Search results for: Performance rating

Authors: Yingjie Zhang, Ming Li, Ying Zhang, Jing Zhang, Zuolei Hu

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In the actual start-up process of DC motors, the DC drive system often faces a conflict between energy consumption and acceleration performance. To resolve the conflict, this paper proposes a comprehensive performance index that energy consumption index is added on the basis of classical control performance index in the DC motor starting process. Taking the comprehensive performance index as the cost function, particle swarm optimization algorithm is designed to optimize the comprehensive performance. Then it conducts simulations on the optimization of the comprehensive performance of the DC motor on condition that the weight coefficient of the energy consumption index should be properly designed. The simulation results show that as the weight of energy consumption increased, the energy efficiency was significantly improved at the expense of a slight sacrifice of fastness indicators with the comprehensive performance index method. The energy efficiency was increased from 63.18% to 68.48% and the response time reduced from 0.2875s to 0.1736s simultaneously compared with traditional proportion integrals differential controller in energy saving.

Keywords: comprehensive performance index, energy consumption, acceleration performance, particle swarm optimal control

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Authors: P. F. Wong, H. Salleh, F. A. Rahim

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The adoption of building information modeling (BIM) is increasing in the construction industry. However, quantity surveyors are slow in adoption compared to other professions due to lack of awareness of the BIM’s potential in their profession. It is still unclear on how BIM application can enhance quantity surveyors’ work performance and project performance. The aim of this research is to identify the capabilities of BIM in quantity surveying practices and examine the relationship between BIM capabilities and project performance. Questionnaire survey and interviews were adopted for data collection. Literature reviews identified there are eleven BIM capabilities in quantity surveying practice. Questionnaire results showed that there are several BIM capabilities significantly correlated with project performance in time, cost and quality aspects and the results were validated through interviews. These findings show that BIM has the capabilities to enhance quantity surveyors’ performances and subsequently improved project performance.

Keywords: Building Information Modeling (BIM), quantity surveyors, capability, project performance

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Authors: Yan Wang, Yuan George Shan

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This study examines whether earnings management reduces firm performance and how other comprehensive income (OCI) disclosure and strong corporate governance restrain earnings management. Using a data set comprising 6,260 firm-year observations from listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges during 2009–2015, the results indicate that OCI disclosure generally improves firm performance, but earnings management lowers firm performance. The study also finds that OCI disclosure and corporate governance are complementary in restraining earnings manipulation and promote firm performance. The implications of the findings are relevant policy-makers and regulators in assisting them evaluate the consequences of convergence of Chinese Accounting Standards with the International Financial Reporting Standards.

Keywords: other comprehensive income, corporate governance, earnings management, firm performance, China

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Authors: Shun Horikoshi, Tohru Kawabe

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This study presents performance analysis results of SMC (Sliding mode control) with changing the chattering functions applied to slip suppression problem of electric vehicles (EVs). In SMC, chattering phenomenon always occurs through high frequency switching of the control inputs. It is undesirable phenomenon and degrade the control performance, since it causes the oscillations of the control inputs. Several studies have been conducted on this problem by introducing some general saturation function. However, study about whether saturation function was really best and the performance analysis when using the other functions, weren’t being done so much. Therefore, in this paper, several candidate functions for SMC are selected and control performance of candidate functions is analyzed. In the analysis, evaluation function based on the trade-off between slip suppression performance and chattering reduction performance is proposed. The analyses are conducted in several numerical simulations of slip suppression problem of EVs. Then, we can see that there is no difference of employed candidate functions in chattering reduction performance. On the other hand, in slip suppression performance, the saturation function is excellent overall. So, we conclude the saturation function is most suitable for slip suppression sliding mode control.

