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Purpose – Measuring logistics efficiency is important to understand the strengths and weaknesses of a country’s logistics operations and to be able to do necessary improvements. A common practice in the literature is applying Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) with World Bank’s logistics performance index (LPI) values for measuring logistics efficiency of countries. While DEA is a powerful methodology for relative efficiency measurement, a more sophisticated branch of DEA models is Network DEA (NDEA), especially for processes with inner sub-processes. The purpose of this study is to present a novel NDEA model for measuring logistics efficiencies and sub-efficiencies of countries. Design/methodology/approach – This study presents a relational two-stage network data envelopment analysis model to measure relative efficiency of a country’s logistics process. For the first time in literature, total logistics process of a country is divided into two sub-processes as production and service stages. Findings – Proposed Network DEA model utilizes international LPI scores and macroeconomic indicators to measure OECD countries’ logistics efficiencies for bi-yearly periods between 2010 and 2018. Obtained results favors 3 countries out of 37 with high logistics efficiencies. Also, by grouping the countries in terms of development level, results show that although developed countries have better logistics outputs in terms of LPI index, most logistically efficient countries are developing economies in general. Discussion – This study with proposed NDEA model is open for further research and development. The model could be varied with different capital and labor measures, also could be improved by adding some domestic LPI or other logistics indicators.
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Energy, which is one of the important issues of economy and public finance, is an essential need for human life from past to present. Energy, which finds use in almost most areas of human life, continues its current role and field diversity by increasing day by day. Countries that have this resource gain significant advantages due to the richness of raw materials. Within the framework of international policy, countries that have energy resources achieve significant gains at the international level. Although Turkey is not yet reached the required reserves in the field of energy supply security on the basis of the reserve resources to carry through with economic disadvantages reserves by road is turning effort to benefit in this way. It has developed various projects with neighboring geographies in order to supply the amount of supply needed in the face of intense energy consumption within the country’s territory at low cost and in sustainable ways. And these projects have paid off through pipelines. Turkey is the owner of the land owned by geopolitical advantage. As a result of the strategies it carries out to make use of this advantage, it assumes a corridor position in the field of Energy. security of energy supply in the international arena is relatively behalf of the continuity of their neighbors in Turkey for stability in a country that is more suited to the role of trust to be safe corridor between exporting and importing countries on the issue. In recent years, with the activation of the Tanap and Trans Adriatic lines, a significant momentum has been achieved in this area. Turkey’s dependence on Russia in the energy field within the framework of the realization of common interests between the two states, one nation watchword Turkey and Azerbaijan have decreased significantly. Especially in the last two years, exploration and scanning activities in the Eastern Mediterranean have started to yield results and promising developments have been achieved in terms of natural gas reserves.
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The Netherlands, who is the second biggest agricultural exporter country in the World in last years, whose agricultural sector has been compared with Turkey’s agricultural sector by politicians, acedemicians, presses and many other parties. How a country can have this kind of success with a less arable area than Konya Plain? However, in order to answer this question the national literature has been searched and no academic paper has been found about the structural transformation of agricalture and its reflections to foreign trade in the Netherlands. In this terms this paper will be the first article on this subject in national level. There are many books, articles and research papers have been published on the Turkey’s agricultural sector, that is why this article will focus on the the Netherlands’ agricultural transformation and its reflections on her foreign trade. In this context, the historical development of this transformation will be briefly examined and the reflected results to current agricultural production, R&D investments, locomotive instutions of inovations, total factor efficiences and international trade will be laid out with using of ampirical data.
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Before examining the trade history of a region, it is necessary to determine the trade volume of that region. This calculation is important to understand whether the increases and decreases of trade are temporary or permanent. The literature on the 19th century of Black Sea trade claims that there was an increase in trade. However, the dimensions of this trade were seen indirectly and could not be calculated exactly. Thus, the purpose of this article is to measure the size of the Black Sea trade and determine the direction of this trade. In order to make this calculation, 20 Black Sea ports, which are effective in trade, were evaluated, and trade data from primary sources were converted into British pounds and brought together. The results obtained were analyzed by applying the deductive method. It has been observed that the total maritime trade of the Black Sea ports has increased by 47.8 times in 80 years and its annual average increase is 11.3%. Thus, it was seen that a sustainable international trade was formed and the spatial organization of this trade was discussed. With the emergence of an export surplus in favor of the Black Sea region in the trade of the Black Sea with Europe, it was understood that the direction of trade was from east to west.
