Search results for: emerging risks

Authors: Marwan Ihsan Shukur, Lee Sheng Chyan, Vooi Voon Yap

Abstract:

Wireless sensor networks is an emerging technology that serves as environment monitors in many applications. Yet these miniatures suffer from constrained resources in terms of computation capabilities and energy resources. Limited energy resource in these nodes demands an efficient consumption of that resource either by developing the modules itself or by providing an efficient communication protocols. This paper presents a comprehensive summarization and a comparative study of the available MAC protocols proposed for Wireless Sensor Networks showing their capabilities and efficiency in terms of energy consumption and delay guarantee.

Keywords: MAC (Medium Access Control), SEA (Simple EnergyAware), WSNs (Wireless Sensor Nodes or Networks) RTS (RequestTo Send), CTS (Clear To Send), SYNCH (Synchronize), NS2(Network Simulator 2).

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Authors: Teboho J. Mosikari, Johannes T. Tsoku, Diteboho L. Xaba

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The increase of capital mobility across emerging economies has become an interesting topic for many economic policy makers. The current study tests the validity of Feldstein–Horioka puzzle for 5 BRICS countries. The sample period of the study runs from 2001 to 2014. The study uses the following parameter estimates well known as the Fully Modified OLS (FMOLS), and Dynamic OLS (DOLS). The results of the study show that investment and savings are cointegrated in the long run. The parameters estimated using FMOLS and DOLS are 0.85 and 0.74, respectively. These results imply that policy makers within BRICS countries have to consider flexible monetary and fiscal policy instruments to influence the mobility of capital with the bloc.

Keywords: Feldstein and Horioka puzzle, saving and investment, panel models, BRICS countries.

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Authors: Jong-Whoi Shin, Jin-Tae Lee, Sang-Soo Jang, Jae-II Lee

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Recent widespread use of information and communication technology has greatly changed information security risks that businesses and institutions encounter. Along with this situation, in order to ensure security and have confidence in electronic trading, it has become important for organizations to take competent information security measures to provide international confidence that sensitive information is secure. Against this backdrop, the approach to information security checking has come to an important issue, which is believed to be common to all countries. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the new system of information security checking program in Korea and to propose synthetic information security countermeasures under domestic circumstances in order to protect physical equipment, security management and technology, and the operation of security check for securing services on ISP(Internet Service Provider), IDC(Internet Data Center), and e-commerce(shopping malls, etc.)

Keywords: Information Security Check Service, safety criteria, object enterpriser.

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Authors: D. E. Gourgoulis, C. G. Yakinthos, M. G. Vassiliadou

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With high speed vessels getting ever more sophisti-cated, travelling at higher and higher speeds and operating in With high speed vessels getting ever more sophisticated, travelling at higher and higher speeds and operating in areas of high maritime traffic density, training becomes of the highest priority to ensure that safety levels are maintained, and risks are adequately mitigated. Training onboard the actual craft on the actual route still remains the most effective way for crews to gain experience. However, operational experience and incidents during the last 10 years demonstrate the need for supplementary training whether in the area of simulation or man to man, man/ machine interaction. Training and familiarisation of the crew is the most important aspect in preventing incidents. The use of simulator, computer and web based training systems in conjunction with onboard training focusing on critical situations will improve the man machine interaction and thereby reduce the risk of accidents. Today, both ship simulator and bridge teamwork courses are now becoming the norm in order to improve further emergency response and crisis management skills. One of the main causes of accidents is the human factor. An efficient way to reduce human errors is to provide high-quality training to the personnel and to select the navigators carefully.areas of high maritime traffic density, training becomes of the highest priority to ensure that safety levels are maintained, and risks are adequately mitigated. Training onboard the actual craft on the actual route still remains the most effective way for crews to gain experience. How-ever, operational experience and incidents during the last 10 years demonstrate the need for supplementary training whether in the area of simulation or man to man, man/ machine interaction. Training and familiarisation of the crew is the most important aspect in preventing incidents. The use of simulator, computer and web based training systems in conjunction with onboard training focusing on critical situations will improve the man machine interaction and thereby reduce the risk of accidents. Today, both ship simulator and bridge teamwork courses are now becoming the norm in order to improve further emergency response and crisis management skills. One of the main causes of accidents is the human factor. An efficient way to reduce human errors is to provide high-quality training to the person-nel and to select the navigators carefully. KeywordsCBT - WBT systems, Human factors.

