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High-performance wrought aluminum alloys, particularly AA6061, are pivotal in industries like automotive and aerospace due to their exceptional strength and good response to heat treatments. Investment casting offers precision manufacturing for these alloys, because casting AA6061 poses challenges like hot cracking and severe shrinkage during solidification. This study aims to address these issues, enabling crack-free investment casting of AA6061, thereby unlocking the full potential of investment casting for high-performance aluminum alloy components.

Nanotechnology is used to enhance the investment casting process, incorporating a small volume fraction of nanoparticles into the alloy melt. The focus is on widely used aluminum alloy 6061, utilizing rapid investment casting (RIC) for both pure AA6061 and nanotechnology-enhanced AA6061. Microstructural characterization involved X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Mechanical properties were evaluated through microhardness and tensile testing.

The study reveals the success of nanotechnology-enabled investment casting in traditionally challenging wrought aluminum alloys like AA6061. Achieving crack-free casting, enhanced grain morphology and superior mechanical properties, because the nanoparticles control grain sizes and phase growth, overcoming traditional challenges associated with low cooling rates. This breakthrough underscores nanotechnology's transformative impact on the mechanical integrity and casting quality of high-performance aluminum alloys.

This research contributes originality and value by successfully addressing the struggles in investment casting AA6061. The novel nano-treating approach overcomes solidification defects, showcasing the potential of integrating nanotechnology into rapid investment casting. By mitigating challenges in casting high-performance aluminum alloys, this study paves the way for advancements in manufacturing crack-free, high-quality aluminum alloy components, emphasizing nanotechnology's transformative role in precision casting.

Additive manufacturing (AM) can achieve significant weight savings with only minor compromises in strength if high-performance wrought aluminum alloys are used as feedstock. Despite the advantages in strength that aluminum alloys (AA) 6061 offer, they cannot be manufactured via printing because of hot cracking and other solidification problems. The purpose of this study is to achieve high-quality printing of AA6061 with nanotreated wires.

Nanotreating was used to modify the AA6061 alloy composition by adding a small fraction of nanoparticles to enhance the alloy’s manufacturability and resultant properties. Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) was used to print the nanotreated AA6061 wire feedstock. The microstructure of the printed AA6061 was characterized by X-ray crystallography, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy mapping. The microhardness profile, tensile behavior and fracture surface were analyzed.

This work successfully used WAAM to print nanotreated AA 6061 components. The resulting AA6061 parts were crack-free, with exceptional grain morphology and superior mechanical properties. Owing to the excellent size control capabilities of nanoparticles, a homogeneous distribution of small grains was maintained in all deposited layers, even during repeated thermal cycles.

Previous studies have not successfully printed AA6061 using WAAM. Conventional WAAM products exhibit anisotropic mechanical properties. The nanotreated AA6061 was successfully printed to achieve homogeneous microhardness and isotropic tensile properties. The promising results of this study reflect the great potential of nanotech metallurgy as applied to the WAAM process.

This paper aims to investigate the micro-level antecedents of absorptive capacity (ACAP) based on the multilevel perspective of learning capabilities in asymmetric joint project engineering teams constituted by local employees and expatriates.

The authors integrated the micro-foundational and multilevel learning theories to delineate the individual and team dimensions of ACAP. Using structural equation modelling, the authors tested the hypothesized relationships among the underlying individual determinants and multilevel dimensions of ACAP. The data were collected from a sample of 248 local employees from 76 joint project engineering teams in the Nigerian upstream oil industry.

ACAP entails individual and team capabilities, which depend on prior experience and need for cognition. The creation of shared understanding is essential for the transition of an individual’s knowledge assimilation capability into team’s knowledge utilization capability.

This study contributes to extant understanding of the multilevel perspective of learning capabilities, i.e. ACAP in a knowledge intensive team like joint project engineering.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to develop theoretical underpinnings using TCE, and second, to run the analysis using an advanced tool such as structural equation modeling (SEM).

This study was conducted in the construction industry in Tanzania. A questionnaire-based survey method was used. A total of 308 respondents participated in the study. The relationships between the cause and effect factors were analyzed using SEM.

