Management Awareness and Strategies for the Contemporary African Manager of Organizations

This paper addresses a topical issue: management awareness and strategies for the contemporary African manager. The overall aim of the work is to provide a framework for improved management practices for the manager and the intervener in both private and public sectors. This frame-work is not limited to the African manager but has a wider application for other managers of organizations. In pursuant of this objective, relevant key management concepts are explored and discussed bearing in mind that the subject of management is a dynamic and universal phenomenon. Emphasis is placed on the features of the endowed person and the potentials of the human being as the manager and as the most effective contributor to organizational life.The identified concepts and their properties are interwoven. Other highlights are: (i) the universality in the applications or practices of management; (ii) the peculiarity in the applications and practices of management in different environments or social settings; (iii) management practices, problems and prospects in the African settings (See Table I). Cases cited and examples drawn are meant inter alia to strengthen the objectives of the study

Communicative and Stylistic Potential of New Yoruba Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions on The Label of Alcoholic Drinks

This paper investigated issues expressed with these idioms as well as the strategy for using them for various modern alcoholic drinks in Yoruba land. The paper adopted Mukarovsky's theory of Standard Language based on its ability to explain the deviant nature of the new Yoruba idioms as well as explaining 'differencia specifica' between the language of everyday conversation and Literary Language. Data were collected from different beer joints in Lagos State and Ògùn State respectively as States where most of these drinks are produced. Eventually, data were subjected to stylistic analysis. In all, sex is the only issue that was expressed. Sex, which was peculiar to all the alcoholic drinks, occurred in the context of 'eroticism', 'vulgarity', 'sexual style', and 'sexual positioning'. Only the metaphorisation linguistic strategy was employed for the coining of the idioms and was differentially derived from nominalizations, phonaesthetic coinages, and compositions. Nominalisations, compositions, and phonaesthetic coinages occurred in almost all the labels, and they were contextualized in eroticism ('Ọ̀ṣọmọ', 'Alọmọ', 'Ògidigà' and 'Ọ́ríjìn (ọ rí i jìn?); sexual style (Kòbókò, Kerewa, Pakurumo) while Dadubule revealed sexual positioning. New Yorùbá idioms, used to express-socio economic and emotive issues in routine communication, occurred in mediated and non-mediated contexts and were conveyed through metaphorisations. These idioms rethe flect dynamism and modernity-constrained stylistic choices in Yorùbá discourses

New Yoruba Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions: A New Mode of Expression in Political Arena

New idioms and idiomatic expressions, which are modern stock expressions, constitute communicative clogs in Yorùbá routine discourses because of their semantic complexity and deviant nature. Existing studies have established their scope of usage in Yorùbá music but have hardly addressed their communicative adaptability in politics. This paper investigated issues expressed with these idioms, context and strategies for using them in political arena. This is with a view to establishing their communicative and stylistic relevance in Yorùbá discourses. The paper adopted Mukarovsky’s theory of Standard Language because of its capacity to explain the “differential specifica” between the language of everyday interaction and literary language.  Data were collected from different routine communicative discourses of  politicians and party members on radio, during political rallies or campaigns and were subjected to pragmatic and stylistic analysis. Political issues were expressed using new idioms and idiomatic expressions in the following sociopolitical contexts: Eté for corruption/stealing; Ojúyọbọ́ for under achiever; Yóó wọlé ẹ̀ẹ̀ken si for deceit; Ó bọ̀jẹ́ tì for collective support; Oyin ni o for a successful tenure; Ajímọ̀bi for collective responsibility; Nàìjá for affection/disappointment and Kárí go/Kárí kọọ̀mù for continuity and discontinuity. Nominalisation, Pidginisation and dialect expressions were the strategies employed for the formation of new idioms in this paper. These strategies were used to express different political happenings contextualized in underachievement, sloganeering for support, deceit,  and acceptance/rejection for second term in office respectively. New idioms and idiomatic expressions, used to express sociopolitical issues in Yorùbá routine communication, occurred in mediated and non-mediated contexts  and were conveyed through nominalization, pidginisation, and dialect expressions.  These idioms reflect dynamism and modernity-constrained stylistic choices in Yorùbá. Key words: New idioms, Yorùbá, strategies, politics. stylistics. Academic discipline -  Yoruba,  Subject -  Stylistic,  Method -  Stylistic analysi

