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Project Management, Business Ethics.

This case is suitable to be used in advanced undergraduate and MBA/MSc level.

The case highlights the challenges of adopting the green concept by British Council Lahore. The British Council Lahore’s new Library aimed at providing modern twentieth-century library services to the educational community in Lahore was completed in August 2016 and became one of the earliest and highest rated Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Building Design and Construction (BD + C): new construction-certified building in Pakistan. The library building was a stellar outcome of design and innovation, rating high on water use reduction, energy efficiency, use of wastewater technology, sustainable site design, use of green materials and resources, high indoor environmental quality, and innovation. The architect was Raza Ali Dada, the lead architect and partner of the prestigious architectural firm Nayyar Ali Dada & Associates (NADA). It is January 2016, and he faces the problem of a serious impasse with the client (British Council) because of a difference of understanding safety and design priorities of the green project. This may be due to possible inaccurate assessment of component costs by NADA and be caused by the client’s inflexibility with security features of the building. Operational and stakeholder processes that assist and hinder the adoption of green building design in a country like Pakistan can be seen in play in the context. The impasses can, at worse, result in the loss of the entire business from the British Council, or at best, serious delays in project delivery, which would reflect very badly on NADA’s ability to handle construction projects. How can Raza proceed with the negotiations? How can the client be won over before the impasse turned into schedule delays that the firm could not afford?

The learning objectives of this case are as follows:

• to introduce students to the “Green Building” concept and LEED certification and its various levels;

• to highlight the operational and strategic processes that can assist the adoption of green infrastructure in Pakistan; and

• to illustrate challenges associated with the adoption of responsible building design in emerging economies with constrained resources and poor awareness of the need for greener infrastructure among industry clients.

to introduce students to the “Green Building” concept and LEED certification and its various levels;

to highlight the operational and strategic processes that can assist the adoption of green infrastructure in Pakistan; and

to illustrate challenges associated with the adoption of responsible building design in emerging economies with constrained resources and poor awareness of the need for greener infrastructure among industry clients.

The purpose of this paper is to study some chemical reactions of viscose grade pulp (alpha cellulose around 96 per cent) prepared by preoxyacetic acid pulping of bagasse for the preparation of some cellulose derivatives.

Viscose grade pulp was prepared by using ecological chemicals. The viscose grade pulp was subjected to some chemical reactions (e.g. carboxymethylation, cyanoethylation and phosphorylation reactions). The pulping and bleaching which are two important stages involved in the complex process of converting fibrous raw material (bagasse) into viscose grade pulp are also investigated in this paper.

The viscose pulp prepared by peroxyacid pulping of bagasse was subjected to a number of chemical reactions such as: hydrogel and fibrous carboxymethyl cellulose; cyanoethyl cellulose, in which this cyanoethylcellulose (of gel properties) was prepared, the hydrophobic character of the cyanoethylcellulose was changed into hydrophilic character via hydrolysis by NaOH (2.5 per cent w/v) which converts some of the CN groups into COOH; and cellulose phosphate. Infrared spectroscopy of these derivatives was studied. New bands were observed at 3,120, 2,251, 1,200 and 980 cm⁻¹ which characterised to groups, respectively.

The paper documents the preparation of some cellulose derivatives which have high water absorption and can be used as hydrogel materials such as carboxymethyl and hydrolysed cyanoethyl cellulose and ion exchange properties.

To provide a social‐theoretic framework which explains how e‐commerce affects social conditions, such as availability of information and equality of access to information, influences actors' behavior, shapes e‐commerce business models, and in turn impacts industry structure.

Empirical investigation based on one‐hour interviews with owners/managers of nine vehicle dealerships and six vehicle buyers in a large US metropolitan region. The hermeneutic method of understanding was used, involving a circular process from research design and attentiveness to data, to data collection and interpretation. This circular process exemplified the dialectic relationship between the theoretical framework (derived from Habermas's Theory of Communicative Action) and empirical data, through which interpretation and theoretical explanations grounded in the data emerged.

Demonstrates that e‐commerce gives rise to increasing competition among the dealers, decreasing prices and migration of competition to price, decreasing profitability of the average dealer, and erosion of traditional sources of competitive advantage. Moreover, e‐commerce emancipates and empowers vehicle purchasers while reducing the power of automobile dealers.

The research findings focus on the effects of e‐commerce on the automobile distribution industry. However, one could argue that a number of the findings extend to other retailing‐based industries.

The paper illustrates a research methodology that may be useful to study other e‐commerce applications.

This paper illustrates the application of Habermas's Theory of Communicative Action to studying the effect of e‐commerce.

The purpose is to focus on improving the water or metal ion uptake of modified cellulose.

Grafting copolymerisation of hydrophilic monomers such as acrylamide or hydrophobic monomers as acrylonitrile onto cotton linters was performed.

The grafting process has two advantages. The first is to replace the hydroxyl group of C₆ of the glucose units in the substrate by carboxyl group that attract the metal ions from the solution. The second is to decrease the number of the hydroxyl groups in the cotton linters so that the hydrogen bonding between the cotton linters strands decreases and so the crystallinity index of substrate decreases by introduction of this hydrophilic group so it becomes more chemically active.

