Research Problem. Strategic alliances are formed by organizations and institutions to either exploit current resources and competencies or to explore new possibilities. Organizations seek to fully exploit the opportunities open to them so as to enjoy competitive advantage. For them to do that they must have ability to conceive, shape and sustain a wide variety of strategic partnerships (Doz & Xxxxx, 1998). Economic theory view the expansion of business activity beyond the traditional boundary of the firm as motivated by the pursuit of product, rationalization, economics of scale, vertical linkages, and risk sharing (contractors and Lorange, 1988, Xxxxxxxx and Xxxxxxx, 1996). The resources based view postulates that competitive advantages comes from having unique resources that create value in the market place (x.x. Xxxxxxxxxx and Xxxxxxxxxx, 1996; Xxxxx, Xxxxxx and Shuen 1997). Learning theory researchers have argued that firm form strategic alliances as a means of learning and expanding their knowledge and competence base (e.g., Xxxxx 1988a; Xxxxxx, Xxxxx and Xxxxxxxxx, 1996, Inkpen 1998, 2000a, b). In the recent past, higher education sector in Kenya has experienced some dynamic change in the external environment as observed also by Mutua (2004). Xxxx Xxxxxxxx University of Agriculture and Technology is collaborating with thirty middle level colleges in the domestic market. Several studies have been done on strategic alliances but very little in the education and training sector. Xxxxxxxxx et al. (2005), studied strategic alliances in education and training services in Australia. They concentrated on strategic alliances prompted by globalization and need for internationalization, while they ignored strategic alliances formed in the domestic market in the same sector. This study sheds some light on strategic alliances formed between Xxxx Xxxxxxxx University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) and middle level colleges in the domestic market. The study seeks to answer the following questions: What strategic motives drove JKUAT into forming strategic alliances with middle level colleges in Kenya? And, what key challenges are encountered by JKUAT in the management of the alliances.
Research Problem. The issues of security and safety in Air Transportation are not compromised. Indeed, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in its Oversight Audit Function ensures that Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) are maintained worldwide. Real pain or loss are experienced by Nigerians when prominent persons in the society, loved ones and bread winners are killed in gruesome accidents while using air transportation, acclaimed the world over as the safest of all modes. There exist, both within the industry and among the lay public the general opinion that safety levels have declined in recent years. One can recall the crash of the Air Force plane that killed a generation of military officers that were on course at the Command and Staff College, Jaji in September 1993. Also in November 1996, twenty-seven years after the VC 10 crash, another aircraft approaching Lagos Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxx International Airport crashed into the Lagoon at Ejinrin, with the loss of the aircraft, a Boeing 727, operated by ADC Airline Plc with registration number 5N-BBN killing all 145 souls on Board. There was also recently the Kano air disaster that killed a number of people including a Minister of Sports and Youths Development. The event of September 11 in the United States of America is also an example of the psychological impact of catastrophic events that aviation incident and/or accident can herald. In all these, how has the Government and the Aviation parastatals – both the regulatory and service providers contributed to the declining state of safety, security and efficiency in the aviation transport sector? The Nigerian Airways is comatose with no aircraft on ground and even the few African countries with national carriers lack the resources especially technical and personnel capabilities to withstand fierce competition to be heralded by full liberalization or ‘Open Skies’. The poor state of aviation infrastructure in Africa is definitely a problem. Indeed, would enough time not be required by African countries to develop strategic options and action plans to improve air navigation services and airport infrastructure to make them able to meet safety standards and to respond to Liberalization? The problem of poor funding and the inability of the African airlines to attract international fund agencies have to be addressed. Should mergers or alliances by these airlines not strengthen their ability to compete with mega carriers of the advanced countries? In Nigeria, ...
Research Problem. Definition As stated before, we have been incorporated in the Gas-Mat Project to perform our master thesis and to contribute to this large-scaled research project. Our contribution will be to the sub-project 3 called “Corporate-economics model and analysis”. We have intensified our research on the integrated steel plant as suggested by the SINTEF research team. The expectation of the sub-project research team from us is to develop a comprehensive model for optimization in an integrated steel plant. The model will be the extended form of the initial basic code and comply with it, as well as can be integrated further into the model for the whole industrial cluster. The model should allow them to do further economic analysis on the potential plant as it was stated in Section 3.3 in the description of sub-project 3. Furthermore it is crucial that uncertainty has to be taken into consideration when building the model for flexibility. Thus, it seems that a stochastic programming model has to be built. In order to deal with this difficult problem within such large research project we have to first of all understand the work done in the project so far, than conduct literature research related to our topic, see the shortcomings of the code for the plant, produce ideas and develop a valuable optimization model. To build a sufficient and robust model which will provide us with realistic testing and analyzing of potential conditions of future steel plant, we have to search and collect detailed information about steel production and construct a model covering potential characteristics of the facility.
