bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Impact of social and technical lean management on operational performance in manufacturing SMEs: the roles of process and management innovations
Authors: Abdallah Ayman Bahjat , Alkhaldi Rasha Zuhair , Aljuaid Majed M. 
Published: February 2021

PurposeThe purpose of the current study is to address a debatable issue in the extant literature regarding lean management (LM), innovation and operational performance (OP) relationships in the manufacturing SMEs. It conceptualizes LM in terms of social and technical aspects and investigates their effects on process innovation, management innovation and OP. The mediating roles of process and management innovations on social/technical-OP relationships are also explored.Design/methodology/approachThe study analyzes survey data gathered from 268 manufacturing SMEs belonging to different industry types in Jordan. Validity and reliability tests of the first and second order constructs were performed. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the study hypotheses.FindingsBoth social and technical LM were found to positively affect OP. Social LM positively affected both process and management innovations. However, the effect of technical LM on both types of innovation was not significant. In addition, process and management innovations positively mediated social LM-OP relationship. Nonetheless, neither type of innovation showed mediating effects on technical LM-OP relationship.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first to highlight the proposed relationships, in general, and in the context of SMEs in a developing country context, in particular. It offers important implications for the managers of SMEs to benefit from LM implementation and avoid its failure, enhance innovation efforts by focusing on social LM practices and subsequently achieve higher levels of OP.
Intergenerational hybrid products in periods of discontinuous change
Authors: Gatti Junior Wilian , Camargo Junior Alceu Salles , Varella Paul 
Published: February 2021

PurposeThis study examines the role of hybrid products employed in companies' innovation strategy within three American industrial sectors: tires, typewriters and photography cameras.Design/methodology/approachThe authors selected historical cases that enabled us to present the role of hybrid products in periods of discontinuous change. Different sources are employed in this study: papers, books, cases, working papers, videos, manuals and product catalogues, companies' annual reports, company websites, advertising, collectors' websites and museums, in addition to press and other media reports.FindingsThe authors’ historical case analysis points to two forms of hybrid products. (1) Exploitation-hybrid, which incorporates significant elements from the existing dominant design and aims at extending the revenue-generating opportunities of the existing products. (2) Exploration-hybrid, which works as an offensive strategy, as the firm uses the exploration-hybrid to promote a gradual and controlled adoption of new technology by reducing risks and the cost of change for the customer.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors’ proposed definitions strengthen the idea that hybrids are not only a reflection of organizational inertia (exploitation-hybrid). Hybrids can also mean a more proactive stance in the strategy of developing and adopting new technology (exploration-hybrid).Originality/valueThis study acknowledged hybrid products as a learning instrument that materialized the organizational ambidexterity, favoring at the same time exploitation, generally attributed to organizational inertia, and the exploration of new segments of customers or the use of new technologies.
Transitional foresight: MLP as the theoretical underpinning of CLA: the case of the water sector of Iran
Authors: Miremadi Tahereh 
Published: February 2021

Purpose
The paper aims to complement the six pillars analysis with the multi-level perspective to make it more systematic and policy relevant.

Design/methodology/approach
Take the innovation system foresight as the exemplar; the paper asks if the other systemic approaches to innovation can function as the middle range theory and underpin critical future studies. To answer, the paper combines the six-pillar approach (SPA) with the multilevel perspective (MLP) and builds “transitional foresight”. Then it takes the fourth pillar; transitional causal layered analysis and applies it to a case study: water stress in Iran. The paper concludes noting that in transitional foresight, the borderlines, the players and the orientations of the foresight are clearer than the six-pillar analysis.

Findings
The SPA and MLP-integrated framework make a powerful research instrument for transitional foresight.

Research limitations/implications
The paper applied the integrated framework to a case “water system in Iran”. But the framework should be applied in different cases in different countries to test its applicability.

Practical implications
The suggested framework can be used as a heuristics for the students and researchers who want to engage with the emancipatory perspective of the six-pillar approach and need to have an academic methodology with rigor and granularity.

