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To identify, conceptualize, and analyze a newly emerging form of consumer-initiated, brand-altering activity that we term “brand remixing.”

A content analysis of 92 remixes of the Nokia Lumia 820 smartphone case.

We find that nearly 40% of the remixed versions of Nokia’s case retained at least one element of its standard template. The remixed cases contained considerable congruency with the design elements in the standard template, a high degree of personalization, and no negative brand imagery.

Our research is the one of the first examinations of the role of 3D printing upon marketing activities. It has important implications for marketing scholarship by showing that 3D printing empowers consumers to physically alter the brands they consume. Our research also suggests that practitioners interested in using this technology to develop and enhance their brands should accept the notion that firms are no longer fully in control of their brand assets. Hence, we believe that brand managers should develop co-creation platforms that allow customers to easily modify, remix, and share various aspects of their brands with their peers.

We identify and label an important emerging branding practice (i.e., brand remixing). This practice has the potential to dramatically alter the branding landscape.

This paper examines social loafing (SL) in Mexican workers, introducing relationship meaningfulness (RM) and revisiting the impact of expectation on co-workers (ECW) and task meaningfulness (TM) on SL.

This research study used 697 questionnaires reporting results on descriptive statistics, correlations and the analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Results indicated that ECW, RM and SL are negatively related and there is no significant relationship between TM and SL for the Mexican sample.

This paper links three relevant fields: SL, work meaningfulness (WM) and Latin American management and expands workplace theories of effort by adding RM and demonstrating this negatively relates to SL. Also, by showing RM may be more relevant than TM on reducing SL in Mexican workers.

This paper assists in the control for conditions that can cause SL and helps to devise interventions that motivate Mexican workers.

Novelty resides in the inclusion of RM as a new variable in SL studies. Also, in showing how RM fits better than TM as means to motivate Mexican workers, connecting with WM. Finally, proving relevance of examining co-workers and not only supervisors' evaluations.

Este artículo examina la holgazanería social (HS) en trabajadores mexicanos, introduciendo el significado de la relación (SR) y revisitando el impacto de las expectativas en los compañeros de trabajo (ECT) y el significado de la tarea (ST) en la HS.

Esta investigación usa 697 cuestionarios reportando resultados de estadística descriptiva, correlaciones y ANOVAs.

Los resultados sugieren que ECT, SR y HS están negativamente relacionados y no existe relación significativa entre ST y HS en los trabajadores mexicanos.

Este artículo conecta tres importantes campos del conocimiento: HS, aquello que es significativo del trabajo (STb) y Gestión en Latinoamérica y expande las teorías de esfuerzo en el lugar de trabajo demostrando que las relaciones interpersonales están asociadas a la holgazanería social. También, mostrando que SR puede ser más relevante para reducir HS que ST en trabajadores mexicanos.

Este artículo apoya en el control de condiciones que causan la holgazanería social y ayuda a diseñar intervenciones que puedan motivar mejor a los trabajadores mexicanos.

La originalidad radica en la inclusión de SR como nueva variable en estudios de HS. También, al mostrar como SR encaja mejor que ST como medio de motivación de trabajadores mexicanos, vinculándolo con STb. Finalmente, prueba la importancia de examinar las evaluaciones de los compañeros y no sólo de supervisores.

The purpose of this paper is to present a step‐by‐step methodology for the design of parallel kinematic machines (PKMs), from the initial stages of the conceptual definition of a new machine to an optimum design fulfilling the complete set of design requirements.

The methodology includes consideration of the kinematic, static and dynamic features required for the manipulator, which must all be assessed in complete industrial design. It is applied to a 4‐degrees‐of‐freedom (DOF) Schönflies motion generator for pick & place operations by way of example.

The authors specify the key stages of a detailed design procedure for parallel manipulators.

There are many publications on the development of specific robots and parallel manipulators based on their particular characteristics. However, it is relatively rare to find a paper on the general procedure with a step‐by‐step methodology applicable to any parallel manipulator.

Purpose: This chapter analyzes the policies of immigration control implemented in Mexico in 2014 to deter the migration of Central Americans to the United States, and their impact on Central American youth migrants.

Methods: This chapter draws from three pools of data: (1) participant observation and interviews conducted with minor migrants in Mexico from 2015 to 2019; (2) Mexican and US government data on detentions and deportations of Central American minor migrants; and (3) publicly available information on Mexican and Guatemalan government programs and media campaigns targeted at addressing the migration of Central American minor migrants.

Findings: This chapter posits that the policies of migrant detention and deportation implemented in Mexico in 2014 turned the entire country into a borderland for Central Americans. These policies expanded the areas of migrant surveillance, detention, and deportation beyond Mexico’s traditional border regions, which, in turn, made youth migrants’ journeys through Mexico more precarious and prone to violence.

Research implications: This chapter examines the impact of immigration and border control policies implemented in Mexico and anti-immigration propaganda on Central American youth, and it demonstrates how Mexico has been converted into an expanded US border territory in an attempt to prevent migrants from reaching the United States’ physical borderland.

Value: This chapter analyzes the impact of US-led detention and deportation policies aimed at Central American migrants throughout Mexico, rather than just in the traditional border regions. These relatively novel policies are at the forefront of immigration control and warrant special attention.

The purpose of this paper is to present systematic optimal design procedures for the Gough-Stewart platforms used as engineering motion simulators.

Three systematic optimal design procedures are proposed to solve the engineering design problems for the Gough-Stewart platform used as motion simulators. In these systematic optimal design procedures, two contradicting design optimality criteria with good representations of performances of the Gough-Stewart platforms are chosen as the objective functions. In addition, the two objective function optimization problems are solved by using the multi-objective evolutionary algorithms.

