The present work addresses traffic rescheduling in case of electric infrastructure failure. The power available for train traction is restricted and the traffic must be reorganized according to this constraint. The system behaviour is computed using a dynamic multi-physics railway simulator which gives physi- cal quantities such as the train speed profiles, voltage along the catenary lines and temperatures. The rescheduling problem relies on this non-linear model, with a large number of continuous and discrete variables, constraints on dynamic outputs (typically voltage limits) and a high computation cost. We propose a rescheduling process based on sensitivity analysis in order to analyse the behaviour of this complex system and obtain information about the adjustment operations needed in order to reschedule the traffic in an optimal way. Our approach is based on statistics, with predefined variation ranges of the input parameters. In a first stage, variance decomposition-based sensitivity analysis (generalized Sobol indexes) is used for prioritization and fixing factors; then regional sensitivity analysis is used for factor mapping. The proposed approach has been tested on a simple case, with a nominal traffic running on a single-track line. The considered incident is the loss of a feeding power substation. The variables to be adjusted are the time interval between departure times and speed reduction in the vicinity of the faulty substation. The results show that increasing the time interval between trains is the most influential vari- able. Pareto-optimal fronts are also built in order to perform multi-criteria analysis according to travel- ling time, train delays and traction energy.

Introduction: Strategic management and its most important component, the strategic policies, and the expression of these policies and the implementation of the stated policies are very important. The purpose of this study is to examine the policy statements of the enterprises operating in the field of logistics, which is an important sector for the economy of countries, to examine whether they are current and industry-appropriate statements, and to discuss the reasons. Categorization and interpretation were preferred as methods. As a scope, only policy statements among the strategic concepts shared by the Logistics Association (LODER) member enterprises in the logistics sector have been discussed and studied. Especially in logistics enterprises, the establishment of strategic management and strategic policies, their expression, sharing and their implementation, the concepts emphasized and prioritized in the policies, and whether these concepts are up-to-date and appropriate to the sector should be seen as a problem. According to the findings, an important part of the policy statements are about customers and customer-related concepts. It has been observed that the concepts prioritized in policy statements are not specific to the business, which are popular and shared in most businesses. The fact that the concepts examined are not up to date causes businesses to stay away from the concepts they really need. The fact that the stated policies are not specific to the business will not benefit the strategic management of the business in details. This study is expected to be beneficial to academics and administrators working in this field.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of macroeconomic variables, namely GDP, Inflation and Unemployment to credit risk in Islamic banking of Indonesia. The data for this study were collected from secondary sources via Statistics Center Indonesia (BPS) and financial statements of the 7 Islamic bank of Indonesia. The data used are the annual ones from 2009 to 2016. This research uses an explanatory analysis. The test is a panel data regression testing using Eviews 9. The result of panel data regression with random effect model consisted gross domestic product (GDP) and unemployment rate (UNEMP) have a significant negative effect on credit risk of Islamic banking in Indonesia. While the inflation variable has a negative but statistically insignificant effect on credit risk in Islamic banking system of Indonesia.

Transaction volume of crypto currencies, which is generally known by Bitcoin, has reached a significant size worldwide, today. Though they are not recognized by law in common, yet; the crypto currencies attract firms due to their higher revenue rates, transferable skills and lower transaction costs. Today the firms can pay and collect their receivables by the crypto currencies also they invest in crypto currencies to benefit from exchange rates. The aim of the study is evaluating the accounting of Bitcoin in Turkey by presenting the process and features of crypto currencies, especially Bitcoin.

There are three accounting regulations that are used within scope of authenticity in Turkey. These are General Communique on Implementation of Accounting System that has been used since 1994, Turkish Accounting / Financial Reporting Standards that has been implemented since 2004 and Enterprise Financial Reporting Standards for Small and Medium Sized Enterprise that will be compulsorily used as of 2018. Each accounting regulation has unique rules for calculating depreciation. While these accounting regulations set standards for calculating depreciation, tax codes also have rules for calculating depreciation. Depreciation rules set forth by accounting regulation and tax codes vary.

