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Article
Publication date: 5 September 2023

Xuwei Pan, Jihu Li, Jianhong Luo and Wenbang Zhan

It is widely known that fast-fashion retailers are struggling to keep up with consumer attention for quick responses within the fashion industry. With the advance of Internet and…

Abstract

Purpose

It is widely known that fast-fashion retailers are struggling to keep up with consumer attention for quick responses within the fashion industry. With the advance of Internet and e-commerce, consumers prefer to purchase online. Online platform information has become an essential source for exploring consumer attention. However, there is often a mismatch between the information provided by retailers and the feedback received from consumers, leading to an imbalance between the supply side and demand side of online information. The purpose of this study is therefore to provide a unified approach to discover consumer attention from the design topic aspect by revealing the information imbalance between supply side and demand side.

Design/methodology/approach

To address the issue of online information imbalance and discover consumer attention, this study proposed an approach that focuses on the design topic perspective. The design topic is a collection of design elements that represent a clothing-design feature more comprehensively and accurately compared to a single design element. The proposed approach begins with generating design topics through topic modeling based on online information provided by retailers on e-commerce platforms. Two indicators, influence degree and attention degree, are then used to quantify the intensity of supply information and consumer attention related to design topics. Finally, design topic strategy diagrams are constructed to reveal information imbalance and discover consumer attention.

Findings

The experimental case demonstrates the existence of information imbalance, indicating that the intensity of supply information and consumer attention from the perspective of design topics is not uniform, although both follow the Pareto principle. The results of consumer attention distribution with heavy power-law tails are consistent with current research findings. This further demonstrates that the proposed approach is capable of discovering consumer attention in the design topic strategy diagrams.

Practical implications

The issue of information imbalance between retailers and consumers poses a challenge in keeping up with customer attention. The proposed approach offers a practical solution by visually identifying the symptoms of information imbalance and discovering consumer attention through design topic strategy diagrams. This approach provides fast-fashion retailers with a valuable reference to seize market opportunities, improve product design and adjust marketing or management strategies.

Originality/value

This study proposes a novel approach to disclose the issue of information imbalance between supply side and demand side and therefore to discover consumer attention from the perspective of design topics. In addition, guidelines for applying the proposed approach for fast-fashion marketing and management are presented.

Details

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, vol. 28 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1361-2026

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 April 2024

Thomas Wojciechowski

While prior research has established that traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a risk factor for violent offending, there is little understanding of mechanisms that may underpin this…

Abstract

Purpose

While prior research has established that traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a risk factor for violent offending, there is little understanding of mechanisms that may underpin this relationship. This is problematic, as a better understanding of these mechanisms could facilitate more effective targeting of treatment. This study aims to address these gaps in the extant literature by examining TBI as a predictor of violent offending and test for mediation effects through cognitive constructs of dual systems imbalance and hostility among a sample of justice-involved youth (JIY).

Design/methodology/approach

The Pathways to Desistance data were analyzed. The first three waves of this data set comprising the responses of 1,354 JIY were analyzed. Generalized structural equation modeling was used to test for direct and indirect effects of interest. A bootstrap resampling process was used to compute unbiased standard errors for determining the statistical significance of mediation effects.

Findings

Lifetime experience of TBI was associated with increased violent offending frequency at follow-up. Hostility significantly mediated this relationship, but dual systems imbalance did not. This indicated that programming focused on reducing hostility among JIY who have experienced TBI could aid in reducing violent recidivism rates.

Originality/value

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study was the first to identify significant mediation of the relationship between TBI and violent offending through hostility.

Details

Journal of Criminal Psychology, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2009-3829

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 29 March 2024

James Caporaso

Trade relations between China and the USA have been marked by conflict, especially since China’s membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO). These conflicts have been…

Abstract

Purpose

Trade relations between China and the USA have been marked by conflict, especially since China’s membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO). These conflicts have been analyzed from a variety of perspectives, including the loss of jobs in the USA due to Chinese imports, competition in high technology sectors and the balance of trade. Conceptual frameworks have employed models of domestic differences as well as models of international power distribution. Among domestic differences examined are the existence of state-owned enterprises in China compared to the domination of the USA economy by private firms, the large role of the Communist Party in China and the influence of labor and environmental and labor groups in the USA. Power distribution theories focus on the systemic effects of the distribution of power on trade openness and on the pattern of intra-bloc versus between-bloc trade. This paper aims to examine the role of macroeconomic policy factors in China and the USA, in particular, the role of national patterns of savings, investment and consumption (both private and government). The paper concludes that insofar as the balance of trade is an important component of the trade conflict, domestic macroeconomic factors continue to be important. The resolution of the conflict will have to take into account the respective macroeconomic policies of China and the USA.

