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This study aims to examine the impact of managerial use of motivating language on employee absenteeism, turnover intention, job satisfaction and job performance for employees from three nations: India, the USA and Vietnam.

Data is collected from 614 employees working in India, the USA and Vietnam. A variance-based partial least squares structural equation modeling technique is used to test the hypotheses. In addition, a statistical test is used to examine the statistical differences in the results across the three nations.

The findings are consistent with the motivating language theory, in that managerial use of motivating language can be an effective strategy in motivating employees. Specifically, motivating language is found to significantly decrease employee absenteeism and turnover intention, as well as significantly increase job satisfaction and performance across the three nations. The effect sizes indicate that, across all samples, motivating language has a medium effect for all employee outcomes, except absenteeism, which is shown to have a small effect size. Moreover, the results indicate that employees in different cultures perceive and interpret the leader’s use of motivating language in different ways. Whereas motivating language may receive greater success in promoting workers’ job performance in eastern cultures, it is also more effective in retaining employees in western cultures.

The study adds to the literature in three major ways. First, it provides evidence for two understudied relationships: motivating language and absenteeism and motivating language and turnover intention. Second, it assesses the generalizability of the motivating language theory by investigating data from India, the USA and Vietnam. Finally, this paper offers a statistical comparison of the three samples to analyze how the relationship between motivating language and worker outcomes differ among the three samples.

This paper investigates the impact of social-media marketing elements, namely entertainment, customisation, interaction, electronic word-of-mouth (EWOM) and trendiness, on consumer–brand engagement and brand knowledge.

Using an online survey, the study collects data in Hong Kong from 214 experienced social-media users, as indicated by their consumption of a durable technology product, a smartphone. We used partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS–SEM) to test the links between social-media marketing elements, consumer–brand engagement and brand knowledge.

The results reveal that interaction, electronic word-of-mouth and trendiness are the key elements directly influencing consumer brand engagement, then strengthening brand awareness and brand knowledge. This contrasts with the non-significant results found for the influence of entertainment and customisation on consumer–brand engagement.

Having cross-sectional nature, the study focuses on one single product, smartphones, at one location, Hong Kong. Future research may enhance the generalisability of the findings by replication in other countries with diverse cultures, such as countries in Latin America and Africa and examine other industries and other products, such as the service sector and convenience products with a low involvement level.

Marketers may strengthen consumer–brand engagement by using content that is trendy, along with encouraging interaction and positive EWOM on social-media platforms, in order to build strong and positive brand knowledge in consumers' minds.

This study contributes to the branding literature by providing an understanding of the role of social-media marketing elements in the brand-building process. Social media is a marketing channel recognised by its effectiveness in communicating brand-related information and its role as a means to stimulate consumers' brand engagement and brand knowledge. However, how effective these elements are for these purposes remains to be established. By empirically testing a theoretical model, this study confirms that specific social-media marketing elements, namely interaction, EWOM and trendiness, are critical drivers in the brand-building process in Hong Kong.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the effect of indium alloying on the thermal fatigue endurance of Sn3.8Ag0.7Cu solder in low‐temperature co‐fired ceramic (LTCC) modules with land grid array (LGA) joints and the feasibility of using a recalibrated Engelmaier model to predict the lifetime of LGA joints as determined with a test assembly.

Test assemblies were fabricated and exposed to a temperature cycling test over a temperature range of −40‐125°C. Organic printed wiring board (PWB) material with a low coefficient of thermal expansion was used to reduce the global thermal mismatch of the assembly. The characteristic lifetime, θ, of the test assemblies was determined using direct current resistance measurements. The metallurgy and failure mechanisms of the interconnections were verified using scanning acoustic microscopy, an optical microscope with polarized light, and scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM/EDS) investigations. Lifetime predictions of the test assemblies were calculated using the recalibrated Engelmaier model.

