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The purpose of this study is developing a new buy-back coordination contract in the symbiotic supply chain. In this new contract, the goal of the supply chain members (profit maximization) is realized.

This paper encourages the manufacturer to order products optimally by presenting a new buy-back coordination contract, and in return, the supplier undertakes to buy the unsold products from the manufacturer at the buy-back price. By using data-driven decision-making and multiobjective decision-making and considering the existing conditions in the symbiosis industry, a contract has been presented that guarantees the profits of supply chain members.

In this paper, it was found out how the authors can determine the order quantity, buy-back price and wholesale price in a symbiotic supply chain in such a way that it makes a profit for both the supplier and the manufacturer. In other words, how to determine these variables to encourage the manufacturer to order more quantity to the supplier so that both will benefit.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper that defines a new buy-back coordination contract in the symbiotic supply chain by considering uncertain demand and a multiobjective model. Due to the importance of environmental issues, the sharing of resources by companies and organizations with each other, and the necessity of their cooperation, industries are moving toward a symbiosis industry.

Prototyping with affordable 3D printers empowers small businesses to create prototypes within a day and carry out multiple iterations of design, size, shape or assembly based on analytical results, bringing better products to market faster. This paper aims to turn the ideas into proofs of concept, advance these concepts to realistic prototypes and investigate the quality of printed prototypes prior to large-scale production.

The experimental approach focuses on the prototyping of portable medicine containers by Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), modifying the prototypes by adding auxiliary braille flags that indicate patient initials and dosing information, and performing the moisture permeation study as well as the stability study for model drug products (i.e. ibuprofen tablets, guaifenesin tablets, dextromethorphan HBr soft gel capsules).

The study shows that an affordable 3D printer helps to create functional and visual prototypes that give a realistic depiction of the design and offer physical objects that could be investigated for product quality and feasibility.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study was the first attempt to use a desktop FDM-based 3D printer to prototype portable medicine containers in a blister packet appearance with auxiliary braille flags that help validate early concepts and facilitate the conversation on refining product features in a rapid and affordable manner.

This study explores how police culture is experienced by women officers serving in positions where they are significantly underrepresented (i.e. leadership and elite specialty units) and the environmental factors that shape these experiences.

A qualitative analysis of transcripts from interviews with 71 women serving in male-dominated roles was conducted (N = 39 ranking women; N = 32 women on elite units).

Participants described five occupational, organizational and assignment-level factors that shaped their workplace experiences. While some contextual forces at play are similar for women working patrol (e.g. traditional police culture, the underrepresentation of women in law enforcement) unique position-level factors were also identified (e.g. the high-risk and consequential nature of the work).

While the cultural environment for women patrol officers has improved in the past few decades, the same cannot be said for women working in positions that are still dominated by men. More attention to this area of policing is needed to ensure gender diversity is achieved throughout organizations and not only in positions deemed suitable for women.

The study extends research on women in policing beyond the focus on patrol. Further, it explores the assignment- and rank-based perspectives of police culture, which are largely absent from the literature.

The purpose of this study is to develop a model of a starting situation for relationship initiation in turbulent business networks.

The study is designed as an extreme single case study that takes its point of departure in a company’s bankruptcy in the Swedish automotive industry.

This study illustrates how a new business relationship can start from a resource combination previously controlled by one actor (i.e. a single company) in a turbulent business network, thereby bringing nuances to the common understanding that new relationships start in stable business networks where resource combinations are developed between actors in established business relationships.

Previous studies have stated that the development of a mutual orientation between actors leads to the formation of a business relationship. The business relationship then leads to resource adaptations between the two companies. The developed model, however, illustrates that this pattern can be reversed in situations of turbulence. Hence, previously adapted resources might lead to the formations of a business relationship. Based on this observation, the authors argue that there are reasons to question if previous models of business relationship initiation and development in business networks are adequately equipped for analysis in turbulent business networks.

Organizations remain a vital sociological topic, but organizational sociology, as a subfield, has evolved significantly since its inception. In this paper, I argue that organization sociology is becoming increasingly disconnected from organizational theory, as currently conceived. The focus of sociological research on organizations has become more empirically grounded in the study of social problems and how organizations contribute to them. Sociologists continue to see organizations as important actors in society that play a role in shaping social order and as contexts in which social processes play out. I propose two main sociological approaches for organizational research, which I describe as “organizations within society” and “society within organizations.” The first approach examines the role of organizations as building blocks of social structure and as social actors in their own right. The second approach treats organizations as platforms and locations of social interactions and the building of community. These approaches are somewhat disconnected from the sort of grand theorizing that characterizes much of organizational theory. I argue that the problem-oriented sociology of these two approaches offers a vital way for organizational scholars to expand and theoretically revitalize the field.

The recent Russia–Ukraine conflict highlights the geopolitical importance of natural gas, especially in Europe. In this light, this study examines the impact of the Russia–Ukraine conflict on the spread of price bubbles from European natural gas to international energy prices.

The Generalized Supremum Augmented Dickey-Fuller (GSADF) test is employed to detect the occurrence of price bubble episodes while the Dynamic Logit Model is used to examine price bubble contagion between the two markets. Further, a tri-variate VAR model is used to examine the determinants of the price bubble.

The findings reveal multiple bubble episodes in both European natural gas and international energy prices. Further, evidence of bilateral contagion between European natural gas and the international energy market is found. In addition, the Russia–Ukraine conflict triggers price bubble episodes in both markets. Finally, a counterfactual analysis suggests that the conflict increases the bubble contagion from the European natural gas market to the international energy market by about 40%. These findings imply that the Russia–Ukraine conflict is a significant driver of high upside risks to bubble occurrence and subsequent contagion to both European natural gas and international energy prices.