This article aims comparing depreciation procedures based on accounting regulations in order to reveal out similarities and differences between the accounting regulations and to discuss how the tax effect arising out of the differences between tax rules and accounting regulations should be traced. Thus, practitioners will have the opportunity to see and compare all rules pertaining to depreciation accounting. Literature review method is used to achieve this target.

This study examines the impact of working capital management on the financial performance of listed conglomerate companies in Nigeria for a period of ten (10) years (2005-2014). Data for the study were quantitatively retrieved from the annual reports and accounts of the studied companies. The study employed descriptive statistics to describe the variable while the relationships among the variables were established via correlation. Variable Inflation Factor (VIF) was used to determine the existence or otherwise of multi-collinearity while Ordinary Least Square (OLS) Regression was used to analyze the data. It was found that debtors collection period, creditors payment period and firm size were negatively related to return on investment while cash conversion cycle has positive but insignificant relationship with the financial performance of the studied companies. The study however, recommends among others that listed conglomerate companies should maintain the current debtors’ collection period or further reduce it in order to continue to enhance financial performance.

The purpose of the study is to examine the effect of financial performance on sustainability disclosure and then to examine the effect of sustainability disclosure on firm value. Sustainability disclosure is treated as a mediating variable, therefore an investigation of the indirect effect of financial performance on firm value is required to accomplish the mediating effect. It is predicted that lower leverage and higher firm size, higher liquidity, as well as higher profitability will motivate companies’ management to convey more their sustainability disclosure. This action should increase firm value. The sample used in this study is companies listed on the Jakarta Islamic Index (JII) for the period 2013 – 2015. The study uses path analysis to examine the hypothesis.

The results present that higher liquidity emboldens management to convey more sustainability disclosure. Higher sustainability disclosure increase firm value significantly. However, the effect of leverage, profitability, and firm size is not significant. Regarding the indirect effect of financial performance on firm value, the results show that leverage and profitability have a positively indirect effect on firm value. However, size and liquidity have no indirect effect on firm value. This means that the increase of leverage and profitability will encourage management to publish more sustainability disclosure and it will increase firm value of companies listed on the Jakarta Islamic Index.

It is necessary to clarify “the key audit matters within the auditor’s report” due to the publishing of International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 701: Reporting Key Audit Matters within the Independent Auditor’s Report, in 2017. The mentioned key audit matters are the most important ones for the auditing of current term’s financial tables according to the auditor’s professional reasoning. The aim of the study is explaining the basis relating the detecting of key audit matters and their presentation in the framework of ISA 701; to perform a content analysis about which key audit matters are detected within the independent auditor’s reports for 2017 financial term belonged to the companies listed in Istanbul Stock Exchange. Hence; audit reports of 140 companies are analyzed through the aim of the study also quantitative and qualitative methods are employed about the key audit matters. The most common matters detected within the mentioned reports herein are as the following: Sales, Accounts Receivables, Inventories, Tangible Assets and Investment Properties.

The aim of this research is to examine the effect of firm characteristics on profitability of listed consumer goods companies in Nigeria. Profitability is the dependent variable proxied by Return on sales (ROS), while firm characteristics is the independent variable proxied by firm age, firm size, sales growth, liquidity and leverage. The population of the study consists of twenty two (22) listed consumer goods companies as at 31st December, 2016. Eighteen of the listed consumer goods companies are selected to form the sample of the study for the period of six years (2011-2016). The study employed multiple regressions as tool for analysis. A hypothesis was formulated and tested for the study; which states that: Firm characteristics have no significant effect on profitability of listed consumer goods companies in Nigeria. Secondary data obtained from the financial statements of the companies were analyzed. Panel data techniques (fixed and random effects models) were utilized to examine the effect of firm characteristics on profitability and Hausman specification test confirmed that random effects model was more appropriate for the study. The results show that firm size, sales growth and leverage have significant effects on profitability. In contrast, firm age and liquidity are not significantly affecting profitability of listed consumer goods companies in Nigeria. The study therefore recommended that, consumer goods companies in Nigeria should conduct careful evaluation and take into consideration the firm characteristics (firm size, sales growth, and leverage) that affect the profits of the company before making major business decisions as this will help in improving their profitability.

