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The purpose of this paper is twofold: to raise and address an important change for the human capital in the future of Industry 4.0, and to propose a human-focused perspective for companies underneath the new Industrial Revolution.

The research study follows a state-of-the-art literature review process. The nature of the selected approach enables to cover the extensive aim of the paper with sufficient scientific solidity that should support the understanding of every topic.

This work has presented three relevant aspects for Industry 4.0 and its human labour force: a workforce architecture with new interactions, a term to embrace the human capital of the future and a typology for referencing the required competences for Industry 4.0.

The paper sheds light on an important aspect for the emerging Industrial Revolution, the human force. The result and conclusion sections suggest future implications for academia and the private sector, due to changes at the conceptual and practical levels of human operation in the industry – for example, new structural interactions among employees, additional qualities to human capital and different ways to identify the competences for the workforce.

This is an interdisciplinary study that tries to bring together a modern industrial term, a social focus and a company scenario. From this, it was possible to obtain a new social term, a novel typology of competences and a new company-scenario interaction.

By introducing the mass customization service mode into the cloud logistics environment, this paper studies the joint optimization of service provider selection and customer order decoupling point (CODP) positioning based on the mass customization service mode to provide customers with more diversified and personalized service content with lower total logistics service cost.

This paper addresses the general process of service composition optimization based on the mass customization mode in a cloud logistics service environment and constructs a joint decision model for service provider selection and CODP positioning. In the model, the two objective functions of minimum service cost and most satisfactory delivery time are considered, and the Pareto optimal solution of the model is obtained via the NSGA-II algorithm. Then, a numerical case is used to verify the superiority of the service composition scheme based on the mass customization mode over the general scheme and to verify the significant impact of the scale effect coefficient on the optimal CODP location.

(1) Under the cloud logistics mode, the implementation of the logistics service mode based on mass customization can not only reduce the total cost of logistics services by means of the scale effect of massive orders on the cloud platform but also make more efficient use of a large number of logistics service providers gathered on the cloud platform to provide customers with more customized and diversified service content. (2) The scale effect coefficient directly affects the total cost of logistics services and significantly affects the location of the CODP. Therefore, before implementing the mass customization logistics service mode, the most reasonable clustering of orders on the cloud logistics platform is very important for the follow-up service combination.

The originality of this paper includes two aspects. One is to introduce the mass customization mode in the cloud logistics service environment for the first time and summarize the operation process of implementing the mass customization mode in the cloud logistics environment. Second, in order to solve the joint decision optimization model of provider selection and CODP positioning, this paper designs a method for solving a mixed-integer nonlinear programming model using a multi-layer coding genetic algorithm.

The study focuses on influential factors of collaboration on government data security by the Chinese government.

The article explores the case of e-government in the Chinese centralized unitary state system context, using a structured–pragmatic–situational (SPS) approach and the boundary theory as an analytical lens.

The findings indicate that e-government operates in highly interconnected environments where the safe flow of government data requires collaborative and cross-boundary strategies. Any organization is a potential “weakest link”. In addition, collaboration is fragmented by ambiguous accountability and organizational inertia across government departments, resources differences and limited visibility and measurability of security efforts across government levels and conflicts and uncertainties in principal–agent relationships. The solutions for those obstacles are also discussed from the multi-function, multi-level and multi-actor dimensions, respectively. A multi-dimensional overarching security model for the flow of government data is proposed.

The study advances the technology-oriented micro-analysis of previous studies on government data security to cross-organizational revealing at the macrolevel by connecting streams of research in information systems and public administration. These findings will contribute to making the safe flow of government data more resilient in the transformation of e-government.

The impact of rolling on the performance of micro arc oxidation (MAO) coatings on ZM5 alloy has been underreported. The purpose of this study is to explore the correlation between rolling and the failure mechanism of MAO coatings in greater depth.

