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1 – 10 of 739Elisa Verna, Gianfranco Genta and Maurizio Galetto
The purpose of this paper is to investigate and quantify the impact of product complexity, including architectural complexity, on operator learning, productivity and quality…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate and quantify the impact of product complexity, including architectural complexity, on operator learning, productivity and quality performance in both assembly and disassembly operations. This topic has not been extensively investigated in previous research.
Design/methodology/approach
An extensive experimental campaign involving 84 operators was conducted to repeatedly assemble and disassemble six different products of varying complexity to construct productivity and quality learning curves. Data from the experiment were analysed using statistical methods.
Findings
The human learning factor of productivity increases superlinearly with the increasing architectural complexity of products, i.e. from centralised to distributed architectures, both in assembly and disassembly, regardless of the level of overall product complexity. On the other hand, the human learning factor of quality performance decreases superlinearly as the architectural complexity of products increases. The intrinsic characteristics of product architecture are the reasons for this difference in learning factor.
Practical implications
The results of the study suggest that considering product complexity, particularly architectural complexity, in the design and planning of manufacturing processes can optimise operator learning, productivity and quality performance, and inform decisions about improving manufacturing operations.
Originality/value
While previous research has focussed on the effects of complexity on process time and defect generation, this study is amongst the first to investigate and quantify the effects of product complexity, including architectural complexity, on operator learning using an extensive experimental campaign.
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Markus Brummer, Karl Jakob Raddatz, Matthias Moritz Schmitt, Georg Schlick, Thomas Tobie, Rüdiger Daub and Karsten Stahl
Numerous metals can be processed using the additive manufacturing process laser-based powder bed fusion of metals (PBF-LB/M, ISO/ASTM 52900). The main advantages of additive…
Abstract
Purpose
Numerous metals can be processed using the additive manufacturing process laser-based powder bed fusion of metals (PBF-LB/M, ISO/ASTM 52900). The main advantages of additive manufacturing technologies are the high degree of design freedom and the cost-effective implementation of lightweight structures. This could be profitable for gears with increased power density, combining reduced mass with considerable material strength. Current research on additively manufactured gears is focused on developing lightweight structures but is seldom accompanied by simulations and even less by mechanical testing. There has been very little research into the mechanical and material properties of additively manufactured gears. The purpose of this study is to investigate the behavior of lightweight structures in additively manufactured gears under static loads.
Design/methodology/approach
This research identifies the static load-carrying capacity of helical gears with different lightweight structures produced by PBF-LB/M with the case hardening steel 16MnCr5. A static gear loading test rig with a maximum torque at the pinion of T1 = 1200 Nm is used. Further focus is set on analyzing material properties such as the relative density, microstructure, hardness depth profile and chemical composition.
Findings
All additively manufactured gear variants show no failure or plastic deformation at the maximum test load. The shaft hub connection, the lightweight hub designs and the gearing itself are stable and intact regarding their form and function. The identified material characteristics are comparable to conventionally manufactured gears (wrought and machined), but also some particularities were observed.
Originality/value
This research demonstrates the mechanical strength of lightweight structures in gears. Future research needs to consider the dynamic load-carrying capacity of additively manufactured gears.
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Kirstin Scholten, Dirk Pieter van Donk, Damien Power and Stephanie Braeuer
To be able to continuously provide affordable services to consumers, managers of critical infrastructure (CI) maintenance supply networks have to balance investments in resilience…
Abstract
Purpose
To be able to continuously provide affordable services to consumers, managers of critical infrastructure (CI) maintenance supply networks have to balance investments in resilience with costs. At the same time, CI providers need to consider factors that influence resilience such as the geographical spread or the location of the network. This study aims to contextualize supply chain resilience knowledge by exploring how maintenance resource configurations impact resilience and costs in CI supply networks.
Design/methodology/approach
An in-depth longitudinal single case study of a representative CI provider that has centralized its maintenance supply network is used. Data were collected before and after the change to evaluate the effect of the changes on the maintenance supply network.
Findings
This study shows that in this specific CI maintenance context, structural resource choices such as the quantity or location of spare parts and tools, the creation and exploitation of tacit knowledge and staff motivation impact both resilience and costs due to geographical spread, network location and other network properties.
Originality/value
This study extends general supply chain resilience knowledge to a new setting (i.e. CI) and shows how existing insights apply in this context. More specifically, it is shown that even in engineered supply networks there is a need to consider the effect of human agency on resilience as the creation and exploitation of tacit knowledge are of immense importance in managing the network. In addition, the relationship between normal accidents theory and high reliability theory (HRT) is revisited as findings indicate that HRT is also important after a disruption has taken place.
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This paper aims to verify whether the integration of sustainability in executive compensation positively affects firms’ non-financial performance and whether corporate governance…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to verify whether the integration of sustainability in executive compensation positively affects firms’ non-financial performance and whether corporate governance characteristics enhance the relationship between sustainability compensation and firms’ non-financial performance and to expand the domain of the impact of sustainability on non-financial performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This analysis is based on a sample of companies listed on the Milan Italian Stock Exchange from the Financial Times Milan Stock Exchange Index over the 2016–2020 period. Regression analysis was used by using data retrieved from the Refinitiv Eikon database and the sample firms’ remuneration reports.
Findings
The findings of this paper show that embedding sustainability in executive compensation positively affects firms’ non-financial performance. The results of this paper also reveal that specific corporate governance features can improve the impact of sustainability on non-financial performance.
Research limitations/implications
This analysis is limited to Italian firms included in the Financial Times Milan Stock Exchange Index; however, the findings are highly significant.