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The end of the 10th century and the early 11th century marked an important beginning for the political affairs of the Kingdom of Georgia. At the beginning of the 11th century, the unification of the Kingdom of Georgia and the Kingdom of Abkhazia by the Bagrationi Dynasty made Georgia an important player in its region after a long time. The completion of this political formation was initiated by Bagrad III and took place towards the end of the 10th century. In this period, the Caucasus occupied an important place in Byzantine foreign policy. The influence of the Byzantine Empire on Georgia, as a knock-on effect, influenced the South Caucasus in general. In the first half of the 11th century, the Byzantine Empire was an important vector in Georgian foreign policy but it was the Turks, who influenced Georgian foreign policy fundamentally in the second half of the same century. In domestic politics, Georgia was busy in recovering its order and resolving disputes created by its feudal lords. Liparit, a member of the Georgian aristocrat Bagvashi family, received support from the Byzantine Empire in order to gain power in the Kingdom of Georgia. The Byzantine Empire’s policy of dominating Transcaucasia was facilitated by Liparit’s ambitions and his cooperation with the Empire. In the light of a wide range of sources, this article is an attempt to examine relations between the Kingdom of Georgia and the Byzantine Empire in the context of the policies of Bagrat IV and Liparit. This period in history is significant because Alp-Arslan’s military campaigns towards Georgia came after this political epoch of Transcaucasia.
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Purpose – The main purpose of this research is; It is the determination of waste and errors in process improvement in the textile industry with lean six sigma methodology. And also; Whether there is a decrease in values such as Production Flow Time, Processing Time, Per Unit Error Rate and Preparation Time; It is to determine whether there is an increase in the values of First Time Efficiency and General Equipment Effectiveness. Design/Methodology/Approach – The model of this research applied in the textile industry is presented within the framework of the define, measure, analysis, improve and control criteria of lean six sigma. The research data were collected by the researcher herself, using the observation technique, between September 2019 and August 2020. Lean production techniques in research; value stream mapping, total productive maintenance, 6S, just in time production, kaizen, takt, standard work, andon and visual management techniques are used. Minitab and excel programs were used in the analysis and interpretation of the data. Findings – With the successful implementation of Lean Six Sigma's Identification Measurement-Analysis-Phase Improvement-Control cycle, many waste and defective products in the business have been reduced. In this context, there is a decrease of 75.13% in Production Flow Time, 32.5% in Process Time, 12.6% in Preparation Time, 41.2% in Error Rate Per Unit, First Time Efficiency It was concluded that there was an increase of 4.4% in and 32.4% in General Equipment Effectiveness. Discussion – As a result, production flow time, processing time and preparation time have been reduced by applying just-in-time production, kaizen, standard work, 6S and takt from lean production techniques. By including total productive maintenance, andon, visual management, workforce training, productivity management devices and fabric control machine in the process, the Per Unit Error Rate was reduced. In this context, the decrease in Per Unit Error Rate has caused an increase in First Time Efficiency and General Equipment Effectiveness.
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Purpose – Economic and financial crises are very frequent in the world nowadays. Real Estate Investment Trusts were emerged as a solution to the liquidity and sustainable growth problems faced by real estate and its related sectors. The stock market performances or the financial ratio performances of the REITs became very important for individual or corporate investors to investigate, analyse and understand their positions. This study was conducted in order to investigate the effects of liquidity, leverage, operating and profitability ratios on the stock market performance ratios of REITs traded in Borsa Istanbul for the period of 2010.Q1-2020Q1. Design/methodology/approach – The sample selection of this study consists of REITs companies traded in Borsa Istanbul Corp. and the financial ratios of these companies have been obtained from the www.finnet.com data bank. These obtained data were analyzed and reported by using the STATA program. Findings – As a result of the analysis; It was determined that the independent variables addressed in the regression outputs explain the Market Value / Book Value (MV/ BV) variable as 82.3 percent. The most impressive of the significant variables was the cash cycle. When the cash cycle increased by 1 unit, the MV/BV variable increased by 38 percent. Accordingly, when the net profit growth rate the net profit magrin rate and the operating rate were increased by 1 unit, the MV/BV variable was increased by 27, 20 and 19 percents, respectively. On the other hand, when the Financial Debt / Total Debt ratio and the Debt / Equity ratio increased by 1 unit, MV/BV was decreased by 9 and 5 percents, respectively. Discussion – Financial ratios have a great effect on the MV/BV ratio of REITs trade in the BIST. In particular, while cash cycle, net profit growth, net profit magrin, operating profit growth, operating profit magrin, equity growth and liquidity ratios increase the MV/BV ratio, financial debt / total debt and debt / equity ratios decrease.
