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The purpose of this paper is to present the development and validation of a methodology which allows modeling and solving the inverse and direct dynamic problem in real time in robot manipulators.

The robot dynamic equation is based on the Gibbs‐Appell equation of motion, yielding a well‐structured set of equations that can be computed in real time. This paper deals with the implementation and calculation of the inverse and direct dynamic problem in robots, with an application to the real‐time control of a PUMA 560 industrial robot provided with an open control architecture based on an industrial personal computer.

The experimental results show the validity of the dynamic model and that the proposed resolution method for the dynamic problem in real time is suitable for control purposes.

The accuracy of the applied friction model determines the accuracy of the identified overall model and consequently of the control. This is especially obvious in the case of the PUMA 560 robot, in which the presence of friction is remarkable in some of their joints. Hence, future work should focus on identifying a more precise friction model. The robot model could also be extended by incorporating rotor dynamics and could be applied for different robot configurations as parallel robots.

Gibbs‐Appell equations are used in order to develop the robotic manipulator dynamic model, instead of more usual dynamics formulations, due to several advantages that these exhibit. The obtained non‐physical identified parameters are adapted in order to enable their use in a control algorithm.

The purpose of this paper is to solve the path‐planning problem of industrial robots in complex environments.

A direct method (in each step, the path is been recorded) is presented in which the search of the path is made in the state space of the robotic system, and it makes use of the information generated about the characteristics of the process, introducing graph techniques for branching. The method poses an optimization problem that aims at minimizing the distance travelled by the significant points of the robot.

A new approach to solve the path‐planning problem has been introduced in which the behaviour of three operational parameters (computational time, distance travelled and number of configurations generated) have been analyzed so that the user can choose the most efficient algorithm depending on which parameter he is most interested in.

A new technique has been introduced which yields good results as the examples show.

The algorithm is able to obtain the solution to the path‐planning problem for any industrial robot working in a complex environment.

Gives a new tool for solving the path‐planning problem.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the quality and efficiency of five methods for solving the path planning problem of industrial robots in complex environments.

In total, five methods are presented for solving the path planning problem and certain working parameters have been monitored using each method. These working parameters are the distance travelled by the robot and the computational time needed to find a solution. A comparison of results has been analyzed.

After this study, it could be easy to know which of the proposed methods is most suitable for application in each case, depending on the parameter the user wants to optimize. The findings have been summarized in the conclusion section.

The five techniques which have been developed yield good results in general.

The algorithms introduced are able to solve the path planning problem for any industrial robot working with obstacles.

The path planning algorithms help robots perform their tasks in a more efficient way because the path followed has been optimized and therefore they help human beings work together with the robots in order to obtain the best results from them.

The paper shows which algorithm offers the best results, depending on the example the user has to solve and the parameter to be optimized.

This study seeks to introduce the role of resource and capability characteristics as drivers of a resource orientation (RO) and to examine empirically these relationships in different market conditions.

This study was conducted using a nation‐wide survey distributed to key informants of multiple business units. Multiple regression was used to assess the relationships. RO is used as a proxy for the implementation of the resource‐based view (RBV). The RO is also tested against performance outcomes to examine the robustness of the model that has been examined.

Findings showed significant relationships between resource and capability characteristics and RO. These relationships were shown to be robust across various market conditions. RO also depicted significant, positive relationships with all four performance indicators that were assessed. Industry conditions were found to strengthen some of these relationships.

The results are limited to cross‐sectional data that prevent the determination of causality. In addition, it is a nation‐specific study that may not be generalisable to alternative settings. This presents an opportunity for further research to replicate this study in other nations and/or industries. The research presents implications for further theory development and suggests that management can focus on developing unique resource bundles to improve company performance; however, they will need to be attentive to the competitive environment in which they compete.

This is the first study that empirically evaluates drivers of an RO and further tests the scale that was applied by Paladino. Additionally, this study illustrates that the RBV can be empirically tested through the use of an RO to have a demonstrable impact on financial and non‐financial elements of performance.

