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1 – 10 of 481This chapter critically evaluates whether football can attain recognition as a national sport in China. Article No. 11, released by the Chinese government in 2015, aimed to…
Abstract
This chapter critically evaluates whether football can attain recognition as a national sport in China. Article No. 11, released by the Chinese government in 2015, aimed to develop a new national strategy centralised on the sport of football to foster consumption and enhance national soft power. Consequently, this also means encouraging Chinese football fans to support the national football team. Comparing the significance of local football clubs and the national football team to Chinese football fans is deemed meaningless and unable to generate useful information to comprehend Chinese people's attitudes towards local and national communities. Through literature comparisons with established Chinese national sports such as Chinese martial arts, badminton and table tennis, the discussion reveals that football currently falls short of meeting the general criteria of invention and popularity to be considered a Chinese national sport. In the specific Chinese context, it also proves that football fails to meet the criterion of politics, hindering its identification as a national sport. Consequently, the chapter rebuts the assumption and advocates for the validity of comparing how fans assess their fandom for local and national football teams.
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The chapter articulates the transition to and evolution of the commercialisation of Chinese professional football. It is periodised based on major turning points. The research…
Abstract
The chapter articulates the transition to and evolution of the commercialisation of Chinese professional football. It is periodised based on major turning points. The research yielded two major findings. First, there exists a distinct ‘Chinese way’ of commercialising football. However, it does not indicate that Chinese football doggedly avoided the Western governance model. For the club governance, Chinese football authorities set about recommending privately operated enterprises, large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises. Second, the commercialisation transitions of professional football in China were triggered by exogenous policy shifts, rather than endogenous changes in market structures, resulting in higher horizontal financial fragility than is associated with the commercialisation model adopted in more developed Western markets. The applicability to voluntary football clubs is assessed as well.
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In order to determine whether the factors affecting office worker well-being are location dependent, this exploratory study analyses the relative importance of different “building…
Abstract
Purpose
In order to determine whether the factors affecting office worker well-being are location dependent, this exploratory study analyses the relative importance of different “building well-being” factors for prime office workers in two leading but environmentally contrastive real estate markets: London and Hong Kong.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts a mixed methods sequential explanatory design (follow-up explanations model), consisting of three phases: an exploratory phase to refine the building well-being factors, a quantitative phase utilising a questionnaire to assess the relative importance of these building well-being factors (N = 281: London = 171; Hong Kong = 110), followed by a final phase of follow-up interviews with respondents to explore the reasons behind the significant differences observed in the quantitative phase (N = 13: London = 7; Hong Kong = 6).
Findings
While London and Hong Kong share some highly-ranking factors in common, significant differences in importance are observed for 17 of the 31 identified factors as a result of contrasting physical, economic, and cultural environments.
Originality/value
Despite growing recognition of the importance of the built environment on well-being, to the authors’ knowledge there has been no previous research investigating how building well-being demands may vary systematically across geographies. Understanding these differences has important implications for interpreting building well-being research, effective business operations, real estate investment, building certification scheme design, and governance of the built environment.
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Remi Charpin and Martin Cousineau
This paper examines the influence of geopolitical tensions—operationalized as political divergence between governments—on firms’ foreign supply bases and the resulting effects on…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines the influence of geopolitical tensions—operationalized as political divergence between governments—on firms’ foreign supply bases and the resulting effects on supply base complexity and sub-tier supplier sharing.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conduct panel data regression analyses over the period 2003–2019 to investigate whether political divergence affects foreign supply bases for 2,858 US firms sourcing from 99 countries and to examine how political divergence exposure impacts the supply network structures of 853 US firms.
Findings
Firms reduce their supply bases in countries exposed to heightened geopolitical tensions. These supply chain adjustments are associated with increased supply base complexity and greater sub-tier supplier sharing.
