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A pine/co-PES composite (PCPES composite) was proposed as the feedstock for powder bed fusion (laser sintering, LS). This paper aims to provide some necessary experimental data and the theoretical foundation for LS of pine/co-PES, especially for the application of using the laser-sintered pine/co-PES parts as complex structural patterns in investment casting.

The PCPES composites with different pine loadings were mixed mechanically. The composite’s preheating temperature and processing temperature during LS were determined experimentally based on the material’s thermal behavior. The effects of pine powder on the binding mechanism of PCPES composites were discussed through analyzing the microstructure of the laser-sintered parts’. Mechanical properties and dimensional precision of laser-sintered PCPES parts in different pine loadings were tested, and the parts’ mechanical properties were strengthened by wax-infiltration post-processing. The influence extents of process parameters on the mechanical properties of laser-sintered 20 Wt.% pine/co-PES parts were investigated using a 1/2 fractional factorials experiment.

20 Wt.% pine/co-PES is considered to be a promising wood-plastic composite for laser sintering. The relationship between mechanical strength of its laser-sintered parts and process parameters was built up using mathematical formulas. Experimental results show density, tensile strength, flexural strength and surface roughness of laser-sintered 20 Wt.% pine/co-PES parts are improved by 72.7-75.0%, 21.9-111.3%, 26.8-86.2%, 27.0-29.1% after post-process infiltration with a wax. A promising application of the wax-infiltrated laser-sintered parts is for investment casting cores and patterns.

The proper process parameters and forming properties of laser-sintered parts are limited to the results of laser sintering experiments carried on using AFS 360 rapid prototyping device.

This investigation not only provides a new feedstock for laser sintering with the advantages of low cost and fabricability but also uses an advanced technique to produce personalized wood-plastic parts efficiently. Mathematical models between mechanical properties of laser-sintered PCPES parts and LS process parameters will guide the further LS experiments using the 20 Wt.% pine/co-PES composite. Besides, the laser-sintered PCPES parts after wax-infiltration post-processing are promising as complex structural patterns for use in investment casting.

Reducing production auxiliary time is the key to improve the efficiency of the existing mixed-flow assembly line. This paper proposes a method combining improved genetic algorithm (GA) and Flexsim software. It also investigates mixed-flow assembly line scheduling and just-in-time (JIT) parts feeding scheme to reduce waste in production while taking the existing hill-drop mixed-flow assembly line as an example to verify the effectiveness of the method.

In this research, a method is presented to optimize the efficiency of the present assembly line. The multi-objective mathematical model is established based on the objective function of the minimum production cycle and part consumption balance, and the solution model is developed using multi-objective GA to obtain the mixed flow scheduling scheme of the hill-drop planter. Furthermore, modeling and simulation with Flexsim software are investigated along with the contents of line inventory, parts transportation means, daily feeding times and time points.

Theoretical analysis and simulation experiments are carried out in this paper while taking an example of a hill-drop planter mixed-flow assembly line. The results indicate that the method can effectively reduce the idle and overload of the assembly line, use the transportation resources rationally and decrease the accumulation of the line inventory.

The method of combining improved GA and Flexsim software was used here for the first time intuitively and efficiently to study the balance of existing production lines and JIT feeding of parts. Investigating the production scheduling scheme provides a reference for the enterprise production line accompanied by the quantity allocation of transportation tools, the inventory consumption of the spare parts along the line and the utilization rate of each station to reduce the auxiliary time and apply practically.

The main purpose of this paper is to present the effort on developing a mixed elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) model to study the tribological effect of asperities on rough surface.

The model, with the use of the average flow Reynolds equation and the K-E elasto-plastic contact model, allows predictions of hydrodynamic pressure and contact pressure on the virtual rough surface, respectively. Then, the substrate elastic deformation is calculated by discrete convolution fast-Fourier transform (DC-FFT) method to modify the film thickness recursively. Afterwards, corresponding ball-on-disk tests are conducted and the validity of the model demonstrated. Moreover, the effects of asperity features, such as roughness, curvature radius and asperity pattern factor, on the tribological properties of EHL, are also discussed though plotting corresponding Stribeck curves and film thickness shapes.

It is demonstrated that the current model predicts very close data compared with corresponding experimental results. And it has the advantage of high accuracy comparing with other typical models. Furthermore, smaller roughness, bigger asperity radius and transverse rough surface pattern are found to have lower friction coefficients in mixed EHL models.

