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1 – 10 of over 1000Kin Wai Michael Siu, Jia Xin Xiao and Yi Lin Wong
This study aims to address policy, implementation and management, the three stages of inclusive open space. It compares both the level of design and implementation of open space…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to address policy, implementation and management, the three stages of inclusive open space. It compares both the level of design and implementation of open space in Beijing, Hong Kong and Taipei by following the inclusive guidelines. It also identifies recommendations for policy, implementation and management of inclusive open space and its facilities.
Design/methodology/approach
Field observations were conducted in 27 parks within three cities. In-depth interviews were conducted with a variety of participants, including visually impaired persons, government officers, representatives of non-governmental organisations, local communities and experts.
Findings
Most of the so-called inclusive environments and facilities have not been user-friendly in actual practice. The findings suggest that policies are an essential precondition; however, implementation and management must not be ignored because they ensure the effectiveness of inclusive design.
Research limitations/implications
Comprehensive and continuous studies on the proposed framework are recommended throughout the policy, implementation and management processes.
Practical implications
The findings serve as a reference and direction for taking a holistic approach to inclusive design of open space in densely populated cities.
Social implications
This study examines the levels of inclusive open space and illustrates how to provide barrier-free environments that can be used by the widest spectrum of people.
Originality/value
This study evaluates policy, implementation and management in the three cities based on 29 guidelines generated from seven principles of inclusive design. A research framework is proposed for researchers and policymakers to consider how to achieve effective inclusive open spaces.
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Kin Wai Michael Siu and Jia Xin Xiao
This paper aims to address convenience as a prominent feature of a scheduled society and examines the nature of convenience, identifies the waste collection system and recycling…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to address convenience as a prominent feature of a scheduled society and examines the nature of convenience, identifies the waste collection system and recycling programmes in some densely populated areas in Asia and discusses the existing barriers to enhancing the convenience of the recycling facilities in Hong Kong. The paper further identifies some recommendations for the policy and design of recycling practices and facilities.
Design/methodology/approach
In this qualitative study, two districts in Hong Kong from 2013 to 2014 were used as case studies. The research methods included field observations, semi-structured interviews and ethnographic research. The locations for field observation included lobbies, corridors, lifts, ground floors and streets. Direct interviews were conducted with residents, cleaners, government officials and expert planners and environmentalists. In-depth interviews and observations were conducted with six families following the interviews to identify important issues that might have been ignored in the semi-structured interviews and field observations.
Findings
A holistic understanding of convenience in a scheduled society is effective in the design of high-quality recycling facilities. In terms of convenience, the gap between recycling and not recycling is rather obvious in Hong Kong. Therefore, it is necessary and important to adjust the difference in the degree of convenience regarding refuse disposal and recyclable collection. In addition, the enhancement of economic incentives could shift the degree of convenience and encourage public participation in recycling. The challenges of specific living conditions and social contexts should also be taken into account to enhance the convenience of recycling.
Research limitations/implications
Further case studies are expected in other countries and cities with the purpose of gaining an in-depth understanding of the means by which to approach the convenience of recycling programmes within various social contexts. Comprehensive and continuous studies on these factors are recommended throughout the design and implementation processes to account for constantly changing situations. A clear understanding of convenience from the perspective of the users is important.
Practical implications
The findings provide reference and direction for a holistic approach to the design and management of recycling facilities in Hong Kong. The findings also advocate the consideration of convenience from the perspective of the users.
Social implications
The findings illustrate how to design and manage public facilities for waste recycling in ways that encourage household and community participation in terms of convenience.
Originality/value
The paper identifies the manner by which the culture of convenience and an institutionalised rhythm influence recycling practices. Although substantial studies on recycling indicate that convenience is a necessary characteristic of designs and services, the nature of convenience and the means by which to approach convenience in terms of public facilities are seldom discussed. The paper proposes several recommendations on the basis of the studies of the refuse collection programmes in other areas of Asia and case studies in Hong Kong. The findings provide insights for policymakers, researchers and designers to improve the design of public facilities.
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Kaidi Zhang, Xiao Jia and Jin Chen
The emerging natures of big data – volume, velocity, variety, value and veracity – exert higher stress on employees and demand greater creativity from them, causing extreme…
Abstract
Purpose
The emerging natures of big data – volume, velocity, variety, value and veracity – exert higher stress on employees and demand greater creativity from them, causing extreme difficulties in the talent management of organizations in the big data era. The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of challenge stressors on creativity and the boundary conditions of the relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Multisource data were collected including 593 followers and their 98 supervisors from organizations that are confronting a big data induced management revolution. Hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping analysis were used to test the mediation and moderation mechanism.
