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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 2 November 2023

FengShou Liu, Guang Yang, Zhaoyang Chen, Yinhua Zhang and Qingyue Zhou

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the status and characteristics of rail technology of high-speed railway in China, and point out the development direction of rail…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the status and characteristics of rail technology of high-speed railway in China, and point out the development direction of rail technology of high-speed railway.

Design/methodology/approach

This study reviews the evolution of high-speed rail standards in China, comparing their chemical composition, mechanical attributes and geometric specifications with EN standards. It delves into the status of rail production technology, shifts in key performance indicators and the quality characteristics of rails. The analysis further examines the interplay between wheels and rails, the implementation of grinding technology and the techniques for inspecting rail service conditions. It encapsulates the salient features of rail operation and maintenance within the high-speed railway ecosystem. The paper concludes with an insightful prognosis of high-speed railway technology development in China.

Findings

The rail standards of high-speed railway in China are scientific and advanced, highly operational and in line with international standards. The quality and performance of rail in China have reached the world’s advanced level. The 60N profile guarantees the operation quality of wheel–rail interaction effectively. The rail grinding technology system scientifically guarantees the long-term good service performance of the rail. The rail service state detection technology is scientific and efficient. The rail technology will take “more intelligent” and “higher speed” as the development direction to meet the future needs of high-speed railway in China.

Originality/value

The development direction of rail technology for high-speed railway in China is defined, which will promote the continuous innovation and breakthrough of rail technology.

Details

Railway Sciences, vol. 2 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2755-0907

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 October 2023

Hongmei Li, Junling Shi, Xiangdong Li, Junbo Zhang and Yunlong Chen

High-speed maglev technology can address the issues of adhesion, friction, vibration and high-speed current collection in traditional wheel-rail systems, making it an important…

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Abstract

Purpose

High-speed maglev technology can address the issues of adhesion, friction, vibration and high-speed current collection in traditional wheel-rail systems, making it an important direction for the future development of high-speed rail technology.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper elaborates on the demand and significance of developing high-speed maglev technology worldwide and examines the current status and technological maturity of several major high-speed maglev systems globally.

Findings

This paper summarizes the challenges in the development of high-speed maglev railways in China. Based on this analysis, it puts forward considerations for future research on high-speed maglev railways.

Originality/value

This paper describes the development status and technical maturity of several major high-speed maglev systems in the world for the first time, summarizes the existing problems in the development of China's high-speed maglev railway and on this basis, puts forward the thinking of the next research of China's high-speed maglev railway.

Details

Railway Sciences, vol. 2 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2755-0907

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 June 2021

Zhengyi Zhang, Jun Jin, Ting Wen and Zan Chen

With the fierce competition in a knowledge economy, knowledge-intensive enterprises (KIEs) make technological progress in their catching-up processes through implementing product…

Abstract

Purpose

With the fierce competition in a knowledge economy, knowledge-intensive enterprises (KIEs) make technological progress in their catching-up processes through implementing product innovation and process innovation. In this study, the aim is to understand the determinants of enterprise innovation type in China's catch-up environment. Further, this paper intends to deal with two related questions. First, what effect does the internal knowledge base have on KIEs' technology innovation activities? Second, considering the technology gap and technology development speed, what are the different impacts of the knowledge base on the type of technology innovation activities?

Design/methodology/approach

This paper collected data from 212 KIEs in China through a two-stage questionnaire survey, combined with statistical data for research. The hypothesis was tested by regression analysis. Specifically, descriptive statistics and regression analysis are introduced to test the hypothetical relationship between the knowledge base and technology innovation. Meanwhile, multiple regression is used to test whether there is any difference in the influence of technology gap and technology development speed on enterprise knowledge base and technology innovation. Finally, the corresponding robustness tests are done.

Findings

This study finds that in a sample of Yangtze River Delta KIEs, firms' knowledge base influences innovation types. Specifically, the knowledge base width (KBW) and knowledge base depth (KBD) positively influence process innovation, and KBD positively affects product innovation. Regarding the effects of catch-up context factors on KIEs’ innovation choice, a wide technology gap tends to positively influence product innovation in industries with high levels of KBW. Moreover, when technology development speed is high, its potential positive influence on process innovation will be more significant for industries with deeper knowledge bases.

Originality/value

This paper fills the research gap that existing studies ignore the relationship between types of technology innovation and knowledge base dimensions, especially for KIEs. First, this paper deepens the understanding of the impact mechanism of KIEs' existing knowledge base on innovation activities; the unique use of resources by enterprises is the basis of enterprises' competitive advantage and will become enterprises' competitive advantage. Second, this study indicates that against different backdrops of technology gap and technology development speed, enterprises with different knowledge bases will adopt different types of technology innovation activities. Third, this paper shows that a wider technology gap provides broader innovation space, so the technology gap plays a pulling role in KBW and product innovation, thus pushing forward enterprises' technological catch-up.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 26 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 March 2024

Yixuan Zhao, Guangyuan He, Danxia Wei and Shuming Zhao

The purpose of this study is to explore the mechanism of digitalized transformation in organizations’ human resource management (HRM). This study summarizes three basic factors…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore the mechanism of digitalized transformation in organizations’ human resource management (HRM). This study summarizes three basic factors driving the digital transformation process in China: level of perception, level of application and speed of transformation.

