ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING AND VENDOR SUPPORT QUALITY BY THE USAGE OF APPLICATION SOFTWARE PACKAGES： A STUDY OF ASIAN ENTREPRENEURS

In this paper we study how organizational learning impacts organizational behavior, and howvendor support quality enhances product adoption and usage behavior.These constructs were verifiedusing Application Software Packages(ASP)-a prewritten, precoded, commercially available set ofprograms that eliminates the need for individuals or organizations to write their own softwareprograms for certain functions. The relationship between ASP usage, usage outcomes and useprocesses were also investigated. Two hundred and ninety-five Chinese, Indian, and Malayentrepreneurships were studied. It was found that usage outcome strongly determines usage, while useprocess has only an indirect relationship (via outcome) on usage. The impact of organizational learningand vendor service quality on usage, usage outcome, and use process were robust. Theoretical andpractical implications of the research are discussed.     

Structural characterization of AA 2024-MoSi2 nanocomposite powders produced by mechanical milling

Nano-sized MoSi₂ powder was produced successfully from commercially available MoSi₂ by a mechanical milling process carried out for 100 h, and mechanical alloying was employed to synthesize AA 2024-MoSi₂ nanocomposites. The effects of MoSi2 reinforcement and mechanical milling on the structure, morphology, and iron contamination of the produced materials were investigated using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic absorption spectrometry. It is revealed that the morphology of the aluminum alloy changes continuously during milling from spherical to plate-like, irregular, and finally equiaxed. The presence of MoSi₂ reinforcement accelerates the milling process and results in a smaller average particle size. The Williamson-Hall method determined that the crystallite size of the aluminum alloy in the composite powder is smaller than that of the unreinforced alloy at the same milling time and this size reaches 45 nm after 16 h milling time. The Fe contamination content is higher for the nanocomposite in comparison with the unreinforced alloy because of the wearing role of MoSi₂ hard particles.     

Influence of shielding gas on the mechanical and metallurgical properties of DP-GMA-welded 5083-H321 aluminum alloy

In the present research, 6-mm-thick 5083-H321 aluminum alloy was joined by the double-pulsed gas metal arc welding (DP-GMAW) process. The objective was to investigate the influence of the shielding gas composition on the microstructure and properties of GMA welds. A macrostructural study indicated that the addition of nitrogen and oxygen to the argon shielding gas resulted in better weld penetration. Furthermore, the tensile strength and bending strength of the welds were improved when oxygen and nitrogen (at concentrations as high as approximately 0.1vol%) were added to the shielding gas; however, these properties were adversely affected when the oxygen and nitrogen contents were increased further. This behavior was attributed to the formation of excessive brown and black oxide films on the bead surface, the formation of intermetallic compounds in the weld metal, and the formation of thicker oxide layers on the bead surface with increasing nitrogen and oxygen contents in the argon-based shielding gas. Analysis by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy revealed that most of these compounds are nitrides or oxides.