Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Critical success factors militating against competitive advantage of indigenous construction firms in developing countries

Though a plethora of studies has suggested indigenous construction firms in developing countries are competitively disadvantaged and risk being marginalized in the competition posed by their foreign counterparts, little is known of studies that empirically investigate the critical success factors militating against indigenous construction firms’ competitive advantage in developing countries to adduce empirical findings towards policy direction and formulation. Thus, this paper seeks to determine the critical success factors militating against competitive advantage of indigenous construction firms in developing countries using Ghana as a case study and suggest measures to curb them. The use of principal component analysis, varimax rotation in data analysis aided in reducing the large set of militating factors to four principal factors. Using a questionnaire survey, 667 respondents were invited to rate the 21 militating factors identiﬁed from literature based on their knowledge and experience. The correlations between the 21 variables showed that four key components underpinned the critical success factors militating against competitive advantage of indigenous construction firms in developing countries, namely market, firms’ internal, government and technology factors. Findings and recommendations of this study may be useful to construction stakeholders who are seeking innovative ways to enhance indigenous firms’ competitive advantage and policy direction.
Designing a Heart Disease prediction System using Support Vector Machine

:همدقم یرامیب یبلق یاه گرزب یقورع گرم لماع نیرت و لاس ره رد یناهج تشادهب نامزاس ملاعا قبط . تسا ناهج رسارس رد ریم دودح 21 گرم نویلیم و یرامیب رثا رب ناهج رسارس رد ریم یبلق یاه یقورع کی یحارط ،هلاقم نیا زا یلصا فده . تسا هدش هدز نیمخت . دهد صیخشت لاتبم درف رد ار یبلق یرامیب دناوتب هک تسا رتویپماک کمک هب دنمشوه متسیس :شور یفیصوت هعلاطم نیا رد هداد ،یلیلحت هب طوبرم یاه 172 لماش هک رفن 21 یم یگژیو تفرگ رارق هدافتسا دروم دشاب . خشت تهج ی ص ف یبلق یرامیب هب لاتبم در و یزاف متسیس بیکرت زا هقبط دنب ی هدننک شام ی ن تشپ رادرب ی ناب د دوجوم تاناکما زا هدافتسا اب بلتم رازفا مرن ر هدایپ متسیس یور رب و دیدرگ یزاس Core i5 زودنیو تحت 7 هیبش . دش یزاس جیاتن : شپ رادرب نیشام متیروگلا و یزاف کینکت زا قیقحت نیا رد م هک هدش هدافتسا یبلق یرامیب صیخشت تهج نابیت ؤ هدیدرگ عقاو رث . تسا هعلاطم نیا رد هک ییاجنآ زا تسرد صیخشت ،فده عیرس و یم دشاب ؛ یم شیازفا ار درف تاجن سناش ،عیرس صیخشت نیاربانب دهد . هتسد خرن متسیس نیا رد یبایزرا یاهرایعم نینچمه یم تیساسح و یدنب دشاب درکلمع هک متسیس نیا ساسا رب صخاش نیا بیترت هب اه 58 % و 5 / 58 % . تسا هدمآ تسد هب هجيتن :يريگ ب جیاتن هب هجوت اب ه یم هدهاشم ،هدمآ تسد ًاتبسن تقد اب یداهنشیپ متسیس هک دوش هب لاتبم دارفا ،ییلااب یبلق یرامیب یم صیخشت ار یقورع . دهد
Transfer of automatic skills: the role of automaticity in skill acquisition and transfer

Skill acquisition theories suggest that automaticity of lower-level processes is required before the acquisition of higher-level skills can be attempted. However, there is a disparity between the theoretical expectations of skill acquisition and the empirical findings in the transfer of training research. Research has found that when a change is made to the contextual conditions in which a skill is acquired, the learned response becomes less skilled. When skill transfer occurs performance is disrupted so that reaction times are slower than observed prior to the context change. This observation has been made with several different tasks, however no research has established whether a transfer disruption is observed with automatic skills. The discrepancy between the theoretical assumptions and empirical findings suggests that aiming for automaticity in education may not be best practice. The experiments in the current thesis were designed to examine whether automaticity disrupts or enhances transfer performance. The studies were based on Lassaline and Logan’s (1993) visual numerosity task and Speelman and Parkinson’s (2012) two-step task design. The study has a particular emphasis on individual differences, and thus individual participant data are explored to determine the pervasiveness of trends observed in the group data. In experiment one it was found that experimental design might play a role in the acquisition and probability of transfer, with the experimental conditions revealing differences in disruption and acquisition of automaticity. Group results in experiment two suggest that automaticity is unaffected by context changes, however individual results revealed that some participants failed to approach automatic performance. In experiment three participants were approaching automaticity, however a large percentage of participants did not demonstrate a shift from controlled to automatic processing. Furthermore, group results suggest that performance is unaffected by context changes in transfer, yet, this observation was not reliably presented amongst individuals with many individuals demonstrating transferable skills while not
Exploring Young U.S. and Chinese Consumers’ Motivations to Recycle

