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Article
Publication date: 7 August 2017

Nawar Mohammed Ridha Hashim, Mohd. Zamri Yusoff and Hussein Ahmed Mohammed

The purpose of this paper is to numerically study the phenomenon of separation and subsequent reattachment that happens due to a sudden contraction or expansion in flow geometry…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to numerically study the phenomenon of separation and subsequent reattachment that happens due to a sudden contraction or expansion in flow geometry, in addition, to investigating the effect of nanoparticles suspended in water on heat transfer enhancement and fluid flow characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach

Turbulent forced convection flow over triple forward facing step (FFS) in a duct is numerically studied by using different types of nanofluids. Finite volume method is employed to carry out the numerical investigations. with nanoparticles volume fraction in the range of 1-4 per cent and nanoparticles diameter in the range 30-75 nm, suspended in water. Several parameters were studied, such as the geometrical specification (different step heights), boundary conditions (different Reynolds [Re] numbers), types of fluids (base fluid with different types of nanoparticles), nanoparticle concentration (different volume fractions) and nanoparticle size.

Findings

The numerical results indicate that the Nusselt number increases as the volume fraction increases, but it decreases as the diameter of the nanoparticles of nanofluids increases. The turbulent kinetic energy and its dissipation rate increase as Re number increases. The velocity magnitude increases as the density of nanofluids decreases. No significant effect of increasing the three steps heights on Nusselt along the heated wall, except in front of first step where increasing the first step height leads to an increase in the recirculation zone size adjacent to it.

Research limitations/implications

The phenomenon of separation and subsequent reattachment happened due to a sudden contraction or expansion in flow geometry, such as forward facing and backward facing steps, respectively, can be recognized in many engineering applications where heat transfer enhancement is required. Some examples include cooling systems for electronic equipment, heat exchanger, diffusers and chemical process. Understanding the concept of these devices is very important from the engineering point of view.

Originality/value

Convective heat transfer can be enhanced passively by changing flow geometry, boundary conditions, the traditional fluids or by enhancing thermal conductivity of the fluid. Great attention has been paid to increase the thermal conductivity of base fluid by suspending nano-, micro- or larger-sized particles in fluid. The products from suspending these particles in the base fluid are called nanofluids. Many studies have been conducted to investigate the heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics over FFS. This study is the first where nanofluids are employed as working fluids for flow over triple FFS.

Details

World Journal of Engineering, vol. 14 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1708-5284

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 June 2021

Mohammed Nasiru Yakubu and A. Mohammed Abubakar

Academic success and failure are relevant lifelines for economic success in the knowledge-based economy. The purpose of this paper is to predict the propensity of students’…

Abstract

Purpose

Academic success and failure are relevant lifelines for economic success in the knowledge-based economy. The purpose of this paper is to predict the propensity of students’ academic performance using early detection indicators (i.e. age, gender, high school exam scores, region, CGPA) to allow for timely and efficient remediation.

Design/methodology/approach

A machine learning approach was used to develop a model based on secondary data obtained from students’ information system in a Nigerian university.

Findings

Results revealed that age is not a predictor for academic success (high CGPA); female students are 1.2 times more likely to have high CGPA compared to their male counterparts; students with high JAMB scores are more likely to achieve academic success, high CGPA and vice versa; students from affluent and developed regions are more likely to achieve academic success, high CGPA and vice versa; and students in Years 3 and 4 are more likely to achieve academic success, high CGPA.

Originality/value

This predictive model serves as a classifier and useful strategy to mitigate failure, promote success and better manage resources in tertiary institutions.

Article
Publication date: 14 October 2020

Yaser Hasan Salem Al-Mamary, Mohammed Abdulrab, Mohammed A. Alwaheeb and Naif Ghazi M. Alshammari

This research intends to contribute to the literature of entrepreneurial intentions through determining the factors impacting the entrepreneurial intentions among students in…

1787

Abstract

Purpose

This research intends to contribute to the literature of entrepreneurial intentions through determining the factors impacting the entrepreneurial intentions among students in different academic programs. This is in order to enhance and improve entrepreneurship-related procedures within relevant universities.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was conducted by a structured survey questionnaire on 261 students in the University of Hail. The questionnaire was developed based on previous studies. The proposed hypotheses were tested by the use of the structured equation modeling (SEM) via using Amos software.

