaration

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Authors: Britt Erni, Aldara Vazquez Fernandez, Roland Maurer

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Visuospatial perspective taking (VSPT) is a process that allows to integrate spatial information from different points of view, and to transform the mental images we have of the environment to properly orient our movements and anticipate the location of landmarks during navigation. VSPT is also related to egocentric perspective transformations (imagined rotations or translations of one's point of view) and to infer the visuospatial experiences of another person (e.g. if and how another person sees objects). This process is deeply related to a wide-ranging capacity called the theory of mind (ToM), an essential cognitive function that allows us to regulate our social behaviour by attributing mental representations to individuals in order to make behavioural predictions. VSPT is often considered in the literature as the starting point of the development of the theory of mind. VSPT and ToM include several levels of knowledge that have to be assessed by specific tasks. Unfortunately, the lack of tasks assessing these functions in clinical neuropsychology leads to underestimate, in brain-damaged patients, deficits of these functions which are essential, in everyday life, to regulate our social behaviour (ToM) and to navigate in known and unknown environments (VSPT). Therefore, this study aims to create and standardize a VSPT task in order to explore the cognitive requirements of VSPT and ToM, and to specify their relationship in healthy adults and thereafter in brain-damaged patients. Two versions of a computerized VSPT task were administered to healthy participants (M = 28.18, SD = 4.8 years). In both versions the environment was a 3D representation of 10 different geometric shapes placed on a circular base. Two sets of eight pictures were generated from this: of the environment with an avatar somewhere on its periphery (locations) and of what the avatar sees from that place (views). Two types of questions were asked: a) identify the location from the view, and b) identify the view from the location. Twenty participants completed version 1 of the task and 20 completed the second version, where the views were offset by ±15° (i.e., clockwise or counterclockwise) and participants were asked to choose the closest location or the closest view. The preliminary findings revealed that version 1 is significantly easier than version 2 for accuracy (with ceiling scores for version 1). In version 2, participants responded significantly slower when they had to infer the avatar's view from the latter's location, probably because they spent more time visually exploring the different views (responses). Furthermore, men significantly performed better than women in version 1 but not in version 2. Most importantly, a sensitive task (version 2) has been created for which the participants do not seem to easily and automatically compute what someone is looking at yet which does not involve more heavily other cognitive functions. This study is further completed by including analysis on non-clinical participants with low and high degrees of schizotypy, different socio-educational status, and with a range of older adults to examine age-related and other differences in VSPT processing.

Keywords: mental transformation, spatial cognition, theory of mind, visuospatial perspective taking

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Authors: Kuhorfah Emmanuel Mawuli

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Generally, for firms to enhance their operational efficiency of logistics, it is imperative to assess the logistics function. The cost of logistics conventionally represents a key consideration in the pricing decisions of firms, which suggests that cost efficiency in logistics can go a long way to improve margins. Warehousing, which is a key part of logistics operations, has the prospect of influencing operational efficiency in logistics management as well as customer value, but this potential has often not been recognized. It has been found that there is a paucity of research that evaluates the efficiency of warehouses. Indeed, limited research has been conducted to examine potential barriers to effective warehousing management. Due to this paucity of research, there is limited knowledge on how to address the obstacles associated with warehousing management. In order for warehousing management to become profitable, there is the need to integrate, balance, and manage the economic inputs and outputs of the entire warehouse operations, something that many firms tend to ignore. Management of warehousing is not solely related to storage functions. Instead, effective warehousing management requires such practices as maximum possible mechanization and automation of operations, optimal use of space and capacity of storage facilities, organization through "continuous flow" of goods, a planned system of storage operations, and safety of goods. For example, there is an important need for space utilization of the warehouse surface as it is a good way to evaluate the storing operation and pick items per hour. In the setting of Mantrac Ghana, not much knowledge regarding the management of the warehouses exists. The researcher has personally observed many gaps in the management of the warehouse facilities in the case organization Mantrac Ghana. It is important, therefore, to assess the warehouse facility management of the case company with the objective of identifying weaknesses for improvement. The study employs an in-depth qualitative research approach using interviews as a mode of data collection. Respondents in the study mainly comprised warehouse facility managers in the studied company. A total of 10 participants were selected for the study using a purposive sampling strategy. Results emanating from the study demonstrate limited warehousing effectiveness in the case company. Findings further reveal that the major barriers to effective warehousing facility management comprise poor layout, poor picking optimization, labour costs, and inaccurate orders; policy implications of the study findings are finally outlined.

