Volume 8, Issue 7, July 2020 Edition - GSJ Journal Publication

[1]   [2]  [3]  [4]  [5]  [6]  [7]  [8]

Rethinking School-Based Data and Administration of Technological Innovations in Secondary Schools in Cross River State []


Abstract The study investigated the nexus between school-based data and administration of technological innovations in public secondary schools in Cross River State, Nigeria. Using one null hypothesis, survey research design was used for the study. 276 principals formed the population size, out of which 120 constituted the sample. Additionally, 606 teachers were drawn from a population of 6,677 using stratified random sampling technique. Therefore, 726 respondents constituted the sample size. School- based Data and Administration of Technological Innovation Questionnaire (SBDATIQ) was used for data collection. Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Analysis was applied in testing the hypothesis. From the result of findings, it was indicated that “there is no significant positive relationship between school-based data and administration of technological innovation”. It was recommended that proactive measures be taken by government in the provision and distribution of facilities in schools that would aid the management and enhancement of technological innovations. Keywords: Rethinking, School-based, Data, Administration, Management, Technology, Innovation.

Association of Obesity measurements with symptoms of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia among adult men of Maputo: A cross-sectional survey []


Abstract Background: The most common cause of lower urinary symptoms is benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) which constitutes a lot of health burden for older men. The etiology of BPH remains unclear and it is thought to be related with obesity. However, epidemiological studies on this relationship have reported conflicting results. Objective: This study was aimed to assess the prevalence and bother of symptoms of BPH in the population of men aged 40 years and above in Maputo and to evaluate the association between the symptoms of BPH and different measures of obesity. Methods: The International Prostate Symptoms Score (IPSS) index was used to screen the symptoms of BPH, the choice of the most troublesome symptoms and perception of quality of life. Anthropometric data were collected using standard protocol and measures of obesity were derived. Results: The results showed that 33.85% of the studied population had symptoms suggestive of BPH. The severity of symptoms increases with age. Urgency (21.09%) and Nocturia (19.01%) were regarded more troublesome, and 36.7% of the studied population reported to experience a poor quality of life. According to the results, LUTS was positively correlated (P<0.05) with Waist Circumference and Waist-to-Hip Ratio, whereas Body Mass Index showed no significant correlation (P>0.05). Conclusions: This study indicates that LUTS affect a significant percentage of male adults population aged 40 years and above in Maputo, and the prevalence increases with age. Regrettably, the awareness is poor. There is need for a jointed effort to reverse this trend. It appears that abdominal fat distribution is the mediator of the association between obesity and prostate enlargement

Intellectual Property Rights perspectives: Bridging the entrepreneurial knowledge gap in creative solutions []


This paper provides insight and extends the debate on the rights of IPRs emanating from innovative and creative works by entrepreneurs in Africa. Entrepreneurs in the Small and Medium Enterprise sectors are the backbone of most African economies and the bedrock of our prosperity. The present crop of players in the sector-the majority of the entrepreneurs are not privy to IPR episteme. The paper argues that most small and medium enterprises around the world and Africa included display a significant lack of knowledge about how to monetize their intellectual assets. Indeed, stories about failures of IP management abound, and certainly, they are not limited to the developing world alone. The paper further argues that the average entrepreneur falling in the small and medium enterprise is less knowledgeable to the laws and regulations governing creative works. The biggest challenge is ignorance within the entrepreneurial society to protect their intellectual rights on their creative works, resulting in ideas stolen by that privy to the processes of patent protection. There are few researches conducted in this knowledge domain, to share with the upcoming entrepreneurs on what kind of knowledge they need to have and how this knowledge can help them to protect their business ideas. Controversies on intellectual property surround the subject matter of coverage in this review to get further insights on key IPRs protocols. The study is conducted through a review of existing literature complemented with experiential knowledge, an empirical snapshot survey of six entrepreneurs in the small and medium enterprise sector and observation protocols on Africa’s entrepreneurial capacity and IPR protective strategies. The major revelations and evidence from the literature and snapshot empirical survey shows that the majority of entrepreneurs in Africa are handicapped by lack of knowledge on IP value, the prohibitive costs of registering their patents, trademarks, copyrights and other necessary processes which appear to be cumbersome. At the end of the day, its business as usual but this catches up with them in the long term as their ideas and creative works are exposed and stolen with those who are always on the predatory side. This affects their profits and growth-a very undesirable outcome resulting in IPR knowledge deficiency. The paper recommends that African entrepreneurs should embrace an IPRs strategy in their business plans. The involvement of policymakers, government and legal institutions in supporting IPRs strategy and encouraging African entrepreneurs to register their rights is critical. The paper suggests for a broader empirical based study across African entrepreneurs to interrogate their IPRs strategies Keywords: intellectual property right, patent, trademark, copyright, beach, and entrepreneur

