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Through a critical review of the impact of luxury international business, this study aims to contribute to an understanding of business activities that depend on an unequal distribution of income and wealth.

Drawing on a wide range of academic and practitioner literature, this study adopts a critical luxury studies approach to provide an assessment of the economic and social impact of luxury international business.

Luxury is an increasingly important sector of the economy, which contributes to the welfare of increasing numbers of people across the world. Alongside its dependence on an unequal distribution of income and wealth and the negative aspects to which this gives rise, luxury business generates significant benefits to the economy and society through promoting economic growth, innovation, cultural enrichment, improved quality of the built environment and environmentally sustainable business practices. Nevertheless, an appropriate level of regulation and taxation on the excesses of contemporary luxury consumption could improve the welfare of all. Hence, luxury international business warrants investigation by critical scholars who recognize the complexity of the benefits and dark sides arising from luxury.

This study draws on an extensive review of academic and practitioner literature. However, primary research is required to investigate further the key issues identified.

Through an exploration of the impact of the production and consumption of luxury, this study reveals how luxury businesses serving the super-rich can contribute to the welfare of society whilst also giving rise to negative outcomes.

By adopting a critical luxury studies approach, this study offers an original contribution to the field of international business and introduces avenues for future critical international business research.

The primary purpose of the study is to examine the role of market power in driving innovation and productivity of intangible intensive firms of eight emerging economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN-8).

There is hardly any study on emerging economies that explored the causal chain of R&D–innovation–productivity, considering the role of market power in a structural model. Taking advantage of the availability of firm-level data and following the extended version of the Crépon, Duguet and Mairesse (CDM) model, we intend to fill the gap. The CDM model first explores the link between R&D and innovation, then the latter's impact on productivity. Besides, it captures sectoral heterogeneity and the differing roles of technological and institutional innovation on productivity.

The manufacturing firms that held a higher markup had a more significant contribution to driving innovation than services one. While institutional innovation affected productivity positively, technological innovation had the opposite impact. Nevertheless, firms' higher degree of monopoly, in general, worsened productivity outcomes. The estimated results are robust to a range of alterations.

The study offers implications for the competition policy of ASEAN.

The sample of this study accounts for almost half of the world's best-performing emerging economies. Thus, the findings are likely to contribute to the thin literature on market power's role in driving innovation and productivity in the intangible economy of emerging markets.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse econometrically determinants of total factor productivity (TFP) in Indian manufacturing plants with a focus on the influence of services input on productivity.

Plant-level data drawn from Annual Survey of Industries for the years 1998-1999 to 2012-2013 are used for the estimation of TFP at plant-level by applying the Levinsohn–Petrin methodology. Econometric models are estimated to explain variations in plant-level TFP. The explanatory variables used are services input intensity (split into manufacturing services purchased and other services), the share of information communication technology (ICT) assets in total fixed capital stock, the share of contract workers in total workers and the share of imported materials out of total materials used, with plant size taken as a control variable. Model estimation is done by applying the fixed effects model.

Econometric results indicate that services input and ICT intensity have a significant positive effect on productivity of manufacturing plants in India. Use of imported materials raises productivity, whereas the use of contract workers in place of regular workers tends to lower productivity. The impact of imported materials on TFP of manufacturing plants seems to be relatively bigger for labour-intensive, low technology industries.

Care has been taken for TFP measurement. Analysis of the impact of services input on TFP has been undertaken for Indian manufacturing using plant-level data for the first time.

While companies have increasingly encouraged employees to adopt a customer orientation, less attention has been given to the impact that customer orientation has on employees' job outcomes and performance. Previous research has used job demands-resource theory (JD-R) and proposed several mechanisms through which customer orientation influences performance, yet the intervening variables in the process have shown inconsistent results. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the contextual role of organizational justice on the relationship between customer orientation and performance through work engagement. In this way, offering more understanding of the contingent effects that intervene in the customer orientation–performance relationship.

Using a structural equation model (SEM) in a sample of 249 marketing, sales and management managers in Chilean companies, this paper tested different hypotheses concerning the role of work engagement, organizational justice and customer orientation in relation to perceived performance.

This study informs that organizational justice (procedural and distributive justice) moderates the relationship between customer orientation and performance through work engagement. Precisely, the findings reveal that at lower values of organizational justice, changes in customer orientation negatively influence work engagement and in turn performance.

The results contribute to strengthening customer orientation theory by integrating a contextual variable often omitted: organizational justice. By exploring the moderation effect of organizational justice on customer orientation, this paper reveals contingent effects of employees' perceived fairness on the organization in the relationship between customer orientation and performance through work engagement. The findings encourage managers to look after employees' perceived organizational justice when they implement customer-oriented approaches, in particular, of those employees who work in the frontline sales and service positions.

