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An investigation has been performed on the improved solder wettability of oxidized aluminum (Al) with lead-free solder (96.5Sn-3.5Ag) using Ar-H₂ plasmas. The lead-free solder wettability was raised from 62.2 per cent wetting for Al oxidized in air at 250 C for 4 h to 98.4 per cent wetting of oxidized Al modified by Ar-H₂ plasmas at a certain H₂ flow rate. This study aims to gain insight on the surface characteristics of Al affecting the solder wettability with a liquid lead-free solder.

Ar-H₂ plasmas at certain H₂ flow rates are intended to reduce Al oxides on the surfaces of oxidized Al substrates both by physical bombardments via Ar plasmas and chemical reductions with H₂ plasmas, while Al substrates are exposed in Ar-H₂ plasmas to improve the solder wettability with a liquid lead-free solder.

Surface characteristics of oxidized Al substrates have been identified to play key roles for enhanced lead-free solder wettability using Ar-H₂ plasmas. A decrease in polar surface free energy and an increase in dispersive surface free energy on the surfaces of oxidized Al substrates are exploited to advance the lead-free solder wettability. Decreased composition ratios of O to Al, detected by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) for oxidized Al substrates, are crucial for improved lead-free solder wettability.

XPS is typically used to analyze the surface compositions of Al oxides. To provide a rapid and non-expansive method to identify the surfaces of Al substrates prior to soldering to assure lead-free solder wettability, this study proposes a measurable skill, a so-called sessile drop test method, to investigate surface free energies such as total, polar and dispersive surface free energy on the surfaces of Al substrates, to illuminate how the lead-free solder wettability of oxidized Al is improved by Ar-H₂ plasmas.

Educational accountability and student achievement polarization, which result in high dropout rates, pose significant challenges and pressures on teachers' pedagogical leadership. Whether pedagogical leadership, which originates in the Western educational environment, can significantly improve student achievement in Chinese high schools remains unclear. This concept has not yet been fully explored in the Chinese educational environment, and its direct impact on student achievement and the mediating role of English teaching methods remain to be investigated. However, existing research has concentrated on the effectiveness of principals' pedagogical leadership, with variations in teachers' pedagogical leadership practices. Many reform measures have been implemented in China to improve student achievement, but past educational practices have analyzed the impact on student achievement from a single instructional leadership, school capital or teaching method perspective. Furthermore, there is a lack of multidimensional and systematic assessments of the direct effects of teacher pedagogical leadership on student achievement and the mediating effects of English teaching methods.

To address this gap, this study analyzed the impact of teachers' pedagogical leadership on student achievement and the mediating effect of English teaching methods with the support of the theory of action for teacher leadership, specifically using pedagogical leadership and English teaching methods models.This study conducted a questionnaire survey of 968 participants in Taian City, China, and quantitatively analyzed the data using SmartPLS structural equation modeling (SEM).

This study revealed that pedagogical leadership has a positive direct effect on student achievement. Meanwhile, among the four mediating factors, the Direct Method, Audio-Lingual Method and Communicative Language Teaching had significant mediating effects.

This study shows that the effective use of academic and professional capital allocation in pedagogical leadership, combined with effective measures of using multiple effective English teaching methods, helps achieve high-quality student achievement.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of cross-listing on the size and structure of director compensation at individual director level. While much of the prior literature has focused on executive compensation, more recent literature has started to examine director compensation. Additionally, there has been extensive literature examining the impact of cross-listing on the corporate governance and equity valuation of listed firms. The literature, however, has largely ignored the effect of cross-listing on director compensation schemes. This study attempts to combine these two literature streams and examine the effect of cross-listing on director compensation.

This study uses American Depository Receipts (ADRs) and matched non-ADRs from the same country and industry to test the relationship between cross-listing and director compensation. Regressions with country, year and industry fixed-effects are employed. The relationship is further examined using only ADR firms during pre-listing and post-listing periods.

