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1 – 10 of over 13000Edgar Edwin Twine, Stella Everline Adur-Okello, Gaudiose Mujawamariya and Sali Atanga Ndindeng
Improving milling quality is expected to improve the quality of domestic rice and hence the competitiveness of Uganda's rice industry. Therefore, this study aims to assess the…
Abstract
Purpose
Improving milling quality is expected to improve the quality of domestic rice and hence the competitiveness of Uganda's rice industry. Therefore, this study aims to assess the determinants of four aspects of milling, namely, choice of milling technology, millers' perceptions of the importance of paddy quality attributes, milling return and milling capacity.
Design/methodology/approach
Multinomial logit, semi-nonparametric extended ordered probit, linear regression and additive nonparametric models are applied to cross-sectional data obtained from a sample of 196 rice millers.
Findings
Physical, economic, institutional, technological and sociodemographic factors are found to be important determinants of the four aspects of milling. Physical factors include the distance of the mill from major town and availability of storage space at the milling premises, while economic factors include milling charge and backward integration of miller into paddy production. Contracting and use of a single-pass mill are important institutional and technological factors, respectively, and miller's household size, age, gender and education are the key sociodemographic variables.
Originality/value
The study's originality lies in its scope, especially in terms of its breadth. Without compromising the needed analytical rigor, it focuses on four aspects of milling that are critical to improving the marketing of Uganda's rice. In doing so, it provides a holistic understanding of this segment of the value chain and offers specific recommendations for improving the marketing of Uganda's rice.
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Bonhee Chung, Fatimah Mohamed Arshad, Kusairi Mohd Noh and Shaufique Fahmi Sidique
The purpose of this paper is to examine the long-run profitability of rice milling operation in Malaysia and see how sensitive it is to changes in paddy purchases, rice recovery…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the long-run profitability of rice milling operation in Malaysia and see how sensitive it is to changes in paddy purchases, rice recovery ratio and paddy price.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a purposive sampling technique and semi-structured interviews, seven rice mills in Malaysia were selected to obtain data on operational details and business accounts. The paper provides a qualitative and descriptive account of the rice mill’s profitability by using cost curves, a simple linear regression and the Monte Carlo simulation.
Findings
The rice milling operation in Malaysia is profitable in the long run, provided that there is a market for by-products. Large private mills have lower average costs, helping them obtain higher profit margins. Public mills that receive a rice miller subsidy are more protected than small private mills that operate without the rice miller subsidy and under price controls. Changes in paddy purchases, paddy price and recovery ratio affect the profitability to varying degrees.
Research limitations/implications
Incomplete information provided by the interviewees. The analysis result is only a rough estimate. However, it may provide a useful insight into the Malaysian rice milling sector and its competitiveness.
Originality/value
There are few economic studies of the rice milling sector in Malaysia. However, it plays an important role along the rice supply chain. There is a need for better understanding of the industry in order to obtain economic sustainability and effective policies. This paper provides the gap by providing an insight into the long-run profitability of rice milling operation in Malaysia.
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Allyn Young′s lectures, as recorded by the young Nicholas Kaldor,survey the historical roots of the subject from Aristotle through to themodern neo‐classical writers. The focus…
Abstract
Allyn Young′s lectures, as recorded by the young Nicholas Kaldor, survey the historical roots of the subject from Aristotle through to the modern neo‐classical writers. The focus throughout is on the conditions making for economic progress, with stress on the institutional developments that extend and are extended by the size of the market. Organisational changes that promote the division of labour and specialisation within and between firms and industries, and which promote competition and mobility, are seen as the vital factors in growth. In the absence of new markets, inventions as such play only a minor role. The economic system is an inter‐related whole, or a living “organon”. It is from this perspective that micro‐economic relations are analysed, and this helps expose certain fallacies of composition associated with the marginal productivity theory of production and distribution. Factors are paid not because they are productive but because they are scarce. Likewise he shows why Marshallian supply and demand schedules, based on the “one thing at a time” approach, cannot adequately describe the dynamic growth properties of the system. Supply and demand cannot be simply integrated to arrive at a picture of the whole economy. These notes are complemented by eleven articles in the Encyclopaedia Britannica which were published shortly after Young′s sudden death in 1929.
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R.P. Mohanty and R. Singh
Illustrates a two‐level hierarchical system structure for solvingthe production planning problems of a steel manufacturing system. Thestructure is basically a goal‐diffusion…
Abstract
Illustrates a two‐level hierarchical system structure for solving the production planning problems of a steel manufacturing system. The structure is basically a goal‐diffusion mechanism between two levels. At the lower level a goal programming problem is solved and at the higher level a multi‐objective dynamic program is used to derive an optimum aggregate production plan and provide optimal resource allocation.
