Eugenio Felipe Merlano, Regina Frei, Danni Zhang, Ekaterina Murzacheva and Steve Wood
The expansion of online shopping aligned with challenging economic conditions has contributed to increasing fraudulent retail product returns. Retailers employ numerous…
Abstract
Purpose
The expansion of online shopping aligned with challenging economic conditions has contributed to increasing fraudulent retail product returns. Retailers employ numerous interventions typically determined by embedded perspectives within the company (supply side) rather than consumer-based assessments of their effectiveness (demand side). This study aims to understand how customers evaluate counter-fraud measures on opportunistic returns fraud in the UK. Based on the fraud triangle and the theory of planned behaviour, we develop an empirically informed framework to assist retail practice.
Design/methodology/approach
We collected 485 valid survey responses about consumer attitudes regarding which interventions are effective against different types of returns fraud. First, a principal component section evaluates the policies' effectiveness to identify any policy grouping that could help prioritise specific sets of policies. Second, cluster analysis follows a two-stage approach, where cluster size is determined, and then survey respondents are partitioned into subgroups based on how similar their beliefs are regarding the effectiveness of anti-fraud policies.
Findings
We identify policies relating to perceived effectiveness of interventions and create customer profiles to assist retailers in conceptualising potential opportunistic fraudsters. Our product returns fraud framework adopts a consumer perspective to capture the perceived behavioural control of potential fraudsters. Results suggest effectiveness of different types of interventions vary between different types of consumers, which leads to the development of propositions to combat the fraud.
Originality/value
This study is unique in assessing the perceived effectiveness of a range of interventions based on data collection and advanced analytics to combat fraudulent product returns in omnichannel retail.
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Xinchao Zhang, Huanxia Zhang, Danni Pan, Wen Wu, Hui Ma, Jianda Cao and Jia Xu
This paper aims to determine whether application of graphene layers to cuprammonium filaments affords the latter with excellent mechanical properties and improves their electrical…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to determine whether application of graphene layers to cuprammonium filaments affords the latter with excellent mechanical properties and improves their electrical properties. At the same time, a circuit model was established to explore the conductive mechanism of the filament. The actual model is used to verify the correctness of the model.
Design/methodology/approach
The cuprammonium filaments were desizing, the graphene oxide layer-by-layer sizing and reduction integration process by a continuous sizing machine. The electrical properties of mono- and multifilaments in the static condition, as well as the dynamic–mechanical properties of multifilaments, were analysed, and the related conductive mechanism of the filaments was deduced.
Findings
Cuprammonium filaments coated with graphene layers showed good electrical conductivity, and their volume resistance decreased to 4.35 O·cm with increasing number of graphene coats. The X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis results showed that the graphene layer treatment changed the crystallinity of the copperammonia filaments and improved the thermal stability of the filaments. In the dynamic case, filament resistance was calculated using the equivalent resistance model, and the fitting difference observed was small. This result confirmed the high fit of this circuit model.
Originality/value
Up to the knowledge from literature review, there are no reports on theoretical research on the relation between the electro-mechanical property and structure of conductive filaments.
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Jinyu Zhang, Danni Shen, Yuxiang Yu, Defu Bao, Chao Li and Jiapei Qin
This study aims to develop a four-dimensional (4D) textile composite that self-forms upon thermal stimulation while eliminating thermomechanical programming steps by using fused…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to develop a four-dimensional (4D) textile composite that self-forms upon thermal stimulation while eliminating thermomechanical programming steps by using fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing technology, and tries to refine the product development path for this composite.
Design/methodology/approach
Polylactic acid (PLA) printing filaments were deposited on prestretched Lycra-knitted fabric using desktop-level FDM 3D printing technology to construct a three-layer structure of thermally responsive 4D textiles. Subsequently, the effects of different PLA thicknesses and Lycra knit fabric relative elongation on the permanent shape of thermally responsive 4D textiles were studied. Finally, a simulation program was written, and a case in this study demonstrates the usage of thermally responsive 4D textiles and the simulation program to design a wrist support product.