Design/methodology/approach

The design is an analytic case study of US–China trade relations with a particular focus on the balance of trade. The conceptual framework employed involves an analysis of macroeconomic policy categories, especially the overall pattern of savings (household, firm and government), investment and consumption. Process tracing over time since China's membership in the WTO is carried out with an eye toward the relationship between the balance of trade and macroeconomic policy.

Findings

The main findings are that there is a strong relation between the respective macroeconomic policies of the USA and China and their trade relations. The domestic political economy of the USA encourages consumption and a low rate of savings. The opposite is true of China where household income is low by design and national savings are high. China depends on the USA to consume what is not consumed domestically. The USA depends on Chinese imports for additional consumption encouraged by its low rate of savings. The two economies are locked in a mutual dependence.

Research limitations/implications

Key research implications are that there should be more focus on domestic macroeconomic policies since these are the root causes of the trade imbalance. This is not to say that trade frictions centering on jobs, subsidies and competition in high technology are unimportant. However, without the resolution of differences in the management of macroeconomic policies, trade conflicts between the USA and China will continue.

Practical implications

Practical implications are huge, in some ways much more important than the academic implications. Macroeconomic policy differences in savings, investment, government spending, taxation and infrastructure are important. Furthermore, there are available tools in both China and the USA to manage the macroeconomy, particularly, monetary and fiscal policy.

Social implications

One implication of this paper is that satisfaction or dissatisfaction of workers is dependent on income distribution which in turn affects trade. Treatment of people in different socioeconomic categories, such as the elderly, the young, and those at working age are a function of macroeconomic policies.

Originality/value

Many people have written about macroeconomics. It is a conventional subfield of economics. The originality of this paper lies in its advocacy of a shift of focus and attention and in the argument that traditional macroeconomics is related to trade. Despite its importance, macroeconomics has not been the center of attention for most political scientists, though economists have made it more central.

Details

International Trade, Politics and Development, vol. 8 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2586-3932

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 December 2023

Dorine Maurice Mattar, Joy Haddad and Celine Nammour

This study aims to assess the effect of job insecurity, customer incivility and work–life imbalance on Lebanese bank employee workplace well-being (EWW), while investigating the…

219

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to assess the effect of job insecurity, customer incivility and work–life imbalance on Lebanese bank employee workplace well-being (EWW), while investigating the moderating role that positive and negative affect might have.

Design/methodology/approach

Quantitative data was collected from 202 respondents and analyzed using structural equation modeling system through IBM SPSS and AMOS.

Findings

Results revealed that each of the independent variables has a negative, statistically significant effect on Lebanese bank EWW. The positive affect and the negative one are shown to have a moderating effect that lessens and boosts, respectively, these negative effects.

Theoretical implications

The study adds to the literature on EWW while highlighting the high-power distance and collectivist society that the research took place in.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations include the sample size that was hoped to be larger, in addition to the self-reporting issue and what it entails in the data collection process.

Practical implications

The study has many practical implications, including the validation of a questionnaire in a developing Arab country, hence providing a reliable tool for researchers. HR specialists should lean toward applicants with positive affect, ensuring that their workplace is occupied by members with enhanced resilience. Furthermore, employers should support their employees’ professional growth, thus, boosting their employability during turmoil and consequently making them less vulnerable in times of economic recession.

Originality/value

The study’s unique context, depicted in the harsh economic and financial crisis, makes the findings on EWW of a high value.