Keywords: assessing, warehousing, facility, management

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Authors: M. S. Riyazulla

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Since the dawn of the 21st century, there has been a perceptible decline in Islamic supremacy in world affairs, apart from the gradual waning of the amiable relations and relevance of Islamic countries in the International political arena. For a long, Islamic countries have been marginalised by the superpowers in the global conflicting issues. This was evident in the context of their recent invasions and interference in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, and Libya. The leading International Islamic organizations like the Arab League, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Gulf Cooperation Council, and Muslim World League did not play any prominent role there in resolving the crisis that ensued due to the exogenous and endogenous causes. Hence, there is a need for Islamic countries to create a credible International Islamic organization that could dictate its terms and shape a new Islamic world order. The prominent Islamic countries are divided on ideological and religious fault lines. Their concord is indispensable to enhance their image and placate the relations with other countries and communities. The massive boon of oil and gas could be synergistically utilised to exhibit their omnipotence and eminence through constructive ways. The prevailing menace of Islamophobia could be abated through syncretic messages, discussions, and deliberations by the sagacious Islamic scholars with the other community leaders. Presently, as Muslims are at a crossroads, a dynamic leadership could navigate the agitated Muslim community on the constructive path and herald political stability around the world. The present political disorder, chaos, and economic challenges necessities a paradigm shift in approach to worldly affairs. This could also be accomplished through the advancement in science and technology, particularly space exploration, for peaceful purposes. The Islamic world, in order to regain its lost preeminence, should rise to the occasion in promoting peace and tranquility in the world and should evolve a rational and human-centric solution to global disputes and concerns. As a splendid contribution to humanity and for amicable international relations, they should devote all their resources and scientific intellect towards space exploration and should safely transport man from the Earth to the nearest and most accessible cosmic body, the Moon, within one hundred years as the mankind is facing the existential threat on the planet.

Keywords: carboniferous period, Earth, extinction, fossil fuels, global leaders, Islamic glory, international order, life, marginalization, Moon, natural catastrophes

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Authors: Daria Beziakina, Elena Bulgakova

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The paper deals with cross-gender and cross-linguistic comparison of pitch characteristics for Tuvinian with two other Turkic languages - Uzbek and Azerbaijani, based on the results of statistical analysis of pitch parameter values and intonation patterns used by male and female speakers. The main goal of our work is to obtain the ranges of pitch parameter values typical for Tuvinian speakers for the purpose of automatic language identification. We also propose a cross-gender analysis of declarative intonation in the poorly studied Tuvinian language. The ranges of pitch parameter values were obtained by means of specially developed software that deals with the distribution of pitch values and allows us to obtain statistical language-specific pitch intervals.

Keywords: speech analysis, statistical analysis, speaker recognition, identification of person

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Authors: Grace Omowunmi Soyebi

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A computerized medical record system is a collection of medical information about a person that is stored on a computer. One principal problem of most hospitals in rural areas is using the file management system for keeping records. A lot of time is wasted when a patient visits the hospital, probably in an emergency, and the nurse or attendant has to search through voluminous files before the patient's file can be retrieved, this may cause an unexpected to happen to the patient. This Data Mining application is to be designed using a Structured System Analysis and design method which will help in a well-articulated analysis of the existing file management system, feasibility study, and proper documentation of the Design and Implementation of a Computerized medical record system. This Computerized system will replace the file management system and help to quickly retrieve a patient's record with increased data security, access clinical records for decision-making, and reduce the time range at which a patient gets attended to.

Keywords: programming, computing, data, innovation

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Authors: Amin Tarzi

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The government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was expected to keep the Taliban insurgents at bay after the departure of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-led forces in 2021, especially given the two decades of effort to establish security forces to safeguard Western-backed governing institutions. This articles reviews the reasons for the failure of the much larger and better-equipped Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) to stop the Taliban from taking over the Afghan capital of Kabul in a few days and analyzes the often-forgotten dimension of strategic calculations in this dialogue—namely the societal dimension. In this article, the author argues that this is one of the primary reasons that the ANSF and the Afghan government collapsed.