Over the last few decades, corporate environmental reporting (CER) has received substantial attention due to complex societal and ecological challenges experienced at a global scale. While there has been growth in CER research across the world, we know very little of the state of CER research in Africa. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive literature review of CER in sub-Saharan Africa to demonstrate its current state, uncover gaps in extant studies and identify areas for further research in the region. We perform a metasearch on the Financial Times Top 50 journals in addition to wider analyses using African Journals Online (AJOL) and Google Scholar between 2008 and 2020. Though there is some progress in interrogating CER in the region, there is much leeway for further research into how public and private corporations provide an account for their interaction with nature. Extant studies have examined how CER is often subsumed within corporate social responsibility initiatives while other studies explore ways in which CER can provide accountability mechanisms in the mining sector of select countries. Important areas of future research include the influences of legal, cultural and political systems on the level of CER, the tensions between economic development driven by multinational corporations and the necessity for ecological protection. Finally, further research could investigate the role CER can play in encouraging specific corporate disclosures around GHG emissions, especially given global efforts being undertaken to mitigate the effects of climate change.

This paper aims to explore the effect of bed temperature, primary layer thickness and infill pattern (rectilinear, honeycomb, triangular) on the mechanical properties of tensile strength and bending strength of 3D printed parts.

Samples in accordance to various ASTM standards were printed by fused deposition modelling (FDM) method by varying the various input paramaters such as bed temperature, primary layer thickness and infill pattern (rectilinear, honeycomb, triangular). Tensile and bending testing was carried out on the printed parts, and post to the testing, fractography has been carried out using scanning electron microscope.

With increase in bed temperature tensile strength and flexural strength first increases then decreases. With the increase in primary layer thickness, tensile strength and flexural strength increase. With regard to infill patterns, triangular and honeycomb exhibit better tensile strength and better flexural strength.

The 3D printing is increasingly becoming important for manufacturing of engineering parts, determining the process parameters which could result in better mechanical and physical properties shall certainly help designers and manufacturers globally.

This work elucidates the effect of various process parameters of FDM on tensile and flexural properties of the samples.

To shed light on how gender norms are reproduced in medical training and practice through an exploration of representations of the problem of “work–life balance.” Women physicians and women physician-researchers (WPs/WPRs) in Canada and in the United States experience social and health inequities when compared to their men colleagues. Despite current medical school acceptance parity, upon entering the medical workforce, women work harder than men to succeed within the historically male-dominated structures and value system of the medical profession.

We performed a critical discourse analysis of articles retrieved from academic databases and leading Anglo-American journals that discussed “work–life balance,” to investigate how the discourse contributed to, or challenged, the reproduction of gender norms in medicine.

While the medical literature acknowledges that the social and health inequities experienced by WP/WPR result from discriminatory norms and practices, it neglects to challenge built-in gendered inequities in benchmarks for success in the profession. Instead, proposed solutions require that WP/WPR themselves learn to cope and make better lifestyle choices, including downloading domestic responsibilities on socially disadvantaged – racialized and poor – women. Authors’ gender appears to make no difference.

Our search was limited to the Anglo-American literature, often retrieved articles inaccessible via our university library, excluded informal venues (e.g., blogs), and did not include cases of same-sex couples or interviews of WP/WPR. All these may have challenged components of our argument by revealing more nuanced debates, occurring under different political, cultural, and economic contexts.

While individual choices of WP/WPR are important to the protagonists, to successfully address the very real problem of work–life balance experienced by WP/WPR, patriarchal norms should be challenged, failure to comply with these norms should be rejected as explanations for work–life balance challenges, and norms themselves should become the focus of analysis and intervention.

The medical language used by physicians of both genders normalizes gendered inequities, favoring the success of medical men over women, and reproducing the professional and personal disadvantages experienced by the latter, further burdening socially disadvantaged women.

The purpose of this paper is to improve the appreciation of the moderating role of competitive intensity on the relationship between low-cost strategy and firm performance of restaurants.

The study uses empirical data collected from 118 restaurants operators, Ghana. The effects of relationships and the interaction of low-cost strategy and competitive intensity were tested using regression analysis.

The findings indicate the existence of a significant positive relationship between low-cost strategy and firm performance. The effect of competitive strategy on firm performance was found to be partially significant. The findings revealed that competitive intensity does moderate the relationship between low-cost strategy and firm performance of restaurants.

Implications of the findings for restaurant operators suggest that effective application of low-cost strategy and monitoring and managing competitive intensity results in high performance.

This study contributes to the existing literature on low-cost strategy, competitive intensity and firm performance. More specifically, the interaction terms of low-cost strategy and competitive intensity have been explored in this study and can be used for further investigations.

We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.