Keywords: sliding mode control, chattering function, electric vehicle, slip suppression, performance analysis

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Authors: Yen-Mei Lee

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The concept of a knowledge-behavior gap has been discussed for several years. It is addressed that an individual’s knowledge does not sufficiently transfer to his or her actual actions. This concept is mostly focused on fields related to medicine or applied to health care issues to explain how people or patients connect their personal knowledge to actual health care behaviors. To our knowledge, seldomly has this research been applied to discuss people’s online information seeking behavior. In the current study, the main purpose is to investigate the relationship between web users’ personal values and their actual performances when seeking information on the Internet. The total number of twenty-eight participants, divided into one experienced group (n=14) and one novice group (n=14), were recruited and asked to complete a self-report questionnaire of fifty items related to information seeking actions and behaviors. During the execution, participants needed to rate the importance level (how important each item is) and the performance level (how often they actually do each item) from 1 to 10 points on each item. In this paper, the mean scores of the importance and the performance level are analyzed and discussed. The results show that there is a gap between web user’s knowledge and their actual online seeking behaviors. Both experienced group and novice group have higher average scores of the importance level (experienced group = 7.57, novice group = 6.01) than the actual performance level (experienced group = 6.89, novice group = 5.00) in terms of the fifty online information seeking actions. On the other hand, the experienced group perceives more importance of the fifty online seeking actions and performs actual behaviors better than the novice group. Moreover, experienced participants express a consistent result between their concept knowledge and actual behaviors. For instance, they feel extending a seeking strategy is important and frequently perform this action when seeking online. However, novice participants do not have a consistency between their knowledge and behaviors. For example, though they perceive browsing and judging information are less important than they get lost in the online information seeking process. However, in the actual behavior rating, the scores show that novices do browsing and judge information more often than they get lost when seeking information online. These results, therefore, help scholars and educators have a better understanding of the difference between experienced and novice web users regarding their concept knowledge and actual behaviors. In future study, figuring out how to narrow down the knowledge-behavior gap and create practical guidance for novice users to increase their online seeking efficiency is crucial. Not only could it help experienced users be aware of their actual information seeking behaviors, but also help the novice become mastery to concisely obtain information on the Internet.

Keywords: experienced web user, information seeking behavior, knowledge-behavior gap, novice, online seeking efficiency

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Authors: Ferhat Yilmaz

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Defense sector is one of the most important areas where logistics is used extensively. Nations give importance to their defense spending in order to survive in their geography. Parallel to the rising crises around the world, governments increase their defense spending; however, resources are limited while the needs are infinite. Therefore, countries try to develop a more effective use of their defense budget. In order to make logistics more effective and efficient, performance- based logistical system was developed. This article tries to explain the Performance-based Logistical System, its employment process, employment areas, and how it will be used along with other main systems in the Turkey.

Keywords: performance, performance based logistics applications, logistical system, Turkey

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Authors: P. C. Tewari, Rajiv Kumar, Dinesh Khanduja

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This paper discusses the performance modeling and availability analysis of Yarn Dyeing System of a Textile Industry. The Textile Industry is a complex and repairable engineering system. Yarn Dyeing System of Textile Industry consists of five subsystems arranged in series configuration. For performance modeling and analysis of availability, a performance evaluating model has been developed with the help of mathematical formulation based on Markov-Birth-Death Process. The differential equations have been developed on the basis of Probabilistic Approach using a Transition Diagram. These equations have further been solved using normalizing condition in order to develop the steady state availability, a performance measure of the system concerned. The system performance has been further analyzed with the help of decision matrices. These matrices provide various availability levels for different combinations of failure and repair rates for various subsystems. The findings of this paper are, therefore, considered to be useful for the analysis of availability and determination of the best possible maintenance strategies which can be implemented in future to enhance the system performance.

Keywords: performance modeling, markov process, steady state availability, availability analysis

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Authors: A. A. Okafor, C. H. Achebe, J. L. Chukwuneke, C. G. Ozoegwu

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The performance of an engine whose basic design parameters are known can be predicted with the assistance of simulation programs into the less time, cost and near value of actual. This paper presents a comprehensive mathematical model of the performance parameters of four stroke spark ignition engine. The essence of this research work is to develop a mathematical model for the analysis of engine performance parameters of four stroke spark ignition engine before embarking on full scale construction, this will ensure that only optimal parameters are in the design and development of an engine and also allow to check and develop the design of the engine and it’s operation alternatives in an inexpensive way and less time, instead of using experimental method which requires costly research test beds. To achieve this, equations were derived which describe the performance parameters (sfc, thermal efficiency, mep and A/F). The equations were used to simulate and optimize the engine performance of the model for various engine speeds. The optimal values obtained for the developed bivariate mathematical models are: sfc is 0.2833kg/kwh, efficiency is 28.77% and a/f is 20.75.

