Linlin Bai and Jiu Zhou
The purpose of this paper, on innovative design of traditional weft-backed woven fabric, is to investigate a design principle and method for full-backed structure with…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper, on innovative design of traditional weft-backed woven fabric, is to investigate a design principle and method for full-backed structure with double-faced shading effect to realize two types of double-faced shading effects for traditional weft-backed fabric that are impossible to be realized under plane design mode. In addition, the study on the color rendering law is conducive to the design application, and the effectiveness of the design method has been verified by the design practices.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents a design method for full-backed structure with two shaded weave databases (SWDs) by selecting two primary weaves (PWs), establishing the corresponding SWDs, selecting the proper compound structures for database of full-backed structure with double-faced shading effect. Color card fabric with 544 specimens is produced and their color values are measured, their color difference and variance are analyzed to evaluate the color rendering characteristics. Finally, double-faced weft-backed fabrics are produced under layered-combination design mode to verify the practicality of full-backed structure with double-faced shading effect.
Findings
Weft-backed woven fabrics with “SPDC” (same pattern and different color) and “DPDC” (different pattern and different color) shading effects can be produced using full-backed structure with double-faced shading effect. The color expression is extremely enhanced (136 compound structures on one side for one color weft). In the shading process, two sets of wefts do not affect each other, and stable and ideal color shading effect with high color purity can be expressed according to the analyses on the L* (lightness) values, color purity, color differences (0.47–3.20) and variance (0.25–1.21) of the color card fabric.
Originality/value
Breaking through the structural limitations and achieving the double-faced shading effects that cannot be expressed in plane design mode. The research on two weft-backed fabric with the most basic weft-backed structure provides not only a theoretical base for further study on weft-backed structures, but also some references for structure innovation design of traditional weft-backed woven fabrics.
Details
Keywords
Jacquard fabric is regarded as a “high-grade” textile, having intricate, interesting color and texture, and digital image design is the latest technique of computer art in the…
Abstract
Jacquard fabric is regarded as a “high-grade” textile, having intricate, interesting color and texture, and digital image design is the latest technique of computer art in the design field. Merging the design features of jacquard fabrics and digital image, this study was carried out to investigate digital jacquard fabric design in a colorless mode, which is one of the main modes of digital image design; another is that of a colorful mode. In this paper, the design principles and design methods for unconventional digital jacquard fabric design in a colorless mode were analyzed critically based on the application of digital technologies, and in particular, the digital color theory so that with tailor-made structural design, any colorless digital images with certain grays can be designed to form jacquard fabrics directly. The results of this study bring about an innovative design concept in jacquard fabrics and have a significant influence on the future development of jacquard textiles.
Details
Keywords
The study of the history of Chinese science has attracted further attention over the past 50 years, with an increasing number of scholars, influenced by Joseph Needham and his…
Abstract
The study of the history of Chinese science has attracted further attention over the past 50 years, with an increasing number of scholars, influenced by Joseph Needham and his project “Science and Civilization in China”, developing ideas in this field. There are a range of Web sites which have been produced and are available to the scholar of the history of Chinese science, and some of these are collected together and evaluated in this article.
Rodrigo Martins, Francisco Fernandes, Virginia Infante and Antonio R. Andrade
The purpose of this paper is to describe an integer linear programming model to schedule the maintenance crew and the maintenance tasks in a bus operating company.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe an integer linear programming model to schedule the maintenance crew and the maintenance tasks in a bus operating company.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed methodology relies on an integer linear programming model that finds feasible maintenance schedules. It minimizes the costs associated with maintenance crew and the costs associated with unavailability. The model is applied in a real-world case study of a Portuguese bus operating company. A constructive heuristic approach is put forward, based on solving the maintenance scheduling problem for each bus separately.
Findings
The heuristic finds better solutions than the exact methods (based on branch-and-bound techniques) in a much lower computational time.
Practical implications
The results suggest the relevance of such heuristic approaches for maintenance scheduling in practice.
Originality/value
This proposed model is an effective decision-making support method that provides feasible maintenance schedules for the maintenance technicians and for the maintenance tasks in a fleet of buses. It also complies with several operational, technical and labour constraints.