The influence of rolling on the corrosion and wear properties of MAO coating was investigated by phase structure, bond strength test (initial bond strength and wet adhesion), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and wear test. The change of the surface electrochemical properties was studied by first principles analysis.

The results showed that the MAO coating on rolled alloy had better corrosion and wear resistance compared to cast alloy, although the structure and component content of two kinds of MAO coating are nearly identical. The difference in interface bonding between MAO coating and Mg substrate is the primary factor contributing to the disparity in performance between the two types of samples. Finally, the impact of the rolling process on MAO coating properties is explained through first-principle calculation.

A comprehensive explanation of the impact of the rolling process on MAO coating properties will provide substantial support for enhancing the application of Mg alloy anticorrosion.

This chapter looks into China's experiences with embracing new steering instruments to promote social stability, with particular reference to the protection of households involved in city regeneration projects. During the closing years of the twentieth century, China experienced a fundamental transition, from a planned mode of urban regeneration to a new pattern that emphasised the involvement of the market. Under the planned regime, households affected by regeneration projects were provided with new apartments and temporary housing, all financed by the local government. Economic incentives were rarely employed to encourage households to resettle, as resettlement was seen as a civil obligation. The new approach, featuring marketisation, however, requires the affected households to pay for their new houses using monetary compensation and subsidies from the local governments. The local governments are strongly motivated to save such costs and thus provide limited compensation, and consequently complaints from the affected households have continued to grow (Peerenboom & He, 2009).

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between renewable energy consumption and economic growth, using the threshold variables of non-renewable energy consumption, urbanization level and per-capita income.

This study used a panel threshold regression model, on combined African countries and divided African countries into five regions (northern, western, central, southern and eastern Africa). The study used panel data from 54 African countries, from 1990 to 2018.

This study established a threshold interval where the significant negative impact of renewable energy consumption on the economic growth of combined African countries is different at each split asymmetric phase, meaning the relationship is negative and non-linear. Further, the study established the threshold effect of divided African countries into regions, revealed a negative effect of renewable energy consumption on economic growth and compared the differences of threshold effect and coefficient in the regions, which further highlight the varying resource and renewable energy development across African countries.

This study recommends strategies and investment priorities on energy transition, through optimizing renewable energy in Africa, hence aggressive investment in the renewable energy sector is highly encouraged especially for the oil-producing state to promote clean and sustainable energy.

The contribution of this study is the establishment of a non-linear panel threshold model to examine the asymmetric effect of renewable energy consumption on economic growth which to the best of the authors’ knowledge is pioneer research in Africa. Additionally, an in-depth analysis of renewable energy consumption’s effect on the economic growth of all the regions in Africa.

The purpose of this paper is to assess how the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) renewable energy policy (EREP) affects energy intensity using the difference-in-difference (DID) and the propensity score matching methods (PSM). Based on the current debates on renewable energy policies (REP) and due to the fact that energy efficiency has been a challenge for ECOWAS member states. The authors set up a framework to assess the EREP effect on energy intensity.

Using the DID and PSM approaches the paper assesses the effect of EREP on energy intensity. The following three different paths are considered: Path 1 tests the EREP effect on electricity access. Path 2 tests the use of renewable energy sources as a factor to enhance the energy intensity. Path 3 tests whether or not use of renewable energy deployment has the potential to raise the total percentage of primary energy supply. The principle is to investigate if and to what extend the EREP increases the energy intensity.

The results indicate that EREP has a significantly positive effect on increasing the percentage of energy intensity in ECOWAS member states that has implemented the policy, resulting for a large percentage of the population to electricity access in treated groups. Empirical estimation results largely corroborate the three paths’ hypotheses. The result indicated that the EREP has increased the percentage of electricity access throughout the region.

The paper explores a more appropriate framework to examine the effect of EREP and enriches the literature on the impact of REP by combining a policy evaluation approach (PSM-DID) method. This paper is the first to the knowledge to estimate the EREP effect by using a non-parametric approach. The majority of previous studies have focused on using case studies, exploratory analysis approaches and econometric methods.

