Zhimei Yuan, Yi Guo and Xingdong Wang
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of action visibility in moderating the relationship between firm response and individual legitimacy judgment. Since a firm may…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of action visibility in moderating the relationship between firm response and individual legitimacy judgment. Since a firm may decouple its public commitment from its actual practice to cope with conflicting stakeholder interests, visibility is important for consumers to make judgment because it is difficult for them to observe a firm’s actual fulfillment of its public commitment to quality assurance after a product-harm crisis.
Design/methodology/approach
Scenario-based mixed design experiments were employed and 718 valid responses were collected.
Findings
The results indicated that, while acknowledging responsibility produced more favorable legitimacy judgment than denial, decoupling produced no better judgment than denial. However, higher visibility significantly amplified the effect size. Specifically, under the condition of high visibility, not only did acknowledging responsibility produce much more favorable judgment than denial, but so did decoupling.
Research limitations/implications
This study provided empirical evidence that action visibility moderated the relationship between firm response and individual legitimacy judgment, thus complementing the literature on crisis management.
Practical implications
This study provided executives or managers with optimal, suboptimal and least optimal response strategies under different levels of action visibility.
Originality/value
Much of the extant research on response strategy for organizations to deal with product-harm crisis ignored the moderating role of action visibility. Past research on legitimacy judgment focused on organization. This paper combined firm response, action visibility and individual-level legitimacy judgment.
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Hongsheng Luo, Xingdong Zhou, Yuncheng Xu, Huaquan Wang, Yongtao Yao, Guobin Yi and Zhifeng Hao
This paper aims to exploit shape-memory polymers as self-healable materials. The underlying mechanism involved the thermal transitions as well as the enrichment of the healing…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to exploit shape-memory polymers as self-healable materials. The underlying mechanism involved the thermal transitions as well as the enrichment of the healing reagents and the closure of the crack surfaces due to shape recovery. The multi-stimuli-triggered shape memory composite was capable of self-healing under not only direct thermal but also electrical stimulations.
Design/methodology/approach
The shape memory epoxy polymer composites comprising the AgNWs and poly (ε-caprolactone) were fabricated by dry transfer process. The morphologies of the composites were investigated by the optical microscope and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The electrical conduction and the Joule heating effect were measured. Furthermore, the healing efficiency under the different stimuli was calculated, whose dependence on the compositions was also discussed.
Findings
The AgNWs network maintained most of the pathways for the electrons transportation after the dry transfer process, leading to a superior conduction and flexibility. Consequently, the composites could trigger the healing within several minutes, as applied with relatively low voltages. It was found that the composites having more the AgNWs content had better electrically triggered performance, while 50 per cent poly (ε-caprolactone) content endowed the materials with max healing efficiency under thermal or electrical stimuli.
Research limitations/implications
The findings may greatly benefit the application of the intelligent polymers in the fields of the multifunctional flexible electronics.
Originality/value
Most studies have by far emphasized on the direct thermal triggered cases. Herein, a novel, flexible and conductive shape memory-based composite, which was capable of self-healing under the thermal or electrical stimulations, has been proposed.
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Zhiqiang Xie, Lei Wang, Zhengyang Zhu, Zhi Fu and Xingdong Lv
The purpose of this paper is to introduce an interval finite element method (IFEM) to simulate the temperature field of mass concrete under multiple influence uncertainties e.g…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce an interval finite element method (IFEM) to simulate the temperature field of mass concrete under multiple influence uncertainties e.g. environmental temperature, material properties, pouring construction and pipe cooling.
Design/methodology/approach
Uncertainties of the significant factors such as the ambient temperature, the adiabatic temperature rise, the placing temperature and the pipe cooling are comprehensively studied and represented as the interval numbers. Then, an IFEM equation is derived and a method for obtaining interval results based on monotonicity is also presented. To verify the proposed method, a non-adiabatic temperature rise test was carried out and subsequently simulated with the method. An excellent agreement is achieved between the simulation results and the monitoring data.
Findings
An IFEM method is proposed and a non-adiabatic temperature rise test is simulated to verify the method. The interval results are discussed and compared with monitoring data. The proposed method is found to be feasible and effective.
Originality/value
Compared with the traditional finite element methods, the proposed method taking the uncertainty of various factors into account and it will be helpful for engineers to gain a better understanding of the real condition.
