Use of Natural Pyrophyllite as Cement Substitution in Ultra Performance Polypropylene Fiber Concrete

The present work investigates the use of an alumino-silicate material, the pyrophyllite as cement substitution, synthetic polypropylene fibers and binder to create an unusual ultra-performance fiber concrete; new composite, which offers a wide field of possible use in construction industry. Effect of pyrophyllite on the physical-mechanical properties is analyzed. One reference fiber concrete without pyrophyllite and three fiber concretes containing 10%, 20%, 30% of pyrophyllite were elaborated. Results show that the pyrophyllite affects the characteristics of the concrete. Indeed, in the hardened state, the density of fiber concrete decreased with pyrophyllite rate increasing. Moreover, the use of pyrophyllite slows down the hardening process of concrete, consequently producing at early ages, compressive, flexural and tensile strengths and elastic modulus of concretes approaching without exceeding those of the reference fiber concrete. The fiber concretes are also considered to be of good quality. It seems that the rate of 10 % of pyrophyllite generates the best physical-mechanical performances that approach those of the reference fiber concrete. The use of pyrophyllite as a cement substitution is beneficial since it can help to decrease the production of cement; the amount of CO2 released and protects the environment.

Green, blue or black, but washing–What company characteristics determine greenwashing?

The purpose of this paper is to study what are the characteristics that make firms less or more prone to greenwashing. We collect data from sustainability disclosures of the S&P top 100 companies, to investigate the determinants of greenwashing. We use content analysis to measure the level of reporting of the companies. We define the “greenwashing” variable as the difference between what the company says it does in terms of commitment to sustainability, and what the company actually does as evaluated by external parties (Bloomberg ESG scores). Our results show that companies in environmentally sensitive industries greenwash less than their counterparts in other industries, as well as companies following the GRI guidelines. Companies that issue a sustainability report and assure it greenwash less than those that do not do it. Contrary to our intuition, companies in industries with close proximity and high visibility greenwash more than their counterparts. A limitation of the paper is the inclusion in the sample of data from one country. Our findings have implications for policy-makers, particularly in Europe, where some European states have already regulated on green issues reporting and lately on blue issues. It might be interesting to consider both the industry effect and the relevance of reporting mechanisms when developing regulation and policies in order to improve the quality of sustainability reporting. We contribute to literature by proposing a new quantitative measure to assess greenwashing practices, to better understand the effect of industry and reporting mechanisms on greenwashing.

Determinants of Intercorporate Investments: An Empirical Investigation of Indian Firms

We examine the determinants of intercorporate investments for a sample of 127 firms listed in the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in India for the period 2015–2019. This research indicates that the investor firm’s intercorporate investments are influenced by free cash flows, dividend yield, promoter holding, and leverage. Interestingly, contrary to anecdotes in the financial press, the investor firms where promoter holding (equity) is more, prefer to invest less in the other firm’s capital (as part of intercorporate investment). Using OLS regression, this analysis does not find evidence for the variables, that is, the firm’s age, the capital expenditure required, growth in earnings per share, board independence, and CEO duality for significant influence on intercorporate investments. Further tests for industry effect reveal the consumer and retail sector’s intercorporate investments to be significantly different (i.e., lower) from the manufacturing and service sectors.

Is Sustainable Performance Explained by Firm Effect in Small Business?

To what extent a firm’s resources (firm effect) and the structure of the sector (industry effect) are sources of a firm’s competitiveness has been debated for years in strategic management. Most of the empirical studies carried out have focused on large firms and have used static performance measures, and in them the firm effect generally outweighs the industry effect. This research contributes to this debate in trying to verify whether the competitive advantage that relies on the firm’s resources is sustainable, especially in small firms. We used a sample of almost 15,000 Spanish firms to test the impact that the firm and the industry effects have on sustainable performance, for both small and large firms, applying hierarchical linear modelling with a variable measured through time-varying parameters. Our results confirm the absolute importance of the firm effect on sustainable organizational performance, regardless the firm size, and show that, even though the industry effect has little weight in explaining sustainability, it is significantly higher in the case of small firms. This means that managers must concentrate efforts on providing their firm with the necessary resources to achieve a competitive advantage while choosing a good sector to position itself.

Firm and industry effects: the importance of sample design

Purpose This paper aims to examine how sample design affects the relative importance of firm and industry factors in explaining performance variations. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of 14,204 Spanish firms over a 10-year time frame, this study uses partial sensitivity analysis to examine the biases in results as a consequence of three methodological relevant concerns: outliers, industry classification and period. Findings Results indicate that the industry effect, supported by the industrial organization theory, has been underestimated in the empirical tests. Originality/value This study examines the biases in results as a consequence of three methodological relevant concerns (outliers, sector classification and period), which have not been sufficiently studied to date. Moreover, the study provides some new evidence favourable to the Industrial Organization (IO) perspective, which could have been biased and underestimated by the literature, as most of the analyses do not consider the methodological issues studied in this paper.

Stress Management among the Employees in Hotel Industry: w.r.t. Rajamahendravaram

Hotel Industry is one of those industries that demand a lot of hard work, attention, presence of mind, right job attitude, multitasking and multi-processing skills. The level of employees can be classified into three categories, top, middle, and lower level. At all the three tiers of Employee levels, hotel industry is a demanding, and challenging area. However the designation name can vary according to the organization. The human resource in the star category hotels of Rajamahendravaram serve in different departments of the hotel. The jobs demand high skills, hard work, service attitude, competencies and commitment that cater to the needs of hospitality. The Human resource is bound to undergo stress of different types. Work stress places a very high toll on both employees and employers. The ever changing demands of the working world can increase levels of stress, especially for those who are consistently working under pressure. Whilst pressure has its positive side in raising performance, if such pressure becomes excessive it can lead to stress which has negative consequences. This paper throws light on significance of stress in hotel Industry, effect of stress on Performance, attitude and motivation of employees along with a hypothetical study on mobility of employees due to stress.