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Contract Manufacturers (CM, factory) can cultivate factory brand products by imitating Original Equipment Manufacturers' (OEM, brand owner) National Brand products, and compete with OEM through the online retailer, that is, factory encroachment. In practice, few consumers can identify the quality of those two products in the online market. Implementing blockchain technology (BTI) can help all consumers identify product quality but may change the operation decisions and incur implementation costs. This study aims to explore how will the BTI strategies affect participants' operation performance under the factory encroachment and delve into the decisions regarding NB product quality and CM encroachment.

This study constructs a three-level outsourcing supply chain comprising one contract manufacturer (CM, factory), one original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and one online retailer. By utilizing the Stackelberg game, the authors first compared the results between two strategic decisions of BTI and no-BTI by online retailers under the factory encroachment scenario. Then, the NB product quality decision and the CM's encroachment decision are also investigated.

BTI strategy can benefit all participants (triple win), which both occurs in exogenous and endogenous quality cases, and the triple win area will expand (shrink) as the BTI cost decreases (increases). In addition, the OEM will improve product quality to confront competition from the CM, and the OEM may not always benefit from the BTI, it depends on the maturity of the market. Interestingly, BTI could improve the consumer surplus when the proportion of novice consumers is low. Finally, this study also investigates the extended case that CM always encroaches into the market whether the online retailer choose BTI or not, which hurts OEM's profit and decreases the product quality.

This study sheds light on the strategic decisions of online retailers' BTI regarding supply chain members' profits, consumer surplus and social welfare under factory encroachment. It also demonstrates that the BTI strategy, under different quality decisions (endogenous and exogenous), can be more profitable for chain members and consumers.

China's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) has risen remarkably over the past two decades. Does such increase affect the sophistication of Chinese exports, is a significant issue that has surprisingly remained unaddressed? The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of Chinese OFDI on bilateral export sophistication of China and its OFDI receiving partner countries during 2003–2017 by applying Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood approach based on gravity model.

The analysis has been performed for total sample, region-wise grouped sample (Europe and Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa, Latin America and Caribbean, East Asia and Pacific, South Asia, North America and sub-Saharan Africa) and income-wise grouped sample (high income, upper middle income, lower middle income and lower income group sample).

The results confirmed the significant and positive effect of Chinese OFDI on bilateral export sophistication in total sample, regions-wise and income groups sample.

The study provides a helpful suggestion regarding policy towards achieving more sophistication in export and thus to achieve comparative advantage in trade.

This exploratory study examines and comprehends the relative importance of mobile app attributes from a consumer perspective. Both quantitative and qualitative analysis approaches explore users' behavior and attitudes toward the priorities of mobile app attributes and preferences, identifying correlations between attributes and aggregating individual attributes into groups.

Online convenience sampling and snowball sampling resulted in 417 valid responses. The numerical data are analyzed using the relative to an identified distribution (RIDIT) scoring system and gray relational analysis (GRA), and qualitative responses are investigated using text-mining techniques.

This study finds enhanced nuances of user preferences and provides data-driven insights that might help app developers and marketers create a distinct app that will add value to consumers. The latent semantic analysis indicates relationship structure among the attributes, and text-based cluster analysis determines the subsets of attributes that represent the unique functions of the mobile app.

This study reveals the essential components of mobile apps, paying particular attention to the consumer value component, which boosts user approval and encourages prolonged use. Overall, the results demonstrate that developers must concentrate on its functional, technical and esthetic features to make an app more exciting and practical for potential users.

Most scholarly research on apps has focused on their technological merits, aesthetics and usability from the user's perspective. A post-adoption multi-attribute app analysis using both structured and unstructured data is conducted in this study.

This study reveals the green building development path and analyzes the optimal government subsidy equilibrium through evolutionary game theory and numerical simulation. This was done to explore the feasible measures and optimal incentives to achieve higher levels of green building in China.