Practical implications
The findings provide regulators with useful insights for considering the integration of sustainability goals into executive remuneration. Another implication is that policymakers should require – at least – listed firms to fulfil specific corporate governance structural requirements. Finally, the findings can provide investors and financial analysts with a greater awareness of the role played by executive remuneration in the long-term value-creation process.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to addressing the relationship among sustainability, remuneration and non-financial disclosure, drawing on the stakeholder–agency theoretical framework and focusing on Italian firms. This issue has received limited attention with controversial results in the literature.
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Lucy V. Piggott, Jorid Hovden and Annelies Knoppers
Sport organizations hold substantial ideological power to showcase and reinforce dominant cultural ideas about gender. The organization and portrayal of sporting events and spaces…
Abstract
Sport organizations hold substantial ideological power to showcase and reinforce dominant cultural ideas about gender. The organization and portrayal of sporting events and spaces continue to promote and reinforce a hierarchical gender binary where heroic forms of masculinity are both desired and privileged. Such publicly visible gender hierarchies contribute to the doing of gender beyond sport itself, extending to influence gender power relations within sport and non-sport organizations. Yet, there has been a relative absence of scholarship on sport organizations within the organizational sociology field. In this paper, we review findings of studies that look at how formal and informal organizational dimensions influence the doing and undoing of gender in sport organizations. Subsequently, we call for scholars to pay more attention to sport itself as a source of gendered organizational practices within both sport and non-sport organizations. We end with suggestions for research that empirically explores this linkage by focusing on innovative theoretical perspectives that could provide new insights on gender inclusion in organizations.
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Mary Ann Glynn, Elizabeth A. Hood and Benjamin D. Innis
As hybrid organizations become increasingly common, the authors observe that some hybrid forms are becoming institutionalized and legitimated. The authors explore the implications…
Abstract
As hybrid organizations become increasingly common, the authors observe that some hybrid forms are becoming institutionalized and legitimated. The authors explore the implications of the institutionalization of hybridity, addressing both the internal tensions that plague many hybrids and the external tensions stemming from evaluator assessments and stakeholder uncertainty. The authors propose that institutionalization can dampen internal tensions associated with hybridity and also facilitate legitimation and acceptance by external audiences. The authors present identity as a useful theoretical lens through which to examine these questions, as identities are born from, but also have the potential to modify, existing institutional arrangements. The authors present directions for future research at the juncture of identity, hybridity, and institutionalization, suggesting potential avenues of inquiry in this productive stream of research.
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This paper aims to develop a geometry of moral systems. Existing social choice mechanisms predominantly employ simple structures, such as rankings. A mathematical metric among…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to develop a geometry of moral systems. Existing social choice mechanisms predominantly employ simple structures, such as rankings. A mathematical metric among moral systems allows us to represent complex sets of views in a multidimensional geometry. Such a metric can serve to diagnose structural issues, test existing mechanisms of social choice or engender new mechanisms. It also may be used to replace active social choice mechanisms with information-based passive ones, shifting the operational burden.
Design/methodology/approach
Under reasonable assumptions, moral systems correspond to computational black boxes, which can be represented by conditional probability distributions of responses to situations. In the presence of a probability distribution over situations and a metric among responses, codifying our intuition, we can derive a sensible metric among moral systems.
Findings
Within the developed framework, the author offers a set of well-behaved candidate metrics that may be employed in real applications. The author also proposes a variety of practical applications to social choice, both diagnostic and generative.
Originality/value
The proffered framework, derived metrics and proposed applications to social choice represent a new paradigm and offer potential improvements and alternatives to existing social choice mechanisms. They also can serve as the staging point for research in a number of directions.
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Giovanni Zampone, Giuseppe Nicolò, Giuseppe Sannino and Serena De Iorio
The study examines the association between board gender diversity and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) disclosure from an international and longitudinal perspective. It also…
Abstract
Purpose
The study examines the association between board gender diversity and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) disclosure from an international and longitudinal perspective. It also investigates the role of the Sustainability Committee (SC) as a possible factor that can mediate the relationship between board gender diversity and SDG disclosure.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors focused on the annual Communication on Progress (CoP) prepared annually by a sample of 526 companies from 39 countries and ten industry sectors along the 2017–2020 period to evaluate the SDG disclosure. Baron and Kenny's (1986) three-step model is estimated to test the impact of the presence of an SC on the SDG disclosure level and the mediating effect exerted by the SC on the relationship between board gender diversity and SDG disclosure.
Findings
Findings shed light on the usefulness of the CoP as an alternative reporting tool to communicate progress against SDGs achievement, especially regarding SDGs 13 and 8. This study evidences that board gender diversity positively influences SDG disclosure. The relationship between board gender diversity and SDG disclosure is not only direct but also mediated by the presence of an SC.
Research limitations/implications
Companies need to consider the role of women in enhancing the effectiveness of their governance mechanisms and their ability to meet stakeholder information needs. Establishing a specific SC represents a valid mechanism that ensures greater transparency about corporate actions tackled to contribute toward SDGs and enhances the relationship between board gender diversity and SDG disclosure among International companies.
Practical implications
The study's findings offer stimuli for policy-makers and regulators to reflect on the relevance of the CoP as a possible alternative communication tool to provide SDGs information and overcome the limitations of the Sustainability Reports.
Originality/value
This is the first study that examines companies' SDG disclosure practices focusing on CoPs. Further, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that tests the relationship between gender diversity and SDG disclosure, considering the mediating effect of an SC committee.
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