Search results for: relational view of the firm

Authors: Lindsay Foreman

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Introduction: Goals have become synonymous with the quest for the good life and the pursuit of happiness, with coaching and positive psychology gaining popularity as an approach in recent decades. And yet mental health is on the rise and the leading cause of disability, wellbeing is on the decline, stress is leading to 50-60% of workday absences and the need for action is indisputable and urgent. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to better understand two things we cannot see, but that play the most significant role in these outcomes - what we think and how we feel. With many working on the assumption that positive thinking and an optimistic outlook are necessary or valuable components of goal pursuit, this study uncovers the reality of the ‘inner-game’ from the coachees perspective. Method: With a mixed methods design using a Q Method study of subjectivity to ‘make the unseen seen’. First, a wide-ranging universe of subjective thoughts and feelings experienced during goal pursuit are explored.. These are generated from literature and a Qualtrics survey to create a Q-Set of 40 statements. Then 19 participants in professional and organisational settings offer their perspectives on these 40 Q-Set statements. Each rank them in a semi-forced distribution from ‘most like me’ to ‘least like me’ using Q-Sort software. From these individual perspectives, clusters of perspectives are identified using factor analysis and four distinct viewpoints, have emerged. Findings: These Goal Pursuit Viewpoints offer insight into the states and self-talk experienced by coachees and may not reflect the assumption of positive thinking associated with achieving goals. The four Viewpoints are 1) the Positive View, 2) the Realistic View 3) The Dreamer View and 4) The Conflicted View. With only a quarter of the Dreamer View, and a third of the Positive view going on to achieve their goals, these assumptions need review. And with all the Realistic View going on to achieve their goals, the role of self-doubt, overwhelm and anxiousness in goal achievement cannot be overlooked. Contribution: This study offers greater insight and understanding of people's inner experiences as they pursue goals and highlights the necessary and normal negative states associated with goal achievement. It also offers a practical tool of 40 ‘Clarity Card’ Q-set statements to help coaches and coachees explore the current state and help navigate the journey towards goal achievement. It calls into question whether goals should always be part of coaching, and if values, identity, and purpose may play a greater role than goals

Keywords: self-talk, mental health, inner critic, inner coach

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Authors: Heeba A. Gurku

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Introduction: Cone Beam CT(CBCT) images play an integral part in proper patient positioning in cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy treatment. But these images are low in quality. The purpose of this study is to generate high-quality synthetic CT images from CBCT using generative models. Material and Methods: This study utilized two datasets from The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA) 1) Lung cancer dataset of 20 patients (with full view CBCT images) and 2) Pancreatic cancer dataset of 40 patients (only 27 patients having limited view images were included in the study). Cycle Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) and its variant Attention Guided Generative Adversarial Networks (AGGAN) models were used to generate the synthetic CTs. Models were evaluated by visual evaluation and on four metrics, Structural Similarity Index Measure (SSIM), Peak Signal Noise Ratio (PSNR) Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), to compare the synthetic CT and original CT images. Results: For pancreatic dataset with limited view CBCT images, our study showed that in Cycle GAN model, MAE, RMSE, PSNR improved from 12.57to 8.49, 20.94 to 15.29 and 21.85 to 24.63, respectively but structural similarity only marginally increased from 0.78 to 0.79. Similar, results were achieved with AGGAN with no improvement over Cycle GAN. However, for lung dataset with full view CBCT images Cycle GAN was able to reduce MAE significantly from 89.44 to 15.11 and AGGAN was able to reduce it to 19.77. Similarly, RMSE was also decreased from 92.68 to 23.50 in Cycle GAN and to 29.02 in AGGAN. SSIM and PSNR also improved significantly from 0.17 to 0.59 and from 8.81 to 21.06 in Cycle GAN respectively while in AGGAN SSIM increased to 0.52 and PSNR increased to 19.31. In both datasets, GAN models were able to reduce artifacts, reduce noise, have better resolution, and better contrast enhancement. Conclusion and Recommendation: Both Cycle GAN and AGGAN were significantly able to reduce MAE, RMSE and PSNR in both datasets. However, full view lung dataset showed more improvement in SSIM and image quality than limited view pancreatic dataset.

Keywords: CT images, CBCT images, cycle GAN, AGGAN

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Authors: Ali Al Shamli, Talal AlMamari

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Background: The relationship between motivation and satisfaction is posited to be mediated by reward. In this study, the motivation construct was measured by a motivation scale. The scale when factor analysed generated five factors. These factors were referred as; 1) leisure motivation, 2) egoistic motivation, 3) external motivation, 4) purposive, and 5) material motivation. The reward construct was measured by using a five-item scale whereas the satisfaction construct was measured by using a 13-item scale. The scale when factor analysed produced three factors which are referred as; 1) satisfaction A, 2) satisfaction B, and 3) satisfaction C. Objective: The main purpose of the present paper was to find out the relation of motivation and reward with volunteer satisfaction at national sports organizations (NPSOs) in Oman. Methods: This current study adopts a cross-sectional design as the data collection is done only once whereas the mode of administration was postal questionnaire where each questionnaire was posted, completed, and returned using the self-addressed envelope after its completion. The population of the study consisted of (160) boards and directors members of NPSOs (Non-Profit Sports Organization Services) in Oman from all 43 sports club. Results: The findings provided new empirical evidence that supported the argument of the relationship between motivation and satisfaction is indeed, mediated by reward. However, this study differs in that the relationship was tested based on the first-order constructs which were derived from the underlying dimensions of both motivation and satisfaction constructs. It was established that the relationships between motivation B and motivation C with satisfaction A are mediated by reward. Conclusion: In light of study findings, there is a direct relationship between developmental motivation and experiential satisfaction, a direct relationship between social motivation and relational satisfaction, as well as personal motivation and relational satisfaction, is mediated by reward. Therefore, Omani volunteers are less reliant on the reward as evidenced by the direct relationship between motivation A and satisfaction and between motivation C and satisfaction A. More tests in different settings will provide more understanding on volunteer motivation.