Design/methodology/approach

This study analyzes the strategic transformation process of HRM in Haier, Hisense and Chambroad to explore the human resource digital transformation mechanism in Chinese enterprises.

Findings

The results of this study show that three HR value chain models can be constructed based on how well HRM deals with business: the efficiency-oriented HRM value chain, quasi-business-oriented HRM value chain and business-oriented HRM value chain. The basic factors – level of perception, level of application and speed of transformation – are observed in the entire HRM digital transformation process.

Originality/value

This study provides theoretical and empirical insights for enterprises to explore the value of digital technology in HRM and facilitate the digital transformation of HRM.

Details

Chinese Management Studies, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-614X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 February 2024

Leslie Patrick Willcocks

The study aims to provide a critical review of the extent to which digital technologies are likely to replace human labour, the exponential rise in the amount of work to be done…

531

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to provide a critical review of the extent to which digital technologies are likely to replace human labour, the exponential rise in the amount of work to be done and how far distinctively human skills are future-proofed and therefore likely to be in short supply. It reviews the evidence for a permanent switch to home and remote working enabled by emerging technologies. It assesses the business, digital and labour strategies of work organisations and the promise and challenges from a dominant trend towards a digitally enabled flexible labour model.

Design/methodology/approach

A critical review of 1020 plus case studies and the extant literature was carried out.

Findings

The relationship between emerging technologies and work is widely misunderstood, and there are major qualifiers to the idea of an overwhelming tsunami of technology drastically reducing headcounts globally. Distinctive human skills remain valuable, the amount of work to be done is increasing exponentially and automation is becoming more a coping than a labour replacement mechanism. Moves to a hybrid digitalised flexible labour model are promising but not if short-term, and if the challenges they represent are not managed well.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation is that we are making projections into the future, though we are drawing on a lot of different sources and evidence and past data projected into the future.

Practical implications

The problem is not labour displacement but large skills shortages that will slow down the speed of technology adoption. Skills development is vital, as is the taking of long-term perspectives towards the management of hybrid, flexible working based on human-machine interactions.

Social implications

Organisations need to revitalise their training and development and labour management models. Governments and intermediary institutions need to manage transition states if the skills required to gain economic growth are to be available, and to ensure that large labour pools do not get bypassed from not having requisite skills.

Originality/value

The study offers a more subtle and complex perspective on the emerging evidence about the future of technology and work.

Details

Journal of Electronic Business & Digital Economics, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2754-4214

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 May 2011

Yu Xia and Thomas Li‐Ping Tang

The auto industry in the USA is facing tremendous challenges – plunging demands due to economic downturn, the gloomy trend in technology development, and fierce global…

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Abstract

Purpose

The auto industry in the USA is facing tremendous challenges – plunging demands due to economic downturn, the gloomy trend in technology development, and fierce global competition. This article aims to examine the challenges of supply chain management and to propose a triple‐C (cease‐control‐combine) remedy for the North American auto industry's supply chain management.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors applied management theories, collected information from managers at different levels of the auto industry's supply chain management, and developed a novel theoretical model of sustainability in supply chain management for the auto industry.

Findings

It is argued that outsourcing to low cost countries – the current supply chain strategy – is not only unsustainable but also irresponsible for the auto industry and society. A triple‐C (cease‐control‐combine) remedy is proposed for the auto industry's supply chain management.

Practical implications

The proposed triple‐C strategy will save the auto industry money in R&D investment, reduce quality cost and inventory waste, help the industry go through the volatile economy, and achieve sustainable development. With close relationships and strong supports from suppliers, the industry can speed up technology development, introduce new gas efficiency models quickly, and become less dependent on gas price. Finally, the triple‐C strategy will help the industry keep jobs and generate new jobs in the USA. These activities lead to public support and restored corporate image.

Originality/value

The current business environment is analyzed, problems of current supply chain strategy discussed, and a new supply chain strategy remedy for the North American auto industry proposed.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 49 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 December 2023

My-Trinh Bui and Thi-Thanh-Huyen Tran

In the wake of severe socio-economic damage, many firms have made creative and technological progress in their responses to the COVID-19 crisis. This paper examines internal and…

Abstract

Purpose

In the wake of severe socio-economic damage, many firms have made creative and technological progress in their responses to the COVID-19 crisis. This paper examines internal and external environmental complexity elements as antecedents of business responses and builds a framework for tourism firms to respond to the pandemic crisis.