Keywords: bivariate models, engine performance, injector engine, optimization, performance parameters, simulation, spark ignition

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Authors: Zineb Abidi, Marc-Arthur Diaye

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

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

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Authors: J. Balaraju, M. Govinda Raj, C. S. N. Murthy

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Every industry is constantly looking for enhancement of its day to day production and productivity. This can be possible only by maintaining the men and machinery at its adequate level. Prediction of performance characteristics plays an important role in performance evaluation of the equipment. Analytical and statistical approaches will take a bit more time to solve complex problems such as performance estimations as compared with software-based approaches. Keeping this in view the present study deals with an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) modelling of a Load-Haul-Dump (LHD) machine to predict the performance characteristics such as reliability, availability and preventive maintenance (PM). A feed-forward-back-propagation ANN technique has been used to model the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) training algorithm. The performance characteristics were computed using Isograph Reliability Workbench 13.0 software. These computed values were validated using predicted output responses of ANN models. Further, recommendations are given to the industry based on the performed analysis for improvement of equipment performance.

Keywords: load-haul-dump, LHD, artificial neural network, ANN, performance, reliability, availability, preventive maintenance

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Authors: Alonggot Limcharoen, Jintana Wannarat, Vorawat Panich

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This study aims to investigate the balancing of the number of operators (Line Balancing technique) in the production line of hard disk drive components in order to increase efficiency. At present, the trend of using hard disk drives has continuously declined leading to limits in a company’s revenue potential. It is important to improve and develop the production process to create market share and to have the ability to compete with competitors with a higher value and quality. Therefore, an effective tool is needed to support such matters. In this research, the Arena program was applied to analyze the results both before and after the improvement. Finally, the precedent was used before proceeding with the real process. There were 14 work stations with 35 operators altogether in the RA production process where this study was conducted. In the actual process, the average production time was 84.03 seconds per product piece (by timing 30 times in each work station) along with a rating assessment by implementing the Westinghouse principles. This process showed that the rating was 123% underlying an assumption of 5% allowance time. Consequently, the standard time was 108.53 seconds per piece. The Takt time was calculated from customer needs divided by working duration in one day; 3.66 seconds per piece. Of these, the proper number of operators was 30 people. That meant five operators should be eliminated in order to increase the production process. After that, a production model was created from the actual process by using the Arena program to confirm model reliability; the outputs from imitation were compared with the original (actual process) and this comparison indicated that the same output meaning was reliable. Then, worker numbers and their job responsibilities were remodeled into the Arena program. Lastly, the efficiency of production process enhanced from 70.82% to 82.63% according to the target.

Keywords: hard disk drive, line balancing, ECRS, simulation, arena program

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Authors: Jing Qingfeng, Wu Jiajia

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Due to the crowded orbits and shortage of frequency resources, utilizing of MIMO technology to improve spectrum efficiency and increase the capacity has become a necessary trend of broadband satellite communication. We analyze the main influenced factors and compare the BER performance of space-time block code (STBC) scheme and space-time trellis code (STTC) scheme. This paper emphatically studies the bit error rate (BER) performance of STTC and STBC under Rayleigh channel. The main emphasis is placed on the effects of the factors, such as terminal environment and elevation angles, on the BER performance of STBC and STTC schemes. Simulation results indicate that performance of STTC under Rayleigh channel is obviously improved with the increasing of transmitting and receiving antennas numbers, but the encoder state has little impact on the performance. Under Rayleigh channel, performance of Alamouti code is better than that of STTC.

Keywords: MIMO, space time block code (STBC), space time trellis code (STTC), Rayleigh channel

