Nripinder Kaur and Vikramjit Singh
This paper aims to examine the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on financial performance (FP) of Indian steel industry in terms of value-added (VAM), profitability…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on financial performance (FP) of Indian steel industry in terms of value-added (VAM), profitability (PM), market (MM) and growth measures (GM).
Design/methodology/approach
It is an empirical study using secondary data of 40 companies for 14 years collected from CSR/annual reports/official websites of the companies and Prowess database. The panel regression analysis, MANOVA and univariate ANOVA have been conducted to examine the impact of CSR on FP.
Findings
The result indicates a positive impact of CSR on FP in terms of VAM, PM and GM, thereby indicating that more investments in CSR will generate wealth for shareholders, enhance profitability and sales. Moreover, this study shows no noticeable relationship between CSR and MM.
Social implications
This study contributes to the literature on the CSR–FP relationship and also has implications for managers, investors and other stakeholders. Companies with higher CSR rating create a brand image, attract proficient employees, get greater profit, loyal customers and have less possibility of bribery and corruption. This study may result in being influential to companies confined not only to this sector but also reaching to the others, thus inspiring them to contribute their share of profit for the welfare of society.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, it is the first comprehensive study to examine the impact of CSR on FP of Indian steel industry by considering four dimensions for measuring FP. It provides evidence about the relationship between CSR and FP.
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Yuhan Liu, Linhong Wang, Ziling Zeng and Yiming Bie
The purpose of this study is to develop an optimization method for charging plans with the implementation of time-of-day (TOD) electricity tariff, to reduce electricity bill.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to develop an optimization method for charging plans with the implementation of time-of-day (TOD) electricity tariff, to reduce electricity bill.
Design/methodology/approach
Two optimization models for charging plans respectively with fixed and stochastic trip travel times are developed, to minimize the electricity costs of daily operation of an electric bus. The charging time is taken as the optimization variable. The TOD electricity tariff is considered, and the energy consumption model is developed based on real operation data. An optimal charging plan provides charging times at bus idle times in operation hours during the whole day (charging time is 0 if the bus is not get charged at idle time) which ensure the regular operation of every trip served by this bus.
Findings
The electricity costs of the bus route can be reduced by applying the optimal charging plans.
Originality/value
This paper produces a viable option for transit agencies to reduce their operation costs.
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Le Zhang, Ziling Zeng and Kun Gao
The purpose of this paper is to optimize the design of charging station deployed at the terminal station for electric transit, with explicit consideration of heterogenous charging…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to optimize the design of charging station deployed at the terminal station for electric transit, with explicit consideration of heterogenous charging modes.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors proposed a bi-level model to optimize the decision-making at both tactical and operational levels simultaneously. Specifically, at the operational level (i.e. lower level), the service schedule and recharging plan of electric buses are optimized under specific design of charging station. The objective of lower-level model is to minimize total daily operational cost. This model is solved by a tailored column generation-based heuristic algorithm. At the tactical level (i.e. upper level), the design of charging station is optimized based upon the results obtained at the lower level. A tabu search algorithm is proposed subsequently to solve the upper-level model.
Findings
This study conducted numerical cases to validate the applicability of the proposed model. Some managerial insights stemmed from numerical case studies are revealed and discussed, which can help transit agencies design charging station scientifically.
Originality/value
The joint consideration of heterogeneous charging modes in charging station would further lower the operational cost of electric transit and speed up the market penetration of battery electric buses.
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Tao Wang, Shaoliang Wu, Hengqiong Jia, Zhao Wei, Haiyan Li, Piyan Shao, Shanqing Peng and Yi Shi
The construction of cement asphalt (CA) emulsified mortar can obviously disturb the slab status after the fine adjustment. To decrease or eliminate the influence of CA mortar…
Abstract
Purpose
The construction of cement asphalt (CA) emulsified mortar can obviously disturb the slab status after the fine adjustment. To decrease or eliminate the influence of CA mortar grouting on track slab geometry status, the effects of grouting funnel, slab pressing method, mortar expansion ratio, seepage ratio and grouting area on China Railway Track System Type (CRTS I) track slab geometry status were discussed in this paper.
Design/methodology/approach
Combined with engineering practice, this paper studied the expansion law of filling layer mortar, the liquid level height of the filling funnel, the pressure plate device and the amount of exudation water and systematically analyzed the influence of filling layer mortar construction on the state of track slab. Relevant precautions and countermeasures were put forward.
