Gai-Ge Wang, Amir Hossein Gandomi and Amir Hossein Alavi
To improve the performance of the krill herd (KH) algorithm, in this paper, a series of chaotic particle-swarm krill herd (CPKH) algorithms are proposed for solving optimization…
Abstract
Purpose
To improve the performance of the krill herd (KH) algorithm, in this paper, a series of chaotic particle-swarm krill herd (CPKH) algorithms are proposed for solving optimization tasks within limited time requirements. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
In CPKH, chaos sequence is introduced into the KH algorithm so as to further enhance its global search ability.
Findings
This new method can accelerate the global convergence speed while preserving the strong robustness of the basic KH.
Originality/value
Here, 32 different benchmarks and a gear train design problem are applied to tune the three main movements of the krill in CPKH method. It has been demonstrated that, in most cases, CPKH with an appropriate chaotic map performs superiorly to, or at least highly competitively with, the standard KH and other population-based optimization methods.
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Gai-Ge Wang, Amir Hossein Gandomi, Xin-She Yang and Amir Hossein Alavi
Meta-heuristic algorithms are efficient in achieving the optimal solution for engineering problems. Hybridization of different algorithms may enhance the quality of the solutions…
Abstract
Purpose
Meta-heuristic algorithms are efficient in achieving the optimal solution for engineering problems. Hybridization of different algorithms may enhance the quality of the solutions and improve the efficiency of the algorithms. The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel, robust hybrid meta-heuristic optimization approach by adding differential evolution (DE) mutation operator to the accelerated particle swarm optimization (APSO) algorithm to solve numerical optimization problems.
Design/methodology/approach
The improvement includes the addition of DE mutation operator to the APSO updating equations so as to speed up convergence.
Findings
A new optimization method is proposed by introducing DE-type mutation into APSO, and the hybrid algorithm is called differential evolution accelerated particle swarm optimization (DPSO). The difference between DPSO and APSO is that the mutation operator is employed to fine-tune the newly generated solution for each particle, rather than random walks used in APSO.
Originality/value
A novel hybrid method is proposed and used to optimize 51 functions. It is compared with other methods to show its effectiveness. The effect of the DPSO parameters on convergence and performance is also studied and analyzed by detailed parameter sensitivity studies.
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Yanjie Bian and Lei Zhang
We conceptualize corporate social capital within the context of Chinese guanxi culture. We assert that the formation and mobilization of corporate social capital are culturally…
Abstract
We conceptualize corporate social capital within the context of Chinese guanxi culture. We assert that the formation and mobilization of corporate social capital are culturally and institutionally contextualized. Building upon a relational approach to corporate performance, we examine culture-sensitive properties of Chinese guanxi and compare guanxi social capital with non-guanxi social capital. We then explain why guanxi-based corporate social capital is of growing significance to the Chinese transitional economy in an era of increasing market competition and institutional uncertainty. We conclude by proposing a research agenda about the roles that guanxi-based corporate social capital plays for boosting corporate performance.
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Shaobing Tang, Jiafang Lu and Philip Hallinger
Like other nations in Asia, mainland China has undergone continuous reforms in its economic, political and social institutions over the past two decades. These changes are also…
Abstract
Purpose
Like other nations in Asia, mainland China has undergone continuous reforms in its economic, political and social institutions over the past two decades. These changes are also reflected in its education system, which has been both the target of government reforms and an agent for social change. In this context, China's Ministry of Education has cast school principals as key actors in leading and managing change in schools at the local level throughout the country. The purpose of this paper is to explore how Chinese school leaders successfully respond to the implementation of educational reform.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper the authors explore how school leaders in one city in South China perceive their roles and actions in fostering successful change. The study employed extensive literature review with qualitative interviews of five school principals who had demonstrated success at leading change in their schools.
Findings
The findings of both the literature review and interview study unexpectedly found more similarities than differences between how leaders contribute to successful change in China as compared with the Western literature.
Research limitations/implications
The research findings are limited by two main features. First, the sources analyzed in the literature review were of highly varying quality. Moreover, relatively few employed replicable analytical methods capable of generalization. These limitations of the literature mean that the results of the review can only be interpreted as suggestive rather than conclusive. Second, the interview study was framed as an effort to further explore the trends of the literature review. Although the findings from the small-scale interview study were consistent with the broader Chinese literature, the research design suffers form the same limitations as the general literature. Therefore, these findings must also be treated as emergent rather than explanatory.
Practical implications
The paper identifies directions for future research and discusses implications for school leaders in implementing educational change in China.
Originality/value
The originality of this study lies in its attempt to synthesize a previously inaccessible literature on change leadership in Chinese schools. Despite China's rising role as a global leader, the literature in educational leadership and management remains sparse and largely unknown to Western scholars. Therefore, the study's limitations are balanced by the need to provide better descriptions of current practices employed by leaders as they attempt to improve China's schools.
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The purpose of this paper is to provide an updated and critical assessment of the share reforms relevant to Chinese A‐share issuers listed in the two mainland markets of Shanghai…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an updated and critical assessment of the share reforms relevant to Chinese A‐share issuers listed in the two mainland markets of Shanghai and Shenzhen. The reform programme first began in 2005 and has now spread widely across issuers in the two markets. It is therefore timely to assess how effective the reforms have been as well as gauging the ongoing effects of the transformation (of non‐tradable scrip into tradable form) on A‐share prices.