This paper contributes toward developing a mixed EHL model to investigate the effect of surface roughness, which may be helpful to better understand partial EHL.

Based on social influence theory (SIT) and social capital theory, this paper aims to explore the mediating role of entrepreneurial networks between technological entrepreneurs' political skills and entrepreneurial performance and whether market dynamics positively moderates this relationship.

This study collected data from 454 technological entrepreneurs in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou in China and examined four hypotheses by hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping analysis in an empirical design.

Results reveal that technological entrepreneurs' political skills not only have a direct positive impact on entrepreneurial performance (β = 0.544, t = 12.632, p < 0.001), but also have an indirect positive impact on entrepreneurial performance through entrepreneurial networks (β = 0.473, t = 10.636, p < 0.001). Entrepreneurial networks play a mediating role between entrepreneurs' political skills and entrepreneurial performance with 95% bias-corrected confidence intervals [0.034, 0.015]. Market dynamics plays a moderating role in the relationship among technological entrepreneurs' political skills, entrepreneurial networks and entrepreneurial performance (entrepreneurial performance: β = 0.190, t = 4.275, p < 0.001; entrepreneurial networks: β = 0.135, t = 4.455, p < 0.001). When market dynamics is high, technological entrepreneurs' political skills have a significant positive effect on entrepreneurial networks (simple slope = 0.309, t = 7.656, p < 0.001); but when market dynamics is low, there is no significant correlation between political skills and entrepreneurial networks (simple slope = 0.039, t = 0.966, p > 0.05).

The study relies on self-reported data from single informants. Although the severity of common method bias is tested through two methods, future research designs should avoid the influence of common method bias. Future research should adopt a vertical tracking design, collect data from multiple sources and use subjective assessment and objective indicators to measure variables. In addition, the applicability of the results outside China is worth further empirical exploration. Therefore, the authors hope that future studies can replicate the research to different countries, different cultural backgrounds and different organizational sections to explore the generalizability of the results.

The findings provide useful suggestions for entrepreneurs, who can use political skills to build a strong entrepreneurial network to improve their entrepreneurial performance. The results also suggest that entrepreneurs should pay more attention to cultivating and developing their political skills through methods such as training and practice. In addition, the conclusion is of great implications to enrich the content of entrepreneurship education and guide entrepreneurship practice.

These findings enrich SIT and social capital theory by providing the empirical evidence of the effect of entrepreneurs' political skills on entrepreneurial performance through entrepreneurial network. They also provide deeper insights into market dynamics research by uncovering the moderating role of market dynamics in the relationship between entrepreneurs' political skills, entrepreneurial networks and entrepreneurial performance.

The purpose of this study is to reveal a sequential mediating process of the impact of shared leadership on team performance by studying the sequential mediating effect of team trust and team learning behavior.

This study develops and examines a sequential mediation model using the meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) method. The sample adopted consists of 347 independent effect sizes extracted from 280 empirical papers (288 independent studies, N = 21,888 groups).

The results indicate that team trust and team learning behavior play a sequential mediating effect in the shared leadership–team performance relationship.

The findings suggest that practitioners should share leadership functions and responsibilities among talented team members. Furthermore, practitioners should strengthen the emotional interaction among team members and give positive feedback to the team's intensive learning behaviors.

By identifying the sequential mediating effect of team trust and team learning behavior, this study not only advances the understandings of a comprehensive mediating process through which shared leadership enhances team performance, but also offers new insights into the interrelationship of different types of mediating mechanisms (i.e. team emergent state and team process) in the shared leadership–team performance relationship.

This paper examines the direct and indirect effects of CEO intellectual capital on sustainable growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in China.

It adopts a quantitative approach based on 3,474 unbalanced panel data in 836 Chinese listed SMEs from 2008 to 2017.

The findings reveal a significant positive relationship between CEO intellectual capital and sustainable growth of SMEs. The findings also reveal that dual innovation (exploitative innovation and exploratory innovation) has a partial mediating effect on the relationship.

It further provides an original contribution to identifying and testing the mediating effect of dual innovation on the relationship between CEO intellectual capital and sustainable growth of SMEs.

