Search results

Hundreds of thousands of Shan people from Myanmar have crossed the Thai border seeking employment or refuge from war, with numbers increasing following the 2021 coup in Myanmar. Still, little is known about their post-migration experiences. This study explored the ways relocating to Thailand influenced the lives and mental wellbeing of Shan men, the factors affecting their engagement with Thai society and their responses to opportunities and challenges.

Given the lack of published research on this topic, this study used a qualitative approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 purposively selected Shan men in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Data were examined using qualitative thematic analysis.

Five themes emerged: the strength of both push and pull factors; the importance of ethnicity, community and acting transnationally; experiencing discrimination and feeling “low”; coping by forgetting problems, hiding from trouble and studying; and wanting to return when conditions allow. The findings reveal how moving to Thailand can improve but also undermine the mental wellbeing of Shan men. Results also highlight the influence of ethnic identity, community and post-migration opportunities and stressors on how these men adapt to life in Thailand and on their attitudes towards return migration. Respondents used a mix of emotion- and problem-focused coping strategies.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to explore post-migration experiences and mental wellbeing among the Shan in Thailand.

For decades, northern Thailand has been a hub for migration in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, particularly for migrants from Myanmar. HIV prevalence among Myanmar/Burmese migrants is higher than in the general Thai population. This study aims to focus on Shan migrants living with HIV in Chiang Mai, the metropolitan centre of northern Thailand and to examine two related aspects: migrants’ sexual risk behaviour and their HIV knowledge and beliefs. The study aims to understand circumstances in which mobility increases HIV risk behaviour and prevalence.

Using a qualitative study, the authors conducted in-depth interviews in 2017 with 43 HIV-infected Shan migrants (21 males and 22 females), and 29 health-care providers who work in district hospitals in Chiang Mai.

The authors found that social and economic vulnerability associated with migration, and AIDS-related mortality, increased migrants’ likelihood of having multiple serial partners. Confusion about HIV symptoms, stigmatization of HIV positive women and low risk perceptions, particularly among men, increased their risk behaviours.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to study the way of life, sexual behaviour and HIV knowledge and beliefs of Shan Migrants from Myanmar Living with HIV in Thailand.

The practical application of enterprise mobilization is the use of a wireless network system and equipment to allow employees to update information on demand. This study employs a case study method, using in‐depth interviews of 29 corporate managers and experts to understand the current state of mobilization in the life insurance industry. The study suggests a conceptual framework for mobilization in the life insurance industry, and formulates possible research propositions incorporating a number of variables. The study also suggests a total of ten key success factors for the implementation of mobilization in the life insurance industry.

This study aims to examine the role of face consciousness, materialism and risk of embarrassment in determining consumer purchase intention toward counterfeit luxury brand. In addition, the authors explore boundary conditions of these relationships.

Study 1, a survey research (N = 321), examines the mediating role of risk of embarrassment between face consciousness on the purchase intention toward luxury counterfeits. Study 2 (N = 345), an experimental study, examines the moderating role of brand prominence of counterfeit (i.e. whether it contains prominent brand signals). Study 3 (N = 315) explores how the above-mentioned relationships are moderated by consumers’ moral rationalization (i.e. whether consumers seek rationalization when behaving unethically).

First, this research shows that risk of embarrassment mediates the negative relationship between face consciousness and Chinese consumers’ purchase intention toward luxury counterfeits, whereas this relationship was not found between materialism and counterfeit purchase intentions. Second, this negative mediating effect holds only when the counterfeit brand is highly prominent. Third, the mediating effect depends on consumers’ moral rationalization, with a positive impact on the purchase intention toward luxury counterfeits, regardless of brand prominence.

This study represents a preliminary inquiry into the dynamics between face consciousness and materialism in influencing Chinese consumers’ purchase intention toward counterfeit luxury products. Unlike their Western counterparts, whose materialistic views of possessions predict their counterfeit luxury consumption (Davidson et al., 2019), Chinese consumers are more likely to be driven by the social implications of counterfeit luxury to communicate a prestigious social image to others on account of genuine luxuries’ high social recognition.

