Institutional Theory as a Framework for Analyzing Conflicts on Global Projects

Global construction projects that involve collaboration between participants from multiple countries often result in unique challenges, and costs due to cross-national interactions. Case studies performed to investigate the cross-national interactions and tensions present on global projects suggest that institutional differences—differences in workplace norms, legal regulations, and cultural values—contribute to these costs. We demonstrate how institutional theory—a branch of organizational theory—can comprehensively describe the cross-national challenges on global projects. We show how this theory can help practitioners to more accurately classify the cross-national issues they encounter, determine the causes behind the conflicts, and judge the relative ease with which each type of conflict can be resolved. However, there are gaps in the extant application of institutional theory that prevent us from predicting institutional conflicts on global projects and devising solution strategies. These gaps are identified and a research trajectory to understand them is proposed. This paper is aimed at starting a much-needed dialogue on the mitigation of cross-national issues on global projects, and not as a demonstration of methods to eliminate all cross-national conflicts.     

X-ray line broadening and photoelectrochemical studies on CdSe thin films

Cadmium Selenide (CdSe) thin films have been prepared on Indium doped tin oxide coated conducting glass (ITO) substrates at various deposition potential and solution pH values using potentiostatic cathodic electrodeposition technique. The deposited films are characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive analysis by X-rays, optical absorption, and photoelectrochemical techniques, respectively. X-ray diffraction pattern revealed that the deposited films are found to exhibit hexagonal structure with preferential orientation along (002) plane. X-ray line profile analysis technique by the method of variance has been used to evaluate the microstructural parameters such as crystallite size, rms microstrain, dislocation density, and stacking fault probability. The variation of microstructural parameters with deposition potential, solution pH values, and annealing temperature are studied. Surface morphology and film composition are investigated by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive analysis by X-rays, respectively. Optical absorption analysis has been carried out to evaluate the optical parameters such as refractive index, extinction coefficient, real and imaginary dielectric constants, and packing density, respectively. Photoelectrochemical solar cells are constructed using as-deposited and annealed CdSe thin films as photocathode, and their power output characteristics are studied. The experimental observations are discussed in detail.     

Structural and optical properties of Ag2SeTe nano thin films prepared by thermal evaporation

Semiconducting Ag₂SeTe thin films were prepared with different thicknesses onto glass substrates at room temperature using thermal evaporation technique. The structural properties were determined as a function of thickness by XRD exhibiting no preferential orientation along any plane, however the films are found to have peaks corresponding to mixed phase. The XRD studies were used to calculate the crystallite size and microstrain of the Ag₂SeTe films. The calculated microstructure parameters reveal that the crystallite size increases and micro strain decreases with increasing film thickness. The refractive index, dielectric constants and thereby the optical bandgap of the films were calculated from transmittance spectral data recorded in the range 400?C1200 nm by UV?CVIS-Spectrometer. The direct optical bandgap of the Ag₂SeTe thin films deposited on glass substrates with different thicknesses 50?C230 nm were found to be in the range 1.48?C1.59 eV. The carrier density value is estimated to be around 9.8 × 10²¹ cm^?1 for the film thickness of 150 nm. The compositions estimated from the optical band gap studies reveal a value of 0.75 for Tellurium concentration. These structural and optical parameters are found to be very sensitive to the thin film thickness.     

Role of pH and current density in electrodeposited soft magnetic Co-Ni-Fe alloy thin films

The influence of pH and current density on the structural and magnetic behavior of soft magnetic Co-Ni-Fe alloy thin films has been studied. The effect of pH and current density on the compositional, structural, and magnetic properties of the as-obtained films was investigated by EDX (energy dispersive analysis by X-rays), XRD (X-ray diffractometer) and VSM (vibrating sample magnetometer). The EDX results revealed that at the optimized deposition conditions, nickel content was low compared with cobalt and ferrous content. X-ray diffraction patterns revealed that the deposited films have polycrystalline nature with mixed (fcc-bcc) cubic structure and small crystallite size (<20 nm). The films prepared in optimized conditions exhibit high saturation magnetization (4πM_s value above 2T) and low coercivity (below 160 A/m), which may be due to the reduced crystallite size.     

Structural,luminescence and magnetic properties of Mn doped ZnO thin films using spin coating technique

Manganese doped zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films were synthesized for various wt% doping of Mn using sol–gel spin coating technique. The effects of Mn doping on the structural, morphological, compositional, photoluminescence (PL) and magnetic behaviour of ZnO thin films were investigated. Although, Mn doping did not change the lattice constants of the films, the texture coefficient is found to be improved for the films having higher percentage of Mn doping. PL studies reveal that as doping concentration of Mn increases, the intensity of emission peaks corresponding to violet and blue colour increases and the peak position shifts slightly. The saturated magnetic moments are found to decrease with the increase in Mn doping and the reason for such behavior is discussed.     

Axisymmetric stagnation-point flow impinging on a transversely oscillating plate with suction

The viscous fluid motion generated by axisymmetric stagnation-point flow of strain rate a impinging on a flat plate oscillating in its own plane with velocity amplitude U0 and frequency , including uniform suction of strength W0 is considered. A coordinate decomposition transforms the full Navier-Stokes equations into a primary equation describing the steady flow and a secondary equation describing the unsteady motion coupled to the primary solution. The solution to the boundary-value problem is governed by two dimensionless groups: the suction parameter S = W0 a and the frequency parameter = /a, where is the kinematic viscosity. Numerical integrations performed with a Runge-Kutta routine provide an exact solution to the Navier-Stokes equations. Values of the steady shear stress are found to agree with asymptotic results for large values of |S|, with S>0 representing suction and S<0 representing blowing. The magnitude and phase of the unsteady shear stress are given over a range of frequencies sufficient to recover analytical asymptotic results at large values of . The unsteady shear stress lags the wall motion by radians for 0 and by 5/4 radians when . Velocity profiles at selected parameter values during a period of plate oscillation are presented and discussed.     

Morphological properties of Ag₂SeTe nano thin films prepared by thermal evaporation

Semiconducting silver selenide telluride (Ag₂SeTe) thin films were prepared with different thicknesses onto glass substrates at room temperature using thermal evaporation technique. The structural properties were determined as a function of thickness by X‐ray diffraction exhibiting no preferential orientation along any plane; however, the films are found to have peaks corresponding to mixed phase. The morphology of these films was studied using scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscopy respectively, and is reported. The morphological properties are found to be very sensitive to the thin film thickness. The composition of the films is also estimated using energy dispersive analysis using X‐rays and are also reported.     

Heat transfer in laminar flow of non-Newtonian fluids

The main objective of this work is the consideration of local heat transfer coefficients for non-Newtonian power-law pseudoplastic liquid in laminar flow in circular conduits. The wall boundary conditions chosen are cases involving uniformly constant heat flux and step change in heat flux.Analytical solutions are developed for the wall temperature profile and compared with experimental data. Additionally, the experimental data have been correlated for comparison with existing relationships, hitherto not verified adequately. The limits of experimental data are: