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Research to date has reported ambiguous results on the influence of tax concessions on retirement savings decisions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of tax concessions on private retirement investment decisions by analyzing actual retirement decision processes and the rationales behind these decisions in‐depth.

Qualitative semi‐structured interviews on actual retirement savings decisions were conducted with private investors (17) and their respective bank advisors (5). Decision‐making rationales are analysed by means of semantic and causal coding of verbal data as well as by highlighting the complexities of decision processes represented in individual investment narratives.

Results indicate that taxes do not matter much, neither during the decision to join a private retirement plan, nor when choosing a specific investment product. Financial planning for retirement consists of saving disposable income instead of the required savings premium and choosing a secure type of investment which yields more than a savings account. Savers do not base their decisions on calculating and comparing rates of return or tax benefits. Instead, comparatively unqualified relatives as well as bank advisors and the desire for trust and security are of major relevance.

The generalization of results is limited in so far as they refer to a relatively small interview sample. The study shall thus prompt further research that takes the decision‐making context and the interrelation between several context factors systematically into account.

The study is of value in that it highlights the difficulties private investors' experience when making actual – rather than hypothetical – retirement savings decisions and the rationales behind seemingly “imperfect” decisions. It shows that retirement savings decisions are heavily linked with the social decision‐making context. These results are closely linked to the recent debate on “responsibilization”, critical perspectives on the tendency of states to hold individuals increasingly accountable for aspects of market governance and social security.

Higher caseloads are associated with better outcomes for many conditions treated in secondary and tertiary care settings, including colorectal cancer (CRC). There is little known whether such volume-outcome relationship exist in primary care settings. The purpose of this paper is to examine general practitioner (GP) CRC-specific caseload for possible associations with referral pathways, disease stage and CRC patients’ overall survival.

The paper retrospectively analyses a prospectively maintained CRC database for 2009-2014 in a single district hospital providing bowel cancer screening and tertiary rectal cancer services.

Of 1,145 CRC patients, 937 (81.8 per cent) were diagnosed as symptomatic cancers. In total, 210 GPs from 44 practices were stratified according to their CRC caseload over the study period into low volume (LV, 1-4); medium volume (MV, 5-7); and high volume (HV, 8-21 cases). Emergency presentation (LV: 49/287 (17.1 per cent); MV: 75/264 (28.4 per cent); HV: 105/386 (27.2 per cent); p=0.007) and advanced disease at presentation (LV: 84/287 (29.3 per cent); MV: 94/264 (35.6 per cent); HV: 144/386 (37.3 per cent); p=0.034) was more common amongst HV GPs. Three-year mortality risk was significantly higher for HV GPs (MV: (hazard ratio) HR 1.185 (confidence interval=0.897-1.566), p=0.231, and HV: HR 1.366 (CI=1.061-1.759), p=0.016), but adjustment for emergency presentation and advanced disease largely accounted for this difference. There was some evidence that HV GPs used elective cancer pathways less frequently (LV: 166/287 (57.8 per cent); MV: 130/264 (49.2 per cent); HV: 182/386 (47.2 per cent); p=0.007) and more selectively (CRC/referrals: LV: 166/2,743 (6.1 per cent); MV: 130/2,321 (5.6 per cent); HV: 182/2,508 (7.3 per cent); p=0.048).

Higher GP CRC caseload in primary care may be associated with advanced disease and poorer survival; more work is required to determine the reasons and to develop targeted intervention at local level to improve elective referral rates.

The current study mainly focuses on the effect of varying diameter recycled steel fibers (RSF) on mechanical properties of concrete prepared with 25 and 50% of recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) as well as 100% natural aggregate (NA). Two types of RSF with 0.84 mm and 1.24 mm diameter having 30 mm length were incorporated into normal and recycled aggregate concrete (RAC).

The fresh behavior, compressive, splitting tensile, flexural strengths and modulus of elasticity of all the mixes were investigated to evaluate the mechanical properties of RACs. In addition, specimen crack and testing co-relation were analyzed to evaluate fiber response in the RAC.

According to the experimental results, it was observed that mechanical properties decreased with the increment replacement of NA by RCA. However, the RSF greatly improves the mechanical properties of both normal concrete and RACs. Moreover, mixes containing 1.24 mm diameter RSF had a more significant positive impact on mechanical properties than mixes containing 0.84 mm diameter RSF. The 0.84 mm and 1.24 mm RSF addition improved the mixes' compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strength by 10%–19%, 19%–30% and 3%–11%, respectively when compared to the null fiber mix. Therefore, based on the mechanical properties, the 1.24 mm diameter of RSF with 25% replacement of RCA was obtained as an optimum solution in terms of performance improvement, environmental benefit and economic cost.

The practice of RCA in construction is a long-term strategy for reducing natural resource extraction and the negative ecological impact of waste concrete.

