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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of Cl‐ions on the pitting corrosion of water‐wall tube of a boiler and the principle behind it.

The specimens were immersed for seven hours at 300°C in deaerated water subjected to simulation‐modified equilibrium phosphate treatment, containing Cl‐ions at various concentrations. The effects of Cl‐ions on pitting corrosion were assessed by the rate mass loss, transmission reflection metallurgical microscopy, SEM, EDS, and XRD.

The results indicated that Cl‐ions cause the breakdown of passive films. The corrosion mechanism of Cl‐is proposed to involve an intermediate dissolution stage. The Cl‐ions act as a catalyst of corrosion, by inducing the hydrolysis of Fe2+. The critical susceptive Cl‐concentrations are 0.2 and 0.6 mg·L^‐1 for the passivated specimens and for the unpassivated specimens, respectively.

The paper provides information regarding the relationship between Cl‐concentrations and pitting corrosion, useful for understanding the mechanism of Cl‐induced pitting corrosion, and the research results can provide theoretical guidelines for preventing water‐wall of power plants from corroding.

This paper sets out to study the corrosion of No. 20 carbon steel without film and with films of different qualities in high‐temperature boiler water with different Cl⁻ concentrations.

The static simulated experiment in high‐pressure autoclave and the surface analysis methods of EPMA and XRD were carried out to study the corrosion effect.

Under the following conditions: T=360±3°C, pH = 9.40±0.10, c_O2<0.020 mg/l, the density of pitting corrosion on specimens without a protective film increased with the increase of C_Cl⁻ content, while C_Cl⁻ was > 0.2 mg/l. The film on specimens with integral films would not dissolve observably even until the C_Cl⁻ concentration was as high as 0.8 mg/l. Films with corrosion pits would begin dissolving when the Cl⁻ concentration reached 0.4 mg/l. The main constituents of the oxidative films in the gas and liquid phases both were Fe₃O₄.

In order to prevent carbon steel from corroding in boiler water containing Cl⁻ under conditions of low‐phosphate and low‐sodium hydroxide treatment, the concentration of Cl⁻ should be strictly controlled.

It was found that the presence of excessive Cl⁻ in boiler water accelerated the corrosion of No. 20 carbon steel and the maximum permissible concentration of Cl⁻ under the conditions (temperature and pressure) of sub‐critical drum boilers was 0.2 mg/l. The research results can provide theoretical guidelines for preventing the facilities of power plants from corroding.

The comparison processes introduced by Thibaut and Kelly (1959) are fundamental to social exchange theories of power. However, research has focused almost exclusively on only one type of comparison – the comparison between alternative sources of valued rewards (CLalt) – which affects relationship commitment. Thibaut and Kelley also articulated a more general comparison level (CL) that determines relationship satisfaction. We propose that in exchange settings where relationships are not interdependent, the network structure can affect an actor's CL, with subsequent effects on power use. Results of a laboratory experiment offer initial support for this hypothesis and call for greater research on comparison processes within exchange networks.

The measurement of non-financial assets that are held for their service potential rather than for a financial return can be challenging in the public sector. In some cases, the information is not available about the historical cost for the initial measurement and there is not an active market neither that could allow inferring a value for those non-financial assets. In response to this problem, this chapter analyses the newly developed measurement base current operational value (COV) to measure assets in the public sector. This measurement base is part of the proposals in Exposure Draft (ED) 76 – Conceptual Framework Update: Chapter 7, Measurement of Assets and Liabilities in Financial Statements, and ED 77 – Measurement. This chapter was developed using evidence obtained through participant observation to the IPSASB meetings from the authors and the desk analysis of the comment letters (CLs) to the ED 76 and ED 77. The findings from this study reveal that comparability is a major concern of the stakeholders. The CLs also highlighted the need for further guidance on a number of issues and suggested the way forward for the future standard-setting process that address the concerns identified in the proposed COV.

Drawing on social identity, signalling and stakeholder theories, this paper aims to examine corporate reputation’s (CR) mediating role concerning corporate social responsibility (CSR) and customer loyalty (CL) among Generation Z customers of Nepali commercial banks.

The research applied a cross-sectional survey research design to collect data from 281 customers of Nepali commercial banks. The study used a purposive sampling method to reach the respondents and partial least squares structural equation model was used to test the hypotheses.

The results reveal that CSR significantly influences CR and CL. Likewise, CR positively influences CL. Moreover, CR partially mediates the relationship between CSR and CL. It implies that CSR and CR are critical variables for CL among Generation Z customers of Nepali commercial banks.

