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The purpose of this paper is to design a efficient layout of Multistage interconnection network which has cost effective solution with high reliability and fault-tolerence capability. For parallel computation, various multistage interconnection networks (MINs) have been discussed hitherto in the literature, however, these networks always required further improvement in reliability and fault-tolerance capability. The fault-tolerance capability of the network can be achieved by increasing the number of disjoint paths as a result the reliability of the interconnection networks is also improved.

This proposed design is a modification of gamma interconnection network (GIN) and three disjoint path gamma interconnection network (3-DGIN). It has a total seven number of paths for all tag values which is uniform out of these seven paths, three paths are disjoint paths which increase the fault tolerance capability by two faults. Due to the presence of more paths than the GIN and 3-DGIN, this proposed design is more reliable.

In this study, a new design layout of a MIN has been proposed which provides three disjoint paths and uniformity in terms of an equal number of paths for all source-destination (S-D) pairs. The new layout contains fewer nodes as compared to GIN and 3-DGIN. This design provides a symmetrical structure, low cost, better terminal reliability and provides an equal number of paths for all tag values (|S-D|) when compared with existing MINs of this class.

A new design layout of MINs has been purposed and its two terminal reliability is calculated with the help of the reliability block diagram technique.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate effect of material properties in 3D knitted fabrics on thermo-physiological comfort.

In the present study six different spacer fabrics were developed. Among these six fabrics, it was classified into two groups for convenient analysis of results, the first group has been developed using polyester/polypropylene blend with three different proportion and second group with polyester/polypropylene/lycra blend having another three different composition. As a spacer yarn, three different types of 88 dtex polyester monofilament yarn and polyester multifilament yarns (167 dtex and 14.5 tex) were used and 14.5 tex polypropylene and 44 dtex lycra multifilament yarns were also used for the face and back side of the spacer fabrics (Table I). These fabrics were developed in Syntax Pvt Ltd Czech Republic.

The main influence on the water vapour permeability of warp knitted spacer fabrics is the kind of raw material, i.e. fibre wetting and wicking. Also there is no correlation between air permeability and water vapour permeability. It is found that both air permeability and thermal conductivity are closely related to the fabric density. It is also found that the fabric characteristics of spacer fabric show a very significant effect on the air permeability, thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of spacer fabric. Therefore, selection of spacer fabric for winter clothing according to its fabric characteristics.

The main objective of the present study is to produce spacer knitted 3D fabrics suitable for defined climatic conditions to be used as clothing or in sports goods.

New 3D knitted spacer fabrics can be produced with improved comfort properties.

The purpose of this paper is to use well-established methodology strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis – in order to identify the important factors for reliability centered maintenance (RCM) implementation.

The paper demonstrates a SWOT analysis for different 19 frameworks of RCM to make a strategic decision for implementing RCM in different organizations. The various 19 frameworks are grouped together into three clusters, namely Group A, Group B and Group C based on their qualitative or theoretical, quantitative and practical approach, respectively.

The strengths and weaknesses are identified by internal factors while the opportunities and threats are identified by external factors of an organization for each group of frameworks. Also, it was observed that each group of frameworks has a unique set of strengths and weaknesses.

In this paper, the SWOT analysis for RCM implementation is limited to the comparison of various 19 RCM frameworks which are available in literatures and based on internal or external factors of an organization.

The SWOT analysis also suggests that the implementation of RCM is not an easy task for any practitioner and one should weigh in all the opportunities and threats before arriving at any strategic decision.

A unique approach applied to analysis the frameworks of RCM. The SWOT analysis of various RCM frameworks will help the practitioner to take any strategic decision for RCM implementation in an organization.

This study aims to present insights on the relationship between perceived software process improvement (PSPI) and information technology (IT)-enabled knowledge management (KM). Moreover, the study provides an understanding of the mediating effect of critical success factors (CSFs) for effective IT-enabled KM on the previously mentioned relationship.