Findings

The results of the current study support the theoretical integration of the model as most of the hypotheses have been accepted. The results of the survey also show that attitudes toward behavior, self-efficacy, autonomy, risk-taking, pro-activeness and competitive aggressiveness are expressively related with entrepreneurial intention. Yet, social norms and innovativeness are not considerably connected with entrepreneurial intention.

Research limitations/implications

This study seeks to contribute to the relevant literature by integrating the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the entrepreneurial orientation model (EO). This is in order to identify the factors impacting the intention of entrepreneurship among Saudi university students. As the case in many studies, this present study has some limitations. The main limitation lies in that it would not be possible to generalize the study's findings. This is due to the fact the research is the outcome of examining and studying one Saudi university. Therefore, it would be better to conduct similar studies in other Saudi universities in order to generalize the findings of the study.

Practical implications

The study's results could be of value to policymakers and university administrators in Saudi Arabia universities by which they could be enabled to allocate resources, develop strategies and provide all requirements for the sake of improving entrepreneurial skills among university students. This comprehensive model can be used as a tool for planning and prioritizing resources in bid for providing the required support as this support would reinforce the entrepreneurial opportunity of university students. As such, students would have better thinking about entrepreneurial work and thus would be assisted in achieving their professional goals and the broader goal of nation building.

Originality/value

Since today's youth are viewed as the potential future entrepreneurs, they should be encouraged to achieve the Saudi Kingdom's goals through creating suitable employment opportunities for them by supporting entrepreneurship. Therefore, pointing out the factors impacting the entrepreneurial intention of students will contribute to developing the field of entrepreneurship among young people in Saudi Arabic in general. In addition, realized outcomes would create an exciting new knowledge with regard to the entrepreneurial intention among the youth at the university level.

Details

Education + Training, vol. 62 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0040-0912

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 December 2018

Ahmed Mohammed, Irina Harris and Abdulsalam Dukyil

Vendor selection is the main activity in a sourcing decision, which is a strategic decision in that it leads enterprises to eliminate costs and improve their performance. However…

Abstract

Purpose

Vendor selection is the main activity in a sourcing decision, which is a strategic decision in that it leads enterprises to eliminate costs and improve their performance. However, an inappropriate selection may compromise the financial and operational status of the enterprise. But vendor selection is a complex, multi-criteria decision-making process because different and conflicting criteria have to be considered and assessed in order to find consistent suppliers. Consequently, evaluating and selecting the best vendor is the key to successful business. Traditionally, vendors are normally selected on the basis of traditional criteria (TC), such as costs and quality, neglecting resilience criteria (RC) (e.g. agility and flexibility). Thus, enterprises ultimately realize that a selecting method which involves TC as the only ones is inefficient and needs to be changed. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was set in motion by a problem in practice. It aims to provide a user-friendly decision-making tool for selecting the best vendor from a group which submitted their tenders for implementing a proposed radio frequency identification (RFID)-based passport tracking system (Dukyil et al., 2017). The main traditional and resilience (“trasilience” henceforth) selection criteria were identified in a unified framework in collaboration with experts in the institution. Next, the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) algorithm was used to determine the relative importance of each criterion and the weights thus obtained were integrated into the ELimination Et Choix Traduisant la REalité (ELECTRE) algorithm. The Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) algorithm was also applied, to evaluate the performance of vendors and to select the best one. The qualitative evaluation of the criteria and the vendors was based on four decision makers. Finally, the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (SRCC) approach was applied to obtain the statistical difference between the ranking orders obtained from the two algorithms.

Findings

The efficiency of the proposed decision-making tool was evident from the real-case study of six tenders submitted for implementing a RFID-based passport tracking system. The SRCC also turned out a “very strong” association value between TOPSIS and ELECTRE.

