Analysis of Calculation Methods Currently Practised at V4 Agricultural Holdings

This paper assesses calculation methods in the Visegrad 4 countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) and, based thereon, recommends and considers activity-based costing (ABC) in the agricultural sector, while evaluating manager knowledge of ABC as an appropriate alternative to outdated, “conventional” methods of calculating costs that are used in practice. It was found that a majority of agricultural holdings in the V4 are currently using conventional cost calculation methods and the most frequent reason for their failure to incorporate ABC is low awareness among managers. Farms and agricultural holdings that have introduced ABC and utilise it to assign their costs evaluate its benefits highly positively, in particular, ABC’s more accurate identification of costs, mainly overheads; more effective cost management and the accuracy of price estimates. From this analysis and assessment, introduction of ABC is recommended for companies in order to obtain the different benefits associated with the method. Successfully implementing ABC leads to a number of advantages, especially in the inevitable decision-making agricultural holdings face about high overhead costs. From the information obtained, managers at agricultural holdings have little information, in most cases, about ABC as an appropriate alternative to the outdated “conventional” cost estimate methods practised today. It is therefore important to work on raising managers' awareness of new approaches to costing by publishing scientific articles with specific examples from practice, pointing out the advantage of the ABC method, especially with high overheads, which are almost the rule in agricultural holdings.

MODELLING IMMOVABLE ASSET IN 3D USING CITYGML 3.0 CONCEPT TO SUPPORT SMART CITY INITIATIVES

Urbanization phenomenon is a key role that contributes to the smart cities development. The expansion of urban growth requires everything to be smart and controlled by advance technology for efficient urban management. One of the important aspects that often overlooked in realizing smart cities is asset management. Asset management is an approach for managing, monitoring and maintenance of assets. Previous studies showed that there are several efforts in managing asset by integrating the asset with Geographic Information System (GIS). However, several limitations can be seen from the studies such as unavailability of real visualization and limitation on asset descriptions although we believe that 3D offers rich information and real visualization for asset management practice. Therefore, to achieve an effective asset management, we proposed to conceptualize the asset with the latest version of CityGML 3.0. The aim of this paper is to model the immovable asset using CityGML 3.0 concept. We adopted the concept of occupied and unoccupied spaces to model the public hall, owned by Johor Bahru City Council (MBJB). The hall was modelled based on point cloud data set from Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The attribute data for the hall was stored in 3DCityDB for information retrieval and query. The result showed that the hall was successfully visualized and information regarding the asset can be retrieved. With this approach, it is believed that an effective 3D asset management system can be developed in the future, to ensure adequate system performance and effective cost operational.

Method of Assessing the Risk of Implementing Railway Investments in Terms of the Cost of Their Implementation

Exceeding the approved budget is often an integral part of the implementation of construction projects, especially those where unforeseen threats may occur. Therefore, each construction investment should contain elements of risk forecasting, mainly in terms of the cost of its implementation. Only a small number of institutions apply effective cost control methods, taking into account the specifics of a given industry. Especially small construction companies that participate in the structure of the implementation of large construction projects as subcontractors. The article presents a method by which it is possible to determine, with certain probability, the final cost of railway construction investments carried out in Poland. The method was based on a reliable database of risk factors published in sources. In this article, the main presumptions of the original method are presented, which take into account the impact of potential, previously recognized, risks specific to railway investments, and enable project managers to relate them to the conditions where the implementation of a specific object is planned. The authors assumed that such a relatively simple method, supported by a suitable computational program, would encourage teams that plan to implement railway projects to use it and increase the credibility of their schedules.

Life Insurance Companies: Determinants of Cost Efficiency and Profitability

One of the most important aspects of measuring a firm’s performance is its efficiency, through which the firm is expected to envisage effective cost reductions, thereby enhancing profitability. However, most studies conducted to explore the determinants of insurance companies’ performance has concentrated on the accounts earnings information and its components which are known to explain a small proportion of a firm’s performance. Also, studies on insurance either lump all the insurance companies together or pay more attention to non-life insurance, making it difficult to evaluate the fast growing life insurance industry in Ghana. Therefore, this study examines the efficiency of life insurance companies in Ghana utilising data from twelve life insurance companies for a period of 2013-2017. The efficiency scores were calculated using Efficiency Measurement System software. The fixed effect panel regression results show that, the significant determinants of both cost and profit functions are: price of labour, commission, gross premium and net investment income. It was also revealed that, on the average, the life insurance companies were about 71.2% cost efficient and 41.7% profit efficient. Further analysis reveals that, both profit and cost efficiency changes have statistically significant positive effect on firms’ Return on Asset. Policy-makers should institute policies that encourage these companies to operate efficiently in order to make effective capital allocation decisions to avoid collapse.

