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The purpose of this study is to prepare thermal transfer ribbons with good alcohol resistance.

A variety of alcohol-resistant thermal transfer inks were prepared using different polyester resins. The printing temperature, printing effect, adhesion and alcohol resistance of the inks on the label were studied to determine the feasibility of using the ink for manufacturing thermal transfer ribbons. The ink formulations were prepared by a simple and stable grinding technology, and then use mature coating technology to make the ink into a thermal transfer ribbon.

The results show that the thermal transfer ink has good scratch resistance, good alcohol resistance and low printing temperature when the three resins coexist. Notably, the performance of the ribbon produced by 500 mesh anilox roller was better than that of other meshes. Specifically, the ink on the matte silver polyethylene terephthalate (PET) label surface was wiped with a cotton cloth soaked in isopropyl alcohol under 500 g of pressure. After 50 wiping cycles, the ink remained intact.

The proposed method not only ensures good alcohol resistance but also has lower printing temperature and wider label applicability. Therefore, it can effectively reduce the loss of printhead and reduce production costs, because of the low printing temperature.

This paper aims to introduce and explore the creation, transfer, diffusion and application of knowledge in the Chinese context and the Chinese aerospace management modes, methodologies and mechanism, etc., based on the successful managerial experience of China’s aerospace. The paper then illustrates the current research domains and the future research opportunities in knowledge and aerospace management in China.

Review and reflection.

The Chinese knowledge management theory has achieved great development, the focus of which covers the whole chain from knowledge creation, knowledge transfer, knowledge sharing to knowledge application. However, Chinese aerospace management studies seem not so systematic, although some successful managerial practices and theories are being introduced. There is an opportunity to construct the Chinese aerospace management theory due to its features with general implications to high technology industries in China. Especially, integrating knowledge and aerospace, or studying aerospace from the perspective of knowledge, is a promising way of formulating a logic for deciphering China’s aerospace. It is also anticipated that qualitative methodology and Chinese traditional philosophy will be more popular in Chinese management studies.

This paper, by introducing some new research in knowledge management and aerospace management in China, outlines the current situations of Chinese knowledge and aerospace management research and sheds lights on the future research in aspects of research topics, research methodologies and Chinese traditional philosophy. For the first time, this paper provides the basic logic of Chinese knowledge management research and integrates Chinese aerospace management studies to reveal to the world the uniqueness and facts of China’s aerospace industry.

The purpose of this paper is to answer the question “will China overtake the USA in the space race?” This paper reviews China’s recent progress in aerospace while developing a wind theory of change to underline the geographic spread of various empires over the past thousand years, a topic studied by one of China’s most prestigious historians, Sima Qian, with a specific interest in 2,500 years of the rise and fall of Chinese kingdoms. Based on the wind theory, China is geared to overtake the USA in the twenty-first century space race. Historically, Chinese have always been fascinated with outer space, and it is felt by many Chinese that the USA, despite its current lead in the field, should work with China to explore outer space.

This paper introduces the philosophy and methodology of Sima Qian for Chinese management, in particular his analytical approach and drawing of lessons from past cases (dynasties) for managing the future which can be considered clearly reminiscent of the Harvard case approach. Evolving from this broad study of patterns by Sima Qian, a wind theory methodology is suggested using an overview of patterns over vast stretches of time, in this case from the Tang dynasty. Etymological analyses are embarked upon to illustrate how the ancient Chinese were interested in learning more about the outer space. Conceptual models are developed to map the current nascent space industry.

After outlining the current developments made by China in aerospace, the overall analysis suggests the following: based on the wind theory of change, China will overtake the USA even in race into space. Given their historical fascination with outer space, Chinese are likely to enter the business of space at the opportune time. When will that be? Most likely when appropriate technologies have been developed, in particular developing safe moon tours for tourists.

Suggests a futuristic look at the space industry that China can enter the market at the opportune time. With their long-term fascination with outer space, China may potentially be the largest market for those in space business.

Introduces a new idea of looking into the future possibilities as embedded in the wind theory of change: the geographical patterns in the rise and fall of empires. If this pattern holds, China will overtake the USA including in the race for outer space. For the first time, this paper draws the relevance of Sima Qian’s analytical, case-based methods for management.

The purpose of this paper is to frame an empirical model with the priority of implementing soft critical successful factors (CSFs) of total quality management (TQM) in Chinese manufacturing companies.

In total, 23 hypotheses regarding the relationships among TQM factors and business results have been developed through literature review and are tested using the structural equation modelling (SEM). The data used in this study are collected from 228 manufacturing companies in the central area of China.

Of the 23 hypotheses, 11 were statistically significant, and according to the empirical results a conceptual framework complying to Chinese condition is constructed and discussed in the finding parts to group soft CSFs of TQM into different levels of importance.

