Wenfeng Wu, Jianshe Song, Kexia Jiang and Hao Li
This paper aims to study the maintenance and replacement problem for a deteriorating repairable system with multiple vacations of one repairman. It proposes a new replacement…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the maintenance and replacement problem for a deteriorating repairable system with multiple vacations of one repairman. It proposes a new replacement policy and establishes corresponding replacement models.
Design/methodology/approach
It is assumed that the repair after the system failures is not “as good as new” and the repairman is in multiple vacations. The reaching of the effective age of the system is assumed to be mutually stochastic at working state, waiting state for repair and being repaired state. Under these assumptions, a replacement policy based on the effective age of the system is applied. The long-run expected downtime per unit time and the long-run expected profit per unit time as objective functions are chosen, respectively. By using geometric process theory and renewal process theory, the mathematic models have been established and the explicit expressions of the long-run expected downtime per unit time and the long-run expected profit per unit time are derived, respectively.
Findings
The optimal replacement policy can be calculated and determined by the computer to minimize the expected downtime or maximize the expected profit. The minimum expected downtime per unit time and maximum expected profit per unit time can also be determined.
Originality/value
This replacement policy and mathematic models can be used as reference to the failure system maintenance and replacement.
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The chapter attempts to evaluate the utility of applying multi-level governance outside of the EU, and also outside of the group of democratic states, to states that have defied…
Abstract
Purpose
The chapter attempts to evaluate the utility of applying multi-level governance outside of the EU, and also outside of the group of democratic states, to states that have defied the third wave of democratization and that are characterized by a so-called new authoritarianism. The case is the People’s Republic of China, and the focus falls on policy-making and implementation in the field of hydropower with special attention to the issue area of environmental protection.
Methodology/approach
The chapter draws on the notion of scales and indigenous Chinese governance concepts and brings these into a conversation with the concept of multi-level governance. Case studies on hydropower decision-making in China contribute empirical data in order to investigate the utility of multi-level governance in the Chinese governance context.
Findings
The chapter argues that if multi-level governance is to have utility in other cultural contexts it needs to move away from a consideration of pre-given scales as locus of authority and consider indigenous governance concepts and notions of scale, and it crucially needs to map power relationships in the making and implementation of policies in order to reach analytical depth.
Research implications
The case of China shows that authoritarian regimes can be analysed in terms of multiple levels as authoritarianism no longer automatically implies strict top-down entities. Instead, autocracies can be highly fragmented and subject to complex decision-making processes that can arise during processes of administrative reform. This can lead to vibrant and reflexive systems of governance that exhibit adaptive skills necessary to ensure regime survival amidst a continuously diversifying society and changing external circumstances. As a consequence, a research programme looking at the new authoritarianism from a multi-level governance perspective has the capacity to uncover and describe new forms of governance, by bringing the concept into a conversation with indigenous governance concepts.
Practical implications
In China, informal networks between the energy bureaucracy and hydropower developers determine the hydropower decision-making process. This is particularly detrimental at a time when the Chinese government emphasizes the importance of the rule of law and social stability. Informal networks in which key government agencies are involved actively thwart the attempt of creating reliable institutions and more transparent and accountable processes of decision-making within the authoritarian governance framework.
Social implications
The findings show the dominance of informal networks versus the formal decision-making process. This sidelines the environmental bureaucracy and fails to fully realize the importance of public input into the decision-making process as one potential element of institutionalized conflict resolution.
Originality/value
The chapter builds on existing multi-level governance approaches and fuses them with notions of scales and indigenous Chinese governance concepts in order to enable the applicability of the concept of multi-level governance outside of its area of origin. This advances the explanatory depth and theoretical reach of multi-level governance.
