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Article
Publication date: 27 July 2022

Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh

The benefits gained from the implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) are not consistent across related studies. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to use the…

Abstract

Purpose

The benefits gained from the implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) are not consistent across related studies. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to use the threshold model to explain this problem and further recognize the gains and losses of Taiwan’s commercial banks in participating in CSR.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses the data of listed banks during the period of 2008–2020 and applies the multi-threshold regression model for designing the model with debt ratio as a threshold variable. These thresholds are used to classify the data into three regimes; low, medium and high debt ratios for examining how banks’ participation in social responsibility affects their financial performance, costs and depositors' confidence.

Findings

The implementation of CSR can enable the low debt banks to reduce costs and generate positive effects on the growth of profitability and time deposits. Conversely, the commitment to CSR of the bank group with medium and high debt ratios negatively affects their profits, and their costs increase insignificantly. Besides, the depositors' confidence in bank groups with low and moderate debt ratios increase, but those of high debt ratio group decrease.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the existent literature in several ways: first, the nonlinear model is applied to eliminate the asymmetric of the data. Second, this paper highlights the importance of debt ratio in assessing the effectiveness of CSR engagement. Third, quality of loans is the key factor determining the bank's profitability and expenses. Fourth, depositors' confidence in commercial banks is lower when their debt ratio is too high.

Details

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. 19 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 June 2023

Sou-Sen Leu, Kuang-Jen Huang, Cathy Chang-Wei Hung and Pei-Lin Wu

In recent years, cost overrun becomes a common problem in steel building construction projects. The average percentage can vary widely depending on the project type, size…

Abstract

Purpose

In recent years, cost overrun becomes a common problem in steel building construction projects. The average percentage can vary widely depending on the project type, size, complexity and location. The steel structure change ratio in Taiwan is from 1 to 18% in statistics. The contractors always put every possible effort into preventing or mitigating project cost overruns, and one of the approaches is an accurate cost overrun risk estimate. Traditional project cost overrun risk assessment models mainly focus on macro-level evaluation and may not function well for the project-specific level (micro-level). This study creates a network-like connection model between the outcome (i.e. cost overrun risk) and the associated root causes in which the project status evaluation checklists of design, manufacturing, construction and interfaces are used to evaluate the checklists' influences through the Bayesian network (BN) composed by intermediate causes.

Design/methodology/approach

Due to the constraint of data availability, BN nodes, relationships and conditional probabilities are defined to establish a BN-based steel building project cost overrun assessment model following the knowledge of experts. Because of the complexity of the BN, the construction of the BN structure is first to build BN's fault tree (FT) hierarchy. And then, basic BN framework is constructed by the transformation of the FT hierarchy. Furthermore, some worthwhile additional arcs among BN nodes are inserted if necessary. Furthermore, conditional probability tables (CPTs) among BN nodes are explored by experts following the concept of the ranked node. Finally, the BN-based model was validated against the final cost analysis reports of 15 steel building projects done in Taiwan and both were highly consistent. The overall BN-based model construction process consists of three steps: (1) FT construction and BN framework transformation, (2) CPT computation and (3) model validation.

Findings

This study established a network-like bridge model between the outcome (i.e. cost overrun risk) and the root causes in a network of which cost influences are evaluated through the project-specific status evaluation checklists of design, manufacturing, construction and interfaces. This study overcame several limitations of the previous cost overrun risk assessment models: (1) few past research support assessment of cost overrun based on real-time project-owned data and (2) the traditional causal models inadequately depict interdependencies among influence factors of cost overrun at the network. The main influence factors of the cost overrun risk at the steel building projects in Taiwan were also examined using sensitivity analysis. The main root causes of cost overrun in steel building projects are design management and interface integration.

Originality/value

The proposed model belongs to the project-specific causal assessment model using real-time project-owned status checklist data as input. Such a model was seldom surveyed in the past due to the complicated interdependence among causes in the network. For practical use, a convenient and simple regression equation was also developed to forecast the cost overrun risk of the steel building project based on the root causes as input. Based on the analysis of cost overrun risk and significant influence factors, proper tailor-made preventive strategies are established to reduce the occurrence of cost overrun at the project.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 February 2023

Vipin Gupta, Rajesh Kumar, Rajneesh Kumar and M.S. Barak

This paper aims to study the energy ratios of plane waves on an interface of nonlocal thermoelastic halfspace (NTS) and nonlocal orthotropic piezothermoelastic half-space (NOPS).

