Search results for: constituent transparency

Authors: Katarina Ott, Velibor Mačkić, Mihaela Bronić, Branko Stanić

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The determinants of national budget transparency have been widely discussed in the literature, while research on determinants of local budget transparency are scarce and empirically inconclusive, particularly in the new, fiscally centralised, EU member states. To fill the gap, we combine two strands of the literature: that concerned with public administration and public finance, shedding light on the economic and financial determinants of local budget transparency, and that on the political economy of transparency (principal agent theory), covering the relationships among politicians and between politicians and voters. Our main hypothesis states that variables describing residents’ capacity have a greater impact on local budget transparency than variables indicating the institutional capacity of local government units (LGUs). Additional subhypotheses test the impact of each variable analysed on local budget transparency. We address the determinants of local budget transparency in Croatia, measured by the number of key local budget documents published on the LGUs’ websites. By using a data set of 128 cities and 428 municipalities over the 2015-2017 period and by applying panel data analysis based on Poisson and negative binomial distribution, we test our main hypothesis and sub-hypotheses empirically. We measure different characteristics of institutional and residents’ capacity for each LGU. Age, education and ideology of the mayor/municipality head, political competition indicators, number of employees, current budget revenues and direct debt per capita have been used as a measure of the institutional capacity of LGU. Residents’ capacity in each LGU has been measured through the numbers of citizens and their average age as well as by average income per capita. The most important determinant of local budget transparency is average residents' income per capita at both city and municipality level. The results are in line with most previous research results in fiscally decentralised countries. In the context of a fiscally centralised country with numerous small LGUs, most of whom have low administrative and fiscal capacity, this has a theoretical rationale in the legitimacy and principal-agent theory (opportunistic motives of the incumbent). The result is robust and significant, but because of the various other results that change between city and municipality levels (e.g. ideology and political competition), there is a need for further research (both on identifying other determinates and/or methods of analysis). Since in Croatia the fiscal capacity of a LGU depends heavily on the income of its residents, units with higher per capita incomes in many cases have also higher budget revenues allowing them to engage more employees and resources. In addition, residents’ incomes might be also positively associated with local budget transparency because of higher citizen demand for such transparency. Residents with higher incomes expect more public services and have more access to and experience in using the Internet, and will thus typically demand more budget information on the LGUs’ websites.

Keywords: budget transparency, count data, Croatia, local government, political economy

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Authors: Mohammad A. R. S. Almutairi

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This study will provide the introduction that constitutes the problem cornerstone of legal disputes of disclosure and transparency under Kuwaiti Capital market authority Law No. 7 of 2010. It also will discuss the reasons for the emergence of corporate governance and its purposes in the Capital Market Authority Law in Kuwait. In addition, it will show the legal disputes resulting from the unclear concept of disclosure and interest and will discuss the main reasons in support of the possible solution. In addition, this study will argue why the Capital Market Authority Law in Kuwait needs a clear concept and a straight structure of disclosure under section 100. This study will demonstrate why a clear disclosure is led to a better application of the law. This study will demonstrate the fairness in applying the law regarding the punishment against individual, companies and securities market. Furthermore, it will discuss added confidence between investors and the stock market with a clear concept under section 100. Finally, it will summarize arises problem and possible solution.

Keywords: corporate governors, disclosure, transparency, fairness

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Authors: Olusegun A. Afolabi, Ndivhuwo Ndou

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Composite material is an important area that has gained global visibility in many research fields in recent years. Composite material is the combination of separate materials with different properties to form a single material having different properties from the parent materials. Material composition and combination is an important aspect of composite material. The focus of this study is to provide insight into an easy way of calculating the compositions and formulations of constituent materials that make up any composite material. The compositions of the matrix and filler used for fabricating composite materials are taken into consideration. From the composite fabricated, data can be collected and analyzed based on the test and characterizations such as tensile, flexural, compression, impact, hardness, etc. Also, the densities of the matrix and the filler with regard to their constituent materials are discussed.

Keywords: composite material, density, filler, matrix, percentage weight, volume fraction

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Authors: Mohieldin Elmashad, Salwa Yassin

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Expansive soils regarded as one of the most problematic unsaturated formations in the Egyptian arid zones and present a great challenge in civil engineering, in general, and geotechnical engineering, in particular. Severe geotechnical complications and consequent structural damages have been arising due to an excessive and differential volumetric change upon wetting and change in water content. Different studies have been carried out concerning the swelling performance of the expansive soils using different additives including phospho-gypsum as an industrial waste product. However, this paper describes the results of a comprehensive testing programme that was carried out to investigate the effect of phospho-gypsum (PG) and sodium chloride (NaCl), as an additive mixture, on the swelling performance of constituent samples of swelling soils. The constituent samples comprise commercial bentonite collected from a natural site, mixed with different percentages of PG-NaCl mixture. The testing programme had been scoped to cover the physical and chemical properties of the constituent samples. In addition, a mineralogical study using x-ray diffraction (XRD) was performed on the collected bentonite and the mixed bentonite with PG-NaCl mixture samples. The obtained results of this study showed significant improvement in the swelling performance of the tested samples with the increase of the proposed PG-NaCl mixture content.

