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This paper aims to explore the effectiveness of a key branding campaign, based on a case study of Liverpool as the 2008 European Capital of Culture. Branding is a popular practice adopted by many cities in the context of intensified tourism competition.

This study looks at quantitative data collected from an on-street face-to-face survey in 2008. In total, 611 questionnaires were distributed to and collected from local residents, visitors from the immediate hinterland, domestic tourists and overseas visitors.

The analysis is done, first by investigating respondents’ impression on the Liverpool 08 brand and the branding campaign, and then by exploring the effects of the campaign. The positioning of Liverpool compared with other similar cities is addressed in the end.

Event marketers need to be aware that visitor perceptions of the event’s branding are unlikely to be homogeneous. This could have significant implications on the design of brand and branding campaign and, then, affect whether the city could be effectively marketed.

Whereas investments in new attractions continue to rise within the theme park industry, knowledge regarding the effects of new attractions on theme park performance and attendance remains scarce. In order to isolate these effects, the purpose of this paper is to present the results of an econometric study explaining the variance in theme park visitor numbers and quantifying the effects of new attractions on theme park attendance.

The paper is based on an econometric study, in which models were produced for four European theme parks. No pooled modelling was used, meaning that four different models were created; one for each participating theme park. Various variables affecting theme park attendance were identified and quantified, and subsequently the effects of new attractions on visitor numbers were isolated.

Findings indicate that all new attractions opened at Park D during the research period have had a positive long‐term influence on attendance. This positive influence lasted for no more than two years. No significant short‐term influence was found. There were significant differences in effect between new attractions which could not yet be explained.

The research by design only takes into account the economic effects of new attractions and disregards all environmental and socio‐cultural effects. Even though the research provides an accurate approximation of the effects of new attractions on attendance, this effect should, according to the author, not be perceived as a stand‐alone effect yet as a part of a complex system. A situational approach taking into account several other situational as well as qualitative factors would do the complex reality more justice than a, even though effective, simplified and general approach.

Industry operators can now use the econometric model presented in this paper to determine the effects of new attractions on their theme park's attendance and use this knowledge to further fine‐tune their investment policy.

The paper presents the first econometric model successful at isolating and quantifying a new attraction's effect on theme park attendance and can thus be a valuable tool in perfecting one's investment policy. The paper furthermore includes a brief introduction to a situational approach of determining a new attraction's effects on theme park performance.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the indigenous Chinese concept of suzhi (素质) with the aim of furthering the development of Chinese human resource management (HRM) research and practice.

An extensive review of the literature on suzhi, published in the West, as well as in China, is the basis for proffering an organizational-level conceptualization of suzhi in the Chinese context.

Instead of understanding it as a free-floating signifier, we argue that suzhi can be considered as a criterion-based framework for HRM research and practice. Suzhi research is classified into two major sources – indigenous Chinese and indigenized Western constructs. We further make a distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic suzhi, and analyze a popular set of suzhi criteria, considering de (morality) and cai (talent), while focusing on de in HRM selection (德才兼备, 以德为先). As multilevel and multidimensional framework, suzhi criteria may form different gestalts in different organizations and industries.

From a social cultural and historical perspective, HRM research that incorporates a combination of indigenous and indigenized suzhi characteristics may receive better acceptance by individuals, organizations and the society in the Chinese context. Accordingly, the reconstruction of suzhi into manageable and measurable dimensions can be undertaken for more effective HRM practice in the Chinese context.

The HRM literature is advanced by linking the indigenous suzhi discourse to Chinese indigenous HRM research and practice.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a concise introduction of sustainability in human resource management (HRM) from the western perspective. With a review of Confucian thinking, it argues that the application of sustainability in HRM is more effective and efficient under the influence of Confucian values. Therefore, Chinese companies are likely ready to embrace the concept of sustainability and implement sustainable people management practices.

The paper is mainly theoretical in perspective. It also draws on semi-structured interview data derived from a study conducted in companies that operated in two cities in China: Guangzhou and Beijing to support the discussion of synergies between Confucian values and the western concept of sustainability in HRM.

In the interviews, it was evident that the interviewees were adhered to Confucian values, although they did not make the connection explicit. The interview data also showed how Confucian values (e.g. Ren, Yi, Li) affect Chinese management of human resources.

The number of interviewees involved was not sufficient to allow a conclusive comparison between groups. Further research is needed to develop comparisons.

The paper suggests a favourable application of Confucian values in sustainable people management practices.

The interview data provide insight into how Confucian values lend support to sustainability in HRM.

Entomology is a useful tool when applied to engineering challenges that have been solved in nature. Especially when these special abilities of olfactory sensation, vision, auditory perception, fly, jump, navigation, chemical synthesis, exquisite structure and others were connected with mechanization, informationization and intelligentization of modern science and technology, and produced innumerable classical bionic products. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

All kinds of special abilities of insects and application status have been described and discussed in order to summarize the advanced research examples and supply bibliographic reference to the latters. Future perspectives and challenges in the use of insect bionics were also given.