Super Resolution Techniques for DUV Optical Lithography

As device geometries shrink, new illumination sources will be needed to obtain practical resolution. The krypton fluoride (KrF) excimer laser (248nm) is capable of 0.30 μm resolution with conventional illumination methods. A weak quadrupole off-axis illumination technique combines the advantages of two-beam imaging (off-axis illumination), and three-beam imaging (conventional illumination). This allows for the advantage of increased Depth-of-Focus (DOF) without the degradation of isolated patterns. This method is suitable for use with an attenuated phase shift mask (APSM) which also enhances resolution and DOF

KINETICS AND THERMODYNAMIC STUDY OF ALKALINE FADING OF MALACHITE GREEN IN AQUEOUS SOLUTION

Kinetic and thermodynamic study of alkaline fading of malachite green in aqueous solution       via pseudo-first order kinetics at 618nm is reported using UV-1800 Shimadzu Spectrophotometer. The reaction revealed first order dependence with respect to malachite green  concentration  and first order dependence to hydroxyl ion concentration. Michaelis-Menten plot showed the presence of an intermediate complex and the reaction is dependent on ionic strength of the solution. Activation energy(Ea) and activation parameters like ΔH‡, ΔS‡ and ΔG‡ were obtained from Arrhenius plot and Erying’s equation .  A mechanism is postulated based on the kinetic and spectroscopic studies

A Systematic Multiscale Investigation of Nanoparticle-Assisted CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) Process for Shale Oil Reservoirs

Shale oil reservoirs are prolific on the short term due to hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling but experience significant production decline, leading to poor ultimate recovery and leaving billions of barrels of oil buried in the ground. In this study, a systematic multi-scale investigation of an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) process using relatively inexpensive silicon dioxide nanoparticles and carbon dioxide for shale oil reservoirs was conducted. Using the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) as a case study, aqueous dispersions of nanosilica in conjunction with CO2 were investigated at nano-to-core scales. At the nanoscale, atomic force microscope was used to investigate the wettability modification performance of silica nanoparticles by measuring adhesion force between specific functional groups and pure minerals in nanofluid media. At the micron-scale, the roles of silica-based nanofluids in fluid/fluid interactions and rock/fluid interactions were distinguished by characterizing interfacial tension and advancing contact angle using optical tensiometer and the dual-drop-dual-crystal technique, respectively. Core-scale investigations consisted of: high-pressure CO2 EOR coreflood experiment, reservoir rock/fluid characterization, physics-based modelling of capillary pressure and relative permeability using nano-to-core scale experimental data, and compositional simulation. Results showed that hydrophilic silica nanoparticle (HNP) dispersions can effectively improve nanoscale wettability alteration (towards less oil-wet state) by decreasing adhesion force and work required to spontaneously desorb dominant functional groups in TMS crude oil from pure mineral surfaces. However, the grafting of aminosilanes on the surfaces of nanosilica generally increased adhesion force. At the micron-scale, HNP solutions showed great potential for enhancing oil recovery in TMS through wettability modification but not interfacial tension xviii reduction, whereas APTES-modified nanoparticle dispersions showed promising EOR potential through both mechanisms. At the core scale, coreflood experiment and compositional simulation showed that up to 30% of oil-in-place can be recovered with CO2 EOR in TMS. The nano-to-micron scale mechanisms of silica-based nanofluids translated into a notable decrease in capillary pressure, an increase in oil relative permeability and a decrease in water relative permeability. However, the strongly-water state in TMS masked the synergistic effects of nanoparticle-assisted CO2 EOR and thus helped revealed the initial wetting state as an important EOR screening criterion for shale oil reservoirs

Viability of anti-nutritional factors and negative flavours reduction in lentil and chickpea with 50-ohm radio frequency heating system

