Li Dong Chang and Brenda Sternquist
Traces history of Taiwan′s department store industry back to 1958when Da‐Hsin, Taiwan′s first contemporary department store, wasestablished in Kao‐Hsiung. Most of Taiwan′s…
Abstract
Traces history of Taiwan′s department store industry back to 1958 when Da‐Hsin, Taiwan′s first contemporary department store, was established in Kao‐Hsiung. Most of Taiwan′s department stores were small with limited cash flow and have, therefore, widely adopted consignment sales. Illustrates how lack of merchandise differentation, stemming from consignment, resulted in a serious problem with vicious price competition. As a result, the Taipei Co‐ordinated Department Store Association (TCDSA) was formed in 1980 by volunteer department stores as a way to alleviate devastating price competition between them. Details how, recently, collaborative agreements have attracted the attention of Taiwan′s department stores; and how these strategic alliances have advanced Taiwan′s department store industry and have offered foreign retailers entry into the Taiwanese market.
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This chapter develops an asymptotic theory for a general transformation model with a time trend, stationary regressors, and unit root nonstationary regressors. This model extends…
Abstract
This chapter develops an asymptotic theory for a general transformation model with a time trend, stationary regressors, and unit root nonstationary regressors. This model extends that of Han (1987) to incorporate time trend and nonstationary regressors. When the transformation is specified as an identity function, the model reduces to the conventional cointegrating regression, possibly with a time trend and other stationary regressors, which has been studied in Phillips and Durlauf (1986) and Park and Phillips (1988, 1989). The limiting distributions of the extremum estimator of the transformation parameter and the plug-in estimators of other model parameters are found to critically depend upon the transformation function and the order of the time trend. Simulations demonstrate that the estimators perform well in finite samples.
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Yaw A. Debrah and Ian G. Smith
Presents over sixty abstracts summarising the 1999 Employment Research Unit annual conference held at the University of Cardiff. Explores the multiple impacts of globalization on…
Abstract
Presents over sixty abstracts summarising the 1999 Employment Research Unit annual conference held at the University of Cardiff. Explores the multiple impacts of globalization on work and employment in contemporary organizations. Covers the human resource management implications of organizational responses to globalization. Examines the theoretical, methodological, empirical and comparative issues pertaining to competitiveness and the management of human resources, the impact of organisational strategies and international production on the workplace, the organization of labour markets, human resource development, cultural change in organisations, trade union responses, and trans‐national corporations. Cites many case studies showing how globalization has brought a lot of opportunities together with much change both to the employee and the employer. Considers the threats to existing cultures, structures and systems.
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Instrumental and emotional information influence paradoxically on people’s decision-making, and similar influences are more evident in e-commerce scenarios where physical…
Abstract
Purpose
Instrumental and emotional information influence paradoxically on people’s decision-making, and similar influences are more evident in e-commerce scenarios where physical information is limited. This study aims to construct a systematic explanatory framework for the influence of multidimensional recommendation information diversity (RID) on users' click and purchase decisions based on the social support theory (SST).
Design/methodology/approach
This study analyses 453,176 data from 67,079 users of a Chinese e-commerce platform, applying lasso algorithmic techniques and cross-fit partialling-out (XPO) regression for empirical analysis.
Findings
The study finds that instrumental support information diversity (ISID) and emotional support information diversity (ESID) play divergent roles, and that the effects of both on user decision-making are inconsistent with mode-flip and marginal change. Differences in users' information craving and information overload processing mechanisms for instrumental and emotional information, leading to an inverted U-shaped effect of ISID on consumption decisions, while ESID has a U-shaped effect. Additionally, supplier certification eliminates the marginal change in ESID, and products with a high information standardisation degree eliminate the marginal change in ISID.
Originality/value
Research results reveal the opposing roles of the two types of RID and the application boundaries of their roles, providing empirical evidence for academic research.
