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The purpose of this study was to develop a correlation between the properties of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene parts 3D printed by material extrusion (MEX) process.

The two MEX parameters and their values have been selected by design of experiment method. Three properties of MEX parts, i.e. strength (tensile and three-point bending), surface roughness and the dimensional accuracy, are studied at different build speeds (35 mm/s, 45 mm/s and 55 mm/s) and the layer heights (0.06 mm, 0.10 mm and 0.15 mm).

The results show that tensile strength and three-point bending strength both increase with the decrease in build speed and the layer height. The artifact selected for dimensional accuracy test shows higher accuracy of the features when 3D printed with 0.06 mm layer height at 35 mm/s build speed as compared to those of higher layer heights and build speeds. The optical images of the 3D-printed specimen reveal that lower build speed and the layer height promote higher inter-layer diffusion that has the effect of strong bonding between the layers and, as a result, higher strength of the specimen. The surface roughness values also have direct relation with the build speed and the layer height.

The whole experiments demonstrate that the part quality, surface roughness and the mechanical strength are correlated and depend on the build speed and the layer height.

The literature has dealt with the relationship between board characteristics (BC) and firm performance (FP) on a large scale. However, it yielded inconsistent results. Thus, this paper aims to examine the indirect relationship between BC and FP through the mediating role of the capital structure (CS).

This study used a sample of 528 non-financial companies listed on Bursa Malaysia from 2015 to 2019. Also, a two-step system generalised method of moments estimation technique was applied.

The results show that board diversity and the frequency of board meetings positively affect financial performance, and it is negatively influenced by board turnover, size and independence. Also, the results indicate a positive relationship between the independence of the board and all CS variables. Importantly, the findings support the policy-setting role of the board of directors where CS (measured by total debt and short-term debt) suppresses some governance mechanisms’ detrimental effect on FP. Hence, the board of directors, apart from the monitoring function, introduce various policies (financial and non-financial) that enhance the overall performance of companies.

These results are consistent with the agency’s perspective that management practices in selecting the optimal capital reduce agency costs and improve performance. The findings contribute to developing a broader theoretical framework that accounts for the policy-setting role of the board of directors. The current study model of corporate governance offers insight for policymakers into the role of corporate governance other than monitoring functions in organisations and how CS should be taken into consideration with corporate governance and FP association.