Resource-based framework for assessing cooperative institutional’s global competitiveness as small medium enterprise (SME)

Indonesian business environment heavily influenced by small-medium enterprise (SME). In embracing Industry 4.0, Indonesian SME must be able to adapt the changing environment and competitive landscape. However, the concept of competitive advantages of SMEs, especially when concerning digital transformation, yet to be clearly defined and evaluated within the industry. Several factors, directly or indirectly, affect and jointly determine the competitive strength of an individual firm. The challenge is to properly identify the specific factors, and how and to what extent they affect firm SME competitiveness. Thus, emerge the necessity to study, understand, and then identify those factors. This research seeks to answer the challenge by using a qualitative approach and the resource-based framework. Six variables discovered through studying state-of-the-art literature, namely Digital Capability, Digital Orientation, Digital Innovation, Resistance, and Government Support that connected with SME Competitiveness. The link between variables were clarified. Resulting in proposal of how those variables entwined with each other. All variables were found to be directly related to Competitiveness, with some of the relations were moderated by Digital Innovation.

Total Productive Maintenance and its Effecting on the Application of Lean Production System

Increasing the amount of production, the diversity of products, a commodity and / or service, and increasing the productivity factor ratios contribute to developing the competitive strength of the organization in light of the increasingly difficult market conditions. That made all organizations work according to competitive strategies, including the production strategy for the purpose of achieving the organizations goal through the set of goals that they put. They rely on several new management systems of a strategic nature aimed at their survival and continuity in the production market. Hence, this research aims to evaluate the total productivity maintenance capacity in lean production throughout reducing the various kinds of losses, as the lean production is based on reducing each defective product (a commodity and / or service), costs, errors, and area, and all that and others aimed at improving product quality and customer satisfaction. However, the overall goals and production programs often encounter unexpected breakdowns at unexpected times, which lead to a breakdown in production and an imbalance in production plans as a result. Consequently, the companies suffer the expected revenue loss because they fail to reach the targeted production amount. The research has adopted a questionnaire that has been distributed to (50) employees of the General Company for Electric Power Production, the central region in Baghdad, which constituted more than 10% of the company’s employees. The results show that there is a strong direct relationship between the independent variable (total productivity maintenance) and the dependent variable (lean production). This distinction has explained 90% of the variables in the dependent variable.

Management of Receivables, Financial Distress, and Profitability in Bangladesh

If a firm's profitability is affected by inefficient working capital practices, it is logical to assume that an adjustment of working capital will improve profitability. In particular, small and medium-sized businesses in the least developed countries (LDCs) and the new economies of Europe suffer from long delays relating to the payment of dues which threaten their survival. When the policies and practices are reasonably efficient, tweaking practices is not expected to be very beneficial. We should observe benefits from adjusting working capital practices for those companies that are clearly outside the norm in the industry. A major part of working capital management is receivables management and collection. In this study, we examine the data on receivables from Bangladesh from 2000 to 2017 to see if companies with inefficient working capital levels benefit from adjusting toward the norm, which is a new way of examining the benefits of adjustment. Specific actions and reactions will depend on the situation. Any adjustments that management make to fine-tune working capital management are unlikely to produce much value unless the underlying circumstances are taken into account. A new firm with a compelling case of quality and competitive strength may be more successful in managing a successful low average collection period (ACP) operating structure, and keeping the ACP low is strongly advised.

Niche-Relationships Within and Among Intertidal Reef Fish Species

Niche-related processes (e.g., density or niche-breadth compensation and competition) are fundamental to a broad understanding of community ecology and ecosystem functioning. Most evidences of competition are from controlled indoor trials with few species, and it remains a challenge to estimate competition among multiple species in the field. Here, we analyze stable isotopes and distributional data from 51 fish taxa in six locations in the southwestern Atlantic to predict intraspecific trophic pressure (ITP) and the potential competitive strength among species in a trophic-based framework. We used two proxies built upon 2-dimensional isotopic space (δ13C vs. δ15N), its predicted overlap, and fish density to calculate winner and loser taxa in potential paired interspecific competitive interactions. The intraspecific proxy indicated that cryptobenthic fishes are under high among-individual trophic pressure (high densities and small niche sizes). Also, cryptobenthic behavior together with feeding specialization and extremely small-sizes were the most important traits related to low success in interspecific simulations. Although cryptobenthic fishes face strong competitive pressures, there are some known inherent trade-offs to cryptobenthic life such as trophic and habitat use specializations. These seem to compensate and ensure coexistence among cryptobenthic fishes and non-cryptobenthic species. Habitat loss/degradation via urbanization, invasive species and climate-change-driven sea-level rise can reduce the suitability of habitat and increase competition on cryptobenthic species, especially in shallow reefs and intertidal shores.

