Abstract: Managers as the key employees have a very important role in maintaining the workforce performance which is critical to the
construction companies- success in the future. If motivated employees start with motivated managers probably it would seem
plausible if the de-motivated ones start with de-motivated managers. This study aims to analyze the importance of motivated managers to
their successes and construction companies- successes. In this study,
a quantitative method was used and the study area was in Medan, North Sumatera. Questionnaire survey was distributed directly to
construction companies in Medan which are listed in the
Construction Services Development Board. A total of 60 managers responded and the completed questionnaires were analyzed using the
descriptive analysis. The results indicated that the respondents acknowledge the importance of motivation among themselves to the
projects and construction companies- success, implying that it is vital o maintain the motivation and good performance of the workforce.
Abstract: The Implementation of the Union law faces major
challenges today. If for a long period of time, the Community and the
Union have persevered in their legislative vocation, now one can
notice that this large legislative quantity has complicated the task of
knowledge and of application the European standards. Under these
circumstances, it became necessary, in order to give effectiveness to
the European legislation, the development of some operational
application criteria and the generation of some new implementation
tools. The correct application of the European Union legislation by
the national public administrations was considered by the European
Commission as being crucial for further integration and proper
functioning of the internal market. Among the initiatives launched in
the past years to promote the exchange of good administrative
practices in the correct application of European Union legislation,
SOLVIT net has proved to be one of the most effective.
Abstract: Nowadays there is a growing environmental concern
and the business communities have slowly started recognising
environmental protection and sustainable utilization of natural
resources into their marketing strategies. This paper discusses the
various Ecolabeling and Certification Systems developed world
over to regulate and introduce Fair Trade in Ornamental Fish
Industry. Ecolabeling and green certification are considered as part
of these strategies implemented partly out of compulsion from the
National and International Regulatory Bodies and Environmental
Movements. All the major markets of ornamental fishes like
European Union, USA and Japan have started putting restrictions on
the trade to impose ecolabeling as a non tariff barrier like the one
imposed on seafood and aqua cultured products. A review was done
on the available Ecolabeling and Green Certification Schemes
available at local, national and international levels for fisheries
including aquaculture and ornamental fish trade and to examine the
success and constraints faced by these schemes during its
implementation. The primary downside of certification is the
multiplicity of ecolabels and cost incurred by applicants for
certification, costs which may in turn be passed on to consumers.
The studies reveal serious inadequacies in a number of ecolabels
and cast doubt on their overall contribution to effective fisheries
management and sustainability. The paper also discusses the
inititive taken in India to develop guidelines for Green Certification
of Fresh water ornamental fishes.
Abstract: In this paper, a data mining model to SMEs for detecting financial and operational risk indicators by data mining is presenting. The identification of the risk factors by clarifying the relationship between the variables defines the discovery of knowledge from the financial and operational variables. Automatic and estimation oriented information discovery process coincides the definition of data mining. During the formation of model; an easy to understand, easy to interpret and easy to apply utilitarian model that is far from the requirement of theoretical background is targeted by the discovery of the implicit relationships between the data and the identification of effect level of every factor. In addition, this paper is based on a project which was funded by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK).
Abstract: While the explosive increase in information published
on the Web, researchers have to filter information when searching for
conference related information. To make it easier for users to search
related information, this paper uses Topic Maps and social information
to implement ontology since ontology can provide the formalisms and
knowledge structuring for comprehensive and transportable machine
understanding that digital information requires. Besides enhancing
information in Topic Maps, this paper proposes a method of
constructing research Topic Maps considering social information.
First, extract conference data from the web. Then extract conference
topics and the relationships between them through the proposed
method. Finally visualize it for users to search and browse. This paper
uses ontology, containing abundant of knowledge hierarchy structure,
to facilitate researchers getting useful search results. However, most
previous ontology construction methods didn-t take “people" into
account. So this paper also analyzes the social information which helps
researchers find the possibilities of cooperation/combination as well as
associations between research topics, and tries to offer better results.
Abstract: This paper presents an analytical framework for an
effective online personal knowledge management (PKM) of
knowledge workers. The development of this framework is prompted
by our qualitative research on the PKM processes and cognitive
enablers of knowledge workers in eight organisations selected from
three main industries in Malaysia. This multiple-case research
identifies the relationships between the effectiveness of four online
PKM processes: get/retrieve, understand/analyse, share, and connect.
It also establishes the importance of cognitive enablers that mediate
this relationship, namely, method, identify, decide and drive.
Qualitative analysis is presented as the findings, supported by the
preceded quantitative analysis on an exploratory questionnaire
survey.
Abstract: In non destructive testing by radiography, a perfect knowledge of the weld defect shape is an essential step to appreciate the quality of the weld and make decision on its acceptability or rejection. Because of the complex nature of the considered images, and in order that the detected defect region represents the most accurately possible the real defect, the choice of thresholding methods must be done judiciously. In this paper, performance criteria are used to conduct a comparative study of thresholding methods based on gray level histogram, 2-D histogram and locally adaptive approach for weld defect extraction in radiographic images.
Abstract: In this paper presents a technique for developing the
computational efficiency in simulating double output induction
generators (DOIG) with two rotor circuits where stator transients are
to be included. Iterative decomposition is used to separate the flux–
Linkage equations into decoupled fast and slow subsystems, after
which the model order of the fast subsystems is reduced by
neglecting the heavily damped fast transients caused by the second
rotor circuit using integral manifolds theory. The two decoupled
subsystems along with the equation for the very slowly changing slip
constitute a three time-scale model for the machine which resulted in
increasing computational speed. Finally, the proposed method of
reduced order in this paper is compared with the other conventional
methods in linear and nonlinear modes and it is shown that this
method is better than the other methods regarding simulation
accuracy and speed.
Abstract: It has been recognized that due to the autonomy and
heterogeneity, of Web services and the Web itself, new approaches
should be developed to describe and advertise Web services. The
most notable approaches rely on the description of Web services
using semantics. This new breed of Web services, termed semantic
Web services, will enable the automatic annotation, advertisement,
discovery, selection, composition, and execution of interorganization
business logic, making the Internet become a common
global platform where organizations and individuals communicate
with each other to carry out various commercial activities and to
provide value-added services. This paper deals with two of the
hottest R&D and technology areas currently associated with the Web
– Web services and the semantic Web. It describes how semantic
Web services extend Web services as the semantic Web improves the
current Web, and presents three different conceptual approaches to
deploying semantic Web services, namely, WSDL-S, OWL-S, and
WSMO.
Abstract: In this paper performance of Puma 560
manipulator is being compared for hybrid gradient descent
and least square method learning based ANFIS controller with
hybrid Genetic Algorithm and Generalized Pattern Search
tuned radial basis function based Neuro-Fuzzy controller.
ANFIS which is based on Takagi Sugeno type Fuzzy
controller needs prior knowledge of rule base while in radial
basis function based Neuro-Fuzzy rule base knowledge is not
required. Hybrid Genetic Algorithm with generalized Pattern
Search is used for tuning weights of radial basis function
based Neuro- fuzzy controller. All the controllers are checked
for butterfly trajectory tracking and results in the form of
Cartesian and joint space errors are being compared. ANFIS
based controller is showing better performance compared to
Radial Basis Function based Neuro-Fuzzy Controller but rule
base independency of RBF based Neuro-Fuzzy gives it an
edge over ANFIS
Abstract: The resource-based view of the firm regards
knowledge as one of the most important organizational assets and a
key strategic resource that contributes unique value to organizations.
The acquisition, absorption and internalization of external
knowledge are central to an organization-s innovative capabilities.
This ability to evaluate, acquire and integrate new knowledge from
its environment is referred to as a firm-s absorptive capacity (AC).
This research in progress paper explores the link between interorganizational
Social Networks (SNs) and a firm-s Absorptive
Capacity (AC). Based on an in-depth literature survey of both
concepts, four propositions are proposed that explain the link
between AC and SNs. These propositions suggest that SNs are key
to a firm-s AC. A qualitative research method is proposed to test the
set of propositions in the next stage of this research.
Abstract: Knowledge is a key asset for any organisation to
sustain competitive advantages, but it is difficult to identify and
represent knowledge which is needed to perform activities in
business processes. The effective knowledge management and
support for relevant business activities definitely gives a huge impact
to the performance of the organisation as a whole. This is because
that knowledge have the functions of directing, coordinating and
controlling actions within business processes. The study has
introduced organisational morphology, a norm-based approach by
applying semiotic theories which emphasise on the representation of
knowledge in norms. This approach is concerned with the
identification of activities into three categories: substantive,
communication and control activities. All activities are directed by
norms; hence three types of norms exist; each is associated to a
category of activities. The paper describes the approach briefly and
illustrates the application of this approach through a case study of
academic activities in higher education institutions. The result of the
study shows that the approach provides an effective way to profile
business knowledge and the profile enables the understanding and
specification of business requirements of an organisation.
Abstract: This paper attempts to highlight the significant role of
knowledge management practices (KMP) and competencies in
improving the performance and efficiency of public sector
organizations. It appears that public sector organizations in
developing countries have not received much attention in the
research literature of knowledge management and competencies.
Therefore, this paper seeks to explore the role of KMP and
competencies in achieving superior performance among public sector
organizations in Malaysia in the broader perspective. Survey
questionnaires were distributed to all Administrative and Diplomatic
Officers (ADS) from 28 ministries located in Putrajaya, Malaysia.
This paper also examines preliminary empirical results on the
relationship between support for knowledge management practices,
competencies, and orientation in Malaysia-s public organizations.
This paper supports the notion that the practices of knowledge
management at the organizational level are a prerequisite for
successful organizational performance. In conclusion, the results not
only have the potential to contribute theoretically to both
management strategy and knowledge management field literature but
also to the area of organizational performance.
