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Zoning design of pressure comfort of women's shaping pants is studied in this paper based on the new material made by the LRJ40/1F warp-knitting machine.

According to the distribution of body fat and the pressure comfort range of the shaping pants, zoning design is carried out. The pressure comfort of the women's shaping pants is tested by the objective pressure test and the subjective evaluation method.

The result is that using the method of zoning design can satisfy the comfort of the lower limbs while improving the mobility and plasticity.

Pressure comfort has become an important index to evaluate the comfort of elastic shaping pants. However, there were very few studies on the relationship between the pressure comfort of warp-knitted elastic pants and the design of jacquard organization in China and abroad.

China as a main emerging and transition economy has since 2006 opened up its banking market to foreign competition. Thus far, the penetration of foreign banks has been only moderate with around 2 per cent market share of the total banking market, despite the widely held view that foreign banks operate at a higher level of efficiency and that Chinese state-owned banks (SOBs) operate at a lower level of efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between bank ownership and the lending behaviour and relationship banking that stems from the Chinese tradition of “guanxi”.

Based on three bank types the authors construct a model of the choice of bank type and show how that model can be estimated using a multinomial logit. The authors assume that firms choose a bank type as a function of firm characteristics (Berger et al., 2008; Ongena and Sendeniz-Yüncü, 2011), deal terms (Machauer and Weber, 2000; Ziane, 2003), and industry classification (Uchida et al., 2008; Ongena and Sendeniz-Yüncü, 2011).

This paper finds the existence of a close banking relationship of a “guanxi” type between SOBs and state-owned enterprises (SOEs). This is shown up in the form of better deal terms for the SOE. In the case of foreign banks the authors find that a foreign bank-foreign owned enterprise relationship exists but this is based on risk quality and no advantages in deal terms, which suggest a more commercial-based relationship. The empirical findings are that transparent and high-quality firms are likely to engage with foreign banks, while state-owned firms are more likely to engage with SOBs.

In China, few studies have addressed the potentially important role of bank ownership on lending behaviour (e.g. Firth et al., 2008; Berger et al., 2009). The authors extend the analysis by distinguishing not only between foreign and domestic banks, but also between SOBs and other domestic banks. This research seeks to enhance the understanding of bank ownership, lending behaviour and relationship banking.

The construction industry has actively attempted to tackle the low-productivity issues arising from inefficient construction planning. It is imperative to understand how construction practitioners perceive technology integration in construction planning in light of emerging technologies. This study intended to uncover unique experimental findings by integrating 4D-building information modelling (BIM) to virtual reality (VR) technology during construction planning among construction professionals at light steel framing (LSF) projects.

The building industry participants were invited to provide inputs on two different construction planning methods: conventional and innovative methods. The conventional method involved the participants using traditional platforms such as 2D computer-aided design (CAD) and physical visualisation of paper-based construction drawings for the LSF assembly process with a Gantt Chart tool to complete construction planning-related tasks for the targeted project. Comparatively, participants are required to perform the same tasks using more innovative platforms like 4D-BIM in a VR environment.

A Charrette Test Method was used to validate the findings, highlighting an improvement in usability (+10.3%), accuracy (+89.1%) and speed (+30%) using 4D BIM with VR compared to the conventional paper-based method. The findings are also validated by a paired t-test, which is supported by the rationality of the same findings. This study posits positive results for construction planning through the utilisation of modern practices and technologies. These findings are significant for the global construction industry facing low productivity issues, delays and certainty in terms of building delivery timelines due to poor construction planning.

This new blend of technologies—combining 4D BIM and VR in industrialised construction projects—potentially directs future initiatives to drive the efficiency of construction planning in the building lifecycle. The interactive BIM-based virtual environment would purposefully transform construction planning practices in order to deliver modern and more certain building construction methods with a focus on prefabrication processes.