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Yiwen Li, Zhihai Dong, Junyan Miao, Huifang Liu, Aleksandr Babkin and Yunlong Chang
This paper aims to anticipate the possible development direction of WAAM. For large-scale and complex components, the material loss and cycle time of wire arc additive…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to anticipate the possible development direction of WAAM. For large-scale and complex components, the material loss and cycle time of wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) are lower than those of conventional manufacturing. However, the high-precision WAAM currently requires longer cycle times for correcting dimensional errors. Therefore, new technologies need to be developed to achieve high-precision and high-efficiency WAAM.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper analyses the innovations in high-precision WAAM in the past five years from a mechanistic point of view.
Findings
Controlling heat to improve precision is an effective method. Methods of heat control include reducing the amount of heat entering the deposited interlayer or transferring the accumulated heat out of the interlayer in time. Based on this, an effective and highly precise WAAM is achievable in combination with multi-scale sensors and a complete expert system.
Originality/value
Therefore, a development direction for intelligent WAAM is proposed. Using the optimised process parameters based on machine learning, adjusting the parameters according to the sensors’ in-process feedback, achieving heat control and high precision manufacturing.
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Yu Liu, Rui-Dong Chang, Jian Zuo, Feng Xiong and Na Dong
Prefabricated construction (PC) will play a vital role in the transformation and upgrading of the construction industry in the future. However, high capital cost is currently one…
Abstract
Purpose
Prefabricated construction (PC) will play a vital role in the transformation and upgrading of the construction industry in the future. However, high capital cost is currently one of the biggest obstacles to the application and promotion of PC in China. Clarifying the factors that affect the PC cost from the perspectives of stakeholders and exploring key cost control paths help to achieve effective cost management, but few studies have paid enough attention to this. Therefore, this research aims to explore the critical cost influencing factors (CIFs) and critical stakeholders of PC based on stakeholder theories and propose corresponding strategies for different stakeholders to reduce the cost of PC.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the stakeholder theory and social network theory, literature review and two rounds of expert interviews were used to obtain the stakeholder-associated CIFs and their mutual effects, then the consistency of the data was tested. After that, social network analysis was applied to identify the critical CIFs, critical interaction and key stakeholders in PC cost control and mine the influence conduction paths between CIFs.
Findings
The results reveal that the cognition and attitude of developer and relevant standards and codes are the most critical CIFs while the government, developer and contractor are crucial to the cost control of PC. The findings further suggest that measures should be taken to reduce the transaction costs of the developer, and the contractor ought to efficiently apply information technology. Moreover, the collaborative work between designer and manufacturer can avoid unnecessary cost consumption.
Originality/value
This research combines stakeholder management and cost management in PC for the first time and explores the effective cost control paths. The research results can contribute to clarifying the key points of cost management for different stakeholders and improving the cost performance of PC projects.
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Kaixiao Jiang and Liam O'Callaghan
This chapter explores how the development of football fandom for the Chinese national team and local football clubs is strongly associated with societal changes. Although the…
Abstract
This chapter explores how the development of football fandom for the Chinese national team and local football clubs is strongly associated with societal changes. Although the performances of Chinese football teams, especially the national team, have failed to impress the world, football remains the most popular because of millions of supporters with loyalty and passion. Most studies related to fans mainly focus on the economic and political implications of spectatorship along with the rise of China. Nevertheless, few articles are available to answer the fundamental questions, such as ‘When did these supporters come out?’ and ‘What were the factors of the development of fandom?’. By going through archival records and published documents over the last decades, this chapter offers a comprehensive and historical analysis of the development of football fandom in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and deals with these unanswered questions. As such, this chapter does not intend to be the most authoritative one but is one of the rare sources to lay down the foundation for research on Chinese football fandom. Furthermore, this chapter also proves that studies on football fandom can be a useful window for observing Chinese society.
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The purpose of this study is to explore how nationalistic appeals may affect consumers’ perception and purchasing of targeted brands. Qualitative historical data from old China…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore how nationalistic appeals may affect consumers’ perception and purchasing of targeted brands. Qualitative historical data from old China (1900–1949) reveal that social movement groups can adopt nationalistic appeals assisted by meaning framing – defined as a creative interpretation of symbols, designs, behaviors, social events and cultural identities to serve social and political goals – to shape consumers’ attitudes toward foreign brands. After examining the mechanisms and processes underlying consumer boycotts from 1900 to 1949, the responsive strategies of affected foreign companies are illustrated.
