Search results

Drawing on self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan, 2012) and Hew’s (2016) five-factor model, our study aimed to investigate the impact of two online training design factors (instructor accessibility and active learning) on learner’s self-efficacy and learning outcome amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

A randomized pretest-posttest control group field experiment was designed to assess participants’ self-efficacy and learning outcome of an online training program - territory business management plan, under three conditions: instructor accessibility, active learning, and controlled. Participants (N=87) were medical sales representatives from a Fortune-Global 500 pharmaceutical company’s subsidiary office in China. Data was analyzed with 2 (time) x 3 (group) MANOVA with time (pretest and posttest) as a repeated measure to investigate differences in changes in self-efficacy and learning outcome between three groups.

Overall, participants’ self-efficacy and learning outcome were significantly improved via the online training program for all three groups. Specifically, the impact of the training on learning outcome was the strongest for the active learning group, less strong for the instructor accessibility group, and the least strong for the control group.

Our research contributes towards understandings of the effectiveness of online talent training programs by examining two critical instructional design factors during a time of crisis. Our findings suggest that active learning (interactions with the training materials by purposeful self-reflection) might be a stronger predictor for increasing learning outcome than instructor accessibility (receiving feedback and tutoring sessions from the instructor) for online training programs.

Expanding and developing the theoretical implications of socialist market economy with China’s experience.

In the course of exploring the development of a market economy, China has given full play to the advantages of the socialist system, which has distinguished itself from the Western countries and some of its developing peers. China's market economy is not directly transplanted and copied from the West. China not only insists on growing its market economy but also unswervingly sticks to the socialist orientation of its market economy.

So far, the socialist market economy has proved to be more effective than the conventional one-sided, planned economy and also outperforms the capitalist market economy.

The socialist market economy has surpassed the conventional planned economy and the capitalist market economy – it is a reconstructed and reshaped mechanism and system as well as a successful and new path of market economy explored by China through reform and opening up, rather than a counterpart of Western market economy or the simple combination of socialism and market economy.

This review aims to give a critical view of the wheel/rail high frequency vibration-induced vibration fatigue in railway bogie.

Vibration fatigue of railway bogie arising from the wheel/rail high frequency vibration has become the main concern of railway operators. Previous reviews usually focused on the formation mechanism of wheel/rail high frequency vibration. This paper thus gives a critical review of the vibration fatigue of railway bogie owing to the short-pitch irregularities-induced high frequency vibration, including a brief introduction of short-pitch irregularities, associated high frequency vibration in railway bogie, typical vibration fatigue failure cases of railway bogie and methodologies used for the assessment of vibration fatigue and research gaps.

The results showed that the resulting excitation frequencies of short-pitch irregularity vary substantially due to different track types and formation mechanisms. The axle box-mounted components are much more vulnerable to vibration fatigue compared with other components. The wheel polygonal wear and rail corrugation-induced high frequency vibration is the main driving force of fatigue failure, and the fatigue crack usually initiates from the defect of the weld seam. Vibration spectrum for attachments of railway bogie defined in the standard underestimates the vibration level arising from the short-pitch irregularities. The current investigations on vibration fatigue mainly focus on the methods to improve the accuracy of fatigue damage assessment, and a systematical design method for vibration fatigue remains a huge gap to improve the survival probability when the rail vehicle is subjected to vibration fatigue.

The research can facilitate the development of a new methodology to improve the fatigue life of railway vehicles when subjected to wheel/rail high frequency vibration.

This research analyzes the green activities implemented by banks in Indonesia following a new regulation on sustainable finance and the role of slack resources to fund the initiatives. Green practices of 35 banks in 2020–2021 were evaluated through the disclosure using green banking disclosure index (GBDI). The results show that the green practices have been disclosed adequately; however, no significant association was found for the role of financial and potential slack resources. This reflects the facts that the green activities might not have been adequately implemented and the organization’s resources might not have been allocated to support the green practices. The research periods that were still overloaded with COVID-19 issue might hinder the banks from the adequate and appropriate allocation of resources toward green practices. This research recommends a prioritization approach for the implementation of the sustainable finance regulation by banks and authorities through the increased implementation of substantive green practices, not only the increased disclosures.