Abstract Young consumers are major targets for necessary interventions to change consumption habits to address environmental sustainability challenges. The current study provides a comparison of a Western and an Asian culture, examining several key psychological and social influences to determine which can be most closely linked to the recycling behaviors of U.S. and Chinese young consumers. The results suggest both Chinese and U.S. students may be responsive to grassroots efforts to motivate recycling behaviors through peer groups. Opportunities for consumer socialization of green behaviors through family ties may also exist. This study provides valuable insight into key drivers of young consumers’ recycling behavior for two important market segments.
Iso 14001 Implementation Impact And Financial Performance On Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure

This study aims to determine the impact of implementing ISO 14001, Financial Performance is proxied by ROA and ROE on Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosures in non-financial companies that are listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2014-2016. The study used secondary data from the annual financial report and sustainability report on the Basic Industry and Chemical Industry sub-sector manufacturing industry listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2014 - 2016. The sample technique used purposive sampling method, while for the study 20 samples of manufacturing companies and research methods used analysis multiple regression. The results showed that the impact of implementing ISO 14001 had a positive effect on disclosure of corporate social responsibility, financial performance variables through return on assets had a negative and significant effect on disclosure of corporate social responsibility and financial performance through return on equity had a positive effect on disclosure of corporate social responsibility.
Social Networks and Commercialisation of African Indigenous Vegetables in Kenya: A Cragg’s Double Hurdle Approach

Abstract This paper employs a two-stage Cragg’s double-hurdle model to assess the effects of market information networks on commercialisation decisions of smallholders of African Indigenous Vegetables (AIVs). We explore sources of market information and social networks for information exchange as determinants of the decision to sell and how much volume to sell. The paper is based on household survey data collected in Western Kenya from 202 farmers, using multistage sampling. Findings show market information networks to have positive effects on the second stage decision of volumes sold. Bridging social capital depicted by information received from people outside farmers’ own village had the likelihood of increasing volumes of AIVs sold. Other determinants of commercialisation were farm size and household size which reported positive marginal effects while age, livestock units and off-farm income reported negative marginal effects. We recommend the need to have policy frameworks that strengthen network linkages for farmers aimed at promoting market information exchange, as this will have a positive effect in the commercialisation of indigenous crops.
Do Leadership Roles Affect Survivability of Family Businesses in Developing Economies

Family businesses in many developing economies have continually been plagued with the issues of leadership tussle emanating from the owner-manager power. The study assesses the effect that leadership plays on the survivability (survival success) of family businesses in Nigeria. This study utilized a survey design, to gather data from five hundred and two respondents who were owners/founders and top management of selected family businesses in southwestern Nigeria. The data collected through the closed ended questionnaires were tested with linear regression at 0.05 level of significance. The finding revealed that leadership roles positively affect the long-run success of family businesses in Nigeria. Informed by this finding, the study concluded that there is a positive link between leadership method and survivability (i.e. survival) of family businesses in developing economy like Nigeria. The study advised that a new paradigm shift in leadership (i.e. adaptive type of leadership) should be considered by family businesses operating in Nigeria. This would ameliorate the owners-managers leadership tussle that derails many family businesses in Nigeria.
What does not kill us makes us stronger: the story of repetitive consumer loan applications

We investigate borrower and lender behaviours when the borrower has experienced a sequence of failed loan applications. Our analysis is based on half a million observations from an established peer-to-peer (P2P) loan platform in China from 2010 to 2018. We find that borrowers who have better credit scores and who accept to pay higher interest rates are likely to reapply for funds after experiencing an earlier failed attempt. However, women and applicants with more education are discouraged from re-applying compared to their male or less-educated counterparts, respectively. On the funding supply side, lenders strive to fund safe borrowers who have high credit ratings and high income, though not those who offer a high interest rate.
Factors that influence customer defection: Analysis of the banking sector

