Moderating effect of corporate parenting roles on the relationship between product diversification strategies and corporate performance of listed companies on Bursa Malaysia

Past research examining effect of product diversification strategy on corporate performance has produced inconclusive results. Equal ambiguity resides in the relative superiority and effects of related diversification strategy versus unrelated diversification strategy on corporate performance. Amidst, corporate parenting has been considered as a crucial issue related to diversification strategies. Primarily, this study attempted to reconcile paradox concerning diversification strategies – performance relationship by focusing on the moderating effect of corporate parenting roles on the relationship. Additionally, the study used multiple performance measures to enrich the investigation. Keeping in view the important role of Malaysian corporate sector in country’s growth and development, and proliferation of diversified companies in Malaysia, this study was conducted on Public Listed Companies (PLCs) listed on Bursa Malaysia’s Main Market. Secondary data was obtained mainly from companies’ annual reports, while primary data was collected through questionnaires sent to top managers of PLCs. This study utilised sample of 123 PLCs, and employed various statistical methods to draw conclusions using SPSS. The study reveals that product diversification strategy in total, does not affect corporate performance. Related diversification strategy positively affects Tobin’s q and price to book value, and unrelated diversification strategy negatively affects return on assets and price to book value. Synergy manager positively moderates relationship between related diversification strategy and Tobin’s q, and price to book value. Parental developer positively moderates relationship between related diversification strategy and all financial measures of corporate performance. Portfolio manager positively moderates relationship between unrelated diversification strategy and return on assets, and return on equity. Related diversifiers seem to outperform unrelated diversifiers on Tobin’s q and price to book value. Parental developers perform well against synergy managers on return on assets and return on equity. The findings contribute to relevant theories and recommend managers to adopt suitable corporate parenting roles while pursuing diversification strategies

