ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND EMPLOYEE RETENTION

In today's competitive global corporate environment, leaders' ethical behaviour is becoming increasingly important. Leaders, when morally upright, bring tremendous business impact and retention. On the contrary, if the morale of the lead organization is not practiced, the whole image of the company is spoiled, and employees are dissatisfied. For this reason, ethical leadership must be a priority for companies today, not only for higher structural performance but also to retain employees in order to maintain a competitive advantage. Employee retention refers to an organization's ability to retain its employees, and it's becoming a major concern for businesses. Organizational culture, salary and remuneration, flexibility, and work happiness all have a significant impact on a company's retention rate. This conceptual paper examines the construct of ethical leadership and worker retention. Ethical leaders believe in the long-term implications, disadvantages, and edges of the decisions they make inside the organization. The paper reviewed extant literature that examines literature within the space of “Ethical leadership and worker retention”. The paper suggests that wise hiring is critical, that the person to be designated should be a good fit for the job as well as the organization's culture, and that it is equally essential to remember the qualifications, skills and knowledge, diligence, and perspective required for the job. Ethical leaders should determine the coaching and appropriate training for the employees

EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION AND PRODUCTIVITY IN SELECTED TOURISM FIRMS IN PORT HARCOURT

This study examined the effect of employee motivation on productivity in selected tourism firms in Port Harcourt. The study adopted a descriptive and causal research design in investigating the effects of motivation on tourism firms' productivity levels. The entire population of the study was 475 with a determined sample size of 217. A well-structured self-administered questionnaire was used as the main tool for data collection and was administered to 217 respondents out of which 185 were retrieved and appropriately filled. The reliability of the research instrument was calculated and the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.868. Data were analyzed using simple linear regression analysis. From the hypotheses tested, the result indicated that there is a significant relationship between employee motivation and tourism firms' productivity. Findings also revealed that 35.8% of the variations in productivity can be explained by employee motivation in the tourism firm used as a study in this research. The results also revealed that extrinsic factors were considered to have more significant effects on tourism firms' productivity than intrinsic factors. The study, therefore, recommended that management of tourism firms should take appropriate measures in figuring out those factors that motivate their employees and seek ways of ensuring that they are adequately motivated in order to improve their productivity and productivity levels

THE CHANGING ROLE OF AN EXPLORATORY RESEARCH IN MODERN ORGANISATION

During the last few decades, the use of exploratory and qualitative research have increased in many institutions. They have been used to explore several areas of human behavior for the development of organizations. The purpose of this study is to provide analysis for exploratory and qualitative research.  Exploratory and qualitative research are conducted when enough is not known about a phenomenon and a problem that has not been clearly defined. Although, these research approaches generate ideas or hypothesis for later quantitative research,  both qualitative and exploratory research are used to gain an in-depth understanding of human behaviour,  experience,  attitudes,  intentions,  and motivations, on the basis of observation and interpretation, to  find  out  the  way  people  think  and  feel. Scholars have critically opined that in some respects, both methodological and theoretical, in which these research approaches have frequently failed to live up to their appreciative commitment. They established that qualitative researchers have been less ready to seek to understand, and to represent in their own terms, the perspectives of those they regard as playing a more central or dominant social role, and/or those with whom they have little sympathy. In this way, a radical methodological principle of early qualitative research – the commitment to understanding or appreciation became compromised However, exploratory and qualitative research have been justified through their proponents. They argued that exploratory and qualitative research provide a more realistic feel of the world that cannot be experienced in the numerical data and statistical analysis used in quantitative research; it provides flexible ways of collecting, analysing, and interpreting data and information and; the use of primary and unstructured data gives qualitative research a descriptive capability