Design/methodology/approach
The “Split Share Structure” reform programme represents a major policy initiative in China and potentially opens‐the‐door to large‐scale state‐share disposals. The evidence to date however suggests that the Chinese authorities are primarily concerned with the reconfiguration of the array of share types that presently exist into a more comprehendible, streamlined form. The various checks and balances imposed on controlling shareholders engaged in the transformation of their shares from non‐tradable to tradable form suggest that eventual re‐designation of the holdings into an unfettered tradable type will not necessarily translate to the state's acquiescence in the disposal of such shares. On the contrary, state holdings in the most strategic of assets are likely to be retained more or less intact. Insights are developed by focusing on examples involving major A‐share issuers. In particular, a case study of the Sinopec reform proposal of August/September 2006 is set out to help illuminate the principal features of the reform package. Critical examination of the empirical literature relating to the A‐share price effects of the share reform programme also features.
Findings
There is little evidence to date of significant stock disposals amongst the largest and most strategic of China's issuers. However, for a number of A‐listed issuers, parts of the lock‐up moratoria have already expired or are set to do so in the very near future. Given the precipitous fall in A‐share prices (in Shanghai and Shenzhen) since late 2007, largely wrought by the enveloping global credit‐crunch, the Chinese authorities have an even more compelling case than hitherto to assiduously dampen fears of large‐scale state‐share disposals. Notwithstanding this, at least a small part of the drop in A‐share values during 2008 derives from the building risk‐premium on this issue.
Research limitations/implications
As the trading moratoria on re‐designated shares still applies in most cases, at least in respect of the majority of domestic stock holdings, a clearer picture will not emerge until 2009‐2011 when all such moratoria would have lapsed.
Originality/value
The discussions in this paper help to bring into focus a highly topical issue within the context of the Chinese equity market.
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Hui-Wen Deng and Kwok Wah Cheung
The National People’s Congress (NPC) of People’s Republic of China, the highest organ of state power, is popularly seen as a rubber-stamp entity. However, it has been…
Abstract
Purpose
The National People’s Congress (NPC) of People’s Republic of China, the highest organ of state power, is popularly seen as a rubber-stamp entity. However, it has been substantially evolving its roles to accommodate the governance discourses within China’s political system over the decades. This study aims to explore the changes of governance discourse of the NPC within China’s political system through which to offer a thorough understanding of the NPC’s evolving substantial role in current China.
Design/methodology/approach
This study deploys a historical approach to explore the changes of governance discourse of the NPC that has seen a growing importance in China’s political agenda, as argued by this study.
Findings
The authors find that the NPC has been substantially evolving its role within China’s political system in which the Chinese Communist Party has created different governance discourses. Besides, the NPC and its Standing Committee have asserted its authority as a substantial actor within China’s political system. The NPC is no longer functioned as a rubber-stamp institution, though it is still popularized as a rubber stamp by many scholars.
Research limitations/implications
This study is a historical elaboration on the development of NPC under three governance discourses. It might be, to some extent, relatively descriptive in nature.
Originality/value
This study, therefore, sheds some light on a revisit on the governance discourses in current China.
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This study aims to examine the relationship between employees' perceived equity and their propensity to unionize in China and the moderating effect of tenure on the relationship.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the relationship between employees' perceived equity and their propensity to unionize in China and the moderating effect of tenure on the relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was administered to 160 employees in a foreign‐invested company in China which had experienced a spontaneous labor strike seven months before the study.
Findings
The results supported the hypothesis regarding the relationship between workers' perceived equity and their unionization propensity in China. In addition, employee tenure was found to moderate this relationship such that the longer the tenure, the weaker the relationship between perceived equity and unionization propensity.
Originality/value
This study provides evidence of the external validity of the relationship between perceived equity and workers' unionization propensity in China. It also demonstrates the different roles employee tenure plays in the relationship. Specifically, senior workers were less likely to join spontaneous unions in China than junior workers when treatment was perceived to be unfair, a noteworthy contrast to existing research findings that senior workers in Western societies are more eager to get involved in union activities than junior workers.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine several institutional and individual factors impacting business dynamics of domestic private companies in China.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine several institutional and individual factors impacting business dynamics of domestic private companies in China.
Design/methodology/approach
Basing the discussion on detailed interviews with business owners, the paper discusses recent and future effects of financial and legal systems, social networks, family support, informal institutions, and business people's educational and work experiences on domestic, private companies.
Findings
The unfolding interplay between formal and informal institutions appears to be crucial for the future of the private sector and the development of free market institutions. Business people, who benefit from the changing orders bring about by economic reform, now want formal institutions to provide stability and security. The Chinese state has played, and will continue to play, a central role in most institutionalization processes. In addition to further shaping and stabilizing their institutional framework, Chinese private companies appear to face the following challenges: acquiring more soft management skills, resolving the potential agency problem of companies with mixed ownership managed by families, and solving the latent succession problem for some family businesses that originate from the “one child policy.”
Originality/value
Although the paper focuses on institutional and individual factors that pertain to the Chinese private business environment and business owners, the findings of this study deepen the understanding of the development of private firms conducting business in transitional economies.