This study aims to debunk the myth that knowledge sharing will harm one’s competiveness, and argues, from the learning theory perspective, that sharing knowledge benefits both knowledge sharers and knowledge recipients.

Survey data were collected from 233 respondents across a variety of industries in Taiwan and the data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares analysis.

The results showed that both knowledge sharers and knowledge recipients benefitted from knowledge sharing, developing deeper and wider knowledge, leading to better performance, and that the benefits were greater for the knowledge sharers.

It is suggested that managers advocate knowledge sharing as a learning activity for both knowledge sharers and knowledge recipients. Regular knowledge sharing activities are advised, with knowledge sharers engaged fully in active learning, and knowledge recipients encouraged to take a more active role, by not only listening but also starting to share themselves.

This research adds to the knowledge management literature by investigating the results of knowledge sharing for both the sharer and recipient through a learning theory lens. It challenges the conventional view that employees will be worse off if they share knowledge, and debunks it with theoretical argument and empirical evidence. It offers insights into the impact on knowledge breadth and depth at the individual level, which was previously only studied at the organizational level.

The purpose of this paper is to enhance knowledge of the full set of interrelations between IC components by providing an inductive typology of their strategic interactions.

To answer the research question the author conducted a content analysis of CEOs’ letters to shareholders published by 122 companies among the 200 first companies from the Fortune Global 500 from 2008 to 2012.

The results show that these three IC components interact with each other around the central position held by relational and structural capital and to a lesser extent human capital. Companies that have a positive evolution in the ranking focus significantly more on the structural capital while those who have a negative evolution in the ranking mention more the relational capital.

The study is based on the CEOs’ letters that might limit the generalization of the findings. Nonetheless, this research highlights a full and fruitful set of interrelations between IC components providing a business practices-oriented typology.

This study provides deep insights into the interrelations between IC components that can significantly help managers to identify the strategic connections between IC dimensions.

This study contributes to the literature by expanding the actual academic classification of IC to five clusters of components. This research highlights that relational capital interacting with structural capital holds a central position in companies’ business strategy.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the predominant classification of intellectual capital (IC), in terms of components, using the literature of reference on the relationship between IC and performance and considering multi-dimensional analysis axes (MAAs): organisational, regional and national.

A systematic literature review (SLR) is presented focussing on empirical studies on IC published in the period 1960-2016. A protocol for action is defined and a research question is raised, gathering data from the databases of: Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar. A social network analysis is also provided to determine the type of networks embracing groups, IC individual components and performance type.

Of the 777 papers included in the SLR, 189 deal with the relationship between IC and performance. The paper highlights the greater development of empirical studies starting from 2004; the organisational MAA is the most studied. The most frequently used groups of components in studies dealing with IC’s influence on performance corresponds to a triad of human capital; structural (organisational or process) capital; and relational (social or customer) capital, which determine positively the performance of organisations/regions/countries, but their influence is not linear and depends on various factors associated with the context and surrounding environment.

This study has wide-ranging implications for politicians/governments, managers and academics, providing empirical evidence about the relationships between the components of IC and performance, by MAAs, and a global vision and better understanding of how those IC components have developed and how they are related to performance.

Due to the high number of references covering a wide range of disciplines and the various dimensions (e.g. organisational, regional and national) that form IC, it becomes fundamental to carry out an SRL and systematise its MAAs to deepen knowledge about what has been discovered/developed in this domain, in terms of empirical studies, in order to situate the topic in a wider theoretical-practical context. The paper is exceptionally wide-ranging, covering the period 1960-2016. It is one of the first clarifying studies on systemisation of the literature on IC, by MAA, and an in-depth study of IC’s impact on the performance of organisations/regions and countries which may serve as a guideline for future studies using the taxonomy proposed.