The purpose of this paper is to ask whether or not social networks can compensate for the disadvantages of being part of an unprivileged group in the job attainment process in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to ask whether or not social networks can compensate for the disadvantages of being part of an unprivileged group in the job attainment process in urban China, using the 2008 China General Social Survey.
Design/methodology/approach
The author compares the network effects on monthly income of local urban residents and rural migrants.
Findings
First, the results show that social capital exerts no significant effect on monthly income for local residents and rural migrants. Second, having network members who work in state-owned and non-state-owned enterprises helps female rural migrants to obtain higher monthly incomes, compared to those whose network members work only in either state-owned enterprises or non-state-owned enterprises. The same is not true of male rural migrants or local residents.
Originality/value
It can be concluded that a more diversified network may compensate for female rural migrants’ disadvantages, caused by being part of an unprivileged group, in their occupational attainment process.
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Chester Kin‐man To and Chun‐sun Leung
Within the last decade of the twentieth century, the apparel industry in Hong Kong has been undergoing drastic changes. These changes mainly stem from the challenges of process…
Abstract
Within the last decade of the twentieth century, the apparel industry in Hong Kong has been undergoing drastic changes. These changes mainly stem from the challenges of process globalization, which has led to manufacturers shifting a majority of production processes to countries that entail better cost‐competitive advantages, while retaining crucial planning and decision‐making services centrally. Industrialists, educators and even the Government have made a great deal of effort to enhance the provision of high quality service in an attempt to transform the industry strategically into a centre of service excellence in the South‐East Asian region. However, without accredited standard and reference points, the measuring and monitoring of quality in manufacture‐related service is very vague and perplexing. In this paper, the authors first review the extant literature for measuring perceived quality in service provision and then explore the respective implementation issues. A Servqual scale in three‐column format, adapted from the service quality measurement scale proposed by Parasuraman (1995), is used to survey the opinion of international buying offices and to assess the Hong Kong apparel manufacturers’service performance. Two expectation‐discrepancy standards in Service Adequacy and Service Superiority are constructed to measure the service deficiency (gaps). As a result the authors learnt that there are empirical differences between what is perceived in the existing manufacturer’s service performance and what the buyer side really desires. The paper concludes with a discussion of the Servqual modelling operational implications and future research directions.
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Yiu Chung Wong and Jason K.H. Chan
The purpose of this paper is to explore the emergence of civil disobedience (CD) movements in Hong Kong in the context of the notion of civil society (CS).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the emergence of civil disobedience (CD) movements in Hong Kong in the context of the notion of civil society (CS).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper begins by rigorously defining the notion of CD, as well as the concept of CS and tracing its development in Hong Kong over the past several decades. By using a model of CS typology, which combines the variables of state control and a society’s quest for autonomy (SQA), the paper aims to outline the historical development of CD movements in Hong Kong. It also discusses the recent evolution of CS and its relationship with CD movements, particularly focusing on their development since Leung Chun-ying became the Chief Executive in 2012. Finally, by using five cases of CD witnessed in the past several decades, the relationship between the development of CS and the emergence of CD in Hong Kong has been outlined.
Findings
Four implications can be concluded: first, CD cannot emerge when the state and society are isolated. Second, the level of SC and the scale of CD are positively related. Third, as an historical trend, the development of SQA is generally in linear progress; SQA starts from a low level (e.g. interest-based and welfare-based aims) and moves upwards to campaign for higher goals of civil and political autonomy. If the lower level of SQA is not satisfied, it can lead to larger scale CD in future. Fourth, the CD movement would be largest in scale when the state-society relationship confrontational and when major cleavages can be found within CS itself.
Originality/value
This paper serves to enrich knowledge in the fields of politics and sociology.
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This first paper discusses and explains the extant studies on the management of innovation for global fashion and textile businesses. The discussion is deliberately broad…
Abstract
This first paper discusses and explains the extant studies on the management of innovation for global fashion and textile businesses. The discussion is deliberately broad, encompassing research on innovations from a number of academic disciplines including marketing, engineering design, technological management, information management and organization science. The purpose is to establish an understanding of the contextual aspects that fundamentally pervade the volatile global innovation activities of today. At the start, we observe the global fashion and textile businesses and attempt to make generalizations about global fashion and textile innovation process using a process-chain perspective. To explore the essence for the sustenance of competitive innovation, we review the competing innovation management paradigms in the fields of organization behavioural science, information processing and systems thinking. On these premises, we conclude with the target of better innovation process performance and more effective and intelligent methods to attain such performance. This paper continues with a discussion of two major approaches to the improvement and development of processes: (i) socio-technical systems and (ii) soft systems. These form the basis for the methodology used in this investigation. Following this, a taxonomy summary diagram is established to illustrate the range of sources in the literature on managing innovation processes in the global context. The paper concludes with a discussion of current developments and on the implications of managing innovation activities in globally dispersed businesses.
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Chun‐sun Leung and Chester Kin‐man To
Using a test‐retest methodology, an established measurement scale for consumer‐perceived service quality in fashion retailing was further evaluated in terms of reliability…
Abstract
Using a test‐retest methodology, an established measurement scale for consumer‐perceived service quality in fashion retailing was further evaluated in terms of reliability. Results indicate that the scale possesses, relative to another popular nonindustry‐specific scale, high internal consistency reliability. However, in terms of temporal reliability, the scale is relatively inferior. Suggestions are also made for further study, as to why the scale is unstable.