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To further accelerate globalization, Western states and companies that regulate financial, investment and trade flows and the system of economic relations in the world that they support, unexpectedly led to the increase of power centers and appearance of multipolar system. In the XXI century apart from the USA, Russia and China some more power centers together with EU played an important role in the building of the global system. Due to fierce competition between them, these states being global and nuclear empires can take part in war conflicts simultaneously, but this is unlikely as it can cause a great catastrophe in the world. In the international system, due to the importance of international strategic balance and security, in the nearest future, at the point of measurement, because of fear of losing their positions, to protect themselves or around a certain request, between the coordinates of the United States-Russia-China-EU and other power centers, in bilateral or triple forms, strategic alliances can be formed. According to this study, these alliances are highly likely to become superficial and improvised. This study aims at shedding light on the strength of possible alliances in the nearest future, studying the past and present of the collaboration between the USA-Russia-China-EU with other global power centers from different perspectives. This paper will discuss the behavior of global power centers which need to learn their old or new roles on the international stage. Thus, we will try to reveal Russia’s contribution in the building of multipolar international system.
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Although the citrus fruits grown in Turkey are table fruits with high export values, the incompatibility between the production methods and the standards demanded by importing countries is one of the primary factor limiting the exportability of the citrus fruits. In this context, there is a need for a horizontal organizational model encompassing the co-ops and unions of producers and exporters to improve the effectiveness of exports. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of integrated planning within the citrus sector to the competitiveness of Turkey and to form a dynamic system model. With the model to be developed, attempts will be made to test the benefits of the alternative integration models in the regional scales. This study is made on the citrus exporting firms in Mersin province, which was selected as the sampling area of the eastern Mediterranean Region. For this purpose, out of the 55 firms operating within the provincial borders of Mersin, three firms which manage their own operations from production to final delivery were selected. During the face-to-face interviews done with the firms’ representatives, a semi-structured questionnaire form with 12 open-ended questions was used. The data were collected through in-depth interview technique.
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Purpose: The purpose of this article is therefore to assess the status of shotgun enterprises in the Huğlu-Üzümlü Region during transition from shotgun production to defense industry and with the help of SNA, to visualize the relationship network and manifest the major actors in the sector. Design/Methodology/Approach – The study utilized relational screening model. For this purpose, 100 amongst 190 companies that are registered in the Beyşehir Chamber of Commerce were identified by snowball sampling, and data was obtained through polls and semi-structured interviews. The research hypotheses have been tested with Mann Whitney U and chi-square independence methods. The Pajek program was used for SAA. Findings: The research results show that 40 percent of companies consider the level of cooperation in the region good or very good. The most important hindrances facing cooperation between enterprises include scarce financial resources, the ratios of which are close to each other, prevalence of personal interests over corporate vision and fundamental differences of opinion. According to standards of social network centricity, Huğlu Av Tüfekleri Kooperatifi represents the strongest actor in the network as a company with the highest degree of proximal centricity. The strongest intermediary actor in the social network appears to be Yüztek Yüzey Teknolojileri. Discussion: For removing obstacles facing cooperation, it is especially recommended to establish an expert organized industry and therefore, to resolve physical and communication-related problems between institutions and to obtain a stronger network. In addition to traditional sector assessments, the research has also shown the advantages of examining cooperation networks.