Owing to the finite nature of the boundary of the line (BOL), the conventional method, involving the strong matching of single-variety parts with storage locations at the periphery of the line, proves insufficient for mixed-model assembly lines (MMAL). Consequently, this paper aims to introduce a material distribution scheduling problem considering the shared storage area (MDSPSSA). To address the inherent trade-off requirement of achieving both just-in-time efficiency and energy savings, a mathematical model is developed with the bi-objectives of minimizing line-side inventory and energy consumption.

A nondominated and multipopulation multiobjective grasshopper optimization algorithm (NM-MOGOA) is proposed to address the medium-to-large-scale problem associated with MDSPSSA. This algorithm combines elements from the grasshopper optimization algorithm and the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm-II. The multipopulation and coevolutionary strategy, chaotic mapping and two further optimization operators are used to enhance the overall solution quality.

Finally, the algorithm performance is evaluated by comparing NM-MOGOA with multi-objective grey wolf optimizer, multiobjective equilibrium optimizer and multi-objective atomic orbital search. The experimental findings substantiate the efficacy of NM-MOGOA, demonstrating its promise as a robust solution when confronted with the challenges posed by the MDSPSSA in MMALs.

The material distribution system devised in this paper takes into account the establishment of shared material storage areas between adjacent workstations. It permits the undifferentiated storage of various part types in fixed BOL areas. Concurrently, the innovative NM-MOGOA algorithm serves as the core of the system, supporting the formulation of scheduling plans.

The purpose of this paper is to predict the response and perforation of fibre metal laminates (FMLs) subjected to impact by projectiles at different velocities.

A finite element (FE) model is constructed in which recently proposed dynamic constitutive models for fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) laminates and metals are used. Moreover, a recently developed dynamic cohesive element constitutive model is also used to simulate the debonding between FRP laminates and metal sheets. The FE model is first validated against the test data for glass laminate aluminum reinforced epoxy (GLARE) both under dropped object loading and ballistic impact, then used to perform a parametric study on the influence of projectile nose shape on the perforation of FMLs.

It is found that the present model predicts well the response and perforation of GLARE subjected to impact loading in terms of load-time history, load-displacement curve, residual velocity and failure pattern. It is also found that projectile nose shape has a considerable effect on the perforation of GLARE FMLs and that the ballistic limit is the highest for a flat-ended projectile whilst for a conical-nosed missile the resistance to perforation is the least.

Recently developed constitutive models for FRPs and metals, together with cohesive element model which considers strain rate effect, are used in the FE model to predict the behaviour of FMLs struck by projectiles in a wider range of impact velocities; the present model is advantageous over such existing models as Johnson-Cook (JC) + Chang-Chang and JC (+BW) + MAT162 in terms of failure pattern though they produce similar results for residual velocity.

Vertical electrical sounding (VES) and Rayleigh wave exploration are widely used in the exploration of near-surface structure, but both have limitations. This study aims to make full use of the advantages of the two methods, reduce the multiple solutions of single inversion and improve the accuracy of the inversion. Thus, a nonlinear joint inversion method of VES and Rayleigh wave exploration based on improved differential evolution (DE) algorithm was proposed.

Based on the DE algorithm, a new initialization strategy was proposed. Then, taking AK-type with high-velocity interlayer model and HA-type with low-velocity interlayer model near the surface as examples, the inversion results of different methods were compared and analyzed. Then, the proposed method was applied to the field data in Chengde, Hebei Province, China. The stratum structure was accurately depicted and verified by drilling.

The synthetic data and field data results showed that the joint inversion of VES and Rayleigh wave data based on the improved DE algorithm can effectively improve the interpretation accuracy of the single-method inversion and had strong stability and large generalizable ability in near-surface engineering problems.

A joint inversion method of VES and Rayleigh wave data based on improved DE algorithm is proposed, which can improve the accuracy of single-method inversion.