This study focuses on understanding the importance of CSR to Nepalese commercial bank managers to create a better customer base by focusing on the CSR dimensions, i.e. economic, environmental and social. It adds to the literature on the theoretical aspect of the study of CSR, particularly in the banking industry.

It has initially investigated CSR as a higher-order construct to explain the meditational mechanism of CR concerning CSR and CL. Moreover, the study examined the issue of endogeneity.

Based on relationship marketing theory, this study aims to test the effect of social customer relationship management (social CRM) on customer satisfaction (CS) and loyalty (CL).

To assess the proposed framework, structural equation modeling was performed on the data of 314 automotive customers surveyed online.

Social CRM dimensions [traditional CRM (TCRM) and social media (SM) technology use] have a direct and positive effect on CS. On the other hand, only TCRM has a direct and significant influence on CL, while the SM technology use effect seems to be indirect rather than direct. Indeed, the findings have provided empirical support for the contention that CS plays a mediating role between social CRM dimensions and CL.

In the automotive sector and developing countries in particular, companies’ managers could increase CS and CL and consequently enhance their competitiveness and market share by adopting an effective social CRM strategy. From this perspective, companies should focus their social CRM campaigns on the most SM used by customers, offer personalized choices and improve customer experience, interaction and value co-creation.

This paper enriches the understanding of how social CRM can affect CS and CL. The scales of social CRM, CS and CL were validated in the context of developing countries and the automotive sector. Furthermore, the direct and mediating effect of CS between social CRM (TCRM and SM) and CL was also confirmed.

Basándose en la teoría del marketing relacional, este estudio pretende comprobar el efecto de la gestión social de las relaciones con los clientes (CRM social) sobre la satisfacción y la fidelidad de los clientes.

Para evaluar el marco propuesto, se realizó un modelado de ecuaciones estructurales sobre los datos de 314 clientes de automoción encuestados online.

Las dimensiones del CRM social (CRM tradicional y uso de tecnología de medios sociales) tienen un efecto directo y positivo en la satisfacción del cliente. Por otro lado, solamente el CRM tradicional tiene una influencia directa y significativa en la fidelidad del cliente, mientras que el efecto del uso de la tecnología de medios sociales parece ser más indirecto que directo. De hecho, los resultados han proporcionado apoyo empírico a la afirmación de que la satisfacción del cliente desempeña un papel mediador entre las dimensiones del CRM social y la fidelidad del cliente.

Este artículo enriquece la comprensión de cómo el CRM social puede afectar a la satisfacción y la fidelidad de los clientes. Las escalas de CRM social, satisfacción del cliente y fidelidad del cliente se validaron en el contexto de países en vías de desarrollo y del sector automovilístico. Además, también se confirmó el efecto directo y mediador de la satisfacción del cliente entre el CRM social (CRM tradicional y medios sociales) y la fidelidad del cliente.

En el sector de la automoción y en los países en desarrollo en particular, los directivos de las empresas podrían aumentar la satisfacción y fidelidad de sus clientes y, en consecuencia, mejorar su competitividad y cuota de mercado adoptando una estrategia eficaz de CRM social. Desde esta perspectiva, las empresas deberían centrar sus campañas de CRM social en los medios más utilizados por los clientes, ofrecer opciones personalizadas y mejorar la experiencia del cliente, la interacción y la cocreación de valor.

基于关系营销理论, 本研究旨在检验社会化客户关系管理（social CRM）对客户满意度和忠诚度的影响。

为评估所提出的框架, 对 314 名汽车客户的在线调查数据进行了结构方程建模。

社交客户关系管理维度（传统客户关系管理和社交媒体技术使用）对客户满意度有直接的积极影响。另一方面, 只有传统客户关系管理对客户忠诚度有直接和显著的影响, 而社交媒体技术使用的影响似乎是间接而非直接的。事实上, 研究结果为客户满意度在社交客户关系管理维度和客户忠诚度之间发挥中介作用的论点提供了实证支持。

本文丰富了人们对社交客户关系管理如何影响客户满意度和忠诚度的认识。本文以发展中国家和汽车行业为背景, 对社会化客户关系管理、客户满意度和客户忠诚度的量表进行了验证。此外, 还证实了客户满意度在社会化客户关系管理（传统客户关系管理和社会化媒体）与客户忠诚度之间的直接和中介效应。

尤其是发展中国家, 企业管理者可以通过采取有效的社交客户关系管理战略, 提高客户满意度和忠诚度, 进而增强竞争力和市场份额。从这个角度来看, 企业应将社交客户关系管理活动的重点放在客户使用最多的社交媒体上, 提供个性化选择, 改善客户体验、互动和价值共创。

The operations and viability of microfinance institutions (MFIs), crucial for socioeconomic development and poverty reduction, heavily rely on the multilevel relationships among borrowers, loan officers and MFIs. This study examines the relationship between interpersonal and firm-level relationship quality (RQ) and their simultaneous impact on customer loyalty (CL) in microfinance. Additionally, it investigates the mediating effect of firm-level RQ between CL and interpersonal RQ.