Keywords: non-profit sports organization, sport and reward, volunteers in sport, satisfaction in sport

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Authors: Omer Livvarcin, Mary Kay Park, Michael Miles

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The current literature includes a few studies that mention the impact of relations between teams, the business environment, and experiences from previous projects. There is, however, limited research that treats the phenomenon of project atmosphere (PA) as a whole. This is especially true of research identifying parameters and sub-parameters, which allow project management (PM) teams to build a project culture that ultimately imbues project success. This study’s findings identify a number of key project atmosphere parameters and sub-parameters that affect project management success. One key parameter identified in the study is a cluster related to cultural concurrence, including artifacts such as policies and mores, values, perceptions, and assumptions. A second cluster centers on motivational concurrence, including such elements as project goals and team-member expectations, moods, morale, motivation, and organizational support. A third parameter cluster relates to experiential concurrence, with a focus on project and organizational memory, previous internal PM experience, and external environmental PM history and experience). A final cluster of parameters is comprised of those falling in the area of relational concurrence, including inter/intragroup relationships, role conflicts, and trust. International and intercultural project management data was collected and analyzed from the following countries: Canada, China, Nigeria, South Korea and Turkey. The cross-cultural nature of the data set suggests increased confidence that the findings will be generalizable across cultures and thus applicable for future international project management success. The intent of the identification of project atmosphere as a critical project management element is that a clear understanding of the dynamics of its sub-parameters upon projects may significantly improve the odds of success of future international and intercultural projects.

Keywords: project management, project atmosphere, cultural concurrence, motivational concurrence, relational concurrence

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Authors: Mehmet Mucuk, Ayşen Edirneligil

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Budget and current account deficits are main problems for all countries. There are different approaches about the relationship between budget deficit and current account deficit. While Keynesian view accepts that there is a casual link between these variables, Ricardian equivalence hypothesis rejects it. The aim of this study is to analyze the validity of Keynesian view for Turkish Economy using VAR analysis with the monthly data in the period of 2006-2014. In this context, it will be used Johansen Cointegration Test, Impulse-Response Function and Variance Decomposition Tests.

Keywords: budget deficit, current account deficit, Turkish economy, twin deficits

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Authors: Sevde D. Karayel, Ediz Atmaca

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Supplier selection subject is vital because of development competitiveness and performance of firms which have right, rapid and with low cost procurement. Considering the fact that competition between firms is no longer on their supply chains, hence it is very clear that performance of the firms’ not only depend on their own success but also success of all departments in supply chain. For this purpose, firms want to work with suppliers which are cost effective, flexible in terms of demand and high quality level for customer satisfaction. However, diversification and redundancy of their expectations from suppliers, supplier selection problems need to be solved as a hard problem. In this study, supplier selection problem is discussed for critical piece, which is using almost all production of products in and has troubles with lead time from supplier, in a firm that produces medical devices. Analyzing policy in the current situation of the firm in the supplier selection indicates that supplier selection is made based on the purchasing department experience and other authorized persons’ general judgments. Because selection do not make based on the analytical methods, it is caused disruptions in production, lateness and extra cost. To solve the problem, AHP and TOPSIS which are multi-criteria decision making techniques, which are effective, easy to implement and can analyze many criteria simultaneously, are used to make a selection among alternative suppliers.

Keywords: AHP-TOPSIS methods, multi-criteria decision making, supplier selection problem, supply chain management

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Authors: Beril Tuğrul

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Electrical energy is the most important form of energy and electrical power plants have highest impact factor in energy policy. This study is in relation with evaluation of various power plants including fossil fuels, nuclear and renewable energy based power plants. The power plants evaluated with regard to their overall impact that considered for establishing of the plants. Both positive and negative impacts of power plant operation are compared view of different arguments. Then calculate the impact factor by using variation linear extrapolation for each argument. With this study, power plants assessed with the different point of view and clarified objectively.

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Authors: Henry Kiptum Yatich, Ronald Chepkilot, Aquilars Mutuku Kalio

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Studies on energy management have focused on environmental conservation, reduction in production and operation expenses. However, transferring gains of energy management practices to competitive advantage is importance to manufacturers in Kenya. Success in managing competitive advantage arises out of a firm’s ability in identifying and implementing actions that can give the company an edge over its rivals. Manufacturing firms in Kenya are the highest consumers of both electricity and petroleum products. In this regard, the study posits that transfer of the gains of energy management practices to competitive advantage is imperative. The study was carried in Nairobi and its environs, which hosts the largest number of manufacturers. The study objectives were; to determine the level of implementing energy management regulations on sustaining competitive advantage, to determine the level of implementing company energy management policy on competitive advantage, to examine the level of implementing energy efficient technology on sustaining competitive advantage, and to assess the percentage energy expenditure on sustaining competitive advantage among manufacturing firms. The study adopted a survey research design, with a study population of 145,987. A sample of 384 respondents was selected randomly from 21 proportionately selected firms. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviations) and inferential statistics (correlation, regression, and T-test). Data is presented using tables and diagrams. The study found that Energy Management Regulations, Company Energy Management Policies, and Energy Expenses are significant predictors of Competitive Advantage (CA). However, Energy Efficient Technology as a component of Energy Management Practices did not have a significant relationship with Competitive Advantage. The study revealed that the level of awareness in the sector stood at 49.3%. Energy Expenses in the sector stood at an average of 10.53% of the firm’s total revenue. The study showed that gains from energy efficiency practices can be transferred to competitive strategies so as to improve firm competitiveness. The study recommends that manufacturing firms should consider energy management practices as part of its strategic agenda in assessing and reviewing their energy management practices as possible strategies for sustaining competitiveness. The government agencies such as Energy Regulatory Commission, the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, and Kenya Association of Manufacturers should enforce the energy management regulations 2012, and with enhanced stakeholder involvement and sensitization so as promote sustenance of firm competitiveness. Government support in providing incentives and rebates for acquisition of energy efficient technologies should be pursued. From the study limitation, future experimental and longitudinal studies need to be carried out. It should be noted that energy management practices yield enormous benefits to all stakeholders and that the practice should not be considered a competitive tool but rather as a universal practice.

