Pingping Xiong, Zhiqing He, Shiting Chen and Mao Peng
In recent years, domestic smog has become increasingly frequent and the adverse effects of smog have increasingly become the focus of public attention. It is a way to analyze such…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent years, domestic smog has become increasingly frequent and the adverse effects of smog have increasingly become the focus of public attention. It is a way to analyze such problems and provide solutions by mathematical methods.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper establishes a new gray model (GM) (1,N) prediction model based on the new kernel and degree of grayness sequences under the case that the interval gray number distribution information is known. First, the new kernel and degree of grayness sequences of the interval gray number sequence are calculated using the reconstruction definition of the kernel and degree of grayness. Then, the GM(1,N) model is formed based on the above new sequences to simulate and predict the kernel and degree of the grayness of the interval gray number sequence. Finally, the upper and lower bounds of the interval gray number are deduced based on the calculation formulas of the kernel and degree of grayness.
Findings
To verify further the practical significance of the model proposed in this paper, the authors apply the model to the simulation and prediction of smog. Compared with the traditional GM(1,N) model, the new GM(1,N) prediction model established in this paper has better prediction effect and accuracy.
Originality/value
This paper improves the traditional GM(1,N) prediction model and establishes a new GM(1,N) prediction model in the case of the known distribution information of the interval gray number of the smog pollutants concentrations data.
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Soohyun Lee, Zhiqing E. Zhou, Julan Xie and Hao Guo
Work-related use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) after hours can be potentially detrimental to employee well-being. In the current study, we examine whether…
Abstract
Purpose
Work-related use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) after hours can be potentially detrimental to employee well-being. In the current study, we examine whether psychological detachment mediates the link between work-related use of ICTs after hours and fatigue and whether affective commitment exacerbates this mediated relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
We collected two waves of data from 295 employees in Vietnam, with 51% being female and an average age of 37.81 years old (SD = 7.93).
Findings
Work-related use of ICTs after hours was positively related to employees' fatigue via psychological detachment. The negative relationship between work-related use of ICTs after hours and psychological detachment was stronger for employees with higher affective commitment.
Practical implications
Organizations are encouraged to set policies and procedures to reduce work-related use of ICTs after hours to protect employee health; when work-related use of ICTs after hours is necessary, organizations should provide employees, especially those with higher affective commitment, with resources and strategies to better detach from this experience.
Originality/value
Our findings contribute to the understanding of how work-related use of ICTs after hours might adversely affect employee well-being through psychological detachment and that more committed employees can be more affected in this process.
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Linhui Wang, Jing Zhao, Jia Sun and Zhiqing Dong
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of biased technology on employment distribution and labor status in income distribution of China. It also testifies a threshold…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of biased technology on employment distribution and labor status in income distribution of China. It also testifies a threshold effect of the capital per labor and employment distribution on labor status from biased technology.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents a normalized supply-side system of three equations to measure the bias of technology in China. Linear and threshold regressions approaches are applied over cross-province panel data to investigate the influence which biased technology has on labor status under different capital per labor and employment distribution regimes.
Findings
This paper empirically shows that technology has been mostly capital-biased in China. The regression results indicate that capital-biased technology impairs labor income status and tend to modify employment distribution and labor income between industries. Furthermore, it reveals the threshold effect of capital per labor and employment distribution on the relationship between biased technology and labor status.
Originality/value
This paper extends the literature by explaining labor status from the perspective of biased technology and the effect of inter-industry employment distribution in China. It further explores the asymmetric effect of biased technology on labor productivity and income, which promotes inter-industry labor mobility and modifies employment distribution. This paper highlights the implications of this explanation for labor relations and human resource management.
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Jingru Lian, Xiaobing Fan, Bin Xu, Shan Li, Zhiqing Tian, Mengdan Wang, Bingli Pan and Hongyu Liu
This paper aims to regulate the oil retention rate and tribological properties of pored polytetrafluoroethylene (PPTFE) using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based oil gel.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to regulate the oil retention rate and tribological properties of pored polytetrafluoroethylene (PPTFE) using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based oil gel.
Design/methodology/approach
PPTFE was first prepared by using citric acid (CA) as an efficient pore-making agent. Subsequently, PVA and chitosan solution was introduced into the pores and experienced a freezing-thawing process, forming PVA-based gels inside the pores. Then, the PPTFE/PVA composite was impregnated with polyethylene glycol 200 (PEG200), yielding an oil-impregnated PPTFE/PVA/PEG200 composite.
