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This paper seeks to introduce a six‐sigma based methodology for the SCM domain which was developed and has been used in Samsung.

The paper provides a detailed description of how and why a six‐sigma‐based methodology for the SCM domain was developed in Samsung and presents a real industry case to illustrate the usage of the methodology.

In Samsung, the effort and investment in synthesizing SCM and six sigma, and developing a unique six‐sigma‐based methodology to improve its SCM operation, have turned out to be fruitful. The Black Belt program has produced highly qualified and talented SCM specialists, who are currently training the methodology to members in their organizations and leading SCM projects. SCM projects are being prepared and conducted in a more disciplined way and their outcomes are continuously monitored and shared through the company's repository.

To generalize its usefulness, the methodology needs to be applied to the SCM projects of those companies whose organizational and cultural contexts are different from those of Samsung. In addition, the overview of an illustrative SCM project presented in the paper is brief due to space limitations.

Today, SCM is increasingly recognized as a strategic way to innovate a company's business operation. This paper shows that a methodology such as Samsung's SCM six sigma can be the key to conducting SCM projects in a more disciplined way and for fruitful outcomes.

The paper introduces a unique six‐sigma‐based methodology for the SCM domain which has been developed and applied in a leading global manufacturing, financial, and services conglomerate. This methodology could be adapted by other companies for their SCM projects to increase the likelihood of project success.

This paper reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Since the 1990s businesses have recognized the value of supply chain management (SCM) not just to their supply chains, but other parts of their operations where the same principles can be adapted and applied. This has led to several innovations and radical success stories, while at the same time Motorola's six sigma approach has revolutionized many businesses in Asia following its success in the US in the late 1980s. Asian companies have also innovated along six sigma principles, so what would happen when one of the biggest Asian electronic goods manufacturers got serious about both six sigma and SCM?

Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.

This study intends to explore the opportunities and roles of Macao's universities in the education and training development of Hengqin under the General Plan of the Development of the Guangdong–Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin promulgated in August 2021.

This study is intended to analyze the role of Macao’ universities in Hengqin development, based on data collected through interviewing with dozens of scholars and government officials from Macao and Hengqin, and government reports, news reports and other relevant data.

The General Plan provides Macao's universities with opportunities to develop education and training in Hengqin. On the one hand, Hengqin can be the locus of Macao's tertiary education diversification; Macao's universities can jointly establish technological research institutions and set up postdoctoral research centers and university branches to enroll master's and doctoral students from Mainland China. On the other hand, Macao's universities can set up a branch of professional training and open training courses in Hengqin. These efforts are designed to promote technological innovation and cultural diffusion in Macao.

This study analyses the potential role of Macao's universities in developing education and training in Hengqin since the central policy was announced last August. This study will be of interest to scholars as well as policymakers.

The purpose of this study is to construct a scale that is contextually suitable for measuring early childhood leadership in China.

Following a standard scale development procedure, both qualitative and quantitative research approaches were addressed. Qualitative data was collected from 21 semistructured interviews with formal and informal teacher leaders in Xiamen City, China. Using survey data of 120 respondents and 305 respondents, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted twice to determine the underlying factorial structure of the scale. A further sample of 317 respondents were used to test the latent structure and validity of the scale using confirmatory factor analysis.

Based on the results from reliability and validity tests, this study indicates that the scale demonstrates sound psychometric properties. A three-factor model was determined, including staff management and development, peer learning and support and communication with parents.

The scale is the first of its kind for measuring early childhood leadership in China.

Since 1960, many public–private partnership (PPP) projects have been implemented in Hong Kong. Some projects have been considered as very successful, whereas others are seen as less successful. Unfortunately, these success outcomes have remained abstract because they are not in quantifiable terms. This paper aims to develop a model that can quantify the success outcome of PPP projects in Hong Kong.

Both quantitative and qualitative research approaches were adopted for the study. First, a questionnaire survey was conducted with PPP practitioners in Hong Kong, and thereafter, the fuzzy synthetic evaluation technique was used to develop a project success index for PPP projects in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Cross-Harbour Tunnel project was used as a case study to demonstrate the applicability of the pragmatic model.

The success index model developed consists of four unrelated success criteria groupings: cost effectiveness, quality of services and technical specification, environmental impact and long-term partnership. Further, the computed success index for the Cross-Harbour Tunnel project is 4.06, which indicates that the tunnel project has been highly successful.

