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Refractory materials are now used in all major industries that demand high-temperature resistance, including petrochemicals, steel, cement and aviation. Businesses must decrease operating costs, enhance product technology, sell well and manage corporate risks in decision-making, notably supplier selection, to be more competitive. The study aims to determine the key criteria and factors of supplier selection and to evaluate the importance of the key factor of the supplier selection criteria for the refractory materials manufacturers in Taiwan.

Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is used to rank these factors for the decision maker. The AHP method is suitable for verifying refractory supplier selection criteria and providing references. The weighted loss scores for each supplier are then determined using the relative importance as the weights. Supplier selection criteria are ranked using their aggregate weighted loss scores. The provider with the lowest loss score should be chosen.

Product quality is the most significant of the five criteria: product quality, production technology, logistics capacity, service capability and supplier background. Professionalism is the most significant aspect of product quality, whereas equipment and capacity are vital in manufacturing techniques. The studies also show that the delivery rate is essential for logistics and service capabilities.

This research has important implications for refractory suppliers in promptly fine-tuning the production and service to enhance customer satisfaction, which is key to business sustainability.

The application of an AHP technique to a real-world industrial issue is what makes this research unique. This research addressed one of the most critical topics in supply chain operations by offering better judgement for supplier selection via the use of suitable quantitative methodologies.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between school climate and teacher stress. Specifically, the authors construct two parsimonious models to test two main hypotheses. First, whether preschool collegial leadership predicts teachers’ job stress through the mediating role of teacher self-efficacy; second, whether teacher professionalism influences teachers’ perceptions of occupational stress through the mediating role of teacher self-efficacy.

The authors conceptualized the mediating role of teacher efficacy as an important mechanism that can help to explain the effect of school climate on teacher stress. School climate consisted of two dimensions: principal collegial leadership and professionalism. Therefore, the authors constructed and examined two mediation models by using Bootstrapping mediation modeling: first, preschool teacher self-efficacy as a mediator between preschool collegial leadership and teacher stress; second, preschool teacher self-efficacy as a mediator between preschool teacher professionalism and teacher stress.

Results from two mediation analyses showed that principal collegial leadership exerts a significant negative effect on preschool teachers’ stress through the mediating role of teacher self-efficacy. Moreover, professionalism was also a significant predictor of preschool teachers’ stress through the mediating role of teacher self-efficacy.

This study contributes to the literature in terms of understanding the mechanism of how school climate helps to reduce teacher stress. First, the authors found that teachers’ individual well-being can be efficiently enhanced through a more collegial leadership. Second, the preschool leadership teams can create a supportive climate to reduce teachers’ stress by improving teachers’ professionalism.

This study offers a new perspective about understanding the internal and external mechanism of teacher stress. The authors discussed the results in light of the recent push by the Chinese Government to teacher quality improvement in early childhood education. The authors argued for prioritizing support for building a supportive school climate for teachers.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of employee performance in the association between human resource development (HRD) practices and organizational performance.

An integrated research model was developed by combining principal factors from existing literature. Data were collected through questionnaire from 700 employees of the selected pharmaceutical industries. The validity of the model and hypotheses was tested using structural equation modeling. The reliability and validity of the dimensions are established through confirmatory factor analysis.

The results indicate that some HRD practices influence organizational performance through their impact on employee performance. The study further revealed that employee performance mediates the association between HRD practices and organizational performance.

The research was undertaken in the pharmaceutical industry and the analysis is based on cross-sectional data, which cannot be generalized across a broader range of sectors.

The findings of the study have the potential to help policy makers, stakeholders and management of pharmaceutical industries in adopting properly and well-articulated HRD practices to enhance the quality of human capital and create sustainable competitive advantage.

This study extends the literature by adducing evidence empirically that employee performance mediated the association between HRD practices and organizational performance of the pharmaceutical industry in Ghana.

The purpose of this paper is to identify antecedents of e-finance continuance intention with Alibaba’s Yu’E Bao as an example.

An online questionnaire was used to collect the data (n=293), and partial least squares structural equation modeling was employed for data analysis. Four e-finance features (perceived reputation, website quality, e-finance familiarity and situational normality) are introduced with trust acting as a moderator between the users’ satisfaction and continuance intention to use an e-finance platform.

The results find that website quality, familiarity and situational normality can influence perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU). PEOU and PU, together with reputation, are positively associated with confirmation which further leads to satisfaction. The positive effects that satisfaction and trust have on e-finance continuance intention are confirmed, and trust is found to be a significant moderator on the relationship between satisfaction and continuance intention.

The findings can be used to guide e-finance providers to improve their platform design and services to retain users.