Keywords: expansive soils, industrial waste, mineralogical study, swelling performance, X-ray diffraction

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Authors: Mahmoud Datti Yola

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There is wider agreement among the scholars of political science and public administration that transparency and accountability constituted one of the most crucial ingredients of good governance. In addition democratic government is expected to be accountable and responsive to the wishes and aspirations of the people. In Nigeria, after more than fifteen years to the handover of power to the civilian administration, the leaders has not been at their best, as people’ expectations for nation building, socio-economic progress and better opportunities has been dashed by high level corruption, rising insecurity, absence of the rule of law and lack of transparency and accountability. The objective of this paper is to examine the prospects and challenges of transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s democratic governance. The study utilizes secondary data for this purpose. The study is of the view that the enormous task of dealing with the issue of corruption, insecurity and promotion of ethics and accountability in Nigeria lies not only in effective oversight of the executive by the legislative bodies, respect for the rule of law and an independent judiciary, but also in the ability of the citizens, civil society organizations and other associations to hold elected and appointed officials accountable.

Keywords: good governance, transperancy, accountability, Nigeria

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Authors: Mifta Ul Jannat, Raju Ahmed, Al Mamun, Jannatul Ferdaus, Ritu Costa, Milon Biswas

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Blockchain is an internet-based invention that is coveted in the permanent, scumbled record for its capacity to openly accept, record, and distribute transactions. In a traditional supply chain, there are no trustworthy participants for an organic product. Yet blockchain engineering may provide confidence, transparency, and traceability. Blockchain varies in how companies get real, checked, and lasting information from their supply chain and lock in customers. In an arrangement of cryptographic squares, Blockchain digitizes each connection by sparing it. No one person may alter the documents, and any alteration within the agreement is clear to all. The coming to the record is tamper proof and unchanging, offering a complete history of the object’s life cycle and minimizing opening for extorting. The primary aim of this analysis is to identify the underlying problem that the customer faces. In this post, we will minimize the allocation of fraud data through the ’Smart Contract’ and include a certificate of quality assurance.

Keywords: blockchain technology, food supply chain, Ethereum, smart contract, quality assurance, trustability, security, transparency

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Authors: Patricia Crentsil, Alvina Oriekhova

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The aim of the study is to determine social responsibility in the theory of organisation management. The main objectives are to examine the link between accountability,transparency, and ethical onorganisation management. The study seeks to answer questions that have received inadequate attention in social responsibility literature. Specifically, how accountability, transparency of policy, and ethical aspect enhanced organisation management? The target population of the study comprises of Deans and Head of Departments of Public Universities and Technical Universities in Ghana. The study used purposive sampling technique to select the Public Universities and technical universities in Ghana and adopted simple random Technique to select 300 participants from all Technical Universities in Ghana and 500 participants from all Traditional Universities in Ghana. The sample size will be 260 using confidence level = 95%, Margin of Error = 5%. The study used both primary and secondary data. The study adopted exploratory design to address the research questions. Results indicated thataccountability, transparency, and ethical have a positive significant link with organisation management. The study suggested that management can motivate an organization to act in a socially responsible manner.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, organisation management, organisation management theory, social responsibility

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Authors: Muhammad Heikal Ismail, Law Chung Lim, Hii Ching Lik

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In maintaining food quality and shelf life, drying is employed in food industry as the most reliable perseverance technique. In this way, heat pump drying and hot air drying of fresh rice noodles was deduced to freeze drying in achieving quality attributes of oil content Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images, texture, and colour. Soxthlet analysis shows freeze dried noodles contain more than 10 times oil content, distinct pores of SEM images, higher hardness by more than three times, and wider colour changes by average more than two times to both methods to explain the less transparency physical outlook of freeze dried samples.

Keywords: freeze drying, heat pump drying, noodles, Soxthlet

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Authors: Gagan Kumar, Koijam M. Devi, Amarendra K. Sarma, Dibakar Roy Chowdhury

