The international strategic alliance is an inevitable solution for making competitive advantage and reducing the risk in today’s business environment. Partner selection is an important part in success of partnerships, and meanwhile it is a complicated decision because of various dimensions of the problem and inherent conflicts of stockholders. The purpose of this paper is to provide a practical approach to the problem of partner selection in international strategic alliances, which fulfills the gap between theories of inter-organizational relationships and quantitative models. Thus, a novel Robust Fuzzy Possibilistic AHP approach is proposed for combining the benefits of two complementary theories of inter-organizational relationships named, (1) Resource-based view, and (2) Transaction-cost theory and considering Fit theory as the perquisite of alliance success. The Robust Fuzzy Possibilistic AHP approach is a novel development of Interval-AHP technique employing robust formulation; aimed at handling the ambiguity of the problem and let the use of intervals as pairwise judgments. The proposed approach was compared with existing approaches, and the results show that it provides the best quality solutions in terms of minimum error degree. Moreover, the framework implemented in a case study and its applicability were discussed.

This paper presents an investigation into the flexural behaviour of basalt FRP reinforced concrete beams through experimental and analytical methods. To achieve the research objectives, four concrete beams reinforced with steel and four identical concrete beams reinforced with BFRP bars were tested under four-point bending. The main parameters examined under the tests are the type of concrete (lightweight foam glass concrete and normal concrete) and the type of longitudinal reinforcement bars (BFRP and steel). Test results are presented in terms of failure modes; deformation crack pattern and the ultimate moment of resistance are presented. The experimental results are analysed and compared to predictive models proposed by ACI 440.1R, 2006 and BS EN 1992, Eurocode 2, for deformations and ultimate flexural capacities of the steel and BFRP reinforced concrete beams. The experimental results indicated that the flexural capacity decreased for the beams reinforced with BFRP bars compared to that of a corresponding beam reinforced with steel bars. Both types of beams failed in the modes predicted. The prediction models underestimated the flexural capacity of BFRP reinforced concrete beams. The increase in foam glass aggregate content was observed to reduce the cracking load by almost 10 - 40% and 25 - 50% for steel and BFRP reinforced concrete beams, respectively. The flexural capacities of BFRP reinforced beams were underestimated by using equations stipulated in ACI 440.1R and Eurocode 2 codes of practice.

In-plane strength and constitutive properties of composite materials is known as crucial problems. Although, several studies have been made for obtaining the in-plane mode II properties, the common test fixtures are blind in confrontation of shear zone. Furthermore, toughening mechanisms and consequently mode II fracture toughness cannot be evaluated, precisely. Also, proposing the convenient configuration of shear test fixture increase the accuracy of evaluation for the shear-zone energy dissipation, especially in orthotropic materials. Hence in the present research, a novel shear fixture configuration is proposed based on Iosipesque structural modification. Hereof, some arbitrary composite materials (e.g. graphite/epoxy and wood) were studies on the basis of DOE and E-691 ASTM. Furthermore, as the numerical method for indicating the comparison of the uniform and non-uniform shear stress distribution in the modified and common shear test fixture, a statistical procedure is used based on ASTM standard in addition to FEM analysis. The obtained results reveal that applying major amendments through the new scheme of the shear test fixture, would provide a remarkable precision and a reasonable estimation of the shear strength in comparison with the previous Iosipesque experiments.

The purpose of the study is to present a digital marketing data analytics model to analyze campaign efficacy and inform strategy based on website performance, social media metrics, email marketing performance, customer data for targeting and personalization, and customer journey analysis. This model defines campaign success criteria for strategy. A statistical analysis approach was used to analyze the data for the research. Data was gathered through a survey. This study analyzes demographic parameters descriptively using the structural equation model (SEM). From comprehensive surveys, 125 digital media and 115 online shop subjects responded. Sampled were 240 people. According to the findings, social media data, customer journey research, successful advertising, and informed approaches are highly correlated. Compared to the previous study, website performance evaluation does not match the marketing plan's success. The model's results can be used by any company that communicates with clients online.

The metaverse is an imaginary network of parallel universes. Using this technology might liven up dull lecture halls. By expanding synchronous communication into the "metaverse," many individuals may have meaningful conversations and exchange perspectives. This research focuses on finding out how medical students in the UAE feel about the metaverse system. The conceptual model incorporates elements from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), including perceived value and perceived ubiquity as adoption determinants. To test the validity of the suggested framework, a survey was developed and distributed to 369 full-time students at one of the universities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Machine learning (ML) and structural equation modeling using partial least squares (PLS-SEM) are used for data analysis. According to the results, the extent to which users saw value in and adoption of the metaverse system was a significant factor in whether or not they intended to participate. This study was helpful since it elucidated the relative significance of various healthcare components, allowing professionals to prioritize their efforts better.

