Business and Economics

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Case Study on Tacit Knowledge Management Systems within X Company
(Scientific Research, 2013-05) Wan, Jiangping; Zeng, Ming; Zhu, Yahui
Case study on tacit knowledge management system within X company includes the design of tacit knowledge management system (the recognition and acquisition of tacit knowledge), mechanisms (the factor analysis for the transition and sharing of tacit knowledge) and implementation (the sharing enterprise culture build, the effective incentive mechanism construct and the organization structure design). The evaluation system is established based on critical success factors (the recognition capability, the sharing standard, the sharing mechanism of tacit knowledge). The purpose of study is to improve tacit knowledge management system within enterprise.
Inventory Management and Logistics Cost Reduction: A Case of a Malaysia Herbal Medicine Company
(Scientific Research, 2013-08) Siali, Fadilah; Yao, Liu; Kie, Cheng Jack
Nowadays many studies have stressed the diagnosing inventory systems. This article examined problems encountered on logistics in a Malaysia herbal medicine company. The diagnosis was conducted using the fish bone diagram for the whole supply chain process from the production, hub warehouse, freight forwarders, zone warehouse to customers. The derived results highlight the inventory level management as the root reason, which leads to a set of initial recommendations, including: 1) install the computer-based software system to control inventory level which is to be integrated with the supply chain; and 2) meanwhile implement aggressive marketing approaches to minimize the rate of the returned products.
Impacts of Smart Grid Concept on Energy Industry
(Scientific Research, 2013-08) Adamec, Marek; Pavlatka, Pavel; Kloubec, Milan; Stray, Oldrich
Smart grid (SG) is a term that has recently become widely discussed along with the boom of renewable resources (RES-E) and with brand new approach to energy industry. Such phenomena are results from CO2 emissions mitigation and fight against global climate change, as it is discussed e.g. in [1]. Most of the RES-Es work on principles that do not enable the control of their generation. This fact impacts massively on the electricity grid. It is publicly known that the relatively massive development of non-manageable resources, along with the long-term increasing of energy demand, puts higher and higher requirements on the transmission system’s transport capacity. This problem becomes more visible e.g., with future plug-in electric vehicles (PEV) or local renewables (RES-E) expansion. Task for today’s engineers is to solve the sustainability of energy industry. The smart grid concept provides one possible way. Our paper therefore discusses main aspects of SG implementation, which are not often publicly discussed. Our paper describes SG concept that compiles with approach to the decentralized power industry, together with nodal prices occurrence. The local congestions in the grid as well as growing amount of consumption (connected with electric vehicles expansion) and local micro-generation can result in the price nodality. Therefore electricity price can differ according to local conditions from price in global grid. The mathematical description of conditions influences grid nodality follows. In the end of the manuscript, the new way of electricity pricing is proposed.
Case Study on H Corp. Software Project Risk Management with ISM
(Scientific Research, 2013-08) Wan, Jiangping; Cao, Yahui; Hou, Jiajun
The comprehensive risk management system based on the software project features of H Corp. is established, the causal relationships among risk factors are discovered, and corresponding risk structure model is built with ISM. Five original risk factors are found, including requirements analysis risk, project communication risk, schedule risk, risk of system design, and risk of project cooperation. Finally, some specific counter measures are put forward to help H Corp. improve the ability of software project risk management.
A Study of Service Desk Setup in Implementing IT Service Management in Enterprises
(Scientific Research, 2013-08) Tang, Xiaojun; Todo, Yuki
Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) provides a framework to provide IT related services and the interaction of IT staff with users, and is often related with the British Government’s Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). ITIL offers a set of “best practices” for managing IT services and is one of the most widely accepted approaches to IT service management in the world. Recently, more and more enterprises implemented a centralized IT service management model based on the ITIL framework. However, even by adopting ITIL, most of the enterprises didn’t improve their IT service management level. Some factors become the barriers to the success of ITIL and ITSM implementation. In some cases, enterprises paid more attention to IT infrastructure setup and operation but neglect the importance of Service Desk. In this study, we first review ITSM, ITIL and Service Desk. Second, we identify a full function of new Service Desk and how to set up a good Service Desk. Enterprises should take proper measures in building a mature Service Desk to ensure successful implementation of ITSM.
