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In today’s global economy, manufacturing enterprises must be viewed in the context of their contribution to the total value chain. Extended or virtual enterprises, consisting of tele‐computing mediated chains of suppliers, manufacturers, assemblers, distributors and customers, compete to supply quasi‐customised products to discerning markets. This paper reviews the thinking behind the extended enterprise and virtual enterprise models of manufacturing systems, identifies the characteristics of each and the similarities and differences between them.

The aim of this paper is to achieve a reasonable microclimate between clothing and the human body and optimize the custom dress pattern.

An interactive design method of 3D modeling, virtual try-on and heat transfer simulation are used. First, a 3D dress is designed with nonuniform rational B-splines curves and tried on virtually. After that, the heat transfer in the body-air-clothing microclimate and temperature distributions on the clothing surface are obtained. Based on the heat transfer in the body-air-clothing system, we design a method to improve the thermal comfort by optimizing the garment pattern digitally. Then, this paper utilized two heat transfer validating indexes to quantify the improvement of thermal comfort, and evaluate the modified model of dress.

The microclimate under the clothing is varied with the air gap distance, and the heat transfer on the area of the clavicle, bust point and front abandon are higher than other parts due to the narrow air gaps. In view of thermal comfort, the pattern optimization changes the distance ease and reforms the air circulating efficiency. The mean heat transfer and its standard variance are changing by about 10% and more than 20%. Thus, the heat transfer evaluation indexes are suitable to represent the heat transfer and thermal comfort in the microclimate system.

It can be concluded that the methodology proposed in this paper has the advantage of interactive design, 3D visualization and local heat transfer simulation. This technology meets the need of personalized customization and well-considered garment and has broad application prospects.

This study demonstrates that modifying the distance ease on body key girths based on heat transfer is a reliable way to improve thermal comfort. This method meets the consumers’ demand of the comfort of body-fit clothing under the condition of daily activities.

• 3D air gap distributions.

• Heat transfer varies with air gap distance.

• Thermal comfort can be improved by optimizing garment pattern.

3D air gap distributions.

Heat transfer varies with air gap distance.

Thermal comfort can be improved by optimizing garment pattern.

This study aims to adopt a systematic review approach to examine the existing literature on law and LLMs.It involves analyzing and synthesizing relevant research papers, reports and scholarly articles that discuss the use of LLMs in the legal domain. The review encompasses various aspects, including an analysis of LLMs, legal natural language processing (NLP), model tuning techniques, data processing strategies and frameworks for addressing the challenges associated with legal question-and-answer (Q&A) systems. Additionally, the study explores potential applications and services that can benefit from the integration of LLMs in the field of intelligent justice.

This paper surveys the state-of-the-art research on law LLMs and their application in the field of intelligent justice. The study aims to identify the challenges associated with developing Q&A systems based on LLMs and explores potential directions for future research and development. The ultimate goal is to contribute to the advancement of intelligent justice by effectively leveraging LLMs.

To effectively apply a law LLM, systematic research on LLM, legal NLP and model adjustment technology is required.

This study contributes to the field of intelligent justice by providing a comprehensive review of the current state of research on law LLMs.

The purpose of this paper is to draw from organizational ecology and institutional theory, the authors suggest that there will be a curvilinear relationship between legal system uncertainty and foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction in Southeast Asia. The authors extend theory by arguing that this is because uncertainty will provide opportunities for FDI that seek this form of operating environment, leveraging legal system uncertainty as a basis for competitive advantage.

The authors test and find support for the hypotheses using FDI data from nine Southeast Asian countries for the years 1995-2005.

In this paper, the authors hypothesize and find that the relationship between legal system uncertainty and FDI attraction is curvilinear in nature, such that FDI attraction decreases with legal system uncertainty down to an inflection point, but then increases beyond this point; and that the relationship between legal system uncertainty and FDI attraction is moderated by government intervention in the host country economy, such that the strength of this relationship is greater when government intervention is high rather than when it is low. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future inquiry are presented.

Conventional wisdom suggests that legal system uncertainty will negatively affect FDI attraction. However, to date, research on the effects of legal system uncertainty on FDI attraction in emerging markets has received very little attention. The aim of this research study is to shed new light on how, under certain conditions, legal system uncertainty will attract FDI in Southeast Asia.

This study aims to examine the effects of formal and informal institutional factors (i.e. marketization and guanxi culture) on interorganizational conflicts (IOCs) and their interaction effects.

Drawing on IOC literature and an institution-based view, the authors use a sample of 12,022 Chinese firms from the World Bank’s Investment Climate Survey. A zero-inflated negative binomial regression was used to analyze the data.

The results suggest that guanxi culture has U-shaped effects, but marketization does not negatively affect IOCs. Furthermore, a low level of marketization weakens the U-shaped effect of guanxi culture on IOCs. A moderate level of guanxi culture can enable marketization to reduce IOCs.

This study provides a better understanding of the management of IOCs. Managers should fully understand the differential effects of the institutional environment in different regions and their interactions by adopting different response strategies.

This study enriches the literature on IOCs’ antecedents and contextual factors by examining the institutions’ direct and interaction effects on IOCs.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of diplomatic activities on outward foreign direct investment (OFDI).

The paper first develops a set of hypotheses drawing insights from politics, international business and institutional theory. It then tests these hypotheses by estimation of Panel Corrected Standard Error models, using the data of Chinese OFDI flow to 131 countries over the period of 2003-2010.