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Purpose – In the study, it is aimed to find the rising / gaining and falling / losing regimes, regime transition possibilities and duration of stay in the regime to determine the volatility dynamics of Bitcoin, which has the highest trade volume among crypto currencies. Design/methodology/approach – In the study, the rising / gaining and falling / losing regimes, regime transition possibilities and duration of stay in the regime were determined by the Markov Regime Switching Model, which allows both changes and regime transition probabilities to be calculated. Findings – In the study, for the study period it has been determined that the most suitable model for the Bitcoin return series is the three-regime MSIH (3) -AR (1) model which gives stronger results than the linear model. In the model consisting of three regimes, regime 1 with a negative coefficient indicates the contraction regime period, while regime 2 with positive coefficients indicates the transition and regime 3 the expansion regime period. It has been determined that while the Bitcoin returns series is in a regime, the probability of staying in the same regime for the next period is high, the possibility of transition from regime 1 to other regimes and from other regimes to regime 1 is low for the next period. Discussion – It has been determined that the regime persistence of Bitcoin returns is high for the period under study. In this context, if investors know the regime of Bitcoin returns in the current period, they have the opportunity to estimate the probability of staying in this regime and make their investment decision according to this information. However, considering that average duration of stay in the regimes is low, it is seen that active investors who keep Bitcoin in their portfolios will have the opportunity to increase the utility of their portfolios if they constantly follow the regime changes of this tool.
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This article offers a critique of the rhetorical responses of President George W. Bush to the 2008 Russia-Georgia conflict and of President Barack Obama to the 2014 Russia-Ukraine conflict. Its central objective is to identify parallels and differences between the situations calling for presidential rhetoric on the crises in Georgia and Ukraine and determine how the president’s reactions to the conflicts were similar or different, judging the responses against Theodore Otto Windt, Jr.’s analytical framework for foreign crisis rhetoric.
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This paper discusses the reasons and processes that led the Obama administration to notrecognize the Armenian Genocide. Although Barack Obama had promised he would doso during his presidential campaign of 2008, he never did once in office, despite many of his administration members, including Vice-President Joe Biden and Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, having strong records in support of such a recognition. To investigate this hitherto poorly explored question, this paper uses primarily — although not exclusively — memoirs written by Barack Obama and members his administration, some of them addressing the issue directly, others dealing with it indirectly. This study focuses on President Obama’s personal choice, and therefore responsibility, to not recognize the genocide, but also expands on the geopolitical determinants of this non-recognition (related mostly to the geostrategic importance of Turkey) as well as on its diplomatic aspects (involving particularly the argument that US recognition would hamper a hypothetical Turkey-Armenia rapprochement). Two episodes of possible presidential recognition of the genocide will be particularly discussed; one in April 2009 (three months after Obama became president of the United States and coinciding with April 24, the anniversary of the genocide), and the other in 2015 (corresponding to its centenary). Finally, stress will be placed on the positions and role of the president’s entourage at the White House, and on his State and Defense Secretaries.
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The main aim to write this article is to examine the nuclear power problem between Iran and the Western Block States. By doing this research, it is tried to express the danger of nuclear weapons through the Iran crisis. In this sense, in the existing study, the historical background of Iran and the US relations in terms of nuclear energy was scrutinized. After enlightening the historical development of Iran’s nuclear initiatives, the activities of the Obama and Trump administrations were analyzed, focusing on the agreement signed between Iran and the P5+1 states from a problem solving perspective. Besides historical development of nuclear issue and P5+1 agreement, the main emphasis of the research is related to the democracy and peace conditions that can suffer from the foreign policies of states in the frame of interests.
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Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the effect of consumer ethnocentrism on the intention to purchase foreign products differs based on consumer affinity. Design/methodology/approach – This is study is a descriptive and quantitative study. The data is gathered via a two-step process. At first, a pilot study was conducted to identify the affinity country. Afterward, multi-group path analysis was applied to the data gathered from 314 participants. Findings – The study shows that consumer ethnocentrism consists of three dimensions, emotional support, cognition, and habituation. For consumers who have a lower affinity for a specific country, emotional support and habituation have significant negative effects on intention to buy the products of that country. On the other hand, for consumers who have a higher affinity for a specific country, cognition has a significant negative effect on the intention to buy the products of that country. Discussion – The effects of these dimensions vary based on the level of consumer affinity. It can be stated that for the sample consumer ethnocentrism is the result of emotions and habits.