Pulses are good source of protein, carbohydrate, dietary fibre, vitamins, and minerals in human and animal feeds. However, pulses are also high in anti-nutritional factors (ANFs) and negative flavours (NFs). Anti-nutritional factors and negative flavours have impeded the direct application of pulse protein in the mainstream food industry, as well as the acceptability of pulses in human diets. A 50-ohm radio frequency (RF) heating system was used to research the viability of reduction of these bioactive compounds in red lentil and Kabuli chickpea at moisture content of 11% (w.b.), three RF power levels (3, 6, and 9 kW), and three end temperatures (55, 85, and 115℃). Prior to heating the samples with RF, their dielectric and thermal properties were determined to predict the behaviour of these materials during RF heating. Dielectric properties of the samples were measured with a computer-controlled precision LCR device over four moisture contents, seven temperatures, and seven frequencies. The dielectric properties of the samples increased with moisture content and temperature, but decreased as the frequency increased. Penetration depth was calculated from the measured dielectric constant (ε^') and dielectric loss factor (ε'') data, and it decreased with moisture content, temperature, and frequency. Thermal properties such as thermal conductivities (k), specific heat (cp), and densities (ρ) of the samples were determined experimentally and with predictive mechanistic model as functions of temperature and moisture content (four levels). Except for cp which was measured at a temperature range of 30 to 90℃, other properties were measured at room temperature. Specific heat of the samples increased linearly with MC and temperature, thermal conductivity increased with MC in all samples, and thermal diffusivity which was calculated from known values of k, cp, and ρ, decreased as MC levels increased. A vertical tubular-type applicator was designed to house the samples during RF heating. Temperature histories during RF heating of the samples were monitored to determine if temperature gradient exists in the applicator. Post-processing analysis of heated samples showed that in both pulses, trypsin inhibitor activities (TIA) decreased as the temperature and power level increased. Radio frequency heating caused significant reduction in lipoxygenase activities in both lentil and chickpea, while there was no effect on phytic acid in lentil for the power levels and end temperatures considered. However, there was a considerable reduction in phytic acid content in chickpea when it was heated at 7 and 9 kW powers and 115℃ end temperature. There was no raffinose in the lentil variety tested; however, there was an insignificant increment in the amount of stachyose and verbascose. The same trend was observed in chickpea where the result showed an increment in raffinose and stachyose. No verbascose was found in the chickpea variety tested. Samples were tested for colour changes after RF processing and the result showed that there were no significant colour changes to the samples. From the observations made in this study, it can be inferred that the 50-ohm RF heating system has the potential to reduce ANFs and NFs in pulses significantly

Effects of credit, liquidity, and operational risks on efficiency of Islamic banks in Africa

Islamic banks in Africa are characterized with some technical inefficiencies. The low efficiency of Islamic banks in the region has been linked to high exposure to different risk variables. However, adequate attention has not been given to such risk variables in past studies on Islamic bank efficiency. This study therefore assessed the effects of credit, liquidity and operational risks on efficiency of Islamic banks in Africa. Twenty (20) Islamic banks were selected across Africa for a period of eight (8) years from 2012 to 2019. Data were collected from annual reports of the banks and analysed via Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression. The study found that the banks were not efficient as the average overall technical efficiency (OTE) was 0.748. The inefficiencies could be traced to both managerial inefficiencies (PTE, 0.827) and poor selection of operating scale (SE, 0.902). The study also found that non-performing financing ratio (p = 0.002), deposit-asset ratio (p = 0.019), and operating expenses to earnings ratio (p = 0.000), have a negative and significant relationship with OTE at 5% level of significance. The study concluded that Islamic banks in Africa are not technically efficient and that exposure to credit, liquidity and operational risks had impaired their technical efficiencies. The study recommends employment of staff with requisite skills and knowledge of Islamic banking and finance to enhance their efficiency. Timely identification of potential risks and adequate risk management are also necessary to forestall high risk exposure which jeopardize technical efficiency

Job Security, Labour-Management Relations And Perceived Workers` Productivity In Industrial Organizations: Impact Of Technological Innovation

This study investigated the influence of technological innovation on job security, labour-management relations and perceived workers’ productivity in industrial organizations in Nigeria. The descriptive ex-post-facto research method was adopted for the study. A total of 321 respondents were selected for the purpose of the study using the proportionate stratified sampling technique. Three sets of questionnaires were utilized for data collection. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation and t- test statistics were used to test hypotheses generated for the study at 0.05 alpha levels. Findings revealed that a significant relationship does not exist between technological innovation and workers` job security. The findings further revealed that technological innovation has not significantly influenced harmonious labour-management relations. It was also found that there is no significant relationship between technological innovation and perceived workers` productivity. It is recommended that a participatory management style, which could foster workers` participation at the planning and implementation stages of technological innovation, should be encouraged among the managers in order to foster workers` participation in decision-making and workers` supportiveness towards implementation of technological innovation. Moreover, skill re-engineering programmes should be organized for workers at regular intervals in order to sensitize them and foster skill acquisition and utilization towards improved labour-management relations and increased productivity