The standalone and resource-bundling effects of government and nongovernment institutional support on early internationalizing firms’ performance

This study analyzed the individual and joint effects of institutional support by government and nongovernment institutions on early internationalizing firms’ performance. It also investigated the moderating impact of firm age and size on the institutional support-firms’ export performance relationships.Data were collected from 705 early internationalizing firms in the apparel industry of Bangladesh and analyzed with hierarchical regression.The positive influence of institutional support on exporting firms’ financial performance is stronger for the joint effect of government and nongovernment assistance than the individual impact. Firms’ size positively moderates the impact of individual government and nongovernment assistance, while age positively moderates their resource-bundling effect.The findings suggest the necessity of integrating resources from diverse but complementary sources of institutional support for superior export performance. The findings also show the presence of the liabilities of smallness and liabilities of newness in the standalone and joint influence of institutional support, respectively.Firms need to bundle resources obtained from government (unrequited) and nongovernment (reciprocal) institutional support to overcome the liabilities of smallness they might encounter while availing of support from only one source.Distinguishing between government and nongovernment institutional support, this paper sheds light on exporting firms’ resource-bundling mechanism for these two sources of support in the backdrop of an emerging economy. It also offers fresh insights into the critical role of the liabilities of newness and smallness in early internationalization, especially with regard to home-country institutional environment

Analiza občutljivosti HDM-4 modelov propadanja vozišč

Občutljivost HDM-4 modelov propadanja vozišč je sicer že prikazana v dokumentaciji HDM-4 paketa, a zgolj na kvalitativnem nivoju. Namen te naloge pa je, da kvantitativno ocenimo elastičnost modelov na spremembe nekaterih ključnih parametrov. V tej nalogi sem analiziral občutljivost parametrov, ki so bili v dokumentaciji HDM-4 modela razvrščeni v I. razred. Kot je opisal Mrawire et al (1998), obstajajo različni pristopi, ki se lahko uporabljajo za izvedbo analize občutljivosti. V nalogi sem uporabil tradicionalni pristop “Ceteris paribus”, kjer opazujemo spremembe izhodnih rezultatov v primeru spremembe enega od vhodnih podatkov, pri čemer pa ostali ostanejo nespremenjeni. Iz rezultatov izračunamo elastičnost kot razmerje med procentom spremembe rezultatov in procentom spremembe vhodnega podatka. Ta študija je bila izvedena z uporabo projektne analize v paketu HDM-4. Parametri, ki so bili izbrani za analizo občutljivosti so naslednji: Prilagojeno Strukturno število (SNP) Neravnost vozišča Vse strukturne razpoke Vsak parameter smo preučevali ločeno na primerih realnih cestnih odsekov ceste Kabul – Kandahar v Afganistanu.The sensitivity of road deterioration and maintenance prediction to variation of individual input parameters, are classified according to their impact elasticity in “Highway Development and Maintenance Management Model” HDM-4 version 2 Volume, which was developed by World Bank. As classification presented in the documentation is more or less qualitative the aim of this thesis is to quantify elasticity of some of the most important parameters. In this research sensitivity analyzed of the deterioration parameters which have been already classified in HDM-4 Volume 5 Sensitivity Class I, is provided. As described by Mrawire et al. (1998), there are different approaches which can be used for undertaking sensitivity analysis. The way we are following here is the Traditional Ceteris Paribus (TCP) method in which by changing single input parameters and holding other parameters to be unchanged, the impact elasticity will be calculated. Impact elasticity is the ratio of the percentage change of specific result by the percentage change to individual input parameters of the pavement deterioration models. (HDM-4 V5) This study is executed by the using of the project analysis of the HDM-4 application using TCP method, and then the results are used to find the impact elasticity which is used for sensitivity ranking. The parameters which are chosen from the sensitivity class-I for the deterioration sensitivity analysis are as follows: Adjusted Structural Number (SNP) Pavement Roughness All Structural Cracking Each parameter was studied separately in a real road section which was chosen form the Afghanistan Rind road, Kabul – Kandahar region

Vaidya Spacetime in Massive Gravity's Rainbow

In this paper, we will analyze the energy dependent deformation of massive gravity using the formalism of massive gravity's rainbow. So, we will use the Vainshtein mechanism and the dRGT mechanism for the energy dependent massive gravity, and thus analyze a ghost free theory of massive gravity's rainbow. We study the energy dependence of a time-dependent geometry, by analyzing the radiating Vaidya solution in this theory of massive gravity's rainbow. The energy dependent deformation of this Vaidya metric will be performed using suitable rainbow functions.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure

Understanding the Business Value Creation Process for Business Intelligence Tools in the UAE

