Search results

This paper aims to numerical and experimental analysis on substrate deformation and plastic strain induced by wire arc additive manufacturing.

The component has the form of a hollow, rectangular thin wall consisting of 25 deposition layers of SS316L on an SS304 substrate plate. Thermo-mechanical finite element analysis was applied with Goldak’s double-ellipsoidal heat-source model and a non-linear isotropic hardening rule based on von Mises’ yield criterion. The layer deposition was modelled using simplified geometry to minimize overall pre-processing work and computational time.

A new material modelling of SS316L was obtained from the chemical composition of the evolved component characterized by scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive X-ray and further generated by an advanced material-modelling software JMatPro. In defining heat-transfer coefficients, transient thermometric analysis was first performed in the bead and on the substrate, which was followed by an adjustment of the heat-transfer coefficients to reflect the actual temperature distribution. Based on the adjusted model and boundary conditions, sensitivity analysis was conducted prior to the ultimate simulation of substrate deformation and equivalent plastic strain. Furthermore, this simulation was verified by conducting a series of automated wire + arc additive manufacturing tests using robotic gas Metal arc welding with distortion measured by coordinate-measurement machine and equivalent plastic strain measured by optical three-dimensional-metrology measurements (Gesellschaft für Optische Messtechnik).

It can be concluded that a proper numerical computation using the adjusted model and property-evolved material exhibits a similar trend with acceptable agreement compared to the experiment by yielding an error percentage up to 30% for deformation and up to 21% for equivalent plastic strain at each individual measurement point.

If governments are really to stimulate the information society, they must lead from the front. That means redesigning government communications from the ground up, in ways that engage citizens and encourage e‐commerce. Local portals could pave the way, but first they must win over Web users from other communications channels. That means attracting the best content – and one way for governments to do that is to set a standard in pricing and marketing their own data.

In this paper, the aim is to develop a framework for evaluating the web sites of public authorities. The proposed framework consists of four axes: two for assessing the general characteristics and content of the web sites (namely general characteristics and e‐content); and two for assessing specific functionalities addressing their governmental character (namely e‐services and e‐participation).

The proposed framework is gradually built through a critical analysis of the two relevant domains, web site evaluation and e‐government. The methodology used in the case study includes the construction of an appropriate questionnaire for assessing the framework metrics. The practical use of the framework is demonstrated by means of a case study, namely evaluating the web sites of Greek public authorities at local and regional level.

The proposed framework presents a more holistic approach to e‐government web site evaluation, while the case study provides some interesting results with regards to the shortcomings of Greek public authority web sites.

The proposed framework could be further enhanced by incorporating an evaluation of the demand site of e‐government. Moreover, a more thorough approach with regard to privacy would have to include metrics to be answered directly by IT security personnel.

The proposed framework can be used for evaluating the web sites of public authorities in a more comprehensive way. As an example, the case study reveals significant results of practical importance by indicating overall progress, aspects that are under‐developed, etc.

This paper provides a novel framework to e‐government web site evaluation that also considers e‐government services and e‐participation. We anticipate that it will be of interest to both researchers and practitioners alike.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of brand associations on brand loyalty of fans toward professional football clubs in developed and emerging football markets (EFM). In particular, the following research questions are answered: how important are different determinants of brand associations for fans from developed football markets (DFM) and EFM? Are there any major differences in the importance of different brand associations and their influence on brand loyalty between fans from DFM and EFM?

Based on the customer-based brand equity framework the impact of brand associations on brand loyalty is tested with a sample of 3,587 fans from DFM – Germany, England, Spain, Italy, and France (2,032) – as well as fans from EFM – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and the USA (1,555).

Structural equation modeling is applied and shows a negative impact of brand attributes on attitudinal loyalty, whereas brand benefits positively impact attitudinal loyalty. Furthermore, significant differences between fans from developed and EFM are revealed. Implications for the management of football teams and for research on brand management are derived.