The important findings are as follows:cost overrun can be explained by consultant-related and material-related factors; disputes can be explained by cost overrun; arbitration can be explained by consultant-related, cost overrun, and dispute factors; litigation can be explained by client-related, disputes, and arbitration factors; and abandonment can be explained by consultant-related, external-related, disputes, arbitration, and litigation factors.

The main contributions of this study are theoretical development and comprehensive analyses of “cause” and “effect” factors of delays in the construction industry.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of cognition on knowledge sharing between members of the acquiring and acquired organisations in the post-acquisition integration process. It specifically analyses differentiation between in-groups and out-groups, the perception of organisational identity and interaction among members of the acquired and acquiring organisations and how these three factors affect knowledge sharing.

The authors develop theoretical propositions and conduct an explorative pilot study on the basis of original interview data conducted with ten respondents in four Indian IT companies that have acquired firms abroad.

The authors find evidence for supporting the negative effect of in- and out-groups differentiation and the positive effect of interpersonal interaction on knowledge sharing among employees of the acquired and acquiring organisations. There was indicative, but less compelling, evidence for the negative influence of inter-group competition and the positive influence of perceived shared organisational identity on knowledge sharing. Different from the established view, the authors find that when Indian firms acquire firms abroad, they immediately initiate knowledge flows from the targets rather than going through a long period of integration prior to acquiring knowledge from the targets.

The paper contributes to the scholarly conversation on cognition and knowledge sharing and argues that firms that are located in developing economies and that acquire firms abroad behave in a way somewhat different from what Western literature postulates. This invites for further studies, both theoretical and empirical, to shed light on this phenomenon. The present paper is focused only on one country, India, and on a single industry, the IT industry. It is limited in its empirical part, mainly due to enormous difficulties in getting access to the field.

The study demonstrates how central individuals are to the process of knowledge sharing and the accomplishment of organisational objectives in a post-acquisition context. Managers should understand that the knowledge their employees possess is a strategic asset, and therefore how they use it is influential in attaining organisational goals in general, and acquisition integration objectives in particular. The creation of task- and project-related communities or groups can help in establishing a shared organisational identity, especially after the turbulent event of one company acquiring another one. The creation of communities or groups where socialisation is encouraged can lead to employees interacting with one another and developing a sense of belongingness with the community or group. Over time, this belongingness can translate into a shared organisational identity, which is beneficial for the organisation. The findings suggest that the creation of task- or project-oriented communities and groups is a powerful way to achieve that.

The contribution of the paper is fourfold. First, while macro orientation dominates literature on the growth of the Indian IT industry, this study is conducted at the individual level of analysis, by focusing on managers in acquiring Indian IT firms. Second, whereas studies that have examined cognition and knowledge sharing have done so mainly through social capital lenses, this paper focuses on factors that are based on the inherent tendency of human beings to categorise themselves and other individuals. Third, the paper examines the links between cognition and knowledge sharing in an exciting context, namely, post-acquisition integration. Finally, while research on both post-acquisition integration and knowledge sharing is biased towards a Western context, this study investigates knowledge sharing and post-acquisition integration in the context of a major non-Western emerging economy.

This research examines Indian service managers' perceptions on impact of convergent technologies on their work and resultant organisational performance. The research uses four dimensions – task productivity, task innovation, customer satisfaction and management control – taken together, to investigate the perceived impact of convergent technologies adoption in service organisations context and further examines the resultant organisational performance, based on these dimensions.

The study used partial least squares (PLS) approach to evaluate the measurement model and the structural model. The study was conducted in service industry firms that have made a significant progression towards adopting convergent technologies.

The results of the study demonstrated higher levels of perceived impact of adoption of convergent technologies on all the four dimensions (i.e. task productivity, task innovation, customer satisfaction and management control). The results of the study also indicate that all the impact dimensions positively influence organisational performance.

The results of the study suggest that all the impact dimensions positively influence organisation, therefore the service sector managers should be aware about the role of adopting latest convergent technologies so as to enhance the task productivity, innovation, customer satisfaction and management control in their job roles.

The practical implications of this research are derived on the basis of Future of Work, Labour Market Information Systems, Productivity, Enterprise Development, Enhancing skills of service employees and Employability themes.

