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This article aims to explore the concept of chain value of the public port system in Ecuador from the perspective of importing/exporting companies, analyzing how perceived value in the use of port services affects customer satisfaction and the intermediate links of the influence of trust and commitment on customer loyalty.

Relying on a survey of 634 Ecuadorian companies with experience in international trade as port users and a theoretical framework well-established in the literature on consumer behavior, the empirical study found evidence of a positive and significant relationship with the knowledge of chain effects.

The findings confirm the chain effect and reveal ways to maintain an ongoing satisfactory, trust and committed relationship with users, thereby ultimately gaining and maintaining their loyalty. The conclusions suggest how this postulate can help to close the gap referred to the effective management of port services, and point out that port managers should be concerned with a continuous in-depth understanding of the perceived value and its chain effects.

The authors add evidence of the use of the postulate of the chain of effects on these dimensions, whose applicability is very well established, tested and consensual for the doctrine in industrial marketing. In contrast, it is scarcely present in the port relationship with its users.

This study aims to explore the asymmetric effects of macroeconomic factors on the profitability of large-cap companies in an emerging country like Colombia, using the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Colombia index as the basis.

We employ a combination of singular spectrum analysis (SSA) and principal component analysis (PCA) to identify and estimate four key macroeconomic factors that account for approximately 47.8% of Colombia's macroeconomy. These factors encompass indicators related to inflation and cost of living, foreign trade and exchange rate, employment and labor force and trade and production in Colombia. We utilize the distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) to analyze the asymmetric relationships between these factors and corporate profitability, considering different scenarios and lags.

Our analysis reveals that there are indeed asymmetric relationships between the identified macroeconomic factors and corporate profitability. These relationships exhibit variability over time and lags, indicating the nuanced nature of their impact on corporate performance.

This study contributes to the existing literature by applying a novel methodology that combines SSA and PCA to identify macroeconomic factors within the Colombian context. Additionally, our focus on asymmetric relationships and their dynamic nature in relation to corporate profitability, using DLNM, adds original insights to the research on this subject.

This study aims to propose the reuse of PA12 (powder) in another AM process, binder jettiinng, which is less sensitive to the chemical and mechanical degradation of the powder after multiple cycles in the laser system.

The experimental process for evaluating the reuse of SLS powders in a subsequent binder jetting process consists of four phases: powder characterization, bonding analysis, mixture testing and mixture characteristics. Analyses were carried out using techniques such as Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and stress–strain tests for tension and compression. The surface roughness, color, hardness and density of the new mixture were also determined to find physical characteristics. A Taguchi design L8 was used to search for a mixture with the best mechanical strength.

The results indicated that the integration of waste powder PA12 with calcium sulfate hemihydrate (CSH) generates appropriate particle distribution with rounded particles of PA12 that improve powder flowability. The micropores observed with less than 60 µm, facilitated binder and infiltrant penetration on 3D parts. The 60/40 (CSH-PA12) mixture with epoxy resin postprocessing was found to be the best-bonded mixture in mechanical testing, rugosity and hardness results. The new CSH-PA12 mixture resulted lighter and stronger than the CSH powder commonly used in binder jetting technology.

This study adds value to the polymer powder bed fusion process by using its waste in a circular process. The novel reuse of PA12 waste in an established process was achieved in an accessible and economical manner.

Energy consumption has increased significantly since the 1970s, which has increased demand for sufficient infrastructure in the oil and gas industry. Many top-notch oil and gas companies invested in and equipped their facilities with high-capacity electrical equipment to meet high demand and benefit from high revenues. This is becoming a challenge nowadays for old facilities in the oil and gas industry, as most of the electrical equipment installed has reached or even exceeded its lifetime. Moreover, many of the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for electrical equipment from the 1980s are no longer in market today. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop a proactive, cost-effective obsolescence management framework for electrical equipment in the oil and gas industry, considering the aging factor of the equipment.

Firstly, the study begins with gathering available information and identifying criteria. Secondly, the data collection is evaluated by subject-matter-experts (SMEs) in asset management field to ensure compliance with updated international standards and relevant regulatory requirements. Thirdly, a multi-criteria decision-making process is used to rank criteria. Finally, a scoring system is developed to measure the electrical equipment obsoleteness.

The developed framework will assist decision-makers in making informed decisions about maintenance, replacement or upgrades, using knowledge from previous studies and experts’ input. The result finding indicates that considering aging correction factors when measuring equipment obsoleteness leads to accurately and correctly predicting the electrical equipment obsoleteness score.

Previous studies have addressed obsolescence management without taking equipment age into account, regardless of how the equipment is performing. Thus, the lack of a comprehensive obsolescence management framework that accounts for both cost-effectiveness and the aging factor in the oil and gas industry poses a critical challenge.

This paper aims to investigate the impacts of Industry 4.0/5.0 (I4.0/5.0) on the glass manufacturing workplace. Specifically, it studied the workplace, which represents complex manufacturing lines of high variety and volume of products.

A case study based on semi-structured interviews was conducted with managers responsible for I4.0 implementation, and the responses were treated by content analysis.

Findings reinforce I5.0 aspects to be considered in terms of work organization. The interviewees highlight work and human factors as important for technology implementation, which includes workers tasks, skills, nature of work, human resources development, hiring process and organizations strategies. It was also found that knowledge sharing poses a huge challenge.

In lieu of gaps in the literature, this research further discusses management challenges to support digital transformation and impacts on workers and organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to explore a novel storytelling approach that investigates lived experience at the intersection of motherhood/caregiving and Ph.D. pursuits. The paper contributes to the feminist tradition of writing differently through the process of care that emerges from shared stories.

Using a process called heartful-communal storytelling, the authors evoke personal and embodied stories and transgressive narratives. The authors present a composite process drawing on heartful-autoethnography, dialogic writing and communal storytelling.

The paper makes two key contributions: (1) the paper illustrates a novel feminist process in action and (2) the paper contributes six discrete stories of lived experience at the intersection of parenthood and Ph.D. studies. The paper also contributes to the development of the feminist tradition of writing differently. Three themes emerged through the storytelling experience, and these include (1) creating boundaries and transgressing boundaries, (2) giving and receiving care and (3) neoliberal conformity and resistance. These themes, like the stories, also became entangled.

The paper demonstrates how heartful-communal storytelling can lead to individual and collective meaning making. While the Ph.D. is a solitary path, the authors' heartful-communal storytelling experience teaches that holding it separate from other relationships can impoverish what is learnt and constrain the production of good knowledge; the epistemic properties of care became self-evident.

Online learning gained ground during the pandemic and has continued to be used in the post-Covid era. Items related to online learning should be included in service quality assessment. The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of service quality, which includes the online learning dimension, on student satisfaction in higher-education in a blended learning environment.

A total of 452 valid questionnaires were collected from business undergraduate students enrolled in public universities in Greece. A modified version of HEdPERF is used to evaluate service quality. Due to the extensive use of online learning, an additional dimension was added to the HEdPERF scale which focuses on online education, a field that has not yet been widely examined. Structural equation modeling is used to examine the relationships between service quality, and student satisfaction.

The research findings verify the six-structure scale of the HEdPERF instrument (non-academic aspects, academic aspects, reputation, access and programs issues and online learning), providing satisfactory results in terms of reliability and validity tests. Service quality dimensions such as academic aspects, access, program issues and online learning are the influential dimensions of student satisfaction in a blended learning context.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous study has expanded traditional service quality instruments to include the dimension of service quality of online learning.