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We present a new nonlinear axisymmetric finite element model for heat transfer and powder deposition in rotational molding. Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian techniques are employed to track the gradual growth of the plastic layer. Results using this approach compare well with earlier 1‐D models and with experimental data. Using the model to study the effects of locally enhanced heat transfer on part wall thickness, we find that controlling the relative magnitudes of radial and circumferential heat transfer is crucial in order to obtain desired wall thickness profiles.

There is a large body of knowledge on logistics and production control, including just‐in‐time (JIT) logistics. However, the applications specific to paper industry logistics are scarce and somewhat conflicting. Examines the potential contribution of alternative logistics systems in the paper industry and the scope for efficiency gains through the application of JIT logistics systems. Multiple case studies are used, with simulation for alternative business scenarios. The results indicate considerable scope for improvements in paper industry logistics, with many of the benefits deriving from JIT applications.

For electronic commerce applications, the importance of quality information is self‐evident, especially for firms offering information products where information either significantly augments a physical product or constitutes the product itself. Aims to use a probabilistic simulation model is used to explore the relationship between information quality and market share for firms offering an information product.

In the Excel‐based Monte Carlo model information quality is represented as a function of four general quality attributes. For these attributes, quality gaps relative to best practices are calculated and these gaps are used to drive a volume model whose output includes market share. The model is used to examine various scenarios including cases dealing with differences in a firm's initial information quality levels, differences in innovation rates and their variability, and differences in a firm's proclivity to copy advances of competitors.

The results indicate that firms starting with information quality leads tend to maintain that lead and accrue market share. However, they may lose their lead if innovation rates lag behind the competition. Generally, variation and the ability for firms to copy advances are good for markets.

Some practical implications from the findings include: the criticality of innovation and its importance in fostering quality; the ineffectiveness of insular strategies; and evidence that specialization, while benefiting markets, does not necessarily benefit individual firms.

The model presents a mechanism for scholars and practitioners to – expeditiously and inexpensively – test the impact of various information‐quality strategies.

This paper investigates the economic performances of two business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce last-mile delivery options –parcel lockers (PLs) and traditional home delivery (HD) in contexts where e-commerce is still at its early stages. It analyses and compares two different implementation contexts, urban and rural areas.

This study develops an analytical model that estimates delivery costs for both the PL and HD options. The model is applied to two base cases (representative of urban and rural areas in Italy), and sensitivity analyses are subsequently performed on a set of key variables/parameters (i.e. PL density, PL fill rate and PL annual costs). To support the model development and application, interviews with practitioners (Edwards et al., 2011) were performed.

PLs imply lower delivery cost than HD, independently from the implementation area (urban or rural): advantages mainly derive from the higher delivery density and the drastic reduction of failed deliveries. Benefits entailed by PLs are more significant in rural areas due to lower PL investments and annual costs, as well as higher HD costs.

This paper offers insights to both academics and practitioners. On the academic side, it develops a model to compare the delivery cost of PL and HD, which includes the analysis of urban and rural contexts. This could serve as a platform for developing/informing future analytical/optimisation contributions. On the managerial side, it may support practitioners in making decisions about the implementation of PLs and HD, to benchmark their costs and to identify the main variables and parameters at play.

This paper aims to analyse which firm-level characteristics drive their location decisions when investing in a foreign country. Focusing on origin clusters, the authors will study the potential influence of the home country context and, in particular, the impact of firm-level factors, both investor- and investment-related, underlying heterogeneity in their location choice decisions.

The empirical analysis draws on data gathered from mainland Chinese MNEs that have invested in Germany between 2005 and 2013 (269 firms). The authors chose a single host (Germany) and a single home (China) country for their representativeness and for methodological reasons to control for country effects. The authors used a multinomial logit model to assess the effects of the independent variables on the probability that each of the three location possibilities would be selected.

The results suggest that investors preferring co-location in origin clusters have distinct structural and strategic characteristics. From a more structural point of view, Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) undertaken by smaller firms and those without prior experience in the EU prefer an area where there are other Chinese investors. From a more strategic perspective, these FDI flows are more likely to tap into industry agglomerations when the investors’ objective is strategic asset seeking, and they have less knowledge-intensive investments.

The findings may be of great practical value to practitioners and policymakers. Knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of the types of agglomeration networks can help managers to balance the rewards and risks in their decision-making and to select a suitable development path for their FDIs. For policymakers, an understanding of the structure and formation of different groups of firms in one location and the characteristics of investors who may enter the location can help them to improve their regulatory work and to develop policies to attract investments, thereby enhancing local economic development and community stability.

The research shifts the emphasis of the location choice decision beyond just where to locate toward with whom to collocate. It also contributes to the growing research on emerging market multinationals by providing further insight into understanding of FDI location behavior by firms from emerging economies.

This study examines the effect of temperature-dependent material models for normal-strength (NSC) and high-strength concrete (HSC) on the thermal analysis of reinforced concrete (RC) walls.

The study performs an one-at-a-time (OAT) sensitivity analysis to assess the impact of variables defining the constitutive and parametric fire models on the wall's thermal response. Moreover, it extends the sensitivity analysis to a variance-based analysis to assess the effect of constitutive model type, fire model type and constitutive model uncertainty on the RC wall's thermal response variance. The study determines the wall’s thermal behaviour reliability considering the different constitutive models and their uncertainty.

