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The purpose of this study is to make a prediction of the R&D output of China from the perspective of R&D institutions and put forward a set of policy recommendations for further development of the science and technology in China.

In this paper, an improved discrete grey multivariable model is proposed, which takes both the interaction effects and the accumulative effects into account. As the current research on China's R&D activities is generally based on the perspective of universities or industrial enterprises above designated size while few studies put their focus on R&D institutions, this paper applies the proposed model to carry out an empirical analysis based on the data of China's R&D institutions from 2009 to 2019. The prediction results from the new model are then compared with three existing approaches and the comparison results indicate that the proposed model generally outperforms existing methods. A further prediction of the R&D output in China's R&D institutions is conducted into a future horizon from 2020 to 2023 by using the model.

The results indicate that China's R&D institutions have a good development trend and broad prospects, which is closely related to China's long-term investment in science and technology. Additionally, the R&D inputs of China possess obvious interaction effects and accumulative effects.

The paper considers the interaction effects and the accumulative effects of R&D inputs simultaneously and proposes an improved discrete grey multivariable model, which fills the gap in previous studies.

This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of the effects of active political engagement in port-of-entry jobs and employment pathways for graduate students in a post-communist context which is characterized by clientelism. The data are derived from a structured survey of a small local labour market where political clientelism is pronounced due to the strong network ties. Controlling for both demand and supply factors, the authors identify a profile for those who are more prone to engage politically in exchange for public sector jobs, which are in turn vulnerable to regime changes.

The authors use data from a sample of 191 students that records month-to-month employment states for three consecutive years (2012–2014). The method attempts to replicate an experimental design with repeated measures before and after the June 2013 government elections. The data is analysed using sequence analysis with optimal matching and difference-in-difference methods.

The analysis provides evidence of links between political engagement and selection onto different employment pathways under conditions of political clientelism. The pathways themselves are also shown to be differentially impacted by the 2013 election (positively or negatively). Together, these results are supportive of claims that jobs in Albania, particularly those in the public sector, are linked to the short-term presence of vote-buying. This is shown to be the case even for this sample of educated members of the labour force (i.e. university graduates). The analysis also finds evidence of accumulative disadvantages over time, in relation to subjective perceptions of life satisfaction, migration intentions, employability and success in life, as a result of active political engagement.

The study uses a unique data set and a novel methodological approach, sequence analysis. Occupational history calendars were used to capture quantitative information recording detailed work histories. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this innovative method has not been used before to measure the temporal effects of political engagement on employment pathways.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the synergic effect of wild turmeric (Curcuma Aromatica Salisb.) and holy basil (Ocimum Tenuiflorum L.) combination herbal extracts treatment on the moisture management properties of cotton, lyocell and micro-denier single jersey knitted fabrics and the factors affecting it, which is intended for the development of healthcare apparel products.

The pre-treated single jersey knitted fabrics of cotton, lyocell and micro-denier polyester fabrics were given finishing treatment with the wild turmeric (Curcuma Aromatica Salisb.) and holy basil (Ocimum Tenuiflorum L.) combination herbal extract proportions of 100%:0%, 75%:25%,50%:50%; 25%:75% and 0%:100%. The D-optimal factorial design developed using Design Expert software was used for the study. The finishing treatments were carried out using the pad−dry−cure method. The aim of the work is to find out the influence of combination herbal extract proportion, textile material and their interaction effect on the moisture management properties.

The ANOVA results revealed that the overall moisture management properties of single jersey knitted fabrics are influenced by the material type, combination herbal extract proportion and the interaction between material type and the combination herbal extracts proportion. The overall moisture management properties of combination herbal extracts treated cotton single jersey fabrics are found to be better than that of lyocell and micro-denier polyester fabrics due to their excellent accumulative one-way transport capability after the finishing treatment. Among the combination herbal extract proportions, 50:50 per cent combination herbal extract proportion was found to be better than other proportions.

The study on the moisture management properties of combination herbal extracts of wild turmeric (Curcuma Aromatica Salisb.) and holy basil (Ocimum Tenuiflorum L.) is a novel attempt to explore the synergic effect of active constituents in both the herbs.