Research Problem. As mentioned in the introduction, there is a scarce amount of SCM literature on how IT affects the SCM concept (Hannås, 2007). Xxxxxxxxx et al (2008) carried out a comprehensive study to develop a conceptual framework which could be used to identify gaps in the SCM literature and indicate in what direction future research should take. Their analysis comprised the nine most popular and well-known relevant academic journals within the field, and by drawing from a pool of 405 articles they identified a number of different subjects investigated within the SCM literature the last decade. Table 1 represents their findings in categories together with a short description, as well as a percentage. The percentage indicates how many articles that fall into the respective category between 1997 and 2006. In other words, the percentage indicates how much each of the categories and subjects has been studied within SCM literature since the concept started receiving academic attention.
Research Problem. Strategic adoption and implementation of SCM SCM is an important branch of research in the business area. Normally the supply chain is applied in the manufacturing sector. In spite of the popularity of the SC concept in the business area, the applicability of SCM research in tourism has not yet been broader studied (Xxxxx et al. 2008, Xxxxxx 2008). Many companies are forced to implement SCM as an opportunity to stay competitive in today‟s world of globalised markets. Many firms formalize business relationships in order to avoid uncertainty and achieve survival in the international business environment where companies are operating (Xxxxxxxx and De Rond 2000). Tour operators` benefits from adoption and implementation of SCM A tour operator is a focal firm linking all the SC partners, acting as an intermediary between tourists and tourism service providers from upstream to downstream of a SC of tourism service. Tour operators are planning and controlling a complete holiday package of accommodation, transport and services, then market directly to tourists or indirectly to travel agents (Center for Environmental Leadership 2003).
Research Problem. Some studies suggest that nearly half of novice teachers leave the profession within the first five years (e.g., Xxxxxx & Xxxx, 2020). Moreover, Xxxxxxxx et al. 2019, who conducted a large-scale comprehensive online occupational health study in February 2012 among public school teachers, noted that teachers who have fewer years’ experience, higher levels of stress, weaker mental health, and who perceive lower organizational support and trust are more likely expected to quit their job. In other words, low job satisfaction levels might be logically connected to or be the cause of teacher turnover. For instance, to support this view, Xxxxxxx and Xxx (2021) pointed out that teachers will become progressively dissatisfied if they are unable to gain what they regard to be critical in their professions. Meanwhile, one of the most common and unique issues in the Kazakhstani education system has also been the attrition of young teachers and their transfer to alternate industries heretofore. For instance, according to the 2018 TALIS survey, 26% of teachers in Kazakhstan reported that they seriously considered leaving the teaching profession within the next five years (OECD, 2020). Nonetheless, in current years, this attitude of teachers may have changed due to the implementation of new educational reforms related to the teacher development, such as salary increases, a growing number of scholarship allocations for the students in the field of pedagogy, and internship opportunities in the leading scientific centres of the world for young teachers and scientists of the country (Xxxxxxxxxx, 2021). Therefore, as presented as part of the research background, to better understand the concept of teacher attrition in the country, the current study attempt to investigate the role that trait EI and teacher self-efficacy has on teacher job satisfaction.
Research Problem. An increase in access to affordable financial services to all Kenyans, particularly the poor is part and parcel of this development strategy. With the use of strategic partnerships between the telecommunication sector and the banking sector it is expected that there will be an increase in the accessibility of financial services and a reduction in transaction cost (Okiro, 2014). According to Xxxxx (2014), 59% of the adult population was found to be either completely excluded or utilizing informal methods. These figures have certainly changed over the past few years as the uptake of mobile money has exponentially grown. There is a growing body of knowledge demonstrating that an increase in access to formal financial services has the potential of moving people out of their poverty trap. However, despite the popularity and advantages associated with strategic alliances that have seen many banks rush to form strategic alliances, few have succeeded (Warui, 2014). It has been projected that the failure rate of strategic alliances could be as high as 70%. Xxxxx and Amit, (2005) have shown that between 30% and 70% of alliances fail, they neither meet the goals of their parent companies nor deliver on the operational or strategic benefits they purport to provide. The success of mobile phone money transfer systems in the Kenya led to a situation where many Kenyan banks considered mobile phone companies a threat to their business, despite the fact that mobile phone services did not act as a bank, nor did they store any received funds within the company but deposited them into a conventional banks. In the recent past research studies on strategic alliances and convergence have been on the increase both globally and locally. In the United States, Xxxxxxx (2011) did a study on the emerging patterns in global telecommunications alliances and mergers. In India, Xxxxxxxxxx (2013) strategic alliance in India under globalized economic scenario and in Germany, Xxxxx and Xxxxxx (2002) conducted a study on the effects of convergence on internationalization and the changing distribution of net value added in large German firms. In Kenya, Xxxxx (2012) did a study on the risk factors influencing the survival of strategic alliances in Kenya; Various studies have been conducted in the banking industry in relation on mobile banking in Kenya. For instance, Xxxxx and Xxxxxx (2013) did a study on the effect of innovation strategy on performance of commercial banks in Kenya; Bor (2014) di...
