Impact of Strategic Initiatives in Management Accounting on Corporate Financial Performance: Evidence from Amman Stock Exchange

This article aims at investigating the link between the practice of Activity Based Costing (ABC), Just-in-Time (JIT), and Total Quality Management (TQM) as strategic initiatives and the improvement in corporate financial performance of 56 industrial shareholding companies in Jordan. Ordinary Least Squares Regression analysis is used to test the association between the awareness level of the importance of using the initiatives and the level of adopting these initiatives. It is also used to identify the improvement in ROA as a mean of financial performance which is associated with the initiatives. Analysis shows that 26.8% of the companies under consideration use at least one of the strategic initiatives. In addition, the awareness level of the importance of using the strategic initiatives is found to be significantly high among the financial managers, but such awareness is not reflected in the implementation of these initiatives. Furthermore, strong evidence emerges that the use of strategic initiatives leads to improvement in financial performance of the companies under consideration.ABC, JIT, TQM, strategic initiatives, improvement in financial performance

“There Shall Be Made No Differentiation:” The Maintenance of Stratification in the State of Kuwait through the 1959 Nationality and Aliens Residence Laws

Article 29 of the Kuwaiti constitution states that “The people are peers in human dignity and have, in the eyes of the Law, equal public rights and obligations. There shall be made no differentiation among them because of gender, origin, language or religion.” If I were to say that the 17, 818 km ² that make up the State of Kuwait is home to 4.2 million people, it would be a misrepresentation. While 4.2 million people do live in Kuwait, citizenship and immigration laws restrict 70% of its population, to varying degrees, from making their country of residence a home. Despite the promise of article 29, the stark and rigid stratification caused by these laws is in fact by design and a necessary function, rather than an unintentional byproduct of the legitimization process of the state, and by extension citizenship. The oppressive function of said citizenship-based stratification is justified through conceptions of race, class, and gender. I define and discuss three categories within Kuwait’s population, each of which offer vast complexities that warrant deep investigation and analysis: Kuwaiti citizens, migrants, and stateless persons. For the purpose of this thesis however, it is most beneficial to understand them contextually and in relation to each other. Kuwait’s citizenship, or Nationality Law, created a sizable population of stateless persons whose very existence has been criminalized since their 1985 inclusion in the Aliens Residence law of 1959. Kuwait utilizes the Kafala system, in which the migrant is almost completely dependent on their sponsor. Citizenship in the State of Kuwait is defined through patrilineal lineage influenced by historical and religious conceptions of race, ethnicity, and genealogy. In this thesis, I provide a historical and contextual overview outlining the nature and function of two pivotal citizenship and immigration legal developments in Kuwait; Kuwait’s Nationality Law promulgated in 1959, and the 1985 implementation of the Aliens Residence law of 1959, in relation to stateless persons. By analyzing the two focal legal documents mentioned above, I trace the effects of the policies on racial attitudes and conceptions, as well as class and gender divisions across citizenship and legal status stratum

Pillars of Strength in The Nuclear Negotiations between Iran and The Great Powers (5+1)

This research examines the causes as well as motives that contributed to a landmark nuclear agreement with the U.S. and the Islamic Republic of Iran. It also finds out a combination of internal factors in Iran, which in turn led to that agreement. An examination of these influencing factors, we can ensure that the United States needs a comprehensive and strategically diplomatic approach to dealing with the Islamic Republic of Iran because of the threats that Iran poses to U.S. interests in the region. More generally, the window of opportunity for achieving a diplomatic breakthrough is needed because of Iran’s progress in developing its military capabilities, an increase in Iran’s regional standing and capacity to attack any great power. Therefore, the west and Obama's administration believe that the international parties must adopt a comprehensive approach to diplomacy with Iran over the nuclear issue as it happened in the Vienna agreement, which gave Iran all its nuclear rights. The growing influence of Iran in the region, and at a time when the Middle East witnesses the gradual decrease of US influence have forced the United States to make a “grand bargain” with Iran—that is, an overarching framework in which outstanding bilateral differences are resolved, which resulted in the Vienna agreement that guarantees the peaceful nuclear rights to the Islamic republic under strategically meaningful limits on its nuclear activities. The results show that Iran has succeeded in having and developing military strategy, which in turn designed to defend against external or hard threats from the United States and Israel. Therefore, the US must think deeply about the disastrous costs of military action against Tehran, and accept Iran as a great regional power that cannot be defeated