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Authors: Tak Mau Simon Chan

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While there is growing reflection of the adverse impacts instigated by the flourishing gaming industry on the physical health and job satisfaction of those who work in Macau casinos, there is also a critical void in our understanding of the mental health of croupiers and how casino employment interacts with the family system. From a systemic approach, it would be most effective to examine the ‘dealer issues’ collectively and offer assistance to both the individual dealer and the family system of dealers. Therefore, with the use of a mixed method study design, the levels of anxiety, depression and sleeping quality of a sample of 1124 dealers who are working in Macau casinos have been measured in the present study, and 113 dealers have been interviewed about the impacts of casino employment on their family life. This study presents some very important findings. First, the quantitative study indicates that gender is a significant predictor of depression and anxiety levels, whilst lower income means less quality sleep. The Pearson’s correlation coefficients show that as the Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale (ZSAS) scores increase, the Zung Self-rating Depression Scale (ZSDS) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores will also simultaneously increase. Higher income, therefore, might partly explain for the reason why mothers choose to work in the gaming industry even with shift work involved and a stressful work environment. Second, the findings from the qualitative study show that aside from the positive impacts on family finances, the shift work and job stress to some degree negatively affect family responsibilities and relationships. There are resultant family issues, including missed family activities, and reduced parental care and guidance, marital intimacy, and communication with family members. Despite the mixed views on the gender role differences, the respondents generally agree that female dealers have more family and child-minding responsibilities at home, and thus it is more difficult for them to balance work and family. Consequently, they may be more vulnerable to stress at work. Thirdly, there are interrelationships between work and family, which are based on a systemic inquiry that incorporates work- individual- family. Poor physical and psychological health due to shift work or a harmful work environment could affect not just work performance, but also life at home. Therefore, a few practice points about 1) work-family conflicts in Macau; 2) families-in- transition in Macau; and 3) gender and class sensitivity in Macau; are provided for social workers and family practitioners who will greatly benefit these families, especially whose family members are working in the gaming industry in Macau. It is concluded that in addressing the cultural phenomenon of “dealer’s complex” in Macau, a systemic approach is recommended that addresses both personal psychological needs and family issue of dealers.

Keywords: family, work stress, mental health, Macau, dealers, gaming industry

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Authors: Hussen Nasir, Mohd Fitri Mansor, Noor Hidayah Abu

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Liberation of the SME market led to a dynamic competitive business environment. SMEs are considered as an engine for economic growth of most nations. SMEs must be willing to adopt the latest technology and incorporate innovation as part of their business strategies. The aim of this study is to examine the innovation practices (innovation strategy and innovation culture) towards sustaining SME’s performance and the moderating effect of intellectual capital on the relationship of innovation practices on SME’s performance. The study will identify the strongest variables that influence the SMEs performance and proposed several hypothesis toward innovation and intellectual capital. Finally, the study will propose a theoretical framework. The current study will contribute to the knowledge of important on the element of intellectual capital as well as innovation practices in the SMEs performance.

Keywords: intellectual capital, innovation practices, SMEs, performance, innovation strategy, innovation culture

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Authors: Qiaowen Lin

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The 3D cadastre is an inevitable choice to meet the needs of real cadastral management. Nowadays, more attention is given to the technical aspects of 3D cadastre, resulting in the imbalance within this field. To fulfill this research gap, the stakeholder, which has been regarded as the determining factor in cadastral change has been studied. Delphi method, Michael rating, and stakeholder mapping are used to identify and classify the stakeholders in 3D cadastre. It is concluded that the project managers should pay more attention to the interesting appeal of the key stakeholders and different coping strategies should be adopted to facilitate the transition to 3D cadastre.

Keywords: stakeholders, three dimension, cadastre, transtion

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Authors: Arif Budiman

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Any organization or company that wishes to achieve vision, mission, and goals of the organization is required to implement a performance management system or known as the Performance Management System (PMS) in every part of the whole organization. PMS is a tool to help visualize the direction and work program of the organization to achieve the goal. The challenge is PMS should not stop merely as a visualization tool to achieve the vision and mission of the organization, but PMS should also be able to create a high-performance culture that is inherent in each individual of the organization. Establishment of a culture within an organization requires the support of top leaders and also requires a system or governance that encourages every individual in the organization to be involved in any work program of the organization. Keywords of creating a high-performance culture are the formation of communication pattern involving the whole individual, either vertically or horizontally, and performed consistently and persistently by all individuals in each line of the organization. PT Pertamina (Persero) as the state-owned national energy company holds a system to internalize the culture of high performance through a system called Performance Management System Cycle (PMS Cycle). This system has 7 stages of the cycle, those are: (1) defining vision, mission and strategic plan of the company, (2) defining key performance indicator of each line and the individual (‘expectation setting conversation’), (3) defining performance target and performance agreement, (4) monitoring performance on a monthly regular basis (‘pulse check’), (5) implementing performance dialogue between leaders and staffs periodically every 3 months (‘performance dialogue’), (6) defining rewards and consequences based on the achievement of the performance of each line and the individual, and (7) calculating the final performance value achieved by each line and individual from one period of the current year. Perform PMS is a continual communication running throughout the year, that is why any three performance discussion that should be performed, include expectation setting conversations, pulse check and performance dialogue. In addition, another significant point and necessary undertaken to complete the assessment of individual performance assessment is soft competencies through 360-degree assessment by leaders, staffs, and peers.