Findings
The results showed that job burnout mediated the negative relationship between challenge stressors and creativity and that this indirect effect was attenuated by an employee’s core self-evaluation (CSE) and servant leadership. In contrast, whether work engagement mediated the relationship between challenge stressors and creativity was contingent on the level of an employee’s CSE and servant leadership. Specifically, the mediating effect was significant only when an employee’s CSE or servant leadership was high.
Originality/value
The results contribute to our understanding of the relationship between challenge stressor and creativity in the big data era. Specifically, relying on the job demands–resources model, this study empirically opens the “black box” between challenge stressors and creativity by exploring two opposing intermediate mechanisms. In addition, this study reveals boundary conditions by investigating dispositional and contextual factors that can accentuate the positive effect while attenuating the negative effect of challenge stressors on employee creativity.
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Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to answer the following two questions: What are the influences of the top managers’ different leadership styles on organizational innovation? What is the mechanism by which the different leaderships exert different effects on organizational innovation?
Design/methodology/approach
To test the hypothesized model, a data set based on 133 MBA part-time students from Tsinghua University and Zhejiang University in China was built, after interviewing several top managers as a pilot study. With the help of SPSS macro, hierarchical regression and bootstrapping analysis, the paper analyzes the effects of two leadership styles on innovation performance, through the mediation mechanism of openness involving open breadth and open depth.
Findings
The results indicate that transformational leadership enhances, while transactional leadership reduces, the organizational innovation performance. The openness breadth and openness depth not only mediate the beneficial effect of transformational leadership on innovation, but also mediate the deleterious effect of transactional leadership on innovation.
Originality/value
This study empirically explores the different functions of transformational leadership and transactional leadership for leading organizational innovation performance. Furthermore, a new form of organization is an open design or strategy that allows more external knowledge and resources to be absorbed, which is claimed as a new paradigm for organization innovation. This study integrates the concepts of breadth of openness and depth of openness on the basis of open innovation literature, as an intermediate mechanism to explain the different effects of the two forms of top managers’ leadership.
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Guang Rui Zhou, Shi Qian Liu, Yuan Jun Sang, Xu Dong Wang, Xiao Peng Jia and Er Zhuo Niu
This paper aims to focus on the variable stick force-displacement (SFD) gradience in the active side stick (ASS) servo system for the civil aircraft.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to focus on the variable stick force-displacement (SFD) gradience in the active side stick (ASS) servo system for the civil aircraft.
Design/methodology/approach
The problem of variable SFD gradience was introduced first, followed by the analysis of its impact on the ASS servo system. To solve this problem, a linear-parameter-varying (LPV) control approach was suggested to process the variable gradience of the SFD. A H∞ robust control method was proposed to deal with the external disturbance.
Findings
To validate the algorithm performance, a linear time-variant system was calculated to be used to worst cases and the SFD gradience was set to linear and non-linear variation to test the algorithm, and some typical examples of pitch angle and side-slip angle tracking control for a large civil aircraft were also used to verify the algorithm. The results showed that the LPV control method had less settling time and less steady tracking errors than H∞ control, even in the variable SFD case.
Practical implications
This paper presented an ASS servo system using the LPV control method to solve the problem caused by the variable SFD gradience. The motor torque command was calculated by pressure and position feedback without additional hardware support. It was more useful for the electronic hydraulic servo actuator.
Originality/value
This was the research paper that analyzed the impact of the variable SFD gradience in the ASS servo system and presented an LPV control method to solve it. It was applicable for the SFD gradience changing in the linear and non-linear cases.
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Ya-Peng Jia, Wan-Chang Sun, Yan Xiao, Jing-Pei Liu, Cong-Xiao Zhang, Tong-Qiang Zhang and Ze-Feng Hou
This paper aims to research the effect of different concentrations for Nd(NO3)3 and Ce(NO3)3 on the microstructures and corrosion resistance of Ni-W-P composite coatings through…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to research the effect of different concentrations for Nd(NO3)3 and Ce(NO3)3 on the microstructures and corrosion resistance of Ni-W-P composite coatings through electroless plating method.
Design/methodology/approach
Scanning electron microscope, attached energy dispersive spectroscopy system and X-ray diffraction were used in this work. Meanwhile, the immersion test and electrochemical tests were used to characterize the corrosion behavior of the coating.
Findings
The coatings prepared at 1.00 g·L−1 Nd(NO3)3 exhibit a dense structure and high phosphorus content (12.38 wt.%). In addition, compared to the addition of Ce(NO3)3, when Nd(NO3)3 was introduced at a concentration of 1.00 g·L−1, the minimum corrosion rate of the coating was 1.209 g·m−2·h−1, with a noble Ecorr (−0.29 V) and lower Icorr (8.29 × 10−4 A·cm−2).
