Xin Chen, Xiaoyu Zheng, Meiling He, Yuling Liu, Hong Mao, Xiwu Li, Hongwei Yan, Yi Kong, Liya Li and Yong Du
During the forming process, aluminum alloy sheets develop various types of textures and are subjected to cyclic loading as structural components, resulting in fatigue damage. This…
Abstract
Purpose
During the forming process, aluminum alloy sheets develop various types of textures and are subjected to cyclic loading as structural components, resulting in fatigue damage. This study aims to develop polycrystalline models with different orientation distributions and incorporate suitable fatigue indicator parameters to investigate the effect of orientation distribution on the mechanical properties of Al-7.02Mg-1.78Zn alloys under cyclic loading.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, a two-dimensional polycrystalline model with 150 equiaxed grains was constructed based on optical microscope images. Subsequently, six different orientation distributions were assigned to this model. The fatigue indicator parameter of strain energy dissipation is utilized to analyze the stress response and fatigue crack driving force in polycrystalline models with different orientation distributions subjected to cyclic loading.
Findings
The study found that orientation distribution significantly influences fatigue crack initiation. Orientation distributions with a larger average Schmid factor exhibit reduced stress response and lower fatigue indicator parameters. Locations with a larger average Schmid factor experience greater plastic deformation and present a higher risk for fatigue crack initiation. RVE with a single orientation undergoes more rotation to reach cyclic steady state under cyclic loading due to the ease of deformation transfer.
Originality/value
Currently, there are no reports in the literature on the calculation of fatigue crack initiation for Al-Mg-Zn alloys using the crystal plasticity finite element method. This study presents a novel strategy for simulating the response of Al-7.02Mg-1.78Zn materials with different orientation distributions under symmetric strain cyclic loading, providing valuable references for future research.
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Lianhua Liu, Aili Xie and Shiqi Lyu
This paper aims to clarify the spatial connection characteristics and organization mode of logistics economy of 21 cities in Guangdong Province under the background of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to clarify the spatial connection characteristics and organization mode of logistics economy of 21 cities in Guangdong Province under the background of the integrated development of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Bay area, and explore the spatial development characteristics and influencing factors of logistics economy in Guangdong Province.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper constructs the development level model of urban logistics economy in Guangdong Province from three aspects: demand level, supply level and support level, and uses the entropy weight method to measure the development level index of urban logistics economy in Guangdong Province. Then, the traffic accessibility index model is used to measure the traffic accessibility index between cities in Guangdong Province. Finally, using the social network analysis method, combined with the development level index of urban logistics economy in Guangdong Province and the urban traffic access index in Guangdong Province, this paper analyzes the spatial connection characteristics and influencing factors of logistics economy network in Guangdong Province.
Findings
There are regional differences in the development level of logistics economy in Guangdong Province; The overall network density of its logistics economic connection is large, but there is an imbalance in the network structure, and the core edge phenomenon is obvious; Logistics economic space presents the characteristics of double core development.
Research limitations/implications
Because the research object is the spatial connection characteristics of logistics economy in Guangdong Province, the research results may lack universality. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to put forward further tests.
Practical implications
By studying the spatial connection mode of logistics economy in 21 cities in Guangdong Province, China, this paper promotes the original methods and empirical contributions, and constructs the research framework of spatial relationship of logistics economy. This research framework is universal to a certain extent.
Social implications
This paper is conducive to promoting the integrated development of logistics economy in Guangdong Province and improving the balance of regional development of logistics economy.
Originality/value
Firstly, this study provides a new perspective to understand the spatial relationship and spatial spillover of logistics economy from relational data rather than attribute data. Secondly, This study enriched and broadened the research topic of spatial correlation of logistics economy. Thirdly, this research aims to promote the original methods and empirical contributions. Specifically, this study establishes a comprehensive research framework on the spatial network structure of logistics economy.
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Isabel Valarino, Gerardo Meil and Jesús Rogero-García
Spain is typically considered a familialistic country where the family is the main responsible for individuals’ well-being. Recent demographic, socioeconomic and policy changes…
Abstract
Purpose
Spain is typically considered a familialistic country where the family is the main responsible for individuals’ well-being. Recent demographic, socioeconomic and policy changes raise the question to what extent familialism is regarded as the preferred care arrangement in society or whether more state support is considered legitimate. The purpose of this paper is to analyse individual preferences among Spanish residents regarding care responsibility for pre-school children and the frail elderly, and the factors that influence such preferences.
