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The outsole of a running shoe must provide enough traction for the athlete to avoid slipping during running. What is unknown is whether there is any point to designing running shoe outsoles with traction above this minimum required traction. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether performance could be enhanced by increasing the outsole traction of a running shoe. A commercially available running shoe (Control) was compared against the same shoe model with the outsole modified with a higher traction rubber (High Traction). The available traction of each shoe was measured with a traction testing system. Twenty male athletes completed a maximal effort timed running course in both shoes on two different surfaces. When wearing the Control running shoe, the athletes were able to complete the course on an asphalt road surface at maximal effort without slipping. When completing the same course wearing the High Traction shoe, the subjects were able to perform the course even faster. Therefore, the results show that the role of running shoe outsole traction is not to merely provide adequate traction to avoid large scale slips, but can also help athletes enhance performance of high-traction tasks such as accelerations and changes in direction.

Whereas the Minister of Labour (hereafter in this Order referred to as “the Minister”) has received from the Boot and Shoe Repairing Wages Council (Great Britain) the wages regulation proposals set out in the Schedule hereto;

This paper aims to study the role of organobentonite (OB) as a filler to improve the mechanical strength of styrene butadiene rubber (SBR). Organoclay was first prepared by modifying bentonite with different concentrations of N-cetyl-N, N, N-triethyl ammonium bromide. A series of SBR composites reinforced with OB were prepared using master-batch method.

The curing characteristics, mechanical properties, thermal behavior, dielectric properties and morphology of SBR/OB composites were investigated.

The elastic modulus and tensile strength of composites were increased by inclusion of OB, while the elongation at break was decreased, due to the increase in the degree of cross-linking density. Thermal gravimetric analysis revealed an improvement in the thermal stability of the composite containing 0.5 cation exchange capacity (CEC) OB, while the scanning electron micrographs confirmed more homogenous distribution of 0.5CEC OB in the rubber matrix. Also, SBR/0.5CEC OB showed low relative permittivity and electrical insulating properties.

Bentonite has been recognized as a potentially useful filler in polymer matrix composites because of their high swelling capacity and plate morphology.

OB improves the cured rubber by increasing the tensile strength and the stiffness of the vulcanizate.

Using cheap clay in rubber industry lead to production of low cost products with high efficiency.

The clay represents a convenient source because of their environmental compatibility. The low cost and easy availability make the modified clay used as fillers in rubber matrices, and the resultant composites can be applied in variety industrial of applications such as automobile industries, shoe outsoles, packaging materials and construction engineering.

Provides an overview of the present state of the footwear manufacturing industry and the consumer footwear market. Describes how many manufacturers have recognized the need for advanced manufacturing techniques and automation technologies, turning to robotics and automation for more reliable manufacturing system solutions. Reports on the robotics integration and system‐level products specifically targeted for footwear manufacturing operations provided by three specialist companies; ACTIS Engineering, DESMA and Intelligent Machines Corporation.

The case study aims to provide students with an understanding of the challenges businesses face expanding into the home market after having an international presence through exports. It also throws light on operations in an emerging market economy – both rural and urban. The key objectives are to understand the leather footwear business operation in India, understand the challenges of expanding business in India, analyse strategies adopted to sustain and compete in India and identify the possible distribution strategies for the leather footwear business in India.

The case study focuses on Tata International Limited’s (TIL) leather and leather products business in India. The leather and leather products division was present in India since 1973 (Anand, 2020) and exported to more than 35 countries across the world (Anand, 2020). TIL did not want to miss the opportunity available in India and planned to expand its leather footwear business in the country. The company opened retail outlets in major Indian cities and an experience store in Dewas (Madhya Pradesh) in 2019. It aimed for a domestic presence along with the existing export business. However, the biggest challenge that was in front of V. Muthukumaran, head of leather products division at TIL, was how to go ahead with the idea of domestic expansion (Anand, 2020). Should the company expand the market through sister companies (Westside and Tata CliQ) in India? How and in what way should TIL plan for going through Westside and Tata CLiQ? Should Muthukumaran think of either the brick-and-mortar route or the online route or both?

This case study is designed for use in undergraduate and graduate early-stage programmes. This case study is primarily designed for use in Master of Business Administration and/or Bachelor of Business Administration programmes. The case study is ideal for courses on understanding the expansion in the domestic market, strategy, retail and international marketing. The teaching note discusses theoretical frameworks such as external environment analysis and SWOT analysis to devise distribution strategies. The case study mapped the distribution channel and decision alternatives for the company.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

The purpose of this paper is to present a CAD‐based human‐robot interface that allows non‐expert users to teach a robot in a manner similar to that used by human beings to teach each other.