Findings
The constructed three-layer structure of PLA and Lycra knitted fabric can self-form under thermal stimulation. The material can also achieve reversible transformation between a permanent shape and multiple temporary shapes. Thinner PLA deposition and higher relative elongation of the Lycra-knitted fabric result in the greater curvature of the permanent shape of the thermally responsive 4D textile. The simulation program accurately predicted the permanent form of multiple basic shapes.
Originality/value
The proposed method enables 4D textiles to directly self-form upon thermal, which helps to improve the manufacturing efficiency of 4D textiles. The thermal responsiveness of the composite also contributes to building an intelligent human–material–environment interaction system.
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Filip De Beule, Danny Van Den Bulcke and Haiyan Zhang
To analyze the industrial development of South, East, and Southeast Asian nations in terms of investment and trade and how the institutional environment – in particular, the…
Abstract
Purpose
To analyze the industrial development of South, East, and Southeast Asian nations in terms of investment and trade and how the institutional environment – in particular, the government policy with regard to outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) – has played a role in this respect.
Methodology/approach
The chapter puts OFDI policy and industrial upgrading in newly industrialized, emerging, and developing Asian economies (NIEDAEs) in historical perspective to attempt to draw inference from their past behavior.
Findings
The chapter provides information about each NIEDAE’s experience with OFDI policy through a comparative analysis of OFDI promotional policy.
Practical implications
A useful source of information about each NIEDAE’s OFDI policy approach, the chapter attempts to draw recommendations for OFDI policy.
Originality/value
This chapter fulfills an information need and offers practical help to government policy makers.
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Misunderstanding and harmful stereotyping have become commonplace amongst people in the United States and the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region since 2001, if not earlier. If…
Abstract
Misunderstanding and harmful stereotyping have become commonplace amongst people in the United States and the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region since 2001, if not earlier. If universities are the locus of transformative education, work remains towards remedying these issues.One non-profit organisation, “Natafaham (pseudonym, Arabic for « we understand each other”), works to undo this negativity student by student. It brings participants from the MENA and Europe/North America into dialogue via Zoom each week. The inter-cultural dialogue availed to participants is empowering to actors, including the dialogue facilitator. This narrative is an autoethnographic exploration of my experience as an intercultural dialogue facilitator. Yet reviewing contemporaneous notes and reflections revealed structural aspects of this programme that empower voices from the MENA region, while facilitating learning amongst participants on both sides of the Atlantic. Such aspects include the format and the location of the programme, its focus on individuals rather than institutions or groups, its mixed top-down and bottom-up approach, and the opportunities it avails for ascension to positions of authority. This narrative analyses these aspects through several lenses and academic traditions, including those of global citizenship, critical internationalisation, (reciprocal) global service learning, and socio-cultural frameworks of second language acquisition. The chapter urges that these aspects are recognised as key catalysts of (more) equal relationships between youth in the MENA region and the United States, which merit widespread replication. It concludes by envisioning a still more equal relationship predicated upon more equitable language usage.
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Danni Wang and Catherine Cheung
This study aims to present the evolution of decent work studies. Findings point to several directions for future research efforts, including conceptualizing decent work and the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to present the evolution of decent work studies. Findings point to several directions for future research efforts, including conceptualizing decent work and the pandemic’s associated impact. Results will help to guide government authorities to promote decent work by delivering fair income, increasing the stability and security of employment and monitoring employees’ work-life balance.
Design/methodology/approach
This review consists of knowledge mapping based on keywords from multidisciplinary studies on decent work and the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) model on tourism and hospitality studies. First, keyword knowledge mapping was conducted in VOSviewer, resulting in 667 papers. Then, a PRISMA model generated a systematic review of the literature in tourism and hospitality based on 41 papers.
