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Previous studies have postulated that an advance payment system (APS) positively impacts the contractor's working capital and is paramount to ensuring an efficient and effective project cash flow process. However, scant research has been undertaken to empirically establish the cash flow performance and domino effect of APS on project and organisational performance.

The epistemological design adopted a positivist philosophical stance augmented by deductive reasoning to explore the phenomena under investigation. Primary quantitative data were collected from 504 Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) registered contractors (within the grade bandings 1–9) in South Africa. A five-point Likert scale was utilised, and subsequent data accrued were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM).

Emergent findings reveal that the mandatory use of an APS does not guarantee a positive project cash flow, an improvement in organisational performance or an improvement in project performance.

The ensuing discussion reveals the contributory influence of APS on positive cash flow and organisational performance, although APS implementation alone will not achieve these objectives. Practically, the research accentuates the need for various measures to be concurrently adopted (including APS) towards ensuring a positive project cash flow and improved organisational and project performance.

There is limited empirical research on cash flow performance and the domino effect of APS on project and organisational performance in South Africa, nor indeed, the wider geographical location of Africa as a continent. This study addresses this gap in the prevailing body of knowledge.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) play a pivotal role in fostering economic development by cultivating skilled workforce and generating knowledge and innovation. However, HEIs may pose a potential risk to sustainable economic development due to the generation of food waste inside their campus canteens. Therefore, this study aims to examine the influence of attitude, subjective norm (SN), perceived behavior control (PBC), religiosity and pro-social behavior among State Islamic Religious College (SIRC) students on their intention to avoid food waste behavior. This study also focused on the mediating role of the three original theory of planned behavior (TPB) variables and pro-social behavior in the relationship between religiosity and the intention to reduce food waste.

Questionnaires were used to collect data from 443 students at SIRC. The collected data were processed and analyzed using structural equation modelling to test direct, indirect and mediating effects.

The empirical results indicated that the eagerness of students at SIRC to reduce their behavior of leaving food behind can be driven by their negative attitudes or views toward food waste, the practice of religious teachings in their lives, the belief that they can avoid food waste and their concern for the environment. The empirical results reveal that even though religiosity influences SN, it is unable to strengthen the relationship between religiosity and the desire to be anti-food waste.

In addition to contributing to the food waste literature in the context of eating behavior, the results of this study have theoretical and practical implications.

To assess SIRC students’ behavioral intentions to avoid food waste behavior, this study used a contemporary setting to measure attitude, SN, PBC, religiosity and pro-social behavior, so strengthening the TPB’s empirical underpinning.

This review aims to give a critical view of the wheel/rail high frequency vibration-induced vibration fatigue in railway bogie.

Vibration fatigue of railway bogie arising from the wheel/rail high frequency vibration has become the main concern of railway operators. Previous reviews usually focused on the formation mechanism of wheel/rail high frequency vibration. This paper thus gives a critical review of the vibration fatigue of railway bogie owing to the short-pitch irregularities-induced high frequency vibration, including a brief introduction of short-pitch irregularities, associated high frequency vibration in railway bogie, typical vibration fatigue failure cases of railway bogie and methodologies used for the assessment of vibration fatigue and research gaps.

The results showed that the resulting excitation frequencies of short-pitch irregularity vary substantially due to different track types and formation mechanisms. The axle box-mounted components are much more vulnerable to vibration fatigue compared with other components. The wheel polygonal wear and rail corrugation-induced high frequency vibration is the main driving force of fatigue failure, and the fatigue crack usually initiates from the defect of the weld seam. Vibration spectrum for attachments of railway bogie defined in the standard underestimates the vibration level arising from the short-pitch irregularities. The current investigations on vibration fatigue mainly focus on the methods to improve the accuracy of fatigue damage assessment, and a systematical design method for vibration fatigue remains a huge gap to improve the survival probability when the rail vehicle is subjected to vibration fatigue.

The research can facilitate the development of a new methodology to improve the fatigue life of railway vehicles when subjected to wheel/rail high frequency vibration.

This study aims to introduce a novel noise filter module designed for LiDAR simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) systems. The primary objective is to enhance pose estimation accuracy and improve the overall system performance in outdoor environments.

