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This paper aims to focus on how political resources and their correlation with business models affected the headquarters location decision making of successful private enterprises established in small cities.

The paper constructed a research model which included political resources and a business model as contributing factors; selected eight companies as the research object; and used cross‐case study method to explore the function of political resources and a business model to the headquarters location decision of private enterprises.

The special political environment during China's economic transformation created substantially different political resources between different regions and governments at different levels, which forced private enterprises to relocate their headquarters in order to chase political resources conveniently. The relevance of a business model and political resources determined the significantly different ways that private enterprises obtained political resources: enterprises which were highly dependent on local political resources found it difficult to make a decision regarding corporate headquarters relocation; those enterprises with a high political resources optimization capability would be driven by the pursuit of political resources to make their headquarters relocation decision; those enterprises with an inconspicuous connection between political resources and a business model would rather be “hermits” in a metropolis and relocate their headquarters.

This paper's research results would be conducive to further study of private enterprises' headquarters location decision making during China's economic transformation.

The paper indicates the importance of political resources and the relevance of corporate business models to the headquarters location decision of private enterprises; the paper further makes clear the status of political resources as an important factor in location theory.

The purpose of this paper is to explore two distinct subsets of dynamic capabilities that need to be deployed when pursuing innovation through inter-organizational activities, respectively, in the contexts of broad networks and specific alliances. The authors draw distinctions and explore potential interdependencies between these two dynamic capability reservoirs, by integrating concepts from the theoretical perspectives they are derived from, but which have until now largely ignored each other – the social network perspective and the dynamic capabilities view.

The authors investigate nanotechnology-driven R&D activities in the 1995–2005 period for 76 publicly traded firms in the electronics and electrical equipment industry and in the chemicals and pharmaceuticals industry, that applied for 580 nanotechnology-related patents and engaged in 2,459 alliances during the observation period. The authors used zero-truncated Poisson regression as the estimation method.

The findings support conceptualizing dynamic capabilities as four distinct subsets, deployed for sensing or seizing purposes, and across the two different inter-organizational contexts. The findings also suggest potential synergies between these subsets of dynamic capabilities, with two subsets being more macro-oriented (i.e. sensing and seizing opportunities within networks) and the two other ones more micro-oriented (i.e. sensing and seizing opportunities within specific alliances).

The authors show that firms differ in their subsets of dynamic capabilities for pursuing different types of inter-organizational, boundary-spanning relationships (such as alliances vs broader network relationships), which ultimately affects their innovation performance.

The authors contribute to the growing body of work on dynamic capabilities and firm-specific advantages by unbundling the dynamic capability subsets, and investigating their complex interdependencies for managing different types of inter-organizational linkages. The main new insight is that the “linear model” of generating more innovations through higher inter-firm collaboration in an emerging field paints an erroneous picture of how high innovation performance is actually achieved.

This paper aims to study the present situation of Tianjin industrial energy consumption carbon emissions and put forward constructive suggestions for future energy-saving emission reduction work.

Using the energy consumption data form the Tianjin’s Industrial Energy Efficiency Guide (TJBS, 2009-2013) and Tianjin’s Statistical Yearbook (NBS, 2006-2012), some models were able to predict the future with a high degree of accuracy.

With an average error of 3.06 per cent for the logistic regression model and an average error of 2.03 per cent for the gray model, the R2 for the energy elasticity model is 0.99158. It also indicated that between 2008 and 2012, the energy consumption per unit of industrial added value decreased by approximately 33.61 per cent. These results show that energy-saving efforts and the optimization of the industrial structure have increased the energy efficiency of Tianjin.

The authors think that their contribution refers to a combination between methodology of forecasting and industrial energy consumption.

This paper aims to develop a numerical study of the steady natural convection in an inclined square porous cavity filled by a nanofluid with sinusoidal temperature distribution on the side walls and adiabatic conditions on the upper and lower walls.

Governing equations transformed in terms of the dimensionless variables using the Darcy–Boussinesq approximation have been solved numerically using a central finite-difference scheme. The Gaus-Siedel iteration technique was used for the system of discretized equations. The two-phase nanofluid model including the Brownian diffusion and thermophoresis effects has been considered for simulation of nanofluid transport inside the cavity.