This study finds that directors of ADR firms receive higher total compensation and greater percentage equity-based compensation relative to directors of non-ADR firms. This study also finds that such differences in director compensation are dependent on the cross-listing program a firm is registered to. Directors of ADR firms also receive higher total compensation and greater percentage equity-based compensation during post-listing periods relative to their own compensation during pre-listing periods.

This study extends the literature on director compensation in a global setting, and is the first to examine an unanswered question regarding the effect of cross-listing on director compensation. This study provides important information that cross-listing affects the size and structure of director compensation between ADR and non-ADR firms, as well as between pre-listing and post-listing periods for ADR firms themselves.

The purpose of this paper is to document and compare the characteristics of two student-managed investment funds at the University.

This study uses a case study approach to achieve this purpose.

Consistent with other studies, this study finds considerable differences in funding, oversight and the structure of the courses in which the students manage the portfolios. This is the case even though the portfolios are managed by students in courses offered by the same department at the same university.

This study presents different possible ways of obtaining funds and structuring courses in which the students manage investment portfolios.

Because of our limited understanding of the incidence and effect of board busyness globally, the mixed evidence of the effect of board busyness obtained in the USA and the divergence of international patterns of director busyness from that observed in the USA, the author contends that there is a strong need to examine board busyness from a global perspective. The literature, however, does not examine the effect of board busyness on reported earnings quality and certainly does not analyze it internationally. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to examine the effect of multiple board appointments on the quality of a firm’s reported earnings.

The research design for this study is empirical. It uses both univariate and multivariate statistical analysis to examine historical corporate accounting, finance and governance data.

Consistent with the busyness hypothesis of corporate governance, the author finds that firms with a higher proportion of busy independent directors or busy CEOs manage their earnings more extensively. Further, the findings of this study present that firms with a higher proportion of busy independent audit committee members have poorer financial reporting quality. Using a sample of American Depository Receipts (ADRs), this study determines that the ineffectiveness of busy boards regarding earnings management is mitigated by the listing regulations imposed by US exchanges.

The author believes that this study offers new and important evidence regarding the debate whether busy directors provide knowledge, skill and corporate connections, or whether they are overextended and, thus, unable to fully perform their monitoring duties. This study shows that firms with busy directors are associated with poorer financial reporting quality and, consistent with the busyness hypothesis, are less effective as managerial monitors.

This study provides useful guidance regarding board design and the kinds of policies that firms should adopt regarding multiple boarding.

The social implications focus on the public policy implications regarding the importance of effective corporate governance in the reporting of financial wealth, wealth creation and wealth management.

This is the first study that examines the relation between board/committee busyness and corporate earnings management using a comprehensive set of international firms. Second, the author expands the analysis of audit committee into a new dimension: committee quality as captured by the busyness of its independent members. This study also contributes to the ongoing debate in the corporate finance literature regarding the reputation and busyness hypotheses of multiple directorships.

Little previous research has investigated the relationships among strategic orientations, supply chain integration and firm performance. The purpose of this study is to advance a research model that examines the direct and indirect effects of strategic orientations via supply chain integration on firm performance in the Saudi transitional context.

This study is based on data collected from a survey using questionnaires completed by 187 top management members of Saudi firms from different sectors. To analyse the data and test the proposed hypotheses, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were conducted using the AMOS statistical analysis package.

Results show that both market orientation and supply chain integration have a significant positive direct effect on Saudi firm performance. They also reveal that supply chain integration fully mediates the effect of technology orientation on firm performance, while partially mediating the effect of market orientation on firm performance.

This study contributes to the literature by showing how SCI could serve as an organizational capability that links strategic resources to firm performance. The main limitation of this study is that it was not possible to generalize the findings. Future research perspectives were proposed to address this limitation and add new insights to the field.

The results could help decision-makers in Saudi firms choose the right strategic orientations and aid them in integrating their supply chains by sharing the necessary information and coordinating operations with key partners to enhance their firms' performance.

This study is one of the first to conduct such an investigation in the Saudi context. The study simultaneously examines the role of supply chain integration in linking strategic orientations to firm performance and fills a current research gap in such a transitional context.