Keywords: energy, efficiency, management, guidelines, policy, technology, competitive advantage

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Authors: Fatima M. Jadu, Asmaa A. Alzahrani, Maha A. Almutairi, Salma O. Al-Amoudi, Mawya A. Khafaji

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Introduction: Estimating the potential radiation risk for a widely used imaging technique such as cone beam CT (CBCT) is crucial. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of varying two CBCT technical factors, the voxel size (VOX) and the Field-of-View (FOV) centralization, on the radiation dose. Methodology: The head and neck slices of a RANDO® man phantom (Alderson Research Laboratories) were used with nanoDot™ OSLD dosimeters to measure the absorbed radiation dose at 25 predetermined sites. Imaging was done using the i-CAT® (Imaging Science International, Hatfield, PA, USA) CBCT unit. The VOX was changed for every three cycles of exposures from 0.2mm to 0.3mm and then 0.4mm. Then the FOV was centered on the maxilla and mandible alternatively while holding all other factors constant. Finally, the effective radiation dose was calculated for each view and voxel setting. Results: The effective radiation dose was greatest when the smallest VOX was chosen. When the FOV was centered on the maxilla, the highest radiation doses were recorded in the eyes and parotid glands. While on the mandible, the highest radiation doses were recorded in the sublingual and submandibular glands. Conclusion: Minor variations in the CBCT exposure factors significantly affect the effective radiation dose and thus the radiation risk to the patient. Therefore, extreme care must be taken when choosing these parameters especially for vulnerable patients such as children.

Keywords: CBCT, cone beam CT, effective dose, field of view, mandible, maxilla, resolution, voxel

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Authors: Konstantinos Kottikas, Vlasis Stathakopoulos, Ioannis G. Theodorakis, Efthymia Kottika

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Theorists have argued that Market Orientation is comprised of two facets, namely the Market Driven and the Market Driving components. The present theoretical paper centers on the latter, which to date has been notably under-investigated. The term Market Driving (MD) pertains to influencing the structure of the market, or the behavior of market players in a direction that enhances the competitive edge of the firm. Presently, the main objectives of the paper are the specification of key antecedents and outcomes of Market Driving behavior. Market Driving firms behave proactively, by leading their customers and changing the rules of the game rather than by responding passively to them. Leading scholars were the first to conceptually conceive the notion, followed by some qualitative studies and a limited number of quantitative publications. However, recently, academicians noted that research on the topic remains limited, expressing a strong necessity for further insights. Concerning the key antecedents, top management’s Transformational Leadership (i.e. the form of leadership which influences organizational members by aligning their values, goals and aspirations to facilitate value-consistent behaviors) is one of the key drivers of MD behavior. Moreover, scholars have linked the MD concept with Entrepreneurship. Finally, the role that Employee’s Creativity plays in the development of MD behavior has been theoretically exemplified by a stream of literature. With respect to the key outcomes, it has been demonstrated that MD Behavior positively triggers firm Performance, while theorists argue that it empowers the Competitive Advantage of the firm. Likewise, researchers explicate that MD Behavior produces Radical Innovation. In order to test the robustness of the proposed theoretical framework, a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods is proposed. In particular, the conduction of in-depth interviews with distinguished executives and academicians, accompanied with a large scale quantitative survey will be employed, in order to triangulate the empirical findings. Given that it triggers overall firm’s success, the MD concept is of high importance to managers. Managers can become aware that passively reacting to market conditions is no longer sufficient. On the contrary, behaving proactively, leading the market, and shaping its status quo are new innovative approaches that lead to a paramount competitive posture and Innovation outcomes. This study also exemplifies that managers can foster MD Behavior through Transformational Leadership, Entrepreneurship and recruitment of Creative Employees. To date, the majority of the publications on Market Orientation is unilaterally directed towards the responsive (i.e. the Market Driven) component. The present paper further builds on scholars’ exhortations, and investigates the Market Driving facet, ultimately aspiring to conceptually integrate the somehow fragmented scientific findings, in a holistic framework.

Keywords: entrepreneurial orientation, market driving behavior, market orientation

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Authors: Abbas Raza Ali

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Big Data technology is gradually becoming a dire need of large enterprises. These enterprises are generating massively large amount of off-line and streaming data in both structured and unstructured formats on daily basis. It is a challenging task to effectively extract useful insights from the large scale datasets, even though sometimes it becomes a technology constraint to manage transactional data history of more than a few months. This paper presents a framework to efficiently manage massively large and complex datasets. The framework has been tested on a communication service provider producing massively large complex streaming data in binary format. The communication industry is bound by the regulators to manage history of their subscribers’ call records where every action of a subscriber generates a record. Also, managing and analyzing transactional data allows service providers to better understand their customers’ behavior, for example, deep packet inspection requires transactional internet usage data to explain internet usage behaviour of the subscribers. However, current relational database systems limit service providers to only maintain history at semantic level which is aggregated at subscriber level. The framework addresses these challenges by leveraging Big Data technology which optimally manages and allows deep analysis of complex datasets. The framework has been applied to offload existing Intelligent Network Mediation and relational Data Warehouse of the service provider on Big Data. The service provider has 50+ million subscriber-base with yearly growth of 7-10%. The end-to-end process takes not more than 10 minutes which involves binary to ASCII decoding of call detail records, stitching of all the interrogations against a call (transformations) and aggregations of all the call records of a subscriber.

