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1 – 10 of 20Rafaela Alfalla-Luque, Darkys E. Luján García and Juan A. Marin-Garcia
The link between supply chain agility (SCA) and performance has been tested in previous research with different samples and results. The present paper quantitatively analyses and…
Abstract
Purpose
The link between supply chain agility (SCA) and performance has been tested in previous research with different samples and results. The present paper quantitatively analyses and summarises the impact of SCA on performance found in previous empirical papers and determines the influence of several identified moderators.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a meta-analysis approach based on a systematic literature review, a total of 63 empirical papers comprising a sample of 14,469 firms were meta-analysed to consider substantive (type of performance and SCA operationalisation) and extrinsic (economic region and industry) moderators.
Findings
Results confirm a significantly large, positive correlation between SCA and performance. None of the analysed moderators has enabled the identification of any significant differences between the SCA and performance correlations by subgroup. However, high heterogeneity in total variance, both in the full sample and the subgroups by moderator, demands further rigorously reported empirical research on this topic with clearly conceptualised variables and frameworks and the use of validated scales.
Research limitations/implications
Several research gaps and best practice recommendations have been indicated to improve future empirical research on this topic.
Practical implications
Practitioners in different economic regions and industries will find consistent evidence of improvements in performance through SCA.
Originality/value
No meta-analysis has been found in previous research to estimate the value of the correlation between SCA and performance and the influence of moderating variables.
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The purpose of this paper is to establish and implement a direct topological reanalysis algorithm for general successive structural modifications, based on the updating matrix…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to establish and implement a direct topological reanalysis algorithm for general successive structural modifications, based on the updating matrix triangular factorization (UMTF) method for non-topological modification proposed by Song et al. [Computers and Structures, 143(2014):60-72].
Design/methodology/approach
In this method, topological modifications are viewed as a union of symbolic and numerical change of structural matrices. The numerical part is dealt with UMTF by directly updating the matrix triangular factors. For symbolic change, an integral structure which consists of all potential nodes/elements is introduced to avoid side effects on the efficiency during successive modifications. Necessary pre- and post processing are also developed for memory-economic matrix manipulation.
Findings
The new reanalysis algorithm is applicable to successive general structural modifications for arbitrary modification amplitudes and locations. It explicitly updates the factor matrices of the modified structure and thus guarantees the accuracy as full direct analysis while greatly enhancing the efficiency.
Practical implications
Examples including evolutionary structural optimization and sequential construction analysis show the capability and efficiency of the algorithm.
Originality/value
This innovative paper makes direct topological reanalysis be applicable for successive structural modifications in many different areas.
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The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) Strategy is an important component of the “Belt and Road Initiative” of China. The purpose of this Project is to develop the…
Abstract
Purpose
The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) Strategy is an important component of the “Belt and Road Initiative” of China. The purpose of this Project is to develop the GBA into the most open, market-oriented and innovative pole of economic growth in China. The GBA Project provides Hong Kong with a rare opportunity to diversify its industrial structure and to move into a new and higher stage of economic development.
Design/methodology/approach
Being an integral part of the GBA, Hong Kong is expected and supported by the Central Government to develop into a hub of the Area, and, leveraging on Hong Kong’s status as an international metropolis, to connect the Area as a whole with the world.
Findings
China’s Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Project is a major national development strategy and is a major part of the Belt and Road Initiative. Hong Kong is going to play an important role in the Project and will benefit from it enormously in the future in terms of economic growth and the upgrading of its industrial structure. However, in order to take full advantage of participation in the Project, the way Hong Kong is governed, particularly the government's role in economic development, has to be modified significantly.
Originality/value
In order to take advantage of the Project, the Hong Kong SAR Government has to play a bigger and more proactive role in Hong Kong’s socioeconomic development and to strengthen its capacity to mobilize societal participation in the Project.
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Kai Zhuang, Jieru Xiao and Xiaolong Yang
The purpose of this paper is to show that the droplet impact phenomenon is important for the advancement of industrial technologies in many fields such as spray cooling and ink…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show that the droplet impact phenomenon is important for the advancement of industrial technologies in many fields such as spray cooling and ink jet printing. Droplet bouncing on the nonwetting surfaces is a special phenomenon in the impact process which has attracted lots of attention.
Design/methodology/approach
In this work, the authors fabricated two kinds of representative nonwetting surfaces including superhydrophobic surfaces (SHS) and a slippery liquid-infused porous surface (SLIPS) with advanced UV laser processing.
Findings
The droplet bouncing behavior on the two kinds of nonwetting surfaces were compared in the experiments. The results indicate that the increasing Weber number enlarges the maximum droplet spreading diameter and raises the droplet bounce height but has no effect on contact time.
Originality/value
In addition, the authors find that the topological SHS and SLIPS with the laser-processed microwedge groove array produce asymmetric droplet bouncing with opposite offset direction. Microdroplets can be continuously transported without any additional driving force on such a topological SLIPS. The promising method for manipulating droplets has potential applications for the droplet-based microfluidic platforms.
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The purpose of this paper is to compare two corruption scandals in Singapore to illustrate how its government has dealt with these scandals and to discuss the implications for its…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare two corruption scandals in Singapore to illustrate how its government has dealt with these scandals and to discuss the implications for its anti-corruption strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper analyses the Teh Cheang Wan and Edwin Yeo scandals by relying on published official and press reports.
