RMIC - Review of Management Innovation and Creativity

Volume: 2, Issue: 4

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• RUSTY BOLTS AND BROKEN VALVES: A Study on the Plant Technology, Size, and Organizational Structure of Plant Turnaround Maintenance in Malaysian Process-Based Industries
  Author(s): Zulkipli Ghazali, Mohammed Halib, Shahrina Mohd Nordin and Maznah Che Ghazali
  

RUSTY BOLTS AND BROKEN VALVES: A Study on the Plant Technology, Size, and Organizational Structure of Plant Turnaround Maintenance in Malaysian Process-Based Industries

Author(s): Zulkipli Ghazali, Mohammed Halib, Shahrina Mohd Nordin and Maznah Che Ghazali

Plant turnaround maintenance, a crucial asset management in technology intensive industries is carried out to revitalize, maintain, and improve the plant facilities for optimal and efficient performance. This paper discusses the relationship of plant technology, size, and organizational structure in plant turnaround maintenance of 58 companies in six process-based industries in Malaysia. Seven hypotheses were tested using nonparametric statistical analysis. The test results support the hypotheses and provide evidence that plant technology influences the organization of turnaround maintenance. Results of the analysis also showed differences in the size of the turnaround maintenance that point towards variation in the six types of plant technology employed by the companies covered in the study.

Field of Research: Plant Turnaround Maintenance, Technology, Size, Organizational Structure.



• ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT THROUGH PUBLIC SECTOR EFFICIENCY IN BALOCHISTAN
  Author(s): M. Abuzar Wajidi and Jan Muhammad
  

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT THROUGH PUBLIC SECTOR EFFICIENCY IN BALOCHISTAN

Author(s): M. Abuzar Wajidi and Jan Muhammad

Balochistan is the least populated province of Pakistan. Its thin population is spread over a huge area of 3, 47,190 sq kilometers that constitutes about 44% of the total area of the country. The basic social and economic infrastructure of the province is poor. The major institutions controlling the physical, social and economic resources of the province are the public sector organizations. Balochistan receives financial resources from federal government to finance its various operations for the socio-economic development. The federal government allocates fund on the basis of population that is insufficient to support the development activities in such a huge area. Thus, the need arises for the public sector efficiency in Balochistan. This research article highlights the importance of public sector efficiency in the province.

Keywords:
Public Sector: Those industries and services in a country that are owned and run by the federal, state or local governments.
Efficiency: The quality of performing well, quickly and without waste by using resources wisely and in a cost effective ways.
Programme Planning and Budgeting System (PPBS): Planning-oriented approach by developing a programme budget through the process of identifying goals with precision and then prioritizing them on the bases of urgency and searching for the efficient accomplishment through alternative means.
Management By Objectives (MBO): A management technique that requires collaborative goals setting and decision making by the active participation of manager and subordinates.
Zero Based Budgeting (ZBB): An approach to budgeting that requires the annual justification of existing programmes and activities.
Total Quality Management (TQM): A management philosophy that aims to build quality into an organization's products or services, rather than weed out defects through inspections and the like.



• WHAT IS THE ASIAN-AMERICAN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR TOWARDS GREEN MARKETING?
  Author(s): James D. Williams and Lois Lanaria
  

WHAT IS THE ASIAN-AMERICAN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR TOWARDS GREEN MARKETING?

Author(s): James D. Williams and Lois Lanaria

The Asian-American consumer group is thought to be the fastest growing market in the United States. Asian-Americans are considered to be well-educated, generally affluent, and geographically concentrated. However, significant cultural and language differences among Asians subgroup are often overlooked as being problematic in conducting domestic marketing studies. As such, the Asian communities have been long been ignored for their individuality and ethnic diversity, particularly when it comes domestic marketing segmentation, much less being a viable element for green marketing center of attention.



• COMBINATORICS IN THE THEORY OF PRODUCTION
  Author(s): José Villacís González
  

COMBINATORICS IN THE THEORY OF PRODUCTION

Author(s): José Villacís González

Applying the factors of production to production, i.e. destroying them, depends on their nature, on the quantity used and on the technology employed. This statement, while true, is not by any means the whole story. Production depends in the main – be it in terms of quantity or content – on the order in which the factors of production are employed. In this work we bring combinatorics into direct contact with the theory of production, while fully admitting the limitations inherent in technology and the nature of the production process.

Keywords: Combination, Efficient Compensation, Symmetrical Efficiency, Permutation, Processes, Repetition, Variation, (JEL D00 Microeconomic Theory).



