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The purpose of this paper is to introduce cyclic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) method to understand the corrosion evolution behavior of structural materials in secondary circuit water environments of pressurized water reactor (PWR) system.

The cyclic EIS has been used to understand the corrosion evolution of 304 stainless steel (SS) in simulated secondary circuit water environment. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy have been used to characterize the microstructure and corrosion morphology of 304 SS sample.

Cyclic EIS measurement is applicable in gaining information on the corrosion evolution of 304 SS in high-temperature and high-pressure (HTHP) water environments. Based on analyses of the cyclic EIS data, it is considered that the measured EIS response of 304 SS sample under HTHP water environment mainly comes from the compact inner part of the newly formed oxide layer, which gradually inhibits the progress of electrochemical reactions at the oxide layer/substrate interface.

The cyclic EIS has been introduced into HTHP water environment, and its reliability has been evaluated. It may find a wide application in corrosion studies of materials under HTHP water environments, which is critical for a safe operation in nuclear power plants and beneficial for the development of corrosion-resistant materials in PWR system.

The purpose of this paper is to optimize a suitable electrochemical method in evaluating the corrosion rate of structural materials of 20# carbon steel, P280GH carbon steel, 17-4PH stainless steel, 304 stainless steel and Alloy 690TT in high-temperature and high-pressure (HTHP) water of pressurized water reactor secondary circuit system.

Weight-loss method has been used to obtain the corrosion rate value of each structural material in simulated HTHP water. Besides, linear polarization method and weak polarization curve-based three-point method and four-point method have been compared in obtaining a sound corrosion rate value from the potentiodynamic polarization curve. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscope have been used to characterize the microstructure and corrosion morphology of each structural material.

Although there is deviation in gaining the corrosion rate value compared to weight-loss test, the weak polarization curve-based four-point method has been found to be a suitable electrochemical method in gaining corrosion rate value of structural materials in HTHP waters.

This paper proposes a suitable and reliable electrochemical method in gaining the corrosion rate value of structural materials in HTHP waters. The proposed weak polarization curve-based four-point method provides a timesaving and high-efficient way in corrosion rate evaluation of secondary circuit structural materials and thus has a potential application in nuclear power plants.

This study explores the antecedent configurations shaping ambidextrous environmental strategy (AES) and the subsequent performance outcomes. The lack of literature from the configurational perspective and inconsistent performance results suggest that this study has significant implications for practitioners, policymakers and the public. Therefore, this study aims to investigate how different antecedent conditions interact to shape AES and subsequent performance outcomes.

To achieve the research aims, the current research utilize research techniques based on technology–organization–environment framework and configurational perspective. This study collects data from 317 Chinese manufacturing enterprises and tests the theoretical framework using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis and propensity score matching.

Perceived institutional pressure, green supply chain integration and digital technology adoption form four paths that lead to the existence of AES. There are four sets of replaceable conditions between distinct paths. In addition, except for configuration P3, all other configurations promote environmental, operational and financial performance.

Our results provide new insights for enterprises to shape AES and achieve multiple performances, and new ideas for promoting environmental policies and public environmental awareness.

This study adds literature on AES and confirms multiple drivers, revealing their interaction mechanisms and key antecedent conditions. In addition, this study promotes the performance practice of AES by examining different AES configurations that achieve triple performance and insignificant operational performance.

The importance of the agri-food supply chain in both food production and distribution has made the issue of its development a critical concern. Based on configuration theory and congruence theory, this research investigates the complex impact of supply chain concentration on financial growth in agri-food supply chains.

The cluster analysis and response surface methodology are employed to analyse the data collected from 207 Chinese agri-food companies from 2010 to 2022.

The results indicate that different combination patterns of supply chain concentration can lead to different levels of financial growth. We discover that congruent supplier and customer concentration is beneficial for companies’ financial growth. This impact is more pronounced when the company is in the agricultural production stage of agri-food supply chains. Post-hoc analysis indicates that there exists an inverted U-shaped relationship between the overall levels of supply chain concentration and financial growth.

