Search results for: Maisa Sales Gama Tobias

Authors: Gulnaz Erkomaishvili

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Introduction: The paper assesses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the activities of small and medium-sized enterprises in Georgia, identifies their problems, and analyzes the state economic policy measures. During the pandemic, entrepreneurs named the imposition of restrictions, access to financial resources, shortage of qualified personnel, high tax rates, unhealthy competition in the market, etc. as the main challenges. The Georgian government has had to take special measures to mitigate the crisis impact caused by the pandemic. For example - in 2020, they mobilized more than 1,6 billion Gel for various eventsto support entrepreneurs. Small and medium-sized entrepreneurship development strategy is presented based on the research; Corresponding conclusions are made, and recommendations are developed. Objectives: The object of research is small and medium-sized enterprises and economic-political decisions aimed at their promotion.Methodology: This paper uses general and specific methods, in particular, analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, scientific abstraction, comparative and statistical methods, as well as experts’ evaluation. In-depth interviews with experts were conducted to determine quantitative and qualitative indicators; Publications of the National Statistics Office of Georgia are used to determine the regularity between analytical and statistical estimations. Also, theoretical and applied research of international organizations and scientist-economists are used. Contributions: The COVID-19pandemic has had a significant impact on small and medium-sized enterprises. For them, Lockdown is a major challenge. Total sales volume decreased. At the same time, the innovative capabilities of enterprises and the volume of sales in remote channels have increased. As for the assessment of state support measures by small and medium-sizedentrepreneurs, despite the existence of support programs, a large number of entrepreneurs still do not evaluate the measures taken by the state positively. Among the desirable measures to be taken by the state, which would improve the activities of small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, who negatively or largely negatively assessed the activity of the state, named: tax incentives/exemption from certain taxes at the initial stage; Need for periodic trainings/organization of digital technologies, marketing training courses to improve the qualification of employees; Logic and adequacy of criteria when awarding grants and funding; Facilitating the finding of investors; Less bureaucracy, etc.

Keywords: small and medium enterprises, small and medium entrepreneurship, economic policy for small and medium entrepreneurship development, government regulations in Georgia, COVID-19 pandemic

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: Sharanya C. H., Pragathi M., Vathsala R. S., Theja K. V., Yashaswini S.

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Identifying counterfeit products have become increasingly important in the product manufacturing industries in recent decades. This current ongoing product issue of counterfeiting has an impact on company sales and profits. To address the aforementioned issue, a functional blockchain technology was implemented, which effectively prevents the product from being counterfeited. By utilizing the blockchain technology, consumers are no longer required to rely on third parties to determine the authenticity of the product being purchased. Blockchain is a distributed database that stores data records known as blocks and several databases known as chains across various networks. Counterfeit products are identified using a QR code reader, and the product's QR code is linked to the blockchain management system. It compares the unique code obtained from the customer to the stored unique code to determine whether or not the product is original.

Keywords: blockchain, ethereum, QR code

Procedia PDF Downloads 146

Authors: Susana Marques

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Research on how store environment cues influence consumers’ store choice decision criteria, such as store operations, product quality, monetary price, store image and sales promotion, is sparse. Especially absent research on the simultaneous impact of multiple store environment cues. The authors propose a comprehensive store choice model that includes: three types of store environment cues as exogenous constructs; various store choice criteria as possible mediating constructs, and store patronage intentions as an endogenous construct. On the basis of testing with a sample of 561 customers of hypermarkets, the model is partially supported. This study used structural equation modelling to test the proposed model.

Keywords: store choice, store patronage, structural equation modelling, retailing

Procedia PDF Downloads 250

Authors: Ibrahim M. Alwehaibi

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Recently the windows of globalization weirdly open, which increase the trade between the Western countries and Muslim nations. Sales of goods contracts are one of the most common business transaction in the world. This commercial exchange has faced many obstacles. One of the most concerned obstacles is the conflicts between laws. Thus, United Nation created a Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). Some of Islamic countries have ratified the CISG, while other Islamic countries have concerns about the feasibility of ratification of the CISG, and many businessmen have a concern of application of the convention. The concerns related to the conflict between CISG and Sharia, and the long debate about the success, ambiguity, and stability of the CISG. Therefore, this research will examine the feasibility of Muslim countries and Muslim businessmen to adopt the CISG by following steps: First, this research will introduce sharia Law (Islamic contracts law) and CISG and provide backgrounds of both laws. Second, this research will compare the provisions of CISG and Sharia and figuring out the conflicts and provide possible solutions for the conflicts. Third, this study will examine the advantages and disadvantages of adopting the CISG and examining the success of the CISG. Fourth, this study will explore the current situation in Islamic countries by taking Saudi Arabia as a case and explore how the application of Sharia law works and the possibility to enforce the CISG and explore the current practice of foreign Sales in Saudi Arabia. The research finds that there are some conflicts between CISG and Sharia Law. The most notable conflicts are interest and uncertainty in considerations. Also, this research finds that it seems that ratification of CISG is not beneficial for Muslim countries because the convention has not reached its goal which is uniformity of laws. Moreover, the CISG has been excluded and ignored by businessmen and some courts. Additionally, this research finds that it could be possible to enforce CISG in Saudi Arabia, provided that no conflict between the enforced provision and Sharia Law. This study is following the competitive and analysis methodologies to reach its findings. The researcher analyzes the provision of CISG and compares them with Sharia rules and finds the conflicts and compatibilities. In fact, CISG has 101 articles, so a comprehensive comparison of all articles in CISG with Sharia is difficult. Thus, in order to deeply analyze all aspects of this issue, this study will exclude some areas of contract which have been discussed by other researchers such as deliver of goods, conformity, and mirror image rules. The comparative section of this study will focus on the most concerned articles that conflict or doubtful of conflict with Sharia, which are interest, uncertainty, statute of limitation, specific performance, and pass of risk.