To the best of our knowledge, this study contributes new empirical evidence that the Russian–Ukrainian conflict significantly impacts the spread of price bubbles from the European natural gas market to international energy markets.

An increasing non-drinker population is developing, but much research focusses on alcohol misuse, rather than the experiences of those who abstain or consume little alcohol, particularly within student populations. This student co-constructed qualitative research aimed to understand alcohol abstainer and light drinking students’ university experiences and perceptions of university alcohol cultures, given recent trends in alcohol drinking behaviour.

Ten UK undergraduate students (six males, four females; 21–26 years), five alcohol abstainers and five light alcohol drinkers (AUDIT-C), participated in semi-structured focus group interviews.

Thematic analysis of transcripts identified participants’ negative experiences of pre-university social pressures in navigating no or low alcohol drinking identities, which impacted university expectations. Participants perceived alcohol drinking cultures as remaining prevalent on university campuses and possibly used for profit and recruitment. Alcohol dominant university-sanctioned social events, alongside limited other provisions, impacted initial university transitions and belonging. However, students reported co-existing realities between such cultures and simultaneous peer acceptance of their no or low drinking status, finding similar others and long-term friendships not impacted. Due to this, student participants called for universities to take urgent action in changing pervasive university alcohol cultures, which they felt no longer aligned with changing student behaviours and perceptions.

Guided by findings, we provide important implications for prevention work and future research, including the importance of social context interventions. We also highlight the value of student co-creation and external partnerships within such work.

This study aims to synthesize extant literature on the concept of reverse knowledge transfer (RKT) built up over the past two decades with the help of bibliometric analyssis and also to suggest promising new areas for research in this field.

The study adopts a literature review methodology combined with bibliometric and network analysis based on 117 papers identified from the Scopus database. In particular, this study has tried to identify and capture themes not previously fully captured or evaluated by other reviews on this topic.

The authors have identified research themes and research gaps in the area of RKT. Overall, the review shows the main outlets that have published papers on RKT and the theoretical background this research is built on. This study exhibits core themes in this area that have persisted and grown consistently such as the subsidiary’s role in RKT. In addition, the review highlights less researched themes such as role of boundary spanning in RKT, which open exciting avenues for new research opportunities.

This study finds that RKT research has experienced remarkable growth from a complete viewpoint in recent years. There was a surge in publications in the area from 2008 onwards, and many of its influential papers seemed to have been published between 2013 and 2018. Prominent themes in this body of research have been identified and potential for future studies has been explored.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to map, synthesize and discuss the literature concerning RKT.

Several studies have been conducted to understand why the conviction rate for rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO) remains so low. Increasing pressure and criticism have led to questioning why improvements in RASSO investigations are proving ineffective. The purpose of this study was to capture police officers’ perspective of police specialism while investigating RASSO.

A total of 82 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data collection spanned across two years, from October 2021 until May 2023, and included police officers from four police forces in England and Wales. Template analysis was used to identify recurrent patterns around police specialism for RASSO.

Most officers viewed specialism as a tool to improve how police forces prevent and tackle RASSO. In spite of this, the lack of prioritisation of specialist training, roles and units specifically for this crime type has hindered the development of evidence-based practice in policing. The impact on well-being, resources, organisational support and role identity has been explored.

This is the first qualitative study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to look at officers’ insights on police specialism for RASSO in England and Wales. Officers discussed day-to-day challenges associated with conducting RASSO investigations while reflecting on potential advantages related to dedicated specialist units and/or specialist roles.

The purpose of the study is to address concerns regarding the subjectivity and imprecision of decision-making in table tennis refereeing by developing and enhancing a sensor node system. This system is designed to accurately detect the points on the table tennis table where balls collide. The study introduces the twined-reinforcement chimp optimization (TRCO) framework, which combines two novel approaches to optimize the distribution of sensor nodes. The main goal is to reduce the number of sensor units required while maintaining high accuracy in determining the locations of ball collisions, with error margins significantly below the critical 3.5 mm cutoff. Through complex optimization procedures, the study aims to improve the efficiency and reliability of decision-making in table tennis refereeing by leveraging sensor technology.

The study employs a design methodology focused on developing a sensor array system to enhance decision-making in table tennis refereeing. It introduces the twined-reinforcement chimp optimization (TRCO) framework, combining dual adaptive weighting strategies and a stochastic approach for optimization. By meticulously engineering the sensor array and utilizing complex optimization procedures, the study aims to improve the accuracy of detecting ball collisions on the table tennis table. The methodology aims to reduce the number of sensor units required while maintaining high precision, ultimately enhancing the reliability of decision-making in the sport.

The optimization research study yielded promising outcomes, showcasing a substantial reduction in the number of sensor units required from the initial count of 60 to a more practical 49. The sensor array system demonstrated excellent accuracy in identifying the locations of ball collisions, with error margins significantly below the critical 3.5 mm cutoff. Through the implementation of the twined-reinforcement chimp optimization (TRCO) framework, which integrates dual adaptive weighting strategies and a stochastic approach, the study achieved its goal of enhancing the efficiency and reliability of decision-making in table tennis refereeing.

This study introduces novel contributions to the field of table tennis refereeing by pioneering the development and optimization of a sensor array system. The innovative twined-reinforcement chimp optimization (TRCO) framework, integrating dual adaptive weighting strategies and a stochastic approach, sets a new standard for sensor node distribution in sports technology. By substantially reducing the number of sensor units required while maintaining high accuracy in detecting ball collisions, this research offers practical solutions to address the inherent subjectivity and imprecision in decision-making processes. The study’s originality lies in its meticulous design methodology and complex optimization procedures, offering significant value to the field of sports technology and officiating.