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The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of emerging market professional service small and medium-sized enterprises’ (PSF SME) internal competencies and capabilities on their ability to establish relationship value among clients and achieve superior financial performance. This study addresses the paucity of research on emerging market PSF SMEs and their ability to build value for their clients.

Data were collected from 251 senior managers or owners of PSF SMEs who were from an emerging market economy but had operations in various foreign markets. The two-step structural equation modeling procedure was used to analyze the data and investigate the hypothesized relationships.

The results show the positive impacts of the PSF SME’s human capital on innovativeness, service capabilities and relationship value. Human capital also had indirect positive impacts on relationship value and financial performance. Service capabilities were found to have a positive impact on relationship value and financial performance. In addition, innovativeness was found to have a positive impact on financial performance.

Emerging market PSF SMEs can gain competitive advantages and build solid long-term relationships with clients in the global marketplace when they focus on strengthening their human capital resources and successfully leveraging their innovativeness and service capabilities.

The study fills a gap in international business and management literature by offering guidance on how emerging market PSF SMEs can effectively use their internal resources and capabilities to build solid relationships with clients, deliver superior services and achieve global marketplace success.

The applicability of the customer life time value (CLV) concept goes beyond consumer markets. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to show how a make‐to‐order manufacturing company in a supply chain can set customer‐focus manufacturing strategies using CLV.

Data from an integrated steel plant is used to calculate the life time value of customers based on the past value, the potential value, and their loyalty. The past value of a customer is based on the historical data and the future value of a customer is then forecasted. The loyalty index of a customer is determined by survey results.

In general, it was found that the CLV for the most valuable customers increases exponentially and the top 28 percent of customers constitute 80 percent of the total value of all customers.

This study focuses on make‐to‐order manufacturing organizations and the three strategies suggested for business process improvement need to be re‐evaluated for make‐to‐stock or mass production.

Based on these results, the authors suggest three strategies for business process improvement and revenue growth for the plant.

This study constitutes an initial effort to develop a CLV model for make‐to‐order manufacturing organizations for improving plant performance. The model links customers with not only the front office functions but also with ERP systems. Organizations that are part of value chains can benefit significantly from CLV applications.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of price attribute framing and factors such as urgency and perceived price fairness on customer willingness to pay (WTP) in automated retail settings.

The authors conducted two sets of quasi-experimental scenarios surrounding vending-machine purchase decisions. The first set was analyzed with MANOVA, the second set with choice-based conjoint (CBC) analysis.

When prices are framed positively (as a discount), customer WTP is higher at high published price levels than it is for unframed or negatively framed prices. The effect on WTP holds whether the reference price range is broad (few large increments) or narrow (numerous small increments). In the CBC scenarios, immediate availability of the product was most influential on choice, followed by price and brand effects. These findings held under conditions invoking both urgency and price fairness. Providing an explanation for higher prices increases perceived price fairness.

Further study might assess the presence or absence of interaction effects in the conjoint scenarios.

Managers should consider transparency in dynamic pricing, particularly when the price change is outside the control of the firm. The conjoint scenario results also offer evidence that dynamic pricing will not impact other marketing-mix decisions for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) dramatically (availability at point of purchase and presence in the consumer consideration set remain strong influences on choice).

Understanding these effects on WTP could help managers manage perceptions of unfairness and optimize WTP.

A theoretical contribution from this study is that the immediate loss/gain consideration under theories of decision making under uncertainty outweigh considerations such as scarcity urgency or perceived unfairness. Use of conjoint analysis in WTP research, study of dynamic pricing in FMCG setting.

Remote and isolated indigenous communities in Nunavik (Canada) currently face a number of housing related challenges. This paper proposes a conceptual framework to identify the factors affecting value creation within the supply chain of social housing construction in that region. The term “social” refers to the fact that governments subsidise construction and operation of these buildings intended for low-income households.

The research used a literature review and information collected from 3 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders to identify the desired features of improvement or solutions (e.g. prefabrication) with respect to value creation. A SWOT analysis, an influence/dependence map and a causal loop diagram were developed to represent the supply chain.

Local job creation and the number of buildings to build were identified as the key factors that can roughly represent value creation. Energy resources, construction time, type and amount of labour force, shipping constraints, number of replacement parts and waste disposal were identified as the main factors constraining the range of solutions to implement.

The framework can be used to support the decision-making in supply chain management and the design of solutions for remote areas such as Nunavik.

This paper is the first to analyse value creation in social building construction in remote and isolated communities such as those from Nunavik. Conceptual models achieved within the framework allowed identifying the factors that could roughly represent this value creation, as well as logical relationships that link them with other factors.