Keywords: 360-degree assessment, expectation setting conversation, performance management system cycle, performance dialogue, pulse check

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Authors: Luisa Unda, Kamran Ahmed, Paul Mather

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We examine the effect of board characteristics on the performance and asset quality of credit unions in Australia, using a large sample covering the period 2004-2012. Credit unions are unique in that they are customer-owned financial institutions and directors are democratically elected by members, which is distinctly different from other financial institutions, such as commercial banks. We find that board remuneration, board expertise, and attendance at board meetings have significantly positive impacts on credit union performance and asset quality, while board members who hold multiple directorships (busy directors), have a significant negative impact on credit union performance. Financial performance also improves with larger boards and long-tenured directors in credit unions. All of these relations hold after we control for alternative measures of performance, credit union characteristics and endogeneity problem.

Keywords: credit unions, corporate governance, board of directors, financial performance, Australia, asset quality

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Authors: Laissa Mae Francisco, John Rolex Ingreso, Anna Krizel Menguito, Criselda Robrigado, Rej Maegan Tuazon

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This study aims to determine and describe the existing relationship between number sense proficiency and problem-solving performance of grade seven students from Victorino Mapa High School, Manila. A paper pencil exam containing of 50-item number sense test and 5-item problem-solving test which measures their number sense proficiency and problem-solving performance adapted from McIntosh, Reys, and Bana were used as the research instruments. The data obtained from this study were interpreted and analyzed using the Pearson – Product Moment Coefficient of Correlation to determine the relationship between the two variables. It was found out that students who were low in number sense proficiency tend to be the students with poor problem-solving performance and students with medium number sense proficiency are most likely to have an average problem-solving performance. Likewise, students with high number sense proficiency are those who do excellently in problem-solving performance.

Keywords: number sense, performance, problem solving, proficiency

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Authors: Bakr Ali Al-Gamrh, Ku Nor Izah B. Ku Ismail

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We investigate the relationship between corporate governance, leverage, risk, and firm performance. We use a firm level panel that spans the period 2008 to 2012 of all listed firms on Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange and Dubai Financial Market. After constructing an index of corporate governance strength, we find a negative effect of corporate governance on firm performance. We, however, discover that corporate governance strength indirectly improves the negative influence of leverage on firm performance in normal times. On the contrary, the results completely reversed when there is a black swan event. Corporate governance strength plays a significantly negative role in moderating the relationship between leverage and firm performance during the financial crisis. We also reveal that corporate governance strength increases firms’ risk and deteriorates performance during crisis. Results provide evidence that corporate governance indirectly plays a completely different role in different time periods.

Keywords: corporate governance, firm performance, risk, leverage, the UAE

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Authors: Zimasa Siyasanga Gysman

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This paper assesses the history of electronic music and its performance to illustrate that machines and technology have largely influenced how humans perform electronic music. The history of electronic music mainly focuses on the composition and production of electronic music with little to no attention paid to its performance by the majority of scholars in this field. Therefore, establishing a history of performance involves investigating what compositions of electronic music called for in the production of electronic music performance. This investigation into seminal works in the history of electronic music, therefore, illustrates the aesthetics of electronic music performance and the aesthetics established in the very beginnings of electronic music performance demonstrate the aesthetics of electronic music which are still prevalent today. The key aesthetics are the repurposing of technology and the hybridisation of technology. Performers take familiar technology (technology that society has become accustomed to using in daily life), not necessarily related to music or performance and use it as an instrument in their performances, such as a rotary dial telephone. Likewise, since the beginnings of electronic music, producers have always experimented with the latest technologies available to them in their compositions and performances. The spirit of performers of electronic music, therefore, revolves around repurposing familiar technologies and using them in new ways, whilst similarly experimenting with new technologies in their performances. This process of hybridisation plays a key role in the production and performance of electronic music in the twentieth century. Through various interviews with performers of electronic music, it is shown that these aesthetics are driving performance practices in the twenty-first century.

