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This paper is devoted to prepare micro-cone structure with variable cross-section size by Stereo Lithography Appearance (SLA)-based 3D additive manufacturing technology. It is mainly focused on analyzing the forming mechanism of equipment and factors affecting the forming quality and accuracy, investigating the influence of forming process parameters on the printing quality and optimization of the printing quality. This study is expected to provide a µ-SLA surface preparation technology and process parameters selection with low cost, high precision and short preparation period for microstructure forming.

The µ-SLA process is optimized based on the variable cross-section micro-cone structure printing. Multi-index analysis method was used to analyze the influence of process parameters. The process parameter influencing order is determined and validated with flawless micro array structure.

After the optimization analysis of the top diameter size, the bottom diameter size and the overall height, the influence order of the printing process parameters on the quality of the micro-cone forming is: exposure time (B), print layer thickness (A) and number of vibrations (C). The optimal scheme is A1B3C1, that is, the layer thickness of 5 µm, the exposure time of 3000 ms and the vibration of 64x. At this time, the cone structure with the bottom diameter of 50 µm and the cone angle of 5° could obtain a better surface structure.

This study is expected to provide a µ-SLA surface preparation technology and process parameters selection with low cost, high precision and short preparation period for microstructure forming.

This study aims to focus on understanding the tensions experienced by government officials in introducing electronic government (e-government) policies to support entrepreneurs in a developing Latin American country.

This study relies on an in-depth qualitative approach based on collaborative and analytic auto-ethnography. The authors concentrate on tensions experienced by a government official and how they were addressed when introducing e-government policies to support entrepreneurs during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The findings reveal that paradoxical tensions occur as changes are demanded, multiple concerns are expressed and decisions about resources have to be made. The findings reveal sources of tensions from government, business and external sources. Addressing such tensions revolves around a diverse form of paradoxes dealing with contradictions in terms of speed vs thoroughness and short- vs long-term implications.

The authors’ study provides several contributions. It advances understanding on the source and management of tensions experienced by government officials introducing e-government policies to support entrepreneurs during the Covid-19 pandemic. It also delineates multiple paradoxes experienced by government officials as new policies and systems were introduced. Finally, it offers a conceptual model explaining how government officials deal with multiple tensions emerging from the introduction of e-government policies in a developing country.

The prior literature has suggested that e-government initiatives would be guided by a prescriptive and tension-free process, driven by the interest to enhance governmental efficiency. This study reveals that developing e-government initiatives for entrepreneurs and existing businesses during the Covid-19 crisis was not immune to contradictions between government officials and the public. A conceptual model, based on multiple sources of tensions (government-related, business-related and external sources) and their management, is proposed. Implications and opportunities for further research are presented.

The efficiency of each of an organization’s individual workers determines its effectiveness. The study aims to explore the relationship between human resource management (HRM) practices and organizational effectiveness with employee performance as a mediating variable.

Data were collected from 800 police officers in the Greater Accra and Tema regions. The data were supported by the hypothesized relationship. Construct reliability and validity was established through confirmatory factor analysis. The proposed model and hypotheses were evaluated using structural equation modeling.

The results show that career planning and employee performance were significantly related. Self-managed teams and employee performance were shown to be nonsignificantly related. Similarly, performance management and employee performance were shown to be nonsignificantly related. Employee performance significantly influenced organizational effectiveness. The results further indicate that employee performance mediates the relationship between HRM practices and organizational effectiveness.

The generalizability of the findings will be constrained due to the research’s police service focus and cross-sectional data.

The study’s findings will serve as valuable pointers for the police administration in the adoption, design and implementation of well-articulated and proactive HRM practices to improve the abilities, skills, knowledge and motivation of officer’s to inordinately enhance the effectiveness of the service.

By evidencing empirically that employee performance mediates the relationship between HRM practice and organizational effectiveness, the study extends the literature.

The purpose of this study is to explore whether five factors drawn from the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) and UTAUT2 significantly influence customers' intention to use hotel in-room voice assistants (VAs). It further examined culture as a moderator of the relationships between the five factors and customers' intention to use.

The authors collected data from US and Singapore to examine cultural differences in customer acceptance of in-room VAs. All hypotheses were tested via structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis.

The results showed that performance expectancy, social influence and hedonic motivation significantly affected customers' intentions to use in-room VAs, while effort expectancy and facilitating conditions did not. The results confirmed that culture did not play a substantial role in moderating the relationships between these factors and intentions to use.