The outputs of this study will enable PPP practitioners in Hong Kong to reliably evaluate the success levels of their projects. In addition, local practitioners can now compare the success levels of two or more PPP projects on the same basis.

Under extremely cold weather, traditional winter clothing may not be adequate to keep warm in the harsh environment. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Wearable heat-generating (electric heating) clothing which covers the thermal sensitive zone of the human body can protect the human body from hypothermia. Existing heatable jacket in the market using carbon fiber is relatively expensive, complicated and require a lengthy manufacturing time.

Through experimental evaluation, the textile treated by plasma-assisted metal coating (PAC) has demonstrated excellent stability in temperature during the heating process.

This paper introduces an innovative, low-cost PAC technology using optimized plasma-assisted metallic deposition that is able to preserve the physical properties of the textile.

Presents over sixty abstracts summarising the 1999 Employment Research Unit annual conference held at the University of Cardiff. Explores the multiple impacts of globalization on work and employment in contemporary organizations. Covers the human resource management implications of organizational responses to globalization. Examines the theoretical, methodological, empirical and comparative issues pertaining to competitiveness and the management of human resources, the impact of organisational strategies and international production on the workplace, the organization of labour markets, human resource development, cultural change in organisations, trade union responses, and trans‐national corporations. Cites many case studies showing how globalization has brought a lot of opportunities together with much change both to the employee and the employer. Considers the threats to existing cultures, structures and systems.

The study aims to investigate the effects of bodily feelings on preference for robotic service by examining direct and indirect sensations from physical and metaphorically projected bodily feelings.

Through four empirical experiments involving video and recall tasks to metaphorically manipulate participants’ bodily warmth and directly manipulate ambient temperature, the authors explored the mediating role of the need for warmth and the moderating role of robotic features (warmth vs competence) on consumer willingness to engage with and pay for robotic services.

Warmth perception exhibits a positive correlation with robotic services. This relationship is mediated by the need for warmth. Moreover, when customers experience a sensation of physical warmth, they show a greater willingness to pay for a robotic service exhibiting competence versus warmth.

This research contributes to the literature by integrating the feelings-as-information theory and the mind perception view to understand the judgment of robotic services. It extends the application of the embodied cognition theory, highlighting the significance of bodily feelings as a source of information in customer decision-making processes. Furthermore, this research explores the metaphoric influence of service features on bodily responses, providing new insights into the role of embodiment and mental perception in robotic service evaluations.

Managers should consider using different robots based on seasonal settings to meet customers’ need for warmth. Understanding customers’ bodily feelings and the metaphoric influence of service features contributes to the design of more effective and customer-centric robotic services.

This inquiry explores the metaphoric influence of service features on bodily responses, providing new insights into the role of embodiment and mental perception in robotic service evaluations.

This paper aims to explore factors affecting young consumers’ purchasing of new smart products under the influence of social media.

Twenty semi-structured, face-to-face, in-depth interviews were conducted with young consumers who used new media, and five extended interviews were conducted with popular smartwatch retailers in Macau.

The findings reveal that they tend to garner product information from multiple channels of communication. Social media exert the greatest influence. Reliable information, strong branding and interactions with vendors are also influential, although new product pre-announcements may be boring and difficult to understand.

This study presents new insights into diffusion of innovation theory and provides retailers launching smart products with a better understanding of their target young customers’ purchasing behavior.

Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American preemptive invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the subsequent prisoner abuse, such an existence seems to be farther and farther away from reality. The purpose of this work is to stop this dangerous trend by promoting justice, love, and peace through a change of the paradigm that is inconsistent with justice, love, and peace. The strong paradigm that created the strong nation like the U.S. and the strong man like George W. Bush have been the culprit, rather than the contributor, of the above three universal ideals. Thus, rather than justice, love, and peace, the strong paradigm resulted in in justice, hatred, and violence. In order to remove these three and related evils, what the world needs in the beginning of the third millenium is the weak paradigm. Through the acceptance of the latter paradigm, the golden mean or middle paradigm can be formulated, which is a synergy of the weak and the strong paradigm. In order to understand properly the meaning of these paradigms, however, some digression appears necessary.