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This work describes a metal-metal bonding process by the use of Cu nanoparticles as a filler material. The Cu particles used were prepared by reduction of Cu²⁺ with hydrazine in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as a dispersing agent (uncoated Cu particles). Polypyrrole (PPy)-coated Cu nanoparticles were also used as the filler. Strong bonding for Cu discs was not obtained by using the PPy-coated particles. For the uncoated Cu particles, a shear strength required for separating the discs bonded by annealing at 400°C in H₂ gas was as large as 18.1 MPa.

The purpose of this chapter is to critically evaluate contemporary Japanese human resource management (HRM) practices in order to identify if Japanese small enterprises are employing the same or different practices that have been used in the past.

An interpretative qualitative approach is applied through the use of semi-structured interviews. Three small business owners with 30–50 years’ experience in the construction industry have been interviewed in Japanese with their subsequent responses translated, transcribed and coded.

It has been discovered that traditional HRM practices remain popular although their influence has slightly dissipated. This finding indicates an influence by western HR practices, at least to an extent. Findings include the presence of lifetime employment, seniority systems, Kaizen (quality management), the growing international workforce, unionisation, ‘nomunication’, recruitment practices, group decision-making and the lack of gender equality.

Research was only carried out with three small business owners which may reduce the transferability and generalisability of the findings. Only the construction industry was analysed. Moreover, the interviews took place on Skype rather than in a face-to-face environment which may have reduced the ability to effectively understand facial signals.

Although a native Japanese speaker carried out the translations, there may have been issues regarding selecting the most appropriate words to be used.

This study provides an original viewpoint on contemporary HR practices in Japan. It is argued that this chapter will provide a fresh understanding on HRM practices used by Japanese small business and will be useful for scholars, employees and employers alike.

The high value that Japanese place upon college prestige suggests that Japanese families will do whatever it takes to gain entry into the nation’s top colleges, including paying the high costs of preparation, tuition, or relocation. Of all the costs confronting parents of college-bound students, the greatest is that of migration, or the cost of attending college away from home. I use a 1995 cross-sectional dataset to examine how the pursuit of college quality factors into migration decisions among college students in Japan. My findings clearly show that the difference in university resources across regions is an important factor in determining migration decisions, while financial considerations are secondary.

The concept design-driven innovation focuses on innovating product meanings. It has been studied from a variety of perspectives and contexts since the early 2000s. However, a complete overview of the literature published in this area is currently missing. The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive understanding of how design-driven innovation contributes to value creation in product development.

In this systematic literature review, 57 papers and book chapters that cover design-driven innovation were identified and analyzed. An iterative coding process was followed to derive five facets of design-driven innovation that contribute to value creation.

Design-driven innovation creates value by focusing on the intangible values of products. The following five facets of design-driven innovation that contribute to value creation were identified: development of new product meanings, knowledge generation, actors and collaborations, capabilities and process. These facets and their interrelations are presented in a theoretical framework.

The main practical implication of this study is that it is now clear that the five facets of design-driven innovation are interrelated and reinforce each other. Therefore, companies need to approach design-driven innovation from a holistic perspective.

This paper contributes to theory by presenting the theoretical framework that provides an overview of available knowledge and that creates a context for future research.

Though widely recognized as essential for improving work performance across various domains, self-efficacy’s specific role in managing construction workforces remains understudied. This knowledge gap restricts our ability to uncover new factors that enhance workforce management effectiveness and ultimately boost construction labor productivity (CLP). To address this, our study proposes and tests a novel model. This model explores the impact mechanism of self-efficacy on CLP by investigating the mediating role of work motivation. By delving into this crucial yet underexplored area, we aim to provide valuable insights for construction project managers and researchers alike, paving the way for more effective workforce management strategies and consequently, improved CLP.

This study utilizes a mixed-method approach, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Data from 112 rebar workers at five construction sites in Vietnam underwent analysis using Cronbach’s alpha, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the novel research model.

The results indicate a positive and significant association between self-efficacy and CLP. Additionally, work motivation emerged as a full mediator in the relationship between self-efficacy and CLP. Specifically, individuals with higher self-efficacy set ambitious goals and invest more effort in their pursuit, leading to increased work motivation and, ultimately, heightened productivity levels.

The significant implications of the current study extend to construction managers and policymakers alike. Construction managers can leverage the findings to devise targeted interventions aimed at enhancing the self-efficacy and work motivation of their workforce, potentially resulting in noteworthy enhancements in CLP. Policymakers, too, can benefit from these findings by formulating policies that actively support the cultivation of self-efficacy and work motivation among construction workers. Such policies have the potential to foster a more productive and efficient construction industry, aligning with the broader goals of workforce development and industry enhancement.