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Research in metamaterials has been gaining momentum over the past decade owing to its ability in controlling electromagnetic wave properties through careful design at the sub-wavelength scale. The metamaterials have led to several important phenomena which are useful in a variety of applications. One such phenomenon is the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) effect in which a narrow transparency region is created in an otherwise absorptive spectrum. In our work, we explore plasmon induced transparency (PIT) in terahertz metamaterials which is analogues to EIT effect. The PIT effect is achieved using the plasmonic metamaterials in which a unit cell is comprised of two C (2C) shaped resonators and a cut-wire (CW). When terahertz wave of a particular polarization is normally incident on the proposed metamaterials geometry, it strongly couples with the cut wire, resulting in the excitation of the bright mode. However due to the specific polarization of the incident beam, the fundamental modes of the C-shaped resonators are not excited by the incident terahertz, hence they are termed as the dark mode. The PIT effect occurs as a result of interference between the bright and the dark mode. In order to observe PIT effect, both the bright and dark modes should have similar resonant frequencies with a little deviation. We further have examined that the PIT window can be modulated by displacing the C-shaped resonators w.r.t. the cut-wire. The numerical observations for different coupling configurations can be explained through an equivalent lumped element circuit model. Moving ahead the PIT effect is further explored in a metamaterial comprising of a cross like structure and four C-shaped resonators. For such configuration, equally strong PIT effect is observed for two orthogonally polarized lights. Therefore, such metamaterials demonstrate a polarization independent PIT response w.r.t the incident terahertz radiation. The proposed study could be significant in the development of slow light devices and polarization independent sensing applications.

Keywords: terahertz, metamaterial, split ring resonator, plasmon

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Authors: Eda K. Murathan, Gulten Manioglu

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In the building design process, reducing heating and cooling energy consumption according to the climatic region conditions of the building are important issues to be considered in order to provide thermal comfort conditions in the indoor environment. Applying a phase-change material (PCM) on the surface of a building envelope is the new approach for controlling heat transfer through the building envelope during the year. The transparency ratios of the window are also the determinants of the amount of solar radiation gain in the space, thus thermal comfort and energy expenditure. In this study, a simulation-based evaluation was carried out by using Energyplus to determine the effect of coupling PCM and transparency ratio when integrated into the building envelope. A three-storey building, a 30m x 30m sized floor area and 10m x 10m sized courtyard are taken as an example of the courtyard building model, which is frequently seen in the traditional architecture of hot climatic regions. 8 zones (10m x10m sized) with 2 exterior façades oriented in different directions on each floor were obtained. The percentage of transparent components on the PCM applied surface was increased at every step (%30, %40, %50). For every zone differently oriented, annual heating, cooling energy consumptions, and thermal comfort based on the Fanger method were calculated. All calculations are made for the zones of the intermediate floor of the building. The study was carried out for Diyarbakır provinces representing the hot-dry climate region and Antalya representing the hot-humid climate region. The increase in the transparency ratio has led to a decrease in heating energy consumption but an increase in cooling energy consumption for both provinces. When PCM is applied to all developed options, It was observed that heating and cooling energy consumption decreased in both Antalya (6.06%-19.78% and %1-%3.74) and Diyarbakır (2.79%-3.43% and 2.32%-4.64%) respectively. When the considered building is evaluated under passive conditions for the 21st of July, which represents the hottest day of the year, it is seen that the user feels comfortable between 11 pm-10 am with the effect of night ventilation for both provinces.

Keywords: building envelope, heating and cooling energy consumptions, phase change material, transparency ratio

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Authors: Michael Mertel, Lars Friedrich, Kai-Ingo Voigt

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Based on principle-agent theory, an information asymmetry exists in the traditional donation process. Consumers cannot comprehend whether nonprofit organizations (NPOs) use raised funds according to the designated cause after the transaction took place (hidden action). Therefore, charity organizations have tried to appear transparent and gain trust by using the same marketing instruments for decades (e.g., releasing project success reports). However, none of these measures can guarantee consumers that charities will use their donations for the purpose. With awareness of misuse of donations rising due to the Ukraine conflict (e.g., funding crime), consumers are increasingly concerned about the destination of their charitable purposes. Therefore, innovative charities like the Human Rights Foundation have started to offer donations via blockchain. Blockchain technology has the potential to establish profound trust and transparency in the donation process: Consumers can publicly track the progress of their donation at any time after deciding to donate. This ensures that the charity is not using donations against its original intent. Hence, the aim is to investigate the effect of blockchain-enabled transactions on the willingness to donate. Sample and Design: To investigate consumers' behavior, we use a scenario-based experiment. After removing participants (e.g., due to failed attention checks), 3192 potential donors participated (47.9% female, 62.4% bachelor or above). Procedure: We randomly assigned the participants to one of two scenarios. In all conditions, the participants read a scenario about a fictive charity organization called "Helper NPO." Afterward, the participants answered questions regarding their perception of the charity. Manipulation: The first scenario (n = 1405) represents a typical donation process, where consumers donate money without any option to track and trace. The second scenario (n = 1787) represents a donation process via blockchain, where consumers can track and trace their donations respectively. Using t-statistics, the findings demonstrate a positive effect of donating via blockchain on participants’ willingness to donate (mean difference = 0.667, p < .001, Cohen’s d effect size = 0.482). A mediation analysis shows significant effects for the mediation of transparency (Estimate = 0.199, p < .001), trust (Estimate = 0.144, p < .001), and transparency and trust (Estimate = 0.158, p < .001). The total effect of blockchain usage on participants’ willingness to donate (Estimate = 0.690, p < .001) consists of the direct effect (Estimate = 0.189, p < .001) and the indirect effects of transparency and trust (Estimate = 0.501, p < .001). Furthermore, consumers' affinity for technology moderates the direct effect of blockchain usage on participants' willingness to donate (Estimate = 0.150, p < .001). Donating via blockchain is a promising way for charities to engage consumers for several reasons: (1) Charities can emphasize trust and transparency in their advertising campaigns. (2) Established charities can target new customer segments by specifically engaging technology-affine consumers in the future. (3) Charities can raise international funds without previous barriers (e.g., setting up bank accounts). Nevertheless, increased transparency can also backfire (e.g., disclosure of costs). Such cases require further research.

