968 research outputs found
Enabling organizational change – leadership, commitment to change and the mediating role of change readiness
There has been little empirical analysis on the complex relationship between leadership, change readiness and commitment to change in the context of Asian countries. In this paper, we propose a research model to analyze the interrelationship between leadership, change readiness and commitment to change using the partial least square technique. Results of the study suggest that leadership positively and significantly affect change readiness but not commitment to change. Consequently, change readiness is found to significantly affect commitment to change. In other words, change readiness is found to mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and commitment to change. This may suggest that the influence of leadership is a sequential process affecting change readiness, and in turn, the commitment to change as opposed to the conventional belief that it affects both change readiness and commitment to change simultaneously. The implication of the study is further discussed
Radio-wave propagation through a medium containing electron-density fluctuations described by an anisotropic Goldreich-Sridhar spectrum
We study the propagation of radio waves through a medium possessing density
fluctuations that are elongated along the ambient magnetic field and described
by an anisotropic Goldreich-Sridhar power spectrum. We derive general formulas
for the wave phase structure function, visibility, angular broadening,
diffraction-pattern length scales, and scintillation time scale for arbitrary
distributions of turbulence along the line of sight, and specialize these
formulas to idealized cases.Comment: 25 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Ap
Firm size, technological capability, exports and economic performance: the case of electronics industry in Malaysia
This paper examines the joint effects of technology and exports on the economic performances of electronics firms in Malaysia. The empirical results based on the Partial Least Square (PLS) estimate procedure show that technological capability plays a multiple role in that it influences both the exports and performance of a firm simultaneously. More importantly, we find evidence that exports act as a mediating variable between technological capability and firm performance. Size is found to influence all three: product capabilities, exports and firm performance but not process capabilities. This paper concludes that researchers, in future studies, need to examine the dynamism between size, technology, exports and performance
Malaysian Manufacturing Systems of Innovation and Internationalization of R&D
The study of innovation and technological upgrading experienced a significant interest in the academic literature, especially within the developing countries (Lall, 1998, 2001; Kim and Nelson, 2000; Ariffin and Figueiredo, 2004). The lack of involvement by developing countries in radical innovative capabilities (Rasiah, 1994; Hobday, 2005) and the interest of scholars in learning technological capability building and technological catch up processes has directed researchers to analyze various mechanisms or drivers that contribute to technological upgrading, especially in developing countries, more so in the manufacturing sector. This study aims to investigate the R&D activities and the internationalization of these activities undertaken by foreign firms within the Malaysian manufacturing sector. The study aims to provide answers to the following questions: 1. What is the status of the systems of innovation within the Malaysian manufacturing sector? 2. What is the role played by the agents of innovation, in particular TNCs or MNCs, in relation to R&D activities and its internationalization? and, 3. How is the Malaysian manufacturing (local and foreign) technological and R&D progress to date? This study confirms that the Malaysian manufacturing systems of innovation is weakly positioned but shows limited evidence of process innovation and not product innovation. However, evidence of innovation differs among states and sectors owing to differences in the systems of innovation. Although, Malaysia has not been chosen as a site for offshoring or outsorcing of R&D activities to a significant degree, it is found that one very important driver of innovation is the central role that multinational enterprises play in the Malaysian manufacturing systems of innovation. Process innovation is conducted by foreign subsidiaries and is on the rise in key the electronics industry. It is also found that technological learning by local firms is mainly through linkages, sub-contracting and technological transfer
Natural gas consumption and economic growth: cointegration, causality and forecast error variance decomposition tests for Pakistan
This paper examines the relationship between natural gas consumption and economic growth in Pakistan using a multivariate model by including capital and labor as the control variables for the periods of 1972-2009. The results of the ARDL bounds testing indicate the presence of cointegration among the variables. The estimated long-run impact of gas consumption (0.49) on economic growth is greater than other factor inputs suggesting that energy is a critical driver of production and growth in Pakistan. Furthermore, the results of causality test and variance decomposition analysis suggest a unidirectional causality running from natural gas consumption to economic growth. Gas being the primary source of energy in Pakistan, the implications of this study is that natural gas conservation policies could harm growth and, therefore, requires the policy makers to improve the energy supply efficiency as well as formulate appropriate policy to attract investment and establish public-private partnership initiatives
Fe-substituted mullite powders for the in situ synthesis of carbon nanotubes by catalytic chemical vapor deposition
Powders of iron-substituted mullite were prepared by combustion and further calcination in air at different temperatures. A detailed study involving notably Mo¨ssbauer spectroscopy showed that the Fe3+ ions are distributed between the mullite phase and a corundum phase that progressively dissolves into mullite upon the increase in calcination temperature. Carbon nanotube-Fe-mullite nanocomposites were prepared for the first time by a direct method involving a reduction of these powders in H2-CH4 and without any mechanical mixing step. The carbon nanotubes formed by the catalytic decomposition of CH4 on the smallest metal particles are mostly double-walled and multiwalled, although some carbon nanofibers are also observed
Transport of Cosmic Rays in Chaotic Magnetic Fields
The transport of charged particles in disorganised magnetic fields is an
important issue which concerns the propagation of cosmic rays of all energies
in a variety of astrophysical environments, such as the interplanetary,
interstellar and even extra-galactic media, as well as the efficiency of Fermi
acceleration processes. We have performed detailed numerical experiments using
Monte-Carlo simulations of particle propagation in stochastic magnetic fields
in order to measure the parallel and transverse spatial diffusion coefficients
and the pitch angle scattering time as a function of rigidity and strength of
the turbulent magnetic component. We confirm the extrapolation to high
turbulence levels of the scaling predicted by the quasi-linear approximation
for the scattering frequency and parallel diffusion coefficient at low
rigidity. We show that the widely used Bohm diffusion coefficient does not
provide a satisfactory approximation to diffusion even in the extreme case
where the mean field vanishes. We find that diffusion also takes place for
particles with Larmor radii larger than the coherence length of the turbulence.
We argue that transverse diffusion is much more effective than predicted by the
quasi-linear approximation, and appears compatible with chaotic magnetic
diffusion of the field lines. We provide numerical estimates of the Kolmogorov
length and magnetic line diffusion coefficient as a function of the level of
turbulence. Finally we comment on applications of our results to astrophysical
turbulence and the acceleration of high energy cosmic rays in supernovae
remnants, in super-bubbles, and in jets and hot spots of powerful
radio-galaxies.Comment: To be published in Physical Review D, 20 pages 9 figure
Noise storm continua: power estimates for electron acceleration
We use a generic stochastic acceleration formalism to examine the power
() input to nonthermal electrons that cause
noise storm continuum emission. The analytical approach includes the derivation
of the Green's function for a general second-order Fermi process, and its
application to obtain the particular solution for the nonthermal electron
distribution resulting from the acceleration of a Maxwellian source in the
corona. We compare with the power observed in noise
storm radiation. Using typical values for the various parameters, we find that
, yielding an efficiency
estimate in the range 10^{-10} \lsim \eta
\lsim 10^{-6} for this nonthermal acceleration/radiation process. These
results reflect the efficiency of the overall process, starting from electron
acceleration and culminating in the observed noise storm emission.Comment: Accepted for publication in Solar Physic
Need for Aeromedical Evacuation High-Level Containment Transport Guidelines
Circumstances exist that call for the aeromedical evacuation high-level containment transport (AE-HLCT) of patients with highly hazardous communicable diseases. A small number of organizations maintain AE-HLCT capabilities, and little is publicly available regarding the practices. The time is ripe for the development of standards and consensus guidelines involving AE-HLCT
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