Search results for: Project management maturity

Authors: Andressa S. T. Gomes, Luiza A. Souza, Luciana H. Yamane, Renato R. Siman

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The segregation of waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in the generating source, its characterization (quali-quantitative) and identification of origin, besides being integral parts of classification reports, are crucial steps to the success of its integrated management. The aim of this paper was to count WEEE generation at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES), Brazil, as well as to define sources, temporary storage sites, main transportations routes and destinations, the most generated WEEE and its recycling potential. Quantification of WEEE generated at the University in the years between 2010 and 2015 was performed using data analysis provided by UFES’s sector of assets management. EEE and WEEE flow in the campuses information were obtained through questionnaires applied to the University workers. It was recorded 6028 WEEEs units of data processing equipment disposed by the university between 2010 and 2015. Among these waste, the most generated were CRT screens, desktops, keyboards and printers. Furthermore, it was observed that these WEEEs are temporarily stored in inappropriate places at the University campuses. In general, these WEEE units are donated to NGOs of the city, or sold through auctions (2010 and 2013). As for recycling potential, from the primary processing and further sale of printed circuit boards (PCB) from the computers, the amount collected could reach U$ 27,839.23. The results highlight the importance of a WEEE management policy at the University.

Keywords: Solid waste, waste of electric and electronic equipment, waste management, institutional generation of solid waste.

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Authors: Murat Colak, Berkay Cakir Saridogan

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Since the dawn of modern corporations, almost every single employee has been working in the same loop, which contains three basic steps: going to work, providing the needs for the work, and getting back home. Only a small amount of people was able to break that standard and live outside the box. As the 2019 pandemic hit the Earth and most companies shut down their physical offices, that loop had to change for everyone. This means that the old management styles had to be significantly re-arranged to the "work from home" type of business methods. The methods include online conferences and meetings, time and task tracking using algorithms, globalization of the work, and, most importantly, remote working. After the global epidemic started, even the tech giants were concerned. Now, it can be seen that those technology companies have an incredible step-up in their shares compared to the other companies because they know how to manage such situations even better than every other industry. This study aims to take the old traditional management styles in big companies and compare them with the post-Covid methods (2019-2022). As a result of this comparison made using the annual reports and shared statistics, this study aims to explain why the winners of this crisis are the technology companies.

Keywords: COVID-19, technology companies, business models, remote work.

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Authors: Fengchi Shen, Rongtao Ding

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The Informational Infrastructures of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises are relatively poor, there are serious shortages of capitals which can be invested in informatization construction, computer hardware and software resources, and human resources. To address the informatization issue in small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises, and enable them to the application of advanced management thinking and enhance their competitiveness, the paper establish a manufacturing-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises informatization platform based on the ASP business intelligence technology, which effectively improves the scientificity of enterprises decision and management informatization.

Keywords: ASP, business intelligence, data warehouse.

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Authors: Shadi Alghaffari, Hong-Oanh Nguyen, Peggy Chen, Hossein Enshaei

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The main purpose of this study was to explore the role of organisational effectiveness (OE) in seaports. OE is an important managerial concept, one that is necessary for leaders and directors in any organisation to understand the output of their work. OE has been applied in many organisations; however, it is a vital concept in the port business. This paper examines various approaches and applications of the OE concept to business management, and describes benefits that are important and applicable to seaport management. This research reviews and classifies articles published in relevant journals and books between 1950 and 2016; from the general literature on OE to the narrower field of OE in seaports. Based on the extensive literature review, this study identifies and discusses several issues relevant to both practices and theories of this concept. The review concludes by presenting a gap in the literature, as it found only a limited amount of research that endeavours to clarify OE in the seaport sector. As a result of this gap, seaports suffer from a lack of empirical study and are largely neglected in this subject area. The implementation of OE in this research has led to the maritime sector interfacing with different disciplines in order to acquire the advantage of enhancing managerial knowledge and competing successfully in the international marketplace.

Keywords: Maritime, organisational effectiveness, seaport management.

