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Fibrous porous media have a wide variety of applications in insulation, filtration, acoustics, sensing, and actuation. To design such materials, computational modeling methods are needed to engineer the properties systematically. There is a lack of efficient approaches to build and modify those complex structures in computers. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In this paper, the authors generalize a previously developed periodic surface (PS) model so that the detailed shapes of fibers in porous media can be modeled. Because of its periodic and implicit nature, the generalized PS model is able to efficiently construct the three-dimensional representative volume element (RVE) of randomly distributed fibers. A physics-based empirical force field method is also developed to model the fiber bending and deformation.

Integrated with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis tools, the proposed approach enables simulation-based design of fibrous porous media.

In the future, the authors will investigate robust approaches to export meshes of PS models directly to CFD simulation tools and develop geometric modeling methods for composite materials that include both fibers and resin.

The proposed geometric modeling method with implicit surfaces to represent fibers is unique in its capability of modeling bent and deformed fibers in a RVE and supporting design parameter-based modification for global configuration change for the purpose of macroscopic transport property analysis.

To propose a model for ethical behaviour based on product, production and marketing methods, and to make use of qualitative data relating to a specific product in order to test its validity. This model is termed the Ethical Cube.

The model was developed as a result of early examination of ethical practices. It was then tested using publicly available examples of marketing, production and product information concerning the wine industry.

The model was found to be effective, if basic. Proposals for improvements and extensions are put forward.

The examples used are largely those that are in the public domain. Facets of a product are classed as ethical or unethical according to the number of reported examples in each area of study – with a special emphasis on production and marketing.

This can provide a standard framework for assessing the ethicality of any product.

This paper is of value to researchers and marketing practitioners seeking to evaluate the public impressions of a specific product.

The aim of this paper is to consider place as a value proposition, in the context of Resource-Advantage Theory, by analysing the concept of terroir, including its antecedents and consequences.

The authors conceptually analyse the role of place in marketing by contrasting terroir to three other approaches: “in the style of […]”; “made in […]” and Protected Designations of Origin. They explore the impact of terroir on a range of products, offering a series of terroir value propositions.

Versus other place links, terroir offers a more specific Resource-Advantage, operating at environmental, philosophical and commercial levels. It offers a unique form of value to both consumers (e.g. identity, authenticity, cultural rootedness) and producers (e.g. irreproducibility, potential legal protection).

Propositions address the antecedents and consequences of the terroir designation, the impact of consumer engagement, perceived authenticity and the added value offered to other regional goods. Additionally, how terroir may form a barrier to market entry, the relationship it has with the territorial brand, whether it offers greater product longevity and how it can be used as leverage for other related place-based brands and tourism are examined.

This is the first paper to address terroir as a marketing concept and to situate it within other forms of place marketing. It provides a definition, outlines the ways in which terroir creates value and provides a research agenda for future engagement with the concept.

The paper's aim is to determine, by means of an extensive exploratory study and the metaphorical use of a molecule, the set of dimensions and facets that exist in people's minds in regards to a country brand, and at the same time to compare the results with the dimensions used by practitioner-led sources to measure the same construct.

A total of 532 graduate students living in 20 different countries freely reported the concepts they associate with different country names. The construction of the nation brand molecule was carried out in three steps: generating the inventory of all the associations made by participants in relation to country names; classifying the inventory; and mapping the molecule.

The nation brand molecule (NBM) which encompasses all the associated concepts that give shape to the overall molecule was developed. Seven dimensions, with their corresponding facets, were identified: economy, tourism, geography and nature, culture and heritage, society, science and technology, and government.

First, the sample was significantly biased towards graduate students. Second, the free elicitation process was requested mainly focused on nation brand personality, so there still may be some country facets not included in the NBM. Finally, this study does not have a hierarchy or relative weight of each of the molecule's dimensions.

The seven dimensions identified here match some of those used by private sources to measure country brand. However, this study uncovers two dimensions that are not considered by either of the private sources: geography and nature, and science and technology. This may demonstrate that what should be measured is not exactly what has been measured, and therefore indicates a potential content validity problem of the private measures currently in use.

This paper is the first to explore the dimensions comprising the nation brand construct at a multinational scope. Although practitioner-led indexes have been widely used for many country-branding projects, they only show what is being measured but not what should be measured in regards to the country brands, and therefore this paper fills the gap that exists in the current state-of-the-art.

Forecasts of commodity prices are vital issues to market participants and policy makers. Those of corn are of no exception, considering its strategic importance. In the present study, the authors assess the forecast problem for the weekly wholesale price index of yellow corn in China during January 1, 2010–January 10, 2020 period.

The authors employ the nonlinear auto-regressive neural network as the forecast tool and evaluate forecast performance of different model settings over algorithms, delays, hidden neurons and data splitting ratios in arriving at the final model.

The final model is relatively simple and leads to accurate and stable results. Particularly, it generates relative root mean square errors of 1.05%, 1.08% and 1.03% for training, validation and testing, respectively.

