• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.8
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• pp.567-576
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• 2020

This study develops a mediating model to explore the relationships between organizational characteristics, manager's knowledge, management commitment, user involvement, information quality, and management information system effectiveness in small- and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam. Adapting scales from previous research, the authors designed questionnaires, which they distributed to respondents in Vietnamese small- and medium-sized enterprises. Also, by employing a meta-analytic path analysis throughout structural equation modelling (SEM) with sample of 356 respondents, authors indicate that organizational characteristics are directly related to management information systems effectiveness. Moreover, manager's knowledge, user involvement, and information quality show their important roles in the increase of management information system effectiveness, yet management commitment does not indicate a similar role in the growth of management information system effectiveness. Bootstrapping is utilized to discover the meditating role of information quality, illustrating that quality information mediates the linkages between user involvement, organizational characteristics, and management information systems. However, the mediating role of information quality in the relationship between management commitment, manager's knowledge, and management information systems is not significant. This study contributes to the management information system literature as well as to enhance MIS effects in small and medium-sized enterprises.

• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.77-98
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• 2018

The purpose of this paper is examine the existing relations structure and IT use for collaboration activities on supply chain and their impacts on the performance of supply chain. This study made a design of the research model that was further constructed by integrating the relationship structure, IT exploration, IT exploitation, supply chain collaboration, absorptive capacity, and knowledge creation, efficiency and efficient. The survey data were collected from 378 companies, where firms are facing increased global competitive pressure and heavily utilize SCM to retain their competitive advantages. The authors validated a measurement model with structural equation modelling and tested eight hypotheses. As a result, the absorptive capacity was closely related to trust, IT exploitation and IT exploration, but supply chain collaboration. Examining the effect of supply chain collaboration with two types of absorptive capacity, the authors found positive effect on potential absorptive capacity, but a non-significant effect on realized absorptive capacity. This finding suggests that the improving performance of supply chain not only is related to the relations structure and IT use on supply chain, but also is closely related to the absorptive capacity.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.539-551
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• 2005

Finite elements based on isoparametric formulation are known to suffer spurious stiffness properties and corresponding stress oscillations, even when care is taken to ensure that completeness and continuity requirements are enforced. This occurs frequently when the physics of the problem requires multiple strain components to be defined. This kind of error, commonly known as locking, can be circumvented by using reduced integration techniques to evaluate the element stiffness matrices instead of the full integration that is mathematically prescribed. However, the reduced integration technique itself can have a further drawback - rank deficiency, which physically implies that spurious energy modes (e.g., hourglass modes) are introduced because of reduced integration. Such instability in an existing stiffness matrix is generally detected by means of an eigenvalue test. In this paper we show that a knowledge of the dimension of the solution space spanned by the column vectors of the strain-displacement matrix can be used to identify the instabilities arising in an element due to reduced/selective integration techniques a priori, without having to complete the element stiffness matrix formulation and then test for zero eigenvalues.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.173-182
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• 2017

In silico methods to predict toxicity include the use of (Quantitative) Structure-Activity Relationships ((Q)SARs) as well as grouping (category formation) allowing for read-across. A challenging area for in silico modelling is the prediction of chronic toxicity and the No Observed (Adverse) Effect Level (NO(A)EL) in particular. A proposed solution to the prediction of chronic toxicity is to consider organ level effects, as opposed to modelling the NO(A)EL itself. This review has focussed on the use of structural alerts to identify potential liver toxicants. In silico profilers, or groups of structural alerts, have been developed based on mechanisms of action and informed by current knowledge of Adverse Outcome Pathways. These profilers are robust and can be coded computationally to allow for prediction. However, they do not cover all mechanisms or modes of liver toxicity and recommendations for the improvement of these approaches are given.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.7
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• pp.657-669
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• 2021

This study seeks to empirically investigate the impact of transformational leadership on employees' innovation with the mediating effect of technological diversity. Employees have evolved into leaders in organizing work within institutions over the last few decades. This shift presents new demands for leaders, who are forced to reinvent individual workers while also improving workplace innovation. This research proposes a conceptual model for considering transformational leadership and the impact of technological diversity on innovation. Structured questionnaire is used in the study and the analysis of the data from 633 employees of universities in the United Arab Emirates uses stratified sampling technique and hypotheses verified through Structural Equations Modelling (AMOS-21). According to the results, transformational leadership has a big effect on employees' innovation. Furthermore, in the relationship between transformational leadership and workforce innovation, technological diversity has a partial mediation impact. This research adds to the growing body of knowledge about how transformational leadership influences employees' innovation and how it affects employees' success, especially in the context of UAE-based universities. Overall, this research contributes to the previous studies wherein transformational leadership plays a critical role in influencing the innovative performance of employees and that, in turn, will promote diversification of technology in the organization.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.15-27
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• 2020