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Authors: Sibel Ecemiş Kiliç, Muhammed Aydoğan

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The rapid development of culture tourism has drawn attention to conserving cultural values especially by developing countries that would like to benefit from the economic contribution this type of tourism attracts. Tourism can have both positive and negative outcomes for historical settlements and their residents. The accommodation-purposed rehabilitation and revitalization project in “Sigacik Old City Zone” are to be discussed with spatial, economic, social and organizational dimensions. It is aimed to evaluate the relationship between the development of tourism and sustainable heritage conservation.

Keywords: Sigacik, urban conservation, sustainable tourism.

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Authors: G. Petruzzelli, F. Pedron, M. Grifoni, F. Gorini, I. Rosellini, B. Pezzarossa

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Composting is a controlled technology to enhance the natural aerobic process of organic wastes degradation. The resulting product is a humified material that is principally recyclable for agricultural purpose. The composting process is one of the most important tools for waste management, by the European Community legislation. In recent years composting has been increasingly used as a remediation technology to remove biodegradable contaminants from soil, and to modulate heavy metals bioavailability in phytoremediation strategies. An optimization in the recovery of resources from wastes through composting could enhance soil fertility and promote its use in the remediation biotechnologies of contaminated soils.

Keywords: Agriculture, biopile, compost, soil clean-up, waste recycling.

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Authors: Nasyairi Mat Nasir, Zulhabri Ismail, Faridah Ismail, Sharifah Nur Aina Syed Alwee, Masnizan Che Mat

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The utilisation of Industrial Building System (IBS) in construction industry will lead to a safe site condition since minimum numbers of workers are required to be on-site, timely material delivery, systematic component storage, reduction of construction material and waste. These matters are being promoted in the Construction Industry Master Plan (CIMP 2006-2015). However, the enabling factors of IBS that will foster a safer working environment are indefinite; on that basis a research has been conducted. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and identify the relevant factors towards safety improvement for IBS. A quantitative research by way of questionnaire surveys have been conducted to 314 construction companies. The target group was Grade 5 to Grade 7 contractors registered with Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) which specialise in IBS. The findings disclosed seven factors linked to the safety improvement of IBS construction site in Malaysia. The factors were historical, economic, psychological, technical, procedural, organisational and the environmental factors. From the findings, a psychological factor ranked as the highest and most crucial factor contributing to safer IBS construction site. The psychological factor included the self-awareness and influences from workmates behaviour. Followed by organisational factors, where project management style will encourage the safety efforts. From the procedural factors, it was also found that training was one of the significant factors to improve safety culture of IBS construction site. Another important finding that formed as a part of the environmental factor was storage of IBS components, in which proper planning of the layout would able to contribute to a safer site condition. To conclude, in order to improve safety of IBS construction site, a welltrained and skilled workers are required for IBS projects, thus proper training is permissible and should be emphasised.

Keywords: Enabling Factors, Industrialised Building System, Safety Improvement.

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Authors: O. Wright, N. Perkins, M. Donn, M. Halstead

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This research responded to anecdotal evidence that suggested inefficiencies within the Architect and Acoustician relationship may lead to ineffective acoustic design decisions.  The acoustician spoken to believed that he was approached too late in the design phase. The approached architect valued acoustical qualities, yet, struggled to interpret common measurement parameters. The preliminary investigation of these opinions indicated a gap in the current New Zealand Architectural discourse and currently informs the creation of a 2016 Master of Architecture (Prof) thesis research. Little meaningful information about acoustic intervention in the early design phase could be found from past literature. In the information that was sourced, authors focus on software as an incorporation tool without investigating why the flaws in the relationship originally exist. To further explore this relationship, a survey was designed. It underwent three phases to ensure its consistency, and was delivered to a group of 51 acousticians from one international Acoustics company. The results were then separated between New Zealand and off-shore to identify trends. The survey results suggest that 75% of acousticians meet the architect less than 5 times per project. Instead of regular contact, a mediated method is adopted though a mix of telecommunication and written reports. Acousticians tend to be introduced later into New Zealand building project than the corresponding off-shore building. This delay corresponds to an increase in remedial action for each of the building types in the survey except Auditoria and Office Buildings. 31 participants have had their specifications challenged by an architect. Furthermore, 71% of the acousticians believe that architects do not have the knowledge to understand why the acoustic specifications are in place. The issues raised in this investigation align to the colloquial evidence expressed by the two consultants. It identifies a larger gap in the industry were acoustics is remedially treated rather than identified as a possible design driver. Further research through design is suggested to understand the role of acoustics within architectural design and potential tools for its inclusion during, not after, the design process.