Article
Publication date: 9 April 2024

Lu Wang, Jiahao Zheng, Jianrong Yao and Yuangao Chen

With the rapid growth of the domestic lending industry, assessing whether the borrower of each loan is at risk of default is a pressing issue for financial institutions. Although…

Abstract

Purpose

With the rapid growth of the domestic lending industry, assessing whether the borrower of each loan is at risk of default is a pressing issue for financial institutions. Although there are some models that can handle such problems well, there are still some shortcomings in some aspects. The purpose of this paper is to improve the accuracy of credit assessment models.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, three different stages are used to improve the classification performance of LSTM, so that financial institutions can more accurately identify borrowers at risk of default. The first approach is to use the K-Means-SMOTE algorithm to eliminate the imbalance within the class. In the second step, ResNet is used for feature extraction, and then two-layer LSTM is used for learning to strengthen the ability of neural networks to mine and utilize deep information. Finally, the model performance is improved by using the IDWPSO algorithm for optimization when debugging the neural network.

Findings

On two unbalanced datasets (category ratios of 700:1 and 3:1 respectively), the multi-stage improved model was compared with ten other models using accuracy, precision, specificity, recall, G-measure, F-measure and the nonparametric Wilcoxon test. It was demonstrated that the multi-stage improved model showed a more significant advantage in evaluating the imbalanced credit dataset.

Originality/value

In this paper, the parameters of the ResNet-LSTM hybrid neural network, which can fully mine and utilize the deep information, are tuned by an innovative intelligent optimization algorithm to strengthen the classification performance of the model.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 22 March 2024

Peter E. Johansson, Jessica Bruch, Koteshwar Chirumalla, Christer Osterman and Lina Stålberg

The purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of paradoxes, underlying tensions and potential management strategies when integrating digital technologies into existing…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of paradoxes, underlying tensions and potential management strategies when integrating digital technologies into existing lean-based production systems (LPSs), with the aim of achieving synergies and fostering the development of production systems.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts a collaborative management research (CMR) approach to identify patterns of organisational tensions and paradoxes and explore management strategies to overcome them. The data were collected through interviews and focus group interviews with experts on lean and/or digital technologies from the companies, from documents and from workshops with the in-case researchers.

Findings

The findings of this paper provide insights into the salient organisational paradoxes embraced in the integration of digital technologies in LPS by identifying different aspects of the performing, organising, learning and belonging paradoxes. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate the intricacies and relatedness between different paradoxes and their resolutions, and more specifically, how a resolution strategy adopted to manage one paradox might unintentionally generate new tensions. This, in turn, calls for either re-contextualising actions to counteract the drift or the adoption of new resolution strategies.

Originality/value

This paper adds perspective to operations management (OM) research through the use of paradox theory, and we (1) provide a fine-grained perspective on why integration sometimes “fails” and label the forces of internal drift as mechanisms of imbalances and (2) provide detailed insights into how different management and resolution strategies are adopted, especially by identifying re-contextualising actions as a key to rebalancing organisational paradoxes in favour of the integration of digital technologies in LPSs.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 20 March 2024

Swati Dwivedi and Ashulekha Gupta

Purpose: Significant structural changes are currently occurring in the Indian labour sector. Artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies are redefining the…

Abstract

Purpose: Significant structural changes are currently occurring in the Indian labour sector. Artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies are redefining the activities and skill requirements for various jobs in the healthcare sector. These adjustments have been accelerated by the economic crisis brought on by COVID-19, along with other considerations.

Need for the Study: Skills shortages, job transitions, and the deployment of AI at the company level are the three main challenges confronting the Indian labour market. This chapter aims to discuss policy alternatives to address a rising need for health workers and provide an overview of changes to the healthcare sector’s labour market.

Methodology: A review of the available literature was conducted to determine the causes of the widening skill gap despite a vibrant and prodigious young population. The background of the sustainable labour market is examined in this chapter, with a focus on workforce migration and mobility.

Findings: This chapter gives a comparative review of recent policy papers and evidence, as well as estimates of the health workforce and present Indian datasets. Furthermore, it highlights how important it is for all people concerned to invest in today’s workforce to close the skill gap and create better future opportunities.

Practical Implications: This chapter’s findings imply a severe shortage of human intellectual capital in India and a need to bridge this gap in the Indian labour market.