Keywords: CBT - WBT systems, Human factors.

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Authors: Saheed A. Gbadegeshin

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Commercialization method is a means to make inventions available at the market for final consumption. It is described as an important tool for keeping business enterprises sustainable and improving national economic growth. Thus, there are several scholarly publications on it, either presenting or testing different methods for commercialization. However, young entrepreneurs, technologists and scientists would like to know the best method to commercialize their innovations. Then, this question arises: What is the best commercialization method? To answer the question, a systematic literature review was conducted, and practitioners were interviewed. The literary results revealed that there are many methods but new methods are needed to improve commercialization especially during these times of economic crisis and political uncertainty. Similarly, the empirical results showed there are several methods, but the best method is the one that reduces costs, reduces the risks associated with uncertainty, and improves customer participation and acceptability. Therefore, it was concluded that new commercialization method is essential for today's high technologies and a method was presented.

Keywords: Commercialization method, high technology, lean start-up methodology, technology, knowledge.

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Authors: Marina Laškarin, Vlado Galičić

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Quick adoption of e-business and emerging influence of “Electronic Word of Mouth e-WOM” communication on guests made leading hotel brands successful examples of electronic guest relationship management. Main reasons behind such success are well established procedures in collection, analysis and usage of highly valuable data available on the Internet, generated through some form of e-GRM programme. E-GRM is more than just a technology solution. It’s a system which balance respective guest demands, hotel technological capabilities and organizational culture of employees, discharging the universal approach in guest relations “same for all”. The purpose of this research derives from the necessity of determining the importance of monitoring and applying e-WOM communication as one of the methods used in managing guest relations. This paper analyses and compares different hotelier’s opinions on e-WOM communication.

Keywords: Brand loyalty, e-WOM communication, GRM programmes.

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Authors: Mahdieh Allahviranloo

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This paper introduces a mixed integer programming model to find the optimum development plan for port Anzali. The model minimizes total system costs taking into account both port infrastructure costs and shipping costs. Due to the multipurpose function of the port, the model consists of 1020 decision variables and 2490 constraints. Results of the model determine the optimum number of berths that should be constructed in each period and for each type of cargo. In addition to, the results of sensitivity analysis on port operation quantity provide useful information for managers to choose the best scenario for port planning with the lowest investment risks. Despite all limitations-due to data availability-the model offers a straightforward decision tools to port planners aspiring to achieve optimum port planning steps.

Keywords: MILP, Multipurpose Terminal, Port Operation Optimization, Port Anzali.

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Authors: Ali Jafari, Hatam Godini, Saed Hamed Mirhousaini

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This paper presents an overview of current municipal solid waste management in Khoram Abad city. According to data collected by the local authorities, the waste generation rate is estimated to be 800 g/cap.d with density of 243 kg/m3. Solid waste is stored in different types of containers at the source of generation in different areas of the city. Local Authority is responsible for waste collection, transportation. Municipality is responsible for waste collection, using private sector contracts. At present, both mechanical and manual methods are used to collect residential waste. Manual methods of collection are the most commonly used for waste collection in most parts of the city. Land filling is the main disposal method in this city. But it has some obvious problem and deficiencies The current state of solid waste management has been improved slightly in the last decade. By more actions can reduce the human and environmental risks.

Keywords: Disposal, Landfill, management, solid waste.

