Production

The study aims at establishing and analyzing the factors influencing growth of microenterprises in Mombasa. The data to be utilized in this research will be directly obtained from entrepreneurs in various business ventures in the economy handling both farm and non-farm activities and other services such as transport. The study will establish how level of education, technology, government legislations and credit accessibility affects the growth of micro enterprises. Most micro enterprises are unable to access credit facilities due to lack of adequate assets to offer as security which serves as a commitment to firms for repayment. It also provides assurance to lenders that the loan will be repaid and if the firm fails, the assets will be sold to recover the loan. Education level of an entrepreneur will also be identified as another influential factor in the growth of micro enterprises. Educated entrepreneurs are identified as less constrained in accessing loan facilities because of acquired knowledge and skills in successful management and effective business proposal writing. The study will also establish how the technology of an enterprise affect its growth. Firms with high level of technologya long time of existence, have a well established financial base hence are regarded as creditworthy by many formal and informal financial institutions. To achieve the objectives of the study, descriptive research design will be used. The study will be carried out in Mombasa County, targeting 1200 microenterprises. A proportionate sample of 120 will be selected using stratified random sampling technique. Questionnaires and interviews will be used for primary data collection. Data collected will be analyzed using tables, pie charts and graphs with the help of SPSS computer package. Conclusions and recommendations will be made and drawn from the findings.

Ecological industry is to realize the harmonious development between economy and environment by planning industrial systems according to material cycle as in the natural ecological system. This paper first discusses the properties of ecological industries, such as industrial ecology is operating and managing traditional industries based on the principles of ecological economics, the core of industrial ecology is the construction and integration of industrial ecosystem. The eco-industry coordinates discrete enterprises and industries and integrates them into optimized industrial ecology chains which establish the “resources - products - renewable resources” of the circular economy mode, industrial ecology helps companies become more competitive by improving their environmental performance and strategic planning; it minimizes energy and materials usage, conserves and restores ecosystem health and maintaining biodiversity. The application of industrial ecology is the practice of eco-industry parks, which are communities of manufacturing and service businesses located together on a common property. The paper further does investigation on strategies for industry ecology system (IES) construction, which include establishing and improving the legal system and industrial policies to promote industrial ecology, collecting more comprehensive information on waste stream from all users, as well as the government should play a key role in coordinating and maintaining the security and stability for the industrial symbiosis network.

Healthcare sector in Malaysia has developed progressively since the early 1990s and was recognized under the Tenth Malaysia Plan (2011-2015) as one of the National Key Economic Areas, or NKEA The introduction of the Eleventh Malaysia Plan has supported this; it places focus on transforming the service sector, giving attention to private healthcare by improving the quality of service and increasing its global competitiveness. However, private healthcare poses a variety of challenges due increasing private healthcare spending, and thus affected the sustainability in the healthcare system. Moreover, sustainability issues are related to increasing costs that lead to waste. In this regard, it was suggested that lean healthcare should be applied in private hospitals and incorporated with sustainability, and needs to be carefully planned to ensure that it is feasible and sustainable in the long run. From previous studies, it is apparent that not many empirical researches have been conducted that pertain to the relationship lean healthcare practices (operational aspects and sociotechnical aspects) and sustainability. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to evaluate does the lean healthcare practices will lead to sustainability based on the triple bottom line; financial, social and environment. Besides, the article will embrace introduction, problem statement, literature review, methodology and conclusion. Finally, it is hoped this research will be extremely insightful for the service sector, specifically from healthcare organizations that are looking into improving their organizational performance and be much more sustainable.