Details

Contemporary Challenges in Social Science Management: Skills Gaps and Shortages in the Labour Market
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-165-3

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 February 2024

Amara Ukachukwu and Roya Rahimi

This study addresses the persistent impact of patriarchal societal structures on women’s empowerment in Nigeria, where social power, political authority and autonomy continue to…

Abstract

Purpose

This study addresses the persistent impact of patriarchal societal structures on women’s empowerment in Nigeria, where social power, political authority and autonomy continue to elude them. Despite advancements made by women in workplaces worldwide, gender inequalities prevail, particularly in the Nigerian hotel industry. Existing qualitative evidence on the intersection of gender, culture and religion in shaping gender diversity and career progression within this industry remains limited. To address this gap, this study employs intersectionality and hegemonic masculinity frameworks to explore the influence of local cultures, religion and gender practices on gender imbalances in three distinct cultural settings in Nigeria.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing from in-depth interviews with 38 hotel workers, this research provides original insights into their lived experiences, offering a deeper understanding of the narratives underlying gender inequality statistics. By delving beyond surface-level observations, this study uncovers the multifaceted dynamics that perpetuate gender imbalances. By examining the interplay between gender, culture and religion, this research contributes to a nuanced comprehension of the factors that shape career trajectories in the Nigerian hotel industry.

Findings

The findings of this study reveal the enduring influence of patriarchal societal structures, highlighting the challenges faced by women in accessing social power, political authority and autonomy. By extending intersectionality and hegemonic masculinity approaches, this research unveils the intricate stories that illustrate the underlying complexities of gender imbalances. In doing so, it fills critical gaps in the qualitative evidence surrounding gender diversity and career progression in the Nigerian hotel industry.

Originality/value

This study is original in its comprehensive examination of the intersection of gender, culture and religion in the Nigerian hotel industry. It offers unique insights by conducting in-depth interviews with 38 hotel workers, unravelling the underlying factors contributing to gender imbalances. By extending intersectionality and hegemonic masculinity frameworks, it provides a nuanced understanding of the challenges faced by women and highlights the need for tailored interventions to promote gender equality.

Details

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9792

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 10 April 2024

Ifzal Ahmad and M. Rezaul Islam

In this chapter, we explore the ethical dilemmas commonly faced in community development projects, providing guidance for practitioners and policy makers. We delve into various…

Abstract

In this chapter, we explore the ethical dilemmas commonly faced in community development projects, providing guidance for practitioners and policy makers. We delve into various challenges, from resource allocation to managing diverse stakeholder needs, using ethical theories and real-world case studies, including examples from the Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest, Haiti Earthquake relief, and an Indigenous education program in Australia. We emphasize the importance of ethical decision-making, showcasing the potential impacts of choices on communities and individuals. Practical strategies are presented to maintain ethical integrity, such as transparent communication and accountability mechanisms, enabling stakeholders to navigate dilemmas with sensitivity and uphold ethical standards. This chapter serves as a valuable guide for those involved in community development, fostering sustainable and equitable initiatives that empower communities and drive positive transformation.

Details

Building Strong Communities: Ethical Approaches to Inclusive Development
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83549-175-1

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 October 2023

Cong Doanh Duong, Thi Loan Le, Eun-Mi Lee and Katarzyna Gadomska-Lila

This cross-culture study aims to investigate how two cultural values, collectivism (COL) and long-term orientation (LTO), integrate with each other to trigger green consumption.

Abstract

Purpose

This cross-culture study aims to investigate how two cultural values, collectivism (COL) and long-term orientation (LTO), integrate with each other to trigger green consumption.

Design/methodology/approach

Using data from three consumer surveys in Vietnam, South Korea and Poland, this study employs polynomial regression with response surface analysis as a methodological approach to assess the complementary, balanced and imbalanced effects of cultural dimensions (COL and LTO) on consumers' green purchase intention (GPI) and behaviors.

Findings

First, this study found that, in Vietnam, both COL and LTO had a significant positive effect on GPI. However, only COL demonstrated a significant effect on GPI in South Korea and Poland. Second, this study also revealed that, in all three countries, when COL and LTO were in agreement, the degree of GPI was higher when COL and LTO were higher. The findings also showed that an increase in the imbalance between COL and LTO integration in the Vietnam sample led to a decrease in consumers' GPI. However, this relationship was insignificant in the South Korea and Poland samples.

Originality/value

This study enriches the understanding of green purchase behavior (GPB) and its underlying cultural factors within a cross-cultural framework. In particular, it enhances the knowledge of the debated relationship between different facets of cultural values (specifically, COL and LTO) and pro-environmental behavior, shedding light on this complex relationship in the context of the three different countries.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, vol. 36 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-5855

Keywords

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