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This paper aims to investigates a novel design of a modular moving magnet linear oscillating actuator (MMM-LOA) with the capability of coupling modules, based on their application and space requirements.

Proposed design comprised of modules, and modules are separated by using nonmagnetic materials. Movable part of the proposed design of LOA is composed of permanent magnets (PMs) having axial magnetization direction and tubular structure. Stator of the proposed design is composed of one coil individually in a module. Dimensions of the design parameters are optimized through parametric analysis using COMSOL Multi Physics software. This design is analyzed up to three modules and their response in term of electromagnetic (EM) force and stroke are presented. Influence of adding modules is analyzed for both directions of direct current (DC) and alternating input loadings.

Proposed LOA shows linear increase in magnitude of EM force by adding modules. Motor constant of the investigated LOA is 264 N/A and EM force per PM mass is 452.389 N/kg, that shows significant improvement. Moreover, proposed LOA operates in feasible region of stroke for compressor application. Furthermore, this design uses axially magnetized PMs which are low cost and available in compact tubular structure.

Proposed LOA shows the influence of adding modules and its effect in term of EM force is analyzed for DC and alternating current (AC). Moreover, overall performance and structural topology is compared with state-of-the-art designs of LOA. Improvement with regard of motor constant and EM force per PM mass shows originality and scope of this paper.

This study aims to investigate the effect of political turmoil on the firm financial performance, particularly in presence of politically affiliated board of directors.

The study applied panel regression analyses on a data set of Pakistan’s listed companies ranged over 14 years, spanning from 2007 to 2021. Political turmoil was first gauged through three determinants, i.e. political protest, government election and constitutional reform, and thereafter, economic uncertainty index was used as a proxy for political turmoil. For the purpose of political connection, the study used political affiliation of the board of directors.

The study finds that political turmoil has deleterious effect on the return on assets and Tobin’s Q. The study further unveils that politically affiliated firms are relatively insulated from the volatility posed by the political uncertainty and exhibit significantly better financial outcomes.

Findings of the study suggest that appropriate composition of the board is imperative in offsetting the risk posed by the political turmoil. Hence, the results are useful for investors, policymakers and regulators to ensure financial soundness of firms in the wake of political turmoil.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the moderating impact of political connection on the performance of companies in presence of political turmoil.

This study aims to test the market anomaly of herding behavior driven by the response to supply chain disruptions in extreme market conditions such as those observed during COVID-19. The authors empirically test the response of the capital market participants for B2B firms, resulting in herding behavior.

Using the event study approach based on the market model, the authors test the impact of supply chain disruptions and resultant herding behavior across six sectors and among different B2B firms. The authors used cumulative average abnormal returns (CAAR) and cross-sectional absolute deviation (CSAD) to examine the significance of herding behavior across sectors.

The event study results show a significant effect of COVID-19 due to supply chain disruptions across specific sectors. Herding was detected across the automotive and pharmaceutical sectors. The authors also provide evidence of sector-specific disruption impact and herding behavior based on the black swan event and social learning theory.

The authors examine the impact of COVID-19 on herding in the stock market of an emerging economy due to extreme market conditions. This is one of the first studies analyzing lockdown-driven supply chain disruptions and subsequent sector-specific herding behavior. Investors and regulators should take sector-specific responses that are sophisticated during extreme market conditions, such as a pandemic, and update their responses as the situation unfolds.

The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of nano alumina (Al₂O₃) on the properties of fresh concrete, hardened concrete and microstructure of concrete incorporated with high range water reducer (HRWR). This initiative was taken to improve characteristic properties of concrete using nano alumina because nano alumina can be easily be manufactured from a scrap of industrial aluminum products, so its incorporation in concrete will not only reduce industrial aluminum waste but will also change the morphology of concrete at the microstructural level.

To accomplish the objectives of the research, four different concrete mixes with the constant water–cement ratio (W/C) and superplasticizer (SP) content 0.4 and 0.6% by weight of cement, respectively, were prepared, whereas nano alumina content was altered by 0.3% and 0.4% by weight of cement. Fresh property of concrete was analyzed by using slump cone test, whereas hardened properties of concrete were analyzed through compression test and flexural strength test. The interaction of nano alumina with concrete composite was evaluated using an X-ray diffraction test.

It was observed that 0.6% superplasticizer by weight of cement increased workability by 22% but with the addition of 0.3%, nano alumina by weight of cement workability decreased by 31%. Compressive strength increased by 4.88% with the addition of 0.6% superplasticizer but with the addition of 0.3% nano alumina by weight of cement compressive strength increased by 18.60%. Also, flexural strength increased by 1.21% with the addition of 0.6% superplasticizer by weight of cement but with the addition of 0.3% nano alumina by weight of cement flexural strength increased by 8.76%. With the addition of superplasticizer, alite and belite phases remained un-hydrated but with the addition of nano alumina alite phase was hydrated while belite phase was un-hydrated. The size of belite crystals in mixes having nano alumina was less than that of mix having 0.6% superplasticizer. Also with the addition of nano alumina, a calcium aluminum silicate phase was formed which was responsible for the increment of strength in mixes having nano alumina.

Incorporation nano alumina (Al₂O₃) in concrete will not only reduce industrial aluminum waste but will also reduce CO₂ emission. Nano alumina (Al₂O₃) also changes morphology of concrete at micro structural level.

The paper tries to investigate the impact of applications of the resource-based view (RBV) theory in the management field to improve the firm’s profitability. Global firms are innovating and adopting new technology, paving the way to improve their performance.

We have adopted RBV in management practices such as marketing, strategy, finance, and human resources.

