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This study explores the effect of internal branding on organisational financial performance and brand loyalty with the mediating role of psychological empowerment.

The data gathered from 200 Pasargad insurance employees in Iran were analysed. Structural equation modelling and R were used to evaluate the model. Financial performance was measured by four concepts (ROI, ROE, Sales growth, ROA) based on available data from March 2010 to March 2020.

The results revealed that internal branding and psychological empowerment have no significant effect on financial performance, but both have a significant positive effect on brand loyalty. Likewise, the mediating role of psychological empowerment on the subject of the impact of internal branding on brand loyalty was confirmed. Furthermore, psychological empowerment did not play a mediating role in the impact of internal branding on financial performance.

The findings of this study could be important for managers of organisations active in the insurance industry to highlight internal branding and enhance psychological empowerment and employee brand loyalty. Moreover, managers' perception of the effective role of psychological empowerment to enhance employee brand loyalty is another practical aspect of this research.

Considering the mediating role of psychological empowerment to the effect of internal branding on financial performance and brand loyalty is an innovative aspect of the present study. Meanwhile, the use of R software for VB-SEM was another point to surge the value of this paper.

The purpose of this investigation is to develop a facile method to encapsulate a sunlight-curable silicone-based resin into a melamine–urea–formaldehyde (MUF) shell in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as an emulsifier. These microcapsules can be used in self-healing coating formulations.

MUF microcapsules containing a sunlight-curable core (methacryloxypropyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane, MAT-PDMS) have been fabricated by means of in situ polymerisation of an oil-in-water emulsion using PVP as an efficient and environmentally advantageous stabiliser. The effects of agitation rate and PVP concentration on the microencapsulation process have been investigated using optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The chemical structure and thermal stability of the microcapsules have been studied using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The solvent resistance of the microcapsules has been determined as well.

It has been revealed that the pH of the reaction mixture remained almost constant during the reaction, which simplified the process. It has also been observed that the microencapsulation yield improved and the microcapsules’ surface morphology became smoother when a high PVP content was used. With an increase in stirring rate from 600 to 1,200 rpm, the surface roughness and the average particle size decreased. The mean diameter of the prepared microcapsules ranged from 32.1 to 327.1 µm depending on the synthesis conditions. It was demonstrated that the microcapsules had a high capacity for MAT-PDMS encapsulation (more than 88 Wt.%). The solvent stability of the microcapsules against different polar, semi-polar and non-polar solvents was also evaluated.

This research is limited to the encapsulation of a hydrophobic and sunlight curable liquid (such as MAT-PDMS) by means of in situ polymerisation of amino resins.

The results can be used by researchers working on the fabrication of microcapsules for applications such as drugs, electrophoretic inks, electrophoretic displays, intumescent fire-retardant coatings and self-healing materials.

In self-healing coatings, healing agents which can be cured by UV irradiation or sunlight are envisaged attractive because they are catalyst-free, environmentally friendly and relatively inexpensive. PVP is an environmentally friendly emulsifier. The prepared microcapsules can be used in self-healing coatings to help in reducing maintenance costs for buildings and steel structures.

The novel aspect of this work is the development of a sunlight-curable silicone-based resin that was encapsulated in a MUF shell in the presence of PVP. A simple method was used to fabricate MUF microcapsules containing MAT-PDMS without the need to control pH during the reaction. Conventional methods for the preparation of amino resin microcapsules require an intensive and precise pH control to obtain favourable microcapsules. MAT-PDMS can be cured by sunlight and is catalyst-free, environmentally friendly and relatively inexpensive.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of three important relational capabilities – absorptive capacity (AC), transactive memory systems (TMS), and organisational interoperability (OI); on the flexibility of buyer-supplier relationships and performance in retail supply chains. Drawing on the relational view of strategic management, the impact of relational capabilities on two forms of supply chain flexibility is examined – configuration flexibility (CF) for switching suppliers with minimal penalties, and planning and control flexibility (PCF) for altering supply schedules, quality, and delivery lead-time.

Strategic- and tactical-level managers from 211 retail stores in the UK were surveyed. The authors validated a measurement model with structural equation modelling and tested four hypotheses on the mediating role of relational capabilities on supply chain flexibility and retail performance, controlling for size, duration of relationship, and market segment.

Results showed that the three relational capabilities partially mediated the positive effect of CF and PCF on operational performance in big middle and niche retailers. Examining the interaction effect of the forms of flexibility on the relational capabilities and performance, the authors found positive interaction effects on TMS and OI but a non-significant effect on AC.

In addition to providing novel theoretical insights on supply chain flexibility, the findings have practical implications for supplier selection and buyer-supplier relationship management.