This study extends the work of Gladden and Funk (2001) by expanding the model used to assess brand loyalty and analyzes it empirically in different football markets. When looking to foster attitudinal loyalty, marketers should concentrate on benefit associations instead of attribute associations. Most importantly, marketers should be aware that when focusing on developing brand loyalty amongst EFM fans, they should not simply apply the same strategies that proved to be effective in DFM and vice versa.

Nobody concerned with political economy can neglect the history of economic doctrines. Structural changes in the economy and society influence economic thinking and, conversely, innovative thought structures and attitudes have almost always forced economic institutions and modes of behaviour to adjust. We learn from the history of economic doctrines how a particular theory emerged and whether, and in which environment, it could take root. We can see how a school evolves out of a common methodological perception and similar techniques of analysis, and how it has to establish itself. The interaction between unresolved problems on the one hand, and the search for better solutions or explanations on the other, leads to a change in paradigma and to the formation of new lines of reasoning. As long as the real world is subject to progress and change scientific search for explanation must out of necessity continue.

The use of the concept of “agency,” in the sense of action that is to some extent free of “structural” constraints, has enjoyed enormous and growing popularity in the sociological literature over the past several decades. In a previous paper, we examined the range of theoretical rationales offered by sociologists for the inclusion of the notion of “agency” in sociological explanations. Having found these rationales seriously wanting, in this paper we attempt to determine empirically what role “agency” actually plays in the recent sociological literature. We examine a random sample of 147 articles in sociology journals that use the concept of “agency” with the aim of identifying the ways in which the term is used and what function the concept serves in the sociological explanations offered. We identify four principal (often overlapping) uses of “agency”: (1) purely descriptive; (2) as a synonym for “power”; (3) as a way to identify resistance to “structural” pressures; and (4) as a way to describe intelligible human actions. We find that in none of these cases the notion of “agency” adds anything of analytical or explanatory value. These different uses have one thing in common, however: they all tend to use the term “agency” in a strongly normative sense to mark the actions the authors approve of. We conclude that “agency” seems to serve the purpose of registering the authors' moral or political preferences under the guise of a seemingly analytical concept.

Economics and political philosophy tend to lead separate existences in separate university departments. This paper argues that there are gains to be had in the understanding of the teaching of economics if the intellectual divide between these disciplines is bridged. The history of economic thought owes its evolution in part to responses at particular points in time to the enduring questions of political philosophy. A more deep‐seated understanding of economics and of HET is therefore available if considered in conscious alliance with the history of political philosophy (HPP). In short, the argument of this paper ‐ which considers five dimensions of the interdependence of HET and HPP ‐ is the reverse of Scott Gordon’s conclusion that economists have little or nothing to learn from philosophers.

Recent literature on nonprofit boards of directors has extensively investigated the composition, role, responsibilities, and characteristics of boards. Given the growing number of studies on nonprofit boards, which added new impulse to the debate on the role and characteristics of these players, it is time to analyze the state of the art and systematize the current knowledge. On the other hand, despite the presence of some literature reviews, a research comparing the debate among the nonprofit, private, and public sectors is still lacking. Using Gabrielsson and Huse’s (2004) framework, we wanted to identify factors that can influence research on nonprofit boards and compare our results with existing studies on private and public sector.

We conduct a systematic literature review, selecting empirical articles published in international scientific journals from 1992 to 2012.

We found similarities and differences in relation to research on boards among sectors. As a common result, we found that evolutionary studies still remains a neglected area in all of three realms. Finally, whereas input–output studies prevail in the private sector and contingency studies prevail in the public sector, behavioral studies prevail in the nonprofit sector, demonstrating, also, that the sector itself can make a difference in the board’s research.

This literature review provides some suggestion for further research on boards for all of three sectors. For example, we suggest complementing research on boards on all three sectors, especially in relation to evolutionary studies.

This paper fills the need to clarify the status of research on nonprofit boards, in order to address scholars in the understanding of the phenomenon.