The Adoption of the E-Banking: Validation of the Technology Acceptance Model
(Scientific Research, 2013-08) Raida, Regaieg Essafi; Néji, Bouslama
This paper is based on the technology acceptance model which has been adopted by several previous researches. The purpose of the study is to determine the factors that explain the adoption of e-banking by professional in “Business to Business” relationships. It explores the determinants of use of the Internet in the relationship between bank and firm and it validates the model in Tunisian context. This paper has tested that perceived usefulness and perceived ease determine the attitude of the use, and that attitude determines the intent to use of e-banking by means of the multiple regressions. The originality of this study is the exploration of the determinants of use of e-banking by professional in order to promote its adoption.
Using the ISO 19761 COSMIC Measurement Standard to Reduce “Information Asymmetry” in Software Development Contracts and Enable Greater Competitiveness
(Scientific Research, 2013-11) Souto, Francisco Valdés; Abran, Alain
In most economic transactions involving software development projects, differences in the amount and quality of information possessed by economic agents (i.e. producers and customers) can lead to significant market inefficiencies. This paper describes the way the information derived from the functional size of software measured using the ISO 19761 COSMIC measurement standard that can help reduce information asymmetry in software development transactions, and lead to increased competitiveness in the software industry.
Economics of Offshore IT Outsourcing: An International Trade Perspective
(Scientific Research, 2013-11) Bordoloi, Bijoy; Powell, Anne
In recent times, offshore outsourcing of Information Technology (IT) products and services, including software development and maintenance activities, has been an issue of much controversy in the United States, with popular sentiment being against outsourcing in the mass media. Is offshore outsourcing really bad for the US economy? If yes, why did so many US companies, including IT companies, start outsourcing to begin with and still continue to do so? For that matter, why doesn’t the federal government simply ban it as a national policy? To provide some possible answers to these questions, this paper examines the issue of offshore outsourcing from the perspectives of international trade theory and the unique cost characteristics of “information goods”.
A New Attribute Decision Making Model Based on Attribute Importance
(Scientific Research, 2013-11) Liu, Wei; Zhai, Yuming
In the light of universality of uncertainty, we propose a decision making model in completed information system. Considering the attribute reduction, attribute importance and mismatched information, a multiple attribute decision making model based on importance of attribute is constructed. First of all, decision table is obtained by the knowledge known and deleting reduced attributes. Also, attributes value reduction obtained to simplify the decision table and rules is extracted. Then, rules are utilized to make decision for a new problem. Finally, an example is advanced to illustrate our model.
Blue Economy Innovation Impact Assessment with the GMR-Europe Model
(Scientific Research, 2013-11) Varga, Attila; Hau-Horváth, Orsolya; Szabó, Norbert; Járosi, Péter
This paper introduces and applies a model system that is suitable for the impact assessment of Blue Economy innovations. Our contribution to the literature is threefold. First, we build a multi-sector computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, which provides the theoretical frame for studying the economic impacts of using waste as a production input. Second, we create an empirical methodology through which new technologies of Blue Economy can be concretely accounted for in regional input-output tables. Since Blue Economy innovations are largely built on local inputs, their effects are primarily local. Given that interregional spillovers of local impacts might also be significant, through interregional trade or migration, we applied a modelling approach that is able to follow complex spatial processes. The broader model framework chosen is the GMR-Europe model.
Mobile Number Portability: A Case Study of Kenya
(Scientific Research, 2013-11) Kimutai, Metto S.; Kimutai, Kimeli V.; Mzee, Awuor F.
In the telecommunications industry, mobile numbers are increasingly being seen as an asset of the regulator. The freedom of the customer using it is left to him/her to decide which service provider to use while retaining the same number. Mobile number portability (MNP) has been introduced to provide a platform for this freedom to the customer. The Telecommunications market Regulator in Kenya, the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK), began the course of mobile number portability in 2010 through newspaper advertisement. The regulator had an aim that in the end, the right customer experience will be provided by the service providers, and help service providers to build profitable and lasting relationships between the service providers and their customer, and to differentiate themselves in the market. In this paper, we seek to evaluate the performance of MNP in Kenya since its launch. This paper seeks to find out how the service has performed after the first three months of operation. We survey and analyze MNP framework in Kenya and compare that to MNP in Japan, Finland, Sweden and Hong Kong to establish the future of MNP in Kenya. It first looks at the MNP framework as used in Kenya and the procedure for reversal in case the customer is dissatisfied with a service provider who moves to and makes a reference to how the service has performed in other markets such as Finland, Sweden, and Hong Kong in order to enable comparative observations. Since there has been very little literature published for countries in Africa, it will only make comments on countries like Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria. Further, it gives recommendations to the participating parties.
