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The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of knowledge management (KM) on manufacturing performance and the relationships among three KM measures, namely, knowledge resources, KM processes and KM factors. It also determined a collective set of KM metrics based on these three measures.

Data were collected using questionnaires posted to 700 manufacturing companies in Malaysia from which 206 usable responses were obtained. The analysis and hypotheses testing were implemented using structural equation modeling.

The results showed that the constructs of knowledge resources, KM processes and KM factors have significant and direct effects on manufacturing performance. In terms of covariance, the results also indicated that these three constructs were correlated with each other.

The sample over-represented large firms and the study was a cross-sectional approach that collected data at a single point in time.

The results obtained would help managers to better understand the linkage between KM and manufacturing performance. They could use the results to manipulate their KM practices to improve their manufacturing performance. The proposed set of KM metrics could also act as a common language and provide directions for future research.

This paper is one of the first empirical studies that has examined the relationship between KM and manufacturing performance. Furthermore, it has investigated the relationships among knowledge resources, KM processes and KM factors.

Presents over sixty abstracts summarising the 1999 Employment Research Unit annual conference held at the University of Cardiff. Explores the multiple impacts of globalization on work and employment in contemporary organizations. Covers the human resource management implications of organizational responses to globalization. Examines the theoretical, methodological, empirical and comparative issues pertaining to competitiveness and the management of human resources, the impact of organisational strategies and international production on the workplace, the organization of labour markets, human resource development, cultural change in organisations, trade union responses, and trans‐national corporations. Cites many case studies showing how globalization has brought a lot of opportunities together with much change both to the employee and the employer. Considers the threats to existing cultures, structures and systems.

Gives an in depth view of the strategies pursued by the world’s leading chief executive officers in an attempt to provide guidance to new chief executives of today. Considers the marketing strategies employed, together with the organizational structures used and looks at the universal concepts that can be applied to any product. Uses anecdotal evidence to formulate a number of theories which can be used to compare your company with the best in the world. Presents initial survival strategies and then looks at ways companies can broaden their boundaries through manipulation and choice. Covers a huge variety of case studies and examples together with a substantial question and answer section.

This paper provides a quantitative review of the literature on the repercussions of idiosyncratic information on firms’ cost of equity (CoE) capital. In total, I review the results of 113 unique studies examining the CoE effects of information Quantity, Precision and Asymmetry. My results suggest that the association between firm-specific information and CoE is subject to moderate effects. First, the link between Quantity and CoE is moderated by disclosure types and country-level factors in that firms in comparatively weakly regulated countries tend to enjoy up to four times greater CoE benefits from more expansive disclosure—depending on the type of disclosure—than firms in strongly regulated markets. Second, a negative relationship between Precision and CoE is only significant in studies using non-accrual quality proxies for Precision and risk factor-based (RFB)/valuation model-based (VMB) proxies for CoE. Third, almost all VMB studies confirm the positive association between Asymmetry and CoE, but there is notable variation in the conclusions reached when ex post CoE measurers are used.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the axial piston pin motion on the tribological performances of the piston skirt and cylinder liner vibration for an internal combustion engine (ICE) under different operation conditions.

The dynamic equation for the piston incorporating into axial piston pin motion is derived first. Then, the proposed equation and associated lubrication equations are solved using the Broyden algorithm and difference method, respectively. Moreover, the axial motion of the piston pin and its slap on the cylinder liner are studied under different operation conditions.

The axial piston pin motion leads to an overall increase in the friction power consumption. Increments in the ICE speed and lubricant viscosity can augment the axial pin motion and cylinder liner vibration, especially in the power stroke. The said increments cause the instability of the piston motion in the cylinder. The axial motion of piston pin can be restrained through the eccentricity of the piston pin close to the thrust side of the cylinder liner.

This study conducts detailed discussions of the effect of axial piston pin motion on tribological and dynamic performances for piston skirt-cylinder liner system of an internal combustion engine and gives a helpful reference to analyses and designs of internal combustion engines.

This study aims to systematically investigate the tribological behaviors of metal and polyethylene using lubricants composed of four synovial fluid (SF) components. In addition, the changes in protein conformation during wear were analyzed to establish the correlation between protein conformation and tribological properties.

A pin-on-disk tester with multidirectional sliding motion was used for tribological properties observation between metal and polyethylene pairs. Simulated SFs with four main constituents were used as the testing lubricants. Differential scanning calorimetry and Raman were used to characterize the changes in protein conformation during wear.

The coupling of lipids and hyaluronic acid further suppressed protein denaturation. The protein structures of the adsorption film and the ensnared protein chains in the friction zone were maintained to a certain extent, thus improving the friction and wear of polyethylene.

These findings established the correlation between protein conformation and friction and wear, promoting the understanding of the lubrication mechanism of artificial joints.

As lubricating oils are used, their performance deteriorates and they become contaminated. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the lubrication performance of reclaimed 5 W-30 a fully synthetic used engine oil (UEO) with wear tests after refining it from a solvent-based extraction method using solvent (1-PrOH) and adsorbent materials such as cement, celite and deep eutectic solvent (DES).

