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Alliances between companies are an example of a collaborative strategy adopted in anticipation of highly uncertain markets. Since 1980, the commercial airline industry has been affected by a progressive liberalization worldwide. In this historical context, most airlines reacted with defensive movements in the face of high competition. In the case of airlines in the Spanish market, one of the largest in the world due to the weight of the tourism sector in its economy, airlines responded in various ways to the intensification of competition. Iberia, the main Spanish airline, established different defensive alliance policies. In the 1980s, alliances were mainly collaborative. Since 1998, airline alliances have become coopetitive in nature, as was the case with the creation of One World group (American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qantas and Iberia). The partners began to interact in a more horizontal way, maintaining various agreements (code-sharing, handling, schedule coordination, shared sales, fleet maintenance) without renouncing their independence in the face of global competition. Iberia has subsequently modified the composition of its portfolio to move towards a more vertical collaboration with the integration into the IAG Group (Iberia, British Airways, Air Lingus and Vueling). This second phase is a quest to increase market power with deep changes in the nature of its alliances while maintaining coopetitive alliances.

The partially prestressed concrete beam with unbonded tendon is still an active field of research because of the difficulty in analyzing and understanding its behavior. The finite-element (FE) simulation of such beams using numerical software is very scarce in the literature and therefore this study is taken to demonstrate the modeling aspects of unbonded partially prestressed concrete (UPPSC) beams. This study aims to present the three-dimensional (3-D) nonlinear FE simulations of UPPSC beams subjected to monotonic static loadings using the numerical analysis package ANSYS.

The sensitivity study is carried out with three different mesh densities to obtain the optimum elements that reflect on the load–deflection behavior of numerical models, and the model with optimum element density is used further to model all the UPPSC beams in this study. Three half-symmetry FE model is constructed in ANSYS parametric design language domain with proper boundary conditions at the symmetry plane and support to achieve the same response as that of the full-scale experimental beam available in the literature. The linear and nonlinear material behavior of prestressing tendon and conventional steel reinforcements, concrete and anchorage and loading plates are modeled using link180, solid65 and solid185 elements, respectively. The Newton–Raphson iteration method is used to solve the nonlinear solution of the FE models.

The evolution of concrete cracking at critical loadings, yielding of nonprestressed steel reinforcements, stress increment in the prestressing tendon, stresses in concrete elements and the complete load–deflection behavior of the UPPSC beams are well predicted by the proposed FE model. The maximum discrepancy of ultimate moments and deflections of the validated FE models exhibit 13% and −5%, respectively, in comparison with the experimental results.

The FE analysis of UPPSC beams is done using ANSYS software, which is a versatile tool in contrast to the experimental testing to study the stress increments in the unbonded tendons and assess the complete nonlinear response of partially prestressed concrete beams. The validated numerical model and the techniques presented in this study can be readily used to explore the parametric analysis of UPPSC beams.

The developed model is capable of predicting the strength and nonlinear behavior of UPPSC beams with reasonable accuracy. The load–deflection plot captured by the FE model is corroborated with the experimental data existing in the literature and the FE results exhibit good agreement against the experimentally tested beams, which expresses the practicability of using FE analysis for the nonlinear response of UPPSC beams using ANSYS software.

The popularity of adventure activities in leisure and tourism is escalating, yet little is known about how personality and perceived constraints can prevent consumption of such activities. The aim of this study was to test a model of the mediating role of psychological constraints in explaining the relationship between personality and interest in adventure activity participation. Based on a questionnaire survey of 1,324 respondents, a quantitative analysis using structural equation modeling (SEM) was carried out. The results show that personality does influence psychological constraints, which in turn have a significant negative effect on adventure activity participation. Increased knowledge about the constraints to adventure activity participation can contribute to realizing the full development potential that lies in adventure consumption in leisure and tourism. Implications of the research can prove valuable in both leisure and tourism marketing and management.

This study aims to investigate whether the zero-investment portfolio strategy generates higher excess returns for all listed companies in the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) or ESG100 stocks. The study period is from January 2016 to December 2020, a total of 60 months. The dividend yield is employed for categorizing the stock into value and growth stocks. The strategy of buying value stocks and short-selling growth stocks is then applied. The results show that investing using the zero-investment portfolio strategy can generate higher returns in an investment portfolio that consists of ESG100 stocks than in an investment portfolio that consists of all stocks in the SET. The optimal holding periods for investing in portfolios that consist of stocks in the SET are 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months, and the optimal holding periods for a portfolio that consists of ESG100 stocks is 6 months. To explain excess returns of stocks in the SET, the Fama and French (2015) five-factor model is employed. There is no relation between risk factors and excess returns for the holding period of 6 months and 12 months. However, excess return is found to have a negative relation with the market risk premium factor for a 9-month holding period. The excess returns of ESG100 stocks are also inversely correlated with investment factors for a holding period of 6 months.

This paper aims to propose an advanced tracking control of the uncertain nonlinear dynamic system using a novel hybrid fuzzy linear quadratic regulator (LQR)-proportional-integral-derivative (PID) sliding mode control (SMC) optimized by differential evolution (DE) algorithm.

First, a swing-up and balancing control is presented for an experimental uncertain nonlinear Pendubot system perturbed with friction. The DE-based optimal SMC scheme is used to optimally swing up the Pendubot system to the top equilibrium position. Then the novel hybrid fuzzy-based on LQR fusion function and PID controller optimized by DE algorithm is innovatively applied for balancing and control the position of the first link of the Pendubot in the down-right position with tracking sinusoidal signal reference.

Experimental results demonstrate the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed approach in balancing control for an uncertain nonlinear Pendubot system perturbed with internal friction.

This manuscript is an original research paper and has never been submitted to any other journal.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of macroeconomic cyclical indicators and country governance on bank non-performing loans in African countries.

Data was collected from the 53 African countries covering 2005–2021. The paper develops an empirical model to examine the impact of country governance in reducing macroeconomic cycle-induced adverse effects on bank credit risk. This research estimates Random Effects models and the General Method of Moment to examine the link between microeconomic and governance factors on bank non-performing loans. Stata version 15.1 was used to conduct panel regression analysis.

The findings of the study revealed that the generalized method of moments findings contributes valuable insights into the persistence of NPLs over time and the specific effects of variables on NPL levels. The study findings highlight that the debt-to-GDP ratio, unemployment, regulatory quality, government effectiveness and inflation have significant relationships with NPLs, shedding light on their specific contributions to credit risk dynamics.

The focus on a specific set of determinants for NPLs, which may not capture all the factors that influence NPL levels. Thus, the study did not consider the impact of macroeconomic shocks, such as natural disasters or global economic crises, which can have a significant impact on NPLs.

Policymakers should prioritize maintaining sustainable debt levels, promoting employment growth and controlling inflation rates to mitigate credit risk and reduce nonperforming loans. Also, enhancing regulatory quality and government effectiveness is crucial in ensuring financial stability and minimizing non-performing loans in Africa.

This paper provides a new possible solution to minimise bank non-performing loans risk by examining interactions of country governance regarding the macroeconomic cycle behaviour.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-11-2022-0729

The purpose of this study is to investigate the dynamic relationship that exists between energy consumption, environmental pollution and per capita economic growth in Tanzania. The energy consumption is represented by electricity usage in kilowatt hours (kWh) per capita, while environmental pollution is represented by carbon emission per metric tons and economic growth by gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.

This investigation is made based on the Environmental Kuznets Curve using time series annual data from 1975 to 2013 by applying the more robust causality technique of Toda and Yamamoto non-Causality test (1995), Impulse response and Variance Decomposition, Augumented and Dickey–Fueller test and Philips and Perron Test of unit root tests.

Economic growth rate (LGDP) and energy consumption per capita (LENGY), both being unidirectional, cause environmental pollution through carbon emission (LCO₂) in Tanzania. Interestingly, after using impulse response, a significant and positive economic growth (GDP per capita) was found due to shocks from electricity per capita (energy consumption) and carbon emission (LCO₂) with time. The Variance Decomposition suggested that the percentage of the variations due to shocks or innovations of economic growth (LGDP) and energy consumption (LENGY) to carbon emission is very high and significant, accounting to 46 and 41 per cent, respectively, in 10 years to come.

The study recommends that, in the future, the relationship be examined using super-exogeneity causality tests that takes into consideration the changes in policy or regime in contrast to Toda and Yamamoto. Furthermore, the addition of other variables such as fixed capital formation and labor force, which were not considered in this study, may result in strong correlation.

The results imply that the government of Tanzania can adopt environment conservation and energy saving policies without affecting its economic growth. As a matter of fact, to put a stop to persistent environmental pollution in Tanzania, the energy saving policy should be put in place rather quickly. It is imperative that the government implements policies and strategies that ensure continuous economic growth without forsaking the environment.

Despite the increase in carbon emissions, energy consumption and economic growth in Tanzania since 2000, to date, no previous work has been done to investigate their multivariate relationship. This is the first study that uses the Toda and Yamamoto non-Causality test, Impulse Response and Variance Decomposition Analysis to investigate a trivariate relationship of the variables mentioned above.

This study aims to examine the relationship between the different aspects of transformational leadership behaviours of school principals on school culture in the context of Pakistan. The findings from this study can provide an opportunity to understand the relationship between transformational leadership and school culture factors and the way these factors influence the school culture.

