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The feasibility and desirability of reverse logistics in market-motivated contexts are examined in China. Interactions between the major barriers, that hinder or prevent the application of reverse logistics in China are analyzed. Management’s key task is to diagnose barriers to the application of reverse logistics that could be crucial to the organization’s future survival. Simultaneity, a value delivery system exists to create value for customers and environments by supplying needed products and services. Value delivery systems are at the heart of every firm and, more than anything else, determine that, whether the firm survives in the marketplace or disappears into bankruptcy or takeover. The processes and model of market-motivated reverse logistics value delivery system are discussed, and the processes content and model are presented. Simultaneity, based on the advantage of the Third Party Reverse Logistics Providers (3PRLs) and Outsourced Service Providers, an integrated evaluation model is built to select 3PRLs by using the integrated decision-making methods. Reflecting the comprehensive information requirement, the Analytic Hierarchy Process and entropy approaches are applied to calculate the objective weights. A new kind of relative similarity degree is established by combining the Euclidean distance with the grey correlation degree. An example demonstrates the model’s efficiency.

Polyurethane (PUR) foam parts are traditionally manufactured using metallic molds, an unsuitable approach for prototyping purposes. Thus, rapid tooling of disposable molds using fused filament fabrication (FFF) with polylactic acid (PLA) and glycol-modified polyethylene terephthalate (PETG) is proposed as an economical, simpler and faster solution compared to traditional metallic molds or three-dimensional (3D) printing with other difficult-to-print thermoplastics, which are prone to shrinkage and delamination (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polypropilene-PP) or high-cost due to both material and printing equipment expenses (PEEK, polyamides or polycarbonate-PC). The purpose of this study has been to evaluate the ease of release of PUR foam on these materials in combination with release agents to facilitate the mulding/demoulding process.

PETG, PLA and hardenable polylactic acid (PLA 3D870) have been evaluated as mold materials in combination with aqueous and solvent-based release agents within a full design of experiments by three consecutive molding/demolding cycles.

PLA 3D870 has shown the best demoldability. A mold expressly designed to manufacture a foam cushion has been printed and the prototyping has been successfully achieved. The demolding of the part has been easier using a solvent-based release agent, meanwhile the quality has been better when using a water-based one.

The combination of PLA 3D870 and FFF, along with solvent-free water-based release agents, presents a compelling low-cost and eco-friendly alternative to traditional metallic molds and other 3D printing thermoplastics. This innovative approach serves as a viable option for rapid tooling in PUR foam molding.

There is a renowned interest in adaptability as an important principle for achieving circularity in the built environment. Circular building adaptability (CBA) could enable long-term building utilisation and flexible use of space with limited material flows. This paper identifies and analyses design strategies facilitating CBA to propose a framework for enhancing the implementation of the concept.

Interviews were conducted with professionals experienced in circular building design to explore the questions “How do currently applied design strategies enable CBA?” and “How can CBA be implemented through a conceptual design framework?”. The interviews encircled multi-residential building examples to identify currently applied circular design strategies. The interviews were analysed through qualitative content analysis using CBA determinants as a coding framework.

The results show that all ten CBA determinants are supported by design strategies applied in current circular building design. However, some determinants are more supported than others, and design strategies are often employed without explicitly considering adaptability. The design strategies that enable adaptability offer long-term solutions requiring large-scale modifications rather than facilitating low-impact adaptation by dwelling occupants. The proposed conceptual design framework could aid architects in resolving these issues and implementing CBA in their circular building design.

This paper’s contribution to CBA is threefold. It demonstrates design strategies facilitating CBA, proposes a conceptual design framework to apply the concept and identifies the need for a more comprehensive application of available adaptability strategies.

The global economy is plagued by an unprecedented shock that has devastated economic growth under the coronavirus pandemic. The prolonged movement control orders, social distancing, and lockdowns have triggered the global economic downturn, disrupted the demand and supply chains, reduced the pool of workforce, and caused many jobs loss. This paper aims to analyze the global economic cost of the coronavirus pandemic, and its current and future implications.