Keywords: blockchain, social sector, transparency, trust

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Authors: Shuofen Hsu, Ya-Yi Chao, Chao-Wei Li

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This paper investigates the factors of whether firms’ quarterly consolidated financial statements to be voluntary reviewed by auditor. To promote the information transparency, the Financial Supervisory Commission of Executive Yuan in Taiwan ruled the Taiwanese listed companies should announce the first and third quarterly consolidated financial statements since 2008 to 2012, while the Commission didn’t require the consolidated financial statements should be reviewed by auditors. This is a very special practice in emerging market, especially in Taiwan. The valuable data of this period is suitable for us to research the determinants of firms’ voluntary review decision in emerging markets. We collected the auditors' report of each company and each year of Taiwanese listed companies since 2008 to 2012 for our research samples. We use probit model to test and analyze the determinants of voluntary review decision of the first and third quarterly consolidated financial statements. Our empirical result shows that the firms whose first and third quarterly consolidated financial statements are voluntary to be reviewed by auditors have better ranking of information transparency, higher audit quality, and better corporate governance, suggesting that voluntary review is a good signal to firms’ better information and corporate governance quality.

Keywords: voluntary review, information transparency, audit quality, quarterly consolidated financial statements

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Authors: Azza Habibullah

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The principal objective of this paper is to show the use of participatory culture in the parliamentarian campaign. The use of this method has always been non-popular amongst the parliamentarian candidates due to the amount of times and energy that they need to spent with the constituents. However, due to many parliamentarian corruption cases in the last five years period, some political party have been losing peoples trust. That political party trust lost had also affecting the parliamentarian candidates electability, so they invent some creative campaign method that involving their constituent with more intimates and friendly environment. In this paper, an observation is done to a parliamentarian candidate from Partai Keadilan Sejahtera (Prosperous Justice Party) in Bandung and Cimahi City area, West Java. This Parliamentraian candidate is known for her personal-approach campaign method such as a puppet show, hanging out with group of ex-bike gang leaders, and going fishing with the constituent. This paper will compare her method with other parliamentarian candidates from the same party as her that mostly use mainstream campaign method such as open speech, print media, an other one way campaign method. While the other parliamentarian candidates failed to reach the parliamentarian threshold, the participatory method had proven as an effective method.

Keywords: participatory culture, Indonesian parliamentary election, Prosperous Justice Party, electability

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Authors: F.I. Adeosun, A.A. Idowu, D.O. Odulate,

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The aims of carrying out this experiment were to determine the water quality and to investigate if the various human and ecological activities around the river have any effect on the physico-chemical parameters of the river’s resources with a view to effectively utilizing these resources. Water samples were collected from two stations on the surface water of Lower Ogun River Akomoje biweekly for a period of 5 months (January to May, 2011). Results showed that temperature ranged between 24.0-30.7oC, transparency (0.53-1.00 m), depth (1.0-3.88 m), alkalinity (4.5-14.5 mg/l), nitrates (0.235-5.445 mg/l), electrical conductivity (140-190µS/cm), dissolved oxygen (4.12-5.32 mg/l), phosphates (0.02 mg/l-0.7 5 mg/l) and total dissolved solids (70-95).The parameters at the deep end (station A) accounted for the bulk of the highest values; there was however no significant differences between the stations at P˂0.05 with the exception of transparency, depth, total dissolved solids and electrical conductivity. The phosphate value was relatively low which accounted for the low productivity and high transparency. The results obtained from the physico-chemical parameters agreed with the limits set by both national and international bodies for drinking and fish growth. It was however observed that during the period of data collection, catch was low and this could be attributed to low level of primary productivity due to the quality of physico-chemical parameters of the water. It is recommended that the agencies involved in the management of the river should put the right policies in place that will effectively enhance proper exploitation of the water resources. More research should also be carried out on the physico-chemical parameters since this work only studied the water for five months.

Keywords: physical, chemical, parameters, water quality, Ogunriver

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Authors: Jaisridhar P.

