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Anodizing is used widely in the surface treatment of aluminium alloys for aerospace applications. Considers recent advances in understanding of the influences of alloying elements in anodizing of aluminium alloys and, in particular, their applicability to second phase particles during anodizing of commercial alloys. Through more precise knowledge of the response of second phase materials to anodic polarization, improved anodizing and related surface treatment processes may be developed in order to enhance the performance of aluminium alloys.

This paper reviews the role of alloying elements in aluminium and alloy fabrication on performance during surface treatment and surface finishing. Such elements may be present in solid solution as fine segregates, strengthening phase and equilibrium phases. For surface treatment and finishes, which generally proceed in the presence of alumina film, knowledge of the processes proceeding at the alloy/film and film/electrolyte interfaces, and those within anodic alumina films, gives rise to the possibility of controlling features of nanoscale dimensions, for improved performance, arises. Its influence on nanotextures at treated surfaces and compositionally and morphologically modified films is explained briefly.

While consumers did not previously have information on detailed housing features via traditional media, such as magazines, nowadays, due to the progress in information technology, they can access detailed information on various housing features via housing information websites. Therefore, detailed housing features may affect current rents to some extent. This paper aims to identify the effects of detailed housing features on rent and on omitted variable bias in Tokyo, Japan.

This paper applies the hedonic approach. To identify the effects of features which are not observed previously, we use a unique data set that contains various housing features and over 200,000 housing units. This data set enables to simulate the situations when the researcher cannot get some variables, and this simulation shows which variables cause omitted variable bias.

The analysis shows that housing features significantly influence housing rent. If significant housing feature variables are not included in the hedonic model, the estimated coefficients show omitted variable bias. Additionally, unit-specific features such auto-locking door can cause omitted variable bias on location-specific features such accessibility to downtown.

This paper shows empirical evidence that detailed housing features can cause omitted variable bias on other features including variables which are often used in previous searches. The result from our unique data set can be a guide for variable selection to reduce omitted variable bias.

Despite children’s academic excellence in East Asian countries, school education in this region faces a range of challenges to build inclusive and quality education for all. This chapter aims at examining how these challenges occur and what actions have been taken to deal with them. By focusing on China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea, the chapter first reviews reforms of school education since the 1990s in these countries. The subsequent sections then present educational disparity and a new mode of teaching and learning in these countries. It concludes by addressing that East Asian countries must explore more common ground for building a more collective sense and identity to share responsibility for building a resilient, inclusive and sustainable world through global citizenship education and education for sustainable development.

In recent decades, childhood in Japan has undergone significant transformations. Government policies geared at boosting women's labor force participation, a declining fertility rate, rising costs of having children on the one hand, and increased spending on public childcare and support measures for families, on the other hand, contribute to these ongoing changes. Having only one child is becoming the norm while mothers' role in society is shifting. The traditional family structure is moving from the previously predominant male breadwinner model to more dual-earner families. Children now spend significant amounts of time in care and education institutions.

In this chapter, we analyze current configurations of early childhood in institutions and the family from a policy perspective and regarding children's predominant education and care arrangements. Drawing on various survey data sets and evidence from demographic statistics to pedagogical ethnographies, we look at how childcare policies and families reshape the organization of children's lives and outline how institutions and educators create learning experiences aligned with the values of a collectivist society. However, despite being deeply rooted in traditional child-rearing goals, many parents also subscribe to rigorous educational arrangements from early childhood onwards to prepare children for success in a competitive education system. The chapter finishes with an outlook on future directions of how policymakers and the ongoing institutionalization of childhood continue to change children's lives.

This chapter contributes to the ongoing debate about how digitalisation affects the internationalisation of small- and medium-sized firms (SMEs). By applying the Uppsala Internationalisation Process model, this chapter examines the impact of e-commerce on the internationalisation of SMEs. The study uses a unique dataset, which includes 14,513 SMEs across several sectors in 34 countries. The results show that firms using the Internet as a means to provide information about the firm exhibit a higher degree of internationalisation, while using the Internet to facilitate transactions was found to have a positive impact on the ratio of foreign sales to the total sales; however, these foreign sales are likely to be concentrated in less regions/markets. Furthermore, perceived export barriers were found to be a significant moderator of the effects of e-commerce usage on international intensity and international diversification. This suggests that e-commerce does not automatically facilitate the internationalisation of SMEs.

Purpose – The study examined: (1) the implementation of the 2009 Teacher License Renewal Policy (TLRP) by a large national university; (2) teachers’ responses to the TLRP, which requires teachers to take university courses to renew their licenses, and (3) completion rates for license renewal in 2011 and 2012.Methodology – This mixed-method study is based on: (1) a case study of TLRP implementation that involved observations of TLRP courses and interviews of instructors, TLRP steering committee members, and participating teachers at a large national university; and (2) a survey of 365 teachers who took the TLRP courses at this university.Findings – The data showed that the university's successful implementation of the TLRP was largely influenced by the existence of “boundary practice” – a shared system that connects multiple organizations and groups implementing the policy. Lesson Study, as a shared system of teaching and learning improvement in Japan, guided the development of high-quality TLRP courses and teachers’ respect for university courses based on research knowledge. As a result, while teachers were dissatisfied with the policy requirement of renewing teacher licenses, they were satisfied with their learning experiences through the TLRP courses, which also influenced their opinions about the policy itself.Value – This is the first empirical study that examined the implementation and impact of the TLRP in Japan. It highlights the importance of a shared system for teaching and learning improvement for supporting a teacher reform implementation.

The leading frameworks of internationalization have contributed significantly to our knowledge of how firms internationalize, but do not fully explain how firms actually create and capture value from customers when internationalizing their activities. Understanding the value creation and capture activities defining their business model(s) is critical for firms moving into less familiar markets, and is particularly relevant for service firms where variability is an inherent feature of the firm/client experience. To address this gap, we take a business model perspective to analyze 144 internationalization events of 10 professional service firms. We find that the case firms adopted four different business models when internationalizing, and that single firms may utilize portfolios of business models. Our findings contribute to both the services internationalization and business model literatures by showing how variability in the internationalization process substantiates the need for business model portfolios.

Recent reforms to higher education systems in many OECD countries have focused on making universities more effective organisations in competing for resources and reputations. This has often involved increasing their internal cohesion and external autonomy from the state to make them more similar to private companies. However, pre-reform universities differed so greatly in their governance and capabilities that the impact of institutional changes has varied considerably between three ideal types: Hollow, State-chartered, and Autarkic. Furthermore, the combination of: (a) the inherent uncertainty of scientific research undertaken for publication, (b) limited managerial control over work processes and reputations, and (c) the contradictory effects of some funding and governance changes has greatly restricted the ability of universities to function as authoritatively integrated organisations capable of developing distinctive competitive competences.