Search results

With the popularization of sustainable concepts, how to transform into a sustainable supply chain has received widespread attention in practice. Under this circumstance, this paper aims to propose a theoretical framework of sustainable supply chain transformation (SSCT) from a perspective of resource identification and utilization, investigates resources/capabilities that can be used to promote SSCT and explores how to use resources/capabilities to achieve SSCT effectively.

An inductive multi-case analysis is applied to this paper. Four state-owned/non-state-owned enterprises from the manufacturing sector are selected as the research objectives, which are all leaders in the industry based on the 2022 China TOP 500 Enterprises Ranking. Meanwhile, to guarantee the diversities of enterprises, the four selected enterprises are respectively positioned in upstream and downstream of the supply chain.

A theoretical framework of SSCT is proposed with following research findings: (1) Technology resources, facilities and equipment resources, and business process reengineering capability are the key resources/capabilities to promote SSCT. (2) From the supply chain structure perspective, there exists a leader-participant structure in SSCT. The enterprise with dominant resources/capabilities should actively transfer to a SSCT leader. From the supply chain function perspective, specific sustainability assessment indicators and special teams are two necessary settings for SSCT. From the supply chain lifecycle perspective, SSCT should be promoted in a phased manner and dynamically adjusted in each stage. (3) Digital transformation degree and enterprise ownership play a moderating role in the implementation of strategies.

This paper proposes a conceptual framework of SSCT based on the resource orchestration perspective, which provides decision support for enterprises in practice.

Purpose – Informed by Chinese mothers from four villages, the purpose of this chapter is to address the old issue of feminization of family survival, but situated within the landscape of neoliberalism. This study investigates the interplay between Chinese patriarchal values and neoliberal ideas that have shaped the Happiness Project – Action to Aid Impoverished Mothers – an official population control program that has been combined with poverty reduction “Action.”

Methodology – This research began in 2001 in Sichuan Province, Southwest China. Over a period of three years I interviewed 48 women who were participants in the Happiness Project.

Findings – The goal of the Happiness Project is to bring “happiness” to poor mothers through the introduction of microcredit, literacy programs, and the improvement of reproductive health. Three maternal aspects of the Happiness Project, as the study indicates, coincide with three particular patriarchal values. These include an official construction of a good mother image, targeting women's bodies as objects of the state's population control, and reinforcing gender stereotypes through market activity. The findings of this research suggest that feminization of family survival coincided with achieving the goal of the Project. Mothers thus have carried a double burden on behalf of the Chinese state and their families: the goals of declining fertility and increasing family prosperity.

Social implications – Based on this outcome, the study not only calls for reevaluating this “women-only” economic development model, but also calls into question whether bringing Chinese women into public production/market activity is a path to women's emancipation under neoliberalism.

The extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) model has been adapted and applied by scholars to gain insight into mobile banking (m-banking) usage. By combining three perspectives, UTAUT2, gamification (GM) and generational cohort theory, this study aims to investigate the factors which impact m-banking usage and examine the moderating effect of generations Y and Z on the relationship between GM and intention to use m-banking.

The adopted model was tested in a quantitative study by using partial least square structural equation modelling. A total of 380 valid questionnaires from a transition country, Albania, have been examined.

In the study, scientific evidence concerning the UTAUT2 model and GM elements are provided. Thus, facilitation conditions, habit and hedonic motivation were found to be significant determinants of GM. Moreover, the results revealed that age moderates the relationship between GM and behavioural intention (BI). Compared to generation Z, individuals born prior to 1996 (generation Y), exhibited a much stronger relationship.

Although Albania bears similarities with other transition countries in terms of regional, economic and political environments, the generalisation of these results to another context is rather limited.

This paper offers a model integrating UTAUT2, GM and generational cohorts in the context of a transition country. The findings can be applied in the form of guidelines for a number of financial institutions.

Besides identifying the determinants of m-banking adoption and GM, this study notably reveals the importance of generational cohorts because it governs the effect of GM on m-banking BI.

Previous studies have mainly focused on public opinions regarding genetically modified (GM) technology and GM food. The purpose of this paper is to assess scientists’ attitudes on whether China needs to develop its national agricultural GM technology and their willingness to buy GM food.

A stratified sampling method was used to select and interview 806 scientists from six major agricultural universities and 20 research institutes under two national academies in China in 2013. Based on these data, the authors use both descriptive statistics and multivariate regression analysis to examine scientists’ attitudes toward agricultural GM technology and food, using GM soybean oil as an example of GM foods.

The survey results show that nearly three-quarters of scientists agree that China needs to develop its agricultural GM technology, but their attitudes differ largely. Only 29 percent of scientists are willing to buy GM soybean oil, similar to urban consumers (25 percent) in China. The knowledge of biology is extensive for some scientists but varies significant among scientists and correlates positively with their attitudes toward agricultural GM technology and GM soybean oil. Younger and male scientists with higher professional titles, and those involved in GM research are more in favor of China’s GM technology compared to other scientists. Female scientists, scientists with lower professional titles, those that have never engaged in GM research or are from non-agricultural scientific disciplines are less willing to buy GM soybean oil. Interestingly, their low willingness to buy GM soybean oil is inconsistent with the fact that it is the most common edible oil in China.

This study is the first to examine scientists’ attitudes toward GM technology and food in China. The results of this study contribute to understanding the current debates on GM technology and the relevance of research, based on the willingness to buy GM food, for decision making regarding the commercialization of GM technology.