Originality/value
This study highlights the importance of state relations in global supply chain reconfiguration. Political divergence between governments provides a dual-view of political risk (i.e. buyer–supplier countries), which can help firms anticipate geopolitical disruptions. While reducing supply bases in foreign countries facing heightened geopolitical tensions is intended to mitigate disruptions, these supply base adjustments are linked to increased supply base complexity and sub-tier supplier sharing, thereby exposing firms to other types of supply disruptions. Additionally, this research contributes to understanding the effects of geopolitical tensions on supply base complexity through the lenses of transaction cost economics and resource dependence theory.
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Along with the national government's expectation transformation, administrative system reform, economic transition, social demand structure's upgrading and population change…
Abstract
Along with the national government's expectation transformation, administrative system reform, economic transition, social demand structure's upgrading and population change, these negative effects are turning increasingly obvious and thus become huge powers that push the reform of traditional elite sports development mode forward. Against this background, in order to make this reform better adapted to China's reality and future development, the chapter suggests that Chinese traditional elite sports development mode should shift its driving forces of development from single to multiple, change its administrative system from government-oriented to society-oriented, develop its training concepts from instrumentalism to humanism, improve its construction of development from unbalanced to balanced and alter its effectiveness of development from extensive to intensive so as to achieve sustainable development.
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Carlee Purdum, Benika Dixon and Amite Dominick
The impact of extreme heat on prisons and carceral facilities is becoming increasingly visible, yet remains overlooked by scholars, practitioners and policymakers. Prisons are a…
Abstract
Purpose
The impact of extreme heat on prisons and carceral facilities is becoming increasingly visible, yet remains overlooked by scholars, practitioners and policymakers. Prisons are a unique type of infrastructure designed to severely limit and control the movement of hundreds and even thousands of individuals as a form of punishment. This leads to many significant challenges to mitigating the risk of heat-related illness in prisons and other carceral spaces that have remained overlooked across many disciplines including emergency management, disasters, corrections and public health.
Design/methodology/approach
For this study, we analyzed 192 surveys from incarcerated persons in state prisons throughout Texas to understand how incarceration and the punitive prison environment create challenges to managing extreme heat in prisons.
Findings
We found that characteristics of modern incarceration, including communal distribution of resources, crowded conditions and a lack of agency for incarcerated people, create barriers to accessing resources during periods of extreme heat. Furthermore, the punitive nature of the prison environment as manifested in the relationship between staff and incarcerated persons and certain prison policies also create barriers to incarcerated persons accessing resources to reduce their risk of heat-related illness and death.
Social implications
These issues are particularly relevant to the health and safety of incarcerated persons during periods of extreme temperatures but also speak broadly to the implications of incarceration, disaster risk, and the advancement of human rights for incarcerated people.
Originality/value
This article addresses a gap in the literature by including the perspectives of persons incarcerated in Texas prisons experiencing extreme heat and implicates the characteristics of incarceration and punishment in the production of disaster risk.
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Truong Dang Hoang Nhat Nguyen, Soyeon Park, Jinhak Jeong and Yonghan Ahn
This study aims to evaluate user satisfaction and perceptions of the relocatable modular school (RMS) system in South Korea. It seeks to identify key factors for improvement to…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to evaluate user satisfaction and perceptions of the relocatable modular school (RMS) system in South Korea. It seeks to identify key factors for improvement to enhance the performance of this innovative construction method, particularly in the temporary educational sector.
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive post occupancy evaluation (POE) was conducted, considering functional spaces, aesthetics, indoor environmental quality and technical aspects. This study also includes a comparative analysis with conventional school buildings to provide insights into the efficiency and potential of RMS.
Findings
Relocatable modular schools can achieve the equivalent quality of building performance and user satisfaction as those built using traditional construction methods. The satisfaction performance of both methods falls within the “satisfied” level, with mean scores ranging from 3.35 to 3.90. Notably, when compared to ES, RMS exhibits a marginally lower satisfaction level in functional performance but a higher satisfaction level in the areas of aesthetics, IEQ and technical performance. Key factors identified for enhancement include optimizing classroom shape, balancing the window-to-wall ratio, enhancing natural ventilation and addressing floor noise and vibration concerns.
