Leadership in the Digital Transformation of a Supply Network: A Revelatory Case Study

Digital Transformation (DT) is an ongoing phenomenon across various industries that has significant impacts at the organizational, industry, and societal levels. DT is particularly crucial for traditional firms that are confronted with threats from innovative companies and increasingly dynamic markets. However, research on supply network-level DT and DT leadership remain absent to date, which are critical in the pursuit of far-reaching and sustainable impacts. Our research objective is to use a case study of Topsun, the largest outdoor equipment manufacturer in China, to address these gaps. We find that the process of enacting supply-network DT leadership consists of three phases: (1) articulating a strategic vision, (2) actualizing internally and advocating externally, (3) assembling for collective action. Our model is a conceptual innovation that sheds light on the underlying mechanism of obtaining and executing supply-network DT leadership, which can be used as a roadmap for traditional firms to undertake DT and leverage its collective impacts. Keywords: Digital transformation, supply network, leadership, case study, Chin

Exploiting Resource Fluidity for Digital Transformation – A Revelatory Case Study

Digital transformation (DT) is a prevalent phenomenon across multiple industries with substantial impacts at the organizational, industry, and societal levels. Although DT have been explored in various contexts, most studies have taken for granted that the focal organizations could afford and own the human, technological, and monetary resources required for successful DT. However, not all organizations would want to bear the costs of owning these resources, and could seek to access them, but not own them, in a dynamic and transient arrangement. Using the case study of a mega church in New Zealand, we find that successful DT of such organizations is underpinned by attaining resource fluidity, which consists of 3 phases: the (1) Acquisition, (2) Activation, and (3) Application phases. This paper elaborates on each of these phases and presents a framework that could guide organizations to leverage resources they have access to, but not own to enact DT

A solar wind-derived water reservoir on the Moon hosted by impact glass beads

The past two decades of lunar exploration have seen the detection of substantial quantities of water on the Moon’s surface. It has been proposed that a hydrated layer exists at depth in lunar soils, buffering a water cycle on the Moon globally. However, a reservoir has yet to be identified for this hydrated layer. Here we report the abundance, hydrogen isotope composition and core-to-rim variations of water measured in impact glass beads extracted from lunar soils returned by the Chang’e-5 mission. The impact glass beads preserve hydration signatures and display water abundance profiles consistent with the inward diffusion of solar wind-derived water. Diffusion modelling estimates diffusion timescales of less than 15 years at a temperature of 360 K. Such short diffusion timescales suggest an efficient water recharge mechanism that could sustain the lunar surface water cycle. We estimate that the amount of water hosted by impact glass beads in lunar soils may reach up to 2.7 × 1014 kg. Our direct measurements of this surface reservoir of lunar water show that impact glass beads can store substantial quantities of solar wind-derived water on the Moon and suggest that impact glass may be water reservoirs on other airless bodies

Air pollution–aerosol interactions produce more bioavailable iron for ocean ecosystems

It has long been hypothesized that acids formed from anthropogenic pollutants and natural emissions dissolve iron (Fe) in airborne particles, enhancing the supply of bioavailable Fe to the oceans. However, field observations have yet to provide indisputable evidence to confirm this hypothesis. Single-particle chemical analysis for hundreds of individual atmospheric particles collected over the East China Sea shows that Fe-rich particles from coal combustion and steel industries were coated with thick layers of sulfate after 1 to 2 days of atmospheric residence. The Fe in aged particles was present as a “hotspot” of (insoluble) iron oxides and throughout the acidic sulfate coating in the form of (soluble) Fe sulfate, which increases with degree of aging (thickness of coating). This provides the “smoking gun” for acid iron dissolution, because iron sulfate was not detected in the freshly emitted particles and there is no other source or mechanism of iron sulfate formation in the atmosphere