Keywords: big data, communication service providers, enterprise data warehouse, stream computing, Telco IN Mediation

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Authors: M. Kolotylo, H. Zheng, R. Parente, R. Dahiya

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Large number of organizations, frequently motivated by budget and cost cuts, outsource their Information Technology (IT) positions every year. Although the objective of reduction in financial obligations is often not accomplished, many buyer companies still manage to benefit from outsourcing projects. Knowledge Transfer (KT), being one of the major processes that take place during IT outsourcing partnership, may exert a strong impact on the performance of the parties involved, particularly that of the buyer. Research, however, lacks strong conceptual basis for the possible benefits that KT from supplier may bring to the buyer; and for the mechanisms that may be adopted by the buyer to maximize such benefit. This paper aims to fill this gap by proposing a conceptual framework of organizational learning and development of dynamic capabilities enabled by KT from the supplier to the buyer. The study examines buyer-supplier relationships in the context of IT outsourcing transactions, and theorizes how KT from the supplier to the buyer helps the performance of the buyer. It warrants that more research is carried out in order to explicate and provide evidence regarding the role that KT plays in strategic improvements for the buyer. The paper proposes to take up a two-fold approach to the research: conceptual development that utilizes logical argumentation and interpretive historical research, as well as a qualitative case study which aims to capture and understand the complex processes involved. Thus, the study provides a comprehensive visualization of the dynamics of the conditions under which participation in IT outsourcing partnership might be of benefit to the buyer company. The framework demonstrates the mechanisms involved in buyer’s achievement of strategic alignment through organizational learning enabled by KT from the supplier. It highlights that organizational learning involves a balance between exploitation of assets and exploration of new possibilities, and further notes that the dynamic capabilities mediate the effect of organizational learning on firm performance. The paper explicates in what ways managers can leverage outsourcing projects to execute strategy, which would enable their organization achieve better performance. The study concludes that organizational learning enables the firm to develop IT capabilities of strategic planning, IT integration, and IT relationships in the outsourcing context, and that IT capabilities developed through the organizational learning would help the firm in achieving strategic alignment.

Keywords: dynamic capabilities, it outsourcing, knowledge transfer, organizational learning, strategic alignment

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Authors: Mary David, Denis Basila

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This study assessed the Impact of Board Composition on the Performance of Listed Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria. A sample of ten (10) deposit money banks formed the sample of this study. Board size, gender diversity, and board independence were used as the independent variables, and firm size as a control variable, whiles the bank performance was proxy with Tobin’s Q (TQ) as the dependent variable. Secondary data was collected from secondary source through the annual report and account of the banks and was analyzed through the support of STATA 14 versions. Descriptive statistics, correlation matrix, and OLS multiple regression model were adopted for the study. Breusch and pagan lagrangian multiplier test for random effect was conducted. The findings of the study reveal that board size has positive and significant impact on Tobin’s Q, gender diversity has positive and significant impact on Tobin’s Q, while board independent had a negative and nonsignificant influence on the Tobin’s Q, Similarly, firm size was found to have a negative and nonsignificant impact on Tobin’s Q of the study banks. This study recommended that policy makers, stakeholders, and corporate managers of deposit money banks of Nigeria and related industries are encouraged to adopt board sizes and gender diversity that impact positively on bank performance.

Keywords: board composition, performance, deposit money banks, nigeria

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Authors: Lina Najafian, Hamidreza Vakilifard

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The present study focused on the relationship between the quality of accruals and non-systematic risk. The independent study variables included the ability of accruals, the information content of accruals, and amount of discretionary accruals considered as accruals quality measures. The dependent variable was non-systematic risk based on the Fama and French Three Factor model (FFTFM) and the capital asset pricing model (CAPM). The control variables were firm size, financial leverage, stock return, cash flow fluctuations, and book-to-market ratio. The data collection method was based on library research and document mining including financial statements. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the data. The study results showed that there is a significant direct relationship between financial leverage and discretionary accruals and non-systematic risk based on FFTFM and CAPM. There is also a significant direct relationship between the ability of accruals, information content of accruals, firm size, and stock return and non-systematic based on both models. It was also found that there is no relationship between book-to-market ratio and cash flow fluctuations and non-systematic risk.

Keywords: accruals quality, non-systematic risk, CAPM, FFTFM

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Authors: Ali Hojati Najafabadi, Mohamad Hosein Rahmati, Seyed Ali Madanizadeh

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Governments execute energy subsidy reforms by either increasing energy prices or reducing energy price dispersion. These policies make less use of energy per plant (intensive margin), vary the total number of firms (extensive margin), promote technological progress (technology channel), and make additional resources to redistribute (resource channel). We estimate a structural dynamic firm model with endogenous technology adaptation using data from the manufacturing firms in Iran and a country ranked the second-largest energy subsidy plan by the IMF. The findings show significant dynamics and distributional effects due to an energy reform plan. The price elasticity of energy consumption in the industrial sector is about -2.34, while it is -3.98 for large firms. The dispersion elasticity, defined as the amounts of changes in energy consumption by a one-percent reduction in the standard error of energy price distribution, is about 1.43, suggesting significant room for a distributional policy. We show that the intensive margin is the main driver of energy price elasticity, whereas the other channels mostly offset it. In contrast, the labor response is mainly through the extensive margin. Total factor productivity slightly improves in light of the reduction in energy consumption if, at the same time, the redistribution policy boosts the aggregate demands.

Keywords: energy reform, firm dynamics, structural estimation, subsidy policy

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Authors: M. V. Shivaani, P. K. Jain, Surendra S. Yadav

