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Time reduction and quick geometrical changes of complex components and tools are currently the most important demands in product development. The manufacturing process presented in this paper is based on multiple additive and subtractive technologies such as laser cutting, laser welding, direct laser metal deposition and CNC milling. The process chain is similar to layer‐based Rapid Prototyping Techniques. In the first step, the 3D CAD geometry is sliced into layers by a specially developed software. These slices are cut by high speed laser cutting and then joined together. In this way laminated tools or parts are built. To improve surface quality and to increase wear resistance a CNC machining center is used. The system consists of a CNC milling machine, in which a 3 kW Nd:YAG laser, a coaxial powder nozzle and a digitizing system are integrated.

Laser materials processing system technology has become indispensible to the tool and die manufacturing industries and for repairing engines and turbines. The laser build‐up welding process especially is now a standard technology where cost efficient, precisely localized and near net shape repair welds are required. The concept of integrating the modular laser components into standard machine tools makes the technology easily accessible to the user and very efficiently combines build‐up welding and metal‐cutting processes.

Specially designed laser system technology is available as add‐on kits for different machine tools of the end‐users. They can choose from a large variety of laser sources, manufacturing heads, welding material supply as well as process control devices. User‐friendly software guides through the entire process chain. So, optimized laser systems for different cladding and build‐up applications can be installed easily and inexpensively in common turning and milling machines.

The laser integration into machine tools connects efficiently laser and mechanical finish operations. This way, repairs, rapid design changes, and direct manufacturing of parts are available with a high level of accuracy and in very short times. Additionally, exactly specified property profiles can be realized.

The laser application shown here represents a new technical solution of laser integration into machine tools, which offers an efficient complete machining. It allows to quickly switch between milling and laser processing, which simplifies the combination of both processes. The computer numerical controlled process control treats the laser head just like a milling tool. This shortens the machining time and expands the capability of the machine with respect to generating multiple shapes.

This study aims to present a solution-focused approach to current problems and criticisms faced by business schools.

To facilitate the required shift from problems to solutions, this study outlines a theory method and demonstrates how it has informed my teaching at Financial Times (FT)-ranked business schools and other institutions of higher education in two subjects and on three continents.

The study reports on two student exercises showing that even advanced business school students confuse organizations with political economic hierarchies.

The study concludes that business schools pursuing a smart specialization strategy by challenging this reductionist view may turn into new schools of management distinguished by a broader, multifunctional concept of themselves and their impact on their environment.

Vision, audition, olfactory, tactile and taste are five important senses that human uses to interact with the real world. As facing more and more complex environments, a sensing system is essential for intelligent robots with various types of sensors. To mimic human-like abilities, sensors similar to human perception capabilities are indispensable. However, most research only concentrated on analyzing literature on single-modal sensors and their robotics application.

This study presents a systematic review of five bioinspired senses, especially considering a brief introduction of multimodal sensing applications and predicting current trends and future directions of this field, which may have continuous enlightenments.

This review shows that bioinspired sensors can enable robots to better understand the environment, and multiple sensor combinations can support the robot’s ability to behave intelligently.

The review starts with a brief survey of the biological sensing mechanisms of the five senses, which are followed by their bioinspired electronic counterparts. Their applications in the robots are then reviewed as another emphasis, covering the main application scopes of localization and navigation, objection identification, dexterous manipulation, compliant interaction and so on. Finally, the trends, difficulties and challenges of this research were discussed to help guide future research on intelligent robot sensors.

Ongoing environmental threats have intensified the need for firms to take big leaps forward to operate in a manner that is both ecologically sustainable and socially responsible. This paper aims to assess the degree to which firms are adopting citizen science as a tool to achieve sustainability and social responsibility targets.

This study applies a qualitative content analysis approach to assess the current presence of citizen science in sustainability and social responsibility reports issued by Globescan sustainability leaders and by firms ranked by the Fortune 500 and Fortune Global 500.

While the term itself is mostly absent from reports, firms are reporting on a range of activities that could be classified as a form of “citizen science.”

Citizen science can help firms achieve their corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility goals and targets. Linking sustainability and social responsibility efforts to this existing framework can help triangulate corporate efforts to engage with stakeholders, collect data about the state of the environment and promote better stewardship of natural resources.

Supporting citizen science can help firms work toward meeting UN Sustainable Development Goals, which have highlighted the importance of collaborative efforts that can engage a broad range of stakeholders in the transition to more sustainable business models.