Keywords: societal warfare, Afghanistan, NATO, Taliban, military strategy

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Authors: Tom D. Gedeon, Ujala Rampaul

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The evaluation of electronic consumer goods are most often done from the perspective of analysing the latest models, comparing their advantages and disadvantages with respect to price. This style of evaluation is often performed by one or a few product experts on a wide range of features that may not be applicable to each user. We instead used a scenario-based approach to evaluate a number of e-readers. The setting is similar to a user who is interested in a new product or technology and has allocated a limited budget. We evaluate the quality and usability of e-readers available within that budget range. This is based on the assumption of a rational market which prices older second hand devices the same as functionally equivalent new devices. We describe our evaluation and comparison of four branded eReaders, as the initial stage of a larger project. The scenario has a range of tasks approximating a busy person who does not bother to read the manual. We found that navigation within books to be the most significant differentiator between the eReaders in our scenario based evaluation process.

Keywords: eReader, scenario based, price comparison, Kindle, Kobo, Nook, Sony, technology adoption

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Authors: Shieh Shiow-fang

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Superstitious thoughts or actions often occur during athletic competitions. Often "superstitious rituals" have a positive impact on the performance of competitive athletes. Athletes affirm the many psychological benefits of religious beliefs mostly in a positive way. Method: By snowball sampling, we recruited 10 experienced competitive athletes as participants. We used in-person and online one-to-one in-depth interview to collect their experiences about sport superstition. The total interview time was 795 minutes. We analyzed the raw data with the grounded theory processes suggested by Strauss and Corbin (1990). Results: The factors affecting athlete performance are ritual beliefs, taboo awareness, learning norms, and spontaneous attribution behaviors. Conclusion: We concluded that sports superstition reflects several psychological implications. The analysis results of this paper can provide another research perspective for the future study of sports superstition behavior.

Keywords: superstition, taboo awareness, learning norms, competitive athlete

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Authors: D. Mulligan, D. Casey

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Introductory Statement: Delegation is when a registered nurse (RN) transfers a task or activity that is normally within their scope of practice to another person (delegatee). RN delegation is common practice with unregistered staff, e.g., student nurses and health care assistants (HCAs). As the role of the HCA is increasingly embedded as a direct care and support role, especially in long-term residential care for older adults, there is RN uncertainty as to their role as a delegator. The assignment is when a task is transferred to a person that is within the role specification of the delegatee. RNs in long-term care (LTC) for older people are increasingly working in teams where there are less RNs and more HCAs providing direct care to the residents. The RN is responsible and accountable for their decision to delegate and assign tasks to HCAs. In an interpretive, multiple case studies to explore how delegation of tasks by RNs to HCAs occurred in long-term care settings in Ireland the importance of the RN understanding their scope of practice emerged. Methodology: Focus group interviews and individual interviews were undertaken as part of a multiple case study. Both cases, anonymized as Case A and Case B, were within the public health service in Ireland. The case study sites were long-term care settings for older adults located in different social care divisions, and in different geographical areas. Four focus group interviews with staff nurses and three individual interviews with CNMs were undertaken. The interactive data analysis approach was the analytical framework used, with within-case and cross-case analysis. The theoretical lens of organizational role theory, applying the role episode model (REM), was used to understand, interpret, and explain the findings. Study Findings: RNs and CNMs understood the role of the nurse regulator and the scope of practice. RNs understood that the RN was accountable for the care and support provided to residents. However, RNs and CNM2s could not describe delegation in the context of their scope of practice. In both cases, the RNs did not have a standardized process for assessing HCA competence to undertake nursing tasks or interventions. RNs did not routinely supervise HCAs. Tasks were assigned and not delegated. There were differences between the cases in relation to understanding which nursing tasks required delegation. HCAs in Case A undertook clinical vital sign assessments and documentation. HCAs in Case B did not routinely undertake these activities. Delegation and assignment were influenced by the organizational factors, e.g., model of care, absence of delegation policies, inadequate RN education on delegation, and a lack of RN and HCA role clarity. Concluding Statement: Nurse staffing levels and skill mix in long-term care settings continue to change with more HCAs providing more direct care and support. With decreasing RN staffing levels RNs will be required to delegate and assign more direct care to HCAs. There is a requirement to distinguish between RN assignment and delegation at policy, regulation, and organizational levels.