The respondents in the study involved employees in the software engineering (SE) organizations in national capital region in India. The structured equation modeling technique carried out through IBM.SPSS.Amos.v21-EQUiNOX was used to develop and evaluate the proposed framework. The proposed hypothesis testing has been carried out by path analysis using SPSS process macro.

The findings of the empirical study reveal that a significant relationship exists between the variables under investigation. Moreover, it was observed that CSFs act as a mediator between PSPI and IT-enabled KM. The identified factors are associated with various aspects as managerial, infrastructure, financial, systems and processes for IT-enabled KM. IT acts as a moderator between KM and PSPI and facilitate the various phases of KM as knowledge creation, storage and retrieval, sharing and application of knowledge.

The present study introduces a framework for identifying and applying the CSFs that influence the KM initiatives for PSPI in an SE organization. The practitioners can use the CSFs for assessing the performance (strengths and weaknesses) in process of software development and KM practices. Researchers can use the resultant framework proposed in the empirical study for PSPI, IT-enabled KM, and in academia, the framework supports to organize the study of IT-enabled KM for PSPI.

The general comprehension of the relationship between IT-enabled KM and PSPI for Indian SE organizations is scarce in the literature. Following, the analysis expands the earlier research by exploring the mediating role of the CSFs and the moderating effect of IT for KM and PSPI relationship.

In recent times, many organizations implementing total productive maintenance (TPM) have been failing in their attempts. Researchers attribute these failures to the shortcomings of TPM and of the implementing organizations. This paper aims to conduct a detailed study in order to understand these shortcomings and seeks to propose various solutions in the form of “best practices”, which leads to the development of world‐class maintenance systems (WMS). However, development of such alterative maintenance systems raises the following question: if an organization is planning to implement and improve their existing maintenance system then how can the manager make a decision between choosing alternative systems such as traditional maintenance systems, TPM and WMS? In the case of TPM or WMS, top management should be involved from the beginning to implement and follow up, as these decisions are complex and involve huge investment in the long term. Before starting implementation, top management should be convinced of the necessary justification, which requires analysis of various qualitative and quantitative factors apart from analyzing various tangible and intangible benefits. In such a situation, the conventional, financial justification techniques alone cannot be used.

The paper attempts to demonstrate the use of a multi‐attribute decision‐making (MADM) model, namely, the analytic hierarchy constant sum method (AHCSM) for justification of WMS by analyzing the performance measures of an organization.

The model showed that WMS is the best among the alternatives considered for the given circumstances. From the extensive analysis of the results from the model, implementing WMS would result in overall improvement in the performance of an organization.

The paper attempts to provide an understanding about the TPM shortcomings, WMS and its characteristics, apart from describing the proposed framework in detail. In addition to this, the AHCSM model has been developed for the justification of WMS and the algorithm for the same has been described in a step‐by‐step manner. It is believed that this MADM model will be useful for managers to supplement their strategic decisions.

According to the authors' knowledge, there has been so far no paper in the literature which has demonstrated the application of AHCSM in the field of maintenance management.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate an alternative approach that can predict non‐linear relations.

An engineered approach to fabric development is described in which a radial basis function network is trained with worsted fabric constructional parameters to predict functional and aesthetic properties of fabrics. An objective method of fabric appearance evaluation with the help of digital image processing is introduced. The prediction of fabric properties by the network with changing basic fibre characteristics and fabric constructional parameters is found to have good correlation with the experimental values of fabric functional and aesthetic properties.

The radial basis function network can successfully predict the fabric functional and aesthetic properties from basic fibre characteristics and fabric constructional parameters with considerable accuracy. The network prediction is in good correlation with the actual experimental data. There is some error in predicting the fabric properties from the constructional parameters. The variation in the actual values and predicted values is because of small sample size. Moreover, the properties of worsted fabrics are greatly influenced by the finishing parameters which are not taken into consideration in the training of the network. Prediction performance can be further improved by including these parameters as input, during the training phase. In few cases, the network has predicted contradictory trends, which are found difficult to be explained.

