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The authors aim to obtain the optimal combinations of factors from institutional environment adaptation mechanisms and internal resources or capabilities that influence the sustainability of a firm.

The authors develop a new index, called the sustainability index, based on the stakeholder perspective by employing a corporate credit risk index, an evaluation of a firm's corporate governance, corporate financial performance and firm age. The authors then apply both Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Regression Analysis and Fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (FsQCA) to obtain the optimal models for firms' sustainability.

The OLS analysis shows that the variables including financial leverage, slack, innovation capability, manufacturing capability and human capital that have significant influences on the sustainability of firms. Our FsQCA analysis obtains configurations of several solutions for firm sustainability and concludes that the fit of combinations of institutional factors and/or internal resources and capabilities of a firm is related to its sustainability.

The limitations in our new index include these: first, one may add more key metrics to measure the index; second, the findings do not provide any necessary nor a sufficient condition to get sustainability for sure. The limitations of using multiple regression analysis are that it is not able to reveal the combinations of causal conditions that can lead to the outcome in the real world as well as to the sustainability of a firm in our study. To overcome the limitations, the authors apply fsQCA analysis to identify combinations of causal conditions to a firm's sustainability in our study.

Introducing the sustainability index enables us to find out all factors influencing the sustainability of a firm. The authors’ analysis can be used to identify combinations of causal conditions to lead to outcomes in the real world. Their analysis enables managers to know how to predict the sustainability of the firm. For example, the authors’ fsQCA analysis shows that low marketing capability will lead to the high sustainability of the firm. This information helps managers to make the decision or plan to achieve good results toward their businesses and get better allocate their resources and get a better investment.

The authors’ analysis can be used to identify combinations of causal conditions to lead to outcomes in the real world and enable managers to know how to predict the sustainability of the firm. A correct prediction can assist companies in developing their future operations, which would enhance their competitiveness vis-à-vis rivals during this time of global economic volatility, which, in turn, enables firms to perform better and employ more employees that could help the entire society.

The sustainability index the authors developed in our paper is new in the literature and the findings obtained by both OLS Regression Analysis and FsQCA are new in predicting a firm's sustainability. The authors’ findings are useful for academics, managers and policymakers in predicting and maintaining a firm's sustainability.

One important strategy Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) employ to compete in the global market is to engage in foreign investment, but firms must know how they can perform better in the host country market. International subsidiaries’ performances play a chief role for MNEs’ globalization strategy. The purpose of this paper is to construct multi-level research with parent-level data at the higher level and subsidiary-level data at the lower level.

This study helps capture the rapid growing trend in emerging markets and uses a sample of Taiwanese enterprises and their subsidiaries in China. The data come from the Taiwan Economic Journal database. Precisely, the authors obtain 711 Taiwanese MNEs and 4,458 of their subsidiaries in China.

This study finds among the parent company’s attributes that firm size, firm total performance, depth of internationalization and foreign shareholding have significant impacts on subsidiary performance, while within the subsidiary’s attributes, subsidiary size, subsidiary-owned capital and total investment fund significantly affect subsidiary performance.

In order to capture subsidiary performance, this study uses a multi-level analysis approach with the Hierarchical Linear Model statistic method to separate parent company attributes and subsidiary-owned attributes as two distinct levels. This method fills the gap in the literature by analyzing subsidiary performance and clarifying that foreign direct investment is a multi-level phenomenon that cannot be analyzed using a one-level analysis method.

This paper aims to present a new method of real-time monitoring of thermal profiles applied in vapour phase soldering (VPS) reflow processes. The thermal profile setting is a significant variable that affects the quality of joints. The method allows rapid achievement of a required thermal profile based on software control that brings new efficiency to the reflow process and enhanced joint quality, especially for power electronics.

A real-time monitoring system based on computerized heat control was realized in a newly developed laboratory VPS chamber using a proportional integral derivation controller within the soldering process. The principle lies in the strictly accurate monitoring of the real defined reflow profile as a reference.