Today, it has been arguing about the limits of welfare models in which ongoing discussions are on the fight against poverty and deprivation play an important role. What should be the role of government? May the implementations of welfare models face with crisis? Is it possible to set socioeconomic limits to the level of redistribution which is being set by welfare state implementations and financing practices? What should be the role of government about social protection implementations which are being applied for the disadvantaged groups who forced to fight poverty and deprivation. All these questions require an comprehensive analytical study on social protection implementations. The role of social protection expenditures which can be a criteria to test the meaning of ''social'' concept in social state on social solidarity, its level in public social protection spendings and predictability of beneficiariers' social protection costs to social state are very important issues to provide sustainability.The aim of the study is to interpret the optimization and measurement of the efficiency of the effectiveness of social protection expenditures with the vortex optimization algorithm from artificial intelligence evaluation techniques which is a different and contemporary technique. The results of the study on social protection expenditure in Turkey has concluded that the optimization.

Integrated Reporting is defined as the process of transferring the value created as a result of business activities carried out on the basis of integrated thinking to the information users through an integrated report. As described in the International Integrated Reporting Framework, integrated reporting can be prepared by private sector entities as well as by public institutions. In the literature, the benefits that the adoption of the integrated reporting process will provide to public institutions are revealed. This study is intended to determine the feasibility of integrated reporting in public institutions in Turkey. In accordance with this purpose, in this study, integrated reporting, the benefits of integrated reporting, integrated reporting is explained with the help of theoretical studies and examples in public institutions, integrated reporting applicability in public institutions in Turkey have been studied by comparing the International Integrated Reporting Framework guiding principles and content item with current regulations. As a result of our research, it can be said that integrated reporting can be implemented in public institutions in our contry by making certain regulations in "Regulation on Activity Reports to be Prepared for Public Administrations".

Organic farming is frequently associated with claims of more labour requirements than conventional. However, there is a fragmented knowledge about labour use on organic farms in terms of workload, nature and quality of employment provided. In the context of a growing organic demand and a need for more farmers to convert to reach policy targets set by many EU governments, it seems crucial to understand labour trends on organic farms and to what extent labour requirements may hinder the adoption of the organic methods. This paper presents a review of mainly European literature published since 2000. Studies presenting results by farm type usually indicate higher labour use per hectare on organic than conventional arable farms, whereas similar or lower labour use is reported on organic livestock farms, and the results are mixed for other farm types. We have identified in the existing literature two broad dimensions directly related with labour use, which need to be considered in comparative studies, namely farm structure (including farm type, but also farm size and diversification activities), and technical efficiency. These two broad dimensions give us insights into some more specific factors affecting labour use, and how labour is related with productivity and technical efficiency. Overall it appears that claims that labour requirements represent a concrete obstacle to the adoption of the organic methods need to be treated with caution, and more research is needed to understand the role of labour in farmers’ decision to convert to organic farming. The review of the nature and quality of employment indicates positive health effects related to higher satisfaction and lower exposure to pesticides in organic agriculture as the most important advantages for farm workers. Overall, there is limited research on whether the organic sector provides better opportunities in terms of job prospects, wages and employment of women.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a voluntary sustainability standard with global reach that has been developed to encourage responsible and sustainable forest management. Despite its|broad appeal, there is little scientific assessment to substantiate the effectiveness of FSC in the boreal zone. In this study, an ecosystem-based and participatory approach was applied to a case study in the Arkhangelsk Region of the Russia Federation to assess the potential influence of the principles, criteria and indicators of the Russian FSC standard. An ECOSEFFECT theoretical plausibility analysis was conducted to evaluate the potential effectiveness of FSC in safeguarding the ecological integrity of the ecosystem. Besides spatial analysis and a field visitation, core elements of the methodological procedure were workshops with experts and stakeholders who directly contributed to knowledge mapping and analysis. The results of the study suggest FSC can potentially influence and improve forest management including monitoring and evaluation, foster the institutional capacity, and enhance knowledge on the impacts of forest management. Theoretically, FSC has a certain potential to reduce a range of anthropogenic threats to the ecosystem, such as large-scale deforestation and forest degradation, logging of High Conservation Value Forests, large size of clear-cuts, excessive annual allowable cuts, damage to trees during forest operations, and hydrological changes. However, human-induced fire is the only ecological stress that was assumed to be effectively tackled through a strong and positive influence of FSC. The results of the theoretical analysis with a semi-quantitative evaluation revealed the potential for FSC to generate much more effective outcomes for biodiversity by prudently targeting key ecological problems. The biggest problem is the large-scale clear-cutting practice, especially within IFL. These devastating practices are not promoted by, but are compliant with the current Russian FSC standard. This feeds doubts about the consistency of FSC practice and its credibility.