The paper describes a radial basis function neural network model that can be used for the prediction of the fabric appearance values and comfort properties using fabric constructional parameters and some primary fibre mechanical properties as input parameters of the network.

In today's competitive industries, the selection of best suitable maintenance strategy is dependent on large number of quantitative and qualitative factors, and it becomes an extensively difficult problem for maintenance engineers. Over the years, a diverse range of solution methodologies have been developed for solving this multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. In this paper, the authors have presented a comprehensive review of latest maintenance strategy paradigms and solution approaches proposed for the selection of an appropriate strategy in various industries. It would provide a systematic mapping of developments in this field and identify some research gaps to explore further studies.

A systematic state-of-the-art comprehensive literature review on maintenance strategy paradigms and selection approaches is presented in this study. In this study, 87 research articles published in peer-reviewed journals, since year 2012, are reviewed.

For the selection of a suitable maintenance strategy, a variety of criteria are considered to better evaluate the alternatives. In this study, contemporary strategies are discussed, and their applications in different industries are also depicted. Moreover, through the analysis of extant literature, critical criteria are selected and classified in six major categories (namely, economic, technical, safety, environmental, feasibility and social) and further sub-categorized in quantitative and qualitative classes. These clusters of criteria can be helpful as an initial set of criteria for survey and then case- or industry-specific criteria can be shortlisted for further alternative evaluation.

From the perspective of maintenance managers, maintenance management can be a very difficult task, considering the numerous factors affecting the decision-making process. In order to help in the decision-making process, this study presents the contemporary maintenance strategies in a systematic manner. In a previous study (Kothamasu et al., 2006), these strategies were classified into repair and prevent classes only. With the developments of autonomous maintenance and design out maintenance (DOM), it was fair to include continuous improvement class. It will help managers and practitioners to identify, according to organization policy, appropriate maintenance strategy alternatives for the asset. A benchmark set of state-of-the-art maintenance strategies are laid out with their applications. The industrial case studies discussed in this study summarizes the optimal maintenance strategies for respective industries. Also, most critical criteria are identified from the existing studies for various industries that can help maintenance practitioners in acknowledging the critical factors and making appropriate decisions. Evaluation parameters for the maintenance strategy selection (MSS) generally conflict with each other, and considering the difficulty of quantifying the qualitative measures, it is a challenging task to determine the optimal trade-off. In order to overcome these challenges, popular MCDM approaches, demonstrating effective results across different industries are discussed with their limitations and applications. Decision-makers can refer this study to identify best suitable decision-making technique for the MSS problem in the industry of their choice. Maintenance managers and engineers can refer the case studies illustrated in Tables 1 and 2 to analyse the MSS techniques proposed by previous studies with industry-specific applications.

This study is an attempt to provide a reference point for research scholars interested in the field of maintenance management and/or development of maintenance strategy framework. This study provides a critical state-of-the-art review of efforts made in the field of MSS. The prominent maintenance strategies being implemented in contemporary industries are discussed with respective case studies. Interested researchers and academicians can familiarize themselves with these strategies and their distinct features in this study. In order to guide future studies and provide a reference point for academicians, MSS critical criteria used in extant literature are identified and classified into a comprehensive benchmark framework. Moreover, the industrial case studies are discussed with the most critical criteria of MSS for different industries and which strategy is most suitable for the respective industries based on these criteria. Table 1 presents different MCDM techniques and their hybrid applications for solving MSS problem that can help researchers in identifying research gaps. Future research can be directed at addressing the limitation of MCDM approach employed in existing studies and comparing the differences in results obtained by the proposed approach. Different industrial case studies with considered maintenance strategy alternatives are presented in Table 2, which can help researchers in identifying the industries that have not been studied yet. Moreover, not all of the existing studies are carried out by considering all the presented benchmark strategies, which can be addressed in future studies by interested researchers. More detailed discussion on research gaps is presented in the following section.

