The beam-column joints are designed to have sufficient capacity under earthquake loads. This requirement needs design details of reinforcement that fulfill the seismic criteria and adequate compaction of concrete. Using Self Compacting Concrete (SCC) material can solve the difficulty of compacting conventional concrete due to the close reinforcement distance. This study aimed to analyze the behavior of the Exterior Beam-column Joints (EBJ) using SCC as materials with a variation of shear reinforcements to withstand cyclic lateral loads. The analysis was carried out using the ANSYS software and the Finite Element Method. The analysis included hysteresis curves, stress contours, ductility, stiffness, and structural strength. The performance of an EBJ without shear reinforcement (EBJ-S1 model) was compared to other EBJs using horizontal (EBJ-S2 model) and diagonal (EBJ-S3 model) shear reinforcements in the joint zones. The results showed that horizontal and diagonal shear reinforcement in the joint zones affected the performance of the EBJs in resisting cyclic lateral loads as the representative of earthquake loads. The EBJ without shear reinforcement could withstand compressive stresses of 3.33 to 17.22 MPa, while both EBJs using horizontal and diagonal shear reinforcement achieved the same compressive stresses range of 3.33 to 20 MPa. The EBJ with diagonal reinforcement performed a wider compressive area of stress contour than the EBJ of horizontal reinforcement. The EBJ-S3 model achieved the highest ductility value of 4.733 with diagonal shear reinforcements because it achieved the highest ultimate displacement of the other EBJ models.

Peru is a country with plenty of renewable energy sources. However, its power demand depends on more than 50% of fossil fuels. Specifically, the power coming from the sun only represents 1% of the Peruvian energy matrix even though the territory has high radiation indexes. Therefore, the current analysis aims to search for the research situation of photovoltaic energy. Hence, this research looked for literature from RENATI and EBSCO, which provided 398 pieces of academic investigation. After applying the Prisma methodology to select the most relevant thesis and papers, we analyzed 48 elements. We found that the on-grid technology was the most viable in economic terms for projects related to business and electrification. At the same time, off-grid systems have been preferred for sanitation applications. Nonetheless, all the reviewed literature showed that photovoltaic technology positively impacted the environment and was as effective as conventional sources.

The corner point singularity of surface cracks by finite element method (FEM) has become a numerical concern decades ago. The literature showed that the stress intensity factors (SIFs) at the corner points were often excluded. Further, most SIFs were reported for larger ratios of the crack depth over cylinder diameter. This paper presents the SIFs (Modes I, II and III) of a semi-elliptical surface crack at a solid round bar under torsion. The tetrahedral and hexahedral elements were used in the finite element modelling. The effects of the loading mode and the crack aspect ratio on the corner point singularity were discussed. The tetrahedral meshing was generally observed to be more suitable for modelling relatively small surface cracks, particularly in respect to the corner point singularity. For all loading modes, the SIFs away from the corner points of using the tetrahedral meshing were found to have fairly good agreement with those by dual boundary element method (DBEM).

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of customer relationship management on customer loyalty (CL) at Jordan Telecommunication Company through business process management. The researcher uses the descriptive analytical method to scan members’ opinions. The random sample includes (367) workers from different sectors all over the country. The results show that customer relation management (CRM) has a dramatic impact on customer loyalty and business process management (BPM). Besides, BPM plays a vital role between CRM and CL. This study appears to be the first study in Jordan which empirically examines the indirect relationship between customer relation management and customer loyalty via business process management.

This research aims to fill the research gap with empirical evidence that exists about the impact of blockchain and smart inventory systems on supply chain performance in the retail industry in the UAE. The proposed model is uniquely researched as no prior research explores the link between supply chain performances, blockchain, and smart inventory in prestigious academic journals. A quantitative technique with convenient cluster sampling is used. A descriptive, exploratory, causal and analytical design was applied—a sample size of 303 respondents was used for data analysis through regression and hypothesis with ANOVA. The findings revealed a significant positive impact of blockchain and smart inventory systems on SC performance. Limited construct-based research can be focused on more industries and constructs for future studies. There are numerous chances for businesses to leverage blockchain technology to their advantage over the competition, giving them the chance to strengthen their market position. Managers must carefully consider the qualities of their goods, services, and supply chains to ascertain whether they require or would sufficiently benefit from blockchain.