Findings
The results showed that the track slab floating values of four corners were different with the CA mortar grouting and the track slab corner near CA mortar grouting hole had the maximum floating values. The anti-floating effect of “7” shaped slab pressing device was more efficient than fixed-joint angle iron, and the slab floating value could be further decreased by increasing the amount of “7” shaped slab pressing devices. After CA mortar grouting, the track slab floating pattern had a close correlation with the expansion rate and water seepage rate of CA mortar over time and the expansion and water seepage rate of the mortar were faster when the temperature was high. Furthermore, the use of strip CA mortar filling under the rail bearing platform on both sides could effectively reduce the float under the track slab, and it could also save mortar consumption and reduce costs.
Originality/value
This study plays an important role in controlling the floating values, CA mortar dosage and the building cost of projects by grouting CA mortar at two flanks of filling space. The research results have guiding significance for the design and construction of China's CRTS I, CRTS II and CRTS III track slab.
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This paper aims to apply an integrated data envelopment analysis (DEA) and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach to a multi-hierarchy grey relational analysis (GRA) model…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to apply an integrated data envelopment analysis (DEA) and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach to a multi-hierarchy grey relational analysis (GRA) model. Consistent with the most real-life applications, the authors focus on a two-level hierarchy in which the attributes of similar characteristics can be grouped into categories. Nevertheless, the proposed approach can be easily extended to a three-level hierarchy in which attributes might also belong to different sub-categories and further be linked to categories.
Design/methodology/approach
The procedure of incorporating the DEA and AHP methods in a two-level GRA may be broken down into a series of steps. The first three steps are under the heading of attributes and the latter three steps are under the heading of categories as follows: computing the grey relational coefficients of attributes for each alternative using the basic GRA model which further provides the required (output) data for an additive DEA model; computing the priority weights of attributes and categories using the AHP method which provides a priori information on the adjustments of attributes and categories in additive DEA models; computing the grey relational grades of attributes in each category for alternatives using an additive DEA model; converting the grey relational grades of attributes to the grey relational coefficients of categories; computing the grey relational grades of categories for alternatives using an additive DEA model; computing the dissimilarity grades of categories for the tied alternatives using an additive DEA exclusion model.
Findings
The proposed approach provides a more reasonable and encompassing measure of performance in a hierarchy GRA, based on which the overall ranking position of alternatives is obtained. A case study of a wastewater treatment technology selection verifies the effectiveness of this approach.
Originality/value
This research is a step forward to overcome the current shortcomings in a hierarchy GRA by extracting the benefits from both the objective and subjective weighting methods.
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Cong Li, YunFeng Xie, Gang Wang, XianFeng Zeng and Hui Jing
This paper studies the lateral stability regulation of intelligent electric vehicle (EV) based on model predictive control (MPC) algorithm.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper studies the lateral stability regulation of intelligent electric vehicle (EV) based on model predictive control (MPC) algorithm.
Design/methodology/approach
Firstly, the bicycle model is adopted in the system modelling process. To improve the accuracy, the lateral stiffness of front and rear tire is estimated using the real-time yaw rate acceleration and lateral acceleration of the vehicle based on the vehicle dynamics. Then the constraint of input and output in the model predictive controller is designed. Soft constraints on the lateral speed of the vehicle are designed to guarantee the solved persistent feasibility and enforce the vehicle’s sideslip angle within a safety range.
Findings
The simulation results show that the proposed lateral stability controller based on the MPC algorithm can improve the handling and stability performance of the vehicle under complex working conditions.
Originality/value
The MPC schema and the objective function are established. The integrated active front steering/direct yaw moments control strategy is simultaneously adopted in the model. The vehicle’s sideslip angle is chosen as the constraint and is controlled in stable range. The online estimation of tire stiffness is performed. The vehicle’s lateral acceleration and the yaw rate acceleration are modelled into the two-degree-of-freedom equation to solve the tire cornering stiffness in real time. This can ensure the accuracy of model.
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Shuanggao Li, Zhichao Huang, Qi Zeng and Xiang Huang
Aircraft assembly is the crucial part of aircraft manufacturing, and to meet the high-precision and high-efficiency requirements, cooperative measurement consisting of multiple…
Abstract
Purpose
Aircraft assembly is the crucial part of aircraft manufacturing, and to meet the high-precision and high-efficiency requirements, cooperative measurement consisting of multiple measurement instruments and automatic assisted devices is being adopted. To achieve the complete data of all assembly features, measurement devices need to be placed at different positions, and the flexible and efficient transfer relies on Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) and robots in the large-size space and close range. This paper aims to improve the automatic station transfer in accuracy and flexibility.
