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1 – 10 of 310
Article
Publication date: 9 August 2024

Muhammad Arif Mahmood, Marwan Khraisheh, Andrei C. Popescu and Frank Liou

This study aims to develop a holistic method that integrates finite element modeling, machine learning, and experimental validation to propose processing windows for optimizing…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to develop a holistic method that integrates finite element modeling, machine learning, and experimental validation to propose processing windows for optimizing the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process specific to the Al-357 alloy.

Design/methodology/approach

Validation of a 3D heat transfer simulation model was conducted to forecast melt pool dimensions, involving variations in laser power, laser scanning speed, powder bed thickness (PBT) and powder bed pre-heating (PHB). Using the validated model, a data set was compiled to establish a back-propagation-based machine learning capable of predicting melt pool dimensional ratios indicative of printing defects.

Findings

The study revealed that, apart from process parameters, PBT and PHB significantly influenced defect formation. Elevated PHBs were identified as contributors to increased lack of fusion and keyhole defects. Optimal combinations were pinpointed, such as 30.0 µm PBT with 90.0 and 120.0 °C PHBs and 50.0 µm PBT with 120.0 °C PHB.

Originality/value

The integrated process mapping approach showcased the potential to expedite the qualification of LPBF parameters for Al-357 alloy by minimizing the need for iterative physical testing.

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 September 2023

Xiao-Yu Xu, Syed Muhammad Usman Tayyab, Qingdan Jia and Albert H. Huang

Video game streaming (VGS) is emerging as an extremely popular, highly interactive, inordinately subscribed and very dynamic form of digital media. Incorporated environmental…

Abstract

Purpose

Video game streaming (VGS) is emerging as an extremely popular, highly interactive, inordinately subscribed and very dynamic form of digital media. Incorporated environmental elements, gratifications and user pre-existing attitudes in VGS, this paper presents the development of an extended model of uses and gratification theory (EUGT) for predicting users' behavior in novel technological context.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed model was empirically tested in VGS context due to its popularity, interactivity and relevance. Data collected from 308 VGS users and structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to assess the hypotheses. Multi-model comparison technique was used to assess the explanatory power of EUGT.

Findings

The findings confirmed three significant types elements in determining VGS viewers' engagement, including gratifications (e.g. involvement), environmental cues (e.g. medium appeal) and user predispositions (e.g. pre-existing attitudes). The results revealed that emerging technologies provide potential opportunities for new motives and gratifications, and highlighted the significant of pre-existing attitudes as a mediator in the gratification-uses link.

Originality/value

This study is one of its kind in tackling the criticism on UGT of considering media users too rational or active. The study achieved this objective by considering environmental impacts on user behavior which is largely ignored in recent UGT studies. Also, by incorporating users pre-existing attitudes into UGT framework, this study conceptualized and empirically verified the higher explanatory power of EUGT through a novel multi-modal approach in VGS. Compared to other rival models, EUGS provides a more robust explanation of users' behavior. The findings contribute to the literature of UGT, VGS and users' engagement.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 January 2024

Bülent Doğan, Yavuz Selim Balcioglu and Meral Elçi

This study aims to elucidate the dynamics of social media discourse during global health events, specifically investigating how users across different platforms perceive, react to…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to elucidate the dynamics of social media discourse during global health events, specifically investigating how users across different platforms perceive, react to and engage with information concerning such crises.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed-method approach was employed, combining both quantitative and qualitative data collection. Initially, thematic analysis was applied to a data set of social media posts across four major platforms over a 12-month period. This was followed by sentiment analysis to discern the predominant emotions embedded within these communications. Statistical tools were used to validate findings, ensuring robustness in the results.

Findings

The results showcased discernible thematic and emotional disparities across platforms. While some platforms leaned toward factual information dissemination, others were rife with user sentiments, anecdotes and personal experiences. Overall, a global sense of concern was evident, but the ways in which this concern manifested varied significantly between platforms.

Research limitations/implications

The primary limitation is the potential non-representativeness of the sample, as only four major social media platforms were considered. Future studies might expand the scope to include emerging platforms or non-English language platforms. Additionally, the rapidly evolving nature of social media discourse implies that findings might be time-bound, necessitating periodic follow-up studies.

Practical implications

Understanding the nature of discourse on various platforms can guide health organizations, policymakers and communicators in tailoring their messages. Recognizing where factual information is required, versus where sentiment and personal stories resonate, can enhance the efficacy of public health communication strategies.

Social implications

The study underscores the societal reliance on social media for information during crises. Recognizing the different ways in which communities engage with, and are influenced by, platform-specific discourse can help in fostering a more informed and empathetic society, better equipped to handle global challenges.

