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This chapter presents a study on the work of commercial diplomats as international business promoters at foreign posts. Research has largely overlooked the actual roles and activities of commercial diplomats in explaining the effectiveness of commercial diplomacy and international business support. In this study, it is assumed that commercial diplomats’ behavior is influenced by informal institutions. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 23 commercial diplomats at foreign posts from different countries were conducted and analyzed. The results show three different types of role behavior and differences in proactivity per type. Informal institutions such as background, skills, and experience, cultural differences, and the working environment suggest to explain the differences in levels of proactive international business support behavior of commercial diplomats. Further research is needed to assert these findings.

The aim of this paper is to study how network relationships are used in the internationalization and innovation of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the software industry. The paper seeks to use the extant literature to develop a matrix consisting of incremental internationalization and innovation and radical internationalization and innovation.

The paper is based on an in‐depth qualitative study of ten software firms in New Zealand. The unit of analysis is the firm. Multiple sources of data collection are used, but the main method of data collection is semi‐structured interviews.

The ten firms in the study fall into four distinct groups, depending on the type of internationalization and the type of innovation, and each group has particular types of network relationships. Firms with limited network relationships have incremental internationalization and innovation, but those with diverse network relationships have radical internationalization and innovation. The findings indicate that network relationships are influential in shaping the firm's future as well as sustaining the firm.

The matrix developed could assist managers to identify where they appear and what relationships they need to form in order to internationalize their innovation. Managers need to be aware of the changing dynamics of network relationships, and the impact this will have on the firm.

The paper identifies a gap in current SME research that combines the following three research streams: internationalization, innovation, and networks. The original contribution of the paper is to address this gap so that researchers and practitioners have some understanding of innovation and internationalization of SMEs in the context of networks.

This study aims to form composite solid lubricant coatings on the surface of bearing steel, which can significantly improve the tribological properties of thrust cylindrical roller bearings (TCRBs). Phosphating films possess microscopic porosity that typically needs to be sealed with oil, grease or wax. Due to its unique crystal structure, the phosphating film itself also exhibits a certain degree of lubricity. In this study, solid lubricants are used to fill the pores of the phosphating film. By combining the phosphating film with solid lubricants, lubrication and wear reduction can be achieved.

In this study, the surfaces of the shaft washer (WS) and seat washer (GS) were treated with zinc-phosphating. Subsequently, a solid lubricant solution (polytetrafluoroethylene [PTFE], MoS₂ and graphite) was sprayed onto the phosphated samples at concentrations of 1 , 2  and 3 g/L. The porous and adsorptive nature of the phosphating film was used to embed the solid lubricant particles into the film, thus forming a composite lubrication layer containing solid lubricants on the surface of the bearing steel.

The addition of solid lubricant materials has shown significant potential in reducing wear losses compared with phosphated samples without such additives. Increasing the amount of solid lubricant added can facilitate the formation of a transfer film, which further enhances the protective properties. However, it is important to note that excessive amounts of solid lubricant material can contribute to seizure, leading to increased wear losses of the cage and a higher average coefficient of friction (ACOF).By spraying a PTFE solution with a concentration of 2 g/L, the lowest ACOF and cage wear loss were achieved, resulting in reductions of 60.5% for the ACOF and 89.4% for the cage wear loss. Similarly, when spraying a graphite solution with a concentration of 3 g/L, the lowest wear losses for GS and WS were observed, with reductions of 51.7% for GS wear loss and 38.9% for WS wear loss.

The combination of the phosphating film and solid lubricants aims to achieve lubrication and wear reduction, providing a new approach to wear-resistant technology for TCRBs.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-07-2023-0231/

This study aims to investigate the effect of compound pit textures on the tribological properties of thrust cylindrical roller bearings (TCRBs) using several parameters, such as compound type, pit diameter, pit depth and pit area density.