Design/methodology/approach
A transferring system with Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and markers is established. The map coupling for navigation is optimized. Markers are distributed according to the accumulated uncertainties. The path planning method applied to the collaborative measurement is proposed for better accuracy. The motion planning method is optimized for better positioning accuracy.
Findings
A transferring system is constructed and the system is verified in the laboratory. Experimental results show that the proposed system effectively improves positioning accuracy and efficiency, which improves the station transfer for the cooperative measurement.
Originality/value
A Transferring system for collaborative measurement is proposed. The optimized navigation method extends the application of visual markers. With this system, AGV is capable of the cooperative measurement of large aircraft structural parts.
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Md.Tanvir Ahmed, Hridi Juberi, A.B.M. Mainul Bari, Muhommad Azizur Rahman, Aquib Rahman, Md. Ashfaqur Arefin, Ilias Vlachos and Niaz Quader
This study aims to investigate the effect of vibration on ceramic tools under dry cutting conditions and find the optimum cutting condition for the hardened steel machining…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the effect of vibration on ceramic tools under dry cutting conditions and find the optimum cutting condition for the hardened steel machining process in a computer numerical control (CNC) lathe machine.
Design/methodology/approach
In this research, an integrated fuzzy TOPSIS-based Taguchi L9 optimization model has been applied for the multi-objective optimization (MOO) of the hard-turning responses. Additionally, the effect of vibration on the ceramic tool wear was investigated using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT).
Findings
The optimum cutting conditions for the multi-objective responses were obtained at 98 m/min cutting speed, 0.1 mm/rev feed rate and 0.2 mm depth of cut. According to the ANOVA of the input cutting parameters with respect to response variables, feed rate has the most significant impact (53.79%) on the control of response variables. From the vibration analysis, the feed rate, with a contribution of 34.74%, was shown to be the most significant process parameter influencing excessive vibration and consequent tool wear.
Research limitations/implications
The MOO of response parameters at the optimum cutting parameter settings can significantly improve productivity in the dry turning of hardened steel and control over the input process parameters during machining.
Originality/value
Most studies on optimizing responses in dry hard-turning performed in CNC lathe machines are based on single-objective optimization. Additionally, the effect of vibration on the ceramic tool during MOO of hard-turning has not been studied yet.
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Yunfei Li, Shengbo Eben Li, Xingheng Jia, Shulin Zeng and Yu Wang
The purpose of this paper is to reduce the difficulty of model predictive control (MPC) deployment on FPGA so that researchers can make better use of FPGA technology for academic…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reduce the difficulty of model predictive control (MPC) deployment on FPGA so that researchers can make better use of FPGA technology for academic research.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the MPC algorithm is written into FPGA by combining hardware with software. Experiments have verified this method.
Findings
This paper implements a ZYNQ-based design method, which could significantly reduce the difficulty of development. The comparison with the CPU solution results proves that FPGA has a significant acceleration effect on the solution of MPC through the method.
Research limitations implications
Due to the limitation of practical conditions, this paper cannot carry out a hardware-in-the-loop experiment for the time being, instead of an open-loop experiment.
Originality value
This paper proposes a new design method to deploy the MPC algorithm to the FPGA, reducing the development difficulty of the algorithm implementation on FPGA. It greatly facilitates researchers in the field of autonomous driving to carry out FPGA algorithm hardware acceleration research.
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Qiong Wu, Zhiwei Zeng, Jun Lin and Yiqiang Chen
Poor medication adherence leads to high hospital admission rate and heavy amount of health-care cost. To cope with this problem, various electronic pillboxes have been proposed to…
Abstract
Purpose
Poor medication adherence leads to high hospital admission rate and heavy amount of health-care cost. To cope with this problem, various electronic pillboxes have been proposed to improve the medication adherence rate. However, most of the existing electronic pillboxes use time-based reminders which may often lead to ineffective reminding if the reminders are triggered at inopportune moments, e.g. user is sleeping or eating.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the authors propose an AI-empowered context-aware smart pillbox system. The pillbox system collects real-time sensor data from a smart home environment and analyzes the user’s contextual information through a computational abstract argumentation-based activity classifier.
Findings
Based on user’s different contextual states, the smart pillbox will generate reminders at appropriate time and on appropriate devices.
Originality/value
This paper presents a novel context-aware smart pillbox system that uses argumentation-based activity recognition and reminder generation.