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Environmental turbulence represents a double-edged sword, simultaneously fueling and hindering a firm’s entrepreneurial orientation (EO). Drawing on the theories of EO and network relationships, this study aims to develop and test a conceptual model that provides a nuanced account of the relationship between environmental turbulence and firm EO.

Data for this study were collected using a survey of high-technology firms in Hsinchu Science Park (HSP) in Taiwan. Questionnaires were mailed to 297 high-technology firms in the semiconductor, photoelectric and communication industries within HSP. Completed questionnaires were received from 94 firms, which included responses from 94 research and development managers and 462 employees.

The results reveal that the degree of environmental turbulence exhibits an inverted U-shaped relationship with a firm’s EO. Moreover, this relationship is positively moderated by network relationships between firms, but negatively moderated by organizational inertia.

The empirical and conceptual findings have important implications for understanding EO, because the findings explain causal relationships that transform a firm’s interactive and inner control capabilities into firm-level results.

Based on agency perspective on temporary agency workers, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between firms’ agency problems and agency cost on agency workers; moreover, intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation are considered in seeking to understand how they moderate this relationship.

Using the Hsinchu Science Park directory of corporate affiliations as a sample frame, the authors adopted a paired questionnaire which included two parts in order to consider the possible problem of common method variances. The first part is completed by the manager of the firms and the second part is completed by his/her temporary agency workers. Finally, 94 firms completed questionnaires, providing a total sample of 94 R&D managers and 458 temporary agency workers. The rate of participation was 31.65 percent.

Using a questionnaire survey of 94 high-tech firms, from which a total of 94 R&D managers and 458 temporary agency workers participated, the results show that firms’ agency problems have a positive influence on the agency cost of monitoring temporary agency workers. In addition, while this relationship is negatively moderated by extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation has a non-significant moderating effect.

The managers of firms should consider not only the short-term flexibility of employing temporary agency workers, but also the long-term cultivation of promoting great agency workers. This could maximize the efficiency of the interaction between intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. Of course, the firms should think about how to reduce the agency problems created by goal conflict, information asymmetry and risk sharing with temporary agency workers, because this could also provide a chance for the firms to decrease agency costs spent on monitoring.

Polymeric parts produced by 3D stereolithography (SL) process have poorer mechanical properties as compared to their counterparts fabricated via conventional methods, such as injection or compression molding. Adding nanofillers in the photopolymer resin for SL could help improve mechanical properties. This study aims to achieve enhancement in mechanical properties of parts fabricated by SL, for functional applications, by using well-dispersed nanofillers in the photopolymers, together with suitable post-processing.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have high strength and Young’s modulus, making them attractive nanofillers. However, dispersion of CNTs in photopolymer is a critical challenge, as they tend to agglomerate easily. Achieving good dispersion is crucial to improve the mechanical properties; thus, suitable dispersion mechanisms and processes are examined. Solvent exchange process was found to improve the dispersion of multiwalled carbon nanotubes in the photopolymer. The UV-absorbing nature of CNTs was also discovered to affect the curing properties. With suitable post processing, coupled with thermal curing, the mechanical properties of SL parts made from CNTs-filled resin improved significantly.

With the addition of 0.25 wt.% CNTs into the photopolymer, tensile stress and elongation of the 3D printed parts increased by 70 and 46 per cent, respectively. With the significant improvement, the achieved tensile strength is comparable to parts manufactured by conventional methods.

This allows functional parts to be manufactured using SL.

In this paper, an improved procedure to incorporate CNTs into the photopolymer was developed. Furthermore, because of strong UV-absorption nature of CNTs, curing properties of photopolymer and SL parts with and without CNT fillers were studied. Optimized curing parameters were determined and additional post-processing step for thermal curing was discovered as an essential step in order to further enhance the mechanical properties of SL composite parts.

It is significant to know the real-time indexes about the turbulence flow of the ocean system, which has a deep influence on ocean productivity, distribution of the ocean populations and transmission of the ocean energy, especially the measurement of turbulence flow velocity. So, it is particularly urgent to provide a high-sensitivity, low-cost and reliable fluid flow sensor for industry and consumer product application. This paper aims to design a micro fluid flow sensor with a cross beam membrane structure. The designed sensor can detect the fluid flow velocity and has a low kinetic energy dissipation rate.

In this paper, a micro fluid flow sensor with a cross beam membrane structure is designed to measure the ocean turbulence flow velocity. The design, simulation, fabrication and measurement of the designed sensor are discussed. By testing the simply packaged sensor in the fluid flow and analyzing the experiments data, the results show that the designed sensor has favorable performance.

The paper describes the tests of the designed sensor, and the experimental results show that the designed sensor can measure the fluid flow velocity and has a sensitivity of 11.12 mV/V/(m/s)2 and a low kinetic energy dissipation rate in the range of 10-6-10-4 W/kg.

This paper provides a micro-electro-mechanical systems fluid flow sensor used to measure ocean turbulence flow velocity.

The purpose of this study is to explore how gender influences peer assessment in team-building activities in China.

A nine-player Werewolf game was adopted to conduct the experiment. Nine abilities were defined to evaluate players’ performances. Before the game, players filled out a self-assessment questionnaire (five-point Likert scale). After the game, players evaluated other game members’ performances using the same questionnaire. Data were analyzed using linear regression.