Intuitive robot programming is achieved by using CAD drawings to generate robot programs off‐line. Sensory feedback allows minimization of the effects of uncertainty, providing information to adjust the robot paths during robot operation.

It was found that it is possible to generate a robot program from a common CAD drawing and run it without any major concerns about calibration or CAD model accuracy.

A limitation of the proposed system has to do with the fact that it was designed to be used for particular technological applications.

Since most manufacturing companies have CAD packages in their facilities today, CAD‐based robot programming may be a good option to program robots without the need for skilled robot programmers.

The paper proposes a new CAD‐based robot programming system. Robot programs are directly generated from a CAD drawing “running” on a commonly available 3D CAD package (Autodesk Inventor) and not from a commercial, computer aided robotics (CAR) software, making it a simple CAD integrated solution. This is a low‐cost and low‐setup time system where no advanced robot programming skills are required to operate it. In summary, robot programs are generated with a high‐level of abstraction from the robot language.

To explain how the footwear industry is exploring product innovation.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer.

Since the quotas on Chinese shoes were lifted in January 2005, China now has a 25 percent share of the EU market compared with 6 percent four years ago. While the EU Commission is reviewing “trade options”, including the setting of minimum import prices to support the industry, the industry itself is now looking to increased R&D efforts. However, now the focus is not just on product, but finding ways to maximise the opportunities to develop and sell innovative products, improve service to the market and minimise production costs.

Shows how the industry is using product innovation to keep its trade and lower the increasingly present competition.

Gives an example of how an industry is using product innovation in the face of threat from imports..

This study investigated the impacts of the interaction experiential customization (IEC) mode on consumers' information processing fluency and green customization intention (GCI) as well as the moderating effect of consumers' self-construal.

This study conducted an online field experiment, questionnaire study and between-subjects laboratory experiment to test the hypotheses.

It was found that IEC had a significant positive effect on consumers' GCI. Moreover, consumer retrieval processing fluency played a partial mediating role in the relationship between IEC and GCI. In addition, consumers' self-construal moderated the “IEC? Three dimensions of processing fluency” relationships.

The results emphasized the importance of IEC in influencing consumers' consumption intention in a green customization setting and have some practical implications, that is, companies have the opportunity to use appropriate digital choice architecture designs, which can enhance consumer processing fluency when promoting eco-friendly products in the customized consumption process, especially for independent consumers.

This study focused on the customization design on consumers' GCI and explained the mechanism of impact of IEC on improving consumers' processing fluency and GCI in a product customization setting based on the fluency theory. In addition, this study investigated the moderating effect of consumers' self-construal (independent vs interdependent) on their significant different information processing modes for low-carbon choices.

In United States v. United Shoe Machinery Corp., United Shoe Machinery (USM) was found guilty of illegal monopolization due to its leasing practices. Existing scholarship on this case largely focuses on the issue of leasing versus selling. In this article, we provide a more comprehensive analysis of this important decision. In addition, we examine USM’s antitrust experience before and after the famous 1953 case. We find that USM’s business practices were largely procompetitive and, therefore, did not warrant condemnation.

The purpose of this study is to examine the interplay between the curatorial practices of consumers as collectors and the materiality of the collected objects. In particular, this study explores how the material substances of collected objects shapes curatorial practices and how the ongoing use of the collected objects challenges curatorial practices.

Taking advantage of the publicization of once-private collections on social media, we collect 111 YouTube videos created by plastic shoe aficionados. Drawing from visual anthropology and theorizations of materiality, we analyze consumer interactions with the objects they collect.

This study’s findings elucidate consumers’ interactions with the material substances of the objects they collect and demonstrate how these interactions shape the ways in which consumers curate their collections, including how they wear, care for, catalog, and display the collected objects.

Our findings have implications for theorization on consumer collections, consumer identity, and consumer participation in brand communities and are relevant for consumer researchers who study the interactions and relationships between consumers and consumption objects.

This study is the first to re-examine consumers as collectors to extend and update consumer research on the curatorial practices of physical, wearable collectibles. This study sets the foundations for further research to advance our understanding of consumers as collectors as well as to illuminate other theories and aspects of consumer research that consider consumer–object interactions.