Kai Leung Yung, George To Sum Ho, Yuk Ming Tang and Wai Hung Ip
This project attempts to present a space component inventory classification system for space inventory replenishment and management. The authors propose to adopt a classification…
Abstract
Purpose
This project attempts to present a space component inventory classification system for space inventory replenishment and management. The authors propose to adopt a classification system that can incorporate all the different variables in a multi-criteria configuration. Fuzzy logic is applied as an effective way for formulating classification problems in space inventory replenishment.
Design/methodology/approach
A fuzzy-based approach with ABC classification is proposed to incorporate all the different variables in a multi-criteria configuration. Fuzzy logic is applied as an effective way for formulating classification problems in space inventory replenishment of the soil preparation system (SOPSYS) which is used in grinding and sifting Phobos rocks to sub-millimeter size in the Phobos-Grunt space mission. An information system was developed using the existing platform and was used to support the key aspects in performing inventory classification and purchasing optimization.
Findings
The proposed classification system was found to be able to classify the inventory and optimize the purchasing decision efficiency. Based on the information provided from the system, implementation plans for the SOPSYS project and related space projects can be proposed.
Research limitations/implications
The paper addresses one of the main difficulties in handling qualitative or quantitative classification criteria. The model can be implemented using mathematical calculation tools and integrated into the existing inventory management system. The proposed model has important implications in optimizing the purchasing decisions to shorten the research and development of other space instruments in space missions.
Originality/value
Inventory management in the manufacture of space instruments is one of the major problems due to the complexity of the manufacturing process and the large variety of items. The classification system can optimize purchasing decision-making in the inventory management process. It is also designed to be flexible and can be implemented for the manufacture of other space mission instruments.
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Mirjana Pejic Bach, Emil Tustanovski, Andrew W.H. Ip, Kai-Leung Yung and Vasja Roblek
System dynamics is a whole-system modelling and learning approach, useful for tackling non-linear problems, such as sustainable urban development. The purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
System dynamics is a whole-system modelling and learning approach, useful for tackling non-linear problems, such as sustainable urban development. The purpose of this paper is to review system dynamics applications in the simulation of sustainable urban development over a period from 2005 to 2017.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis reveals that the number of applications of system dynamics modelling in the area of urban sustainable development increased in the analysed period. Research has changed its focus from the modelling of environmental problems to more complex models, portraying the multidimensional socio-economic processes that have an impact on the sustainability of urban development. Analysed case studies most often use the behaviour reproduction test for model validation, but without a unified approach. In most cases, modelling has been done in China, Germany and the USA, while urban development in the Eastern European countries, Africa and Latin America has not often been investigated. This paper indicates the knowledge gaps and suggests future research directions.
Findings
Papers that report the use of system dynamics modelling reveal a wide range of applications in urban sustainability. The analysis shows significant emphasis on environmental problems, while the interest for modelling social problems has been increasing during the last several years. Most of the modelled problems examine the sustainability of resources (land, water) and waste management, which are used for insights into the reasons for the system behaviour, forecasting future behaviour and policy testing.
Originality/value
The presented models were developed in most cases for the purpose of understanding the phenomena examined, as well as the future use of the models in policy planning. This brings us back to the need for greater stakeholder involvement, not only in the initial phase, but also during the whole modelling process, which could increase understanding, use and ownership of the models in the future, and thus increase their practical application.
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The use of public engagement (PE) has been encouraged by the Hong Kong government in recent years, with the construction industry under particular pressure to employ it. However…
Abstract
Purpose
The use of public engagement (PE) has been encouraged by the Hong Kong government in recent years, with the construction industry under particular pressure to employ it. However, society as a whole has been suffering as a result of various levels of discontent and conflict in many construction development projects. The logical paths to analyze public need and resolve conflict in the PE process are vague. Value methodology (VM), a logical method, is thus proposed as an initial framework to support PE activities in construction projects. The purpose of this paper is to enhance PE performance for the complicated construction development projects with the application of VM principles.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on an extensive literature review, PE logical team process factors and PE outcomes were identified. A questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate the relationships between the logical PE team decision-making process (VM application in the logical process and team behaviors) and final PE outcomes.
Findings
The results showed that the PE team process with the application of VM, especially information and analysis phases, influenced PE outcomes positively. Conflict (both destructive conflict and constructive conflict) influenced PE outcomes in different directions.
