Organizational learning, innovativeness and performance of financial service firms in an emerging market: Examining the mediation effect of customer-focused strategy

Purpose -- The study investigates the extent to which organizational learning and innovativeness can improve the firms' performance through a customer-focused strategy. Design/methodology/approach – Data was collected from Indonesian financial service firms using a questionnaire-based survey. The 157 usable survey responses were analyzed to test the proposed hypotheses using SmartPLS. Findings – This study finds that both organizational learning and innovativeness have a positive effect on performance. The effect of organizational learning on performance depends on the variations of the customer-focused strategy. However, innovativeness does not mediate through customer-focused strategy to enhance performance. Theoretical implications -- As one of the types of dynamic capabilities, organizational learning and innovativeness are also important antecedents of performance. Practical implications -- In firms that implement business model innovation, managers should focus on resource flexibility. Where it is responsive, managers need to be concerned with ensuring various usage of existing resources to understand the performance effectively. Originality/value -- This study extends the business innovation model from the adaptability of customer-focused strategy. The findings confirm that organizational learning has a prominent role in meeting customer needs for a dynamic market

The enhanced naturally occurring radioactivity of negative ion clothing and attendant risk

The study investigates commercially available negative ion clothing, and evaluations are made using gamma-ray spectroscopy and Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations. Observed to contain naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM), evaluations are made of the radiological risk arising from the use of these as items of everyday wear, undergarments in particular. Organ doses from these were simulated using the MIRD5 mathematical female phantom, with the incorporation of dose conversion factors (DCFs). At 175 ± 26, 1732 ± 247, and 207 ± 38 Bq, for238U,232Th, and40K respectively, item code S05 was found to possess the greatest activity, while item code S07 was shown to have the least activity, at 2 ± 0.5 and 15 ± 2 Bq, and again for238U and232Th, respectively. Sample code S11 recorded least activity, at 29 ± 5 Bq, for40K. Among the clothing items, sample item code S05 offered the greatest concentrations of Th, U and Zr, with percentage means of 1.23 ± 0.1, 0.045 ± 0.001, and 1.29 ± 0.1, respectively, giving rise to an annual effective dose of 1.57 mSv/y assuming a nominal wearing period of 24 h per day. Accordingly, the annual public dose limit of 1 mSv can be exceeded by their use

Accountability via social and financial performance of the hospitality sector: The role of market orientation

Purpose This study aims to examine the three dimensions of market orientation, namely, customer orientation, competitor orientation and inter-function coordination, which influence the accountability in the financial and social performance of tourism operators in large touristic cities. Design/methodology/approach In total, 95 usable questionnaires as the required data were collected from the top managers of four- and five-star hotels in Iran. Findings Partial least squares (PLS) results confirm that customer orientation and inter-function coordination influence both the financial and social performance of the hospitality sector yet reveal that competitor orientation has no significant relationship with social performance. Research limitations/implications These findings not only highlight the compatibility of PLS with various forms of statistical analyzes but also furthers the current understanding of hospitality networks in megacity economies, where literature are scarce. Practical implications The findings of this study can help policymakers, tourism associations and practitioners enhance the accountability and sustainable financial and social performance of the hospitality industry in megacities. This study proposes some unique measurements for the social and financial performance of the hospitality sectors. Originality/value The paper states some new measurements for the social performance of the hospitality sectors. In addition, measuring the impacts of market orientation on the financial and social aspects of hotels is totally unique

Removal of Iron and Manganese Using Cascade Aerator and Limestone Roughing Filter

Combination between oxidation and filtration can be used for removing iron and manganese from groundwater especially when the concentrations of these metals were high. This study focused on the effectiveness of the cascade aerator and the size of the limestone filter media to remove iron and manganese from groundwater. Water samples used for this study were collected from orphanage home, Rumah Nur Kasih, Taiping. Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has provided a tube well of 15 m depth and 150 mm diameter for the orphanage home. However, the water cannot be used for domestic consumption due to high amount of iron and manganese at 6.48 and 1.9 mg/L which exceeded the drinking water standard of 0.3 and 0.1 mg/L respectively. Using laboratory physical model, the study has shown that the removals of iron and manganese have reduce the concentration until 0.17 and 0.2 mg/L respectively. Thus, the results from this study which utilize cascade aerator and limestone roughing filter could be implemented on site for the community to use the ground water for domestic purposes

Removal of Iron and Manganese Using Cascade Aerator and Limestone Roughing Filter

Combination between oxidation and filtration can be used for removing iron and manganese from groundwater especially when the concentrations of these metals were high. This study focused on the effectiveness of the cascade aerator and the size of the limestone filter media to remove iron and manganese from groundwater. Water samples used for this study were collected from orphanage home, Rumah Nur Kasih, Taiping. Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has provided a tube well of 15 m depth and 150 mm diameter for the orphanage home. However, the water cannot be used for domestic consumption due to high amount of iron and manganese at 6.48 and 1.9 mg/L which exceeded the drinking water standard of 0.3 and 0.1 mg/L respectively. Using laboratory physical model, the study has shown that the removals of iron and manganese have reduce the concentration until 0.17 and 0.2 mg/L respectively. Thus, the results from this study which utilize cascade aerator and limestone roughing filter could be implemented on site for the community to use the ground water for domestic purposes