Overall, the study highlights the impacts of relational capabilities on adopted operational strategies such as flexibility, buyer-supplier relationships, and retail performance.

Purpose: The aim of the study is to consider the use of the Internet as a potential facilitator of positive health-related perceptions. Specifically, we propose that online health information seeking fosters positive perceptions of health. Using path modeling, we theorized several mechanisms through which information seeking could be conducive to positive health perceptions, which we conceptualized into the following four dimensions: (1) sense of empowerment in managing health, (2) self-reported ability to take better care of health, (3) sense of improved health-related quality of life, and (4) self-reported improvement of health.

Methodology: Our sample consisted of respondents who have used the Internet as a resource for health information (n = 710), drawn from the largest national probability-based online research panel. Our comparison subsample consisted of older respondents (age ≥ 60; n = 194). We used Internet-specific measures and employed structural equation models (SEM) to estimate the direct, indirect, and total effects of health-related use of the Internet on subjective health perceptions. Based on our review of the literature, competent health communication with healthcare providers and sense of empowerment in managing personal health were modeled as mediator variables. We assessed whether the proposed mediational relationships, if significant, differed across our indicators of positive health perceptions and whether any differential associations were observed among older adults. We run parallel models for each indicator of positive health perception.

Findings: Provider-patient communication informed by the Internet resources were perceived to impart a greater sense of empowerment to manage health among our respondents, which in turn, was associated with perceived contributions to better self-reported ability to provide self-care, increased health-related quality of life, and improvement in self-reported health. The SEM results revealed a good fit with our full sample and subsample.

Research Implications: Conceptualization of the multidimensional aspects of online health information seeking with separate multi-indicator analyses of the outcome variable is important to further our understanding of how technology may impact the pathways involved in influencing health perceptions and as a result health outcomes.

Our study aims to explore the ownership structure and accounting conservatism in influencing the value relevance that we analyse through the paradigm of open innovation and socio-emotional wealth (SEW). We also extended the test to identify how firm size could affect value relevance.

Through panel data testing, we collected all issuers on the stock exchange for the 2016–2018 period. The total collected observations are 735 observations from various industries.

The results of the study provide empirical evidence that institutional ownership is more pronounce, especially in companies with high asset levels. We also conducted other tests to see it from the perspective of SEW. We divide companies into family and non-family companies. The results of this study indicate that institutional ownership has an effect on increasing value relevance, especially in family companies compared with non-family companies. The results of the study also indicate that accounting conservatism plays a more important role in increasing value relevance in non-family firms compared to family firms.

This study advances in two main ways. First, we use a SEW approach and an open innovation perspective. Second, we conducted tests for family and non-family firms.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of product market competition and corporate governance on firm’s management performance in the Tehran Stock Exchange market. According to the research literature, the governance mechanisms used in this study consist of ownership structure, structure of the board of directors and capital structure. In addition, Herfindahl–Hirschman Index and market size were used to measure the product market competition.

This study used one selected sample among the firms in the capital market of Iran from 2004 to 2012.

The results of this study indicated that there is a significant relation among the major governance mechanisms (including ownership concentration, independence of the board of directors and debt ratio) and product market competition and management performance. The findings of this study also showed that product market competition is effective on the relation between corporate governance and the performance, and this is what has been ignored in most of the conducted studies.

In general, the results of this study supported the idea that product market competition is effective on implementation and efficiency of governance mechanisms.

The growing business complexity has caused many risks (e.g. operational, financial, reputational, cybersecurity, regulatory and compliance) that threaten companies' sustainability and have received attention from regulators, investors, and businesses. The authors present a model for assessing and reporting corporate risk by examining the indicators underlying corporate risk reporting.

A thorough review of the literature and semi-structured interviews with experts were conducted and the fuzzy Delphi technique was used to obtain consensus and screening of risks. The relationships between these risk indicators were recognized, weighted and prioritized by employing a hybrid Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory Model (DEMATEL) method integrated with Analytic Network Process (ANP) (DEMATEL-ANP [DANP]) approach. Finally, using the Iranian setting of corporate risk reporting, a model was developed to calculate the risk-reporting scores.

The results indicate that risk disclosure quality is more important than risk disclosures' textual properties and quantity. According to the experts, reporting the key risks that the company faces, management's approach to dealing with these risks and quantifying their impact are more important than the other indicators. The results also show that risk reporting in Iran lacks quantitative and specific information, and most risk disclosures are sticky.

The data have been prepared and analyzed according to the unique Iranian reporting environment, which should be considered when interpreting the results.

The results of this research can be used by the regulators of the Stock Exchange Organizations (SEO) to evaluate corporate risk reports and rank companies. Results are also relevant to investors and policymakers to identify companies with poor risk disclosure and to take necessary measures to improve their reporting practices.