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Authors: Sirous Panahi , Jason Watson , Helen Partridge

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With the advent of social web initiatives, some argued that these new emerging tools might be useful in tacit knowledge sharing through providing interactive and collaborative technologies. However, there is still a poverty of literature to understand how and what might be the contributions of social media in facilitating tacit knowledge sharing. Therefore, this paper is intended to theoretically investigate and map social media concepts and characteristics with tacit knowledge creation and sharing requirements. By conducting a systematic literature review, five major requirements found that need to be present in an environment that involves tacit knowledge sharing. These requirements have been analyzed against social media concepts and characteristics to see how they map together. The results showed that social media have abilities to comply some of the main requirements of tacit knowledge sharing. The relationships have been illustrated in a conceptual framework, suggesting further empirical studies to acknowledge findings of this study.

Keywords: Knowledge sharing, Tacit knowledge, Social media, Web 2.0

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Authors: Tallal Abdel Karim Bouzir, Nourdinne Zemmouri, Djihed Berkouk

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In this research, a quantitative assessment of the urban sound environment of the city of Biskra, Algeria, was conducted. To determine the quality of the soundscape based on in-situ measurement, using a Landtek SL5868P sound level meter in 47 points, which have been identified to represent the whole city. The result shows that the urban noise level varies from 55.3 dB to 75.8 dB during the weekdays and from 51.7 dB to 74.3 dB during the weekend. On the other hand, we can also note that 70.20% of the results of the weekday measurements and 55.30% of the results of the weekend measurements have levels of sound intensity that exceed the levels allowed by Algerian law and the recommendations of the World Health Organization. These very high urban noise levels affect the quality of life, the acoustic comfort and may even pose multiple risks to people's health.

Keywords: Noise pollution, road traffic, sound intensity, public health, noise monitoring.

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Authors: Bita Mashayekhi, Zeynab Lotfi Aghel

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The determinants of Earnings Response Coefficient (ERC), including firm size, earnings growth, and earnings persistence are studied in this research. These determinants are supposed to be moderator variables that affect ERC and Return Response Coefficient. The research sample contains 82 Iranian listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) from 2001 to 2012. Gathered data have been processed by EVIEWS Software. Results show a significant positive relation between firm size and ERC, and also between earnings growth and ERC; however, there is no significant relation between earnings persistence and ERC. Also, the results show that ERC will be increased by firm size and earnings growth, but there is no relation between earnings persistence and ERC.

Keywords: Earnings response coefficient, return response coefficient, firm size, earnings growth, earnings persistence.

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Authors: Mike Climstein, Joe Walsh, John Best, Ian Timothy Heazlewood, Stephen Burke, Jyrki Kettunen, Kent Adams, Mark DeBeliso

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Recently, the health of retired National Football League players, particularly lineman has been investigated. A number of studies have reported increased cardiometabolic risk, premature cardiovascular disease and incidence of type 2 diabetes. Rugby union players have somatotypes very similar to National Football League players which suggests that rugby players may have similar health risks. The International Golden Oldies World Rugby Festival (GORF) provided a unique opportunity to investigate the demographics of veteran rugby players. METHODOLOGIES: A cross-sectional, observational study was completed using an online web-based questionnaire that consisted of medical history and physiological measures. Data analysis was completed using a one sample t-test (<50yrs versus >50yrs) and Chi-square test. RESULTS: A total of 216 veteran rugby competitors (response rate = 6.8%) representing 10 countries, aged 35-72 yrs (mean 51.2, S.D. ±8.0), participated in the online survey. As a group, the incidence of current smokers was low at 8.8% (avg 72.4 cigs/wk) whilst the percentage consuming alcohol was high (93.1% (avg 11.2 drinks/wk). Competitors reported the following top six chronic diseases/disorders; hypertension (18.6%), arthritis (OA/RA, 11.5%), asthma (9.3%), hyperlipidemia (8.2%), diabetes (all types, 7.5%) and gout (6%), there were significant differences between groups with regard to cancer (all types) and migraines. When compared to the Australian general population (Australian Bureau of Statistics data, n=18,000), GORF competitors had a significantly lower incidence of anxiety (p<0.01), arthritis (p<0.06), depression (p<.01) however, a significantly higher incidence of diabetes (p<0.03) and hypertension (p<0.01). The GORF competitors also reported taking the following prescribed medications; antihypertensive (13%), hypolipidemics (8%), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (6%), and anticoagulants (4%). Significant differences between groups were observed in antihypertensives, anticoagulants and hypolipidemics. There were significant (p<0.05) differences between groups (<50yrs versus >50yrs) with regard to height (180 vs 177cm), weight (97.6 vs 93.1Kg-s), BMI (30 vs 29.7kg/m2) and waist circumference (85.7 vs 93.1cm) however, there were no differences in subsequent parameters of systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, triglycerides-C or fasting plasma glucose. CONCLUSIONS: This represents the first collection of demographics on this cohort. GORF participants demonstrated increased cardiometabolic risk with regard to the incidence of hypercholesterolemia, hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Preventative strategies should be developed to reduce this risk with education of these risks for future participants.