Originality/value
The effects of rare earths on the deposition and corrosion resistance mechanisms of Ni-W-P composite coatings were explored, with the rare earth elements promoting the deposition of nickel and tungsten atoms. Simultaneously, the amorphization of the coating increases, which excellently enhances the corrosion resistance of the coating.
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Yunzhou Du, Yang Sun, Yiyi Su, Phillip Kim and Liangding Jia
Chun‐lin Zhang, Yong Zhang, Fang‐cong Wang, Ying Wei, Xiao‐yun Jia and Su Liu
The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of on device performance by selectively annealing ITO substrates and TPD:PVK layers of the OLED at different temperatures with a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of on device performance by selectively annealing ITO substrates and TPD:PVK layers of the OLED at different temperatures with a certain annealing time.
Design/methodology/approach
Thermal annealing was carried out on the ITO anode at different temperatures (150, 350, 500°C) with a constant time (100 min); but also before the deposition of the tris(8‐hydroxyquinolato) aluminum (Alq3) layer, at the same time, thermal treatment was carried out on the hole transporting layers (TPD:PVK layers) at different temperatures (70, 90, 110°C), and the annealing time was 30 min. We fabricated a novel device with the structure of Al/LiF/Alq3/TPD:PVK/NiO/ITO/Glass, and tested the sheet resistance, SEM and XRD of ITO anode after annealing, at the same we also tested the I‐V, L‐V and current efficiency characteristics of OLED.
Findings
When the TPD:PVK layers were annealed at 90°C with 30 min annealing time and ITO substrates were annealed at 350°C with a constant annealing time (100 min), we find that the OLED shows obvious performance improvement, which is attributable to the fact that annealing reduces defects and improves the interface structures of organics and organic/ITO interface. On the other hand, an annealing TPD:PVK layers would slow and even impede the transport of holes, and finally leads to more balanced electron and hole injection processes.
Originality/value
The paper shows that the annealing method can be used to prepare high‐performance organic light‐emitting device.
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Mu-Chen Chen, Kuo-Chien Chang, Chia-Lin Hsu and Jia-Hau Xiao
To obtain a competitive advantage in the logistics market, international express companies should design services to stimulate customers’ usage intention by understanding…
Abstract
Purpose
To obtain a competitive advantage in the logistics market, international express companies should design services to stimulate customers’ usage intention by understanding customers’ affective perceptions (or in Japanese, Kansei) of the service offerings. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationships among the service elements of international express, customer Kansei perceptions, and intentions to use the service, to provide new ideas for the design of international express services (IESs).
Design/methodology/approach
By using Kansei engineering approach, customers’ Kansei perceptions related to elements of IES are first determined, and the logistic regression technique is then used to analyze three constructed models based on the relationships among the service elements of international express, customers’ Kansei perceptions, and usage intention.
Findings
Accordingly, five critical service elements that correspond to four vital Kansei words related to usage intention were obtained based on cross-comparisons of the results of three models. The findings have important implications for international express managers, in that the priorities in designing services should be those service elements that favorably elicit certain Kansei perceptions among customers and effectively lead to customers’ usage intention in the pre-purchase phase. Moreover, some important missing Kansei perceptions further derived from customers’ real service experiences in the post-purchase stage should be incorporated into future design considerations.
Originality/value
This study incorporated customers’ Kansei perceptions into the procedure of IES design. By understanding the service elements and feelings that customers deem important, international express companies can improve the content of existing services and strengthen the design of new services to increase customers’ behavioral intentions.
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Altaf Alam, Anurag Chauhan, Mohd Tauseef Khan and Zainul Abdin Jaffery
In this chapter, drone and vision camera technology have been combined for monitoring the crop product quality. Three vegetable crops such as tomato, cauliflower, and eggplant are…
Abstract
In this chapter, drone and vision camera technology have been combined for monitoring the crop product quality. Three vegetable crops such as tomato, cauliflower, and eggplant are considered for quality monitoring; hence, image datasets are collected for those vegetables only. The proposed method classified the vegetables into two classes as rotten and nonrotten products so the images were collected for rotten and nonrotten products. Three different features information such as chromatic features, contour features, and texture features have been extracted from the dataset and further used to train a Gaussian kernel support vector machine algorithm for identifying the product quality. The system utilized multiple features such as chromatic, contour, and texture features in classifier training which enhances the accuracy and robustness of the system. Chromatic features were utilized for detecting the crop while other features such as contour and texture features were utilized for further classifier building to identify the crop product quality. The performance of the system is evaluated based on the true positive rate, false discovery rate, positive predictive value, and accuracy. The proposed system identified good and bad products with a 97.9% of true positive rate, 2.43 % of false discovery rate, 97.73% positive predictive value, and 95.4% of accuracy. The achieved results concluded that the results are lucrative and the proposed system is efficient in agriculture product quality monitoring.
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