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Reports on a study that examines a model of risk behaviour in which the effects of risk propensity and problem framing are jointly evaluated. Managers from 58 oil industry organizations were presented with hypothetical business decisions involving significant gains and losses, and asked to choose between action alternatives resulting in certain outcomes or probabilistic outcomes. Also evaluates the notion that tendencies towards risk taking are complex, reflecting personality traits, habits and experience. There was support for a historical basis for risk propensity, but risk preferences were not found to be influential. Further, although both risk propensity and problem framing were found to be significant predictors of risk behaviour, there was no support for prospect theory predictions. For researchers, suggests the need to incorporate individual differences into models of risk behaviour. For organizations, suggests the need for management attention to members’ risk experiences.

Post-acquisition integration matters for overall M&A outcome. However within this phase researchers have struggled to identify clear links between integration activities and post-acquisition outcome. This may be due to using organisational levels of analysis, where sub-organisational issues serve to confound findings. In order to unpack the post-acquisition phase, and to delve more deeply into organisations, this paper adopts a more granular perspective on integration activities by focusing upon the building blocks of organisations. Specifically we investigate ordinary routine amalgamation and their impact upon meta-routine outcome during acquisition integration. Drawing upon two longitudinal integration cases and using ‘retroductive’ analysis, two types of amalgamation are identified, namely ‘combination’ and ‘superimposition’. We find that, while the basic nature of routines, such as multiplicity and nestedness, inhibit routine amalgamation, external interference in the form of context, structural change or introduction of additional routines is needed to stabilise amalgamated routines. From our findings we are able to suggest a number of testable propositions about the factors that influence the amalgamation of routines. This empirical study contributes to the M&A literature by opening up the ‘black box’ of post-acquisition integration by providing details at a granular level of what actually happens during integrations.

This chapter outlines purpose, procedure, benefits and limitations of the policy capturing methodology. It further presents an example of use of the methodology.

Decision‐making studies incorporating risk have typically used risk measures that are generic across industries. Responding to calls for finer‐grained approaches, a recent study used a qualitative approach to discover how managers interpret risk in different industry contexts. Managers from the oil and gas (61), commercial banking (66), and software development (28) sectors were asked an open‐ended question about their conceptualizations of risk in the context of regularly encountered business situations. Resulting textual data were analyzed using QSR NUD*IST. Industry group membership and risk interpretations were found to be significantly related in that the different industry groups showed different distributions of attention to various aspects of risk. For researchers, these findings suggest the need to use differentiated risk measures. For practitioners, the findings suggest potential benefits from broadening cognitions relating to risk.

Inorganic oxide addition can be synergistically beneficial in organic coatings if it can impart anti-corrosion properties and also act as an additive to enhance physical and/or chemical properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-corrosion benefits of nano nickel zinc ferrite (NZF) in the polymer film.

The time-dependent anti-corrosion ability of NZF (0.12-1.0 per cent w/w NZF/binder), applied on API 5L X-80 carbon steel, was characterized by electrochemical techniques such as open circuit potential, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, linear polarization resistance and potentiodynamic. Characterization of corrosion layer was done by removing coatings after 216 h of immersion in 3.5 per cent w/v NaCl. Optical microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques were used to characterize the corroded surface.

Corrosion measurements confirm the electrochemical activity by metallic cations on the steel surface during corrosion process which results in improvement of anti-corrosion properties of steel. Moreover, surface techniques show compact corrosion layer coatings and presence of different metallic oxide phases for nanocomposite coatings.

The suggested protection mechanism was explained by the leaching and precipitation of metallic ion on the corroded surface which in turn slowed down the corrosion activity. Furthermore, improvement in barrier properties of rubber-based coatings was confirmed by the enhanced pore resistance. This work indicates that along with a wide range of applications of NZF, anti-corrosion properties can be taken as an addition.

The purpose of this paper was to prepare and evaluate a nanosized mixed calcium iron oxide as a high heat-resistant pigment. Heat-resistant pigments can be defined as chemical substances that impart color to a substrate or binder and retain their color and finish at elevated temperatures. Mixed metal oxides have been widely used as pigments in coating formulations.

This work presents synthesis of nanosized calcium iron oxide as an inorganic pigment by using simple synthesis technique, namely, solid-state calcination method, to study its heat and corrosion resistance. The prepared pigment was characterized by using X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and inductive coupling plasma. It was incorporated into paint formulations, and the heat, corrosion and mechanical resistance of dry paint film was evaluated.

In this work, the prepared calcium iron oxide pigment showed excellent heat and corrosion resistance.

Heat-resistant coatings are required for industrial applications, mainly for reactors, exhaust pipes, space craft, stacks and similar equipments that are permanently and occasionally exposed to elevated temperatures. It was previously quite difficult to formulate heat-resistant organic coatings because of binder deficiencies; new vehicles for such applications are now available. Thus, the development of silicon resins has markedly advanced the utility of heat-resistant paints. High-temperature pigments are inorganic chemical compounds that impart and retain their color and finish to a substrate or binder at elevated temperatures.

The nanosized mixed calcium iron oxide could be used as a pigment in paint formulations. It was found that it significantly enhances the heat, corrosion and mechanical resistance. It can also find numerous applications in other paint formulations for surface coating.

The paper shows how the pigment consisting nanosized mixed calcium iron oxide could be used in heat-resistant paint formulations for coating metal surfaces.