Abstract: This paper is concerned with the production of an Arabic word semantic similarity benchmark dataset. It is the first of its kind for Arabic which was particularly developed to assess the accuracy of word semantic similarity measurements. Semantic similarity is an essential component to numerous applications in fields such as natural language processing, artificial intelligence, linguistics, and psychology. Most of the reported work has been done for English. To the best of our knowledge, there is no word similarity measure developed specifically for Arabic. In this paper, an Arabic benchmark dataset of 70 word pairs is presented. New methods and best possible available techniques have been used in this study to produce the Arabic dataset. This includes selecting and creating materials, collecting human ratings from a representative sample of participants, and calculating the overall ratings. This dataset will make a substantial contribution to future work in the field of Arabic WSS and hopefully it will be considered as a reference basis from which to evaluate and compare different methodologies in the field.
Abstract: Knowledge is the foundation for growth and development. Investment in knowledge improves new method for originate knowledge society and knowledge economy. Investment in knowledge embraces expenditure on education and R&D and software. Measuring of investment in knowledge is characteristically complicated. We examine the influence of investment in knowledge in multifactor productivity growth and numbers of patent. We analyze the annual growth of investment in knowledge and we estimate portion of each country intended for produce total investment in knowledge on the whole OECD. We determine the relative efficiency of average patent numbers with average investment in knowledge and we compare GDP growth rates and growth of knowledge investment. The main purpose in this paper is to study to evaluate different aspect, influence and output of investment in knowledge in OECD countries.
Abstract: Creation of information society, or in other words, a
society based on knowledge, has wide consequences, both on
individual and complete society, and in general – on a economy of
one country. Development and implementation of ICT represents a
stimulant for economic growth. On individual level, knowledge,
skills and information gathered using ICT, are expanding individual
possibilities of persons, enabling them to have access to timely
sensitive information, such as market prices or investment
conditions, possibilities to access Government-s or private
development funds, etc. By doing so, productivity is increased both
on individual and national level and therefore social wellbeing in
general. In one word, creation of information society - a knowledge
society is happening.
This work will describe challenges and strategies that will follow
the development as well as obstacles in creating information society
– knowledge society in Montenegro.
Abstract: The purpose of this research aims to discover the
knowledge for analysis student motivation behavior on e-Learning
based on Data Mining Techniques, in case of the Information
Technology for Communication and Learning Course at Suan
Sunandha Rajabhat University. The data mining techniques was
applied in this research including association rules, classification
techniques. The results showed that using data mining technique can
indicate the important variables that influence the student motivation
behavior on e-Learning.
Abstract: The growing interest on national heritage
preservation has led to intensive efforts on digital documentation of
cultural heritage knowledge. Encapsulated within this effort is the
focus on ontology development that will help facilitate the
organization and retrieval of the knowledge. Ontologies surrounding
cultural heritage domain are related to archives, museum and library
information such as archaeology, artifacts, paintings, etc. The growth
in number and size of ontologies indicates the well acceptance of its
semantic enrichment in many emerging applications. Nowadays,
there are many heritage information systems available for access.
Among others is community-based e-museum designed to support the
digital cultural heritage preservation. This work extends previous
effort of developing the Traditional Malay Textile (TMT) Knowledge
Model where the model is designed with the intention of auxiliary
mapping with CIDOC CRM. Due to its internal constraints, the
model needs to be transformed in advance. This paper addresses the
issue by reviewing the previous harmonization works with CIDOC
CRM as exemplars in refining the facets in the model particularly
involving TMT-Artifact class. The result is an extensible model
which could lead to a common view for automated mapping with
CIDOC CRM. Hence, it promotes integration and exchange of
textile information especially batik-related between communities in
e-museum applications.
Abstract: Evidence-based medicine is a new direction in modern healthcare. Its task is to prevent, diagnose and medicate diseases using medical evidence. Medical data about a large patient population is analyzed to perform healthcare management and medical research. In order to obtain the best evidence for a given disease, external clinical expertise as well as internal clinical experience must be available to the healthcare practitioners at right time and in the right manner. External evidence-based knowledge can not be applied directly to the patient without adjusting it to the patient-s health condition. We propose a data warehouse based approach as a suitable solution for the integration of external evidence-based data sources into the existing clinical information system and data mining techniques for finding appropriate therapy for a given patient and a given disease. Through integration of data warehousing, OLAP and data mining techniques in the healthcare area, an easy to use decision support platform, which supports decision making process of care givers and clinical managers, is built. We present three case studies, which show, that a clinical data warehouse that facilitates evidence-based medicine is a reliable, powerful and user-friendly platform for strategic decision making, which has a great relevance for the practice and acceptance of evidence-based medicine.
Abstract: The purpose of this research was to study the
influence of learning efficiency on local accountants’ job
performance effectiveness. This paper drew upon the survey data
collected from 335 local accountants survey conducted at Nakhon
Ratchasima province, Thailand. The statistics utilized in this paper
included percentage, mean, standard deviation, and regression
analysis. The findings revealed that the majority of samples were
between 31-40 years old, married, held an undergraduate degree, and
had an average income between 10,000-15,000 baht. The majority of
respondents had less than five years of accounting experience and
worked for local administrations. The overall learning efficiency
score was in the highest level while the local accountants’ job
performance effectiveness score was also in the high level. The
hypothesis testing’s result disclosed that learning efficiency factors
which were knowledge, Skill, and Attitude had an influence on local
accountants’ job the performance effectiveness.