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This paper aims to investigate the impact of combining grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES) grades on specific iron losses and the flux density distribution within a single-phase magnetic core.

This paper presents the results of finite-element method (FEM) simulations investigating the impact of mixing two different GOES grades on losses of a single-phase magnetic core. The authors used different models: a 3D model with a highly detailed geometry including both saturation and anisotropy, as well as a simplified 2D model to save computation time. The behavior of the flux distribution in the mixed magnetic core is analyzed. Finally, the results from the numerical simulations are compared with experimental results.

The specific iron losses of a mixed magnetic core exhibit a nonlinear decrease with respect to the GOES grade with the lowest losses. Analyzing the magnetic core behavior using 2D and 3D FEM shows that the rolling direction of the GOES grades plays a critical role on the nonlinearity variation of the specific losses.

The novelty of this research lies in achieving an optimum trade-off between the manufacturing cost and the core efficiency by combining conventional and high-performance GOES grade in a single-phase magnetic core.

This study aims to examine the effects of board structures (BS) on the financial performance and stability of banks in Africa.

Using annual data of 366 banks from 26 African countries from 2007 to 2015, the study estimates growths in financial performance using net interest margin and risk-adjusted return on assets; bank stability using z-scores; and BS using board size, board independence and board gender diversity. The system generalized method of moments and ordinary least squares panel-corrected standard error estimation strategies are used to estimate panel regressions.

The study concludes that board independence has a negative and significant relationship with financial stability but has diverse relationships with financial performance. Board size and board gender diversity have insignificant relationships with financial performance and stability.

The study has relevant implications for practitioners, policymakers and the academic community. The findings provide evidence of the extent to which BS have been instituted to influence the financial profitability and stability of banks in Africa.

This study offers robust evidence on the role of BS in the performance and stability of banks; using a multidimensional conceptualization of the performance and stability of banks in 26 countries in Africa.

During 2020, governments around the world introduced contact-tracing apps to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. In order for contact-tracing apps to be efficient tools in combatting pandemics, a significant proportion of the population has to install it. However, in many countries, the success of apps introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic has been limited due to lack of public support. This paper aims to better understand why consumers seem unwilling to install and use a contact-tracing app.

In this study, the authors test a number of determinants hypothesized to influence acceptance of contact-tracing apps based on the theory of privacy calculus (Dinev and Hart, 2006). Both perceived privacy concerns, as well as perceived hedonic, utilitarian and pro-social benefits are included. The hypotheses are tested through SEM analysis on a representative sample of 1,007 Swedish citizens.

The results indicate significant privacy concerns with using contact-tracing apps. However, this is to some extent offset by perceived hedonic and pro-social positive consequences of using the app. This study further shows that a general positive attitude towards innovation increases acceptance of the app.

The study contributes to research on consumer privacy, both in general in its application of the calculus model but also specifically in the context of contact-tracing apps. Moreover, as the results highlight which aspects that are important for consumers to accept and install an app of this kind, they also represent an important contribution to policymakers in countries around the world.

Ah la famille …! We tend to say that we do not choose it. But there are beautiful family stories, even in business, and particularly in France. Indeed, when it comes to business, the French take family as a serious matter – with about 80% of all companies in the country family controlled. Whether big or small, French family businesses are particularly noticeable in sectors such as food and beverages, as well as luxury.

The chapter gives a general overview of family firms in France, considering in particular their main legal structures, how diverse they are in reality, and finally their governance rules, and notably their family constitutions. It concludes that business and family stories often prove to be a good match, at least in France.

This study describes and analyzes the output of academic research on the topic of social capital. The concept of social capital has attracted the interest of scholars from a range of academic disciplines, and it has been applied to explain a variety of phenomena.

Using the bibliographic approach, I analyzed aggregate data obtained from the Web of Science database. The analyses were carried out using VOSviewer software.

The results show social capital to be a topic of interest in multiple fields of academic research. The findings highlight the important role that journals, including those from disciplines other than the social sciences, have played in divulging this concept, and show that some countries and institutions are more productive and engage in more collaborative research efforts than others.

The main implications of this study regard research on social capital. The results demonstrate how social capital continues to interest scholars from a variety of academic disciplines. Future bibliometric research should include other sources (literature databases) and be expanded to consider other types of publication.

This paper furthers previous research by exclusively focusing on the concept of social capital. It analyzes the international trend in publications up until the end of 2021, thus expanding the publication period considered in previous studies. The results of this study highlight the relevance of bibliometric tools for assessing research performance.

This study adopts the popular culture lens to investigate the collective understanding behind the human resources (HR) occupations.

The empirical study analyzes 129 characters from 87 movies, television (TV) series, books and comics. The measurement model was tested using structural equation modeling and cluster analysis identified five HR representations in the popular culture.

Popular culture reflects five HR representations: The Executor, the Hero, the Buddy, the Bore, and the Good-time person. Results suggest that public opinion pays scarce attention to the so-called HR “strategic position” while underlining the need for a more socially responsible HR approach.

The authors' study serves as a means for integrating past research on HR role and reputation, occupational image, self-identity and popular media. While most scholars have addressed popular culture as a single case and paid almost no attention to the HR domain, this article complements the literature by offering a fruitful way to distil HR summative popular culture representations, thus advocating for both a theoretical and a methodological contribution.