Our research uncovers the complex interplay between supply chain base and financial outcomes, thereby revealing significant ramifications for agri-food supply chain managers to optimise their strategies for exceptional financial growth.

This study proposes a combined approach of cluster analysis and response surface analysis for analysing configuration issues in supply chain management.

How does business model design play a role in enabling manufacturing firms’ services? This study aims to investigate the impact of two distinct types of business model design, namely, efficiency-centered business model design (EBMD) and novelty-centered business model design (NBMD), and their effects in balanced and imbalanced configurations, on two types of services: product- and customer-oriented services.

Using matched survey data of 390 top managers and objective performance data of 195 Chinese manufacturing firms, this study uses hierarchical regression, polynomial regression and response surface analysis to test the hypotheses.

The results show that while EBMD positively affects product-oriented services, NBMD positively affects customer-oriented services. Both types of services exert a significant influence on firm performance. Furthermore, the degree of product- and customer-oriented services increases with an increasing effort level with a balance between EBMD and NBMD. Asymmetrical, imbalanced configuration effects reveal that the degree of product-oriented services is higher when the EBMD effort exceeds the NBMD effort, and the degree of customer-oriented services is higher when the NBMD effort exceeds the EBMD effort.

This study enriches the understanding of designing business models to facilitate service growth in manufacturing firms, ultimately benefiting firm performance. In addition, exploring balanced and imbalanced configurations of EBMD and NBMD offers new insights into business model dual design research.

The study sets out to demonstrate how a lifecycle perspective on complex, public-sector procurement projects can be used for making qualitative assessments of procurement policy and practice and reveal those procurement capabilities that are most impactful for operating effectively.

Agency theory, institutional theory and the lifecycle analysis technique are combined to abductively develop a framework to identify, analyse and compare complex procurement policies and practices in public sector organisations. Defence is the focal case and is compared with cases in the Nuclear, Local Government and Health sectors.

The study provides a framework for undertaking a lifecycle analysis to understand the challenges and capabilities of complex, public-sector buyers. Eighteen hierarchically-arranged themes are identified and used in conjunction with agency theory and institutional theory to explain complex procurement policy and practice variation in some of the UK’s highest-profile public buyers. The study findings provide a classification of complex buyers and offer valuable guidance for practitioners and researchers navigating complex procurement contexts.

The lifecycle approach proposed is a new research tool providing a bespoke application of theory by considering each lifecycle phase as an individual but related element that is governed by unique institutional pressures and principal-agent relationships.

The new era of supply chain management is characterised by key change drivers, e.g. Industry 4.0, and post-COVID-19 VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) business environment, in addition to the rising requirements for sustainability, responsiveness and customer centrism. An important and topical question in this context is what supply chain managerial competence logistics managers need to possess in order to enhance their individual performance in the new era. This question is addressed in this paper, which also explores the nexus of supply chain managerial competence expectation and possession upon which human resource development strategies are proposed accordingly.

The survey research design is adopted to empirically examine logistics managers’ supply chain managerial competence in the new era, and the forward-backward translation process was strictly followed. Data were collected through a survey conducted with owners or managers of Vietnamese firms whose business is in the logistics and related business areas, and 269 valid responses were used for analysis.

Results indicated that the proposed profile of four groups (foundation, core, specialist and technology-IT) and 38 competencies are valid and important to the individual performance of logistics managers in the context of Vietnam, which supports the tenet that logistics managers in the new era need to have a well-rounded profile of competencies, including those derived from contemporary change drivers. It was also found that the foundation competency group is perceived as more important than others, which is context specific given the current logistics development in Vietnam. Besides, it was also revealed that respondents in this research currently possess those competencies at a level which is lower than their perceived importance. An Importance-Possession (IPM) Matrix of Competency Development was mapped accordingly.