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to study the energy ratios of plane waves on an interface of nonlocal thermoelastic halfspace (NTS) and nonlocal orthotropic piezothermoelastic half-space (NOPS).

Design/methodology/approach

The memory-dependent derivatives (MDDs) approach with a hyperbolic two-temperature (HTT), three-phase lag theory is used here to study how the energy ratios change at the interface with the angle of incidence.

Findings

Plane waves that travel through NTS and hit the interface as a longitudinal wave, a thermal wave, or a transversal wave send four waves into the NOPS medium and three waves back into the NTS medium. The amplitude ratios of the different waves that are reflected and transmitted are used to calculate the energy ratios of the waves. It is observed that these ratios are affected by the HTT, nonlocal and MDD parameters.

Research limitations/implications

The energy ratios correspond to four distinct models; nonlocal HTT with memory, nonlocal HTT without memory, local HTT with memory and nonlocal classical-two-temperature with memory concerning the angle of incidence from 0 degree to 90 degree.

Practical implications

This model applies to several fields, including earthquake engineering, soil dynamics, high-energy particle physics, nuclear fusion, aeronautics and other fields where nonlocality, MDD and conductive temperature play an important role.

Originality/value

The authors produced the submitted document entirely on their initiative, with equal contributions from all of them.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 33 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 8 November 2023

Armando Di Meglio, Nicola Massarotti, Samuel Rolland and Perumal Nithiarasu

This study aims to analyse the non-linear losses of a porous media (stack) composed by parallel plates and inserted in a resonator tube in oscillatory flows by proposing numerical…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to analyse the non-linear losses of a porous media (stack) composed by parallel plates and inserted in a resonator tube in oscillatory flows by proposing numerical correlations between pressure gradient and velocity.

Design/methodology/approach

The numerical correlations origin from computational fluid dynamics simulations, conducted at the microscopic scale, in which three fluid channels representing the porous media are taken into account. More specifically, for a specific frequency and stack porosity, the oscillating pressure input is varied, and the velocity and the pressure-drop are post-processed in the frequency domain (Fast Fourier Transform analysis).

Findings

It emerges that the viscous component of pressure drop follows a quadratic trend with respect to velocity inside the stack, while the inertial component is linear also at high-velocity regimes. Furthermore, the non-linear coefficient b of the correlation ax + bx2 (related to the Forchheimer coefficient) is discovered to be dependent on frequency. The largest value of the b is found at low frequencies as the fluid particle displacement is comparable to the stack length. Furthermore, the lower the porosity the higher the Forchheimer term because the velocity gradients at the stack geometrical discontinuities are more pronounced.

Originality/value

The main novelty of this work is that, for the first time, non-linear losses of a parallel plate stack are investigated from a macroscopic point of view and summarised into a non-linear correlation, similar to the steady-state and well-known Darcy–Forchheimer law. The main difference is that it considers the frequency dependence of both Darcy and Forchheimer terms. The results can be used to enhance the analysis and design of thermoacoustic devices, which use the kind of stacks studied in the present work.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 34 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 April 2023

Hengjie Xu, Yinggang Yue, Pengyun Song, Wenyuan Mao, Qiangguo Deng and Xuejian Sun

This study aims to acquire the influence mechanism of gas film adaptive adjustment (GFAA) acted on the dynamic characteristics of spiral groove dry gas seal (S-DGS) and then…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to acquire the influence mechanism of gas film adaptive adjustment (GFAA) acted on the dynamic characteristics of spiral groove dry gas seal (S-DGS) and then propose a sealing stability enhancement measure.

Design/methodology/approach

The gas film dynamic stiffness and damping of S-DGS are obtained by numerically solving the transient Reynolds equation based on perturbation method and finite difference method. The dynamic coefficients in GFAA model and constant gas film thickness (CGFT) model are compared and analyzed.

Findings

There is the risk to misestimate the instability of DGS with rotational speed or medium pressure grows under the condition of CGFT assumption. Based on GFAA model, increasing balance ratio B properly is an effective measure to improve the stability of DGS. The balance ratio can stimulate the sensitivity of gas film dynamic coefficients to the variation of rotational speed. Increasing medium pressure in small balance ratio range will be conducive to reducing the risk of angular instability.

Originality/value

The influence mechanism of GFAA on S-DGS dynamic characteristics is analyzed. The interactions between rotational speed and balance ratio, medium pressure and balance ratio acted on gas film dynamic characteristics are explored based on the GFAA model.

