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This paper examines the relationship between a prime contractor's financial health and its mergers and acquisitions (M&A) spending in the defense industry. It aims to provide models that give the United States Department of Defense (DoD) indications of future M&A activity, informing decision-makers and contributing to ensuring competitive markets that benefit the consumer.

The study uses panel data regression models on 40 companies between 1985 and 2021. The company's financial health is assessed using industry-standard financial ratios (i.e. measures of profitability, efficiency, solvency and liquidity) while controlling for economic factors such as national productivity, defense budgets and firm size.

The results show a significant relationship between efficiency and M&A spending, indicating that companies with lower efficiency tend to spend more on M&As. However, there was no significant relationship between M&A spending and a company's profitability or solvency. These results were consistent with previous research and the study's hypotheses for profitability and solvency. However, the effect of liquidity was the opposite of the expected result, possibly due to the defense industry's different view on liquidity compared to previous research.

The paper provides insights into the relationship between a prime contractor's financial health and its M&A spending, a topic with limited research. The findings can inform policymakers and regulators on the industrial base's future M&A activity, ensuring competitive markets that benefit the consumer.

Researchers, business professionals, and policymakers are now focusing on how disruptive innovations affect markets and business performance in the quickly changing business landscape of today. This study investigates the complexity of disruptive innovations and how they alter established organizational strategies and market structures. The study explores the core traits of disruptive innovations and looks at how they upend established business models and alter the structure of entire industries. This study employs a comprehensive literature review to identify the primary motivators behind disruptive innovations and their diverse impacts on market dynamics. It looks into how disruptive change is sparked by evolving consumer behavior, flexible business models, and emerging technologies. Additionally, research examines how businesses use internal reorganizations and strategic alliances among other tactics to capitalize on and adjust to disruptive innovations. It also examines how market leaders deal with these difficulties in an effort to stay competitive, shedding light on the possible risks and uncertainties related to disruptive innovations. It also highlights how crucial it is for organizations to have innovative cultures and proactive adaptation in order to prosper in a time of swift technological advancements.

The purpose of this paper is to examine competence management practices in Brazilian industries using ISO 10015 as a framework of analysis, which establishes guidelines for competence management and people development.

A survey was conducted with 22 high-qualified human resources management (HRM) professionals (81.8% of participants hold a PhD) with extensive experience in the Brazilian industrial sector (an average of 20.4 years). The experts assessed 13 practices (P) elaborated based on the ISO 10015:2020, considering two categories: large industries (LI) and small and medium-sized industries (SMI). Data analysis was performed using Hierarchical Cluster Analysis, frequency analysis, Fuzzy TOPSIS and sensitivity analysis.

The practice “individual competences are correctly defined by organizations at all hierarchical levels” was deemed the best practice for LIs, while the practice “clear definition of activities and their specificities when structuring competence management and people development programs” was considered the best practice for SMIs. The practice “organizations map employees' future competence and development needs on a regular basis” received the lowest rating for both LIs and SMIs. When compared to LIs, SMIs have more severe deficiencies in applying competence management practices. The study's findings can be of great value in assisting managers in implementing structured competence management systems and people development initiatives.

The findings of this study can be used by managers of businesses of all sizes and economic sectors to analyze their critical points in order to identify opportunities to improve their competence management systems and people development programs.

This study fills a knowledge gap by analyzing the adoption of competence management practices in Brazil, answering the call for HRM research in developing countries. By using ISO 10015 as a framework of analysis, this study also addresses the literature gap regarding this important and relatively new management tool.

This paper aims to comprehensively explore techniques for reducing solution time in finite element analysis (FEA), addressing the critical need for expediting computations to facilitate agile design exploration within project timelines.

Drawing from a wide array of literature sources, this paper synthesizes and analyzes various methodologies used to enhance the efficiency of FEA. Techniques are scrutinized in terms of their applicability, effectiveness and potential limitations.

The review signifies application of linear assumptions across multiple facets of analysis and delves into matrix order reduction strategies, geometry simplification, symmetry exploitation, submodeling and mesh attribute control. It reveals how these techniques can effectively reduce computational burdens while maintaining acceptable levels of accuracy.

While this review provides a comprehensive overview of existing efficiency enhancement techniques in FEA, it acknowledges inherent limitations of any synthesis-based study. Future research should focus on refining these methodologies.

The insights provided in this paper offer practical guidance for structural engineers and researchers seeking to optimize FEA workflows. By implementing these techniques, practitioners can expedite solution times and enhance their ability to explore design alternatives efficiently ultimately leading to cost savings and more robust structures.

This review contributes to the existing literature by offering a comprehensive synthesis of efficiency enhancement techniques in FEA. By highlighting the originality and value of each discussed methodology, this paper provides a roadmap for future research and practical implementation in the field of structural engineering.

Sustainability and accessibility of education are the main purposes of educational institutions. Higher education institutions (HEIs) have been addressing these concerns through their distance education departments for years. Especially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, HEIs encountered challenges related to productivity, escalating costs and decreasing user satisfaction with distance education. This study proposes the integration of new and suitable information technologies (ITs) into the steps of lean management (LM) implementation. It suggests that this approach will be highly effective and beneficial, providing solutions to the problems above in higher education (HE) field. The study aims to highlight the effectiveness and benefits of incorporating new and suitable ITs into the application stages of LM principles. Sample applications in HE will be provided to enhance understanding.

A model is introduced for researching new ITs and incorporating appropriate ones in the application steps of LM. This model has been applied and analyzed in two case studies at Gazi University for a more comprehensive understanding.

When examining periodic surveys and usage statistics from case studies, it becomes evident that implementing LM with the support of ITs reduces waste and enhances the quality of existing work. The success observed in the case studies was notably influenced by managers’ proficiency in business processes, experience in ITs, managerial skills and support from senior management.

This case study provides a roadmap and step-by-step implementation of LM with IT support for HEIs. The implementation process and results will also be guiding for other sectors.

There is a notable absence of significant studies on integrating ITs, which have become crucial in today’s context in the stages of LM implementation. This study is envisioned as a pioneering endeavor to address this gap in the literature. Notably, challenges exist in applying LM principles outside production sectors, and limited research has been conducted. This study aims to pave the way for further research in diverse fields by conducting a comprehensive case study in the realm of HE.

This paper aims to report the effect of titanium oxide (TiO₂) particles on the physical, mechanical, tribological and water resistance properties of 5% NaOH-treated bamboo fiber–reinforced composites.

In this research, the epoxy/bamboo/TiO₂ hybrid composite filled with 0–8 Wt.% TiO₂ particles has been fabricated using simple hand layup techniques, and testing of the developed composite was done in accordance with the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard.

The results of this study indicate that the addition of TiO₂ particles improved the mechanical properties of the developed epoxy/bamboo composites. Tensile properties were found to be maximum for 6 Wt.%, and impact strength was found to be maximum for 8 Wt.% TiO₂ particles-filled composite. The highest flexural properties were found at a lower TiO₂ fraction of 2 Wt.%. Adding TiO₂ filler helped to reduce the water absorption rate. The studies related to the wear and friction behavior of the composite under dry and abrasive wear conditions reveal that TiO₂ filler was beneficial in improving the wear performance of the composite.

This research paper attempts to include both TiO₂ filler and bamboo fibers to develop a novel composite material. TiO₂ micro and nanoparticles are promising filler materials; it helps to enhance the mechanical and tribological properties of the epoxy composites and in literature, there is not much work reported, where TiO₂ is used as a filler material with bamboo fiber–reinforced epoxy composites.