Keywords: assignment, delegation, registered nurse, scope of practice

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Authors: Adnan Gohar

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This research work aims the importance of internal employees in the making of a brand (cell phone) through customer satisfaction which basically explains the connection of internal employees with external customers. This research is designed to measure the satisfaction level of internal employees which further connects to the product evolution as a brand leaving a brand image in the eye of the external customer. The main focus is that internal employees are as important as external customers for the uplift of the product resulting in the brand. Internal employees are individual organization employees, vendors, departments, and distributors.

Keywords: brand building, customer satisfaction, internal employees, mobile franchise

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Authors: Orkide Donma, Mustafa M. Donma

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Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is widely used and an accepted measure of energy expenditure. Its principal determinant is body mass. However, this parameter is also correlated with a variety of other factors. The objective of this study is to measure BMR and compare it with the values obtained from predictive equations in adults classified according to their body mass index (BMI) values. 276 adults were included into the scope of this study. Their age, height and weight values were recorded. Five groups were designed based on their BMI values. First group (n = 85) was composed of individuals with BMI values varying between 18.5 and 24.9 kg/m². Those with BMI values varying from 25.0 to 29.9 kg/m² constituted Group 2 (n = 90). Individuals with 30.0-34.9 kg/m², 35.0-39.9 kg/m², > 40.0 kg/m² were included in Group 3 (n = 53), 4 (n = 28) and 5 (n = 20), respectively. The most commonly used equations to be compared with the measured BMR values were selected. For this purpose, the values were calculated by the use of four equations to predict BMR values, by name, introduced by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/World Health Organization (WHO)/United Nations University (UNU), Harris and Benedict, Owen and Mifflin. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, post-Hoc Tukey and Pearson’s correlation tests were performed by a statistical program designed for Windows (SPSS, version 16.0). p values smaller than 0.05 were accepted as statistically significant. Mean ± SD of groups 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 for measured BMR in kcal were 1440.3 ± 210.0, 1618.8 ± 268.6, 1741.1 ± 345.2, 1853.1 ± 351.2 and 2028.0 ± 412.1, respectively. Upon evaluation of the comparison of means among groups, differences were highly significant between Group 1 and each of the remaining four groups. The values were increasing from Group 2 to Group 5. However, differences between Group 2 and Group 3, Group 3 and Group 4, Group 4 and Group 5 were not statistically significant. These insignificances were lost in predictive equations proposed by Harris and Benedict, FAO/WHO/UNU and Owen. For Mifflin, the insignificance was limited only to Group 4 and Group 5. Upon evaluation of the correlations of measured BMR and the estimated values computed from prediction equations, the lowest correlations between measured BMR and estimated BMR values were observed among the individuals within normal BMI range. The highest correlations were detected in individuals with BMI values varying between 30.0 and 34.9 kg/m². Correlations between measured BMR values and BMR values calculated by FAO/WHO/UNU as well as Owen were the same and the highest. In all groups, the highest correlations were observed between BMR values calculated from Mifflin and Harris and Benedict equations using age as an additional parameter. In conclusion, the unique resemblance of the FAO/WHO/UNU and Owen equations were pointed out. However, mean values obtained from FAO/WHO/UNU were much closer to the measured BMR values. Besides, the highest correlations were found between BMR calculated from FAO/WHO/UNU and measured BMR. These findings suggested that FAO/WHO/UNU was the most reliable equation, which may be used in conditions when the measured BMR values are not available.

Keywords: adult, basal metabolic rate, fao/who/unu, obesity, prediction equations

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Authors: Asmaa Baghli

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Self-acceptance is one of the most pertinent notions that attracted the attention of many scholars. These latters believed that the sense of self-acceptance for people contributes in the emergence of their self-esteem and helps to improve their efficacy level. Simply defined, self-acceptance stands for the ability of the person to admire and accept herself and her potentials. This fact is believed to participate in the personal image creation depending on the qualities and features possessed. Hitherto, the following paper aims, first, to provide a brief and concise definition of self-acceptance, self-esteem and self-efficacy. It tries to explain the correlation between the three concepts along with its linkage to language teaching. Then, it examines teachers’ acceptance level and its influence on their classroom actions. For that purpose, the main methodology undertaken is the mixed method. That means the combination between both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The prime tools selected are a questionnaire and self-acceptance test for teachers. Finally, it suggests some techniques for developing teachers’ self-acceptance.