Keywords: Architectural acoustics, early-design, interdisciplinary communication, remedial response.

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Authors: Y. S. Liew, K. A. Puteh Ariffin, M. A. Mohd Nor

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One of the Best Management Practices (BMPs) promoted in Urban Stormwater Management Manual for Malaysia (MSMA) published by the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) in 2001 is through the construction of wet ponds in new development projects for water quantity and quality control. Therefore, this paper aims to demonstrate a case study on evaluation of a constructed mini wet pond located at Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Seksyen 2, Puchong, Selangor, Malaysia in both stormwater quantity and quality aspect particularly to reduce the peak discharge by temporary storing and gradual release of stormwater runoff from an outlet structure or other release mechanism. The evaluation technique will be using InfoWorks Collection System (CS) as the numerical modeling approach for water quantity aspect. Statistical test by comparing the correlation coefficient (R²), mean error (ME), mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean square error (RMSE) were used to evaluate the model in simulating the peak discharge changes. Results demonstrated that there will be a reduction in peak flow at 11 % to 15% and time to peak flow is slower by 5 minutes through a wet pond. For water quality aspect, a survey on biological indicator of water quality carried out depicts that the pond is within the range of rather clean to clean water with the score of 5.3. This study indicates that a constructed wet pond with wetland facilities is able to help in managing water quantity and stormwater generated pollution at source, towards achieving ecologically sustainable development in urban areas.

Keywords: Wet pond, Retention Facilities, Best Management Practices (BMP), Urban Stormwater Management Manual for Malaysia (MSMA).

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Authors: M. Župan, V. Budimir

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The main problems of data centric and open source project are large number of developers and changes of core framework. Model-View-Control (MVC) design pattern significantly improved the development and adjustments of complex projects. Entity framework as a Model layer in MVC architecture has simplified communication with the database. How often are the new technologies used and whether they have potentials for designing more efficient Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that will be more suited to accountants?

Keywords: Accounting, Enterprise Resource Planning, Model- View-Control, Object Role Modeling, Open Source

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Authors: Nafe Moradkhani, Frederick Benaben, Benoit Montreuil, Ali Vatankhah Barenji, Dima Nazzal

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In the context of the global pandemic, the practical management of the 2020 presidential election in the USA was a strong concern. To anticipate and prepare for this election accurately, one of the main challenges was to confront: (i) forecasts of voter turnout, (ii) capacities of the facilities and, (iii) potential configuration options of resources. The approach chosen to conduct this anticipative study consists of collecting data about forecasts and using simulation models to work simultaneously on resource allocation and facility configuration of polling places in Fulton County, Georgia’s largest county. This article presents the results of the simulations of such places facing pre-identified potential risks. These results are oriented towards the efficiency of these places according to different criteria (health, trust, comfort). Then a dynamic framework is introduced to describe risks as physical forces perturbing the efficiency of the observed system. Finally, the main benefits and contributions resulting from this simulation campaign are presented.