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The present study aimed to investigate preferred teaching styles of young faculties in agricultural education among 23 constituent colleges of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) using Staffordshire Evaluation of Teaching Styles (SETS). An onlinesurvey was conducted among 156 young faculties of 2014 Batch working in different constituent colleges of TNAU and 73 faculties respondent to the survey. The results showed that 62.53 percent preferred “The one-off teacher” stylefollowed by62.26 percent preferring “The student centered, sensitive teacher” style.“The all-round flexible and adaptable teaching style” was preferred by 61.64 percent. The Official Curriculum Teacher” with 61.23 per cent preferring this style.58.97 per cent preferred “The Big Conference Teacher” followed by 58.08 percent of the faculties preferring “The Straight Fact no Non-sense Teacher” type of teaching style. From the results, it wasconcluded that blended teaching approach can balance a teacher’s personal strengths and interest with student’s needs, and curricular requirements enables a teacher to tailor their teaching according to the student’s needs and as per subject matter.

Keywords: teaching styles, assistant professors, agriculture, tamil nadu

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Authors: Lasha Mskhaladze, Guram Burchuladze, Khvicha Datunashvili

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Technological changes have an impact not only on economic but also on social elements of society which in turn has created new challenges for states’ political systems and their regimes. As a result of unprecedented growth of information technologies and communications digital democracy and electronic governance have emerged. Nowadays effective state functioning cannot be imagined without electronic governance. In Georgia, special attention is paid to the development of such new systems and establishment of electronic governance. Therefore, in parallel to intensive development of information technologies an important priority for public sector in Georgia is the development of electronic governance. In spite of the fact that today Georgia with its economic indicators satisfies the standards of western informational society, and major part of its gross domestic product comes from the service sector (59.6%), it still remains a backward country on the world map in terms of information technologies and electronic governance. E-transparency in Georgia should be based on such parameters as government accountability when the government provides citizens information about their activities; e-participation which involves government’s consideration of external expert assessments; cooperation between officials and citizens in order to solve national problems. In order to improve electronic systems the government should actively do the following: Fully develop electronic programs concerning HR and exchange of data between public organizations; develop all possible electronic services; improve existing electronic programs; make electronic services available on different mobile platforms (iPhone, Android, etc.).

Keywords: electronic transparency, electronic services, information technology, information society, electronic systems

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Authors: Saifurahman Fayiz

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E-government has become a widespread focus of government efforts in various countries around the world. Many governments around the world have been adopted and introduced e-government systems. This research examines the implementation of the Information& communication technology (ICTS) Model in the Kabul Municipality. The objective of this research is to propose an ICT model in the Kabul Municipality to prevent revenue leakage. The research methodology consists qualitative research method based on a comparative case study. The research findings propose that implementing ICT prevent revenue leakage, increases transparency and paves the way for better services. The key conclusion of this research is that the practice of advanced technology in revenue collection paves the way for transparency and provides services in a decent way. The usage of experiences from other Municipalities, especially Jakarta province and Mitaka Municipality Helps KM to improve revenue and provide better services to the citizens

Keywords: E-government, ICT, municipality, revenue

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Authors: Imoh Philip

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Basà language is classified as belonging to Kainji family, under the sub-phylum Western-Kainji known as Rubasa (Basa Benue) (Croizier & Blench, 1992:32). Basà is an under-described language spoken in the North-Central Nigeria. The language is characterized by subject-verb-object (henceforth SVO) as its canonical word order. Data for this work is sourced from the researcher’s native intuition of the language corroborated with a careful observation of native speakers. This paper investigates the syntactic derivational strategy of information-structure encoding in Basà language. It emphasizes on a negative operator, as a strategy for focusing a constituent or clause that follows it and negativizes a whole proposition. For items that are not nouns, they have to undergo an obligatory nominalization process, either by affixation, modification or conversion before they are moved to the pre verbal position for these operations. The study discovers and provides evidence of the fact showing that deferent constituents in the sentence such as the subject, direct, indirect object, genitive, verb phrase, prepositional phrase, clause and idiophone, etc. can be focused with the same negativizing operator. The process is characterized by focusing the pre verbal NP constituent alone, whereas the whole proposition is negated. The study can stimulate similar study or be replicated in other languages.

Keywords: negation, focus, Basà, nominalization

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Authors: Szymon Kugler, Krzysztof Kowalczyk, Tadeusz Spychaj

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An addition of carbon nanotubes (CNT) can simultaneously improve many features of epoxy coatings, i.e. electrical, mechanical, functional and thermal. Unfortunately, this nanofiller negatively affects visual properties of the coatings, such as transparency and gloss. The main reason for the low visual performance of CNT-modified epoxy coatings is the lack of compatibility between CNT and popular amine curing agents, although epoxy resins based on bisphenol A are indisputable good CNT dispersants. This is a serious obstacle in utilization of the coatings in advanced applications, demanding both high transparency and electrical conductivity. The aim of performed investigations was to find amine curing agents exhibiting affinity for CNT, and ensuring good performance of epoxy coatings with them. Commercially available CNT was dispersed in epoxy resin, as well as in different aliphatic, cycloaliphatic and aromatic amines, using one of two dispergation methods: ultrasonic or mechanical. The CNT dispersions were subsequently used in the preparation of epoxy coating compositions and coatings on a transparent substrate. It was found that amine derivative of bio-based cardanol, as well as modified o-tolylbiguanide exhibit significant CNT, dispersing properties, resulting in improved transparent/electroconductive performance of epoxy coatings. In one of prepared coating systems just 0.025 wt.% (250 ppm) of CNT was enough to obtain coatings with semi conductive properties, 83% of transparency as well as perfect chemical resistance to methyl-ethyl ketone and improved thermal stability. Additionally, a theory of the influence of amine chemical structure on CNT dispersing properties was proposed.