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Risk management has been gaining extensive focus from international organizations like Committee of Sponsoring Organizations and Financial Stability Board, and, the foundation of such an effective and efficient risk management system lies in a strong risk governance structure. In view of this, an attempt (perhaps a first of its kind) has been made to develop a risk governance index, which could be used as proxy for quality of risk governance structures. The index (normative framework) is based on eleven variables, namely, size of board, board diversity in terms of gender, proportion of executive directors, executive/non-executive status of chairperson, proportion of independent directors, CEO duality, chief risk officer (CRO), risk management committee, mandatory committees, voluntary committees and existence/non-existence of whistle blower policy. These variables are scored on a scale of 1 to 5 with the exception of the variables, namely, status of chairperson and CEO duality (which have been scored on a dichotomous scale with the score of 3 or 5). In case there is a legal/statutory requirement in respect of above-mentioned variables and there is a non-compliance with such requirement a score of one has been envisaged. Though there is no legal requirement, for the larger part of study, in context of CRO, risk management committee and whistle blower policy, still a score of 1 has been assigned in the event of their non-existence. Recognizing the importance of these variables in context of risk governance structure and the fact that the study basically focuses on risk governance, the absence of these variables has been equated to non-compliance with a legal/statutory requirement. Therefore, based on this the minimum score is 15 and the maximum possible is 55. In addition, an attempt has been made to explore the determinants of this index. For this purpose, the sample consists of non-financial companies (429) that constitute S&P CNX500 index. The study covers a 10 years period from April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2015. Given the panel nature of data, Hausman test was applied, and it suggested that fixed effects regression would be appropriate. The results indicate that age and size of firms have significant positive impact on its risk governance structures. Further, post-recession period (2009-2015) has witnessed significant improvement in quality of governance structures. In contrast, profitability (positive relationship), leverage (negative relationship) and growth (negative relationship) do not have significant impact on quality of risk governance structures. The value of rho indicates that about 77.74% variation in risk governance structures is due to firm specific factors. Given the fact that each firm is unique in terms of its risk exposure, risk culture, risk appetite, and risk tolerance levels, it appears reasonable to assume that the specific conditions and circumstances that a company is beset with, could be the biggest determinants of its risk governance structures. Given the recommendations put forth in the paper (particularly for regulators and companies), the study is expected to be of immense utility in an important yet neglected aspect of risk management.

Keywords: corporate governance, ERM, risk governance, risk management

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Authors: Xin Wang, Chaoqun Ma, Zheng Yao

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Although green technology innovation faces new opportunities and challenges in the digital era, its theoretical research remains limited. Drawing on the attention-based view, this study employs the spatial Durbin model to investigate the impact of local government digital attention and digital industrial agglomeration on green technology innovation across 30 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2021, as well as the spatial spillover effects present. The results suggest that both government digital attention and digital industrial agglomeration positively influence green technology innovation in local and neighboring provinces, with digital industrial agglomeration exhibiting a positive moderating effect on this direct local and indirect spatial spillover relationship. The findings of this study provide a new theoretical perspective for green technology innovation research and hold valuable implications for the advancement of the attention-based view and green technology innovation.

Keywords: local government digital attention, digital industrial agglomeration, green technology innovation, attention-based view

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Authors: Yazid Abdullahi Abubakar, Jay Mitra

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This paper is concerned with entrepreneurial high-impact firms, which are firms that generate ‘both’ disproportionate levels of employment and sales growth, and have high levels of innovative activity. It investigates differences in factors influencing high-impact growth between indigenous and foreign firms. The study is based on an analysis of data from United Kingdom (UK) Innovation Scoreboard on 865 firms, which were divided into high-impact firms (those achieving positive growth in both sales and employment) and low-impact firms (negative or no growth in sales or employment); in order to identifying the critical differences in regional, sectorial and size related factors that facilitate knowledge spillovers and high-impact growth between indigenous and foreign firms. The findings suggest that: 1) Firms’ access to regional knowledge spillovers (from businesses and higher education institutions) is more significantly associated with high-impact growth of UK firms in comparison to foreign firms, 2) Because high-tech sectors have greater use of knowledge spillovers (compared to low-tech sectors), high-tech sectors are more associated with high-impact growth, but the relationship is stronger for UK firms compared to foreign firms, 3) Because small firms have greater need for knowledge spillovers (relative to large firms), there is a negative relationship between firm size and high-impact growth, but the negative relationship is greater for UK firms in comparison to foreign firms.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, high-growth, indigenous firms, foreign firms, small firms, large firms

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Authors: David Koren, Vojko Kilar

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The modern energy-efficient houses are often founded on a thermal insulation (TI) layer placed under the building’s RC foundation slab. The purpose of the paper is to identify the potential problems of the buildings founded on TI layer from the seismic point of view. The two main goals of the study were to assess the seismic behavior of such buildings, and to search for the critical structural parameters affecting the response of the superstructure as well as of the extruded polystyrene (XPS) layer. As a test building a multi-storeyed RC frame structure with and without the XPS layer under the foundation slab has been investigated utilizing nonlinear dynamic (time-history) and static (pushover) analyses. The structural response has been investigated with reference to the following performance parameters: i) Building’s lateral roof displacements, ii) Edge compressive and shear strains of the XPS, iii) Horizontal accelerations of the superstructure, iv) Plastic hinge patterns of the superstructure, v) Part of the foundation in compression, and vi) Deformations of the underlying soil and vertical displacements of the foundation slab (i.e. identifying the potential uplift). The results have shown that in the case of higher and stiff structures lying on firm soil the use of XPS under the foundation slab might induce amplified structural peak responses compared to the building models without XPS under the foundation slab. The analysis has revealed that the superstructure as well as the XPS response is substantially affected by the stiffness of the foundation slab.

Keywords: extruded polystyrene (XPS), foundation on thermal insulation, energy-efficient buildings, nonlinear seismic analysis, seismic response, soil–structure interaction

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Authors: Yuhei Kunihiro, Sorin V. Sabau, Kazuhiro Shibuya

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We study the molecular evolution of insulin from the metric geometry point of view. In mathematics, and particularly in geometry, distances and metrics between objects are of fundamental importance. Using a weaker notion than the classical distance, namely the weighted quasi-metrics, one can study the geometry of biological sequences (DNA, mRNA, or proteins) space. We analyze from the geometrical point of view a family of 60 insulin homologous sequences ranging on a large variety of living organisms from human to the nematode C. elegans. We show that the distances between sequences provide important information about the evolution and function of insulin.