Design/methodology/approach
Representative data from the 2012 International Social Survey Programme are used (n=1419). Six patterns of care responsibility that capture preferences regarding who, between the family or the state, should provide and pay for the care of pre-school children and the frail elderly are identified. Logistic regressions are performed on each care responsibility pattern to analyse the factors influencing individuals’ preferences.
Findings
Multiple preferences coexist and state responsibility is often preferred over family responsibility, especially for elderly-care. It suggests that the tendency to rely on the family in Spain is due to insufficient support rather than to familialistic values. Individuals who usually bear most care work responsibilities, such as women and individuals in caring ages, or those with a poor health, high care load or low income consider there should be extra-family support. Individuals’ values also matter: the least religious, the most supportive of maternal employment and left-wing voters are most likely to reject traditional care arrangements.
Originality/value
This is the first study to analyse both elderly- and childcare policy preferences in one single study. It shows that childcare is more often seen as a family responsibility than elderly care.
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Chung‐Hoon Park and Young‐Gul Kim
Committed customers are profitable to an organization for the long term. Customer commitment forms when a customer's expectation is satisfied and the customer realizes fair value…
Abstract
Committed customers are profitable to an organization for the long term. Customer commitment forms when a customer's expectation is satisfied and the customer realizes fair value from his/her relationship with the organization. From an organization's perspective, this value reflects customer equity, but from a customer's perspective, it represents the customer's perceived value of the relationship. In order to manage such a relationship successfully, it is necessary to support diverse customer information – such as of‐the‐customer, for‐the‐customer, and by‐the‐customer information. A customer information system (CIS) plays the role of boundary spanning that manages and distributes customer information. But the gap between marketing and IT strategy is a barrier in implementing a successful CIS. The CIS, which includes the database, communication channel, and decision model for relationship management, should be designed to facilitate the two‐way customer relationship exchanges. This paper develops a framework of dynamic customer relationship management, suggests the information technology strategy to support the framework, and illustrates the applicability of such framework and strategy through a real business case.
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Is the rise of the Indian software industry simply another Asian state-dominated industrial growth story or is India distinctive, an economy where small technology entrepreneurs…
Abstract
Purpose
Is the rise of the Indian software industry simply another Asian state-dominated industrial growth story or is India distinctive, an economy where small technology entrepreneurs also find niches for development and can be drivers of innovation? Research has focused on the large integrated Indian and international service providers. This study examines the opportunity for growth among smaller innovative technology entrepreneurial firms. Two areas of inquiry are: What factors have been responsible for spurring growth in the Indian IT industry? What type of work is being carried out at Indian firms and is this profile changing? This paper aims to examine the emergence of technology entrepreneurs, particularly in terms of their links to multinational firms and their role and position in global value chains. The paper takes a multi-level approach to understanding development trajectories in the IT sector in India: a global value chain approach to the extent that company processes are seen in their larger networked context across organizations and an institutional approach in terms of state policies that influence the creation of infrastructure that, in turn, shapes organizational development trajectories. Additionally, it examines the role of the various actors within IT sector organizations – the workers, the managers and, in the case of the small companies in our sample, the owners – on the outcome of growth trajectories in the Indian IT sector. We find that the various levels of change and policy all contribute to the outcome in company trajectories: the dominance of multinational enterprises on the market, the entrepreneurial vision and survival strategies of returned technology expatriates, and the changing policies of the government in promoting indigenous business.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative research interviews; comparative case study; literature review; multi-tier analysis.
Findings
The technology entrepreneurial development in India appears to represent quite a distinctive path in terms of both firm development and broader economic development. It is focused on the IT sector, in which high skill “knowledge work” is carried out and which has been able to develop despite lack of basic infrastructure (roads and reliable electricity).
Research limitations/implications
After the opening up of the business environment to large Western multinational enterprises (MNEs), it was difficult for indigenous Indian entrepreneurs to compete in innovative product development markets. Developing such companies depended on individual risk taking, as no specific infrastructure existed for niche production. However, the knowledge base and innovation clusters did offer opportunities for obtaining contracts. The Indian entrepreneurs did have to make a lot of compromises about defining their business and the tasks they could undertake. More research is needed on the paths and development opportunities for these smaller Indian-owned firms.
Practical implications
Unique opportunities are emergent and defy easy policy prescriptions, other than precluding change that does not foreclose emergent possibilities (e.g. such as strong state controlled business development).