Keywords: body, hybridisation, performance, sound

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Authors: Mohammad Salameh Almasarweh

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The primary aim of this research is to explore the mediating role of physiological climate in the relationship between green HRM practices (specifically, GHRM practices, GHRM recruitment, GHRM training, GHRM performance appraisal, and GHRM empowerment) and employee performance within the hotel industry. The study revealed that green HRM practices, encompassing green recruiting, green training, green performance evaluation, and green empowerment, exerted a statistically significant influence on employee performance. A quantitative method was employed for this research, focusing on hotel managers in Jordan as the study's population. Data were collected through a questionnaire distributed to a convenience sample of 300 managers from various hotels in Jordan. The results of the study align with prior research, supporting the notion that green HRM practices positively impact both employee performance and physiological climate. Furthermore, the findings of this study indicate that physiological climate acts as a mediating factor in the relationship between green HRM practices and employee performance in Jordanian hotels.

Keywords: GHRM practices, GHRM recruitment, GHRM training, GHRM performance appraisal, GHRM empowerment, employee’s performance, physiological climate

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Authors: Juliza Hidayati, Yesie M. Sinuhaji, Sawarni Hasibuan

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A company producing drinking water through many incompatibility issues that affect supply chain performance. The study was conducted to determine the factors that affect the performance of the supply chain and improve it. To obtain the dominant factors affecting the performance of the supply chain used Analytic Network Process, while to improve performance is done by using Kaizen. Factors affecting the performance of the supply chain to be a reference to identify the cause of the non-conformance. Results weighting using ANP indicates that the dominant factor affecting the level of performance is the precision of the number of shipments (15%), the ability of the fulfillment of the booking amount (12%), and the number of rejected products when signing (12%). Incompatibility of the factors that affect the performance of the supply chain are identified, so that found the root cause of the problem is most dominant. Based on the weight of Risk Priority Number (RPN) gained the most dominant root cause of the problem, namely the poorly maintained engine, the engine worked for three shifts, machine parts that are not contained in the plant. Improvements then performed using the Kaizen method of systematic and sustainable.

Keywords: analytic network process, booking amount, risk priority number, supply chain performance

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Authors: Vijay Kumar Bajpai, Sudhir Kumar Singh

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In this study, the performance analyses of the twenty five coal-fired power plants (CFPPs) used for electricity generation are carried out through various data envelopment analysis (DEA) models. Three efficiency indices are defined and pursued. During the calculation of the operational performance, energy and non-energy variables are used as input, and net electricity produced is used as desired output. CO2 emitted to the environment is used as the undesired output in the computation of the pure environmental performance while in Model-3 CO2 emissions is considered as detrimental input in the calculation of operational and environmental performance. Empirical results show that most of the plants are operating in increasing returns to scale region and Mettur plant is efficient one with regards to energy use and environment. The result also indicates that the undesirable output effect is insignificant in the research sample. The present study will provide clues to plant operators towards raising the operational and environmental performance of CFPPs.

Keywords: coal fired power plants, environmental performance, data envelopment analysis, operational performance

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Authors: Narupon Kunbootsri, Patpiya Sirasaporn

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Low back pain is the most common of chief complaints in chronic pain. Low back pain directly affect to activities daily living and also has high socioeconomic costs. The prevalence of low back pain is high in both genders in all populations. The symptoms of low back pain including, pain at low back area, muscle spasm, tenderness points and stiff back. Trancutanous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) is one of modalities mainly use for control pain. There was indicated that TENS is wildly use in low back pain, but no scientific data about the flexibility of muscle after TENS in low back pain. Thus the aim of this study was to investigate immediate effect of TENS on flexibility and health status in patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain. Eight chronic nonspecific low back pain patients 1 male and 7 female employed in this study. Participants were diagnosed by a doctor based on history and physical examination. Each participant received treatment at physiotherapy unit. Participants completed Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ), numeric rating scale (NRS) and trunk flexibility before treatment. Each participant received low frequency TENS set at asymmetrical, 10 Hz, 20 minutes per point. Immediately after treatment, participants completed RNS, RMDQ and trunk flexibility again. All participants were treated by only one physiotherapist. There was a statistically significant increased in flexibility immediately after low frequency TENS [mean difference -6.37 with 95%CI were (-8.35)-(-4.39)]. There was a statistically significant decreased in numeric rating scale [mean difference 2.13 with 95%CI were 1.08-3.16]. Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire showed improvement of health status average 44.8% immediately after treatment. In conclusion, the results of the present study indicate that immediately effect after low frequency TENS can decrease pain and improve flexibility of back muscle in chronic nonspecific low back pain patients.