Findings
Both scandals resulted in adverse consequences for the offenders. Teh committed suicide on 14 December 1986 before he could be prosecuted for his bribery offences. Yeo was found guilty of criminal breach of trust and forgery and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment. The Commission of Inquiry found that the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) was thorough in its investigations which confirmed that only Teh and no other minister or public official were implicated in the bribery offences. The Independent Review Panel appointed by the Prime Minister's Office to review the CPIB's internal controls following Yeo's offences recommended improvements to strengthen the CPIB's financial procedures and audit system. Singapore has succeeded in minimising corruption because its government did not cover-up the scandals but punished the guilty offenders and introduced measures to prevent their recurrence.
Originality/value
This paper will be useful for scholars, policymakers and anti-corruption practitioners interested in Singapore's anti-corruption strategy and how its government handles corruption scandals.
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Kai Foerstl, Anni-Kaisa Kähkönen, Constantin Blome and Matthias Goellner
This paper aims to conceptualize supply market orientation (SMO) for the purchasing and supply chain management function and discusses how SMO capabilities are developed and how…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to conceptualize supply market orientation (SMO) for the purchasing and supply chain management function and discusses how SMO capabilities are developed and how their application differs within and across firms. This research can thus be used as a blueprint for the development of a SMO capability that accommodates a firm’s unique contextual antecedents’ profile.
Design/methodology/approach
The qualitative research design comprises five in-depth case studies with 43 semi-structured interviews with large manufacturing and service firms.
Findings
SMO is defined as the capability to exploit market intelligence to assess, integrate and reconfigure the heterogeneously dispersed resources in purchasing and supply chain management in a way that best reflects the peculiarities of a firm’s supply environment. The empirical analysis shows that although SMO capabilities are configured similarly, their application varies across and within firms depending on the characteristics of a firm’s purchasing categories and tasks. Hence, reactive versus proactive SMO application is contingent upon firm-level and purchasing category–level characteristics.
Originality/value
The study uses the dynamic capabilities view as a theoretical background and provides empirical evidence and theoretical reasoning to elaborate and endorse SMO as a dynamic capability that firms need to have to compete in a complex and dynamic environment. The study provides guidance for supply chain managers on how to successfully develop and deploy a SMO capability.
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This paper investigates whether democracy plays a mediating role in the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates whether democracy plays a mediating role in the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical analysis is conducted using fixed effects and system GMM (Generalised Method of Moments) on a panel of 38 Sub-Saharan African countries covering the period of 1990–2018.
Findings
The results find that FDI has no direct effect on inequality whereas democracy reduces inequality directly in both the short run and the long run. The sensitivity analyses find that democracy improves equality regardless of the magnitude of FDI, resource endowment or democratic deepening whereas FDI only reduces inequality once a moderate level of democracy has been achieved.
Social implications
The results discussed above thus have four policy implications. First, these results show that although democracy has inequality reducing benefits, SSA is unlikely to significantly reduce inequality unless the region purposefully diversifies its trade and FDI away from natural resources. Second, the region should continue to expand credit access to reduce inequality and attract FDI. Third, policymakers should undertake reforms that will reduce youth inequality. Lastly, the region should focus on long-run democratic reforms rather than on short-run democratization to improve governance and investor confidence.
Originality/value
Although there are existing studies that examine the association between FDI and inequality, FDI and democracy and democracy and inequality, this is the first study to explicitly examine the effect of democracy on the association between FDI and inequality in SSA, and the first study to separately consider the possible varied effects of contemporaneous democratization versus the long-run accumulation of democratic capital. In addition, rather than measure inequality by income alone, this study uses the more appropriate Human Development Index to account for SSA's sociological, education and income disparities.
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Jiaxin Wu, Lei Liu and Hongjuan Yang
This study aims to evaluate the characteristics of climate change in Yunnan minority areas and identify an effective path to promote sustainable livelihoods based on climate…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to evaluate the characteristics of climate change in Yunnan minority areas and identify an effective path to promote sustainable livelihoods based on climate change.
Design/methodology/approach
Taking Yunnan Province as an example, based on the expansion of the traditional sustainable livelihood framework, the authors constructed a system dynamics (SD) model of sustainable livelihood from the six subsystems of natural, physical, financial, social, human and cultural and tested the accuracy and effectiveness of the model with data from Cangyuan County. By adjusting these parameters, five development paths are designed to simulate the future situation of the livelihood system and determine the optimal path.
Findings
Climate change has exacerbated the vulnerability of people’s livelihoods. In future, each of the five development paths will be advantageous for promoting sustainable livelihoods. However, compared with Path I (maintaining the status quo), Path III (path of giving priority to culture) and Path IV (path of giving priority to economic development) have more obvious advantages. Path II (path of giving priority to people’s lives) gradually increases the development rate by promoting people’s endogenous motivation, and Path V (path of coordinated development) is better than the other paths because of its more balanced consideration.
Originality/value
The analytical framework of sustainable livelihoods based on the characteristics of minority areas is broadened. By constructing a SD model of the livelihood system, the limitations of traditional static analysis have been overcome and a development path for promoting sustainable livelihoods through simulation is proposed. This study offers a theoretical framework and reference method for livelihood research against the backdrop of climate change and a decision-making basis for enhancing climate adaptability and realizing sustainable livelihoods.
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