Research Problem. Strategic alliances and partnerships complement their own strategic initiatives and strengthen their competitiveness in domestic and international markets. (Xxxxxxxx et al 2004). However as the number of strategic alliances continues to surge also see companies getting out of such relationships quickly a trend that indicates that there are intricate issues that have to be handled very well in alliances if they are to grow to maturity to achieve the initial objectives set for them. Xxxx (1994) and Xxxxxxxxxxxx et al, (2005) view alliance success depending on the performance, implementation of the contracted alliance and financial and strategic analysis. Therefore ability of strategic alliance to produce the desired performance depends largely of the structure created, how the relationship is managed and how the cultures of parent organizations influence the integration of the firms. In Kenya, most banks form strategic alliances in direct response to competition and to reduce uncertainty about the future. Co-operative Bank has partnered with technology firms such as Kenswitch to increase the number of ATMs and telecommunication firms such as Safaricom for mobile banking and fee collection platforms. The review of literature shows that several studies have been conducted concerning commercial banks in Kenya. There are a number of studies done on strategic alliance and performance: global studies done include: Xxxxxxx et al (1994), argues that although the characteristics of strategic alliance formation have been well explored in literature, little has been written about the factors associated with strategic alliance success and failure. Moreover, many of the research studies on strategic alliances have not been specifically concerned with the relationship and the interplay of specific factors to be considered by firms entering strategic alliances and the factors contributing to success and failures in such activities. Xxx and Xxxxxx (2001) and Xxxxxxxx (2001), whom are management scholars and practitioners, agreed that most strategic alliances have failed to meet their objectives. Inkpen and Xxxx, (2001) describe strategic alliances as an unstable organizational form. Xxxxxxxxx Xxxxx (2006) also mentioned in (Xxxx, et al., 2000), stated that strategic alliances also failed to meet their expectations because of the little attention that is paid on building the close working relationship and interpersonal connection that unite the two partner organizations. For...
Research Problem. The health sector in Palestine is still in need of more expertise and development, as it suffers from a lack of competencies and resources, which delays the accurate diagnosis of the patient and the patient’s delay in receiving appropriate health services, and reduces the rate of survival. The diagnosis of a pelvic tumor will occur in 5-10% of humans in their lifetime. Although commonly benign, a small percentage are malignant and diagnosis of these at the earliest possible stage is of critical importance (Xxxxxx et al., 2015). Serum biomarker tests are not accurate for diagnosis of the pelvic tumor, so physicians depend on MRI and histopathology to determine types of intervention in pelvic tumor cases. In the Gaza Strip, there are limited studies regarding to the agreement between MRI and pathology finding especially in diagnosis a pelvic tumor cases. Unfortunately, the report of histopathology needs about one month in the ministry of health laboratory to finish and this will lead to a lot of complications to patients and delay patient’s treatment and appropriate intervention. Early detection of pelvic tumor depending on accuracy and agreement of MRI with histopathology findings will help the physicians to monitor of pelvic tumor size and avoid a lot of complications.
Research Problem. A review of the situation shows that little has been done to investigate bullying within the gifted population of students. There is a stereotype that students, who are strong academically, tend not to be bullies (Xxxxxxxx & Xxx, 2006). There is a possibility that it is because the studies conducted focused on the problem of bullying in an environment where those children, who are identified as gifted, and those, who are not, study together, so this group has not been looked at separately (Xxxxxxxx & Xxx, 2006). There are different classifications of the bullying behavior with several categories. Olweus (1994) divides school bullying into two major types: direct, which involves direct physical attacks or threats and indirect, which is characterized by exclusion from groups and social alienation. Sub-types include but not limited to physical bullying, verbal aggression, relational or social bullying, cyber or electronic bullying; some researchers specify psychological bullying (Xxxxxx et al., 2008; Xxxxxxx et al., 2001; Xxxxxx, 1994). With this in mind, the present study will focus on four types of bullying: physical, verbal, relational and cyber (PVRC) among 12th grade students both inside and outside classrooms at a school, which serves gifted and talented students in Kazakhstan.