We examine what changes, if any, firms are making to their capital structure around the time they cross-list because both of these affect a firm’s corporate governance. Cross-listing requires firms to follow SEC rules and regulations, which helps improve the firm governance. A firm’s capital structure, specifically the use of debt, is an effective way to mitigate the conflict between managers and shareholders by reducing the cash available to managers. We examine whether these governance mechanisms are complimentary or being used as substitutes by cross-listing firms.

We compare the capital structures of Level II and Level III cross-listing firms from both civil law and common law countries in the three years before and the three years after cross-listing.

We show firms are significantly reducing their debt to equity ratio after the cross-listing. This reduction is shown for both Level II and Level III firms; however, it is primarily seen in civil law countries.

The corporate governance improvement firms recognize by cross-listing is partially offset by the reduced use of debt after the cross-listing. These governance characteristics may be especially relevant for shareholders in Level III cross-listings because those firms are actually raising addition cash.

The literature has documented evidence that economic freedom is positively associated with economic growth, investment spending, income equality, employment, gender equality, etc. Economic freedom is also found to be associated with a country’s rule of law and legal regime. There is, however, little studies examining how economic freedom affects a firm’s performance such as firm valuation and profitability. The evidence presented in this study shows that economic freedom strengthens a firm’s valuation and profitability. Additionally, firms headquartered in emerging markets or younger firms from countries with higher levels of economic freedom experience higher valuation and profitability. That is, economic freedom is more beneficial for firms from emerging markets and is crucial to the success of early-stage firms.

When a foreign firm cross-lists on an exchange in the US, it signals stronger investor protection. This is because cross-listing firms must comply with SEC and exchange regulations, thus producing stronger corporate governance. Consequently, cross-listing increases firm attractiveness to investors and places domestic rivals at a disadvantage. Rivals might respond by mimicking the governance changes resulting from cross-listing. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether firms respond to their rivals’ cross-listings through improvement in governance.

This study uses earnings management as a measure of governance for a set of international firms. The authors track the changes in governance of non-cross-listing firms following their rivals’ cross-listings. The authors employ an event study methodology to assess the spillover effect of a competitor’s cross-listing.

The authors find that rivals exhibit imitative improvements in their governance following a competitor’s cross-listing. This response is immediate and is the strongest in the year of cross-listing. Further, rivals with greater growth opportunities, lower market share, stronger past performance, and larger size demonstrate greater improvements in governance. Rivals make greater improvements in response to more rigorous Level III listings.

This study finds that cross-listing effects are underestimated. It is not only the investors of the listing-firms who benefit from the cross-listing, but also the investors of non-listing rival as competitors try to match the higher governance standard.

This study is the first that examines the intra-industry spillover effect of a cross-listing. This study also expands the analysis of the spillover effect in a new dimension: corporate governance.

In summary, it can be found that the current research on the simulation of natural atmospheric dry–wet alternating accelerated corrosion mainly focused on the study of electrochemical corrosion process and the study of corrosion rate; the micro-pre-corrosion mechanism of materials in this environment, especially for materials. The specific effects of fatigue and fracture performance still lack detailed research. Accordingly, this study aims to more realistically simulate the effect of natural atmospheric corrosion environment on the corrosion resistance and fatigue performance of aircraft skin.

In this study, the uniaxial strain control method was used to test the fatigue performance of pre-corrosion samples under simulated natural atmospheric corrosion using MTS809 tensile-torque composite fatigue machine. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray energy spectrum analysis, atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis were used. Fatigue fracture, corrosion morphology and corrosion products were analyzed.

The results show that the deep corrosion pit caused by pre-corrosion environment leads to multi-source initiation of crack; the fatigue life of pre-corroded sample decreases by about one-half, chloride ion invades the material and promotes intergranular corrosion; life prediction results show that the natural atmospheric corrosive environment mainly affects the plastic term in the Manson–Coffin formula resulting in a decrease in fatigue life.

Innovative experimental schemes and materials are used and the test temperature and relative humidity are strictly controlled. The corrosion failure mechanism of 2A70-T6 aluminum alloy under alternating wet and dry accelerated corrosion environment and its influence on fatigue behavior were obtained.