Researchers can use the framework to further study soft CSFs of TQM in detail, and extend it to explore their impact mechanism for a clearer and deeper understanding of the TQM.

The empirical framework for soft CSFs of TQM provides a new perspective for managers to implement the soft CSFs and optimise the quality management system of their manufacturing companies.

This research uses multiple, distinct indicators for each soft factor to test an elaborate SEM model of the relationships among them, according to the empirical results constructs a holistic framework classifying the importance level of soft CSFs of TQM, which is novel and subjected with Chinese condition and manufacturing characteristics.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how China’s manufacturers catch up with the forerunners through R&D cooperation by developing a new mode of latecomer–forerunner R&D cooperation, i.e. the periphery–core mode, which provides a viable way for China’s manufacturers to obtain forerunners’ core knowledge from their periphery knowledge via knowledge spillover and knowledge transfer.

The paper first reviews the literature on R&D cooperation process in the catching-up context and knowledge management in R&D cooperation. Then, three cases of R&D cooperation between China’s advanced technology manufacturers and their forerunners are introduced, with emphasis on interactivities in R&D cooperation and knowledge spillover. On the basis of the multi-case study, the periphery–core mode of R&D cooperation between latecomers and forerunners is conducted.

The paper finds that the latecomers can catch up with their forerunners by acquiring forerunners’ core technology used in periphery R&D activities. Through formal and informal interactions, the forerunners’ core technology can be extracted and transferred to latecomers, which the latecomers can then absorb and further develop. Thus, it can be concluded that the periphery–core mode of R&D cooperation is a viable way for the latecomers to get access to forerunners’ core technology.

The paper contributes to the literature on the catching-up theory by developing the periphery–core mode as a new mode for the latecomers to catch up with the forerunners. It expands the understanding of the latecomer–forerunner R&D cooperation by focusing on the way that China’s manufacturers as latecomers catch up with the forerunners by accessing the forerunners’ core knowledge from their R&D cooperation in periphery knowledge. The paper shows the mechanism of knowledge transfer and spillover in R&D cooperation. The role of communications, especially informal communication between cooperation partners, is emphasized in this process. This study also provides a new perspective for cooperation partner selection by arguing that latecomers can choose their cooperation partners according to the periphery and core knowledge they possess, other than the relationship between them. Besides, this paper emphasizes the mutual support between knowledge transfer, knowledge spillover and knowledge absorption, which is necessary for latecomers to achieve successful catching up in periphery–core R&D cooperation.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of technological capability (TC) and technology management (TM) on the development of China’s telecommunications industry by examining two interrelated questions: Which is the order parameter for China’s telecommunications industry? and What are the relationships between TC and TM? The paper will develop models to analyze TC, TM and the development of China’s telecommunications industry quantitatively.

The paper reviews literature related to TC and TM and investigates the technical features of China’s telecommunications industry. Then, the paper makes a theoretical analysis of the relationships among them. First, it analyzes the effects of TC and TM on the industry and tries to explore the order parameter. Second, the paper analyzes the interaction between TC and TM. Then, the paper applies the Haken model to construct an analysis model. It also constructs models for measuring TC and TM. Using the data of China’s telecommunications industry from 1991 to 2010, the paper identifies the order parameter for the industry and tests the relationships between TC and TM.

The paper finds that TC plays a dominant role in the development of China’s telecommunications industry. The paper also finds that TC promotes the development of TM. However, TM fails to promote the development of TC. The paper presents two other important findings. The first one is that China’s telecommunications industry has constructed a positive feedback mechanism for continuous development of TC, which provides an impetus for industry upgrades and development. The second one is that there is no positive feedback growth mechanism for TM capability, which has increased the lag between TM and TC and has become one of the important reasons why TM does not promote TC.

Theoretical and managerial implications are put forward. Thus, TC must be improved to propel the development of China’s telecommunications industry; TM should be greatly improved and an effective growth mechanism for TM should be constructed; the synergy between TM and TC should be achieved. Research limitations are also pointed out. Thus, the results in this paper probably cannot be generalized to other industries; it does go on to discuss the synergetic mode of TM and TC that can best compel industrial development, and it does not explain what the growth mechanisms for TM and TC should be.

The paper is original, as it provides new perspectives of TM and TC for analyzing industrial development, and it provides the method and model for quantitatively analyzing TC and TM at an industry level. It discovers the order parameter and new problems of China’s telecommunications industry, which no one has identified before. The paper also offers references for analyzing other industries from the perspectives of TM and TC.

This paper aims to study the impact of individual relationships on tacit knowledge sharing in the company setting of compulsory bond, expressive bond, instrumental bond and self-monitoring by empirical explorations.