In this study, correlational research methods were employed. Completed questionnaires were received from 498 MFI borrowers in Dar es Salaam and Mwanza cities. Regression techniques and structural equation modeling were utilized to analyze the data. Before hypothesis testing, the validity and reliability of the measurements were confirmed.

Interpersonal-level and firm-level RQs are significantly related. Interpersonal-level RQ and its dimensions are significantly linked to CL, whereas firm-level RQ and its dimensions are insignificantly related to CL, except for commitment. Interpersonal-level relationships have a stronger impact on CL than firm-level relationships. Among all the dimensions of RQ, commitment has the greatest influence on CL at both levels. Firm-level RQ negatively and insignificantly mediates the relation between interpersonal-level RQ and CL.

The study findings only apply to Tanzania's microfinance industry, because the interactions between and the relative effects of firm and interpersonal ties may vary across various contexts and cultures. Future research may consider replicating this study in other contexts and cultures to confirm these findings.

This study advances the understanding of how multilevel relationships affect CL within the microfinance industry. This insight will assist MFIs and policymakers in identifying alternative and more efficient relational strategies to enhance CL, a critical element for the sustainability of MFIs. In turn, the sustainability of MFIs in low-income countries like Tanzania holds paramount importance for stimulating socioeconomic development and, hence, achieving the goal of poverty eradication.

While previous studies on multilevel relationships concentrated on a single relational dimension (trust) and were conducted within the realms of retail, airline and industrial manufacturing, the current study employs the three most popular relational dimensions: trust, commitment and satisfaction, within the microfinance context. Additionally, this study investigates the mediation effect of firm-level RQ between interpersonal-level RQ and CL, a previously unexplored area in research.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a brand-new phenomenon in customer consumption patterns. This resulted from heightened health awareness brought on by the COVID-19 epidemic. There is a dearth of appropriate health psychology perspectives in the existing study examining the effect of COVID-19 on consumers’ use of crowdsourced logistics (CL) platforms. In order to provide unique and thorough insights into how consumer health concerns can affect consumers’ subjective views and their decisions to use CL, this study combines the health belief model and the technology acceptance model.

Five hundred valid responses from an online survey that was created and administered in Singapore were analysed using structural equation modelling.

The findings show that all of the suggested constructs have a favourable influence on consumers’ intentions to use CL. The suggested model also demonstrates high explanatory power, with perceived usefulness serving as the primary driver, followed by perceived ease of use and self-efficacy.

The study advances previous academic research on CL and offers guidance to CL companies and lawmakers for promoting sustainable and secured last-mile delivery.

The primary purpose of this research is to examine how total quality management (TQM) boosts corporate green growth (CGG) with the involvement of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and customer loyalty (CL) as mediators in the relationship between TQM and CGG for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in an emerging economy.

This research adopts a quantitative approach. According to the scope of this study, constructs of TQM, CSR, CL and CGG and the conceptual relationships between them are established using a systematic literature review. This study uses enterprise-level primary data collected from a questionnaire-based survey. The respondents are those holding managerial positions in their enterprises. There were 424 valid responses obtained following the necessary screening steps to ensure the eligibility of the collected data for analysis using AMOS version 20.

This study reveals that TQM has a positive and significant relationship with CSR, CL and CGG. Amongst these direct connections, TQM has the most substantial influence on CGG, followed by CL and CSR. Furthermore, the findings assert that CSR positively and significantly affects CGG and CL. When comparing the weighting of these effects, the results show that the impact of CSR on CGG is stronger than that on CL. Furthermore, the results confirm that CSR and CL partially mediate the relationship between TQM and CGG, both independently and simultaneously. The article also discusses the theoretical and managerial implications based on the stated findings.

The originality of this study stems from its contribution to enriching the body of the current literature on TQM and its combined influence on corporate performance. In this respect, this study adds to the existing literature by providing additional empirical evidence on the mechanism by which TQM boosts CGG with the involvement of CSR and CL in mediating the stated relationship between TQM and CGG for SMEs in an emerging economy. To the best of the author’s knowledge, such holistic incorporation is rare in the current literature. Furthermore, this study sheds light on the TQM enabling factors that are extended beyond the quality or technical scope as previously assumed. The stated contributions deserve to be originally derived from the attempt of this scientific work that may be of interest to academics, professionals and business practitioners.