Findings
It was found that the oil-impregnated PPTFE/PVA/PEG200 composite exhibited advanced tribological properties than neat PTFE with reductions of 53% and 70% in coefficient of friction and wear rate, respectively.
Originality/value
This study shows an efficient strategy to regulate the tribological property of PTFE using a PVA-based oil-containing gel.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-11-2024-0432/
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Zhiqing Jiang, Shin’ya Nagasawa and Junzo Watada
The purpose of this paper is to reveal how store design influences luxury brand image building in a competitive market through the case study of two luxury fashion brands – Bally…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reveal how store design influences luxury brand image building in a competitive market through the case study of two luxury fashion brands – Bally and Tod's.
Design/methodology/approach
Quantitative (questionnaires) and qualitative (interview) approaches are both utilized in this research study. The authors interviewed brand managers of Bally and Tod's Japan and then conducted questionnaires to 57 consumers and six brand managers. Correspondence analysis, multidimensional analysis, and rough set theory were utilized to analyze the data obtained from questionnaires in order to draw the positioning maps of brand image and store image, calculate the distance of images between managers and consumers and derive and compare inference structure.
Findings
The “Brand Dimensions Scales” created by Aaker (1997) can enable to measure luxury brand and store image in a scientific way. The results clarify that there is a big gap between consumers’ and managers’ cognition; the architect who designs the building could be a efficient way of advertising a luxury brand and its building to the public; and location and store atmosphere should influence luxury brand image building through non-verbal communication.
Originality/value
This research study on luxury brand image building provides a way to measure brand image and assesses the impact change in brand image as well as its stores.
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Guangsheng Zhang, Xiao Wang, Zhiqing Meng, Qirui Zhang and Kexin Wu
To remedy the inherent defect in current research that focuses only on a single type of participants, this paper endeavors to look into the situation as an evolutionary game…
Abstract
Purpose
To remedy the inherent defect in current research that focuses only on a single type of participants, this paper endeavors to look into the situation as an evolutionary game between a representative Logistics Service Integrator (LSI) and a representative Functional Logistics Service Provider (FLSP) in an environment with sudden crisis and tries to analyze how LSI supervises FLSP's operations and how FLSP responds in a recurrent pattern with different interruption probabilities.
Design/methodology/approach
Regarding the risks of supply chain interruption in emergencies, this paper develops a two-level model of single LSI and single FLSP, using Evolutionary Game theory to analyze their optimal decision-making, as well as their strategic behaviors on different risk levels regarding the interruption probability to achieve the optimal return with bounded rationality.
Findings
The results show that on a low-risk level, if LSI increases the degree of punishment, it will fail to enhance FLSP's operational activeness in the long term; when the risk rises to an intermediate level, a circular game occurs between LSI and FLSP; and on a high level of risk, FLSP will actively take actions, and its functional probability further impacts LSI's strategic choices. Finally, this paper analyzes the moderating impact of punishment intensity and social reputation loss on the evolutionary model in emergencies and provides relevant managerial implications.
Originality/value
First, by taking both interruption probability and emergencies into consideration, this paper explores the interactions among the factors relevant to LSI's and FLSP's optimal decision-making. Second, this paper analyzes the optimal evolutionary game strategies of LSI and FLSP with different interruption probability and the range of their optimal strategies. Third, the findings of this paper provide valuable implications for relevant practices, such that the punishment intensity and social reputation loss determine the optimal strategies of LSI and FLSP, and thus it is an effective vehicle for LSSC system administrator to achieve the maximum efficiency of the system.
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This study aims to draw on Piaget’s theory of assimilation and accommodation (absorptive capacity) as having mediating roles to examine the effect of motivational factors in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to draw on Piaget’s theory of assimilation and accommodation (absorptive capacity) as having mediating roles to examine the effect of motivational factors in entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intention among engineering students. In addition, this relationship is analyzed along with the moderating effect of the home environment.
Design/methodology/approach
The structural equation model was applied to a sample of university students (736 respondents) engaged in an entrepreneurship education program in South Korea.