Practical implications
It is recommended that the information and analysis phases of VM are applied to PE process in order to achieve consensus, cultivate team spirit, improve project performance, and enhance organizational reputation.
Originality/value
This paper innovatively proposes the application of VM into the PE team process in order to analyze the project logically and subsequently improve holistic PE project performance and finally promote social cohesion.
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This paper aims to understand the implication of night soil selling at the public toilets for the shared interests between colonial state and business in nineteenth-century Hong…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to understand the implication of night soil selling at the public toilets for the shared interests between colonial state and business in nineteenth-century Hong Kong. More specifically, this paper attempts to look at the ways the toilets were sustained by the sharing interests over night soil profits between state and business sector.
Design/methodology/approach
It is argued from the political economy perspective that the night soil profit determined the public toilet development.
Findings
The successful emergence of the modern state of colonies was generally attributed to colonial modernization, a force that was widely recognized for having introduced hygienic modernity. It was easily assumed that the public toilets would be provided by colonial government. Instead, sanitary problems during the early colonization of this colony were addressed by the privately-owned public pail toilets provided by big Chinese landowners through the selling of night soil. Based on this quasi-commercial mode, these toilets, which served as night soil collection points, were certainly inefficient; they however survived for half a century into the early twentieth century.
Originality/value
The paper challenges the long-established assumptions of binary relations and hierarchical public roles that put them into zero-sum competition of capacity. It rather argues that the interests aligned with each other.
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Despite the preservation of “One Country, Two Systems” for 50 years under the Sino-British Joint Declaration and Basic Law, changes are palpable due to the emergence of a real…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the preservation of “One Country, Two Systems” for 50 years under the Sino-British Joint Declaration and Basic Law, changes are palpable due to the emergence of a real contest between liberal and pro-China actors in the legal profession and the legal environment in Hong Kong. After celebrating the twentieth anniversary of Hong Kong’s sovereignty transfer from Britain to China, it is valuable to study how the sovereign power influence the rule of law in its semiautonomous city by non-legal measures. This paper aims to offer a preliminary research on China’s political economic strategy, which is regarded as the “China factor”, in the legal system of Hong Kong, and its political, economic and legal-cultural impacts on the rule of law.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper argues that China exerts its influence over the legal system of Hong Kong in four domains, including ideology, political elections, legal organization and cross-border political economy. Based on media research and content analysis over published materials of various legal associations and institutions, it is found that China attempts to consolidate its control in Hong Kong by producing alternative legal ideology and discourse of the rule of law and by co-opting the legal profession under China’s united front strategy.
Findings
While there are liberal lawyers and legal scholars vocally engaging in defense of human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong, a network of legal profession promoting socialist and authoritarian legal values has become prominent. Hong Kong’s legal culture will continue to be shaped in accordance with authoritarian characteristics and will adversely affect developing the rule of law in this international city.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the study of China’s influence over the legal profession of Hong Kong and in general Hong Kong’s jurisdiction by offering an example to the international community that contributes towards understanding how China adopts different strategies to expand political significance beyond its border.
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Mei-yung Leung, Chen Dongyu and Anita M.M. Liu
The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of personal values on students’ learning behaviours. Hong Kong construction students are often criticized, by both…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of personal values on students’ learning behaviours. Hong Kong construction students are often criticized, by both practitioners and educators, as rote learners. To improve students’ learning processes, extensive research on a variety of aspects of construction education has been conducted. However, limited attention has been paid to the influence of personal values on students’ learning behaviours. The impact of personal value factors on the learning approaches of Chinese construction students in Hong Kong is investigated.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire survey was conducted to ethically Chinese construction students in four universities in Hong Kong. A total of 820 questionnaires were distributed and 431 valid returns were collected.
Findings
The survey identified six influential values (namely, personal integrity, conservatism, determination, discipline, interpersonal relationships, and achievement), and shows that students who emphasize the virtues of personal integrity, determination, and a positive attitude toward achievement are better able to handle their interpersonal relationships, which will eventually lead them to engage in deep learning.
Originality/value
Work to develop appropriate value systems is thus recommended in freshmen courses, as is the use of cooperative learning approaches. Such value systems will have a long-term influence on the learning approaches of construction students.
