Search results

This paper aims to present the implementation of a multi-layer radiation propagation model in simulations of multi-phase flow and heat transfer, for a dissociating methane hydrate reservoir subjected to microwave heating.

To model the induced heterogeneity due to dissociation of hydrates in the reservoir, a multiple homogeneous layer approach, used in food processes modelling, is suggested. The multi-layer model is incorporated in an in-house, multi-phase, multi-component hydrate dissociation simulator based on the finite volume method. The modified simulator is validated with standard experimental results in the literature and subsequently applied to a hydrate reservoir to study the effect of water content and sand dielectric nature on radiation propagation and hydrate dissociation.

The comparison of the multi-layer model with experimental results show a maximum difference in temperature estimation to be less than 2.5 K. For reservoir scale simulations, three homogeneous layers are observed to be sufficient to model the induced heterogeneity. There is a significant contribution of dielectric properties of sediments and water content of the reservoir in microwave radiation attenuation and overall hydrate dissociation. A high saturation reservoir may not always provide high gas recovery by dissociation of hydrates in the case of microwave heating.

The multi-layer approach to model microwave radiation propagation is introduced and tested for the first time in dissociating hydrate reservoirs. The multi-layer model provides better control over reservoir heterogeneity and interface conditions compared to existing homogeneous models.

The study aims to understand the role of different streams of oil shocks (demand, supply and risk shocks) on the oil-importing and exporting countries' stock returns. The study also examines the impact of crude oil shocks across the economic regimes and market states. Besides, the role of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008 in shaping the oil–stock relationship is also investigated.

The authors revisit the impact of oil shocks on emerging equity markets by using the novel shock decomposition algorithm proposed by Ready (2018). The authors consider 24 emerging equity markets for the period spanning over July 15, 2002, to June 18, 2018, and bifurcate them based on oil dependence. The authors use rolling and dynamic conditional correlation analysis to understand the time-varying co-movements between oil prices and stock returns. The regime and state-specific dependence of stock returns on the structural oil shocks are captured by the Markov regime switching and quantile regression models.

The authors find that the demand shocks are positively associated with stock markets, whereas the supply shocks are negatively related, except in some of the oil-exporting countries. The risk-based shocks also appear to have a negative association with stocks. The authors do not find evidence of strong regime dependence and the direction of relationship across the high and low regimes is somewhat stable. Further, the authors observe an intense oil–stock relationship in the bearish market conditions. Besides, the authors also report evidences of changes in oil–stock relationship onset the GFC.

This is among the first studies to use the oil shock decomposition algorithm of Ready (2018) in the context of emerging equity markets. Additionally, oil shocks' role on the stock market movements across the regimes and market states is studied comprehensively. Thus, the nature of oil shock and the extent to which the emerging markets are exposed is observed in this study.

The purpose of this study is to explore multiple stakeholders managing the different type of knowledge in a flood-prone area. Different stakeholders hold different types of knowledge in their area of interest, and both knowledge streams have their intrinsic potentials and limitations. In this paper, the issue of knowledge complementarity is explored in the context of flood hazards. Hazards such as floods may appear messy, unpredictable, with unsorted and unorganised forms of data, information and knowledge on the part of diverse stakeholders.

Case study design had been used in this study to explore how stakeholders: Orang Asli, Malay, and humanitarian organisations manage the differences in terms of type of knowledge each of them have. To illicit the response from participants from each of the stakeholders, in-depth interviews had been used.

This research has led to the development of a conceptual framework based on the case study. The lessons learned from the framework is discussed, together with the barriers to their implementation.

This paper presents a research case study on multiple stakeholders in the district of Pekan, the state of Pahang, Malaysia, and how these multiple stakeholders manage flood hazards with their different types of knowledge.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between accounting conservatism, corporate governance and political connection in listed firms in Malaysia where political influence plays a significant role in the capital market and in many business dealings.

By utilizing 824 firm-year observations comprising large listed companies over a period of four years from 2004, this study uses ordinary least squares regression models to investigate the relationship between accounting conservatism, corporate governance and political connections in Malaysia. Multiple measures of conservatism developed by Basu (1997) and Khan and Watts (2009) are employed.

The results show evidence of accounting conservatism (bad news being recognized earlier than good news) in Malaysia. Further, the results reveal that better corporate governance structure in terms of board independence is positively associated with accounting conservatism while management ownership is negatively associated with it. However, political connection has a negative moderating effect on the positive relationship between accounting conservatism and board independence. The results also suggest political connections have a positive association with firm’s future performance.

This study is the first in investigating the effect of political connections on accounting conservatism in Malaysian context and how political connections negatively affect the monitoring role of the corporate boards. By directly measuring political connection and controlling for various corporate governance mechanisms and firm-specific attributes, this study contributes to enhance the authors’ understanding of the political influence in financial reporting quality and firm performance in an emerging market setting.

