The Study of Endogenous Corporate Social Responsibility in Saudi Arabia

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is striving to reach the business community of Saudi Arabia from Western and International CSR prospective. However, they are faced with local endogenous CSR factors indicating the distinctive Saudi CSR features and characteristics originating from within Saudi Arabia during the current early CSR initiatives. Saudi Arabia is an advocate for Islamic teaching and practices, throughout the Islamic world abiding comprehensively to the Islamic social care system, which is interlocked with additional unique cultural, national, and social expectations. Those factors overlap with the semi-official governmental endorsements and the private sector’s unique conceptualization of CSR, which, in essence, formulate the endogenous distinctive Saudi CSR characteristics (Saudi CSR) considered to be under-researched in comparison to the CSR generic debate in other countries. The research questions are: what are the endogenous Saudi CSR Characteristics? How can they be related to the local Saudi CSR unique conceptualization? And could they be interpreted using Carroll’s 1779, 1991, and 3D CSR Models? The study primarily aims to empirically investigate, identify, and analyse the unique origination of the Saudi CSR model and the misconceptualizing it has to the International CSR regulatory framework. It also aims to provide a possible template for the Saudi National CSR strategy respectively. It focuses upon investigating whether the empirically formulated and identified Saudi endogenous CSR’s context and characteristics can be aligned, analysed and/or interpreted in light of CSR generic theories, and the international CSR standardization for reporting initiatives, including Carroll’s Four dimensions: 1979 and Pyramid 1991, and the Three-Domain 2004 CSR models (Mark et al., 2004). The analytical analysis demonstrates that a Saudi national CSR strategy has not been established yet; hence the current study provides a template for building up such strategy. A conceptualized theoretical framework is formulated utilizing both empirical evidence from pilot studies and the narrative analytical analysis, which aimed at identifying and exploring Saudi CSR uniqueness using an eclectic research approach. The indirect Saudi CSR evidence was investigated using questionnaires, document analysis and Semi-structured interviews, which comprised nearly 380 Saudi organizations within the private, listed, and Non-profit sectors. Data Analysis including King Khalid Foundation, Saudi companies and CSR Data reflection revealed a set of endogenous distinctive characteristics, which are validated using triangulation data collection tools. The findings of the study suggest that the Saudi CSR characteristics (endogenous features) fall within the following categories evidenced by their practical applications, Saudi companies’ strategic policies and Saudi leadership’s CSR own self-generated principles: (1) Islamic Philanthropy, (2) Social Obligation, (3) National Development Obligation (5) Corporate Citizenship (6) National Economic Developments (7) National Competitiveness, (8)Stakeholder’s Expectation and (9) Environmental and Global Expectation and (10) Corporate Governance. Furthermore, data analysis displays that Carroll’s 3D CSR model sets certain suitability limitations for Saudi CSR interpretations. It also reveals the need for utilizing the adopted Carroll’s combined model formulated in the present study; its utilization conforms to the Saudi CSR components while formulating the required Saudi national CSR

First isolation and identification of Vibrio vulnificus (biotype 2) from cultured beluga, huso huso in Iran

By decreasing sturgeon stocks in the Caspian Sea, rearing different sturgeon species especially Huso huso was increased in Iran. Under stress conditions the sturgeon can easily be infected by several opportunistic pathogens. In June 2011, mortality happened in 25 - 28°C water temperature, in one of the most important cultured sturgeon farms in Mazandaran province, north of Iran. The mortality rate was 15%. The first clinical signs in moribund fish were lethargy and anorexia. A total of 20 moribund fish was transferred to a central laboratory for more bacteriological examination. Clinical signs including several deep ulcers on body surface, around the head, under operculum, ulcers at the base of the pectoral fins, hemorrhage around the anus, operculum, and pale gills were observed in moribund fish. The main internal signs were hepatomegaly and splenomegaly, liquid accumulation in the intestine and diffuse visceral hemorrhage. The results of morphology and microscopic characterizations and also biochemical tests indicated that Vibrio vulnificus (biotype 2) was the etiological agent of mortality in infected fish. This study was the first report of V. vulnificus in cultured H. huso in Iran

Effect of common foods as supplements for the mycelium growth of Ganoderma lucidum and Pleurotus ostreatus on solid substrates

