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The purpose of this study is to improve communication success through barrier identification and analysis so that the identified barriers can help project teams establish effective information-exchange strategies.

The recent publications on construction communication about time management are reviewed. Then, the semi-structured interviews are performed with both questionnaires and audio recordings (n1 = 18). Next, the collected data are analyzed using both statistical measures on the questionnaire survey and qualitative coding analysis on the text transcripts from an audio recording. Particularly, the identified barriers are substantiated using a scientometrics approach based on the published articles (2011–2020, n2 = 52,915) for purposeful information-sharing solutions in construction time management. Furthermore, the intervention strategies from the top 10 most-cited articles are analyzed and validated by comparisons with the results from construction surveys and relevant studies.

Based on the discussed communication difficulties, five main barriers were identified during time-cost risk management: probability and statistical concepts, availability of data from external resources, details of team member experiences, graphics (and graphical presentation skills), and spatial and temporal (a.k.a. 4D) simulation skills. For the improvement of communication skills and presentation quality regarding probability and statistical concepts, project teams should emphasize context awareness, case studies and group discussions. Details of communication techniques can be adjusted based on the backgrounds, experiences and expectations of team members.

The dataset n1 has both size and duration limits because of the availability of the invited industry professionals. The dataset n2 considers the literature from 2011 to 2020. Any before-the-date and unpublished studies are not included in the study.

A thorough comprehension of communication barriers can help project teams develop speaking, writing and analytical thinking skills that will enable the teams to better deliver ideas, thoughts and meanings. Additionally, the established discussion on barrier-removal strategies may enhance time management effectiveness, reduce project delays, avoid confusion and misunderstanding and save rework costs.

This research calls for the awareness of communication barriers in construction project execution and team collaboration. The identified barriers and the established solutions enrich the approaches of construction companies to share information with communities and society.

This is the first identification model for communication barriers in the time management of the construction industry to the authors' knowledge. The influencing factors and the countermeasures of communication difficulties highlighted by the research were not examined systematically and holistically in previous studies. The findings provide a new approach to facilitate the development of powerful communication strategies and to improve project execution.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of executive compensation on the propensity to manage earnings. In particular, the authors examine an executive contractual clause known as a golden parachute (hereafter GP is interchangeably used). Usually, the triggering of a GP occurs for the following reasons: in a takeover, in termination of employment, and if the executive remains with the company through a recessionary cycle. Specifically, the authors ask the following questions: for firms that their CEO have a GP, do these firms manage earnings more? Does the age of the CEO matter for firms that have adopted a GP concerning the managing earnings?

The sample is based on a review of the literature on GPs and managed earnings. the authors’ data come from COMPUSTAT, CRSP, EXECUCOMP and Risk Metrics, and consist of 1,184 US firms from 1992 to 2011. A GP is binary, whereas the authors represent managed earnings through accruals and real activity.

The authors find that the propensity to manage earnings varies on the type of methods strategically used. However, controlling for the effect of SOX reveals that GP firms are more likely to manage earnings. Younger CEOs are less likely to exacerbate earnings upward.

The authors are limited to small sample based on when the data were collected.

The evidence shows that GP alleviates CEOs’ concerns on short-term profits. However, it entrenches CEOs. Particularly, CEOs with a GP are more likely to exacerbate earnings. Thus, there is a need for compensation committees to give considerable attention to how GPs are assigned.

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that explores the effect of a GP on a firm’s propensity to manage earnings.

The impact of network centrality on innovation performance is inconclusive. The purpose of this paper is to examine how formal and informal institutions affect the influence of network centrality on firms’ innovation performance in emerging economies by integrating social network theory and institutional theory.

Multisource and lagged data from 234 technology-based entrepreneurial firms listed on the Chinese Growth Enterprise Market were leveraged to test a proposed research model.

Results suggest that formal institutions (marketization) positively moderate the relationship between network centrality and innovation performance, whereas informal institutions (social cohesion) negatively moderate this relationship. Moreover, formal and informal institutions have a strong joint impact on such relationship, that is, the effect of network centrality on innovation performance is most positive when marketization is high and social cohesion is low.

