Human resources have been regarded as the most important asset for any organization because of its essential part in achieving the sustainable competitive advantage and survival. Managing human resources is very challenging and requires an effective bundle of practices that contribute to attaining the organizational goals. This study tries to confirm the importance of HRM practices in small businesses which came to play a vital role in the economies of the world, through clarifying the influence of HRM practices on the organizational performance, using a mediating variable (employees’ outcomes). Also the study attempts to highlight the key role of governmental support from view point of small businesses, through verifying the significant relationship between governmental support and the organizational performance. It was hypothesized that HRM practices will be positively related to the organizational performance (financial & operational), and that employees’ outcomes would serve as a mediator in the relationship between HRM practices and performance. Also it was hypothesized that the governmental support will be positively related to organizational performance. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with Amos has been applied in this research. The research sample consist (265) small manufacturing businesses in Malaysia. The statistical results showed significant relationships in direct and indirect models of study, and partially mediated in mediation models. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n1p97
The impacts of numerous important factors on the Energy Absorption (EA) of torsional Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams strengthened with external FRP is the main purpose and innovation of the current research. A total of 81 datasets were collected from previous studies, focused on the investigation of EA behaviour. The impact of nine different parameters on the Torsional EA of RC-beams was examined and evaluated, namely the concrete compressive strength (f’c), steel yield strength (fy), FRP thickness (tFRP), width-to-depth of the beam section (b/h), horizontal (ρh) and vertical (ρv) steel ratio, angle of twist (θu), ultimate torque (Tu), and FRP ultimate strength (fy-FRP). For the evaluation of the energy absorption capacity at di
... Show MoreIn current article an easy and selective method is proposed for spectrophotometric estimation of metoclopramide (MCP) in pharmaceutical preparations using cloud point extraction (CPE) procedure. The method involved reaction between MCP with 1-Naphthol in alkali conditions using Triton X-114 to form a stable dark purple dye. The Beer’s law limit in the range 0.34-9 μg mL-1 of MCP with r =0.9959 (n=3) after optimization. The relative standard deviation (RSD) and percentage recoveries were 0.89 %, and (96.99–104.11%) respectively. As well, using surfactant cloud point extraction as a method to extract MCP was reinforced the extinction coefficient(ε) to 1.7333×105L/mol.cm in surfactant-rich phase. The small volume of organi
... Show MoreA novel demountable shear connector for precast steel-concrete composite bridges is presented. The connector uses high-strength steel bolts, which are fastened to the top flange of the steel beam with the aid of a special locking nut configuration that prevents bolts from slipping within their holes. Moreover, the connector promotes accelerated construction and overcomes the typical construction tolerance issues of precast structures. Most importantly, the connector allows bridge disassembly. Therefore, it can address different bridge deterioration scenarios with minimum disturbance to traffic flow including the following: (1) precast deck panels can be rapidly uplifted and replaced; (2) connectors can be rapidly removed and replaced; and (
... Show MoreThe temperature control process of electric heating furnace (EHF) systems is a quite difficult and changeable task owing to non-linearity, time delay, time-varying parameters, and the harsh environment of the furnace. In this paper, a robust temperature control scheme for an EHF system is developed using an adaptive active disturbance rejection control (AADRC) technique with a continuous sliding-mode based component. First, a comprehensive dynamic model is established by using convection laws, in which the EHF systems can be characterized as an uncertain second order system. Second, an adaptive extended state observer (AESO) is utilized to estimate the states of the EHF system and total disturbances, in which the observer gains are updated
... Show MoreThe approach of green synthesis of bio-sorbent has become simple alternatives to chemical synths as they use for example plant extracts, plus green synthesis outperforms chemical methods because it is environmentally friendly besides has wide applications in environmental remediation. This paper investigates the removal of ciprofloxacin (CIP) using green tea nano zero-valent iron (GT-NZVI) in an aqueous solution. The synthesized GT-NZVI was categorized using SEM, AFM, BET, FTIR, and Zeta potentials techniques. The spherical nanoparticles were found to be nano zero-valent, with an average size of 85 nm and a surface area of 2.19m2/g. The results showed that the removal efficiency of ciprofloxacin depends on the initial pH (2.5-10),
... Show MoreCarbon dioxide geo-sequestration (CGS) into sediments in the form of (gas) hydrates is one proposed method for reducing anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere and, thus reducing global warming and climate change. However, there is a serious lack of understanding of how such CO2 hydrate forms and exists in sediments. We thus imaged CO2 hydrate distribution in sandstone, and investigated the hydrate morphology and cluster characteristics via x-ray micro-computed tomography in 3D in-situ. A substantial amount of gas hydrate (∼17% saturation) was observed, and the stochastically distributed hydrate clusters followed power-law relations with respect to their size distributions and surface area-volume relationships. The layer-
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