The primary objective of this article is to present the findings of an experimental study on the use of a human-like “naturalistic” avatar (of both genders) for information presentations. The primary goal is to investigate how users' frame of mind, purchasing behavior, and satisfaction are affected by being presented with information by a naturalistic avatar that lacks expressive capabilities. Two different types of information presentations were developed and empirically tested on 48 participants, namely: (i) two dimensional static graphical and textual information presentation and (ii) non-expressive naturalistic avatar. For this comparative research study, a simplified version of the user experience model that was used in our earlier research (the EUX-DM) was selected to serve as the measurement model. Participants' perceived values of the measured qualities were found to be independent of both their own and the naturalistic avatar's gender, and the non-expressive avatar had a positive effect and a stronger encouragement on participants' intention to purchase, usage attitude, and satisfaction than other types of information presentations.

This study assessed the critical success factors (CSFs) of public-sector road construction projects execution from the perspective of definitive stakeholders associated with such projects by drawing on in-depth semi-structured interviews (16) and surveys (372) in Ghana, thirty-four (34) CSFs were identified. Using Relative Importance Index (RII), Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficients, and Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance and the Chi-square test of significance statistics, the top ten most important factors in descending order are: the absence of political interference, project continuity by successive governments, adequate project funding, support from financial institutions and donor agencies and countries, government commitment to the project, absence of clientelism, absence of nepotism, no political corruption, payments of contractors on time and absence of court injunction or legal suit and land litigations. This study contributes to road construction CSFs in the context of public sector road construction in developing economies.

This paper presents a study on the structural performance of a modified shear-head assembly for edge steel column embedded in reinforced concrete slab. The structural performance was investigated in terms of punching shear capacity of the reinforced concrete flat slab. The study consisted of a laboratory punching shear test on the contra-flexure bound slab of dimension 1060mm × 1250mm by 130mm thick in a reactant test frame using a 500kN load cell. Results of the experimental study was validated using finite element based numerical method. Both experimental and numerical results show that increase in tensile strength of concrete, increases punching shear capacity of the connection. It was also observed that punching shear failure of the connection depended largely on concrete shear strength. This study has also revealed that punching shear occurs when concrete shear strength is reached, irrespective of the robustness of the shear-head connection.

The adoption of EVA as a compensation and management plan, generally, impacts positively the performance of companies adopting this method. However, this paper examines whether the adoption of the EVA framework enhances the firm’s performance and gauge the long-term effects of such an adoption on the firm’s value. It also assesses whether the market reacts to the announcement of the adoption of EVA as a compensation system. Moreover, the paper fills this gap in research literature by showing whether or not EVA adoption leads to a significant increase in firm value as reflected by its market prices on the long run. Growing evidence in research indicates that the stock market does not incorporate all firm information into the stock price quickly and completely (REF). Therefore, the critique that contemporaneous association between price and EVA does not reflect reality is likely to be correct. However, this paper takes a different action. The basic contention is that although prices adjust slowly to information, long horizons are sufficiently long for markets to incorporate almost all relevant information into prices. The study sample consists of 89 US firms adopted EVA as a compensation system. It compares the performance of adopting firms to that of selected matching firms and to the market indexes, particularly, the S&P500 portfolio. Then it uses two common aggregating methods to test the event of adopting EVA by different US firms namely the CAR and BHAR methods. The results obtained, however, showed a slight improvement in the performance of companies adopting EVA within five years from the date of adoption.

Government construction projects are vital to the economic development of developing countries. However, although most of these projects suffer from abandonment, little evidence exists concerning the causes that account for this setback. This paper investigates the causes of government construction project abandonment in Ghana. We used a sequential data collection approach, in-depth semi-structured interviews, and questionnaire surveys to solicit the views of project management practitioners, contractors, and clients associated with Ghana government construction project implementation. Using factor analysis and structural equation modelling, we find that Ghanaian government construction project abandonment is influenced by five sets of causes: political leadership, culture, external forces, resources (including funding) and administrative/institutional bottlenecks. Three of these sets of causes – political leadership, cultural and external forces, are the primary causes, while resources (including funding) and administrative/institutional causes are secondary causes.