Keywords: Sharia, CISG, Contracts for International Sale of Goods, contracts, sale of goods, Saudi Arabia

Procedia PDF Downloads 129

Authors: Veronica S. Moertini, Niko Ibrahim, Verliyantina

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As market intermediary firms, e-commerce transaction broker firms need to strongly collaborate with suppliers in order to develop brands seek by customers. Developing suitable electronic Supplier Relationship Management (e-SRM) system is the solution to the need. In this paper, we propose our concept of e-SRM for transaction brokers owned by small medium enterprises (SMEs), which includes the integrated e-SRM and e-CRM architecture, the e-SRM applications with their functions. We then discuss the customization and implementation of the proposed e-SRM model in a specific transaction broker selling hotel rooms, which owned by an SME, KlikHotel.com. The implementation of the e-SRM in KlikHotel.com has been successfully boosting the number of suppliers (hotel members) and hotel room sales.

Keywords: e-CRM, e-SRM, SME, transaction broker

Procedia PDF Downloads 468

Authors: J. Berčík, A. Mravcová, A. Rusková, P. Jurčišin, R. Virágh

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The online world is changing every day. With this comes the emergence and development of new business models. One of them is the sale of several types of products in one place. This type of sales in the form of online marketplaces has undergone a positive development in recent years and represents a kind of alternative to brick-and-mortar shopping centres. The main philosophy is to buy several products under one roof. Examples of popular e-commerce marketplaces are Amazon, eBay, and Allegro. Their share of total e-commerce turnover is expected to even double in the coming years. The paper highlights possibilities for testing web applications and online marketplace using emerging methods like stationary eye cameras (eye tracking) and facial analysis (FaceReading).

Keywords: emerging methods, consumer neuroscience, e-commerce, marketplace, user experience, user interface

Procedia PDF Downloads 42

Authors: Anja Kurz, Marc Flynn, Tobias Good, Marco Caversaccio, Martin Kompis

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Bone Anchored Hearing Implants (BAHI) are routinely used in patients with conductive or mixed hearing loss, e.g. if conventional air conduction hearing aids cannot be used. New sound processors and new fitting software now allow the adjustment of parameters such as loudness compression ratios or maximum power output separately. Today it is unclear, how the choice of these parameters influences aided speech understanding in BAHI users. In this prospective experimental study, the effect of varying the compression ratio and lowering the maximum power output in a BAHI were investigated. Twelve experienced adult subjects with a mixed hearing loss participated in this study. Four different compression ratios (1.0; 1.3; 1.6; 2.0) were tested along with two different maximum power output settings, resulting in a total of eight different programs. Each participant tested each program during two weeks. A blinded Latin square design was used to minimize bias. For each of the eight programs, speech understanding in quiet and in noise was assessed. For speech in quiet, the Freiburg number test and the Freiburg monosyllabic word test at 50, 65, and 80 dB SPL were used. For speech in noise, the Oldenburg sentence test was administered. Speech understanding in quiet and in noise was improved significantly in the aided condition in any program, when compared to the unaided condition. However, no significant differences were found between any of the eight programs. In contrast, on a subjective level there was a significant preference for medium compression ratios of 1.3 to 1.6 and higher maximum power output.

Keywords: Bone Anchored Hearing Implant, baha, compression, maximum power output, speech understanding

Procedia PDF Downloads 355

Authors: J. I. Santos, A. E. Cesarin, C. A. R. Sales, M. B. B. Triano, P. F. R. B. Martins, A. F. Braga, N. J. Neto, A., A. M. Barroso, P. L. C. A. Alves, C. A. M. Huaman

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Climate change projections based on the emission of greenhouse effect gases suggest an increase in the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, in up to 750 ppm. In this scenario, we have significant changes in plant development, and consequently, in agricultural systems. This study aims to evaluate the interaction between culture (Glycine max) and weed (Amaranthus viridis and Euphorbia heterophylla) in two conditions of CO₂, 400 and 800 ppm. The results showed that the coexistence of culture with both weed species resulted in a mutual loss, with decrease in dry mass productivity of culture + weeds, in both conditions of CO₂. However, when the culture is grown in association with E. heterophylla, total dry mass of culture + weed was smaller at 800 ppm. Soybean was more aggressive in comparison to the A. viridis in both the concentrations of CO₂, but not in relation to the E. heterophylla.