This paper is the first to examine citizen science in a corporate sustainability and social responsibility context. The findings present information to support improvements to the development of locally relevant science-based indicators; real-time monitoring of natural resources and supply chain sustainability; and participatory forums for stakeholders including suppliers, end users and the broader community.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of cantonal social policies and cultural settings (in Switzerland) on women’s and men’s employment behaviour. Special consideration is given to the transition to parenthood.

Based on data from the Swiss Labour Force Survey (SLFS) this paper conducts multilevel analyses to test individual and cantonal effects on the probability of employment and on working hours. To analyse the effect of parenthood, models for women and men with children under three are contrasted with models for women and men without children or with older children.

The paper documents the persistence of gender inequality in employment linked to parenthood. How the reconciliation of work and family life can be realised for women and men strongly depends on a set of policies and cultural conditions. Moreover, individual characteristics such as education or marriage are important predictors.

A shortcoming of this study is the focus on the individual employment use and not on household-level division of labour. This disadvantage is due to the design of the SLFS, which is (at present) the only available survey to allow regionalisation at the cantonal level. However, the paper adds important results to the debate about gender inequality and parenthood in Switzerland as previous research has focused only little on cantonal diversity.

The paper connects to previous cantonal comparative studies of female employment but extends their analyses in three important ways. By analysing cantonal differences in policies and culture this paper takes the diversity of framework conditions in Switzerland into account. Furthermore it simultaneously analyses male and female employment behaviour to get a better understanding of gender inequality and parenthood.

The purpose of this paper is to uncover the ways in which companies either reproduce or challenge the growth-based roots of the social imaginary, in order to inform the degrowth debate at the firm level.

This paper offers an epistemic analysis of the ways companies organise, revealing underlying conceptions of organisations' identities and their corresponding ways of organising.

The epistemic analysis derives four conceptual findings allowing the authors to suggest ways of organising in a socio-environmental future not driven by economic growth. The paper suggests new research avenues to study alternative worldviews in organisations.

This paper creatively contributes to the discussion about alternatives to the current unsustainable economy with a special focus on the micro level, where businesses act as a vital driving force for economic growth.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the current focus of supply chain management (SCM) research; it considers field level and societal constraints and consequently the potential for change. It details the underlying assumptions in the field, considering the dominant paradigms and stakeholders, and how this has shaped the research we have engaged in as a community of scholars.

This is a reflective inquiry that seeks to deconstruct the dominant discourses and paradigms in SCM. It offers alternative avenues of inquiry to “traditional” research, considering how different questions, perspectives and approaches might yield different learning for the field. offering alternative avenues to traditional research.

This is a call for collective action, for solidarity, for a re-imagining of what research in SCM could look like. Research activism is challenging and potentially risky but necessary for the research community to engage in, particularly in light of the global societal grand challenges. Change can take place in the SCM field through collective action and solidarity. Three levels of activism are explored here – acting to solve the grand challenges, acting to change the field and acting as individuals.

This is a “speak-out” piece, which embraces and encourages reflexivity, new methods of doing and writing research as well as different perspectives, and especially a consideration for context and multiple players in the supply chain. The authors contend that it is urgent to re-appropriate our own agency as SCM researchers.

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Considering the restricted and enclosed nature of prisons and closed environments and the prolonged and close contact between individuals, COVID-19 is more likely to have a higher incidence in these settings. This study aims to assess the prevalence of COVID-19 among prisoners.

Papers published in English from 2019 to July 7, 2023, were identified using relevant keywords such as prevalence, COVID-19 and prisoner in the following databases: PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus and Google Scholar. For the meta-analysis of the prevalence, Cochrane’s Q statistics were calculated. A random effect model was used due to the heterogeneity in COVID-19 prevalence across included studies in the meta-analysis. All analyses were performed in STATA-13.

The pooled data presented a COVID-19 prevalence of 20% [95%CI: 0.13, 0.26] and 24% [95%CI: 0.07, 0.41], respectively, in studies that used PCR and antibody tests. Furthermore, two study designs, cross-sectional and cohort, were used. The results of the meta-analysis showed studies with cross-sectional and cohort designs reported 20% [95%CI: 0.11, 0.29] and 25% [95%CI: 0.13, 0.38], respectively.

Through more meticulous planning, it is feasible to reduce the number of individuals in prison cells, thereby preventing the further spread of COVID-19.