The service sector, especially the ongoing ones, greatly depends on customer retention. Thus, in order to increase their profits, companies need to be as good at attracting new customers as they are to retain the customers they have already won. Researchers point out that, by avoiding even small defection from customers to competitors, companies can avoid declines in profitability and even increase it. In this scenario, the objective of this study is to analyze the main elements driving bank clients’ dissatisfaction, as well as to evaluate the influence of dissatisfaction on bank customers’ defection. The relevance of this study lies in the fact that it focuses on the study of bank customers defection and its consequence for the company’s profits. For this purpose, we used a sample of 257 individuals who had some type of dissatisfaction, in the last 18 months, with banking institutions where they maintain or maintained their main account, in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The sample was of non-probabilistic type and was chosen by convenience. Data collection was done through the application of a structured questionnaire, using the Survey method, and Likert scale, ranging from 1 to 7. By the results, price and service recovery have no influence on either dissatisfaction or defection. The results pointed to service failures and inconvenience as the main elements that cause customer dissatisfaction, with a direct influence, along with competitors’ attractiveness, on the customer defection in the banking sector. As academic contribution, we may cite the identification and measurement of the main drivers of dissatisfaction and defection in the banking sector. This is an unusual nomologic network, less studied in academic terms.
Unintended Consequences of Unemployment Insurance Benefits: The Role of Banks

We use disaggregated U.S. data and a border discontinuity design to show that more generous unemployment insurance (UI) policies lower bank deposits. We test several channels that could explain this decline and find evidence consistent with households lowering their precautionary savings. Since deposits are the largest and most stable source of funding for banks, the decrease in deposits affects bank lending. Banks that raise deposits in states with generous UI policies squeeze their small business lending. Furthermore, counties that are served by these banks experience a higher unemployment rate and lower wage growth.
Application of the Spiritual Laws in Quality Management

The authors consider that in our days is very important for us to know the laws of universe. The fundamental contribution of the authors are the parallel between the laws of the universe and the concept of quality management. If one gets to understand and to practice these laws, one can reach self-knowledge and, ultimately, perfection. The most important laws of the universe are: law of love, law of forgiveness, law of mercy, law of blessing, law of rhythm, law of correspondence, law of attraction, law of learning. Leaders have to realize that personal example is the best way to determine the employees to adapt the behavior needed to improve the quality culture throughout the organization. A leader can not create a fairness and ethical model for behavior, establishing a culture of trust and integrity, being a positive example to employees without respecting and applying spiritual laws. For example, what would a leader be if not taking into account the law of cause and effect, knowing that we reap what we sow? How about respecting harmony law cause we have to treat the others the way we want to be treated? Each law is important in itself, as it represents a step towards self-knowledge and of the others.but together we can climb the steps towards knowledge and love.
Empirical analysis of macroeconomic factors and Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) on agricultural output

There has been many significant research efforts that have been devoted to understand the effects of macroeconomic factors on the agriculture sector in Nigeria. In addition to the macroeconomic factors, Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) over the period 1981 to 2017 will be included into the scenario of this study to examine the effects of these factors on agricultural output in Nigeria. This paper employed co-integration analysis and multivariate Granger causality which is carried out using VECM approach to analyse the causal links among all the variables considered for estimation. The findings showed relationship that exists between the agricultural output which is the dependent variable and the independent variables. It also revealed the variations between the dependent and independent variables which are Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate, interest rate, foreign direct investment (FDI), commercial bank loan on agriculture, SAP and inflation rate. In conclusion, commercial loan on agriculture, FDI, interest and inflation rate were macroeconomic variables that contributed to agricultural output in Nigeria within the period examined.
Determinants of Companies that Disclose High-Quality Integrated Reports

Integrated reporting is becoming increasingly popular. The focus of this study was to assess the overall integrated reporting quality of global companies and find determinants of high-level integrated reporting. Qualitative text analysis was performed on the 2017 integrated reports of 110 global organizations to determine in what way companies report on specific topics related to the six capitals: social and relationship, human, intellectual, manufacturing, natural, and financial. Using a novel assessment technique, scores were then assigned according to the details provided in the integrated reports on the various topics. This was done for each form of capital, and the total integrated score was subsequently calculated as the average between all the capital scores. Finally, a regression analysis was performed to determine the characteristics of high-quality integrated reporters. The results of univariate analysis and two-stage least squares instrumental variable (2SLS) regression indicate that companies of a larger size with a higher female board ratio and listing in the International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC) examples database are more likely to publish a higher quality integrated report. The results imply that these variables are the main disclosure drivers. However, a significant negative correlation was found between integrated report quality and the variables related to female executive ratio, external board member ratio, profitability, leverage, and previous report experience, as well as report length. No significant association was found between the location and industry group and report quality. The empirical evidence of this study shows that even though integrated reporting has become more common overall, the comparability and quality of the reports still remain low.
Is there such a thing as feminine leadership? Being a leader and not a man in the hospitality industry