Nowadays, consumers expect manufacturers to provide excellent quality, reliable delivery and competitive pricing. This demands that the manufacturer’s machines and processes are highly reliable. In order to possess highly reliable machines to make sure smooth manufacturing process, many organizations have implemented Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) as the enabling tool to maximize the effectiveness of equipment by setting and maintaining the optimum relationship between people and their machines. Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is used as a measure when evaluating the result of TPM. This paper intends to find out the relationship between TPM implementation and OEE result. Comparison between before and after the implementation of TPM is carried out to see the difference that TPM can bring to an organization. Elements that constitute the OEE equation will be analyzed in order to identify which one that affects OEE result. After identifying, improvement will be made on that element so that OEE result will be improved ultimately. The approach used in this paper is case study and the instruments used to collect data are observation and interview. Microsoft Excel is used to analyze data obtained and calculate OEE. Hence, TPM is a useful tool in helping firm to achieve optimal manufacturing process. By being able to achieve this level of maintenance, an organization will be able to reap competitive advantages brought by TPM, thus, producing quality products that manage to satisfy customers and subsequently generating greater profits.

The paper examined the technical efficiency of ofada rice production system in the prominent rice producing area of Obafemi –Owode Local Government Area in Ogun State, Nigeria. The data used for the study were elicited from 100 ofada rice farmers who were selected using two stage sampling technique. The first stage was the random selection of ten rice producing villages from two rice blocks of Someke and Obafemi in Obafemi Local Government Area, while the second stage was the random selection of ten ofada rice farmers each from the ten villages to make the sample of one hundred ofada rice farmers. The analytical techniques used were descriptive statistics of rice producers, the determination of the rate of return on capital invested (RORCI) on the enterprise after analyzing enterprise profitability and the stochastic production frontier model. The results revealed that an average rice farmer in the study area is a married male of 51 years of age, with farming experience of 19 years, cultivated 3.34 hectares of rice and had little access to credit, extension services and tractor services considered essential for hectarage expansion. The production cost per hectare of rice was estimated as N64,565 with a revenue of N119,222 per hectare. The rate of return on invested capital (RORCI) was 85 percent and this favourably exceeded the prevailing capital lending rate of 18.38 percent. This indicated that on every naira invested in ofada rice production, there was a return of N0.85. It thus buttressed the fact that ofada rice production is a profitable venture in the study area. There was low technical inefficiency in ofada rice production in the study area during the 2008 cropping season which was investigated. Technical efficiency of the farmers varied between 0.52 and 0.98 with a mean of 0.89 and about 85% of the sampled farmers had technical efficiency above 0.80. The finding suggested that there is room for improvement in the production system. The variables that influenced ofada rice output included farm size which was significant at the probability level of P? <0.01, pesticide P?<0.05 and seed at P?<0.01 level .The variables were all positively related to ofada rice output level. It was therefore recommended among others that the rice farmers are old and thus need a succession plan of new generation farmers which should be organized into rice farmers association for easy access to credit facilities, extension services and provided tractor services to increase their farm size which is essential for their economic improvement.

The process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas and other aspects of culture is the currency of the day. This has many aspects and expatriates play several crucial roles in this process of change. There are a number of vital determinants that affect this change. This study examines some of the determinants of expatriate performance in Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach: The extant literature has been studied to explore the theoretical base for the research. And on the basis of the previous research theoretical scope was designed. To analyze the determinants, views of 109 expatriates from four different sectors; education, construction, telecommunication, and press and media were collected through a survey. Multiple regression analysis was employed. Findings: The empirical evidence revealed that 67.3% variation in performance is explained by factors like expatriate selection, cross-culture training, language skills, family related issues, personality characteristics, expatriate motivations. However, the role of personality characteristics is very significant compared to the rest. The results of the correlation and regression analysis supported the hypothesis is supported by the empirical data. Research limitations/implications: The study has some limitations like comparatively small sample size and limited number (sectors) of international organizations in Pakistan. Apart from such limitations the study has all the positives of expatriate research. One notable aspect of the study is that it is one of the first to study expatriation in Pakistan. Practical implications: The research has practical implications for international organizations in providing in-depth understanding regarding the role of these factors in affecting the behavior of their employees and thereby the performance of the organizations and would help them in taking into account these determinants while making reasoned decisions about expatriation in Pakistan. Originality/value: Though the amount of research on expatriation is abundant, contextual studies in Pakistan are in the nascent stages. Such studies (new and replications both) will be of greater value in advancing the cause of good HR practices and encouraging future research in this field.