Originality/value
The six-pillar approach of Sohail Inayatullah and the multilevel perspective of Geels can combine to make a powerful heuristic for transitional foresight.
A novel integrated computational TRIFMRG approach with grey relational analysis toward parametric evaluation of weld bead geometry of ms-grade: IS 2062
Authors: Guo Xiaohui , Sahu Atul kumar , Sahu Nitin Kumar , Sahu Anoop Kumar 
Published: February 2021

PurposeIn the presented research work, the authors fabricated the multiple MS plate (Grade: IS 2062) specimens and applied a novel integrated computational TRIFMRG approach with grey relational analysis (GRA) toward solving weld bead optimization problem in MIG welding procedure. The objective of research is to determine the optimum setting between MIG welding input process parameters, e.g. welding current, open circuit voltage and thickness of plate in attaining high tensile strength with weld bead geometry quality characteristics, e.g. bead width, reinforcement, penetration and dilution in investigating define MS specimens.Design/methodology/approachThe Taguchi's L9 orthogonal array (OA) design is respected to conduct the experiments on MS plate specimens to attain output objectives. Later, the evaluated multiple output objectives are transformed into single response by applying a novel integrated computational TRIFMRG approach with GRA. Thereafter, the outset of signal-to-noise ratio (S/N ratio) accompanied by ANOVA (Analysis of variance) is explored to optimize objective function.FindingsThe computed results are confirmed by conducting the experiments on same identical specimens. The outcome of the confirmation tests yielded an improvement of 0.24454, 0.372486, 0.686635 and 0.4106846 in grey relational grade (GRG), overall ratio index, reference grade and full multiplicative index, respectively, after validating the results.Originality/valueIn the presented work, the authors constructed a novel integrated computational TRIFMRG approach via clustering GRA, overall ratio index (ORI), full multiplicative index (FMI) with GRA-reference grade (RG) and tested as well as applied with Taguchi concept to attain objective of the research work.
Robotic system design and development for automated dismantling of PCB waste
Authors: Doroftei Ioan , Chirita Daniel , Stamate Ciprian , Cazan Stelian , Pascal Carlos , Burlacu Adrian 
Published: February 2021

Purpose
The mass electronics sector is one of the most critical sources of waste, in terms of volume and content with dangerous effects on the environment. The purpose of this study is to provide an automated and accurate dismantling system that can improve the outcome of recycling.

Design/methodology/approach
Following a short introduction, the paper details the implementation layout and highlights the advantages of using a custom architecture for the automated dismantling of printed circuit board waste.

Findings
Currently, the amount of electronic waste is impressive while manual dismantling is a very common and non-efficient approach. Designing an automatic procedure that can be replicated, is one of the tasks for efficient electronic waste recovery. This paper proposes an automated dismantling system for the advanced recovery of particular waste materials from computer and telecommunications equipment. The automated dismantling architecture is built using a robotic system, a custom device and an eye-to-hand configuration for a stereo vision system.

Originality/value
The proposed approach is innovative because of its custom device design. The custom device is built using a programmable screwdriver combined with an innovative rotary dismantling tool. The dismantling torque can be tuned empirically.
Teacher readiness for online teaching-learning during COVID − 19 outbreak: a study of Indian institutions of higher education
Authors: Paliwal Manisha , Singh Archana 
Published: February 2021

PurposeCoronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has utterly disrupted the worldwide education system and compelled an emergency immersion of unplanned and rapid online teaching-learning. The online teaching readiness would highly depend on the competencies of teachers and skills to adapt the pedagogy and new roles by the teachers. In this context, this study aims to assess higher education institutions (HEIs) teachers’ readiness to handle online education based on the online teaching readiness competencies model.Design/methodology/approachA structured questionnaire has been adopted to survey and collect data from 296 teachers of HEIs across India. The questionnaire consisted of 29 constructs. The constructs in this section were measured using a five-point Likert scale ranging. In the first step first-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is carried out, by using the software IBM AMOS-26. The initial model is generated for five constructs and outcomes are used to analyze the model’s goodness of fit and construct validity. In the second step structural equation modeling (SEM) is carried out to do the path analysis of the proposed model.FindingsThe findings connote that the level of course design competencies, communication competencies, time management competencies are not sufficient among the teachers of HEI of India, whereas the technical competencies possessed by the teachers meet the requirements for readiness to handle online education. The research is an attempt to provide possible explanations for establishing relationships between the constructs and discusses the usage of information, which can be further used to enhance the online teaching readiness competencies for the teachers of HEIs of India.Practical implicationsThe research is an attempt to provide possible explanations for establishing relationships between the constructs and discusses the usage of information, which can be further used to enhance the online teaching readiness competencies for the teachers of HEIs of India.Originality/valueTeachers’ competencies are a vital part of teaching online which has become the need of the hour in this COVID-19 outbreak. Because of the need for emergency response and strategies to minimize learning disruption at higher education, the study identifies the online teaching readiness competencies possessed by the online teaching communities and provides guidelines to enhance their capacity to build up the longer-term resilience of education systems. The study will be a ready reckoner for online training competencies which can be used as training need analysis to make each teacher highly competent to impart knowledge using online teaching platforms.
Linking supportive leadership to satisfaction with care: proposing and testing a service-profit chain inspired model in the context of elderly care
Authors: Kazemi Ali , Elfstrand Corlin Tinna 
Published: February 2021

