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This work sets out to characterise the protective properties of conformal coatings and how they degrade.

The approach dosed several commercial coatings with two different contaminants, a synthetic generic flux mixture of dibasic acids in both a solvent‐ and water‐based carrier, and sodium chloride. The protective properties were monitored using three complementary techniques: surface insulation resistance measurements, sequential electrochemical reduction analysis, and diffusion measurements.

The experimental approach was verified and the SIR measurements were shown to be the most valuable. Coatings offered varying levels of resistance to the contaminants, with the silicone coating being the most resistant. The flux variants generally proved more harmful to the coatings, suggesting that flux diffusion through the coating exceeded that of NaCl and hence led to greater electrochemical corrosion. Flux transmission through the coatings was verified by the diffusion measurements.

The project only investigated a limited number of contaminates on simple single sided boards. Future work will investigate coverage effects and a wider range of contaminants.

The work shows that coatings can allow diffusion of contaminates, particularly organics, which can lead to corrosion. The test methodology described here can be used to characterise coating susceptibility.

This work starts to develop for the first time a test methodology to characterise the protective properties of conformal coatings, and shows that flux, and hence other similar organic contaminants, may represent a protection challenge for some coating chemistries.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the phenomenon of collaborative resilience through in-depth case study research in India. This study endeavours to identify and model the critical success factors of collaborative resilience.

Eight critical success factors of collaborative resilience were identified through literature search. Modelling and analysis of these factors was conducted using grey-based DEMATEL method. Data were collected from supply chain experts in Indian industries.

It was found that organizational factors like top management commitment and resilience system design exhibit highest causality on the entire system. Also, co-adaptive transformation and resilience goal alignment are most important for managers. Overall, this research provides a guideline and mechanism to build collaborative resilience in supply chains.

Through the identification of eight critical success factors, this research has related and grounded the concept of collaborative resilience into pre-exiting supply chain practices and concepts. Through rigorous quantitative modelling and analysis of these factors, this research provides a guideline to managers for building collaborative resilience in supply chains.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that has proposed the concept of collaborative resilience in supply chain and has conducted empirical research on the phenomenon in India.

The study of supply chain resilience (SCRES) continues to gain interest in the academic and practitioner communities. The purpose of this paper is to present a focused review of the SCRES literature by investigating supply chain (SC) capabilities, their relationship to SCRES outcomes and the underpinning theoretical mechanisms of this relationship.

The paper uses the systematic literature review approach to examine 383 articles published between 2000 and 2017, ultimately down selecting to the most relevant 228 peer-reviewed studies. Context-interventions-mechanisms-outcomes (CIMO) logic is applied to organize and synthesize these peer-reviewed studies. A typological framework is developed from the CIMO-based classification of the SCRES literature.

The findings of this study outline the gaps in the SCRES literature and present an agenda for future research.

This paper presents an exploratory research; therefore, the typological model presented is just one of the possible perspectives.

The typology of SCRES literature can help practitioners to understand SCRES and to measure and assess the resilience of SCs.

The paper provides clear definitions of SCRES constructs, develops a typological framework to further understand SCRES and identifies SCRES measures and assessment techniques.

The paper is conceptual in nature and explores the role and function of project management in the achievement of sustainability in the built environment by developing a 4Es (Economic, Effectiveness, Efficiency and Ethics) and 4 Poles (Economic, Social, Environmental and Technology) model of sustainability. The study also identifies that the existing debates on sustainability seem to marginalise project management's positive contributions to sustainable construction, as well as the importance of technology in the sustainability agenda.

The paper consists of a literature review on the concept of sustainability, the contribution of the built environment to the sustainability problem, and an intellectual discussion of a proposed model for achieving sustainable development in the built environment. The body of this paper is divided into three sections: part one reviews “what is sustainability”, part two discusses the current state of sustainability including the importance of technology, and part three discusses the 4Es and 4 Poles model.

This research establishes the importance of technology in the sustainable development agenda. The paper proposes a 4Es (project management model) and 4 Poles (poles or factors of sustainability) model as a holistic approach to achieving sustainable construction. In addition, this paper proposes an extension to the definition of sustainable construction or development, as the existing definitions seem to be vague.

This research paper focuses only on sustainability in the built environment and sustainable development with reference to project management.

The proposed model uses a project management approach, which does not allow trade‐offs, but promotes integration of the 4 Poles. This will contribute to the achievement of sustainable construction at every level of a project or organisation.

The proposed model is new within project management and the built environment. It also promotes technology as a core factor in achieving sustainable development.

This study aims to investigate the experiences, both academic and interpersonal, of a cohort of Saudi Arabian students in using the library of a medium-sized American university. It also examined how these experiences were similar to, or different from, those of other international students observed in earlier research studies conducted in American academic libraries.

This study used an online and paper survey that queried 169 Saudi Arabian students who were studying at Robert Morris University in 2015.

This study determined that many survey subjects struggled with language issues, the unfamiliar structure of American libraries and interpersonal communication with library staff. It also found that the respondents believed that formal instruction in the use of the library was helpful to them.