Keywords: competence, development, efficacy, Self-acceptance, self-esteem, teachers

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Authors: Amir Ghasem Norouzi, Mahdi Zowghi

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This study propose a framework based on the fuzzy T-Norms, T-conorm, a novel operator, and multi-expert approach to help organizations build awareness of the critical influential factors on the success of knowledge management (KM) implementation, analysis the failure of knowledge management. This study considers the complex uncertainty concept that is in knowledge management implementing capability (KMIC) and it is used by fuzzy logic for this reason. The contribution of our paper is shown with an empirical study in a nonprofit educational organization evaluation.

Keywords: fuzzy logic, knowledge management, multi expert analysis, consensus oriented average operator

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Authors: Lisandro Blas, Héctor Tamanini

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From earliest 90 to now, no many companies or organization can “really” implement a knowledge management (KM) system that works (no only viewed from a measurement model, but in this continuity). Which are the reasons of that? Some of the reason maybe could be embedded in how KM is demanded (usefulness, priority, experts, a definition of KM) vs the importance and resources that the organizations afford (budget, responsible of a specific area of KM, intangibility). Many organizations “claim” the importance of Knowledge Management but thhese demands are not reflecting these claims in their future actions. With another’s tools or managements ideas the organizations put the economics and human resources to work. Why it´s not occur in KM? This paper tray to explain some of this reasons and tray to deal with this situations through a survey done in 2011 for a IAPG (Argentinean Institute from Oil & Gas) Congress.

Keywords: knowledge management into organizations, new perspectives, failure in implementation, claim

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Authors: R. S. Vikaash, S. Vinodh, T. S. Sai Prashanth

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Six sigma is a defect reduction strategy enabling modern organizations to achieve business prosperity. The practitioners are in need to select best six sigma project among the available alternatives to achieve customer satisfaction. In this circumstance, this article presents a study in which six sigma project selection is formulated as Multi-Criteria Decision-Making(MCDM) problem and the best project has been found using AHP. Five main governing criteria and 14 sub criteria are being formulated. The decision maker’s inputs were gathered and computations were performed. The project with the high values from the set of projects is selected as the best project. Based on calculations, Project “P1”is found to be the best and further deployment actions have been undertaken in the organization.

Keywords: six Sigma, project selection, MCDM, analytic hierarchy process, business prosperity

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Authors: Ishrar Tabassum, Jay Andrew Saptok, Khalid Raihan Kabir, Elmee Tabassum

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The purpose of this study is to bring light to the current state of the working environments in the corporate environment and other such institutions with a particular focus on the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) and its guidelines for accommodating the physically disabled. Data were collected via semi-formal interviews, site visits and focus groups conducted using a preset questionnaire as the guidelines. After conducting surveys at corporate offices of 20 organizations from major commercial sectors in Dhaka city, the auditing showed many inadequacies, as aside from the larger corporate offices, the offices have little to no accessibility for the physically disabled. This study hopes to shed light on the fact that the existing BNBCs lack of emphasis on ensuring the accessibility of the handicapped in corporate buildings in the hope that, in the future, the physically disabled will have greater opportunities at being productive members of the workforce.

Keywords: person with disability, PWD, corporate buildings, Dhaka City

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Authors: E. O. E. Nnadi

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Transportation is a critical factor in the economic growth and development of any nation, region or state. Good transportation network supports every sector of the economy like the manufacturing, transportation and encourages investors thereby affect the overall economic prosperity. The paper evaluates the impact of transportation on the economic growth of Nigeria using south eastern states as a case study. The choice of the case study is its importance as the commercial and industrial nerve of the country. About 200 respondents who are of different professions such as dealers in goods, transporters, contractors, consultants, bankers were selected and a set of questionnaire were administered to using the systematic sampling technique in the five states of the region. Descriptive statistics and relative importance index (RII) technique was employed for the analysis of the data gathered. The findings of the analysis reveal that Nigeria has the least effective ratio per population in Africa of 949.91 km/Person. Conclusion was drawn to improve road network in the area and the country as a whole to enhance the economic activities of the people.