First, the practice of green building in China was analyzed, and the specific influencing factors and incentive measures for green building development were extracted. Second, China-specific evolutionary game models were constructed between developers and homebuyers under the market regulation and government incentive mechanism scenarios, and the evolutionary paths were analyzed. Finally, real-case numerical simulations were conducted, subsidy impacts were mainly analyzed and optimal subsidy equilibriums were solved.

(1) Simultaneously subsidizing developers and homebuyers proved to be the most effective measure to promote the sustainability of green buildings. (2) The sensitivity of developers and homebuyers to subsidies varied across scenarios, and the optimal subsidy level diminished marginally as building greenness and public awareness increased. (3) The optimal subsidy level for developers was intricately tied to the building greenness benchmark. A higher benchmark intensified the developer’s responsiveness to losses, at which point increasing subsidies were justified. Conversely, a reduction in subsidy might have been appropriate when the benchmark was set at a lower level.

The expeditious advancement of green buildings holds paramount importance for the high-quality development of the construction industry. Nevertheless, the pace of green building expansion in China has experienced a recent deceleration. Drawing insights from the practices of green building in China, the exploration of viable strategies and the determination of optimal government subsidies stand as imperative initiatives. These endeavors aim to propel the acceleration of green building proliferation and materialize high-quality development at the earliest juncture possible.

The model is grounded in China’s green building practices, which makes the conclusions drawn more specific. Furthermore, research results provide practical references for governments to formulate green building incentive policies.

This paper aims to research the corrosion behavior of the metal under the disbonded coatings interfered with AC through electrochemical method.

The corrosion behavior of the metal under disbond coating interfered with alternate stray current (AC) was studied by electrochemical methods using the rectangular coating disbonded simulator. The obtained data from electrode potential test, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and polarization curves in simulated soil solution indicated that under the natural corrosion condition, the self-corrosion potential and the corrosion current density of the metal at different depths under disbond coating had obviously changed if there was AC interference.

The self-corrosion potential of the metal at the same depths under disbond coating shifted negatively with the rising of the AC voltage. Under the condition of cathode polarization, there was still obvious potential gradient with the extension of the deep peeling of the coating gap, and the corrosion current density of the test points was minimum, and the protection effect was best when the cathode protection potential was −1.0 V. When the metal was applied with over-protection, the corrosion rate of the metal increased as AC stray current flowing through it increased.

This paper used the rectangular aperture device to study the corrosion behavior of X80 steel under the disbonded coatings through electrochemical methods when the AC stray current interference voltage was 0V, 1V, 5V or 10V and the protection potential was 0V, −0.9V, −1.0V, −1.2V or −1.3V, respectively. There is great significance to the safe operation and long-term service of pipeline steel in soil environment.

Emphasizes the importance now placed on maintainability of military aircraft by the US Department of Defense. Describes how Lockheed Martin have used Delmia simulation software to simplify and speed up routine maintenance tasks for the next‐generation joint strike fighter (JSF). Ergonomics and the use of realistic human models have played a key role in determining maintenance procedures.

Absent Chief Entrepreneur/Intrapreneur (‘Ntrepreneur) Officer (CNO) Churchill’s un wavering commitment of significant resources to the unproven radar (Decision to Dare) as early as the autumn of 1937, Great Britain would have not survived as a nation: No country survival. Absent Watson, Jr.’s unwavering determination to push IBM into computers, launching in 1951 the Defense Calculator, which at $3 million “was by far the most expensive project in IBM history,” IBM would not have survived: No corporate survival. From the [rather flimsy] briefing by Dr. R.V. Jones weaving fact and fancy, how did Churchill draw the firm conclusion that radar would be invented; and risk rewriting the entire plans for the air defense of Great Britain around radar? How did Watson, Jr. dismiss the unanimous recommendation of IBM’s 18 best systems experts that magnetic tape had no place at IBM; and launch the most expensive project at IBM to break into the unknown field of computers? Based on first‐person narratives, how could the single input of relatively flimsy data produce as the output, the certain realization of a futuristic technology? The most‐cited work on the psychology of decision‐making (Kahneman‐Tversky) is seen to be in applicable. Sigmund Freud’s Self‐Analysis offers a method of systematic introspection/ret rospection. We develop an established sequence of ordered procedures (Protocol) of memory management (Memory Management Disequilibria Dimensions (MD2) Protocol) which applies equally well to both the country and corporate survival decisions, and offers some suggestions to improve Memory Management for Decisions to Dare.

