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The purpose of this paper is to find the optimum configuration of the composite launch tube currently being developed in Roketsan. The winding thicknesses and winding angles of the launch tube are selected as design variables, and three different composite material alternatives are evaluated: glass/epoxy, carbon/epoxy and aramid/epoxy.

In this study, structural optimization of a composite launch tube of man portable air defense system is conducted. To achieve a cost-effective design, a cost scoring table that includes structural weight, material cost, availability and manufacturability is first introduced. Then, optimization for minimum weight is conducted, where the winding thicknesses and winding angle are taken as design variables, and the safety factor value obtained by using the Tsai–Wu damage criterion is used as constraint. A surrogate-based optimization approach is used where various options for surrogate models are evaluated. Glass/epoxy, carbon/epoxy and aramid/epoxy are considered as alternative materials for the launch tube. Finally, the selection of the most cost-effective design is performed to achieve optimum cost.

Carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy matrix material provides the optimum cost-effective design for the launch tube.

The findings of the paper can be used to design more cost-efficient composite launch tube currently being developed in Roketsan.

The existing studies are based on a design approach to achieve minimum weight of the launch tubes, whereas this study introduces a design approach to achieve optimum cost.

Since sovereign ratings provided by credit rating agencies (CRAs) are a key determinant of the interest rates a country faces in the international financial market and once sovereign ratings may have a constraining impact on the ratings assigned to domestic banks or companies, some studies have focused on identifying the determinants of sovereign credit risk assessments provided by CRAs. In particular, this study estimates the effect of fiscal credibility on sovereign risk using four different comprehensive credit rating (CCR) measures obtained from CRAs' announcements and two different fiscal credibility indicators.

We build comprehensive credit rating (CCR) measures to capture sovereign risk. These measures are calculated using sovereign ratings, the rating outlooks and credit watches issued by the three main credit rating agencies (S&P, Moody's and Fitch) for long-term foreign-currency Brazilian bonds. Based on monthly data from 2003 to 2018, we use different econometric estimation techniques in order to provide robust results.

The results indicate that fiscal credibility exerts both short- and long-run effects on sovereign risk perception, and macroeconomic fundamentals are important long-run determinants.

Since fiscal credibility reflects the government's ability to maintain budgetary balance and sustainable public debt, the government should keep its commitment to responsible fiscal policies so as not to deteriorate expectations formed by financial market experts about the fiscal scenario and, thus, to achieve better credit assessments issued by CRAs with respect to sovereign debt bonds. Sovereign credit rating assessment is a voluntary practice. It is up to the country whether they want to apply for a rating assessment or not. Thus, without a sovereign rating, one must find an alternative to measure the sovereign risk of a country. In this sense, an important practical implication that this study provides is that fiscal credibility can be used as a leading indicator of sovereign risk perceptions obtained from CRAs or even as a proxy for sovereign risk.

This paper is the first to verify how important the expectations of financial market experts in relation to the fiscal effort required to keep public debt at a sustainable level (i.e. fiscal credibility) are to sovereign risk perception of credit rating agencies. In this sense, the study is the first to address this relation, and thus it contributes to the literature that seeks to understand the determinants of sovereign ratings in emerging countries.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between cooperative and competitive behavioral tendencies and trust of coworkers in organizations. Two main hypotheses were developed. The first hypothesis was that cooperativeness and trust in coworkers is positively correlated. The second hypothesis was that competitiveness and trust in coworkers is negatively correlated.

The sample was 442 Turkish tourism sector employees in a labor-intensive industry. Two scales were used to measure trust in coworkers and cooperativeness/competitiveness. A hierarchical regression analysis was performed to understand how individuals' behavioral tendency affects their coworkers' trust in them.

The findings strongly supported the first hypothesis, in that cooperativeness was positively correlated with trust in coworkers. The second hypothesis was only partially supported because there was no significant relationship between competitiveness and the competency and trustworthiness dimensions of trust. Unselfishness aspect of trust, however, was negatively correlated with competitiveness.

The main contribution of this study is to show that employee cooperativeness and competitiveness can affect trust in coworker relations. However, the measurement of competitiveness and cooperativeness measurement had limitations due to differences in the culture-specific meanings of cooperation and competition. Future research employing mixed methods research is needed to further explain the content of the two tendencies and the relationship between the concepts.

The literature on trust and employee relations tends to focus more on the issue of trust between managers and subordinates while neglecting the complex and multifaceted structure of trust in employee–employer relations. However, new working forms mean that horizontal relations are increasingly important. Therefore, more research is needed to address the tendencies and structures that affect trust in coworkers. This study draws attention to the potential role of cooperative and competitive behaviors in trust in horizontal employee relations.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of five dimensions of experiential advertising (cognitive, emotional, sensory, relational and behavioural) on advertising credibility in the banking sector.

A total of 277 undergraduate students were asked to complete a questionnaire after viewing two versions of a bank advertisement. Results were analysed using structural modelling equations (EQS 6.2).

Findings show that all dimensions of experiential advertising positively impact advertisement credibility. Cognitive/emotional/sensory advertisements exert the greatest impact, followed by relational and then behavioural advertisements which have only a marginal impact. Post hoc results show that the impact of experiential advertising on advertising credibility varies according to both actor and respondent gender.

This study enhances the literature on experiential marketing and credibility, especially banking sector advertising, and provides more in-depth insight into the role of respondent and actor gender in influencing responses. Financial services practitioners would be well advised to devote particular attention to the formulation of experiential strategies when developing advertising campaigns.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between service innovation, customer value creation (CVC) and customer satisfaction (CS) with specific emphasis to Ghanaian telecommunication operators.

