Wai Ching Alice Chu, Man Hin Eve Chan, Jenny Cheung and Hong-Oanh Nguyen
Since its development by Tinbergen (1962), the gravity model of international trade has widely been applied to analyse the effect of various factors on trade relationships between…
Abstract
Since its development by Tinbergen (1962), the gravity model of international trade has widely been applied to analyse the effect of various factors on trade relationships between countries. Past studies on trade gravity vary not only in the mix of model variables but also in how they have come into the analysis. This study reviews existing literature on bilateral trade with an aim to identify influential predictors such as changes of trade policy and national development strategy and highlight important yet understudied factors such as transport and logistics infrastructure, and sustainable development. To demonstrate the needs to examine these critical factors across industry sectors, the study presents the case of textiles and clothing (T&C) production and trade between China and its trading partners as an illustration. Through the literature review, it shows how the gravity model can be applied to address current issues in international trade arena such as the potential trade war between the US and China, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and other important factors shaping global T&C trade. This study offers future research directions for analysis of global trade in the T&C industry and contributes to the wider literature of international business and trade.
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Chun Sean Lau, C.Y. Khor, D. Soares, J.C. Teixeira and M.Z. Abdullah
The purpose of the present study was to review the thermo-mechanical challenges of reflowed lead-free solder joints in surface mount components (SMCs). The topics of the review…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the present study was to review the thermo-mechanical challenges of reflowed lead-free solder joints in surface mount components (SMCs). The topics of the review include challenges in modelling of the reflow soldering process, optimization and the future challenges in the reflow soldering process. Besides, the numerical approach of lead-free solder reliability is also discussed.
Design/methodology/approach
Lead-free reflow soldering is one of the most significant processes in the development of surface mount technology, especially toward the miniaturization of the advanced SMCs package. The challenges lead to more complex thermal responses when the PCB assembly passes through the reflow oven. The virtual modelling tools facilitate the modelling and simulation of the lead-free reflow process, which provide more data and clear visualization on the particular process.
Findings
With the growing trend of computer power and software capability, the multidisciplinary simulation, such as the temperature and thermal stress of lead-free SMCs, under the influenced of a specific process atmosphere can be provided. A simulation modelling technique for the thermal response and flow field prediction of a reflow process is cost-effective and has greatly helped the engineer to eliminate guesswork. Besides, simulated-based optimization methods of the reflow process have gained popularity because of them being economical and have reduced time-consumption, and these provide more information compared to the experimental hardware. The advantages and disadvantages of the simulation modelling in the reflow soldering process are also briefly discussed.
Practical implications
This literature review provides the engineers and researchers with a profound understanding of the thermo-mechanical challenges of reflowed lead-free solder joints in SMCs and the challenges of simulation modelling in the reflow process.
Originality/value
The unique challenges in solder joint reliability, and direction of future research in reflow process were identified to clarify the solutions to solve lead-free reliability issues in the electronics manufacturing industry.
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Yui-yip Lau, Lina Vyas and Stuti Rawat
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the rise of online learning in Hong Kong. Online learning was identified as the only solution to meet students’ learning needs in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the rise of online learning in Hong Kong. Online learning was identified as the only solution to meet students’ learning needs in the higher education sector during this chaotic period. This research aims to explore students’ perceptions of online teaching and learning from home under a health emergency via a comparison of undergraduate and postgraduate students’ experiences.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 174 postgraduate students and 286 undergraduate students in various universities and colleges in Hong Kong were surveyed in this study.
Findings
The results show that postgraduate students generally gave more positive feedback on individual and environmental prerequisites, alongside pedagogical and institutional support, and were more motivated in online classes as compared to undergraduate students. Undergraduate students considered the shift to online education in light of the COVID-19 pandemic to be timely and rated their level of discipline with respect to online learning higher than did postgraduate students.
Originality/value
This study enables educators to better understand the first-hand experiences of students across different levels of study in Hong Kong, as well as to examine the possibility of establishing online education as a more prevalent mode of study in the future. The COVID-19 pandemic has educated us on the significance of being well-prepared to ensure quality education continues when emergencies and disturbances arise.
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Hang‐Yue Ngo and Anita Wing‐Ngar Tsang
This study evaluated the effects of two employment practices, namely work flexibility and firm internal labor markets on affective and continuance organizational commitment. In…
Abstract
This study evaluated the effects of two employment practices, namely work flexibility and firm internal labor markets on affective and continuance organizational commitment. In addition, it examined whether such effects were gender‐specific. Survey data were obtained from a sample of 772 business executives in Hong Kong. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that, although the two employment practices had significant and positive effects on both affective and continuance organizational commitment, they are not affected by gender.
Tiffany Cheng Han Leung, Jieqi Guan and Yui-Yip Lau
This study aims to examine management attitude and awareness towards green logistics, explores the external conditions that drive and restrict its positive behaviour, investigates…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine management attitude and awareness towards green logistics, explores the external conditions that drive and restrict its positive behaviour, investigates the level of its adoption amongst logistics service providers (LSPs) and determines the major barriers affecting its application in the industry.
