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Engagement is a construct that varies according to the subject, object and context; this has been used to justify the coexistence of a variety of construct definitions and scales. Instead of proposing a new scale, this paper aims to create a procedure for comparing scales and to use it to evaluate brand engagement measures in social media.

This study first defines a procedure for the selection, standardization and comparison of scales; this procedure considers both the classical test theory (CTT) and item response theory (IRT). The authors apply the procedure in a survey of 233 respondents to compare three scales for measuring consumer engagement with brands in social media.

The establishment of a procedure for scale comparison is useful in assisting researchers to choose specific measures. Results showed that the three scales have similar characteristics, but Vivek et al.’s (2014) scale is recommended when better discrimination between construct dimensions is required, Hollebeek et al.’s (2014) scale could be used as a one-dimensional scale and Dessart et al.’s (2016) reduced scale has better ability to capture information for the affective and cognitive dimensions. None of the scales were very efficient in discriminating weakly and strongly engaged individuals.

This study makes a substantive contribution by proposing a procedure for scale comparison that considers CTT and IRT and shows the advantages, limitations and recommendations for using three different scales of consumer engagement.

Open innovation breadth (OIB) considers the diversity of external collaboration partners for innovation. The authors investigate the moderating effect of OIB on the relationship between industrial innovation activities (innovation inputs) and industrial innovation results (innovation outputs).

This study is based on secondary data from the Brazilian innovation survey, representing more than 30,000 innovative companies across 55 industrial sectors.

This study’s results show that OIB has different moderating effects regarding the several innovation input–output relationships. While OIB benefits some relationships, others are hampered by the diversity of collaboration partners.

Few studies have addressed OIB at the macro level. Using the perspective of transaction cost economics (TCE), the authors discuss the contributions and limitations of OIB at the industry level.

The provision of Industry 4.0 solutions demands a vast range of technology domains. To provide these solutions, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may need the support of different supply chain actors through an inbound open innovation strategy. The authors study the contribution of four types of supply chain actors for inbound open innovation: suppliers, competitors with complementary technologies, R&D centers and customers. The authors analyze how these four actors moderate the effect of integrated Industry 4.0 solutions on three main competitive strategies: cost, focalization and differentiation.

The authors conducted a survey on 77 SMEs from the automation sector, using OLS regression with moderating effects. They considered the integration of 15 technologies and 7 classic automation activities in the provision of Industry 4.0 solutions. The authors also studied three competitive outputs – technology cost reduction (cost), customer loyalty (focalization) and technology innovation (differentiation) – as well as four supply chain actors (moderators).

Expanding the provision of Industry 4.0 technologies increases customer loyalty and technology innovation. Collaboration with competitors (complementary technologies) leverage these results and reduce technology costs. Integration between customers and R&D centers elevates costs but R&D centers can foster long-run innovation.

This study is the first to empirically investigate inbound open innovation in the supply chain for technology development in the context of Industry 4.0. The authors discuss how these actors contribute to four inbound open innovation activities: technology scouting; horizontal technology collaboration; vertical technology collaboration; and technology sourcing.

Choosing the best bid is a central step in any tendering process. If the award criterion is the economically most advantageous tender (EMAT), this involves scoring bids on price and quality and ranking them. Scores are calculated using a bid evaluation formula that takes as inputs price and quality, and their respective weights. The choice of formula critically affects which bid wins. We study 38 such formulas and discuss several of their aspects, such as how much the outcome of a tender depends on which formula is being used, relative versus absolute scoring, ranking paradox, iso-utility curves, protection against a winner with an extremely high price, and how a formula reflects the weights of price and quality. Based on these analyses, we summarize the (dis)advantages and risks of certain formulas and provide associated warnings when applying certain formulas in practice.

Rapid tooling (RT) integrated with additive manufacturing technologies have been implemented in various sectors of the RT industry in recent years with various kinds of prototype applications, especially in the development of new products. The purpose of this study is to analyze the current application trends of RT techniques in producing hybrid mold inserts.

The direct and indirect RT techniques discussed in this paper are aimed at developing a hybrid mold insert using metal epoxy composite (MEC) in increasing the speed of tooling development and performance. An extensive review of the suitable development approach of hybrid mold inserts, material preparation and filler effect on physical and mechanical properties has been conducted.

Latest research studies indicate that it is possible to develop a hybrid material through the combination of different shapes/sizes of filler particles and it is expected to improve the compressive strength, thermal conductivity and consequently increasing the hybrid mold performance (cooling time and a number of molding cycles).

