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The purpose of this paper is to explain how and why the intangible critical success factors (CSFs) determine the outcomes of public-private partnerships (PPP) projects in e-governance.

Drawing from the literature, PPP was conceptualized as an organization which facilitates the creation of social capital. It is argued that the intangible CSFs correspond to the key dimensions of the social capital that drives the development of intellectual capital in the course of addressing the challenges faced during the execution of an e-governance project. These efforts determine the accomplishment of the desired project objectives. The emergent framework was applied to an e-governance PPP project to anecdotally exemplify how the deficiency of organizational characteristics impedes the formation of social capital, resulting in project failure.

A theoretical framework was developed to illuminate the mechanisms and the attendant propositions that explain how and why the intangible factors influence the PPP outcomes.

This study fills a critical gap in the literature on PPP projects in general, and on e-governance projects in particular. It also extends the application of the social capital framework from an intra-organizational to an inter-organizational context.

The results of this study foster a better understanding of the drivers of success in managing a PPP model in e-governance initiatives.

This research work would help in improving the formulation and management of PPPs in the emerging economies, which could potentially enhance the societal outcomes.

The explanatory framework of this research serves as a useful perspective to address policy and program implementation issues of PPP initiatives in e-governance.

The objective of this study is to compare the perceptions of Chinese and Hong Kong auditors towards auditor independence. There is growing concern about auditors' independence in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) as a result of the rapidly changing business environment. These include the fast economic growth, changes in the accounting and auditing requirements including increases in demand for auditing services, competition and the status of accounting profession in the PRC. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether these changes affect the perceptions of auditor independence. The factors used in this study include the size of audit fee, provision of management advisory services, tenure of services provided and the relationship between the client and the auditor. The data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The overall hypothesis of a difference in the perceptions of Hong Kong and Chinese auditors was found to be significant. The results provide some indications of the stage of development of the accounting profession in China and the directions in harmonizing with international practices. Though there are some limitations of this study, it provides information for limited research in the accounting profession in China and highlights several areas for future study.

As a territory of the UK (until 1 July 1997), Hong Kong followed the UK accounting and auditing standards quite closely, in most cases mirroring the requirements. However, there was a departure regarding the elimination of the statutory audit of small private companies in the UK in 1994, but this was not followed in Hong Kong. An audit is not required for small private companies in the USA either. This study evaluates the perceived value of the small companies’ audit in the opinion of two interest groups that are most affected by this requirement: small private limited companies and small audit firms. Results indicate that both groups of respondents consider the audit to be a valuable experience. While this result is not unexpected from the partners/proprietors of small audit firms, who benefit most from the mandatory audit requirement, it is a surprise from the small companies’ perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how manufacturing strategies could affect the supplier selection criteria used by business firms.

Survey strategy was used to empirically understand the research argument. First, principal component factor analysis was employed to validate the underlying structure of the supplier selection criteria. Then, simple regression analysis was employed to test the research hypotheses.

Organizations pursuing lean strategies will emphasize factors that improve their efficiency when selecting their suppliers, while organizations pursuing agile strategies will assert factors that improve their ability to respond to customer unique requirements when selecting their suppliers.

This study provides new insight for researchers to understand the effect of manufacturing strategies on the classification of supplier selection criteria. However, the small sample size might limit the ability to generalize research findings. Further research is required to confirm the findings using a wider sample.

This research provides practitioners with useful insights into how to select their suppliers based on their manufacturing strategies.

This paper classifies supplier selection criteria into three distinct groups: lean, agile, and common capabilities. Lean capability refers to the list of criteria that are highly relevant in selecting suppliers for lean implementers. Agile capability refers to the list of criteria that are highly relevant in selecting suppliers for agile implementers. Finally, common capability refers to the list of criteria that have comparable relevance in selecting suppliers for both lean and agile implementers.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of agile manufacturing (AM) on business performance and operational performance (OP) dimensions in manufacturing companies in Jordan. It also explores the indirect effect of AM on business performance through OP dimensions of cost, quality, delivery and flexibility.

The study analyzes survey data collected from 282 manufacturing companies from different industries in Jordan. Validity and reliability analyses were performed using SPSS and Amos, and the research hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling.

The results demonstrated that AM positively and directly affected business performance. It also positively affected OP dimensions of quality, delivery and flexibility. However, cost performance was not significantly affected by AM. In addition, quality performance and flexibility performance fully mediated the relationship between AM and business performance, whereas cost performance and delivery performance did not show mediating effects.

To the best of the knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the mediating effects of OP dimensions on the relationship between AM and business performance. In addition, a limited number of previous studies investigated the performance outcomes of AM. Furthermore, this area is under-investigated in the Middle East in general and in Jordan in particular.

To perform 3D unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier‐Stokes (URANS) simulations to predict turbulent flow over bluff body.

