ORCID Profile
0000-0002-5617-630X
Current Organisations
Nottingham Trent University Business School
,
Nottingham Trent University
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Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2020
DOI: 10.1016/J.JENVMAN.2020.110105
Abstract: Bisphenol A (BPA) is a toxic environmental pollutant commonly found in wastewater. Using non-toxic materials and eco-friendly technology to remove this pollutant from wastewater presents multiple advantages. Treatment of wastewater with clay minerals has received growing interest because of the environment friendliness of these materials. Bentonite is a 2:1 layered phyllosilicate clay mineral that can support nano-metal catalysts. It can prevent the agglomeration of nano-metal catalysts and improve their activity. In this article, a green catalytic nano zero-valent iron/bentonite composite material (NZVI@bentonite) was synthesized via liquid-phase reduction. The average size of NZVI was approximately 40-50 nm. Good dispersion and low aggregation were observed when NZVI was loaded on the surface or embedded into the nanosheets of bentonite. Degradation of BPA, a harmful contaminant widely found in wastewater at relatively high levels, by NZVI@bentonite was then investigated and compared with that by pristine NZVI through batch Fenton-like reaction experiments. Compared with pristine NZVI and bentonite alone, the NZVI@bentonite showed a higher BPA degradation ratio and offered highly effective BPA degradation up to 450 mg/g in wastewater under optimum operating conditions. Adsorption coupled with the Fenton-like reaction was responsible for BPA degradation by NZVI@bentonite. This work extends the application of NZVI@bentonite as an effective green catalyst for BPA degradation in aqueous environments.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 08-01-2018
Abstract: This study aims to examine the influence of the three dimensions of travel agents’ manager competencies – ability, motivation and opportunity seeking – on knowledge transfer and travel agents’ performance. In addition, the study investigates how employee’s absorptive capacity moderates the effects of managers’ competencies on knowledge received by the employees and moderates the effects of knowledge received by the employees on travel agents’ performance. A positivist research philosophy was adopted with a quantitative approach, in which quantitative data were gathered based on questionnaires to tackle different stages of the study. To test the hypotheses, a self-administrated face-to-face survey of about 42 questions, launched on November 7, 2016, was used to compile response from top and medium management Category A travel agents operating in Egypt. Based on a s le of 577 travel agents’ frontline employees, the results showed that the three dimensions of travel agents’ competencies have a positive effect on knowledge received by the employee. Findings further indicated that knowledge received by employee mediates the link between these three competencies and travel agents’ performance. The link between the competencies and knowledge received by the employee was found to be positively moderated by employee absorptive capacity. Moreover, these findings suggested that the relationship between knowledge received and travel agents’ performance is stronger when employees’ absorptive capacity is greater. This study is bound by certain limitations that also provide fertile grounds for further research. First, the study examined how an employee’s absorptive capacity moderates the effects of managers’ competencies on knowledge received by the employees and moderates the effects of knowledge received by the employees on travel agents’ performance. However, innovation as a dependent variable can be investigated. Second, one limitation is that the study is restricted to Category A travel agents only in Greater Cairo. Third, examining the antecedents of ability, motivation and opportunity seeking to transfer knowledge is also important. It is important for travel agents, owners, managers and employees to acknowledge absorptive capacity as a critical component for organizations to sustain, grow and compete. Travel agents can also take steps to develop their employees’ absorptive capacity. Doing so would further enhance the success of knowledge, employees and travel agents’ performance. Also, travel agents’ top management has to ensure their employees’ absorbing knowledge, identifying and recognizing external knowledge, processing and understanding it, combining it with existing knowledge and applying the new knowledge to commercial ends. Hence, the development of absorptive capacity contributes to a travel agent’s achievement of competitive advantage. This study contributes to the literature by expanding the extant literature on knowledge transfer and absorptive capacity by investigating the influence of travel agents’ manager competencies – ability, motivation and opportunity seeking – for knowledge transfer in the Egyptian context. In addition, it investigates the direct effects of the three dimensions of travel agents’ manager competencies – ability, motivation and opportunity seeking – for knowledge transfer. Finally, the paper investigates how employee’s absorptive capacity moderates the effects of managers’ competencies on knowledge received by the employees and moderates the effects of knowledge received by the employees on travel agents’ performance
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Gomaa Agag.