Corporate governance and business performance of hotels in Western Australia: Analysis of market orientation as a mediator

Purpose This study examines whether corporate governance enhances the financial and social business performance of three-to five-star hotels in Western Australia (WA) through the three dimensions of market orientation (i.e. customer orientation, competitor orientation and inter-function coordination) as mediators. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from managers of hotels in the WA capital city of Perth and its surrounding areas using a questionnaire. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the data. Findings The overall result shows interesting findings of market orientation’s mediating role. It is found that corporate governance may lead to better financial business performance through competitor orientation but not through customer orientation and inter-function coordination. Complementary, corporate governance may lead to better social business performance through customer orientation and inter-function coordination but not through competitor orientation. Originality/value This paper offers contributions to both literature and practice on what dimensions of market orientation are important to enhance the performance of hotels when corporate governance is applied

Carbon management accounting (CMA) practices in Australia’s high carbon-emission industries

Purpose This study aims to evaluate the practices of carbon management accounting (CMA) made by companies committed to sustainability in Australia’s four highest carbon-emitting industries, including electricity, transport, stationary energy and agriculture. The evaluation covers three CMA phases (i.e. data collection, interpretation and reporting). Design/methodology/approach This is a cross-sectional study using descriptive research. Data was collected using a questionnaire primarily derived from Burritt et al.’s (2002, 2011) CMA framework and suggestions from other references. The questionnaire includes a set of closed- and open-ended questions. Data was collected from 39 senior managers in the selected industries with direct knowledge and experience in their companies’ CMA practices. Findings The respondents disclose numerous different motivations for their companies to practise CMA and various ways of practising their CMA. This reflects diverse industry practices due to the absence of a generally accepted standard and different stages of organisational learning. The findings also show that the respondents perceived CMA practices as essential to enhancing their companies’ sustainability performance and overall reputation. However, the majority of the respondents showed little appetite for carbon emission disclosure. Practical implications The findings thoroughly describe the current CMA practices by companies committed to sustainability in Australia’s high carbon-emitting industries. Overall, the results show that while the respondents perceived CMA practices as essential for their companies’ sustainability performance and energy-saving, the CMA applications were inconsistent, along with some concerning results, such as a lack of assurance and accountability in the data validation and audit. These indicate the importance of policymakers to consider establishing CMA guidelines or standards to improve its practice. For any company, these findings can be used as learning materials to start or enhance CMA practice at their companies. A broader professional CMA community can strengthen the collective efforts to make CMA more robust. Social implications The findings portray the perceptions of practitioners from Australia’s four highest carbon-emitting industries, indicating motivations to use CMA to understand their companies’ carbon footprint and reduce their companies’ environmental impacts. Originality/value The findings contribute to the limited literature in this area and offer several valuable insights regarding the current practice of CMA in Australia, focussing on high carbon-emission industries. It also encourages more research in this area using data from other industries or countries to develop comparative results and strengthen the literature. Future research using actual carbon emission information or a longitudinal approach could also evaluate the changes and progresses in CMA practices

Cloning and characterization of the 5S rRNA genes from Eimeria spp. (Pengklonan dan pencirian gen 5S rRNA daripada Eimeria spp.)

Abstract Poultry coccidiosis is an economically important disease worldwide. It is caused by intracellular protozoan parasites of the genus Eimeria (phylum Apicomplexa). Traditional methods of relying on disease pathology or oocyst morphology have limitations particularly in detecting minor contaminating populations of Eimeria in chicken. Therefore, a DNA-based test using ribosomal RNA (rRNA) was chosen to identify a molecular marker to enable faster and more sensitive identification of a particular species. The 5S rRNA gene was chosen because of its high degree of conservation, ubiquity and the relative ease with which it can be cloned. The 5S rRNA genes from Eimeria spp. were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using purified DNAs of the sporozoites. TA Cloning method was used to clone the PCR products (600-900 bp) into plasmid vector pCR 2.1 (3.9 kb) and transformed into Escherichia coli strain TOP10F'. Recombinant plasmids with size of 4.6 -4.8 kb were found. Clones containing the inserts of the appropriate size were sequenced by automated sequencing whereby M13 forward and reverse primers were used. The 5S rRNA genes from the seven Eimeria species were successfully sequenced. The sequences obtained were then sent to the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) program and results showed that all sequences were identical to the 5S rRNA gene from other organism. Sequences of 726, 738, 697, 673, 732 and 931 bp were each shown by E. tenella, E. acervulina, E. praecox, E. maxima, E. brunetti and E. necatrix whilst E. mitis has two sequences of 710 and 592 bp. For each species, at least 2 clones of PCR-generated fragments were sequenced. The results indicated that the presence of unique amplified DNA segments could be exploited as molecular markers to identify Eimeria species of the chicken