Design/methodology/approach

This study obtained survey data from 395 respondents in the Vietnamese tourism and hospitality industry. A partial least squares structural equation modeling–artificial neural network approach was used to examine various combinations of internal and external environmental complexity elements that have different impacts on business responses and firms' performance.

Findings

The knowledge and practice created by the firm's employees (individual creativity), obtained from traditional contexts (traditionality) were identified as internal environmental complexity factors while practice learned from other firms (mimetic pressure), information processing (status certainty) and digital transformation (digital technology speed) were treated as external environmental complexity factors. Internal and external environmental complexity factors influence business responses and firms' performance positively but differently.

Practical implications

This study demonstrates that firms should integrate their internal environment of creativity and traditionality with external environmental factors of mimetic pressure, status certainty and digital technology speed to create better business responses, and thus firm performance in the COVID-19 era.

Originality/value

This investigation contributes to environmental research and narrows the existing research gap relating to the association between types of environmental complexity and firms' responsive action, which then influence firms' performance in terms of sustainable competitiveness.

Details

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

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2000

Robert Pestel and Peter Johnston

This article outlines European ICT development scenarios to 2010, presents scenarios for the adoption of these technologies and network services and identifies scenarios for…

2222

Abstract

This article outlines European ICT development scenarios to 2010, presents scenarios for the adoption of these technologies and network services and identifies scenarios for associated economic and social change pertaining to accelerated globalization through e‐commerce; the increased dominance of immaterial information services contributing to greater sustainability of development; and the enormous increase in diversity of the geocultural characteristics of services available anywhere in the world. The main assumption is that the ICT revolution is the key driver of globalization and dematerialization of economic activity: the shift to higher added value in immaterial services and in the information content of manufactured products.

Details

Foresight, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-6689

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 September 2012

Tzong‐Ru (Jiun‐Shen) Lee and Yenming J. Chen

This paper, being complementary to existing perspectives, aims to examine the behaviors and the strategies of production migration of polluting firms from an economic point of…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper, being complementary to existing perspectives, aims to examine the behaviors and the strategies of production migration of polluting firms from an economic point of view under appropriate decision conditions in terms of uncertain influence of supply chain support and green technology progress.

Design/methodology/approach

Strategic alternatives are investigated by using option pricing tools to examine the impact of various characteristics of green technology development and supply chain relations on the timing of the decision.

Findings

The theoretical and empirical results show that a polluting firm should not consider the option of relocating to offshore countries if uncertainty has been anticipated. It is suggested that, by facing green technology development uncertainty, a firm should be refrained from relocating production abroad if technology develops and offshore cost advantage disappears soon. On the other hand, a pre‐emptive migration strategy is preferable when the green technology is anticipated to be delayed.

Practical implications

A polluting firm in a supply chain faces challenges of uncertainty depending on whether it decides to produce domestically or to relocate internationally. The analysis conveys a concept that polluting firms can be more profitable by promoting clean production technology, instead of relocating to offshore or so called pollution havens.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the existing literature on the evaluation of offshore migration option values by taking extra consideration of uncertainty in the supply chain cost, green technology progress and complementing to studies in a moral perspective.

Article
Publication date: 28 August 2009

Qiang Xu and Renyong Chi

R&D consortia as a new R&D cooperative form flourished in Japan, the USA, and Europe and can be regarded as a major tool for promoting industrial technological innovation and…

Abstract

Purpose

R&D consortia as a new R&D cooperative form flourished in Japan, the USA, and Europe and can be regarded as a major tool for promoting industrial technological innovation and enhancing industry competitiveness. Inspired by R&D consortia in advanced countries, Taiwan and the Chinese mainland seek to develop the cooperative R&D mechanism in their own distinctive contexts. The purpose of this paper is to identify the patterns of their formation and development and to reveal the dynamics of R&D consortia (termed “public technological platforms” – PTPs) in the Chinese mainland) to give some implications for other developing countries that try to model the cooperative R&D policy for their own technology catch‐up programmes.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides an explanatory framework for analyzing how Taiwan and the Chinese mainland seek to develop R&D consortia based on comparative analysis and case study.

Findings

R&D consortia in Taiwan and PTPs in the Chinese mainland have unique structural characteristics with their common catch‐up goals and have been developing in different ways reflecting the relationships and interaction between academia, industry, and government. The effectiveness of R&D consortia is largely determined by the institutional arrangements including goal setting, organizational arrangements, and government involvement.

Research limitations/implications

Further analysis of R&D consortia and PTPs would be required to form empirical studies based on the collection of more extensive data.

Practical implications

The key to R&D consortia/PTPs' success is how to devise institutional arrangements to ensure effective cooperation between academia, industry, and government and to implement certain technology strategies effectively.

Originality/value

This research contributes by identifying the differences in development of Taiwan R&D consortia and Chinese mainland PTPs and by revealing their evolutionary process.

Details

European Business Review, vol. 21 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-534X

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 62000