Details

Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, vol. 75 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0036-8792

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 April 2023

Yu Chen, Xiaoning Zhu, Xueli Xiong, Cen Zhang and Jiashun Huang

Corporations, as key contributors of greenhouse gas emissions, have been increasingly scrutinized by governments and stakeholders. Corporations have been asked to disclose their…

Abstract

Purpose

Corporations, as key contributors of greenhouse gas emissions, have been increasingly scrutinized by governments and stakeholders. Corporations have been asked to disclose their carbon-related information. This study investigates public corporate carbon disclosure, an imperative communication channel between firms.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses generalized estimation equation models with a longitudinal panel data of 311 listed firms in the China A-share stock index from 2010 to 2020. This study collected firm-level data from the Carbon Disclosure Project survey, the China Stock Market and Accounting Research, and the National Economic Research Institute of China. Stata was used as the primary statistic software in empirical analyses.

Findings

This study finds that compared to state-owned enterprises (SOEs), private firms are more willing to disclose carbon information under legitimate environmental pressure, and firms in highly distorted factor-markets are reluctant to disclose carbon information. This study finds that factor-distortion markets further moderate ownership and lead private firms in highly distorted factor-markets to behave like SOEs by significantly reducing their carbon disclosures.

Originality/value

This study intends to contribute to the corporate carbon disclosure literature by adding important institutional determinants to the conversation in the context of China.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 61 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 January 2024

Grzegorz Zimon, Mahdi Salehi and Samaneh Kalateh Arabi

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the impact of COVID-19 on the performance of financial managers of medium and large companies.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the impact of COVID-19 on the performance of financial managers of medium and large companies.

Design/methodology/approach

This research used the data of 173 listed large and over-the-counter as medium-size companies from 2018 to 2021. The results of these tests have been analyzed using panel data and STATA 15 software.

Findings

The results showed that COVID-19 has no significant relationship with the return on equity in large and medium-size companies. This variable does not significantly affect Tobin’s Q index in medium-size companies either. Other financial indicators examined in this research have decreased considerably in all companies under the influence of COVID-19. Still, the intensity of this effect is different in large and medium-size companies. Funds from borrowings and Tobin’s Q ratios in medium-size companies compared with large companies have been more severely affected by the COVID-19 disease; the return on assets, book value to market value and large companies compared with medium-size companies have been more severely and significantly affected by COVID-19; and financing funds through the issuance of shares in large companies and medium-size companies have been affected by COVID-19 almost equally.

Originality/value

Despite the studies related to financial crises and their effect on the performance of companies, no research has examined the financial performance indicators during the outbreak of COVID-19 in large and small companies. Therefore, the results of this research can affect different groups: financial managers and the board of directors of companies to better understand the impact of the corona disease on the company’s performance; investors benefit from research results in line with investment decisions; developing theory and educational topics for the benefit of students and studying and conducting more experimental research in this regard; and the stock exchange organization and regulatory and support institutions need to find out the depth of the disaster and the effect of COVID-19 on the performance of companies.

Details

Journal of Facilities Management , vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1472-5967

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 7 October 2022

Hüseyin Emre Ilgın

To date, there are no studies in the literature that provide a comprehensive understanding of the interrelationships between the slenderness ratio and the main design criteria in…

1920

Abstract

Purpose

To date, there are no studies in the literature that provide a comprehensive understanding of the interrelationships between the slenderness ratio and the main design criteria in supertall towers (=300 m). In this paper, this important issue was explored using detailed data collected from 75 cases.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper was carried out with a comprehensive literature review including the database of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat(CTBUH) (CTBUH, 2022), peer-reviewed journals, MSc theses and PhD dissertations, conference proceedings, fact sheets, architectural and structural magazines and other Internet sources. In this study, the case study method was also used to gather and consolidate information about supertall towers to analyze the interrelationships. Cases were 75 supertall buildings in various countries [44 from Asia (37 from China), 16 from the Middle East (6 from Dubai, the United Arab Emirates), 11 from the United States of America and 3 from Russia, 1 from the UK].