Keywords: plants interaction, increase of [CO₂], plants of metabolismo C3, glycine max

Procedia PDF Downloads 363

Authors: Toslim Uddin Khan, Jesmin Akter, Mohiuddin Ahmed

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Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) and personal health-care practice is a critical issue to prevent morbidity and other reproductive health complications among adolescent girls in Bangladesh. Inadequate access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities lead to unhealthy MHM practices that resulted in poor reproductive health outcomes. It is evident from different studies that superstitions and misconception are more common in rural communities that limit young girls’ access to and understanding of the menstrual hygiene and self care practices. The state-of-the-art approach of Social Marketing Company (SMC) is proved to be instrumental in delivering reinforcing health messages, making public health and hygiene products available at the door steps of the community through community mobilization programs in rural Bangladesh. School health program is one of the flagship interventions of SMC to equip adolescent girls and boys with correct knowledge of health and hygiene practices among themselves, their families and peers. In Bangladeshi culture, adolescent girls often feel shy to ask fathers or male family members about buying sanitary napkin from local pharmacy and they seem to be reluctant to seek help regarding their menstrual problems. A recent study reveals that 48% adolescent girls are using sanitary napkins while majority of them are unaware of menstrual hygiene practices in Bangladesh. Under school adolescent program, SMC organizes health education sessions for adolescent girls from grade seven to ten using enter-educate approach with special focus on sexual and reproductive health and menstrual hygiene issues including delaying marriage and first pregnancy. In addition, 2500 rural women entrepreneurs branded as community sales agents are also involved in disseminating health messages and selling priority health products including sanitary napkin at the household level. These women entrepreneurs are serving as a source of sustainable supply of the sanitary napkins for the rural adolescent girls and thereby they are earning profit margins on the sales they make. A recent study on the impact of adolescent program activities reveals that majority (71%) of the school adolescent girls are currently using sanitary napkins. Health education equips and empowers adolescent girls with accurate knowledge about menstrual hygiene practices and self-care as well. Therefore, engagement of female entrepreneurs in school adolescent health program at the community level is one of the promising ways to improve menstrual hygiene practices leading to increased use of sanitary napkin in rural and semi-rural communities in Bangladesh.

Keywords: school adolescent program, social marketing, women entrepreneurs, menstrual hygiene management

Procedia PDF Downloads 160

Authors: Lin-Han Chiang Hsieh, Hsiao-Yi Lin

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This study aims to determine the impact of the disclosure of flood potential map on housing prices. The disclosure is supposed to mitigate the market failure by reducing information asymmetry. On the other hand, opponents argue that the official disclosure of simulated results will only create unnecessary disturbances on the housing market. This study identifies the impact of the disclosure of the flood potential map by comparing the hedonic price of flood potential before and after the disclosure. The flood potential map used in this study is published by Taipei municipal government in 2015, which is a result of a comprehensive simulation based on geographical, hydrological, and meteorological factors. The residential property sales data of 2013 to 2016 is used in this study, which is collected from the actual sales price registration system by the Department of Land Administration (DLA). The result shows that the impact of flood potential on residential real estate market is statistically significant both before and after the disclosure. But the trend is clearer after the disclosure, suggesting that the disclosure does have an impact on the market. Also, the result shows that the impact of flood potential differs by the severity and frequency of precipitation. The negative impact for a relatively mild, high frequency flood potential is stronger than that for a heavy, low possibility flood potential. The result indicates that home buyers are of more concern to the frequency, than the intensity of flood. Another contribution of this study is in the methodological perspective. The classic hedonic price analysis with OLS regression suffers from two spatial problems: the endogeneity problem caused by omitted spatial-related variables, and the heterogeneity concern to the presumption that regression coefficients are spatially constant. These two problems are seldom considered in a single model. This study tries to deal with the endogeneity and heterogeneity problem together by combining the spatial fixed-effect model and geographically weighted regression (GWR). A series of literature indicates that the hedonic price of certain environmental assets varies spatially by applying GWR. Since the endogeneity problem is usually not considered in typical GWR models, it is arguable that the omitted spatial-related variables might bias the result of GWR models. By combing the spatial fixed-effect model and GWR, this study concludes that the effect of flood potential map is highly sensitive by location, even after controlling for the spatial autocorrelation at the same time. The main policy application of this result is that it is improper to determine the potential benefit of flood prevention policy by simply multiplying the hedonic price of flood risk by the number of houses. The effect of flood prevention might vary dramatically by location.

Keywords: flood potential, hedonic price analysis, endogeneity, heterogeneity, geographically-weighted regression

Procedia PDF Downloads 266

Authors: Jan Dahlhaus, Alejandro Cardenas Miranda, Frederik Scholer, Maximilian Leonhardt, Matthias Moullion, Frank Beutenmuller, Julia Eckhardt, Josef Wasner, Frank Nittel, Sebastian Stoll, Devin Atukalp, Daniel Folgmann, Tobias Mayer, Obrad Dordevic, Paul Riley, Jean-Marc Le Peuvedic

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Electrical and hybrid aerospace technologies pose very challenging demands on the battery pack – especially with respect to weight and power. In the Clean Sky 2 research project LiBAT (funded by the EU), the consortium is currently building an ambitious prototype with state-of-the art cells that shows the potential of an intelligent pack design with a high level of integration, especially with respect to thermal management and power electronics. For the latter, innovative multi-level-inverter technology is used to realize the required power converting functions with reduced equipment. In this talk the key approaches and methods of the LiBat project will be presented and central results shown. Special focus will be set on the simulative methods used to support the early design and development stages from an overall system perspective. The applied methods can efficiently handle multiple domains and deal with different time and length scales, thus allowing the analysis and optimization of overall- or sub-system behavior. It will be shown how these simulations provide valuable information and insights for the efficient evaluation of concepts. As a result, the construction and iteration of hardware prototypes has been reduced and development cycles shortened.