Turbulence closure is achieved through a non‐linear k−ε model. This model is incorporated in commercial FLUENT software, through user defined functions (UDF).

The study shows that the present URANS with standard wall functions predicts all the major unsteady phenomena, with a good improvement over other URANS reported so far, which incorporate linear eddy viscosity models. The results are also comparable with those obtained by LES for the same test case.

When comparing the computational time required by the present model and by LES, the accuracy achieved is significant and can be used for simulating 3D unsteady complex engineering flows with reasonable success.

More stringent emission standards are being promulgated all over the world for regulating and decreasing the levels of emission more so caused from on-road vehicles and engines and for improving the air quality problems.

In this study, an attempt has been made to experimentally analyze the performance and emission characteristics of the premixed charge compression ignition (PCCI) mode assisted by a pilot injector.

The results indicate that brake thermal efficiency marginally decreases, and specific fuel consumption increases in all PCCI modes, and HC, CO emissions are higher in the case PCCI modes and oxides of nitrogen and soot levels are considerably reduced in the case of diesel PCCI-biodiesel and petrol PCCI-biodiesel modes.

As obtaining very lean homogenous mixture is hard, it becomes difficult to sustain PCCI mode over the operating range of varying speeds and loads to effectively control the PCCI combustion over the operating range.

Being a responsible human being, we all have the responsibility in keeping this world cleaner, free from all sort of pollution. In this regard, the concept of waste recycling and energy recovery plays a vital role in the development of any economy. This has led to resource conservation and pollution reduction.

The present work Jatropha oil methyl ester (JOME) was chosen as fuels for PCCI mode. Investigations were carried out with blends of JOME with diesel in PCCI combustion mode to evaluate the performance, combustion and emission characteristics of these fuels.

The idea of implementing supply chain management (SCM) principles for the construction industry was embraced by construction stakeholders to enhance the sector's performance. The analysis from the literature revealed that the implementation of SCM in the construction industry enhances the industry's value in terms of cost-saving, time savings, material management, risk management and others. The construction supply chain (CSC) can be managed using the pull or push system. This chapter also discusses the origin and proliferation of SCM into the construction industry. The chapter revealed that the concept of SCM has passed through five different eras: the creation era, the use of ERP, globalisation stage, specialisation stage and electronic stage. The findings from the literature revealed that we are presently in the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) era. At this stage, the SCM witnesses the adoption of technologies and principles driven by the 4IR. This chapter also revealed that the practice of SCM in the construction industry is centred around integration, collaboration, communication and the structure of the supply chain (SC). The forms and challenges hindering the adoption of these practices were also discussed extensively in this chapter.

The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon the impact of the original work and provide an updated model to reflect the changing environment for supply chains. In 2000, a migratory model for supply chain evolution was proposed.

The authors start by analysing the content of the papers that have cited the original Christopher and Towill (2000) paper. The development of an updated migratory model is informed by the findings from this, and then demonstrated through a case study of the book supply chain.

Despite being the major contribution, the majority of citing papers actually use other parts of the original work, and some potential reasons for this are proposed. An extra stage is added to the migratory model, reflecting a customer centric strategy.

Given that the migratory model appears under-researched, the authors identify this as an opportunity for future research and suggest that methods less common in supply chain management are used.

The updated migratory model can be used by supply chain managers to develop appropriate supply chain strategies for their organisations, while emphasising that many of the underlying tools to enable this reflect traditional industrial engineering approaches.

The updated migratory model represents a new contribution to understanding the evolution of supply chains.

This study examines the impact of inter-organisational justice (i.e. distributive, procedural and interactional) in the buyer–supplier relationship on supply risk and, in turn, on a firm’s marketing and financial performance.

A structured survey was administered both online and in-person to Jordan-based manufacturing companies. The 137 responses received were analysed using partial least structural equation modelling.

The study found that while establishing both procedural and interactional justice in the relationship has a negative impact on supply risk, promoting distributive justice, surprisingly, has no impact. Moreover, supply risk was found to be detrimental to the firm’s marketing and financial performance.

This study considers only the direct role of inter-organisational justice in reducing supply risk. Future research could enhance our understanding of this role by exploring the underlying mechanisms and conditions that could govern it.

Managers can alleviate supply risk by ensuring procedural and interactional justice in the relationship through involving suppliers in the decision-making processes, consistently adhering to established procedures and communicating transparent and ample information.

Addressing supply risk can help in maintaining community resilience and economic stability.

The study highlights inter-organisational justice as a new approach to mitigating supply risk. Moreover, by examining how supply risk can affect a firm’s marketing performance, it also highlights a new implication of supply risk. Furthermore, by exclusively examining the impact of supply risk on a firm’s financial performance, the study provides a more nuanced interpretation of the effect of supply risk and how it can be reduced.