This study combines the theory of trust, Technology Acceptance Model and Expectations Confirmation Theory to investigate the factors that influence the continuance intention in the context of e-finance in China.

Lightweight apps such as WeChat mini programs (WMPs) are an emerging mobile channel (m-channel) touchpoint that have gained remarkable popularity among consumers. Despite the focus of migration research on traditional m-channel touchpoints (e.g. native apps and mobile websites), but few researchers have examined why consumers switch from native to lightweight apps. Drawing on the push-pull-mooring framework, this study aims to identify the key factors influencing consumers' switching related to lightweight apps.

The data were collected using a questionnaire survey of 416 WMP consumers and the proposed model was analyzed through structural equation modeling.

The results show that the push effect, specifically, high privacy concern, nudges consumers away from native apps, whereas the pull effects, including relative ease of use, convenience of access and exit and socially-oriented interaction, entice consumers to lightweight apps. Further, consumer switching intention is influenced by habit and perceived technology control, both of which reflect the mooring effects. Switching intention also stands as an important precedent of actual behavior.

This study is among the first theoretical explorations of consumer switching across m-channel touchpoints in the context of mobile commerce. For information system practice, these findings provide new insights for both incumbent providers and newcomers on how to retain existing shoppers as well as attract potential shoppers effectively.

Despite the increasing utilization of webpages for the purposes of information seeking, customers’ concerns have become a crucial impediment for online shopping. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of the effectiveness of web assurance seals services (WASS) and customers’ concerns on customer’s willingness to book hotels through perceived website trust and perceived value.

A questionnaire was administrated to measure the study variables. Using partial least squares–structural equation modeling approach to analyze the data collected from 860 users of online hotel websites.

The results indicate that WASS influence positively on perceived website trust and negatively on consumers’ concerns. As well as, perceived value and trust play a mediating role in the link between WASS and consumers’ concerns and their intentions. Finally, perceived website trust and perceived value have greater effect on intention to book hotel for low-habit consumers.

This study ignored the cross-culture issue as it concentrates on the customers from developing countries, so further research may need to compare between two or more than two samples from different societies that could give a significant insights. Second, this study stresses on the WASS to predict customers booking intentions that indicates significant results, so further research may need to examine the role of online reviews as a predictor of customers purchase decision as well.

To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first empirical research that investigates and examines the influence of the effectiveness of WASS and consumers’ concerns on consumers’ intentions through perceived value and trust. This research also investigates the moderating role of habit in the link between perceived website, perceived value and consumers’ intentions.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the three-dimensional (3D) printing community is actively participating to address the supply chain gap of essential medical supplies such as face masks, face shields, door adapters, test swabs and ventilator valves. This paper aims to present a comprehensive study on the role of 3D printing during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, its safety and its challenges.

This review paper focuses on the applications of 3D printing in the fight against COVID-19 along with the safety and challenges associated with 3D printing to fight COVID-19. The literature presented in this paper is collected from the journal indexing engines including Scopus, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, PubMed, Web of Science, etc. The main keywords used for searches were 3D printing COVID-19, Safety of 3D printed parts, Sustainability of 3D printing, etc. Further possible iterations of the keywords were used to collect the literature.

The applications of 3D printing in the fight against COVID-19 are 3D printed face masks, shields, ventilator valves, test swabs, drug deliveries and hands-free door adapters. As most of these measures are implemented hastily, the safety and reliability of these parts often lacked approval. The safety concerns include the safety of the printed parts, operators and secondary personnel such as the workers in material preparation and transportation. The future challenges include sustainability of the process, long term supply chain, intellectual property and royalty-free models, etc.

This paper presents a comprehensive study on the applications of 3D printing in the fight against COVID-19 with emphasis on the safety and challenges in it.

This paper aims to focus on the long-term international experiences of a group of preservice English teachers who studied abroad as part of their training and recently returned home.

Employing an interpretivist case study, five preservice English teachers participated in semi-structured, in-depth interviews. The participants were consulted to elicit feedback as the part of a member checking procedure.

This study revealed that the participants' views of their international experience were primarily shaped by two main themes: (1) postsojourn outcomes: intercultural learning, professional learning and personal growth and (2) “bumps” in the road: struggles in capitalizing the learning opportunities.

Recruiting students for extended study abroad programs alone without a concerted effort to address (inter)cultural learning and growth might not guarantee the quality and the outcomes of such programs. Based on the findings, the role of meaningful and intentional collaboration within the participant groups and between the partner institutions as well as critical reflection opportunities to assist prospective teachers through their growth in intercultural learning was discussed.