In this paper, an inventory model is studied with ramp type demand rate where holding cost is expressed as linearly increasing function of time. The study includes some features that are likely to be associated with certain types of inventory, like inventory of seasonal fruits and vegetables, newly launched fashion items, etc. When stock on hand is zero, the inventory manager offers a price discount to customers who are willing to backorder their demand. The optimum ordering policy and the optimum discount offered for each backorder are determined by minimizing the total cost in a replenishment interval.

Due to environmental issues, social concerns, increased pollution and enforced regulations; organizations are focusing to include green practices in their supply chain. This can be accomplished by adoption of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices. Therefore, GSCM is now a proactive approach for firms to increase their ecological performance, corporate image, achieve competitive advantages and sustainable business practices. This study identifies, evaluate and analyze the critical factors (CFs) for successful implementation of GSCM practices. The proposed study uses hybrid Fuzzy DEMATEL model to prioritize the identified critical success factors (CSFs) for GSCM adoption. Fuzzy approach is integrated with DEMATEL to deal with uncertainty arises in decision making process. To demonstrate the application of the proposed approach a case study from electronic industry is considered. This approach investigates the cause and effect relationships among the CFs for successful adoption of GSCM practices in Indian electronic organizations.

Mixed mode I/II stress intensity factors of an edge slant-cracked plate under tensile loading were assessed. A two-dimensional finite element analysis was employed using ABAQUS. Various crack lengths and angles were analyzed. The effect of the crack location at the plate edge was also examined. Crack initiation angles were calculated. In general, modes I and II stress intensity factor increase with increasing crack length. However, the rate of increase in mode I SIF decreases with increasing the main crack angle. The results showed that stress intensity factors decreased ad the crack mouth approaches the edge mid line. The crack location becomes more significant as the crack length increases. The angle of first cracking depends on crack length, location, and angle.

This paper presents a numerical solution for vibration analysis of cantilevered non-uniform trapezoidal thick plates. Based on the first shear deformation theory, kinetic and strain energies of the plate are derived and using Hamilton's principle, governing equations and boundary conditions are derived. A transformation of coordinates is used to convert the equations and boundary conditions from the original coordinates into a new computational coordinates. Using Differential quadrature method (DQM), natural frequencies and corresponding modes are derived numerically. Convergence and accuracy of the proposed solution are confirmed using results presented by other authors and also results obtained based on the finite element method using ANSYS software. Finally, as the case studies, two cases for variation of thickness are considered and the effects of angles, aspect ratio and thickness of the plate on the natural frequencies are studied. It is concluded that two angles of the trapezoid have opposite effect on the natural frequencies. Also, it is shown that all frequencies rise as value of thickness increases or value of the aspect ratio of the plate decreases. The most advantage of the proposed solution is its applicability for plates with variable thickness.

This paper presents an empirical investigation to study the role of quality in supply chain management in development of brand equity. The study uses two questionnaires, one for measuring quality in supply chain adopted from Fynes et al. (2014) [Fynes, B., De Burca, S., & Marshall, D. (2004). Environmental uncertainty, supply chain relationship quality and performance. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, 10(4), 179-190.] and the other for measuring the brand equity, which was adopted from Buil et al. (2013) [Buil, I., De Chernatony, L., & Martínez, E. (2013). Examining the role of advertising and sales promotions in brand equity creation. Journal of Business Research, 66(1), 115-122.]. The survey has accomplished among auto part producers in Iran. The study selects 385 randomly selected people who were active in this industry. Using Spearman correlation ratio as well as Stepwise regression techniques, the study has concluded that there were positive and meaningful relationships between three supply chain factors, namely relationship, commitment and compatibility, and brand equity.

