Search results

Integrating the Stimulus-Organism-Response model, the spillover theory and the person-organization fit literature, this study investigates how internal marketing spills over its effects from the work domain to nonwork domains.

Data of 279 hotel employees working in the US were collected from a self-administered survey via Amazon Mechanical Turk.

Findings support the direct effects of internal marketing on job performance and job satisfaction, and of job satisfaction on life satisfaction. Moreover, results show the mediating roles of perceived person-organization fit, highlighting the mechanism by which internal marketing generates its spillover effect from the work domain to the life domain.

This study advances the conversation on employee-organization behaviors by revealing how internal marketing could lead to job satisfaction, job performance and life satisfaction. These insights reflect the true interconnection of human work and life. For hospitality employees’ well-being, this study encourages managers to simultaneously adopt and integrate the five functional activities of internal marketing (i.e. communication, compensation, welfare system, training and management support) in organizational operations.

This research investigated the impacts of COVID-19 on construction enterprises and good practices adopted by the enterprises in reducing COVID-19 risks. The Sendai Framework (TSF) is widely accepted as a strategic roadmap to reduce disaster risks throughout the life cycle of a disaster. As such, with the aim of enhancing the resilience of Australian construction enterprises, the identified good practices were mapped with TSF priorities to consolidate COVID-19 risk reduction practices that can be adopted by Australian construction enterprises.

Case study research approach was used, and three case studies were conducted with small, medium and large construction enterprises. Small, medium and large enterprises were selected based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics classification of the business size. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with three executive members from the three enterprises. Data were analysed using content analysis.

The study found that construction enterprises faced demand and supply side impacts. Infrastructure projects, funded by public sector clients and larger enterprises were least affected. Investments and demand for residential and other building projects were reduced by private sector clients, affecting small and medium enterprises. Findings also show that the construction enterprises adopted good practices in identifying, managing, investing on resilience and recovery that align with TSF priorities. All three enterprises agreed on some common good practices on risk identification, risk management and effective recovery. Different views were shared on investments related to disaster resilience.

This study contributes to mitigate the COVID-19 impacts on construction enterprises and subsequent economic and social impacts.

This research found how Australian construction enterprises survived during COVID-19. The study adopted TSF to construction and COVID-19 context while consolidating COVID-19 risk reduction practices.

This study aims to enhance the resilience of foamed concrete (FC) against carbonation and water absorption (WA) by integrating microorganisms, specifically Aspergillus iizukae EAN605.

The focus was on understanding how variables such as microorganism concentration, concrete density and water-to-cement (w/c) ratio affect these properties. Optimal results were observed under specific conditions—FC density set at 1800 kg/m³, a w/c ratio of 0.5 and an Aspergillus iizukae EAN605 concentration of 0.5 g/L—resulting in significant reductions in carbonation and WA compared to standard FC.

It is observed that fungi not only fill pores with calcium oxalate but also limit carbonation by consuming CO₂ and block water penetration through their mycelial network. A central composite design within response surface methodology was employed for the experimental design, resulting in mathematical models that align closely with the empirical data. The models identified the most effective parameters for minimizing carbonation depth: FC density at 1970 kg/m³, fungal concentration at 0.585 g/L and w/c ratio at 0.470. Further regression analysis showed a high correlation between the experimental data and the predicted outcomes, with a coefficient of determination (R²) of 92.29 and a model F-value of 16.45.

Statistical analysis highlighted the significant roles of density and fungal concentration in these reductions. Besides, scanning electron microscopy provided visual evidence of fungal-mediated mineral formation in FC, supporting the empirical findings. Overall, the study demonstrated the effective use of Aspergillus iizukae EAN605 in enhancing the durability of FC, marking an innovative stride in sustainable construction materials.

Detecting O₂ gas in a confined space at room temperature is particularly important to monitor the work process of precision equipment. This study aims to propose a miniaturized, low-cost, mass-scale produced O₂ sensor operating around 30°C.

The O₂ sensor based on lanthanum fluoride (LaF₃) solid electrolyte thin film was developed using MEMS technology. The principle of the sensor was a galvanic cell H₂O, O₂, Pt | LaF₃ | Sn, SnF₂ |, in which the Sn film was prepared by magnetron sputtering, and the LaF₃ film was prepared by thermal resistance evaporation.

Through pretreatments, the sensor’s response signal to 40% oxygen concentration was enhanced from 1.9 mV to 46.0 mV at 30°C and 97.0% RH. Tests at temperatures from 30°C to 50°C and humidity from 32.4% RH to 97.0% RH indicated that the output electromotive force (EMF) has a linear relationship with the logarithm of the oxygen concentration. The sensitivity of the sensor increases with an increase in both humidity and temperature in the couple mode, and the EMF of the sensor follows well with the Nernst equation at different temperatures and humidity.