The numerical results of streamlines, isotherms and isoconcentrations are investigated and the effect of different important parameters, such as inclination angle of the cavity, amplitude ratio of the sinusoidal temperature or phase deviation, is discussed. The results obtained for no inclination of the cavity are compared and successfully validated with previous reported results of the literature. The important findings of the study are focused on the changes made by the inclination angle and the periodic thermal boundary conditions, on the heat and fluid flow.

The originality of the present study is given by the mathematical model presented for an inclined cavity, the numerical solution with new results for inclined cavity and the applications for design of solar energy devices such as solar collectors in which the boundary conditions vary with time because of changes in weather conditions.

This study aims to review the current one-step electrodeposition of superhydrophobic coatings on metal surfaces.

One-step electrodeposition is a versatile and simple technology to prepare superhydrophobic coatings on metal surfaces.

Preparing superhydrophobic coatings by one-step electrodeposition is an efficient method to protect metal surfaces.

Even though there are several technologies, one-step electrodeposition still plays a significant role in producing superhydrophobic coatings.

The evolution of technology from the most recent industrial age to the technology era better known as Industry 4.0 resulted in greater demand for horizontal, vertical and end-to-end digital integration. Prior studies show that Industry 4.0 adoption majorly influences the sustainability aspects in a supply chain network. The purpose of this paper is to identify the Industry 4.0 enablers of supply chain sustainability and further attempt to propose a research framework to bridge the theoretical gaps.

In this research study, the authors have used a systematic literature review methodology in the field of Industry 4.0 and sustainable supply chain management. The list of papers was downloaded from Scopus (www.scopus.com) database. Through strict screening, only journal papers were selected for conducting the review of the literature.

The review brings out some interesting findings which will be helpful for the research community. There have been limited research in the area of managing supply chain network sustainability through Industry 4.0 technologies. The authors found only 10 papers out of a total of 53 papers which emphasize on smart manufacturing, smart production system, smart warehouse management system, smart logistics and sustainability. Most of the previous research studies have ignored the social aspects of supply chain sustainability. Finally, the authors identified 13 key enablers of Industry 4.0 playing an important role in driving supply chain sustainability.

The strategies for Industry 4.0 should be refined and detailed to develop economic and social systems that can act flexibly to sudden changes in the system. Top management must be convinced for prioritizing investment support and creating a system that can facilitate technology convergence. Managers must also act on new models of employment and frame plans to continuously improve the system. In addition, managers must focus on establishing a collaborative platform to facilitate high-tech research and developments. Finally, it is essential to develop a performance management system for monitoring all actions in the supply chain network.

Integrating two independent subjects is the uniqueness of the current study. Here, Industry 4.0 and supply chain sustainability have been integrated to build the research framework, and in such a process, the authors have extended the existing knowledge base.

The purpose of this paper is to establish a grey clustering evaluation model based on center-point triangular whitenization weight function to evaluate the situation of urban low-carbon transport development (LTD). The study results intend to provide some theoretical basis and tool support for transport management departments and related researchers who are engaged in low-carbon transport (LT).

The study uses analytical hierarchy process based on expert investigations to determine the weight of each criteria, classifies the grey clusters based on center-point triangular whitenization weight function, calculates the membership of each development criteria and ranks the development level of all dimensions.

The research results of case city show that low-carbon technology is in “poor” level, transport facility is in “superior” level, low-carbon policy and environmental coordination is in “intermediate” level, transport management is in “good” level and the overall LTD level is in “intermediate” level.

Reducing the carbon emissions of urban transport and achieving LT is the key to promote urban sustainable development, the scientific judgment of transport development situation is the premise of promoting LTD. Therefore, based on the practices of LT in China, the study systematically clarifies LTD from five dimensions of reflecting LTD.

From the perspective of sustainable development, the evaluation index system of LTD is built with five dimensions consisting of low-carbon technology, low-carbon policy, transport facility, transport management and environmental coordination. Then assess the LTD by using the grey clustering evaluation model based on center-point triangular whitenization weight. This paper presents a new research idea for LTD evaluation.

Severe airborne particulate pollution frequently occurs over the North China Plain (NCP) region in recent years. To better understand the characteristics of carbonaceous components in particulate matter (PM) over the NCP region.