Hot and humid climates (HHCs) are potential environmental hazards that directly affect construction workers' health and safety (HS) and negatively impact workers' productivity. Extensive research efforts have addressed the effects of HHCs. However, these efforts have been inconsistent in their approach for selecting factors influencing workers in such conditions. There are also increasing concerns about the drop-off in research interest to follow through intrusive and non-real-time measurements. This review aims to identify the major research gaps in measurements applied in previous research with careful attention paid to the factors that influence the intrusiveness and selection of the applied data collection methods.

This research integrates a manual subjective discussion with a thematic analysis of Leximancer software and an elaborating chronological, geographical and methodological review that yielded 701 articles and 76 peer-reviewed most related articles.

The literature included the physiological parameters as influencing factors and useful indicators for HHC effects and identified site activity intensity as the most influencing work-related factor. In total, three main gaps were identified: (1) the role of substantial individual and work-related factors; (2) managerial interventions and the application of the right time against the right symptoms, sample size and measurement intervals and (3) applied methods of data collection; particularly, the intrusiveness of the utilised sensors.

The focus of researchers and practitioners should be in applying nonintrusive, innovative and real-time methods that can provide crew-level measurements. In particular, methods that can represent the actual effects of allocated tasks are aligned with real-time weather measurements, so proactive HHC-related preventions can be enforced on time.

This review contributes to the field of construction workers' safety in HHCs and enables researchers and practitioners to identify the most influential individual and work-related factors in HHCs. This review also proposes a framework for future research with suggestions to cover the highlighted research gaps and contributes to a critical research area in the construction industry.

A rapidly expanding body of literature on international mediation, as well as the central role international mediation plays in modern-day conflict resolution, make it necessary to review and analyze this vastly evolving field of study. This study seeks to review the most significant trends and debates in the literature on international mediation, with an emphasis on the literature of the past six years.

Reflecting Wall et al.'s staged conceptualization of the mediation process; this review essay is divided in three sections that cover the antecedents of mediation, possible mediation approaches, and the outcomes these approaches yield – making it possible to review and analyze the diverse sets of theories within the field of mediation, as well the various methodological approaches employed to test these theories.

Much research to date has focused on how international mediation in armed conflicts affects the likelihood of reaching a negotiated agreement, while other possible outcomes of mediation have been understudied. Accordingly, research needs to be done on the effects of mediation attempts that did not lead to a peace agreement, as well as the accumulative effect of peace agreements. Furthermore, the relation between negative peace and mediation has been studied extensively, but how mediation affects the degree of positive peace has received scant scholarly attention. Finally, the interlinkages between the different phases of the mediation process need to be examined more extensively.

This review identifies the state of the art knowledge concerning the international mediation process, which allows peacemakers to make informed decisions in order to prevent and resolve armed conflict in the twenty-first century.

The purpose of this paper is to explore older people’s food consumption experiences. Specifically, the paper seeks to provide understanding on the influence of food intake on consumer vulnerability and how this manifests within people’s lives.

The study adopts an interpretive, exploratory approach, using in-depth interviews with 20 older consumers in the UK. Thematic analysis is conducted, establishing patterns and contradictions with the data.

The findings demonstrate how biological, psychological and social age-related changes can contribute to reduced food intake in later life. The loss of control over one’s consumption experiences as a result of inappropriate portion sizes acts as a source of both immediate and future vulnerability. Resultant food wastage can serve as an immediate reminder of negative associates with ageing, while the accumulative effect of sustained under-consumption contributes to increased frailty. As a result, consumer vulnerability can pervade other contexts of an individual’s life.

The research reveals opportunities for firms to use packaging development to reduce experiences of consumer vulnerability through reduced apportionment of packaged food products. However, this needs to be considered within a multi-demographic marketplace.

This paper contributes to literature by providing a unique lens with which to understand consumer vulnerability. The findings offer a developmental perspective on the experience of consumer vulnerability, revealing the stages of proximate, immediate, intermediate and ultimate vulnerability. This perspective has the potential to offer more detailed, nuanced insights into vulnerability in other contexts beyond food consumption.

Emerging market MNEs often seek to advance their domestic competitive advantage through a springboard FDI strategy, which typically takes the form of an acquisition into a developed market (DM) for knowledge resources. We argue that if this strategy is effective and beneficial, then an emerging market parent firm would seek for higher ownership and control in its later domestic acquisitions. Such benefits would be higher if there are richer knowledge resources in a DM subsidiary or in a DM local network. Such benefits would also increase over time because of the accumulation of new knowledge back home. Using a sample of 1,303 complete domestic acquisitions made by 713 Turkish firms over the period of 1987–2013, including 196 deals involving a springboard FDI strategy, we have found highly supportive empirical evidence. It is found that holding a DM subsidiary by a Turkish parent firm is associated with 33.047% higher ownership in a later domestic acquisition. Both research and practical implications are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrative approach for improving failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA).

