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A new and explicit form of the elastic strain-energy function for modeling large strain elastic responses of soft solids is constructed based on Hencky's logarithmic strain tensor.

Well-designed invariants of the Hencky strain are introduced for characterizing deformation modes and, furthermore, a new interpolating technique is proposed for combining piecewise splines into a single smooth function.

With this new form and this new technique, objectives in three respects may be achieved for the first time.

First, no adjustable parameters need to be treated. Second, large strain responses for three benchmark modes are derivable in a decoupled sense without involving strongly nonlinear coupling effects. Finally, large strain data may be automatically and accurately matched for three benchmark modes, including uniaxial, equi-biaxial and plane-strain extension. Numerical examples are presented and compared with usual approaches.

The purpose of this paper is to provide guidelines for reflexive ethnographic writing that transports the researcher's claims of having conducted participatory reflexive research to her audience.

Auto‐ethnographic vignettes from the author's own ethnographic research are used to establish five levels of reflexivity for writing organizational ethnography.

The author argues that the audience needs to be able to judge a researcher's claims to reflexivity through his/her writing. Yet, due to the participation mode of reflexivity while doing ethnographic research, the researcher is not in control over his/her own reflexive writing. Therefore, processes between three groups of stakeholders, namely researcher, field and audience, and their power relations need to be considered in reflexive writing. The author calls this process ethnographic triangulating and derives a five‐tiered model of reflexive writing from it.

The paper offers a perspective on how to write organizational ethnography. Others will have to put this perspective into practice.

The paper moves the participation mode of reflexivity to the level of writing, thereby offering a fully conceived view on reflexivity that acknowledges the influence of field and audience on ethnographic writing.

The paper seeks to support a better understanding of the types (or processes) of reflexivity which may be involved in the practice of organizational research, and the implications of reflexive practice for organizational researchers.

A characterization of reflexivity as a process is developed from extant research, in four steps. First, the principal dimensions of reflexivity – reflection and recursion – are identified and delineated. Second, recursion is shown to have two modes, active and passive. Third, reflection is shown to have both closed, self‐guided and open, relational modes. Fourth, through integrating the detailed characterizations of each of the dimensions, different types of reflexivity are identified and defined.

The paper shows how different types of reflexivity may be experienced sequentially, as a progressive process, by organizational researchers. Implications for research practice are derived from a consideration of this process.

The paper develops a novel conceptualization of reflexivity as a process with individual and relational aspects. This conceptualization supports important insights for the conduct and legitimation of reflexive research.

Piezoelectric extension mode smart beams are vital part of modern control technology and their numerical analysis is an important step in the design process. Finite elements based on First-order Shear Deformation Theory (FSDT) are widely used for their structural analysis. The performance of the conventional FSDT-based two-noded piezoelectric beam formulations with assumed independent linear field interpolations is not impressive due to shear and material locking phenomena. The purpose of this paper is to develop an efficient locking-free FSDT piezoelectric beam element, while maintaining the same number of nodal degrees of freedom.

The governing equations are derived using a variational formulation to establish coupled polynomial field representation for the field variables. Shape functions based on these coupled polynomials are employed here. The proposed formulation eliminates all locking effects by accommodating strain and material couplings into the field interpolation, in a variationally consistent manner.

The present formulation shows improved convergence characteristics over the conventional formulations and proves to be the most efficient way to model extension mode piezoelectric smart beams, as demonstrated by the results obtained for numerical test problems.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no such FSDT-based finite element with coupled polynomial shape function exists in the literature, which incorporates electromechanical coupling along with bending-extension and bending-shear couplings at the field interpolation level itself. The proposed formulation proves to be the fastest converging FSDT-based extension mode smart beam formulation.

This study considers both a single and multi‐mode viscoelastic analysis for wire‐coating flows. The numerical simulations utilise a finite element time‐stepping technique, a Taylor‐Petrov‐Galerkin/pressure‐correction scheme employing both coupled and decoupled procedures between stress and kinematic fields. An exponential Phan‐Thein/Tanner model is used to predict pressure‐drop and residual stress for this process. Rheometrical data fitting is performed for steady shear and pure extensional flows, considering both high and low density polyethylene melts. Simulations are conducted to match experimental pressure‐drop/flowrate data for a contraction flow. Then, for a complex industrial wire‐coating flow, stress and pressure drop are predicted numerically and quantified. The benefits are extolled of the use of a multi‐mode model that can incorporate a wide‐range discrete relaxation spectrum to represent flow response in complex settings. Contrast is made between LDPE and HDPE polymers, and dependency on individual relaxation modes is identified in its contribution to overall flow behaviour.

Literature on modes of entry has focussed on firm-level strategies. The predominant theories used are institutional theory and the resource-based view. Using an alternate approach – network theory – this paper aims to demonstrate an additional mode of entry: multiple firms entering together as an extension of an existing loose network, known as a bridging network. The extension of an external network across borders is an appropriate mode of entry in emerging markets, with no pre-existing networks or existing networks within a market that are weak, immature or missing.

A conceptual review, which develops four propositions, demonstrating that market entry with bridging networks may be the preferred mode of entry in the presence of institutional voids. Alternative modes may not be viable because of costs and risks associated with overcoming such voids.