The generalisation of this study would require further empirical examination from similar studies in other contexts, i.e. in other manufacturing and service sectors as well as in other developing and developed countries where logistics development is at different stages.

This research provides insights into the current competency profile of logistics managers in Vietnam, which can assist senior management with human resources development in their firms. Specifically, it is essential that Vietnamese logistics firms focus on providing education and training opportunities, both internally and externally, to enhance the level of possession of all competencies whose gaps between perceived importance and possession are the largest across the groups, especially those in the Maintaining Sustainably and Growing quadrants of the IPM.

Firstly, this research introduces an improvised framework of logistics managers’ supply chain managerial competence adopting the contingency approach, contributing to expanding the body of knowledge on how the competency profile of logistics managers should be developed. Secondly, the IPM matrix of competencies introduced in this research can be used as both the conceptual and managerial tool to classify and prioritise competencies for various purposes, e.g. education, training and policy implementation based on the nexus of supply chain competence expectation and possession.

This research examines how to enhance financial performance (FP) through the interplay between information technology and their suppliers in the supply chain. On this, the research objective is to assess the role of integration with suppliers (IWS) and integration by suppliers (IBS) in the interface between integrated information technology (IIT) and FP in the supply chain.

A theoretical model was designed, and hypotheses were tested with structural equation modelling and qualitative data from a survey of 205 multi-industry companies from Egypt.

The findings indicate that IIT has a positive significant relationship with financial performance, in this case, partially mediated jointly by IWS and IBS.

This study contributes to the literature by establishing a measurement approach for the proposed duality of supplier integration. A crucial implication of this duality is the requirement of IWS and IBS to enhance the effect of IIT on FP in supply chain partnerships and the fact revealed in our research that IWS precedes IBS in supply chains.

This study aims to synthesize and analyze research on the Supply Chain Management Practices (SCMPs)-performance nexus, examine current knowledge, identify emerging trends, and provide plausible suggestions for future research engagements in the manufacturing sector in the context of Developing and Emerging Economies (DEEs).

Following a systematic review approach, this study analyzed 20 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles published between 2007 and 2021. The study sample was systematically selected from the Web of Science (WoS) and Google Scholar databases, following strict evaluation and selection criteria.

Numerous dimensions of SCMPs have been considered in the extant literature; however, six have stood out as the most common. In addition, operational performance stood out as the most widely investigated measure in the SCM literature. Moreover, SCMPs have predominantly shown positive effects on performance outcomes. Methodological issues that future studies should consider are suggested.

The sample size was not sufficiently large relative to the rule of thumb set in the literature because of the scarcity of studies in the manufacturing sector in the DEEs context. Despite these limitations, the results of this study provide crucial insights into knowledge and practice.

This review is the first of its kind to examine the SCMPs-performance nexus in the context of DEEs. Based on the findings of this study, future research directions are proposed.

This paper aims to study the bibliometric analysis of resource orchestration research in management and businessareas.

The research method is based on a three-step protocol of dataset setting, dataset refining and analyzing the data. First, the 202 published articles in the resource orchestration field were collected from the Web of Science database. Second, the document information was refined. Finally, we used the bibliometric analysis toolbox to investigate the documents. Also, bibliometric analysis in this research has been conducted using VOSviewer and SPSS software.

The findings of this research examined the evolution of the resource orchestration theory. Also, this paper has identified five major themes in this field: resource orchestration for entrepreneurship and innovation, orchestrating supply chain, orchestrating information technology resources, orchestrating intangible resources and the role of resource orchestration in small firm performance. Finally, emerging trends in the resource orchestration area include sustainable development, innovation and information technology.

This paper is the first to use bibliometric analysis to examine resource orchestration theory. Accordingly, this research contributes to the resource orchestration area through the theoretical evolution, underlying streams of research and emerging themes in research topics and methodologies.