This work showed that indium alloying increased the characteristic lifetime of LGA joints by 15 percent compared with Sn3.8Ag0.7Cu joints. SEM/EDS analysis showed that alloying changed the composition, size, and distribution of intermetallic compounds within the solder matrix. It was also observed that a solid‐state phase transformation (Cu,Ni)₆Sn₅(→ (Ni,Cu)₃Sn₄ occurred at the Ni/(Cu,Ni)₆Sn₅ interface. Moreover, the results pointed out that individual recalibration curves for ceramic package/PWB assemblies with high (≥ 10 ppm/°C) and low (≈ 3‐4 ppm/°C) global thermal mismatches and different package thicknesses should be determined before the lifetime of LGA‐type assemblies can be predicted accurately using the recalibrated Engelmaier model.

The results proved that indium alloying of LGA joints can be done using In‐containing solder on pre‐tinned pads of an LTCC module, despite the different liquidus temperatures of the In‐containing and Sn3.8Ag0.7Cu solders. The characteristic metallurgical features and enhanced thermal fatigue endurance of the In‐alloyed SnAgCu joints were also determined. Finally, this work demonstrated the problems that exist in predicting the lifetime of ceramic packages with LGA joints using analytical modeling, and proposals for developing the recalibrated Engelmaier model to achieve more accurate results with different ceramic packages/PWB assemblies are given.

This review paper aims to introduce the inkjet printing as a tool for fabrication of flexible/wearable sensors. It summarizes inkjet printing techniques including various modes of operation, commonly used substrates and inks, commercially available inkjet printers and variables affecting the printing process. More focus is on the drop-on-demand printing mode, a strongly considered printing technique for patterning conductive lines on flexible and stretchable substrates. As inkjet-printed patterns are influenced by various variables related to its conductivity, resistivity, durability and dimensions of printed patterns, the main printing parameters (e.g. printing multilayers, inks sintering, surface treatment, cartridge specifications and printing process parameters) are reported. The embedded approaches of adding electronic components (e.g. surface-mounted and optoelectronic devices) to the stretchable circuit are also included.

In this paper, inkjet printing techniques for fabrication of flexible/stretchable circuits will be reviewed. Specifically, the various modes of operation, commonly used substrates and inks and variables affecting the printing process will be presented. Next, examples of inkjet-printed electronic devices will be demonstrated. These devices will be compared to their rigid counterpart in terms of ease of implementation and electrical behavior for wearable sensor applications. Finally, a summary of key findings and future research opportunities will be presented.

In conclusion, it is evident that the technology of inkjet printing is becoming a competitor to traditional lithography fabrication techniques, as it has the advantage of being low cost and less complex. In particular, this technique has demonstrated great capabilities in the area of flexible/stretchable electronics and sensors. Various inkjet printing methods have been presented with emphasis on their principle of operation and their commercial availability. In addition, the components of a general inkjet printing process have been discussed in details. Several factors affect the resulting printed patterns in terms of conductivity, resistivity, durability and geometry.

The paper focuses on flexible/stretchable optoelectronic devices which could be implemented in stretchable circuits. Furthermore, the importance and challenges related to printing highly conductive and highly stretchable lines, as well as reliable electronic devices, and interfacing them with external circuitry for power transmission, data acquisition and signal conditioning have been highlighted and discussed. Although several fabrication techniques have been recently developed to allow patterning conductive lines on a rubber substrate, the fabrication of fully stretchable wearable sensors remains limited which needs future research in this area for the advancement of wearable sensors.

The purpose of this paper is to outline some key aspects such as material systems used, phenomenological and statistical process modeling, techniques applied to monitor the process and optimization approaches reported. All these need to be taken into account for the ongoing development of the SLM technique, particularly in health care applications. The outcomes from this review allow not only to summarize the main features of the process but also to collect a considerable amount of investigation effort so far achieved by the researcher community.

