SMEs Sustainability in Times of Crisis

The global crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic among the population and at the level of companies, state institutions, etc., underlined the importance of analysing its impact at different levels (intern, national and international level). The concepts of sustainability, development and growth must be aware, adapted and implemented more and more frequently, even constantly, in order to cope with the current evolution of the economy (and not only). The paper is an empirical research conducted in the North-East Region of Romania, aiming to analyse the impact of COVID-19 on local companies (especially SME’s), in the context of existing correlation between the COVID-19 impact on resizing, restricting, changing the number of active employees, changing revenue, changing turnover and changing profit, based on the Spearman correlation coefficients. In this sense, it was important to implement sustainability strategies and ensure the activity and resources of companies in the long term, because the effects of an economic crisis (natural resources, human resources, not only financial) are felt in 2021 and will be felt in the future 10 years. The paper concludes with two practical solutions to ensure the sustainability of the companies involved in the study, solutions that can be applied by all companies that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Impact of E-marketing on Consumer Purchase Decision in Jordan

This study explored the effect of e-marketing on consumer purchase decision in Jordan. The population includes all the accessories E-marketing companies that are located in Jordan. The sample consist of (100) individuals who work as mangers. The researcher used a questionnaire that sheds a light on e-marketing. The targeted variables are: (website, social media). It was found that the severity of the impact of E-marketing on consumer purchase decision in Jordan is high. It was found that website and social media have a high impact on consumer purchase decision in Jordan. It was found that there is a significant difference between the managers’ attitudes which can be attributed to the company age regarding for the favor of the companies which has been established since more than 10 years. The researcher recommends assisting local companies in developing their electronic marketing methods. That shall foster the development of commercial companies, especially small and medium companies.

Mechanical Engineering Students Project-Based Learning in OUAS

This chapter introduces project-based learning approach which is used in the Oulu University of Applied Sciences (OUAS), School of Engineering and Natural Resources, Mechanical Engineering Department to get local companies to offer project works to mechanical engineering students. The concept is based on organizing a local event or online event for the companies to come to OUAS campus to present their challenges needing engineering students to solve. The companies are then competing, selling, or pitching their problem for engineering students as the engineering students will then individually select the most interesting cases to be solved, and which has linkage to potential summer job and thesis work opportunities if projects are successful. The concept has proven to be successful, and it has been established as traditional event with many companies returning to the pitching event annually to get their industry problems solved by group of motivated engineering students.

Repercussions of COVID-19 on the Ecuadorian tax system and its ranking compared to other countries

Tax systems are essential for the collection of taxes, since the economic spending of the countries depends on them; Among the items we have the Income Tax (IR) and the Value Added Tax (VAT), which are the highest income obligations that Ecuador has. This article aims to analyze the repercussions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the collection systems of Ecuador compared to the countries of Latin America. For this purpose, a descriptive-documentary cross-sectional methodology was carried out in order to obtain true, reliable information from indexed databases that were verified and approved by different researchers. The results show that COVID-19 had a direct impact on the economies of Latin American countries, especially in the first half of 2020, however, the policies adopted by governments, precisely in Ecuador, helped reduce the burden of the crisis, by deferring the payment of taxes, which generated momentary relief for local companies.

The Success of Managing Small Project in Light of Achieving the Dimensions of Managerial Leadership (Study Analysis of a Sample of Decision Makers’ Views in the General Company for Food Industries)

The aim of the research is to identify the role of administrative leadership in achieving the dimensions of the success of small projects’ management in the general company of foodstuff industries. The various variables have shown the importance of managerial leadership to achieve the dimensions of the success of the management of small projects, whether in international or local companies. The role of managerial leadership in the success of the management of small projects "In order to answer this question, has been developed a default model reflects the relationship and impact between management leadership and the success of the management of small projects. The research was based on descriptive analytical approach. The sample of the study consists of (48) Managers of departments and divisions where the research reached a number of results; the most important one is the existence of a relationship between the leadership of innovation and the success of the management of small projects in the company investigated if the relationship is positive and strong. The results led to a set of recommendations, the most important one is the necessity for the company under study to get benefit from the evaluation of the company’s leaders from time to time in order to achieve the dimensions of the success of managing small projects.

Restructuring of the Banking Sector Through Merger: Case of Tunisian Banks

In the classical economy, the business is always looking for growth. It tries to protect itself against disappearance and to enter new markets to ensure its growth. It resorts to the merger or the takeover of local companies to more easily solve certain problems. Development today by M&A is the most popular mode. In the context of merger acquisition processes, and its relationship with organizational, process, strategic, economic, political and cultural factors, our paper is designed to study the impact of these various factors on the merger-acquisition.To understand these relationships, we used principal component analysis, ANOVA analysis and multiple regression. A questionnaire was designed on the basis of a documentary analysis leading to the collection of 80 observations, collected from functionaries in the Tunisian banking sector during the period 16 December to 6 January 2016.The results show that the various factors have a positive impact on the success of the merger acquisition operation. It should be noted that the organizational factor is the most influential factor on the acquisition merger process and the least influential economic factor.