How do Companies Invest in Corporate Social Responsibility? An Ordonomic Contribution for Empirical CSR Research
(MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute), 2014-01) Will, Mathias G.; Hielscher, Stefan
This paper takes both a conceptual and an empirical approach to answer the question as to how Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be connected to the company‘s role as an agent of social value creation when it operates within an imperfect institutional framework of market competition. To develop a functional design for an empirical study, we draw on the concept of ordonomics, which provides a heuristics for responsible business activities in society. Drawing on ordonomics, we devise three questions: Referring to action responsibility we ask in which CSR activities companies do invest in their day-to-day business. Referring to governance responsibility we ask as to how companies realize win-win solutions through strategic commitments. In addition, with regard to discourse responsibility we ask in which stakeholder dialogues companies engage in order to discuss and find functional rules for organizing win-win solutions. In our empirical study, we reveal insights into the micro-level analysis of the CSP-CFP link and generate several new questions to be the subject of future research.
Business Reasoning for Rapid Productization in Small Enterprises
(Scientific Research, 2014-02) Hänninen, Kai; Muhos, Matti; Kinnunen, Tuomo; Haapasalo, Harri
In order to succeed, companies must offer quality products and services, ones that are in demand. Rapid productization (RP) is a concept originating from practical challenges expanding customer preferences. RP is a process of quickly supplementing a company’s product or service offering to meet unexpected customer preferences. The objective of this study is to describe how an RP exists in small enterprises and how the use of RP is reasonable. This case study opens the RP concept by clarification of business case objectives set to start RP, analysis of RP challenges and description of business reasoning used for RP in the case companies. Products offered to customers may be a result of cooperation among many companies, while the products are modular, consisting of interlinking elements. When these types of products are well managed, it can be easy to respond to changing customer requirements. This type of RP can be the livelihood of especially small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME). However, the capability of productizing rapidly provides a significant competitive edge also for larger players.
Investment Activity in Small Open Economies
(Scientific Research, 2014-05) Karadjova, Vera; Dičevska, Snežana
The paper gives a brief elaboration of the basic macroeconomic aspects of investments with emphasis on the specificities of small open economies in the process, theoretically elaborates the need for openness of small economies (especially the economies that need the acceleration of their development), then highlights the risks and opportunities arising from the investment activity both on the micro and macro level. Further distinguishes between investments in financial instruments and in real investment projects, emphasize the need for creation of an optimal diversified portfolio. Finally, the paper underlines the need for various forms of foreign direct investment for all economies, particularly the opportunities and threats arising in small open economies, to complete the wholeness with empirical data of the previously elaborated matters on the example of the Republic of Macedonia as a small open economy.
Stakeholder Valuing: A Process for Identifying the Interrelationships between Firm and Stakeholder Attributes
(MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute), 2014-05) Downs, Alexis; Carlon, Donna M.
As firms are creating and recreating themselves as stakeholder corporations, tensions mount between a firm’s fiduciary duties to its shareholders and the broader responsibilities inherent in a stakeholder focus. Firms have employed several techniques to help resolve this tension with limited success. We suggest that the next step in reducing this tension is formally accounting for stakeholder value through changes in financial reporting. We contend that stakeholders have a financial value to the firm that can and should be accounted for through the firm’s financial reporting system. We propose a three-step process we call stakeholder valuing (SV) to begin a conversation regarding how such a method can be created. SV begins with codifying the firm’s identity as a stakeholder entity, moves to assessing stakeholder value that’s consistent with that identity, and concludes with accounting for and reporting that value. What we are suggesting will be seen by some as a radical change in accounting practices but we believe it is necessary as we move toward a consistent, reliable, verifiable, transparent, and comparable means of accounting for the true value of a stakeholder corporation.