This empirical research provides new insights into whether and how firms can grasp the innovation benefits of network centrality by exploring institutional contingencies. It further sheds on light the scope of the network centrality–innovation issue by extending its research context to Chinese entrepreneurial firms.

Here, we examine the challenges to democratization in Bahrain, with a particular focus on how the recent 2011 Uprising has resulted in a deepening of authoritarianism. It is argued that the recent unrest has brought into sharp relief the absence of “quality” democracy in Bahrain, and that any form of democratic transition is dependent on the will of a conservative Al Khalifa-Saudi nexus. While the pro-democracy movement may have prompted minor concessions on the part of the government, the extent of the popular mobilization triggered the Al Khalifa regime’s authoritarian reflex, and they have reacted to throttle the Uprising by putting in place legislative, ideological, and political barriers to reform, which points not only to a current de-democratization, but also a lack of future democratization. In addition to arguing for the post-2011 undoing of democracy in Bahrain, this paper also points to two major barriers to future democratization; (1) a conservative, post-Independence Al Khalifa-Saudi coalition assisted by large military resources (2) protracted communal tension brought about by the government’s instrumentalization of sectarianism.

Gives a bibliographical review of the finite element methods (FEMs) applied for the linear and nonlinear, static and dynamic analyses of basic structural elements from the theoretical as well as practical points of view. The range of applications of FEMs in this area is wide and cannot be presented in a single paper; therefore aims to give the reader an encyclopaedic view on the subject. The bibliography at the end of the paper contains 2,025 references to papers, conference proceedings and theses/dissertations dealing with the analysis of beams, columns, rods, bars, cables, discs, blades, shafts, membranes, plates and shells that were published in 1992‐1995.

Contact detection for convex polygons/polyhedra has been a critical issue in discrete/discontinuous modelling, such as the discrete element method (DEM) and the discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA). The recently developed 3D contact theory for polyhedra in DDA depends on the so-called entrance block of two polyhedra and reduces the contact to evaluate the distance between the reference point to the corresponding entrance block, but effective implementation is still lacking.

In this paper, the equivalence of the entrance block and the Minkowski difference of two polyhedra is emphasised and two well-known Minkowski difference-based contact detection and overlap computation algorithms, GJK and expanding polytope algorithm (EPA), are chosen as the possible numerical approaches to the 3D contact theory for DDA, and also as alternatives for computing polyhedral contact features in DEM. The key algorithmic issues are outlined and their important features are highlighted.

Numerical examples indicate that the average number of updates required in GJK for polyhedral contact is around 6, and only 1 or 2 iterations are needed in EPA to find the overlap and all the relevant contact features when the overlap between polyhedra is small.

The equivalence of the entrance block in DDA and the Minkowski difference of two polyhedra is emphasised; GJK- and EPA-based contact algorithms are applied to convex polyhedra in DEM; energy conservation is guaranteed for the contact theory used; and numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodologies.

In this chapter, we focus on expatriate CEOs who are assigned by the parent company to work in a subsidiary and compare them to those who themselves have initiated to work abroad as CEOs. Since we do not know much about these individuals, we direct our attention to: (1) who they are (demographics), (2) what they are like (personality), and (3) how they perform (job performance).

Data was sought from 93 assigned expatriate CEOs and 94 self-initiated expatriate CEOs in China.

Our findings demonstrate that in terms of demography, self-initiated CEOs were more experienced than assigned CEOs. With regard to personality, we found difference in self-control and dispositional anger: Assigned expatriate CEOs had more self-control and less angry temperament than their self-initiated counterparts. Finally, we found assigned expatriate CEOs to rate their job performance higher than self-initiated CEOs.

Although there may not always be immediate benefits, career consideration often plays a role when individuals choose whether to become an expatriate. For many years, organizations have used expatriation to develop talented managers for high-level positions in the home country. Recently, however, a new trend has emerged. Talented top managers are no longer expatriated only from within parent companies to subsidiaries. Self-initiated expatriates with no prior affiliation in the parent company are increasingly used to fill top management positions in subsidiaries.