Corporate Democracy and Leadership! The Parrhesian Philosophy: The Radical Destruction of Falsehood and Rhetoric Leadership in Corporate Africa []


This paper questions the discourse of freedom of speech in corporate organizations and their ability to embrace their culture philosophy of parrhesia. The broad array of underlying factors influencing the creation of a holistic culture of truth-telling cannot be exhausted in the process of unearthing the characteristics of parrhesia framework. The paper argues that by interrogating the true leaders are able to see the future today, tomorrow without fear and through the use of fearless speech in heated corporate leadership and employee debates the parrhesiastes were able to initiate, define, support, and dominate and prevail in determining the future of their corporations' discourse. In practising parrhesia, the employees become truth-tellers who successfully criticize the position of the status quo held by some of the corporate administrators and leadership (interlocutors). The paper challenges corporates and the leadership in question across African entities to transform themselves and avoid rigid cultures –encourage them to embrace the truth in its entirety and should be synonymous with breathing. The study is very certain of the need of managing over- presumption the modern epistemological framework, and carefully explores every parrhesiatic aspect in the name of a true knowledge that would itself be free from the anguishes and vagaries of power; parrhesia would be a kind of practice that observes this power and wrestles with it for the benefit of all. The findings from the study show that leadership flatterism still dominates across Africa corporations and employees are not positioned and free to call ‘a lion a lion. The paper recommends the adoption of parrhesia as a panacea to the challenges facing most corporations in Africa. Perhaps, all corporations and their leadership should accept that it is time for the ethics of fearless speech, to transform specific intellectuals as those who- like the leaders of tomorrow- will ultimately see and find themselves positioned in the interstices of power, knowledge, authority and technology. And with that kind of privileges’ must work towards transforming how our African corporates and institutions work. Importantly so, the study recommends that a good mentor (leader) demonstrates and embodies the critical attitudes, behaviours, and values of the parrhesiastes, and also should allow the employee to practise parrhesia by cultivating a non-hostile environment. The study further reiterates that those who represent the power/knowledge base and have the ability to influence discourses must be held accountable to parrhesia fallout. The study proposes further research on a comparative basis of parrhesia practices in Africa, Europe and Asia. And finally, another study on parrhesia and whistleblowing needs to be conducted on a comparative basis. Keywords: Parrhesia, whistleblowing, interlocutor, truth-telling, corporate performance, culture, leadership

West Africa and the Middle East: Cursed by Natural Resources []


It can be considered that a country with an abundance of natural resources has the advantage to grow faster in terms of the economy than a resource-poor country. But the reality seems different as the countries with a larger quantity of natural resources experience inferior economic development compared to the countries with fewer natural resources. The resource curse refers to a complex phenomenon that countries with plenty of natural resources fail to take benefit from these resources that other countries enjoy. This resource curse leads to conflicts; both internal and external. In the modern era, resource conflicts revolve around water, land, energy; particularly oil and gas, precious metals such as uranium and gold. This paper describes the existence of the resource curse in the Middle East and West Africa and how it plays a negative role in the underdevelopment of these regions.

INVESTIGATING DETERMINANTS OF CAPITAL STRUCTURE A CASE OF PAKISTANI FOOD, BEVERAGES AND TOBACCO FIRMS []


The objective of this paper is to empirically look into the determinants of capital structure for food, beverages and tobacco firms of Pakistan. For this purpose leverage is taken as response variable while profitability, firm size, growth opportunity, tangibility, non-debt tax shield, taxes, liquidity, payout ratio, volatility and uniqueness are chosen as stimulus. This paper employs new data base from market and accounting data from Karachi stock exchange listed18 food, beverages and tobacco companies for the year 2006-2011. From the author’s knowledge it’s a first study that explores the determinants of capital structure specifically for food industry of Pakistan. Moreover, this study includes nine variables including one new variable uniqueness as stimulus which was not included in any previous study regarding Pakistan.

Managing logistics and supply chain for an efficient operation in warehouse []


The logistics services industry plays a distinct and major role in providing to the best customer service in terms of transportation, delivery and storage. Companies compete in providing logistics services from warehousing to final transportation and delivery, and they use the best methods to meet customer needs and provide the best possible service. This research examines the evaluation of the business model of companies in in the field of supply chain and logistics operations and the identification of potential gaps, if any. Organization’s current infrastructure and technological skills, versus company requirements and market facts. Various methods and methods will be used to collect data and information. First, the information will be collected from the primary sources through the interview and the questionnaire. The person with whom the interview will be conducted is the quality officer of the company. In order to know the mechanism and quality of work and know their opinions about working in warehouse. Second, information will be collected through (magazines, articles, books and related websites), these are called secondary sources, and all of this will support the project.

