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Testing of silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) or silicon carbide (SiC), sliding on itself in water, revealed that hydrodynamic lubrication can be obtained at low‐sliding velocity. The purpose of this paper is to study the performance of Si₃N₄‐metals pairs, sliding in water.

Ball on disc unidirectional sliding tests are run with Si₃N₄ against tool steel, stainless steel and cast iron in water. The friction force is recorded continuously and the wear is evaluated at the end of the run by geometric technique. In addition, SiC sliding on itself in oxidant solution (3 per cent solution of CrO₃ in water) is tested.

The measured friction and wear of water‐lubricated Si₃N₄ against metals are higher compared to Si₃N₄ sliding on itself. At the end of the run‐in SiC, lubricated by the oxidant solution, obtains hydrodynamic lubrication and friction and wear are lower than in water‐lubricated SiC.

The experimental results obtained are valid within the range of load and sliding velocity applied – 1‐10 N, 0.04‐0.33 m/s, respectively. The Si₃N₄ sliding against metals in water over sliding distance of 3,000 m has not shown tendency towards hydrodynamic lubrication.

The paper presents test data on friction and wear properties of Si₃N₄ sliding against metals in water. The low friction and ball wear rate of the SiC, lubricated by the oxidant solution, shows the potential of the 3 per cent distilled water solution of CrO₃ to surpass water as a lubricant for SiC sliding bearings.

This study explores the influence individual characteristics identified in prior research have on ethical choice in a financial reporting task. An action-based, multi-metric dependent variable is developed to measure ethical reporting choice. Intermediate accounting students participate in the task as part of a curricular assignment in a revenue recognition module. Results demonstrate that several, but not all, individual characteristics found in prior research do influence accounting students’ ethical revenue recognition choices. Specifically, the external locus-of-control, idealism, consequentialist, and Machiavellian characteristics are found to influence ethical reporting choice.

It is aiming at finding tribology performance laws and mechanism of sintering materials, including new materials, which are popular or potential materials of mechanical seals working under water condition with different working parameters, involving load and sliding speed.

Falex-1506 tribo-machine has been used. The upper sample is rotated against the stationary sample below. They are all rings. The samples are WNV2, sintered pressureless bonded; CHV1, graphite-added PLSiC; R, sintered reaction bonded; R2, graphite-added RBSiC, cemented carbide YN6 and graphite MSMG. Twenty kinds of hard/hard and soft/hard pairs were tested under water condition. Then, SEM was used to observe the sliding surface to explain their rubbing mechanism.

Friction coefficients decrease with the load increasing under water lubrication due to water holding by small holes on their surface. But the friction coefficients have no change with the varying of velocity. The hard alloy/sintered silicon carbon pairs may be better choice, where the lowest friction coefficient is only about 0.02, than soft/hard or silicon carbon/silicon carbon pairs under water lubrication, especially under heavy load.

The test was carried under load from 89 N (0.7 MPa) to 356 N (2.80 MPa) and sliding velocity from 0.746 to 5.074 m/s where the lubrication is in mixed.

The detailed values of frictional coefficients of popular and potential sintered material of mechanical seals working under water lubrication were given by the experimental research which may be helpful for the choice of mechanical seal materials.

This study aims to examine style-deviation practices in the socially responsible mutual funds (SMRF) industry i.e. how mutual funds game their stated financial objectives to earn a higher relative performance ranking. In addition, the consequences of such practices on sustainable scores and money flows are studied.

A sample of 454 US equity SRMFs is studied. This paper uses panel regressions controlling for time and style fixed-effects.

This study finds that 17.60% of SRMF managers in the sample are engaged in style deviation practices. These practices positively impact the sustainable performance of SRMFs and negatively impact their financial performance. One effect offsets the other and they consequently do not affect money flows. Another finding is that only investors with lower portfolio sustainability scores do show return-chaser behaviour.

This paper reveals that SRMF managers deviating from their stated financial style face a dilemma that is non-existent for their conventional peers that is style deviation practices affect financial and sustainable performance in opposing ways, whereas SRMF investor utility depends positively on both dimensions. The findings are not conclusive about the effectiveness of style deviation practices in attracting SRMF money flows.

SRMF industry has experienced tremendous growth in the past decade. The increased competition in this industry has led managers to strive to attract investors, sometimes by relying on irregular practices that enhance their portfolio results. Regulators should consider how to avoid such perverse behaviour with a view to improving mutual funds transparency.

This is the first research that analyses style deviation practices and their consequences for the SRMF industry.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review on the academic journey of artificial intelligence (AI) in agriculture and to highlight the challenges and opportunities in adopting AI-based advancement in agricultural systems and processes.

The authors conducted a bibliometric analysis of the extant literature on AI in agriculture to understand the status of development in this domain. Further, the authors proposed a framework based on two popular theories, namely, diffusion of innovation (DOI) and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), to identify the factors influencing the adoption of AI in agriculture.

Four factors were identified, i.e. institutional factors, market factors, technology factors and stakeholder perception, which influence adopting AI in agriculture. Further, the authors indicated challenges under environmental, operational, technological, economical and social categories with opportunities in this area of research and business.

The proposed conceptual model needs empirical validation across countries or states to understand the effectiveness and relevance.

Practitioners and researchers can use these inputs to develop technology and business solutions with specific design elements to gain benefit of this technology at larger scale for increasing agriculture production.

This paper brings new developed methods and practices in agriculture for betterment of society.