Keywords: electric aircraft, battery, Li-ion, multi-level-inverter, Novec

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Przemyslaw Nogly, Tobias Weinert, Daniel James, Sergio Carbajo, Dmitry Ozerov, Antonia Furrer, Dardan Gashi, Veniamin Borin, Petr Skopintsev, Kathrin Jaeger, Karol Nass, Petra Bath, Robert Bosman, Jason Koglin, Matthew Seaberg, Thomas Lane, Demet Kekilli, Steffen Brünle, Tomoyuki Tanaka, Wenting Wu, Christopher Milne, Thomas A. White, Anton Barty, Uwe Weierstall, Valerie Panneels, Eriko Nango, So Iwata, Mark Hunter, Igor Schapiro, Gebhard Schertler, Richard Neutze, Jörg Standfuss

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Ultrafast isomerization of retinal is the primary step in a range of photoresponsive biological functions including vision in humans and ion-transport across bacterial membranes. We studied the sub-picosecond structural dynamics of retinal isomerization in the light-driven proton pump bacteriorhodopsin using an X-ray laser. Twenty snapshots with near-atomic spatial and temporal resolution in the femtosecond regime show how the excited all-trans retinal samples conformational states within the protein binding pocket prior to passing through a highly-twisted geometry and emerging in the 13-cis conformation. The aspartic acid residues and functional water molecules in proximity of the retinal Schiff base respond collectively to formation and decay of the initial excited state and retinal isomerization. These observations reveal how the protein scaffold guides this remarkably efficient photochemical reaction.

Keywords: bacteriorhodopsin, free-electron laser, retinal isomerization mechanism, time-resolved crystallography

Procedia PDF Downloads 213

Authors: Nargess Fasih Mardanloo

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The purpose of this study was to identify affecting Stadium factors on branding of sport events in Iran. Research methods was qualitative. Interviews was used to collect data. Research community were experts and elites of sports management, sports events and sports marketing who use theoretical and Snowball sampling, 11 individuals were selected. The results showed, Effective ingredients in the city of the event included: Design and branding stadiums and sport facilities, General welfare in Stadium, Reconstruction of Present sports places.Managers can pay attention to the effective stadium factors. Then they use of the benefits of branding event, such as an increase in interest and media sponsors, ticket sales are able to enjoy the event, and many others.

Keywords: brand, branding of sport event, sports events, stadium, sport management.

Procedia PDF Downloads 434

Authors: José Anderson Rodrigues de Souza, Teles de Sales Bezerra, Saulo Aislan da Silva Eleuterio, Jeronimo Silva Rocha

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Mobile devices are increasingly occupying sectors of society and one of its most important features is mobility. However, the use of mobile devices is subject to the lifetime of the batteries. Thus, the use of energy batteries has become an important issue in the study of wireless network technologies. In this context, new solutions that enable aggregate energy efficiency not only through energy saving, and principally they are evaluated from a more realistic model of energy discharge, if easy adaptation to existing protocols. This paper presents a study on the energy needed and the lifetime for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) using a heterogeneous network and applying the LEACH protocol.

Keywords: wireless sensor networks, energy efficiency, heterogeneous, LEACH protocol

Procedia PDF Downloads 544

Authors: Jonas Hamann, Siavash Saki, Tobias Hagen

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Discretization of urban areas is a crucial aspect in many spatial analyses. The process of discretization of space into subspaces without overlaps and gaps is called tessellation. It helps understanding spatial space and provides a framework for analyzing geospatial data. Tessellation methods can be divided into two groups: regular tessellations and irregular tessellations. While regular tessellation methods, like squares-grids or hexagons-grids, are suitable for addressing pure geometry problems, they cannot take the unique characteristics of different subareas into account. However, irregular tessellation methods allow the border between the subareas to be defined more realistically based on urban features like a road network or Points of Interest (POI). Even though Python is one of the most used programming languages when it comes to spatial analysis, there is currently no library that combines different tessellation methods to enable users and researchers to compare different techniques. To close this gap, we are proposing TessPy, an open-source Python package, which combines all above-mentioned tessellation methods and makes them easily accessible to everyone. The core functions of TessPy represent the five different tessellation methods: squares, hexagons, adaptive squares, Voronoi polygons, and city blocks. By using regular methods, users can set the resolution of the tessellation which defines the finesse of the discretization and the desired number of tiles. Irregular tessellation methods allow users to define which spatial data to consider (e.g., amenity, building, office) and how fine the tessellation should be. The spatial data used is open-source and provided by OpenStreetMap. This data can be easily extracted and used for further analyses. Besides the methodology of the different techniques, the state-of-the-art, including examples and future work, will be discussed. All dependencies can be installed using conda or pip; however, the former is more recommended.

