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A case study conducted in a British company (Company A) on reengineering business processes is presented. It gives an example on how a case study ought to be written in order to go beyond the standard for writing an industrial report to one that is acceptable by academic peers. A good case study ought to contain information that readers can use in replicating the experiences gained and lessons learnt in future endeavours under similar settings. When a collection of good case studies is available to a practitioner or researcher he could formulate his plan for the future and avoid “re‐inventing the wheel”. This is most important to research in operations management because it lends a hand in the building up of a theory in POM to make an impact in its natural settings.

The purpose of the paper is to investigate compensation and related welfare issues in the case of the expropriation of land for urban redevelopment in China.

A mixed methods quantitative and qualitative approach was selected to undertake the research. This involved a wide ranging qualitative review of the academic and policy literature to explore the relevant arguments and issues, combined with a quantitative regression analysis of survey data collected from research subjects.

The research identified the complex and changeable phenomena of urban village redevelopment in China, and the variable compensation arrangements used. The research found that monthly family income before land expropriation, monthly family expense before expropriation, the location of the housing expropriation and family unit size are important determinants for the property holders chosen methods of compensation. It also found that an increase in family size leads to a decreasing probability that the expropriated farmers choose the single monetary compensation relative to the alternative option of housing compensation. The degree of satisfaction with compensation, changes in monthly family income and expense are found to be significant determinants for changes in life satisfaction.

The research made the following four recommendations based upon the qualitative and quantitative analysis: that local governments should pay closer governance/ political attention to changes in the welfare of the farmers/ villagers whose property has been expropriated; that central and local government should aim to improve the compensation system for rural land and property expropriation, to make the compensation policy be perceived as fairer and more reasonable by citizens; that a broad National standard of compensation be used within a pragmatic locally focussed regime; that the Chinese Central, Provincial and Local governments can devise improved policy tools and make more effective policy interventions by learning from the experiences (both successes and failures) of other countries approaches to this topic. It also suggested that further research be undertaken investigating the multitude of local level policy experiments, as a way of developing better National compensation standards based upon those compensation standards that appear to be working – and have citizen support – at the local level.

The literature review identified recent developments in Chinese urban studies and originally synthesised both recent and longstanding work on the issue of urban villages in China. The research also suggested changes to the National and Local legal and policy framework for compensation cases in urban redevelopment expropriation scenarios.

If husbands do more housework, would it improve fertility intentions in Taiwan? Using the Taiwan Panel Study of Family Dynamics, the authors examine the association between heterosexual husbands’ housework participation on their own and wives’ fertility intentions, according to the expectations of the post-transitional (occurring after the Second Demographic Transition) reversal in fertility rates and the gender revolution framework. This analysis shows that the effects are evident among Taiwanese heterosexual women but not men, who appear to lag behind on the gender revolution. Overall results show that more involvement in housework from husbands increases the fertility intentions among wives but does not increase their own fertility intentions.

In the denim industry, enzyme washing and its combination with stone washing are generally used to get the desired worn-out look. However, these conventional methods include high water, energy and time consumption. Nowadays, laser fading, which is a computer-controlled, dry, ecological finishing method, is preferred in the denim fading process. The purpose of this study is to observe the effects of chemical pretreatment applications on laser-faded denim fabric in terms of color and mechanical properties. To eliminate the enzyme washing process in denim fading and to minimize the disadvantages of laser fading, such as decreased mechanical properties and increased fabric yellowness, various chemical pretreatment applications were applied to the denim fabric before laser fading, followed by simple rinsing instead of enzyme washing.

Two different indigo-dyed, organic cotton denim fabrics with different unit weights were exposed to pretreatment processes and then laser treatment, followed by simple rinsing. Polysilicic acid, boric acid, borax and bicarbonate were used for pretreatment processes, and laser treatment was carried out under optimized laser parameters (40 dpi resolution and 300 µs pixel time). Tensile strength was tested, and color values (CIE L*, a*, b*, ΔE*, C* and h), color yield (K/S), yellowness and whiteness indexes were measured to identify the color differences.

Before laser fading, 30 g/L and 40 g/L polysilicic acid pretreatments for sulfur-indigo-dyed fabric and a mixture of 10 g/L boric acid and 10 g/L borax pretreatments for the fabric only indigo-dyed were recommended for the laser fading with sufficient mechanical properties and good color values.

With the chemical pretreatments defined in this study, it was possible to reduce yellowness and maintain the mechanical properties after laser fading, thus minimizing the disadvantages of laser treatment and also eliminating enzyme washing.

Modelling by means of specification languages is increasingly being recognized as an important phase in system development. It encourages one to think about problems using models organized around real‐world situations. The system to be developed should then be consistent, correct and unambiguous with respect to the models produced. The justin‐time kanban system is an example of a realworld problem with a multiple‐supplier and multiple‐client architecture. Uses two specification languages LOOPN and Object‐Z, proposed in the literature to model the kanbansystem. Focuses on describing the kanbansystem in the different notations, thus investigating how well they can express the just‐intime system. The kanban system consists of many replicated components, each having the same state space and exhibiting the same behaviour. To describe each and every component in the system would be repetitious and tedious. Discusses the ease of describing such a system.