Practical implications

The developed trasilient decision-making tool can easily be used to solve similar vendor or supplier selection problem. Moreover, other criteria can be added to fit other cases. Later, the tool was made available to the institution under study for solving future evaluation problems.

Originality/value

The literature shows that none of the previous papers presented an integrated trasilient approach that considers RC and TC simultaneously. This study presents a new trasilience tool for selecting a vendor.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 57 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 September 2019

Wael Abdallah, Craig Johnson, Cristian Nitzl and Mohammed A. Mohammed

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between organizational learning and patient safety culture in hospital pharmacy settings as determined by the learning…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between organizational learning and patient safety culture in hospital pharmacy settings as determined by the learning organization survey short-form (LOS-27) and pharmacy survey on patient safety culture instruments, and to further explore how dimensions of organizational learning relate to dimensions of pharmacy patient safety culture.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is a cross-sectional study. Data were obtained from three public hospital pharmacies and three private hospital pharmacies in Kuwait. Partial least square structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.

Findings

A total of 272 surveys (59.1 percent response rate) were completed and returned. The results indicated a significant positive relationship between organizational learning and patient safety culture in hospital pharmacy settings (path coefficient of 0.826, p-value <0.05 and R2 of 0.683). Several dimensions of the organizational learning showed significant links to the various dimensions of the pharmacy patient safety culture. Specifically, training (TRN), management that reinforces learning (MRL) and supportive learning environment (SLE) had the strongest effects on the pharmacy patient safety culture dimensions. Moreover, these effects indicated that MRL, SLE and TRN were associated with improvements in most dimensions of pharmacy patient safety culture.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to assess the relationship between organizational learning, patient safety culture and their dimensions in hospital pharmacy settings.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 33 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 21 June 2019

Wael Sha. Mohammed Basri and Mohammed R.A. Siam

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of social media and corporate communication as a key success factor of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in…

6634

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of social media and corporate communication as a key success factor of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in Arab world. This is a conceptual study and has shed light on the notable existing literature on these issues and particularly of Arab context. The social media has emerged as an opportunity for marketing communication, and it is the easiest cheapest way of advertising products and services. Social media provides a platform wherein a company or firm can target a diverse audience and can create an effective communication strategy. The sustainability agenda has emerged as a key as well as a sensitive issue for the global as well as local organizations. The inclusion of corporate social responsibility and incorporation of sustainability initiatives have changed the corporate landscape and merged as key determinants of business success. The social media for many firms has emerged as a major outlet of internal and external corporate communication for sustainability. The uniqueness of social media is that it not only conveys a message, rather it also provides an opportunity for direct feedback from users. This study will be helpful for practitioners, policymakers and researchers in understanding the link between social media, corporate communication and sustainable performance of the SME sector. The paper adds to the literature on the role of social media and corporate communication as a key success factor of SMEs operating in Arab world.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper will highlight significant and relevant findings generated from previous scholarly and commercial research on the subject. Thereafter, the discussion will focus on the unique relationship between the social media and the Arab world in social, political, religious or cultural and economic spheres. Thereafter, the paper will progress to the central theme of the discussion, reviewing social media’s impact on the Arabian market in such areas as offering a marketing platform for the new age, being an avenue and forum for increased sales, and as a public relations front line (a benchmark of direct client communication). Ultimately, the paper will provide a succinct conclusion to the discussion.

Findings

The paper affirmed that the social media is influencing/impacting the SMEs in the Arab region in numerous ways. Findings generated from recent empirical studies, strengthened by a resounding theoretical and scholarly literature, helped identify four of the main impacts of social media on SMEs in the Arab world. These four significant impacts, as discussed in the paper, include offering a marketing platform for the Information Age, offering an avenue and forum for increased sales, giving an innovative edge to SMEs in a bid to reduce expenditures/cost and increase profitability and creating a benchmark of direct client communication in modern PR. These fours ways constitute the most significant impact of social media, as demonstrated by SMEs in the Arab world, and in many ways they are congruent with the social media impact beyond the Middle East.

Research limitations/implications

This paper is very limited in Arab countries, and researchers could not use this study with female.

