Procedural Justice, Not Absorptive Capacity, Matters in Multinational Enterprise ICT Transfers

• This paper empirically tests the effectiveness of information and communications technology (ICT) knowledge transfer and adoption in the multinational enterprise (MNE) as an issue of critical importance to contemporary MNE functioning. In contrast to mainstream thinking on absorptive capacity, but in line with prevailing international business theory, our research supports the proposition that perceptions of procedural justice, rather than absorptive capacity, determine effectiveness, especially in cases of high tacit knowledge transfers.
• Data was collected from senior ICT representatives in 86 Canadian subsidiaries of foreign owned MNEs. Each of these subsidiaries recently experienced a significant ICT transfer imposed by the parent organization.
• Support was found for the main propositions: Procedural justice significantly predicted successful ICT transfer and adoption, while absorptive capacity was not significant. These findings are consistent even when knowledge tacitness was high.
• The perceived success of the ICT transfer as well as its adoption varied widely across these firms. The potential reasons for this divergence in effectiveness are manifold, but our findings suggest that in situations of substantial knowledge tacitness, a higher level of procedural justice, rather than a higher level of absorptive capacity, is critical to effective transfer and adoption.

     

A parametric study on the failure of bonded single-lap joints of carbon composite and aluminum

A parametric study on adhesively bonded carbon composite-to-aluminum single-lap joints was experimentally conducted. FM73m, a high strength adhesive produced by Cytec, was used for bonding. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the effects of various parameters, such as bonding pressure, overlap length, adherend thickness, and material type, on the failure load and failure mode of joints with dissimilar materials. While metal bonded joints generally fail at the adhesive, the final failure mode of all the tested bonded joints with dissimilar materials was delamination of the composite adherend. Bonding strengths of the tested joints were lower than the metal-to-metal bonded joint strength. The specimens bonded under pressure of 4 and 6 atm yielded higher failure loads than under pressure of 3 atm, which is within the range of the manufacturer-recommended bonding pressure. Failure loads of the joint increased slightly at an overlap length larger than 30 mm. Increasing adherend thickness resulted in an increase of the failure load, but was not linearly proportional to the failure load.     

Neural networks for adaptive control coordination of PSSs and FACTS devices in multimachine power system

The paper develops a new design procedure for online control coordination which leads to adaptive power system stabilisers (PSSs) and/or supplementary damping controllers of flexible ac transmission system (FACTS) devices for enhancing the stability of the electromechanical modes in a multimachine power system. The controller parameters are adaptive to the changes in system operating condition and/or configuration. Central to the design is the use of a neural network synthesised to give in its output layer the optimal controller parameters adaptive to system operating condition and configuration. A novel feature of the neural-adaptive controller is that of representing the system configuration by a reduced nodal impedance matrix which is input to the neural network. Only power network nodes with direct connections to generators and FACTS devices are retained in the reduced nodal impedance matrix. The system operating condition is represented in terms of the measured generator power loadings, which are also input to the neural network. For a representative power system, the neural network is trained and tested for a wide range of credible operating conditions and contingencies. Both eigenvalue calculations and time-domain simulations are used in the testing and verification of the dynamic performance of the neural-adaptive controller.     

X-ray diffraction line profile analysis of nanocrystalline graphite

The structure evolution to nanocrystalline graphite produced by ball milling in n-dodecane has been studied by Fourier analysis of broadened X-ray diffraction line profiles according to double-Voigt method. The Fourier analysis gave size and strain distributions of the coherently diffracting domains (X-ray crystallite size) and root-mean-square-strain (rmss) and their average values. The precursor graphite was defined by average crystal sizes of about hundreds of nanometers, measured along the in-plane and out-of-plane directions, and low rmss value of 0.38 × 10⁻³. During milling, the average crystallite sizes of graphite decreased to about 6 and 43 nm along the out-of-plane and in-plane directions, respectively. Correspondingly, the rmss of milled graphite increased to 6.54 × 10⁻³. Analysis of the out-of-plane to in-plane crystallite size ratios showed that the crystallites became progressively thinner and flatter. A linear relationship between rmss and reciprocal crystallite size along the stacking axis revealed that size of disordered boundary regions gradually increased at the expense of ordered crystalline regions. A model describing crystalline–nanocrystalline transformation of graphite along different crystallographic axis was formulated and used to discuss the experimental data. It was concluded that a distortion-controlled process is responsible for the crystalline–nanocrystalline transformation of graphite milled in n-dodecane.     

A new route of emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization for the preparation of polymer coated magnetite nanoparticles

A new route of emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization based on the homogenous mechanism was investigated to prepare magnetic nanoparticles coated by poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). The experimental results confirm the formation of PMMA thin and unique layers covering magnetite cores. The polymer layer thickness, determined from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images, increases from 4.3 nm to 6.8 nm with increasing mass ratio of MMA to magnetite from 3:1 to 11:1. The increase of the polymer thickness results in the decrease in magnetization saturation of polymeric coated magnetic particles. However, this reduction, no more than 13 emu g^?1, is much lower compared to that in other studies with the presence of surfactants or emulsifiers. Besides, the dispersion stability of the prepared particles is significantly improved.     

