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The purpose of this paper is to study the phenomenology of Al₂O₃-DBC substrate thermal-cracking under different high temperature cyclic loadings. The extremely low cycle fatigue (ELCF) life prediction model for ductile materials was used to describe the thermal fatigue life of Al₂O₃-DBC substrates.

Four groups of thermal cycling tests using Al₂O₃-DBC substrates with 0.65 mm thick copper were conducted using different peak temperatures. The failure samples were observed by optical microscope. The thermal plastic strain distribution in the Al₂O₃-DBC substrates was analyzed using a finite element method with the Chaboche model for describing plastic deformation of copper. The ELCF life prediction model was used to predict the life of Al₂O₃-DBC substrates under high temperature cyclic loadings.

Interface cracking was observed to initiate at the short edge of the bonded copper and deviated into the ceramic layer when the crack grew beyond the critical length of 0.1-0.8 mm. The interface crack deviated into the ceramic layer at different thickness and grew parallel to the interface layer between the ceramic layer and copper layer. The crack propagation stopped after certain cycles. The copper layer with 10-20 μm thick alumina inside was not split away totally from the ceramic layer. The ELCF life prediction model could predict the life of Al₂O₃-DBC substrates well under high temperature cyclic loading. The material constants in the extremely low fatigue life prediction model were obtained using thermal fatigue tests results.

The influence of copper layer thickness and ceramic layer thickness on thermal cracking characteristics of DBC substrate should be studied in the future. Failure models should also be further investigated.

The failure model of Al₂O₃-DBC substrates under high temperature cyclic loading was studied. A method for predicting the life of the substrate samples under high temperature cyclic loading was proposed.

Presents over sixty abstracts summarising the 1999 Employment Research Unit annual conference held at the University of Cardiff. Explores the multiple impacts of globalization on work and employment in contemporary organizations. Covers the human resource management implications of organizational responses to globalization. Examines the theoretical, methodological, empirical and comparative issues pertaining to competitiveness and the management of human resources, the impact of organisational strategies and international production on the workplace, the organization of labour markets, human resource development, cultural change in organisations, trade union responses, and trans‐national corporations. Cites many case studies showing how globalization has brought a lot of opportunities together with much change both to the employee and the employer. Considers the threats to existing cultures, structures and systems.

Given the growing emphasis among scholars, practitioners and policymakers on financial sustainability, this study aims to explore the applicability of machine learning techniques in predicting the financial performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs).

This study gathered 9,059 firm-year observations spanning from 2003 to 2018 from the World Bank's Mix Market database. To predict the financial performance of MFIs, the authors applied a range of machine learning regression approaches to both training and testing data sets. These included linear regression, partial least squares, linear regression with stepwise selection, elastic net, random forest, quantile random forest, Bayesian ridge regression, K-Nearest Neighbors and support vector regression. All models were implemented using Python.

The findings revealed the random forest model as the most suitable choice, outperforming the other models considered. The effectiveness of the random forest model varied depending on specific scenarios, particularly the balance between training and testing data set proportions. More importantly, the results identified operational self-sufficiency as the most critical factor influencing the financial performance of MFIs.

This study leveraged machine learning on a well-defined data set to identify the factors predicting the financial performance of MFIs. These insights offer valuable guidance for MFIs aiming to predict their long-term financial sustainability. Investors and donors can also use these findings to make informed decisions when selecting their potential recipients. Furthermore, practitioners and policymakers can use these findings to identify potential financial performance vulnerabilities.

This study stands out by using a global data set to investigate the best model for predicting the financial performance of MFIs, a relatively scarce subject in the existing microfinance literature. Moreover, it uses advanced machine learning techniques to gain a deeper understanding of the factors affecting the financial performance of MFIs.

When public employees demonstrate ambidexterity in serving customers, through efficiently providing customers with current public services as well as exploring ways to create more, new public service solutions for customers, they may activate customers’ co-creating value with the public organization. The purpose of this research is to examine the role of public employees’ individual ambidexterity in promoting customer value co-creation. This research also seeks to investigate the levers behind individual ambidexterity, including ambidextrous leadership as an antecedent and public service motivation (PSM) as an enhancer for the leadership effect.

Public employees from public legal service agencies and customer companies they had served have been invited to participate and provide data for this research. The data collated have been analyzed using multilevel structural equation modeling approach.

Ambidextrous leadership was positively associated with frontline public employees’ individual ambidexterity. This positive association was enhanced by PSM among frontline public employees. In turn, frontline public employees’ individual ambidexterity demonstrated a positive link with customer value co-creation through the mediation mechanisms of customer–employee identification and customer–organization identification.

This research extends and marks the convergence between ambidexterity and customer value co-creation research streams.

Direct‐bond‐copper (DBC) substrates crack after about 15 thermal cycles from −55 to 250°C. The purpose of this paper is to study the phenomenology of thermal‐cracking to determine the suitability of DBC for high‐temperature packaging.

The thermal plastic strain distribution at the edge of the DBC substrate was analyzed by using a finite element method with the Chaboche model for copper. The parameters of the Chaboche model were verified by comparing with the three‐point bending test results of DBC substrate. The thermal analyses involving different edge tail lengths indicated that susceptibility to cracking was influenced by the edge geometry of the DBC substrate.

Interface cracking was observed to initiate at the short edge of the bonded copper and propagated into the ceramic layer. The interface crack was caused by the accumulation of thermal plastic strain near the short edge. The edge tail can decrease the thermal strain along the short edge of the DBC substrate. Thermal cycling lifetime was improved greatly for the DBC substrate with 0.5 mm edge tail length compared with that without edge tail.

