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The development of high-strength engineered cementitious composite (ECC) gains a significant leap in structural engineering. Engineers have been looking for new formulations that combine outstanding compressive strength with increased flexural resistance. This research focuses on the main characteristics, techniques and prospective applications of high-strength ECC. The proposed work explores the composition of such concrete, emphasizing the use of novel additives, fiber reinforcements and optimal particle packing to produce excellent mechanical characteristics and demonstrating how high-strength ECC contributes to incorporate sustainability by potentially lowering the need for supplemental reinforcing and resulting in a lower environmental effect.

This research involves on studying the composition of high-strength ECC and geopolymer-based ECC, the use of novel additives, fiber reinforcements and optimal particle packing. It examines the capacity of high-strength ECC to sustain high loads with an allowable deformation without any catastrophic collapse. It discusses the sustainability aspects of high-strength ECC and its potential alternative as geopolymer-based ECC.

High-strength ECC offers an excellent compressive strength while also providing increased flexural capacity. Employment of copper slag (CS) as a filler material for the production of ECC results in 28.92% lower cost, when compared to the mix developed using conventional river sand. Whereas in the case of geopolymer-based ECC, the cost of production was found to be 31.92% lower than that of the conventional.

High-strength ECC is developed using conventional river sand and industrial by-product, CS as a filler material. The combination of achieving higher compressive strength with an increased use of industrial by-products leads to the development of sustainable high strength ECC. The potential use of high-strength ECC reduces the need for supplementary reinforcing and increases the structural lifetime, resulting in a lower environmental impact.

Because brand addiction is one of the most intense forms of consumer–brand relationships, this type of behavior has recently attracted the attention of researchers in the field of consumer behavior management. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the antecedents and consequences of brand addiction among Iranian consumers.

This research used a cross-sectional study based on a questionnaire to collect data from a sample of 401 people in Iran. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.

This study found that brand love and brand involvement significantly influence brand addiction. Brand addiction was also positively associated with contingent self-esteem (CSE), compulsive shopping and resilience to negative information. Additionally, the results revealed a positive and significant effect of brand involvement on brand love and a similar positive and significant effect of CSE on compulsive shopping.

By examining the antecedents and consequences of brand addiction in an Islamic country, this research offers valuable insights that can enrich the literature on brand addiction in consumer behavior and brand management.

The purpose of this research is to develop empirically grounded propositions for further research into UK manufacturing productivity.

Interviews were conducted with managers from strategic, tactical and operational levels from four manufacturing sectors to produce case studies. A modified strategic alignment theory framework was used to code, compare and contrast narratives on perceived productivity antecedents, definitions, compatibility with the definition from the UK Office for National Statistics, and vertical alignment issues within and across cases.

It was found that different key antecedents can facilitate and/or prevent strategic vertical alignment. Discussion reveals complex nuances in perceptions of manufacturing productivity and using the modified strategic alignment theory/productivity antecedent framework.

In revealing the alignment or otherwise of productivity definitions at different levels within the firm, the paper reveals nine propositions for future research including definitions, skills, metrics, performance measurement systems, people and system-centric perspectives, the value-added perspective of productivity and the role of innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to improve the problem of kinematics incompatibility of human–exoskeleton in the existing rigid lower-limb exoskeleton (LLE).

In this paper, following an introduction, the motion characteristics of the human knee joint and the design method of the exoskeleton were introduced. A kinematics model of the LLE based on cross-four-bar linkage was obtained. The structural parameters of the LLE mechanism were optimized by the particle swarm optimization algorithm. The predefined trajectories used in the optimization process were derived from the ankle joint, not the instantaneous center of rotation of the knee joint. Finally, the motion deviation of the optimization result was simulated, and the human–exoskeleton coordination experiment was designed to compare with the traditional single-axis knee joint in terms of comfort and coordination.

The lower limb exoskeleton mechanism obtained in this paper has a good tracking effect on human movement and has been improved in terms of comfort and coordination compared with the traditional single-axis knee joint.

The customized exoskeleton design method introduced in this paper is relatively simple, and the obtained exoskeleton has better movement coordination than the traditional exoskeleton. It can provide a reference for the design of lower limb exoskeleton and lower limb orthosis.

This chapter deals with global sustainability, in its old and modern concepts, typologies, and theories. Most concepts of sustainability, we contend, are anthropocentric, a self-serving attitude that believes in the utmost superiority of man over the rest of the nonhuman universe, which seemingly privileges humans to use, extract, and exploit planetary resources for industrialization and infrastructure development and presumably lead to human growth and prosperity (the Anthropocene). The cost of this however is terrestrial depletion, deterioration, degradation, and decadence that manifest in the current global phenomena of global warming, global climate change, Arctic meltdowns, ocean acidity, massive deforestation, and global carbon footprints, which have collectively rendered human habitability on this earth drastically reduced and jeopardized. In this context, we review the timeline (1992–2022) of the United Nations' sustainability negotiations and accords, several nonanthropocentric and nonanthropomorphic conceptualizations of global sustainability such as Leopold Aldo's land ethic, deep ecology of Naess and associates, Thomas Berry's ecozoic ecology (updated by Spethmann). Combining the best nonanthropocentric developments, we propose a holistic concept of “natural sustainability,” more consonant with critical thinking, which mandates reduced or disciplined use of planetary resources such that Nature can regenerate and renew herself.

Natural sustainability advocates a more fruitful integrative ecozoic paradigm of “sustainability centrism,” which seeks cosmic sustainability of Mother Nature for herself as an end in herself, and we spell out its implications for organizational science and corporate responsibility as an extended global community.

