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This paper aims to investigate the effects of country‐of‐manufacture (COM) and country‐of‐design (COD) on industrial brand equity.

A conceptual framework to assess how international buyers evaluate industrial brand equity when confronted with a single cue and multiple cues is proposed. Data for testing the hypotheses are collected through fax, e‐mail, and online surveys of managers from 102 industrial buyers of Taiwanese fasteners. A quantitative study is undertaken of 64 respondents using PLS analysis.

The main finding is that the single‐cue framework produces more statistically significant COM and COD effects on industrial brand equity than does the multiple‐cue framework. The current results confirm previous findings that the country‐of‐origin effects based on single‐cue and multiple‐cue studies produce conflicting and inconclusive results.

These findings underscore the findings that the impacts of COM and COD on industrial brand equity are jointly determined by study characteristics, research designs, and the nature of the dependent variable being investigated.

A clear implication for managers responsible for branding and communicating B2B products in international markets is to continue to create clear awareness of the offering and to provide appropriate imagery for consolidating the reputation of firms in both their internal (product) and external (country‐of‐origin) dimensions.

While country‐of‐origin and consumer products have been widely studied in the literature, the paper examines the effects of COM and COD on industrial brand equity in analyzing the process by which international buyers evaluate brand equity when confronted with a single cue and multiple cues.

The aim of this paper is to develop an efficient analytical procedure to evaluate performance of the most general pull production systems particularly when multiple‐part‐types are involved. The authors consider a kanban controlled production system that can be modelled as a closed queuing network with different product classes. The production line is decomposed into stages which consist of one or several stations and an output buffer. Each stage is associated with a given number of kanbans. The main idea of this analytical algorithm is to analyze each subnetwork individually using a product form approximation technique. The iterative procedure is used to find the unknown parameters.

The authors design a multiclass queuing network that can be used to represent kanban controlled production systems. To solve this model, three procedures are used: decompose the original network into M subnetworks, convergence of unknown parameters in each subnetwork, and convergence of unknown parameters in the original network. The authors now describe these procedures separately.

The main contribution of this paper is the formulation of the problem of kanban controlled production systems with several part‐types. The methodology is based on approximate formula with decomposition and is applicable to more general manufacturing environments. The authors' method can be applied to both limited and unlimited demands. The analytical algorithm designed in this work has demonstrated excellent performance in analyzing kanban controlled production systems.

The methodology of this algorithm is based on approximate formula and is applicable to more general manufacturing environments.

Furniture plays a significant role in daily life. Advanced computational and manufacturing technologies provide new opportunities to create novel, high-performance and customized furniture. This paper aims to enhance furniture design and production by developing a new workflow in which computer graphics, topology optimization and advanced manufacturing are integrated to achieve innovative outcomes.

Workflow development is conducted by exploring state-of-the-art computational and manufacturing technologies to improve furniture design and production. Structural design and fabrication using the workflow are implemented.

An efficient transdisciplinary workflow is developed, in which computer graphics, topology optimization and advanced manufacturing are combined. The workflow consists of the initial design, the optimization of the initial design, the postprocessing of the optimized results and the manufacturing and surface treatment of the physical prototypes. Novel chairs and tables, including flat pack designs, are produced using this workflow. The design and fabrication processes are simple, efficient and low-cost. Both additive manufacturing and subtractive manufacturing are used.

The research outcomes are directly applicable to the creation of novel furniture, as well as many other structures and devices.

A new workflow is developed by taking advantage of the latest topology optimization methods and advanced manufacturing techniques for furniture design and fabrication. Several pieces of innovative furniture are designed and fabricated as examples of the presented workflow.

Irregularly shaped architectural designs with surfaces curved in multiple directions, known as free-form designs, have gained significant public interest in recent decades. However, it is challenging to convert complex designs into real structures. This paper aims to realize free-form construction by developing a novel workflow in which additively manufactured thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) molds are used.

The workflow is developed through mechanical tests on additively manufactured TPU specimens, determination of TPU mold design criteria and exploration of mold preparation methods. Two concrete elements with free-form geometries are fabricated using the proposed workflow.

TPU is a thermoplastic elastomer that is strong and inexpensive, making it an ideal mold material for casting complex concrete structures. An innovative workflow is developed in which TPU molds are used, appropriate release agents are selected for different concrete casting conditions and a mold subdivision method is proposed to facilitate the demolding process. Furthermore, the integrity of TPU molds can be maintained by following the proposed workflow, enabling repetitive use of molds. The fabrication of the two free-form structures shows that complex concrete members with high dimensional accuracy and excellent surface quality can be manufactured using the proposed method.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first systematic study on using additively manufactured TPU molds for concrete casting of complex structures. The new techniques developed in this research can be applied to large-scale architectural, engineering and construction projects.

This paper aims to tackle the challenge topic of continuum structural layout in the presence of random loads and to develop an efficient robust method.

