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This paper provides a review of the methods developed over the years for reducing working forces for the precision metal forming processes. Precision forging normally involves completely, or near completely closed cavity dies with no or minimal draft, making features on the extremities difficult to fill and requiring high loads. Means to minimise load, in order to enhance tool life, or reduce press capacity are crucial to the success of precision forging processes. The main concentration of this study is on design features which can be incorporated in tooling and/or workpiece in order to assist in minimisation of forging load while achieving complete die filling. The load reduction methods are presented using examples mainly of precision gear forging, which is representative of the precision forging of other axisymmetric components with complex peripheral shape. The methods reviewed are divided into the categories of (i) billet design, (ii) tool design and (iii) process design. Their effects on forging load reduction for precision forging, along with the authors’ opinions as to the benefits, drawbacks and applicability of each, are presented.

Constitutive equations have been used extensively to accurately describe material properties over a wide range of temperatures and strain rates in numerical simulations. In this paper, an algorithmic method of determining the constants of such constitutive equations is presented. The Genetic Algorithm implementation utilising MATLAB is described, and example fits to experimental data are presented.

This study examines the relationship between initiating structure and consideration leadership styles, creativity and innovation in organisations operating in Arabic and European cultures. The study involves a questionnaire-based survey of employees from the financial sector. The sample consists of a total of 75 full time employees from Cyprus and 69 full time employees from the United Arab Emirates who participated in the study. The responses will be subjected to a series of factor, correlational and regression analyses. The study revealed three major findings. Firstly, the relationships between consideration leadership and creativity and innovation for both samples are strong, positive and significant. Secondly, the correlations of creativity and innovation with initiating leadership for both samples are weaker, less positive and significant compared with those of consideration leadership. Finally, the findings demonstrated that the initiating structure and consideration style managers exercise comparable influence on the dimensions of creativity and innovation in the Arabic culture. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

The study examines the influence of virtual leadership practices on the dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation of a perceived virtual oriented organisation operating in Dubai. The study also distinguishes the impact of virtual leadership practices and entrepreneurial orientation on the dimensions of creativity and productivity. A path analysis was performed, applying AMOS. The following hypotheses were tested: H1a: The relationship between innovativeness and virtual leadership will be negative and significant. H1b: The relationship between proactiveness/competitive aggressiveness and virtual leadership will be negative and significant. H1c: The relationship between risk taking and virtual leadership will be negative and significant. H2a: The virtual leadership dimensions will be positively and significantly related to creativity. H2b: The virtual leadership dimensions will be positively and significantly related to productivity. Overall, the Hypotheses were partly supported, for some of the entrepreneurial orientation variables. Moreover, the study investigates the psychometric properties of the virtual leadership instrument.