Background: In today’s dynamically changing business environment, organizations are constantly striving to improve their organizational performance, and the use of business intelligence (BI) aids in this process. This is a key reason why BI has captured the attention of many academicians and practitioners. Most of the research on BI highlights its importance and the ways in which it facilitates decision-making; however, there is limited research on how the use of BI tools and applications benefits the organization by enabling it to convert the millions of dollars spent on BI investment into business value. This study validates the “business value of BI” framework by evaluating the business value creation process for BI tools in the UAE. Method: The data for this empirical study were collected via interviews with 15 middle managers from various industries in the UAE, with a focus on BI tools and the use of BI in their organizations. Results: The results show that a business value creation process for BI exists and that it is divided into three subprocesses: the BI conversion process, BI use process, and BI competitive process. Conclusions: The use of BI has become necessary for organizations to compete effectually. The results of this study identify the various BI tools that organizations in the UAE use. Furthermore, the results highlight the business value creation process of BI tools and how the effective use BI offers an information advantage that facilitates decision-making and eventually promotes financial and non-financial benefits for the organization. Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/pajais/vol11/iss3/4

The value of time in least developed countries:the African studies : final report

This is a report on a study designed to test the applicability of conventional Stated Preference and Revealed Preference models for valuing the time savings of rural travellers in least developed countries and to develop and demonstrate a robust methodology for estimating values of travel time savings which could be used in developing countries

Social Innovation and the Financial Risk of EMNCs - The Contingent Role of Institutional Legitimacy

This paper examines the influence of social innovation on financial risk of emerging economy multinational corporations (EMNCs). Traditionally, research has focussed on Western MNCs’ and their financial performance implications. However, the growing involvement of EMNCs in social innovation—albeit in environments characterized by institutional voids—and its effects on financial risk necessitate an in-depth examination. Drawing on stakeholder theory, we explored how EMNCs balance their social innovation initiatives with financial risks. To this end, we first examine how social innovation reduces the financial risk of EMNCs. Second, we examine the association between excessive social innovation and EMNCs’ financial risk. In addition, borrowing insights from institutional theory, we assess the role played by institutional legitimacy in this process, acknowledging institutional legitimacy’s potential to mitigate the financial risks associated with social innovation in emerging economies. We test our hypotheses based on data drawn from 90 EMNCs in 14 emerging economies, applying a panel regression model with robust standard errors and a rigorous robustness propensity score matching test. Our findings show that social innovation reduces EMNC financial risk, and challenge the assertions made regarding the potential negative implications of excessive social innovation on financial risk. Our results also demonstrate the intricate moderating effects of institutional legitimacy in balancing social innovation, excessive social innovation, and EMNC financial risk. Finally, we proffer critical implications for managers and policymakers in emerging economies

Social Innovation and the Financial Risk of EMNCs - The Contingent Role of Institutional Legitimacy

This paper examines the influence of social innovation on financial risk of emerging economy multinational corporations (EMNCs). Traditionally, research has focussed on Western MNCs’ and their financial performance implications. However, the growing involvement of EMNCs in social innovation—albeit in environments characterized by institutional voids—and its effects on financial risk necessitate an in-depth examination. Drawing on stakeholder theory, we explored how EMNCs balance their social innovation initiatives with financial risks. To this end, we first examine how social innovation reduces the financial risk of EMNCs. Second, we examine the association between excessive social innovation and EMNCs’ financial risk. In addition, borrowing insights from institutional theory, we assess the role played by institutional legitimacy in this process, acknowledging institutional legitimacy’s potential to mitigate the financial risks associated with social innovation in emerging economies. We test our hypotheses based on data drawn from 90 EMNCs in 14 emerging economies, applying a panel regression model with robust standard errors and a rigorous robustness propensity score matching test. Our findings show that social innovation reduces EMNC financial risk, and challenge the assertions made regarding the potential negative implications of excessive social innovation on financial risk. Our results also demonstrate the intricate moderating effects of institutional legitimacy in balancing social innovation, excessive social innovation, and EMNC financial risk. Finally, we proffer critical implications for managers and policymakers in emerging economies

Synthetic Grey Water Treatment Through FeCl3-Activated Carbon Obtained from Cotton Stalks and River Sand

The research objective was to reclaim greywater through simple, easily available, and cost-effective methods. For this purpose, an activated charcoal was prepared from biomass (cotton stalk) through the pyrolysis process and sand collected from river Indus. Both materials were subjected to separate columns and applied as filters. Whereas, the efficiency of both materials as filter media was analyzed on the synthetic grey water (SGW). The formulation of synthetic greywater was a complicated process because the selection of ingredients and their amount should not exceed from the real grey water. So, for the presence of fecal contamination, a small amount (10 ml L-1) of settled sewage was added to the distilled water, while to mimic the organic load, several chemical products of technical grade were also added. The physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of this SGW were tested before and after treatment. The results show that both mediums (AC and river sand) were very effective in the greywater treatment. The removal efficiency for BOD and COD was up to 91.2%, and 70% respectively. Similarly, the removal measure for turbidity was 91.3%. While the pH showed that the synthetic grey water was alkaline in nature with a value of 10 because the washing detergents used during the preparation of SGW, but after passing through both filter columns, pH was observed in between 7 and 8 units. Furthermore, the removal value examined after passing SGW from both columns for total coliforms was 46.87 CFU/100 ml from1500 CFU/100 ml