Quality_Family Deployment: A New Perspective in Determining Priority Importance for Improving Work Performance in Organization

Determining priority importance is a matter of concerns among the organization to improve their performance. One of the important aspects that should be considered by the organization is management of human resources, comprising of members who have their own family life. In this paper, we deliver a new perspective for organization to provide priority importance for their members with respect to family matters in order to inculcate the sense of belonging in the organization. To be effective in considering family matters in the organizational policy making, closer look of family characteristics are required. The idea of translating several family characteristics as quality variables and applying the quality function deployment (QFD) method to these variables could present a new way of improving the decision making in the organization by considering the process of decision in the family. Quality function deployment for family (QFDF) produces a friendly interpretation of a highly complex and intangible matters around family life; thus, making the assessment of a family easier. QFD is applied on the data gathered from a questionnaire survey based on 1,213 families in West Malaysia, Malaysia. Twelve variables are identified as voice of family, where seven of them are found to have the highest priority of importance. These variables could also be translated into quality variables in the context of organization, the strategy of improvement for the family could be interpreted as strategy for improvement in the organization. Furthermore, the results of this study provide suggestion to improve actions for managing human resource. In the discussion, three most high ranked variables from both perspectives of family and organization are considered.     

A probabilistic clustering method for data elements with normal distributed attributes

By considering uncertainty in the attributes common methods cannot be applicable in data clustering. In the recent years, many researches have been done by considering fuzzy concepts to interpolate the uncertainty. But when data elements attributes have probabilistic distributions, the uncertainty cannot be interpreted by fuzzy theory. In this article, a new concept for clustering of elements with predefined probabilistic distributions for their attributes has been proposed, so each observation will be as a member of a cluster with special probability. Two metaheuristic algorithms have been applied to deal with the problem. Squared Euclidean distance type has been considered to calculate the similarity of data elements to cluster centers. The sensitivity analysis shows that the proposed approach will converge to the classic approaches results when the variance of each point tends to be zero. Moreover, numerical analysis confirms that the proposed approach is efficient in clustering of probabilistic data.     

The discrepancy of P-values and posterior probability: Two-sided hypothesis of variance of normal distribution with unknown mean

This article is concerned with the comparison of P-value and Bayesian measure in point null hypothesis for the variance of Normal distribution with unknown mean. First, using fixed prior for test parameter, the posterior probability is obtained and compared with the P-value when an appropriate prior is used for the mean parameter. In the second, lower bounds of the posterior probability of H₀ under a reasonable class of prior are compared with the P-value. It has been shown that even in the presence of nuisance parameters, these two approaches can lead to different results in the statistical inference.     

Testing monotonic equilibrium residual entropy of N-State Random Evolution

In this study, we propose an information measure of uncertainty associated with the random equilibrium residual lifetime of a system driven by N-State Random Evolution. A U-statistic test driven by a moment inequality is proposed for testing the hypothesis that the uncertainty of equilibrium remaining life of a system remains unchanged (when system is in the steady state) against the alternative situation when system’s equilibrium residual life has increasing uncertainty over time (i.e., the life distribution has Increasing Equilibrium Residual Entropy property). Some numerical results such as tabulated critical values and empirical power of the proposed test statistic are presented as well.     

Prevalence of and risk factors associated with cesarean section in Lebanon — A retrospective study based on a sample of 29,270 women

Background

During the last decades, there has been an alarming and dramatic increase in the number of cesarean births in both developed and undeveloped countries. This increase has not been clinically justified but, nevertheless, has raised an important number of issues.

Home Environment and Its Relation with Quality of Life of Older People

In this cross-sectional study, we tested the relationship between sociophysical environment, quality of life (QOL), and perceived social support among elderly in Iran. The sample includes 128 participants recruited in the city of Shahrekord, Iran. We measured Evaluation of Older People Living Environment (EVOLVE); Control, Autonomy, Self-realization and Pleasure scale (CASP-19) and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) tools respectively, through home-based observation and interview. A significant relationship was found between several domains of home environment, QOL, and perceived social support. The interaction effect of the home environment and gender in relation to QOL and perceived social support was statistically significant. Our results support that the home physical environment may not be considered a strong predictor of QOL among the Iranian elderly.     

Reforming Land‐Tenure Systems in South Africa: Routes to Socio‐Economic and Agricultural Sustainability

Given the historical development of land tenure in South Africa, the aim of this article is to examine the best routes to alleviate poverty and retain sustainable agriculture in the country. First, a theoretical framework is presented that relates land tenure to sustainability, and three historical periods (pre‐colonial, colonial, and apartheid) are then considered to explain the changes in land tenure and their consequences. The progress and main limitations of post‐apartheid land reform to approach agricultural sustainability and alleviate poverty are discussed. Based on the analysis, different possibilities for future land reform are elaborated, followed by some recommendations for future land‐reform policies in South Africa.     

Revisiting Fiat Regime’s Attainability of Shari’ah Objectives and Possible Futuristic Alternatives

Maqasid of Shari'ah is a millennium old theory on the higher objectives of Islamic divine law. As the discipline of Islamic economics and finance grew in politico-economic importance in the past three decades, a cathartic trend has emerged among Muslim experts to realign economic and financial practices with not merely the minimum legal requirements of religion but also the wisdom and crucial objectives of Shari'ah. An expositive example of this is the monetary economics debate of a Shari'ah consonant currency. Though vast majority of religious clerics have approbated fiat and paper currencies in strict legal terms since the 1980s, a revisionist movement since the mid-1990s seeks to counter it—some going as far as indorsing reversion to gold and silver coinage of medieval Islamic epoch of affluence. Unlike orthodox fiqhi (strict jurisprudentialism) approach that involves legalese with little leeway, Maqasid approach concerns itself with the spirit of the law. This paper operates in the exciting laboratory of Maqasidic framework to appraise the multitudinous role of fiat currency in protecting economic, political, and social public interests, prevention of harm, promotion of egalitarianism, and attainment of ultimate utopic vision of theological and spiritual demands in Shari'ah. The paper contributes, theoretically, by introducing several moral-philosophical arguments against fiat’s compatibility with Shari'ah, and, practically, by prognosticating the future course of discourse in light of advancements in technological innovations—including nascent crypto-currencies.     

The sensitivity of income polarization

This study looks at polarization and its components’ sensitivity to assumptions about equivalence scales, income definition, ethical income distribution parameters, and the income accounting period. A representative sample of Danish individual incomes from 1984 to 2002 is utilised. Results show that polarization has increased over time, regardless of the applied measure, when the last part of the period is compared to the first part of the period; primary causes being increased inequality (alienation) and faster income growth among high incomes relative to those in the middle of the distribution. Increasing the accounting period confirms the reduction in inequality found for shorter periods, but polarization is virtually unchanged, because income group identification increases. Applying different equivalence scales does not change polarization ranking for different years, but identification ranks are affected. The welfare state considerably reduces income polarization and inequality, but at the expense of some more identification.