Keywords: Masters athlete, rugby union, risk factors, chronic disease

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Authors: Rauno Pääkkönen, Fabriziomaria Gobba, Leena Korpinen

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The objective of the study is to assess the implementation of LED lighting into forest machine work in the dark. In addition, the paper includes a wide variety of important and relevant safety and health parameters. In modern, computerized work in the cab of forest machines, artificial illumination is a demanding task when performing duties, such as the visual inspections of wood and computer calculations. We interviewed entrepreneurs and gathered the following as the most pertinent themes: (1) safety, (2) practical problems, and (3) work with LED lighting. The most important comments were in regards to the practical problems of LED lighting. We found indications of technical problems in implementing LED lighting, like snow and dirt on the surfaces of lamps that dim the emission of light. Moreover, service work in the dark forest is dangerous and increases the risks of on-site accidents. We also concluded that the amount of blue light to the eyes should be assessed, especially, when the drivers are working in a semi-dark cab.

Keywords: Forest machines, health, LED, safety.

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Authors: Lars Silver, Björn Berggren, Andreas Fili

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The financial crisis has decreased the opportunities of small businesses to acquire financing through conventional financial actors, such as commercial banks. This credit constraint is partly the reason for the emergence of new alternatives of financing, in addition to the spreading opportunities for communication and secure financial transfer through Internet. One of the most interesting venues for finance is termed “crowdfunding". As the term suggests crowdfunding is an appeal to prospective customers and investors to form a crowd that will finance projects that otherwise would find it hard to generate support through the most common financial actors. Crowdfunding is in this paper divided into different models; the threshold model, the microfinance model, the micro loan model and the equity model. All these models add to the financial possibilities of emerging entrepreneurs.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship, crowdfunding, equity finance, bank finance.

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Authors: Svetlana Saksonova

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Every commercial bank optimises its asset portfolio depending on the profitability of assets and chosen or imposed constraints. This paper proposes and applies a stylized model for optimising banks' asset and liability structure, reflecting profitability of different asset categories and their risks as well as costs associated with different liability categories and reserve requirements. The level of detail for asset and liability categories is chosen to create a suitably parsimonious model and to include the most important categories in the model. It is shown that the most appropriate optimisation criterion for the model is the maximisation of the ratio of net interest income to assets. The maximisation of this ratio is subject to several constraints. Some are accounting identities or dictated by legislative requirements; others vary depending on the market objectives for a particular bank. The model predicts variable amount of assets allocated to loan provision.

Keywords: asset structure, commercial bank, model, optimisation

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Authors: Tahmina Akhter

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In the present work, we make a study of the repercussions of the pandemic generated by COVID-19 in the real estate market, this disease has affected almost all sectors of the economy across different countries in the world, including the real estate markets. This documentary research, basically focused on the years 2021 and 2022, as we seek to focus on the strongest time of the pandemic. We carried out the study trying to take into account the repercussions throughout the world and that is why the data we analyze take into account information from all possible continents. Particularly in the US, Europe and China, where the COVID-19 impact has been of such proportions that it has fundamentally affected the housing market for middle-class housing. In addition, the pandemic has posed risks to investments in this market, due to the fact that companies in the sector have generated losses in certain cases; in the Chinese case, Evergrande, one of the largest companies in the sector, fell into default.

