1,720,965 research outputs found
Repatriation To Sierra Leone. Case Study: The Sierra Leone Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SLMFA)
Full text linkGoing abroad for a number of years to live and work in different countries with different cultures can be a major challenge for most people. To manage these challenges and lower the burdens and difficulties associated with repatriation adjustment at home, human resources managers need to be proactive and be responsive to the re-adjustment
problems that affect the lives of repatriates who have return back to their home country. Organizations and companies do not only underestimate the colossal burden to repatriation adjustment, but they also fail to acknowledge the difficulties that repatriates face when they have return back to their home country after working and completing international assignment abroad. Research shows that only a fraction of companies have invested substantially in managing and creating an effective repatriation process even though the repatriation process is considered to be more challenging than expatriation.
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the repatriation adjustment of Sierra Leonean Embassies and Consulate’s staff that has return back to Sierra Leone after working in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the US for (SLMFA) the Sierra Leone Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This study will investigate the experience the repatriates face in Sierra Leone, the strategies that were adopted by the repatriates to cope during the transition in Sierra Leone, and also the kind of assistance the repatriates receive from SLMFA during the adjustment phase in Sierra Leone.
The challenges faced by repatriates who returned back to SLMFA in Sierra Leone include: lack of current credentials or education, inability to re-establish the network that the repatriates were once part of at SLMFA before the overseas assignment, strong competition from younger and very ambitious employees some of whom have been employed by SLMFA in Sierra Leone while the repatriates were stationed abroad, changes in SLMFA’s management, experience of culture shock and reverse culture shock, changes in lifestyle due to economic hardship, and struggling to adjust to the hot summer seasons in Sierra Leone.
Most of the returning staff for this study did not have positive experience with repatriation. The study found that the repatriates were delighted when they were leaving for the overseas assignment, and majority feel disappointed about their final return to Sierra Leone. The study reveal differences in the way cultural changes impact the 5 repatriates after their return. Repatriates who served in the West seem to be agitated about the cultural transformation that has taken place in Sierra Leone after their return. Repatriates who served in Africa and Asia also experience some form of cultural transformation after their return, but were not so concern like their counterpart who have served in the West. The study found various forms of coping methods including few peculiar ones that the repatriates adopted during adjustment. The study reveal most of the coping strategies occur while the repatriates were out from their working place, and only few coping strategies were mention in relation to their working place. In relation to repatriation assistance, the study shows only few repatriates receive post-return assistance after the overseas assignment. The study reveal that the employees receive more support for expatriation than repatriation.
This study will begin by reviewing the relevant literatures in this field of study. Further, other core issues related to repatriation will be presented. The approach used in this study is qualitative single-case approach which was carried out through semi-structured interviews of nine repatriates who are currently working for SLMFA in Sierra Leone. The general finding in this current study reveals that repatriation is colossal burden for all the returnees who took part in this study despite the gain made by only few of the repatriates. It also reveals that repatriation adjustment is as demanding if not difficult than the original expatriation adjustment that was experienced by the repatriates when they first step their feet on a foreign soil abroad. The study found that most of the interviewees did not have meaningful experience to share about repatriation, and it seems only few of the staff were satisfied with the job that SLMFA had offered them after the return.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format
Public transit and student choice : a survey with Portland State University students
Full text linkResearch in urban transportation has been of many facets. Some have emphasized modes and routes while others have attempted to isolate and look at small segments of the transportation market with specific demands. Such segments include workers, recreation riders, and to a less extent, students. In the journey-to-work studies, a major finding has been that as income of workers increases, the distance between residence and work-place also increases.
