Yiwei Lai and Milda Perminiene
Fashion advertising as a contemporary ideological form has the power to deliver semiotic messages, which frames individuals' perception. Promoting perfection in consumer culture…
Abstract
Purpose
Fashion advertising as a contemporary ideological form has the power to deliver semiotic messages, which frames individuals' perception. Promoting perfection in consumer culture has resulted in the creation of unrealistic self-image and negative effects that led to psychological illnesses and pathological behaviours. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ideology behind the contemporary fashion advertising that embraces imperfection and is linked to consumer subjective well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
Nine fashion ads were selected based on the WGSN consumer report Embracing Imperfection. A sample of images was analysed applying semiotic analysis combined with the criteria of content analysis.
Findings
The results supported the notion that some contemporary fashion communication brands are challenging the conventional idea of perfection. Five themes were identified as the characteristics that bridged the visual surface of advertising with its hidden ideologies of imperfection. By supporting “anonymity”, fashion brand communication is against excessive self-focus and helps reducing anxiety due to being imperfect. By promoting “rawness”, it encourages authenticity and uniqueness. “Banality” rejects materialism and promotes the beauty of the boring day. “Ugliness” advocates for removal of the single standards and celebrate individual differences, and “spontaneity” is interchangeable for humanity, freedom, openness and acceptance of self.
Originality/value
This study is among the few attempts to conduct semiotic analysis of fashion advertising images aiming to identify the visual components and ideologies that could potentially be linked to subjective well-being in fashion communication.
Details
Keywords
Yiwei Zhao, Yindong Sun, Qianqian Zhou, Caiyun Cui and Yong Liu
The aim of this paper is to research the acceptance mechanism of building information modeling (BIM) technology and to explore the differences among…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to research the acceptance mechanism of building information modeling (BIM) technology and to explore the differences among Architecture/Engineering/Construction (A/E/C) professionals with different individual characteristics. The proposed acceptance mechanism of BIM technology is intended to be used by industry stakeholders to propose decisions and measures, and improve the degree of BIM adoption.
Design/methodology/approach
Traditional hypothesis testing is adopted by the current study to empirically research the specific mechanism of A/E/C professionals accepting BIM technologies. In the one phase, a conceptual model based on technology acceptance model (TAM) and technology organization environment (TOE) theory was established and a large-scale questionnaire survey was conducted. In the other phase, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze acquired sample data, so as to empirically test the validity of the proposed linkage.
Findings
The results show first that perceived ease of use has no significant influence on perceived usefulness, and perceived usefulness has no significant effect on behavior intention as well. Second, BIM technical features and government BIM policies have positive effects on perceived usefulness, BIM technical features and organization supports have positive effects on perceived ease of use. Third, the BIM acceptance mechanism of A/E/C professionals is diverse from respondents with different characteristics, e.g. regions and working time.
Originality/value
The authors highlight the large sample size, as well as the nationwide context, of the questionnaire survey. Meanwhile, acceptance differences among A/E/C professionals with different demographic characteristics have been clarified using profound data and t-test. The findings of this study enrich the research on the acceptance mechanism of BIM technology, and contribute to relevant stakeholders taking targeted measures to promote the effective application of BIM technology nationwide.
Details
Keywords
Saleh Shahriar, Sokvibol Kea and Lu Qian
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the major determinants of China’s outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) in the economies along the “Belt & Road” Initiative (BRI…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the major determinants of China’s outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) in the economies along the “Belt & Road” Initiative (BRI afterward). China works on to advance the agenda of the BRI both at home and abroad. The BRI is set up to promote connectivity in five key areas: policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity, trade facilitation, financial cooperation and people-to-people contacts.
Design/methodology/approach
The existing literature is inconclusive with regards to the motives, patterns and determinants of the Chinese OFDI. The authors are, therefore, motivated to undertake this study to shed some new light on the influencing factors of the Chinese OFDI. The authors have made a unique data set that consists of China and its 64 partnering countries of the BRI over a time period of 12 years spanning from 2004 to 2015. This time period is chosen on the chief consideration of data availability. The authors have a balanced panel, and applied the gravity model in line with the theoretical arguments and econometric developments.
Findings
The paper assumes that China’s OFDI along the BRI was a function of gross domestic product (GDP), income per capita, distance and WTO. The findings showed that GDP, per capita income and distance were the key determinants of the OFDI. China’s entry into the WTO did not strongly affect the OFDI. China maintained a tradition of historical relationships along the BRI economies. After all, China is relocating its investment resources in line with the consideration of its partnering countries’ economic size, cross-border distance and per capita income.
Originality/value
This study is the first of its kinds to analyze the determinants of OFDI by means of gravity model. The authors have covered all the countries along the BRI. Hence, this paper aims to make a substantial contribution to the literature, both from a scientific and a policy perspective.
Details
Keywords
Liang Chen, Jingyuan Shi, Yu Guo, Pianpian Wang and Yiwei Li
The purpose of this paper is to explore and compare haze-related content between traditional and social media in China by applying agenda-setting theory and the extended parallel…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore and compare haze-related content between traditional and social media in China by applying agenda-setting theory and the extended parallel process model (EPPM). Specifically, this paper examines the correlation between the two forms of media in terms of the ranking of the attributes of haze (i.e. the EPPM components) and the interrelationships among the attributes.
Design/methodology/approach
Content analysis and semantic network analysis were employed to address the research aims.