The thermal cracking of DBC substrates should be studied at the microstructure level in the future.

Thermal cycling induced failure of DBC was analyzed. A method of alleviating the thermal plastic strain distribution on the weakest site and improving the thermal fatigue lifetime of DBC substrates under thermal cycling was proposed.

Unsustainable logging and illegal logging for domestic and international trade and trafficking continue to lead to deforestation. It is crucial that Sustainable Development Goal 15 ‘Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss’ is achieved to maintain the livelihoods of people and protect the planet. This is the case in Vietnam as well, where many people, including indigenous groups, rely on the forest for their survival. Drawing on semistructured interviews in Vietnam and a literature review, we investigate how the abuse of forest policies leads to human insecurity. From this, we propose solutions to (1) end unsustainable harvesting and illegal logging (SDG 15.7), (2) integrate the value of forests (culturally and economically) into national and local planning, the development process and poverty elimination strategies (SDG 15.9) and (3) improve the use of forest protection funding provided by international donors.

Increasing digitalization and the advent of Industry 4.0 were scrutinized on how these may influence SDG attainment in different levels. The digitalization of the business and operational models emerged as the newer source of attaining competitive advantage in the pre-COVID-19 context. The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly added more complexities to the already prevailing VUCA context of sustaining the business and development agenda irrespective of their geographic or institutional affiliations. Businesses in different industries, particularly in the developing countries, had lower or no preparedness in most cases in dealing with such uncertainties arising from the pandemic. Business firms and governments started to revise and digitalize their business models at the enterprise and institutional levels. To be very precise, MNCs in the fast-moving consumer goods industry in Bangladesh restructured their business model, at least the supply chain part, through direct and indirect digitalization of their business models, partly developing cooperation with existing e-commerce platforms. Volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous focused corporate leadership and strategy helped in halting drastic slipping on the SDG millstones for Bangladesh. Despite the prevalent COVID-19 context, Bangladesh graduated to the club of the developing countries by retaining eligibility position on the gross national income index, human assets index, and economic vulnerability index. This chapter attempts to establish theoretical structuration of the links between digitalization and transformation of the business models and handling the SDG challenges.

Digital marketing is becoming the dominant marketing communication method for companies and consumers around the world. The reason for this is due to the real time communication advantages that make it an effective marketing method. The aim of this chapter is to focus on how digital marketing relates to social entrepreneurship in Vietnam, thereby offering a new perspective on the role of social entrepreneurship in developing digital marketing techniques. This will contribute to the existing literature on digital marketing and social entrepreneurship by extending it to an emerging economy setting. Implications for practitioners and policymakers are given that highlight the need for more social enterprises to incorporate digital marketing techniques.

In the online environment, consumers increasingly feel vulnerable due to firms’ expanding capabilities of collecting and using their data in an unsanctioned manner. Drawing from gossip theory, this research focuses on two key suppressors of consumer vulnerability: transparency and control. Previous studies conceptualize transparency and control from rationalistic approaches that overlook individual experiences and present a unidimensional conceptualization. This research aims to understand how individuals interpret transparency and control concerning privacy vulnerability in the online environment. Additionally, it explores strategic approaches to communicating the value of transparency and control.

An interpretivism paradigm and phenomenology were adopted in the research design. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 41 participants, including consumers and experts, and analyzed through thematic analysis.

The findings identify key conceptual dimensions of transparency and control by adapting justice theory. They also reveal that firms can communicate assurance, functional, technical and social values of transparency and control to address consumer vulnerability.

This research makes the following contributions to the data privacy literature. The findings exhibit multidimensional and comprehensive conceptualizations of transparency and control, including user, firm and information perspectives. Additionally, the conceptual framework combines empirical insights from both experiencers and observers to offer an understanding of how transparency and control serve as justice mechanisms to effectively tackle the issue of unsanctioned transmission of personal information and subsequently address vulnerability. Lastly, the findings provide strategic approaches to communicating the value of transparency and control.

Although handloom is a significant source of livelihood for millions of people in India, it performs poorly compared to other sectors of the economy, which may be the root of technical inefficiency. Until now, to measure technical efficiency, no studies have been carried out; therefore, the purpose of this study is to estimate the technical efficiency in the handloom micro-enterprises in India.

This study includes 427 handloom micro-entrepreneurs from the Indian state of Assam. Using bootstrap truncated regression, the data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used to calculate the technical efficiency and identify the factors responsible for inefficiency.

The findings of this study reveal that handloom enterprises are 75% pure technically efficient, suggesting room for input reduction. The bootstrap truncated regression results show that education, prior experience, modern technology, ICT, bank loan, training, gender and location significantly influence the technical efficiency of handloom enterprises.

Despite recent advances in the DEA method, this study used a traditional form of DEA. This study used only one output and a limited set of inputs. Better results could have been obtained by expanding the number of inputs and output. Finally, the data for this study has been obtained from a very narrow geographic area. The production practices of the handloom enterprises in other parts of the region and other states might vary considerably.

Technical efficiency measurement has management implications for businesses because it allows entrepreneurs to determine how much less input is required to produce the same output. A meticulous analysis can pinpoint the causes of inefficiency.

This paper aims to make two significant contributions to the extant literature. First, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no published document has analyzed the technical efficiency of handloom micro-enterprises anywhere in the world. The authors fill this void by systematically analyzing the technical efficiency of the handloom industry in Assam.