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In our August issue we published summaries of two papers given at the Symposium on Fretting Corrosion organised by the American Society for Testing Materials. Three more papers are summarised below. They are concerned with testing equipment for evaluating fretting corrosion, the influence of fretting corrosion on the fatigue strength of fitted members, and the fretting corrosion tendencies of combinations of materials.

This paper proposes that those who study diversity conflict recognize the distinction between first‐order diversity conflict and second‐order diversity conflict. The former refers to discrimination, while the latter refers to disputes over remedies designed to eliminate discrimination. First‐order disputes affect subordinant group members most strongly in the organization, are morally unambiguous for most, and are organized around set organizational and societal procedures. Second‐order disputes involve dominant as well as subordinant group members (so that more people are affected), are more morally ambiguous, and lack set procedures for dealing with them. As a result, second‐order disputes tend to remain hidden, despite being wide‐spread, resulting in autistic hostility. The presence of second‐order conflict may undermine efforts to resolve first‐order disputes, and lead to escalation of conflict between people from different identity groups. Recognizing this distinction is critical for understanding the dynamics of diversity conflicts.

The purpose of this study is to explore the indigenous business incubators with special emphasis on the Kente weaving industry. The study highlights the formation, incubation, challenges, opportunities and strategies for success based on the Kente indigenous business model. The Kente subsector is in the clothing industry and accommodates small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana. The study adopts a qualitative and descriptive case study design with five SME Kente shop owners as respondents. Findings reveal that some owners inherited their business, whilst others established them themselves. Owners incubate their business via shared services, ad hoc business advice, financial management, family support, employee relationship management and prayers. The challenges often encountered were inadequate financial backing, lack of government support and business competition. The opportunities harnessed were technology, growing market demand and innovation.

Finally, in respect of the knowledge of Kente weaving, it was found that the weavers learnt from their elders that weaving is the skill of a spider, a prestige to Asantes. The chapter concludes that Kente business has the potential to contribute to the socio-economic development of Ghana and Ghanaians. It is recommended that SME owners invest in individual, team and organisational learning and build capacity for technology implementation. The study also provides recommendations for business actors in the textile industry to engage in collaboration with owners of SME Kente businesses to address the challenges.

This study aims to investigate the impact of transformational leadership on the innovation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through employee voice behaviors. Drawing from the upper echelon theory, it is hypothesized that employee voice is the mediating mechanism through which transformational leadership affects the process and product innovation in SMEs.

Data was collected from 169 SMEs of Pakistan through an online self-administered questionnaire. The proposed hypotheses were tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

Findings confirm that transformational leadership positively affects both process and product innovation in SMEs and employee voice behavior mediates between these relationships.

This research contributes to both theoretical and practical domains by providing evidence that encouraging employees to raise their voice positively impacts product and process innovation and transformational leadership is a potential organizational factor to shape employee voice and process and product innovation. To the best knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the mediating role of employee voice between transformational leadership and process and product innovation in SMEs and developing country’s context.

The first part of this paper appeared in our November/December issue and dealt with fretting wear behaviour of mild steel from room temperature to 600°C in air. The general mechanism for fretting is discussed at all temperatures where normal oxidative processes become involved. The nature of fretting wear is also covered and the effects of temperature are described. In this part of the paper, the discussion is continued to include triboxidation, delamination theory, atmospheric environment, transition temperatures, activitation energy and other factors affecting the influence of temperature on fretting.

Limited access to capital is a classic issue in and a burden to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Indonesia. The existence of the problem with information asymmetry and agency conflicts that are predominant at the level of small businesses, increasingly hampers the opportunity to obtain funds from various external sources. Especially for businesses that are at the pioneering stage, entrepreneurs are required to think creatively, have the courage to take risks, and be independent in fulfilling resources to realize business opportunities. The availability of funds certainly has an impact on business performance, either directly or indirectly. Based on a literature review, business performance is categorized into financial and non-financial dimensions with various measurement proxies. However, some of the models and measurements proposed are not always suitable in assessing the performance of MSMEs, especially in the startup phase. Therefore, this chapter concurrently describes the funding patterns and the funding alternatives to measure the performance of new businesses based on the existing literature. Theoretically, this research adds a perspective in the field of entrepreneurial finance regarding funding patterns that can be implemented by startup businesses in Indonesia and provides a proposal for measuring the concept of performance that is more adaptive and comprehensive for businesses in the startup stage. The implication of this research for entrepreneurs leads to the need to adjust funding decisions according to the changing stages of the business lifecycle and to expand the funding window to support the sustainability of small businesses.