This study established that the instrument and structural paths in the research model were equivalent across two samples from different countries. The findings may not generalize to other countries as the data arises from customers in the US and Singapore.

The findings provide important implications for hotel operators and vendors seeking to enhance customer acceptance of in-room voice technology.

This study addresses the gaps of extant research by developing and testing a research model to better understand the influential factors of in-room VA adoption within the hotel domain.

The authors explore the under-researched area of post-decision evaluation in PPPs (public–private partnerships), focusing upon how and whether Post-decision Project Evaluation (PdPE) is considered and provided for in United Kingdom (UK) public infrastructure projects.

The authors’ research design sought insights from overviewing UK PPP planning and more focused exploration of PPP operational practice. The authors combine the extensive analysis of planning documents for operational UK PPP projects with interviews of different stakeholders in PPP projects in one city. Mobilising an open critical perspective, documents were analysed using ethnographic content analysis (ECA) and interviews were analysed using thematic analysis consistent therewith. The authors theorise the absence and ambiguities of PdPE drawing on the sociology of ignorance.

The authors find a long-standing absence and lack of PdPE in PPP projects throughout planning and operational practice, reflecting a dynamic, multi-faceted ignorance. Concerning planning practice, the authors’ documentary analysis evidences a trend in PdPE from its absence in the early years (which may indicate some natural or genuine ignorance) to different levels or forms of weak inclusion later. Regarding this inclusion, the authors find strategic ignorance played a substantive role, involving “deliberate engineering” by both public sector and private partners. Interview findings indicate lack of clarity over PdPE and its under-development in PPP practice, deficiencies again suggestive of natural and strategic ignorance.

The authors draw from the sociology of ignorance vis-à-vis accounting's absence and ambiguity in the context of PPP, contributing to an under-researched area.

This study aims to examine the impact of online travel reviews (OTR) on tourists’ intention to travel based on the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) model. Further, it explored the mediating effects of tourist trust in OTR.

In this direction, this study proposes and empirically validates a conceptual model after collecting data from 299 Indian consumers. Proposed hypotheses were tested by applying the structural equation modelling technique. Bootstrapping method was used for mediation testing.

The findings revealed that various attributes of OTR exert differential impacts on travel intention. The study also confirmed the mediating role of tourist trust in OTR.

This study offers significant practical implications for travel marketers. To capitalize on OTR, travel marketers are recommended to develop an effective and efficient online reviews management system. This will improve the quality, valence, quantity and consistency of OTR, which in turn will enhance tourist trust in OTR, leading to improved travel intention.

No empirical evidence has been traced on how OTR enhances tourist trust in OTR and their travel intention. In support of this, the present study proposes and empirically validates an extensive model to comprehend the role of various drivers of OTR in improving tourist trust in OTR, leading to enhanced travel intention based on the SOR model.

The stress concentration factor (SCF) is commonly utilized to assess the fatigue life of a tubular T-joint in offshore structures. Parametric equations derived from experimental testing and finite element analysis (FEA) are utilized to estimate the SCF efficiently. The mathematical equations provide the SCF at the crown and saddle of tubular T-joints for various load scenarios. Offshore structures are subjected to a wide range of stresses from all directions, and the hotspot stress might occur anywhere along the brace. It is critical to incorporate stress distribution since using the single-point SCF equation can lead to inaccurate hotspot stress and fatigue life estimates. As far as we know, there are no equations available to determine the SCF around the axis of the brace.

A mathematical model based on the training weights and biases of artificial neural networks (ANNs) is presented to predict SCF. 625 FEA simulations were conducted to obtain SCF data to train the ANN.

Using real data, this ANN was used to create mathematical formulas for determining the SCF. The equations can calculate the SCF with a percentage error of less than 6%.

Engineers in practice can use the equations to compute the hotspot stress precisely and rapidly, thereby minimizing risks linked to fatigue failure of offshore structures and assuring their longevity and reliability. Our research contributes to enhancing the safety and reliability of offshore structures by facilitating more precise assessments of stress distribution.

Precisely determining the SCF for the fatigue life of offshore structures reduces the potential hazards associated with fatigue failure, thereby guaranteeing their longevity and reliability. The present study offers a systematic approach for using FEA and ANN to calculate the stress distribution along the weld toe and the SCF in T-joints since ANNs are better at approximating complex phenomena than standard data fitting techniques. Once a database of parametric equations is available, it can be used to rapidly approximate the SCF, unlike experimentation, which is costly and FEA, which is time consuming.