Purpose – The concept of uncertainty is a relevant yet little understood area within supply chain risk management. Risk is often associated with uncertainty, but in reality uncertainty is a much more elaborate concept and deserves more in-depth scrutiny. To bridge this gap, the purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework for assessing the levels and nature of uncertainty in this context. Design/methodology/approach – The aim of the study is to link established theories of uncertainty to the management of risk in supply chains, to gain a holistic understanding of its levels and nature. The proposed conceptual model concerns the role of certainty and uncertainty in this context. Illustrative examples show the applicability of the model. Findings – The study describes in detail a way of analysing the levels and nature of uncertainty in supply chains. Such analysis could provide crucial information enabling more efficient and effective implementation of supply chain risk management. Practical implications – The study enhances understanding of the nature of the uncertainties faced in supply chains. Thus it should be possible to improve existing measures and analyses of risk, which could increase the efficiency and effectiveness of supply chain and logistics management. Originality/value – The proposed conceptual framework of uncertainty types in the supply chain context is novel, and therefore could enhance understanding of uncertainty and risk in supply and logistics management and make it easier to categorise, as well as initiate further research in the field.

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We propose to use silver tips for scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Silver is the cheapest noble metal that is practically chemically inactive in the air environment. A simple reliable procedure of the tip preparation and resharpening is presented. The procedure is based on two-step electrochemical processing resulting in final tip curvature of less than 200 nm in radius as seen by an electron microscope. The tips show durability for at least a week of daily operation in an air STM.

Currently, the demand for surface treatment methods like plasma electrolytic polishing (PeP)—a special case of electrochemical machining—is increasing. This paper provides a literature review on the fundamental mechanisms of the plasma electrolytic polishing process and discusses simulated and experimental results. The simulation shows and describes a modelling approach of the polishing effect during the PeP process. Based on the simulation results, it can be assumed that PeP can be simulated as an electrochemical machining process and that the simulation can be used for roughness and processing time predictions. The simulation results exhibit correlations with the experimentally-achieved approximation for roughness decrease. The experimental part demonstrates the results of the PeP processing for different times. The results for different types of roughness show that roughness decreases exponentially. Additionally, a current efficiency calculation was made. Based on the experimental results, it can be assumed that PeP is a special electrochemical machining process with low passivation.

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Based on the suggested five-pillar institutional framework, the study empirically investigates the impact of the institutional environment on internationalization aspirations of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in emerging economies and maps their strategic responses against imposed institutional pressures. The data collected across five forest cluster SMEs in Saint Petersburg andMoscow are analyzed. Political instability, corruption, bounded cognition, over-patriotism, and high power distance act as the main constraints, while demands for new knowledge and funding are identified as the main drivers for internationalization. The classified institutional challenges are mapped against the possible strategic responses of the SMEs, such as acquiescence, compromise, avoidance, defiance, and manipulation.

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Hot embossing is an economical manufacturing process for structuring of glass. However, this process is limited by sticking of glass melts on the moulding tools. In order to prevent this problem, the glass substrate was coated with thin metal, carbon and oxide layers. In the current work, the behaviour and suitability of the coatings for the embossing process were investigated. As a result, it was found that all coatings showed a clear decrease of adhesive forces and an increase of sticking temperature out of the range relevant for hot embossing. The examined coatings behave ductile, however, under larger elongations they tend to crack. Examples of fluidic structures with lateral geometries in millimetre and micrometre range were realized. The coatings could be successfully applied in moulding experiments without reduction of quality of embossed structures by sticking of the glass melts. The largest aspect ratio of embossing depth to structural width amounted to 3