Environmental behavior of cesium and strontium in agricultural and forest soil

Radionuclides are critical soil contaminants, particularly cesium (Cs-137) and strontium (Sr-90) are harmful due to their high radiotoxicity and metabolic similarity to major soil nutrients (e.g. K+, Ca2+) . To study the behavior of these contaminants in soil-plant systems is essential to reduce their migration into food chain. Important factors that influence the mobility and plant uptake of radionuclides include soil properties (texture, pH and organic matter), soil management practices (ploughing, disking) and the use of mineral and organic fertilizers. Biochar and digestate are the bioenergy residues that are increasing applied to improve soil properties; however their effect on critical soil contaminants (e.g. radionuclides) is scarcely investigated. Sorption-desorption behavior of Cs+ and Sr2+ in three different soils was investigated, two soils were of agricultural origin and third one from a forest site. The two organic amendments (biochar and digestate) were applied with typical field application rates (Biochar: 25 t ha-1, digestate: 34 t ha-1). Moreover, the sorption-desorption experiments were carried out at three temperatures (5, 20 and 35°C) to realize the effect of temperature variation. Furthermore, in a lysimeter experiment, we studied the effect of digestate amendment on plant uptake and mobility of Cs-137 and Sr-90 in a silty loam Luvisol. Sorption experiments showed that amendments with applied rates did not lead to a substantial effect on sorption-desorption of cesium and strontium in opposition to soil texture and land use. The sorption-desorption behavior of the two contaminants was different. Cesium showed highest sorption in arable silty loam soil, followed by forest sandy-clay loam and lowest in arable loamy sand. Strontium sorption was nearly half compared to cesium in all soils with higher sorption in silty loam and almost similar sorption in loamy sand and forest soils. Despite lower soil pH but most likely due to higher clay content and chemical nature of organic matter, Sr retention in forest soil was larger than in amended arable soils. Temperature variation in the range (5-35°C) did not cause a substantial effect on sorption-desorption of the two radionuclides in opposition to the soil type. Lysimeter results showed that plant uptake of Cs-137 and Sr-90 remained unaffected after digestate amendment with above mentioned applied rate. Furthermore, digestate application failed to induce any effect on vertical mobility of both radionuclides. However, dicotyledonous plant species exhibited higher uptake compared to monocotyledonous plants most likely due to difference in root structure. Hence, the choice of cultivating different plants species on contaminated soils could be helpful to reduce the risk of radionuclides mobility into the food chain.Radionuklide sind gefährliche Bodenschadstoffe, insbesondere Cäsium (Cs-137) und Strontium (Sr-90) sind aufgrund ihrer hohen Radiotoxizität und metabolischen Ähnlichkeit zu Makronährstoffen (z.B. K+, Ca2+) schädlich (Nisbet, 1993; Alexakhin et al, 2006; Lehto und Hou, 2011). Um jedoch die Durchlässigkeit von Cs-137 und Sr-90 in der Nahrungskette zu reduzieren, ist deren Verhalten im Boden-Pflanzen-Systemen zu studieren. Wichtige Faktoren, welche die Mobilität und die Pflanzenaufnahme von RN beeinflussen, sind verschiedene Bodeneigenschaften (z.B. Textur, pH-Wert und organische Stoffe), Bodenbewirtschaftungspraktiken (z.B. Pflügen, Eggen) und der Einsatz von mineralischen und organischen Bodenzuschlagsstoffen. Jedoch wurde der vermehrte Einsatze von Resten aus der energetischen Biomasseverwertung, wie z.B. von Pflanzenkohle und Gärresten bisher kaum im Hinblick auf dessen Wirkung auf die Mobilität von RN im Boden untersucht. Daher untersuchte ich das Sorptions-Desorptions-Verhalten von Cs+ und Sr2+ in drei verschiedenen Böden, wobei zwei landwirtschaftlich und ein dritter forstwirtschaftlich genutzt wurden. Den Böden wurden die organischen Bodenzuschlagsstoffe entsprechend gängiger Praxis zugemischt. Um den Einfluss der Temperatur auf das Sorptions-Desorptions-Verhalten zu studieren, wurde die Sorptions-Desorptions-Versuche über einen Temperaturbereich von 5 bis 35°C durchgeführt. Desweiterhin wurde in einem Lysimeterexperiment die Wirkung der Gärreste auf die Mobilität von Cs-137 und Sr-90 in einem schluffig-lehmigen Boden und deren Pflanzenaufnahme studiert. Die Sorptionsstudie zeigte, dass im Gegensatz zur Bodentexture und der Landnutzung die Zugabe der beiden Bodenzuschlagsstoffe das Sorptions-Desorptions-Verhalten von Cäsium und Strontium nicht wesentlich änderte. Jedoch gab es Unterschiede zwischen den beiden RN. Cäsium wurde vom schluffigen Lehmboden stärker sorbiert als vom Waldboden und dem lehmigem Sand. Strontium wurde weniger stark sorbiert als Cäsium, jedoch auch stärker vom schluffigen Lehm als vom lehmigem Sand und dem Waldböden. Die natürlich gebildete organische Substanz im Waldboden verurschte eine höhere Sr2+ Retention als die organische Substanz der landwirtschaftlichen Böden. Über den gesamten Temperaturbereich von 5 bis 35°C wurden kaum Unterschiede in den Sorptions-Desorptions-Verhalten der beiden RN beobachtet. Die Lysimeterergebnisse zeigten, dass die applizierten Gärreste die Pflanzenaufnahme von Cs-137 und Sr-90 nicht erheblichen änderte. Darüber hinaus hatten die Gärreste keine Auswirkung auf die vertikale Mobilität der beiden Radionuklide, jedoch nahme zweikeimblättrige Pflanzen höhere Mengen auf als einkeimblättrige Pflanzen. Diese Unterschiede in der Aufnahme von RN können höchstwahrschiinlich auf die unterschiedlichen Wurzelstrukturen zurückzuführen. Somit könnte die Pflanzenwahl sehr bedeutend sein, um kontaminierte Böden zu kultivieren und das Risiko der Durchlässigkeit von RN in der Nahrungskette einzuschränken

Efficiency Evaluation of Pakistan Railways Using Data Envelopment Analysis

Rails are one of the safe, reliable and profitable transportation system for any country. The Pakistan Railways carried only 47 million passengers and 1.6 million tonne freight in 2013-14, compared to 113 million passengers and 11 million tonnes freight in 1985-86. There is greater need for efficiency evaluation of Pakistan Railways.  In this report we are using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method to evaluate and compare the efficiency of Pakistan Railways from the year 1950 to 2014. We have used super efficiency model to rank the efficient years and reference units were introduced for every inefficient year and determine the amount of input decrease and output increase to make them efficient. We found that the minimum and maximum efficiency is 0.518 and 1.151, respectively and only six years were identified as efficient years. The results show that the efficiency of railway in the year after 1980 are inefficient years, except 2006-07 and 2008-09 which represents the declining trend of railways. Taken together, these results suggest that the mismanagement and lack of professional expertise plague the railways as a fast shrinking public sector organization. Keywords: Data Envelopment Analysis, Railways, Efficiency