To researchers best knowledge is to first study of its kind to evaluate the perceived impact of convergent technologies on organisational performance in Indian context.

The purpose of this paper is to present a literature review of humanitarian logistics (HL) that aims to identify trends and suggest some directions for future research.

This conceptual paper develops a research framework for literature review through qualitative and quantitative content analysis. First, previous literature reviews in HL are updated and detailed. Then, seven classification criteria are added to earlier ones in order to advance the literature analysis.

The conclusions identify some literature gaps and research opportunities. The main conclusions are the need for more studies into the disaster recovery phase and the need for closer relationships between academia and humanitarian organizations to increase the number of applied research.

The literature is limited to academic peer-reviewed journals because of their academic relevance, accessibility, and ease of searching.

Help potential researchers to set up a research agenda for future work.

Reinforce earlier calls to increase truly applied research and improve social impact of the field.

In total, 228 papers that were published in the HL area are reviewed, giving rise to the most extensive literature review in this area. New dimensions for literature review in HL are proposed, which give some new insights into potential research directions.

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise and develop a scale for measuring employees’ perception on the sustainability of service organisations. With several companies adopting sustainability initiatives, it is prudent to measure the sustainability performance of those companies. Given the multidisciplinary nature of the sustainability measures and its associated challenges, this paper attempts to develop a scale to measure employees’ perception of sustainability of an organisation.

A structured questionnaire was developed and 977 samples were collected based on snowball sampling method. For scale development, this study randomised 586 samples to conduct exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and used the remaining samples for validation using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

The existing literature on sustainability focusses on three dimensions, namely, economic, social and environmental sustainability measures. This paper explored the similarities of the three dimensions to serve as critical determinants for measuring employees’ perception of sustainability with the collected data from service industries. The EFA revealed that there were six factors for organisational sustainability with 26 questionnaire items. The six factors are as follows: environment management, employee-related sustainability, public related sustainability, financial sustainability, pollution control measures and governance sustainability. The identified factors were tested using CFA and the results are discussed.

This paper will be beneficial for the academicians in sustainability and the policy-makers as it provides a scale to measure employees’ perception on the sustainability of an organisation. This paper adds value to the research by providing a six-factor measurement model for organizational sustainability of selected service industries.

The paper is highly beneficial to the organisations to measure employees’ perception on sustainability and ascertain their position in supporting the holistic development of environment and society, thereby improving the goodwill and reputation of the organisation.

This paper provides insights about measuring employees’ perception on organizational sustainability. A six-factor measurement model has been proposed for organisational sustainability.

This study aims to discuss the state-of-the-art digital factory (DF) development combining digital twins (DTs), sensing devices, laser additive manufacturing (LAM) and subtractive manufacturing (SM) processes. The current shortcomings and outlook of the DF also have been highlighted. A DF is a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility that uses innovative technologies, including automation, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things, additive manufacturing (AM), SM, hybrid manufacturing (HM), sensors for real-time feedback and control, and a DT, to streamline and improve manufacturing operations.

This study presents a novel perspective on DF development using laser-based AM, SM, sensors and DTs. Recent developments in laser-based AM, SM, sensors and DTs have been compiled. This study has been developed using systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, discussing literature on the DTs for laser-based AM, particularly laser powder bed fusion and direct energy deposition, in-situ monitoring and control equipment, SM and HM. The principal goal of this study is to highlight the aspects of DF and its development using existing techniques.

A comprehensive literature review finds a substantial lack of complete techniques that incorporate cyber-physical systems, advanced data analytics, AI, standardized interoperability, human–machine cooperation and scalable adaptability. The suggested DF effectively fills this void by integrating cyber-physical system components, including DT, AM, SM and sensors into the manufacturing process. Using sophisticated data analytics and AI algorithms, the DF facilitates real-time data analysis, predictive maintenance, quality control and optimal resource allocation. In addition, the suggested DF ensures interoperability between diverse devices and systems by emphasizing standardized communication protocols and interfaces. The modular and adaptable architecture of the DF enables scalability and adaptation, allowing for rapid reaction to market conditions.

Based on the need of DF, this review presents a comprehensive approach to DF development using DTs, sensing devices, LAM and SM processes and provides current progress in this domain.