IRAN AND THE UNITED STATES AND THE NEW MIDDLE EAST SETTLEMENT

This study offers an analysis about the motives of the regional settlement between Iran and the United States in the Middle East. In addition, this paper examines the decline of American hegemony both globally and regionally which in turn ended the unipolar era of the international system. The study claims that due to this radical shift some regional powers have emerged. In doing so, this paper highlights the strategic changes that paved the way for such adjustments, which began at the fall of the Iraqi and Afghan regimes. As a result, this has formed the case of a regional vacuum due to the absence of an active Arab role and the failure of the US war on terrorism. Therefore, this study submits that the political landscape in the region and the decline of the US are contributing variables to highlighting Iran as a first alternative for the United States in the region. In fact, the ease in the relations between Tehran and Washington is the result of the overall changes that have swept the region. This is clear evidence for the emergence of Iran as a first and an alternative power to the United States. However, this shift and the new balance in the relations does not absolutely represent Iran as an alternative for America in the region but rather its emergence as an absolute power due to its military expansion and influential politics in the region. This paper argues that the expansion of the Islamic state’s geographical extent in Syria and Iraq as well as the failure of the international coalition led by the United States to end this expansion marked a turning point and an urgent need for US administration to accept Iran as a regional power. Indeed this shift is marked as one of the least viable solutions out of the Syrian and Iraq deadlock, and as a partner indirectly in the international war on the Islamic state. In short, the paper concluded that the United States’ influence in the Middle East region was declining slowly in the light of the expansion of Iranian influence in the region and different parts of Africa and Latin America. This has created an appropriate international atmosphere to accept Iran's presence in the Middle East as a substitute for the United States. This emergence of the new power may pave the way to a new sectarian violence

IRAN AND THE UNITED STATES AND THE NEW MIDDLE EAST SETTLEMENT

This study offers an analysis about the motives of the regional settlement between Iran and the United States in the Middle East. In addition, this paper examines the decline of American hegemony both globally and regionally which in turn ended the unipolar era of the international system. The study claims that due to this radical shift some regional powers have emerged. In doing so, this paper highlights the strategic changes that paved the way for such adjustments, which began at the fall of the Iraqi and Afghan regimes. As a result, this has formed the case of a regional vacuum due to the absence of an active Arab role and the failure of the US war on terrorism. Therefore, this study submits that the political landscape in the region and the decline of the US are contributing variables to highlighting Iran as a first alternative for the United States in the region. In fact, the ease in the relations between Tehran and Washington is the result of the overall changes that have swept the region. This is clear evidence for the emergence of Iran as a first and an alternative power to the United States. However, this shift and the new balance in the relations does not absolutely represent Iran as an alternative for America in the region but rather its emergence as an absolute power due to its military expansion and influential politics in the region. This paper argues that the expansion of the Islamic state’s geographical extent in Syria and Iraq as well as the failure of the international coalition led by the United States to end this expansion marked a turning point and an urgent need for US administration to accept Iran as a regional power. Indeed this shift is marked as one of the least viable solutions out of the Syrian and Iraq deadlock, and as a partner indirectly in the international war on the Islamic state. In short, the paper concluded that the United States’ influence in the Middle East region was declining slowly in the light of the expansion of Iranian influence in the region and different parts of Africa and Latin America. This has created an appropriate international atmosphere to accept Iran's presence in the Middle East as a substitute for the United States. This emergence of the new power may pave the way to a new sectarian violence

Cancer and You

This project discusses ways a person can identify cancer and what to do if cancer is present

Design of a distributed power system stabiliser

A new design method for a distributed power system stabiliser for interconnected power systems is introduced in this paper. The stabiliser is of a low order, dynamic and robust. To generate the required local control signals, each local stabiliser requires information about either the rotor speed or the load angle of the other subsystems. A simple MATLAB based design algorithm is given and used on a three-machine unstable power system. The resulting stabiliser is simulated and sample results are presented.<br /