• THE IMPACT OF INTERACTIVITY OF ONLINE NEWSPAPERS
  Author(s): Sue-Jen Lin
  

THE IMPACT OF INTERACTIVITY OF ONLINE NEWSPAPERS

Author(s): Sue-Jen Lin

Many unanswered questions on interactivity concern the relationship between interactive features and perceived interactivity and their respective impact on the users' attitudes and behavioral intentions. This study attempts to answer these questions by documenting how readers browsed online newspapers that varied in number and types of interactive features. 169 participants were randomly assigned to a 2 x 2 between-subject experimental design to browse one of four online newspapers, and their interactive behaviors were recorded. Participants were asked to evaluate the interactivity levels of the online newspapers and provide their attitudes and behavioral intentions after the experiment. The results suggest that the more interactive features a Web site had, the more interactive an individual would perceive the site to be. This study also found strong support for the impact of both feature-based and perception-based models of interactivity on an individual's attitude and behavioral intentions toward a Web site.

Keywords: Feature-Based Model, Interactive Features, Interactivity, Online Newspaper, Perception-Based Model.



• SELF-CONCEPT, BEHAVIOUR AND CITIZENSHIP STATUS: RELATIONSHIPS AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ADOLESCENTS SELF-CONCEPT, BEHAVIOUR AND CITIZENSHIP STATUS IN MONTSERRAT, BRITISH OVER SEAS TERRITORY
  Author(s): Donnette Bagot-Allen, Suzy Harney and Joane W. McKay
  

SELF-CONCEPT, BEHAVIOUR AND CITIZENSHIP STATUS: RELATIONSHIPS AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ADOLESCENTS SELF-CONCEPT, BEHAVIOUR AND CITIZENSHIP STATUS IN MONTSERRAT, BRITISH OVER SEAS TERRITORY

Author(s): Donnette Bagot-Allen, Suzy Harney and Joane W. McKay

The impact of immigration in relationship to adolescents' self-concept, behavior and citizenship status is pertinent in the context of Montserrat which is a British Over Seas Territory that has experienced and is still experiencing an ongoing eruption of the Soufriere Hills volcano since 1995. This eruption has forced two-thirds of the island's population to relocate to Britain, United States of America and other Caribbean islands. Since then, people from other Caribbean islands and countries have immigrated to Montserrat to possibly fill the labour force and seek economic and other opportunities. As a result of this immigration there are many immigrant students and return migrant students enrolled in Montserrat's education system in all the primary and secondary schools. The new students include many from other Caribbean countries, some of whom are unfamiliar with the English language. Literature supports that immigrant adolescents must learn new cultural norms, and new behaviours consistent with these norms and adjust their self-concept to these new behaviours and norms to survive in their new environment/society. The Bracken Multidimensional Self-concept Scale (MSCS) which examined six primary environmental contexts in which children find themselves operating as either passive or active agents was utilized in this study since the typical child spends most of his or her time acting on or within these six primary environmental context: social, competence, affect, academic, family, and physical.

Keywords: Behaviour, Citizenship, Immigrants, Self-Concept, Status.



• ABOVE THE NET OR BELOW: AN INVESTIGATION OF BURNOUT AMONG FEMALE HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS
  Author(s): Jeff Eyanson, Suzanne Malia Lawrence and Joseph Mintah
  

ABOVE THE NET OR BELOW: AN INVESTIGATION OF BURNOUT AMONG FEMALE HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS

Author(s): Jeff Eyanson, Suzanne Malia Lawrence and Joseph Mintah

There has been extensive research (Coakley, 1992; Lai & Wiggins, 2003; Raedeke, Lunney, & Venables, 1990) on athletic burnout however; few studies have focused on the three-burnout indicators. The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency and intensity of burnout among female volleyball players; also to examine the three-burnout indicators of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment in regard to players as well. Participants were female athletes from Southern California club volleyball teams (N= 30). Participants age range was from 17 to 18. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) (Maslach & Jackson, 1996) was modified and use for this study. One-Sample t-test showed statistical significant differences in the areas of the frequency and intensity of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. Mann-Whitney U was used to analyze the frequency and intensity of depersonalization, and emotional exhaustion by grade level; results showed significant statistical differences in the frequency of depersonalization (U = 23.50, p = .00) and the frequency of emotional exhaustion (U = 32. 50, p < .001). Kruskal-Wallis H analysis of variance revealed a statistical significant difference in the frequency and intensity of emotional exhaustion and race. Results of the analyses of variance by ranks indicated statistical significant differences among race on the frequency (H (2) = 10.46, p < .05) and the intensity of emotional exhaustion (H (2) = 10.49, p < .05). In general, participants reported being burned out; however, more specifically they reported feeling emotionally exhausted. Future recommendations for sport science researchers and sport practitioners are also offered.

Keywords: Burnout, Volleyball, Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, Personal Accomplishment.