Keywords: performance, decision support, simulation, artificial intelligence, risk management, election, pandemics, information system

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Authors: Anchana Sooksomchitra

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This study aims to explore and compare the current condition of community radio stations in Phutthamonthon district, Nakhon Pathom province, Thailand, as well as the challenges they are facing. Qualitative research tools including in-depth interviews; documentary analysis; focus group interviews; and observation, are used to examine the content, programming, and management structure of three community radio stations currently in operation within the district. Research findings indicate that the management and operational approaches adopted by the two non-profit stations included in the study, Salaya Pattana and Voice of Dhamma, are more structured and effective than that of the for-profit Tune Radio. Salaya Pattana – backed by the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University, and the charity-funded Voice of Dhamma, are comparatively free from political and commercial influence, and able to provide more relevant and consistent community-oriented content to meet the real demand of the audience. Tune Radio, on the other hand, has to rely solely on financial support from political factions and business groups, which heavily influence its content.

Keywords: Radio broadcasting, programming, management, community radio, Thailand.

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Authors: Qurban A Memon, Shakeel A. Khoja

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Generally, administrative systems in an academic environment are disjoint and support independent queries. The objective in this work is to semantically connect these independent systems to provide support to queries run on the integrated platform. The proposed framework, by enriching educational material in the legacy systems, provides a value-added semantics layer where activities such as annotation, query and reasoning can be carried out to support management requirements. We discuss the development of this ontology framework with a case study of UAE University program administration to show how semantic web technologies can be used by administration to develop student profiles for better academic program management.

Keywords: Academic Program Administration, Semantic Web, Web Technology

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Authors: Zainah Abdullah, Aznur Hajar Abdullah

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This paper examines the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) usage, internal relationship, supplier-retailer relationship, logistics services and inventory management on convenience store suppliers- performance. Data was collected from 275 convenience store managers in Malaysia using a set of questionnaire. The multiple linear regression results indicate that inventory management, supplier-retailer relationship, logistics services and internal relationship are predictors of supplier performance as perceived by convenience store managers. However, ICT usage is not a predictor of supplier performance. The study focuses only on convenience stores and petrol station convenience stores and concentrates only on managers. The results provide insights to suppliers who serve convenience stores and possibly similar retail format on factors to consider in improving their service to retailers. The results also provide insights to government in its aspiration to improve business operations of convenience store to consider ways to enhance the adoption of ICT by retailers and suppliers.

Keywords: Information and communication technology (ICT), internal relationship, inventory management, logistics services, supplier performance, supplier-retailer relationship.

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Authors: Victoria A. Bakhtina

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At a time of growing market turbulence and a strong shifts towards increasingly complex risk models and more stringent audit requirements, it is more critical than ever to maintain the highest quality of financial and credit information. IFC implemented an approach that helps increase data integrity and quality significantly. This approach is called “Screening". Screening is based on linking information from different sources to identify potential inconsistencies in key financial and credit data. That, in turn, can help to ease the trials of portfolio supervision, and improve overall company global reporting and assessment systems. IFC experience showed that when used regularly, Screening led to improved information.

Keywords: Information Integrity, Information Quality, Business Rules, Portfolio Management

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Authors: Abdelghani Boudiaf

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The profusion of studies relating to the concept of organizational learning shows the importance that has been given to this concept in the management sciences. A few years ago, companies leaned towards ISO 9001 certification; this requires the implementation of the quality management system (QMS). In order for this objective to be achieved, companies must have a set of skills, which pushes them to develop learning through continuous training. The results of empirical research have shown that implementation of the QMS in the company promotes the development of learning. It should also be noted that several types of learning are developed in this sense. Given the nature of skills development is normative in the context of the quality demarche, companies are obliged to qualify and improve the skills of their human resources. Continuous training is the keystone to develop the necessary learning. To carry out continuous training, companies need to be able to identify their real needs by developing training plans based on well-defined engineering. The training process goes obviously through several stages. Initially, training has a general aspect, that is to say, it focuses on topics and actions of a general nature. Subsequently, this is done in a more targeted and more precise way to accompany the evolution of the QMS and also to make the changes decided each time (change of working method, change of practices, change of objectives, change of mentality, etc.). To answer our problematic we opted for the method of qualitative research. It should be noted that the case study method crosses several data collection techniques to explain and understand a phenomenon. Three cases of companies were studied as part of this research work using different data collection techniques related to this method.