Design/methodology/approach
Critical historical research method is applied to historical data and historical “traces” from China’s corporate documents, memoirs, posters, advertisements, newspapers and secondhand sources documenting Chinese boycotts from 1900 to 1949.
Findings
Consumers may pursue interests beyond economic interests. Nationalistic appeals can mobilize consumer boycotts against foreign brands that were perceived to support or relate to targeted countries. Political framing of certain events shapes consumers’ perceptions and concomitant brand choices.
Research limitations/implications
Although differences between historical and current contexts may require tailoring past marketing strategies to current conditions, past strategies can inform current and future strategies.
Practical implications
Strategies adopted by foreign companies in old China (1900–1949) can help contemporary companies design effective marketing strategies for a hostile marketplace infused with nationalistic appeals and competing interests.
Social implications
Although local companies can adopt economic or political nationalism to realize their economic goals, it represents a double-edged sword that can harm national brands.
Originality/value
A historical analysis of nationalistic business appeals in pre-1949 China can inform the counterstrategies modern companies adopt to overcome consumer boycotts.
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Lijuan Luo, Yuwei Wang, Siqi Duan, Shanshan Shang, Baojun Ma and Xiaoli Zhou
Based on the perspectives of social capital, image motivation and motivation affordances, this paper explores the direct and moderation effects of different kinds of motivations…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on the perspectives of social capital, image motivation and motivation affordances, this paper explores the direct and moderation effects of different kinds of motivations (i.e. relationship-based motivation, community-based motivation and individual-based motivation) on users' continuous knowledge contributions in social question and answer (Q&A) communities.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collect the panel data of 10,193 users from a popular social Q&A community in China. Then, a negative binomial regression model is adopted to analyze the collected data.
Findings
The paper demonstrates that social learning, peer recognition and knowledge seeking positively affect users' continuous contribution behaviors. However, the results also show that social exposure has the opposite effect. In addition, self-presentation is found to moderate the influence of social factors on users' continuous use behaviors, while the moderation effect of motivation affordances has no significance.
Originality/value
First, this study develops a comprehensive motivation framework that helps gain deeper insights into the underlying mechanism of knowledge contribution in social Q&A communities. Second, this study conducts panel data analysis to capture the impacts of motivations over time, rather than intentions at a fixed time point. Third, the findings can help operators of social Q&A communities to optimize community norms and incentive mechanisms.
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This chapter provides a comprehensive review of research and developments relating to the use of Web 2.0 technologies in education. As opposed to early educational uses of the…
Abstract
This chapter provides a comprehensive review of research and developments relating to the use of Web 2.0 technologies in education. As opposed to early educational uses of the Internet involving publication of static information on web pages, Web 2.0 tools offer a host of opportunities for educators to provide more interactive, collaborative, and creative online learning experiences for students. The chapter starts by defining Web 2.0 tools in terms of their ability to facilitate online creation, editing, and sharing of web content. A typology of Web 2.0 technologies is presented to illustrate the wide variety of tools at teachers’ disposal. Educational uses of Web 2.0 technologies such as wikis, blogs, and microblogging are explored, in order to showcase the variety of designs that can be utilized. Based on a review of the research literature the educational benefits of using Web 2.0 technologies are outlined, including their ability to facilitate communication, collaborative knowledge building, student-centered activity, and vicarious learning. Similarly, issues surrounding the use of Web 2.0 tools are distilled from the literature and discussed, such as the possibility of technical problems, collaboration difficulties, and plagiarism. Two case studies involving the use Web 2.0 tools to support personalized learning and small group collaboration are detailed to exemplify design possibilities in greater detail. Finally, design recommendations for learning and teaching using Web 2.0 are presented, again based on findings from the research literature.