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Research in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has grown exponentially in the last few decades. Nevertheless, significant debate remains about the relationship between CSR performance and corporate financial performance (CFP). This is particularly true for the case of Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The purpose of the current study is to empirically test the relationship between CSR and CFP. We use data for 66 Chinese SOEs listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. The results are interesting in that they are not consistent with similar studies using US and other Western market data. We find a significant negative relationship between CSR performance and CFP. The results are discussed in light of the preferential government treatment afforded to Chinese SOEs, and social welfare requirements imposed on such entities. Implications for Chinese policy-makers are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to present the state-of-the-art E-commerce logistics in supply chain management by investigating worldwide implementations and corresponding models together with supporting techniques via furniture industry.

Typical E-commerce logistics companies from North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific are comprehensively investigated so as to get the lessons and insights from these practices.

Future technologies like Internet of Things, Big Data Analytics, and Cloud Computing would be possibly adopted to enhance the E-commerce logistics in terms of system level, operational level, and decision-making level that may be real time and intelligent in the next decade.

This paper takes the furniture industry for example to illustrate the E-commerce logistics and supply chain management (LSCM). Other industries like electronic appliance industry are not considered.

Opportunities and future perspectives are summarized from practical implementations so that interested parties like E-commerce and logistics companies are able to get some guidance when they are contemplating the business.

E-commerce is booming with the development of new business models and will be continuously boosted in the near future. With large number of enterprises carrying out E-commerce, logistics has been largely influenced.

Insights and lessons from this paper are significant for academia and practitioners for considering E-commerce LSCM.

The purpose of this study is to test a chassis robot on rugged road cargo handling.

Attitude solution of D-H series robot gyroscope speed and acceleration sensor.

In identical experimental environments, hexapodal robots experience smaller deviations when using a four-footed propulsive gait from a typical three-footed gait for forward motion; for the same distance but at different speeds, the deviation basically keeps itself within the same range when the robot advances forward with four-foot propulsive gait; because the foot slide in the three-footed gait sometimes experiences frictions, the robot exhibits a large gap in directional deviations in different courses during motion; for motion using a four-footed propulsive gait, there are minor directional deviations of hexapodal robots resulting from experimental errors, which can be reduced through optimizing mechanical structures.

Planning different gaits can solve problems existing in some typical gaits. This article has put forward a gait planning method for hexapodal robots moving forward with diverse gaits as a redundant multifreedom structure. Subsequent research can combine a multiparallel-legged structure to analyze kinematics, optimize the robot’s mechanical structure and carry out in-depth research of hexapod robot gaits.

Gives a bibliographical review of the error estimates and adaptive finite element methods from the theoretical as well as the application point of view. The bibliography at the end contains 2,177 references to papers, conference proceedings and theses/dissertations dealing with the subjects that were published in 1990‐2000.

The purpose of this paper is to acquire strict upper and lower bounds on quantities of slender beams on Winkler foundation in finite element analysis.

It leans on the dual analysis wherein the constitutive relation error (CRE) is used to perform goal-oriented error estimation. Due to the coupling of the displacement field and the stress field in the equilibrium equations of the beam, the prolongation condition for the stress field which is the key ingredient of CRE estimation is not directly applicable. To circumvent this difficulty, an approximate problem and the solution thereof are introduced, enabling the CRE estimation to proceed. It is shown that the strict bounding property for CRE estimation is preserved and strict bounds of quantities of the beam are obtainable thereafter.

Numerical examples are presented to validate the strict upper and lower bounds for quantities of beams on elastic foundation by dual analysis.

This paper deals with one-dimensional (1D) beams on Winkler foundation. Nevertheless, the present work can be naturally extended to analysis of shells and 2D and 3D reaction-diffusion problems for future research.

CRE estimation is extended to analysis of beams on elastic foundation by a decoupling strategy; strict upper bounds of global energy norm error for beams on elastic foundation are obtained; strict bounds of quantities for beams on elastic foundation are also obtained; unified representation and corresponding dual analysis of various quantities of the beam are presented; rigorous derivation of admissible stresses for beams is given.

The simplest facet‐shell formulation involves the combination of the constant‐strain membrane triangle with a constant‐curvature bending triangle. The paper first describes an alternative co‐rotational procedure to the one initially proposed by Peng and Crisfield in 1992. This new formulation introduces a spin matrix which allows a simpler formulation for the consistent tangent stiffness matrix. The paper then moves to the dynamics of the element. To obtain stable solutions, an energy‐conserving mid‐point time‐integration scheme is developed. This scheme exactly conserves the total energy when external forces are constant and when the physical system does not present any damping. The performance of this scheme is compared with other more conventional implicit schemes through a set of numerical examples involving large‐scale rotations.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the influence of low earth orbit space environment on the wear mechanism of TC4 alloy material and crank rocker mechanism.