Interactive Live-stream Guidebook for Chinese News Broadcast

In recent years, Chinese news organizations and video websites have begun developing live-stream programs on various platforms, including smartphone apps and websites. These programs are aimed at growing audiences, encouraging engagement, and improving competitive strength. However, most of the live-stream programs in China are still run by traditional media giants. Their live-stream production teams have not found out how to effectively engage with audiences in the digital era. Their livestream discourse only includes reporters and anchors, rather than involving audiences and guests. Thus, a guidebook which can offer everything you need to run a successful interactive live-stream production would serve as a useful tool for the Chinese media industry. In this interactive live-stream guidebook (https://highwayking1986.wixsite.com/ mysite), there are several principles which explain how this platform can fill the audience's demand for discourse in today’s news world. The guidebook also provides methods on how to resolve and improve an interactive live-stream workflow.

Interactive Live-stream Guidebook for Chinese News Broadcast

In recent years, Chinese news organizations and video websites have begun developing live-stream programs on various platforms, including smartphone apps and websites. These programs are aimed at growing audiences, encouraging engagement, and improving competitive strength. However, most of the live-stream programs in China are still run by traditional media giants. Their live-stream production teams have not found out how to effectively engage with audiences in the digital era. Their livestream discourse only includes reporters and anchors, rather than involving audiences and guests. Thus, a guidebook which can offer everything you need to run a successful interactive live-stream production would serve as a useful tool for the Chinese media industry. In this interactive live-stream guidebook (https://highwayking1986.wixsite.com/ mysite), there are several principles which explain how this platform can fill the audience's demand for discourse in today’s news world. The guidebook also provides methods on how to resolve and improve an interactive live-stream workflow.

The Detroit of Paper

This chapter covers stories of how workers accommodated and rebelled against their employers, showing how the broader forces of capitalism were at work in changing the character of Maine's companies. It presents an understanding of the nature and ultimate fate of one of U.S. capitalism's lesser-chronicled industries, paper. It also examines profound changes in corporate governance in terms of the institutional forms of ownership and management. The chapter uses Maine companies as examples of the managerial era of corporate governance, where company leaders shared profits with stakeholder constituencies, their workforces, and paper mill communities. It refers to paper mill managers who directed resources into capital and technology investments to sustain the competitive strength of their companies over the longer term.

Inter- and Intra-Day Comparisons of Smartphone-Derived Heart Rate Variability across Resistance Training Overload and Taper Microcycles

The purposes of this study were: (1) to determine if smartphone-derived heart rate variability (HRV) could detect changes in training load during an overload microcycle and taper, and (2) to determine the reliability of HRV measured in the morning and measured immediately prior to the testing session. Twelve powerlifters (male = 10, female = 2) completed a 3-week resistance training program consisting of an introduction microcycle, overload microcycle, and taper. Using a validated smartphone application, daily measures of resting, ultra-short natural logarithm of root mean square of successive differences were recorded in the morning (LnRMSSDM) and immediately before the test session (LnRMSSDT) following baseline, post-overload, and post-taper testing. LnRMSSDM decreased from baseline (82.9 ± 13.0) to post-overload (75.0 ± 9.9, p = 0.019), while post-taper LnRMSSDM (81.9 ± 7.1) was not different from post-overload (p = 0.056) or baseline (p = 0.998). No differences in LnRMSSDT (p < 0.05) were observed between baseline (78.3 ± 9.0), post-overload (74.4 ± 10.2), and post-taper (78.3 ± 8.0). LnRMSSDM and LnRMSSDT were strongly correlated at baseline (ICC = 0.71, p < 0.001) and post-overload (ICC = 0.65, p = 0.010), whereas there was no relationship at post-taper (ICC = 0.44, p = 0.054). Bland–Altman analyses suggest extremely wide limits of agreement (Bias ± 1.96 SD) between LnRMSSDM and LnRMSSDT at baseline (4.7 ± 15.2), post-overload (0.5 ± 16.9), and post-taper (3.7 ± 15.3). Smartphone-derived HRV, recorded upon waking, was sensitive to resistance training loads across an overload and taper microcycles in competitive strength athletes, whereas the HRV was taken immediately prior to the testing session was not.