Keywords: COVID-19, real estate market, statistics of COVID-19, Evergrande Real Estate.

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Authors: M. Ghazy, T. Dockhorn, N. Dichtl

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The present disposal routes of sewage sludge represent a critical environmental issue in Egypt. Recently, there has been an increasing concern about sewage sludge management due to the environmental risks, which resulted from the fast expansion of wastewater treatment plants without equal attention in dealing with the produced sludge. This paper discusses the current situation of sewage sludge management in Egypt presenting a brief overview of the existing wastewater treatment plants, sludge production and characteristics as well as options of beneficial use and potential demand of sewage sludge under Egyptian conditions. The characteristics of sewage sludge are discussed considering the results of own sampling and analysis as well as previous studies. Furthermore, alternative treatment scenarios for sewage sludge, which have been recently developed in Egypt, are discussed and perspectives for a sustainable agricultural use are outlined.

Keywords: Beneficial use, Egypt, Monetary value, Stabilization processes, Sewage sludge, Sludge management

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Authors: Omid Noroozi

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Digital dialogue games have opened up opportunities for learning skills by engaging students in complex problem solving that mimic real world situations, without importing unwanted constraints and risks of the real world. Digital dialogue games can be motivating and engaging to students for fun, creative thinking, and learning. This study explored how undergraduate students engage with argumentative discourse activities which have been designed to intensify debate. A pre-test, post-test design was used with students who were assigned to groups of four and asked to debate a controversial topic with the aim of exploring various 'pros and cons' on the 'Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)'. Findings reveal that the Digital dialogue game can facilitate argumentation-based learning. The digital Dialogue game was also evaluated positively in terms of students’ satisfaction and learning experiences.

Keywords: Argumentation, dialogue, digital game, learning, motivation.

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Authors: Hassan Haghighi, Sajad Ghorbani, Maryam Mohebati, Mohammad Mahdi Javanmard

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One of the most important aspects expected from ERP systems is to integrate various operations existing in administrative, financial, commercial, human resources, and production departments of the consumer organization. Also, it is often needed to integrate the new ERP system with the organization legacy systems when implementing the ERP package in the organization. Without relying on an appropriate software architecture to realize the required integration, ERP implementation processes become error prone and time consuming; in some cases, the ERP implementation may even encounters serious risks. In this paper, we propose a new architecture that is based on the agent oriented vision and supplies the integration expected from ERP systems using several independent but cooperator agents. Besides integration which is the main issue of this paper, the presented architecture will address some aspects of intelligence and learning capabilities existing in ERP systems

Keywords: enterprise resource planning, software architecture, agent oriented architecture, integration, intelligence, learning.

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Authors: Barbara A. Perry

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In 1996, the New Zealand government and the Ministry of Education announced that they were setting up a "world class system of inclusive education". As a parent of a son with high and complex needs, a teacher, school Principal and Disability studies Lecturer, this author will track the changes in the journey towards inclusive education over the last 20 years. Strategies for partnering with families to ensure educational success along with insights from one of those on the crest of the wave will be presented. Using a narrative methodology the author will illuminate how far New Zealand has come towards this world class system of inclusion promised and share from personal experience some of the highlights and risks in the system. This author has challenged the old structures and been part of the setting up of new structures particularly for providing parent voice and insight; this paper provides a unique view from an insider’s voice as well as a professional in the system.

Keywords: Disability studies, inclusive education, special education, working with families with children with disability.