AUDIT QUALITY AND EARNINGS MANAGEMENT OF LISTED NON-FINANCIAL COMPANIES IN NIGERIA []


This study determines the relationship between audit quality and earnings management of listed non-financial companies in Nigeria. Expost-facto research design was used and data were extracted from the annual reports and accounts of the non-financial companies for the period 2012 to 2018. The data were analysed using Arellano-Bond dynamic panel-data estimation technique. The findings revealed that the coefficient of the lagged Discretionary Accruals (DAt-1) reveals a negative and statistically significant effect on current discretionary accruals (DAt), audit firm size has a negative and significant relationship with earnings management, auditor firm independence, auditor tenure and audit firm leading partner rotation has positive but not significant effect on earnings management. However firm size, net cash flow to total assets and return on assets (ROA) exhibits a negative and significant relationship with earning management. The study concludes that audit quality reduces earning management of listed non-financial companies in Nigeria. _____________________________________________________________________________ Keywords: Audit Quality, Earnings Management, Non-financial companies

Economic Evaluation of Laser Land leveling on Direct Seeded Rice in Rice-Wheat cropping system: A field survey []


A field survey was conducted in district Hafizabad during Kharif 2018 for economic evaluation of Laser Land leveling on Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) in Rice-Wheat cropping system particularly to estimate the effects on water saving and water productivity. The results indicated that with laser leveling, farmers could save irrigation water by 11.76%, energy by 10.71% and obtained 21.54% higher yields in DSR. The irrigation duration and total applied water depth was reduced to 9.52% and 14.10% in laser leveled DSR crop as compared to traditional leveled fields. The average water productivity in rice has improved by 30.43%. The average net return from the laser leveled field was 46.54% higher in DSR than that from the traditional leveled field mainly due to declined in costs of irrigation (21.35%) and weeding (10%). The BCR of 2.35 was computed for LLL DSR in comparison to 1.90 for conventional DSR crop. It was concluded that this technology has a great potential for optimizing the water-use efficiency in DSR cultivation without disturbing and harmful effect on the productivity of paddy crop; hence it could be adopted for uplifting of rice production and economic growth. Keywords: Economic Evaluation, DSR, Laser Land Leveling, Rice-Wheat, Survey

Vital Role of Medicinal Plant and Vitamin D in the Treatment of Covid19 and other infectious diseases. []


The first COVID-19 test was held in Wuhan, Chinese, at the end of December 2019 and was rapidly spread in China and then rapidly spread to 209 different countries as a result of this experiment. COVID-19 deeply affected world trade and killed around the world estimated at 7.7 million people. In this review article, we will examine how vitamin D can control the corona in the future, as well as the extent to which certain antiviral plants will affect the corona.

ANALYSIS ON THE READINESS OF TAN TAO UNIVERSITY (TTU) TO OFFER AN MBA PROGRAM []


This study provides a strategic analysis on Tan Tao University MBA Program. The main objective of this study is to analyse the readiness of the Tan Tao University to offer an MBA Program and the effectiveness of the curriculum of the proposed MBA Program focusing on four areas such as human resource, facilities and equipment, research aspect and opportunities for development and formulate recommendations based on the findings that would boost the SBE MBA Program. Data is collected through questionnaire using convenience sampling in order to give a comprehensive view of students and faculty members’ perceptions. Data collected have been presented in tabular forms using weighted mean and percentage to facilitate understanding of the study. Managers of today’s organization must comprehend the essentials of individual and group behaviour if they are to motivate and communicate with others in the organizations. They must understand administrative processes if they are to plan and organize its operations. They must familiarize themselves with mathematical and statistical procedures if they are to efficiently control what goes on in an organization. Every company has its leaders and managers. They are the people who get things done, make things happen, and make the decisions that will make the difference between success and failure. It is this special breed of accomplished professionals for whom the Graduate School of Business of Tan Tao University is designed.

IDENTIFY THE RISK AND MITIGATION POTENTIALS OF LANDSLIDES: CASE STUDY OF MARAGALA MOUNTAIN RANGE IN MONERAGALA SRI LANKA []


Landslides have become one of the major disasters in Sri Lanka which has a devastative impact on anthropogenic activities. Being the highest mountain range in Monaragala district, Maragala Mountain has also classified as a landslide-prone site. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to identify the landslide risk areas and the potentials of landslide risk mitigation. Questionnaires, interviews, field observations were mainly used as qualitative methods of data collection and secondary data from the NBRO and Survey Department were used as the quantitative data. Satellite images were used to identify the potential landslide zones and land use. According to the analysis Viharamulla Grama Niladhari Division was identified as the high-risk area for landslides. Based on qualitative data it was clear that there is a lack of awareness about landslide hazard among the community, as well as authorities. There are several cases of rockfall which happened during the past decade yet people are reluctant to inform the authorities. The main reason is the lack of awareness and they never consider it as a potential risk. If the authorities can make people aware of there is a high possibility of mitigating a future devastating landslide event. Lack of vision, frameworks, plans and non-interconnected policy practices keep the risk strong. It is always recommended to empower regional level authorities should make decisions on the possible disaster risks, mainly in the identification of risk. Therefore, this study has mainly identified the potential risk of landslide and it is the time to take necessary actions to mitigate the potential loss before it is too late.