Growing number of research to identify antecedents of organizational commitment (OC) has been done not only in the West but also in the East including Malaysia because OC is found to be associated with various work-related outcomes. However, to date, the influence of ethnic identity on the OC–rewards relationship was not explored although the leader has to recognize the different cultural underpinnings of each community in a plural society like Malaysia. Therefore, this study investigates the differences in the relationship between rewards and OC between three ethnic groups, Malays, Chinese and Indians, in Malaysia.

Hierarchical regression analysis was used to analyze survey data gathered from 12,076 employees who work for 32 Japanese manufacturing companies located in Malaysia.

The results of the analysis show that satisfaction with the personal evaluation was more associated with OC and role clarity was less associated with OC in Chinese than in other ethnic groups. However, differences were not found in the relationships of other rewards with OC at the 1% significance level. These results indicate that the ethnic difference in the OC–rewards relationship is rather small.

The major limitation concerns generalizability. The validity of the current research should be tested by the data of various foreign affiliates located in Malaysia and other multiethnic societies.

The results of this study could support the revision of human resource management practices, enabling workers to contribute to their companies on a long-term basis in multi-ethnic countries.

Although previous research has elucidated OC–rewards relation in particular countries, it has not met the potential requirements of the managers who face the difference in OC–rewards relation among the employees of different ethnic groups. In this sense, this research was the first attempt to tackle this theme contributing to the literature.

This paper aims to find the pattern of interaction of political actors in situations of tenurial conflict in the watershed through a review of cases of social conflicts of plantation villages around Siak watershed 2009-2014.

In harmony with the Research Master Plan (RIP) of Riau University, the socio-political of Riau Malay society and the fundamental scientific pattern of Riau university, the development of the resources of area and waters and Malay culture, since 2001, the writer has conducted a study related to the issues of natural resources policy, especially oil palm in the era of regional autonomy and decentralization. This is in line with the umbrella of research developed by the University of Riau namely studying various aspects of natural resources (especially oil palm) and human resources of Watershed (DAS). The writer's review is; first, the dynamics of politics in relation to the issue of oil palm plantation policy in Riau. This study shows that there are many central policies when implemented at the local level including watersheds clashing with local interests such as forests and land ownership. Second, the writer has also reviewed the policy issues and problems of oil palm plantations in Riau watershed in 2000. This study shows there are many issues and problems formulated differently by different people.

Mapping and strategy are examined through the study of political strategies on oil palm plantations and use them to answer the following two questions: what kind of political model which can be used to manage the watershed conflict since regional autonomy is implemented. Economic factors are influential in mapping and management strategies for the emergence of tenurial conflicts in the Siak River Rivershed 2009-2014. The tenurial conflict management model of Siak rivershed, which is considered relevant, is a conflict-based model of cooperation with a partnership pattern between local government, watershed civil society and plantation business actors. The change of agrarian structure is directed to the effort to open the space for the accesibility of society in decision-making.

Some of these studies have not reached the tenurial conflicts in the watershed areas, especially Siak watershed. In fact, about 80 per cent of Riau province region consists of watershed. This becomes the originality and gap of this study with previous studies. This research was conducted further as an effort to synergize Riau's development policy with Riau University's research in harmony with RIP that was created and aimed to find the pattern of interaction of political actors in situations of tenurial conflict in Watershed through a review of cases of social conflicts of plantation around Siak watershed in 2009-2014.

Contemporary literature reveals that, to date, the poultry livestock sector has not received sufficient research attention. This particular industry suffers from unstructured supply chain practices, lack of awareness of the implications of the sustainability concept and failure to recycle poultry wastes. The current research thus attempts to develop an integrated supply chain model in the context of poultry industry in Bangladesh. The study considers both sustainability and supply chain issues in order to incorporate them in the poultry supply chain. By placing the forward and reverse supply chains in a single framework, existing problems can be resolved to gain economic, social and environmental benefits, which will be more sustainable than the present practices.

The theoretical underpinning of this research is ‘sustainability’ and the ‘supply chain processes’ in order to examine possible improvements in the poultry production process along with waste management. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and ‘design science’ methods with the support of system dynamics (SD) and the case study methods. Initially, a mental model is developed followed by the causal loop diagram based on in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and observation techniques. The causal model helps to understand the linkages between the associated variables for each issue. Finally, the causal loop diagram is transformed into a stock and flow (quantitative) model, which is a prerequisite for SD-based simulation modelling. A decision support system (DSS) is then developed to analyse the complex decision-making process along the supply chains.