While Chinese consumers are one of the most potent global luxury buyers, they are immersed in the world’s biggest counterfeit luxury market. By digging into the core value of Chinese consumers (i.e. face consciousness), this research provides a number of managerial implications for luxury goods companies to engage in international efforts to educate consumers against counterfeit luxury.

This study makes at least three contributions to the counterfeit consumption literature. First, this study represents a preliminary inquiry into the dynamics between face consciousness and materialism in influencing Chinese consumers’ purchase intention toward counterfeit luxury products. Second, this research identified the complex mechanism of face consciousness as an independent variable on consumers’ purchase intention toward luxury counterfeits. Finally, the authors examined the boundary conditions of brand prominence and consumers’ moral rationalization. The findings may help luxury brand managers identify strategies to discourage counterfeit consumption.

Based on job embeddedness (JE) theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of goal orientation (GO) and JE on job stress for financial service salespersons in the indeterminate situation.

Participants were 298 insurance salespersons employed at two major life insurance institutions in Taiwan: Nan Shan and Fubon – which were formerly the subsidiaries of two international financial groups, American International Group and International Netherland Group, respectively. The models were tested using the two-step structural equation procedure.

Findings indicated that, compared with salespersons in the newly merged Fubon, those in Nan Shan, which was undergoing mergers and acquisitions, were found to be subject to higher job stress with lower JE. In the process of reducing stress, JE is an important mechanism. However, the modulating influence of embeddedness is dependent on salespersons’ GO. In situations of higher stress, learning-oriented salespersons (in Nan Shan) were unable to significantly reduce job stress until JE was introduced as a full mediator. However, in a lower stress context, performance-oriented salespersons (in Fubon) fully applied JE in order to relieve job stress.

Managers endeavor to help salespersons effectively improve stability and reduce job stress by exploiting salespersons’ dispositions.

The contribution of this study includes identifying the role of JE on the relationship between GO and job stress for the contingency of an indeterminate state.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the consumer acceptance of a functional meat processed product made with different meat sources, and to distinguish the existence of different market segments.

Non-probability sampling was used to recruit a sample of 411 consumers in Southern Chile, over the age of 18 and responsible for the purchase of meat products for their household.

Using a fractional factorial design for conjoint analysis, it was found in the total sample that the meat source of the meat processed product was more important than packaging, region of origin, price and the functional ingredient claim, with preference for lamb and pork meat processed products with omega-3. Two main segments were identified using a cluster analysis; these segments differed according to family size, presence and age of children, ethnic origin, general health interest, quality of diet and level of satisfaction with food-related life. The largest segment (56.0 percent) shows a high preference toward lamb meat processed product with dietary fiber and omega-3. The second (33.6 percent) preferred turkey meat processed product with antioxidants.

A differentiated marketing strategy with different meat sources and functional ingredients may give access to a large market share. People more willing to accept different functional ingredients in processed meat products may enjoy a better quality of life. The level of satisfaction with food-related life and quality of diet can be useful in explaining preferences for functional meat processed products.

This is the first study to evaluate consumer acceptance of a functional meat processed product made with three different meats and three different functional ingredient claims, which analyzed the relationship between acceptance, the consumer’s quality of diet and their level of satisfaction with food-related life.

The escalating instances of financial distress (FD) in corporate houses across the globe, call for immediate attention from policymakers, practitioners and academics equally. This study aims to examine how board gender diversity (GD) and information disclosures (ID) interact with each other to drive FD.

The authors apply dynamic panel data analysis on a sample of 255 Indian-listed firms from 2016 to 2023 to arrive at the econometric results.

The main findings indicate that while ID exacerbates distress, GD reduces it. In addition, GD also interacts with ID to curtail the adverse effects of disclosures on FD. Therefore, GD acts like a stone that kills two birds simultaneously, first by reducing the distress directly and second by limiting the negative effects of disclosures on distress.

This study extends the understanding of the implications of GD and complements existing research by investigating its direct and indirect impact on FD. It builds on the analysis to propose that GD can foster resilience against adverse FD situations. The findings should apply to other emerging nations after careful consideration of country-specific factors.