In the current paper, firstly literature is reviewed and various R & D assessment models in different industries are studied and finally, an assessment model selected that can evaluate R & D capabilities with the approach to new products development in automotive industry. Meanwhile this model has been tested in that article by structural equations and AMOS software, and also it was divided into 9 main classes with 29 indexes. In this research For the research purpose, firstly face validity, and then content validity was calculated using CVR form and Cronbach's reliability was calculated for research tool. Following approval of these items, questionnaires were distributed among 40 experts in Iran Khodro Co. working in engineering, new products development, quality and other units cooperating with R & D unit. Then, scores were given to 29 indexes by automotive industry experts and final score of 29 indexes and 9 main dimensions were evaluated. Considering obtained scores it was specified this company has highest capability in financial capability (80.83%) and technology capability (80.08%) dimensions compared to other dimensions. Also, it has lowest capability in strategic capability (61.38%) and customer and market capability (62.03%)dimensions compared to others. In addition, intellectual capital (70.17%), organizational structure (71.17%), research and design (73.17%), management (73.42%), and new products development process (77.50%) capabilities are in average level compared to other dimensions. Finally, some recommendations are made regarding dimensions and indexes with lower score in the organization.

The trend of the integration of trade and investment makes many inconsistent conclusions of the research on the relationship between economic growth and single trade or foreign direct investment. The combinability of industry internationalization patterns, for import, export and FDI of inflow and outflow, as well as their dynamic evolution law determines the nonlinear characteristic of internationalization growth effect. By putting the four internationalization patterns into a uniform production function and using Zhejiang manufacturing industry data of the year from 2002 to 2008, this paper does an empirical research on the non-linear relationship between the growth of Zhejiang manufacturing industry and the three kinds of internationalization patterns, namely, import, FDI and export. It is indicated that there exists a U-shaped relationship between Zhejiang manufacturing industry growth and the dependence of import and FDI, while an inverted U-shaped relationship between Zhejiang manufacturing industry growth and export dependence. In the present Zhejiang manufacturing industry, export can promote the growth of most manufacturing industry. But import and FDI are not conducive to the growth. The future internationalization development should enhance export and FDI level to exceed its critical value. Besides, export of most industry need to prevent the excessive growth and overleap the critical value of growth promotion too early. It’s concluded that now China government must adjust the policy of export, import and FDI and consider the differentiation between different industries.

The research was carried out on (600) broiler chick hybrids (Hibrd), in the Technical Institute of Agricultural in Damascus, between 7/1/2010 and 24/2/2010. The birds were divided into 4 experimental groups, each group containing 150 birds, each of which included 3 replicates. Birds were fed in the 1st phase on fodder without cotton seeds, while in second and third phase: Birds in the 1st group (control) were fed on plant feed without cottonseeds, with the second group birds being fed on plant feed with 5% cottonseed meal in the second phase, and 10% in the third phase. Birds in the third group were fed on plant feed with 15% cottonseed meal in the second phase, and 20% in the third phase. Results obtained showed: The addition of cottonseed meal to a plant mixture used in feeding birds in second and third phase, up to 20% of the total mixture, would not affect the cumulative mortality rate. The best profitability was in the second group, which was fed on feed with 5 and 10% cottonseed meal, with about 0.1% compare to control group.

This paper investigates the technical efficiencies of rubber product manufacturing industry in Malaysia. We employed Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). Secondary data from 313 firms that manufacture rubber product was obtained from the Annual Survey Of Manufacturing Industries 2004 by Department of Statistics Malaysia. Variables that are included in this are such as capital (RM), labor, and energy. Results clearly show that the mean technical efficiency of manufactured rubber product industry in Malaysia is 0.70328 or 70.33 percent. Majority of the firms are also fairly efficient in the use of available resources. Some technical assistance such as training programs for the proprietors of the firms and financial support such as subsidies could be offered to boost their production level as rubber is indeed an important component of the manufacturing industry in Malaysia.