Combination of Terrestrial and Satellite Topography for Pipeline Engineering and Construction

A method consisting in an optimal combination of conventional topography from a terrestrial acquisition and satellite derived topography is presented. The solution recently implemented in the UAE for the engineering and the construction of a gas export pipeline allows significant cost reduction, time saving, and safety hazard reduction as fewer terrestrial operations are needed. The survey area is split into 2 sub-areas: area with infrastructures requiring a high accuracy is surveyed with terrestrial topographical acquisition methods such as GNSS receivers, the other one with desert conditions is mapped from satellite stereoscopic imagery. Stereoscopic mode refers to when the satellite sensor acquires two images of the same location taken from different angles. Using photogrammetric techniques, it produces a 3D elevation model of the area. The native satellite imagery allows a mapping of the surface features as well. Terrestrial and satellite datasets are finally merged and adjusted to provide engineering and construction contractors with a unique survey dataset. Terrestrial survey methods provide generally 5-10cm horizontal and vertical accuracies whereas satellite topography has accuracy of a few meters, so satellite topography must be controlled and adjusted from terrestrial ground control points which allow to reach an average 50cm absolute accuracy. This is good enough in desert areas with neither particular ground feature nor steep relief requiring complex design. Satellite acquisition has limitations: vegetation masking the ground, steep slopes and dense infrastructures. It is therefore necessary to combine conventional and satellite topography to meet engineering requirements. This is considered when defining the satellite and terrestrial survey areas. Beyond these limitations, this solution has strong advantages. Satellite grid resolution can be better (1-2m versus 5-10m for GNSS surveys). Acquisition and processing are faster (about 2 weeks versus a few weeks or months), and costs are from 10 to 100 times cheaper than conventional methods. No need for personnel and equipment on site, no management of logistics and permitting as well. Finally, it reduces safety hazards such as car accident, harsh weather, manual handling, etc. In addition, limiting the area to be surveyed with conventional equipment may avoid the need to mobilize Airborne photogrammetry or lidar systems usually operated by foreign companies. This limits complex Call for Tender, permitting management and give more opportunity to contract local companies. Satellite topography is widely used for preliminary studies, but the innovation here consists in an optimal combination of terrestrial and satellite datasets for engineering and construction purposes. This solution has however some limitations as it requires suitable conditions for satellite optical imagery acquisitions: no vegetation, limited cloud cover, smooth topography, and limited infrastructures. This is of interest basically in Middle east and North Africa.

Microbial Characterization of Yellow Curing Process of Codfish

Yellow cured codfish has a typical yellow colour, distinctive taste, and low salt content due to its special curing process of the raw salted codfish involving several soaks in water of the raw salted codfish, alternated with drying steps. The purpose of this study was to assess the main functional groups of bacteria involved in this process and relate them with physicochemical properties of the product. A total of 28 codfish from Iceland were supplied by two local companies. Seven stages of the curing process were analyzed. From each of these seven stages, four fish samples were collected to carry out the microbial and physicochemical analyses (moisture, salt content, pH, total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), and trimethylamine nitrogen (TMA-N)). Bacteria counts were performed using the MPN method and adequate culture media for aerobic, proteolytic, sulphite-reducing, biogenic amine, and trimethylamine-producing and ammonifying bacteria. Strains isolated from the highest dilutions with microbial growth were used to characterize the predominant bacteria. The results showed that total aerobic counts increased from 3.9 log MPN/g in raw salted codfish to 5.9 log MPN/g in the final. Proteolytic, ammonifying, and trimethylamine bacteria producers also increased to 8, 7.5, and 6.5 log MPN/g, respectively. The salt content decreases (from 17% until 8%) and moisture increases (53% until 67%) during the salted-raw-codfish soaking, favoring sulphite-reducing and biogenic amine-producing species, confirming that desalting enhances potential spoilers. The subsequent drying step benefits proteolytic, ammonifying, and trimethylamine-producing bacteria, with a corresponding non-protein-nitrogen content (TVB-N and TMA-N) increase. The dominant bacteria during yellow curing belong to the genera Staphylococcus, Psychrobacter, Pseudomonas, and Alcaligenes with a clear positive correlation between the content of Staphylococcus and Psychrobacter and TVB-N and TMA-N concentration. Staphylococcus spp. are the dominant bacteria in the steps where the product has a higher salt concentration; thus, it could be particularly useful as an indicator to control the industrially yellow curing process and could have an important role in the development of the final characteristics of this product.

Determination of Caffeine and Sodium Benzoate in Both Imported and Locally Manufactured Energy Drinks Using HPLC and Spectrophotometer

Three groups of energy drinks have been examined for sodium benzoate and caffeine using HPLC and spectrophotometer methods. Those brands include original UK brand which coded (RE), another two brands of (RL and B) which are imported from Austria to local companies, and the rest produced locally which are coded (T, FB, S and FE). The results showed that all brands contain sodium benzoate at different concentrations. FB brand comes out on top by containing around 416mg/l which was far above the permitted level by FAO/WHO, on the other hand the RE brand contained the lowest amount of sodium benzoate when analysed using HPLC. Results of caffeine examination showed that all samples contained lower levels of caffeine as it is claimed in their label to contain 300mg/l, in contrary to sodium benzoate the lowest concentration of caffeine found in the FB brand which was 13.78mg/l and the highest level of caffeine was found in FE brand which was 208.95mg/l. From the obtained results it is clear that none of the energy drink brands declared the actual content of both caffeine and sodium benzoate which usually required by food legislation and law. Therefore, it is considered as mislabelling which is recommended that the health authorities in our country to subject the local producers and the importers to present the required information on the labels without misleading consumers. It is also recommended to educate the population and put restriction on the local shops and supermarkets not to sell energy drinks to individuals under 16 years old.

Corporate Glocalization Strategy of Nongshim in America: The “Pendulum Theory” of Globalized Localization

This study examines how Nongshim, a Korean instant noodle manufacturer, has expanded its operation globally within the concept of “open innovation” through its glocalization strategy, and how this strategy differs from the existing glocalization method enforced by global companies. The study shows how Nongshim used its unique glocalization strategy of “globalized localization”, outlining the three stages by which the company switched its “glocalization focus”, starting with “localizing”, moving through “globalizing”, then back to “localizing”, while retaining its ultimate purpose of globalization. From the basis of the case analysis, the study proposes a “pendulum theory” that can be applied to local companies that are planning to expand their business in a global market.