The findings reveal that integration of the supply chain can bring economic, social and environmental sustainability along with a structured production process. It is also observed that the poultry industry can apply the model outcomes in the real-life practices with minor adjustments. This present research has both theoretical and practical implications. The proposed model’s unique characteristics in mitigating the existing problems are supported by the sustainability and supply chain theories. As for practical implications, the poultry industry in Bangladesh can follow the proposed supply chain structure (as par the research model) and test various policies via simulation prior to its application. Positive outcomes of the simulation study may provide enough confidence to implement the desired changes within the industry and their supply chain networks.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the historical influences and chronological development of foreign investors on Malaysian Bumiputera (indigenous) new technology-based small firms (NTBSFs).

Weick’s (1989) conceptual theory building approach is used to conduct a critical historical documentary analysis of the international, local, academic and government inward foreign investments literature from prior Malaysia’s independence (1957) through to 2016.

Increased foreign investment between 1957 and 2016 proved to be effective for Malaysia to transform its economy from a reliance on primary production to a focus on innovation and value-added industries such as the biotechnology and the information and communication and technology sectors.

Local and international literature addressing inward foreign investments towards host countries yielded four key research implications: employment effects, strategic alliances, technology transfer and knowledge transfer. Creation of firm-specific resources in addition to government assistance, particularly through grants and advisory services, significantly contribute to the sustainability of Bumiputera NTBSFs.

Inward foreign investment through subsidiary multi-national companies (MNCs) leads to the formation of strategic alliances between MNCs and Bumiputera NTBSFs, generating employment opportunities, contributing to Malaysia’s development aims.

Charting the chronological development and historical influence of foreign investment from a Malay-Bumiputera perspective provides an in-depth understanding of the evolution of what is now a multi-cultural Malaysian society.

This study provides a chronological development and discussion of the historical influences and implications of foreign investment towards the evolution and sustainability of Malaysian Bumiputera NTBSFs.

The learning outcomes of this study are as follows:

1. the benefits of differential pricing over uniform pricing;

2. the differences between second- and third-degree price discrimination;

3. the rationale for charging different prices for segments having different willingness to pay; and

4. how different prices for the same product can lead to perceptions of unfairness and how companies might manage such an issue.

This case outlines the decisions that Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of Serum Institute of India (Serum), had to make in late April 2021 concerning its pricing for the COVID-19 (Covid) vaccine. Serum was the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines, and its Covishield vaccine had received regulatory approval, but faced an unusual challenge and opportunity. In most countries, governments had procured Covid vaccines from manufacturers and then delivered the vaccines to consumers free of cost. But in India, there was a three-tier pricing system. While the Government of India had committed to free vaccines in government-run public hospitals, it also allowed vaccine makers to directly sell vaccines to state governments, as well as private hospitals, who were at liberty to charge consumers for the vaccines. This created an interesting pricing dilemma for Serum: as different customers had different willingness to pay, should Serum use differential pricing? Would such a tiered pricing system be considered fair? How many different price points should Serum maintain? By exploring these and related decisions that Poonawalla had to make, the case is intended to teach price discrimination.

The case is intended for graduate-level courses in marketing, pricing and economics. This case illustrates the principles of differential pricing/price discrimination. More specifically, it highlights pricing strategies motivated by second- and third-degree price discrimination in an emerging market’s health-care context. From the information in the case, the student can learn to apply the concepts of second- and third-degree price discrimination in marketing. After working through the case and assignment questions, instructors will be able to help students understand the following concepts:

Teaching objective 1: the benefits of differential pricing over uniform pricing.

Teaching objective 2: the differences between second- and third-degree price discrimination.

Teaching objective 3: the rationale for charging different prices for segments having different willingness to pay.

Teaching objective 4: how different prices for the same product can lead to perceptions of unfairness and how companies might manage such an issue.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing

A “state-driven” approach suggests that colonists use census categories to rule. However, a “society-driven” approach suggests that this state-driven perspective confers too much power upon states. A third approach views census-taking and official categorization as a product of state–society interaction that depends upon: (a) the population's lay categories, (b) information intellectuals' ability to take up and transform these lay categories, and (c) the balance of power between social and state actors. We evaluate the above positions by analyzing official records, key texts, travelogues, and statistical memoirs from three key periods in India: Indus Valley civilization through classical Gupta rule (ca. 3300 BCE–700 CE), the “medieval” period (ca. 700–1700 CE), and East India Company (EIC) rule (1757–1857 CE), using historical narrative. We show that information gathering early in the first period was society driven; however, over time, a strong interactive pattern emerged. Scribes (information intellectuals) increased their social status and power (thus, shifting the balance of power) by drawing on caste categories (lay categories) and incorporating them into official information gathering. This intensification of interactive information gathering allowed the Mughals, the EIC, and finally British direct rule officials to collect large quantities of information. Our evidence thus suggests that the intensification of state–society interactions over time laid the groundwork for the success of the direct rule British censuses. It also suggests that any transformative effect of these censuses lay in this interactive pattern, not in the strength of the British colonial state.