Keywords: economic growth, south-east, transportation, transportation cost, Nigeria

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Authors: Talal Alqahtani

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For all institutions, either public or private, communication is important now more than ever. This is because the importance of communication has grown over the years, and it has the ability to either break or make an organization. With globalization, the changing technology, and other emergent issues that affect organizations, the communication given out has had to be better, sharper, and both proactive and reactive. This is the reason why the importance of public relations has been on the increase. Institutions realize the importance of having a good image and having public relations experts who can effectively manage communication in an institution easily in times of crisis. Public relations itself is not, however, effective, and this has led to the adoption of rhetoric in communication. Rhetoric use has had a long transformation because, in the past, it was only used in politics. Rhetoric in communication has come to be appreciated and adopted by many diverse fields and sectors. This study looks at the job of rhetoric in public relations practice and how it can identify with the administration of an institution's notoriety.

Keywords: communication, notoriety, rhetoric, public relation

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Authors: Mputu Ngandu Simon

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Culture and religion are two of the most significant markers of an individual or group's identity. Religion finds its expression in a given culture, and culture is the costume in which a religion is dressed. In other words, there is a crucial relationship between religion and culture which should not be ignored. On the one hand, religion influences the way in which a culture is consumed. A person's consumption of a certain cultural practice is influenced by his/her religious identity. On the other hand, cultural identity plays an important role in how a religion is practiced by its adherents. Some cultural practices become more credible when interpreted in religious terms just as religious doctrines and dogmas need cultural interpretation to be understood by a given people in a given context. This relationship goes so deep that sometimes the boundaries between culture and religion become blurred, and people end up mixing religion and culture. In some cases, the two are considered to be one and the same thing. However, despite this apparent sameness, religion and culture are two distinct aspects of identity, and they should always be considered as such. One results from knowledge, while the other has beliefs as its foundation. This essay explores the difference between cultural and religious identity by drawing from existing literature on this topic as a whole before applying that knowledge to two specific case studies: Christianity and Islam in some African and Asian countries.

Keywords: culture, religion, identity, knowledge, belief

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Authors: Mikhail V. Khachaturyan, Inga A. Koryagina, Maria Nikishova

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The study investigates the impact of the ongoing financial crisis, started in the 2^nd half of 2014, on marketing budgets spent by Fast-moving consumer goods companies. In these conditions, special importance is given to efficient possessory risk management systems. The main objective for establishing and developing possessory risk management systems for FMCG companies in a crisis is to analyze the data relating to the external environment and consumer behavior in a crisis. Another important objective for possessory risk management systems of FMCG companies is to develop measures and mechanisms to maintain and stimulate sales. In this regard, analysis of risks and threats which consumers define as the main reasons affecting their level of consumption become important. It is obvious that in crisis conditions the effective risk management systems responsible for development and implementation of strategies for consumer demand stimulation, as well as the identification, analysis, assessment and management of other types of risks of economic security will be the key to sustainability of a company. In terms of financial and economic crisis, the problem of forming and developing possessory risk management systems becomes critical not only in the context of management models of FMCG companies, but for all the companies operating in other sectors of the Russian economy. This study attempts to analyze the specifics of formation and development of company possessory risk management systems. In the modern economy, special importance among all the types of owner’s risks has the risk of reduction in consumer activity. This type of risk is common not only for the consumer goods trade. Study of consumer activity decline is especially important for Russia due to domestic market of consumer goods being still in the development stage, despite its significant growth. In this regard, it is especially important to form and develop possessory risk management systems for FMCG companies. The authors offer their own interpretation of the process of forming and developing possessory risk management systems within owner’s management models of FMCG companies as well as in Russian economy in general. Proposed methods and mechanisms of problem analysis of formation and development of possessory risk management systems in FMCG companies and the results received can be helpful for researchers interested in problems of consumer goods market development in Russia and overseas.

Keywords: FMCG companies, marketing budget, risk management, owner, Russian economy, organization, formation, development, system

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Authors: M. Yoneda

Abstract:

In this paper, a lateral walking design force per person is proposed and compared with Imperial College test results. Numerical simulations considering the proposed walking design force which is incorporated into the neural-oscillator model are carried out placing much emphasis on the synchronization (the lock-in phenomenon) for a pedestrian bridge model with the span length of 50 m. Numerical analyses are also conducted for an existing pedestrian suspension bridge. As compared with full scale measurements for this suspension bridge, it is confirmed that the analytical method based on the neural-oscillator model might be one of the useful ways to explain the synchronization (the lock-in phenomenon) of pedestrians being on the bridge.