Originality/value
This research is pioneering in evaluating user satisfaction and perceptions of RMS in South Korea, a relatively unexplored area. By taking a holistic approach and incorporating comparative analysis with traditional school buildings, the study provides valuable insights into the practical application and potential of modular construction in educational facilities. The results contribute significantly to the advancement of high-performance modular educational buildings, informing practitioners and stakeholders of user demands and guiding future developments in the field.
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Farouq Sammour, Heba Alkailani, Ghaleb J. Sweis, Rateb J. Sweis, Wasan Maaitah and Abdulla Alashkar
Demand forecasts are a key component of planning efforts and are crucial for managing core operations. This study aims to evaluate the use of several machine learning (ML…
Abstract
Purpose
Demand forecasts are a key component of planning efforts and are crucial for managing core operations. This study aims to evaluate the use of several machine learning (ML) algorithms to forecast demand for residential construction in Jordan.
Design/methodology/approach
The identification and selection of variables and ML algorithms that are related to the demand for residential construction are indicated using a literature review. Feature selection was done by using a stepwise backward elimination. The developed algorithm’s accuracy has been demonstrated by comparing the ML predictions with real residual values and compared based on the coefficient of determination.
Findings
Nine economic indicators were selected to develop the demand models. Elastic-Net showed the highest accuracy of (0.838) versus artificial neural networkwith an accuracy of (0.727), followed by Eureqa with an accuracy of (0.715) and the Extra Trees with an accuracy of (0.703). According to the results of the best-performing model forecast, Jordan’s 2023 first-quarter demand for residential construction is anticipated to rise by 11.5% from the same quarter of the year 2022.
Originality/value
The results of this study extend to the existing body of knowledge through the identification of the most influential variables in the Jordanian residential construction industry. In addition, the models developed will enable users in the fields of construction engineering to make reliable demand forecasts while also assisting in effective financial decision-making.
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Liya Wang, Rong Cong, Shuxiang Wang, Sitan Li and Ya Wang
The research aims to explore the influence mechanism of peer feedback and users' knowledge contribution behavior. This study draws on the social identity theory and considers…
Abstract
Purpose
The research aims to explore the influence mechanism of peer feedback and users' knowledge contribution behavior. This study draws on the social identity theory and considers social identity as a mediating factor into the research framework.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper collected users' activity data of 142,191 ideas submitted by 76,647 users from the MIUI community between October 2010 and May 2018 via Python software, and data were processed using Stata 16.0.
Findings
The results indicate that knowledge feedback and social feedback positively influence users' knowledge contribution (quantity and quality), respectively. User's cognitive identity positively mediates the relationship between peer feedback and knowledge contribution behavior, affective identity positively mediates the relationship between peer feedback and knowledge contribution behavior, while evaluative identity positively mediates the relationship between peer feedback and knowledge contribution quality, but there is no mediating effect between peer feedback and knowledge contribution quantity.
Originality/value
This study advances knowledge management by highlighting peer feedback on online innovation communities. By demonstrating the significant mediating effect of social identity, this study empirically clarifies the relationships of peer feedback (knowledge feedback and social feedback) to specific dimensions of knowledge contribution, thereby providing managerial guidance to the online innovation community on incentivizing and managing user interaction to foster the innovation development of firms.
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Kaixiao Jiang and Liam O'Callaghan
This chapter explores how the development of football fandom for the Chinese national team and local football clubs is strongly associated with societal changes. Although the…
Abstract
This chapter explores how the development of football fandom for the Chinese national team and local football clubs is strongly associated with societal changes. Although the performances of Chinese football teams, especially the national team, have failed to impress the world, football remains the most popular because of millions of supporters with loyalty and passion. Most studies related to fans mainly focus on the economic and political implications of spectatorship along with the rise of China. Nevertheless, few articles are available to answer the fundamental questions, such as ‘When did these supporters come out?’ and ‘What were the factors of the development of fandom?’. By going through archival records and published documents over the last decades, this chapter offers a comprehensive and historical analysis of the development of football fandom in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and deals with these unanswered questions. As such, this chapter does not intend to be the most authoritative one but is one of the rare sources to lay down the foundation for research on Chinese football fandom. Furthermore, this chapter also proves that studies on football fandom can be a useful window for observing Chinese society.
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