This paper reviews four significant areas of the selective laser melting (SLM) process of metallic systems within the scope of medical devices as follows: established and novel materials used, process modeling, process tracking and quality evaluation, and finally, the attempts for optimizing some process features such as surface roughness, porosity and mechanical properties. All the consulted literature has been highly detailed and discussed to understand the current and existing research gaps.

With this review, there is a prevailing need for further investigation on copper alloys, particularly when conformal cooling, antibacterial and antiviral properties are sought after. Moreover, artificial intelligence techniques for modeling and optimizing the SLM process parameters are still at a poor application level in this field. Furthermore, plenty of research work needs to be done to improve the existent online monitoring techniques.

This review is limited only to the materials, models, monitoring methods, and optimization approaches reported on the SLM process for metallic systems, particularly those found in the health care arena.

SLM is a widely used metal additive manufacturing process due to the possibility of elaborating complex and customized tridimensional parts or components. It is corroborated that SLM produces minimal amounts of waste and enables optimal designs that allow considerable environmental advantages and promotes sustainability.

The key perspectives about the applications of novel materials in the field of medicine are proposed.

The investigations about SLM contain an increasing amount of knowledge, motivated by the growing interest of the scientific community in this relatively young manufacturing process. This study can be seen as a compilation of relevant researches and findings in the field of the metal printing process.

The purpose of this paper is to present an exhaustive review of research studies and activities in the inkjet printing of conductive materials.

This paper gives a detailed literature survey of research carried out in inkjet printing of conductive materials.

This article explains the inkjet printing process and the various types of conductive inks. It then examines the various factors that affect the quality of inkjet printed interconnects such as printing parameters, materials and substrate treatments. Methods of characterising both the inkjet printing process and the electrical properties of printed conductive materials are also presented. Finally relevant applications of this technology are described.

Inkjet printing is currently one of the cheapest direct write techniques for manufacturing. The use of this technique in electronic manufacturing, where interconnects and other conductive features are required is an area of increasing relevance to the fields of electronics manufacturing, packaging and assembly. This review paper would therefore be of great value and interest to this community.

The purpose of the present work is to study the impacts of rapid cooling and Tb rare-earth additions on the structural, thermal and mechanical behavior of Bi–0.5Ag lead-free solder for high-temperature applications.

Effect of rapid solidification processing on structural, thermal and mechanical properties of Bi-Ag lead-free solder reinforced Tb rare-earth element.

The obtained results indicated that the microstructure consists of rhombohedral Bi-rich phase and Ag99.5Bi0.5 intermetallic compound (IMC). The addition of Tb could effectively reduce the onset and melting point. The elastic modulus of Tb-containing solders was enhanced to about 90% at 0.5 Tb. The higher elastic modulus may be attributed to solid solution strengthening effect, solubility extension, microstructure refinement and precipitation hardening of uniform distribution Ag99.5Bi0.5 IMC particles which can reasonably modify the microstructure, as well as inhibit the segregation and hinder the motion of dislocations.

It is recommended that the lead-free Bi-0.5Ag-0.5Tb solder be a candidate instead of common solder alloy (Sn-37Pb) for high temperature and high performance applications.

The purpose of the present study was to review the thermo-mechanical challenges of reflowed lead-free solder joints in surface mount components (SMCs). The topics of the review include challenges in modelling of the reflow soldering process, optimization and the future challenges in the reflow soldering process. Besides, the numerical approach of lead-free solder reliability is also discussed.

Lead-free reflow soldering is one of the most significant processes in the development of surface mount technology, especially toward the miniaturization of the advanced SMCs package. The challenges lead to more complex thermal responses when the PCB assembly passes through the reflow oven. The virtual modelling tools facilitate the modelling and simulation of the lead-free reflow process, which provide more data and clear visualization on the particular process.

