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This paper aims to consider numerical simulation for radionuclide transport calculations in geological radioactive waste repository.

The nonlinear two-point flux approximation is used to discretize the diffusion flux and has a fixed stencil. The cell-vertex unknowns are applied to define the auxiliary unknowns and can be interpolated by the cell-centered unknowns. The approximation of convection flux is based on the second-order upwind method with a slope limiter.

Numerical results illustrate that the positivity-preserving is satisfied in solving this convection-diffusion system and has a second-order convergence rate on the distorted meshes.

A new positivity-preserving nonlinear finite volume scheme is proposed to simulate the far-field model used in the geological radioactive waste repository. Numerical results illustrate that the positivity-preserving is satisfied in solving this convection-diffusion system and has a second-order convergence rate on the distorted meshes.

This study seeks to develop the concept of technological embeddedness by extending the social embeddedness theory of economic actions to household computer adoption. It also aims to propose a research framework in which technological embeddedness is a key factor that influences household computer adoption.

The US 1989‐2003 Computer and Internet Use Supplements to the Current Population Surveys are used to validate the proposed research framework.

The results show that technological embeddedness positively affects household computer adoption. In addition, the impact of technological embeddedness is positively moderated by household income, and this impact is particularly stronger on first‐time buyers than on repeat buyers.

The results provide important policy and managerial implications for encouraging household computer adoption and bridging the digital divide.

The paper proposes a new concept and develops a research framework for analyzing household computer adoption and technology adoption in general.

The importance of innovation to the performance of firms has led to numerous studies conducted to identify the critical successful factors in new product development (NPD). However, most of these studies were conducted within the context of the developed economies or for large enterprises; relatively little is known about how firms, especially small and medium‐size enterprises (SMEs), develop new products in many of the emerging markets. This paper tries to bridge the gap by examining the key success factors of NPD in Chinese SMEs. Different from the traditional approach regarding the success factors in each stage of NPD as homogeneous, the key success factors in each stage of the NPD process are examined from a managerial perspective.

The data used in this study were collected through a multi‐stage procedure including in‐depth field interviews and surveys. Two rounds of pretests were used to refine the measurements, and the 74 questionnaires retuned in the third round were used to analyze the key success factors for NPD through score ranking and principal component analysis.

Chinese SMEs do not regard financial return as the primary criterion in the idea‐generation stage. Although the key success factors are relatively quite different in various stages, technological, marketing, commercial, and managerial factors are important across all stages.

The samples were from Beijing Incubator Alliances, which might not be representative.

The results will be interesting to both researchers and managers who want to know how the Chinese SMEs develop their new products.

Very few studies were conducted on how the Chinese SMEs develop new products, and this research contributed to this important topic. Various success factors were examined for each stage of the NPD process from a managerial perspective, rather than viewing the success factors in each stage of NPD as homogeneous, as most previous research has suggested.

Researchers have long been interested in the process of how networking firms share knowledge, what mechanisms firms use to govern knowledge sharing, and what the consequences are for the sharing firms. The purpose of this paper is to attempt to answer these questions from a social network perspective.

Qualitative method is employed to facilitate deeper understanding of soft variables and key relationships for discovering and mapping non‐formal business practices. The sampling strategy is based on relevance rather than representativeness; data analysis and theoretical analysis stresses an iterative process of theoretical sampling, comparing, and contrasting of samples to build theoretical categories.

The principal findings highlight how social capital, especially trust‐based‐ties, develops in inter‐firm interaction process, accelerates knowledge flow, and acts as an informal governance mechanism between firms. Weak ties help firms to build initial relationships and strong ties help firms to acquire higher‐quality and fine‐grained knowledge.

The analysis rests on qualitative studies in a single industry. The paper trades generalizability for richness, thus potentially risking producing theories that are idiosyncratic and not generalizable to the entire population. Longitudinal studies with larger sample sizes are encouraged to develop more precise propositions or hypotheses for testing.

The identification of the process through which social capital facilitates knowledge flow and consequently innovation enhances the understanding of firms' strategic behavior, and provides managers possible guidelines on how to accumulate social capital in interfirm dynamic interaction to gain competitive advantage.