The surface texture parameters of the shaft washer (WS) raceway include pit diameter (D; 100, 300 and 500 µm), pit depth (H; 10 and 20 µm) and pit area density (S; 10%, 13% and 18%). Pits were produced on the WS of the TCRBs using laser marking equipment. The friction and wear performances of compound pit-textured TCRBs under starved lubrication conditions are studied using a friction and wear test rig. The influence mechanisms of the compound pit texture on the friction and wear properties of TCRBs are discussed through real tests and discussions.

Compared with nontextured bearings, the average coefficient of friction (ACOFs) and wear loss of TCRBs with single/compound pit textures are reduced when rotating under starved lubrication. D has the greatest effect on the COFs curve. When D = 300 µm, H = 10 µm and S = 10%, the ACOF and wear loss are the lowest, that is, 0.0207 and 3.38 mg, respectively. Under the same lubrication conditions, compared with the nontextured bearing group, the COF and wear loss are reduced by 41.4 and 59.6%, respectively.

This study provides a useful reference for the raceways of textured TCRBs.

This research aims to explore the research data ethics governance framework and collaborative network to optimize research data ethics governance practices, to balance the relationship between data development and utilization, open sharing, data security and to reduce the ethical risks that may arise from data sharing and utilization.

This study explores the framework and collaborative network of research data ethics policies by using the UK as an example. 78 policies from the UK government, university, research institution, funding agency, publisher, database, library and third-party organization are obtained. Adopting grounded theory (GT) and social network analysis (SNA), Nvivo12 is used to analyze these samples and summarize the research data ethics governance framework. Ucinet and Netdraw are used to reveal collaborative networks in policy.

Results indicate that the framework covers governance context, subject and measure. The content of governance context contains context description and data ethics issues analysis. Governance subject consists of defining subjects and facilitating their collaboration. Governance measure includes governance guidance and ethics governance initiatives in the data lifecycle. The collaborative network indicates that research institution plays a central role in ethics governance. The core of the governance content are ethics governance initiatives, governance guidance and governance context description.

This research provides new insights for policy analysis by combining GT and SNA methods. Research data ethics and its governance are conceptualized to complete data governance and research ethics theory.

A research data ethics governance framework and collaborative network are revealed, and actionable guidance for addressing essential aspects of research data ethics and multiple subjects to confer their functions in collaborative governance is provided.

This study analyzes policy text using qualitative and quantitative methods, ensuring fine-grained content profiling and improving policy research. A typical research data ethics governance framework is revealed. Various stakeholders' roles and priorities in collaborative governance are explored. These contribute to improving governance policies and governance levels in both theory and practice.

The purpose of this paper is to reveal the friction and wear performance of grooves textured cylindrical roller thrust bearings with different groove dimensions under starved lubrication.

The groove dimensions include: width of grooves (WOG, 50 µm, 100 µm and 150 µm), depth of grooves (DPOG, 7 µm, 11 µm and 15 µm) as well as groove deflection angle (GDA, 45°). A fiber laser marking system was used to prepare groove patterns on the raceways of shaft washers. The friction and wear properties of grooves textured bearings were researched through a vertical universal wear test rig using a customized roller bearing tribo-pair under starved lubrication. Static finite element analyses were conducted to reveal their surface stresses. Through the comprehensive comparison and analyses, the influence mechanism of grooves on the tribological behavior of cylindrical roller thrust bearings was proposed and discussed.

When grooves textured bearings run under starved lubrication, their average coefficients of friction (COFs) and wear losses are all significantly reduced and much lower than those of smooth group. The influence of DPOG on the COF curves is significant, while the influence of WOG on the COF curves is a little weak. The influence of groove dimensions on the surface stresses of grooves textured bearings is weak, whether the WOG or DPOG. In this work, when the WOG is 100 µm and the DPOG is 15 µm, its average COF and wear loss are both the lowest, 0.0066 and 0.61 mg, respectively. Compared with the data of smooth group, its friction coefficient is reduced by 75.3% and its mass loss is reduced by 95.8%, showing a significant improvement in this condition.