This study expands existing knowledge by identifying the important role of self-efficacy in work performance enhancement and the mediating role of work motivation in terms of these relationships.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic unveiled resilience deficits in supply chains. Scholars and practitioners aim to identify supply chain resilience (SCRES) measures suitable for this unique disruption; however, empirical evidence on a pandemic's specific characteristics, resulting challenges, and suitable countermeasures is scarce.

A single-case study on an automotive supply chain network (ASCN), including eight nodes, was conducted. Based on current research and interviews with 35 experts, characteristic pandemic challenges for the ASCN were identified. Moreover, promising SCRES measures were determined along the most prominent SCRES levers. The findings lead to five central propositions and advance organizational information processing theory in the context of SCRES.

This study’s results confirm unique pandemic characteristics along the supply chain disruption's duration, severity, propagation, and volatility. The resulting unprecedented challenges made the ASCN apply novel SCRES measures, particularly regarding collaboration and risk management culture. However, well-known visibility and flexibility strategies were also suitable. Overall, agility and collaboration measures showed the highest capacity to address characteristic pandemic challenges. A lack of preparedness impeded some measures' application, calling for enhanced proactive risk management following the pandemic.

This paper addresses several research calls by providing in-depth empirical evidence on hitherto conceptually researched pandemic characteristics, challenges, and suitable SCRES measures from a network perspective. The study uncovers the different perceptions of individual tiers, emphasizing the need to analyze supply chain disruptions from multiple angles.

The purpose of this paper is to implement an activity support system for volunteer fire corps using Web-GIS technology.

In this study, the authors implemented a volunteer fire corps activity support system comprising a dispatch request system, a water sources geographic information system, a fire-vehicle location confirmation system, a route history system and an integrated management system. They implemented this system as a Web application in consideration of responsive design assuming that it is used on mobile terminals.

To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed system, the authors conducted a survey of 18 fire corps volunteers who were asked to evaluate the system for operability, relevance, functionality, usability and effectiveness.

In this research work, the authors implemented the volunteer fire corps activity support system using Web-GIS technology. The authors conducted a questionnaire survey of the volunteer fire corps activity support system, asking 18 fire corps volunteers to evaluate the system for operability, relevance, functionality, usability and effectiveness. The results of the survey indicate an overwhelming positive response to the volunteer fire corps activity support system for all five measures.

The transferability of the Japanese management system to the American business environment has recently provided a focal point of argument among Americans. This signifies a drastic change of trend not only for members of American business and management science, who have been accustomed to thinking that they are leading the business of the world, in every sense, but also for their Japanese counterparts who have been following American business and theory. The introduction of Japanese style management is one thing but its practical application is quite another matter; as an old Japanese proverb says, “You carve the statue of Buddha but do not put the spirit in it” (Hotoke tsukutte Tamashii irezu). Without understanding the minds of Japanese businessmen working in Japanese businesses it is of no use, and may even be dangerous, to argue about the transferability and workability of the Japanese type of management in the US.

Construction work involves high-risk activities and requires intense focus and physical exertion. Accordingly, working conditions at construction sites contribute to physical fatigue and mental stress in workers, which is the primary cause of accidents. This study aims to examine the relation between construction accidents and physiological variables, indicative of physical fatigue and mental stress.

Four different real-time physiological values of the construction workers were measured including blood sugar level (BSL), electrodermal activity (EDA), heart rate (HR) and skin temperature (ST). The data were collected from 21 different workers during the summer and winter seasons. Both seasonal and hourly correlation analyses were performed between the construction accidents and the four physiological variables gathered.

The analysis results demonstrate that BSL values of the workers are correlated inversely with construction accidents taking place before lunch break. In addition, except BSL a significant seasonal association between the physiological variables and construction accidents was found.

It is disclosed that variations in physiological risk factors at certain working periods pose a high risk for construction workers. Therefore, efficient work-cycle rests can be arranged to provide frequent but short breaks for workers to overcome such issues. Besides, an early warning system could be introduced to monitor the real-time physiological values of the workers.

This study contributes to the construction of a theory on humanistic leadership in the context of Japanese culture. Although the Japanese management system has been described as human-oriented, there has been limited research on this subject, especially regarding top leaders. This case study focuses on Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of Matsushita Electric (now Panasonic), who devoted his life as a businessperson to investigating human nature. The authors examined how the humanistic approach influenced his beliefs and behaviors, as well as his company's performance. The authors then show how current employees at Panasonic have implemented and interpreted his philosophy.

This research is a qualitative case study. Data were gathered from transcriptions of archived recordings, interviews and Internet documents. They were then coded for analyses.

The findings show how humanistic leadership can succeed via seven behaviors: building a company philosophy aimed at the prosperity of society and the well-being of people, being aware of one's own weaknesses, listening to others, improving oneself, developing people, respecting people and making a profit for society.

The study identifies the behavioral aspects of humanistic leadership for building a leadership theory and provides insight into how Matsushita's leadership characteristics and behaviors are connected to Japanese cultural values.