Keywords: low back pain, flexibility, TENS, chronic

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Authors: Guoliang Fan, Aiping Li, Xuemei Liu, Liyun Xu

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The performance of the tightening equipment will decline with the working process in manufacturing system. The main manifestations are the randomness and discretization degree increasing of the tightening performance. To evaluate the degradation tendency of the tightening performance accurately, a complexity measurement approach based on Kolmogorov entropy is presented. At first, the states of performance index are divided for calibrating the discrete degree. Then the complexity measurement model based on Kolmogorov entropy is built. The model describes the performance degradation tendency of tightening equipment quantitatively. At last, a study case is applied for verifying the efficiency and validity of the approach. The research achievement shows that the presented complexity measurement can effectively evaluate the degradation tendency of the tightening equipment. It can provide theoretical basis for preventive maintenance and life prediction of equipment.

Keywords: complexity measurement, Kolmogorov entropy, manufacturing system, performance evaluation, tightening equipment

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Authors: Amani Kappi, Ana Maria Linares, Gia Mudd-Martin

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Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are more likely to develop social skills deficits that can lead to academic underachievement, peer rejection, and maladjustment. Surveying teachers about children's social skills with ADHD will become a significant factor in identifying whether the children will be diagnosed with social skills deficits. The teacher-specific version of the Social Skills Rating System scale (SSRS-T) has been used as a screening tool for children's social behaviors. The psychometric properties of the SSRS-T have been evaluated in various populations and settings, such as when used by teachers to assess social skills for children with learning disabilities. However, few studies have been conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the SSRS-T when used to assess children with ADHD. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the SSRS-T and two SSRS-T subscales, Social Skills and Problem Behaviors. This was a secondary analysis of longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study. This study included a sample of 194 teachers who used the SSRS-T to assess the social skills of children aged 8 to 10 years with ADHD. Exploratory principal components factor analysis was used to assess the construct validity of the SSRS-T scale. Cronbach’s alpha value was used to assess the internal consistency reliability of the total SSRS-T scale and the subscales. Item analyses included item-item intercorrelations, item-to-subscale correlations, and Cronbach’s alpha value changes with item deletion. The results of internal consistency reliability for both the total scale and subscales were acceptable. The results of the exploratory factor analysis supported the five factors of SSRS-T (Cooperation, Self-control, Assertion, Internalize behaviors, and Externalize behaviors) reported in the original version. Findings indicated that SSRS-T is a reliable and valid tool for assessing the social behaviors of children with ADHD.

Keywords: ADHD, children, social skills, SSRS-T, psychometric properties

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Authors: Mariem Kchaou, Wiem Khlif, Faiez Gargouri

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Modeling business processes is an essential task when evaluating, improving, or documenting existing business processes. To be efficient in such tasks, a business process model (BPM) must have high structural quality and high performance. Evidently, evaluating the performance of a business process model is a necessary step to reduce time, cost, while assessing the structural quality aims to improve the understandability and the modifiability of the BPMN model. To achieve these objectives, a set of structural and performance measures have been proposed. Since the diversity of measures, we propose a framework that integrates both structural and performance aspects for classifying them. Our measure classification is based on business process model perspectives (e.g., informational, functional, organizational, behavioral, and temporal), and the elements (activity, event, actor, etc.) involved in computing the measures. Then, we implement this framework in a tool assisting the structural quality and the performance of a business process. The tool helps the designers to select an appropriate subset of measures associated with the corresponding perspective and to calculate and interpret their values in order to improve the structural quality and the performance of the model.