Keywords: bio-based cardanol, carbon nanotubes, epoxy coatings, tolylbiguanide

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Authors: Ana Karaman, Dmitriy Gaevoy

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Successful and effective governing boards play an essential role in higher education by providing essential oversight and helping to steer the direction of an institution while creating and maintaining a thriving culture of stewardship. A well-functioning board can also help mitigate conflicts of interest, ensure responsible use of an organization's assets, and maintain institutional transparency. However, boards’ functions in higher education are inhibited by the presence of information asymmetry between the board and management. Board members typically have little specific knowledge about the business side of the higher education, in general, and an institution under their oversight in particular. As a result, boards often must rely on the discretion of the institutional upper administration as to what type of pertinent information being disclosed to the board. The phenomenon of information asymmetry is not unique to the higher education and has been studied previously in the context of both corporate and non-for-profit boards. Various board characteristics have been analyzed with respect to mitigating the information asymmetry between an organizational board and management. For example, it has been argued that such board characteristics as its greater size, independence, and a higher proportion of female members tend to reduce information asymmetry by raising levels of information disclosure and organizational transparency. This paper explores the phenomenon of information asymmetry between boards and management in the context of higher education. In our analysis, we propose a heat map of information asymmetry based on the categories of board competencies in higher education. The proposed heat map is based on the assessment of potential risks to both the boards and its institutions. It employs an assumption that a potential risk created by the presence of information asymmetry varies in its magnitude across various areas of boards’ competencies. Then, we explore the role of board members’ training in mitigating information asymmetry between the boards and the management by increasing the level of information disclosure and enhancing transparency in management communication with the boards. The paper seeks to demonstrate how appropriate training can provide board members with an adequate preparation to request a sufficient level of information disclose and transparency by arming them with knowledge of what questions to ask of the management.

Keywords: higher education, governing boards information asymmetry, board competencies, board training

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Authors: Mohammad Yousuf Khan, Bhavya Alankar

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Blockchain is a promising technology with its features such as immutability and decentralized database. It has applications in various fields such as pharmaceutical, finance, & the food industry. At the core of its heart lies its feature, traceability which is the most desired key in supply chains. However, supply chains have always been hit rock bottom by scandals and controversies. In this review paper, we have explored the advancement and research gaps of blockchain technology (BT) in supply chain management (SCM). We have used the Prisma framework for systematic literature review (SLR) and included a minuscule amount of grey literature to reduce publication bias. We found that supply chain traceability and transparency is the most researched objective in SCM. There was hardly any research in supply chain resilience. Further, we found that 40 % of the papers were application based. Most articles have focused on the advantages of BT, rather than analyzing it critically. This study will help identify gaps and suitable actions to be followed for an efficient implementation of BT in SCM.

Keywords: blockchain technology, supply chain management, supply chain transparency, supply chain resilience

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Authors: Olga Kokoulina

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Today, algorithms are assuming a leading role in various areas of decision-making. Prompted by a promise to provide increased economic efficiency and fuel solutions for pressing societal challenges, algorithmic decision-making is often celebrated as an impartial and constructive substitute for human adjudication. But in the face of this implied objectivity and efficiency, the application of algorithms is also marred with mounting concerns about embedded biases, discrimination, and exclusion. In Europe, vigorous debates on risks and adverse implications of algorithmic decision-making largely revolve around the potential of data protection laws to tackle some of the related issues. For example, one of the often-cited venues to mitigate the impact of potentially unfair decision-making practice is a so-called 'right to explanation'. In essence, the overall right is derived from the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) ensuring the right of data subjects to access and mandating the obligation of data controllers to provide the relevant information about the existence of automated decision-making and meaningful information about the logic involved. Taking corresponding rights and obligations in the context of the specific provision on automated decision-making in the GDPR, the debates mainly focus on efficacy and the exact scope of the 'right to explanation'. In essence, the underlying logic of the argued remedy lies in a transparency imperative. Allowing data subjects to acquire as much knowledge as possible about the decision-making process means empowering individuals to take control of their data and take action. In other words, forewarned is forearmed. The related discussions and debates are ongoing, comprehensive, and, often, heated. However, they are also frequently misguided and isolated: embracing the data protection law as ultimate and sole lenses are often not sufficient. Mandating the disclosure of technical specifications of employed algorithms in the name of transparency for and empowerment of data subjects potentially encroach on the interests and rights of IPR holders, i.e., business entities behind the algorithms. The study aims at pushing the boundaries of the transparency debate beyond the data protection regime. By systematically analysing legal requirements and current judicial practice, it assesses the limits of the transparency requirement and right to access posed by intellectual property law, namely by copyrights and trade secrets. It is asserted that trade secrets, in particular, present an often-insurmountable obstacle for realising the potential of the transparency requirement. In reaching that conclusion, the study explores the limits of protection afforded by the European Trade Secrets Directive and contrasts them with the scope of respective rights and obligations related to data access and portability enshrined in the GDPR. As shown, the far-reaching scope of the protection under trade secrecy is evidenced both through the assessment of its subject matter as well as through the exceptions from such protection. As a way forward, the study scrutinises several possible legislative solutions, such as flexible interpretation of the public interest exception in trade secrets as well as the introduction of the strict liability regime in case of non-transparent decision-making.