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Authors: Bushra Malik, Saad Zafar

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Inadequate curriculum for software engineering is considered to be one of the most common software risks. A number of solutions, on improving Software Engineering Education (SEE) have been reported in literature but there is a need to collectively present these solutions at one place. We have performed a mapping study to present a broad view of literature; published on improving the current state of SEE. Our aim is to give academicians, practitioners and researchers an international view of the current state of SEE. Our study has identified 70 primary studies that met our selection criteria, which we further classified and categorized in a well-defined Software Engineering educational framework. We found that the most researched category within the SE educational framework is Innovative Teaching Methods whereas the least amount of research was found in Student Learning and Assessment category. Our future work is to conduct a Systematic Literature Review on SEE.

Keywords: Mapping Study, Software Engineering, Software Engineering Education, Literature Survey.

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Authors: Kanhu Charan Bhuyan, Subhransu Padhee, Rajesh Kumar Patjoshi, Kamalakanta Mahapatra

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Fuel cell is an emerging technology in the field of renewable energy sources which has the capacity to replace conventional energy generation sources. Fuel cell utilizes hydrogen energy to produce electricity. The electricity generated by the fuel cell can’t be directly used for a specific application as it needs proper power conditioning. Moreover, the output power fluctuates with different operating conditions. To get a stable output power at an economic rate, power conditioning circuit is essential for fuel cell. This paper implements a two-staged power conditioning unit for fuel cell based distributed generation using hysteresis current control technique.

Keywords: Fuel cell, power conditioning unit, hysteresis control.

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Authors: Andreea Maier, Diana Nicoară, Dorin Maier, Maria-Mihaela Suărăsan, Alexandra Anastasiu

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Innovation is becoming more and more important in modern society. There are a lot of researches on different kinds of innovation but marketing innovation is one kind of innovation that has not been studied frequently before. Marketing innovation is defined as a new way in which companies can market themselves to potential or existing customers. The study shows some key elements for marketing innovation that are worth paying attention to when implementing marketing innovation projects. Examples of such key elements are: paying attention to the neglected market, suitable market segmentatio reliable market information, public relationship, increased customer value, combination of market factors, explore different marketing channels and the use of technology in combination with what? Beside the key elements for marketing innovation, we also present some risks that may occur, such as cost, market uncertainty, information leakage, imitation and overdependence on experience. By proposing a set of indicators to measure marketing innovation, the article offers solutions for marketing innovation implementation so that any organization can achieve optimal results.

Keywords: Innovation, marketing innovation, performance in an organization.

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Authors: H. Bevrani, A. G. Tikdari, T. Hiyama

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Optimal load shedding (LS) design as an emergency plan is one of the main control challenges posed by emerging new uncertainties and numerous distributed generators including renewable energy sources in a modern power system. This paper presents an overview of the key issues and new challenges on optimal LS synthesis concerning the integration of wind turbine units into the power systems. Following a brief survey on the existing LS methods, the impact of power fluctuation produced by wind powers on system frequency and voltage performance is presented. The most LS schemas proposed so far used voltage or frequency parameter via under-frequency or under-voltage LS schemes. Here, the necessity of considering both voltage and frequency indices to achieve a more effective and comprehensive LS strategy is emphasized. Then it is clarified that this problem will be more dominated in the presence of wind turbines.

Keywords: Load shedding, emergency control, voltage, frequency, wind turbine.

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Authors: José Carlos Rodríguez, Mario Gómez, Medardo Serna

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This paper analyses managing higher education institutions in emerging economies. The paper investigates the case of postgraduate studies development at public universities. In so doing, it adopts the complex theory approach to evaluate how postgraduate studies have evolved in these countries. The investigation suggests that the postgraduate studies sector at public universities can be seen as a complex adaptive system (CAS). Therefore, the paper adopts system dynamics (SD) methods to develop this analysis. The case of postgraduate studies at Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo in Mexico is investigated in this paper.

Keywords: Higher education institutions, complex adaptive systems, system dynamics, Mexico.