Achieving social sustainability has become a critical challenge in global supply chain networks, particularly during complex crises such as terrorism. The purpose of this study is to explore how institutional forces influence the social sustainability approaches of logistics service providers (LSPs) in high terrorism-affected regions (HTAR). This then leads to investigating how the key factors interact with Institutional Theory.

An exploratory multiple-case study research method was used to investigate six cases of different-sized logistics LSPs, each in an HTAR. The data was collected using semistructured interviews and triangulated using on-site observations and document analysis. Thematic analysis was used in iterative cycles for cross-case comparisons and pattern matching.

The findings interact with Institutional Theory and the three final-order themes. First, management processes are driven by coopetition and innovation. Second, organizational resources, structure and culture lead to an ineffective organizational design. Finally, a lack of institutionalization creates institutional uncertainty. These factors are rooted in many other first-order factors such as information sharing, communication, relationship management, capacity development, new process developments, workforce characteristics, technology, microlevel culture and control aspects.

This study answers the call for social sustainability research and enriches the literature on social sustainability, Institutional Theory and LSPs in HTARs by providing illustrations showing that institutional forces act as driving forces for social sustainability initiatives by shaping the current management processes. Conversely, the same forces impede social sustainability initiatives by shaping the current organizational designs and increasing institutional uncertainty.

A two switches non-isolated DC-DC novel buck-boost converter for charging the battery of electric vehicle is projected in this paper. The performance of the converter is compared with conventional buck-boost and transformer-less P/O buck-boost converter by Shan and Faqiang. The detail operation and performance analysis of the proposed converter is described both in continuous conduction mode and discontinuous conduction mode. A state space model and simulation model is designed in MATLAB. The PID controller parameters are tuned using Single-objective Salp swarm optimization algorithm using MATLAB. The controller is implemented using DSP board. The hardware and simulation results are projected in the paper to validate the effectiveness of the proposed buck-boost converter. A comparison analysis is projected among conventional converter and Shan & Faqiang converter.

The converter state space model is designed and simulation model is also developed in MATALAB. The controller is implemented using DSP board. The parameters are obtained using optimization technique using SSA algorithm. The hardware design is also implemented, and the result is compared with the Shan and Faqiang converter. The efficiency of the converter is also tested.

The converter is providing a higher efficiency. The inductor current is also positive in both buck and boost mode. The robustness of the controller is better for a wide range of variation of input voltage because the output voltage remains almost constant. Therefore, this is very suitable for battery charging and PV module application.

For battery charging from PV module where voltage fluctuation is frequent.

The authors can use household applications to charge the battery using PV module.

The converter design concept is new. Optimization is used to find the parameters of the controllers and is implemented in hardware design. The parameters obtained provide robustness in the converter performance.

The purpose of this study is to develop a theoretical model for examining how innovation speed mediates the relationship between knowledge management (KM) and performance and empirically tests the proposed model using data collected in the USA and China over three years.

To avoid common method bias and increase ability to draw causal effects of KM on performance, data were collected over three years. KM data were collected by survey; innovation speed data were collected in the following year; and sales growth and gross margin data were collected over the next three years. After merging the three data sets, the final empirical data used for this study contained data from 354 USA and 647 Chinese firms. Multiple regression analyses were used to test the research hypotheses. Sobel mediation tests were performed to test the mediating effects of innovation speed on the relationship between KM and performance.

Innovation speed has a U-shaped relationship with performance in both US and Chinese firms. Knowledge generation has an inverted U-shaped relationship with innovation speed in both US and Chinese firms. Knowledge dissemination increases innovation speed in US firms but not in Chinese firms. While knowledge application increases innovation speed in the US firms, it decreases innovation speed in Chinese firms.

This study is among the first to propose and empirically test the KM-innovation speed-performance relationship. This paper advances the KM literature by demonstrating that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between knowledge generation and innovation speed and that there is a U-shaped relationship between innovation speed and performance. In addition, this study contributed to the cross-national study of KM.