PM samples were collected at a typical area affected by industrial emissions in Handan, in January 2016. The concentrations of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) in PM of different size ranges (i.e. PM_2.5, PM₁₀ and TSP) were measured. The concentrations of secondary organic carbon (SOC) were estimated by the EC tracer method.

The results show that the concentration of OC ranged from 14.9 μg m⁻³ to 108.4 μg m⁻³, and that of EC ranged from 4.0 μg m⁻³ to 19.4μg m⁻³, when PM_2.5 changed from 58.0μg m⁻³ to 251.1μg m⁻³ during haze days, and the carbonaceous aerosols most distributed in PM_2.5 rather than large fraction. The concentrations of OC and EC PM_2.5 correlated better (r = 0.7) than in PM_2.5−10 and PM_>10, implying that primary emissions were dominant sources of OC and EC in PM_2.5. The mean ratios of OC/EC in PM_2.5, PM_2.5–10 and PM_>10 were 4.4 ± 2.1, 3.6 ± 0.9 and 1.9 ± 0.7, respectively. Based on estimation, SOC accounted for 16.3%, 22.0% and 9.1% in PM_2.5, PM_2.5–10 and PM_>10 respectively.

The ratio of SOC/OC (48.2%) in PM_2.5 was higher in Handan than those (28%–32%) in other megacities, e.g. Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang in the NCP, suggesting that the formation of SOC contributed significantly to OC. The mean mass absorption efficiencies of EC (MACEC) in PM₁₀ and TSP were 3.4 m² g⁻¹ (1.9–6.6 m² g⁻¹) and 2.9 m² g⁻¹ (1.6–5.6 m² g⁻¹), respectively, both of which had similar variation patterns to those of OC/EC and SOC/OC.

This study aims to focus on the submicron particles (with diameter of 0.2-1.0 μm) of the ambient air from a coal-fired power plant. A systematic examination of their morphology, particle size and chemical element will be analyzed, so as to provide more scientific information and theoretical basis for the formation and control method of inhalable particles, as well as data support for environmental impact and ecological effects assessments.

In this paper, the morphology, size distribution and elemental characteristics of submicron particles from ambient air of a coal-fired power plant are studied by single particle analysis.

The results show that atmospheric particles in coal-fired power plant are mainly spherical particles, and most of them are soot aggregates adhered or coated with other particles with few rectangle particles. The particles collected in the afternoon and evening are mainly of spherical particles, and small-sized particles collected in the morning are mainly spherical ones, while the overall concentration is larger than that of the spherical particles in the size range above 0.5 μm. The results indicated that the larger-sized spherical particles have a lower concentration.

Coal-fired power plants are still the main supply of electricity in China, but the inhalable particles, especially sub-micron particles (0.1-1.0 μm) cannot be effectively captured by the dust removal device from the coal-fired power plant. Thus, a large amount of inhalable particles is emitted into the atmosphere, becoming the major air pollutants in China.

This paper aims to explore to what extent the total quality management (TQM) is practised by Hong Kong large‐sized public listed building contractors (PLC) and non‐listed building contractors (NLC), and what management areas need more attention in order to achieve the TQM spirit of continuous improvement.

This paper reports the investigation results of the six TQM practices (X1‐X6) by Hong Kong large‐sized building contractors via a self‐assessment questionnaire survey, which is modified from the contents of the self‐assessment questionnaire designed by the Baldrige National Quality Program. Descriptive statistics, one‐way ANOVA, multivariate tests and correlation matrix were employed to analyze the results.

The survey results show that there is a significant difference in the six TQM practices between the PLC and the NLC through one‐way ANOVA. PLC out‐performed NLC in strategic planning (X2), particularly the practice of development and deployment of strategy. Moreover, strong correlations existed between the TQM practices of X1 (leadership) and X2, X2, and X5 (human resource focus), and X6 (process management) and X5. Therefore, PLC should pay more attention to the management areas of X1, X2, X5, and X6. Furthermore, NLC should enhance and balance their TQM practices as suggested by the tests of between‐subjects effects.

Hong Kong building contractors should pay more attention to the strategic planning, human resources management and process management in order to attain the goal of continuous improvement and thus the business excellence of TQM.

The study shows that there is a significant difference in practising the six TQM (Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award) criteria between PLC and NLC in strategic planning (X2).