This thesis starts with a series of hypotheses generated as a result of the findings of other studies reviewed in the literature. In testing the hypotheses, variables that are likely to influence student transportation cost and mode-choice in the Portland State situation were identified and included in a survey questionnaire administered among Portland State University students. The identified variables include, among others, student income, course load, duration of occupancy of dwelling unit, distance from school, time taken to cover that distance, and type of mode commonly used. In addition to the questionnaire survey, informal interviews were held with school and public transit authorities
Fringe area growth in Metropolitan Portland: an analysis of space-time variations in residential housing and land conversion, 1970-1980
Full text linkUrban ecological problems have hitherto been addressed using one of two major approaches. The first has a social impetus directed at ethnic, economic and family characteristics and their relationships with the spatial distribution of urban residential housing. The second approach emphasizes the influence of the physical environment and the services available to subareas. The sociological method has had much more attention in modeling applications than the physical analytic technique. This study adopts the physical approach with a focus that is emphatic on infrastructural factors and land attributes, and their influence on the differential rates of fringe area residential growth in the Portland metropolitan region. Data were acquired through direct research supplemented by building permit records, jurisdictional estimates, and information from the 1970 and 1980 u.s. Censuses. Growth functional relationships were operationalized using housing starts and residential land conversion as two dependent variables against which the explanatory factors of infrastructure (water and sewer), land characteristics, road network density, accessibility, and social factors were regressed in recursive models over three subperiods in the decade 1970-1980. Five models were derived for the SMSA and the four counties for the decade, and three more subperiodic models for each area, for the categories of housing starts and land conversion. The derived models were tested against a standard econometric technique (Chow test) to verify the consistency of the coefficients (elasticities) over the different subareas in the four time periods. The results showed extremely high levels of significance of the Chow tests, deeming it necessary to examine the behavior of the elasticities in more detail over space and time. The results of the examination verified that the performance of infrastructure variables were highest in Washington County, while accessibility and road network density showed very high performances in Multnomah County. Land attributes were most notable in Clark County, while income elasticities were equally high in Multnomah, Washington, and Clark Counties. The lag effects of residential development in the immediate anteceding period were more important in Multnomah and Washington than in other counties. In Clark County, residential development in the early part of the decade was the only significant lag variable in models of the latter part of the decade. The conducted tests lend adequate support to the postulated hypotheses. In general, there was differential response to the selected attributes in the subareal models. Also, the results and tests confirmed that parameter estimates of attributes varied in different governmental jurisdictions. This implies that the counties placed different emphasis on the tested variables. Where the favorable set of variables was emphasized with one major sewer service district (Washington County), fringe area growth was enhanced. The emphasis of congestion-related variables (Multnomah County) without the desired infrastructure resulted in a relatively reasonable decline in fringe area residential housing
A Comparative Study on the Export Competitiveness of the Mineral Industries of the Mano River Union Countries in the US Market Using the Shift Share Analysis
Full text linkThe mineral sectors of the Mano River Union countries are important contributors to their economic growth. More than half of the export revenues of these countries are derived from the extraction and exportation of minerals. This study was conducted in order to assess the competitiveness of the mineral industries of the Mano River Union countries vis-à-vis Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia. The shift share analysis was applied in order to identify the industries that have comparative advantages in the mineral sectors of the sample countries. The United States market was selected as the base of the research upon which the results were analyzed. The total minerals exports of the three countries were classified into five (5) groups based on the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC2-3). The relevant categories were as follows: (1) Iron and Ferro-Alloy Metals (Fe), (2) Non-ferrous Metals (NFM), (3) Industrial Minerals (IM), (4) Precious Metals (PM), and (5) Mineral Fuel (MF). For the purpose of shift share analysis, the study period were divided into two separate terminal periods of 2005-2009, and 2010-2014, taking into consideration the export data runs for ten (10) years. Precisely for Sierra Leone, the NFM, PM and IM industries all show positive correlation values, whilst the Fe industry on the other hand shows a negative correlation value. The result further confirms that the NFM industry was the most competitive industry, whilst the Fe industry was the least competitive. In the case of Guinea, the NFM, IM and MF industries all show positive correlation values, whilst the PM industry shows negative correlation value. The NFM industry was the highest performer, and therefore the most competitive industry. For Liberia, the Fe industry shows positive net shift, whilst the IM industry shows a negative net shift. Overall, the most competitive in the US market was Guinea, followed by Sierra Leone and Liberia respectively. Keywords: competitiveness, shift-share, net shift, export growth, Mano River Union DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/9-7-06 Publication date: April 30th 201