Findings
Knowledge mapping revealed six thematic clusters, namely, Labor Rights and Gender Equality, Sustainability and Health, Psychology of Working Theory, Conceptualization of Decent Work, Marginalized Groups and Unemployment and Job Quality. According to the PRISMA model, the conceptual evolution of decent work in tourism and hospitality can be divided into three stages: initial (1999–2008), emerging (2009–2018) and development (2019–present).
Research limitations/implications
Based on the findings, further interdisciplinary research into decent work is recommended. Scholars in the tourism and hospitality sector can incorporate other fields of decent work, such as psychology, to broaden the lens of studies to discover the role of meaning and purpose in the workplace and to promote the concept to its fullest extent. Furthermore, employees’ assessments of decent work might help businesses improve human resources management via corporate social responsibility measures.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first systematic review of decent work in tourism and hospitality. It shows that this notion is in its infancy, as most studies on the topic thus far have been empirical and descriptive. Nonetheless, most findings contribute to knowledge and practice by clarifying industry employment conditions.
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Danni Chen, JianDong Zhao, Peng Huang, Xiongna Deng and Tingting Lu
Sparrow search algorithm (SSA) is a novel global optimization method, but it is easy to fall into local optimization, which leads to its poor search accuracy and stability. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Sparrow search algorithm (SSA) is a novel global optimization method, but it is easy to fall into local optimization, which leads to its poor search accuracy and stability. The purpose of this study is to propose an improved SSA algorithm, called levy flight and opposition-based learning (LOSSA), based on LOSSA strategy. The LOSSA shows better search accuracy, faster convergence speed and stronger stability.
Design/methodology/approach
To further enhance the optimization performance of the algorithm, The Levy flight operation is introduced into the producers search process of the original SSA to enhance the ability of the algorithm to jump out of the local optimum. The opposition-based learning strategy generates better solutions for SSA, which is beneficial to accelerate the convergence speed of the algorithm. On the one hand, the performance of the LOSSA is evaluated by a set of numerical experiments based on classical benchmark functions. On the other hand, the hyper-parameter optimization problem of the Support Vector Machine (SVM) is also used to test the ability of LOSSA to solve practical problems.
Findings
First of all, the effectiveness of the two improved methods is verified by Wilcoxon signed rank test. Second, the statistical results of the numerical experiment show the significant improvement of the LOSSA compared with the original algorithm and other natural heuristic algorithms. Finally, the feasibility and effectiveness of the LOSSA in solving the hyper-parameter optimization problem of machine learning algorithms are demonstrated.
Originality/value
An improved SSA based on LOSSA is proposed in this paper. The experimental results show that the overall performance of the LOSSA is satisfactory. Compared with the SSA and other natural heuristic algorithms, the LOSSA shows better search accuracy, faster convergence speed and stronger stability. Moreover, the LOSSA also showed great optimization performance in the hyper-parameter optimization of the SVM model.
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Jeffrey Wang, Prakash J. Singh, Danny Samson and Damien Power
This paper aims to investigate the motivations of Australian manufacturing companies for sourcing products and services from China, the results achieved and whether these lived up…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the motivations of Australian manufacturing companies for sourcing products and services from China, the results achieved and whether these lived up to expectations, related barriers and problems, and how these problems were dealt with.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a survey of 35 Australian manufacturing firms, which have moved to import some goods or components from Chinese sources.
Findings
Most firms that source components or products from China do so because of the cost reductions that were expected. In actuality, significant cost reductions were achieved, however these reductions were on average less than expected. Along with these cost reductions, importing goods or components from China had some quality problems and delivery delays. Control procedures, improved communications and relationship‐building strategies were employed to overcome and deal with such problems, and most firms reported remaining committed to their China sourcing strategies.
Originality/value
This study demonstrates and measures the motivation, degree of success, performance outcomes, and challenges that can be anticipated by firms wishing to source products or components from China.