Accurate knowledge of land use/land cover (LULC) features and their relative changes over upon the time are essential for sustainable urban management. Urban sprawl growth has been always also a worldwide concern that needs to carefully monitor particularly in a developing country where unplanned building constriction has been expanding at a high rate. Recently, remotely sensed imageries with a very high spatial/spectral resolution and state of the art machine learning approaches sent the urban classification and growth monitoring to a higher level. In this research, we classified the Quickbird satellite imagery by object-based image analysis of Dempster-Shafer (OBIA-DS) for the years of 2002 and 2015 at Karbala-Iraq. The real LULC changes including, residential sprawl expansion, amongst these years, were identified via change detection procedure. In accordance with extracted features of LULC and detected trend of urban pattern, the future LULC dynamic was simulated by using land transformation model (LTM) in geospatial information system (GIS) platform. Both classification and prediction stages were successfully validated using ground control points (GCPs) through accuracy assessment metric of Kappa coefficient that indicated 0.87 and 0.91 for 2002 and 2015 classification as well as 0.79 for prediction part. Detail results revealed a substantial growth in building over fifteen years that mostly replaced by agriculture and orchard field. The prediction scenario of LULC sprawl development for 2030 revealed a substantial decline in green and agriculture land as well as an extensive increment in build-up area especially at the countryside of the city without following the residential pattern standard. The proposed method helps urban decision-makers to identify the detail temporal-spatial growth pattern of highly populated cities like Karbala. Additionally, the results of this study can be considered as a probable future map in order to design enough future social services and amenities for the local inhabitants.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.56-66
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• 2016

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Despite successes recorded in combating iodine deficiency, more than 2 billion people are still at risk of iodine deficiency disorders. Rural landlocked and mountainous areas of developing countries are the hardest hit, hence the need to explore and advance novel strategies such as biofortification. SUBJECTS/METHODS: We evaluated adoption, purchase, and consumption of iodine biofortified vegetable legumes (IBVL) using the theory of protection motivations (PMT) integrated with an economic valuation technique. A total of 1,200 participants from three land-locked locations in East Africa were recruited via multi-stage cluster sampling, and data were collected using two, slightly distinct, questionnaires incorporating PMT constructs. The survey also elicited preferences for iodine biofortified foods when offered at a premium or discount. Determinants of protection motivations and preferences for iodine biofortified foods were assessed using path analysis modelling and two-limit Tobit regression, respectively. RESULTS: Knowledge of iodine, iodine-health link, salt iodization, and biofortification was very low, albeit lower at the household level. Iodine and biofortification were not recognized as nutrient and novel approaches, respectively. On the other hand, severity, fear, occupation, knowledge, iodine status, household composition, and self-efficacy predicted the intention to consume biofortified foods at the household level; only vulnerability, self-efficacy, and location were the most crucial elements at the school level. In addition, results demonstrated a positive willingness-to-pay a premium or acceptance of a lesser discount for biofortification. Furthermore, preference towards iodine biofortified foods was a function of protection motivations, severity, vulnerability, fear, response efficacy, response cost, knowledge, iodine status, gender, age. and household head. CONCLUSIONS: Results lend support for prevention of iodine deficiency in unprotected populations through biofortification; however 'threat' appraisal and socio-economic predictors are decisive in designing nutrition interventions and stimulating uptake of biofortification. In principle, the contribution is threefold: 1) Successful application of the integrated model to guide policy formulation; 2) Offer guidance to stakeholders to identify and tap niche markets; 3) stimulation of rural economic growth around school feeding programmes.

• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.91-111
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of person-organization fit(PO fit) and person-job fit(PJ fit) on positive psychological capital at both team-level and individual-level. Present study intends to confirm the effectiveness through theoretical considerations and empirical analysis of positive organizational behaviors. This is expected to strengthen the basis of positive organizational behavior studies and provide the foundation to integrate positive organizational behavior to the actual organization. In order to test the hypotheses, the data were collected from multiple domestic organizations and composed 47 team-level and 244 individual-level data. For the analysis, hierarchical linear modelling(HLM) were conducted. The results of this study are as follows. PO fit and PJ fit had significant relationships with positive psychological capital at both team-level and individual-level. Also, in the relationship between the attitudes and behaviors of the members and positive psychological capital, the positive psychological capital was found to have significant effect on affective commitment and organizational citizen behaviors. The implications of this study according to the results as follows. Positive relationships of psychological capital with the antecedents and consequences variables, it is necessary for the management to magnify the strength of members in the actual operation at the organization level. Such the management of positive psychological capital can be suggested as a new approach method for achievement of the organization's goals and visions.

• The Transactions of the Korea Information Processing Society
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.319-326
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• 1994

Automatic control has been for the most part applied to linear systems where ti can be approximately formalized. In case that it is not definitely established the mathematical modelling to control objects, it requires manual control strategies which put under the human rule. In this paper, it constructs an FLC (Fuzzy Logic Controller) in order to turn a hand control into an automatic control in the domain of swimming pool that has been almost absolutely dependant on a skilled worker's experience. Genetic algorithms upgrade the knowledge which is acquired from human expert, using by FLC, so as to maintain knowledge in the very optimal way. It also designs an algorithm that modifies the rule base and the membership function at the same time, and ultimately will show that it can get better result than human controllers.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.951-959
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• 2021

The study investigated the effect of food safety knowledge, food safety trust and the factors influencing organic food purchase intention in the 'new normal' of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study employed non-contrived and cross-sectional methods. The data was collected in Malaysia using convenience sampling. A total of 330 valid questionnaires were analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and PROCESS for hypothesis testing. The study revealed a significant relationship involving food safety knowledge on personal attitude, perceived social pressure, and perceived autonomy. Moreover, organic food purchase intention was found to be influenced by personal attitude, perceived social pressure, and perceived autonomy. Interestingly, trust in organic food safety moderated the relationship between perceived autonomy and organic food purchase intention. The study proved valuable for stakeholders and organic food producers to understand the 'new normal' COVID-19 market scenario for a sound understanding of the market and the sustainability of the organic food industry. A new research framework is proposed and validated, related to individual purchase decision in global health issues which is limited in current literature. Hence, the study contributed to a better comprehension of green consumerism mainly in the Asian market.