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In a study of merger-evoked cultural change in three organizations, quantitative and qualitative data were collected from individuals at all employment levels in both merger partners within each organization. Results were that most individuals perceived that the merger had impacted significantly on them personally. There was, however, a perceived lack of congruence between the organizational cultures of merging partners, resulting in culture clashes and significant changes to the organizations’ organizational cultures. More specifically, outcomes for both individuals and the subsequent acculturation following the mergers were related to the approach adopted to manage the merger process: incremental, immediate, or indifferent.

THE best description of this Indicator is published on a large folio four‐page statement written by Mr. John Maclauchlan, Chief Librarian of the Dundee Free Library, and issued on September 22nd, 1879. This sheet is headed, “ Description and Method of using Kennedy's Indicator, invented for the Dundee Free Library in January, 1875, and constantly used therein since July of that year” and contains illustrations of the counter and details of the construction of the Indicator. The following description is abstracted from it:—“This contrivance consists of a series of upright glazed frames so placed as to be easily inspected by the public at the front, or glazed side, and by the library attendants at the back. … Each frame is divided into twenty vertical columns by slips of mahogany, and each of these slips is again sub‐divided into 100 sloping slits by pieces of stiff millboard [now zinc], tightly held in saw cuts made in the sides of the mahogany slips … As the lower edge of each piece of millboard is a little above that of the next one below it, sufficient space is visible of their lower ends in front, and of their upper ends at the back of the Indicator, to receive the catalogue number of each book in the library, printed in bold figures and pasted at the end of the millboard [zinc] strips with strong paste.” Each borrower is provided with a ticket measuring 5⅜ inches by 1 inch, ruled as follows :—

The carbon/carbon (C/C) composite finger seal experiment was performed on a high-speed seal tester. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the leakage and wear characteristics of C/C composite finger seal under various operating conditions.

Static, dynamic, endurance and post endurance tests were carried out. For static and performance tests, the pressure differential changed from 0.1 to 0.6 MPa and the rotor speed varied from 1,000 to 9,000 r/min. Two endurance tests were conducted for 4 h, with each mounting two finger seals. The seal leakage was monitored by mass flowmeters, and the wear depth was measured and calculated by using three-dimensional profilometer.

Results showed that the seal leakage increases with pressure differential but decreases with rotor speed. Leakage rate is lower when speed is decelerated than that with the speed stepped up. During a time history, material removal caused by wear has significant influence on leakage data causing higher leakage than the results before endurance test. Particular interest is that the uneven wear characteristic on finger foot bottom was firstly revealed, showing severe wear in foot heel area than that in foot toe.

This study could provide experimental guidance for finger seal designers. Additionally, the uneven wear characteristic of finger foot was firstly revealed, which showed the necessity of further theoretical research on finger seal wear.

The purpose of this study, most recent advancements in threedimensional (3D) printing have focused on the fabrication of components. It is typical to use different print settings, such as raster angle, infill and orientation to improve the 3D component qualities while fabricating the sample using a 3D printer. However, the influence of these factors on the characteristics of the 3D parts has not been well explored. Owing to the effect of the different print parameters in fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology, it is necessary to evaluate the strength of the parts manufactured using 3D printing technology.

In this study, the effect of three print parameters − raster angle, build orientation and infill − on the tensile characteristics of 3D-printed components made of three distinct materials − acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA), polycarbonate ABS (PC-ABS) and ULTEM-9085 − was investigated. A variety of test items were created using a commercially accessible 3D printer in various configurations, including raster angle (0°, 45°), (0°, 90°), (45°, −45°), (45°, 90°), infill density (solid, sparse, sparse double dense) and orientation (flat, on-edge).

The outcome shows that variations in tensile strength and force are brought on by the effects of various printing conditions. In all possible combinations of the print settings, ULTEM 9085 material has a higher tensile strength than ASA and PC-ABS materials. ULTEM 9085 material’s on-edge orientation, sparse infill, and raster angle of (0°, −45°) resulted in the greatest overall tensile strength of 73.72 MPa. The highest load-bearing strength of ULTEM material was attained with the same procedure, measuring at 2,932 N. The tensile strength of the materials is higher in the on-edge orientation than in the flat orientation. The tensile strength of all three materials is highest for solid infill with a flat orientation and a raster angle of (45°, −45°). All three materials show higher tensile strength with a raster angle of (45°, −45°) compared to other angles. The sparse double-dense material promotes stronger tensile properties than sparse infill. Thus, the strength of additive components is influenced by the combination of selected print parameters. As a result, these factors interact with one another to produce a high-quality product.