The purpose of this paper is to present an up-to-date survey on the non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) technique with co-operative strategy, a fast-evolving fifth-generation (5 G) technology. NOMA is used for serving many mobile users, both in power and code domains. This paper considers the power-domain NOMA, which is now discussed as NOMA.

The first part of the paper discusses NOMA-based cooperative relay systems using different relay strategies over different channel models. In various research works, the analytical expressions of many performance metrics were derived, measured and simulated for better performance of the NOMA systems. In the second part, a brief introduction to diversity techniques is discussed. The multiple input and multiple output system merged with cooperative NOMA technology, and its future challenges were also presented in this part. In the third part, the paper surveys some new conceptions such as cognitive radio, index modulation multiple access, space-shift keying and reconfigurable intelligent surface that can be combined with NOMA systems for better performance.

The paper presents a brief survey of diverse research projects being carried out in the field of NOMA. The paper also surveyed two different relaying strategies that were implemented in cooperative NOMA over different channels and compared several performance parameters that were evaluated and derived in these implementations.

The paper provides a scope for recognizable future work and presents a brief idea of the new techniques that can be united with NOMA for better performance in wireless systems.

The materials and energy density of current electric vehicles (EV) battery technology means that the vehicles are heavier and have a shorter range in comparison to internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEV). Battery cost also means EVs are relatively expensive for the consumer, even with government incentives, and dependent on sometimes-rare resources being available. These factors also limit the applicability of battery-electric technologies to heavy-duty vehicles. However, a number of next generation technologies are under laboratory development which could radically change this situation. Using a follow-the-money methodology, the strategic innovations of companies and public institutions are examined. The chapter will review the potential for changes in resource inputs, higher-density batteries and cost reductions, considering options such as lithium-air, metal-air and solid-state technologies. The innovations outlined in these technologies are considered from an economic perspective, identifying their advantages and disadvantages in commercialisation. At the same time, innovations, and investments in infrastructure electrification (Electric Road Service) and battery exchange point with swapping technology will be also considered due their implications and contribution to solving battery-related challenges and shortcomings. It is concluded that only a joint investment in effort on technologies would allow the use of EVs to be extended to a broad public in terms both of users and geography.

Modern construction projects are increasingly complex and rely heavily on multi-discipline collaboration, and this leads to a more and more decentralized project-based structure widely adopted in the construction industry. While job satisfaction (JS) and job performance (JP) have been heavily studied previously, few considered the impact of organizational structure and none investigated the relationship between the organizational decentralization degree with JS and JP. This research aims to fill this research gap and investigate the impacts of organizational decentralization degree on JS and JP and facilitate a better project management practice for large-scale construction projects.

This research firstly establishes four hypotheses based on the literature review on general project-based organizations, then the hypotheses are tested by a survey covering 25 large complex construction projects in China. A hierarchical linear model analysis was carried out to analyze the survey data and to study the relationships between organizational decentralization degree, job satisfaction and job performance.

Analysis results show that projects' employees' JS and JP are positively correlated with the construction project organizations' decentralization degree, respectively. The decentralization degree has a higher impact on JS than on JP. Employees' JP is positively correlated with their JS, and a higher decentralization degree leads to a more significant positive impact that JS puts on JP.

The findings are new evidence of how construction organization structure and its decentralization degree can affect project employees' JS and JP. This research provides valuable guidance for the industry's management practice and is particularly important for large, complex and highly decentralized construction projects.