Design and implementation of an automatic conveyor sorting system

One of the challenges of automation engineers is coming up with the best possible way to automate a process. There are many sensors, controllers, remote I/O devices, and actuators in the world today that makes it difficult for one to decide on which particular device to use for a particular application. Prior knowledge of some of the key components required for automation is necessary to help with the selection process. This design and implementation of an automatic conveyor system project was designed to be used as a teaching tool at Murdoch University to expose students to different components used in automation and how these components can be put together to achieve a required goal. This project is concerned with designing, developing, and commission of a conveyor colour sorting and scattering system. There are six sections in this report. The first section of this report introduces the project. It talks about why this project has been undertaken, the aim, and objectives of the project. For better execution of the project, the project was divided broadly into four different stages with each stage having set objectives. These stages and their objectives are also discussed in this part of the report. Following on from the first section, the second section talks about the background of automation. A brief history of automation which dates as far back as 1769, advantages and disadvantages of automation, key components required for automation are discussed in this section. The last part of section two talks about the previous work that was carried out by other students on the conveyor system. Details about the system design, materials selection, and construction of the system are in sections three and four of this report. Effort was put into trying to make use of different kinds of components so that students who study the system can develop an understanding of various kinds of automation components. Incorporating the various components selected as well as developing the computer program to carry out the required task of the system is presented in section four. The system was tested twice. Once with coloured wooden boxes and the other with polycarbonate boxes fitted with coloured acrylics. The first test was unsuccessful while the second was a success which shows the importance of proper material selection. The system was able to transport boxes across four conveyor belts and sort them according to their colours. The last two sections of this report discuss the various challenges encountered during the project execution as well as possible advancements that can be done on the system. It was discovered that the knowledge of the different components used in automation and how they can be used can go a long way in the achievement of a required goal especially as an effective tool for teaching

Temperature regulation schemes for improving biomass productivity and nutrient removal rate in outdoor raceway ponds

This study investigated the possibility of enhancing the biomass productivity and nutrient removal of microalgae grown in raceway ponds through temperature regulation. Scenedesmus sp. grown in anaerobically digested abattoir effluent (ADAE) was cultivated outdoor in eight raceway ponds. Seven ponds were subjected to different temperature regulation schemes (from 15 °C to 25 °C) and varying control windows (from 24 h to daytime-only). From the results of this study, an approximate 60 % increase in biomass productivity was observed for ponds operated at a minimum temperature of 15 °C coupled with a 24 h (T15P24) and 12.5 h (T15P12.5) control period in relation to the uncontrolled temperature pond (UTP). Generally, Scenedesmus ponds operated at 15 °C used 60 % less energy for heating, were more efficient in nutrient removal, and showed significantly higher biomass productivities with respect to the uncontrolled/higher temperature regulated ponds. In other words, significant productivity improvements were observed for the systems with lower energy demands

Improving pH control and carbon dioxide utilisation efficiency in microalgae cultivation systems with the use of a Proportional-integral + dead-zone control strategy

This study investigated the use of an innovative Proportional Integral (PI) + dead-zone control strategy to improve pH control and to overcome the negative environmental impact associated with the currently employed on/off pH control schemes for microalgae cultivation. Scenedesmus sp. grown in anaerobically digested abattoir effluent (ADAE) was used in this study to evaluate the effectiveness of the alternative/advanced control strategy with respect to the on/off control strategy. Results obtained showed that the PI+dead-zone control strategy significantly improved the regulation of the pH level in the pond as evident by noteworthy reductions of key controller performance indicators with respect to the on/off control strategy. Additionally, the advanced control scheme was able to reduce the CO2 usage by a remarkable 59.21% (highest recorded in related literature), resulting in a reduction in CO2 associated costs (approximately 60%) and most importantly, reduction in the amount of greenhouse gas lost to the atmosphere

The concept of diseases and health care in African traditional religion in Ghana

As human beings we sometimes in one way or another become sick, and therefore go for treatment depending on our choice of treatment (religious perspective or Western medical treatment). Although African traditional religion is not against a Western medical way of treatment or healing process, its followers believe that there are some diseases that Western medicine cannot treat, and therefore need spiritual attention, as it is sometimes practiced in churches. This article discusses the African traditional view regarding disease, causes of disease, how disease is diagnosed and treated, with a special focus on Ghana. The article also describes the role of the diviner or the African traditional priest or what others may term as ‘herbalists’. The advantages and disadvantages of the African traditional healing process are considered. The article concludes by discussing African traditional healing in the context of a contemporary health care discourse, as well as a proposal for dialogue between traditional healers, Western medical practitioners, the government of Ghana, and the governments of various countries where this issue may be applicable, to build a consensus in addressing health issues