Practical implications

Information technology and gender are linked with the usage of social media.

Originality/value

The core focus of the present paper was to provide a brief literature-based review of how the social media affects SME in the Arab world (largely in nations within the Middle East region). Not only is the social media enabling positive “societal and cultural change” in the Arab world.

Details

Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences, vol. 35 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1026-4116

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 September 2021

Alireza Fallahpour, Morteza Yazdani, Ahmed Mohammed and Kuan Yew Wong

In the last decade, sustainable sourcing decision has gained tremendous attention due to the increasing governmental restrictions and public attentiveness. This decision involves…

1663

Abstract

Purpose

In the last decade, sustainable sourcing decision has gained tremendous attention due to the increasing governmental restrictions and public attentiveness. This decision involves diverse sets of classical and environmental parameters, which are originated from a complex, ambiguous and inconsistent decision-making environment. Arguably, supply chain management is fronting the next industrial revolution, which is named industry 4.0, due to the fast advance of digitalization. Considering the latter's rapid growth, current supplier selection models are, or it will, inefficient to assign the level of priority of each supplier among a set of suppliers, and therefore, more advanced models merging “recipes” of sustainability and industry 4.0 ingenuities are required. Yet, no research work found towards a digitalized, along with sustainability's target, sourcing.

Design/methodology/approach

A new framework for green and digitalized sourcing is developed. Thereafter, a hybrid decision-making approach is developed that utilizes (1) fuzzy preference programming (FPP) to decide the importance of one supplier attribute over another and (2) multi-objective optimization on the basis of ratio analysis (MOORA) to prioritize suppliers based on fuzzy performance rating. The proposed approach is implemented in consultation with the procurement department of a food processing company willing to develop a greener supply chain in the era of industry 4.0.

Findings

The proposed approach is capable to recognize the most important evaluation criteria, explain the ambiguity of experts' expressions and having better discrimination power to assess suppliers on operational efficiency and environmental and digitalization criteria, and henceforth enhances the quality of the sourcing process. Sensitivity analysis is performed to help managers for model approval. Moreover, this work presents the first attempt towards green and digitalized supplier selection. It paves the way towards further development in the modelling and optimization of sourcing in the era of industry 4.0.

Originality/value

Competitive supply chain management needs efficient purchasing and production activities since they represent its core, and this arises the necessity for a strategic adaptation and alignment with the requirement of industry 4.0. The latter implies alterations in the avenue firms operate and shape their activities and processes. In the context of supplier selection, this would involve the way supplier assessed and selected. This work is originally initiated based on a joint collaboration with a food company. A hybrid decision-making approach is proposed to evaluate and select suppliers considering operational efficiency, environmental criteria and digitalization initiatives towards digitalized and green supplier selection (DG-SS). To this end, supply chain management in the era of sustainability and digitalization are discussed.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 121 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 June 2021

Fadi A. Fatayer, Amjad Z. Issa, Mohammed Abunemeh and Mohammed A.M. Dwikat

Construction contractors in Palestine, as in many other developing countries, suffer from many problems. One of their main problems is their inability to meet contractual…

Abstract

Purpose

Construction contractors in Palestine, as in many other developing countries, suffer from many problems. One of their main problems is their inability to meet contractual requirements, such as completing projects within time, at the agreed cost and to the desired quality. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the causes of the non-fulfillment of contractual requirements in three different types of projects: building, road and electro-mechanical projects.

Design/methodology/approach

Two methods were adopted to collect the data – qualitative and quantitative. In total, 65 causes were identified from the literature and qualitative semi-structured interviews with professional experts. These causes were classified into five categories: managerial, financial, contractor capabilities, regulations and laws and political. In the quantitative approach, a questionnaire was developed and then distributed to 50 professional experts: 20 building experts, 15 road experts and 15 experts in electro-mechanical projects. A five-point Likert scale was used to assess the importance, from the perspective of the subject matter experts, of the causes that had been identified. About 35 responses, which represent a combined response rate of 70%, were received. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, with the mean, standard deviation and degree of importance for each of the identified causes being determined, and the SPSS software platform used to rank them.