The paper delineates the strategic roles of social capital in facilitating knowledge flow between firms and further contributes to emerging literature by demonstrating the process of social capital development and its impact on innovation and performance.

The delay in real estate projects in India is pervasive. Organization and management (O&M) and project management (PM)-related challenges are argued to contribute to project delays. This study examined the O&M and PM factors that cause delays, the level of implementation of various O&M and PM aspects in real estate projects and how the challenges can be alleviated.

Perception surveys among the consumers and relevant stakeholders engaged in real estate projects in the Bhubaneswar and Cuttack regions of India were conducted to collect data on the factors of delay and implementation of the O&M and PM aspects. Relevant statistical methods and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used for data analysis.

Findings suggest that from the O&M point of view, poor decision-making, mishandling of finance, concurrent execution of many projects, diversion and misuse of finance for unrelated activities, lack of PM personnel and poor management contribute to the delay. Further, although the project initiation is satisfactorily done, most of the PM principles are not largely used, thus leading to delay.

The study does have limitations, including its reliance on a perception survey of consumers and stakeholders, a limited sample size and a restricted number of projects. Nevertheless, the study highlights the need to address poor O&M and the insufficient application of PM principles to combat project delays in the Indian real estate sector.

Proper O&M and adequate application of PM will enable professional management of the projects and avoid delay.

Proper O&M and the application of adequate PM would reduce delays in real estate projects. Consequently, conflicts between the companies and consumers might be reduced and housing and infrastructure demands might be met.

The study manifested that the lack of adequate implementation of O&M and PM aspects leads to delays. So, it is theorized that O&M and PM play critical roles in the success of real estate projects. Appropriate implementation of the principles and best practices linked to these aspects might alleviate the challenges of delay in real estate projects in India.

COVID-19 has had a significant global impact at many levels, including an impact on global real estate capital flows. This paper examines the impact of COVID-19 on global real estate capital flows over 2019–2022 to clearly articulate the extent of this impact on global real estate capital flows across regions, countries, major cities, real estate sub-sectors and by major real estate investors. Drivers of these global real estate capital flow changes are also identified. The strategic real estate investment implications of this impact are highlighted, as well as the implications going forward concerning the global real estate strategies for the real estate portfolios held by institutional investors.

To assess the impact of COVID-19, the Real Capital Analytics (RCA) database of global real estate transactions over 2019–2022 is used to drill-out critical details on commercial real estate transactions to explore specific trends in global real estate capital flows in this period of the COVID-19 crisis. This includes real estate capital flows to specific regions, countries, cities, real estate sub-sectors as well as the role of major real estate investors.

The impact of COVID-19 is clearly shown with the major decline in global real estate capital flows in 2020, with a strong recovery in 2021. Reduced levels of real estate capital flows in 2022 reflect different risk dynamics, where 2022 has seen investors move on from the COVID-19 environment. In 2022, the risk of COVID-19 for real estate has been replaced by global real estate risk factors such as inflation concerns, geopolitical tensions, economic growth concerns, increased cost of debt issues and supply chain issues. This sees COVID-19 now rated as only the 6th most important risk factor in real estate investment decision-making for real estate investors in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia–Pacific.

This research has clearly shown the extent of the impact of COVID-19 on global real estate capital flows, as well as identifying the drivers of these real estate capital flow changes. It highlights that real estate investors have moved on and are now prioritising new risk factors ahead of COVID-19 risk. These critical risk factors reflect more recent financial, economic and geopolitical issues, which are key issues in real estate investment decision-making going forward. Investors need to structure these new risk factors into their real estate investment decision-making for the ongoing management of their domestic and international real estate portfolios.

This paper is the first published empirical research analysis of global real estate capital flows during the COVID-19 crisis. This research provides major insights on real estate investment decision-making during this crisis and the strategic changes seen in acquiring real estate portfolios in response to this major global crisis. The change in real estate risk priorities in 2022 as real estate investors move on from the COVID-19 environment is also identified and is clearly reflected in the 2022 global real estate capital flows.