Keywords: Changing mentalities, continuous training, organizational learning, quality management system, skills development.

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Authors: Maia Margvelashvili, Kakhaber Cheishvili, Ineza Vatsadze

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In Capitalism all economic activity rests upon a set of core institutional foundations, main from which are privately owned capital assets and profit. How these core institutional foundations are working in former soviet countries, in particular in Travel and Tourism Industry of Georgia? The role of Travel and Tourism as a key pillar of economic growth is being increasingly recognized by governments in all regions of the world. For the last few years Georgia succeeded in the World Bank and IFC “Doing Business” rankings. Despite of that, during decades totally different statistical data of the tourism sector were provided by the different State bodies; economic parameters were published few, or not published at all. The frequency and extent of property rights violation in Georgia has repeatedly been the subject of concern for the last decade. Total value of abrogated by the former Georgian Government private property is estimated approximately in US$4-5 billion. Thus, if economic profitability is unknown and property rights are not protected – that means that the main institutional foundations of capitalism in Georgia, are not working properly yet, that cause management problems at all levels of the national Travel and Tourism industry of Georgia.

Keywords: Institutional foundations of capitalism, Tourism management, Transition stage.

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Authors: Yun Mi, Ko, Hye Jung, Joo

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This study develops a relation to explore the factors influencing management and technology capabilities in strategic alliances. Alliances between firms are recognizing increasingly popular as a vehicle to create and extract greater value from the market. Firm’s alliance can be described as the collaborative problem solving process to solve problems jointly. This study starts from research questions what factors of firm’s management and technology characteristics affect performance of firms which are formed alliances. In this study, we investigated the effect of strategic alliances on company performance. That is, we try to identify whether firms made an alliance with other organizations are differed by characteristics of management and technology. And we test that alliance type and alliance experiences moderate the relationship between firm’s capabilities and its performance. We employ problem-solving perspective and resource-based view perspective to shed light on this research questions. The empirical work is based on the Survey of Business Activities conducted from2006 to 2008 by Statistics Korea. We verify correlations between to point out that these results contribute new empirical evidence on the effect of strategic alliances on company performance.

Keywords: Problem solving process, strategic alliance.

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Authors: Richard Joseph, Nerey Mvungi

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An electric power system includes a generating, a transmission, a distribution, and consumers subsystems. An electrical power network in Tanzania keeps growing larger by the day and become more complex so that, most utilities have long wished for real-time monitoring and remote control of electrical power system elements such as substations, intelligent devices, power lines, capacitor banks, feeder switches, fault analyzers and other physical facilities. In this paper, the concept of automation of management of power systems from generation level to end user levels was determined by using Power System Simulator for Engineering (PSS/E) version 30.3.2.

Keywords: Automation, Distribution subsystem, Generating subsystem, PSS/E, TANESCO, Transmission subsystem.

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Authors: Jamaa Salih, Francis Edum-Fotwe, Andrew Price

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One of the most critical aspects of the management of road infrastructure is the type and scale of maintenance systems adopted and the consequences of their inadequacy. The performance of road maintenance systems can be assessed by a number of important indicators such as: cost, safety, environmental impact, and level of complaints by users. A review of practice reveals that insufficient level of expenditure or poor management of the road network often has serious consequences for the economic and social life of a country in terms of vehicle operating costs (VOC), travel time costs, accident costs and environmental impact. Despite an increase in the attention paid by global road agencies to the environmental and the road users’ satisfaction, the overwhelming evidence from the available literature agree on the lack of similar levels of attention for the two factors in many developing countries. While many sources agree that the road maintenance backlog is caused by either the shortage of expenditures or lack of proper management or both, it appears that managing the available assets particularly in the developing countries is the main issue. To address this subject, this paper will concentrate on exposing the various issues related to this field.  

Keywords: Environmental impact, performance indicators, road maintenance, users’ satisfaction.