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Xin Fan and Xiaoyu Song
Regulating and guiding the sound development of capital under a socialist system is not only a significant theoretical innovation rooted in Chinese…
Abstract
Purpose
Regulating and guiding the sound development of capital under a socialist system is not only a significant theoretical innovation rooted in Chinese practice by the Communist Party of China (CPC) but also a major practical exploration for the smooth progression of the party and the nation’s modernization endeavors.
Design/methodology/approach
Adopting an analytical framework that unifies theoretical, historical and practical logic, this paper explores the rationality of capital’s existence under a socialist system based on the notion that capital is a materialized production relationship. It also examines the staged evolution of capital theory under socialism, highlighting the great leap forward realized by the capital theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Findings
With the CPC Central Committee’s deepening understanding of the capital patterns in the socialist system, capital-related policies have undergone a developmental journey through several stages – from the negation and elimination of capital to the support and operation of capital and finally to the stage of regulating and guiding capital. This reflects the reciprocal and complementary relationship between capital theory and capital policy.
Originality/value
In response to issues such as the disorderly expansion of capital in the new development stage, it is imperative to actively promote a practical pathway safeguarded by the adherence to Party leadership, guided by the capital theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics and targeted toward common prosperity.
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In human history, poverty for most and prosperity for few is the norm. Thus, no theory or practice of common prosperity has been developed. Marxism first formulated the theory of…
Abstract
Purpose
In human history, poverty for most and prosperity for few is the norm. Thus, no theory or practice of common prosperity has been developed. Marxism first formulated the theory of common prosperity, and the classical Marxist authors conducted theoretical exploration on the issue of common prosperity, forming a series of scientific conclusions.
Design/methodology/approach
The century-long practical history of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is the great practice of leading the Chinese people in getting rid of poverty, letting some people and regions get rich first and ultimately achieving the goal of common prosperity.
Findings
Common prosperity is the great practice of the CPC that leads all Chinese people in building a modern socialist country in an all-round way in the new era.
Originality/value
The path of common prosperity with Chinese characteristics will certainly arise in the process of the great practice of common prosperity with Chinese characteristics. Based on the anti-poverty theory and the “spirit of poverty alleviation” from the battle against poverty with Chinese characteristics, the theory of common prosperity and its spirit with Chinese characteristics will certainly be formed. The above conclusions constitute the basic principles of the theory of common prosperity with Chinese characteristics.
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Huda Khan, Nadia Zahoor, Ahmad Arslan and Zaheer Khan
This study aims to understand the dynamics underpinning the exit and re-entry strategies adopted by multinational enterprises (MNEs) in an emerging market, Pakistan.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to understand the dynamics underpinning the exit and re-entry strategies adopted by multinational enterprises (MNEs) in an emerging market, Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach
This study undertook an in-depth historical case study of Yamaha Motorcycles, which had initially entered Pakistan as a joint venture but had then exited and re-entered as a wholly owned subsidiary.
Findings
This study found that, despite its status as a market leader and one of the older players in the Pakistani market, changing market dynamics in the 2000s – especially the increased competition brought by more affordable (inexpensive) Chinese motorcycles and the weak enforcement of industrial policies – had pushed Yamaha Motorcycles to exit. Another factor that had contributed to its exit were differences in risk perception and strategies with its local joint venture partner (a Pakistani business group). Hence, both firm-level and institutional factors had played significant roles in Yamaha’s market exit. This study further found that re-entering in a wholly owned subsidiary operation mode had been beneficial for the firm, as it gained a significant market share due to its focus on innovation and on capturing a market niche, which had earlier not been its main focus. The findings also suggest that opportunity logics and multiple forms of learning can be important for a firm’s re-entry into a host market – such as experiential (i.e. learning from experience) and vicarious learning (i.e. learning from other organizations, including suppliers and competitors) in an emerging market context, in which institutions evolve amid political and policy uncertainty. Finally, this study found that exit and re-entry timing is an important factor for the development of competitive advantage in a host market.
