Archives-  

Corporate governance model and performance indicators have become subjects of intense debate within and across law, finance and economics. Despite this widespread interest, finding evidence that corporate governance model causes changes in performance indicators has posed a significant challenge. This paper seeks to ascertain whether cross sectional variation between corporate governance model and performance indicators among Nigerian firms. The sample comprises a panel of 40 non-financial firm listed on the Nigerian stock exchange (NSE), covering the period of 2008-2012. The combination of 40 firms for a five-years period provides a balanced panel of 316 observations which can be analyzed using panel data methodology. The performance indicators used in this study is dividend yield. The postulated hypotheses were tested, using the multiple regression analysis. The empirical results suggest that there is a significant positive influence of corporate governance model on dividend cover. The study recommend that corporate governance model should lead to improvements in terms of the decision making process of the companies in Nigeria. Keywords: Corporate Governance Model, Corporate Performance, Agency Theory, Dividend Yield, Nigeria.

We are very happy to announce that from 2nd August 2013, Dr. Anand Kumar Tripathi has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Information Technology for Business Transformation. Dr. Anand Kumar Tripathi is currently working as Director in Ishwarchand Vidya Sagar Institute of Technology (IVSIT-239), Mathura (UP). The appointment of Dr. Anand Kumar Tripathi as member Editorial Advisory Board strengthens the links and will make it easier for prospective authors to establish contact with the journal. Please send any expressions of interest to elixirpublishers@gmail.com. Sincerely Editor-in-Chief

We are very happy to announce that from 3rd August 2016, Dr. Suman Kumari Joshi has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He/She will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Veterinary Science. Dr. Suman Kumari Joshi working as Scientist (Veterinary/Animal Science), Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Bhanjanagar, Orissa University of Agriculture & Technology, Bhubaneswar – 751 003, Odisha, India. The appointment of Dr. Suman Kumari Joshi as member Editorial Advisory Board strengthens the links and will make it easier for prospective authors to establish contact with the journal. Please send any expressions of interest to elixirpublishers@gmail.com.

We are very happy to announce that from 25th February 2013, Dr.P.Ponnusamy has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Mechanical Engineering. Dr.P.Ponnusamy is currently working as Professor & Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Surya Engineering College, Erode-638 107. The appointment of Dr.P.Ponnusamy as member Editorial Advisory Board strengthens the links and will make it easier for prospective authors to establish contact with the journal. Please send any expressions of interest to chiefeditor@elixirjournal.org. Sincerely Editor-in-Chief

Mechanical Properties such as tensile strength, yield strength Impact strength etc and microstructure of weldment of various steels are too much affected by the shielding gases. Shielding gases play an important role during the welding process.it cannot be over look. In this review paper an attempt has to be made to explain the effect of shielding gases on the mechanical properties and metallurgical properties of a weldment. The coarse-grained weld microstructure, higher heat-affected zone, and lower penetration together with higher reinforcement reduce the weld service life in continuous mode gas metal arc welding (GMAW). It is observed that weld bead geometry and penetration is too much affected by the use of shielding gas. This brief review illustrates the effect of shielding gases on weld quality

To assess the impact of textile and dye industrial effluent on soil and crops, the pot culture experiment carried out with maize crop to determine the effect of dye and textile factory effluent in combination with amendments (poultry manure, green leaf manure, biocompost, vermicompost). This study revealed that application of CETP sludge @ 5 t ha-1 + poultry manure @ 5 t ha-1 + NPK increased the soil organic carbon, available N, P, K, Ca, Mg and micronutrients (Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn) in soil under treated effluent irrigation compared to river water irrigation. The sodium content and ESP of soil increased under effluent irrigation. However, it did not produce any toxic effects to the crops. This showed that the treated effluent could be safely used for irrigation along with poultry manure @ 5 t ha-1 and NPK.

Information technology has become an essential component of any financial organization in the present global scenario. Information Technology governance is a concept that has suddenly emerged and become an important issue in the information technology field. It has been observed by researcher banks in India are using IT based systems from last three decades for performing different banking functions but their implementation is done in a disorganized manner. Therefore implementation of IT is not as effective as it should be. In fact implementation is not everything all but its prefect governance is a must to get the optimum benefits of IT enabled modern technologies. For getting real fruits of IT, proper IT governance is required. This article tries to highlight importance of IT governance, obstacles in IT governance and implementation framework for IT governance in banks.

The application of finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) numerical modeling and Hilbert transformation for the image enhancement and detection of buried engineering utilities using surface ground-penetrating radar (GPR) technique is demonstrated in a typical sedimentary terrain of Lagos Nigeria. Accurate delineation and precise location of such subsurface features is of effective use for engineering and environmental studies. A traverse magnetic (TM-) mode formulation was adopted for the models; and perfectly matched layer (PML) absorbing boundaries were implemented for wave absorption at the modeling grid edges. Four synthetic models were developed; three single-layer models of a single pipe buried at depth (z) of 2m, two pipes 10m apart and concrete bars buried at z=1.5m, and one double-layered model of multiple pipes buried at z=1.5m. The electrical properties of the models are; single-layered earth-system (vadose zone): ?_r=9, ?=1mS/m ; pipes: ?_r=12, ?=1mS/m, bars: ?_r=16, ?=1mS/m. The two-layered subsurface, had a thin-layer of air-earth interface of ?_r=1 and ?=0, upper layer of vadose zone sediment and lower-layer (saturated zone) of ?_r=25 and ?=5mS/m. The µ was set equal to its free space value, µ_0 for all the materials. The 2D GPR data acquired in some parts of Southwestern Nigeria and processed using basic functions such as dewow, filtering and application of gains. The resulting GPR radargrams were subjected to advanced attribute analysis using Hilbert transformation (HF) in order to establish the suitability of HF for GPR signal image enhancement that would aid the interpretation of the location of the buried utilities. The model investigations revealed that the electrical and the magnetic properties of the medium hosting the buried utilities, and the depth of burial plays a major role in controlling the image resolution obtained in a sedimentary terrain. The results from the field data are in general agreement with the numerical FDTD modeling experiments.

The metal taking capacity of several types of biomass, agro products and by-products has gained attention during recent years. In the present study, one such material i.e., coconut shell powder was chosen as the biosorbent for the removal of Cu(II) from aqueous solutions. The adsorption capacity of this sorbent was investigated by batch experiments. High adsorption (>90 %) is achieved in the present study.

Organizational culture is defined as an assembly of traditions, values, procedures, conceptions and attitudes which creates the context of activities in the organization. The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of organizational culture on employee job performance. The study sought to determine the influence of organizational culture on employee performance at Kenya Ports Authority. Specifically it sought to determine the influence of competitive culture, entrepreneurial culture, bureaucratic culture and consensual culture on employee performance at Kenya Ports Authority. A descriptive research design was adopted to carry out the study. The target population for the study was 106 employees working for KPA and the sampling frame was a list of employees obtained from the human resource management department. The study utilized simple random sampling technique to draw a sample of 43 employees from the population under study and used a questionnaire as a tool for data collection. Descriptive statistics measures such as mean and standard deviation were used to analyse the data, while inferential statistics, and particularly regression analysis was used to draw inferences about the population under study. During the study, data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 as a tool and analysed data was presented using tables, graphs and charts. Thirty six usable responses were received and analysed. The findings reveal that organizational culture has an influence on employee performance. Competitive culture had a greater influence on employee performance from the four types of culture analysed. The study recommends that management comes up with sound organizational policies that creates enabling environment for employees to exhibit a culture that enhances employee performance.