In the period of life sciences and information sciences, insect bionics not only promoted the development of modern science and technology on the sides of mechanics, molecule, energy, information and control greatly but also provided new ideas and technologies for the crisis of science and technology, food, environment and ecosystem.

It may provide strategies to solve the problems and be a source of good ideas for researchers.

The purpose of this paper is to draw on triadic reciprocal determinism and social exchange theory to examine how “induced-type” and “compulsory-type” union participation influence union commitment and job involvement, and how union participation in the west differs from that in China. It also examines whether the role of both organizational justice and employee participation climate (EPC) functions in the Chinese context.

Cross-sectional data are collected from 694 employees in 46 non-publicly owned enterprises, both Chinese and foreign, in the Pearl River Delta region of China. A multi-level moderated mediation test is used to examine the model of this research.

Union participation is positively related to organizational justice, union commitment and job involvement. In addition, organizational justice acts as the mediator among union participation, union commitment and job involvement. Specifically, the mediating role of organizational justice between union participation and union commitment, and between union participation and job involvement, is stronger in high-EPC contexts than low-EPC contexts.

Instead of examining the impacts of attitudes on union participation, as per most studies in the western context, this research examines the impacts of union participation in the Chinese context on attitudes, including union commitment and job involvement. It also reveals the role of both organizational justice and EPC in the process through which union participation influences union commitment and job involvement.

Currently, the Tang tomb mural cultural relic resources are presented in a multi-source and heterogeneous manner, with a lack of effective organization and sharing between resources. Therefore, this study aims to propose a multidimensional knowledge discovery solution for Tang tomb mural cultural relic resources.

Taking the Tang tomb murals collected by the Shaanxi History Museum as an example, based on clarifying the relevant concepts of Tang tomb mural resources and considering both dynamic and static dimensions, a top-down approach was adopted to first construct an ontology model of Tang tomb mural type cultural relics resources. Then, the actual case data was imported into the Neo4J graph database according to the defined pattern hierarchy to complete the static organization of knowledge, and presented in a multimodal form in knowledge reasoning and retrieval. In addition, geographic information system (GIS) technology is used to dynamically display the spatiotemporal distribution of Tang tomb mural resources, and the distribution trend is analysed from a digital humanistic perspective.

The multi-dimensional knowledge discovery of Tang tomb mural cultural relics resources can help establish the correlation and spatiotemporal relationship between resources, providing support for semantic retrieval and navigation, knowledge discovery and visualization and so on.

This study takes the murals in the collection of the Shaanxi History Museum as an example, revealing potential knowledge associations in a static and intelligent way, achieving knowledge discovery and management of Tang tomb murals, and dynamically presents the spatial distribution of Tang tomb murals through GIS technology, meeting the knowledge presentation needs of different users and opening up new ideas for the study of Tang tomb murals.

The purpose of this paper is to put forward a demand chain management (DCM) framework underpinned by the alignment theory and applies it to investigate the fashion apparel (FA) industry in China under the impacts of the latest economic transition.

An exploratory multiple case study methodology involving five Chinese FA firms, each with a different business model and ownership type, was employed. Semi-structured interviews, onsite observations and review of company documents were conducted to collect information for analysis.

Using a conceptual DCM framework as a guide for analysis, the study finds that companies with a higher level of alignment with the external market situation and among the three internal DCM dimensions, namely, market management, supply chain management (SCM), and organization management, appear to perform better under the rapidly changing economic conditions in China.

This study contributes to knowledge by reviewing thoroughly the literature on SCM evolution and develops a DCM framework based on alignment theory that represents the state of the art in this area. By extending the administration-integration-production-development (A-I-P-D) logic set adopted in the alignment theory, this study has also equipped the proposed framework with an empirical tool to measure alignment.

By applying the framework to examine the Chinese apparel industry under the impacts of the latest economic transition, this study provides practitioners in the industry with a framework to help formulate strategies and a tool to measure alignment. The findings of the case study also offer insights to the industry to thrive in the rapidly changing businesses environment with dynamic uncertainties.

This study extends the application of the A-I-P-D logic set under the alignment theory to the SCM field. This endeavor successfully transforms the proposed DCM framework from a theoretical concept to a practical tool to help evaluate empirically the alignment and strategic fit of a firm and potential relationship with firm performance. As the Chinese FA market has increasingly evolved under the impact of the globalization, the findings of this study not only assist the local FA companies in coping with the dynamic uncertainties but also shed light on the future developments of the global FA industry. Besides, the alignment measurement tool embedded in the proposed DCM framework can help enhance the chances of business success during implementation.