In this chapter, the author explores and discusses the transformation of management from the perspective of complex systems, systems change and the Taoist yin-yang theory. Modern complex organizations require innovative management practices that move beyond traditional approaches. Consequently, many organizations are experiencing a management shift towards more holistic and sustainable methods. This shift encompasses changes in organizational structures and modes of inquiry. Organizations are transitioning from rigid hierarchies to more collaborative and agile configurations while adopting a systemic approach to management that acknowledges the interconnectedness and interdependence of all organizational aspects. Simultaneously, there is a paradigm shift in management thinking, replacing the conventional focus on ego-action with eco-action, which emphasizes the integration of diverse perspectives and the cultivation of self-awareness and introspection. This shift in mindset is embodied in the yin-yang paradigm, highlighting the importance of balance and harmony between contrasting forces.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate women managers’ work values in the Chinese sociocultural context and to explain how these work values affect their career success. This paper also explores how social and cultural factors affect Chinese women’s work value formation process.

Using a grounded theory approach, the authors collected and analyzed data through in-depth interviews with 12 women managers in the banking industry in northeast China.

The analysis identified eight dimensions of Chinese women’s work values and how they affect women’s career success in the Chinese context. The authors also found that although both social and cultural factors affect women’s work values, the effect of traditional Chinese culture is still profound.

The study extends the literature on Chinese women’s work values and provides a better understanding of traditional Chinese culture’s effect on contemporary Chinese women, particularly in developing cities.

This paper aims to, from a Taoism perspective, one of Chinese inveterate cultures and mindsets, add knowledge into how Chinese indigenous cultures and mindsets will affect the way of Chinese people perceive and process guanxi. Specifically, this paper outlines the mechanism of guanxi from a culture perspective. Cultures significantly affect local people behavior.

A mixed-methods survey (Study 1) – analyzed with one-way ANOVA – and interview (Study 2) – analyzed with grounded theory – were used to answer the research questions. In total, 248 surveys were collected for Study 1, and 34 interviews for Study 2 that were transcribed into a word file, which consists of 609 pages with 327,463 Chinese characters, were processed.

The findings show that guanxi is determined by positive and negative forces between instrumental and affective components. Further, two essential conditions – fitness of personality and clear contract, which would determine when a positive or negative force would emerge in a guanxi – were identified.

The main contribution is that this paper clarifies the guanxi mechanism based upon one of the most significant Chinese cultures and mindsets. Or guanxi is viewed from a new perspective – how Taoism affects Chinese people’s perception and evaluation of guanxi. This paper also finds evidence for the main arguments based upon the two studies.

This paper aims to explore the relationship between ethical self-fashioning and citizenship practices in the ongoing revival of “Chinese Traditional Culture” pursued in tandem by the party-state and by private actors in present-day China.

Adopting an anthropological approach, the author draws from three sets of resources: (1) research literature on China’s political history and key texts of early Chinese thought, (2) contemporary state discourses on citizen formation, and (3) participant observation notes and interviews with organizers and followers of the Wu-Wei School (a pseudonym). The author conducts a textual analysis of primary and secondary literature and a critical discourse analysis of the ethnographic data and examines emerging themes.

Firstly, the author identifies a crucial dimension in the historical and cultural roots of Chinese citizenship practices: an enduring conception that binds individual ethical self-improvement with socio-political flourishing. Secondly, examining contemporary state discourses on “citizen quality” and “reviving China’s outstanding traditional culture”, the author showcases how party-state authorities call on individuals to self-reform for national rejuvenation. Thirdly, the author investigates how members of the Wu-Wei School construe their individual pursuits of ethical self-improvement as significant for societal progress.

Based on these findings, the author demonstrates the ways in which autochthonous conceptions of Chinese citizenship give a central place to private acts of self-fashioning. The author argues that the entanglement between individual ethics and citizenship practices constitutes a crucial but largely understudied dimension of Chinese citizenship.