Keywords: geospatial data science, geospatial data analysis, tessellations, urban studies

Procedia PDF Downloads 96

Authors: Venugopal Kummamuru

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Corporate Governance (CG) is of utmost importance for running a company ethically. It is essential for the growth and success of the corporation. It is intended to increase the accountability of an organization to the larger context of the business environment. The general principles of CG include and are related to Shareholder recognition, Stakeholder interests, and focus on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Clear Board responsibilities, Ethical behavior, and Business transparency. Network Marketing Organizations (NMOs) focus on marketing through direct-sales using people who are associated with the organization but are not their employees. This paper tries to study the importance of Ethics and CSR in an NMO and suggest a basic guideline for CG in NMO(s). This paper could be used as a basis or starting point for conducting an in-depth research to understand the difference in CG practices between NMO(s) and other organizations and define a standard set of guidelines for CG practice.

Keywords: corporate governance, corporate responsibility, direct selling, network marketing

Procedia PDF Downloads 288

Authors: Olufunke Olufunmilayo Ilemobayo, Barakat. O Abdulazeez

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Profit making among poultry egg farmers has been a challenge to efficient distribution of scarce farm resources over the years, due majorly to low capital base, inefficient management, technical inefficiency, economic inefficiency, thus poultry egg production has moved into an underperformed situation, characterised by low profit margin. Though previous studies focus mainly on broiler production and efficiency of its production, however, paucity of information exist in the areas of profit efficiency in the study area. Hence, determinants of profit efficiency among poultry egg farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria were investigated. A purposive sampling technique was used to obtain primary data from poultry egg farmers in Owo and Akure local government area of Ondo State, through a well-structured questionnaire. socio-economic characteristics such as age, gender, educational level, marital status, household size, access to credit, extension contact, other variables were input and output data like flock size, cost of feeder and drinker, cost of feed, cost of labour, cost of drugs and medications, cost of energy, price of crate of table egg, price of spent layers were variables used in the study. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, budgeting analysis, and stochastic profit function/inefficiency model. Result of the descriptive statistics shows that 52 per cent of the poultry farmers were between 31-40 years, 62 per cent were male, 90 per cent had tertiary education, 66 per cent were primarily poultry farmers, 78 per cent were original poultry farm owners and 55 per cent had more than 5 years’ work experience. Descriptive statistics on cost and returns indicated that 64 per cent of the return were from sales of egg, while the remaining 36 per cent was from sales of spent layers. The cost of feeding take the highest proportion of 69 per cent of cost of production and cost of medication the lowest (7 per cent). A positive gross margin of N5, 518,869.76, net farm income of ₦ 5, 500.446.82 and net return on investment of 0.28 indicated poultry egg production is profitable. Equipment’s cost (22.757), feeding cost (18.3437), labour cost (136.698), flock size (16.209), drug and medication cost (4.509) were factors that affecting profit efficiency, while education (-2.3143), household size (-18.4291), access to credit (-16.027), and experience (-7.277) were determinant of profit efficiency. Education, household size, access to credit and experience in poultry production were the main determinants of profit efficiency of poultry egg production in Ondo State. Other factors that affect profit efficiency were cost of feeding, cost of labour, flock size, cost of drug and medication, they positively and significantly influenced profit efficiency in Ondo State, Nigeria.

Keywords: cost and returns, economic inefficiency, profit margin, technical inefficiency

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Authors: Dana Al-Qattan, Faiza Goodarzi, Heba Al-Resheedan, Kawther Shehab, Shoug Al-Ansari

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This project involves working with different types of forecasting methods and facility planning tools to help the company we have chosen to improve and reduce its inventory, increase its sales, and decrease its wastes and losses. The methods that have been used by the company have shown no improvement in decreasing the annual losses. The research made in the company has shown that no interest has been made in exploring different techniques to help the company. In this report, we introduce several methods and techniques that will help the company make more accurate forecasts and use of the available space efficiently. We expect our approach to reduce costs without affecting the quality of the product, and hence making production more viable.

Keywords: production planning, inventory management, inventory control, simulation, facility planning and design, engineering economy and costs

Procedia PDF Downloads 540

Authors: Abdolghader Pourali, Mohammad V. Malakooti, Muhammad Hussein Yektaie

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A mobile payment system in mobile e-commerce generally have high security so that the user can trust it for doing business deals, sales, paying financial transactions, etc. in the mobile payment system. Since an architecture or payment model in e-commerce only shows the way of interaction and collaboration among users and mortgagers and does not present any evaluation of effectiveness and confidence about financial transactions to stakeholders. In this paper, we try to present a detailed assessment of the reliability of a mobile payment model in the mobile e-commerce using formal models and colored Petri nets. Finally, we demonstrate that the reliability of this system has high value (case study: a secure payment model in mobile commerce.

