Noel Scott, Brent Moyle, Ana Cláudia Campos, Liubov Skavronskaya and Biqiang Liu
Jessica M. Santoro, Aurora J. Dixon, Chu-Hsiang Chang and Steve W. J. Kozlowski
Team cohesion and other team processes are inherently dynamic mechanisms that contribute to team effectiveness. Unfortunately, extant research has typically treated team cohesion…
Abstract
Team cohesion and other team processes are inherently dynamic mechanisms that contribute to team effectiveness. Unfortunately, extant research has typically treated team cohesion and other processes as static, and failed to capture how these processes change over time and the implications of these changes. In this chapter, we discuss the characteristics of team process dynamics and highlight the importance of temporal considerations when measuring team cohesion. We introduce innovative research methods that can be applied to assess and monitor team cohesion and other process dynamics. Finally, we discuss future directions for the research and practical applications of these new methods to enhance our understanding of the dynamics of team cohesion and other processes.
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Aliaksei Petsiuk, Brandon Bloch, Mitch Debora and Joshua M. Pearce
Presently in multicolor fused filament-based three-dimensional (3-D) printing, significant amounts of waste material are produced through nozzle priming and purging each time a…
Abstract
Purpose
Presently in multicolor fused filament-based three-dimensional (3-D) printing, significant amounts of waste material are produced through nozzle priming and purging each time a change from one color to another occurs. G-code generating slicing software typically changes the material on each layer resulting in wipe towers with greater mass than the target object. The purpose of this study is to provide an alternative fabrication approach based on interlayer tool clustering (ITC) for the first time, which reduces the number of tool changes and is compatible with any commercial 3-D printer without the need for hardware modifications.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors have developed an open-source PrusaSlicer upgrade, compatible with Slic3r-based software, which uses the described algorithm to generate g-code toolpath and print experimental objects. The theoretical time, material and energy savings are calculated and validated to evaluate the proposed fabrication method qualitatively and quantitatively.
Findings
The experimental results show the novel ITC method can significantly increase the efficiency of multimaterial printing, with an average 1.7-fold reduction in material use, and an average 1.4-fold reduction in both time and 3-D printing energy use. In addition, this approach reduces the likelihood of technical failures in the manufacturing of the entire part by reducing the number of tool changes, or material transitions, on average by 2.4 times.
Originality/value
The obtained results support distributed recycling and additive manufacturing, which has both environmental and economic benefits and increasing the number of colors in a 3-D print increases manufacturing savings.
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Svetlana Obydenkova, Nicholas C. Anzalone and Joshua M. Pearce
Isolated communities face a variety of inconveniences including severe remoteness, poor roads and extreme climate conditions, resulting in the lack of security of supply chains…
Abstract
Purpose
Isolated communities face a variety of inconveniences including severe remoteness, poor roads and extreme climate conditions, resulting in the lack of security of supply chains and exorbitant prices for cargo delivery. This paper aims to investigate the present advantages and prospects of applying 3-D printing to improve economics and everyday life of remote communities, reindeer herder case taken as an example.
Design/methodology/approach
This study covers the use of a low-cost open-source 3-D printer (RepRap) capable of fused filament fabrication to reduce operating costs for nomadic reindeer herder groups. Three case studies are provided for reindeer-specific applications to probe economic and technical viability of the technology, namely, ear-tags, electric fence components and lasso accessories.
Findings
3-D printed objects feature technical characteristics similar to those of analogues available on the market while reducing the price by 63 per cent. Distributed 3-D printing reduces the cost of raw materials by 68 per cent and shipping costs by 50 because of lower trip frequency. If all reindeer herders globally were to adopt distributed manufacturing of the three aforementioned sample items only, their annual savings from such solution would amount to US$2m. The paper discovers other economic, entrepreneurial, technical and environmental opportunities offered by 3-D printing put to service the needs of remote communities.
Research limitations
As the paper is the first-ever study of 3-D printing potential applied to the reindeer husbandry case, it is based on a more thorough analysis of the techno-economic feasibility of the technology, while cultural and entrepreneurial factors have been discussed as preconditions only.
Practical implications
The paper might serve as a valuable source of information for entrepreneurs, as well as for students and academics for further case studies in this area.
Originality/value
In remote conditions, 3-D printing offers a more sustainable way of good manufacturing. Numerous open source designs already available for specialists, financial effectiveness, environmental benefits and vast opportunities for entrepreneurs are among the most promising advantages of the technology.
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Dheeraj Choppara, Alysia Garmulewicz and Joshua M. Pearce
This study aims to apply an open-source approach to protect the 3D printing industry from innovation stagnation due to broad patenting of obvious materials.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to apply an open-source approach to protect the 3D printing industry from innovation stagnation due to broad patenting of obvious materials.
Design/methodology/approach
To do this, first an open-source implementation of the first five conditions of an open-source algorithm developed to identify all obvious 3-D printing materials was implemented in Python, and the compound combinations of two and three constituents were tested on ten natural and synthetic compounds. The time complexity for combinations composed of two constituents and three constituents is determined to be O(n2) and O(n3), respectively.