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Authors: Nada Azhar

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This paper is drawn from a wider study of the management of gender, age and disability diversity in the banking sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), which aims to develop a framework for diversity management (DM) in this sector. The paper focuses on the management of disability diversity. The purpose of the paper is to assist in understanding disability DM in the banking sector in KSA and to make suggestions for its enhancement. Hence, it contributes to filling a research gap, as there is a dearth of literature on disability DM, in KSA in general, and in the banking sector specifically. Discrimination against people with disabilities is a social issue that has not been entirely overcome in any society. However, in KSA, Islam informs almost every aspect of daily life including work, and Islam is against discrimination. Hence, in KSA, there are regulations to accommodate people with disabilities; however, employers are still free not to hire job applicants with disabilities specifically because of their condition. Indeed, disabled people are almost entirely absent from the labour market. There are 12 Saudi-owned or part-Saudi-owned banks in KSA and two managers from each of these were interviewed, making a total of 24. The interviews aimed to investigate empirically the understanding of managers in the banking sector in KSA of diversity management, including disability DM, in the banking sector. The interview data were analysed using thematic analysis. Two interviewees stated that banks used the employment of people with disabilities to enhance their corporate image, while five expressed the opinion that disabled employees could contribute to the bank provided they did not have to deal with customers face-to-face. Nine of the interviewees perceived that disabled employees could be of value to the bank for their own sake, not only in ‘behind the scenes’ roles. Another two interviewees mentioned that employing disabled people could be part of the bank’s community service programme and one thought it would be part of the bank’s Saudisation efforts. The remaining five interviewees did not know how disabled people could contribute to the bank. The findings show that disability DM in the banking sector in KSA is a relatively new concept, and is not yet well understood. In the light of the findings, in order to achieve the purpose of the paper, the following suggestions were made for the enhancement of disability DM in the banking sector in KSA. A change in attitudes towards disabled people is necessary. Such a change in the workplace can only be achieved if a top-down approach is taken to the integration of disabled people. Hence, it is suggested that management and employees follow a course in disability awareness. Further, a diversity officer in the HR department could enhance the integration of disabled people into the banking workforce. It is also suggested that greater government support is required through closely monitored and enforced anti-discrimination legislation. Moreover, flexible working arrangements such as part-time work would facilitate the employment of disabled people and benefit other groups of employees.

Keywords: Banking, disability, diversity management, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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Authors: Mehdi Emadi, Masoud Rahgozar, Adel Ardalan, Alireza Kazerani, Mohammad Mahdi Ariyan

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The volume of XML data exchange is explosively increasing, and the need for efficient mechanisms of XML data management is vital. Many XML storage models have been proposed for storing XML DTD-independent documents in relational database systems. Benchmarking is the best way to highlight pros and cons of different approaches. In this study, we use a common benchmarking scheme, known as XMark to compare the most cited and newly proposed DTD-independent methods in terms of logical reads, physical I/O, CPU time and duration. We show the effect of Label Path, extracting values and storing in another table and type of join needed for each method's query answering.

Keywords: XML Data Management, XPath, DTD-IndependentXML Data

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Authors: Mehdi Emadi, Masoud Rahgozar, Adel Ardalan, Alireza Kazerani, Mohammad Mahdi Ariyan

Abstract:

The volume of XML data exchange is explosively increasing, and the need for efficient mechanisms of XML data management is vital. Many XML storage models have been proposed for storing XML DTD-independent documents in relational database systems. Benchmarking is the best way to highlight pros and cons of different approaches. In this study, we use a common benchmarking scheme, known as XMark to compare the most cited and newly proposed DTD-independent methods in terms of logical reads, physical I/O, CPU time and duration. We show the effect of Label Path, extracting values and storing in another table and type of join needed for each method-s query answering.

Keywords: XML Data Management, XPath, DTD-Independent XML Data.