Partial substitution of hydroxyl groups of cellulose by more hydrophilic ones via grafting reaction followed by alkaline hydrolysis was performed. The effects of different conditions such as temperature, time, initiator concentration, monomer concentration and kind of substrate were studied. The polymerisation per cent, grafting per cent, the grafting efficiency and the nitrogen per cent of the grafted samples were determined. The molecular structures of cotton linters, grafted cotton linters with acrylamide and its hydrolysis product were studied using infrared spectroscopy, which indicates the fixation of the monomers on the cotton linters. Sodium binding capacity and the metal ion uptake of some metal ions by the product were determined.

The water or metal ion uptake of the modified cellulose was improved.

Bagasse and rice straw lignins undergo different treatments, e.g. acid hydrolysis, oxidation with hydrogen peroxide and thermal treatment, before being used as a partial replacement for phenol in phenol formaldehyde resin. These treatments improved the resin formation properties of the lignin. The effect of these treatments on the improvement of the properties of the resin produced has the following sequence: lignin treated with HCl (1‐3N) > lignin treated with H₂O₂ (1‐3 per cent) > thermally treated lignin (120‐140°C). The improvement of the properties of the resin produced from bagasse lignin is greater than that produced from rice straw lignin. The treatment of rice straw lignin with acid increases its ability to form a resin. Treatment of rice straw lignin with acid leads to its increased concentration in the phenol lignin formaldehyde resin with good properties. In general, the resin produced from treated lignin has better properties than resin produced from untreated lignin.

This paper aims to develop a numerical study of the steady natural convection in a rectangular cavity filled with the CuO–water-based nanofluid. It is assumed that the viscosity of nanofluids depends on the temperature and on the nanofluids volume fraction.

The mathematical nanofluid model has been formulated on the basis of the model proposed by Buongiorno (2006). The system of partial differential equations is written in terms of a dimensionless stream function, vorticity, temperature and the volume fraction of the nanoparticles, and is solved numerically using the finite difference method for different values of the governing parameters.

It is found that both fluid flow and heat transfer coefficient are affected by the considered parameters. Thus, the Nusselt number is slowly increasing with increasing volume fraction from 2 per cent to 5 per cent and it is more pronounced increasing with increasing Rayleigh number from 10³ to 10⁵.

Buongiorno’s (2006) nanofluid model has been applied for the flow with the characteristics as mentioned in the paper. A comprehensive survey on the behavior of flow and heat transfer characteristics has been presented. All plots presented in the paper are new and are not reported in any other study.

This case was developed from the author’s personal experience as a participant in one of the health taskforce subcommittees. The author also sought the inputs of the Vice President of Health and Medical Education, the Dean of the Health Sciences College, the Student Affairs Assistant Dean of the Pharmacy College and the previous Vice President of Health and Medical Education. Moreover, secondary data were obtained from the office of the Vice President of Health and Medical Education at Qatar University (QU).

The government of Qatar has consistently provided generous funding for QU over the years. However, recent economic challenges, such as drops in oil prices, have had a negative impact on the country’s GDP and export revenue. In response, QU began to implement a new organizational structure. Specifically, the university proposed merging the three health-related colleges (health sciences, medicine and pharmacy) into a single cluster called the health education cluster. This decision was supported by a broad benchmark of approximately 40 universities worldwide, as well as input from various stakeholders within the university. Forming a cluster was expected to benefit the organization as a whole. However, the decision faced resistance and challenges that required investigation by top management. Would the new organizational structure be accepted by all? Was it feasible to have a single cluster that encompassed three distinct departments within the organization? These are examples of the questions that this case study addresses.

This compact case is suitable for a case study in basic undergraduate, postgraduate and advanced courses in Strategic Management at a business school. The case highlights the need to restructure an organization and the use of strategy formulation and implementation in the framework of management.

Refugee mothers are at a significantly increased risk of suffering from postpartum depression. However, available tools to screen for it often use a Western paradigm of mental health, which may not be culturally appropriate, and may not account for the background stress experienced by refugees. The purpose of this study is to test and validate refugee health screener-13 (RHS-13), which was developed by consultation with refugees from different backgrounds among a group of Syrian refugee mothers living in Beqaa’s valley in Lebanon.

The tool was tested on a sample of 103 women. Internal consistency of the items for each subscale was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha. An interitem correlation was performed to examine the most correlated items on the scale. Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated between each subscale and its diagnostic proxy. To find the best fit cutoff point between sensitivity and 1-specificity, ROC curves were used.

RHS-13 is a reliable and valid tool to detect depression and anxiety among postpartum Syrian mothers (internal consistency 0.803, correlation with patient health questionnaire: 0.63 and correlation with generalized anxiety disorder-7: 0.73). The best fit cutoff points were 12, 15 and 25, indicating the severity of symptoms from mild to severe, respectively.