Issues, Challenges, and Future Directions for Multilingual Assessment

Multilingual teaching and learning practices are often implemented in K-12 classrooms. However, issues related to multilingual assessment are rarely investigated. With the growing population of multilingual learners in the classroom, there is a great need to understand what multilingual assessment is and how to assess students who come from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The current study attempts to fill the research gap by reviewing the assessment literature over the past 15 years on multilingualism. We summarize and synthesize three main themes: 1) issues related to multilingualism, 2) difficulties, and challenges of multilingual assessment, and 3) approaches to assessment for multilingualism. We further divide the third theme into five subcategories: ideological shift, new ways of measuring English language proficiency, translanguaging-based assessment, dynamic assessment, as well as incorporating qualitative research. The study introduced the challenges of implementing multilingual assessment, offers an overview of the different approaches, and calls for more work to be conducted using the approaches

Simultaneous determination of sulfur isotopes and trace elements in pyrite with a NanoSIMS 50L

Pyrite is common sulfide mineral involved in the formation of various ores and hydrothermal and biogenetic activities, and its S isotopic ratios and trace element contents and their spatial distribution have been recorded in the processes of these events. We established simultaneous analyses of S-34/S-32 ratios and trace element contents of pyrite using nanometer-scale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS). Firstly, the images of S (S-34(-)), As (As-75(-)), Se (Se-80(-)), Cu ((CuS-)-Cu-63-S-32), Au (Au-197(-)) and Pb ((PbS-)-Pb-208-S-32) of pyrite were acquired by rastering areas ranging from 20 x 20 mm(2) to 40 x 40 mm(2) using a Cs+ beam of 7-10 pA with a diameter of similar to 250 nm. Then, the S-34/S-32 ratios (S-32(-) measured by using a Faraday cup and 34S(-) measured by using an electron multiplier) and the concentrations of these trace elements of the individual layers of the zoned pyrite grains were simultaneously measured in spot analysis mode, by rastering the same current over an area of 2 X 2 mm(2). The S-34/S-32 ratios were calibrated for matrix effects with pyrite standard Balmat or Py1117, and the external reproducibility (1SD) is < 0.5&. The concentrations of trace elements were calibrated using the relative sensitivity factors (RSFs) of As, Se, Cu, Au and Pb, which were determined from pyrite grains with zoning layers. The determined RSFs of As, CuS, Au and PbS are 4.43 +/- 0.28, 0.36 +/- 0.04, 0.18 +/- 0.03 and 38.0 +/- 15.1, respectively. Pyrite from Lannigou Carlin type gold deposits was analyzed as an example, and the results revealed three main episodes of its formation, with each superposed by micron-width oscillation zonings of trace elements. This method has important potential applications in isotopic and elemental investigation of thin layers of pyrite and other sulfides

Development of Defatted Soy Flour-Based Adhesives by Acid Hydrolysis of Carbohydrates

Soy-based adhesives are attracting increasing attention in recent years because they are a renewable and environmentally friendly raw material. Defatted soy flour (DSF), comprised of 50% protein and 40% carbohydrate, is the most widely used raw material for the preparation of soy-based adhesives that are unfortunately hampered by poor gluability and water resistance. In the present study, we developed a self-crosslinking approach to prepare a formaldehyde-free defatted soy flour-based adhesive (SBA). Carbohydrates in the DSF were hydrolyzed with 0% (controls), 0.5%, 1.0%, 2.0%, 3.0% and 5.0% hydrochloric acid, and cross-linked with proteins to prepare the SBA. The effect of hydrolyzed carbohydrates on the performance of the SBA was investigated, and hydrolyzed carbohydrates significantly increased the amount of reducing sugars, but decreased insoluble substances. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses revealed an enhanced cross-linking structure with fewer hydrophilic groups in cured SBAs. Maillard reactions between hydrolyzed carbohydrates and proteins resulted in SBAs with better gluability, rheological properties and thermal stability than controls. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed that plywood bonded with SBA had a higher wood failure rate than controls. This approach has potential for preparing bio-adhesives with enhanced properties from other natural resources with a similar polysaccharides and protein composition