Details
Keywords
Wangjing is a large residential cluster located at the intersection of the Fourth Ring Road and the airport expressway in the northeast part of Beijing. The area is a “suburb”…
Abstract
Wangjing is a large residential cluster located at the intersection of the Fourth Ring Road and the airport expressway in the northeast part of Beijing. The area is a “suburb” according to official statistics and academic accounts, which often classify urban areas beyond the historical old city as suburbs. Due to its proximity to the airport and major expressways, Wangjing has developed quickly since the late 1990s. As more high-rise luxury apartment buildings get built, the area's population has reached 150,000 as of 2010, including more than 30,000 foreign expatriates living here amid Chinese urban professionals. Across the airport expressway from Wangjing is the 798 Factory, a hip arts quarter developed within a former electronics factory built in the 1950s. Looking for large studio space, a few artists moved into the Bauhaus-style workshops here in the late 1990s, and quickly bookstores, coffee shops, and galleries followed suit. By 2005, the 798 Factory had become the center of the contemporary Chinese art scene and home to many prestigious international galleries. Outside the factory compound is a working-class neighborhood developed in the 1950s to house workers at the nearby factories and their families. The living conditions here have not changed much for decades, with some families still sharing common kitchens and bathrooms with their neighbors in dilapidated apartment buildings. To the west side of Wangjing, after about a 15-minute drive along the Fourth Ring Road, one reaches the Olympic Park, a brand-new area of parks, stadiums, five-star hotels, golf courses, and exclusive gated communities of villas – all developed in the short period before the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Beyond the Fifth Ring Road, one can see many “urban villages,” former agricultural villages that have become populated by migrant workers with low-paid jobs – taxi drivers, construction workers, waiters, nannies, security guards, and street vendors. Unable to afford to live in the central city, migrant workers rent rooms from local peasants at the city's edge. Many of these villages are to be demolished soon to make space for commercial property development, and the migrant worker tenants will have to move to another village farther away from the city.
Stephen J. Scanlan, Laurie Cooper Stoll and Kimberly Lumm
Hunger strikes have a long history in efforts to achieve social change but scholars have made few comparative, empirical, or theoretical contributions to understanding their…
Abstract
Hunger strikes have a long history in efforts to achieve social change but scholars have made few comparative, empirical, or theoretical contributions to understanding their dynamics and connections in the social movement and nonviolent action literature. We examine hunger strikes from 1906 to 2004 with a comparative perspective, elaborating on its use as a tactic of nonviolent change. Using data assembled from the New York Times, Keesing's Worldwide Online, and The Economist we analyze how, when, where, and why hunger strikes occur, and by whom they have been utilized to seek change. In general, findings reveal that hunger strikes over the last century have been widespread phenomena that are typically small, brief, and relatively successful tactics against the state. Several themes emerge regarding hunger strikes including their appeal to the powerless and emergence when few political opportunities exist, their significance for third-party mobilization, and the role of emotions in the protest dynamics. Taken together, the power struggle involving the hunger strike is an important example and extension of “political jiu-jitsu” as presented by Sharp (1973).
Fang Liu and Jamie Murphy
This research aims to examine Chinese consumers’ wine consumption and purchasing behaviour.
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to examine Chinese consumers’ wine consumption and purchasing behaviour.
Design/methodology/approach
The study, conducted during the Chinese New Year in early 2006, used in‐depth interviews with 15 consumers in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
Findings
The results suggest that Chinese consume Chinese spirits for all occasions, yet consume red wine only for special occasions such as Chinese new year and other holidays. A key point for selling red wine to the Chinese is its positive image; drinking red wine is considered trendy and shows good taste. Another key point is consumer perceptions of red wine as healthier than Chinese spirits because wine contains less alcohol. Two other findings are that most Chinese consumers assume all wine is red wine and have little wine knowledge. Most respondents did not know of white wine or that Australia produces wine. Finally, China's culture of face value, mianzi, plays a key role in purchasing and consuming wine. Chinese tend to purchase inexpensive wine for private consumption and public occasions, yielding more mianzi in front of others. In some important occasions, consumers will purchase a foreign (French) red wine to impress their guests and obtain even more mianzi. In most situations, Chinese purchase and consume wine for perceived health and symbolic – lucky or good face – values.