The paper raises seven hypotheses that focus on the impact of employees’ relationship with tacit knowledge sharing in knowledge-intensive industries and positions based on relationship theory. Before distributing the formal questionnaires, a pre-research was done in a college by collecting comments and suggestions so as to correct and modify the questionnaires. A four-page questionnaire based on the Likert scale with 45 questions was used for data collection, and 210 valid questionnaires were collected from a research institute, a software company and an educational institute. Finally, SPSS17.0 was used to analyze these data, including reliability analysis, validity analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis, etc.

The findings include: there is a positive correlation between employees’ compulsory bond and the efficiency of tacit knowledge sharing; there is a positive correlation between employees’ expressive bond and the efficiency of tacit knowledge sharing; there is a negative correlation between employees’ instrumental bond and the efficiency of tacit knowledge sharing; the more apt employees are at self-monitoring, the more effectively they will share tacit knowledge; the interaction between compulsory bonds and self-monitoring has a positive and stimulating impact on tacit knowledge sharing; the interaction between expressive bonds and self-monitoring has a positive and stimulating impact on tacit knowledge sharing; and the interaction between instrumental bonds and self-monitoring has a certain impact on tacit knowledge sharing.

However, the efficiency of tacit knowledge sharing cannot be measured easily and how to share the tacit knowledge based on employees’ relationships should be further concerned by knowledge industries.

This paper illustrates multiple, in-depth approaches to research on knowledge sharing. It shows why it is important to pay attention to employees’ relationships during the process of tacit knowledge sharing. The author argued some key factors such as compulsory bond, emotional bond and self-monitoring that may have a certain impact on the tacit knowledge sharing. The paper also further discussed the influence on the sharing of tacit knowledge as for the interaction between different relationship types and self-monitoring.

The knowledge is critical to enhance enterprises’ performance, and it will become more useful when the new knowledge is shared with others. However, tacit knowledge cannot be measured easily, and how to share the tacit knowledge based on employees’ relationships should be further concerned by knowledge industries. A series of findings are proposed in this paper.

Integrating the knowledge of different individuals, of which 90 per cent is tacit knowledge, in an organization that engages in producing products and providing service is instrumental to the sustainability and productivity of that organization. This study addressed the factors and dynamics of tacit knowledge sharing that can be used in knowledge management to effectively capture, store and disseminate tacit knowledge across an organization.

This study aims at developing a better understanding of the different mechanisms that affect technology collaboration portfolio management. How do firms manage their technology collaboration portfolio? Despite some thoughtful scholars have advanced the understanding of the phenomenon of technology collaboration portfolio, there is not much research that has been done in terms of understanding the endeavors of firms when they collectively use a range of actors for the best interests of the firms. Additionally, little attention has been paid to the trade-offs and managing mechanisms for the collaborations between different partners from a portfolio-level perspective, especially in emerging markets.

A multiple-case study of two Chinese high-tech firms, an inductive approach.

The authors identified three primary mechanisms that underlie successful knowledge creation and application in technology collaboration portfolio context: informally mobilizing boundary-spanning brokers for domestic academic collaborations, formally institutionalizing learning activities for industry collaborations and integrating formal and informal mechanisms for technology collaborations between focused firms and foreign organizations.

The authors extend the line of organizational ambidexterity literature with a focus on strategic alliance, proposing that firms need to balance academic and industry collaborations from a portfolio level. Moreover, the authors intend to extend the literature of alliance portfolio by suggesting three different learning mechanisms of managing different technology collaborations for the purpose of balancing successful knowledge creation and application.

This paper aims to analyze the mechanism underlying the impact of boundary-spanning search (BS) on the sustainable development ability (SDA) of service-oriented manufacturing enterprises and to emphasize the intermediary role of knowledge integration (KI). The moderating role of knowledge inertia on the link between BS and KI is also investigated.

This study constructs direct, mediating and moderating effects, selects 110 service-oriented manufacturing enterprises as research samples and obtains empirical data from questionnaires and annual reports. Among them, triangulation is skilfully used to obtain questionnaire data, and the regression method is used to test model relationships.

The results show that BS not only directly enhances SDA but also indirectly affects it through KI, which plays a mediating role in the impact of BS on SDA. In addition, knowledge inertia negatively moderates the relationship between BS and KI.

This paper makes three contributions. First, it enriches the research on the antecedent variables related to the SDA of service-oriented manufacturing enterprises. Second, by examining the mediating role of KI and the moderating role of knowledge inertia, the relationship between BS and SDA is revealed. Third, the research on knowledge management related to the SDA of service-oriented manufacturing enterprises is expanded.