Assuming a positivist philosophical approach with a quantitative data analysis technique, the study samples 510 registered adult customers of at least one telecommunication network in Ghana. An exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to assess and confirm the proposed scales validity and the relationships of the research model.

The study unveiled that a service firm’s ability to achieve CS is dependent on how telecommunication operators harness and deploy their service innovation activities. In addition, the study showed that CVC mediates the relationship between service innovation and CS. Thus, service innovation must create value for customers in order to enhance CS.

By relating the study findings to firms’ innovation strategies, managers can improve the strength of their service offerings to achieve CS by spending more on consumer research, market research and increased customer interactions.

Considering the uniqueness of this study in a Ghanaian context, the research draws on two influential theories, which are signaling theory and expectation disconfirmation theory to examine the differential role played by service innovation in enabling telecommunication operators in Ghana, to create customer value in order to achieve CS amidst the constraints in the business environment.

Drawing on conservation of resources theory, this study aims to investigate the impact of online customer engagement on brand love via dual mediating mechanisms, empowerment (bright side) and stress (dark side). The roles of perceived brand quality and extroversion as weakener and facilitator respectively on the dark side effect are also examined.

An online survey is conducted, targeting people who have experience in participating in online engagement activities. The dual mediation and moderation analysis are examined.

The results confirm the proposed dual mediating mechanisms. Perceived brand quality and extroversion also significantly moderate the engagement–stress link.

This study explains the mediating mechanisms between online customer engagement and brand love, with a focus on the fast-moving consumer goods industry. This calls for further research on other industries.

This study provides marketers with insights that online customer engagement strategies are not always good and that they should be more careful in formulating such strategies.

This study advances the understanding of the relationship between customer engagement and brand love in the virtual community especially in the social media context.

Although research analyzing the consequences of salesperson social media use in driving sales behaviors and performance outcomes has proliferated in the recent past, there are significant research gaps in the domain. Grounded in task-technology fit theory, this paper aims to propose a conceptual framework that integrates between previously disjointed areas of research and analyzes the relationships between salesperson social media use, brand awareness, creativity, manager empowerment and company performance.

Survey responses were collected from a multi-industry sample of 158 business-to-business salespeople. Structural relationships were tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

The analysis shows that salesperson social media use positively affects brand awareness. The relationship between social media and brand awareness is magnified with the increase in salesperson creativity. Findings also show that manager empowerment increases salesperson creativity. Finally, brand awareness positively affects company performance.

Sales organizations should focus on developing digital strategies, especially focusing on salesperson social media use to enhance company’s brand awareness, which in turn increases company performance. Moreover, sales managers should also follow empowering leader behaviors to enhance creativity.

The authors amalgamate salesperson social media use literature and branding literature by proposing salesperson social media use’s positive effects on brand awareness. This study also expands the knowledge by exploring the moderating effect of individual-level variables such as salesperson creativity on driving the effects of salesperson social media use.

The purpose of this study is to experimentally and numerically scrutinize the heat transfer enhancement in pool boiling and condensation by changing the hydrophilicity or hydrophobicity properties of the working fluid, i.e. by use of nanofluid solution.

For specifying the effects of nanoparticle concentration on heat transfer properties, two different nanofluid solutions (h-BN/DCM and SiO₂/DCM) at three different volumetric concentrations were prepared and tested under different heat flux conditions. Boiling curves, alterations in pressure with heat flux and heat transfer coefficients for both boiling and condensation processes were obtained and viscosity measurements were performed for dichloromethane (DCM) and each working fluid was prepared. In addition, a series of numerical simulations, via computational fluid dynamics approach, was performed for specifying the evaporation–condensation phenomena and temperature and velocity distributions.

Nanoparticle addition inside the base fluid increased the thermal characteristics of the base fluid significantly. For the experimental results of h-BN/DCM nanofluid, the increment rate in heat transfer coefficient for saturation boiling, after-saturation boiling and condensation processes was found as 27.59%, 14.44% and 15%, respectively.

The novelty of this comparison study is that there is no such experimental and numerical comparison study in literature for DCM fluid, which concentrates on thermal performance enhancement and compares the effect of different kinds of nanoparticles on heat transfer characteristics for boiling–condensation processes.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the transformational leadership and service quality in the businesses active in the field of e-commerce with the mediating role of trust and team performance.

Survey questionnaires were administered on a 384-subject sample of the employees of the teams working in electronic businesses in Iran. The structural equation modeling and partial least square techniques were used to analyze the data.

The results showed that transformational leadership has a positive impact on service quality and improves team performance. The effect of transformational leadership on the interpersonal trust and the trust on the team performance are also positive and significant. In summary, the improved performance also has a positive impact on service quality.

The main limitation is the assessment by questionnaire because the questionnaires measure the attitudes of individuals, not the facts as they are, and the attitudes of individuals usually involve personal judgments and prejudices in the research. Also, examining the research model in different cultural domains may provide different results because of being influenced by different cultures. Hence, the authors recommend that the findings should be examined in other communities with different cultures.

Evaluating the impact of the transformational leadership on service quality (SERVPERF scale) by a survey of team trust and performance in e-business is an innovation in the influence assessment of these variables. The present research is considered applicable to the management science as new findings in organizational behavior studies and recognition of transformational leaders, as well as the positive impacts of the characteristics of them on individuals and followers.