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Lawrence Wai‐Chung Lai and Pearl Yik‐Long Chan
This paper uses a probit model to analyse 100 observations in terms of three hypotheses about the formation of owners’ corporations in high‐density private housing estates in Hong…
Abstract
This paper uses a probit model to analyse 100 observations in terms of three hypotheses about the formation of owners’ corporations in high‐density private housing estates in Hong Kong within the context of Mancur Olson’s group theory. The findings do not reject the theory, revealing that it is more likely for an older urban estate with fewer owners to form owners’ corporations. The discussion includes a brief introduction to Olson’s group theory and the development of the probit analysis. Some speculative thoughts about public participation in local level urban management and planning are offered in the conclusion.
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Gordon Chi Kai Cheung and Edmund Terence Gomez
This paper aims to examine the UK’s small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) policies under Margaret Thatcher’s era in the 1980s, with a view to understand the success stories…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the UK’s small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) policies under Margaret Thatcher’s era in the 1980s, with a view to understand the success stories, historical development and the structures of Chinese family business through a case study of See Woo Holdings Ltd.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors have achieved the objective on the study of the SMEs policies under Margaret Thatcher through critical evaluation of the historical literatures, books, journals and newspapers. The study on overseas Chinese business and the case of See Woo Holdings Ltd. is mainly through the research of the Chinese overseas in the UK and Southeast Asia, and the companies report from the Companies House in the UK. The authors have used the latest 2011 UK Census statistics and academic reports to locate the most current demographic changes and Chinese business characteristics in the UK and the Northeast of England.
Findings
First, the UK’s SMEs policies under Margaret Thatcher were quite receptive towards the ethnic business. Second, the case of See Woo Holdings Ltd. indicates that family business networks are still one of the characteristics of Chinese business. Finally, the broader UK’s SMEs policies play an important role in this case study.
Originality/value
The authors provide a tentative linkage between the UK’s SMEs policies under Margaret Thatcher and Chinese family business. In addition, the case study of See Woo Holdings Ltd. improves the current understanding of Chinese family business with a clearer picture about their structure, practice, characteristics and development.
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Collaborative arts incorporate theatrical elements including sound, movement, text, design, technology and visual elements into a synthetic original form of art. This paper…
Abstract
Purpose
Collaborative arts incorporate theatrical elements including sound, movement, text, design, technology and visual elements into a synthetic original form of art. This paper examines a sub-category of collaborative arts, New Music Theater, in the contemporary context from the 1980s onwards in Hong Kong.
Design/methodology/approach
Interviews with artists Kung Chi Shing, Steve Hui and Amy Chan exhibit their personal creative and collaborative experiences.
Findings
These interviews provide a view of the current practice of New Music Theater in Hong Kong.
Originality/value
This paper highlights the emergence of a new art form in Hong Kong and fills a gap in the relevant literature.
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The Li & Fung Group, a century-old, family-controlled multinational group of companies based in Hong Kong, seems to be an exception to the traditional perception of Chinese family…
Abstract
Purpose
The Li & Fung Group, a century-old, family-controlled multinational group of companies based in Hong Kong, seems to be an exception to the traditional perception of Chinese family business. The aim of this paper is to explore why this company can overcome the fatalism that “family business could not pass on over three generations”.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper will use in-depth case study as key methodology for exploring key research question of family business sustainability. Archival data, including company registration records, newspaper reports, biographical materials and company annual reports, etc., are major secondary data that will be used for qualitative analysis.
Findings
The important findings in this paper is that the authors can identify key ways for solving family conflict and business continuity. Through in-depth study, the authors argue that because Li & Fung can effectively adopt the “pruning the family tree” mechanism and “listing and de-listing” mechanism during critical stages of succession and development, it has flourished for over a century and is therefore a model for other Chinese family businesses to follow.
Research limitations/implications
Because the authors did not conduct personal interviews with the family members of the company, the authors do not have “insiders’ view” on the company development. Also, it is a century-old company, and many historical data cannot be obtained, so some of the developments would not be fully explained and understood.
Practical implications
It can let family business owners, staffs working in family business and professionals serving family business know better that although there are negative sides of family business, their positive sides should not be underestimated. If a proper mechanism can be rightly executed, its negative side could be large reduced, whereas its positive side could be better enhanced.
Social implications
This paper can offer insightful implication to the society that family business, in fact, is highly dynamic. It not only creates jobs by offering services and producing goods but stimulates economic development as family the fertile ground for breeding entrepreneurship.
Originality/value
There is no analysis in the academia in exploring the Li & Fung Group’s development from the perspective of leadership and ownership competition. So, the originality of this paper is very high.