This paper provides a comprehensive review of extant literature and presents a theoretical framework for researchers to further examine the interaction of independent variables responsible for adoption of AI in agriculture.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-10-2020-0448

Drawing on multiple theoretical approaches, this study aims to investigate whether the presence of foreign directors on the board is associated with a company’s carbon emissions performance (CP) and carbon disclosure (CD).

The sample comprises 67 non-financial listed firms from the Société des Bourses Françaises 120 index for the period 2010–2018 and the analysis relies on carbon reports from the carbon disclosure project, using a panel data analysis based on random-effects regression.

The paper finds that having foreign directors has a positive significant impact on both aspects of carbon emissions (CE), namely, CP and CD. Foreign directors’ incentives to reveal extensive sustainability information depend on the volume of CE. The findings also indicate that foreign directors are more engaged in enhancing environmental transparency and lowering information asymmetry to maintain/ improve corporate legitimacy.

The findings show that foreign directors play a vital role as one of the main pillars of a carbon model for sustainable carbon activities and disclosure. The evidence has important insights for the managers of French listed firms, shareholders and regulators.

The evidence underlines the value of foreign directors as a critical resource that enhances CE strategic decisions. Thus, the findings are valuable to managers, as they may consider balancing between foreign and local directors to benefit from a rich heterogeneous resource encompassing the diverse merits of both types of directors, with particular emphasis on foreign directors’ international exposure and experience.

This study offers significant insights, as it examines the relationship between foreign directors and both the CP and CD in the French context, which is characterized by a non-English civil law system and the issuing of many environmental, climate and emission control laws.

This systematic literature review analyses the determinants and consequences of executive compensation-related shareholder activism and say-on-pay (SOP) votes. The review covers 71 empirical articles published between January 1995 and September 2017. The studies are reviewed within an empirical research framework that separates the reasons for shareholder activism and SOP voting dissent as input factor on the one hand and the consequences of shareholder pressure as output factor on the other. This procedure identifies the five most important groups of factors in the literature: the level and structure of executive compensation, firm characteristics, corporate governance mechanisms, shareholder structure and stakeholders. Of these, executive compensation and firm characteristics are the most frequently examined. Further examination reveals that the key assumptions of neoclassical principal agent theory for both managers and shareholders are not always consistent with recent empirical evidence. First, behavioral aspects (such as the perception of fairness) influence compensation activism and SOP votes. Second, non-financial interests significantly moderate shareholder activism. Insofar, we recommend integrating behavioral and non-financial aspects into the existing research. The implications are analyzed, and new directions for further research are discussed by proposing 19 different research questions.

Central to the Sarbanes–Oxley Act was a requirement that every company have an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. However, there were concerns that this requirement was overly burdensome, from a financial perspective, for small businesses. This concern promoted several delays in enforcing the law for small companies and ultimately caused congress to permanently exempt small businesses. Yet, there are some small companies that voluntarily elect to comply with the law. The purpose of this paper is to explore why these companies elect to incur these costly audits.

Using a sample of 5,834 non-accelerator US firms, this paper uses a robust logistic regression model to examine why some firms comply voluntary with SOX Section 404(b).

This study shows that small companies getting audits of internal controls may be doing so to restore investor confidence after reporting failures, to appear credible prior to raising funds, as a response to organizational changes, or in anticipation of being required to comply.

This study provides regulators with an improved understanding of when it is necessary to implement mandatory rather than voluntary guidance.

This study is the first to document why a client would voluntarily comply with SOX Section 404 (b).

Scholars have begun calling for broader conceptualisations of moral disengagement processes that reflect the interaction of dispositional and situational antecedents to a predilection to morally disengage. The authors argue that collective leadership may be one such contingent antecedent. While researching leaders from the Gilded Age of American business history, the authors encountered a compelling historical case that facilitates theory elaboration within these intersecting domains. Interpreting evidence from the embittered leader dyad of Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick, the authors show how leader egoism can permeate moral identity to promote symbolic moral self-regard and moral licensing, which augment a propensity to morally disengage. The authors use insights developed from our analysis to illustrate a process conceptualisation that reflects a dispositional and situational interaction as a precursor to moral disengagement and explains how collective leadership can function as a moral disengagement trigger/tool to reduce cognitive dissonance and support the cognitive, behavioural, and rhetorical processes utilised to justify unethical behaviour.

The purpose of this paper was to examine and reflect on the visual social research method of photovoice, which is a qualitative research process increasingly being used by government and nongovernment organizations to enable participants who are often from disadvantaged groups, to capture their lives, experiences, and issues through photos and associated written stories. Visual methods such as photovoice provide both opportunities and risks with ethical considerations and concerns that are both ethical in nature for those taking the photographs, and for those in the photographs. There are also associated ethical challenges for researchers to conform to ethical guidelines, while conveying stories that are in the public interest. Ascertaining why visual information should be considered in relation to ethics can be argued as important, as the receiver processing the visual information will process, perceive, and respond in a variety of ways, and possibly in different ways to what the sender aimed to convey. It was argued here that due to the strong ethical guidelines for photovoice projects, it is more of a deontological-based research approach. A key ethical concern associated with photovoice is that it is touted to participants as a vehicle to achieve social change, yet there is no guarantee that this change will occur, as ultimate power rests in the hands of decision makers. Photovoice ethical processes were discussed, with reflections by the author on ethical issues that have occurred in her own research, and suggestions to organizations on what to consider to ensure a photovoice project proceeds with ethical consideration to ensure an empowering experience as an influencer for social change.