The transition from a linear to a circular economy is urgently needed to mitigate environmental impacts and loss of biodiversity. Among the many potential solutions, the development of entirely natural-based materials derived from waste is promising. One such material is mycelium-bound composites obtained from the growth of fungi onto solid lignocellulosic substrates, which find applications such as insulating foams, textiles, packaging, etc. During growth, the fungus degrades and digests the substrate to create a web-like stiff network called mycelium. The development of the mycelium is influenced by several factors, including the substrate composition. As food waste accounts for nearly 44% of total municipal solid waste, incorporating food in the substrate composition could be a means to increase the nutrients absorbed by the fungus. In this paper, we study the effects of the addition of food supplements on the growth of two fungal species, Ganoderma lucidum and Pleurotus ostreatus. The substrates, the food supplements, and the mycelia are characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and optical microscopy. Our results show that addition of barley as a supplement significantly boosts the growth of G. lucidum and P. ostreatus. Using a common food as a nutritious enrichment for the development of mycelium is a simple and straightforward strategy to create waste-based mycelium-bound biocomposites for a large range of applications, on-site, therefore promoting a circular economy

Mechanical properties of dense mycelium-bound composites under accelerated tropical weathering conditions

Mycelium, as the root of fungi, is composed of filamentous strands of fine hyphae that bind discrete substrate particles into a block material. With advanced processing, dense mycelium-bound composites (DMCs) resembling commercial particleboards can be formed. However, their mechanical properties and performance under the working conditions of particleboards are unknown. Here, we show how weathering conditions affect the DMC stress and elastic modulus. DMC was made using Ganoderma lucidum mycelium grown on a substrate of sawdust and empty fruit bunch. The DMC was then subjected to weathering under tropical conditions over 35 days and tested under flexural, tensile, and compressive loading with reference to international standards. After exposure to specified weathering conditions, the maximum stress in flexure, tension, and compression decreased substantially. The addition of a protective coating improved the resistance of DMC to weathering conditions; however, the difference between coated and uncoated samples was only found to be statistically significant in tensile strength

Development of an extrudable paste to build mycelium-bound composites

Mycelium-bound composites are promising materials for sustainable packaging, insulation, fashion, and architecture. However, moulding is the main fabrication process explored to date, strongly limiting the ability to design the complex shapes that could widen the range of applications. Extrusion is a facile and low energy-cost process that has not yet been explored for mycelium-bound composites with design freedom and structural properties. In this study, we combine cheap, easily and commonly available agricultural waste materials, bamboo microfibres, chitosan, and mycelium from Ganodermalucidum, to establish a composite mixture that is workable, extrudable and buildable. We study the impact of bamboo fibre size, chitosan concentration, pH and weight ratio of bamboo to chitosan to determine the optimum growth condition for the mycelium as well as high mechanical stiffness. The resulting materials have thus low energy costs, are sustainable and can be shaped easily. The developed composition is promising to further explore the use of mycelium-bound materials for structural applications using agricultural waste

Floristic, life form and chorological studies of the Abshar protected area, Shirgah, Mazandaran Province, north of Iran

The Abshar protected area with 3639 ha and an altitude ranging from 400-855 m a.s.l. is one of the forest areas that due to its topography is covered by Carpinus betulus, Parrotia persica and Diospyros lotus speices. The floristic study of this area is long with sampling plots. The floristic-physiognomic investigation showed that flora of this region included 99 plant species which belonged to 81 genera and 49 families. The largest family was Rosaceae with 10 species. Classification based on life form spectrum indicated that geophytes (31.31%), phanerophytes (29.29%), hemicryptophytes (25.25%) and therophytes (14.14%) comprise the plants in the studied area. The results of chorological studies showed that the chorotype form Euro-Siberian elements (32 taxa, 32.32%) were the most important phytochorion in this area. Long period of wetness during the growing season and relatively high annual precipitation are the reasons of the high proportion of geophytes existence in the studied area. Phytogeographical comparison of the Abshar protected forest and the other forests in north of Iran identified two peaks in phytochoria curves, one in Euro-Siberian and the other one is in the Pluriregional elements

Temporal characterization of biocycles of mycelium-bound composites made from bamboo and Pleurotus ostreatus for indoor usage

Mycelium-bound composites (MBCs) are materials obtained by growing fungi on a ligno-cellulosic substrate which have various applications in packaging, furniture, and construction industries. MBCs are particularly interesting as they are sustainable materials that can integrate into a circular economy model. Indeed, they can be subsequently grown, used, degraded, and re-grown. Integrating in a meaningful biocycle for our society therefore demands that MBCs fulfil antagonistic qualities which are to be at the same time durable and biodegradable. In this study, we conduct experiments using MBCs made from the fungus species Pleurotus ostreatus grown on bamboo microfibers substrate. By measuring the variations of the mechanical properties with time, we provide an experimental demonstration of a biocycle for such composites for in-door applications. We found that the biocycle can be as short as 5 months and that the use of sustainable coatings is critical to increase the durability of the composites while maintaining biodegradability. Although there are many scenarios of biocycles possible, this study shows a tangible proof-of-concept example and paves the way for optimization of the duration of each phase in the biocycle depending on the intended application and resource availability