Who tolerates the Burden of Taxes in Pakistan? Theoretical Consideration []


The sole objective of this study is to determine who tolorates the burden of taxes in Pakistan. The principle of equity of taxation is not simply exaggerated by who gives taxes and as well as who does not give. There are two important issues in this senrio first half of the population survive under the poverty line and tax to GDP ratio is to much low. After analyzing different studies, it is found that the system of tax within Pakistan is slightly regressive, for the reason that the structure of tax is consumption taxes oriented, there are no effective taxes impose on gains on capital as well as taxes on individual income. Alternatively, the collection of taxes is relatively low in Pakistan as evaluated other countries in the world. Here we strongly require new tax policy which is more direct tax oriented rather than indirect tax.

: Study of warehousing information technology practices and their impact on the performance []


The warehouse department of any company is considered one of the essential departments for it because it is regarded as the department that communicates with the companies that supply the materials and tools for the company. One of the crucial things that the department must pay attention to is efficiency because it must be available to employees who work in warehouses. In contrast, this study focused on warehousing information technology practices and their impact on performance of organizations. The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the information technology system in the warehouse. Also, one of the methods used by the researcher to obtain information and data, in terms of primary sources, is to interview the warehouse manager and distribute the questionnaire to 69 employees. This purpose is to verify the effectiveness of warehouse IT practices. As for secondary sources, both magazines, books, and the Internet were used to obtain sufficient information and data that were relevant to the researcher's topic.

Impact of University-Wide Extension Program on Intellectual Wellness of Third Agers, Structural Growth, and National-International Goals []


Impact of University-Wide Extension Program on Intellectual Wellness of Third Agers, Structural Growth, and National-International Goals Lincoln V. Tan Ph.D. ID 000000342515099 rabadanvalmorida@gmail.com Bukidnon State University Fortich St. Malaybalay City, Bukidnon 8700 Philippines Keywords: intellectual wellness, organizational development, third agers, input, outputs, outcomes, impact Abstract Intellectual wellness stimulates innovatively, encouraging scholarly undertakings. A mentally healthy person maximize the use of resources accessible to magnify personal understanding and enhanced abilities along with growing possibilities for sharing. An intellectually fit individual customized the logical and traditional events in the classroom and beyond shared with the social resources and knowledge within the academe and the external- larger community. From an extension program was designed and implemented to address the holistic wellness activities among third agers. This paper aimed to determine the impact of the program on the intellectual wellness of third agers, organization development, and national-international goals. With this aim, result chain was used as framework to analyse the interrelation between the implementation and its results at different levels. Descriptive methods research design was used, it gathered data through interview and document analysis using previous accomplishment reports. Evaluator-made survey questionnaire was employed to estimate the quantitative impact of the program. Results revealed that the impact of the extension program produced considerable outputs and outcomes, eventually they impacted intellectual wellness of third agers and organizational development of the association. Quantitatively, the wellness program had a high impact on the intellectual wellness of third agers.

Investigating The Impact Of 4th Industrial Revolution Technologies On The Performance Of Warehouses []


Supply Chain Management is a group of operations in a company that controls the management of the supply respecting goods or services, information, and the storage of goods through planning, coordination, and control of activities in a warehouse. The warehousing process to achieve a profit for the companies by maintaining the storage of goods, This research focuses on studying the impact of the techniques of the fourth industrial revolution on the performance of warehouses in Oman. Knowledge of the role of the fourth industrial revolution of technology in developing the future of warehouses and their impact on the organization, employees and associated work procedures will be discussed in detail. The study is going to help business improvements in warehouses in Oman in different ways through the application of the fourth industrial revolution. Data will be collected from two types of sources, primary and secondary sources. Through the studies and findings demonstrated by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, company must implement the technology in their work functions which may be in form of artificial intelligence, robots, blockchain, the Internet of things, and other advanced technologies that in turn enhance and improve the management and performance of warehouses. The Fourth Industrial Revolution increases efficiency and increases productivity in addition to reducing errors. Before applying any of the techniques of the fourth industrial revolution, the company must plan the correct and optimal planning for choosing which of these technologies is appropriate for the company to obtain the desired results