Findings
The results revealed that more than half of the total messages on both types of media reflected the EPPM components, either threat or efficacy information. However, the imbalance between the threat and efficacy information was more prominent in the haze-related content presented in the People’s Daily than it was on Weibo. In addition, the results from a Spearman’s rank-order correlation and a quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) indicated that there was no significant correlation between the People’s Daily and Weibo in terms of the rankings of the attributes of haze (i.e. the EPPM components) or the interrelationships among the attributes.
Originality/value
This study is the first to apply a theoretical approach to examine and compare the nature of haze-related messages on traditional and social media.
Details
Keywords
Korhan Arun and Saniye Yildirim Ozmutlu
The purpose of this paper is to examine how the mediating effect of strategic management impacts the relationship between dynamic capabilities and firm performance concerning…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how the mediating effect of strategic management impacts the relationship between dynamic capabilities and firm performance concerning environmental munificence in 3rd party logistics (3PL) firms operating in Turkey.
Design/methodology/approach
Variance-based structural equation modeling algorithm and correlation analysis were applied to survey data obtained from (n = 482) a top manager from 3PL companies.
Findings
Results revealed that dynamic capabilities were a strong predictor for organizational performance, environmental munificence also emerges as a key predictor for dynamic capabilities and strategic management, and strategic management fully mediates the link between dynamic capabilities and organizational performance, suggesting that they function as substitutes in affecting performance outcomes.
Research limitations/implications
This paper provides empirical evidence of the relationship between the dynamic capability adaptation, strategic management, environment and performance of 3PL firms. As a limitation, the results are based on survey research with a limited sample size.
Practical implications
Organizations should manage not only dynamism but also the scarcity of environmental resources found to be significant on both dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Additionally, in the logistics sector, managers should focus on the big picture while they empower and lead capable followers to transform this strategic view into operational-level changes.
Originality/value
Depending on the relationships between constructs, studying environmental munificence is a different topic than the dynamic environment concept in the effectiveness of dynamic capabilities of 3PL firms. As well as dynamic capabilities at the level of individual and strategic management relationship on organization performance are confirmed.
Details
Keywords
Dennis Lai Hang Hui and Ryan Chi Yan Au
– The purpose of this paper is to examine the interplay between police legitimacy and protest policing with reference to the case of Hong Kong.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the interplay between police legitimacy and protest policing with reference to the case of Hong Kong.
Design/methodology/approach
This study will review the concepts of police legitimacy and protest policing and examine the evolving policing practices in Hong Kong since 2010.
Findings
The study argues that the increasing polarisation of society could render policing protest a potential source of problem for sustaining police legitimacy.
Originality/value
This is a pioneering study that looks at the interplay between police legitimacy and protest policing.
Details
Keywords
Boga Balaji Praneeth, Simon Peter Nadeem, K.E.K Vimal and Jayakrishna Kandasamy
The purpose of this paper is to persuade a hybrid framework, which can be used to assess the performance of various supply chains and can be further used to segregate supply…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to persuade a hybrid framework, which can be used to assess the performance of various supply chains and can be further used to segregate supply chains concerning critical KPMs. The KPMs have been selected in the COVID-19 pandemic condition.
Design/methodology/approach
A real case of e-commerce is presented to illustrate the working of the proposed framework comprising a hybrid methodology of BWM and Fuzzy TOPSIS to measure the performance of the e-commerce supply chains by identifying the critical key performance metrics (KPMs) and measuring the performance of the considered supply chains against these.
Findings
The proposed framework is illustrated using real-time data from experts, collected through interviews and discussions. It is found that rate of return on investment (SCPM 27), flexibility of service systems to meet particular customer needs (SCPM 23) and supplier lead time against industry norm (SCPM 33) are significantly weighed in assessing performance of the selected supply chains, with weights 0.07764, 0.06863 and 0.0547, respectively. Amazon and Flipkart are seen to stand out among the other supply chains taken for the present study with closeness coefficients as 0.945 and 0.516, respectively.
Originality/value
The contemporary world has seen the drastic attack of COVID-19 on many firms worldwide, and hence measuring the performance of the supply chains has become necessary so as to understand the critical factors affecting performance, their relative importance and the firm's relative standings. There have been studies in the recent past where researchers worked on similar motives to generate a framework to measure performance of supply chains, but it is seen that the methodologies lack flexibility with respect to effectively handling large data, uncertainty in human emotions, consistency, etc. This is where the current study stands out in effectively measuring the performance of supply chains so as to aid many firms affected by the pandemic.
Xin Pan, Xuanjin Chen and Lutao Ning
Although technological diversification is often understood as an explorative activity, the authors argue that it can also be explained as exploitation. The purpose of this paper…
Abstract
Purpose
Although technological diversification is often understood as an explorative activity, the authors argue that it can also be explained as exploitation. The purpose of this paper is to examine how exploitative technological diversification (ETD) affects firm performance and what factors may moderate this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample consists of 1,569 Chinese listed firms with 7,555 observations from 2003 to 2014. Patent data were collected from the State Intellectual Property Office, while financial information was collected from the China Stock Market and Accounting Research database. The system generalised method of moments model was used for testing the hypotheses.
Findings
The empirical findings indicate that the relationship between ETD and firm performance is inversely U-shaped. Moreover, this relationship is negatively moderated by environmental munificence, which refers to the availability of resources in the environment where the firm operates, and positively moderated by environmental dynamism, which refers to the extent of volatility and unpredictable change in firms’ external environments.
Originality/value
Overlooking ETD limits applications of diversification logic and the precision of their predictions. This paper tries to fill this gap by empirically testing the relationship between ETD and financial performance.