Keywords: reliability, colored Petri net, assessment, payment models, m-commerce

Procedia PDF Downloads 509

Authors: Matthias Haerri, Tobias Huettche, Clemens Kustner

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This article discusses the impact of digitization on business valuation. In order to become and remain ‘digital’, investments are necessary whose return on investment (ROI) often remains vague. This uncertainty is contradictory for a valuation, that rely on predictable cash flows, fixed capital structures and the steady state. However digitisation does not make a company valuation impossible, but traditional approaches must be reconsidered. The authors identify four areas that are to be changing: (1) Tools instead of intuition - In the future, company valuation will neither be art nor science, but craft. This does not require intuition, but experience and good tools. Digital evaluation tools beyond Excel will therefore gain in importance. (2) Real-time instead of deadline - At present, company valuations are always carried out on a case-by-case basis and on a specific key date. This will change with the digitalization and the introduction of web-based valuation tools. Company valuations can thus not only be carried out faster and more efficiently, but can also be offered more frequently. Instead of calculating the value for a previous key date, current and real-time valuations can be carried out. (3) Predictive planning instead of analysis of the past - Past data will also be needed in the future, but its use will not be limited to monovalent time series or key figure analyses. With pictures of ‘black swans’ and the ‘turkey illusion’ it was made clear to us that we build forecasts on too few data points of the past and underestimate the power of chance. Predictive planning can help here. (4) Convergence instead of residual value - Digital transformation shortens the lifespan of viable business models. If companies want to live forever, they have to change forever. For the company valuation, this means that the business model valid on the valuation date only has a limited service life.

Keywords: business valuation, corporate finance, digitisation, disruption

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Authors: Emma K. Sales, Nilda G. Butardo

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The project was undertaken to determine the effects of modified tissue culture protocols e.g. age of culture and hormone levels (2,4-D) in generating somaclonal variation. Moreover, the utility of molecular markers (SSR and MSAP) in sorting off types/somaclones were investigated. Results show that somaclonal variation is in effect due to prolonged subculture and high 2,4-D concentration. The resultant variation was observed to be due to high level of methylation events specifically cytosine methylation either at the internal or external cytosine and was identified by methylation sensitive amplification polymorphism (MSAP). Simple sequence repeats (SSR) on the other hand, was able to associate a marker to a trait of interest. These therefore, show that molecular markers can be an important tool in sorting out variation/mutants at an early stage.

Keywords: methylation, MSAP, somaclones, SSR, subculture, 2, 4-D

Procedia PDF Downloads 270

Authors: Vajiheh Javani

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The study aims to examine brand image in Iran's professional Football League (2014-2015). The study was descriptive survey one. A sample of Iranian professional football league fans (N=911) responded four items questionnaire. A structural equation model (SEM) test with maximum likelihood estimation was performed to test the relationships among the research variables. The analyses of data showed three dimensions of brand image influenced on fan’s brand loyalty of which the attitude was the most important. Benefits and attributes were placed in the second and third rank respectively. According to results, brand image plays a pivotal role between Iranian fans brand loyalty. Create an attractive and desirable brand image in the fans mind increases brand loyalty. Moreover due to, revenue and profits increase through ticket sales and products of club and also attract more sponsors.

Keywords: brand management, sport industry, brand image, fans

Procedia PDF Downloads 311

Authors: Elfatih M. Abdel-Rahman, Tobias Landmann, Richard Kyalo, George Ong’amo, Bruno Le Ru

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Maize (Zea mays L.) is a major staple food crop in Africa, particularly in the eastern region of the continent. The maize growing area in Africa spans over 25 million ha and 84% of rural households in Africa cultivate maize mainly as a means to generate food and income. Average maize yields in Sub Saharan Africa are 1.4 t/ha as compared to global average of 2.5–3.9 t/ha due to biotic and abiotic constraints. Amongst the biotic production constraints in Africa, stem borers are the most injurious. In East Africa, yield losses due to stem borers are currently estimated between 12% to 40% of the total production. The objective of the present study was therefore to predict stem borer larvae density in maize fields using RapidEye reflectance data and generalized linear models (GLMs). RapidEye images were captured for a test site in Kenya (Machakos) in January and in February 2015. Stem borer larva numbers were modeled using GLMs assuming Poisson (Po) and negative binomial (NB) distributions with error with log arithmetic link. Root mean square error (RMSE) and ratio prediction to deviation (RPD) statistics were employed to assess the models performance using a leave one-out cross-validation approach. Results showed that NB models outperformed Po ones in all study sites. RMSE and RPD ranged between 0.95 and 2.70, and between 2.39 and 6.81, respectively. Overall, all models performed similar when used the January and the February image data. We conclude that reflectance data from RapidEye data can be used to estimate stem borer larvae density. The developed models could to improve decision making regarding controlling maize stem borers using various integrated pest management (IPM) protocols.

Keywords: maize, stem borers, density, RapidEye, GLM

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Authors: Adjmal Ghaur, Christoph Peschel, Iris Dienwiebel, Lukas Haneke, Leilei Du , Laurin Profanter, Tobias Placke, Martin Winter

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In recent years, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs)are widely used in electric vehicles (EVs) and mobile energy storage devices (ESDs), which has led to higher requirements for energy density. To fulfill these requirements, tremendous attention has been paid to design advanced LIBs with various siliconactive materials as alternative negative electrodes to replace graphite (372 mAh g⁻¹)due to their high theoretical gravimetric capacity (4200mAh g⁻¹). However, silicon as potential anode material suffers from huge volume changes during charging and discharging and has poor electronicconductivity which negatively impacts the long-term performance and preventshigh silicon contents from practical application. Additionally, an unstable crystalline silicon structure tends to pulverization during the (de)lithiation process. To compensate for the volume changes, alleviate pulverization, and maintain high electronicconductivity, silicon-doped graphite composites with protecting coating layers are a promising approach. In this context, phosphazene compounds are investigated concerning their silicon protecting properties in silicon-doped graphite composites. In detail, electrochemical performance measurements in pouch full-cells(NCM523||SiOx/C), supressing gas formation properties, and post-mortem analyzes were carried out to characterize phosphazene compounds as additive materials. The introduction of the dual-additive approach in state-of-the-art electrolytes leads to synergistic effects between FEC and phosphazene compounds which accelerate the durability of silicon particles and results in enhanced electrochemical performance.