Keywords: metric geometry, evolution, insulin, C. elegans

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Authors: Nkwenti Mbelli Njah

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This research was motivated by a project requested by AXA on the topic of pensions payable under the workers compensation (WC) line of business. There are two types of pensions: the compulsorily recoverable and the not compulsorily recoverable. A pension is compulsorily recoverable for a victim when there is less than 30% of disability and the pension amount per year is less than six times the minimal national salary. The law defines that the mathematical provisions for compulsory recoverable pensions must be calculated by applying the following bases: mortality table TD88/90 and rate of interest 5.25% (maybe with rate of management). To manage pensions which are not compulsorily recoverable is a more complex task because technical bases are not defined by law and much more complex computations are required. In particular, companies have to predict the amount of payments discounted reflecting the mortality effect for all pensioners (this task is monitored monthly in AXA). The purpose of this research was thus to develop a stochastic model for the future mortality of the worker’s compensation pensioners of both the Portuguese market workers and AXA portfolio. Not only is past mortality modeled, also projections about future mortality are made for the general population of Portugal as well as for the two portfolios mentioned earlier. The global model was split in two parts: a stochastic model for population mortality which allows for forecasts, combined with a point estimate from a portfolio mortality model obtained through three different relational models (Cox Proportional, Brass Linear and Workgroup PLT). The one-year death probabilities for ages 0-110 for the period 2013-2113 are obtained for the general population and the portfolios. These probabilities are used to compute different life table functions as well as the not compulsorily recoverable reserves for each of the models required for the pensioners, their spouses and children under 21. The results obtained are compared with the not compulsory recoverable reserves computed using the static mortality table (TD 73/77) that is currently being used by AXA, to see the impact on this reserve if AXA adopted the dynamic tables.

Keywords: compulsorily recoverable, life table functions, relational models, worker’s compensation pensioners

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Authors: Federica Ceccoli

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Italy is undergoing one of its largest migratory waves, and Italian schools are reporting the highest numbers of multilingual students coming from immigrant families and speaking minority languages. For these pupils, who have not perfectly acquired their mother tongue yet, learning a second language may represent a burden on their linguistic development and may have some repercussions on their school performances and relational skills. These are some of the reasons why they have turned out to be those who have the worst grades and the highest school drop-out rates. However, despite these negative outcomes, it has been demonstrated that multilingual immigrant students frequently act as translators or language brokers for their peers or family members who do not speak Italian fluently. This activity has been defined as Child Language Brokering (hereinafter CLB) and it has become a common practice especially in minority communities as immigrants’ children often learn the host language much more quickly than their parents, thus contributing to their family life by acting as language and cultural mediators. This presentation aims to analyse the data collected by a research carried out during the school year 2014-2015 in the province of Ravenna, in the Northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, among 126 immigrant students attending junior high schools. The purpose of the study was to analyse by means of a structured questionnaire whether multilingualism matched with language brokering experiences or not and to examine the perspectives of those students who reported having acted as translators using their linguistic knowledge to help people understand each other. The questionnaire consisted of 34 items roughly divided into 2 sections. The first section required multilingual students to provide personal details like their date and place of birth, as well as details about their families (number of siblings, parents’ jobs). In the second section, they were asked about the languages spoken in their families as well as their language brokering experience. The in-depth questionnaire sought to investigate a wide variety of brokering issues such as frequency and purpose of the activity, where, when and which documents young language brokers translate and how they feel about this practice. The results have demonstrated that CLB is a very common practice among immigrants’ children living in Ravenna and almost all students reported positive feelings when asked about their brokering experience with their families and also at school. In line with previous studies, responses to the questionnaire item regarding the people they brokered for revealed that the category ranking first is parents. Similarly, language-brokering activities tend to occur most often at home and the documents they translate the most (either orally or in writing) are notes from teachers. Such positive feelings towards this activity together with the evidence that it occurs very often in schools have laid the foundation for further projects on how this common practice may be valued and used to strengthen the linguistic skills of these multilingual immigrant students and thus their school performances.

Keywords: immigration, language brokering, multilingualism, students' points of view

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Authors: Wafa Halfaoui Mbarek, Khir Tahar, Ben Brahim Ammar

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This study reports a comparison from an exergetic point of view between three configurations of vapor compression industrial refrigeration systems operating with R134a as working fluid. The performances of the different cycles are analyzed as function of several operating parameters such as condensing temperature and inter stage pressure. In addition, the contributions of component exergy destruction to the total exergy destruction are obtained for each system. The results are estimated to be used in the selection of the most advantageous configuration from an exergetic view point.

Keywords: vapor compression, exergy, destruction, efficiency, R134a

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Authors: Ichiro Takahashi

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One conundrum that macroeconomic theory faces is to explain how an economy can revive from depression, in which the aggregate demand has fallen substantially below its productive capacity. This paper examines an autonomous stabilizing mechanism using an agent-based Wicksell-Keynes macroeconomic model. This paper focuses on the effects of the number of firms and the length of the gestation period for investment that are often assumed to be one in a mainstream macroeconomic model. The simulations found the virtual economy was highly unstable, or more precisely, collapsing when these parameters are fixed at one. This finding may even suggest us to question the legitimacy of these common assumptions. A perpetual decline in capital stock will eventually encourage investment if the capital stock is short-lived because an inactive investment will result in insufficient productive capacity. However, for an economy characterized by a roundabout production method, a gradual decline in productive capacity may not be able to fall below the aggregate demand that is also shrinking. Naturally, one would then ask if our economy cannot rely on an external stimulus such as population growth and technological progress to revive investment, what factors would provide such a buoyancy for stimulating investments? The current paper attempts to answer this question by employing the artificial macroeconomic model mentioned above. The baseline model has the following three features: (1) the multi-period gestation for investment, (2) a large number of heterogeneous firms, (3) demand-constrained firms. The instability is a consequence of the following dynamic interactions. (a) A multiple-period gestation period means that once a firm starts a new investment, it continues to invest over some subsequent periods. During these gestation periods, the excess demand created by the investing firm will spill over to ignite new investment of other firms that are supplying investment goods: the presence of multi-period gestation for investment provides a field for investment interactions. Conversely, the excess demand for investment goods tends to fade away before it develops into a full-fledged boom if the gestation period of investment is short. (b) A strong demand in the goods market tends to raise the price level, thereby lowering real wages. This reduction of real wages creates two opposing effects on the aggregate demand through the following two channels: (1) a reduction in the real labor income, and (2) an increase in the labor demand due to the principle of equality between the marginal labor productivity and real wage (referred as the Walrasian labor demand). If there is only a single firm, a lower real wage will increase its Walrasian labor demand, thereby an actual labor demand tends to be determined by the derived labor demand. Thus, the second positive effect would not work effectively. In contrast, for an economy with a large number of firms, Walrasian firms will increase employment. This interaction among heterogeneous firms is a key for stability. A single firm cannot expect the benefit of such an increased aggregate demand from other firms.