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Yansui Liu, Yuanzhi Guo and Yang Zhou
Poverty alleviation is a global challenge. Human society has never ceased to fight against poverty. China was once the developing country with the largest rural poor population in…
Abstract
Purpose
Poverty alleviation is a global challenge. Human society has never ceased to fight against poverty. China was once the developing country with the largest rural poor population in the world. Remarkable achievements have been made in China’s antipoverty program over the past decades, shaping a unique poverty reduction strategy with Chinese characteristics. The purpose of this paper is to first review the history of China’s rural reform and antipoverty, and then analyze the related policy systems, mechanism innovations and future challenges in poverty alleviation and development. At last, some specific policy implications were provided.
Design/methodology/approach
Literature on China’s antipoverty history was reviewed and mechanism innovations on targeted poverty alleviation strategy were investigated.
Findings
Along with the deepening of the rural reform, the poverty alleviation and development in new China have undergone six stages, and experienced a transformation from relief-oriented to development-oriented poverty alleviation. The object of poverty alleviation has gradually targeted with a transformation from poor counties/areas to villages/households, and the effectiveness of poverty alleviation is also gradually improved. However, the increase in the difficulty of antipoverty, fragile ecological environment, rapid population aging and rural decline poses challenges to the construction of a well-off society in an all-round way in China. Specific antipoverty measures were put forward based on the investigation. Finally, the authors emphasize the importance of strengthening the study of poverty geography.
Originality/value
This study investigates the history of China’s antipoverty policy and analyzes the future challenges for implementing targeted poverty alleviation policy. These findings will lay a foundation for the formulation of China’s antipoverty policies after 2020, and provide experience for poverty alleviation in other developing countries around the world.
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This paper aims to examine how the official discourse of frugality evolved in China between 1979 and 2015.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine how the official discourse of frugality evolved in China between 1979 and 2015.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses historical and textual analysis. It divides the Chinese official discourse on frugality between 1979 and 2015 into four periods: 1979-1992, 1993-2002, 2003-2012 and 2013-2015.
Findings
A Chinese official discourse on frugality persisted between 1979 and 2015, even though during the same period, China transformed from a socialist economy of central planning and insufficient supply to a market economy of excessive supply and weak consumer demand. The intensity of this official discourse frequently vacillated, adjusting to both economic and political conditions of the time as part of the larger political-economic contestation between competing ideas and policies.
Originality/value
There have been calls for more studies on how frugality discourses have evolved in international markets, especially in terms of how they are shaped by local historical antecedents and long-standing tensions. Through the Chinese case, this article illuminates why some traditional values persist and obtain a paradoxical co-existence with consumerist ethos in our modern society.
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Xingdong Shi, Weili Han, Yinsheng Li and Ying Huang
An enterprise application can be quickly built up by service composition. Business process composition is the essence of service composition. To build up such service‐oriented…
Abstract
Purpose
An enterprise application can be quickly built up by service composition. Business process composition is the essence of service composition. To build up such service‐oriented enterprise application, the developer needs an integrated design tool. The purpose of this paper is to present and integrated business‐process driven design for service‐oriented enterprise applications.
Design/methodology/approach
In the approach, there are three phases: business environment modeling, business process modeling, and script compiling. Business environment modeling adopts a new modeling technique which combines both the advantages of use case diagram and sequence diagram in UML. Business process modeling builds a concrete model according to business environment modeling. The mapping algorithms from business environment model to business process model are also given. At script compiling phase, the business process model is compiled into several deployable files. And then the paper presents a demonstration which shows how to apply our approach to developing a supply chain management system for the retail industry.
Findings
The analysis shows that the approach can meet the requirement of service‐composition. The approach can help business expert freely express their business requirement at business environment modeling phase; and help IT expert quickly design service‐oriented enterprise application according to business environment model at business process modeling phase.
Originality/value
This paper proposes a novel integrated approach to model and implement business‐process driven service composition, and presents an integrated tool based Eclipse to implement this approach.
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Meng Zhang, Allan David Walker and Haiyan Qian
This study aims to describe and analyze an innovative mechanism of teacher-led, system-wide professional learning that has been widely adopted since the beginning of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to describe and analyze an innovative mechanism of teacher-led, system-wide professional learning that has been widely adopted since the beginning of the twenty-first century in China – the Master Teacher Studio (MTS).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper drew from policy documents, published Chinese literature relating to MTSs and personal fieldwork experience in Shanghai, Guangdong and Zhejiang province.