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
THE STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF MICROFINANCE ON SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISES (SMES) IN SIERRA LEONE: A CASE STUDY OF ECOBANK MICROFINANCE SIERRA LEONE
Full text linkThis research focused on the effects of Microfinance (MFI) on Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Sierra Leone. The study examined the detailed profile of SMEs in Sierra Leone, particularly Freetown municipality, and how these SMEs benefited from the Munafa Fund. The analysis of this research reveals that MFIs through the Munafa Funds have a positive effect on the growth of SMEs. In order to enhance sustained and accelerated growth in the operations of SMEs, credits should be client-oriented and not product-oriented. Extensive monitoring activities should be provided for clients who are granted loans. Data analysis was done using a mixed-method approach, as the data collected was both quantitative and qualitative in nature. The quantitative data analysis was done by using descriptive statistics and the qualitative data analysis was done using descriptive research method. A sample size of 120 potential respondents was identified using random sampling techniques. However, only 107 respondents consented to take part in the survey, which constituted 89.17% of the total respondents. In addition, this research indicates that MFIs have had a positive effect on the growth of SMEs. Some of the critical success factors of MFIs include greater access to credit, savings enhancement, and provision of business, financial, and managerial training. Although MFIs make tremendous contributions to the development of SMEs, there are challenges that hinder the operations of both SMEs and MFIs. The major challenge faced by SMEs is the difficult process associated with accessing credit, of which collateral security and high interest rates are major setbacks. On the other hand, MFIs face some challenges relating to credit misappropriation and non-disclosure of the relevant facts of the business operations of SMEs. This research work includes key findings, conclusions, and recommendations as related to our research objectives. Article visualizations
THE IMPACT OF TAX STRATEGIES ON REVENUE MOBILIZATION IN SIERRA LEONE
Full text linkAs tax revenues became an essential source of funding for governments, the rulers' dependence on these funds created an incentive for them to be accountable to the taxpayers; citizens expected their governments to use tax revenues responsibly and efficiently, leading to improved governance practices and a closer alignment of state policies with the interests and needs of the population. The choices made regarding tax reform strategies have significant implications for societal priorities, income distribution, and the overall relationship between the state and its citizens. This research revealed that periodic evaluations should be carried out by tax experts to establish the performance of each tax head and identify areas of weaknesses. This becomes the basis under which various tax reforms are put in place and the mode in which they are implemented. Findings on tax reforms indicated that more emphasis was put on indirect tax reform, but direct tax heads were given negligible attention. The majority of taxpayers do not get sufficient tax education and this leads to non-compliance on the part of taxpayers. Domestic revenue mobilization is still performing poorly, a larger portion of domestic tax revenue is raised from indirect taxes, domestic revenue mobilization procedures are not effective, and collecting tax revenue from organizations is easier than from individual taxpayers. A huge tax burden rests on the few registered organizations and employees working in the formal sector. However, the general trend indicates an increase in revenue as related to the percentage growth in the GDP, which signals the strength and benefits of tax reforms, although these benefits were stunted by the Ebola and Corona pandemics, respectively. In addition, the findings of this research revealed that the National Revenue Authority needs to lower the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) threshold in order to capture the income of the majority of citizens for tax purposes. Further, there is a need to revise the list of zero-rated supplies, diplomatic privileges, and the list of institutions whose income is tax-exempt. Trade tax reform may be an important component of fiscal reform in developing countries. However, policymakers must also consider the unique challenges posed by informal economies and work to develop tailored solutions that can effectively raise revenue while preserving economic efficiency and welfare. Article visualizations
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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