In this study, friction experiments were carried out on TC4 alloy friction discs and crank rocker mechanisms, both before and after exposure to atomic oxygen and proton irradiation. Nanoindentation, grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were employed to systematically characterize alterations in mechanical properties, surface phase, and chemical composition.

The results show that the wear mechanism of TC4 alloy friction disc is mainly adhesive wear in vacuum environment, while the wear mechanism of crank rocker mechanism includes not only adhesive wear but also abrasive wear. Atomic oxygen exposure leads to the formation of more oxides on the surface of TC4 alloy, which form abrasive particles during the friction process. Proton irradiation will lead to a decrease in fatigue performance and an increase in hardness on the surface of TC4 alloy, thus causing fatigue wear on the surface of TC4 alloy, and more furrows appear on the crank rocker mechanism after proton irradiation. In the three environments, the characteristics of abrasive wear of the crank rocker mechanism are more obvious than those of the TC4 alloy friction disc.

These results highlight the importance of understanding the subtle effects of atomic oxygen and proton irradiation on the wear behavior of TC4 alloy and provide some insights for optimizing its performance in space applications.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-02-2024-0051/

This study aims to identify and analyze how Internet of things (IoT) technology affects supply chain management (SCM) performance.

A systematic literature review was conducted (using Scopus, JSTOR, Emerald, ProQuest, Science Direct and Web of Science) covering a 20-year timeframe (2000–2020). Out of 2,572 papers identified, 171 peer-reviewed papers from the most important journals were selected. Content analysis was used following the Global Supply Chain Forum (GSCF) SCM framework.

Regarding the GSCF SCM framework processes, most IoT-based studies have addressed improving order fulfilment, manufacturing flow management and demand management processes. However, no studies addressing the Supplier relationship management process were identified, suggesting that IoT-based applications are perceived to add more value in downstream than upstream SCM processes. The importance of using enabling technologies to realize the potential of value generation of IoT was also revealed. Findings suggest new research avenues related to product development and commercialization process, the supplier relationship management process, the returns management process, servitization strategies, new SCM models and new business models.

The review encompasses only academic papers from journals considered the most relevant (retrieved from specific databases), using the impact factor as the quality criterion.

The findings can help business managers better understand the potential of IoT technology, such as the main applications identified in the literature and their impacts on SCM processes. Their importance in enabling technologies to leverage SCM performance is identified and the emerging SCM models/business models that IoT deployment can enable are highlighted.

This study contributes to filling a gap in the literature using a systematic literature review of how IoT technology affects SCM performance through content analysis, using an SCM framework to clarify which SCM processes are affected. Academic articles from the most important journals from 2000 to 2020 are identified.

The analysis of error estimation is addressed in the framework of viscoplasticity problems, this is to say, of incompressible and non‐linear materials. Firstly, Zienkiewicz—Zhu (Z²) type error estimators are studied. They are based on the comparison between the finite element solution and a continuous solution which is computed by smoothing technique. From numerical examples, it is shown that the choice of a finite difference smoothing method (Orkisz’ method) improves the precision and the efficiency of this type of estimator. Then a Δ estimator is introduced. It makes it possible to take into account the fact that the smoothed solution does not verify the balance equations. On the other hand, it leads us to introduce estimators for the velocity error according to the L² and L^∞norms, since in metal forming this error is as important as the energy error. These estimators are applied to an industrial problem of extrusion, demonstrating all the potential of the adaptive remeshing method for forming processes.

The Physical Internet (PI) provides solutions to improve the current unsustainable economically logistics systems. This paper aims to identify the key themes and point out the gaps to demonstrate the current state of the PI deployment in the industry. Furthermore, this paper attempts to provide possible opportunities for future research to lead research directions of PI deployment in the industry.

This paper follows the methodology of systematic literature review (SLR) including five processes of (1) identifying the search process; (2) selecting publications following the criteria that include and/or exclude a publication; (3) evaluating and analyzing the chosen literature; (4) reporting findings and (5) synthesizing future research opportunities. A total of 88 papers ranging from 2011 to 2021 were selected and coded for analysis.

This paper has identified 7 themes, including the PI concepts, assessments of the PI, components of the PI, innovative facilities applied in the PI, collaboration in the PI, the PI implementation and literature review. Meanwhile, five key methodologies including experimental, exploratory, review, design science research as well as mixed-methods have been classified. A framework has been proposed to summarize the results incorporating the real-life industries involved in the existing research. The authors also present the research gaps and future research opportunities for the PI deployment in industries.

This study is one of the first research focusing on the PI real-life implementation and thus contributes to the PI literature differing from other literature review papers. The proposed framework is useful to learn about the current core research themes in the PI. The discussion of future research opportunities may inspire interesting research delving into the field.