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The article outlines foreign expansion possibilities for Polish enterprises through exports to the markets of Sub-Saharan African countries. The analysis of chosen economic and social factors on these markets proved that despite the large differentiation and the political, social and economic instability, Sub-Saharan countries are the region of a high economic growth rate. According to experts these are promising markets, which will not only become one of the most attractive within the next decade, but also will drive the world economic growth soon. However, the analysis conducted in the article confirmed that Polish exporters do not make use of an export potential of Sub-Saharan countries. The authors of the text indicate the main reasons of such a state of affairs and formulate recommendations for Polish exporters who are considering export to African countries. Particular attention has been paid to such aspects as a proper marketing strategy preparation, successful export process planning and understanding the cultural differences impact on business. Additionally, the article contains a brief characteristic of the highest risk factors and the key factors that determine success of export expansion to the markets of Sub-Saharan Africa.
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The article assesses the competitiveness of the member countries of the Andean Community – CAN in foreign trade of coffee and its substitutes in 1995 and 2019.The study was conducted using quantitative indicators of international competitive position: RCA, IPR, RTA, LFI. The study showed that in 1995, there was a strong comparative advantage in the foreign trade of coffee and its substitutes in all CAN countries, in particular Colombia (high RTA index: 17,92, high LFI index: 25,28). In 2019, Bolivia’s comparative advantage (low RTA index: –0,56) and Ecuador (low index RTA: –0,21) was lost. A downward trend was observed for each member of the community (decrease in RCA, RTA, LFI index, increase in IPR index).
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Purpose – This study aims to determine the factors affecting operational and managerial decisions related to the internationalization process of Third-Party Logistics (TPL) service providers operating in Turkey. Design/methodology/approach – Theoretical background of the study is based on Dunning Eclectic Paradigm which is one of the internationalization approaches, argues that the internationalization of a business depends on its own OLI (ownership-O, location-L, and internalization-I) advantages. The conceptual model of the study was set by grouping these advantages (factors) obtained from a comprehensive literature review and expert decisions. A questionnaire form was structured subject to the network structure of the factors in this model. Data collected from survey forms filled in by 31 logistics experts, were analyzed by using Analytical Network Process (ANP). Findings – The results of the study reveal that the most important factors influencing the internationalization process of TPL service providers are political factors, economic factors, cultural factors and long-term relationships respectively. However, the least effective ones were determined as the number of vehicles, number of employees and market saturation. Discussion – The fact that the first three sub-factors are involved in market factors supports that long-term international logistics activities depend on long-term and stable political and economic relations. Secondly, we argue that a good international logistics process management is carried out thanks to a good international management mentality and technological infrastructure based on developed computer and tracking systems. Additionally, customers focus on the quality of service and how easy they reach the information rather than the number of vehicles or employees. We assume that this study is one of the few studies on the subject and the findings will contribute to both academic and sectoral environment. Since this study is limited to TPL service providers operating in Turkey, the results of the study can be improved by future studies concerning different service providers operating in different regions.
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Purpose – The purpose of this study is comparative analysis to effectiveness of EUROCONTROL (European Air Navigation Safety Organization) members states which are obligated to provide air traffic control, aeronautical information, airspace design, flow management etc. Design/methodology/approach – In the study, the relative efficiency values of 37 EUROCONTROL member states are analyzed with input oriented CCR Data Envelopment Analysis. Institution expenses, number of operational staff, number of support staff used as input and revenues, integrated flight hours, delay (undesired) values used as output. Data was collected from annual EUROCONTROL publications for the year 2018. Findings – As a result of analysis, the mean of efficiency for ANSP institutions is 91% and 12 of them were efficient. The improvements has to be made for efficiency for institutions which are not considered as efficient also determined and valued. Discussion – ANSP organizations, serving as a monopoly in each country’s own airspace, according to international laws and standards are relatively been late for developing corporate structure and business models compared the other operational areas in aviation which are airlines and airports in a fierce competition environment. Considering the number of flights increasing day by day, with the implementation of the models like public services which provided by directly government, privatization, corporation, PPP, etc. in order to provide this services more effectively and reliably; differentiation started in terms of management and business models. Thus operational, administrative and managerial differences have begun to occur between organizations that are bound by same rules and standards which are subject to the same obligations by international law conventions. It is observed that ANSP organizations that are below the efficiency value should reduce the delay rate, which is a great financial loss in aviation and rearrange their personnel structures.
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