It is found that the impact of the variability in concrete’s conductivity is determined by its temperature-dependent model, which differs for NSC and HSC. Therefore, more testing and improving material modelling are needed. Furthermore, the heating rate of the fire scenario is the dominant factor in deciding fire-resistance performance because it is a causal factor for spalling in HSC walls. And finally the reliability of wall's performance decreased sharply for HSC walls due to the expected spalling of the concrete and loss of cross-section integrity.

Limited studies in the current open literature quantified the impact of constitutive models on the behaviour of RC walls. No studies have examined the effect of material models' uncertainty on wall’s response reliability under fire. Furthermore, the study's results contribute to the ongoing attempts to shape performance-based structural fire engineering.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of the post-merger integration duration on acquiring firms’ leverage behavior before and after a merger, using a dynamic model in which full merger benefits cannot be consumed at the instant of a merger, but rather after a pre-specified post-merger integration period.

This paper presents a dynamic model and empirical tests that describe the impact of the post-merger integration period on the capital structure dynamics of the acquiring and target firms prior to a merger and during the post-merger integration period. By incorporating costs associated with the post-merger integration period, the model can provide new implications for the leverage behavior around the merger.

Empirical tests support the model implications by showing that the longer the expected post-merger integration process, the less likely the acquirer will structure the financing of the combined firm in a manner that increases firm leverage. Since integration takes time to complete, an acquirer tends to retain financial flexibility during the integration process by assuming lower levels of debt when determining the capital structure of the merged entity.

The model generates new implications related to acquiring firms’ leverage dynamics along with the method of payment choice. The analysis of the duration of the post-merger integration period extends both the theoretical and empirical literature that tacitly assumes that the merger-related synergy is realized immediately at the merger date. This is the first model in the literature that assumes that both the acquiring and the target firms can change their capital structure overtime, which allows us to analyze both the financing structure and the merger timing. Previous empirical studies also ignore the integration period in the analysis of the method of payment choice and leverage behavior around mergers. The model in this paper can be extended along a number of dimensions.

This paper forms part of an ongoing research project being undertaken by the authors into construction safety culture. The paper aims to investigate the interactions among five key enablers of construction safety culture, as well as the potential impact of each enabler on organisational safety goals over a period of time.

Using system dynamics modelling, the paper reports on the development of a causal model simulating the interactions among safety culture enablers. The model is developed based on the logical assumption that, by improving the enablers, there will be an inevitable safety performance improvement. An index is also proposed and used as an indicator for assessing the maturity level of safety culture.

The paper presents and reports on simulation results which reveal that an organisation with ad‐hoc safety implementation (starting at a basic level of safety culture maturity) should primarily focus on enhancing leadership attributes, in the context of safety, to rapidly and successfully progress through to higher maturity levels in the future.

The use of system dynamic modelling, with the developed index, will help organisations to plan the most effective safety implementation process to achieve their safety goals within a planned time frame.

The use of modelling, with the developed index, will help organisations to plan the most effective safety implementation process to achieve their safety goals within a planned time frame.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of the post-merger integration duration on acquiring firms’ leverage behavior before and after a merger, using a dynamic model in which full merger benefits cannot be consumed at the instant of a merger, but rather after a pre-specified post-merger integration period.

This paper presents a dynamic model and empirical tests that describe the impact of the post-merger integration period on the capital structure dynamics of the acquiring and target firms before a merger and during the post-merger integration period. By incorporating costs associated with the post-merger integration period, the model can provide new implications for the leverage behavior around the merger.

The model generates new implications related to acquiring firms’ leverage dynamics along with method of payment choice. Specifically, the model indicates that the post-merger integration duration is negatively associated with the market leverage of newly-merged firms at the time of merger completion and during the integration period. Further, acquirer managers are more likely to use equity to finance a merger when the integration duration is likely to be lengthy.

This is the first model in the literature that assumes that both the acquiring and the target firms can change their capital structure overtime, which allows us to analyze both the financing structure and the merger timing. Previous empirical studies also ignore the integration period in the analysis of the method of payment choice and leverage behavior around mergers. In the tests reported in this paper, the authors control for the factors mentioned above and demonstrate that the expected integration duration is not subsumed by those variables implying that it has its own power in explaining the choice of leverage and merger financing method.

The purpose of this study is to design a zero-energy home, which is known to be capable of balancing its own energy production and consumption close to zero. Development of low-energy homes and zero-net energy houses (ZEHs) is vital to move toward energy efficiency and sustainability in the built environment. To achieve zero or low energy targets in homes, it is essential to use the design process that minimizes the need for active mechanical systems.

The methodology discussed in this paper consists of an interfacing building information modeling (BIM) tool and a simulation software to determine the potential influence of phase change materials on designing zero-net energy homes.

BIM plays a key role in advancing methods for architects and designers to communicate through a common software platform, analyze energy performance through all stages of the design and construction process and make decisions for improving energy efficiency in the built environment.

This paper reviews the literature relevant to the role of BIM in helping energy simulation for the performance of residential homes to more advanced levels and in modeling the integrated design process of ZEHs.