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The purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of principal preparation and training in China by providing a background discussion of principal preparation in a number of countries. As an illustration, it provides an overview of the curriculum used in the initial preparation of school principals at Beijing Normal University.

The paper draws mainly on writing and research from China, Australia and the USA to explore principal preparation and training in China.

In addition to providing a rich description of principal preparation in China, the paper's main findings comprise seven key challenges that confront China as it endeavours to provide quality principal preparation. These challenges include China's diversity and uneven social, cultural and educational development; limited resources in some regions throughout China; the place and importance of study tours for principal preparation; the teaching approach used to train principals; the process used for assessing principal learning during their training programs; the limited transfer of learning from the classroom to the school environment; and the timing of training for principals.

Each of the challenges arising here raises important practical implications for developers of principal training programs.

The paper paints a picture of principal preparation in China and raises a number of issues and challenges with which it continues to grapple. Of note is that China is not alone in facing some of these ongoing concerns.

Special education in China has lagged behind regular education for many years, however, the past few decades, the government has made considerable efforts to develop and improve the special education system. While the citizens of China have had a generic moral interest in disability since ancient times, the development of special education schools did not occur until American and European missionaries started schools for the visually and hearing impaired in the 19th century. The next major influence in the development of the special education system occurred with China’s Cultural Revolution in 1978. Interestingly, there is not any exclusive legislation on special education but in the 1980s, the government started Learning in Regular Classrooms (LRC), which is China’s version of inclusion. LRC has progressed rapidly the past two decades; however, the quality of instruction is low due to a lack of specialists, a shortage of personnel, inadequate funding, and limited technology as well as other barriers that are delineated in the chapter. The chapter emphasizes the government’s recent efforts in in-service teacher training, the preparation of preservice teachers, working with families, developing community rehabilitation training programs, and implementing evidence-based practices. Special education in China today is at a good place but it has quite a way from the ideal situation.

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.

This paper aims to propose an improved Moth Flame Optimization (I-MFO) algorithm to optimize the cost-oriented two-sided assembly line balancing (2S-ALB). Prior to the decision to assemble a new product, the manufacturer will carefully study and optimize the related cost to set up and run the assembly line. For the first time in ALB, the power cost is modeled together with the equipment, set up and labor costs.

I-MFO was proposed by introducing a global reference flame mechanism to guide the global search direction. A set of benchmark problems was used to test the I-MFO performance. Apart from the benchmark problems, a case study from a body shop assembly was also presented.

The computational experiment indicated that the I-MFO obtained promising results compared to comparison algorithms, which included the particle swarm optimization, Cuckoo Search and ant colony optimization. Meanwhile, the results from the case study showed that the proposed cost-oriented 2S-ALB model was able to assist the manufacturer in making better decisions for different planning periods.

The main contribution of this work is the global reference flame mechanism for MFO algorithm. Furthermore, this research introduced a new cost-oriented model that considered power consumption in the assembly line design.

Presents introductory material on internal audit in China then plunges into the exciting world of the economic accountability audit. Shows how this is very much at the heart of the socialist market economy reform and the related role of internal audit. It is integrally connected to the core tasks of an industry and is already proving its worth.

Describes the internal audit arrangements in the Chinese tobacco industry. The elements of a high quality, well‐supervised service are already in place, with the capability of auditing across the range of activities and tackling corruption. States that there is a need for continuous development and staff training, with computer technology being an area requiring special attention. Feels the prospects seem bright and that internal auditing’s role of supervision will be enhanced in the continuing transition to the market economy.

This study provides a comprehensive overview of the research landscape of Kansei engineering (KE) within the domain of emotional clothing design. It explores the pivotal technologies, challenges and potential future directions of KE, offering application methodologies and theoretical underpinnings to support emotional clothing design.