Distinct from traditional approaches, MCFilter emphasizes enhancing point cloud data quality at the pixel level. This framework hinges on two primary elements. First, the D-Tracker, a tracking algorithm, is grounded on multiresolution three-dimensional (3D) descriptors and adeptly maintains a balance between precision and efficiency. Second, the R-Filter introduces a pixel-level attribute named motion-correlation, which effectively identifies and removes dynamic points. Furthermore, designed as a modular component, MCFilter ensures seamless integration into existing LiDAR SLAM systems.

Based on rigorous testing with public data sets and real-world conditions, the MCFilter reported an increase in average accuracy of 12.39% and reduced processing time by 24.18%. These outcomes emphasize the method’s effectiveness in refining the performance of current LiDAR SLAM systems.

In this study, the authors present a novel 3D descriptor tracker designed for consistent feature point matching across successive frames. The authors also propose an innovative attribute to detect and eliminate noise points. Experimental results demonstrate that integrating this method into existing LiDAR SLAM systems yields state-of-the-art performance.

This study explores the integration of smallholder farmers into the export market in Vietnam, an emerging economy. By introducing a prospective framework, we seek to provide insight into factors that influence this integration process.

This study examines the expected growth and entry of Vietnamese smallholder farmers into high-value export markets. We collected information from 200 independent farmers as well as from five local extension workers, who provided information on 50 farmers.

The study reveals that the adoption of new business models is more influential than the variables traditionally included in models of export-market integration in predicting expected growth and entry into high-value export markets. In addition, the results highlight divergent views between farmers and extension workers regarding the role of collectors, with farmers perceiving collectors as potential partners, while extension workers see them as impediments to growth.

The prospective model presented in this study highlights the importance of policy interventions aimed at promoting new business models and addressing infrastructure and capital constraints for the sustainable transformation of agricultural sectors in emerging markets.

This is one of the first articles to apply a prospective approach to export-market integration and demonstrate its efficacy through an empirical study. The suggested prospective approach could facilitate the design of policies aimed at export-market integration within the context of dynamic, emerging markets.

This research aims to empirically investigate the impacts of product and international diversification strategies on firm-level inventory performance.

This study empirically examines the associations between product and international diversification strategies and inventory performance based on a sample of 64,124 observations across 7,367 US publicly traded firms between 1989 and 2019 from the COMPUSTAT Segment, Fundamental Annual and Fundamental Quarterly data files. We employ both linear and nonlinear regression models to perform our empirical analysis.

This research provides strong evidence that there exists a U-shaped relationship between unrelated product diversification and inventory level and a partially inverted U-shaped relationship between international diversification and inventory level. We also find a positive impact of related product diversification on inventory level, but there is no significant curvilinear relationship between related product diversification and inventory level.

Our research findings offer important insights into top management’s strategic planning for diversification strategies and operations manager’s inventory control policies to achieve the strategic fit between corporate diversification and inventory management.

Product and international diversification strategies not only play an essential role in the firm’s competitive advantage, but also have a significant influence on operations manager’s inventory decision. This research is among the first to systematically investigate how top management’s related product, unrelated product and international diversification strategies may have complex nonlinear impacts on inventory performance.

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors have attracted great attention worldwide for a variety of applications in measuring physical, chemical and biological parameters. However, stability has been one of the key issues which have limited their effective commercial applications. To fully understand this challenge of operation stability, this paper aims to systematically review mechanisms, stability issues and future challenges of SAW sensors for various applications.

This review paper starts with different types of SAWs, advantages and disadvantages of different types of SAW sensors and then the stability issues of SAW sensors. Subsequently, recent efforts made by researchers for improving working stability of SAW sensors are reviewed. Finally, it discusses the existing challenges and future prospects of SAW sensors in the rapidly growing Internet of Things-enabled application market.

A large number of scientific articles related to SAW technologies were found, and a number of opportunities for future researchers were identified. Over the past 20 years, SAW-related research has gained a growing interest of researchers. SAW sensors have attracted more and more researchers worldwide over the years, but the research topics of SAW sensor stability only own an extremely poor percentage in the total researc topics of SAWs or SAW sensors.