Based on contingency theory, this paper provides an in-depth analysis of the current situation on the global economic cost of the COVID-19 outbreak and gives insights from an organizational perspective.

This paper found that the world has witnessed far-ranging economic consequences due to the coronavirus pandemic in four aspects: (i) decline in personal consumption; (ii) decline in the investments and stock prices in capital market; (iii) decline in government spending in developmental projects and increase in new borrowing; and (iv) decline of exports of goods to international markets.

The novelty lies in investigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on micro and macroeconomic levels — the components of GDP, consumer behavior, business investments, government spending, and global exports. The paper suggests the need for urgent actions by the world leaders to oversee, anticipate, and manage the risks and cushion the economic consequences. It concludes that the flexibility and adaptability of leaders, effectiveness, workforce protection, efficient use of modern technology, including automation and artificial intelligence, would enhance the resilience of supply chains which will support organizations to sustain in this critical time.

The information technology (IT) sector has been seen as central to society's transformation to a more just and sustainable society, which underlines teachers’ responsibility to foster engineers who can contribute specifically to such ends. This study aims to report an effort to significantly update an existing engineering programme in IT with this ambition and to analyse the effects and challenges associated with the transformation.

This study is based on a combination of action-oriented research based on implementing key changes to the curriculum; empirical investigations including surveys and interviews with students and teachers, and analysis of these; and a science and technology studies-inspired analysis.

Respondents were generally positive towards adding topics relating to sustainability. However, in the unmaking of traditional engineering subjects, changes created a conflict between core versus soft subjects in which the core subjects tended to gain the upper hand. This conflict can be turned into productive discussions by focusing on what kinds of engineers the authors’ educate and how students can be introduced to societal problems as an integrated part of their education.

This study can be helpful for educators in the engineering domain to support them in their efforts to transition from a (narrow) focus on traditional disciplines to one where the bettering of society is at the core.

This study provides a novel approach to the transformation of engineering education through a theoretical analysis seldom used in studies of higher education on a novel case study.

Although the number of blue-collar industrial workers has been declining, manufacturing jobs continue to have considerable importance, even in technologically advanced economies. This study gives a voice to this often-overlooked group of workers, focusing on the Finnish vehicle industry.

The study assessed how manual workers in automotive manufacturing describe their job pride and how their accounts were related to conceptualizations of work orientation. The data included semi-structured interviews and an open-ended survey question on situations in which the respondents had felt proud of their work. The data were analysed using thematic analysis.

According to the results, the respondents had a high level of job pride in general, but the meaning given to this attitude varied considerably, depending on the situation. The study participants' work orientation was a mixture of instrumental and intrinsic traits. However, there were also respondents who did not experience job pride or who had lost it because of the work circumstances.

Relatively little research has assessed the importance of job pride in the context of industrial manufacturing. Recognizing job pride in its variety is crucial information for employers who aim to develop working conditions and employee retention.

Despite the multiple calls for research on the dark side of open innovation, very few studies have approached the topic so far. This study aims to analyse successful and unsuccessful open innovation projects.

This study uses thematic analysis to describe the factors determining their (un)success. The researchers interviewed 27 managers and owners in the manufacturing sector. Then, the respondents were asked to discuss one successful and one unsuccessful open innovation project to explore the differences in triggers and setbacks, focusing on the causes that determined the failures.

Findings show that many interviewees are reluctant to identify failure cases, which somewhat explains the paucity of studies on the topic, and others do so when the failure is recognised by a third party (such as a public institution not granting funds to the project). This study discussed how this phenomenon is linked with the paradoxical relation between innovation success and failure. It is also found that triggers and setbacks determining the project's (un)success are markedly differently based on the technological intensity of the firm. Implications for scholars and practitioners are also drawn.

This study provides a balanced view between open innovation successes and failures to offer informative recommendations to practitioners. Furthermore, it contributes to filling the scarcity of studies related to risks and failures of open innovation projects. This gap has been addressed by studying the factors that determine the success and unsuccess of an open innovation project.

