The surface of the bottle gourd shell (BGS), a solid agricultural residue of Lagenaria vulgaris Ser. was chemically modified using a cationic surfactant, hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (HTAC). The success of the modification was confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy. Chemical characterization of the lignocellulosic BGS biomass and the surfactant modified bottle gourd shell (MBGS) was carried out using the compositional and elemental analysis. The amount of surfactant sorbed on the BGS surface was measured as a function of the surfactant bulk concentration. Sorption isotherms were used to verify self-assembly models of cationic surfactant sorption onto oppositely charged MBGS substrates. The shape of sorption isotherms was applied to describe the behavior of the surfactant/BGS system. The surfactant modified shell was tested as a sorbent for the removal of phosphate and nitrate from contaminated aqueous solutions. The sorption of anionic pollutants on MBGS was performed in a series of batch sorption experiments at 20 o C. It was found that the MBGS yielded sorption efficiency was 40% for phosphate and 22% for nitrate. The sorption mechanism involving the ion exchange might be responsible for the uptake of anions. The morphology and surface properties of the MBGS sorbent before and after sorption of anionic pollutants were analyzed by SEM methods. Compared to other non-surfactant sorbents, the advantage of MBGS as a sorbent is that it can be used for the removal of anionic pollutants not only from aqueous solutions but also from the emulsified oil wastewater or nonpolar effluents.
Although the use of various forms of marketing channels is increasing within agricultural marketing, there have been only a limited number of research efforts exploring the influencing factors on the structure of agricultural marketing channels and the decisions to select individual intermediaries. Due to the specific nature of agricultural production and its products, complex transportation and storage problems require a greater number of intermediaries in their movement from producers to consumers. Management of sales channels is an important factor for the success of farmers, so it is necessary to evaluate the impact of changes in the environment on them. In order to adapt sales to the demands of the contemporary market, cheese producers are faced with the dilemma of expanding existing sales channels, adding modern channels to existing traditional channels, or making more radical changes to the market access. This paper defines the distribution methods and key players in cheese delivery that should point to strengthening the competitiveness of producers in the global market.
Research Question: This paper focuses on the basic financial decision making practices of domestic companies and their knowledge of the operational risk management concept. Motivation: Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) play a significant role in the company’s development and achieving the company’s objectives (Van Horne & Wachowicz, 2007). Different authors carry out research based on one of the fields of finances-related decision making, like Graham & Harvey, 2001. The goal of this research is to show that difference in decision making process on companies’ finances and risk management depends on the company’s ownership structure. Idea: The paper is aimed at the recognition of differences found in corporate decision making, relating both to capital budgeting and capital structure, dividend payout policy and risk management concept, depending on the ownership structure. Data: During the first half of 2016, a research consisting of the 392-companies sample operating in the Republic of Serbia was conducted, including all four listed fields concerning their economic operations. Nevertheless, only a total of 54 CFOs completed and handed back the distributed questionnaires. Tools: Some basic descriptive statistics techniques, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Kruskal-Wallis test were applied throughout the complete data analysis, while data processing involved the use of standard statistical package IBM SPSS 20.0. Findings: As shown by research findings, there is a notable difference in decision making, both on dividend payout and on risk management concept, depending on the types of ownership, with companies operating in our domestic market. The future research will concentrate on practice of companies merging both domestic and foreign entities, in order to determine whether a similar pattern might be found. Contribution: Furthermore, the research is intended to be complemented by the data contained in the official financial reports of those companies, with a view to ascertaining if the statements made by their CFOs are actually applied in the corporate practice.
Digitalization of business changes producers, intermediaries, service providers and consumers. There is a vast quantity of data available. Furthermore, new algorithms providing answers from these data are also more and more available. Finally, devices possessed by an average citizen enable choice and pattern of shopping to be shaped by these answers. So, the question is whether the businesses are facing the evolution or revolution of the existing business model? Tourism industry and retail industry are analyzed in this paper in order to search for an answer to this research question. Keywords: digitalization, retail, tourism, industrial revolution, artificial intelligence SažetakDigitalizacija poslovanja menja proizvođače, posrednike, uslužne organizacije i potrošače. Ogromna količina podataka je na raspolaganju. Štaviše, i novi algoritmi koji obezbeđuju odgovore na osnovu ovih podataka su na raspolaganju. Konačno, uređaji koje poseduje prosečan građanin omogućavaju izbor i način kupovine koji je oblikovan upravo ovim odgovorima. Dakle, pitanje je da li se privrednici suočavaju sa evolutivnim ili revolucionarnim promenama modela poslovanja? U ovom tekstu, analizirani su turizam i maloprodaja u traženju odgovora na ovo istraživačko pitanje.
SažetakTrgovina i turizam, kao noseće grane uslužnog sektora u Srbiji, ulaze u novi razvojni ciklus. Naime, i u trgovini i u turizmu ističe važnost prethodno usvojenim strateškim dokumentima. Tako se stvara potreba da se za naredni razvojni period obezbedi nova strategija razvoja koja će koordinirati i usmeravati napore javnog i privatnog sektora. U oba slučaja se postavlja sličan set pitanja: šta je ostvareno od planova iz prethodno usvojenih strategija, šta je još uvek aktuelno i da li su potrebni radikalni zaokreti ili samo pročišćavanje, dopuna i ažuriranje strategijskih dokumenata koji su do sada bili u upotrebi. Makroekonomsko okruženje ne ide na ruku ni turizmu niti trgovini. Ipak, bar kada je reč o turizmu, globalni trendovi ukazuju na kontinualni rast tražnje za turističkim uslugama pa se i od srpskog turizma može očekivati da iskoristi deo tih globalnih povoljnih kretanja. Ovaj tekst posebno ispituje nerealizovane projekte u oba područja i istražuje uzroke ovih neuspeha. Cilj je da se u zaključku dođe do preporuka. Jedna mogućnost je eventualna promena stava, ukoliko su se strateška opredeljenja bila pogrešna. Druga mogućnost je promena načina rešavanja problema odnosno realizacije projekta, ukoliko su opredeljenja ostala ista, ali se postojeći način implementacije pokazao kao nedelotvoran. U samom zaključku je iznet stav da su do sada korišćeni strateški dokumenti u osnovi bili ispravni i da novi dokumenti treba da donesu u sebi ažurirane predloge kako da se započeti razvoj i turizma i trgovine u Srbiji mnogo uspešnije nastavi u narednom periodu. Ključne reči: trgovina, turizam, strategija, razvoj, razvojna politika, državna intervencija AbstractTrade and tourism, as significant areas of the service sector in Serbia are entering a new development cycle. In fact, in commerce as well as in tourism, previously adopted strategic documents expire. This creates a need to provide new development strategies for the coming development period in order to coordinate and guide the efforts of the public and private sectors. In both cases, a similar set of questions arises: what has been achieved that was planned in the previously adopted strategies, what is still very relevant and whether it is the necessary to make radical shifts or only purifying, complement and update of the existing strategic documents is acceptable. The macroeconomic environment is not favorable neither for tourism nor commerce. However, at least when it comes to tourism, global trends suggest the continual growth of demand for tourist services so it can be expected from Serbian tourism to grab some effects of this global positive trend. This paper specifically examines unrealized projects in both areas and investigates the causes of these failures. The aim is to give some recommendations in conclusion. One option is a possible change of attitude, if the strategic goals were wrong. Another possibility is to change the ways of solving problems and the realization of the project, if the attitudes remain the same, but the way of implementation p...
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