Keywords: algorithms, public interest, trade secrets, transparency

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Authors: Agustin Baidez, Yolanda Ramirez

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There is currently a growing interest in the improvement of university governance and the disclosure of information on governance processes as an essential part of the transparency and accountability of universities. This paper aims to examine the extent and quality of voluntary corporate governance disclosure by public Spanish universities on their websites in relation to information need of stakeholders. The results of this study show that Spanish university stakeholders attach great importance to the disclosure of specific information on aspects of corporate governance. However, the quality of disclosed information on university governance in public Spanish universities websites is in the middle level. In order to satisfy the information needs of university stakeholders, Spanish universities can be recommended to focus on reporting higher quality information on university autonomy in financing, autonomy in management, autonomy regarding student selection and assessment, degree of consanguinity of executive directors, report on assigned public funding based on results, and management reports.

Keywords: university, governance, transparency, stakeholders

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Authors: Gifty Kumadey, Albert Tchey Agbenyegah

Abstract:

This study explores the role of stakeholders in developing a sustainable supply chain policy framework in Ghana's pharmaceutical industry. It employs a qualitative research design to analyze policy documents, academic articles, and reports, shedding light on stakeholder involvement. The findings highlight the contributions of government agencies, regulatory bodies, pharmaceutical companies, suppliers, and civil society organizations. Key policies such as green procurement, waste management, and recycling initiatives are identified. However, challenges such as limited transparency, supplier engagement, and regulatory complexity impede implementation. The study recommends strengthening collaboration and promoting transparency to overcome these challenges. The findings provide valuable insights for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and researchers seeking to advance sustainable supply chain practices in Ghana's pharmaceutical industry.

Keywords: stakeholders, sustainable supply chain, policy framework, pharmaceutical industry

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Authors: B. F. Olanipekun, O. J. Oyelade, C. O. Osemobor

Abstract:

Pigeon pea is a very good source of protein and micronutrient, but it is being underutilized in Nigeria because of several constraints. This research considered the effect of different processing methods on the quality attributes of pigeon pea used in bread production towards enhancing its utility. Pigeon pea was obtained at a local market and processed into the flour using three processing methods: soaking, sprouting and roasting and were used to bake bread in different proportions. Chemical composition and sensory attributes of the breads were thereafter determined. The highest values of protein and ash contents were obtained from 20 % substitution of sprouted pigeon pea in wheat flour and may be attributable to complex biochemical changes occurring during hydration, to invariably lead to protein constituent being broken down. Hydrolytic activities of the enzymes from the sprouted sample resulted in improvement in the constituent of total protein probably due to reduction in the carbohydrate content. Sensory qualities analyses showed that bread produced with soaked and roasted pigeon pea flours at 5 and 10% inclusion, respectively were mostly accepted than other blends, and products with sprouted pigeon pea flour were least accepted. The findings of this research suggest that supplementing wheat flour with sprouted pigeon peas have more nutritional potentials. However, with sensory analysis indices, the soaked and roasted pigeon peas up to 10% are majorly accepted, and also can improve the nutritional status. Overall, this will be very beneficial to population dependent on plant protein in order to combat malnutrition problems.

Keywords: pigeon pea, processing, protein, malnutrition

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Authors: Aline Alves Bandeira, Luís Pedro Lima, Maria Cecília de Paula Silva, Paulo Henrique de Viveiros Tavares

Abstract:

Nowadays, the study of public policies regarding management efficiency is essential. Public policies are about what governments do or do not do, being an area that has grown worldwide, contributing through the knowledge of technologies and methodologies that monitor and evaluate the performance of public administrators. The information published on official government websites needs to provide for transparency and responsiveness of managers. Thus, transparency is a primordial factor for the execution of Accountability, providing, in this way, services to the citizen with the expansion of transparent, efficient, democratic information and that value administrative eco-efficiency. The ecologically balanced management of a Smart City must optimize environmental education, building a fairer society, which brings about equality in the use of quality environmental resources. Smart Cities add value in the construction of public management, enabling interaction between people, enhancing environmental education and the practical applicability of administrative eco-efficiency, fostering economic development and improving the quality of life.