Bioeconomic Evaluation of Agroforestry Practices in the Mountainous Region of Rima’a Valley, Yemen

Yemen encounters serious problems of scarcity of natural resources as well as soil erosion and degradation. Agroforestry system is being promoted as a more appropriate land use system than monocropping practices for smallholders worldwide. Unfortunately, detailed studies on the sustainability of different land use systems are limited and in this region land has started to deteriorate and many farmers turned to traditional agriculture. The general objective of the study was to evaluate the sustainability of agroforestry compared to monocropping systems in terms of soil properties and farmers’ perception. The first specific objective of this study was to determine the effects of agroforestry practices on soil properties and compare them with soil properties under monocropping system. The second objective was to simulate the changes over a 20-year period in soil total organic N, total organic P, and organic carbon, and depths which are the most important elements affecting soil productivity. The third objective was to develop a bioeconomic model to determine the role of agroforestry and other factors affecting soil conservation and net farm income. Three different methods were used to achieve the above objectives. First, 72 composite soil samples were collected from two sites (36 from site 1 and 36 from site 2) based on RCBD split plot design (6 systems X 3 replications X 2 depths). Soil N, P, K, organic carbon, and bulk density were determined. Second, the SCUAF model was used to predict the changes in soil properties over a 20-year simulation period. The output was then used in cost benefit analysis. Third, a questionnaire and direct interview with 162 agroforestry farmers and 83 non-agroforestry were conducted to collect data to develop the bio-economic model. The results showed that soil N, P, K and organic carbon were significantly higher under agroforestry practices mixed trees with coffee (S1), and Muringa (Cordia africana L.) with coffee (S2) at the two sites as compared to the Arabian jujube (Ziziphus spina-christi L.) with maize (S3) and the monocropping systems (P<0.01). It was lowest under monocropping maize (S5) in both sites. Other physical soil properties were better under agroforestry practices (S1 and S2) than the monocropping maize (S5). The results of the SCUAF modeling illustrated that soil depth decline was negligible under agroforestry practices (S1 and S2) with soil loss less than 1000 kg/ha/yr even without using chemical fertilizers. The predicted decline of soil depth was highest under S5 followed by S3 which lost 43.1 % and 18 % of the top soil, respectively. Soil organic N and organic P are significantly higher under S1 and S2 systems even without using chemical fertilizers. It declined continuously under other systems at different rates during the simulation period. However adding 55 kg/ha/yr super phosphate (46 % P) and 271 kg/ha/yr urea (46 % N) to the systems (S1, S2, S4, and S6) resulted in maintaining soil fertility and led to sustaining the yield over 20 years of the simulation period. The results of cost benefit analysis showed that by using chemical fertilizers all systems were profitable at this level of the capital cost. The results also showed that Muringa coffee system (S2) and monocropping coffee (S4) obtained the highest net present value (NPV) (YR 1,171,077 USD 6163.6/ha) and (YR 1,117,965 USD 5884/ha), respectively. The lowest NPV (YR 55,116 USD 290.1/ha) was obtained under monocropping maize (S5). Consequently, the agroforestry system (S2) using fertilizers predicted the highest annualized net benefits (ANB) (YR 156,783 USD 825.2/ha/year), to the farmers and the lowest ANB (YR 7378 USD 38.8/ha/yr) was from monocropping maize (S5). The results of soil conservation model showed that educational level, number of terraces and channels maintained during the last ten years, geographical location, water efficiency, farmers’ experience, and agroforestry index are significantly influenced soil conservation in both models (OLS and SUR). The results of income regression model showed that the net income increased in output price and fixed inputs such as farm size, and decreased in input prices mainly wage of labor, and price of fodder in both models (OLS and SUR). The coefficients of the wage of labor (PLAB), fodder price (PFOD), are negative and significantly decreased the net income in both models as well. Farm size and price of cows sold are significantly affected the net farm income in models 1 and 2. The model shows that agroforestry can improve soil properties. The calculated values suggest that soil conservation generated productivity benefits in range of 4 to 9 percent of the current farm income. Ii is equivalent to about 23261 YR/yr (US$ 122.4) for an average area of 0.6 ha for each farmer. It can be concluded that agroforestry practices are more profitable and sustainable compared to monocropping systems