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine and discuss whether women executives in the hospitality industry in Hong Kong adopt a feminine, masculine or gender-neutral approach to leadership. Design/methodology/approach This study focuses on women with positional power in senior-level leadership roles within the hospitality and tourism industry in Hong Kong. A qualitative approach was taken to capture the multiple dimensions of these female executive’s leadership orientations. The participants included 24 women executives. Findings Participants’ representations show that women have a multitude of leadership styles that operate on three continua. Not all women executives display leadership orientations that adhere to their indigenous culture values. Individual differences or differences related to the organizational culture are still relevant. Research limitations/implications A low number of women in leadership positions in Hong Kong limited the selection process of participants. There might be a selection bias based on that the participants volunteered to participate in the research study and some declined. Findings are based on participants’ memory to reflect on their leadership styles. Originality/value Because of the traditional and conventional definitions of leadership, women leaders might feel that they should behave in a masculine way to be taken seriously as a leader. There is a need to understand whether women executives today manage to defeat these stereotypes and comfortably display a feminine approach to leadership. A culture that values and leverages feminine approaches in addition to masculine approaches is likely to have higher engagement and retention of women.
Franchising versus Company-Run Operations: Modal Choice in the Global Hotel Sector

Franchising is already an important component of global strategy in many service sectors such as hotels. This article asks, “Given a choice between a company-run and a franchised operation, what factors will tip the strategic selection toward franchising, for a particular hotel property? ” The modal choice is influenced by both the environment or conditions in the market in which the hotel property is located—as well as the characteristics and strategy of the global hotel firm that is to decide whether to franchise, or run the property themselves. The propensity to franchise is shown to reflect a mix of factors, including: level of development of the intended foreign market; the extent of globalization and international experience of the firm; and strategic factors such as the degree of investment in its global reservations system and brand, as well as the size of its overall operations.
The Impact of the Board of Directors Characteristics on the Completeness of Financial Reports in Jordan

The study examined the effect of board of directors on completeness of financial reports of listed companies in Jordan. The study used correlational research design. The data which collected from the published annual financial reports of 172 companies listed in Jordan. The data collected was analyzed using STATA software, and the result showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between board of director (board size, board independence and leadership structure) and completeness of financial reporting. In addition, there is a positive role for the board of directors to oversee the preparation and publication of financial reports. The study hereby recommend that companies to disclose all the items that must be in the annual financial reports as this has become necessary in view of their impact on investor decisions.
The bond market development in Mongolia among Asian countries

This paper aims to address the issue on bond market development by investigating the determinants of bond market development with a focus on Asian economies, and also by identifying the impediment factors to prevent its development in Mongolian economy. This paper contributes to the literature by enriching evidence of the determinants of bond market development with a focus on Asian economies with common characteristics such as their high dependence on banking sectors. In particular, while there have been few studies on an individual economy’s bond market, the strategic contribution is to identify the Mongolia-specific factors to prevent her bond market development among Asian economies. The estimation result shows that the two manageable variables, namely, bureaucracy quality and level of interest rate, are major determinants for both public and private bond market development in Asian economies, and also that these determinants are main factors to prevent the Mongolian bond market from developing.
Sustainable Social Enterprise Model: Relationships and Consequences

The present study develops a sustainable social enterprise model and examines relationships between corporate sustainability practices and sustainability performance outputs in a social healthcare enterprise in Thailand. Findings reveal four predictors of corporate sustainability, including Leadership, Stakeholder Focus, Resilience Development, and Sharing practices. All of them have direct and/or indirect positive effects on corporate sustainability performance outputs as measured by brand equity, socioeconomic performance and environmental performance. The study also proposes a coherent theory of Sufficiency Economy in business, build upon key theories from relevant fields. Lastly, the present study provides future research directions and managerial implications based upon the model.
Managerial Effect or Firm Effect: Evidence from the Private Debt Market

It is the common understanding that private lenders evaluate and price the debt contract based on the credit rating, default risk and firm characteristics of the borrowing firms. This paper takes a different angel and investigates the extent to which the loan contract incorporates and reflects the managerial effect in its pricing and non-pricing terms. We find that managerial effect is one critical factor that explains a large part of the variation in loan contract terms, and for a number of loan attributes, it explains more variation than firm fixed effect. We provide additional support by showing that banks “follow” managers’ job changes and offer loan contracts with preferential terms to their new firms.