Management in Action: Managing the HIV/AIDS Curriculum in Kenya
(Scientific Research, 2014-07) Nyarondia, Samson; Ongong’a, Jared Opiyo; Omolo, Kepha
Curriculum management can only be effective when the curriculum content and expected learning outcomes are clearly stated for the actual implementers. The implementers on their side especially the teachers and the school administration must ensure that the stated contents, instructional methodologies and the time lines are followed appropriately. This paper examines the extent at which the HIV/AIDS curriculum is being implemented at the Secondary School level in Kenya. The key objectives were to identify the policy dimensions of HIV/AIDS education curriculum and to determine the level of implementation of HIV/AIDS education curriculum in public secondary schools. Structured questionnaire, observation and in-depth interviews were used for data collection from selected school students and the curriculum implementers. The study concluded that HIV/AIDS aspects are taught in public secondary schools through infusion and integration into carrier subjects, though not allocated any specific time in the curriculum. The level at which these aspects are taught is very low, and when taught lecture method, which is a rather passive way of teaching, is the predominant method employed by the teachers. It is recommended that the teachers should be more creative and devise other forums that would ensure that these aspects are amply taught. Also the teachers should collect and avail more learning materials to their learners, including use of the internet to supplement what is provided in the text books.
CEO Pay-Performance Sensitivity: A Multi-Equation Model
(Scientific Research, 2014-08) Abraham, Rebecca; Harris, Judith; Auerbach, Joel
This study examines the variables influencing CEO compensation in the technology sector using both exclusively exogenous and interchangeably exogenous and endogenous variables. The study was confined to a single industry to isolate industry compensation practices which may be smoothed out in multi-industry studies. Multiple equations in a vector autoregressive model were used to explain compensation in recognition of the endogeneity of variables such as sales growth, stock returns and net income. Using US firms listed on the NASDAQ, we find that CEO compensation (measured separately as salary only, stock option grants only and total compensation from all sources) to be significantly explained by firm size, the ability to reduce debt, the ability to fund growth, net income and personal characteristics. CEOs are rewarded for achieving profitability. While there is an expectation of innovation in the technology sector with research and development expenditure increasing both sales and stock returns, such innovation only contributes to CEO compensation if it is translated into rising net income in an environment of debt-reduction. Further, CEOs are rewarded for implementing disruptive technology as a competitive strategy. The ability to fund growth is pertinent for the technology sector which may be restricted in its access to debt. Increases in age, tenure and the existence of celebrity status of the CEO led to increased compensation underscoring the importance of personal characteristics.
Efficacy of Facebook Fans: Can They Influence Perception of the Brand?
(Scientific Research, 2014-10) Behan, Mike
Using a qualitative single case study methodology, this research studied the effect that a Facebook page has on friends of the brand. The problem under investigation is the lack of understanding effects social media sites like Facebook has on the perception of the brand by the user. The data collected suggests that the use of Facebook by a SME does help maintain and in some cases increase the perception of the brand in the positive. The analysis of the data additionally shows this effect on brand perception is based on the drivers of a) connectivity, b) change of perception, c) internal value, d) goodwill, and e) the decision process. Interview participants indicate the importance Facebook has as a marketing communication tool. The findings from the research suggest that Facebook use by SMEs is an important component of an integrated approach to marketing communications when considering the perception of the brand. This research also raises important questions as to what significance Facebook use by SMEs has over other traditional marketing communication methods when creating, communicating, and delivering a message of value.
Gender Inequality and Economic Development
(2015) Khayria, Karoui; Feki, Rochdi
This article attempts to analyze the effect of gender inequality on economic growth using the GMM dynamic panel for the five countries of the Great Maghreb during the period 1985-2011.The results of this study lead us to demonstrate, one hand, a positive and significant at the 5% of the population effect on economic growth and on the other hand a statistically significant and negative in 10% of the investment on economic growth effect. In contrast, gender inequality has a significantly negative effect of 5%.
Understanding Cultural Difference Management through Charles Taylor’s Philosophy: Case Studies from the Food Processing Industry
(MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute), 2015-04) Hébert, Louis; Facal, Joseph; Ouellet, Samuel Marleau
In this paper, we use the work of the philosopher, Charles Taylor, to investigate the role of culture on internationalization decisions. Using parameters related to key constructs such as positive liberty, social ontology, expressivism, civic republicanism and common spaces, we look at how culture influences the decisions regarding corporate international expansion. This framework was applied in a multi-interview design in four firms from the food processing industry from France and Canada. Results showed an obvious sensitivity to cultural difference and that managerial practices surrounding this issue tended to be intuitive and emergent. These practices were not crystallized in the form of a conscious and deliberate organizational strategy for dealing with cultural difference when planning foreign market entry. Our findings triggered further reflections on managerial implications such as the importance of searching more explicitly for cultural and organizational anchors when reviewing location factors.

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