A comparison between a shakedown design approach and the analytical design approach in the UK for flexible road pavements

Recently a shakedown approach has been proposed for structural design of flexible road pavements (Wang and Yu, 2013a). This new approach makes use of both elastic and plastic properties of materials, and therefore represents an advance from the existing analytical design approach in the UK where pavement life is related with elastic strains at critical locations using empirical equations. However, no direct comparison between designs using these two approaches has been made to date. In this paper, following a brief review of both approaches, the shakedown approach based on Wang and Yu (2013a) is used to design layer thicknesses for a typical asphalt pavement considered in the analytical approach TRRL Report LR1132. Typical values of plastic parameters are chosen for pavement materials at temperature 20°C, while stiffness moduli of materials are kept identical with the analytical design. The resulting shakedown designs are then compared with the thickness design chart using the analytical design approach. And the influence of temperature on the shakedown-based thickness design is also discussed in detail. It is found that if the shakedown design approach is conducted against the maximum wheel pressure at a relatively high temperature, the resulting pavement structure will probably not fail due to excessive rutting within the service life

Knowledge management and firm innovative performance with the moderating role of transformational leadership

Purpose – This study aims to examine the effect of knowledge management on firm innovative performance and the moderating effect of ransformational leadership in the relationship between knowledge management and firm innovative performance. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 200 managers of participating Malaysian public listed service companies responded to a self-report set of the survey questionnaire. Partial least quaresstructural equation modelling technique is used to estimate the main effects of knowledge management, particularly its infrastructures and processes, on firm innovative performance and the moderating effects of transformational leadership on the relationship. Findings – Knowledge management infrastructures and knowledge management processes both have statistically significant and positive effects on firm innovative performance. In addition, transformational leadership significantly and negatively moderates the relationships. Practical implications – The findings of this study can be a reference for the Malaysian public listed service companies to understand how and why managing well knowledge management infrastructures and processes can improve firm innovative performance. Moreover, this study highlights the role of transformational leaders in the context of knowledge management. Originality/value – This study brings about managerial viewpoints of the relationship between knowledge management and firm innovative performance, with the moderating role of transformational leadership

Shakedown solutions for pavements with materials following associated and non-associated plastic flow rules

Existing lower-bound shakedown solutions for pavement problems are generally obtained by assuming that materials obey an associated flow rule, whereas plasticity of real materials is more inclined to a non-associated flow. In this paper, a numerical step-by-step approach is developed to estimate shakedown limits of pavements with Mohr–Coulomb materials. In particular, influences of a non-associated flow rule on the shakedown limits are examined by varying material dilation angle in the numerical calculations. It is found that the decrease of dilation angle will lead to accelerated reduction of pavement shakedown limits, and the reduction is most significant when the material friction angle is high. Furthermore, existing lower-bound shakedown solutions for pavements are extended, in an approximate manner, to account for the change of material dilation angle and the shakedown results obtained in this way agree well with those obtained through the numerical step-by-step approach. An example of pavement design using shakedown theory is also presented

A guideline for economic evaluations of vaccines and immunization programs in China.

This study aimed to develop a consensus framework for economic evaluations of vaccines as a national guideline in China. Some unique and important aspects were particularly emphasized. Nineteen Chinese experts in the field of health economics and immunization decision-making were nominated to select and discuss relevant aspects of vaccine economic evaluations in China. A workshop attended by external experts was held to summarize unique and important aspects and formulate consensus recommendations. There were ten unique and/or important aspects identified for economic evaluations of vaccines in China, including study perspectives, comparator strategies, analysis types, model choices, costing approaches, utility measures, discounting, uncertainty, equity, and evaluation purposes. Background information and expert recommendations were provided for each aspect. Economic evaluations of vaccines should play an important role in China's immunization policy-making. This guideline can help improve the quality of economic evaluations as a good practice consensus

Considering University Governance: A Preliminary Investigation of Employee Engagement in Higher Educational Institutions in Malaysia

Effective university governance provides a good framework of organizational practices to engage academic staff. The critical resource for building global competitiveness of university. This study, considering the university governance, is aimed to evaluate the levels of employee engagement in universities. A preliminary investigation was carried out using questionnaire survey. 160 randomly selected academic staff from one public university and one private university participated the survey. Statistics results show that levels of employee engagement from both universities are high. Moreover, the academic staff from the private university are more engaged comparing with the public university. Hence, it proposes a worthy question for further exploration: is the governance of private university better than that of public university

