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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the fatigue behavior of precipitation-strengthened Cu‒2.55Ni‒0.55Si alloy, modified by the addition of 0.25 Cr and 0.25 Zr (wt%), using mechanical and fractographical studies to reveal the effect of microstructural features on the fracture.

For strengthening, cast and hot forged alloy was subjected to solution annealing at 900°C for 60 min, followed by quenching in water and then aging at 490°C for 180 min. Precipitation-hardened alloy was exposed to fatigue tests at R=−1 and different stress levels. All fracture surfaces were examined within the frame of fractographical analysis.

Fine Ni-rich silicides responsible for the precipitation strengthening were observed within the matrix and their interactions with the dislocations at lower stress level resulted in localized shearing and fine striations. Although, by the addition of Cr and Zr, the matrix consisted of hard Ni, Zr-rich and Cr-rich silicides, these precipitates adversely affected the fatigue behavior acting as nucleation sites for cracks.

These findings contribute to the present knowledge by revealing the effect of microstructural features on the mechanical behavior of precipitation-hardened Cu‒Ni‒Si alloy modified by Cr and Zr addition.

This study aims to examine contemporary research on organizational resilience and then propose an integrated dynamic model to study organizational resilience with a more inclusive concept and future research agenda developed.

This conceptual paper uses the literature review method to analyze and categorize current research on organizational resilience, and then based on the analysis of existing organizational resilience studies, this paper proposes an integrated model for a more inclusive and integrated concept of organizational resilience with refined future research directions.

A thorough analysis of current organizational resilience research shows that existing studies on organizational resilience have largely focused on isolated dimensions by treating organizational resilience as a state rather than a dynamic capability. This paper proposes that an integrated concept of organizational resilience consists of three dimensions including cognitive, behavioral and contextual resilience, and this dynamic capability should be examined from three different levels, including individual, group and organizational levels to better conceptualize organizational resilience and for better applicability in management practice.

The past decades have seen increasing interests in organizational resilience both from academic scholars and from management practitioners. However, research on this emerging field remains fragmented, and there is little consensus on the conceptualization of organizational resilience. This study contributes to the literature by thoroughly examining current research on organizational resilience and proposes an integrated dynamic model to study organizational resilience.

This paper investigates how relative environmental regulation influences the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI), and thereby assesses the pollution haven hypothesis (PHH). In this field, conflicting results exist, partly due to the mere consideration of absolute environmental regulation or the inadequate consideration of endogeneity. Concerning these, we study China’s inward FDI from 26 developed countries and 12 developing countries over 1996–2009, and collect four different environmental regulation indicators at relative values of CO₂, SO₂, PM10, and an environmental regulation index. Using an instrumental variable approach, we find strong PHH evidence no matter for the subsample of FDI from developed countries or the one from developing countries. Moreover, we show how such results can be masked if failing to consider the endogeneity.

Despite most studies on political ties focusing on the interpersonal relationships between firms and government officials, this study suggests that local party committees (LPCs) create special forms of political ties in China – i.e. organizational political ties. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influences that these organizational political ties have on Chinese firms’ innovative activities.

Drawing upon data based on a nationwide survey of Chinese firms in 2013, this study uses a structural equations model to examine the relationship between LPCs and firms’ innovations.

This study found that LPCs do affect firms’ innovations positively, including both radical innovations and incremental innovations.

By suggesting that LPCs are a form of political tie particular to China – i.e. an organizational political tie – this study’s findings may shed fresh light on the research into political ties in other emerging economies.

Compared to traditional political ties, maintaining the organizational political ties fostered by LPCs benefits firms’ innovations significantly in China, making them less costly and more stable.

This study aims to investigate the effects of leaders’ stewardship behavior (LSB) on followers’ radical innovation (RI). Followers’ knowledge management dynamic capability (KMDC) has been a mediating role, while environmental uncertainty (EU) acted as a moderating factor in the context of the textile and apparel industry in the developing country.

A cross-sectional quantitative study has been designed to evaluate the conceptual framework. Data were collected from the relevant stakeholders with a structured survey questionnaire – a total of 304 responses considered from industry–university collaborative leaders and followers. A partial least square-based structural equation modeling technique was applied to test the hypothesis using Smart-PLS 3.8 package program.

The result reveals that the KMDC has a significant mediating impact between LSB and RI. Similarly, the EU significantly moderates the relationship between KMDC and RI, especially as the intensity of environmental instability increases–decreases, LSB and adherents of KMDC is likely to enhance RI performances.

This study contributes to the current literature extending the scope of steward leadership behavior and the theory of knowledge-based view incorporating EU factors.

While industries have invested a lot of money and resources to improve the followers’ radical creative thinking, skills and abilities, this study provides specific implications for the textile industry managers, leaders, policymakers and practitioners to comprehend and implement the strategy of RI.

Overall, the current research contributes to the LSB literature by highlighting significant complementarities between KMDC and RI under the EU.

Gallic acid is a substance that is widely found in nature. Initially, it was only used as a corrosion inhibitor to retard the rate of corrosion of metals. In recent years, with intensive research by scholars, the modification of coatings containing gallic acid has become a hot topic in the field of metal protection. This study aims to summarize the various preparation methods of gallic acid and its research progress in corrosion inhibitors and coatings, as well as related studies using quantum chemical methods to assess the predicted corrosion inhibition effects and to systematically describe the prospects and current status of gallic acid applications in the field of metal corrosion inhibition and protection.