From the analysis of the extant literature, the authors could observe that the decision-making process adopted in numerous studies was limited to the classical maintenance strategies and not inclusive of aggressive maintenance strategy alternatives. To overcome these limitations and help maintenance managers in the decision-making, this study depicts the contemporary maintenance strategies, critical evaluation criteria and MCDM frameworks (employed to solve the MSS problem with industrial case studies) in a structured manner.

This paper aims to explore the factors influencing the behavioural intention of Gen Y consumers to avail omnichannel service and to identify the relative influence of predictors in explaining the behavioural intention of Gen Y consumers to use omnichannel service.

Data collected through surveys from 287 Gen Y consumers has been analysed through structural equation modelling to examine direct and mediated relationships between the constructs influencing behavioural intention to use omnichannel service.

Findings indicate that perceived ease of use, social influence, perceived trust, and personal innovativeness positively affect behavioural intention to use omnichannel service, with the result accounting for 48% of the variance. We also demonstrate that perceived value and perceived ease of use mediate the association between personal innovativeness and behavioural intention to use omnichannel service.

The study provides valuable insights into adopting technology-based offerings for Gen Y customers. The presented model can be extended for analysing consumers' behavioural intentions by considering additional variables, such as consumer personality traits and diverse cultural settings. The study may help managers and policymakers formulate a consumer-focussed strategy to win over modern retail consumers.

This study explores the behavioural intention of Gen Y consumers in availing omnichannel services. Further, the study contributes to the technology acceptance model (TAM), unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) or UTAUT2 theories that may need to be extended in the omnichannel shopping context.

The study aims to identify the central paradoxical tensions existing in developing resilience in organisations. The main thrust of this study is to develop a thorough understanding of diverse conflicting tensions in building resilience and develop the possible strategies to surmount these tensions.

Using the case study approach, the study applied theory-elaboration strategy as this study is based on well-established literature from both digitalisation and resilience. The study uses the paradox theory lens in a case study to reconcile both theories with contextual idiosyncrasies.

The paradox theory lens provides perspectives to understand tensions during resilience development and the role of digital transformation in this process. It assesses the potential solutions for surmounting tensions in resilient operations. The mapping of workable solutions with different paradoxes and propositions has been proposed for future empirical research.

The study suggests that practitioners should not consider resilience and sustainability as mutually exclusive; instead, managers must embrace ongoing tensions to bring solutions to address these two essential organisational priorities.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first empirical study that applies paradox theory to understand how an organisation can build resilience while confronting several paradoxes. The study findings support that resilience practices can move in tandem with environmental sustainability goals rather than being usually mutually exclusive.

With gaining popularity, online communities are increasing. It is leading to the data and information overflow. So, there are some challenges like cyber frauds, cyberbullying, etc. while engaging with online communities. Not only this, anonymity of the participants, stress and racism are also big challenges in online communities' interaction. Online harassers' attack tactics have changed over time. In addition, there are challenges like quality of discussion, inequality in participation of the users, etc. may scale online communities towards incitement and activism. Therefore, this study will try to analyse these challenges for overall benefit of the society.

The underlying fuzzy set theory is employed to handle the fuzziness of users' perceptions since the attributes are expressed in linguistic preferences. Through exhaustive literature review, the authors have identified 15 challenges. These challenges are further categorised as cause and effect by using DEMATEL (Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) approach.

Lack of strategic planning and uninspired discussions between users has emerged as a major challenge in cause category. This study further demonstrates how individual challenge can be managed and developed to navigate the online communities to maintain a healthy environment in society.

Results are based on limited dataset. Therefore, findings cannot be generalised for all online communities.

The research findings offer a suitable direction to policymakers to formulate and design policies, laws and regulations to increase user engagement in the online community. The study is beneficial to firms and researchers in understanding the factors influencing effective management of online communities.