A comprehensive “health promoting schools” (HPS) approach is advocated by the World Health Organization to foster the health of students. To date, few studies have evaluated schools' capacity to implement it in an optimal way. The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework that identifies core features likely to facilitate the incorporation of innovation, such as HPS, into school functioning.

The framework was built by combining dimensions derived from two major strands of literature, i.e. management and HPS. It has taken root in Zahra and George's model of organisation absorptive capacity (AC) for new knowledge but has been adapted to better explore AC in a school context. The contrasting cases of two secondary schools that adopted a HPS approach in Quebec, Canada, for at least three years were used to illustrate the value of the framework.

The framework proposed is a multidimensional model that considers components such as modulators, antecedents, integration mechanisms and strategic levers as potential determinants of AC, i.e. acquisition, assimilation, transformation and exploitation. The conceptual framework helped to qualify and compare AC regarding HPS in the two cases and holds promise to appreciate mechanisms having the greatest influence on it.

The framework can serve as a conceptual guide to facilitate the absorption of innovation in schools and to design future empirical research to better understand the underlying process by which schools strengthen their capacities to become settings conducive to the health of youth.

The purpose of this paper is to synthesise X₂TiO₄ spinel‐type anticorrosion pigments and YTiO₃, perovskite‐type anticorrosion pigments, where X = Zn, Mg, Ca, Sr; Y = Ca for metal protective paints.

Anticorrosion pigments were synthesised from oxides or carbonates at high temperature. The following pigments were synthesised: TiO₂ · ZnO, 2TiO₂ · ZnO, TiO₂ · 2ZnO, TiO₂ · MgO, TiO₂ · CaO, TiO₂ · ZnO · MgO, and TiO₂ · ZnO · SrO. The pigments obtained were characterised by means of X‐ray diffraction analysis, measurement of particle sizes and scanning electron microscopy. The anticorrosion pigments synthesised were used to produce epoxy coatings with PVC = 10 per cent for each synthesised pigment. The coatings were tested for physical‐mechanical properties and in corrosion atmospheres. The corrosion test results were compared with those of alumino zinc phosphomolybdate.

A spinel or perovskite structure was found in the pigments synthesised. High anticorrosion efficiency was identified in all the synthesised pigments, the highest efficiency being demonstrated in the TiO₂ · ZnO pigment of spinel structure and in the TiO₂ · CaO pigment of perovskite structure.

The pigments synthesised can be conveniently used to protect metal bases from corrosion.

The use of pigments synthesised in anticorrosion coatings for metal protection presents a new approach. Its benefits are the use and the method of synthesising the anticorrosion pigments that do not contain heavy metals and that are acceptable for the environment.

The purpose of this study is to prepare core-shell ferrites/kaolin pigments and compare their efficiency in protecting metal substrates to original ferrites. The new pigments are based on precipitating a shell of different ferrites that comprise only 10-20 per cent of the whole pigment on kaolin (core), which is a cheap and abundant ore comprising 80-90 per cent of the prepared pigment. These new pigments combine the properties of both its core and shell counter-parts, exhibiting improved corrosion protection properties. Furthermore, the pigments are represented as efficient, economically feasible and eco-friendly with comparable efficiency to that of original ferrites in protecting steel substrates.

The new pigments were characterized using different analytical and spectrophotometric techniques, e.g. transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis and X-ray fluorescence. The pigments were then incorporated in epoxy-based paint formulations. The physico-mechanical properties of dry films and their corrosion properties were tested using accelerated laboratory tests in 3.5 per cent NaCl for 28 days.

The results of this study revealed that ferrite/kaolin core-shell pigments performance was almost close to that of the ferrite pigments in the protection of steel, and, at the same time, they confirmed good physico-mechanical properties.

These pigments can be applied in other polymer composites, e.g. rubber and plastics, as fillers and reinforcing agents.

Ferrite and ferrite/kaolin are environmentally friendly pigments, and they can impart high anticorrosive behavior to paint films with concomitant cost savings.

The purpose of this paper is to determine a new easy route to obtain high performance and economic anticorrosive hybrid pigments based on kaolin and ferrite. The new route is based on depositing a surface layer of an expensive efficient anticorrosive pigment (ferrite) on a bulk of cheap extender pigment (kaolin). The combination of these pigments can add improved properties to the new pigment different from each of its individual components. These improved properties lead to imparting new properties to paint films containing these prepared pigments.

The new prepared hybrid pigments contain different concentrations of deposited ferrite on kaolin surface, are determined using X‐ray fluorescence analysis to estimate the concentration of each element in the pigments. The pigments are characterised using different spectro‐photometric and analytical methods to prove the deposition of the shell layer and elucidate the structure of their particles. Then, they are incorporated in anticorrosive paint formulations, where their presence in these formulations is between 50 and 75 per cent of the total pigments in the paint formula. A model of the mechanism of protection to the metal substrate is presented.

The results show that the presence of these hybrid pigments imparts excellent corrosion protection to steel substrates, in spite of their different concentrations and loadings in the paint films.

These pigments can be applied in other polymer composites, e.g. rubber and plastics as filler and reinforcing agent.

Prepared pigments are eco‐friendly and can replace other hazardous pigments (e.g. chromates) – also it can replace original ferrite pigments. These pigments can compensate for the presence of other known pigments in markets successfully. The main advantage of these pigments is that they combine both the properties of their counter‐parts, and they are of lower cost than the original inhibitive pigment (ferrite). Also, they can be applied in other industries other than paints, e.g. paper, rubber and plastics composites.