This paper discusses Islamic financial reporting system as practiced in many Islamic states for economic development. The issue of Islamic accounting among scholars provided evidence of economic benefits among the countries that have Islamic financial institutions (IFIs). The IFIs have been reported to be the fastest-growing sector in the world with a greater contribution of the global total bank assets. Although the Muslim population in Nigeria is large, the contribution or participation of Muslim towards IFIs is low compared to other countries like Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Syria. Furthermore, the accounting reporting in Nigeria is based on the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for all listed firms in Nigeria, which includes IFIs, even though, IFIs apply dual reporting. Therefore, the need for the mandatory adoption of Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) standards is significant in Nigerian for IFIs to function better. Several countries have made it mandatory for IFIs to adopt AAOIFI instead of IFRS. The need for IFIs firms to report on their accounting system as an alternative to the conventional, will not only enhance transparency, improve reporting disclosures, greater Muslim investors, but will also improve Nigerian stock market. Policy makers, governments, and the regulator should make it mandatory for all IFIs to adopt AAOIFI for financial reporting.

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is one of the most popular methods used for measuring the relative efficiency of similar units by considering various input/output parameters. This paper implements DEA models to estimate the relative efficiency of selected banks in the United States. The proposed study uses two inputs, total assets and number of employees, and one output, net revenue for measuring the relative efficiency of selected banks. The relative efficiencies of different banks are analyzed. The preliminary results indicate that Santander Bank is the most efficient banks operating in the United States followed by SunTrust Bank and HSBC. Other banks preserve lower efficiency compared with these three banks.

In the past decades, a number of researchers have made their significant contributions to develop different approaches for solving a very challenging problem of commercial off-the shelf (COTS) selection. The development of software with high quality and minimum development time has always been a difficult job for the software developers. Therefore, in today’s scenario, software developers move towards the implementation of component based software engineering that relies on the integration of small pieces of code namely (COTS). In this study, we present a comprehensive descriptive explanation of the various COTS evaluation and selection approaches developed by various researchers in the past to understand the concept of COTS selection. The advantages and disadvantages of each COTS selection approach are also provided, which will give a better prospect to the readers to understand the various existing COTS evaluation and selection approaches.

Knowledge management is frequently identified as an important antecedent of innovation. However, few empirical studies have specifically addressed antecedents and consequences of effective knowledge management. Today, domestic organizations are compelled, as well as other international organizations and have to compete to stay in business environment. Hence, they must be innovative. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of knowledge management on employee's innovation in organizations through empowerment as a mediator for a case study of the Agricultural Bank of Qazvin province of Iran. Required information was gathered by a self-made questionnaire adapted and based on conceptual model adapted from previous studies. The population of this study consists of 369 employees of the Agricultural Bank of Qazvin. A total of 200 questionnaires were distributed, in which 188 valid questionnaires were collected. These questionnaires were distributed randomly among the male and female employees in branches of Agricultural Bank. The questionnaire is conducted by factor analysis and the reliability is measured by Cronbach's alpha. The structural equation modeling is used for data analysis. The results reveal the fact that empowerment will lead to employee's innovation. However, other variables did not have any significant and direct or indirect effect on employee's innovation.

Reflecting investor expectations, most prior corporate governance research attempt to find a relationship between boards of directors’ composition and firm financial performance. Specifically, we try to examine the relationship between the boards’ size, board independence, CEO duality and gender diversity and two measurements of performance in listed companies in CAC 40, namely return on assets (ROA) and return of equities (ROE). We found evidence provide that board characteristics were positively correlated to the firm’ performance. However, our results show a significant association between ROE, ROA and the board of directors’ composition. We find significant negative association between financial information and equity-based management compensation. On the other hand, the presence of independent directors on the board seems to affect, positively, the level of financial performance of CAC 40 firms. Likewise, the stewardship theory assumption, the CEO duality is very high and is significantly associated with a higher level of firm performance. The results show that there was a significant relationship between board gender diversity and firm performance from our samples CAC 40 companies. In addition, we find significant negative impact of leverage on the financial performance for CAC 40 firms.