To reduce the consumption of firewood for cooking and to realise recycling-driven soil fertility management, three projects in Northwest Tanzania aim to provide the local smallholder community with cooking and sanitation alternatives. The present study proposes an integrated approach to assess the sustainability of the small-scale cooking and sanitation technologies. Based on the multi-criteria decision support approach (MC(D)A), we developed a decision-specific, locally adapted, and participatory assessment tool: the Multi-Criteria Technology Assessment (MCTA). Pre-testing of the tailored tool was set up with representatives of Tanzanian and German partners of case study projects. From a methodological perspective, we conclude that the MCTA uses a set of relevant criteria to realise a transparent and replicable computational Excel-tool. The combination of MC(D)A for structuring the assessment with analytical methods, such as Material Flow Analysis, for describing the performance of alternatives is a promising path for designing integrated approaches to sustainability assessments of technologies. Pre-testing of the tool served as a proof-of-concept for the general design of the method. Future applications and adjustments of the MCTA require the inclusion of end-users, a reasonable and participatory reduction of criteria, and an increase of feedback loops and group discussions between participants and the facilitator to support a common learning about the technologies and thorough understanding of the perspectives of participants.

So called ‘active substances’ (A.S.) which are allowed in organic production are regularly criticized for different reasons. Previously, although permitted in organic farming, some substances were not approved under EU general plant protection products regulations; they were removed due to their toxicity or other characteristics (persistence, broad spectrum). Recent approbations under different new Articles of the EC regulation 1107/2009 gave rise to substances granted without maximum residue limits. We have previously described ‘approved basic substance’ (Art. 23) as potential candidates for organic farming; here we describe low-risk substances (Art. 22) as new implements for substitution of controversial organic biopesticides and consequently as candidates for substitution (Art. 24).

The emerging use of social media fundamentally changes the communication and interaction of societies and organizations. It revolutionizes the way organizations market their products and interact with their customers. Social media acts as an agent of change within the marketing and communication of organizations. In particular, the tourism sector is affected by these disruptive changes. Social media influences and changes the interaction between touristic supply and demand sides fundamentally. These upcoming opportunities and challenges are especially relevant for destination management organizations (DMOs), which try to coordinate and market the intangible and immaterial tourism product of a destination. Social media marketing transforms the classical marketing and communication of these destination management organizations. Nevertheless, destination management organizations  are still in an experimental stage of utilizing social media as a marketing tool, as they slowly start to realize the potential benefits of social media as an agent of change. This study investigates how DMOs in alpine regions implement social media marketing in their classical marketing strategies through a quantitative survey. Furthermore, the paper outlines which upcoming challenges and opportunities DMOs face by conducting qualitative interviews with social media managers in the destinations. Finally, implications and recommendations for DMOs are presented to cope with the emerging use of social media as a marketing tool.

Today's popular thinking is that every organization is unique and, in their processes and organizational behavior, specific. However, we witness how organizations, particularly those operating within the same industry, are becoming similar and the same as each other. The explanation for this occurrence is the institutional theory of organization that was created primarily as a critique to contingency theory that supports idiosyncratic of organizations. Institutional theory of organization explains how organizations operating within the same industry or organizational fields tend to adapt to the same structures, behaviors and activities. In the foreground of the institutional theory of organization is the institutional isomorphism that explains the similarity of the companies in an organizational field. In this paper, the author will present the current knowledge regarding this approach in management and will emphasize the lacks of this theory when it is applied with multinational companies and its subsidiaries; the multinational companies are interesting to researchers because of the complexity of operations and the complexity of the external environment and intra-organizational environment.