The results showed that gender bias clearly existed in team-building activities, with men more likely to receive better peer assessment than women. In addition, when women presented themselves as actively as men did, they received less favorable evaluations than men, whereas their failures were more likely to be exaggerated.

This study may help build harmonious teams for gender equality, and we give practical suggestions respectively from the perspective of female employees, their managers, and their companies.

Given the importance of team-building activities in teamwork, fair evaluations of team-building performances are essential. However, gender influences on peer assessment in team-building activities in China remain unclear. This study adds new and important knowledge to research on gender bias in teams.

Understanding the computer-virus propagation is quite essential for the construction and development of anti-virus policy. While researches about the anti-virus policy have been extensively investigated, the viewpoint from sociological perspective is relatively ignored. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the dynamics of computer-virus propagation and evaluate the effectiveness of anti-virus policies through the sociological perspective.

This research constructs a virus-propagation model based on the susceptible-exposed-infective-recovered epidemic concept to simulate and explore the dynamic behavior of multipartite computer viruses through the tool of system dynamics. The effectiveness of various anti-virus policies is then evaluated via this model.

The frequency of media contact has a significant effect on the virus infection rate. The effectiveness of user self-prevention relies on the usefulness of the virus signatures. The reporting/alarm process can enhance the capability of anti-virus software company and the detected intensity of new threat. The quarantine policy can effectively reduce the spread of computer virus.

Individuals should strengthen the self-awareness of information security to reduce the negative impact. Managers should construct and implement the information security norm to regulate the behavior of staff. Anti-virus software companies should strengthen the capability of their automatic reporting/alarm mechanism to early detect the exceptional conditions and control new threats in time.

Information security management research is still in the growth phase, but it is critically important to establish the groundwork for understanding of computer viruses and the effectiveness of anti-virus policy from assorted perspectives. The major contribution of research is to explore the propagation of multipartite computer viruses and study how to prevent their destruction from the sociological and technical perspectives.

Drawing upon the theory of conservation of resources to argue the importance of job stress as an important variable that mediates the person-organization (P-O) fit-job satisfaction relationship, and supervisor support as an important moderating variable that moderates the relationship between P-O fit and job stress, the purpose of this paper is to test a moderated mediation model.

Data were collected from 225 employees in 12 catering service organizations in Beijing. An integrated mediation and moderation model was evaluated.

The study illustrates both some new mechanisms and the boundary conditions between P-O fit and job satisfaction. Job stress mediates the relationships between P-O fit and job satisfaction; supervisor support moderates the linkage of P-O fit, job stress, and job satisfaction. The corresponding moderated mediation model was supported.

The question of causality cannot be determined because of the cross-sectional research design; self-report is a necessary strategy for the assessment of subjects’ appraisals. However, it requires some caution in interpreting the results.

The findings offer a better understanding of the way P-O fit is able to affect job satisfaction. Actions designed to promote P-O fit may be useful in reducing employees’ stress and result in higher job satisfaction. To enhance the relationships between P-O fit and employees’ job satisfaction through supervisor support, supervisors should develop a positive form of reciprocation by helping employees to solve the real problem they are facing.

No previous studies have investigated influencing factors of employees’ satisfaction from the perspective of individual and organizational interfaces.

This paper aims to present a novel embedded‐internet robot system based on an internet robot agent and the brain‐computer interface (BCI) scheme.

A highly flexible and well‐integrated embedded ethernet robot (eRobot) was designed with enhanced mobility. In the eRobot, a circuit core module called a tiny network bridge (TNB) is designed to reduce robotic system cost and increase its mobility and developmental flexibility. The TNB enables users to control eRobot motion via embedded ethernet technology. Through electroencephalogram (EEG) feedback training, the command translation unit (CTU) and alertness level detection unit (ADU) allow the eRobot to perform specific motions (for example, lying down or standing up) to reflect alertness levels of the user, and move forward, turn left or right following the user's command.

After a short training period, subjects could achieve at least 70 percent accuracy in the CTU game testing. And the error rate of ADU, estimated from the results of classifying 496 labeled EEG epochs, was approximately 10.7 percent. Combining an encoding procedure, the commands issued from the CTU could prevent the robot from performing undesired actions.

The eRobot could reflect some physiological human states and be controlled by users with our economical design and only two bipolar EEG channels adopted. Thus, users could make the EEG‐based eRobot agent his or her representative. Based on the proposed EEG‐based eRobot system, a robot with increased sophistication will be developed in the future for use by disabled patients.

The growing use of internet-based learning (IBL) platforms in institutions of higher education is producing profound changes in the traditional teaching learning process worldwide. This paper aims to identify and understand the ways in which higher education institutions draw benefits by the use of such means, synthesizing the literature research.

The study synthesized the literature research by using a mixed method approach in which both Web of Science (WoS) and bibliographic techniques were used to retrieve the relevant data base.

The comprehensive review of the literature suggests that communication technology (CT), massive open online courseware (MOOCs), social networking sites (SNSs), blogs, real simple syndication (RSS) and YouTube are creating new possibilities and avenues of collaborative learning by transforming the traditional class and teacher-centric system.

Multiplicity of the IBL platforms and rapid technological obsolesce are some of the limitations of this paper.

The findings of this study are highly useful in developing a strategic framework to accelerate the integration of IBL platforms to make teaching learning process more interactive and informative.