Very accurate maintenance of the required reflow profile temperature was achieved with high accuracy (± 2°C). The new method of monitoring and control of the reflow real-time profiling was verified at various maximal reflow temperatures (230°C, 240°C and 260°C). The method is feasible for reflowing three-dimensional (3D) power modules that use various types of solders. The real-time monitoring system based on computerised heat control helped to achieve various heights of vapour zone.

The paper describes construction of a newly developed laboratory-scale VPS chamber, including novel real-time profiling of the reflow process based on intelligent continuously measured temperatures at various horizontal positions. Real-time profiling in the laboratory VPS chamber allowed reflow soldering on 3D power modules (of greater dimensions) by applying various flux-less solder materials.

The paper aims to investigate the structure and thermal stability of newly developed lead-free Sn-based alloys which can be used as novel materials in the soldering of electronic components.

Rapid solidification was used to prepare the alloys.

The results showed that the microstructure of these solders exhibited uniform distribution and small-sized intermetallic compounds. Also, smaller crystalline size can be expected compared to commercially available counterparts. The analyses revealed a uniform and homogenous distribution of the small intermetallic particles of Cu₆Sn₅ and Ag₄Sn in the microstructure of solders. The practical implications mean an improvement in mechanical properties and thermal stability of such solder joints, which is a precondition of low mechanical, thermo-mechanical stresses in their structure.

The originality lies in the production of these alloys by the melt spinning technique which was not previously used in the electronics industry.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the influence of various firing profiles on microstructural and dielectric properties of low-temperature, co-fired ceramic (LTCC) substrates in a GHz frequency range. According these analyses, sintering process can be controlled and modified to achieve better performance of devices fabricated from LTCC substrates.

Samples from LTCC substrates GreenTape 951 and GreenTape 9K7 were sintered by four firing profiles. Basic firing profile recommended by the manufacturer was modified by increasing the peak temperature or the dwell time at the peak temperature. The influence of firing profile on microstructural properties was analysed according to measurements by X-ray diffractometer (application of the Cu K-alpha radiation and the Bragg-Brentano method), and the influence on dielectric properties (dielectric constant and dielectric losses) was analysed according to measurements by split cylinder resonator method at 9.7 and 12.5 GHz.

Rising of the peak temperature or extension of dwell time at this temperature has influence on all analysed properties of LTCC substrates. Size of crystallites can be changed by modification of firing profile as well as microdeformation. In addition, dielectric properties can be changed too by modification of the firing profile. Correlation between microdeformation and dielectric losses was observed.

The novelty of this work lies in finding the mutual relationship between changes in microstructural (size of grains and microdeformation) and dielectric properties (dielectric constant and dielectric losses) caused by different firing profiles.

This study aims to characterize a novel glass/epoxy architecture sandwich structure for electronic boards. Understanding the thermo-mechanical behavior of these composites is important because it is possible to pre-determine whether defined “internal” thick laminates will be suitable for embedding components in the direction of the axis “z,” i.e. this method of manufacturing multilayer laminates can be used for incoming miniaturization in electronics.

Laminates with a low glass transition temperature (Tg) and high Tg with E-glass type were treated, tested and compared. Testing samples were manufactured by nonstandard two steps unidirectional lamination as a multilayer structure based on prepreg layers and as “a sandwich structure” to explore its effect on thermo-mechanical properties. The proposed tested method determines the time and temperature-dependent viscoelastic properties of the board by using dynamic mechanical analysis, thermo-mechanical analysis and three-point bend tests.

This testing method was chosen because the main property that promotes sandwich structure is their high stiffness. Glass/epoxy stiff and thermal stabile sandwich structure prepared by nonstandard two-stage lamination is proper for embedding components and the next miniaturization in electronics.

Compared with by-default applied glass-reinforced homogenous laminates, novel architecture sandwich structure is attractive because of a combination of strength, stiffness and all while maintaining the miniaturization requirement and multifunctional application in electronics.