An extensive literature review on FMEA has been performed. Then, an integrative approach has been proposed based on literature review. The proposed approach is an integration of FMEA and quality function deployment (QFD). The proposed approach includes a two-phase QFD. In the first phase, failure modes are prioritized based on failure effects and in the second phase, failure causes are prioritized based on failure modes. The proposed approach has been examined in a case example at the blast furnace operation of a steel-manufacturing company.

Results of the case example indicated that stove shell crack in hot blast blower, pump failure in cooling water supply pump and bleeder valves failed to operate are the first three important failure modes. In addition, fire and explosion are the most important failure effects. Also, improper maintenance, over pressure and excess temperature are the most important failure causes. Findings also indicated that the proposed approach with the consideration of interrelationships among failure effects, failure mode and failure causes can influence and adjust risk priority number (RPN) in FMEA.

As manufacturing departments are mostly dealing with failure effects and modes of machinery and maintenance departments are mostly dealing with causes of failures, the proposed model can support better coordination and integration between the two departments. Such support seems to be more important in firms with continuous production lines wherein line interruption influences response to customers more seriously. A wide range of future study opportunities indicates the attractiveness and contribution of the subject to the knowledge of FMEA.

Although the literature indicates that in most of studies the outcomes of QFD were entered into FMEA and in some studies the RPN of FMEA was entered into QFD as importance rating, the proposed approach is a true type of the so-called “integration of FMEA and QFD” because the three main elements of FMEA formed the structure of QFD. In other words, the proposed approach can be considered as an innovation in the FMEA structure, not as a data provider prior to it or a data receiver after it.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between strategic manufacturing capabilities, particularly whether they are cumulative or trade‐off in nature.

Uses statistical analyses, particularly structural equation modelling based on data from the third round of the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey.

Finds mostly cumulative effects between the strategic capabilities. Shows that “quality” is a basis for “delivery”, which is a basis for “flexibility” and “cost”; between “flexibility” and “cost” an unclear relationship is found. Whether “flexibility” and “cost” are pursued exclusively or simultaneously seems to be connected with the implementation of certain improvement programmes.

Results cannot be interpreted in a prescriptive way, but only as descriptive findings stemming from a large empirical database. Future research in this area needs to be extended by longitudinal analyses and simulation studies because cross‐sectional analyses can only provide indirect empirical measures of dynamic changes of capabilities.

Describes a common pattern of capability accumulation in the industries investigated. This information can be used to estimate potential competitor behaviour or as a way to perform in an innovative manner.

Offers a clear conceptualisation of strategic capabilities with the help of an empirical study.

Internet-based intangible network good (IING) has undergone rapid developments, even revolutionized multiple industries in recent years. IING is highly dependent on the rapid diffusion rates for development success. For firms, how to select the initial targets or “seeding points” to accelerate the adoption process is critical in network marketing campaigns. The purpose of this study is to provide a new method to identify the optimal initial adopters and adoption paths.

First, the author generalize three aspects influencing IING’s adoption, namely, innovation attributes, customer’s personality and word-of-mouth. Next, we establish a modified gravity model to describe how social interactions affect consumer’s adoption behavior. Then, simulate the adoption process by setting each agent as the initial adopter to identify the optimal initial adopters. Finally, trace the information flow to forecast the adoption paths.

The model reveals how individual interactions (micro level) aggregate into the diffusion process (macro level). The optimal initial adopters are determined by a combination of factors as follows: IING’s attributes, the adopter’s diffusion ability, the potential-adopter’s personality and the trust degree between adopters and potential-adopters. Among all these factors, trust degree plays a most important role.

This study proposes the conceptual model of IING’s adoption from a perspective of dyadic influence, in which an adopter’s influence on its peers depends on pairwise characteristics of both parties. The authors propose a new method to identify the optimal initial adopters and adoption paths based on the gravity model. It is the first time to introduce the gravity model to describe IING’s adoption, which is a creative application of social physics. The findings provide new insights in IING’s adoption and identifying the key nodes in networks.