PurposeAs marketization has gained ground in elderly care, satisfaction with care has come to play a crucial role in designing for high-quality care. Inspired by the service-profit chain (SPC) model, the authors aimed to gain a deeper understanding of the intricate interplay between supportive leadership practices, organizational climate, job satisfaction and service quality in predicting satisfaction with care.Design/methodology/approachA Swedish sample of frontline elderly care staff (n = 1,342) participated in a cross-sectional questionnaire study. Mediation analyses were conducted to test the proposed model.FindingsAs predicted, engaging in supportive leadership practices was directly and positively associated with satisfaction with care. In addition, as predicted, this relationship was partially mediated by organizational climate and job satisfaction. Moreover, job satisfaction predicted satisfaction with care with service quality explaining a statistically significant part of this relationship.Practical implicationsManagers in elderly care services may improve satisfaction with care in multiple ways but primarily by showing that they care about the staff and ensuring that they are satisfied with their working conditions. Employee job satisfaction seems to be particularly crucial for satisfaction with care, beyond what can be accounted for by care service quality.Originality/valueThe authors proposed a novel service-outcome model. Adding to the original SPC model, the model in this study suggested previously unexplored relationships including a direct path between leadership practices and satisfaction with service and a multiple-mediator model explaining this relationship. Also, new measures of organizational climate and supportive leadership were developed for which satisfactory reliability estimates were obtained.
Linking performance pressure to employee work engagement: the moderating role of emotional stability
Authors: Kundi Yasir Mansoor , Sardar Shakir , Badar Kamal 
Published: February 2021

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of threat and challenge appraisals in the relationship between performance pressure and employees' work engagement, as well as the buffering role of emotional stability, as a personal characteristic, in this process.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using a three-wave research design. Hypotheses were examined with a sample of 247 white-collar employees from French organizations.FindingsPerformance pressure is appraised as either threat or challenge. Challenge appraisal positively mediated the performance pressure and work engagement relationship, whereas threat appraisal negatively mediated the performance pressure and work engagement relationship. Emotional stability moderated these effects, suggesting performance pressure was appraised as a challenge rather than a threat, which then enhanced employee work engagement.Practical implicationsThis study has shown that employees with high emotional stability who perceived performance pressure as a challenge achieved stronger employee work engagement.Originality/valueBuilding on Lazare's theory of stress and Mitchellet al.'s theorization, this research demonstrates mediating and moderating mechanisms driving the role of performance pressure on employee work engagement relationships.
Biomass partitioning in response to intraspecific competition depends on nutrients and species characteristics: A study of 43 plant species
Authors: Rehling Finn , Sandner Tobias M. , Matthies Diethart 
Published: February 2021

Abstract

Competition simultaneously limits the availability of above‐ and below‐ground resources for plants. How plants respond to density with changes in patterns of biomass allocation is poorly understood. Previous studies had inconsistent results, but emphasised increased biomass allocation to stems in response to density. However, the response of plants to density may depend on environmental conditions and on characteristics of the species.

We grew 43 herbaceous plant species at three densities (1, 8 and 64 individuals per pot) and two nutrient levels in a common garden and measured biomass allocation to roots (RMF), leaves (LMF) and stems (SMF), and specific root (SRL) and stem length (SSL). The species differed in functional group (grasses, forbs and legumes), life span and realised niche with respect to nutrients (Ellenberg's nutrient indicator value).

