Role of Strategic Alliance as an Instrument for Rapid Growth, by the Afghan Firms

Currently in Afghanistan businesses are often constrained by the small domestic market, remoteness from major markets and access to capital, all of these elements serve as barriers to growth. Consequently Afghanistan has a high percentage of small to medium enterprises (SMEs’) that remain small and fail to realize their growth potential.The key elements of today’s business strategies are alliances to compete for a market leadership position. This study narrates the role of strategic alliances as an instrument for rapid growth by Afghanistan based service/construction firms. This study examines the experiences of a small number of such firms in relation to their role of strategic alliances. By recognizing concepts that positively or adversely affect the likelihood of success of such alliances it is hope that future firms within Afghanistan can benefit from thesis findings when developing their own growth strategies.The qualitative technique of semi-structured in depth interviews was used to gather primary data in response to the research questions. This research shows that the key contributor to the success for failure of alliances is whether all the parties will benefit equitable from the venture and the relative strategic importance of the alliance to the stakeholder. A new finding of special relevance to Afghanistan business is that being construction and is crucial to attracting the best alliance partners. Strategic alliances are not a panacea for every firm and at every situation. However through strategic alliances, firms can improve their competitive positioning, gain entry to new markets, increment critical skills, and share/ the risk and cost of major development projects. This research highlights the benefits of taking a long term strategic approach to the formation of alliances. The research approach was to carry out a literature review of the wider topic and postulate a conceptual framework which identifies a number of concepts that are likely to affect success. Keywords: Strategic Alliance, Joint Ventures, Uncertainty, Partnership

KINETICS OF THE HIGHER ALCOHOL SYNTHESIS OVER A K-PROMOTED CUO/ZNO/AL2O3 CATALYST

Detailed kinetic experiments of higher alcohol synthesis over K-promoted CuO/ZnO/Al2O3 catalysts have been performed using an internal recycle reactor operated at 4 MPa and between 548 and 578 K. It was found that a 0.5 % K-promoted catalyst, a stoichiometric H-2/CO ratio (approximately 2), and a low (2%) CO2 concentration were favorable for isobutanol yield. In contrast, for the synthesis of methanol, a higher K loading, H-2/CO ratio, and CO2 concentration were found to be favorable. The results suggest that isobutanol synthesis requires a balanced level of oxidation (Cu-0/Cu1+), as confirmed by in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, while methanol synthesis requires a greater degree of oxidation (more Cu1+). Contact time experiments showed the selectivity of aldehydes to pass through a maximum, suggesting the intermediacy of aldehydes in a classic ''aldol'' condensation mechanism. In extended time-on-stream experiments, initial deactivation was accounted for by a loss in BET surface area and a loss in Cu/Zn ratio. Greater deactivation at higher temperatures resulted in lower final activities; nevertheless steady-state isobutanol yields increased significantly at higher temperatures

Structural-Transport Properties Relationships on Ce(1-x)Ln(x)O(2-delta) System (Ln = Gd, La, Tb, Pr, Eu, Er, Yb, Nd) and Effect of Cobalt Addition

A large series of doped cerias have been prepared by the coprecipitation method combined with impregnation and completely characterized in order to have an overall understanding of the structural, oxygen vacancy concentration, and transport properties relationships. Several lanthanides were incorporated in the fluorite structure, and the effects of the final sintering temperature (1073 and 1573 K) and the addition of cobalt oxide on the structural properties were studied. The chosen lanthanides (Gd, La, Tb, Pr, Eu, Er, Yb and Nd) included a large range of ionic radii and different metals exhibiting variable oxidation states under the typical operating conditions for these materials. The materials have been characterized by powder XRD, high-temperature XRD, micro- Raman spectroscopy, helium pycnometry, and dc conductivity. Transport properties were correlated with structural features induced by the different ionic radii and variable oxidation state of the dopants. The highest ionic conductivity was obtained for the less distorted cells (Gd- and Nd-doped ceria) which represent the optimum balance between Coulomb interactions, steric effects, and vacancy distribution. The lowest Ea value was found for materials with long cell parameters.Financial support by the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation (Project ENE2008-06302, ENE2011-24761 and Grant BES-2009-015835), Spanish Industry Ministry (Project IAP-560620-2008-17), and Instalaciones Inabensa S.A. is kindly acknowledged. Dr. Jose L. Jorda contributed to this work with HT-XRD diffraction experiments.Balaguer Ramírez, M.; Solis Díaz, C.; Serra Alfaro, JM. (2012). Structural-Transport Properties Relationships on Ce(1-x)Ln(x)O(2-delta) System (Ln = Gd, La, Tb, Pr, Eu, Er, Yb, Nd) and Effect of Cobalt Addition. Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 116(14):7975-7982. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp211594dS797579821161