The quantitative research approach has been adopted to assess teachers’ perceptions of transformational leadership behaviours at government secondary schools of District Khairpur, Pakistan. The targeted sample size of this study was 300 teachers from five government secondary schools of district Khairpur. Data has been collected by using two survey instruments to assess the degree of transformational leadership style adopted by school principals as perceived by teachers to measure the effectiveness of school culture, whereas descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and inferential (Pearson correlation coefficient) statistical tests have been used through SPSS 23.0 software.

The findings revealed that there is a moderate positive relationship between transformational leadership behaviours and school culture whilst the Pearson correlation coefficient was (r = 0.624), which indicates that it is statistically significant. The demographic data explored that serving teachers were trained and highly qualified in such schools.

The study contributes to explain the transformational leadership practices in the context of secondary schools of Pakistan for a better understanding of educational organization culture. This study also contributes to the field of educational leadership by highlighting the organization culture through the perceptions of teachers. The Education and Literacy Department, policymakers, educational leaders and schoolteachers may be benefited from the findings of the current study for a better understanding of school culture in secondary schools. This study has also laid the foundation for future research studies in leadership practices in Pakistan and internationally.

Finally, this study contributed to the leadership literature in the context of Pakistan because there are very few studies that have examined the impact of transformational leadership behaviours in education organizations. In addition, this study suggests that the school principals should revisit their school vision and involve teachers in vision formation.

The purpose of this paper is to present the use of activity-based costing (ABC) approach as an alternative option to the traditional cost accounting system. The contribution of this study is to demonstrate, through a simple example, the application of that costing system in a service (maintenance) industry, i.e. the paper intended to develop a procedure for a cost model that help in calculating any maintenance job cost, to a reasonable degree of accuracy, based on the actual activities performed.

This research uses a simple example whereby hypothetical activities and cost data of maintaining an injector and a pump, of an internal combustion engine, are used, presented and analyzed based on the use of the developed procedure.

ABC system provides more accurate cost estimates rather than the traditional “order costing” methods that uses unit-level costs which are variable in relation to change in service volume. Traditional cost methods distort the costs by applying overhead uniformly over different jobs of varied complexities and activities scope. On the other hand, ABC is a useful means to distribute the overhead costs in proportion (fairly) to the actual activities performed in a specific job and, hence, enhance the rationality of decision making, i.e. will not distort the accounting information used for cost reduction, pricing, and evaluation matters. The results obtained from the analysis showed that allocating costs to the maintained injector decreased from $83.55 to $71.95 and, finally, to $67.57 when using the workshop-wide, two-stage and ABC overhead allocation methods, respectively; while that of the pump increased from $298.90 to $340.34 and, finally, to $359.48 when using the same three methods, in the same order, respectively. The result is quite fair when considering the complexity of the fuel pump, in terms of design and maintenance, when compared with the injector. Notice that using volume to allocate overhead costs results in over costing high-volume products, e.g. injectors (simple in terms of design and operation) and under costing low-volume products, e.g. pumps (more complex in terms of design and operation). The paper recommends to use ABC as a more accurate and fair method when charging maintenance job orders based on the analysis of costing two maintained items in the same premise while consuming different overhead resources.

This study attempts to analyze different methods to calculate a specific corrective maintenance job order. It strives to remedy the drawbacks of the traditional overhead costing of a job order when using principles related to the size of service, such as the direct labor cost/hours, as an allocation base. Consequently, the study proposed a new costing method, i.e. application of ABC. The traditional costing approach is considered by many firms as the best costing method. Nevertheless, it allocates overhead cost over job performed uniformly (equally) not differentiating between the complexity of the job and variety of the activities performed, e.g. using the same allocation base for “oil change” and “fuel pump adjustment” activities. So, ABC prevents cost distortions (unfairness) that could not be prevented by traditional cost accounting system. The author believes that the method presented in this paper will provide a useful management tool for costing maintenance jobs based on the appropriate selected activity drivers in maintenance workshops. The method could be applied for costing maintenance activities in maintenance of all industrial sectors.

The use of traditional costing method has proven to be distorted by applying overhead uniformly over different jobs of varied complexities and activities scope. In this paper the authors strive to present an effective costing alternative that outperforms the traditional ones with regard to overhead allocation. The paper aims to find reliable and fair maintenance costing method, i.e. to find out the relationships between maintenance activities and cost drivers. Although, ABC is widely used in manufacturing industry, no application or current research has presented an applicable thorough worked-out example, with the exception, to the author’s knowledge, of one in the aeronautical industry, to implement ABC method in maintenance industry. The importance of using this method comes from the fact that it provides, relatively, accurate and fair maintenance bills that provide customer satisfaction and firm good image. Hence, the paper is relevant in this respect and intended to contribute to the practice of maintenance management.