Application of exploratory factor analysis method in the evaluating the competitiveness of port services

This applied research has been conducted to evaluate the competitiveness of port services using exploratory factor analysis and importance- performance analysis methods. First, by studying the ports competiveness literatures, 53 indicators of competitiveness of port services has been identified, And to reduce the number of variables affecting the competitiveness of ports and the formation of a new structure for them (Based on the correlations between variables), exploratory factor analysis method was used. Based on the obtained results from 53 identified indicators, in the factor analysis, only 27 of indicator have loadings on the eight factors of Logistics Cost, Connectivity, Port facility, Port Service and Availability, Safety and security, Efficiency and Productivity, Reliability, Hinterland condition. The obtained results from confirmatory factor analysis in this study showed that, among the eight factors, factors of Logistics Cost and factors of Connectivity have greatest influence on the port competitiveness. And factors of Reliability and factors of Hinterland condition have least influence on the port competitiveness. And also the results of the importance and performance analysis showed that among of eight factors, respectively efficiency and productivity factor has the highest and Hinterland condition has the lowest the difference between the performance averages from importance average. And also the Position of each factor in the quarters of the importance and performance matrix indicates that other than the second factor (Connectivity) and fifth factor (Safety and Security) all other factors located in a quarter one. Thus it can be concluded that the services of studies port from the perspective of located factors in quarter one (logistics costs, port facilities, port services, productivity and efficiency, reliability and the Hinterland) has a low performance And needs performance improvement according to their importance

Wood-Veneer-Reinforced Mycelium Composites for Sustainable Building Components

The demand for building materials has been constantly increasing, which leads to excessive energy consumption for their provision. The looming environmental consequences have triggered the search for sustainable alternatives. Mycelium, as a rapidly renewable, low-carbon natural material that can withstand compressive forces and has inherent acoustic and fire-resistance properties, could be a potential solution to this problem. However, due to its low tensile, flexural and shear strength, mycelium is not currently widely used commercially in the construction industry. Therefore, this research focuses on improving the structural performance of mycelium composites for interior use through custom robotic additive manufacturing processes that integrate continuous wood fibers into the mycelial matrix as reinforcement. This creates a novel, 100% bio-based, wood-veneer-reinforced mycelium composite. As base materials, Ganoderma lucidum and hemp hurds for mycelium growth and maple veneer for reinforcement were pre-selected for this study. Compression, pull-out, and three-point bending tests comparing the unreinforced samples to the veneer-reinforced samples were performed, revealing improvements on the bending resistance of the reinforced samples. Additionally, the tensile strength of the reinforcement joints was examined and proved to be stronger than the material itself. The paper presents preliminary experiment results showing the effect of veneer reinforcements on increasing bending resistance, discusses the potential benefits of combining wood veneer and mycelium’s distinct material properties, and highlights methods for the design and production of architectural components

Mechanical Properties of Bamboo Through Measurement of Culm Physical Properties for Composite Fabrication of Structural Concrete Reinforcement

Bamboo fibers with high mechanical properties can be a sustainable alternative to synthetic fibers for application in fiber reinforced polymer composites. The first aim of this study is to evaluate the dependence of mechanical properties of Dendrocalamus asper, known as bamboo Petung from Indonesia, on physical properties of the culm, including culm diameter, wall thickness, height, moisture content and specific density. Correlations between mechanical properties including tensile strength, modulus of rupture and modulus of elasticity in flexure and tension and culm physical properties have been studied. The results demonstrate that specific density is directly correlated with all these mechanical properties of bamboo while the moisture content values are correlated only with value of modules of rupture. Although wall thicknesses value of the culm are correlated with all of the mechanical properties studied, the culm diameter was only correlated with modulus of rupture and modulus of elasticity in flexure. Therefore, measurements of the culm geometry and specific density of raw bamboo have the potential for rapid, non-destructive evaluations of the quality of the bamboo, particularly in nurseries and forests where there is limited access to testing facilities. The second aim of this study is to evaluate whether such tests allow for an evaluation of the mechanical potential of the bamboo for production of high performance bamboo fiber reinforced polymer composites. Use of these formulas is illustrated through a case study of bamboo composite reinforcement for structural concrete. Pull-out tests and beam testing using this composite successfully validate the usefulness of this strategy for sustainable construction