Through the analysis, the study shows usefulness of the neural network technique for commodity price forecasts. The results might serve as technical forecasts on a standalone basis or be combined with other fundamental forecasts for perspectives of price trends and corresponding policy analysis.

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is an innovative approach to learning that employs a multitude of strategies critical for success in the twenty-first century. It exposes students to the real world, opens an extended inquiry process, and boosts their communication skills and interdisciplinary learning. However, the extant literature on PBL places more emphasis on learning through internal rather than external projects. Industrial collaboration projects build partnerships and provide opportunities to work on real problems, often seeking multidisciplinary approaches. This study explores and suggests the benefits that students derived from their participation in an external research and consultancy project at a University in Oman.

The study follows a qualitative analysis approach founded on an exploratory research design. In-depth interviews were conducted with ten research assistants, two research coordinators, and two project leaders involved in the project. The data from the interview were subjected to the thematic inductive qualitative analysis using Atlas.ti 8 software.

The results of the study revealed that students derived some direct academic benefits, mainly in the area of conducting research. The major learning happened mostly in non-academic areas, for they learned many things necessary for success in real-life work situations. The students benefited largely on behavioural skills and abilities such as communication, self-confidence, English language skills, planning, thinking, and time management skills. Altogether, project-based learning offered them a different skillset beyond what they usually acquire in the conventional teaching and learning environment.

The outcomes of this research support the development of curriculum design and instructional pedagogy in higher education in a specific context, concluding that PBL has much to do with the practical aspects of learning and employability. The finding suggests that by engaging in PBL, students can develop certain skills that cannot be acquired in a conventional teaching environment. PBL enables self-learning and prepares students to deal with different situations and challenges on the ground while inculcating professionalism to act in real-life situations. This study advocates the introduction of some PBL based courses in the curriculum to nurture a balanced set of skills and abilities among business students.

The research outcomes support Oman’s Vision 2040 and one of its strategies for capacity building that aims to adopt innovative methods for individual/collective development of students, as well as for their life-long learning.

Project-based learning described in this study provides a pedagogical way to connect university education to a real-life situation. These results offer promising prospects for infusing outdoor multidisciplinary projects in the course curriculum. This work bears significant value for educators in designing curriculum and facilitating projects, particularly in environments where students exhibit weaknesses or inhibitions to receive the knowledge, appropriately, from the conventional mode of teaching.

The purpose of this paper is to perform a typological analysis of research orientations in the field of organizational culture (OC) in order to provide a broad, original perspective on the nature of research in this field, beyond the current quantitative/qualitative dichotomy.

Documentary analysis, consisting of a content analysis of an appropriate and conceptually convenient selection of 200 source publications, was conducted. The analysis was performed in terms of four fundamental knowledge orientations and methodologies.

An analysis and description of the chosen set of examples for each of the four types of knowledge showed that, as with other areas in the field of organizational behavior and management (and also other scholarly disciplines), the typology finds clear expression in the area of OC.

In view of the aim and originality of the present paper, the sample size employed is not a worrying factor as sufficient and clear examples of each of the four basic types of research orientations have been provided. It is recommended that the broadly applicable knowledge (and by implication research) orientations that were introduced here, be considered by OC researchers. The analysis of fundamental approaches to research provides an inclusive perspective on the nature of different ways of studying and understanding OC. This should assist in expanding both scholarly and practitioner horizons. It is concluded that the analysis of research in the field of OC in terms of fundamental types of human knowledge provides a unique and expanded view on research in this area.

All stakeholders in the field of human resource management could benefit from taking cognizance of a broader perspective of knowledge development in the field of OC. The four-fold framework could also be utilized as a valuable source for restructuring and teaching of research methodology programs and courses in institutions of higher education, especially concerning the general need for greater attention to: theoretical (type I), and evaluation (type IV) research in management and organizational behavior.

The analysis of fundamental knowledge orientations provides an original and encompassing perspective on the nature of different approaches to the study and understanding of OC.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the prevalence and influence of social network website (SNW) content about alcohol use and abuse on job applicant reactions to their prospective immediate supervisor and toward applying for the job.

In Study 1, raters coded photographs and photo captions found on 1,048 personal SNWs of US managers or business owners. Approximately 22 percent of managers’ personal SNWs contained references to alcohol, providing a base rate large enough to warrant further research. In Study 2, laboratory experiment participants saw a fictitious company’s website including a professional managerial profile. A 3 × 3 factorial design then varied whether the prospective manager’s comments on his personal SNW emphasized professional activities, social drinking, or alcohol abuse; also, the manager’s friends’ comments emphasized work activities, social drinking, or alcohol abuse. A control group did not see a personal SNW.

Alcohol abuse information on personal SNWs – whether posted by the manager or by the manager’s friends – negatively affected attitudes toward the manager. Alcohol abuse information posted by the manager (but not by the manager’s friends) decreased the willingness of participants to apply for the position. These findings were consistent with the Brunswick Lens Model and the warranting hypothesis.

This is the first study to investigate managerial SNW content and it effects upon prospective job seekers’ attitudes.