Findings
The article first outlines the context framing the system change, including its policy background and evolution, and then the MTS's purpose, formative process and structure. It finally examines major teacher learning activities and the leadership roles of the MTS hosts (leaders).
Research limitations/implications
This study contributed to the knowledge base of system teacher leaders and how they lead cross-school leading.
Practical implications
The MTS initiative described in this article shows the power of central system leadership to spread and embed effective teacher learning practices at schools.
Originality/value
This article provides implications for understanding and practicing teacher system leadership to support teacher professional learning in different societies.
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Guimei Wang, Shaohua Jin, Buqin Zhang, Fugui Yang and Xiaoli Ji
The coal reserves overlain by buildings, water bodies and railways are estimated to be about 14 billion tons in China. Based on the concept of green mining, in order to save the…
Abstract
The coal reserves overlain by buildings, water bodies and railways are estimated to be about 14 billion tons in China. Based on the concept of green mining, in order to save the unit energy, Double pumps in parallel forms of pumping are adopted in 0the paste filling of the pumping system. The optimal solution of the objective function could be obtained by taking the unit flow power of the pumping system as the objective function, using the quadratic polynomial by the least square method curve fitting and by the application of MATLAB. Thereby it is possible to reduce power consumption and increase the efficiency of the operating economy in the paste filling station.
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Poverty alleviation has been a major theme of China's modernization process since the founding of New China. This paper points out that China's poverty alleviation process…
Abstract
Purpose
Poverty alleviation has been a major theme of China's modernization process since the founding of New China. This paper points out that China's poverty alleviation process presents three stylized facts: “Miraculous” achievements of poverty alleviation have been made on a global scale; the poverty alleviation achievements mainly occurred in the high growth stage after reform and opening up; the poverty alleviation process is accompanied by the structural transformation of the urban–rural dual economy.
Design/methodology/approach
Therefore, a logically consistent analytical framework should form among the structural transformation of the dual economy, economic growth and the achievements in poverty alleviation. In logical deduction, the structural transformation of the dual economy affects rural poverty alleviation through the effects of labor reallocation, agricultural productivity improvement, demographic change and fiscal resource allocation.
Findings
The first two refer to economic growth, and the latter two are alleviation policies. The combination of economic growth and poverty alleviation policies is the main cause for poverty alleviation performance. China's empirical evidence can support the four effects by which the structural transformation of the dual economy affects poverty alleviation.
Originality/value
China's socialist system and its economic system transformation after reform and opening up provide an institutional basis for the effects to come into play. After 2020, China's poverty alleviation strategies will enter the “second-half” phase, namely, the phase of solving the problems of relative poverty in urban and rural areas by adopting conventional methods and establishing long-term mechanisms. This requires the facilitation of the reconnection between poverty alleviation strategies and the structural transformation of the dual economy in terms of development ideas and policy directions.
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Purpose – Informed by Chinese mothers from four villages, the purpose of this chapter is to address the old issue of feminization of family survival, but situated within the…
Abstract
Purpose – Informed by Chinese mothers from four villages, the purpose of this chapter is to address the old issue of feminization of family survival, but situated within the landscape of neoliberalism. This study investigates the interplay between Chinese patriarchal values and neoliberal ideas that have shaped the Happiness Project – Action to Aid Impoverished Mothers – an official population control program that has been combined with poverty reduction “Action.”
Methodology – This research began in 2001 in Sichuan Province, Southwest China. Over a period of three years I interviewed 48 women who were participants in the Happiness Project.
Findings – The goal of the Happiness Project is to bring “happiness” to poor mothers through the introduction of microcredit, literacy programs, and the improvement of reproductive health. Three maternal aspects of the Happiness Project, as the study indicates, coincide with three particular patriarchal values. These include an official construction of a good mother image, targeting women's bodies as objects of the state's population control, and reinforcing gender stereotypes through market activity. The findings of this research suggest that feminization of family survival coincided with achieving the goal of the Project. Mothers thus have carried a double burden on behalf of the Chinese state and their families: the goals of declining fertility and increasing family prosperity.
Social implications – Based on this outcome, the study not only calls for reevaluating this “women-only” economic development model, but also calls into question whether bringing Chinese women into public production/market activity is a path to women's emancipation under neoliberalism.