Keywords: pedestrian bridge, human-induced lateral vibration, neural-oscillator, full scale measurement, dynamic response analysis

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Authors: S. F. Bayona, J. Nunez, D. Paez

Abstract:

The diagnostic processes have been consolidated as fundamental tools in the adequate knowledge of organizations and their processes. The diagnosis is related to the interpretation of the data, findings and the relevant information, to determine problems, causes, or the simple state and behavior of a process, without including a solution to the problems detected. The objective of this work is to identify the necessary stages to diagnose the logistic processes in a metalworking company, from the literary revision of different disciplines. A total of 62 articles were chosen to identify, through bibliometric analysis, the most cited articles, as well as the most frequent authors and journals. The results allowed to identify the two fundamental stages in the diagnostic process: a primary phase (general) based on the logical subjectivity of the knowledge of the person who evaluates, and the secondary phase (specific), related to the interpretation of the results, findings or data. Also, two phases were identified, one related to the definition of the scope of the actions to be developed and the other, as an initial description of what was observed in the process.

Keywords: business, diagnostic, management, process

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Authors: Mashad Maramaei, Behrooz Chogan, Reza Ahmadi

Abstract:

Human health and the health of his watershed are inseparable. This is because a watershed is an interconnected system of "land", "water", "air" and "life". Nowadays, most of the world's watersheds show symptoms of unhealthiness and require a prompt solution. It is believed that suitable solution is a participatory and Integrated Watershed Management (IWM). In recent decades the Hyrcanian forests in the north of Iran, which belongs to the end of the third geological era, are suffering from many environmental challenges such as land degradation, increasing trends of flood, drought and accelerated soil erosion. These challenges in the main forested area of the country impose many tangible and intangible damages and human losses. This is despite the fact that in the past decades, forestry programs, watershed management and other activities in the region have been implemented in a parallel and uncoordinated manner. Therefore, recently; the Natural Resources and Watershed Management Organization has resorted to the concept of IWM planning the Hyrcanian watersheds. The Chelchai watershed as mostly degraded watershed in the eastern part of the Hyrcanian forests has been selected as a pilot watershed for implementation of the IWM. It has a drainage area of 25680 hectares and receives an average annual precipitation of 650 mm. In this mountainous region, the average temperature is 17.3 degrees Celsius. About 34% of the watershed is under cultivation, 64% under forest cover, 2% under built up areas and etc. In this research, the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the IWM model implementation of the Natural Resources and Watershed Management Organization has been evaluated based on questionnaire method and field studies. The results indicated that IWM activities in the study area should be reconsidered and revived. Based on this research and the lessons learned during five years' experience in the Chelchai watershed; authors believe that seven important tasks are necessary for socially acceptable and successful implementation of IWM projects. These are: 1) Establishment of Local Coordination Committee (LCC) at the watershed level 2) working for development of a IWM law among government organizations to organize watershed management and eliminate parallel and contradictory activities 3) More investment on education of local communities, especially women and children 4) Development of trust builder and pattern projects that showing best agricultural and livestock management activities at each of 26 villages 5) Assigning forest protection to local communities. 6) Capacity building of government stakeholders. 7) Helping in the marketing of watershed products.

Keywords: integrated watershed management, Chelchai, Hyrcanian forests, Iran

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Authors: Grace Omowunmi Soyebi

Abstract:

A computerized medical record system is a collection of medical information about a person that is stored on a computer. One principal problem of most hospitals in rural areas is using the file management system for keeping records. A lot of time is wasted when a patient visits the hospital, probably in an emergency, and the nurse or attendant has to search through voluminous files before the patient's file can be retrieved; this may cause an unexpected to happen to the patient. This data mining application is to be designed using a structured system analysis and design method which will help in a well-articulated analysis of the existing file management system, feasibility study, and proper documentation of the design and implementation of a computerized medical record system. This computerized system will replace the file management system and help to quickly retrieve a patient's record with increased data security, access clinical records for decision-making, and reduce the time range at which a patient gets attended to.

Keywords: programming, data, software development, innovation

Procedia PDF Downloads 81