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PurposeThis paper explores which fundamental aspects of US insurance firms are significant factors in determining whether a firm will be a target or acquirer firm.Design/methodology/approachBy focusing on 251 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals (119 target firms and 132 acquirer firms) over the period between 1990 and 2019, multinomial logistic regression results identify the determinants associated with becoming targets or acquirers.FindingsUS insurance firms are more likely to become targets if they are smaller, have lower cash holdings, are non-life, and do not have environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores. Insurance firms are more likely to be acquirers if they have higher profitability, higher cash flow and higher intangibles, and if they are non-life and do not have ESG scores. Moreover, the likelihood of becoming an acquirer decreases in times of global financial crises (GFCs) as compared to non-GFC times.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to utilize multi-period multinomial logistic regression analysis to investigate the determinants of selection decisions of M&A targets and acquirers in the US insurance industry.

Purpose The present paper aims to systematically investigate the influence of building orientations (0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75°) and heat treatment processes on the macro-/micro-structural, mechanical and electrochemical behaviors of selective laser melting (SLM) prepared AlSi10Mg alloy parts. Design/methodology/approach AlSi10Mg samples were produced by the SLM method using standard processing parameters at 0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60° and 75° building angles. The effects of building orientations on the physical, mechanical and electrochemical properties of the alloy were investigated. Findings With the increase in the building orientation from 15° to 75°, the structural defects were found reducing. The effect of step size of inclined geometries was found to significantly influence the mechanical and electrochemical properties of the AlSi10Mg samples. Tensile strength for samples fabricated at lower angles (0°, 15°, 30°) reported a drop of approximately 11% than SLM 0° samples. Moreover, the tensile strength was found to decrease from 412.35 ± 9.568 MPa for the as-built samples to 290.48 ± 12.658 MPa, whereas the fracture strain increases from 3.32 ± 0.56% to 5.6 ± 0.6% when the as-built sample was treated with T6 treatment. This study indicates that the microstructure and mechanical properties of SLM-processed AlSi10Mg alloy can be tailored by a suitable heat treatment or building angle. Originality/value Microstructural and mechanical behavior of horizontal or vertically built SLM components have already been demonstrated several times. However, the influence of different building orientations, such as 0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75°, has not been explored in-depth, particularly on corrosion and general mechanical performance. As a result, this work may be of significant relevance to academics and designers, given the varying orientation of internal component of SLM structures.

PurposeThe importance of innovation has drastically increased across diverse academic and industrial fields. Innovation has been considered an outcome of intellectual capital management. The role of innovative literacy in intellectual capital management needs to be understood. Employees at all levels of the organisation carry out managerial and/or technical innovation activities by integrating their knowledge (with other members, including researchers and developers) and innovative attitude in line with the organisational goals. This study focuses on the methodological approaches to intellectual capital components at a conceptual level, based on the framework of innovative literacy, which is not prominent in the literature.Design/methodology/approachA meta-synthesis analysis was conducted, examining published articles from 1990 to 2016 based on selected keywords. The meta-synthesis analysis explored the concept of innovation literacy by revealing some of the relationships involved in intellectual capital performance.FindingsThe findings point to gaps and methodological weaknesses in innovative literacy research and provide insights for future research.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the findings of this study are useful, there are some limitations and recommendations for future research: One limitation of this study arises from the selection of the articles used in meta-synthesis analyses; these were published during the period 1990–2016. An expansion of the article selection to include articles published before 1990 can be useful to better understand the vision on innovation and intellectual capital. This research fills a conceptual gap in the literature. However, since this concept is evaluated using the human, customer and structural components of intellectual capital, researchers in the future can evaluate this concept with other components of intellectual capital. Finally, this research does not present a hypothesis on the relationship between innovative literacy and intellectual capital.Originality/valueThis study provides a novel conceptual view of integrating theories for ensuring sustainability of intellectual management and innovative literacy by synthesising findings from academic studies.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the effects of various heat treatments on microstructure, hardness, porosity and corrosion properties of the parts. Design/methodology/approach Hot isostatic pressing (HIP) process, various heat treatments and their combinations were applied to the AlSi10Mg parts produced by direct laser metal sintering (DMLS). Findings It has been found that the HIP process, which is a post-processing process, reduces the amount of porosity in DMLS-AlSi10Mg material, thus improves corrosion resistance significantly. Originality/value In this study, the HIP process and subsequent T6 heat treatments were applied to AlSi10Mg parts produced by the DMLS technique. The study aims to increase the corrosion resistance of AlSi10Mg parts by reducing porosity with the HIP process and by altering the microstructure with the T6 process.

