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The performance of different pretreatment‐primer systems for hot‐dip galvanized (HDG) and Galfan coated steel has been studied. The materials were pretreated with three pretreatment processes; an alkaline oxide pretreatment with either a chromate or a zirconium based post‐rinse, and a zinc phosphating pretreatment. After the pretreatment, the panels were coated with four commercially available primers. The chemically treated substrates were characterized by using ESCA and GD‐OES, and the cured paint films by using FTIR. Paint adhesion of primed panels was determined with a combined cross‐cut and impact test and also with the NMP test. Formability of the panels was tested by T‐bend test and corrosion resistance with a cyclic prohesion test. According to the prohesion test results, primed Galfan coated panels have better edge corrosion resistance than primed HDG panels. Test results also show that the effect of pre‐treatment is not as significant for the corrosion resistance as the effect of primer. However, in the case of zinc phosphated samples, excellent synergistics between the pretreatment and two of the primers was detected.

Despite significant investment in capital improvements and training, a rod mill suffered from chronically low productivity. The authors conducted a survey to measure employee satisfaction and to determine the correlation between employee satisfaction and productivity. The study found a correlation between average job satisfaction, low motivation and the resulting low productivity. A direct correlation was also found between low productiity and poor communication between management, supervisors and employees. The article offers recommendations to improve productivity by increasing employee involvement and communication.

This chapter examines different dimensions of leadership communication that promote creativity and innovativeness. It explores how leaders engage and inspire their subordinates on the one hand and how they motivate, challenge and encourage them on the other. The aim is to provide a multifaceted description of how leaders use communication to promote innovativeness in organisations. The chapter draws on the ‘wheel of leadership communication on innovations’ by Zerfass and Huck (2007). The wheel examines communication based on cognitive, affective, conative and social dimensions. The other key concepts of the study are transformational and communicative leadership. The approach is qualitative, and the data derive from interviews with leaders of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The findings suggest that to promote organisational innovativeness all four dimensions – cognitive, affective, conative and social – must be taken into account. Multidimensional skills are required of leaders who are expected to master different communicational roles and to act as enablers, engagers, motivators and supporters at the same time. This calls for emotional and social sensibility, flexibility and adaptability to different people and situations. Leadership communication is crucial for innovation management because creative thinking and commitment enable innovation. Therefore, in the business context, attention must be paid to how people are inspired, supported and motivated, as well as to open communication. The main limitations of the study are that it focuses only on SMEs and that it does not include the voices of personnel, which would have added value to the managerial perspectives.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of the charismatic dimension of transformational leadership on team processes and innovative outcomes in research and development (R&D) teams.

Data are collected by surveying 34 teams that totalled 178 participants. Surveys measured charismatic leadership style, team identity, cooperative strategies and team innovation.

Results reveal the importance of managers assuming a charismatic style of leadership to encourage innovation. Charismatic leaders promote team innovation by supporting a sense of team identity and commitment, and encourage team members to cooperate through the expression of ideas and participation in decisions.

The study is conducted in a single R&D organization and future research should explore the influence of these factors in other settings. The measures of team innovation are based on the perceptions of the team members, and future research needs to include a wider variety of data sources over time.

Successful team leaders who employ a more charismatic style facilitate more cooperative interactions in teams. Teams with a strong team identity combined with the exercise of cooperative behaviours are more innovative.

The preliminary model tested enhances the understanding of the importance of the leaders in influencing team processes and innovation. Leaders who are more transformational in style influence followers by affecting their sense of identity. This sense of identity influences how well teams adopt and follow more cooperative strategies to resolve issues and to make decisions. In turn, the model shows how these factors influence team innovation.

This research explored the literature regarding successful leadership practices and how these practices form the organizational context that leads to success in the biotechnology industry. Dominate themes emerged in general leadership strategies, leading research and development scientists, moving ideas from research to the consumer and the culture of research versus practice. Themes include leaders must be adaptable and able to lead effectively in a dynamic environment. Leaders need to consistently articulate the vision throughout the organization. Leaders need to be strategic decision-makers and flexible enough to allow the vision to adjust to the culture and the environment. Leaders need to communicate effectively and create an organization where communication flows efficiently at all levels. Leaders need to recognize clear cultural differences between functional groups, and they need to empower employees at all levels to make strategic decisions. Leaders need to know which decisions must be retained as his or her sole responsibility.