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Authors: N. Hernández Huertas, F. Rojas Mora

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Sounding rockets are aerospace vehicles that were developed in the mid-20th century, and since then numerous investigations have been executed with the aim of innovate in this type of technology. However, the costs associated to the production of this type of technology are usually quite high, and therefore the challenge that exists today is to be able to reduce them. In this way, the main objective of this document is to present the design process of a Colombian aerospace mission capable to reach the thermosphere using low-cost “Candy” type solid fuel engines. This mission is the latest development of the Uniandes Aerospace Project (PUA for its Spanish acronym), which is an undergraduate and postgraduate research group at Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia), dedicated to incurring in this type of technology. In this way, the investigations that have been carried out on Candy-type solid fuel, which is a compound of potassium nitrate and sorbitol, have allowed the production of engines powerful enough to reach space, and which represents a unique technological advance in Latin America and an important development in experimental rocketry. In this way, following the engineering iterative design methodology was possible to design a 2-stage sounding rocket with 1 solid fuel engine in each one, which was then simulated in RockSim V9.0 software and reached an apogee of approximately 150 km above sea level. Similarly, a speed equal to 5 Mach was obtained, which after performing a finite element analysis, it was shown that the rocket is strong enough to be able to withstand such speeds. Under these premises, it was demonstrated that it is possible to build a high-power aerospace mission at low cost, using Candy-type solid fuel engines. For this reason, the feasibility of carrying out similar missions clearly depends on the ability to replicate the engines in the best way, since as mentioned above, the design of the rocket is adequate to reach supersonic speeds and reach space. Consequently, with a team of at least 3 members, the mission can be obtained in less than 3 months. Therefore, when publishing this project, it is intended to be a reference for future research in this field and benefit the industry.

Keywords: Aerospace missions, candy type solid propellant engines, design of solid rockets, experimental rocketry, low costs missions.

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Authors: M. A. Okezue, K. L. Clase, S. R. Byrn, P. Shivanand

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Medicines regulatory authorities expect pharmaceutical companies and contract research organizations to seek ways to certify that their laboratory control measurements are reliable. Establishing and maintaining laboratory quality standards are essential in ensuring the accuracy of test results. ‘ISO/IEC 17025:2017’ and ‘WHO Good Practices for Pharmaceutical Quality Control Laboratories (GPPQCL)’ are two quality standards commonly employed in developing laboratory quality systems. A review was conducted on the two standards to elaborate on areas on convergence and divergence. The goal was to understand how differences in each standard's requirements may influence laboratories' choices as to which document is easier to adopt for quality systems. A qualitative review method compared similar items in the two standards while mapping out areas where there were specific differences in the requirements of the two documents. The review also provided a detailed description of the clauses and parts covering management and technical requirements in these laboratory standards. The review showed that both documents share requirements for over ten critical areas covering objectives, infrastructure, management systems, and laboratory processes. There were, however, differences in standard expectations where GPPQCL emphasizes system procedures for planning and future budgets that will ensure continuity. Conversely, ISO 17025 was more focused on the risk management approach to establish laboratory quality systems. Elements in the two documents form common standard requirements to assure the validity of laboratory test results that promote mutual recognition. The ISO standard currently has more global patronage than GPPQCL.

Keywords: ISO/IEC 17025:2017, laboratory standards, quality control, WHO GPPQCL

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Authors: Abdallah A. Hlayel

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Operations research science (OR) deals with good success in developing and applying scientific methods for problem solving and decision-making. However, by using OR techniques, we can enhance the use of computer decision support systems to achieve optimal management for institutions. OR applies comprehensive analysis including all factors that effect on it and builds mathematical modeling to solve business or organizational problems. In addition, it improves decision-making and uses available resources efficiently. The adoption of OR by universities would definitely contributes to the development and enhancement of the performance of OR techniques. This paper provides an understanding of the structures, approaches and models of OR in problem solving and decisionmaking.

Keywords: Best candidates' method, decision making, decision support system, operations research.

