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The purpose of this paper is to analyze three different forms of benefit systems and the effects of their application on Spanish firms’ attraction and retention capacity, differentiating these systems depending on the flexibility offered to the workers.

The data of this study have been collected from a sample of 308 human resources managers in Spanish firms, through an online questionnaire. The hypotheses were tested by ordinary least squares regression analyses.

The results show that firms having more flexible compensation systems, that is, those providing greater freedom to workers in the election of their benefits and the design of the benefit system, reported to have a higher attraction and retention capacity than firms offering to their employees a unique and similar benefit package for all the employees.

Future studies could extent this study by analyzing different contexts in order to determine whether some institutional factors can influence these results. Similarly, it would be interesting to analyze the effects of these systems on other organizational outcomes, such as their financial performance.

Human resources policies and, especially, compensation policies have a significant influence on the ability of firms to recruit and retain core employees, necessary for corporate success. This study sheds light on the effectiveness of different benefits systems in enhancing the firms’ capacities to attract and retain core employees. Taking into account the hard financial and labor environment that the Spanish firms have to face, the results of this study can have important implications for managers.

This paper responds to recent calls asking for the necessity of analyzing the effect of different benefit systems in contexts different to the broadly considered American context. Similarly, these results could be applied to other countries with conditions similar to Spain, that is, countries where the benefit systems have been traditionally less flexible and with an offer of benefits quite different than firms located in countries where the State offers a less-social assistance to citizens.

Kapok was well-known for its oleophilic properties, but its mechanical properties and morphology impeded it from forming suitable absorbent materials. This study aims to demonstrate the process of creating an oil-absorbent web from a blend of treated kapok and polypropylene fibers.

Kapok fibers were separated from dried fruits, then the wax was removed with an HCl solution at different concentrations. The morphological and structural changes of these fibers were investigated using scanning electron microscopy images. The blending ratios of kapok and polypropylene fibers were 60/40, 70/30 and 80/20, respectively. The fiber blends were fed to a laboratory carding machine to form a web and then consolidated using the heat press technique. The absorption behavior of the formed web was evaluated regarding oil absorption capacity and oil retention capacity according to ASTM 726.

The results showed that the HCl concentration of 1.0% (wt%) gave the highest wax removal efficiency without damaging the kapok fibers. This study found that oil absorbency is influenced by the fiber blending ratio, web tensile strength and elongation, porosity, oil type and environmental conditions. The oil-absorbency of the web can be re-used for at least 20 cycles.

This study only looked at three types of oils: diesel, kerosene and vegetable oils.

When the problem of oil spills in rivers and seas is growing and causing serious environmental and economic consequences, using physical methods to recover oil spills is the most effective solution.

This research adds to the possibility of using kapok fiber in the form of a web of non-woven fabric for practical purposes.

In order to understand the pros and cons of an open organization regarding the flow of knowledge between firms, this paper introduces the concept of “protective capacity”. The purpose of the paper is to elaborate the concept of “protective capacity” especially in relation to absorptive capacity, by presenting a number of propositions.

Literature on mainly interfirm relationships, absorptive capacity and resources‐based theory are reviewed and combined.

Protective capacity is defined as the “capacity to sustain, or to reduce the speed of depreciation of knowledge‐based resources by preventing knowledge from being identified, imitated, and/or acquired by direct or indirect competitors”. Owing to the strong moderating factor of organizational openness, it is argued that protective capacity is inversely related to absorptive capacity. A number of propositions that can explain and moderate the inverse relationship between protective capacity and absorptive capacity are elaborated and discussed. These propositions concern organizational openness, knowledge management practices, realized and potential absorptive capacity, and dyadic relationships.

Acquiring external knowledge is a key feature of knowledge management. In order for a firm to absorb external knowledge, it is generally argued that it has to be open towards the environment. However, according to resource‐based theory, firms have to safeguard their knowledge by, for example, having a secluded organization, thereby enhancing the uncertainty associated with tacit knowledge in order to sustain their competitive advantages. Whereas numerous studies have discussed the capacity to absorb knowledge, few studies have analyzed the capacity to protect knowledge.

Celiac disease patients cannot consume gluten-containing diets; thus, gluten-free products should be offered to meet the nutritional needs of these patients. The purpose of this study was to produce gluten-free tarhana for celiac disease patients using corn flour instead of wheat flour and investigate some physicochemical properties of tarhana. Hydrocolloids were used to compensate for technological deficiencies caused by the absence of gluten.

Hydrocolloids including guar gum, xanthan gum and locust bean gum were added at concentrations of 0.5% and 1.0% to the corn flour. The substituted corn flour samples were used to produce tarhana powder.