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Authors: M. A. Bajaber, M. A. Taha

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Contractor selection in Saudi Arabia is very important due to the large construction boom and the contractor role to get over construction risks. The need for investigating contractor selection is due to the following reasons; large number of defaulted or failed projects (18%), large number of disputes attributed to contractor during the project execution stage (almost twofold), the extension of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) into construction industry, and finally the few number of researches. The selection strategy is not perfect and considered as the reason behind irresponsible contractors. As a response, this research was conducted to review the contractor selection strategies as an integral part of a long advanced research to develop a good selection model. Many techniques can be used to form a selection strategy; multi criteria for optimizing decision, prequalification to discover contractor-s responsibility, bidding process for competition, third party guarantee to enhance the selection, and fuzzy techniques for ambiguities and incomplete information.

Keywords: Bidding, Construction industry, Contractor selection, Saudi Arabia.

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Authors: B. Cynthia Sherin, E. A. Mary Anita

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Vehicular Ad-hoc Network (VANET) is an emerging and very promising technology that has great demand on the access capability of the existing wireless technology. VANETs help improve traffic safety and efficiency. Each vehicle can exchange their information to inform the other vehicles about the current status of the traffic flow or a dangerous situation such as an accident. To achieve these, a reliable and efficient Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol with minimal transmission collisions is required. High speed nodes, absence of infrastructure, variations in topology and their QoS requirements makes it difficult for designing a MAC protocol in vehicular networks. There are several MAC protocols proposed for VANETs to ensure that all the vehicles could send safety messages without collisions by reducing the end-to-end delay and packet loss ratio. This paper gives an overview of the several proposed MAC protocols for VANETs along with their benefits and limitations and presents an overall classification based on their characteristics.

Keywords: MAC Protocols, QoS, VANET, V2V, V2I.

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Authors: Mohamed Haffar, Loredana Perez

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Significant attention has recently been paid to the cross-cultural negotiations due to the growth of international businesses. Despite the substantial body of literature examining the influence of National Culture (NC) dimensions on negotiations, there is a lack of studies comparing the influence of NC in Latin America with a Western European countries, In particular, an extensive review of the literature revealed that a contribution to knowledge would be derived from the comparison of the influence of NC dimensions on negotiations in UK and Venezuela. The primary data was collected through qualitative interviews, to obtain an insight about the perceptions and beliefs of Venezuelan and British business managers about their negotiating styles. The findings of this study indicated that NC has a great influence on the negotiating styles. In particular, Venezuelan and British managers demonstrated to have opposed negotiating styles, affecting the way they communicate, approach people and their willingness to take risks.

Keywords: National culture, negotiation, international business, Venezula, UK.

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Authors: Manal Rayes

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In its efforts to utilize the information and communication technology to enhance the quality of public service delivery, national and local governments around the world are competing to introduce more ICT applications as tools to automate processes related to law enforcement or policy execution, increase citizen orientation, trust, and satisfaction, and create one-stop-shops for public services. In its implementation, e-Government ICTs need to maintain transparency, participation, and collaboration. Due to this diverse of mixed goals and requirements, e-Government systems need to be designed based on special design considerations in order to eliminate the risks of failure to compliance to government regulations, citizen dissatisfaction, or market repulsion. In this article we suggest a framework with guidelines for designing government information systems that takes into consideration the special requirements of the public sector. Then we introduce two case studies and show how applying those guidelines would result in a more solid system design.

Keywords: e-government, framework, guidelines, system design.

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Authors: Wei-Ju, Huang

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It is claimed that a new style of urban planning and policy intertwined with ICT is emerging and urban planning and ICT policy are no longer considered as separate disciplines. The interactions between electronic spaces and urban spaces are so complex and uncertain that confront urban planners and policy makers with great challenges. However, the assumption about the relationship between ICT and urban planning is mainly based on North American and European experiences. In the light of empirical evidence from Taipei City, this paper shows that this new type of urban planning and policy intertwined with ICT has existed in Asian city for a decade as well. Based on these results, this paper further reviews how the Taipei City government implements this new type of urban ICT planning and the validity and realism of its underlying assumptions. Finally, it also explores the extent to which urban ICT planning could promote positive synergies between physical and electronic developments.

Keywords: ICT, Taipei City, Urban ICT Planning.

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