Keywords: performance, structural quality, perspectives, tool, classification framework, measures

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Authors: Marwen Ghouil, Jamel Eddine Mkadmi

Abstract:

Banking performance is the pillar and goal of all banking activity and its impact on economic policy. First, researchers defined the principles for assessing and modeling bank performance, and then theories and models explaining bank performance were developed. The importance of credit as a means of financing businesses in most developing countries has led to questions about the effects of financial liberalisation on increased banking competition. In Tunisia, as in many other countries, the liberalization of financial services in general and of banks' activities has not ceased to evolve. The objective of this paper is to examine the determinants of banking performance for 8 Tunisian banks and their impact on economic policy during the Arab Spring. We used cointegration analysis and the ARDL Panel model, explaining using total assets, bank credits, guarantees, and bank size as performance drivers. The correlation analysis shows that there is a positive correlation relationship between total assets, bank credits, guarantees, and bank size and bank performance. Long-term empirical results show that bank loans, guarantees, bank size, and total assets have a positive and significant impact on bank performance. This means that bank credits, guarantees, bank size, and total assets are very important determinants of bank performance in Tunisia.

Keywords: bank performance, economic policy, finance, economic

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: Carolina Beltran, Carlos De Los Reyes

Abstract:

Acquired brain injury (ABI) is any physical and functional injury secondary to events that affect the brain tissue. It is one of the biggest causes of disability in the world and it has a high annual incidence in the pediatric population. There are several causes of ABI such as traumatic brain injury, central nervous system infection, stroke, hypoxia, tumors and others. The consequences can be cognitive, behavioral, emotional and functional. The cognitive rehabilitation is necessary to achieve the best outcomes for pediatric people with ABI. Cognitive orientation to daily occupational performance (CO-OP) is an individualized client-centered, performance-based, problem-solving approach that focuses on the strategy used to support the acquisition of three client-chosen goals. It has demonstrated improvements in the pediatric population with other neurological disorder but not in Spanish speakers with ABI. Aim: The main objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of cognitive orientation to daily occupational performances (CO-OP) adapted to Spanish speakers, in the level of independence and behavior in a pediatric population with ABI. Methods: Case studies with measure pre/post-treatment were used in three children with ABI, sustained at least before 6 months assessment, in school, aged 8 to 16 years, age ABI after 6 years old and above average intellectual ability. Twelve sessions of CO-OP adapted to Spanish speakers were used and videotaped. The outcomes were based on cognitive, behavior and functional independence measurements such as Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VINELAND, Social Support Scale (MOS-SSS) and others neuropsychological measures. This study was approved by the ethics committee of Universidad del Norte in Colombia. Informed parental written consent was obtained for all participants. Results: children were able to identify three goals and use the global strategy ‘goal-plan-do-check’ during each session. Verbal self-instruction was used by all children. CO-OP showed a clinically significant improvement in goals regarding with independence level and behavior according to parents and teachers. Conclusion: The results indicated that CO-OP and the use of a global strategy such as ‘goal-plan-do-check’ can be used in children with ABI in order to improve their specific goals. This is a preliminary version of a big study carrying in Colombia as part of the experimental design.

Keywords: cognitive rehabilitation, acquired brain injury, pediatric population, cognitive orientation to daily occupational performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: Ju-Chun Chien

Abstract:

The main purpose of this study was to figure out employees’ attitudes toward the new performance appraisal program and to examine whether three different types of appraisal processes differentially affected job satisfaction and employee engagement. The second purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between performance appraisal reform, job satisfaction, and employee engagement. A large polyester and textile corporation had 2046 non-operational employees in February 2014. The valid participants were 1474 (72.04%) in this study. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, one-way MANOVA, Pearson correlation, Content Validity Index, the exploratory factor analysis, and reliability analysis. The general results showed that employees who received the new performance appraisal program viewed the program more positively and showed more job satisfaction than those who did not. In particular, the implementation effects of this new performance appraisal program were most highly rated by employees who used the KPI to evaluate their job performance. Moreover, employees’ attitudes toward the new performance appraisal program were positively related to their job satisfaction and work engagement. On the other hand, most employees regarded themselves as engaged workers. To sum up, the HR department of this company has made an effective contribution to performance appraisal reforms.

Keywords: change management, employee engagement, job satisfaction, performance appraisal reform

Procedia PDF Downloads 314