This paper aims to unravel the relationship between market-driven impacts of climate change and firms’ deployment of renewable energy (RE) innovation. The purpose is to understand how market-related forces, influenced by uncertainty, shape firms’ behaviour in response to climate change challenges.

Drawing on the behavioural theory of the firm (BTOF), the paper develops a conceptual model to decode the relationship between each category of market-driven impacts and the resulting RE innovation within firms. The model takes into account the role of uncertainty and differentiates between multinational enterprises (MNEs) and domestic firms.

The analysis reveals five key sources of market-driven impacts: investor sentiment, media coverage, competitors’ adoption of ISO 14001, customer satisfaction and shareholder activism. These forces influence the adoption of RE innovation differently across firms, depending on the level of uncertainty and the discrepancy between environmental performance and aspiration level.

This paper contributes to the literature in four ways. Firstly, it emphasises the importance of uncertainty associated with market-driven impacts, which stimulates different responses from firms. Secondly, it fills a research gap by focusing on the proactivity of firms in adopting RE innovation, rather than just operational strategies to curb emissions. Thirdly, the paper extends the BTOF by incorporating the concept of uncertainty in explaining firm behaviour. Finally, it provides insights into the green strategies of MNEs in the face of climate change, offering a comprehensive model that differentiates MNEs from domestic firms.

With the increasingly intensifying competition and the development and maturity of the modern organization, employees have no longer fully been attached to the organization. The employee‐organization relationship gets more and more attention. As spokespersons of their organizations, the leaders in all levels, to a considerable extent, have an effect on the understanding of the employee for the organization. The purpose of this paper is to explore leader and member exchange (LMX) relationships' impact on employees' organizational commitment and discuss the mediating effect of perceived organizational support (POS) during the period.

A sample consisting of 423 employees in four organizations was investigated. After testing the reliability of all questionnaires, the authors constructed a model of the mediating effect of POS between LMX relationships' impact on employees' organizational commitment and used structural equation model technology to verify it.

The results showed that: affect, loyalty and professional respect have a significant impact on affective commitment but the result of the contribution is not significant. So, work exchange (contribution) was different from social exchange (affect, loyalty and professional respect) in the influence on employee's organizational affective commitment. POS had an intermediary effect between the affect exchange and affective commitment in the organization. Leader‐membership has an important implication for the employee‐organization relationship. The exchanges of different dimensions between the leader and the member were different no matter for the affected contents of the attitude to the organization of the employee or for the affecting mechanism.

All variable data came from the same employee questionnaires, which may lead to potential problems of same source bias or common method variance. In order to test the influence of common method variance, this research carried out Harman's one‐factor test.

The organization should emphasize developing the relationship between the leaders from various levels and the members, and in particular the social exchange out of the work must not be neglected.

The present study explores LMX's influence on employees' affective commitment towards the organization from a social exchange perspective. The authors adopted multi‐dimensions LMX, which is different from prior studies (e.g. Wayne et al. and Zhou and Bao) to discuss the mechanism of LMX's impact on subordinates' attitudes to the organization.

The purpose of this study is the presentation and research of a simple and rapid calibration methodology for industrial robot. Extensive research efforts were devoted to meet the requirements of online compensation, closed-loop feedback control and high-precision machining during the flexible machining process of robot for large-scale cabin.

A simple and rapid method to design and construct the transformation relation between the base coordinate system of robot and the measurement coordinate system was proposed based on geometric constraint. By establishing the Denavit–Hartenberg model for robot calibration, a method of two-step error for kinematic parameters calibration was put forward, which aided in achievement of step-by-step calibration of angle and distance errors. Furthermore, KUKA robot was considered as the research object, and related experiments were performed based on laser tracker.

The experimental results demonstrated that the accuracy of the coordinate transformation could reach 0.128 mm, which meets the transformation requirements. Compared to other methods used in this study, the calibration method of two-step error could significantly improve the positioning accuracy of robot up to 0.271 mm.

The methodology based on geometric constraint and two-step error is simple and can rapidly calibrate the kinematic parameters of robot. It also leads to the improvement in the positioning accuracy of robot.