Originality/value

This research is among the first to offer a comprehensive, cross-platform analysis of social media discourse during a global health event. By comparing user engagement across platforms, it provides unique insights into the multifaceted nature of public sentiment and information dissemination during crises.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 May 2024

Mahesh Gupta, Harshal Lowalekar, Chandrashekhar V. Chaudhari and Johan Groop

Design Science (DS) is a relatively new paradigm for addressing complex real-world problems through the design and evaluation of artifacts. Its constituent methodologies are…

Abstract

Purpose

Design Science (DS) is a relatively new paradigm for addressing complex real-world problems through the design and evaluation of artifacts. Its constituent methodologies are currently being discussed and established in numerous related research fields, such as information systems and management (Hevner et al., 2004). However, a DS methodology that describes the “how to” is largely lacking, not only in the field of OM but in general. The Theory of Constraints (TOC) and its underlying thinking processes (TP) have produced several novel artifacts for addressing ill-structured real-world operations problems (Dettmer, 1997; Goldratt, 1994), but they have not been analyzed from a DS research standpoint. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate how TOC’s thinking process methodology can be used for conducting exploratory DS research in Operations and Supply Chain Management (OSCM).

Design/methodology/approach

A case study of spare parts replenishment illustrates the use of TOC’s thinking processes in DS to structure an initially unstructured problem context and to facilitate the design of a novel solution.

Findings

TOC’s thinking processes are an effective methodology for problem-solving DS research, enabling the development of novel solutions in initially unstructured and wicked problem situations. Combined with structured CIMO design logic TOC’s thinking process offers a systematic method for exploring wicked problems, designing novel solutions, and demonstrating theoretical contributions.

Research limitations/implications

The implication for research is that TOC’s thinking process methodology can provide important elements of the lacking “how to” methodology for DS research, not only for the field of OM but in general for the field of management.

Practical implications

The practical outcome of the research is a novel design for dynamic buffer-based replenishment that extends beyond organizational boundaries.

Originality/value

This work shows how the thinking processes can be used in DS research to develop rigorous design propositions for ill-structured problems.

Details

International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0960-0035

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 May 2024

Peter C. Olson

This article aims to help educators provide a holistic view of the LGBTQ community by highlighting children’s books that include non-parental LGBTQ characters.

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to help educators provide a holistic view of the LGBTQ community by highlighting children’s books that include non-parental LGBTQ characters.

Design/methodology/approach

The author selected over 80 children’s books honored by the American Library Association’s Rainbow Book List. Twenty-two books were analyzed that contain examples of LGBTQ adults existing beyond the homonormative nuclear family, e.g. two same-sex parents raising children.

Findings

The author discusses various ways of living represented in these books, such as chosen families, extended families, romantic partnerships and singlehood.

Originality/value

With the increased number of high-quality LGBTQ-inclusive children’s books published in the past decade, this study provides the foundation for educators to select various texts that reveal diverse representations of LGBTQ individuals.

Details

Social Studies Research and Practice, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1933-5415

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 August 2024

Nkeiruka N. Ndubuka-McCallum, David R. Jones and Peter Rodgers

Business schools are vital in promoting responsible management (RM) – a management grounded in ethics and values beneficial to a wide array of stakeholders and overall society…

Abstract

Purpose

Business schools are vital in promoting responsible management (RM) – a management grounded in ethics and values beneficial to a wide array of stakeholders and overall society. Nevertheless, due to deeply embedded institutional modernistic dynamics and paradigms, RM is, despite its importance, repeatedly marginalised in business school curricula. If students are to engage with RM thinking, then its occlusion represents a pressing issue. Drawing on the United Kingdom (UK) business school context, this paper aims to examine this issue through a framework of institutional theory and consider the role played by (modernistic) institutional accreditation and research assessment processes in marginalisation of RM.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used an exploratory qualitative research method. Data were collected from 17 RM expert participants from 15 UK business schools that were signatories to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education through semi-structured in-depth interviews and analysed using the six phases of Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis.

Findings

The study identifies a potent institutional isomorphic amalgam resulting in conservative impacts for RM. This dynamic is termed multiple institutional isomorphic marginalisation (MIIM) – whereby a given domain is occluded and displaced by hegemonic institutional pressures. In RM’s case, MIIM operates through accreditation-driven modernistic-style curricula. This leads business schools to a predilection towards “mainstream” representations of subject areas and a focus on mechanistic research exercises. Consequently, this privileges certain activities over RM development with a range of potential negative effects, including social impacts.

Originality/value

This study fills an important gap concerning the need for a critical, in-depth exploration of the role that international accreditation frameworks and national institutional academic research assessment processes such as the Research Excellence Framework in the UK play in affecting the possible growth and influence of RM. In addition, it uses heterotopia as a conceptual lens to reveal the institutional “mask” of responsibility predominantly at play in the UK business school context, and offers alternative pathways for RM careers.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 September 2024

Xin Zhao and Zhengwei Li

Social media is booming in the digital age, and its rich availability provides many opportunities for companies to innovate across borders. In reality, how enterprises use social…

Abstract

Purpose

Social media is booming in the digital age, and its rich availability provides many opportunities for companies to innovate across borders. In reality, how enterprises use social media to achieve cross-border innovation also faces important challenges such as breaking path dependency.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper explores how social media can facilitate cross-border innovation from the perspective of strategic capability, combined with the path dependency theory and attention-based view. Hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrap method are adopted to test the hypotheses based on survey data provided by 173 firms in China.