Optical Measurements of SuperSpec: A Millimeter-Wave On-Chip Spectrometer

SuperSpec is a novel on-chip spectrometer we are developing for (sub)millimeter wavelength astronomy. Our approach utilizes a filterbank of moderate resolution ( \(R \sim 500{)}\) channels, coupled to lumped element kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs), all integrated onto a single silicon chip. The channels are half-wave resonators formed by lithographically depositing segments of superconducting transmission line, and the KIDs are titanium nitride resonators. Here we present optical measurements of a first generation prototype, operating in the 180–280 GHz frequency range. We have used a coherent source to measure the spectral profiles of 17 channels, which achieve linewidths corresponding to quality factors as high as \(Q_\mathrm {filt} = 700{,}\) consistent with the designed values plus additional dissipation characterized by \(Q_i \approx 1440{.}\) We have also used a Fourier Transform Spectrometer to characterize the spectral purity of all 72 channels on the chip, and measure typical out of band responses \({\sim }30\) dB below the peak response.     

Synthesis fluorescent magnetic nanoparticles in a microchannel using the La Mer process and the characterization of their properties

This study presents a stable and controllable synthesis of fluorescent magnetic nanoparticles in a flow-through microchannel for the bimodal use of magnetic activated cells sorting and fluorescence-activated cell sorters. The La Mer process is carried out to synthesize magnetic nanoparticles using co-precipitation. Then, the magnetic nanoparticles are coated with conjugation of chitosan and fluorescent isothiocyanate with two different concentrations. The chemical composition of the magnetic nanoparticles is determined by comparing the standard X-ray diffraction peaks of Fe₃O₄, and their sizes are also examined by using field emission scanning electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering measurement. The magnetic property of saturation magnetization and coercive field is characterized in a vibrating sample magnetometer. Also, the possibility of external manipulation in the synthesis of the magnetic particles is demonstrated by separating the synthesized fluorescent magnetic nanoparticles into a non-reacting lamination flow. Finally, their fluorescence property is determined by measuring the fluorescence adsorption spectra and the photoluminescence emission spectra in UV–Vis spectroscopy.     

Effect of bias voltage on the electrochemical properties of TiN coating for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

The electrochemical properties of TiN film coated on AISI 316 stainless steel (SS) by the magnetron sputtering physical vapor deposition (PVD) were studied for application as a bipolar plate. The crystal structure and surface morphology of the coatings were examined by x-ray diffractometry (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. The corrosion behaviors of the TiN films were investigated by electrochemical methods, including potentiodynamic polarization test and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) under + 600 mV_SCE application. The electrochemical behavior of the TiN coatings was enhanced with increasing bias voltage due to lower corrosion current density and higher R_ct values during an immersion time of 168 h. This result was attributed to the formation of crystalline-refined TiN(200) at high bias voltage, which increased the coating compactness and the protective efficiency, and decreased passive current density.     

A generic approach to constitutive modelling of composite delamination under mixed-mode loading conditions

A generic approach to constitutive modelling of composite delamination under mixed mode loading conditions is developed. The proposed approach is thermodynamically consistent and takes into account two major dissipative mechanisms in composite delamination: debonding (creation of new surfaces) and plastic/frictional deformation (plastic deformation of resin and/or friction between crack surfaces). The coupling between these two mechanisms, experimentally observed at the macro scales through the stiffness reduction and permanent crack openings, is usually not considered in depth in many cohesive models in the literature. All model parameters are shown to be identifiable and measurable from experiments. The model prediction of mixed-mode delamination is in good agreement with benchmarked mixed-mode bending experiments. It is further shown that accounting for all major dissipative mechanisms in the modelling of delamination is the key to the accurate prediction of both resistance and damage of the interface.     

Effects of the local environment on CNT-based nanoelectronics: development of a microenvironment probe station

In this study, we report the development of a microenvironment probe station capable of detecting the effect of small changes to the local environment around a carbon nanotube conduction channel. The microenvironment probe station is highly versatile and is used to characterize alterations in carbon nanotube field effect transistor electrical behavior in response to changes in temperature, gas species, infrared and ultraviolet light. All devices were electrically characterized in atmospheric, ultrahigh vacuum and oxygen-rich environments. The results suggest that devices could be changed from n-type at 1 x 10(-8) torr through an intermediate ambipolar state at 1 x 10(-4) torr to p-type at atmosphere solely by increasing the oxygen concentration. The average resistance of these carbon nanotube field effect transistors after annealing was observed to decrease by approximately 54% from their initial value under ultrahigh vacuum to their final value in the presence of pure oxygen while corresponding threshold voltages shifts were also observed. Illumination with infrared light resulted in a approximately 10% increase in drain current with an estimated response time <1 fs due to photon-induced electron-hole pair generation. Illumination with ultraviolet light resulted in approximately 5-15% reduction in drain current due to photon-induced desorption of oxygen adsorbate.