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Hon-Kwok Fung, Chester Kin-man To, Chun-sun Leung and Zhiming Zhang
Following the previous sequel, we posit innovation activity management as managing process-based interactivity dependencies to achieve organizations’ desired goals for novel…
Abstract
Following the previous sequel, we posit innovation activity management as managing process-based interactivity dependencies to achieve organizations’ desired goals for novel competitive advantages in global supply pipelines, either by means of product or process development. In this paper, we propose a computational method to address the specific issue of modelling and managing a dynamic innovation process, and posit inter-organizational process dependency as a fundamental issue within the modelling organization’s cooperation process. Adopting the perspectives of interdependency within an embedded network, we define innovation activities as networked process structure systems, and simulate and evaluate the dynamic performance of embedded process structures through an adaptive heuristic process. To illustrate the use of this method and its potential benefits, we apply it to real life case studies of inter-organization cooperation, concerning an innovative control and coordination system for globally dispersed textile firms. The validity of our methodology is partially justified by the results of several computational experiments. From an industry point of view, this framework aims to benefit those concerned with design and selection of organization cooperation and coordination systems that are characterized by a high degree of complexity and structural dynamics within today's proliferating organizational cooperation contexts.
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Draws on material from a qualitative research enquiry with womenwho had reached middle and senior level management positions and thenleft or contemplated leaving employment…
Abstract
Draws on material from a qualitative research enquiry with women who had reached middle and senior level management positions and then left or contemplated leaving employment. Charts six dimensions of organizational life at senior levels, as experienced by these women. Issues of living in and seeking to be effective in male‐dominated organizational cultures predominate. Reports some of the challenges and pressures faced and experiences of productive working relationships. Offers a tentative framework for considering career, management and organizational development issues.
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Ling Gao, Marjorie J.T. Norton, Zhi‐ming Zhang and Chester Kin‐man To
The purpose of this paper is to investigate market segmentation of affluent Chinese consumers and develop profiles of identified segments for potential target markets for luxury…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate market segmentation of affluent Chinese consumers and develop profiles of identified segments for potential target markets for luxury fashion goods.
Design/methodology/approach
The data are from the 2006 edition of an annual survey called the “China's New Rich Study”. The respondents form a representative sample of affluent consumers, 18 to 45 years old, residing in China's 12 largest cities. A psychographic segmentation approach is employed to classify these consumers.
Findings
Five distinct market segments of affluent Chinese consumers are identified and profiled. Of these segments, three seem the most promising target markets for luxury fashion goods.
Practical implications
When companies understand the similarities and differences between consumer segments as well as the unique characteristics of segments, they have a meaningful basis for selecting receptive target markets and formulating and implementing effective marketing strategies. The findings of this study can be useful not only to companies that offer luxury fashion goods, but also to those targeting the upscale market with a plethora of products and services like yachts, luxury cars, high‐end electronics, resort vacations, and credit cards and other financial services.
Originality/value
This is the first study on segmentation of Chinese consumers for potential target markets for luxury fashion goods. Results reveal heterogeneity among affluent urban Chinese consumers. Strategies for marketing luxury fashion goods to promising target markets in China are outlined on the basis of segment profiles and culturally based motivations for purchasing such goods.
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Ning Cao, Zhiming Zhang, Kin Man To and Keng Po Ng
The purpose of this paper is to reveal the empirical issues of the implementation of coordination for textile‐apparel supply chains.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reveal the empirical issues of the implementation of coordination for textile‐apparel supply chains.
Design/methodology/approach
Employing case study, the paper examines three different types of coordination practice in three different structures of textile‐apparel supply chains: vertical integration chain, efficiency oriented chain and 3P‐hub chain. The coordinators are three leading Hong Kong based international textiles and apparel companies in these cases. The case sources are published articles, company web sites and some open seminars offered by the case companies.
Findings
In textile and apparel industries, brand owners generally coordinate the supply chain. There are also other coordination practices in industries. Through the research observations and analyses in the cases it is found that the integrated company, powerful garment manufacturer and trade agent play the role of coordinators in vertical integration chain, efficiency oriented chain and 3P‐hub chain, respectively. No matter what type of coordination practice, information sharing and product flow coordination should be comprehensive. Coordinators are the information centers of the whole supply chain. They should have power to manage the supply chain. They should actively integrate the whole chain for maximum total profitability.
Research limitations/implications
This paper is just an overview of coordination practice in textile‐apparel supply chains. The case sources are published articles, company web sites and some open seminars made by the case companies. The methodology should be more systematic.
Originality/value
Coordination in textile‐apparel supply chains is still an unresolved question both from the theoretic and practical points of view. This paper fills in some of the gaps.
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Parul Manchanda, Nupur Arora and Aanchal Aggarwal
Purpose: This study analyses the mediating effect of parasocial interaction (PSI) in the link between hedonic motivation and impulsive buying intention (IBI) in fashion vlogging…
Abstract
Purpose: This study analyses the mediating effect of parasocial interaction (PSI) in the link between hedonic motivation and impulsive buying intention (IBI) in fashion vlogging about sustainable cosmetics.
Need for the Study: Due to the mass popularity of YouTube, vlogging has led to an augmented level of PSI of vloggers with consumers, which strongly impacts a consumer’s behavioural consequences and persuades consumers to indulge in impulsive buying. Thus, marketers need to comprehend the changing behavioural patterns, including sustainable products, as this new communication medium serves the future of promotion and advertising.
Methodology: Online questionnaires were administered to 349 Gen Z female fashion vlog followers. Structural equation modelling and Hayes Process macros were employed to test the model relationships.
Findings: Results indicate that PI with the fashion vlogger partially mediates between hedonic motivation and impulse buying intention for sustainable cosmetic products. Fashion consciousness (FC) was also established as a significant moderator between all the model relationships.
Practical Implications: The findings of the study would be helpful for fashion brands in the content development of visual marketing communications, which would tap the female Gen Z consumer. Improving the PSI between the follower and the fashion vlogger can be easily enhanced by delivering the right content through the vlogger’s videos.