With the growing trend of computer power and software capability, the multidisciplinary simulation, such as the temperature and thermal stress of lead-free SMCs, under the influenced of a specific process atmosphere can be provided. A simulation modelling technique for the thermal response and flow field prediction of a reflow process is cost-effective and has greatly helped the engineer to eliminate guesswork. Besides, simulated-based optimization methods of the reflow process have gained popularity because of them being economical and have reduced time-consumption, and these provide more information compared to the experimental hardware. The advantages and disadvantages of the simulation modelling in the reflow soldering process are also briefly discussed.

This literature review provides the engineers and researchers with a profound understanding of the thermo-mechanical challenges of reflowed lead-free solder joints in SMCs and the challenges of simulation modelling in the reflow process.

The unique challenges in solder joint reliability, and direction of future research in reflow process were identified to clarify the solutions to solve lead-free reliability issues in the electronics manufacturing industry.

Intumescent coatings are nowadays a dominant passive system used to protect structural materials in case of fire. Due to their reactive swelling behaviour, intumescent coatings are particularly complex materials to be modelled and predicted, which can be extremely useful especially for performance-based fire safety designs. In addition, many parameters influence their performance, and this challenges the definition and quantification of their material properties. Several approaches and models of various complexities are proposed in the literature, and they are reviewed and analysed in a critical literature review.

Analytical, finite-difference and finite-element methods for modelling intumescent coatings are compared, followed by the definition and quantification of the main physical, thermal, and optical properties of intumescent coatings: swelled thickness, thermal conductivity and resistance, density, specific heat capacity, and emissivity/absorptivity.

The study highlights the scarce consideration of key influencing factors on the material properties, and the tendency to simplify the problem into effective thermo-physical properties, such as effective thermal conductivity. As a conclusion, the literature review underlines the lack of homogenisation of modelling approaches and material properties, as well as the need for a universal modelling method that can generally simulate the performance of intumescent coatings, combine the large amount of published experimental data, and reliably produce fire-safe performance-based designs.

Due to their limited applicability, high complexity and little comparability, the presented literature review does not focus on analysing and comparing different multi-component models, constituted of many model-specific input parameters. On the contrary, the presented literature review compares various approaches, models and thermo-physical properties which primarily focusses on solving the heat transfer problem through swelling intumescent systems.

The presented literature review analyses and discusses the various modelling approaches to describe and predict the behaviour of swelling intumescent coatings as fire protection for structural materials. Due to the vast variety of available commercial products and potential testing conditions, these data are rarely compared and combined to achieve an overall understanding on the response of intumescent coatings as fire protection measure. The study highlights the lack of information and homogenisation of various modelling approaches, and it underlines the research needs about several aspects related to the intumescent coating behaviour modelling, also providing some useful suggestions for future studies.

The construction industry has a poor reputation for an unhealthy lifestyle and a high prevalence of health problems such as obesity, stress and hypertension among construction workers. The review examines the factors influencing the design and delivery of health promotion programs implemented by construction organisations to educate workers and promote a healthy lifestyle. It also identifies gaps in research and practices and proposes directions for future research.

A systematic review of 51 relevant journal articles published during 2010–2019 was undertaken to achieve the aim of the study.

The review reveals 46 different factors grouped into four major themes related to individuals, organisations, industry and the program, influencing the successful implementation of health promotion programs. The top ten most cited factors are cost, time, facilities and resources, transient workforce, delivery method, influence from managers, long working hours, masculine culture, production pressure and interest. The review also found a noticeable lack of studies on implementing health promotion programs in the context of developing countries, small and medium-sized construction organisations, residential sector workers, and construction professionals and female workers.

The review's scope is limited to research on health promotion programs, and it did not investigate the factors affecting the health of construction workers in construction projects.

A better understanding of various influencing factors present at different decision levels will inform the future implementation of targeted workforce health promotion strategies to foster construction workers' health and well-being.

The review reveals bottlenecks that need to be addressed to successfully implement health promotion programs in the construction industry. It provides new insights that can improve existing health and workplace policies and health promotion programs in the construction industry. Finally, it identifies new research directions in a neglected but crucial area of workers' health and safety management.