Keywords: silicon, phosphazene, solid electrolyte interphase, electrolyte, gasmeasurements

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Authors: S. Habte, K. Ouazzane, P. Patel, S. Patel

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The dynamic and highly competitive nature of the consumer electronics retail industry means that businesses in this industry are experiencing different decision making challenges in relation to pricing, inventory control, consumer satisfaction and product offerings. To overcome the challenges facing retailers and create opportunities, we propose a generic data warehousing solution which can be applied to a wide range of consumer electronics retailers with a minimum configuration. The solution includes a dimensional data model, a template SQL script, a high level architectural descriptions, ETL tool developed using C#, a set of APIs, and data access tools. It has been successfully applied by ASK Outlets Ltd UK resulting in improved productivity and enhanced sales growth.

Keywords: consumer electronics, data warehousing, dimensional data model, generic, retail industry

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Authors: Kazeem Oluwakemi Oseni, Kate Dingley

Abstract:

E-Service has moved from the usual manual and traditional way of rendering services to electronic service provision for the public and there are several reasons for implementing these services, Airline ticketing have gone from its manual traditional way to an intelligent web-driven service of purchasing. Many companies have seen their profits doubled through the use of online services in their operation and a typical example is Hewlett Packard (HP) which is rapidly transforming their after sales business into a profit generating e-service business unit. This paper will examine the various challenges confronting e-Service adoption and implementation in Nigeria and also analyse lessons learnt from e-Service adoption and implementation in Asia to see how it could be useful in Nigeria which is a lower middle income country. Based on the analysis of the online survey data. It has been identified that the public in Nigeria are much aware of e-Services but successful adoption and implementation have been the problems faced.

Keywords: e-government service, adoption, implementation, Nigeria, Asia

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Authors: Pardis Moslemzadeh Tehrani

Abstract:

Due to the emergence of blockchain technology and the benefits of cryptocurrencies, intelligent or smart contracts are gaining traction. Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming our lives, and it is being embraced by a wide range of sectors. Smart contracts, which are at the heart of blockchains, incorporate AI characteristics. Such contracts are referred to as "smart" contracts because of the underlying technology that allows contracting parties to agree on terms expressed in computer code that defines machine-readable instructions for computers to follow under specific situations. The transmission happens automatically if the conditions are met. Initially utilised for financial transactions, blockchain applications have since expanded to include the financial, insurance, and medical sectors, as well as supply networks. Raw material acquisition by suppliers, design, and fabrication by manufacturers, delivery of final products to consumers, and even post-sales logistics assistance are all part of supply chains. Many issues are linked with managing supply chains from the planning and coordination stages, which can be implemented in a smart contract in a blockchain due to their complexity. Manufacturing delays and limited third-party amounts of product components have raised concerns about the integrity and accountability of supply chains for food and pharmaceutical items. Other concerns include regulatory compliance in multiple jurisdictions and transportation circumstances (for instance, many products must be kept in temperature-controlled environments to ensure their effectiveness). Products are handled by several providers before reaching customers in modern economic systems. Information is sent between suppliers, shippers, distributors, and retailers at every stage of the production and distribution process. Information travels more effectively when individuals are eliminated from the equation. The usage of blockchain technology could be a viable solution to these coordination issues. In blockchains, smart contracts allow for the rapid transmission of production data, logistical data, inventory levels, and sales data. This research investigates the legal and technical advantages and disadvantages of AI-blockchain technology in the supply chain business. It aims to uncover the applicable legal problems and barriers to the use of AI-blockchain technology to supply chains, particularly in the food industry. It also discusses the essential legal and technological issues and impediments to supply chain implementation for stakeholders, as well as methods for overcoming them before releasing the technology to clients. Because there has been little research done on this topic, it is difficult for industrial stakeholders to grasp how blockchain technology could be used in their respective operations. As a result, the focus of this research will be on building advanced and complex contractual terms in supply chain smart contracts on blockchains to cover all unforeseen supply chain challenges.

Keywords: blockchain, supply chain, IoT, smart contract

Procedia PDF Downloads 92

Authors: Rodrigo S. Piera, Jailson Sales Ara´ujo, Gabriela B. Lemos, Matthew B. Weiss, John B. DeBrota, Gabriel H. Aguilar, Jacques L. Pienaar

Abstract:

The Born rule was historically viewed as an independent axiom of quantum mechanics until Gleason derived it in 1957 by assuming the Hilbert space structure of quantum measurements [1]. In subsequent decades there have been diverse proposals to derive the Born rule starting from even more basic assumptions [2]. In this work, we demonstrate that a simple reinforcement-learning algorithm, having no pre-programmed assumptions about quantum theory, will nevertheless converge to a behaviour pattern that accords with the Born rule, when tasked with predicting the output of a quantum optical implementation of a symmetric informationally-complete measurement (SIC). Our findings support a hypothesis due to QBism (the subjective Bayesian approach to quantum theory), which states that the Born rule can be thought of as a normative rule for making decisions in a quantum world [3].