In contrast to most of the extant literature, which considers intellectual capital as a whole at the organizational level or focuses on employee intellectual capital, this paper highlights the role of CEO intellectual capital for SMEs’ growth. It provides an original contribution to identifying and testing the mediating effect of dual innovation on the relationship between CEO intellectual capital and sustainable growth of SMEs.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of customer participation on role behaviors and customer satisfaction. The mediating role of role stressors is also examined.

Based on literature reviews, a survey of 317 bank customers was conducted in Central China, using a structured questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was used for data analysis to test research hypotheses.

The current work found that the inconsistency between the role expectations from participating customers and service providers would increase the customer perceived role stress. Therefore, customer participating width and depth can affect customer satisfaction in two different ways. On the one hand, role stressors (i.e. role ambiguity and role conflict) in customer participation have a negative effect on customer compliance, decreasing customer satisfaction. On the other hand, role stressors have a positive effect on customer creativity, increasing customer satisfaction.

No prior studies, thus far, have examined how customer perceived role stressors in service participation affect customers’ role performance and satisfaction in the service process. The current research identifies the characteristics of customer participation from the perspectives of task role set. On the basis of role stressor theory, this research examines the effects of customer participation width and depth on customer satisfaction using customer perceived role stressors as mediating variables. This research also investigates the mixed effect of role stressors on customer satisfaction. It provides empirical support for the role of customers as “co-creators” by distinguishing customers’ creative behaviors from customer compliance and finds the positive effect of role stressors on customer satisfaction via customer creativity.

The international mentoring literature predominantly features traditional company-assigned expatriates as protégés overlooking other types of global talent, such as immigrants, refugees, and international graduates, who may help organizations gain long-term IHRM competitive advantages. We integrate multidisciplinary research to better understand the role of mentoring as a global talent management tool, identify research gaps, and propose future research directions.

We draw on an integrative review of 71 academic journal articles published between 1999 and 2024 to explore the role of mentoring in managing global talent (i.e. expatriates, immigrants, refugees, and international students and graduates).

We found that research has identified and examined relationships between various antecedents and outcomes of mentoring but mainly treating mentoring as a talent development tool. Less is known about the role of mentoring as a recruitment and selection tool in the pre-employment context. Mentoring is an important HRM tool that contributes to managing a global talent pool and developing existing employees.

The review contributes to a better understanding of the characteristics and processes involved in mentoring in a global context by proposing a framework that incorporates antecedents of mentoring, characteristics of the mentoring process, and mentoring outcomes. It highlights the value of mentoring as a recruitment and selection tool supporting global talent management and identifies avenues for future research.

With the arrival of the big data era, governments have appointed a chief data officer (CDO) to meet the opportunities and challenges brought by big data. The existing research on the CDOs is very limited, and what does exist focuses primarily on what are CDOs do. Little research has explored how CDOs do. To fill this gap, this study employed ambidexterity theory to investigate the ambidexterity of CDOs’ impact on data-driven innovation.

To empirically test the model, a survey study was conducted to empirically test the model. Data were collected from 261 CDOs in government and government employees in big data management centers or bureaus. The collected data were analyzed quantitatively to answer hypotheses using a structural equation model.

The findings suggest that data exploitation and data exploration significantly influence data-driven leadership, culture and value propositions. Data-driven leadership and value propositions significantly impact government performance.

This study is one of the first attempts to investigate how CDOs work, especially when promoting data-driven innovation. In addition, this study extends ambidexterity theory into the issue of the CDO in government.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the leader-following formation control problem for nonholonomic vehicles based on a novel biologically inspired neurodynamics approach.

The interactions among the networked multi-vehicle system is modeled by an undirected graph. First, a distributed estimation law is proposed for each follower vehicle to estimate the state including the position, orientation and linear velocity of the leader. Then, a distributed formation tracking control law is designed based on the estimated state of the leader, where a bio-inspired neural dynamic is introduced to solve the impractical velocity jumps problem. Explicit stability and convergence analyses are presented using Lyapunov tools.

The effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed control law are demonstrated by numerical simulations and physical vehicle experiments. Consequently, the proposed protocol can successfully achieve the desired formation under connected topologies while tracking the trajectory generated by the leader.

This paper proposes a neurodynamics-based leader–follower formation tracking algorithm for multiple nonholonomic vehicles.