Although SAW sensors have been attracting researchers worldwide for decades, researchers mainly focused on the new materials and design strategies for SAW sensors to achieve good sensitivity and selectivity, and little work can be found on the stability issues of SAW sensors, which are so important for SAW sensor industries and one of the key factors to be mature products. Therefore, this paper systematically reviewed the SAW sensors from their fundamental mechanisms to stability issues and indicated their future challenges for various applications.

This study aims to investigate the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on corporate sustainable performance (CSP) of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by looking into the significance of mediating factors, namely, brand image (BI) and brand loyalty (BL), within the context of an emerging economy.

The authors conduct an extensive literature study on the subjects of CSR, BI and BL to assess their influence on the sustainable performance of SMEs in an emerging market. The study adopts a quantitative methodology. A total of 438 answers were obtained from a sample size of 513. The data of the SMEs in Vietnam was analyzed using the smart partial least squares structural equation modeling software, specifically version 3.3.2.

The results of the authors demonstrate notable and favorable correlations between CSR and CSP, CSR and BI and CSR and BL. Importantly, the findings contribute to existing knowledge by looking into the mediating influence of BI and BL in the relationship between CSR and CSP.

According to the authors’ understanding, a number of research have investigated the correlation between CSR and CSP within the realm of SMEs. Nevertheless, there is a scarcity of scholarly research examining the mediating function of BI and BL in this association. The study’s findings have important implications for entrepreneurs and senior management in effectively guiding their enterprises and improving their business strategies with an emphasis on sustainability in emerging markets. The outcome of this study has the potential to significantly contribute to SMEs in Vietnam as well as other emerging countries.

This study aims to identify the dimensions of satisfaction in the halal tourism literature by analyzing the identified antecedents and outcomes. The study aims to synthesize the current empirical findings in halal tourism. Additionally, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of the factors that lead to halal traveller satisfaction.

Using a meta-analysis approach, this paper synthesizes the fragmented and conflicting findings of 56 quantitative studies focusing on satisfaction and its antecedents and consequences in the halal tourism context. Data from 145 relationships representing an aggregate sample size of 21,173 were used. Additionally, this study extends the analysis by incorporating contemporary factors such as the impact of COVID-19, sample size and gender as moderators.

The findings indicate that both physical characteristics and psychological aspects are positively related to satisfaction. Further, this study reported that endorsement and revisit intention are the significant consequences of satisfaction. Lastly, this study identifies the significant moderating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, sample size and gender on the relationship between satisfaction and its antecedents/consequences.

Global halal tourism industry caters to Muslim and non-Muslim tourists across the globe; this article identifies the contributing factors of satisfaction in the halal tourism context. Policymakers can adapt according to their needs and preferences.

This study provides cumulative evidence to the literature regarding the relationship between satisfaction and its antecedents/consequences in halal tourism. This is the first meta-analysis study on the mentioned topic, making significant theoretical, managerial and methodological contributions to halal tourism research.

This paper aims to answer the question of the future of work-from-home (WFH) from the position of productivity and employee well-being. In this research, the authors studied the future of WFH by analyzing perceived home productivity and work–life balance (WLB) in the WFH environment. This paper attempts to say that WFH is here to stay, and business leaders should acknowledge this fact and adjust their strategy.

The authors used a heterogeneous sampling method, surveying 1,157 employees in Mexico on productivity and WLB. The authors did three independent interventions in different pandemic stages: beginning – in 2020, peaking – in 2021, and calming down – in 2022. The authors used contingency table analysis to research the influence of perceived productivity and WLB in WFH on employees’ propensity to WFH.

The results show that employees perceive productivity the same or higher when WFH and WLB same or better. The findings of this study are a wake-up call for managers who refuse to embrace changes in employees’ perceptions and needs. Companies refusing to acknowledge the existing need for WFH may face significant challenges in terms of employee satisfaction and retention.

This study contributes to the broader literature by addressing whether WFH is here to stay. The dynamics of returning to office vary from country to country, industry to industry and business to business. This paper is an answer to the future of WFH for Mexico and the Latin American region.

Este artículo tiene como objetivo responder a la pregunta sobre la relevancia del futuro del trabajo desde casa (WFH por sus siglas en Inglés) desde la perspectiva de la productividad y el bienestar de los colaboradores. En esta investigación, se estudia el futuro del trabajo desde casa analizando la productividad percibida y el equilibrio entre la vida laboral y personal en el entorno del trabajo desde casa. Este documento intenta decir que el trabajo desde casa llegó para quedarse y que los líderes empresariales deberían reconocer este hecho y ajustar sus estrategias.

