Supply chain integration from a resource-based view perspective : empirical evidence from Jordan's garment manufacturers international supply chains

Despite the large body of research devoted to the topic of supply chain integration in operations and supply chain management literature, most studies agree that the concept is still undertheorised. There is also a dearth of empirical research on supply chain integration comprising external suppliers and customers and internal company integration, and weaknesses in our understanding of the interrelationships between the levels of supply chain integration. This research addresses these gaps in literature and investigates how supply chain integration might lead to improved competitive advantage. A theoretical framework was developed from the literature and encompassed three levels of external supplier and customer and internal company integration. This framework is anchored by the resource-based view (RBV) addressing a theoretical gap in the way this theory might be used across the supply chain to enhance competitive advantage. Following a pilot case study, five case studies were conducted in the context of garment manufacturers supply chains. The data collection process adopted a novel methodological approach through obtaining evidence from manufacturers, suppliers and customers across each case study supply chain. The outcome of the case study research is an empirical model of supply chain integration. The empirical findings suggest that supply chain integration is achieved through integration at the three levels of internal, supplier and customer, and that the benefits reaped from internal company integration is higher in the presence of customer integration. The importance of this finding is that it addresses a frequently asked question in recent literature about the relevance of internal company integration to the successful implementation of supply chain integration. Moreover, this research contributed to supply chain management literature through theoretical and practical application of RBV across geographically dispersed garment manufacturers’ supply chains. The empirical findings suggest that garment manufacturers benefited from inbound spillover (unintended) rents through integrating with their international customers. The findings also suggest that the developed empirical model informs the concept of supply chain visibility; an emerging area of research in recent years. Finally, this thesis provides practical implications and some directions for future research

Midwifery Education in Jordan: History, Challenges and Proposed Solutions

The purpose of this paper is to provide a historical overview of midwifery education in Jordan during the past fifty years with an emphasis on the first bachelor of midwifery program in Jordan. Nine challenges of midwifery education that include expanding midwifery educational needs, accreditation of programs, recruiting qualified faculty members, clinical training, midwifery preceptorship, exit examinations, continuing midwifery education, recognition of midwifery graduates, and lack of graduate midwifery programs are presented. Proposed solutions for these challenges are discussed

Numerical methods for modelling fluid flow in highly heterogeneous and fractured reservoirs

In this thesis I develop and test new numerical methods for the numerical modelling of flow in highly heterogeneous and fractured reservoirs. We present the governing equations for immiscible two-phase fluid flow in a slightly compressible porous medium with capillary pressure. We discretize these equations using the node control volume finite element (NCVFE) method. The NCVFE method solves the pressure at the vertices of elements, and the control volumes are constructed around them. We present a numerical study of the method to test its accuracy in modelling multi-phase fluid flow in heterogeneous systems. Particularly, we study the performance of the method in domains with large contrasts in their material properties such as fractures, sealing or conductive faults, and highly heterogeneous reservoirs. We also present a study on the effects of petro-physical properties on the oil recovery for fractured reservoirs such as the permeability contrast between the fractured and matrix regions and the presence of capillary pressure in the matrix. We then present a new numerical method to overcome the limitations of the current NCVFE approach. The new method is called the interface control volume finite element (ICVFE) method. The method drastically decreases the smearing effects observed in the NCVFE method, while being mass conservative and numerically consistent. The pressure is computed at the interfaces of elements, and the control volumes are constructed around them. Its accuracy and convergence are benchmarked using three-dimensional tetrahedron elements for various complex cases. We show ICVFE is more accurate for modelling multi-phase flow in highly heterogeneous and fractured reservoirs than NCVFE. Furthermore, we present a new upstream mobility calculation method for NCVFE that improves the modelling for multi-phase fluid flow problems.Open Acces

A Survey of Osteoporosis Risk Factors and Practices Among Jordanian Women

The aim of this study was to explore osteoporosis (OP) risk factors among Jordanian women. Osteoporosis (OP) is a chronic complex health problem for millions of women worldwide, 80% of whom are postmenopausal women. Unless prevented or treated, this silent disease will continue to limit both the quantity and quality of life of many older women and significantly add to the health care cost for this group. A sample of Jordanian women in different settings in Jordan (N=192; mean age=43years). The study was descriptive and data were collected over a two month period in 2005 with the use of a self-administered questionnaires. Although women reported having a diet high in calcium, and did not smoke. The majority (68%) did not exercise and consume a large amount of caffeine. There is an overwhelming need for more public education and for wider dissemination of information about OP prevention, and treatment with special attention in targeting younger women to improve women’s health early on and halt the progression of this silent disease

Labor Stress and Nursing Support: How do They Relate?