Findings
Generating all combinations of materials available on the Chemical Abstracts Services (CAS) registry on the fastest processor on the market will require at least 73.9 h for the latter, but as the number of constituents increases the time needed becomes prohibitive (e.g. 3 constituents is 1.65 million years). To demonstrate how machine learning (ML) could help prioritize both theoretical as well as experimental efforts a three-part biomaterial consisting of water, agar and glycerin was used as a case study. A decision tree model is trained with the experimental data and is used to fill in missing physical properties, including Young's modulus and yield strength, with 84.9 and 85.1% accuracy, respectively.
Originality/value
The results are promising for an open-source system that can theoretically generate all possible combinations of materials for 3-D printing that can then be used to identify suitable printing material for specific business cases based on desired material properties.
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Lionel Taito-Matamua, Simon Fraser and Jeongbin Ok
This research addresses the grave issue of plastic waste in the Pacific. By using Samoa as a case study, it was considered that distributed recycling combined with 3D printing…
Abstract
This research addresses the grave issue of plastic waste in the Pacific. By using Samoa as a case study, it was considered that distributed recycling combined with 3D printing offers an opportunity to (1) repurpose and add new value to this difficult waste stream and (2) engage diverse local communities in Samoa by combining notions of participatory design with traditional Samoan social concepts. Fieldwork in Samoa established the scope of the issue through interviews with stakeholders in government, waste management businesses, the arts and crafts community and education. Based on the information obtained from the fieldwork, potential product areas and designs were explored through material and 3D printing experiments using low-cost, open-source equipment. The experiments informed the design of speculative scenarios for workable, economically viable, socially empowering and sustainable systems for repurposing and upcycling plastic waste, which then enabled production of practically useful and culturally meaningful 3D printed objects, artefacts and products. Building upon the outcome and with a view towards implementation, Creative Pathways, an educational initiative aimed at propagating 3D printing and contextual design, was established and is being delivered in local schools.
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This paper aims to investigate the role of boards in owner‐managed small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), and seeks answers to the questions of whether boards generally enhance…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the role of boards in owner‐managed small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), and seeks answers to the questions of whether boards generally enhance good governance in SMEs, and whether the use of outside board members plays a significant role. Finally, the paper seeks to examine the question of whether in practice owner‐managers see their boards as a resource.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a study of the ownership and control structure in 1,313 SMEs and an interview survey of 1,040 Danish owner‐managed SMEs.
Findings
The analysis of the empirical studies indicates that the role of a board as a resource is more important than its control role, which suggests that there should be a multi‐theory approach to board roles in SMEs. It also indicates that good governance appears to be associated with the existence of boards and of outside board members, and finally that boards in SMEs remain an untapped resource.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the empirical literature on the role of boards. It contributes to the understanding of the role of boards in SMEs and to whether boards enhance good governance in SMEs. It also gives an insight as to whether boards are an untapped resource in SMEs.
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Philipp E. Boksberger and Torsten von Bartenwerffer
For tourism, significant research has been conducted in industry‐specific marketing. Basically, the topic of discussion is the effectiveness and efficiency of the marketing of…
Abstract
For tourism, significant research has been conducted in industry‐specific marketing. Basically, the topic of discussion is the effectiveness and efficiency of the marketing of destinations. As marketing segmentation is one of the most critical parts of any marketing strategy, the authors believe that a customer segmentation by motivations via an activity‐based approach will increase the destination's marketing impact. This study aims to backtrack travel motivations from tourist behaviour which can be observed i.e. the activities they performed. The idea is to find out which motivations to target marketingwise that attract tourists who in turn fit the destination's attraction potential, and activity‐offering competencies. In order to test the hypothesis, a contingency analysis was employed using data from the Swiss travel market. By exploiting the linkage between motivations and activities, the authors have found 34 significant activities, 15 of which can be exclusively linked to a traveller motivation.
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C. L. Clarke and D. A. Hutchinson
In this chapter, we argue that through relational research experiences with colleagues and participants, researchers are in a shared process of curriculum making and…
Abstract
In this chapter, we argue that through relational research experiences with colleagues and participants, researchers are in a shared process of curriculum making and identity-making. Through reflections on a key shared experience, we demonstrate that in the liminal space of our work together, we have begun to shape our community identity-making to tell a story of ourselves as researchers within that community. In our work together, we have come to understand the ways that research contexts shape the ways we engage in research and the identities we compose as researchers. We suggest that as researchers, we meet in borderlands to engage in relational inquiry with participants and our colleagues. Similarly to Anzaldua, we understand the borderlands as liminal spaces between our respective worlds of research where we come together to compose new stories about ourselves as researchers and the research in which we engage. We attend to the places of tension as they emerge as opportunities to understand more deeply ourselves as researchers and as co-participants in a relational research experience. In doing so, we attend also to our shared responsibilities to each other in an ongoing research relationship. In the borderlands, we meet to tell a new story about who we are and who we are becoming in all our complexity. In this examination of the research community, we have grown into together, we define parameters and processes that resonate with our individual identities as researchers as well as our communal identities within a supportive research community.