This research could be applied to monitor the oxygen concentration below 25% in confined spaces at room temperature safely without a power supply.

The relationship between temperature and humidity coupling and the response of the sensor was obtained. The nano-film material was integrated with the MEMS process. It is expected to be practically applied in the future.

The object of this research is the reconstruction of the existing legal response by European Union states to the phenomenon of immigration. It seeks to analyse the process of conferral of protection.

One main dimension is selected and discussed: the case law of the national courts. The study focuses on the legal status of immigrants resulting from the intervention of these national courts.

The research shows that although the courts have conferred an increasing protection on immigrants, this has not challenged the fundamental principle of the sovereignty of the states to decide, according to their discretionary prerogatives, which immigrants are allowed to enter and stay in their territories. Notwithstanding the differences in the general constitutional and legal structures, the research also shows that the courts of the three countries considered – France, Germany and Spain – have progressively moved towards converging solutions in protecting immigrants.

The research contributes to a better understanding of the different legal orders analysed.

The purpose of this paper is to develop high-performance Au-coated Ag alloy wires (ACAA wires) and demonstrate the effect of Au coating layers on the bonding performance and oxidation resistance for stable and reliable electronic packaging applications.

ACAA wire with a diameter of approximately 25 µm and Au layer thickness of approximately 100 nm were prepared by the continuous casting, plating and wire drawing method. The bonding performance of the ACAA wires were studied through bonding on 3,535 chips. The oxidation resistance of ACAA wires and Ag alloy wires (AA wires) were comparatively studied by means of chemical oxidation tests, accelerated life tests and electrochemical tests systematically.

ACAA wires could form axi-symmetrical spherical free air balls with controllable diameter of 1.5∼2.5 times of the wire diameter after electric flame-off process. The ball shear strength of ACAA wire was higher than that of AA wires. Most importantly, because of the surface Au coating layer, the oxidation resistance of ACAA wires was much enhanced.

ACAA wires with different lengths of heat affected zone were not developed in this study, which limited their application with different loop height requirements.

With higher bonding strength and oxidation resistance, ACAA wires would be a better choice than previous reported AA wire in chip packaging which require high stability and reliability.

This paper provides a kind of novel ACAA wire, which possess the merits of high bonding strength and reliability, and show great potential in electronic packaging applications.

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether a country’s ownership concentration affects the financial reporting quality in a cross-country setting.

This paper uses six accounting and auditing indicators to construct a comprehensive index to measure the country-level financial reporting quality.

The authors find a non-linear nature of the relationship between the national financial reporting quality and national ownership structure. Specifically, the relation is negative in a relatively spread ownership structure with no controlling shareholders, implying the entrenchment effects dominate. When ownership is highly concentrated, particularly with controlling shareholders whose interest is aligned with that of the firm, the relation turns to positive and alignment effects dominate.

The study is an important extension of prior research examining the financial reporting quality effect of ownership concentration. It enhances the understanding of the role of ownership concentration in determining a country’s financial reporting quality and has potential important policy implications for countries’ reformers and regulators who are concerned with the transparency of financial reporting and the quality of corporate governance.

The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the dark side of business-to-business (B2B) relationships in traditional business practices worldwide that rely on strong networks.

This study applies a questionnaire survey to collect data from buyers in 224 Kuwaiti firms and uses the partial least squares structural equation model for data analysis.

Drawing on the social exchange theory, we test the relationships between B2B wasta, relationship satisfaction, innovation and efficiency. The findings show that despite the belief that wasta brings long-term benefits when applied in B2B relationships, it negatively impacts the firm’s efficiency.

This study contributes to the existing literature on B2B relationships by identifying important issues related to the multifaceted nature of B2B wasta relationships. The study confirms the importance of relational and innovation benefits over economic consequences based on elements of social exchange theory, which extends our current understanding of the application of SET in B2B wasta relationships.

Our research seeks to understand how actors in the Australian cotton industry can address downstream labour and human rights risks in the textiles and apparel value chain.

Taking the Australian cotton industry as the site of our action research project, we conducted a qualitative thematic analysis of 19 interviews, supplemented by industry engagement and desktop research.

We identify seven opportunities for action by the Australian cotton industry to address downstream labour and human rights risks, which are articulated in the context of a strategic enforcement approach.

The research focuses on opportunities for action to address downstream labour and human rights risks, thereby going beyond the traditional interventions by fashion brands and retailers that target upstream actors.