First, the various methods of preparation of gallic acid in industry are understood. Second, the corrosion inhibition principles and research progress of gallic acid as a metal corrosion inhibitor are presented. Then, the corrosion inhibition principles and research progress of gallic acid involved in the synthesis and modification of various rust conversion coatings, nano-coatings and organic resin coatings are described. After that, studies related to the evaluation and prediction of gallic acid corrosion inhibition on metals by quantum chemical methods are presented. Finally, new research ideas on gallic acid in the field of corrosion inhibition and protection of metals are summarized.

Gallic acid can be used as a corrosion inhibitor or coating in metal protection.

There is a lack of research on the synergistic improvement of gallic acid and other substances.

The specific application of gallic acid in the field of metal protection was summarized, and the future research focus was put forward.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper systematically expounds on the research progress of gallic acid in the field of metal protection for the first time and provides new ideas and directions for future research.

The traditional total variation (TV) models in wavelet domain use thresholding directly in coefficients selection and show that Gibbs' phenomenon exists. However, the nonzero coefficient index set selected by hard thresholding techniques may not be the best choice to obtain the least oscillatory reconstructions near edges. This paper aims to propose an image denoising method based on TV and grey theory in the wavelet domain to solve the defect of traditional methods.

In this paper, the authors divide wavelet into two parts: low frequency area and high frequency area; in different areas different methods are used. They apply grey theory in wavelet coefficient selection. The new algorithm gives a new method of wavelet coefficient selection, solves the nonzero coefficients sort, and achieves a good image denoising result while reducing the phenomenon of “Gibbs.”

The results show that the method proposed in this paper can distinguish between the information of image and noise accurately and also reduce the Gibbs artifacts. From the comparisons, the model proposed preserves the important information of the image very well and shows very good performance.

The proposed image denoising model introducing grey relation analysis in the wavelet coefficients selecting and modifying is original. The proposed model provides a viable tool to engineers for processing the image.

The purpose of this paper is to determine: how much the residual curvature could be formed in sintered nano‐silver assembly when it is cooled to room temperature from the sintering temperature (normally 275°C); how the cyclic temperature load affects the residual curvature or stresses in sintered joint. Then the stress level and the reliability of sintered nano‐silver for high‐temperature applications can be understood.

5 mm * 2.5 mm silicon chip was bonded with 96 per cent Al₂O₃ substrate by sintering nanosilver paste. An optical system was developed to measure the curvature of the sintered assemblies. Reliability of the sintered assemblies was evaluated by temperature cycling of −40∼125°C. Finite element analysis was employed to simulate the behavior of the joint subjected to the temperature cycling from −40°C to 125°C by ANSYS. SEM images were taken to investigate the impact of temperature cycling on the reliability of sintered silver attachment.

This residual bending at room temperature was found concave towards the substrate (alumina) side. Also, with the bondline thickness increasing, the residual curvature decreases obviously. The severity of the residual bending in all the structures was mitigated to some extent with increasing number of cycles. There is no crack in the joint with the thickness of 25 μm. The drop of the residual curvature of the samples with bondline of 25 μm is caused mainly by stress relaxation in sintered silver before 300 cycles. Sample with thicker bondline is more susceptible to thermal cycling for the structure bonded with nanosilver than that with thinner bondline. The poor quality of bonding is due to the thicker sintered joint, which means that sintered nanosilver is not suitable for die‐attachment requiring thick bondline.

The paper describes: how a precise optical system was developed to measure the residual curvature of the sintered assemblies; how the evolution of the residual curvature of the sintered assembly with the temperature cycling was obtained by both experiment and simulation; and how microstructures of the sintered silver joint were analyzed for as‐sintered assembly and the sintered assembly after temperature cycling.

Flock leadership theory explores how different collective learning capacities emerge when interacting individuals work through challenges. While research has link other leadership styles with knowledge management systems (KMS), studies examining flock leadership and KMS are largely lacking. This paper aims to investigate the nexus between flock leadership, knowledge content quality, perceived usefulness of KMS, KMS use for sharing and KMS use for retrieval.

Using survey data (n = 442) from health-care establishments in Jordan, the authors apply structural equation modeling (SEM).

The results show the following: flock leadership influences knowledge content quality; knowledge content quality influences perceived usefulness of KMS; perceived usefulness of KMS influences KMS use for sharing and retrieval; and knowledge content quality and perceived usefulness of KMS mediates the link between flock leadership and KMS use for sharing and retrieval.

Existing research considered KMS through a narrow lens, without consideration of the social context (collective capacities) that surrounds knowledge workers. This study responds to call for research concerning the motion that says technical and adaptive capacity are the underlying norm that configures flock behaviors. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

This paper aims to make a call for the establishment of a new research journal: a likely title for which would be Chinese Public Management. The background to this is clearly set out here for posterity’s sake. The review of selected papers unveils an emerging trend amongst Chinese researchers for undertaking deeper, cluster-based analyses. See, for example, the insights presented in this issue concerning competitiveness in China’s automobile industry.

A diary-like account has been made of the series of recent events that sparked the author’s interest in creating a journal to be known as Chinese Public Management. Why is there currently this focus on empirical research for public policy? From the author’s five years’ work for a serial visiting professorship across China, he has found that there are now well-established, substantial databases dedicated to the subject. Even more importantly – as this paper illustrates – a growing community of scholars has become keen to embark upon an in-depth, quantitative research. Perhaps, for the new journal, we would need an editor concentrating specifically on databases. Furthermore, undertaking scholarly work that is still of practical relevance for guiding authorities in their formulations of public policy will add a whole new dimension to the available research.

There is scope for a new endeavor that documents management research within the public sector in China. This may be seen as a sister journal for “Chinese Management Studies” that focuses on the other, much larger Chinese sector, that is, governmental organizations.

This paper documents the emergence of the necessity for a new journal about management in China.