The main findings are: friendly bilateral diplomatic activities help OFDI in general; bilateral diplomatic activities provide effective support to some sensitive and important investments; and bilateral diplomatic activities play an important role in host countries where institutions are absent or poor in quality.

Friendly bilateral diplomatic activities provide strong support to multinationals investing abroad.

The paper incorporates a neglected but important factor, diplomacy, into a model to analyze its influences on OFDI. It investigates not only the direct impact of diplomatic activities on OFDI but also their moderating effect on other OFDI determinants, such as economic and institutional factors.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how knowledge inflows and outflows interact to affect performance outcomes. Though previous studies have dealt with knowledge inflows and outflows, the quality and quantity characteristics of knowledge are often not taken into account, thus leaving a research gap with regards to the effect of their interactions on performance outcomes.

Based on Poisson regression analysis, this quantitative study fills the aforementioned research gaps by analyzing the ambidextrous configurations of knowledge flows from an ambidexterity perspective and examines their effects on two-phase performance (i.e. regular season and playoffs), using a longitudinal data set of National Basketball Association transactions from the 2003-2004 to 2014-2015 season.

The results suggest that the complementarity between knowledge inflows and outflows along the quality and quantity dimensions of knowledge, respectively, has a positive impact on two-phase performance, while the imbalance between knowledge inflows and outflows under the quality and quantity dimensions of knowledge, respectively, has a negative impact on playoffs performance (Phase 2). These findings suggest that organizations can balance knowledge inflows and outflows under a single quality or quantity dimension of knowledge. Furthermore, the interaction between the quantity of the inflows of knowledge and the quality of the outflows of knowledge and the interaction between the quality of the inflows of knowledge and the quantity of the outflows of knowledge are both positively related to two-phase performance. These findings suggest that organizations can balance knowledge inflows and outflows across quality and quantity dimensions of knowledge. Finally, the effects of the interaction between knowledge inflows and outflows on playoffs performance are greater than regular-season.

Organizations should leverage ambidexterity to manage/balance knowledge inflows and outflows across quality and quantity dimensions, further enhancing performance outcomes.

This study, first, provides new insights into knowledge flows by distinguishing between the quality and quantity of knowledge, the inflows and outflows of knowledge, constructing ambidextrous configurations of knowledge flows from an ambidexterity perspective. Second, it contributes to the relationship between knowledge flows and organizational performance by revealing how ambidextrous configurations of knowledge flows exert different effects on performance outcomes. Third, it adds to the literature of ambidexterity-performance relationships and expands it to the context of sports.

Quality deterioration in bananas along the supply chain (SC) due to cosmetic damage has been a persistent challenge in Australia. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the incidence of cosmetic defects in bananas across the post-harvest SC and determining the causes of the diminished fruit quality at the retail stores.

The study quantified the level of cosmetic damage in 243 cartons of Cavendish bananas across three post-harvest SCs in Australia from pack houses to retail stores and identified the risk factors for cosmetic defects.

The level of cosmetic damage progressively increased from pack house (1.3 per cent) to distribution centre (DC) (9.0 per cent) and retail (13.3 per cent) and was significantly influenced by package height and pallet positioning during transit. Abrasion damage in ripened bananas was influenced by the travel distance between DC and retail store. The study also revealed a range of risk factors contributing to the observed damage including weakened paperboard cartons due to high moisture absorption during the ripening process.

This study only investigated damage incidence in three post-harvest banana SCs in Australia and the damage assessments were confined to packaged bananas.

This study assessed the quality of bananas along the entire post-harvest SC from farm gate to retail store. The study provided knowledge of the extent of the quality defects, when and where the damage occurred and demonstrated the underlying factors for damage along the SC. This will enable the development of practical interventions to improve the quality and minimize wastage of bananas in the retail markets.

In today’s global competition, supply chain quality management is the key to a firms’ competitiveness. However, managers find that making sound quality and pricing decisions under a complex multi-echelon in the current competitive electronic commerce environment is daunting and challenging. The purpose of this paper is to examine the optimum quality strategies under different cooperative mechanisms and investigate its effects on channel members’ profits.

This paper is a result of a China-UK collaborative research effort, involving researchers with expertise in information systems, quality management, supply chain management, pricing, and game theory models. The authors consider the quality decisions of a single product in a supply chain system that consists of a supplier and two competing manufacturers. The authors examine the optimum quality strategies under different cooperative mechanisms and investigate its effects on channel members’ profits. A modified Nerlove-Arrow model is employed to investigate the quality levels on goodwill and product sales.

The results reveal that the traditional cooperative program is not very effective in the horizontal competitive market; and each channel member may have a profit improvement when the supplier integrates with a manufacturer.

The authors believe that this paper will contribute to the existing body of knowledge. Moreover, the paper provides insights for managers to better manage their supply chain quality management in an information-centric context.

This study looked into the factors that could make a difference in teachers’ individual innovativeness and team innovativeness. We investigated five categories of factors: (1) innovation-related teacher preparedness, (2) innovation-related teacher professional development, (3) teacher professional practices, (4) teacher empowerment and (5) innovation-related teacher self-efficacy.

The data source is the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) US data. The samples include about 165 schools and 2,560 teachers. We applied the structural equation model to analyze the data and the unit of analysis is set at the individual teacher-level.

We found that all factors matter except professional development and that they matter differently for different innovativeness outcomes.

This study is significant in several aspects: first, it is among the first that examined the factors that could make a difference in teacher innovativeness. Second, we differentiated between individual and team teacher innovativeness. Third, the findings highlight the importance of several factors including teacher preparation, teacher collaboration, teacher participation in school decisions and teacher self-efficacy.