This paper investigates the effect of artificial intelligence (product information, recommendation, and social media exposure) and payment flexibility on the operational performance of ecommerce retailers. The study is based on Transactional Cost Analysis, Material Flow, and Technology Integration theories. It considered a sample size of 270 members out of the population of 769 employees from five ecommerce companies operating in the region (Namshi.com, Noon, Joly Chic, Extra, and Styli). The analysis involved constructing a structural equation model to examine the trickle-down effect of the variables included in the study. The study concluded that artificial intelligence and payment flexibility are the core reasons that the retailers in the region are registering operational success in the retail market.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the mediating role of operational flexibility between the quality of health information technology and management capability. A cross-sectional study was conducted; data was obtained based on 365 medical staff (medical doctors, nurses, and medical technologists) from public hospitals in the northern region of Jordan; a covenant sample was used. The authors used structural equation modeling to verify the hypotheses. The results reveal that the quality of health information technology has a significant impact on management capability and operational flexibility. Operational flexibility as a partial mediating variable also showed a significant impact on management capability. The study suggests that increasing the quality of health information technology will enhance the management capability and operational flexibility in healthcare organizations and will increase employee loyalty as a vehicle to trigger positive work-related attitudes. This study is one of the very limited studies in the Middle East that examined the role of operational flexibility in the quality of health information technology and employee management capability.

The aim of the study is to determine the effectiveness of corporate governance on corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance and financial reporting quality in Saudi Arabia's manufacturing sector. The data is collected through the database of Thomson Reuters from 30 manufacturing companies of Saudi Arabia over the period 2014-2020. Descriptive statistics and the generalized least square (GLS) model were applied. The dependent variable was calculated through residuals and was found as discretionary accruals (DA). The findings reveal that there was a positive influence of corporate governance on CSR performance and financial reporting quality. It was found that sample size was one of the biggest limitations because only data from 2014 to 2020 were collected and to make the study more reliable and authentic, larger data is required.

Fresh produce which are part of agricultural products that can survive during the pandemic in Indonesia, there is even an increase in supply, this contribution is important for the availability of these products in maintaining consumption needs in maintaining public health levels in the midst of an unfavourable situation for all parties, including sustainability of business in this chain network. However, the development of this commodity still has many obstacles, especially in the ability to provide high-quality products, resource capabilities and manage existing information, especially the farmers who are involved in cooperation in this supply chain system, so that it can impact their performance. This study explores the mediating effect of collaborative performance systems (CPS) in lateral collaboration structures such as; information sharing (ISH), resource sharing (RSH), contract farming (CTF) and join mode transportation (JTM) in individual companies (CIP) and supply chain performance (SPO) in the fresh produce supply chain (FPSC). The sample in this study was taken based on purposive sampling from the participation of respondents in the FPSC network consisting of farmers producing fresh vegetables and fruits who are members of the Association of the Farmers Groups (Gapoktan), distributors, owners of transportation modes and supermarkets. Respondents consisted of 72 people who had filled out complete questionnaires from their four supply chain channel partners. Data collection methods were analyzed using a structural equation approach. The results of the study that the mediation of CPS on the performance of CIP and SPO in the FPSC was confirmed.

The objective of this study is to examine the impact of green supply chain management (GSCM) on operational performance as moderate of firm size and percentage of exported products. Based on the feedback of 313 manufacturing enterprises in four sectors (electronics, agriculture, food, textiles) operating in Vietnam, this study found some important findings. Firstly, GSCM has a positive and significant influence on the operational performance of businesses in Vietnam. Secondly, the resulting effect of implementing GSCM is better for enterprises with large scale and high export rates. This has reaffirmed the need to improve the overall supply chain management and green supply chain of this group of businesses. Overall, the findings suggest that improving GSCM practices is important not only for businesses in developed countries but also for businesses in emerging economic regions such as Vietnam.