This chapter runs into three parts. Part I: Major Sustainability Types versus Ecozoic Worldview of Cosmic Sustainability; Part II: Conceptualization of Natural Sustainability and Its Justification based on Environmental Ethics, Ecozoic Sustainability, and Deep Ecology; and Part III: Capturing Nature as Nature and Her Moral Imperatives for Understanding Natural Sustainability. Toward the end of this chapter, we also discuss managerial implications and directions for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrative picture of the state of the art of the literature on digitalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as an enabler for their internationalisation process and as a comprehensive view of the specific domains impacted by digital technologies as well as their repercussions on the international outreach.

A systematic review which leverages a descriptive analysis of extant literature and an axial coding technique has been conducted to shed light on the current knowledge and to identify primary research areas and future research lines.

The research indicates that digitalisation impacts the internationalisation of SMEs in three specific domains: (1) internationalisation through the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICT) technologies and e-commerce platforms; (2) international expansion through the digitalisation of value chain activities and (3) international outreach through knowledge acquisition on digital platforms.

The value of this study is threefold. First, the authors attempt to systematically review the literature on SMEs digitalisation and internationalisation and provide a holistic perspective on the intertwining of these two research streams. Second, the authors propose a novel conceptualisation on the dimensions of SMEs digitalisation as enablers to internationalisation. Third, the authors put forward promising future lines of research.

1. Digitalisation represents a pivotal strategy that allows companies to build new strategic capabilities and is a propeller for SMEs internationalisation.

2. Through e-commerce, SMEs could compete at the same level of multinational companies but enduring lower costs of expansion.

3. Digital platforms allow SMEs to enhance the learning processes about international markets through an immediate access to relevant information.

4. Digital entrepreneurship has enabled SMEs to develop new configurations of value chain activities, evolving their business model or reaching new markets.

5. SMEs are changing the “business as usual” paradigm offering digital tools to build modular architectures that are scalable and agile in their evolution ability.

Digitalisation represents a pivotal strategy that allows companies to build new strategic capabilities and is a propeller for SMEs internationalisation.

Through e-commerce, SMEs could compete at the same level of multinational companies but enduring lower costs of expansion.

Digital platforms allow SMEs to enhance the learning processes about international markets through an immediate access to relevant information.

Digital entrepreneurship has enabled SMEs to develop new configurations of value chain activities, evolving their business model or reaching new markets.

SMEs are changing the “business as usual” paradigm offering digital tools to build modular architectures that are scalable and agile in their evolution ability.

Environmental philosophies have guided cultures throughout history and continue to do so. This paper uses a framework of environmental philosophies drawn from history and the present, to analyse contemporary corporate environmental reporting. The purpose of this paper is to interrogate the philosophical underpinnings of corporate reporting allows for a nuanced understanding of the relationship between corporate activities and nature, and in so doing demonstrates the moral practices of accounting for nature.

Three themes are extracted from a historical review of western environmental philosophy: dualism, transcendence and interconnectivity. These themes are applied to a sample of corporate environmental reports through discourse analysis, enabling the illustration of otherwise obscured moral characteristics of the corporate relationship with the natural environment.

This paper uses environmental philosophies to better understand some of the implicit messaging of corporate environmental reporting. Evidence of each of the three themes is found in a sample of environmental reports, predominantly dualism and interconnectivity.

Understanding that accounting is not just a technical, but also a social and moral practice expands the way the authors can interpret the outcomes of accounting. By presenting an exemplar of how accounting practice such as the corporate sustainability report can be analysed through a moral lens, this paper offers new insights intentioned to inform a more meaningful approach to environmental reporting.

A novel framework to explore the corporate sector’s relationship with the natural environment is presented. In light of current and predicted environmental changes, much of which has been attributed to the impact of corporate activities, the importance of a detailed explication of this relationship – such as the one proposed here – becomes imperative.

This study aims to define, classify and interconnect the wide range of known entrepreneurial abilities with terms such as skills, capabilities and competencies, which have been used inconsistently within the entrepreneurial field.

This investigation is based on a systematic literature review and strengthened by a meta-analysis equipped with a bibliometric study to assist the generation of outcomes with a quantitative investigation.

This study proposes an evolving entrepreneurial ability model which interconnects genetic and acquired skill types, capabilities and competencies and is equipped with an Entrepreneurial Skills Map essential to operate in the 21st century.

The proposed model is specific to the entrepreneurial field.

This study supports universities and government agencies for the development of educational programs to prepare current and future entrepreneurs to match the changes in the new environment that has emerged with the COVID-19 pandemic.

This research contributes to the entrepreneurship research domain by shedding light on the inconsistent use of non-standardised terminologies and providing an entrepreneurial model and updated skills map to guide scholars to frame research in the post-COVID era with more clarity.

We explore the intersection of Catholic social teaching (CST) and entrepreneurship studies which has seemingly evaded scholars’ attention.

We integrate and expand upon prior work to explicate an integrative framework for examining CST and entrepreneurship studies.

We articulate the mechanisms through which CST and entrepreneurship studies may extend our understanding of the economic paradigm of entrepreneurship studies.

We explicate the economic paradigm of entrepreneurship studies and present the key reasons for Catholicism’s and CST’s exclusion to demonstrate why this is unjustified. Beyond expounding what we mean by CST, we extend the economic paradigm by an application to show why the economic paradigm is flawed and call for more CST-focussed entrepreneurship studies.