In the systematic optimal design procedures, multiple compromised design solutions are found by using Elitist Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm version II in the primary design stage, and many candidates can be used in the secondary design stage for higher decisions. Two higher decision methods have been presented to choose the final solutions.

This paper proposes three systematic optimal design procedures to solve the practical design problems of the Gough-Stewart platforms used as motion simulators, which are very important for the engineering designers.

The purpose of this study is to improve the control performance of wind energy conversion systems (WECSs) by proposing a new sensorless, robust control strategy based on a Smith predictor active disturbance rejection control (SP-ADRC) associated with a speed/position estimator.

The estimator consists of a sliding mode observer (SMO) in combination with a phase-locked loop (PLL) to estimate the permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) rotor position and speed. At the same time, the SP-ADRC is applied to the speed control loop of the variable-speed WECS control system to adapt strongly to dynamic characteristics under parameter uncertainties and disturbances.

Numerical simulations are conducted to evaluate the speed tracking performances under various wind speed profiles. The results show that the proposed sensorless speed control improves the accuracy of rotor speed and position estimation and provides better power tracking performance than a regular ADRC controller under fast wind speed variations.

This paper offers a new approach for designing sensorless, robust control for PMSG-based WECSs.

A new sensorless, robust control is proposed to improve the stability and tracking performance of PMSG-based WECSs. The SP-ADRC control attenuates the effects of parameter uncertainties and disturbances and eliminates the time-delay impact. The sensorless control design based on SMO and PLL improves the accuracy of rotor speed estimation and reduces the chattering problem of traditional SMO. The obtained results support the theoretical findings.

This paper aims to present an evolutionary algorithm (EA) to accelerate the convergence for the radiative transfer equation (RTE) numerical solution using high-order and high-resolution schemes by the relaxation coefficients optimization.

The objective function minimizes the residual value difference between iterations in each control volume until its difference is lower than the convergence criterion. The EA approach is evaluated in two configurations, a two-dimensional cavity with scattering media and absorbing media.

Experimental results show the capacity to obtain the numerical solution for both cases on all interpolation schemes tested by the EA approach. The EA approach reduces CPU time for the RTE numerical solution using SUPERBEE, SWEBY and MUSCL schemes until 97% and 135% in scattering and absorbing media cases, respectively. The relaxation coefficients optimized every two numerical solution iterations achieve a significant reduction of the CPU time compared to the deferred correction procedure with fixed relaxation coefficients.

The proposed EA approach for the RTE numerical solution effectively reduces the CPU time compared to the DC procedure with fixed relaxation coefficients.

The purpose of this paper is to present a novel application for a newly developed Technical Vision System (TVS), which uses a laser scanner and dynamic triangulation, to determine the vitality of agriculture vegetation. This vision system, installed on an unmanned aerial vehicle, shall measure the reflected laser energy and thereby determine the normalized differenced vegetation index.

The newly developed TVS shall be installed on the front part of the unmanned aerial vehicle, to perform line-by-line scan in the vision system field-of-view. The TVS uses high-quality DC motors, instead of previously researched low-quality DC motors, to eliminate the existence of two mutually exclusive conditions, for exact positioning of a DC motor shaft. The use of high-quality DC motors reduces the positioning error after control.

Present paper emphasizes the exact laser beam positioning in the field-of-view of a TVS. By use of high-quality instead of low-quality DC motors, a significant reduced positioning time was achieved, maintaining the relative angular position error less than 1 per cent. Best results were achieved, by realizing a quasi-continuous control, using a high pulse-width modulated duty cycle resolution and a high execution frequency of the positioning algorithm.

The originality of present paper is represented by the novel application of the newly developed TVS in the field of agriculture. The vitality of vegetation shall be determined by measuring the reflected laser energy of a scanned agriculture zone. The paper’s main focus is on the exact laser beam positioning within the TVS field-of-view, using high-quality DC motors in closed-loop position control configuration.

This paper deals with the process followed to select investment projects within the construction industry with emphasis on the characteristics of infrastructure projects in developing countries. It presents an overview of the current practices in the main areas concerned with the process, namely project evaluation and decision‐making. The research carried out shows a process with a narrow scope and a lack of integration between the different techniques. The methodology described in this paper is developed to overcome such diffi culties and reduce some of the uncertainty that surrounds the selection of engineering projects. The proposed methodology has been tested and validated and results of the testing have been discussed and conclusions are drawn.

This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the cross-disciplinary literature on the drivers, barriers and performance outcomes of sustainable packaging to understand the current state of research in this field and identify research opportunities.

A systematic review is conducted within no time limit. The Methodi Ordinatio methodology was applied that resulted in retaining 48 relevant and high impact articles published in 26 academic journals with various scopes.

Seven key drivers are identified and defined: the integrative and collaborative supply chain, environmental capabilities and resources, market-based instruments, cost reduction, consumer pressure, competitive advantage, and regulatory pressure. Three main barriers are identified and defined: cost/benefit ambiguity, additional costs and complex trade-offs between packaging requirements. The review shows that the drivers and barriers to packaging sustainability are contingent on the firm size. Sustainable packaging positively affects the environmental, social and economic performance; however, its operational performance requires a proactive and integrated supply chain. The results highlight the importance of integrated packaging decisions at three different levels to improve packaging sustainability: vertical and horizontal integration, upstream and downstream integration, and product-packaging integration. The authors developed research propositions and provided insightful directions for future research.

Most studies focus on specific drivers, barriers and outcomes of sustainable packaging, while this paper brings them together to build a comprehensive framework. The latter provides a deeper understanding of the factors that incentivize or deter firms from pursuing sustainable packaging and its performance outcomes.