The pH and acidity measurements were carried out in 0th, 24th and 48th h of fermentation, and for all samples, the pH gradually decreased during fermentation, whereas the acidity increased. According to the color measurements (L, a and b values), it was observed that there was no significant difference (p = 0.588) between the gums in terms of L values in tarhana dough samples. Water retention capacity values of control, guar gum 1%, xanthan gum 1% and locust bean gum 1% were found to be 1.1, 1.1, 0.7 and 1.2 mL/g, respectively. The viscosity measurements were carried out at three different temperatures (30°C, 45°C and 60°C), and the viscosity values were found to decrease significantly (p = 0.000) with the increase in temperature for all the samples studied. The highest viscosity values were obtained by 1.0% xanthan gum (4,333 mPa s) and 0.5% locust bean gum (3,575 mPa s) added tarhana samples for 3 rpm at 30°C. Xanthan gum addition showed the lowest foam capacity values (0.04 mL/mL) among the samples. The samples with guar gum, xanthan gum and locust bean gum are recommended with regard to consistency and foam stability in the production of tarhana.

This study confirms that the use of gums in tarhana, a gluten-free system, is beneficial for the technological aspect. The unfavorable properties that can be seen because of the absence of gluten in corn flour tarhana can be compensated with the use of hydrocolloids, and tarhana can be recommended to celiac disease patients.

In recent years, oil spill pollution has become one of the main problems of environmental pollution. Recovering oil by means of sorbent materials is a very promising approach and has acquired more attention due to its high cleanup efficiency. Compared to synthetic fibrous sorbents, the use of natural fibers in oil spill cleanups offers several advantages including environmental friendliness, degradable features and cost-effectiveness. Therefore, studies on developing sorbents using natural fibers for oil spill cleanup applications have become a research hotspot.

This paper reviews the work conducted by several researchers in developing oil sorbents from fibers such as cattail, nettle, cotton, milkweed, kapok, populous seed fiber and Metaplexis japonica fiber. Some featured critical parameters influencing the oil sorption capacity of fibrous substrates are discussed. Oil sorption capacity and reusability performance of various fibers are also discussed. Recent developments in oil spill cleanups and test methods for oil sorbents are briefly covered.

The main parameters influencing the oil sorption capacity of sorbents are fiber morphological structure, fiber density (g/cc), wax (%), hollowness (%) and water contact angle. An extensive literature review showed that oil sorption capacity is highest for Metaplexis japonica fiber followed by populous seed fiber, kapok, milkweed, cotton, nettle and cattail fiber. After use, the sorbents can be buried under soil or they can also be burned so that they can be vanished from the surface without causing environmental-related issues.

This review paper aims to summarize research studies conducted related to various natural fibers for oil spill cleanups, fiber structural characteristics influencing oil sorption and recent developments in oil spill cleanups. This work will inspire future researchers with various knowledge backgrounds, particularly, from a sustainability perspective.

The level at which risk is priced and the magnitude of risks transferred to the private sector will have a significant impact on the cost of the public–private partnership (PPP) deals as well as on the value for money analysis and on the section of the optimum investment options. The price of risk associated with PPP schemes is complex, dynamic and continuous throughout the concession agreement. Risk allocation needs to be re-evaluated to ensure the optimum outcome of the PPP contract.

This paper provides a coherent theoretical framework for dealing with scenarios of potential gain and loss from retaining or transferring risks.

The outcome indicates that using the proposed framework will provide innovative ways of deriving risk prices in PPP projects using several risk determinants strategies.

In costing risks, analysts have to take into consideration the balance between the cost of risk transfer and the cost of losses if risk is retained.

This paper contributes to the PPP literature and practice by proposing a framework which is consistent with a risk allocation approach in PPP projects, where the key proposition is that risk pricing can overload project debt leading to loss of value.

The purpose of this paper is to explore organizational memory (OM) in three public agencies in a developing country context. Research suggests that knowledge management (KM) can build a nation’s intellectual capital and improve the effectiveness of public sector management. Therefore, how knowledge is preserved is important.

The study targeted three large public institutions in Ghana. The study used a survey of 756 individuals in managerial and operational level positions in institutions to test the hypotheses in the study.

The findings confirm that knowledge management capability (KMC) has a positive and significant impact on OM. Knowledge acquisition and retention capabilities, in particular, are critical variables in building OM.

The research relied on self-reports and so one cannot completely rule out social desirability and consistency biases. Using cross-sectional data also makes it difficult to make inferences about the causality.

Public agencies desirous of building their OM will need to build critical KMC and infrastructure.

This paper links KMC to OM in public institutions in an emerging country context.