Keywords: agent-based macroeconomic model, business cycle, demand constraint, gestation period, representative agent model, stability

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Authors: Alessandro Evangelista, Vito M. Manghisi, Michele Gattullo, Enricoandrea Laviola

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In this work, we propose a custom visualization technique for Out-Of-View-Objects in Virtual and Augmented Reality applications using Head Mounted Displays. In the last two decades, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies experienced a remarkable growth of applications for navigation, interaction, and collaboration in different types of environments, real or virtual. Both environments can be potentially very complex, as they can include many virtual objects located in different places. Given the natural limitation of the human Field of View (about 210° horizontal and 150° vertical), humans cannot perceive objects outside this angular range. Moreover, despite recent technological advances in AR e VR Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs), these devices still suffer from a limited Field of View, especially regarding Optical See-Through displays, thus greatly amplifying the challenge of visualizing out-of-view objects. This problem is not negligible when the user needs to be aware of the number and the position of the out-of-view objects in the environment. For instance, during a maintenance operation on a construction site where virtual objects serve to improve the dangers' awareness. Providing such information can enhance the comprehension of the scene, enable fast navigation and focused search, and improve users' safety. In our research, we investigated how to represent out-of-view-objects in HMD User Interfaces (UI). Inspired by commercial video games such as Call of Duty Modern Warfare, we designed a customized Compass. By exploiting the Unity 3D graphics engine, we implemented our custom solution that can be used both in AR and VR environments. The Compass Bar consists of a graduated bar (in degrees) at the top center of the UI. The values of the bar range from -180 (far left) to +180 (far right), the zero is placed in front of the user. Two vertical lines on the bar show the amplitude of the user's field of view. Every virtual object within the scene is represented onto the compass bar as a specific color-coded proxy icon (a circular ring with a colored dot at its center). To provide the user with information about the distance, we implemented a specific algorithm that increases the size of the inner dot as the user approaches the virtual object (i.e., when the user reaches the object, the dot fills the ring). This visualization technique for out-of-view objects has some advantages. It allows users to be quickly aware of the number and the position of the virtual objects in the environment. For instance, if the compass bar displays the proxy icon at about +90, users will immediately know that the virtual object is to their right and so on. Furthermore, by having qualitative information about the distance, users can optimize their speed, thus gaining effectiveness in their work. Given the small size and position of the Compass Bar, our solution also helps lessening the occlusion problem thus increasing user acceptance and engagement. As soon as the lockdown measures will allow, we will carry out user-tests comparing this solution with other state-of-the-art existing ones such as 3D Radar, SidebARs and EyeSee360.

Keywords: augmented reality, situation awareness, virtual reality, visualization design

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Authors: A. Khelifi, M. Al Kaabi, B. Al Rawashdeh

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The infrastructure is one of the most important pillars of the UAE, where it spends millions of dollars for investments in the construction sectors. The research done by Kuwait Finance House (KFH) Research showed clearly that the UAE investments in the construction sectors have exceeded 30 billion dollars in 2013. There are many construction companies in the UAE and each one of them is taking the responsibilities to build different infrastructures. The large scale construction projects consist of multi human activities which can affect the efficiency and productivity of the running projects. The Construction Administration System is developed to increase the efficiency and productivity at the construction sites. It runs on two platforms: web server and mobile phone and supports two main users: mobile user and institution employee. With Construction Administration Mobile Application the user can manage and control several projects, create several reports and send these reports in Portable Document Format (PDF) formats through emails, view the physical location of each project, capturing and save photos. An institution employee can use the system to view all existing workers and projects, send emails and view the progress of each project.

Keywords: construction sites, management, mobile application, Portable Document Format (PDF)

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Authors: Sunha Ahn

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Intimate relationships have constructed our embodied experiences and emotional memories, which can become grounded as practical knowledge to some extent and play a critical role in social medicine, particularly, in our well-being and mental health. In South Africa, such relational factors are significant for young women and girls in their emotional development period of time, especially, working as the existence of social and relational pressures over feminine sexual health and choices. This, in turn, brings about the absence/lack of communication in intimate relationships, especially with their parents, which leads to a vicious cycle in sexual health behaviour choices. Drawing upon sociological and socio-anthropological understandings of HIV-related issues, this study provides narrative threads of evidence about South African teenage mothers from early-dating debuted to HIV infection. Their stories consist of a visualised figure in chronicle order, illustrating embodied journeys of sexual health choices surrounding uncommunicative relationships and socially-suppressive environments. Methodologically, this qualitative study explored data from mixed online methods: 1) a case study analysing online comments (N = 12,763) on the South African Springster's website, run by the UK-based NGO, namely, Girl Effect; and 2) In-depth online interviews (N = 21) were conducted with young SA women and girls (16-28 ages) recruited in Cape Town, Pretoria, and Johannesburg, SA. Participants consist of both those living with HIV and without. Ethical approval was gained via the College of Social Sciences Ethical Committee at the University of Glasgow, and informed consent was obtained verbally and in writing from participants in due course. Data were thematically applied to an iteratively developed codebook and analysed. There are three kinds of typical pressures as relational factors for them, including peer pressure, partners or boyfriends, and parents’ reactions. Under the patriarchal and religious-devoted social atmospheres, these relationships work as a source of scaredness among young women and girls who could not talk about their sexual health concerns and rights. Such an inability to communicate with intimate relationships, eventually, emerges as a perpetuated or taken-for-granted social environment in South Africa, insistently leading to an increase in unwanted pregnancies or new HIV infections in young South African women and girls. In this sense, this study reveals the pressing need for open communication between generations with accurate information about HIV/AIDS. This also implies that the sociological feminist praxes in South Africa would help eliminate HIV-related stigma as well as construct open space to reduce gender-based violence and sexually-transmitted infection. Ultimately, this will be a road for supporting sexually healthy decisions and well-being across South African generations.