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The paper aims to investigate the monthly and trading month effects in the stock market returns of the ASE using daily data before and after the crisis of 1999‐2001. In addition…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to investigate the monthly and trading month effects in the stock market returns of the ASE using daily data before and after the crisis of 1999‐2001. In addition, the study seeks to consider data from both periods of the ASE, before and after the upgrade of the market (May 2001).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper examines the calendar effects in the Greek stock market returns using an ordinary least squares (OLS) model. Daily closing prices of the General ASE Index, FTSE/ASE‐20 and FTSE/ASE Mid 40 are used to calculate daily returns. The time period includes data from 26 November 1996 to 12 July 2002 for General ASE Index, 23 September 1997‐30 August 2001 for FTSE/ASE‐20 and 8 December 1999‐30 August 2001 for FTSE/ASE Mid 40.
Findings
The results show that there is no January effect. In other words, daily returns are not higher in January than in any other month. Moreover, the results for the trading month effect show higher (but not significant) returns over the first fortnight of the month.
Practical implications
The results have important implications for both traders and investors. The findings are strongly recommended to financial managers dealing with Greek stock indices.
Originality/value
The contribution of this paper is to provide evidence using data before and after the financial crisis of 1999‐2001 in Greece.
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Yuttakorn Ritthaisong, Lalit M. Johri and Mark Speece
This paper aims to investigate the effect of several valuable resources (organizational reputation, human resource management (HRM) practices, networks, and vertical integration…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the effect of several valuable resources (organizational reputation, human resource management (HRM) practices, networks, and vertical integration in production) in explaining the performance of rice-milling firms in Thailand.
Design/methodology/approach
Resource-based view (RBV) theory was used to explain that the particular bundle of firm resources can become the source of sustainable competitive advantage and thereby improve the business's performance. Semi-structured in-depth interviews and questionnaire were used to collect data from Thailand rice exporters. Then regression technique was employed for data analysis.
Findings
Results from a survey of rice mills involved in international export showed that organizational reputation, some HRM practices, and networks were significantly related to firm's performance, but vertical integration was not.
Originality/value
This study supports the basic assertion of RBV theory that a set of firm specific resources could be applied in ways that enhance sustainable competitive advantage.
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THE ROLLING of bright metal sheet strip and foil requires that the highly finished rolls should be lubricated. Originally a drip feed was used, just sufficient to maintain an oil…
Abstract
THE ROLLING of bright metal sheet strip and foil requires that the highly finished rolls should be lubricated. Originally a drip feed was used, just sufficient to maintain an oil film, but as the output required from mills rolling at high speeds has increased there has been an almost universal adoption of flood cooling by means of a light mineral oil with additives. These additives are usually natural fatty substances like lanoline, vegetable or coconut oil or chemical additives in the form of complex higher alcohols. The additives are chosen largely according to the advice of oil suppliers and are usually compounded with the oil before purchase but occasionally may be blended to the preference of the mill manager as a result of his own experience. In many cases the exact mixture is regarded as a trade secret, a situation which may complicate the problems of filtration.
Part One, dealing with lubrication organization, storing and handling appeared in our August issue. Parts Two and Three covering, respectively, Service Testing and Blast Furnace…
Abstract
Part One, dealing with lubrication organization, storing and handling appeared in our August issue. Parts Two and Three covering, respectively, Service Testing and Blast Furnace Lubrication appeared in September.
Patricia Genoe McLaren and Albert J. Mills
The purpose of this paper is to explore the idea that the ideal manager is a social construct that is a product of the context within which it exists. The context chosen to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the idea that the ideal manager is a social construct that is a product of the context within which it exists. The context chosen to illustrate this idea is that of the first two decades of the Cold War (1945‐1965) in the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology used is an analysis of 17 management textbooks published between 1945 and 1965 in the USA.
Findings
The analysis of the textbooks shows a typification of the ideal manager as an educated male who wielded authority effectively and accepted social responsibility. These four characteristics can all be tied to the social and political context of the early Cold War years.
Research limitations/implications
Limited by its focus on management theory in the USA during the early Cold War era, and a selection of textbooks based on available resources. Future research could analyze the ideal manager construct during social and political contexts other than the Cold War, and across other social formations (e.g. the UK, Canada, France, etc.).
Practical implications
Practical implications apply to both organizations and academic institutions. Management educators should be attempting to use textbooks that present management theory in a problematic way and organizations should be aware of the impact of social and political context on the construct of the manager in order to determine the qualities and characteristics that are most needed today.
Originality/value
The paper looks at the ideal manager as a social construct, rather than an ideal that was created void of outside influence and assumed to be ideal for all contexts. It also uses the context of the Cold War period, which has been a neglected context in management research.
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