Design/methodology/approach
This research investigates the key decision-making process on green logistics attitude and behaviour through in-depth interviews and thematic analysis.
Findings
This study explores both institutional and individual-level attitudes/awareness. Then, the driving and restraining forces and the challenges that influence the industry’s adoption of green initiatives are determined. Finally, this study constructs a framework following a behavioural driving route with interactions among green “attitude”, sustainable “subjective norms”, “behavioural control” and “external context” factors.
Practical implications
Findings can enlighten the practitioners who are struggling to adopt the green or low-carbon practice and provide valuable insights and constructive advice to LSPs and their stakeholders.
Social implications
Findings can draw the government and policy-makers’ attention to provide necessary financial or non-financial support for the practitioners to improve their green operations.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first attempts to adopt the hybrid theoretical lens on the green behaviour of the logistics industry. New insights are added to existing environmental management literature with a wider understanding and deeper investigation of the decision-making on green logistics in the industry. The theoretical framework in this study can offer future applications to a relevant large-scale study.
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This chapter explains the impact containerisation has on the various partners of the global supply chain and the challenges companies encounter and the solutions they use in…
Abstract
This chapter explains the impact containerisation has on the various partners of the global supply chain and the challenges companies encounter and the solutions they use in dealing with empty container repositioning.
The phenomenon of imbalanced container flows and its impact on shipping lines, shippers, container haulage companies, port development and the economy are presented. Special attention is given to explain the many solutions companies use to reduce the impact of empty container repositioning, hence tracing out the past research that led to these solutions and pointing to potentially new research directions in the future.
Because of the widespread use of containerisation and the imbalanced container flows that results from globalisation, empty container repositioning will be an ongoing issue for the maritime logistics industry. Many solutions are being used, but there is room for improvement and more research is needed.
Empty container repositioning is an important issue but has not been deemed as such in the literature. This chapter explains the reasons it is important and that its impact is not limited to shipping lines only but affects the whole supply chain.
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Sohel Mehedi, Md Akhtaruzzaman and Rashid Zaman
We examine the relationship between board demographic diversity, board structural diversity, board capital diversity and corporate carbon performance (CCP). Additionally, we…
Abstract
Purpose
We examine the relationship between board demographic diversity, board structural diversity, board capital diversity and corporate carbon performance (CCP). Additionally, we investigate how corporate sustainable resource use mediates these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
We utilize unbalanced panel data from Refinitiv Eikon covering 9,960 global firms from 2002 to 2022. We conduct a panel regression analysis to examine the relationship between board demographic diversity, board structural diversity, board capital diversity and CCP. In addition, we estimate entropy balancing estimation and two-step system GMM to address endogeneity issues.
Findings
The results indicate that board demographic diversity (including tenure, gender, and cultural diversity), structural diversity (such as board independence, board size, CEO-chairman duality, board meetings, and board compensation), and capital diversity (comprising board member affiliation and specific skills) all have a positive and significant association with corporate carbon performance. Additionally, our findings reveal that corporate sustainable resource use fully mediates the relationship between board demographic diversity and CCP and partially mediates the relationship between board structural diversity, board capital diversity, and CCP.
Practical implications
Our study findings are based on a diverse range of global firms, ensuring that the results address the global challenges of firm-level climate change response and governance issues.
Originality/value
Our group diversity constructs offer new insights into the literature and further advance research on board group diversity. Additionally, for the first time, we explore the mediating role of sustainable resource use through the resource-based view (RBV) between-group diversity attributes and corporate carbon performance.
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T.E. Wong, C.Y. Lau and H.S. Fenger
A simple analysis method was developed to determine the fatigue life of a ceramic ball grid array (CBGA) solder joint when exposed to thermal environments. The solder joint…
Abstract
A simple analysis method was developed to determine the fatigue life of a ceramic ball grid array (CBGA) solder joint when exposed to thermal environments. The solder joint consists of a 90Pb/10Sn solder ball with eutectic SnPb solder on both top and bottom of the ball. A closed‐form solution, based on the calculation of the equilibrium of the displacements within the electronic package assembly, was first derived in order to calculate the solder joint strains during temperature cycling. In the calculation, an iteration technique was used to obtain a convergent solution for the solder strains, and the elastic material properties were used for all the electronic package assembly components except for the solder materials. A fatigue life prediction model was established.
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Montserrat Crespi-Vallbona and Darko Dimitrovski
Urban food markets have been receiving increased attention over the last few decades. Their role as cohesion centres of the local community and in the urban regeneration of cities…
Abstract
Urban food markets have been receiving increased attention over the last few decades. Their role as cohesion centres of the local community and in the urban regeneration of cities was especially pronounced. Nowadays, these public spaces are also acting as a valuable tourist resource as well, attracting tourists to experience both the tangible and intangible heritage of the destination. Exposed to considerable tourism pressure, urban food markets in one of the most recognised destinations in global scale (such as Barcelona) have undergone through different phases in their development, going from traditional, sustainable, and eventually touristified urban food markets. For the purposes of this book chapter, proposed types of urban food markets in Barcelona are depicted based on the common urban food market tourist drivers and effects of the (gastro)gentrification process.