The sharing economy (SE) is significantly affecting traditional companies, which have felt a need to adapt their business model. The aim of this study is to identify the different types of adaptation developed by companies within a SE context, and to examine how they relate to their characteristics.

A content analysis involving 149 real-world adaptation cases was carried out, after which a Kruskal–Wallis test and a multiple correspondence analysis were used to explore the relationships between the types of adaptation identified, the business characteristics and the strategic decisions taken for these adaptations.

Through the analyses proposed in the study, the main conclusions suggest that the way companies adapt to SE is related to business characteristics and the strategic decisions taken for these actions, demonstrating throughout the article what types of adaptations are made depending on variables such as sector of activity or business orientation.

This study is the first to examine the variables affecting the decisions among traditional companies in response to the SE. In addition, this work explores the SE from the business point of view, shedding light on the participation in SE by traditional companies.

共享經濟現時正顯著地影響著感到需要改變它們的商業模式的傳統公司。本文旨在確定在共享經濟的背景裡, 公司為適應有關的環境而進行的各種改變; 研究亦擬探討這些改變與公司特徵之間的關係。

研究人員對149個真實世界的改變個案進行內容分析, 繼而進行克拉斯卡 - 瓦立斯檢定 (Kruskal-Wallis test) 和多重應對分析 (Multiple Correspondence Analysis) , 以探究被確定的改變的種類、企業的特徵與採用這些改變的策略性決策之間的關係。

研究人員、透過本研究建議的分析取得結論; 主要的結論似顯示、企業為應對共享經濟所作的改變、與它們的企業特徵和採用哪些行動的策略性決策是有關聯的。整篇論文, 顯示了企業所採用的改變種類、均取決於像活動領域和企業經營理念等的變數。

本研究為首個研究、去探討影響傳統公司回應共享經濟所作的決策的變數。再者, 本研究探究了以商業理念的觀點來考慮的共享經濟, 這使我們更容易理解傳統公司參與共享經濟的課題。

This paper aims at investigating the role of institutional entrepreneurship and corporate entrepreneurship to cope with firm’ impasses by adoption of the new technology ahead of other firms. Also, this paper elucidates the importance of own specific institutional and corporate entrepreneurship created from firm’s norm.

The utilized research frame is as follows: first, perspective of studies on institutional and corporate entrepreneurship are performed using prior literature and preliminary references; second, analytical research frame was proposed; finally, phase-based cases are conducted so as to identify research objective.

Kumho Tire was the first tire manufacturer in the world to exploit the utilization of radio-frequency identification for passenger carâ’s tire. Kumho Tire takes great satisfaction in lots of failures to develop the cutting edge technology using advanced information and communication technology cultivated by heterogeneous institution and corporate entrepreneurship.

The firm concentrated its resources into building the organization’s communication process and enhancing the quality of its human resources from the early stages of their birth so as to create distinguishable corporate entrepreneurship.

Extending the active lifetimes of garments by producing better quality is a widely discussed strategy for reducing environmental impacts of the garment industry. While quality is an important aspect of clothing, the concept of quality is ambiguous, and, moreover, consumers may perceive quality in individual ways. Therefore, it is important to deepen the general understanding regarding the quality of clothing.

This paper presents an integrated literature review of the recent discussion of perceived quality of clothing and of the links between quality and clothing lifetimes; 47 selected articles and other literature obtained primarily through fashion/clothing/apparel journals were included in this review.

The main ideas from the articles are thematized into the following sections: the process of assessment, levels involved in assessment, multidimensional cues of assessment, and quality and clothing use times. The paper highlights that perceiving quality is a process guided by both expectations and experience, and assembles the various aspects into a conceptual map that depicts the connections between the conceptual levels involved in assessing quality. It also illustrates connections between quality and clothing use times.

This paper focused on perceived quality on a conceptual level. Further studies could examine and establish deeper links between quality, sustainability and garment lifespans.

The study draws together studies on perceived quality, presenting the foundational literature and key concepts of quality of clothing. It summarizes them in a conceptual map that may help visualize various aspects affecting the assessment of quality and deepen the general understanding of the quality of garments.