While corporate social responsibility (CSR) research and practice has expanded and evolved rapidly in recent years, little is known about how MNC subsidiaries develop their CSR strategies and how they reconcile global and local demands and pressures from both institutions and stakeholders. The paper aims to understand how institutions and stakeholder pressures interact at both national and international levels and how these interactions shape MNC subsidiaries' CSR in Bangladesh.

Multiple case studies were used to investigate the CSR practices of 10 MNC subsidiaries operating in Bangladesh. To collect data, twenty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted. For supplementing primary data, secondary data from annual reports and websites were collected.

The article demonstrates that the practice of CSR in Bangladesh is a result of pressures exerted by parent companies, international institutions and international stakeholders. The article reveals how lack of pressure from local stakeholders and institutions enables subsidiaries to gain traction and use their agency to apply globalised CSR conceptualisations not necessarily applicable to the localised context.

The study has synthesised existing approaches to develop a multilevel framework for understanding how the intricate interactions between institutions and stakeholders from different levels (i.e. national and international levels) determine the trajectory of CSR adopted by subsidiaries in developing countries. This interaction undoubtedly plays a key role in determining the types of CSR strategy being enacted, the potential agency of different actors to shape change and the extent to which such pressures are likely to lead to CSR strategies that actually reflect and respond to the needs of local stakeholders.

This study aims to offer a comprehensive exploration of the potential and challenges associated with sensor fusion-based virtual reality (VR) applications in the context of enhanced physical training. The main objective is to identify key advancements in sensor fusion technology, evaluate its application in VR systems and understand its impact on physical training.

The research initiates by providing context to the physical training environment in today’s technology-driven world, followed by an in-depth overview of VR. This overview includes a concise discussion on the advancements in sensor fusion technology and its application in VR systems for physical training. A systematic review of literature then follows, examining VR’s application in various facets of physical training: from exercise, skill development and technique enhancement to injury prevention, rehabilitation and psychological preparation.

Sensor fusion-based VR presents tangible advantages in the sphere of physical training, offering immersive experiences that could redefine traditional training methodologies. While the advantages are evident in domains such as exercise optimization, skill acquisition and mental preparation, challenges persist. The current research suggests there is a need for further studies to address these limitations to fully harness VR’s potential in physical training.

The integration of sensor fusion technology with VR in the domain of physical training remains a rapidly evolving field. Highlighting the advancements and challenges, this review makes a significant contribution by addressing gaps in knowledge and offering directions for future research.

There is no doubt graduates in marketing from the Michigan State University (MSU) doctoral program have a distinct flavor. Alumni are known for their work ethic and bold minds. Coming from Australia, I take pride in this image and try to uphold this reputation at every opportunity. The transition from student to graduate was a memorable experience in every way. Upon arrival in East Lansing in January of 2001, I was struck by the realization I had found a place where thinking was as admired as physical perspiration (Australians love their sports above all else). I immediately felt a sense of inclusion into the department as other students showed me where to shop and how to find journal articles. The doctoral seminars were intense at times where every waking moment was dedicated to reading and formulating frameworks. Each week was a blur of papers, summaries, critiques and research ideas. As each semester ended panic ensued as class papers became due. With the stated goal of journal submission quality, each class paper was a simulation for the future job of a professor. I recall the nervousness and pressure of presenting original work in a peer setting, and the pleasure of sharing new ideas with one another. I trudged across campus with my fellow students to take courses in statistics, across to Owen Hall for the pizza and soup lunch, and I became one with coffee. My officemate Destan Kandemir and I even ran a quasi café from our office. Unexpectedly, I found it was sometimes hard to explain the nature of our department to outsiders.“Oh, so you're studying in the marketing department”“Yes I am”“Do you do advertising?”“No, we have a separate school for that”.“What about communication?”“No, we have a separate school for that, and for packaging too”.“Well what do you do in the marketing department?”