Grain pricing in Ukraine: A case study of malted barley

The agrarian market participants operate in a changing market environment. Their activities are characterized by a high level of risk, in particular, price risk, which determines the likelihood of failure in achieving the planned results. The purpose of the paper is to analyze the dynamics of prices for malted barley and determine the main factors influencing the price of malted barley in the agricultural market of Ukraine. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study is the scientific works of domestic and foreign authors on the problems of pricing management. Methods of data analysis, synthesis, and generalization of results are used. As a result, one can notice a high level of price fluctuations, significant price fluctuations during the year, absence of a uniform inversely proportional effect between the volume of barley production and its purchasing prices, and presence of disparity between the selling price of barley and the production costs of grain producers. The key factors that determine the price of malted barley include market saturation, grain quality, production expenditures, conditions on the market of barley fodder, contractual relations (which are sufficiently standardized but do not protect agricultural producers from risks), public policy through regulation market. The study outlined recommendations regarding the need to improve the legal regulation of relations and the development of a system to ensure the functioning of the grain market, effective cost management, introduction of innovative agrotechnologies, and financial hedging instruments.

A video-based behavioural intervention associated with improved HPV knowledge and intention to vaccinate

Aims: The aim of this study was to design, develop and evaluate a theory and evidence-based intervention to improve human papillomavirus (HPV) and HPV vaccine knowledge, and intention to vaccinate, among parent-daughter dyads. Methods: A theory and evidence-based online behavioural intervention, "Is the HPV vaccine for me?" was developed to improve HPV and HPV vaccine knowledge, and intention to vaccinate. The impact and feasibility of the intervention was evaluated in a prospective randomised controlled feasibility trial. Results: A total of 49 parent-daughter dyads completed baseline knowledge assessment (n=24 control, n=25 intervention), and 35 dyads completed knowledge assessment at week 2 (n=17 control, n=18 intervention). The intervention was associated with a statistically significant increase in HPV, and HPV vaccine knowledge and intention to vaccinate. All intervention participants found the video interesting, while 96% found it useful. Conclusions: This intervention was found to be affordable, practicable, effective (cost-effective), acceptable, safe, and equitable, in this feasibility study.

Cost management in agribusiness organizations

The article presents the results of the development and testing of cost management methods in agricultural organizations. The purpose of the activity of any organization that has set itself the task of extracting profit is its growth and increasing the efficiency of its activities. As a rule, all organizations strive to maximize their profits while minimizing the costs incurred. In modern economic conditions, such an approach is possible only with a properly constructed effective cost management system. Rational use of available resources by organizations of the agro-industrial complex with proper cost management will allow organizations to be competitive in the market and carry out their activities in the foreseeable future. The subject of the study is the cost management accounting system, the object of the organization of the agro-industrial complex of the Stavropol Territory. The information base was the forms of specialized reporting of agricultural organizations of the Stavropol Territory. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the development of a methodology for the cost management system in the agro-industrial complex organizations of the Stavropol Territory.

Glycolipid Biosurfactant Production from Waste Cooking Oils by Yeast: Review of Substrates, Producers and Products

Biosurfactants are a microbially synthesized alternative to synthetic surfactants, one of the most important bulk chemicals. Some yeast species are proven to be exceptional biosurfactant producers, while others are emerging producers. A set of factors affects the type, amount, and properties of the biosurfactant produced, as well as the environmental impact and costs of biosurfactant’s production. Exploring waste cooking oil as a substrate for biosurfactants’ production serves as an effective cost-cutting strategy, yet it has some limitations. This review explores the existing knowledge on utilizing waste cooking oil as a feedstock to produce glycolipid biosurfactants by yeast. The review focuses specifically on the differences created by using raw cooking oil or waste cooking oil as the substrate on the ability of various yeast species to synthesize sophorolipids, rhamnolipids, mannosylerythritol lipids, and other glycolipids and the substrate’s impact on the composition, properties, and limitations in the application of biosurfactants.