The treated oil mixtures were prepared by blending engine oils with various adsorbent materials at 5% (w/w) in organic 1-PrOH solvent at a UEO: solvent ratio of 1:2 (w/w). The measurement of kinematic viscosity, density, the total acid number (TAN) and elemental analysis of oil samples was done by the ASTM standards D445/D446, D4052, D974 and D6595, respectively. Adsorbents and treated oil samples characterized by SEM-EDX, FTIR and UV analysis, respectively. Meanwhile, lubricating performance in tribological applications was evaluated through the wear test device using a rotating steel alloy 1.2379 cylinder and a stationary 1.2738 pin under 20, 40 and 80 kg load conditions. Worn surface analysis was done with SEM and 2.5D images.

It was found that when using the combination of cement and celite as an adsorbent in the reclamation of used engine oil demonstrated better lubricant properties. The properties of used engine oil were improved in the manner of kinematic viscosity of 32.55 from 68.49 mm²/s, VI (Viscosity index) value of 154 from 130, TAN of 3.18 from 4.35 (mgKOH/g) and Fe content of 11 from 32 mg/L. The anti-wear properties of used engine oil improved by at least 32% when 5% cement and 5% celite adsorbent materials were used together.

The paper is based on findings from a fully synthetic 5 W-30 A5 multi-grade engine lubrication oil collected after driving approximately 12.000 km.

The results are significant, as they suggest practical regeneration of used engine oil is achievable. Additionally, blending fresh oil with reclaimed used engine oil in a 1:1 ratio reduced wear loss by over 10% compared to fresh oil.

Reusing used engine oils can reduce their environmental impact and bring economic benefits.

This study showed that the properties of UEO can be enhanced using the solvent extraction-adsorption method. Furthermore, the study provided valuable insights into the metal concentrations in engine oil samples and their impact on lubrication performance. The order of the number of the grooves quantity and the possibility of the observed scuffing region trend relative to the samples was UEO > 5W-30 fresh oil > Treated oil sample with the adsorbent cement and celite together.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-06-2024-0209/

Smart card-based E-payment systems are receiving increasing attention as the number of implementations is witnessed on the rise globally. Understanding of user adoption behavior of E-payment systems that employ smart card technology becomes a research area that is of particular value and interest to both IS researchers and professionals. However, research interest focuses mostly on why a smart card-based E-payment system results in a failure or how the system could have grown into a success. This signals the fact that researchers have not had much opportunity to critically review a smart card-based E-payment system that has gained wide support and overcome the hurdle of critical mass adoption. The Octopus in Hong Kong has provided a rare opportunity for investigating smart card-based E-payment system because of its unprecedented success. This research seeks to thoroughly analyze the Octopus from technology adoption behavior perspectives.

Cultural impacts on adoption behavior are one of the key areas that this research posits to investigate. Since the present research is conducted in Hong Kong where a majority of population is Chinese ethnicity and yet is westernized in a number of aspects, assuming that users in Hong Kong are characterized by eastern or western culture is less useful. Explicit cultural characteristics at individual level are tapped into here instead of applying generalization of cultural beliefs to users to more accurately reflect cultural bias. In this vein, the technology acceptance model (TAM) is adapted, extended, and tested for its applicability cross-culturally in Hong Kong on the Octopus. Four cultural dimensions developed by Hofstede are included in this study, namely uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, individualism, and Confucian Dynamism (long-term orientation), to explore their influence on usage behavior through the mediation of perceived usefulness.

TAM is also integrated with the innovation diffusion theory (IDT) to borrow two constructs in relation to innovative characteristics, namely relative advantage and compatibility, in order to enhance the explanatory power of the proposed research model. Besides, the normative accountability of the research model is strengthened by embracing two social influences, namely subjective norm and image. As the last antecedent to perceived usefulness, prior experience serves to bring in the time variation factor to allow level of prior experience to exert both direct and moderating effects on perceived usefulness.

The resulting research model is analyzed by partial least squares (PLS)-based Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach. The research findings reveal that all cultural dimensions demonstrate direct effect on perceived usefulness though the influence of uncertainty avoidance is found marginally significant. Other constructs on innovative characteristics and social influences are validated to be significant as hypothesized. Prior experience does indeed significantly moderate the two influences that perceived usefulness receives from relative advantage and compatibility, respectively. The research model has demonstrated convincing explanatory power and so may be employed for further studies in other contexts. In particular, cultural effects play a key role in contributing to the uniqueness of the model, enabling it to be an effective tool to help critically understand increasingly internationalized IS system development and implementation efforts. This research also suggests several practical implications in view of the findings that could better inform managerial decisions for designing, implementing, or promoting smart card-based E-payment system.

Globalisation is generally defined as the “denationalisation of clusters of political, economic, and social activities” that destabilize the ability of the sovereign State to control activities on its territory, due to the rising need to find solutions for universal problems, like the pollution of the environment, on an international level. Globalisation is a complex, forceful legal and social process that take place within an integrated whole with out regard to geographical boundaries. Globalisation thus differs from international activities, which arise between and among States, and it differs from multinational activities that occur in more than one nation‐State. This does not mean that countries are not involved in the sociolegal dynamics that those transboundary process trigger. In a sense, the movements triggered by global processes promote greater economic interdependence among countries. Globalisation can be traced back to the depression preceding World War II and globalisation at that time included spreading of the capitalist economic system as a means of getting access to extended markets. The first step was to create sufficient export surplus to maintain full employment in the capitalist world and secondly establishing a globalized economy where the planet would be united in peace and wealth. The idea of interdependence among quite separate and distinct countries is a very important part of talks on globalisation and a significant side of today’s global political economy.