Findings

The findings show a positive relationship between social media strategic capability and cross-border innovation, with path dependency playing a mediating role. In addition, two internal and external contextual factors, namely customer embeddedness and competitive pressure, play moderating roles, with customer embeddedness negatively moderating the negative relationship between social media strategic capability and path dependency and competitive pressure negatively moderating the negative relationship between path dependency and cross-border innovation.

Originality/value

These findings provide not only new insights into social media and cross-border innovation but also theoretical guidance on how companies can effectively use social media in practice.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 June 2023

Xintong Wu, Yuchen Gao and Yimei Hu

This study aims to test the effects of Technology-related Divestitures (TRDs) on firms' exploratory innovation. The moderating effects of firms' internal and external resource…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to test the effects of Technology-related Divestitures (TRDs) on firms' exploratory innovation. The moderating effects of firms' internal and external resource coordination activities, resource buffering and bridging, are also explored.

Design/methodology/approach

A set of data including 1,372 Chinese listed firms from 2009 to 2018 is adopted. Based on propensity score matching sample, random-effect Tobit models were employed to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The empirical results indicate that TRDs inhibit firms' exploratory innovation, while both resource buffering and bridging can mitigate this negative effect. This implies that to promote exploratory innovation, resource coordination activities are the essential.

Originality/value

The research findings can contribute to both the exploratory innovation and technological divestiture literature. The test on the moderating roles of resource buffering and bridging can also extend our understanding of the effect of TRDs on firms' exploratory innovation. Accordingly, several practical implications can be provided. This is especially important for strategic decisions of firms from emerging and developing countries, which often lack sufficient internal resources and strong technological capabilities to develop exploratory innovation.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 August 2023

Naimatullah Shah, Mitho Khan Bhatti, Ummi Naiemah Saraih, Nadia A. Abdelmegeed Abdelwahed and Bahadur Ali Soomro

This study aims to explore sustainable development and business success (BS) through decision-making (DM) in Pakistan’s circular economy.

162

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore sustainable development and business success (BS) through decision-making (DM) in Pakistan’s circular economy.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a co-relational study in which the researchers used cross-sectional data collected from the managers of Pakistan’s manufacturing industries. Accordingly, the authors based this study’s findings on 373 valid samples.

Findings

This study’s structural equation modeling results reveal that DM has a positive and significant effect on sustainable development, which comprises competitiveness, business performance enhancement, flexibility, customer satisfaction and technology development. Moreover, DM positively and significantly affects BS.

Practical implications

This study’s findings support sustainable development, strengthen the socioeconomic conditions and bring about the industries’ well-being through DM. In addition, these findings demonstrate the need for the circular economy to tackle industrial challenges and simultaneously open up economic and environmental growth opportunities for society.

Originality/value

This study offers the original contribution from a circular economy perspective; there needs to be more empirical evidence among managers of manufacturing industries. Besides, this study provides DM’s role in achieving sustainable development in the presence of BS, which has disappeared in an integrated way, particularly in a circular context.

Details

International Journal of Innovation Science, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-2223

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2024

Silvia-Jessica Mostacedo-Marasovic and Cory T. Forbes

A faculty development program (FDP) introduced postsecondary instructors to a module focused on the food–energy–water (FEW) nexus, a socio-hydrologic issue (SHI) and a…

Abstract

Purpose

A faculty development program (FDP) introduced postsecondary instructors to a module focused on the food–energy–water (FEW) nexus, a socio-hydrologic issue (SHI) and a sustainability challenge. This study aims to examine factors influencing faculty interest in adopting the instructional resources and faculty experience with the FDP, including the gains made during the FDP on their knowledge about SHIs and their self-efficacy to teach about SHIs, and highlighted characteristics of the FDP.

Design/methodology/approach

Data from n = 54 participants via pre- and post-surveys and n = 15 interviews were analyzed using mixed methods.

Findings

Findings indicate that over three quarters of participants would use the curricular resources to make connections between complex SHIs, enhance place-based learning, data analysis and interpretation and engage in evidence-based decision-making. In addition, participants’ experience with the workshop was positive; their knowledge about SHIs remained relatively constant and their self-efficacy to teach about SHIs improved by the end of the workshop. The results provide evidence of the importance of institutional support to improve instruction about the FEW nexus.

Originality/value

The module, purposefully designed, aids undergraduates in engaging with Hydroviz, a data visualization tool, to understand both human and natural dimensions of the FEW nexus. It facilitates incorporating this understanding into systematic decision-making around an authentic SHI.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

1 – 10 of 310