Search results

The aim of this paper is to develop a redundancy‐resolution (RR) algorithm to optimize the joint space trajectory of the six‐rotation‐axis industrial robot as performing arc‐welding tasks.

The rotation of the tool around its symmetry axis is clearly irrelevant to the view of the task to be accomplished besides some exceptional situations. When performed with a general 6‐degrees‐of‐freedom (DOF) manipulator, there exists one DOF of redundancy that remains. By taking advantage of the symmetry axis of the welding electrode, the authors decompose the required instantaneous twist of the electrode into two orthogonal components, one lying into the relevant task subspace and one into the redundant task subspace, respectively. Joint‐limits and singularity avoidance are considered as the optimization objectives.

The twist‐decomposition algorithm is able to optimize effectively the joint space trajectory. It has been tested and demonstrated in simulation.

A new RR algorithm is introduced for the six‐rotation‐axis industrial robot performing welding tasks. A new kinetostatic performance index is proposed on evaluating the kinematic quality of robotic postures. It can also be used in other applications like milling, deburing and many other tasks requiring less than 6‐DOF in tool frame.

The purpose of this paper is to establish a model‐based framework allowing the simulation, analysis and optimization of friction stir welding (FSW) processes of metallic structures using industrial robots, with a particular emphasis on the assembly of aircraft components made of aerospace aluminum alloys.

After a first part of the work dedicated to the kinetostatic and dynamical identification of the robotic mechanical system, a complete analytical model of the robotized process is developed, incorporating a dynamic model of the industrial robot, a multi‐axes macroscopic visco‐elastic model of the FSW process and a force/position control unit of the system. These different modules are subsequently implemented in a high‐fidelity multi‐rate dynamical simulation.

The developed simulation infrastructure allowed the research team to analyze and understand the dynamic interaction between the industrial robot, the control architecture and the manufacturing process involving heavy load cases in different process configurations. Several critical process‐induced perturbations such as tool oscillations and lateral/rotational deviations are observed, analyzed, and quantified during the simulated operations.

The presented simulation platform will constitute one of the key technology enablers in the major research initiative carried out by NRC Aerospace in their endeavor to develop a robust robotic FSW platform, allowing both the development of optimal workcell layouts/process parameters and the validation of advanced real‐time control laws for robust handling of critical process‐induced perturbations. These deliverables will be incorporated in the resulting robotic FSW technology packaged for deployment in production environments.

The paper establishes the first model‐based framework allowing the high‐fidelity simulation, analysis and optimization of FSW processes using serial industrial robots.

This paper aims to present the challenges faced by a small startup as entrepreneurship and marketing intersect to influence the success or failure of the venture. The entrepreneurial marketing focus of the case provides a deeper understanding of the practice-based interface of these two disciplines. The case focuses on the vision of two entrepreneurs and how they use the value creation process of opportunity recognition, evaluation and development to design a consulting service for Canadian firms that want to do business in China. It also provides insight on the difficulty of creating, communicating, selling and delivering a new consulting service to the Canadian business community.

The case is based on extensive interviews with QiaoLinx Inc.’s founders, relevant others and secondary data including press releases, social media and promotional material.

The events, issues and questions presented to track the entrepreneurial actions and marketing process of a startup from concept to market to tipping-point. The case is intended to serve as an instructional platform that encourages deductive reasoning in analyzing and synthesizing the application of entrepreneurship and marketing theories.

This teaching case can be used in undergraduate or graduate courses in entrepreneurship, marketing, new venture creation and international business. Researchers, faculty, practitioners and students can use the case to engage in a discussion on the underlying theories of entrepreneurship and marketing.

In order to respond to the many challenges that confront them, organizations must assist their leaders to develop their personal and professional strengths. The development of leaders and leadership involves more than just the development of knowledge and must become an integral part of the organizational culture so as to also develop know-how and soft skills. Accordingly, programs have been created that are based on collaborative learning and the contextualization of the various issues demanding resolution, all with a view to developing leadership capable of surpassing the limitations of current management methods. To demonstrate how these programs can influence leadership, this article proposes a theoretical review of leadership, viewed as an ongoing process and then presents three proven development programs: coaching, mentoring and action learning.