A multilevel association model for IT employees' life stress and job satisfaction: An Information Technology (IT) industry case study

The aim of this research was to investigate the association among IT employees’ life stress and job satisfaction in information technology (IT) firms. Data on 250 IT employees’ in 30 working groups was obtained from 10 Information Technology (IT) Chinese firms from Beijing, and analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). Results found momentous association among life stress of IT employees’ and their job satisfaction at an individual-level and group-level in IT firms. Furthermore, life stress in Beijing at group-level moderates the association among job satisfaction and IT employees’ life stress at an individual-level. Finally, limitations and implications of the present study are also discussed

Contribution of Onion Seed Production to Poverty Reduction: A Case Study of Malakand Division, Pakistan

According to the latest estimates, roughly one-third of the total population of the developing countries live in poverty, majority of which are rural inhabitants (as reported 35 percent of the Pakistani rural mass). In Pakistan, the income distribution has worsened in the rural areas while it has marginally improved in urban areas during the period 1979 through 1996-97 [Pakistan (2001)]. The rural poverty is continuously feeding unemployment through migration of unskilled people to the urban areas. Poverty reduction is a priority area for Pakistan. The government is taking measures for addressing problems of the poor who are the most vulnerable amongst the different socioeconomic groups. Poverty alleviation is the main focus of the government in addition to develop physical infrastructure in rural areas and remove income disparities between income groups and regions. The government of Pakistan has initiated measures to poverty reduction through establishing number of institutions namely Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, Micro-credit Bank (Khushali Bank), Pakistan Baitual Mal, Income Safety Nets, and launching Khushal Pakistan Programme and Food Support Programme. All these programmes are aiming at helping poor and hungry people by providing them food for temporary relief and micro credit for initiating sustainable economic activities. Since the majority of our population is living in rural areas, so the government is diverting more resources to improve the access for rural services and encourage greater participation in economic activities through creating employment opportunities. The programmes in education, health and population sectors have been specifically designed to extend socioeconomic opportunities to rural poor.

COMPARISON OF READING ALOUD STRATEGIES VERSUS SILENT READING STRATEGIES USED ON PAKISTANI UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ READING COMPARISON FOR READING PROFICIENCY & LITERAL READING SKILLS

Reading is the best way to give knowledge. Reading is an essential part of learning. No one can neglect its importance. There are many strategies for reading. Among them, one is silent reading strategy while another one is reading aloud strategy. Pakistan is a developing country where the English language is used as a second language because the national language is Urdu. Students’ base for English conversation and writing is poor in such condition reading aloud strategy is important especially for poor readers. No one can neglect its importance, and that is why the importance of read-aloud strategy is increasing as compared to silent reading strategy. The present study was conducted in a Pakistani university. A comparative analysis of read-aloud strategies versus silent reading strategies was done. Data was collected from M.Phil. Masters, and BS program students through questionnaires. The study is based on an experimental and questionnaires were used, the targeted sample was from English department in which 20 students and teachers of BS program were selected while 170 respondents including 100 male and 70 female were selected for the questionnaire. Findings show that read aloud strategies is better than silent reading because in Pakistan English language used as a second language. Students had shown a better response for reading aloud strategies for reading proficiency and literal reading skills.  Article visualizations

Should PLCs diversify into related or unrelated industries? Evidence from Malaysia

The primary issue in diversification strategy is concerning its type.A large body of research on the relative effect of related versus unrelated diversification still remains inconclusive. Scholars have been studying this topic through different research designs and in different contexts, although a greater part of the research was conducted in western economies.Importantly, certain scholars have asserted that powerful conclusions could be produced if product diversification is measured using powerful techniques and performance is assessed through combination of objective and subjective measures. This research builds up on that suggestion and revisits the subject using a sample of Malaysian PLCs as Malaysia has always been characterised by proliferation of diversified companies. This is also imperative keeping in view the challenges confronted by Malaysian economy in recent years and the significant repercussions of selecting type of diversification by Malaysian corporate sector.This study was conducted for multi-business PLCs listed on Main Market of Bursa Malaysia.T-tests based on 123 diversified PLCs revealed that related diversifiers outperformed unrelated diversifiers on Tobin’s q and price/book value. The study carries significant theoretical implications along with practical implications for Malaysian corporate sector and other PLCs facing similar business scenarios as in Malaysia