Keywords: quantum Bayesianism, quantum theory, quantum information, quantum measurement

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Authors: Geisa Lima Mesquita Zambrosi, Maisa Ciampi Guillardi, Flávia Rodrigues Patrício, Oliveiro Guerreiro Filho

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Certified agricultural products are important components of the food industry. However, certifiers have been expanding the list of restricted or prohibited pesticides, limiting the options of products for phytosanitary control of plant diseases, but without offering alternatives to the farmers. Soybean and coffee leaf rust, brown eye spots, and Phoma leaf spots are the main fungal diseases that pose a serious threat to soybean and coffee cultivation worldwide. In conventional farming systems, these diseases are controlled by using synthetic fungicides, which, in addition to intensify the occurrence of fungal resistance, are highly toxic to the environment, farmers and consumers. In organic, agroecological, or regenerative farming systems, product options for plant protection are limited, being available only copper-based compounds, biodefensives or non-standard homemade products. Therefore, there is a growing demand for effective bioprotectors with low environmental impact for adoption in more sustainable agricultural systems. Then, to contribute with the covering of such a gap, we have developed a compound based on plant extracts and metallic elements for foliar application. This product has both biostimulant and bioprotective action, which promotes sustainable disease control, increases productivity as well as reduces the dependence on imported technologies the damages to the environment. The product's components have complementary mechanisms that promote protection against the disease by directly acting on the pathogens and activating the plant's natural defense system. The protective ability of the product against three coffee diseases (coffee leaf rust, brown eye spot, and Phoma leaf spot) and against soybean rust disease was evaluated, in addition to its ability to promote plant growth. Our goal is to offer an effective alternative to control the main coffee fungal diseases and soybean fungal diseases, with a biostimulant effect and low toxicity. The proposed product can also be part of the integrated management of coffee and soybean diseases in conventional farming associated with chemical and biological pesticides, offering the market a sustainable coffee and soybean with high added value and low residue content. Experiments were carried out under controlled conditions to evaluate the effectiveness of the product in controlling rust, phoma, and cercosporiosis in comparison to a control-inoculated plants that did not receive the product. The in vitro and in vivo effects of the product on the pathogen were evaluated using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The fungistatic action of the product was demonstrated by a reduction of 85% and 95% in spore germination and disease symptoms severity on the leaves of coffee plants, respectively. The formulation had both a protective effect, acting to prevent infection by coffee leaf rust, and a curative effect, reducing the rust symptoms after its establishment.

Keywords: plant disease, natural fungicide, plant health, sustainability, alternative disease management

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Authors: Leticia Lengler, Jefferson Oliveira, Vania Estivalete, Jordana Marques Kneipp, Lucia Regina Da Rosa Gama Madruga

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The way social entrepreneurs act and can positively impact on our society engages the interest of academics, companies and governments, who seek solutions to solve or alleviate issues related to the abuse of natural resources, as well as the increase of poverty (social aspects). Studies on social entrepreneurship have been characterized by diverse ramifications and their transdisciplinary character, permeating various disciplines and approaches. Different bibliometric studies were conducted within the theme of social entrepreneurship. In this context, because it is a topic in development and multifaceted, the aim of this article is to present the main interfaces of the studies on the Social Entrepreneur figure in relation to the social concern of sustainability, highlighting the relevant researches and their trends, as well as their relationship with the organizations. Aiming to achieve this purpose, the specific goals are: to identify the most cited authors and articles, to verify the authors and journals with the greatest number of publications and their approaches and to point out their affiliations, countries, and languages of publications. It is still a secondary objective to identify the emerging trends in relation to the social entrepreneur and his social concern stemming from the discussions on sustainability. This way, we analyzed articles from two international databases (Scopus and Web of Science), from 2004 to 2016. The main results were the increase in the number of publications, with most of them in English language, coming mainly from the United States institutions (such as Indiana University and Harvard University) and the United Kingdom (whose main institutions are University of London and Robert Gordon University). Although publications in Spanish and Portuguese are the least expressive in quantity, some tendencies point to publications that discuss the social entrepreneur in terms of gender (that relates to female entrepreneurship) and social class (that relates to the need of building communities that contemplate the Social entrepreneur at the base of the pyramid). It should be noted that the trends of the themes emerged from the analysis of the publication titles only in Portuguese, since this is the native language of the authors who carry out their studies mainly in Brazil. When considering articles in Portuguese (57 indicated by WOS and 9 by Scopus), a previous analysis of the titles was carried out to identify how researchers were approaching the theme social entrepreneur in a joint way to the social dimension of sustainability. However, the analysis of the titles themselves brought a limitation to our study, since it was felt a need to carry out a qualitative study, in which it could be possible to consider the abstracts of the available articles.

Keywords: base of pyramid, social dimension, social entrepreneur, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 359