This study aims to measure the influence of the barriers present in the knowledge transfer at the sales process, by the franchisor to the franchisee, in language schools in the São Paulo/SP city, Brazil. The theoretical aspects include the transfer of knowledge displayed through communication model and barriers inherent in this process. Using (Szulanski 1996) approach the barriers may occur in relation to, namely, the content of knowledge; context; the source; the recipient.

The methodology is quantitative and the type of research is exploratory and descriptive. For this investigation was used an adapted version of the questionnaire developed by Szulanski (1996), applied to a sample of 79 franchised language schools linked to the Brazilian Franchise Association. Beyond factor analysis it was used the nonparametric test of Jonckheere-Terpstra and analysis of variance, to comparing schools.

The results of this analysis revealed that certain types of knowledge transfers are evaluated by the franchisees as more favorably or unfavorably according to the brand franchise. These results show a lack of standardization trend of the activities of the sales process and mismatches with the guidelines of the franchisor. The authors highlight that in the comparison between the brands is evident the dominance of the CNA in relation to other networks of language franchises when analyzed the relationship factors, technical adequacy, absorption of knowledge, competence to absorb knowledge and in the indicators contribution to revenue, acceptance of guidelines and bring results.

This research contributes to the identification of barriers that are involved during the transfer of practices of the franchisor to the franchisee on the knowledge of the sales process in language schools, awakening in franchisee reflections of improvements and solutions that can be worked on and developed in their units. Specifically, the study contributes to the knowledge management literature in franchises, as this topic is still emerging, as it presents conflicting findings.

The purpose of the study was to utilize rohu deboning by-product to develop edible cutlets and to study its effects on quality and acceptability.

Fish cutlets were prepared with varying mince and by-product ratios (100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75 and 0:100 per cent) and the effect of by-product inclusion on composition, cooking characteristics, texture and acceptability were studied.

Cutlets from control group had highest values for protein, fat, diameter reduction, fat retention and height increase (29.9, 14.9, 7.6, 78.3 and 31.9 per cent) compared to other lots. Highest values for cooking yield (p > 0.01), lightness and whiteness were (92.7, 35.4 and 31.2 per cent) found in cutlets from 100 per cent BP lot. Hardness and shear force increased with by-product content (p < 0.01) being maximum in cutlets from 100 per cent BP lot. Though all the cutlets were acceptable, low sensory scores were recorded for 75 BP and 100 per cent BP lots (p > 0.01). By-products can be incorporated up to 50 per cent into fish cutlets without negatively affecting the eating quality.

Amount of by-product to be added was the limitation during the work. More by-product content in the cutlets resulted in low-palatability. Total calcium content in the cutlets need to be checked as calcium content per serving should not be above the regulations.

In general, nutritionally rich fish deboning by-product is used for cattle feeding or discarded into dumping grounds causing pollution, nutritional, as well as economic loss to the farmers. The findings of this study will be helpful to develop nutritionally rich and edible food products from this deboning by-product. Incorporation of by-product into cutlets will allow the farmers to sell their products at lower prices without compromising the profits, which will improve the marketing as well as consumption.

Utilization of fish deboning by-product to develop edible cutlets helps in reducing the operational costs, pollution and efficient utilization of process by-products.

The work is completely original in nature. The results reported are unique and the outcome of the research has social applicability.

This study investigates how the combined effects of big data ability and CRM capability could impact on an organization's strategic sales performance (SSP), and how the leadership support (LS) could moderate the relationships between SSP with CRM capability and customer retention ability.

Having inputs from the literature and resource-based view (RBV) theory, a model has been developed conceptually. The conceptual model was validated statistically using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (SEM) technique with 317 responses.

The study found that organizations' big data analytics (BDA) capability, along with customer relationship management (CRM) capability, positively and significantly impacts organizations' SSP. Also, the study found that LS has a moderating impact on organizations' SSP.

The study cannot be generalizable, as it is cross-sectional in nature. Also, the sample size for statistically validating the model is 317, which is not large enough to generalize the study findings. The study has used only five constructs and one moderator. With more constructs and other moderators, the boundary conditions of the model could have been increased, which could result a better explanative power of the model.

This study shows that organizations' big data and CRM capabilities are important for their SSP; therefore, managers must ensure that their organization has appropriate big data and CRM capabilities. Also, the study shows the significance of LS to increase the SSP of their organizations. Thus, organizational leadership must support big data and CRM-related capabilities and ensure employees are appropriately trained to successfully use these capabilities.

Only a limited number of studies are available on the combined impact of big data capability and CRM capability on an organization's strategic sales. How BDA could help organizations to improve their SSP has not been explicitly studied. The proposed model shows that these capabilities, along with the moderating effects of LS, impact on organizations' SSP. Thus, the proposed theoretical model is a unique model, and the study is novel.