Selected aspects of the phenomenon of labor stress including the relationship between labor stress and nursing support were explored using a correlational design with 85 postpartum women who delivered vaginally and were recruited from a Midwestern general hospital in the United States. The Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire measured labor stress while the Bryanton Adaptation of the Nursing Support in Labor Questionnaire measured nursing support during labor. Significant positive correlations were found between number of labor hours and labor stress (r = .25, p = .020) and number of labor hours and number of labor procedures (r = .23, p = .031). A significant negative correlation (r = - .36, p \u3c .01) between labor stress and nursing support was found. Data from this study confirmed previous findings regarding nursing support and emphasized the important role that nursing support plays in alleviating labor stress

A novel block non-symmetric preconditioner for mixed-hybrid finite-element-based flow simulations

In this work we propose a novel block preconditioner, labelled Explicit Decoupling Factor Approximation (EDFA), to accelerate the convergence of Krylov subspace solvers used to address the sequence of non-symmetric systems of linear equations originating from flow simulations in porous media. The flow model is discretized blending the Mixed Hybrid Finite Element (MHFE) method for Darcy's equation with the Finite Volume (FV) scheme for the mass conservation. The EDFA preconditioner is characterized by two features: the exploitation of the system matrix decoupling factors to recast the Schur complement and their inexact fully-parallel computation by means of restriction operators. We introduce two adaptive techniques aimed at building the restriction operators according to the properties of the system at hand. The proposed block preconditioner has been tested through an extensive experimentation on both synthetic and real-case applications, pointing out its robustness and computational efficiency

The impact of phenomenological methodology development in supply chain management research

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the non-academic impact in supply chain management research through the application of three distinctive approaches to phenomenological methodology in different contexts. Design/methodology/approach - Evidence based examples from three case studies employing interpretivist, social constructivist and critical realist methodologies are presented. They reflect non-positivist approaches commonly used in phenomenological methodology and adopted in SCM investigative research. Findings - Different types of non-academic reach and significance from each research methodology are discussed to illustrate the non-academic impact benefits from each case. The three distinctive phenomenological approaches have been shown to contribute to innovative research methodology development on their own philosophical merit and produced novel contributions to supply chain management research in particular. Research limitations/implications - The non-academic impact examples have been shown to have wider influence and implication to business, the economy and society at large. Originality/value - The paper highlights the relevance of phenomenological research methodology for supply chain management. It also contributes to the development of the supply chain management subject area and will hope to encourage further reporting of non-academic impact supply chain research

Toward a Holistic Approach in Medical Education

In this chapter, we briefly present the case of medical practice and education as they evolved through history until modern times. The history of medical practice and education portrays a transformation from unstructured spiritual and apprenticeship practice of the older days transitioning toward the current biopsychosocial medical model that is based on scientific evidence-based methods and practice. Educational methods have also developed from didactic traditional pedagogies and passive learning to more interactive methods and technologies based on andragogy. A preview of theoretical frameworks sets the ground for a discussion about medical schools’ curricula, values, and mission statements. The purpose of the frameworks is to illustrate the basic concepts on which a curriculum is constructed, and thus employ this in assessing whether these frameworks would fulfill the core values of medical practice as a holistic, bio-psychosocial science and practice; conceptual values that could address the communities’ current needs and rights to care. The chapter concludes with an analysis of few examples of mission statements that reflect the existent medical schools’ programs, values, and outcomes that are sought in future medical practitioners. A program that results in graduating competent, knowledgeable, and humanistic medical practitioners is the goal of all medical schools

Assessing the driving forces for greening business practices: Empirical evidence from the United Arab Emirates’ logistics service industry

The uprising economic, social and political pressures on achieving a good level of environmental governance have forced companies to adopt business practices that aim to mitigate CO2 emissions. Logistics industry is considered as one of the major areas that could make a considerable improvement in reducing the environmental impact of business activities. The aim of this study is to investigate the driving forces that influence the adoption of environmentally friendly logistics activities. Following a detailed literature review, a theoretical model, which encompassed several driving forces and logistics activities, has been developed. Survey-based quantitative data were collected from logistics service providers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and analysed using structural equation modelling methodology and multiple regression analysis. Through answering 110 questionnaires, respondents holding different managerial levels at logistics service organizations, provided data reflecting their perception of the forces that would influence the adoption of green logistics practices. The driving forces (legislations, customers, and organizational awareness) were found to influence the adoption of green logistics practices by the logistics service industry in the areas of warehousing, packaging and transportation

Improving distribution and business performance through lean warehousing

Recent literature recognizes the role of warehouses in enhancing the overall logistics performance. Thus, lean thinking has recently found its way in supporting warehouse and distribution center operations. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships among warehouse waste reduction practices, warehouse operational performance, distribution performance, and business performance. A two-stage study was conducted. First, a Delphi technique was adopted to develop a relevant questionnaire. Second, this questionnaire was used to measure the degree of waste reduction in the different warehouse activities and to test the developed research hypotheses. We test our hypotheses with a sample of Middle Eastern warehouse operators. There exists a positive relationship between warehouse waste reduction level and both warehouse operational performance and distribution performance. There was no direct relationship between warehouse waste reduction level and business performance. However, results revealed that the relationship between warehouse waste reduction level and business performance was mediated by warehouse operational performance and distribution performance. The developed instrument provides a guide for logistics managers as to understand how to optimize waste in each warehousing activity. The results also inform logistics managers of how distribution performance can be improved through lean warehousing. The resulting performance improvements in the distribution operations will ultimately be reflected in the logistics performance of downstream retailers. The study develops an original instrument for measuring waste reduction in warehouses, and provides insights on the evolving lean warehousing research area. This is the first scholarly work to uncover the relationships among warehouse waste reduction practices, warehouse operational performance, distribution performance and business performance