Findings
The findings highlight that the motivations of personal achievement, social welfare and social relationship were associated with assimilated students, and the motivations of personal achievement and cognitive interest were associated with accommodated students fostering entrepreneurial intention in their entrepreneurship education.
Originality/value
This finding contributes to the theoretical implications of absorptive capacity (assimilation and accommodation) in the learning process and has wider practical implications for course instructors in educational institutions who wish to promote the effectiveness of developing entrepreneurship knowledge and skills among engineering students.
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Ahmet Soylu, Felix Mödritscher, Fridolin Wild, Patrick De Causmaecker and Piet Desmet
Mashups have been studied extensively in the literature; nevertheless, the large body of work in this area focuses on service/data level integration and leaves UI level…
Abstract
Purpose
Mashups have been studied extensively in the literature; nevertheless, the large body of work in this area focuses on service/data level integration and leaves UI level integration, hence UI mashups, almost unexplored. The latter generates digital environments in which participating sources exist as individual entities; member applications and data sources share the same graphical space particularly in the form of widgets. However, the true integration can only be realized through enabling widgets to be responsive to the events happening in each other. The authors call such an integration “widget orchestration” and the resulting application “mashup by orchestration”. This article aims to explore and address challenges regarding the realization of widget‐based UI mashups and UI level integration, prominently in terms of widget orchestration, and to assess their suitability for building web‐based personal environments.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors provide a holistic view on mashups and a theoretical grounding for widget‐based personal environments. The authors identify the following challenges: widget interoperability, end‐user data mobility as a basis for manual widget orchestration, user behavior mining – for extracting behavioral patterns – as a basis for automated widget orchestration, and infrastructure. The authors introduce functional widget interfaces for application interoperability, exploit semantic web technologies for data interoperability, and realize end‐user data mobility on top of this interoperability framework. The authors employ semantically enhanced workflow/process mining techniques, along with Petri nets as a formal ground, for user behavior mining. The authors outline a reference platform and architecture that is compliant with the authors' strategies, and extend W3C widget specification respectively – prominently with a communication channel – to foster standardization. The authors evaluate their solution approaches regarding interoperability and infrastructure through a qualitative comparison with respect to existing literature, and provide a computational evaluation of the behavior mining approach. The authors realize a prototype for a widget‐based personal learning environment for foreign language learning to demonstrate the feasibility of their solution strategies. The prototype is also used as a basis for the end‐user assessment of widget‐based personal environments and widget orchestration.
Findings
The evaluation results suggest that the interoperability framework, platform, and architecture have certain advantages over existing approaches, and the proposed behavior mining techniques are adequate for the extraction of behavioral patterns. User assessments show that widget‐based UI mashups with orchestration (i.e. mashups by orchestration) are promising for the creation of personal environments as well as for an enhanced user experience.
Originality/value
This article provides an extensive exploration of mashups by orchestration and their role in the creation of personal environments. Key challenges are described, along with novel solution strategies to meet them.
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Weiping Yu, Fasheng Cui, Xiaoyun Han and Mengjiao Lv
Food recalls are more potentially harmful than other product recalls. This research aimed to investigate the effect of the recall strategies of food corporations on their brand…
Abstract
Purpose
Food recalls are more potentially harmful than other product recalls. This research aimed to investigate the effect of the recall strategies of food corporations on their brand image and consumers’ purchase intention.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts a between-subjects experiment of 2 (corporate recall strategy: voluntary recall, mandatory recall) *3 (food recall level (severity): high, medium, low), and recruits 224 consumers involved in cereal product recall in China. The authors inductively examine the effects of voluntary and mandatory recall on consumer perception and behavior intentions in the recall process.
Findings
Voluntary recall (vs. mandatory recall) will improve corporate brand responsibility image (vs. brand ability image) and consumers’ purchase intention to focal brand (vs. competitive brand and organic brand). Perceived corporate legitimacy and food safety play a mediating role. The former has a greater positive impact on brand image, and the latter has a more significant favorable influence on purchase intention. Furthermore, recall level has a moderating effect on the association between corporate recall strategy and perceived food safety, but is not significant in the effect of corporate recall strategy on perceived corporate legitimacy.
Originality/value
Previous inconsistent conclusions cannot effectively guide food corporations to manage recall strategies. This paper demonstrates the response mechanism of the recall strategy from the perspective of corporate social responsibility, which is beneficial to food safety crisis management and research.