The number of research studies on RT for hybrid mold inserts is still lacking as compared to research studies on conventional manufacturing technology. One of the significant limitations is on the ways to improve physical and mechanical properties due to the limited type, size and shape of materials that are currently available.

This review presents the related information and highlights the current gaps related to this field of study. In addition, it appraises the new formulation of MEC materials for the hybrid mold inserts in injection molding application and RT for non-metal products.

The single-most important parameter of a public procurement system is the threshold above which the framework applies. The optimization problem consists of finding a reasonable trade-off between the gains from public procurement and the administrative costs associated with procurement rules. In the present study, based on a sample of central and local government procurement operations in Sweden, an optimal threshold value in the range of 5,000—6,000 EUR is computed based on the requirement that the average gain should supersede the average cost. If a larger proportion of procurements is required to gain from the regulation imposed, a threshold value of 20,000—25,000 EUR should apply. The general conclusion is that there are strong arguments for maintaining procurement rules below the European Union threshold.

This paper examines operating performance and corporate governance of 181 companies over the period 2003- 2008 (563 firm-year observations), whose customers are governmental agencies, and contrasts their performance to that of companies that have no governmental customers. The sample firms are classified into firms whose customers are (1) domestic governmental agencies, (2) foreign governmental agencies, (3) state governmental agencies, or (4) different combinations of the 3 types. The results show that firms that supply domestic and/or foreign government customers have significantly higher operating income, profit margin and return on asset and lower operating expenses than firms that supply state government customers and than their matched industry peers who do not supply any government customers. These government-supplier firms have lower managerial ownership than their industry peers which suggests potential room for agency problems to develop. Firms that supply domestic and/or foreign government customers have significantly lower executive compensation than firms that supply state government customers and than their matched industry peers.

The “most economically advantageous tender,” as defined in the EUʼs public procurement directives, allows public purchasers to combine environmental aspects, price and other award criteria in decision making. The directives do not, however, determine how the environmental criteria should be built. Indeed, there could be different means to assess the “greenness” of competing tenders, and these various measurements of environmental impacts may lead to different assessments of the most economically advantageous tender. In this article, the determination of environmental award criteria is examined through a case study on a purchase of a goods transportation service, where the most economically advantageous tender is calculated by life cycle assessment and the environmental cost calculation method suggested by the EU, and compared to the results gained by the purchaserʼs equation. Also the contribution of the weighting for the “green” purchasing decision is discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to propose and test a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach based on an additive value function (AVF) to select the most economically advantageous tender under European Union public procurement regulations.

A case study in which the AVF tender evaluation model is constructed by the procurement personnel and the results of the original, real-life public procurement evaluation model are compared to those discovered by the MCDA approach.

The AVF model captures the preferences of the procurement authority in a more reliable and transparent manner than commonly used evaluation models based on scoring formulas.

While commonly used in public procurement, relative scoring formulas can neither present the preferences of a procurement unit accurately nor do they enable bidders to draft bids according to these preferences. The proposed MCDA approach can achieve both.

The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, the successful construction of the AVF model with procurement personnel is introduced. Second, the model is used in an actual, real-life case. Third, a thoughtful comparison of features, structures and results of the AVF model and the evaluation model using scoring formulas is presented.

The aim of this study is to demonstrate the benefit of design flexibility afforded by the Arcam free‐form fabrication process in the direct manufacture of injection mould inserts with complex cooling channel configurations and the process efficiency and quality gains achieved through using such inserts.

The manufacturing process of a flood cooled injection mould insert using the Arcam EBM S12 layered manufacturing process is presented. The insert is then evaluated against two other inserts (one un‐cooled and one traditionally baffle cooled (BC)) in the manufacture of test components, with the temperature of the insert and components recorded. The process conditions were adjusted (reduced cooling time) to increase the core and component temperatures to identify the operational limits of the inserts. Thermal imaging was employed to visualize the thermal distribution within the BC and flood cooled (FC) inserts.

The cooling efficiency of the FC insert was found to be significantly higher than that of the other two inserts, and the homogeneity of the heat distribution of the FC insert was more even than the BC insert. It was possible to manufacture non‐deformed components using the FC insert with zero cooling time (ejection immediately after removal of holding pressure), this was not possible with the BC insert.

Provides a basis for the development of more efficient and thermally homogeneous inserts through the Arcam EBM process.

Provides a technology/process for the manufacture of highly efficient core inserts for injection moulding, offering the industry a competitive advantage through the potential for time and cost savings and higher quality components.

This is the first direct comparison of an Arcam EBM manufactured insert with complex cooling geometries against traditionally cooled inserts, particularly novel is the thermal imaging analysis of the cooling efficiency and distribution.