Existing theory and case examples support the contention that market conditions facilitate firms to enter as networks rather than as singular entities. These conditions are found in markets with institutional voids and explain the dominant form of business groups in many countries and the operation of loose strategic alliances in emerging markets. Network entry facilitates market access speed may allow for local ties to remain undeveloped or be a first step in building in-country networks.

This paper heeds to the call for a network ecosystem approach to market entry, arguing that firms may enter as a collective in subsistence and emerging markets, which would explain the preponderance of business groups and loose alliances found.

Motivated by the real-world practice that the boom of the online selling induces a higher product return as well, selecting which online channel mode indicates who takes ownership over the product and thus bears the loss of the product return. This paper aims to seek the optimal online channel modes for the two members in a platform supply chain in the presence of product returns.

This study aims to develop a platform supply chain that consists of one platform company and one supplier. Along with an offline distribution channel, the supplier can choose two alternative online selling modes (i.e. the reselling and agency modes) to sell its product through the online marketplace. This paper applies Stackelberg game to derive the equilibrium with different business scenarios and selects the optimal online channel modes for two parties, respectively. Moreover, this paper extends to a different supply chain with a reverse channel leadership and a different product return policy for testing the robustness.

Several interesting and important results are derived in this paper. Firstly, it is found that the relative pricing are largely relied on the costs of two channels. Secondly, the platform supply chain may benefit from a pure channel rather than the dual-channel when this channel enjoys a relatively low cost and/or a sufficiently high consumer preference. Then, the platform and the supplier act contradictorily when selecting their optimal online channel modes. To be specific, the platform motivates to choose the online reselling mode when both the commission rate and the slotting fee are relatively low, whereas the supplier is likely to select the online agency mode under this circumstance. Finally, a win-win situation in regards to the optimal online channel mode for two parties is achievable with numerical experiments.

Based on the analytical studies, the results derived in the authors’ work can provide managerial insights to assist the supplier and the platform company in determining the operational decision and selecting the optimal online channel mode to deal with consumer returns. In addition, appropriate commission rate along with slotting fee will make both parties achieve a win-win situation in determining their optimal online channel mode.

To the authors’ best knowledge, this paper makes the first move to determine the optimal online channel mode in the content of consumer returns and study how it is affected by different product return policies.

Melting universality, quantification and relative computability into a meta‐synthesis, pansystems theory develops an investigation on W‐fuzziness and 0*‐fuzziness connected with generalized conceptions such as derivative, equation, variational principle and OR. The purpose of this paper is to unify various mathematical structures, fuzziness categories, definitions of systems are unified within a general framework.

The paper includes topics: pansystems approach to fuzzy systems and relations, pansystems variational principle and Zadeh's extension principle, pansystems clustering and its fuzzy embodiment, pansystems topology and approximation to fuzziness, relative unification of fuzziness and roughness.

Zadeh extension principle about fuzziness transmission can be considered as a specific model of pansystems extremum principle, and so the more modes can be developed. Based on them a further investigation is present on pansystems clustering, which is a W‐fuzzy clustering, an extension or sublation of traditional one and fuzzy one.

Pansystems clustering embodies mutuality of many logoi of different subbraches with classification‐styled OR, including related interpromotions of the principles among knowledge rediscovery, data mining, mathematical reasoning and the investigations of fuzzy systems. W‐fuzziness and 0*‐fuzziness realize a relative unification for many logoi and principles.

The online direct selling mode has been widely accepted by enterprises in the O2O era. However, the dual-channel (online/offline, forward/backward) operations of the closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) changed the relationship between manufacturers and retailers, thus resulting in channel conflict. The purpose of this paper is to take a dual-channel operations of CLSC as the research target, where a manufacturer sells a single product through a direct e-channel as well as a conventional retail channel; the retailer are responsible for collecting used products in the reverse supply chain and the manufacturer are responsible for remanufacturing.

The authors build a benchmark model of dual-channel price and service competition and take the return rate, which is considered to be related to the service level of the retailer, as the function of the service level to extend the model in the reverse SC. The authors then analyze the optimal pricing and service decision under centralization and decentralization, respectively. Finally, with the revenue-sharing factor, wholesale price and recycling price transfer payment coefficient as contract parameters, the paper also designs a revenue-sharing contract led by the manufacturer and explores in what situation the contract could realize the Pareto optimization of all players.

In the baseline model, the results show that optimal price and service level correlate positively in centralization; however, the relation relies on consumers’ price sensitivity in decentralization. In the extension model, the relationship between price and service level also relies on the relative value of increased service cost and remanufacturing saved cost. When the return rate correlates with the service level, a recycling transfer payment can elevate the service level and thus raise the return rate. Through analyzing the parameters in revenue-sharing contract, a point can be reached where lowering the wholesale price and raising the transfer payment coefficient will promote retailers to share revenue.

Many enterprises establish the dual-channel distribution system both online and offline, which need to understand how to resolve their channel conflict. The conflict is especially strong in CLSC with remanufacturing. The result helps the node enterprises realize the coordination of the dual-channel CLSC.

It takes into account the fact that there are two complementary relationships, such as online selling and offline delivery; used product recycling and remanufacturing. The authors optimize the strategy of product pricing and service level in order to solve channel conflict and double marginalization in the closed-loop dual-channel distribution network.