An innovative robust topology optimization approach for continuum structures with random applied loads is reported. Simultaneous minimization of the expectation and the variance of the structural compliance is performed. Uncertain load vectors are dealt with by using additional uncertain pseudo random load vectors. The sensitivity information of the robust objective function is obtained approximately by using the Taylor expansion technique. The design problem is solved using bi-directional evolutionary structural optimization method with the derived sensitivity numbers.

The numerical examples show the significant topological changes of the robust solutions compared with the equivalent deterministic solutions.

A simple yet efficient robust topology optimization approach for continuum structures with random applied loads is developed. The computational time scales linearly with the number of applied loads with uncertainty, which is very efficient when compared with Monte Carlo-based optimization method.

This paper aims to study the tensile performance, deformation characteristics, auxeticity and stability of different auxetic tubular structures generated by cutting method and pattern scale factor (PSF) method using validated finite element analysis.

Two types of auxetic tubular structures were designed by a coordinate transformation method and the PSF adjustment method, respectively. ABAQUS/explicit solver was used for the large deformation analysis and the displacement of key nodes was extracted to calculate Poisson’s ratio value and evaluate the deformation of tubular structures.

The random cut method was not suitable for designing auxetic tubular structures. Vertical and horizontal cut approach was suitable, but the change of the tubular diameter was lower than the tubular structures generated by the PSF adjustment method.

Simple ways to generate auxetic tubular structure, which can be made into intelligent and foldable equipment, such as annuloplasty rings, angioplasty stents and oesophageal stents. By combined with shape memory polymer, various smart tubular materials and structures with various functions can be designed, especially in medical scaffold and other medical equipment fields.

The auxetic characteristic of tubular structure designed by using random cut method has been investigated for the first time. The outcome of this study would be very useful design tubular structures with better mechanical properties.

This article was based on the information from The 5th International Conference of Institutes and Libraries for Chinese Overseas Studies held in the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC, Canada in which the author was a presenter in session 4.2.9a of the Early life of Yuan Shikai and the formation of Yuan family. The paper aims to include comprehensive analysis and development of the history of Chinese migration. An annotated bibliography of suggested readings was offered to highlight the subject knowledge for further research in this area.

The paper includes comprehensive analysis and development of the history of Chinese migration and the experiences and family histories of overseas Chinese in Canada. An annotated bibliography of suggested readings was offered to highlight the subject knowledge for further research in this area.

The paper offers full description and comprehensive analysis of the history of Chinese migration and overseas Chinese studies in Canada. A bbibliography of suggested readings was offered for further research in this area.

This research study has a strong subject focus on Chinese migration, overseas Chinese studies, and resource-sharing in the subject area. It is a specific field for research in Asian studies.

The result of this study will assist students, researchers, and the general public in the area of overseas Chinese studies and developing their interests in the social and historical value of Chinese migration history and resource-sharing in the area.

Very little research has been done in the area of Chinese migration and historical development. The paper would offer historians, sociologists, ethnologists, librarians, administrations, professors, as well as students in the fields of Asian history, anthropology, sociology, political science, geography, and other Asian-related interdisciplinary studies.

Based on fieldwork in Zhejiang 2000/01, the paper analyses the processes and mechanisms that shape China’s new private sector. The paper argues that the development of the private sector is characterised by the on‐going interaction between local jurisdictions, networks and entrepreneurs. The search for and protection of private property rights can be singled out as the most crucial factor for explaining the establishment and organisational form of firms. The empirical study can also help to explain why the family is no longer at the core of private firms, offering too small a resource base, and too little access to asset protecting networks.

In today’s Taiwan, sha-cha sauce is an indispensable ingredient for beef hot pot and stir-fried dishes. The purpose of this paper contextualizes the history of sha-cha sauce in Tainan, the oldest city in Taiwan, and argues that sha-cha sauce, introduced by Chaoshan immigrants, has contributed to new styles and habits of beef consumption tastes and habits in the post-1949 Tainan and beyond.

This paper uses documentary materials, oral interviews and diaries to explore the relationship between beef consumption and sha-cha sauce. It begins with an historical overview of Taiwan’s beef consumption during the Japanese colonial era (1895-1945). Then, it focuses on two Chaoshan business enterprises: the Bull-Head, which makes the world’s largest “canned sha-cha sauce,” and the Xiao Haozhou, a Tainan restaurant specializing in sha-cha beef hot pot. Finally, this study analyzes Xinrong Wu, a Tainan gentry whose diary entries from 1933 to 1967 documented the changing dietary habits of beef consumption among Taiwanese.

The Chaoshan migrants played an important role in introducing the sha-cha sauce to postcolonial Tainan, and this input bolstered the beef consumption among Taiwanese. The production of sha-cha provided a reliable source of income for these migrants in Tainan, and major businesses like the Bull-Head became the international brands of Taiwanese food products.

The study, though limited to Tainan, reveals the symbiosis between popularization of sha-cha sauce and widespread beef consumption in Taiwan.

This study helps researchers examine the connection between Chinese migrations and food culture.

This paper is an original scholarly investigation of the relationship between food diet and Chaoshan migration in postcolonial Tainan.