This study briefly introduces KE, outlining its overarching research methodologies and processes. This framework lays the groundwork for advancing research in clothing Kansei. Subsequently, by reviewing literature from both domestic and international sources, this research initially explores the application of KE in the design and evaluation of clothing products as well as the development of intelligent clothing design systems from the vantage point of designers. Second, it investigates the role of KE in the customization of online clothing recommendation systems and the optimization of retail environments, as perceived by consumers. Finally, with the research methodologies of KE as a focal point, this paper discusses the principal challenges and opportunities currently confronting the field of clothing Kansei research.

At present, studies in the domain of clothing KE have achieved partial progress, but there are still some challenges to be solved in the concept, technical methods and area of application. In the future, multimodal and multisensory user Kansei acquisition, multidimensional product deconstruction, artificial intelligence (AI) enabling KE research and clothing sales environment Kansei design will become new development trends.

This study provides significant directions and concepts in the technology, methods and application types of KE, which is helpful to better apply KE to emotional clothing design.

Given innovation's significance, this research examines the link between empowered leadership and frugal innovation. The research also explores how collaborative cultures and organizational commitment mediate empowered leadership's effect on frugal innovation.

Quantitative method is used with the approach of hierarchical regression to test the hypotheses with data obtained from Pakistani small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through the questionnaire from 288 participants.

The results of this study show that empowered leadership has a considerable impact on the firm's capacity for frugal innovation. Additionally, this study shows that organizational commitment and collaborative culture significantly moderate the association between empowering leadership and frugal innovation.

Future studies should examine mediating factors, including employment experience, education and perceived organizational support, and moderating variables like employee psychological empowerment and leadership styles.

This research advises SMEs in developing nations to utilize frugal innovation since they cannot afford to spend extensively on technologies that add creativity and innovation to goods and services.

This study advances how leadership both directly and indirectly helps organizations strengthen their capacity for frugal innovation through the mediating roles of collaborative culture and organizational commitment.

Organizational exploration has recently emerged in the literature as an essential aspect of contemporary organizations. However, little is known about its antecedents and, specifically, the role of contemporary leadership styles. The present study investigates the relationship between empowering leadership and organizational exploration. In addressing this relationship, we examine preoccupation with failure and leader gender as a mediator and a moderator, respectively.

We collected data from a sample of 326 US employees in March 2022. To test the present hypotheses, we used the PROCESS SPSS macro.

Our results supported our moderated mediation model, demonstrating that the indirect relationship of empowering leadership with organizational exploration via preoccupation with failure is stronger for male leaders than for female counterparts.

Concerning the practical implications of this study, organizations should be cognizant of empowering leaders’ impact on desirable outcomes. Additionally, organizations should promote preoccupation with failure to ameliorate organizational exploration. Preoccupation with failure can be achieved when error reporting is encouraged by organizations and supervisors and when a culture that promotes constructive feedback is established.

The present study offers novel insights into the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions through which empowering leadership relates to organizational exploration. Additionally, it fills a gap in the literature concerning the relationship between empowering leadership and preoccupation with failure. Moreover, it adds to prior research regarding the outcomes of preoccupation with failure, filling the gap regarding the relationship between preoccupation with failure and organizational exploration. Lastly, it expands limited research focused on leader gender as a condition under which the effect of contemporary leadership styles could be enhanced or mitigated.

Recently, an increasing stream of research has investigated the effect of leadership on employee silence in health care organizations. Drawing upon self-determination theory, this study aims to examine the unexplored relationship between empowering leadership and nurses’ silence toward patient safety via psychological empowerment.

Data were collected from a sample of 271 nurses working in two Greek private hospitals. PROCESS macro was used to test the authors’ hypotheses.

The results supported that empowering leadership is associated with psychological empowerment, and the latter is related to nurses’ silence toward patient safety. Combined results indicated that psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between empowering leadership and nurses’ silence toward patient safety.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies that investigates the effect of empowering leadership on employee silence in the health-care sector. Furthermore, it highlights the underlying mechanism that accounts for this relationship. In doing so, it also provides novel insights into the effect of psychological empowerment on nurses’ unfavorable behavior, such as nurses’ silence toward patient safety. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.