This special issue explores how marketing thought and practice have contributed to systemic racism but could alleviate racially insensitive and biased practices. An introductory historical overview briefly discusses coloniality, capitalism, eugenics, modernism, transhumanism, neo-liberalism, and liquid racism. Then, the special issue articles on colonial-based commodity racism, racial beauty imagery, implicit racial bias, linguistic racism and racial imagery in ads are introduced.

The historical introduction is grounded in a review of relevant literature.

Anti-racism efforts must tackle the intersection between neo-liberalism and racial injustice, the “raceless state” myth should be re-addressed, and cultural pedagogy’s role in normalizing racism should be investigated.

To stop perpetuating raced markets, educators should mainstream anti-racism and marketing. Commodity racism provides a historical and contemporary window into university-taught marketing skills.

Anti-racism efforts must recognize neo-liberalism’s pervasive role in normalizing raced markets and reject conventional wisdom about a raceless cultural pedagogy, especially with the emergence of platform economies.

Little previous research has tackled the history of commodity racism, white privilege, white ideology, and instituting teaching practices sensitive to minority group experiences.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically test two opposing theoretical hypotheses from research literature: low quality of public education boosts support for public education; and low quality of public education weakens support for public education.

The authors use microdata from 27 post-communist countries over a period of five years. This study uses two outcome variables in order to capture the level of support for public education: the willingness to elevate investments in public education to an important policy priority; and the willingness to pay more taxes to improve public healthcare. A series of logistic regressions is used to find how the outcome variable is influenced by six dimensions of the quality of the public education system.

The main finding is that a lower quality of public education strengthens the willingness of citizens to make investments into public education by: making it a political priority for the government; and through a professed increased willingness to pay more taxes towards improving public education. These findings remain valid for both years of investigation and for both EU and non-EU samples. In contrast, the authors could not find support for the hypothesis that postulates that a lower quality of public education will reduce support for public education.

The main implication of these findings is that despite the increases in availability of private schooling opportunities, the citizens of post-communist countries have not abandoned their support for public education. Even if citizens of post-communist countries believe that public education is no longer of an appropriately high quality, they continue to support the provision of resources to it in order to improve on the current situation.

The current low quality of public education can be seen as providing an impetus for encouraging support for public education.

In terms of policy-making, the findings demonstrate the opportunity to shore up public support for further reforms in public- education in post-communist countries.

The current education policy research literature is silent about the direction of the effect of low quality public education on the willingness to provide support for public education. Against this background, this is the first study which empirically tested whether quality of public education affect willingness to support it. Covering a period of five years, the authors test the above-postulated hypotheses using a diverse sample of 27 post-communist countries.

Two studies investigate how different structural properties of images – symmetry (vertical and horizontal) and image contrast – affect social media marketing outcomes of consumer liking and engagement.

In Study 1’s experiment, 361 participants responded to social media marketing images that varied in vertical or horizontal symmetry and level of image contrast. Study 2 analyzes field data on 610 Instagram posts.

Study 1 demonstrates that vertical or horizontal symmetry and high image contrast increase consumer liking of social media marketing images, and that processing fluency and aesthetic response mediate these relationships. Study 2 reveals that symmetry and high image contrast improve consumer engagement on social media (number of “likes” and comments).

These studies extend theory regarding processing fluency’s and aesthetic response’s roles in consumer outcomes within social media marketing. Image posts’ structural properties affect processing fluency and aesthetic response without altering brand information or advertising content.

Because consumer liking of marketing communications (e.g. social media posts) predicts persuasion and sales, results should help marketers design more effective posts and achieve brand-building and behavioral objectives. Based on the results, marketers are urged to consider the processing fluency and aesthetic response associated with any image developed for social media marketing.

Addressing the lack of empirical investigations in the existing literature, the reported studies demonstrate that effects of symmetry and image contrast in generating liking are driven by processing fluency and aesthetic response. Additionally, these studies establish novel effects of images’ structural properties on consumer engagement with brand-based social media marketing communications.