The outcomes of this study can serve as a reference point for researchers, manufacturers and users of 3D-printed polymer material (PC-ABS, ASA, ULTEM 9085) components seeking to optimize FDM printing parameters for tensile strength and/or identify materials suitable for intended tensile characteristics.

The purpose of this chapter is to describe the practices being implemented within the doctorate for Educational Leadership for Social Justice (Ed.D.) program at Loyola Marymount University. Furthermore, the chapter shares data from a qualitative method of inquiry to assess the program's efficacy. The goal of the program is to produce leaders who can advocate for social justice in educational settings, implement theory into practice, and lead to facilitate transformation in the field of education. The foundational elements of the program include a cohort model, a rigorous curriculum, supportive structures, and the culminating dissertation. Data from program graduates and their supervisors suggest that students are transformed in the program to respect, educate, advocate, and lead educational settings.

This paper aims to propose a new framework on prioritizing and deployment of design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) strategies to an industrial component using Fuzzy TOPSIS multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques. The proposed framework is then applied to an automotive component, and the results are discussed and compared with existing design.

Eight DfAM design alternatives associated with eight design criteria have been identified for framing new DfAM strategies. The prioritization order of the design alternatives is identified by Fuzzy TOPSIS MCDM technique through its closeness coefficient. Based on Fuzzy TOPSIS MCDM output, each of the design alternatives is applied sequentially to an automobile component as a case study. Redesign is carried out at each stage of DfAM implementation without affecting the functionality.

On successful implementation of proposed framework to an automotive component, the mass is reduced by 43.84%, from 0.429 kg to 0.241 kg. The redesign is validated by finite element analysis, where von Mises stress is less than the yield stress of the material.

The proposed DfAM framework and strategies will be useful to designers, R&D engineers, industrial practitioners, experts and consultants for implementing DfAM strategies on any industrial component without impacting its functionality.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the idea of prioritization and implementation of DfAM strategies to an automotive component is the original contribution.

The Government of Malaysia has developed an Islamic Interbank Money Market since January 1994 with the objective to facilitate funding for the Islamic banking sector in the country. This platform also enables Islamic banks to obtain Sharīʿah-compliant funds from other Islamic banks. This study aims to examine the effects of interbank investment and financing risk on the financing decisions of Malaysia’s Islamic banks between 1994 and 2015. The financing decisions are used as financing measures to determine the effect of investing in the interbank market and financing risk indicators on financing.

The descriptive, correlation and dynamic panel analysis results are derived with the help of LIMDEP 9.0 software.

The study found a negative relationship between the interbank investment variable with the financing decisions of Islamic banks. This reflects that an increase in interbank investment leads Islamic banks to reduce their level of financing. These findings prove that the investment activities between Islamic banks had a “substitution effect” and decreased their capability of financing because of their tendency to maintain liquidity.

Islamic banks are confident that they will generate higher profits in the coming financial year. The economic conditions of Malaysia do not influence Islamic banks’ financing decisions, whereas Islamic banks in this study are more dependent on the balance sheet indicators.

Quantifying and controlling the quality characteristics of parts produced by additive manufacturing (AM) processes has attracted significant interest in the research community. However, to increase the sustainability of AM processes, such quality characteristics need to be assessed together with life cycle performance of AM processes such as energy and material consumption and manufacturing cost. Although a few studies have been performed for several quality characteristics, i.e. surface roughness and tensile strength, the relationship between dimensional performance and manufacturing cost is still not well known for AM processes.

In this paper, a comprehensive study of the dimensional performance and manufacturing cost of fused deposition modeling AM process is performed. Design of experiment technique is used, and the correlation of different cost components and the dimensional accuracy of parts are statistically studied.

The optimum process parameters for simultaneously optimizing the dimensional performance and manufacturing cost are identified. The analysis shows that as opposed to traditional manufacturing processes, obtaining a better dimensional performance is not necessarily associated with higher cost in the AM processes.

Almost no study and analysis for the combined dimensional performance and manufacturing cost has been performed for AM processes in the literature. It is known that within the context of traditional manufacturing processes, a natural trade-off governs the pursuit of higher dimensional performance and the manufacturing cost. However, as the AM process has a different nature compared with traditional manufacturing processes, the relationship between manufacturing cost and dimensional performance of parts has to be studied. Understanding this relationship will also help to establish a cost-optimal and sustainable tolerance allocation strategy in assemblies with AM components.