The aim of this work was to investigate which parameters affect the long‐term performance of coil coated galvanised steel sheet. Therefore, the paint adhesion and corrosion resistance of selected painted pre‐treated galvanised steel substrates were studied. The systems investigated included chromate‐free pre‐treatments and primers. The polymer coated panels were tested by using: T‐bend, combined cross cut and adhesion, prohesion and QUV‐A tests. The surface energy of the painted panels was determined by contact angle measurements and outdoor testing of the panels was also initiated. The test results showed that the primer was the most important parameter for painted metal alloy coated steel, but the long‐term performance of the system also depends on the compatibility of all four layers, i.e. substrate, pre‐treatment, primer and topcoat.

Management approaches, such as supply chain management addressing cooperation among firms emphasize communication among people from different companies. The objective of this research was to investigate the impact of individual and contextual factors on the external communication behavior of purchasing managers in Germany.

Based on the literature, oral and written communication capabilities, purchasers' attitudes and the internal communication climate were identified as potential impact factors. A structural equation model containing 11 constructs was designed. Six hundred and seventeen responses were available for statistical analysis.

Summing up the results, oral communication capability and purchasers' attitudes toward individual communication with the suppliers play important roles in explaining external communication behavior of purchasers. Regarding indirect effects, there are strong total effects of the oral communication capability and the attitudes on the supplier management success as well as satisfaction.

Several measures were operationalized using two‐item or three‐item scales. Future research should focus on the development of more comprehensive scales.

Various conclusions from the results were drawn. Particularly, there are important managerial impacts on supply management and human resource management.

The paper provides the first scientific insight into the relationships between oral communication capability, attitudes toward communication, communication behavior and managerial performance in the field of supply management.

The purpose of this paper is to docoment a randomized controlled trial, with follow‐up at three and six months, to determine the impact of a coronary risk factor modification program for employees.

Intervention participants received a 12‐week health promotion program involving exercise, education seminars, nutritional analysis and smoking cessation counselling. Outcome measures included differences in coronary risk factors of control and intervention participants between baseline and three and six‐month follow‐up visits.

The participants included 566 individuals employed in the Halifax area, Nova Scotia, Canada. They were between 19 and 66 years old with at least two modifiable coronary risk factors. There were statistically significant differences at three months in coronary risk score improvement, smoking cessation, physical activity level increases, body mass index reductions and serum cholesterol. At six months, improvements remained significant except for cholesterol. Reduction in blood pressure was not significantly different. Intervention participants compared to control participants showed significant differences in both cardiac and stroke risk at three and six‐month visits.

This study demonstrates that employees had a significant coronary disease risk reduction as a result of a relatively short health promotion intervention. Benefits three months post‐intervention were not sustained to the same extent as during the intervention. This underscores the need for long‐term commitment with lifestyle changes and raises the issue of the need for a comprehensive approach that also addresses environmental factors.

This paper contributes to the current research base on this topic as there are few well‐designed studies to reduce coronary risk factors for employees.

Investigates the adhesion and corrosion performance of selected silanes in primed galvanised steel. For comparison HDG steel was also treated with a chromate‐free and a chromate‐containing pre‐treatment. All treated panels were painted with three different primers. Corrosion resistance and paint adhesion of the primed panels were studied. Surface energy of the panels was measured by the contact angle method and is reported in terms of the Lewis base component. The corrosion resistance of the panels depended on the combination of the silane and the primer. Vinyltrimethoxysilane (VS) and γ‐aminopropyltriethoxysilane (γ‐APS) treatments improved the corrosion resistance of polyurethane primed panels. γ‐ureidopropyltrimethoxysilane (γ‐UPS) and VS treatments improved the performance of polyester primed panels. A relationship between the base components and the prohesion test results of γ‐UPS and γ‐APS treated panels was found, which indicates that acid‐base interactions improve the adhesion between these two silanes and the primers. γ‐UPS and γ‐APS treated panels also achieved excellent results in the humidity test with all three polymer coatings.

The purpose of this study was to examine students’ innovation capability in virtual team projects from the COVID-19 pandemic era.

The researchers conducted an empirical study and the data were collected from a total of 308 participants engaging in virtual team projects. A structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to assess the relationship of the conceptual framework.

The findings showed that virtual team culture positively influenced propensity to innovate. Also, knowledge management and communication influenced propensity to innovate through the mediation of support for innovation.

Developing a strategy for propensity to innovate in any organization demands that project team members should be able to seamlessly communicate. Developing knowledge management, communication and support for innovation strategy in a virtual team may prepare an organization for permanently different post-pandemic events and the future turbulent business environment.

This study highlights innovation capability for the propensity to innovate, a topic that is not widely researched, especially in the context of virtual teams.