The broad nature of the survey precluded comparison with a control group of students. The findings regarding the subjects’ interactions with library staff were, in some cases, ambiguous. An additional study will be necessary to clarify those experiences.

This study’s findings strongly support the value of formal library instruction programs for international students and the need for libraries to highly prioritize the importance of interpersonal communication in their services.

This is the first study to focus on the library experiences of Saudi Arabian students in an American academic library. It is of value to librarians and administrators, as well as to individuals who design and provide academic support services for international students.

This study aims to examine whether the types of eco-market orientation (eco-proactive market orientation and eco-responsive market orientation) result in green knowledge acquisition and positive organizational outcomes (green customer satisfaction [GCS], green brand image [GBI] and green value-based competitiveness [GVC]). The study further aims to explore the mediation role of green business practices in the relationship between the types of eco-market orientation and organizational outcomes.

Questionnaire was used to garner data from managers from Ghanaian hospitality firms. The hypothesized relationships were tested using partial least square structural equation modeling.

The result confirms the notion that although both eco-proactive market orientation and eco-responsive market orientation contribute significantly to enhancing the acquisition of green knowledge, eco-responsive market orientation has a strong effect on green knowledge acquisition. Also, the outcome of the mediation analysis proves that green business practices (GBPs) play an important indirect role in the relationship between eco-market orientation (eco-proactive market orientation and eco-responsive market orientation), GCS, GBI and GVC.

Anchored on the resource advantage theory and natural resource-based view theory, this study offers a fresh contribution to marketing and environmental management literature by developing a unified research model that explores the mediation roles of GBPs between the types of eco-market orientation (eco-proactive market orientation and eco-responsive market orientation), GCS, GBI and GVC.

This study aimed to use both quantitative and qualitative methods for assessing Saudi Arabian students’ experiences in using the library of a small American university and to compare the findings against those of a representative sample of American classmates.

The project used a paper survey in querying 164 Saudi Arabian and 273 American students studying at Robert Morris University in 2017.

The study found that Saudi subjects were much more likely to believe that their informational needs were misunderstood by librarians than American participants in the survey.

Poor participation in the qualitative phase limited, to some degree, the interpretation that could be carried out of the study’s quantitative results.

The study’s findings strongly reveal the need for libraries and librarians to highly prioritize effective communication when providing service to international students.

This is only the second study to ever focus on the library experiences of Saudi Arabian students in American academic libraries, and it is the first to concentrate on the subjective aspect of understanding between librarians and international students. It is of value to library administrators, as well as librarians and library staff who interact with international students.

This study examines the mediation effects of time-based competitiveness, cost-based competitiveness and customer performance between logistics outsourcing and financial performance.

The study relied on a questionnaire as the primary data collection instrument and further employed partial least squares structural equation modelling technique to test all formulated hypotheses.

The results demonstrate that logistics outsourcing has a significant positive impact on time-based competitiveness, cost-based competitiveness, customer performance and financial performance. Time-based competitiveness and cost-based competitiveness were both found to have a significant positive impact on financial performance; however, customer performance had no significant impact on financial performance. The mediation analysis further indicates that while both time-based competitiveness and cost-based competitiveness play mediation effects between logistics outsourcing and financial performance, customer performance plays no mediation effect between logistics outsourcing and financial performance.

The sampled firms for this study came from a single emerging country; hence, the results cannot be generalized or imported to reflect the results that may be obtained from other emerging geographical settings.

The results provide sufficient evidence for managers to turn their attention to logistics outsourcing, as a transformative business initiative, to gain time-based and cost-based competitiveness so as to improve financial performance.

The study provides significant insight and makes an additional contribution to literature in the area of logistics outsourcing, especially by collecting data from an emerging country. Modelling time-based competitiveness, cost-based competitiveness and customer performance as mediating variables between logistics outsourcing and financial performance make this work relatively different from other studies.

COVID-19 came as a surprise to the global economy and devastated many sectors worldwide, including the construction sector. Small construction firms are believed to be an engine of growth in many developing countries, including Ghana; thus, their survival cannot be trivialized. This study explored the impact of the COVID-19 on the businesses of the small confirms in Ghana.

A qualitative research approach was adopted for this study. Open-ended interview questions were distributed via email to 45 small construction firms (D3K3 and D4K4) purposefully selected. Thematic contents analysis was used to analyze 30 interview questions received.

This study has revealed that the COVID-19 has severely affected small construction firms in Ghana. Small construction firms are struggling in their finances; their cash flow/payments for work done are severely affected; they cannot secure contracts and management site efficiently. Their worker's productivity level has dwindled, which has subsequently escalated their project cost and completion time. These effects identified are significantly affecting the survival of these small construction firms.

The study included small construction operating in the Central, Western and Greater Accra regions of Ghana during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the findings may be applicable to construction sites outside these regions.

The implication is the COVID-19 pandemic hugely impacts the small construction firm's business operations. Therefore, they must be mindful of the new norm (COVID-19) and institute strategies to help them overcome the challenges and sustain their businesses.

The study gives insight into the effects of the COVID-19 on the businesses of small construction firms in Ghana and proposes strategies that they must implement to overcome their challenges and sustain their businesses.