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Authors: N. Lokeshwari, G. Srinikethan, V. S. Hegde

Abstract:

Monitoring is essential to assessing the effectiveness of air pollution control actions. The goal of the air quality information system is through monitoring, to keep authorities, major polluters and the public informed on the short and long-term changes in air quality, thereby helping to raise awareness. Mathematical models are the best tools available for the prediction of the air quality management. The main objective of the work was to apply a Model that predicts the concentration levels of different pollutants at any instant of time. In this study, distribution of air pollutants concentration such as nitrogen dioxides (NO₂), sulphur dioxides (SO₂) and total suspended particulates (TSP) of industries are determined by using Gaussian model. Besides that, the effect of wind speed and its direction on the pollutant concentration within the affected area were evaluated. In order to determine the efficiency and percentage of error in the modeling, validation process of data was done. Sampling of air quality was conducted in getting existing air quality around a factory and the concentrations of pollutants in a plume were inversely proportional to wind velocity. The resultant ground level concentrations were then compared to the quality standards to determine if there could be a negative impact on health. This study concludes that concentration of pollutants can be significantly predicted using Gaussian Model. The data base management is developed for the air data of Hubli-Dharwad region.

Keywords: DBMS, NO2, SO2, Wind rose plots.

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Authors: Jean-Jacques Randrianarimanana, Nassim Sebaibi, Mohamed Boutouil

Abstract:

In order to solve problems associated with stormwater runoff in urban areas and their effects on natural and artificial water bodies, the integration of new technical solutions to the rainwater drainage becomes even more essential. Permeable pavement systems are one of the most widely used techniques. This paper presents a laboratory analysis of stormwater runoff hydraulic and pollutant removal performance of permeable pavement system using pervious pavements based on seashell products. The laboratory prototype is a square column of 25 cm of side and consists of the surface in pervious concrete, a bedding of 3 cm in height, a geotextile and a subbase layer of 50 cm in height. A series of constant simulated rain events using semi-synthetic runoff which varied in intensity and duration were carried out. The initial vertical saturated hydraulic conductivity of the entire pervious pavement system was 0.25 cm/s (148 L/m²/min). The hydraulic functioning was influenced by both the inlet flow rate value and the test duration. The total water losses including evaporation ranged between 9% to 20% for all hydraulic experiments. The temporal and vertical variability of the pollutant removal efficiency (PRE) of the system were studied for total suspended solids (TSS). The results showed that the PRE along the vertical profile was influenced by the size of the suspended solids, and the pervious paver has the highest capacity to trap pollutant than the other porous layers of the permeable pavement system after the geotextile. The TSS removal efficiency was about 80% for the entire system. The first-flush effect of TSS was observed, but it appeared only at the beginning (2 to 6 min) of the experiments. It has been shown that the PPS can capture first-flush. The project in which this study is integrated aims to contribute to both the valorization of shellfish waste and the sustainable management of rainwater.

Keywords: Hydraulic, pervious concrete, pollutant removal efficiency, seashell by-products, stormwater runoff.

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Authors: Connie Zheng

Abstract:

This paper critiques several exiting strategic international human resource management (SIHRM) frameworks and discusses their limitations to apply directly to emerging multinational enterprises (EMNEs), especially those generated from China and other BRICS nations. To complement the existing SIHRM frameworks, key variables relevant to emerging economies are identified and the extended model with particular reference to EMNEs is developed with several research propositions. It is believed that the extended model would better capture the recent development of MNEs in transition, and alert emerging international managers to address several human resource management challenges in the global context

Keywords: China, human resource, MNEs, strategy

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Authors: Didier Casner, Jean Renaud, Remy Houssin, Dominique Knittel

Abstract:

In this paper, a novel approach for the multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) of complex mechatronic systems. This approach, which is a part of a global project aiming to include the MDO aspect inside an innovative design process. As a first step, the paper considers the MDO as a redesign approach which is limited to the parametric optimization. After defining and introducing the different keywords, the proposed method which is based on the V-Model which is commonly used in mechatronics.

Keywords: mechatronics, Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO), multiobjective optimization, engineering design.

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