Research limitations/implications
The small sample size is a limitation. Another limitation is that all the respondents lived in the urban area of Guangzhou, one of China's most developed cities. The findings do not generalize to China.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that wine is a symbolic product rather than a necessity product in China; therefore, image is an important attribute for selling wine in China. Furthermore, limited wine knowledge tends to make Chinese consumers rely heavily on price for their wine purchasing decisions, as price relates to mainzi. Chinese consumers’ high awareness of France as a wine making country and their deep‐rooted positive beliefs about French wines pose difficulties for marketing other foreign wines, such as Australian wines, in China.
Originality/value
This is perhaps the first academic study in English of Chinese wine consumption and wine purchasing. It offers important insights on the characteristics of wine consumption and purchasing in China.
Details
Keywords
Ezlika M. Ghazali, Dilip S. Mutum, Jiu Hui Chong and Bang Nguyen
Mobile shopping is expected to emerge as a new way of shopping as the Asia Pacific region moves towards the digital era. It is important to understand factors that influence…
Abstract
Purpose
Mobile shopping is expected to emerge as a new way of shopping as the Asia Pacific region moves towards the digital era. It is important to understand factors that influence consumers’ intentions to adopt this new shopping channel, especially in developing countries such as Malaysia where it has the fastest growing mobile penetration rate in the world. The purpose of this paper is to integrate the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), and includes additional variables such as personal innovativeness (PI) and trust.
Design/methodology/approach
Empirical data from 453 consumers were tested against a proposed model using partial least squares structural equation modelling.
Findings
Findings suggest that most of the constructs in the model (i.e. trust, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitudes, PI and perceived behavioural control) influence a shopper’s intentions towards adopting mobile shopping. For example, consumers’ attitudes towards M-shopping adoption is higher if a system is not complex and easy to use; if consumers can easily pull out their mobile devices from their pockets to browse or shop by using just one finger, without a complicated process, they tend to use M-shopping channels. In addition, when mobile technology is user-friendly and free from mental effort, it creates positive perceptions that the system is useful, developing stronger intentions for consumers to adopt this alternative.
Originality/value
Since M-shopping is a personalised activity that involves money transactions, consumers are more cautious with adoption intentions, and do not follow social norms blindly. Thus, the empirical evidence from Malaysian consumers contributes to literature with insights into their specific m-shopping behaviour in this emerging market. In addition, from a theoretical perspective, the research model in this study integrates both TAM and TPB to provide a holistic view of consumers’ M-shopping adoption intentions in an emerging market, incorporating user-centric factors (i.e. trust and PI). An important finding which differs from other studies is that the relationship between subjective norms and behavioural intention to use M-shopping was not significant, which is contrary to the findings of previous studies. Moreover, attitude was found to mediate the effect of PEOU and PU on consumer’s intention towards mobile shopping adoption. The validated instrument would serve as a useful guideline for researchers during development and refinement of studies on M-shopping.
Details
Keywords
The Chinese civilization is an important part of the history of mankind. The purpose of this paper is to show that there are project management lessons to be learned from Chinese…
Abstract
Purpose
The Chinese civilization is an important part of the history of mankind. The purpose of this paper is to show that there are project management lessons to be learned from Chinese history, including that relating to the management of the building process in ancient China.
Design/methodology/approach
Through a review of the literature, this paper discusses the key management and economic practices in the building process of ancient China and highlights these practices from an important document, the Yingzao Fashi or (“Treatise on Architectural Methods”), that was compared with the modern‐day project management framework.
Findings
This paper explains the official systems instituted for public projects; the management of labour, design and planning of construction works; quantity surveying practices; the use, control and recycling of building materials; and inspection of building elements in ancient China.
Practical implications
The study suggests that lessons in the principles of construction project management in ancient China bear many similarities with the nine areas of modern‐day project management body of knowledge relating to integration, scope, time, cost, quality, human resource, communications, risk, and procurement management. An area for future research would be to compare the Yingzao Fashi with modern‐day codes of practice for building works to determine which of its “ancient” provisions relating to quality management are still relevant today.
Originality/value
It was found that much emphasis was placed by the ancient Chinese on the quality aspects of prominent building projects. This is one facet from which modern‐day project managers and clients can draw lessons.