RBV has gained researchers' attention with the growing competitive world and new challenges to retaining customers and achieving their pre-defined targets. We attempt to identify the issues related to the usage of RBV in management.

Using RBV in management may help researchers create a competitive mindset and be prepared for uncertain challenges in the business world.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the challenges associated with the implementation of the concept of Maintenance 4.0 in industries.

The challenges in the implementation of Maintenance 4.0 are identified through a literature survey and interaction with professionals from the industry and academia. A structural hierarchy framework that integrates the methodologies of ISM and MICMAC is used for the analysis of Maintenance 4.0 implementation challenges. The framework establishes the interrelationship among challenges and segregates them into driving, linkage, dependent and autonomous groups.

A novel concept of Maintenance 4.0 under the aegis of Industry 4.0 is gaining appreciation worldwide. However, there are challenges in the adaptation of Maintenance 4.0 concepts among industries. The various challenges as well as their impact on the objective of implementation of Maintenance 4.0 are identified.

The practicing engineers, academicians, researchers and the concerned industries can infer from the results to improve upon the causes of such challenges and promote the implementation of Maintenance 4.0 most efficiently and effectively.

This paper is a novel, unique and first of its kind that addresses the most contemporary challenges in the implementation of Maintenance 4.0 concepts in industries.

Multilevel inverters play a major role in the development of high-power industrial applications. In traditional low-level inverters (e.g. 2-level), the switching frequency is restricted and the harmonic spectrum of the system is hard to meet power requirements. Similarly, high-level inverters consist of a large number of switches, complex modulation techniques and complex hardware architecture, which results in high power loss and a significant amount of harmonic distortion. Furthermore, it is a must to ensure that every switch experiences the same stress of voltage and current. The purpose of this paper is to present an inverter topology with lower conduction and switching losses via reduced number of switches and equal voltage source-sharing technique.

Herein, the authors present a cascaded multilevel inverter having less power switches, a simple modulation technique and an equal voltage source-sharing phenomenon implementation.

The modulation technique becomes more complex when equal voltage source-sharing is to be implemented. In this study, a novel topology for the multilevel inverter with fewer switches, novel modulation technique, equal voltage source-sharing and Inductor-Capacitor-Inductor filter implementation is demonstrated to the reduce harmonic spectrum and power losses of the proposed system.

The nine-level inverter design is validated using software simulations and hardware prototype testing; the power losses of the proposed inverter design are elaborated and compared with the traditional approach.

This study aims to identify enablers of belief and ethics-based marketing practices, establish relationships among the factors and present them in a hierarchical model to derive critical insights. This paper emphasizes interpretations of the in-depth interviews to decipher the market pervasiveness of the evolved model.

In-depth interviews were conducted with individuals and small groups of informed and elite respondents pursuing marketing guided explicitly by ethics and led by belief. The interview data further corroborated with the related literature contributed to specific factors. Finally, interpretive structural modeling has been implemented step by step to develop a systematic model for enablers.

This paper contributes a structural relationship of morality and ethics, strengthening faith and belief through philosophical understanding, which traverses into the actions related to societal benefits with the support of market opportunity development while bringing in value, enhancing the demand in return and establishing market pervasiveness. The crux of this paper is that the foundation of belief will reduce the hierarchy of other related factors while strengthening their interdependencies with equity to contribute to the development of the pervasiveness of the market for such organizations.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study exploring and examining the enablers contributing to belief and ethics-based organizations’ pervasiveness along with their interrelationships. The initial intrigue that led to the inquiry was evidence of the market pervasiveness of such organizations’ products and services across various streams.

The COVID-19 crisis has forced the majority of higher education institutions (HEIs) worldwide to transition to distance education. All countries have faced several challenges, such as the deteriorating economy, poor ICT infrastructure, and insufficient training, in their transition to distance education, with the severity of these challenges being remarkable for developing countries. This chapter aims to investigate tertiary students’ perceptions, attitudes, experiences, and expectations of their higher education journey amid COVID-19 across four developing countries: Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh through an online questionnaire that was administered in each of these countries. This study found that many of the stances, attitudes, concerns, and challenges related to online learning experiences and the emergency status of higher education were common amongst the Lebanese, Afghani, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi participants. The participants across the four countries favored the physical classroom over online learning and identified the disadvantages of distance education that included lack of ICT skills, poor infrastructure, and insufficient training. The few differences that were identified across participants from these countries were mainly attributed to differences in contexts, including socio-economic and political contexts. These findings voice the concerns of one of the key stakeholders, tertiary students, that address the transition to distance education during emergency times and call for immediate intervention from decision and policy-makers.

The innovation process demands an interaction between environment agents, knowledge generators and policies of incentive for innovation and not only development by companies. Universities have gradually become the core of the knowledge production system and, therefore, their role regarding innovation has become more important and diversified. This study is aimed at identifying the mechanisms of university–industry (U–I) collaboration, as well as the operationalization steps of the U–I collaboration process.

This study is aimed at identifying, based on a systematic literature review, the mechanisms of university–industry (U–I) collaboration, as well as the operationalization steps of the U–I collaboration process.

The analysis of the 72 selected articles enabled identifying 15 mechanisms of U–I collaboration, proposing a new classification for such mechanisms and developing a framework presenting the operationalization steps of the interaction process.

In this paper, the authors screened nearly 1,500 papers and analyzed in detail 86 papers addressing U–I collaboration, mechanisms of U–I collaboration and operationalization steps of the U–I collaboration process. This paper provides a new classification for such mechanisms and developing a framework presenting the operationalization steps of the interaction process. This research contributes to both theory and practice by highlighting managerial aspects and stimulating academic research on such timely topic.