This is the first study on the effects of varying size (0.84 mm and 1.24 mm diameter) RSF on the mechanical properties of RAC. Additionally, varying sizes of RSF and silica fume added a new dimension to the RAC.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the benefits of integrating IT tracking and routing systems into last-mile distribution operations. The paper also demonstrates the role of field experiments as a valid approach for improving the rigour of logistics research.

The study employs a field experiment approach. Data were collected before and after the experimental treatment from 16 participating vehicles, which were used as inputs and outputs to calculate vehicles' efficiencies using data envelopment analysis.

Through employing manipulation and random assignment to investigate causality in naturally occurring contexts, the study results show statistical evidence for the role of vehicle tracking and routing systems in enhancing fleet efficiency. Furthermore, results show that field experiment is an appropriate method for capital budgeting of deploying IT systems in the distribution function.

Distribution managers can use a field experiment setup to assess the potential impact of installing IT solutions prior to large-scale implementation or prior to purchasing.

The study fills a gap in the literature through the application of a field experiment approach to establish causality relationships in distribution and logistics research. This study should encourage new research on the role of field experimentation in evaluating the benefits gained from, and the capital budgeting of, the modern disruptive technologies in supply chains.

Emerging digital ventures and related breakthrough innovations result in new challenges for the development of entrepreneurial competences and demand new perspectives for entrepreneurship research. In this context, policy-makers and organizations are increasingly interested in fostering entrepreneurial competences to improve the success of policies and venture capital investments. This paper aims at identifying the core relevant entrepreneurial competences, mapping the current literature and the main clusters and going beyond toward a meta-competence framework.

The research approach is a literature review, combining bibliometric, network and content analysis. The sampling process was conducted in the Scopus and Web of Science databases. The bibliometrics and content analysis were performed with a computer aid approach applying VosViewer1.6, Ucinet and NetDraw 2.139. The content analysis approach was performed considering a detailed coding schema developed. Finally, toward the meta-competences framework, the study applied quantitative analysis on the coding schema, particularly cross-tabulation, core-periphery and network analysis.

The results show the state of the art concerning entrepreneurial competences. The research identified a list of 98 entrepreneurial competences. Finally, the study proposes a meta-competence framework and clusters the 33 core entrepreneurial competences previously identified.

The proposed conceptual framework exploring meta-entrepreneurial competences offers an original contribution with implications for theory and practice. The research contributes to broadening the understanding of the entrepreneurial competences, helping on the creation, design, development and improvement of entrepreneurship educational initiatives, which are important to entrepreneurs' educators. The proposed framework contributes by providing relevant knowledge for the policy-makers' strategy formulation processes. As implications for the practice, the proposed framework can allow better assessment process for incubators and accelerators, besides more robust ventures considering learning trails based on meta-competences frameworks.

Oil palm is a labor-intensive crop where the labor issue is one of the most intransigent problems facing the industry. The negative perception toward this sector associated with the unattractive working environment which commonly refers to dark, dirty and dangerous has distress local youth to stay away from this occupation. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to explore the level of job satisfaction among oil palm plantation workers in Malaysia and analyze the factors that contribute to their satisfaction level.

The survey was conducted in 2014 through interviews from the selected samples of oil palm plantation workers who aged ranging from 16 to 40 years old, which was considered as youth category and staying within the location 5 km radius within the plantation area. The structural equation modeling is used to analyze the factors affecting job satisfaction among workers in the plantation sector.

The study found that the government and employer policies associated with plantation worker and economic profitability offered in this sector were the most significant factors that positively contribute to the joy of working among them. On the other hand, the negative relationship between working environment and perception of social job status with job satisfaction proven that these two factors were repulsion factors.

Currently, with the local youth negative perception on the agriculture sector and Indonesia’s economy booming and wages on the rise, Malaysia is struggling to attract new expatriate workers and retain those already active in the sector. Oil palm plantation companies have to counter this by enhancing worker’s welfare to ensure their job satisfaction in plantation environment. This study is to convince the organization that worker’s job satisfaction is a crucial factor to enhance their performance. With the strategy recommended by this study, employees will be getting higher level of job satisfaction, thus increasing their performance and enjoying working in the plantation sector.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, there are yet to be studies that look at the agricultural employees’ job satisfaction particularly in the plantation sector. Most of the previous studies in the field of plantation sector highlight on the labor productivity, economic performance of palm oil plantation sector and environmental impact of oil palm plantation. Thus, this study provides a better understanding of the factors that contribute to job satisfaction among plantation workers.

Lean manufacturing (LM) concepts have been widely adopted in diverse industrial sectors. However, no literature review focusing on case studies describing LM implementation is available. Case studies represent the actual implementation and provide secondary data for further analysis. This study aims to review the same to understand the pathways of LM implementation. In addition, it aims to analyse other related review questions, such as how implementing LM impacts manufacturing capabilities and the maturity level of manufacturing organisations that implemented LM, to name a few.

A literature review of case studies that discuss the implementation of LM during the last decade (from 2010 to 2020) is carried out. These studies were synthesised, and content analyses were performed to reveal critical insights.