This paper explores the often overlooked and novel academic concept of honest incompetence as a potential “dark” side of social entrepreneurship, where well-intentioned but inadequately skilled agents hinder the effectiveness and sustainability of positive social change initiatives.

We have adopted a multiparadigm approach to theory building, known as metatriangulation. We draw upon agency theory and behavioral decision theory to undergird a framework consisting of antecedents, processes, outcomes and moderators of honest incompetence in social entrepreneurship.

We introduce a detailed framework for understanding honest incompetence in social entrepreneurship. This framework identifies antecedents such as knowledge gaps, examines mechanisms like misguided interventions and explores consequences, including group vilification. Additionally, it investigates moderating factors, emphasizing the disadvantages of outcome-based compensation and the difficulties in evaluating outcomes.

This article investigates factors that engender honest incompetence in social entrepreneurship, revealing how even well-intentioned efforts can inadvertently hinder goals. Despite their sincere motives, social entrepreneurs might make choices that conflict with their objectives. Addressing this issue necessitates a customized approach, which includes engaging actively with the community and fostering robust social connections.

This paper aims to describe Caribbean traditional medicine and to consider whether and how it could be integrated into health systems in Canada.

This paper employs a literature review and synthesis.

Caribbean traditional healing takes a variety of forms reflecting the diversity of histories of the people of the Caribbean. A number of arguments including quality, equity, cost, and social climate will be important factors in facilitating or hindering the expansion of these complementary therapies. However, linking an expansion of therapies to other policy imperatives such as developing stronger communities and expansion of trade may make success more likely.

This is a narrative and document review. It is an argument which aims to produce discussion rather than empirical research.

Taking a discursive narrative approach to difficult policy issues may help in considering strategies for promoting change.

This is the first study which has attempted to consider traditional Caribbean medicine in the Canadian context. It is also the first to consider the strategies for convincing health systems to adopt this form of complementary medicine.

The presence of green spaces plays a vital role in promoting urban sustainability. Urban green parks (UGPs) help create sustainable cities while providing fundamental ecological functions. However, rapid urbanization has destroyed crucial green areas in Ranchi City, endangering inhabitants’ health. This study aims to locate current UGPs and predict future UGP sites in Ranchi City, Jharkhand.

It uses geographic information system (GIS) and analytical hierarchical process (AHP) to evaluate potential UGP sites. It involves the active participation of urban communities to ensure that the UGPs are designed to meet dweller’s needs. The site suitability assessment is based on several parameters, including the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), land use and land cover (LULC), population distribution, PM 2.5 levels and the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. The integration of these factors enables an evaluation of potential UGP’s sites.

The findings of this research reveal that 54.39% of the evaluated areas are unsuitable, 15.55% are less suitable, 12.76% are moderately suitable, 11.52% are highly suitable and 5.78% are very highly suitable for UGPs site selection. These results emphasize that the middle and outer regions of Ranchi City are the most favorable locations for establishing UGPs. The NDVI is the most important element in UGP site appropriateness, followed by LULC, population distribution, PM 2.5 levels and the UHI effect.

This study improves the process of integrating AHP and GIS, and UGPs site selection maps help urban planners and decision-makers make better choices for Ranchi City’s sustainability and greenness.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are a major source of employment and revenue growth in developing nations like India, but they also face challenges from resource shortages, shifting consumer demand and heightened competition. This research aims to discover the aspects that enhance SMEs' competitiveness and performance.

By analyzing literature and consulting experts, 10 factors that boost a firm's competitiveness were identified. The total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) method was then used to determine their interaction and structural hierarchy. Neutrosophic-MICMAC analysis was employed to assess the driving-dependence power of each factor.

The study discovered that the factor, namely “entrepreneurial orientation,” was found to be a significant one. “Manufacturing strategy” was found to be extremely dependent on the remaining competitive advantage factors.

This SME-focused framework can be adopted by large businesses to enhance organizational performance by focusing on critical factors. The study depends on experts' judgment, which might be biased. Findings will assist SMEs in identifying significant factors influencing competitive advantage and relationships, increasing awareness of factors contributing to competitive edge.

The results of the research may encourage SME sector managers and practitioners to prioritize the factors that contribute to a firm's competitive advantage.

The majority of research on SME competitive advantage focuses on individual aspects. To add to the body of knowledge on the subject, this study applies the TISM technique to Indian SMEs to identify the contextual interactions among factors that increase long-term competitiveness.