This paper aims to coat ternary composite NiBP-graphite films by Dynamic Chemical Plating “DCP” technique with a growth rate of at least 5 μm/h, which makes this technique a worthy candidate for production of composite films. Electroless nickel plating method can be used to deposit nickel–phosphorous and nickel–boron coatings on metals or plastic surface. However, restrictions such as toxicity, short lifetime of the plating-bath and limited plating rate have limited applications of conventional electroless processes.

DCP is an alternative for producing metallic deposits on non-conductive materials and can be considered as a modified electroless coating process. Using a double-nozzle gun, two different solutions containing the precursors are sprayed simultaneously and separately onto the surface. With this technique, NiBP-graphite films are fabricated and their corrosion and tribological properties are investigated.

With a film thickness of 2 μm, tribological analysis confirms that these coatings have favorable anti-friction and anti-wear properties. Corrosion resistance of NiBP-graphite composite films was investigated, and it was found that graphite incorporation significantly enhances corrosion resistance of NiBP films.

DCP is faster and simpler to perform compared to other electroless deposition techniques. Using a double-nozzle gun, metal salt solution and reducing agents are sprayed to the surface, forming a deposit. Previously, coatings such as Cu, Cu-graphite, Cu-PTFE, Ni-B-TiO2, Ni-P, Ni-B-P and Ni-B-Zn with favorable compactness and adherence by DCP were reported. In this paper, the authors report the application of the DCP technique for depositing NiBP-PTFE nanocomposite films.

Opportunity real estate funds are an important style of real estate investing for institutional investors seeking nonlisted real estate exposure. Importantly, institutional investors have sought exposure to the China real estate market, often via opportunity real estate funds. This has been by a pure China opportunity real estate fund (100% China opportunity real estate) or by a pan-Asia opportunity real estate fund where China opportunity real estate was part of this pan-Asia opportunity real estate portfolio. Using two bespoke China opportunity real estate indices developed by the authors, this paper aims to assess the risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification benefits of China opportunity real estate in a mixed-asset portfolio over 2008–2020. It also highlights critical issues for institutional investors going forward to factor into their real estate investment decision-making for effective China real estate exposure.

This paper develops two bespoke China opportunity real estate fund performance indices to assess the risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification benefits of China opportunity real estate funds in a mixed-asset portfolio over 2008–2020. An asset allocation diagram is used to assess the role of China opportunity real estate in a mixed-asset portfolio via both the non-listed and listed real estate investment channels.

Over 2008–2020, China opportunity real estate exposure via pan-Asia opportunity real estate funds were seen to outperform pure China opportunity real estate funds. In both formats, China opportunity real estate funds were seen to have a significant role in a China mixed-asset portfolio across most of the portfolio risk spectrum; particularly compared to listed real estate exposure in China. On-going issues regarding real estate risk management in China will take on increased importance for institutional investors seeking China real estate exposure.

Opportunity real estate funds are an important style of real estate investing, often used by institutional investors to gain non-listed real estate exposure in a developing real estate market. This style of real estate investing has been popular with institutional investors seeking exposure to China real estate as part of the China economic growth dynamic. The results of this research highlight the importance of opportunity real estate investing in China, both via a pure China opportunity real estate fund and via a pan-Asia opportunity real estate fund. Based on this empirical analysis, China opportunity real estate exposure is seen to be more effective via a pan-Asia opportunity real estate fund than a 100% China opportunity real estate fund. A range of practical China real estate investment issues are also highlighted for the effective delivery of China real estate exposure for institutional investors going forward; this particularly relates to the on-going risk management for real estate investment in China.

This paper is the first empirical research analysis of the risk-adjusted performance of China opportunity real estate and its role in a mixed-asset portfolio. Using bespoke China opportunity real estate fund indices developed by the authors, this research enables empirically-validated, more informed and practical opportunity real estate investment decision-making regarding the strategic role of China opportunity real estate in an institutional investor's portfolio. It also highlights the importance of various facets of real estate risk management in China going forward.