The aim of this paper is to explore the brain–computer interface (BCI) as a methodology for generating awareness and increasing reliable use cases of the same so that an individual's quality of life can be enhanced via neuroscience and neural networks, and risk evaluation of certain experiments of BCI can be conducted in a proactive manner.

This paper puts forward an efficient approach for an existing BCI device, which can enhance the performance of an electroencephalography (EEG) signal classifier in a composite multiclass problem and investigates the effects of sampling rate on feature extraction and multiple channels on the accuracy of a complex multiclass EEG signal. A one-dimensional convolutional neural network architecture is used to further classify and improve the quality of the EEG signals, and other algorithms are applied to test their variability. The paper further also dwells upon the combination of internet of things multimedia technology to be integrated with a customized design BCI network based on a conventionally used system known as the message query telemetry transport.

At the end of our implementation stage, 98% accuracy was achieved in a binary classification problem of classifying digit and non-digit stimuli, and 36% accuracy was observed in the classification of signals resulting from stimuli of digits 0 to 9.

BCI, also known as the neural-control interface, is a device that helps a user reliably interact with a computer using only his/her brain activity, which is measured usually via EEG. An EEG machine is a quality device used for observing the neural activity and electric signals generated in certain parts of the human brain, which in turn can help us in studying the different core components of the human brain and how it functions to improve the quality of human life in general.

The purpose of this study is to explore the advantages and obstacles of implementing Lean Six Sigma in Indian MSMEs during or post-COVID-19. The following research also elaborates on the challenges of implementing Lean Six Sigma in MSMEs in India, along with the changes in the culture that are required for providing a proper climate to ensure success in a long-term manner.

The methodology used in this study is a descriptive study, which explores and looks for the factors that influence the impulse or motivation to implement Lean Six Sigma in MSMEs and factors that inhibit the implementation of Lean Six Sigma. To achieve this goal of Lean Six Sigma, a significant review of the existing literature of the subject area has been done to prepare a framework with the help of inferential statistics in view of the critical success factors. This research is a flow and arranged a type of survey of organizations that is conducted using MS-Excel and SPSS 25.0 statistical software. The number of participants selected using a purposive sampling method in this study was 127 Lean Six Sigma experts and owners or CEOs of MSMEs in India.

Lean Six Sigma be used for facilitating the improvement processes in manufacturing operations, quality improvements and productivity. As some obstacles exist in implementing the Lean Six Sigma approach, the improvement processes and outcomes of change in the culture are noteworthy and worthwhile. The implementation of Lean Six Sigma has also some constraints, including cost limitations, skill limitations, limited facilities and other such limitations. The implementation of Lean Six Sigma during COVID-19 is not yet a matter of urgency or priority, and hence, cannot yet be applied.

This paper presents opinions of only a few selected professionals of Indian MSMEs. So it was a crucial aspect of capturing the views of such practitioners of their arrival on valid and sound conclusions.

The novelty of this research is to analyze the advantages and obstacles of implementing Lean Six Sigma in MSMEs during the COVID-19 in India. The results of this research can be used as scientific references for researchers who will conduct future research. Moreover, it can be guidance for MSMEs owners to make decisions in implementing Lean Six Sigma during the COVID-19 pandemic. The organizations assess all of their aspects such as perceive objectives, required qualities and shortcomings for fruitful implementation of any practice.

Several suggestions were made for the methods and thoughts, which will constitute a Lean Six Sigma organization. Hence, the research offers an excellent framework for both working professionals and academicians to understand the view of Indian MSMEs along with their benefits and obstacles of implementing Lean Six Sigma. So this study helps in laying out a platform for understanding the uses of Lean Six Sigma for process excellence in a new era due to COVID-19.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of pulse plating current density on the morphology and solderability of Pb-free Sn-Cu solder coatings prepared from alkaline stannate baths.

Sn-Cu solder coatings were produced from a plating solution containing sodium stannate, copper stannate, sodium hydroxide and sorbitol additive on copper substrates. The pulse plating experiments were conducted in galvanostatic mode. The plating current density was varied from 5 to 25 mA/cm², and the morphology of the coatings was studied. The solderability of the coatings was assessed by spread ratio measurement after reflowing the solder coatings at 250°C.

The composition control of eutectic solders is always a challenge in plating. The findings show that Sn-Cu coatings prepared by pulse plating are composed of tetragonal ß-Sn structure and Cu₆Sn₅ compounds irrespective of bath composition and conditions. The final coatings were very dense and smooth with nodular morphology. It was shown that a eutectic composition can be achieved if we apply a current density of ∼15-20 mA/cm². The solderability studies suggest that solder coatings plated at and beyond 15 mA/cm² are more suitable for solder finish applications.

The work presents key issues in pulse electroplating of Sn-Cu solder coatings from an alkaline bath. Possible strategies to control the eutectic Sn-Cu composition by plating process are recommended.