Keywords: accountability, environmental education, new public administration, smart cities

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Authors: Ahmed Shaik

Abstract:

Estimates are very critical in accounting and Financial Reporting cannot be complete without these estimates. There is a long list of accounting estimates that are required to be made to compute Net Income and to determine the value of assets and liabilities. To name a few, valuation of inventory, depreciation, valuation of goodwill, provision for bad debts and estimated warranties, etc. require the use of different valuation models and forecasts. Different business entities under the same industry may use different approaches to measure the value of financial items being reported in Income Statement and Balance Sheet. The disclosure notes do not provide enough details of the approach used by a business entity to arrive at the value of a financial item. Lack of details in the disclosure notes makes it difficult to compare the financial performance of one business entity with the other in the same industry. This paper is an attempt to identify the lack of enough information about accounting estimates in disclosure notes, the impact of the absence of details of accounting estimates on the comparability of financial data and financial analysis. An attempt is made to suggest the detailed disclosure while taking care of the cost and benefit of making such disclosure.

Keywords: accounting estimates, disclosure notes, financial reporting, transparency

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Authors: Jeaha Yang, Ahmed Khan, Donna L. Rodela, Mohammed A. Qaudeer

Abstract:

Traditional supply chain silos still exist today due to the difficulty of establishing trust between various partners and technological barriers across industries. Companies lose opportunities and revenue and inadvertently make poor business decisions resulting in further challenges. Blockchain technology can bring a new level of transparency through sharing information with a distributed ledger in a decentralized manner that creates a basis of trust for business. Blockchain is a loosely coupled, hub-style communication network in which trading partners can work indirectly with each other for simpler integration, but they work together through the orchestration of their supply chain operations under a coherent process that is developed jointly. A Blockchain increases efficiencies, lowers costs, and improves interoperability to strengthen and automate the supply chain management process while all partners share the risk. Blockchain ledger is built to track inventory lifecycle for supply chain transparency and keeps a journal of inventory movement for real-time reconciliation. State design patterns are used to capture the life cycle (behavior) of inventory management as a state machine for a common, transparent and coherent process which creates an opportunity for trading partners to become more responsive in terms of changes or improvements in process, reconcile discrepancies, and comply with internal governance and external regulations. It enables end-to-end, inter-company visibility at the unit level for more accurate demand planning with better insight into order fulfillment and replenishment.

Keywords: supply chain management, inventory trace-ability, perpetual inventory system, inventory lifecycle, blockchain, inventory consignment, supply chain transparency, digital thread, demand planning, hyper ledger fabric

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Authors: Peter Oyelere, Fernando Zanella

Abstract:

Corporate governance is one of the most discussed and researched issues in recent times in countries around the world, with different countries developing and adopting different governance structures, models and mechanisms. While the Codes of corporate governance have been weaved into the regulatory fabrics of most countries, it is equally critically important that their mechanisms, procedures and practices be transparent, and be transparently communicated to all stakeholders. The Internet can be a very useful and cost-effective tool for the timely and voluntary communication of corporate governance matters to stakeholders. The current paper details the results of an investigation on the extent of which companies listed in the UAE are using the Internet for communicating corporate governance issues, matters and procedures. We surveyed the websites of companies listed on the two UAE Stock Exchanges – the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange (ADX) and the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) – to find out their level and nature of usage of the Internet for corporate governance disclosures. Regulatory and policy implications of the results of our investigation, as well as other areas for further studies, are also presented in the paper.

Keywords: corporate governance, internet financial reporting, regulation, transparency, United Arab Emirates

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Authors: Varsha Rainson

Abstract:

Artificial intelligence (AI) has great potential and can be used as a powerful tool of application in various domains and sectors. But with the application of AI, there comes a wide spectrum of concerns around bias, accountability, transparency, and privacy. Hence, there is a need for responsible AI, which can uphold ethical and accountable practices to ensure that things are transparent and fair. The paper is a combination of AI and cultural heritage preservation, with a greater focus on India because of the rich cultural legacy that it holds. India’s cultural heritage in itself contributes to its identity and the economy. In this paper, along with discussing the impact culture holds on the Indian economy, we will discuss the threats that the cultural heritage is exposed to due to pollution, climate change and urbanization. Furthermore, the paper reviews some of the exciting applications of AI in cultural heritage preservation, such as 3-D scanning, photogrammetry, and other techniques which have led to the reconstruction of cultural artifacts and sites. The paper eventually moves into the potential risks and challenges that AI poses in cultural heritage preservation. These include ethical, legal, and social issues which are to be addressed by organizations and government authorities. Overall, the paper strongly argues the need for responsible AI and the important role it can play in preserving India’s cultural heritage while holding importance to value and diversity.

Keywords: responsible AI, cultural heritage, artificial intelligence, biases, transparency

Procedia PDF Downloads 147