Mientras las empresas han incentivado la adopción de una orientación al cliente por parte de los empleados, menos atención se ha dado al impacto que la orientación al cliente tiene en los resultados laborales y el desempeño. Investigación previa ha usado la teoría de Demandas y Recursos del Trabajo (Job Demands-Resource Theory en inglés) y propuesto varios mecanismos a través de los cuales la orientación al cliente tiene un efecto en el desempeño, no obstante las variables que intervienen en el proceso han mostrado resultados inconsistentes. Por tanto, este estudio tiene por objetivo investigar el rol contextual de justicia organizacional en la relación entre orientación al cliente y performance a través del compromiso organizacional. De esta manera, ofrecer mayor entendimiento de los efectos contingentes que intervienen la relación orientación al cliente-desempeño.

Usando un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales en una muestra de 249 ejecutivos de marketing, ventas y negocios en compañías chilenas, este estudio evalúa diferentes hipótesis respecto al rol del compromiso organizacional, justicia organizacional, y orientación al cliente en relación a la percepción del desempeño organizacional.

Este estudio demuestra que la justicia organizacional (como justicia distributiva y procedural) modera la relación entre orientación al cliente y desempeño a través del compromiso organizacional. Precisamente, los resultados revelan que a menores valores de justicia organizacional, cambios en la orientación al cliente influencian negativamente el compromiso organizacional y a su vez el desempeño.

Los resultados contribuyen a fortalecer la teoría de Orientación al Valor del Cliente integrando una variable contextual que a menudo ha sido omitida: Justicia organizacional. Explorando la moderación de la justicia organizacional en la orientación al cliente, esta investigación revela efectos contingentes de la percepción de justicia de los empleados en la organización en la relación entre orientación al cliente y el desempeño percibido a través del compromiso organizacional. Estos hallazgos invitan a los gerentes a preocuparse por la percepción de justicia de los empleados cuando deciden implementar la orientación al cliente en especial con quiénes trabajan en la provisión de servicios y atención a clientes.

Looks at how hot melt adhesives (HMAs) can be used in product assembly and the white goods market in particular, e.g. washing‐machines, freezers, fridges, etc. because of the need for permanent or temporary bonds, gap seals and hole plugging. Concludes that HMAs are likely to be used more and more in related fields.

The objectives of this study were to determine: the type of coating that minimized pipe surface roughness and how the choice of metrological instrument could influence pipe surface roughness data. The internal surface of pipe was coated with either phenolic, modified novalac, epoxy, or nylon material. Roughness of coated pipe was assessed with two linear surface profilers, a Dektak³ST^® and a Hommel T1000, and a Dimension 3000^® atomic force microscope (AFM). Arithmetic roughness (R_a), root mean square roughness (R_q), and mean peak‐to‐valley height (R_ZD), were statistically analyzed. The ability of R_ZD to focus on the extremes of height and depth on the surface made it a significant parameter for detecting features that would affect fluid flow in pipes.

Non‐recovery of wool Futon padding was investigated by compression and creep tests. Simulation tests are also carried out to use the minuter model Futon. Fibre crimp was found to be an important parameter to be considered in the non‐recovery of Futon. Futon padding which consists of crimpy fibre has large apparent fibre density and shows less reduction of thickness compared with those made from uncrimpy fibres. The moisture inside and outside the Futon has a large influence on the recovery process.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the validation of the usefulness of cooling systems containing Peltier modules for cooling power devices based on measurements of the influence of selected factors on the value of thermal resistance of such a cooling system.

A cooling system containing a heat-sink, a Peltier module and a fan was built by the authors and the measurements of temperatures and thermal resistance in various supply conditions of the Peltier module and the fan were carried out and discussed.

Conclusions from the research carried out answer the question if the use of Peltier modules in active cooling systems provides any benefits comparing with cooling systems containing just passive heat-sinks or conventional active heat-sinks constructed of a heat-sink and a fan.

The research carried out is the preliminary stage to asses if a compact thermal model of the investigated cooling system can be formulated.

In the paper, the original results of measurements and calculations of parameters of a cooling system containing a Peltier module and an active heat-sink are presented and discussed. An influence of power dissipated in the components of the cooling system on its efficiency is investigated.

The production of these passive components by Chemical Milling is becoming more common. The author discusses artwork generation, etch allowances, phototooling, types of materials, identification number and logo markings on and in the surface, the pros and cons of step etching and prepreg cutters, and concludes by considering normal tolerance inspection requirements and packing.