Se ha utilizado un método de muestreo heterogéneo, encuestando a 1157 colaboradores que trabajan en México sobre el tema de productividad y balance vida-trabajo (WLB por sus siglas en Inglés). Se realizaron tres intervenciones independientes en diferentes etapas de la pandemia del COVID-19: al inicio (2020), un año despúes que fué el pico (2021) y finalmente cuando está a la baja y en calma (2022). Se utilizaron diversas herramientas estadísticas como el análisis de tablas de contingencia para investigar la influencia de la productividad percibida y el WLB en el trabajo desde casa en los colaboradores que son propensos a trabajar desde casa.

Los resultados muestran que los colaboradores perciben la productividad igual o mayor cuando trabajan desde casa y el balance vida-trabajo son iguales o en ocasiones mejores. Los hallazgos de este estudio son para llamar la atención de los directivos y gerentes que se niegan a aceptar que han existido cambios y ajustes en las percepciones y necesidades de los colaboradores en las maneras de realizar el trabajo. Las empresas que se niegan a reconocer la necesidad existente de trabajar desde casa pueden enfrentar desafíos importantes en el corto plazo en términos de satisfacción y retención de los empleados.

Este estudio contribuye para ampliar la literatura y poder abordar el tema de las modalidades de trabajo, en particular para profundizar si el trabajo desde casa (WFH) llegó para quedarse. Así mismo, se puede mencionar que la dinámica del regreso a las oficinas puede variar de un país a otro, de una industria a otra y de una empresa a otra, ofreciendo una variedad de reflexiones y puntos de vistas, finalmente este documento es una respuesta a la reflexión sobre el futuro del trabajo, los beneficios del trabajo en casa para México y para la región de LATAM.

Este artigo pretende responder à questão sobre a relevância do futuro do trabalho a partir de casa (WFH, Work from home, por suas siglas em inglês) na perspetiva da produtividade e do bem-estar dos colaboradores. Nesta investigação, o futuro do trabalho a partir de casa é estudado através da análise da produtividade percebida e do equilíbrio entre vida pessoal e profissional no ambiente de trabalho a partir de casa. Este artigo tenta dizer que o trabalho a partir de casa veio para ficar e que os líderes empresariais devem reconhecer este facto e ajustar as suas estratégias.

Foi utilizado um método de amostragem heterogêneo, pesquisando 1.157 funcionários que trabalham no México sobre o tema produtividade e equilíbrio entre vida profissional e pessoal (WLB). Foram realizadas três intervenções independentes em diferentes fases da pandemia da COVID-19: no início (2020), um ano após o pico (2021) e finalmente quando estava em declínio e calma (2022). Várias ferramentas estatísticas, como a análise de tabelas de contingência, foram utilizadas para investigar a influência da produtividade percebida e do WLB no trabalho em casa em funcionários propensos a trabalhar em casa.

Os resultados mostram que os colaboradores percebem uma produtividade igual ou superior quando trabalham a partir de casa e que o equilíbrio entre vida pessoal e profissional é igual ou por vezes melhor. Os resultados deste estudo são para chamar a atenção de diretores e gestores que se recusam a aceitar que tenham havido mudanças e ajustes nas percepções e necessidades dos funcionários nas formas de fazer o trabalho. As empresas que se recusam a reconhecer a necessidade existente de trabalhar a partir de casa podem enfrentar desafios significativos a curto prazo em termos de satisfação e retenção dos colaboradores.

Este estudo contribui para ampliar a literatura e poder abordar a questão das modalidades de trabalho, em particular para aprofundar se o trabalho em casa (WFH) veio para ficar. Da mesma forma, pode-se mencionar que a dinâmica de retorno aos escritórios pode variar de um país para outro, de uma indústria para outra e uma empresa para outra, oferecendo uma variedade de reflexões e pontos de vista. Em última análise, este documento é um resposta. para refletir sobre o futuro do trabalho, os benefícios de trabalhar em casa para o México e a região LATAM.