Findings

The results reveal that the most important reasons why contractors did not fulfill their contractual requirements in building projects were that contracts were awarded to the contractor offering the lowest price, and the profit margin was low because of intense competition among contractors. In road projects, the most important causes were the poor estimation of the equipment required and a lack of standardized conditions in the construction sector, while in electro-mechanical projects, the most important causes were the inability of the contractor to estimate the cost of the project accurately because of unclear bid documents and a lack of contractor capital.

Originality/value

The results of this study will be useful to stakeholders and Palestinian contractor unions. They can be disseminated to give guidance so that contractors can avoid these problems in future construction projects and enhance their compliance with contractual requirements. Moreover, knowing about these causes may lead to the reduction of conflicts and disputes between contractual parties (owners and contractors), which in turn will be reflected in the work quality and reputation of contractors.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 29 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 16 August 2010

Mark Allen Peterson

Flows of transnational popular culture into Egypt are not so much cases of foreign imperialism imposing itself on helpless Egyptians as they are processes managed by Cairene…

Abstract

Flows of transnational popular culture into Egypt are not so much cases of foreign imperialism imposing itself on helpless Egyptians as they are processes managed by Cairene entrepreneurs whose accomplishments present them as successful agents of modernization, locating the cosmopolitan balance between global brands and goods and local markets and infrastructures. This chapter explores the links between these entrepreneurs, the state's “culture of development,” and class reproduction. Egyptian transnational entrepreneurialism – speculative, profit-oriented enterprises engaged with transnational flows of brands, commodities, and capital – has become yoked to the state's goal of national development through economic liberalization. Upper-class cosmopolitan entrepreneurs are increasingly positioned as agents of hybridity, culture brokers who can creatively forge links between supposedly rational and universal economic practices of market capital, and local cultural beliefs and values. Successful entrepreneurs are construed as possessing an “entrepreneurial imagination” by means of which they can overcome structural and cultural obstacles and contribute to the development of an Egyptian “enterprise culture.”

Details

Economic Action in Theory and Practice: Anthropological Investigations
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-118-4

Article
Publication date: 8 January 2024

Ahmed Bouteska, Taimur Sharif and Mohammad Zoynul Abedin

Given the serious question raised by the subprime of the 2008 global financial crisis over the rising practices of excessive rewarding of executives in the USA and European firms…

Abstract

Purpose

Given the serious question raised by the subprime of the 2008 global financial crisis over the rising practices of excessive rewarding of executives in the USA and European firms, the executive pay-performance nexus has emerged as a popular topic of debate in the contemporary corporate finance research. Conducted mostly on the Anglo-Saxon contexts, research outcomes have been inconclusive and dichotomous. Considering this backdrop, this study aims to investigate the endogenous relationship between executive compensation and risk taking in the context of the USA.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a large sample of non-financial firms from 2010 to 2020 based on panel data and two-stage least square regression. In this study, the riskier corporate decision is measured as book leverage and ratio of R&D expense to total assets. Chief executive officers’ (CEO) experience and age are used as instrumental variables, and these are expected to influence compensation incentives and, hence, affect firm riskiness indirectly. Firm size, return on assets and CEO turnover are reported to affect compensation and corporate decisions, therefore, included as control variables. Given that higher executive compensation is related to riskier corporate decision in firms, this study incorporates total wealth (i.e. accumulated equity related compensation) as an additional proxy of compensation, and this selection is justifiable by the perfect contracting notion of the agency theory.

Findings

The results of this study show a significant positive and increasing nexus among compensation and riskier corporate decisions. Besides, the compensation level proxied through the percentage of each form of compensation in total compensation is very important as greater equity and greater salary diminishes risk taking.

Practical implications

The outcomes of this study have useful implications for firm stakeholders and policymakers.

Originality/value

The level of pay measured by the percentage of each type of compensation in total compensation is of utmost importance as it can increase or decrease risk taking in corporate decisions.

Details

Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1472-0701

Keywords

11 – 20 of over 7000