Originality/value
This study is among the few to have investigated the exit and re-entry strategies of MNEs in emerging markets. The relatively short time during which Yamaha Motorcycles had been out of the market had benefited it on its re-entry, as the firm had been able to capitalize on its prior learning and ties to suppliers’ networks.
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Heidi Ross, Ran Zhang and Wanxia Zhao
This chapter examines the changing state–university–student relationships in post/socialist China since the late 1980s. We begin with an introduction to four salient themes in…
Abstract
This chapter examines the changing state–university–student relationships in post/socialist China since the late 1980s. We begin with an introduction to four salient themes in scholarship on Chinese post/socialism that are highly relevant to higher education: globalization, gradualism, civic society, and a critique of holism. These themes help us explain interrelated educational trends that affect the state–university–student relationship: the globalization, “massification,” and stratification of higher education; the redefined role of the state in university governance and management; higher education marketization and privatization; and the quest for meaning and (e)quality in and through higher education. Our general argument is that during the “socialist” period the main relationship central to higher learning was between the state and students. Universities were agents of the state; from a legal point of view, indeed, universities did not have an independent status from the state. In the “post-socialist” era the university–student relationship has become more significant. We examine this reconfiguration through two case studies, one on the development of college student grievance and rights consciousness, and the other on reforms in higher education student services administration. When looked at from the point of view of the state, we see that appropriation and implementation of policies and regulations shaping student rights and services are in partial contradiction with state policies to accelerate economic growth and bolster party authority. From the point of view of universities, we see institutions grappling with how to deliver on forward-looking structures and actions while navigating between the state's policy mandates and growing expectations and demands of its student and business stakeholders. From the point of view of students, we see how constrained agency, uncertainty, and the power of the credential motivates social praxis. At all levels of the state–institution–student relationship actors are employing a kind of pragmatic improvisation (one of the salient features of post/socialism) captured by the well-known Chinese proverb “groping for stones to cross the river.” This saying is an apt metaphor for the tentative searching by state, institution, and individual for a safe foothold in the post/socialist world.
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Joseph Bosco, Lucia Huwy-Min Liu and Matthew West
A little-known “lottery fever” has spread to many parts of rural China over the past 10 years. This is driven by participation in underground lotteries with local bookies. It is…
Abstract
A little-known “lottery fever” has spread to many parts of rural China over the past 10 years. This is driven by participation in underground lotteries with local bookies. It is called liuhecai, which is the name of the Hong Kong lottery, and is based on guessing the bonus number of the Hong Kong Mark Six lottery. Such lotteries are illegal, but are an open secret. This chapter seeks to understand the meaning of this apparently irrational lottery fever: why people participate in it, why they believe the conspiracy theory that it is rigged (and yet still participate), and why similar lotteries have emerged in both capitalist Taiwan and post-socialist China at this particular time.
Malini Natarajarathinam, Ismail Capar and Arunachalam Narayanan
The purpose of this paper is to review the literature to describe the current practices and research trends in managing supply chains in crisis. This paper also provides…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the literature to describe the current practices and research trends in managing supply chains in crisis. This paper also provides directions for future research in supply chain crisis management.
Design/methodology/approach
Articles published prior to August 2008 are analyzed and classified.
Findings
A unique five‐dimensional framework to classify the literature is provided. The study reveals that there has been extensive research done in this area in recent years. Much of the research is focused on proactive approaches to crisis in supply chains. Management during various internal crises such as supplier bankruptcy or loss of key clients is a new, challenging area that requires further investigation.
Research limitations/implications
This paper does not include articles that are not peer‐reviewed.
Practical implications
This paper will serve as a guide to supply chain managers who would like to know how crises, disasters, and disruptions in supply chains have been handled in existing academic literature.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first literature review in the area of managing supply chains during crisis that looks at both SCM and operations research/management science journals. This paper identifies the various methods that have been used to handle crisis situations and provides a framework to classify the literature. Additionally, this paper identifies gaps in the literature that can provide ideas for future research in this area.