PurposeCompanies must use their resources effectively and productively if they are to compete in an increasingly competitive globalized economy. Effective performance measurement can support this competitiveness. To be able to do this, companies must know the factors that influence their performance and manage these factors in an effective manner. This study seeks to investigate the effect of manufacturing strategies of manufacturing companies on their financial performance and also the effect of firm size on the impact of manufacturing strategies.Design/methodology/approachA total of 200 manufacturing companies that are registered under the Chamber of Commerce in Gebze, Turkey were selected and their managers interviewed. A total of 102 questionnaires were returned out of 200. Regression analyses were performed using the results of the survey.FindingsIt was found, that an increase in the quality and cost/flexibility increased financial performance. However, the rate of delivery did not have any statistical influence on the financial performance. On the basis of the analysis done on the firm size, the last finding is that the effect of the quality and cost flexibility on financial performance is higher for large companies compared with SMEs.Originality/valueThe paper identifies the manufacturing strategies that significantly influence the financial performance of manufacturing companies and the effect of firm size on the effect of these strategies.

PurposeTo build a National Consumer Satisfaction Index for Turkey, drawing on models already in existence in Sweden, the USA, Norway and the European Union. In so doing, to remedy observed practical shortcomings of those indices.Design/methodology/approachStructural equation modelling was applied to the general model, in the specific context of the mobile telephone market in Turkey, based on data collected by questionnaire from more than 1,500 subscribers.FindingsThe purpose‐designed new customer satisfaction index exhibits good fit and strong explanatory power. It is the most comprehensive so far developed, by virtue of adding two new factors to the model.Research limitations/implicationsThe new Turkish index was tested for validity and reliability only in the context of mobile telephony; it should ideally now be further tested in different sectors, periodically, to validate comparisons with other national variants. More latent variables and economic data should be incorporated to analyse the links among the index itself, loyalty and economic consequences. It is suggested that the partial least squares method could have been more appropriate than the maximum likelihood iteration procedure actually employed.Practical implicationsApart from its obvious role in assessing customer satisfaction in a domestic market, a customer satisfaction index can be extended to the level of comparing whole economies. This is of considerable significance for Turkey's ambitions to join the European Union.Originality/valueThis article enhances and extends an established but relatively little known quantitative method for evaluating customer satisfaction, and thereby offers an important diagnostic tool to marketing planners

PurposeCorporate image, perceived service quality, trust and customer switching costs are the major antecedents of customer loyalty, and loyal customers may buy more, accept higher prices and have a positive word‐of‐mouth effect. Also we know that the cost of selling to new customers is much higher than the cost of selling to existing customers. Although this fact is apparent to everyone, many companies are still losing customers at a formidable rate. In this context the main aim of this paper is to examine the relationships between these factors and customer loyalty, and the relationships among these factors in the Turkish GSM sector.Design/methodology/approachData was obtained from 1,662 mobile phone users in Turkey via questionnaire. The data was analyzed by structural equation modeling (SEM) in order to test all the relationships between variables in the model.FindingsThe findings supported the proposed hypotheses, which are consistent with the theoretical framework. Analysis results showed that perceived service quality is a necessary but not sufficient condition for customer loyalty.Research limitations/implicationsIn order to generalize the findings from the paper, the model should be studied in different sectors. The contribution of this paper is to model all the relationships between customer loyalty and its antecedents, and to test these relationships simultaneously.Practical implicationsIn order to better understand customer loyalty, as well as perceived service quality, corporate image, perceived switching costs and trust should be taken into consideration. Lately, technological change has shifted competition in the GSM sector from price and core service to value‐added services. Therefore, operators should differentiate their services and guarantee their services' quality because of this shift in competition.Originality/valueIn this paper, the effects of all the factors on customer loyalty are analyzed simultaneously via SEM.

PurposeIn the GSM mobile telephony sector, the main condition for protecting the subscriber base is to win customer loyalty, a key necessity for the maintenance of a brand's life in the long term. To achieve this aim, customer satisfaction and trust must be measured and “switching costs” identified. The latter render subscribers' preference for rival operators more expensive. In this connection, this paper's aim is to measure the effects of customer satisfaction and trust on customer loyalty, and the direct and indirect effect of “switching cost” on customer loyalty.Design/methodology/approachThe data set covered 1,662 mobile phone users in Turkey. The data were analyzed by moderated regression analysis to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe findings of this study show that the switching cost factor directly affects loyalty, and has a moderator effect on both customer satisfaction and trust. Therefore, it plays a crucial role in winning customer loyalty. In short, it is a quasi moderator. However, switching costs was measured as a unidimensional factor, but switching costs in fact contains psychological, financial and procedural sub‐dimensions. Therefore, future research might measure the sub‐dimensions of switching costs and examine their moderating effects.Originality/valueWith respect to the findings, trust has more importance than customer satisfaction in engendering loyalty, since trust contains belief in the brand, which provides positive outcomes not only in the present but also in the future. But customer satisfaction does not contain this dimension. So, the effect of trust on loyalty becomes greater than the effect of customer satisfaction. Therefore, any GSM operator who wishes to preserve its existing subscriber base should concentrate on winning its subscribers’ trust.