Social implications
Indian-owned innovative companies, although having difficulties competing with large Indian and Western MNEs, do put pressure on these MNEs to move work up the value chain, thereby providing more interesting and challenging opportunities for Indian knowledge workers.
Originality/value
This paper provides a unique company-level perspective about entrepreneurialism in the Indian software sector from the perspective of different actors in the process. It then links this company-level perspective to a larger context both in terms of trajectories of development at the macro level, as well as the role that the company’s place in multinational value chains has in its development perspectives. It gives a special insight into the motivations and obstacles facing entrepreneurs in India’s dynamic software sector.
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Miroslaw Rodzewicz, Dominik Glowacki, Tomasz Szczepanik and Jaroslaw Hajduk
The purpose of this paper is to describe the results of investigations of parachute rescue systems (PRS) for light gyrocopters.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the results of investigations of parachute rescue systems (PRS) for light gyrocopters.
Design/methodology/approach
Although the investigations were conducted in both stages simultaneously, i.e. experimental mechanics approach and numerical simulations, the paper is focussed mainly on the experimental part of the work. To ensure the safety of experimental works (i.e. for both experimenters and bystanders), the authors applied unmanned, remotely controlled scale models of autogyro for the PRS testing in the air.
Findings
The critical problem for successful use of the PRS is that the rotation of the rotor blades must be stopped when the main parachute opens, otherwise the influence of the rotor on the improper opening process of the parachute may cause the whole PRS to become useless.
Research limitations/implications
The existing regulations for the use of unmanned aircraft impose the limitation upon the organisation of in-flight tests of PRS, i.e. the maximum take-off mass of the tested gyrocopter models is limited, and a full-scale test needs the approval of European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
Practical implications
The research contributes to increasing the safety level for gyrocopter users. The authors elaborated the original PRS, which currently is in the process of patenting.
Originality/value
Originality of the work consists of both an innovative PRS, which has never been tested before, and the results of experimental investigations, which cover both ground tests carried on static or moving stands and in-flight testing.
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Korea is a highly centralized country where most administrative functions are carried out by the central government in Seoul. Increasingly, however, local governments have been…
Abstract
Korea is a highly centralized country where most administrative functions are carried out by the central government in Seoul. Increasingly, however, local governments have been given greater autonomy in their operations. This chapter examines how the ideal values of political decentralization have interacted with the country’s local bureaucracy, which inherently has dark side in itself. The focus is on how local government employees have contributed, or responded, to the democratic change of their communities, particularly since the 1980s. At the outset, the experiences of Korea’s decentralization and local autonomy are briefly reviewed. It is then examined how the bureaucrats have played in the process of democratization in terms of three features: bureaucratic power, scope, and culture. Institutionalizing competitive local bureaucracy contributed to reduce the disparity between capital regions (Seoul and its surrounded area) and noncapital regions (locals). Empowering local bureaucracy to allow own localized decision-making process was the first move of Korean governance.
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José Andrés Fernández-Cornejo, Cristina Castellanos-Serrano, Eva Del Pozo-García, Maite Palomo-Vadillo, Juan Ignacio Cáceres-Ruiz and Lorenzo Escot
In January 2021, Spanish paid parental leave for fathers was fully equated with that for mothers. Is this facilitating working fathers developing an identity of caring fathers?
Abstract
Purpose
In January 2021, Spanish paid parental leave for fathers was fully equated with that for mothers. Is this facilitating working fathers developing an identity of caring fathers?
Design/methodology/approach
We conducted qualitative research based on 31 interviews with heterosexual fathers residing in Spain, who had a child from January 1, 2021 onwards, who cohabited with the baby’s mother, and who were salaried. We also added two mothers with the same characteristics and seven human resources managers from large companies.
Findings
There has been a rapid acceptance and normalization of the use of these new equalized leaves. For many fathers this has been accompanied by the experience of a greater sense of “being legitimized” to engage in caregiving. The intensity of this process could be subject to two opposing forces. One in favor, especially when fathers care alone for as long as possible; and one against, when fathers assume the role of the mother’s helper and when the support of significant and relevant others is lacking in several domains, including the work place.
Social implications
Whether this ambivalence is resolved in favor of advancement could depend on how successful public policy is. Reforms of parental leave systems should encourage men to take on single-handed care, and companies should be encouraged to become more aware of the need for co-responsibility between fathers and mothers in childcare.
Originality/value
Spain now has one of the most gender-equal parental leave systems in the world. It is important to know what meaning new fathers are giving to this advance and to what extent this is facilitating the emergence of a caregiving masculinity.