The Use Of Internet In Supplier Selection Process And Managerial Performance In The Northern Region Of Peninsular Malaysia

Sebagaimana yang diketahui, kos bahan mentah mengambil sebahagain besar jumlah kos produk Cost of material is known to take up a major proportion of the total product cost

CONTRIBUTION AND REWARD OF SENIOR IT EXECUTIVES IN IT CAPABLE FIRMS

The main objective of this study is to propose and test a pattern of positive reciprocity between senior IT executives (sITes) and firms with superior dynamic IT capability (ITC). Results based on panel data of 1326 large US firms from a wide spectrum of industries over a 13 year period (1997-2009) support the following positions: 1. There is a positive association between accrued sources of managerial power of sITes, such as structural and expert power, and a firm\u27s ability to develop superior ITC. 2. Firms that achieve such ITC superiority are more likely to signal their appreciation and reward their sITes with more structural power (a proxy for higher compensation). If sITes value these rewards, they are more likely to stay longer with their firm. 3. There is a positive association between continuity of an already successful IT leadership and a firm’s ability to sustain its ITC superiority (durable ITC heterogeneity), thus setting in motion a virtuous cycle of positive reciprocity between sITes and IT capable firms. These findings have several and significant implications for top management teams, directors, and sITes

National Prison Entrants’ Bloodborne Virus & Risk Behaviour Survey 2004, 2007, And 2010

Prisoner populations are characterised by engagement in a range of risk behaviours, most notably injecting drug use. Consequently they are at an increased risk of exposure to blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. Previous Australian research has shown that hepatitis C is between thirty to forty times higher among prisoners compared with the general community. Therefore, surveillance of this population to detect the presence of blood-borne pathogens and identify trends in risk behaviours is important in planning effective prevention strategies. This is the third prison entrants’ survey to have been conducted; the first was undertaken in 2004 and the second in 2007. The 2010 survey was enhanced to test for three sexually transmissible infections (STI) - chlamydia, gonorrhoea, and syphilis

An electronic healthcare record server implemented in PostgreSQL

This paper describes the implementation of an Electronic Healthcare Record server inside a PostgreSQL relational database without dependency on any further middleware infrastructure. The five-part international standard for communicating healthcare records (ISO EN 13606) is used as the information basis for the design of the server. We describe some of the features that this standard demands that are provided by the server, and other areas where assumptions about the durability of communications or the presence of middleware lead to a poor fit. Finally, we discuss the use of the server in two real-world scenarios including a commercial application

A Study on Intercultural Communication between Japanese Employers Based in Malaysia and the Malaysian Employees

Intercultural communication is the process of exchanging, negotiating, and mediating cultural differences between people from different cultural backgrounds, encompassing language, non-verbal gestures, and spatial relationships. Research on intercultural communication involving Japanese individuals has mainly focused on comparisons between Japanese and Westerners, particularly Americans. As Japan plays a significant role in the global business environment, foreign businesspersons working with Japanese companies may encounter communication gaps due to cultural values, assumptions, business customs, and language differences. In Malaysia, where there are several Japanese companies employing many Malaysians, there is a strong interest in learning the Japanese language and culture. Malaysians are impressed with the work culture of Japanese companies and seek to learn from them, which enhances their chances of working in Japanese companies, both in Malaysia and Japan. Effective communication between Japanese employers and Malaysian employees is crucial for learning from people of different cultures. To gain deeper insights into the intercultural communication in Japanese corporations working environment, this study examines the situations and challenges faced by Japanese employers working with Malaysian employees, and vice versa. The participants consist of Japanese employers and Malaysian employees who interact with Japanese employers in their day-to-day jobs. A qualitative study using focus groups was adopted, and the responses were analyzed using thematic analysis, leading to the emergence of three main themes: working culture, communication ability, and cultural differences. This paper discusses the results based on these themes and presents recommendations to improve intercultural communication in the workplace. Keywords: intercultural communication, workplace, Japanese, Malaysia

The effect of mentoring on U.S. vs. foreign-born faculty\u27s self-esteem and job satisfaction

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship among mentoring, self-esteem, and job satisfaction between U.S.-born and foreign-born faculty members in 21 research universities based on their country of origin, marital status, faculty ranking, tenure, and mentoring status

Development of a viable concrete printing process

A novel Concrete Printing process has been developed, inspired and informed by advances in 3D printing, which has the potential to produce highly customised building components. Whilst still in their infancy, these technologies could create a new era of architecture that is better adapted to the environment and integrated with engineering function. This paper describes the development of a viable concrete printing process with a practical example in designing and manufacturing a concrete component (called Wonder Bench) that includes service voids and reinforcement. The challenges met and those still to be overcome particularly in the evaluation of the manufacturing tolerances of prints are also discussed

Patient-based quality control for glucometers: using the moving sum of positive patient results and moving average

Introduction: The capability of glucometer internal quality control (QC) in detecting varying magnitude of systematic error (bias), and the potential use of moving sum of positive results (MovSum) and moving average (MA) techniques as potential alternatives were evaluated. Materials and methods: The probability of error detection using routine QC and manufacturer’s control limits were investigated using historical data. Moving sum of positive results and MA algorithms were developed and optimized before being evaluated through numerical simulation for false positive rate and probability of error detection. Results: When the manufacturer’s default control limits (that are multiple times higher than the running standard deviation (SD) of the glucometer) was used, they had 0-75% probability of detecting small errors up to 0.8 mmol/L. However, the error detection capability improved to 20-100% when the running SD of the glucometer was used. At a binarization threshold of 6.2 mmol/L and block sizes of 200 to 400, MovSum has a 100% probability of detecting a bias that is greater than 0.5 mmol/L. Compared to MovSum, the MA technique had lower probability of bias detection, especially for smaller bias magnitudes; MA also had higher false positive rates. Conclusions: The MovSum technique is suited for detecting small, but clinically significant biases. Point of care QC should follow conventional practice by setting the control limits according to the running mean and SD to allow proper error detection. The glucometer manufacturers have an active role to play in liberalizing QC settings and also enhancing the middleware to facility patient-based QC practices

Environment and Benchmarking: Industry 4.0 Sustainable Work Readiness Framework

This paper presents a sustainable work readiness framework for engineering students, incorporating core skills, personal skills, and self-efficacy as mediating variables. The study aims to investigate the impact of core skills and personal skills on engineering students’ work readiness, as well as the mediating influence of self-efficacy on this relationship. The researchers designed and tested a work readiness framework with three focal points: skills, personal skills, and self-efficacy, and their influence on engineering students’ work readiness. The findings indicate that core skills, personal skills, and self-efficacy positively and significantly influence engineering students’ work readiness. Self-efficacy can be explained by the core skills and personal skills variables at 87.8%, while the work readiness variable can be explained by core skills, personal skills, and self-efficacy at 85.4%. This study contributes to the existing literature by proposing a sustainable work readiness framework and measurement instrument that link core skills, personal skills, and self-efficacy as mediating variables influencing work readiness. The results are beneficial not only to Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia, as they directly reflect the work readiness of UTP’s final-year undergraduate engineering students but also to individuals, universities, teaching staff, organizations, human resource specialists, and public administrators. They can use these findings to enhance the development of individual work readiness skills and increase the work readiness of students in their respective universities. The novelty of this study lies in proposing a sustainable work readiness framework tailored to equip engineering students with the skills required and acquired in Industry 4.0. Keywords: student, engineering, PLS-SEM, skills, self-efficacy, sustainable, work readines