To examine the nature of Chinese business negotiating style in Sino‐Western business negotiations in business‐to‐business markets involving large industrial projects from a social cultural point of view.

A conceptual approach developed from personal interviews.

This study reveals that the Chinese negotiator does not possess an absolute negotiating style but rather embraces a mixture of different roles together: “Maoist bureaucrat in learning”, “Confucian gentleman”, and “Sun Tzu‐like strategist”. The Chinese negotiating strategy is essentially a combination of cooperation and competition (termed as the “coop‐comp” negotiation strategy in this study). Trust is the ultimate indicator of Chinese negotiating propensities and role choices.

The focus of this study is on Chinese negotiating style shown in large B2B negotiations with Chinese SOEs.

Differing from most other studies on Chinese negotiating style which tend to depict the Chinese negotiator as either sincere or deceptive, this study points out that there exists an intrinsic paradox in Chinese negotiating style which reflects the Yin Yang thinking. The Chinese negotiator has a cultural capacity to negotiate both sincerely and deceptively and he/she changes coping strategies according to situation and context, all depending on the level of trust between negotiating partners.

The purpose of this paper is to bridge the knowledge gap in designing MBA strategy between China and the West by examining the content, context and process of MBA delivery. This paper challenges the assumptions and pedagogical approach underpinning the current design and delivery of MBA programmes that were originally moulded with Western management history and development in the era of globalization. There is consensus that MBA was used to train business managers; however, nowadays, people are inclined to state that MBA is used to develop global business leaders or full-fledged global competitors. How can we develop global business leaders without a global vision when designing MBA strategy?

Based on extensive literature review and critical analyses through the strategic management approach, this paper examines the status quo of current MBA programmes in the West and in China. This paper presents a conceptual framework that draws on the current MBA literature and on-going debates around management education and development in the West and in China.

The designing strategy of MBA has been originally strongly influenced by Western ideology and ethos. Therefore, the difficulties of management knowledge transfer are often explained through culture acclimatization and emphasize has been on cultural divergence rather than convergence. With synthesis between Western and Eastern management identified, we argue that the appropriateness and effectiveness of the traditional philosophy of MBA designing strategy based on Western management history has been challenged in the 21st century. The perception has fuelled criticism of business schools in the post-recession. They have come under fire for allegedly failing in their obligations to educate socially responsible business leaders (Barker, 2010). This leads to rethinking of the philosophy and vision underpinning the MBA designing strategy. A new philosophical approach – integration of Western management with Eastern philosophy has been under scrutiny, which is necessary in business education to enable future business leaders to become full-fledged competitors in the global market.

The output of this discussion helps to establish a conceptual framework which will provide strategic insight in enabling business/management school and MBA providers to address the current deficiency in MBA teaching and learning strategy and develop more appropriate arrangement when considering the design and development of a successful MBA programme in the 21st century.

Drawing on the dynamic capabilities theory, this paper proposes that supply chain (SC) strategies (i.e. the lean SC and agile SC strategies) will mediate the relationship between big data analytics (BDA) and SC performance. Furthermore, from the perspective of strategic alignment, this study hypothesizes that the effect of the SC strategy on SC performance is differently moderated by the information system (IS) strategy (i.e. the IS innovator and IS conservative strategies).

This study used 159 match-paired questionnaires collected from Chinese firms to empirically test the hypotheses.

Results show the positive direct and indirect impact of BDA on SC performance. Specifically, the lean and agile SC strategies mediate the relationship between BDA and SC performance. Furthermore, the results indicate that the IS innovator and IS conservative strategies differentially moderate the effect of the lean and agile SC strategies on SC performance. Specifically, the IS innovator strategy positively moderates the effect of the agile SC strategy on SC performance. By contrast, the IS conservative strategy positively moderates the effect of the lean SC strategy on SC performance but negatively moderates the effect of the agile SC strategy on SC performance.

This study provides a comprehensive understanding of how SC and IS strategies can help firms leverage BDA to improve SC performance.