The implementation pattern of LM significantly varies across manufacturing organisations. The findings show simultaneous improvement in manufacturing capabilities. Towards the end of the last decade, organisations implemented LM with radio frequency identification, e-kanban, simulation, etc.

Reviewing the case studies documenting LM implementation to comprehend the various nuances is a novel attempt. Furthermore, potential future research directions are identified for advancing the research in the domain of LM.

The majority of previous studies made on Recycled Concrete Aggregates (RCA) are limited to the utilisation of non-structural grade concrete due to unfavourable physical characteristics of RCA including the higher absorption of water, tending to increased water requirement of concrete. This seriously limits its applicability and as a result it reduces the usage of RCA in structural members. In the present study, the impact of hybrid fibres on cracking behaviour of RCA concrete beams along with the inclusion of reinforcing steel bars under two-point loading system exposed to different sustained elevated temperatures are being investigated.

RCA is substituted for Natural Coarse Aggregates (NCA) at 0, 50 and 100 percentages. The study involves testing of 150 mm cubes and beams of size (700 × 150 × 150) mm, i.e. with steel reinforcing bars along with the addition of 0.35% Steel fibres+ 0.15% polypropylene fibres. The specimens are being exposed to temperatures from 100° to 500°C with 100° interval for 2 h. Studies were made on the post crack analysis, which includes the measurement of crack width, crack length and load at first crack. The crack patterns were analysed in order to understand the effect of fibres and RCA at sustained elevated temperatures.

The result shows that ultimate load carrying capacity of reinforced concrete beams and load at first crack decreases with the raise in temperatures and increased percentage of RCA content in the mix. Further that 100% RCA replacement specimens showed lesser cracks when compared to the other mixes and the inclusion of fibres enhances the flexural capacity of members highlighting the importance of fibres.

RCA can be used for structural purposes and the study can be projected for assessing the performance of real structures with the extent of fire damage when recycled aggregates are used.

Most of recycled materials can be used in the regular concrete which solves two problems namely avoiding the dumping of C&D waste and preventing the usage of natural aggregates. Hence the study provides sustainable option for the production of concrete.

The reduction in capacity of flexural members due to the utilisation of recycled aggregates can be negated by the usage of fibres. Hence improved flexural performance is observed for specimens with fibres at sustained elevated temperatures.

The present study aims to provide a practical and robust assessment technique for assessing countries' investability in global supply chains to practitioners. Thus, the proposed approach can help decision-makers evaluate and select appropriate countries in the expansion process of the global supply chains and reduce risks concerning country (market) selection.

The present study proposes a novel decision-making approach, namely the REF-Sort technique. The proposed approach has many valuable contributions to the literature. First, it has an efficient basic algorithm and can be applied to solve highly complicated decision-making problems without requiring advanced mathematical knowledge. Besides, some characteristics differentiate REF-Sort apart from other techniques. REF-Sort employs the value or value range that reflects the most typical characteristic of the relevant class in assignment processes. The reference values in REF-Sort and center profiles are similar in this regard. On the other hand, class references can be defined as ranges in REF-Sort. Secondary values, called successors, can also be employed to assign a value to the appropriate class. REF-Sort can also determine the reference and successor values/ranges independently of the decision matrix. In addition, the proposed model is a maximally stable and consistent decision-making tool, as it is resistant to the rank reversal problem.

The current papers' findings indicate that countries have different features concerning investment. Hence, the current paper pointed out that only 22% of the 95 countries are investable, whereas 19% are risky. Thus, decision-makers should make detailed evaluations using robust, powerful, and practical decision-making tools to make more reasonable and logical decisions concerning country selection.

The current paper proposes a novel decision-making approach to evaluate. According to the authors' information, the proposed model has been applied to evaluate investable countries for the global supply chains for the first time.

This historical study explores accounting’s association with processes of cultural hybridisation involving themes such as image-(un)making, alliance-formation and norm-setting as part of Britain’s civilising mission during the era of modern globalisation. In doing so, the purpose of this paper is to examine the manner in which accounting may be implicated in micro-practices through which multi-layered socio-political relations of inequality are produced.

Archival materials enable an accounting understanding of the historical processes of image-(un)making, norm-setting and formation of a hybrid form of rule through elite indigenous alliances.

The study finds that the British Empire’s colonial project on civilising the indigenous peoples in British Fiji involved: the (un)making of indigenous identities and their moralities; and the elaboration of difference through ambiguous, partial and contradictory application of accounting in attempts to support the globalised civilising course. The globalising challenges indigenous peoples faced included accounting training to change habits in order to gain integration into the global imperial order. The study also finds that the colonised indigenous Fijians had emancipatory capacities in their negotiation of and resistance to accounting.

The paper identifies avenues for further accounting examination of such processes in the context of post-colonialism and current forms of neo-liberal globalisation.

By investigating accounting’s association with processes of cultural hybridisation, this paper makes a significant contribution by providing the detail on the role of accounting records kept by the British Empire to facilitate Britain’s domination and control over the colony of Fiji and its residents.