Linking Knowledge Creation with Employee Engagement: A Conceptual Model

Employee engagement is increasingly important in this competitive society because organizational competitive advantage requires knowledge especially the tacit which resides in employees and this cannot be achieved unless employees are engaged in the process of knowledge creation. However, researches have rarely explored to bridge engaging employees with creating knowledge. This paper after reviewing relevant literatures on knowledge creation and employee engagement, emphasized the essential linkage between knowledge creation and employee engagement. It is expected to enhance theory that knowledge creation link to employee engagement. Hopefully, the proposed model could help organizations to understand how employee engagement can be a key approach to achieve competitive advantage through knowledge creation

Impacts of knowledge sharing and knowledge creation on employee engagement - case studies of Malaysian universities

Employee engagement is increasingly important in this competitive society because organizational competitiveness requires knowledge especially the tacit knowledge which resides in employees and it cannot be achieved unless employees are engaged in the processes of managing knowledge. However, studies on employee engagement from the perspective of knowledge management practice are rare. The main purpose of this study is to assess the impacts of knowledge sharing and knowledge creation on employee engagement. After identifying knowledge sharing and knowledge creation could facilitate employee engagement, the study developed a model that presents knowledge sharing and knowledge creation towards employee engagement. This study adapted quantitative research method employing questionnaire to collect data from academic staff in a public and a private universities located in Malaysia. A sample of 303 academic staff were selected using stratified sampling method from a population of 1162. Data were analysed using SPSS. Descriptive analysis, testing for normality, reliability test, validity test, t-test and correlation analysis, as well as linear regression analysis were performed. The results show that three dimensions of knowledge sharing (i.e. structural, relational and cognitive) have positive and significant impact on employee engagement; and also two dimensions of knowledge creation (i.e. exploration and exploitation) positively and significantly affect employee engagement. From a practical contribution perspective, this could aid universities to better utilize the knowledge management practices to engage employees, so that to attain and sustain competitive advantage. It is recommended that the proposed model could be further enriched by adding other knowledge management practices

Review on Knowledge Sharing: Barriers and Motivations

Knowledge has been perceived as one of the most important resources needed for the survival of any knowledge intensive institution. The dependence of any university on the embedded knowledge of the non-academic staff for impressive benefits requires detail understanding of possible factors that may hamper the dissemination or facilitate the knowledge flow among them. An extensive review on the barriers and motivations influencing knowledge sharing in existing literature was carried out and adapted to the non-academic section of the University. The theoretical findings show that four barrier and motivation factors influence knowledge sharing among the non-academic staff of University. An effective knowledge sharing process among the non-academic section of the University will benefit both the individual non-academic staff and the university at large

Founder management, government ownership and firm performance : Evidence from malaysia

This paper examines first, how founder CEOs affect firm performance and second, whether government ownership moderates the relationship between founder CEOs and firm performance of companies listed in Malaysia between 2002 and 2011. Firms led by founder CEOs perform better than those led by non-founder CEOs. Although a direct-effect test indicates that government ownership may be detrimental to firm performance, there exists a positive relationship between founder CEOs and firm performance in the presence of government ownership from the perspective of growth opportunities. In terms of profitability, however, government ownership may not increase return on assets. These findings suggest that the government may play a crucial role to protect investor’s wealth, especially with respect to long-term survival of a company

The impact of knowledge creation on employee engagement from the perspectives of exploitation and exploration

The main purpose of this study is to assess the impacts of knowledge creation on employee engagement from both exploration and exploitation perspectives. After identifying that knowledge creation could facilitate employee engagement from a literature review, the study proposed a model of knowledge creation toward employee engagement. A survey questionnaire was developed accordingly. With a stratified sampling method, data were collected from the academic staff of one public and one private university located in Malaysia. A total of 200 academic staff members participated in this study. Linear regression analysis was performed to test how knowledge creation (i.e., exploration and exploitation) affects employee engagement. Statistical results show that the exploration and exploitation of knowledge creation positively and significantly affect employee engagement. The proposed model could aid universities in utilising knowledge creation practices to engage employees so as to attain and sustain competitive advantage