We define diffusion as the spread of something within a social system. Diffusion is the most general and abstract term, and it embraces such processes as contagion, mimicry, social learning, organized dissemination, etc. (Strang & Soule, 1998). While the home territory of diffusion is innovation (see Rogers, 2003 for an authoritative review), more recent macro-diffusion research has developed, based on social movement and institutionalization arguments (Ansari, Fiss, & Zajac, 2010; Wejnert, 2002).

Map of this detour: This is one of a series of detours compelled by consideration of inheritance law as an aspect of cultural transmission. ¹ This course draws attention to three problematic time forms (temporalities) through which the “self” and its relations with history are often written and read. These implicit time forms are all too common and all too easily go unrecognized. Each involves the illusion of some kind of exalted and immediate convergence between the self (the subject) and an object of exaggerated importance to this self (the world, the universe, the metaphysical or artistic beyond, the origin, etc.). Three figures are explored here: that of Hercules in Hegel’s Aesthetics, and those of Adrian and Breisacher in Thomas Mann’s Doctor Faustus. Each of these invites attention to a different temporality through which an exalted convergence may be imagined: the first involves a fantasy of immediate belonging to the whole of history, the second, that of escape forward from history (toward a self-created “ultimate” object), and the third, that of return to fullness in origin (before history). This detour also suggests ways of reading history (including “reading for mana through glances,” which will be explained) that protect against the problems just described. The detour closes considering implications of all of the above for U.S. inheritance law. The tutor text for this last leg is François Mauriac’s Le noeud de vipères.

Purpose: to explore the experiences of employees in a local bank merger in the United States and examine the concept of job exit queues. We introduce the concept of a job exit queue, which describes how workers position themselves or are positioned by employers to leave jobs and enter new jobs following the announcement of a corporate merger. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative interviews with mid‐ level managers, technical specialists and low status workers during the sale and merger process were conducted and coded thematically. We explore: (1) how workers and managers describe the job search as an “opportunity” or as a recurring cycle of low‐wage, high‐turnover work and (2) how severance packages structure the job exit queue to meet corporate needs. Findings: The role of severance pay is pivotal in understanding women’s and men’s job relations to job exit queues. We conclude that employers create job exit queues, placing low status workers and mid‐level women managers with less formal education at a disadvantage in reemployment. Value: This paper contributes a new concept “job exit queue” to the research and theory on work place diversity, gender inequality, and queuing theories.

The purpose of this paper is to answer the question of whether individual perceptions of an HRM system – distinctiveness, consistency and consensus – and shared perceptions of HRM (climate strength) are positively related to affective commitment in the organization. In addition, the paper examines if climate strength has a mediating effect in the relationship between the individual perceptions of an HRM system and affective commitment.

A survey study with data from 671 employees, 67 line‐managers and 32 HR‐managers within four hospitals was used.

Results of two‐level analyses (department, employee) showed that the perception of distinctiveness, consistency and climate strength, as expected are positively related to affective commitment. Instead of a mediating effect of climate strength a moderator effect was found: the relationship between consistency and affective commitment is stronger when climate strength is high.

The study offers researchers some recommendations to focus on the process of HRM (in terms of distinctiveness, consistency and consensus), and on the importance of shared perceptions within a department.

This study shows the impact of aspects of the process of HRM on the individual level, and shared perceptions of high commitment HRM on the department level on affective commitment of employees.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how business executives perceive and account for their use of paratextual cues as a means of managing their professional impressions in business e‐mails on their smartphone (i.e. BlackBerry, iPhone, etc.) and office computer. Design/methodology/approach – Semi‐structured, audio‐recorded telephone interviews were conducted with a representative sample of 60 business executives from various sectors in Canada. The interviews examined executives' typical ways of writing e‐mails for business purposes, both on their smartphone and office computer. All interviews were transcribed and then analyzed using a mix of quantitative and qualitative analyses. Findings – This study shows how organizational leaders vary their ways of opening and closing business e‐mails when comparing their smartphone to their office computer communication. To account for these differences, they routinely use folk categories that suggest distinctions between formal and informal relationships, internal and external communication, as well as the recipient's identity and their own. Hence, executives are aware of the social meanings inscribed in paratextual cues and even the absence of these cues is frequently used as a cue in itself. Originality/value – E‐mailing is a crucial part of contemporary corporate communications, yet few studies have examined organizational leaders' e‐mail writing practices on their smartphone in relation to their office computer. While executives might seem very task‐oriented in their communication, this study shows that their everyday e‐mail‐writing practices play an important role in the co‐construction of professional identities and relationships.