Findings

The paper's findings highlighted as follows: (1) for buildings in the height range of 300–399 m, the slenderness ratio was usually between 7 and 7.9 and megatall towers were frequently built at a slenderness ratio of 10–15; (2) the median slenderness ratio of buildings in the 400–599 m height ranges was around 8.6; (3) a trend towards supertall slender buildings (=8) was observed in Asia, the Middle East and North America; (4) residential, office and mixed-use towers had a median slenderness ratio of over 7.5; (5) all building forms were utilized in the construction of slender towers (>8); (6) the medium slenderness ratio was around 8 for supertall buildings constructed with outriggered frame and tube systems; (7) especially concrete towers reached values pushing the limits of slenderness (>10) and (8) since the number of some supertall building groups (e.g. steel towers) was not sufficient, establishing a scientific relationship between aspect ratio and related design criteria was not possible.

Originality/value

To date, there are no studies in the literature that provide a comprehensive understanding of the interrelationships between the slenderness ratio and the main design criteria in supertall towers (=300 m). This important issue was explored using detailed data collected from 75 cases.

Details

International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, vol. 41 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-4708

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 March 2023

Ashti Yaseen Hussein and Faris Ali Mustafa

Spaciousness is defined as “the feeling of openness or room to wander” that has been affected by various physical factors. The purpose of this paper is to assess the spaciousness…

Abstract

Purpose

Spaciousness is defined as “the feeling of openness or room to wander” that has been affected by various physical factors. The purpose of this paper is to assess the spaciousness of space to determine how spacious the space is. Furthermore, the study intends to propose a fuzzy-based model to assess the degree of spaciousness in terms of physical parameters such as area, proportion, the ratio of window area to floor area and color value.

Design/methodology/approach

Fuzzy logic is the most appropriate mathematical model to assess uncertainty using nonhomogeneous variables. In contrast to conventional methods, fuzzy logic depends on partial truth theory. MATLAB Fuzzy Logic Toolbox was used as a computational model including a fuzzy inference system (FIS) using linguistic variables called membership functions to define parameters. As a result, fuzzy logic was used in this study to assess the spaciousness degree of design studios in universities in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.

Findings

The findings of the presented fuzzy model show the degree to which the input variables affect a space perceived as larger and more spacious. The relationship between parameters has been represented in three-dimensional surface diagrams. The positive relationship of spaciousness with the area, window-to-floor area ratio and color value has been determined. In contrast, the negative relationship between spaciousness and space proportion is described. Moreover, the three-dimensional surface diagram illustrates how the changes in the input values affect the spaciousness degree. Besides, the improvement in the spaciousness degree of the design studio increases the quality learning environment.

Originality/value

This study attempted to assess the degree of spaciousness in design studios. There has been no attempt carried out to combine educational space learning environments and computational methods. This study focused on the assessment of spaciousness using the MATLAB Fuzzy Logic toolbox that has not been integrated so far.

Details

Open House International, vol. 49 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0168-2601

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 January 2024

Nirmalendu Biswas, Deep Chatterjee, Sandip Sarkar and Nirmal K. Manna

This study aims to investigate the influence of wall curvature in a semicircular thermal annular system on magneto-nanofluidic flow, heat transfer and entropy generation. The…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the influence of wall curvature in a semicircular thermal annular system on magneto-nanofluidic flow, heat transfer and entropy generation. The analysis is conducted under constant cooling surface and fluid volume constraints.

Design/methodology/approach

The mathematical equations describing the thermo-fluid flow in the semicircular system are solved using the finite element technique. Four different heating wall configurations are considered, varying the undulation numbers of the heated wall. Parametric variations of bottom wall undulation (f), buoyancy force characterized by the Rayleigh number (Ra), magnetic field strength represented by the Hartmann number (Ha) and inclination of the magnetic field (γ) on the overall thermal performance are studied extensively.

Findings

This study reveals that the fluid circulation strength is maximum in the case of a flat bottom wall. The analysis shows that the bottom wall contour and other control parameters significantly influence fluid flow, entropy production and heat transfer. The modified heated wall with a single undulation exhibits the highest entropy production and thermal convection, leading to a heat transfer enhancement of up to 21.85% compared to a flat bottom. The magnetic field intensity and orientation have a significant effect on heat transfer and irreversibility production.

Research limitations/implications

Further research can explore a wider range of parameter values, alternative heating wall profiles and boundary conditions to expand the understanding of magneto-nanofluidic flow in semicircular thermal systems.

Originality/value

This study introduces a constraint-based analysis of magneto-nanofluidic thermal behavior in a complex semicircular thermal system, providing insights into the impact of wall curvature on heat transfer performance. The findings contribute to the design and optimization of thermal systems in various applications.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 34 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

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