The purpose of this paper is to engage with the discourse on the assumed existence of an distinct “African management” model. It critically deconstructs the concepts and submits an alternative strategy to address the need to understand what is happening in management of business in Africa.

Qualitative critical text analysis is used to understand the discourse on the nature of “African management” from the extant literature. The identity theory informs the understanding of the references to “African” as fundamental to identify a distinct management model. This analysis is supplemented by empirical case study research into successful African business.

Scholars failed to conceptualise what is “African”, and subsequently also what constitutes “African management”. This conceptual void undermines the critical reconstruction of a single African management model. Empirical research into actual management practices emerge as fundamental to systematic progress in this discourse. This research points to diverse management traditions converging into pragmatic practices.

Only a limited number of case studies were conducted into management history in Africa. This paper argues for an extended research programme, but this is future work.

It suggests a research strategy for scholars in African business studies, business history and management history to collaborate towards making a solid contribution to the economic development of our continent.

This research has the potential of forging collaboration in business among all of the people in Africa.

A critical text analysis is used to expose the conceptual lacunae that undermines progress in the discourse. This paper contributes to the literature on “African management” by systematically deconstructing the concept of “African identity” as a prerequisite to the management discourse. By signalling ethnic nostalgia, the critical reconceptualisation of Africanness offers an intellectually creative strategy out of the stalled discourse.

This paper aims to investigate the effect of ultrasonic vibration (USV) on the evolution of intermetallic compounds (IMCs), grain morphology and shear strength of soldered Ni/Sn/Ni samples.

The Ni/Sn/Ni joints were obtained through ultrasonic-assisted soldering. The formation of IMCs, their composition, grain morphology and the fractured-surface microstructures from shear tests were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy.

Without USV, a planar interfacial Ni₃Sn₄ layer was formed at the Ni/Sn interface, and a few Ni₃Sn₄ grains were distributed in the soldered joint. The morphology of these grains was needle-shaped. With USV, several grooves were formed at the interfacial Ni₃Sn₄ layer due to ultrasonic cavitation. Some deepened grooves led to “neck” connections at the roots of the Ni₃Sn₄ grains, which accelerated the strong detachment of Ni₃Sn₄ from the substrate. In addition, two types of Ni₃Sn₄ grains, needle-shaped and granular-shaped, were observed at the interface. Furthermore, the shear strength increased with longer USV time, which was attributed to the thinning of the interfacial IMC layers and dispersion strengthening from the Ni₃Sn₄ particles distributed evenly in the joint.

The novelty of the paper is the detailed study of the effect of USV on the morphology, size changes of interfacial IMC and joint strength. This provides guidance for the application of ultrasonic-assisted soldering in electronics packaging.

Laser fading, commonly used in the denim industry, is a computer-controlled, dry, ecological finishing method whereas conventional methods include high water, energy and time consumption. Resolution and pixel time are crucial parameters of laser source influencing the effect of laser treatment. The purpose of this study is to determine the optimum laser parameters of CO₂ laser followed by enzyme washing and to compare the tensile strength and color values of laser-treated denim fabric with that of conventional enzyme-faded.

Two different indigo-dyed, sulfur bottom-indigo-dyed and only indigo-dyed organic cotton denim fabrics with different unit weights, were lasetreated with different laser parameters and then subjected to 10 min enzyme washing. Tensile strength, abrasion resistance, and change in fabric unit weight were tested. CIE (L*a*b*, ΔE*, h°, C*) color values, color strength (K/S), yellowness and whiteness indexes were measured to identify the color differences. Color fastness tests including washing, rubbing, light, water and perspiration fastness were investigated.

Most effective laser fading in terms of good mechanical properties and color values was obtained at 40 dpi resolution and 300 µs pixel time.

Conventional enzyme fading of denim fabrics is a wet process and requires a long process time of 40–45 min and high temperatures, leading to high energy and water consumption. Laser fading, on the other hand, is a dry and ecological method, but causes a decrease in mechanical properties of the fabric, and an increase in yellowness. In this study, unlike the similar studies in the literature, denim fading was carried out by a combination of laser treatment followed by only 10 min enzyme washing in order to eliminate or minimize the drawbacks of the denim fading, such as high energy and water consumption for enzyme fading and decrease in mechanical properties of the fabric and increase in yellowness for laser fading. This method was applied to two different dyed denim fabrics, sulfur (bottom) and indigo (top) and laser process conditions were optimized to achieve the desired fading effects compared to conventional enzyme fading.

This study contributes to the understanding of the health effects of pesticides exposure and of how pesticides have been and should be regulated.

This study presents literature reviews for the period 2000–2013 on (i) the health effects of pesticides and on (ii) preference valuation of health risks related to pesticides, as well as a discussion of the role of benefit-cost analysis applied to pesticide regulatory measures.

This study indicates that the health literature has focused on individuals with direct exposure to pesticides, i.e. farmers, while the literature on preference valuation has focused on those with indirect exposure, i.e. consumers. The discussion highlights the need to clarify the rationale for regulating pesticides, the role of risk perceptions in benefit-cost analysis, and the importance of inter-disciplinary research in this area.

This study relates findings of different disciplines (health, economics, public policy) regarding pesticides, and identifies gaps for future research.