This work can provide a valuable reference for the raceway design and reliability optimization of rolling element bearings.

The purpose of this paper is to report the tribological behavior of dimples textured rolling element bearings (REBs) under variable load and starved lubrication.

The pattern parameters include line-diameter of dimples (200 µm, 250 µm, 300 µm), depth of dimples (10 µm, 20 µm, 30 µm). Dimple patterns were prepared on the raceways of the shaft washers of cylindrical roller thrust bearings (CRTBs). A vertical wear test rig was used to obtain their coefficients of friction (COFs) under stepped load (1200–6000 N, with a manually increase of 1200 N every 3600 s) and starved lubrication. The wear losses and worn surfaces were characterized. The tribological performance between stepped load and fixed load (4000 N) was compared. The influence mechanism of dimples on the friction and wear properties of CRTBs under stepped load and starved lubrication was also discussed.

Compared with the data of smooth ones, the average COFs of the dimples textured bearings are almost all reduced under stepped load and starved lubrication, while their mass losses almost all get higher. The depth−diameter ratio and the effective volume coefficient of dimples are the important factors. In this work, compared with the smooth group, when the line-diameter of dimple is 250 µm and the depth is 20 µm, i.e. the depth−diameter ratio is 0.08, its average COF is reduced by 46.8% and its mass loss is reduced by about 7%, showing wonderful friction-reducing effect and good wear resistance.

This work can provide a reference for the raceway design of REBs.

This study aims to investigate what the crucial elements are when it comes to using a mascot to brand a destination. This study applies the proposed framework of “mascot usage for destination branding” to two mascot cases, namely, Kumamon and Sukjai. In particular, the Kumamon mascot is first investigated, looking at how it is used to promote Kumamoto, one of the key cities in Kyushu, Japan. Sukjai, another mascot, is then analysed in a similar light. The dominant factors that lead to the success of Kumamon mascot are analysed on the case of Sukjai mascot. The disparity between the two mascot cases allows for a better understanding of the dimensions and practices or lack thereof, that can occur in mascot creation and implementation.

A qualitative methodology is applied, and thematic and content analyses are applied to the three data sources, namely, secondary data collection from different data sources in the English and Japanese languages; researcher onsite observation in Kumamoto; and an in-depth interview with purposive sampling experts.

The findings indicate that according to the proposed framework, Kumamon has shown all three elements of the framework, namely, promoting destination identity and personality, creating differentiation for the location and having strong stakeholder involvement. On the other hand, these elements were found not to be as strong in the Sukjai case. The findings from the case comparison determine several underlining factors, including the national culture, which can help or hinder in laying the groundwork for the successful application of a mascot in destination branding.

This study complements the previous literature on mascot branding and elaborates on the framework of mascot usage for destination branding based on a combination of the three proposed elements.

Describes a method of using WordPerfect to produce book and spine labels that are identical except for volume number. Examines programs to define label format, creating macro files for printing, and printing labels using macros.

The purpose of this paper is to present a new constrained optimization algorithm based on a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm approach.

This paper introduces a hybrid approach based on a modified ring neighborhood with two new perturbation operators designed to keep diversity. A constraint handling technique based on feasibility and sum of constraints violation is adopted. Also, a special technique to handle equality constraints is proposed.

The paper shows that it is possible to improve PSO and keeping the advantages of its social interaction through a simple idea: perturbing the PSO memory.

The proposed algorithm shows a competitive performance against the state‐of‐the‐art constrained optimization algorithms.

The proposed algorithm can be used to solve single objective problems with linear or non‐linear functions, and subject to both equality and inequality constraints which can be linear and non‐linear. In this paper, it is applied to various engineering design problems, and for the solution of state‐of‐the‐art benchmark problems.

A new neighborhood structure for PSO algorithm is presented. Two perturbation operators to improve PSO algorithm are proposed. A special technique to handle equality constraints is proposed.