Intraspecific competition and self‐thinning increased with nutrient supply. Overall, plants increased their RMF with density independent of nutrient level, indicating that competition was mainly for below‐ground resources. However, characteristics of the species influenced their responses to density and nutrients in terms of biomass allocation, SRL and SSL. At high densities, legumes were more productive than the other functional groups and hardly changed their allocation patterns, suggesting that they were less nutrient limited due to their mutualism with nitrogen‐fixing rhizobia. The SRL of perennials was lower, and their RMF was higher and increased more strongly in response to density than that of annuals, which could be interpreted as mechanisms to increase survival. The realised niche of species with respect to nutrients influenced the response to density and nutrients in terms of SMF, LMF, SRL and SSL in line with adaptations to both nutrient availability and competition for light in the typical habitats.

Synthesis. We found that intraspecific competition was mainly for below‐ground resources, which may be typical for many species growing in moderately nutrient‐rich but high‐light habitats. Our results show that growth conditions, species characteristics and their interactions influence patterns of biomass allocation and plant morphology.
Do remittances moderate financial development–informality nexus in North Africa?
Authors: Akçay Selçuk , Karabulutoğlu Emre 
Published: February 2021

AbstractThe prevalent informality and sheer size of international remittances characterize the North African countries. This study primarily aims at investigating how remittances moderate the effects of financial development on the informal economy in North African countries. Employing pool mean group (PMG)/panel ARDL approach and a balanced panel data set over the period 1980–2015, we find that remittances moderate the negative relationship between financial development and informal economy. This finding suggests that remittances bolster financial development, which, in turn, decreases the informal economy. Based on this result, we recommend that tailored policies and interventions are needed to promote financial development and international remittances in the North African region.
Is the presence of a threatened arboreal mammal in residential areas related to remnant habitats?
Authors: Busschots Marie B. , Close Paul G. , Van Helden Bronte E. , Speldewinde Peter C. 
Published: February 2021

AbstractRemnant natural habitat is assumed critical for supporting threatened animals within urban landscapes because these species generally have specific habitat requirements and typically respond poorly to anthropogenic disturbances. However, evidence that demonstrates some threatened species can occur, persist and even prosper in highly modified areas with seemingly little dependence on remnant vegetation challenges the role remnant vegetation is perceived to play in sustaining threatened species in urban landscapes. In this study, we tested the assumption that the presence of a threatened species in modified areas of an urban environment was dependent on remnant vegetation using the Critically Endangered western ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus occidentalis) as a case study. We predicted that the presence of possums in highly modified habitats would be positively correlated with proximity to remnant vegetation. Using spotlight surveys of 195 transects to determine species occurrence on residential streets, we found that the presence of the western ringtail possum was not related to remnant vegetation within the immediate surrounds, nor the distance from remnant habitats (neither large nor small). Our results promote the suggestion that highly modified habitats in urban landscapes can contribute conservation outcomes and that their potential role in wildlife conservation warrants serious consideration.
Turnover, richness difference and nestedness of rodent assemblages along the southern Andes elevation gradient
Authors: Novillo Agustina , Ojeda Ricardo 
Published: February 2021

AbstractBeta diversity in ecological communities can reflect adaptations of species to differences in climate, environmental characteristics and site history, as well as local ecological dynamics. These dissimilarities among communities may reflect different processes as species replacement and richness difference or nestedness, which can be generated by different factors. Assemblages in mountain regions are expected to exhibit high beta diversity due to sharp environmental variation and historical events promoting isolation. Diversity patterns of small mammals along elevation gradients in the southern dry Andes exhibit high richness among high elevations and a humped shape pattern for abundances. However, it is not clear how beta diversity changes along this gradient, or the processes involved in this variation. Here we aim to evaluate small mammal beta diversity patterns along the elevation gradient. Therefore, we decomposed beta diversity into spatial turnover, richness differences and richness differences as a result of nestedness. Assemblage structure variation was assessed qualitatively and quantitatively. Also, we evaluate the local contribution of beta diversity (LCBD) and species contribution to beta diversity, to identify priority conservation sites and species. Our results show contrasting patterns among qualitative and quantitative beta diversity components. The former was mainly explained by species turnover, while the latter showed a higher contribution of richness difference than species turnover. Most components of beta diversity decreased with elevation, except for abundance turnover that showed an opposite trend. Furthermore, LCBD was higher at lower and mid‐elevation sites and exhibited a negative relationship with species richness and abundance.