This paper contributes to the social and governance literature by presenting the importance of risk reporting in corporate disclosures.

The unique Iranian setting of corporate risk reporting furthers the understanding of risk reporting and thus provides education, policy, practice and research implications for other emerging economies like Iran. Many prior studies focus mainly on the quality of risk disclosure, and other aspects of corporate risk disclosure presented in the study have remained largely overlooked. The corporate risk reporting attributes identified in the study are relevant to the rise of non-financial risks, the textual and qualitative nature of risk reporting and textual risk disclosures.

In this study, to maximize returns and minimize investment risk, an attempt was made to form an optimal portfolio under conditions where the capital market has a price bubble. According to the purpose, the research was of the applied type, in terms of data, quantitative and postevent, and in terms of the type of analysis, it was of the descriptive-correlation type. Sequence, skewness and kurtosis tests were used to identify the months with bubbles from 2015 to 2021 in the Tehran Stock Exchange. After identifying the bubble courses, artificial bee colony meta-heuristic and invasive weed algorithms were used to optimize the portfolio. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues.

The existence of bubbles in the market, especially in the capital market, can prevent the participation of investors in the capital market process and the correct allocation of financial resources for the economic development of the country. However, due to the goal of investors to achieve a portfolio of high returns with the least amount of risk, there is need to pay attention to these markets increases.

The results identify 14 periods of price bubbles during the study period. Additionally, stock portfolios with maximum returns and minimum risk were selected for portfolio optimization. According to the results of using meta-heuristic algorithms to optimize the portfolio, in relation to the obtained returns and risk, no significant difference was observed between the returns and risk of periods with price bubbles in each of the two meta-heuristic algorithms. This study can guide investors in identifying bubble courses and forming an optimal portfolio under these conditions.

One of the limitations of this research is the non-generalizability of the findings to stock exchanges of other countries and other time periods due to the condition of the price bubble, as well as other companies in the stock market due to the restrictions considered for selecting the statistical sample.

This study intends to form an optimal stock portfolio in a situation where the capital market suffers from a price bubble. This study provides an effective and practical solution for investors in the field of stock portfolio optimization.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the hydromagnetic third-grade non-Newtonian fluid flow and heat transfer between two coaxial pipes with a variable radius ratio.

To solve the approximate nonlinear and linear problems with variable coefficients, a trial function was applied. Methods include collocation, least square and Galerkin that can be applied for obtaining these coefficients.

It is revealed that an increase of the non-Newtonian parameter, Hartmann number, and radius ratio leads to an augmentation of the absolute value of the dimensionless velocity, temperature, velocity gradient, and temperature gradient of about 10-60%. Further, the augmentation of Bi₁ reduces the absolute value of the dimensionless temperature profile and dimensionless temperature gradient about three to four times; hence, the dimensionless heat transfer rate reduces. However, the growth of Bi₂ has a contrary impact. Besides, the increase of Pr and Ec leads to an increase in the dimensionless temperature profile and dimensionless temperature gradient; therefore, the dimensionless heat transfer rate increases.

The convection heat transfer on the walls of the pipes is considered, and the nonlinear coupled momentum and energy equations are solved using the least squared method and collocation methods, respectively.

The purpose of this paper is to obtain an integrated method for inter-turn short circuit fault detection for the cage-rotor induction machine (CRIM) considering saturation effect.

The magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC) is proposed for machine modeling and nonlinear B-H curve is considered for saturation effect. The machine has some differential equations which are converted to algebraic type by trapezoidal method. On the other hand, some nonlinear equations are present due to saturation effect. A set of nonlinear algebraic equation should be solved by numerical method. Therefore, the Newton-Raphson technique is used for equation solving during of the considered time step.

Generally, the operating point of electrical machines is close to the saturation zone due to designing considerations. Moreover, some current and torque harmonics will be produced due to time and space harmonics combination, which cannot be studied when saturation modeling is neglected. Considering both space and time harmonics, a method is proposed for inter-turn short circuit fault detection based on the stator current signatures and the machine performance is analyzed in healthy and faulty cases. In order to obtain the integrated method, two sample machines (two and also four-pole machines) are modeled and finally the accuracy of the proposed method is verified through the experimental results.

The calculations have been done in this work is limited to CRIM considering. However, the presented modeling method can be used for another types of electrical machines by some minor modifications.

Obtaining of an integrated formula for the inter-turn short circuit fault detection which has been presented for first time is the more advantages of present work. Moreover, in order to saturation effect considering, a new method is presented for solving of nonlinear equations which is another novelty of paper.