Keywords: HIV, young women, South Africa, intimate relationships, communication, social medicine

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Authors: Jane Furness, Neville Robertson, Judy Hunter, Darrin Hodgetts, Linda Nikora

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Background and significance: This paper describes the first use of community psychology theories to investigate family-focused literacy education programmes, enabling a wide range of wellbeing effects of such programmes to be identified for the first time. Evaluations of family literacy programmes usually focus on the economic advantage of gains in literacy skills. By identifying other effects on aspects of participants’ lives that are important to them, and how they occur, understanding of how such programmes contribute to wellbeing and social justice is augmented. Drawn from community psychology, an ecological systems-based, culturally adaptive framework for personal, relational and collective wellbeing illuminated outcomes of family literacy programmes that enhanced wellbeing and quality of life for adult participants, their families and their communities. All programmes, irrespective of their institutional location, could be similarly scrutinized. Methodology: The study traced the experiences of nineteen adult participants in four family-focused literacy programmes located in geographically and culturally different communities throughout New Zealand. A critical social constructionist paradigm framed this interpretive study. Participants were mainly Māori, Pacific islands, or European New Zealanders. Seventy-nine repeated conversational interviews were conducted over 18 months with the adult participants, programme staff and people who knew the participants well. Twelve participant observations of programme sessions were conducted, and programme documentation was reviewed. Latent theoretical thematic analysis of data drew on broad perspectives of literacy and ecological systems theory, network theory and holistic, integrative theories of wellbeing. Steps taken to co-construct meaning with participants included the repeated conversational interviews and participant checking of interview transcripts and section drafts. The researcher (this paper’s first author) followed methodological guidelines developed by indigenous peoples for non-indigenous researchers. Findings: The study found that the four family literacy programmes, differing in structure, content, aims and foci, nevertheless shared common principles and practices that reflected programme staff’s overarching concern for people’s wellbeing along with their desire to enhance literacy abilities. A human rights and strengths-based based view of people based on respect for diverse culturally based values and practices were evident in staff expression of their values and beliefs and in their practices. This enacted stance influenced the outcomes of programme participation for the adult participants, their families and their communities. Alongside the literacy and learning gains identified, participants experienced positive social and relational events and changes, affirmation and strengthening of their culturally based values, and affirmation and building of positive identity. Systemically, interconnectedness of programme effects with participants’ personal histories and circumstances; the flow on of effects to other aspects of people’s lives and to their families and communities; and the personalised character of the pathways people journeyed towards enhanced wellbeing were identified. Concluding statement: This paper demonstrates the critical contribution of community psychology to a fuller understanding of family-focused educational programme outcomes than has been previously attainable, the meaning of these broader outcomes to people in their lives, and their role in wellbeing and social justice.

Keywords: community psychology, ecological theory, family literacy education, flow on effects, holistic wellbeing

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Authors: Wided Khiari, Adel Karaa

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This study aims to establish a typology of Tunisian listed firms according to their corporate governance characteristics and disclosure quality. The paper uses disclosed scores to examine corporate governance practices of Tunisian listed firms. A content analysis of 46 Tunisian listed firms from 2001 to 2010 has been carried out and a disclosure index developed to determine the level of disclosure of the companies. The disclosure quality is appreciated through the quantity and also through the nature (type) of information disclosed. Applying the decision tree method, the obtained tree diagrams provide ways to know the characteristics of a particular firm regardless of its level of disclosure. Obtained results show that the characteristics of corporate governance to achieve good quality of disclosure are not unique for all firms. These structures are not necessarily all of the recommendations of best practices, but converge towards the best combination. Indeed, in practice, there are companies which have a good quality of disclosure, but are not well-governed. However, we hope that by improving their governance system their level of disclosure may be better. These findings show, in a general way, a convergence towards the standards of corporate governance with a few exceptions related to the specificity of Tunisian listed firms and show the need for the adoption of a code for each context. These findings shed the light on corporate governance features that enhance incentives for good disclosure. It allows identifying, for each firm and in any date, corporate governance determinants of disclosure quality. More specifically, and all being equal, obtained tree makes a rule of decision for the company to know the level of disclosure based on certain characteristics of the governance strategy adopted by the latter.

Keywords: corporate governance, disclosure, decision tree, economics

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Authors: Jiahe Liu, HongyangYu, Feng Qian, Miao Luo

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The aim of this study was to improve the effects of human body 3D reconstruction. The MvP algorithm was adopted to obtain key point information from multiple perspectives. This algorithm allowed the capture of human posture and joint positions from multiple angles, providing more comprehensive and accurate data. The study also incorporated the SMPL-X model, which has been widely used for human body modeling, to achieve more accurate 3D reconstruction results. The use of the MvP algorithm made it possible to observe the reconstructed object from multiple angles, thus reducing the problems of blind spots and missing information. This algorithm was able to effectively capture key point information, including the position and rotation angle of limbs, providing key data for subsequent 3D reconstruction. Compared with traditional single-view methods, the method of multi-view fusion significantly improved the accuracy and stability of reconstruction. By combining the MvP algorithm with the SMPL-X model, we successfully achieved better human body 3D reconstruction effects. The SMPL-X model is highly scalable and can generate highly realistic 3D human body models, thus providing more detail and shape information.

Keywords: 3D human reconstruction, multi-view, joint point, SMPL-X

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