The aim of this study is to examine the Nomination Committee (NC) in Maltese listed companies. The study achieves this by assessing the Maltese regulatory framework relating to this Committee, as well as its roles, status and effectiveness. A predominantly qualitative mixed methodology was employed to achieve these objectives. Twenty-five semi-structured interviews were held with two financial analysts, two MFSA representatives, eight audit firm representatives and 13 representatives of Maltese Listed Companies (MLCs) Research findings show that the NC is not as yet not well established among MLCs. There is a particular lack of insistence on the part of local regulatory authorities, as well as substantial resistance from listed companies, with regard to the adoption of this committee. Furthermore, most  NCs  in such companies are not performing all of the roles listed in their Code while the roles currently performed may need to be carried out in a more structured manner. Yet it is highly worthwhile for such companies to devote more attention to the NC, this being one of the best possible bastions of appropriate corporate governance. The change in the status of the NC from being merely recommended by the Code of Principles of Good Corporate Governance to becoming mandatory by the Listing Rules is increasingly called for. In this way, Maltese listed companies will need to embrace such a change. It is hoped that this study will contribute towards fostering more awareness about the NC and the corporate governance of Maltese listed companies.

The highly concentrated ownership in the Bosnia and Herzegovina market provides a rich environment to explore corporate governance practices. The paper will assess effects that ownership structure of companies has on the level of implementation of corporate governance in companies listed on the Official market of the Banja Luka Stock Exchange. Results of implementation of the corporate governance in companies will be presented using Scorecard analysis for evaluation of the implementation of practices and principles of corporate governance for companies which are listed on the Official market of the Banja Luka Stock Exchange. Ownership structure will be presented in three groups of owners determined by controlling owner: government, domestic and foreign owners. Paper will show correlation and effect which different owners of companies have on the level of implementation of corporate governance in these companies.

The objective of this research was to determine the current status of the application of the OHADA accounting system in DRC, five years after its adoption. A survey was conducted on thirty small and medium-sized enterprises in Bukavu to determine the level of compliance with the SYSCOHADA principles, the degree of harmonization of accounting practices and the difficulties related to the application of this system.

The results shown consistently that compliance with Syscohada principles is not absolute, the level of Harmonization is still low and finally companies in DRC still need time to fit into the OHADA accounting system.

This Paper aims to examine the impact of the implementation of Loan to Deposit Ratio (LDR) Regulation on income smoothing practice of commercial banks in Indonesia. The LDR Regulation is industry- specific regulation. There are conflicting arguments regarding the ability of industry-specific regulation in reducing income smoothing of banks. The samples used in this research are 28 listed commercial banks in Indonesia for the periods 2008 - 2011. Overall, there are 112 bank-annual observations. The test focuses specifically on panel time series cross-sectional models. A T-test of Fixed effects model of panel data and paired sample t-test are used to test the hypothesis. The result indicates that commercial bank managers smooth their income through the allowance for impairment loss. However, the implementation of the LDR regulation can not reduce the level of income smoothing of publicly commercial banks in Indonesia. The level of income smoothing after the LDR regulation is lower than the level of income smoothing before the implementation of the LDR regulation, but the differences are not significant.

Cash holding in businesses depends largely on their resource management because operational activities in a period which usually lasts one year concern the recognition and optimal management of working capital. The working capital is not primarily determined to increase profits but managers try to obtain a favorable level of liquidity so that they can meet the company’s profitability goals. This article aims to explain the relationship between consumer price index (CPI), operating cycle, and size and growth opportunities with cash holding in Tehran stock Exchange. To achieve this goal, 75 companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange whose financial data were accessible from 2012 to 2016 were selected as the research sample. The results indicated that CPI and the operating cycle have no significant relationship with cash holding. In addition, the analysis of other variables suggested that the firm size, net changes in working capital, changes in current liabilities, and cash holding have a significant relationship with cash holding. Finally, the results of this study showed that there is a significant relationship between the company size and cash holding, while growth opportunities do not show any significant correlation with cash holding.