RHS-13 is a valid tool among postpartum refugees in Lebanon and can be used by primary care physicians, mental health providers and social workers working with refugees from the Middle East to screen mothers for depression and anxiety.

The increased utilization of artificial intelligence-enabled applications (AI-ETs) across the customer journey has transformed customer experience (CX), introducing entirely new forms of the concept. This paper aims to explore existing academic research on the AI-enabled customer experience (AICX), identifying gaps in literature and opportunities for future research in this domain.

A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted in March 2022. Using 16 different keyword combinations, literature search was carried across five databases, where 98 articles were included and analysed. Descriptive analysis that made use of the Theory, Characteristics, Context, Methods (TCCM) framework was followed by content analysis.

This study provides an overview of available literature on the AICX, develops a typology for classifying the identified AI-ETs, identifies gaps in literature and puts forward opportunities for future research under five key emerging themes: definition and dynamics; implementation; outcomes and measurement; consumer perspectives; and contextual lenses.

This study establishes a fresh perspective on the interplay between AI and CX, introducing the AICX as a novel form of the experience construct. It also presents the AI-ETs as an integrated and holistic unit capturing the full range of AI technologies. Remarkably, it represents a pioneering review exclusively concentrating on the customer-facing dimension of AI applications.

随着人工智能应用程序 (AI-ET)在旅途中的使用不断增加, 消费者体验 (CX)得以转变, 引入了全新的概念形式。 本文旨在探索有关人工智能客户体验（AICX）的现有学术研究, 从中找出文献中的空白以及该领域未来研究的机会。

本系统性文献综述（SLR）于2022 年 3 月开工。基于16 个不同的关键词组合, 本综述统共收录并分析了来自 5 个数据库98 篇文献, 采用理论-特征-背景-方法 (TCCM) 框架先后进行描述性分析和内容分析。

该研究概述了 AICX 的现有文献, 开发了对已识别的 AI-ET 进行分类的类型学, 确定了现有文献中的空白, 并在 5 个关键新兴主题下提出了未来研究的机会：1. 定义和动态, 2 . 实施, 3. 结果和衡量, 4. 消费者视角, 5. 情境视角。

本研究建立了全新的视角看待 AI 和 CX 之间的相互作用, 引入了 AICX 这种新颖的体验构造形式, 还将 AI-ET 展示为一个集成了全方位人工智能技术的整体单元。 值得一提的是, 本文代表了一项专门关注人工智能应用面向客户维度的开创性综述。

La creciente utilización de aplicaciones habilitadas por inteligencia artificial (AI-ET) a lo largo del recorrido del cliente han transformado la experiencia del cliente (CX), introduciendo formas totalmente nuevas del concepto. Este artículo pretende explorar la investigación académica existente sobre la experiencia del cliente a través de la IA (AICX), identificando las lagunas en la literatura y las oportunidades para futuras investigaciones en este ámbito.

En marzo de 2022 se llevó a cabo una revisión bibliográfica sistemática (SLR). Utilizando 16 combinaciones diferentes de palabras clave, se realizó una búsqueda bibliográfica en 5 bases de datos en las que se incluyeron y analizaron 98 artículos. El análisis descriptivo que hizo uso del marco Teoría, Características, Contexto, Métodos (TCCM) fue seguido del análisis de contenido.

El estudio ofrece una visión general de la bibliografía disponible sobre la AICX, desarrolla una tipología para clasificar las AICX detectadas, identifica lagunas en la literatura y plantea oportunidades para futuras investigaciones bajo cinco temas emergentes claves: 1. Definición y dinámica, 2. Implementación, 3. Resultados y medición, 4. Perspectivas del consumidor, 5. Lentes contextuales.

El estudio establece una nueva perspectiva sobre la interacción entre la IA y la CX, introduciendo la AICX como una forma novedosa del constructo experiencia. También presenta las AICX como una unidad integrada y holística que capta toda la gama de tecnologías de la IA. Notablemente, representa una revisión pionera que se concentra exclusivamente en la dimensión orientada al cliente de las aplicaciones de la IA.

This study aims to explore the moderating effect of communication barriers (CBs) on the relationship between knowledge sharing barriers (KSBs) and knowledge management (KM), considering the two enablers, technology and organizational culture, in the project context.

The authors adopted survey-based research approach. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), applying the SmartPLS 3.0 software.

The results show the significant and positive effect of both enablers (culture and technology) on KM. Furthermore, the authors identify significant relationship between KSBs and communications barriers. Finally, it elucidated the moderate effect of CBs.

The data are cross-sectional rather than longitudinal, which limits temporal interpretations of the associations between exploitative and exploratory learning and innovative strategies.

The results can guide organization toward cultural and technological issues supporting KM. Moreover, for project managers and practitioners it shows the importance to avoid communications barriers, driving efforts and resources to manage the flow of information efficiently, developing communication processes that integrate the project team and reducing CBs.

The study reveals complex paths that organizations take toward KM. The research findings show how CBs play a critical moderating role in the relationship between KSBs and KM.