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This paper presents an alternative approach to evaluating the overall efficiency and performance of Taiwanese container ports. Specifically, a parallel activity with series structure concept in the form of data envelopment analysis (MNDEA) is used to construct a model that applies to three different activities: harbor management, stevedoring and warehousing operations. We will further divide each activity into two process types, production processes and services processes. We will also adopt a Delphi survey approach and use the Analytic Network Process (ANP) to identify these processes’influence dependence and their degree of importance for the MNDEA model setting. An empirical application demonstrates the performance of Taiwanese container ports by using MNDEA with window analysis techniques via the directional distance functionThe results demonstrate that the application is effective in indicating and/or suggesting resource-adjustments, while considering which undesirable output levels and shared inputs were involved. The results also present directions for possible improvements in workplace efficiency.

The purpose of this paper is to further the scholarly discussion of information experience as an object of study, including how this research area fits into library and information studies more broadly.

A conceptual discussion of certain issues raised in Yu and Liu's recent paper in this journal.

While Yu and Liu seem to suggest that only a priori information experience research belong in library and information science (LIS), this paper suggests that a priori and a posteriori research have a synergistic relationship and both have a home in LIS.

This paper clarifies how the two conceptualizations of information experience as an object of study relate to each other, as well as how these relate to information experience as a research approach, and how all this fits within the metadisciplinary field of LIS.

The purpose of this paper is to perform the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation with experimental validation to investigate the particle segregation effect in abrupt and smooth shapes circulating fluidized bed (CFB) risers.

The experimental investigations were carried out in lab-scale CFB systems and the CFD simulations were performed by using commercial software BARRACUDA. Special attention was paid to investigate the gas-particle flow behavior at the top of the riser with three different superficial velocities, namely, 4, 6 and 7.7 m/s. Here, a CFD-based noble simulation approach called multi-phase particle in cell (MP-PIC) was used to investigate the effect of traditional drag models (Wen-Yu, Ergun, Wen-Yu-Ergun and Richardson-Davidson-Harrison) on particle flow characteristics in CFB riser.

Findings from the experimentations revealed that the increase in gas velocity leads to decrease the mixing index inside the riser. Moreover, the solid holdup found more in abrupt riser than smooth riser at the constant gas velocity. Despite the more experimental investigations, the findings with CFD simulations revealed that the MP-PIC approach, which was combined with different drag models could be more effective for the practical (industrial) design of CFB riser. Well agreement was found between the simulation and experimental outputs. The simulation work was compared with experimental data, which shows the good agreement (<4%).

The experimental and simulation study performed in this research study constitutes an easy-to-use with different drag coefficient. The proposed MP-PIC model is more effective for large particles fluidized bed, which can be helpful for further research on industrial gas-particle fluidized bed reactors. This study is expected to give throughout the analysis of CFB hydrodynamics with further exploration of overall fluidization.

The garments/textiles industry is the second most polluting industry in the world. However, efforts to understand and curtail its adverse environmental impacts have not been commensurate, and previous works have largely been fragmented and disjointed. This study aims to coduct a comprehensive and systematic green supply chain management (GSCM) investigation on this industry, where a multidimensional framework involving green supply chain practices and performance is developed, validated and applied.

A framework consisting of 12 constructs (8 on practices and 4 on performance) and their underlying measures were developed through an extensive literature review. A survey methodology was used to obtain responses from 403 garment-manufacturing firms in Bangladesh, one of the leading garment producers in the world. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used first to validate the first- and second-order constructs and then test the hypothesized relationships.

Internal environmental management and cooperation with stakeholders were identified as necessary precursors for implementing the second-order green supply chain practices comprising green design, green purchasing, green manufacturing, green transportation, green facilities and end-of-life management. The implementation of green supply chain practices was found to have a (direct) positive impact on environmental, economic and operational performance and an indirect positive impact on organizational performance. Similarly, both economic and operational performance was found to impact organizational performance positively. Surprisingly, a negative relationship (albeit low) was observed between environmental and organizational performance. Also, garment-manufacturing firms were found to have been unable to translate their IEM capabilities into strategic and long-term cooperation with stakeholders.

The study fills a gap in the literature about applying/implementing GSCM in the garment industry. Future studies in the garment industry and elsewhere could utilize the framework to understand further the synergistic impact of green supply chain practices on performance.

The findings provide practitioners, policymakers and organizations associated with the garment industry with critical insights on the various opportunities and challenges in adopting GSCM. Also, the positive impact of green supply chain practices on performance could provide the impetus for manufacturing firms to adopt GSCM.

A comprehensive GSCM investigation on the garment industry has not been previously attempted and constitutes the novelty of this work. Also, Bangladesh is the second-largest garment exporter worldwide, making this study contribution even more valuable.

It remains unclear how environmental scanning (ES) can generate firm performance through supply chain management (SCM) practices. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of ES on operational performance through supply chain integration (SCI) and supply chain responsiveness (SCR).

The scanning–interpretation–action–performance (SIAP) model and organization information processing theory (OIPT) are used to explain the ES–SCI–SCR–performance (S–I–A–P) relationships, which were tested by structural equation modeling of survey data of 329 manufacturing firms in China.

The results indicate that ES has a significant positive effect on SCI and SCR. SCI is significantly and positively related to SCR. SCR partially mediates the relationship between ES and operational performance, and fully mediates the relationship between SCI and operational performance.

Supply chain managers should collaborate with senior executives to obtain signals from ES activities, as input for building SCI and SCR and use SCI as a joint interpretation mechanism of ES signals for developing SCR to reap operational advantages in the rapidly changing business environment.

Strategic management academics and practitioners have explicitly emphasized the importance of ES in developing strategic plans but are unsure about the role of SCM in creating operational advantages through ES. Using the SIAP model, this study theorizes and demonstrates how SCI and SCR transform signals from ES into operational performance. In doing so, a more precise application of OIPT is explicated in the supply chain context.

This study aims to signal the relevance of internal market orientation (IMO) as an organizational process for improving interdepartmental relationships and employee satisfaction, which, in turn, serves to leverage performance. The study has three main objectives: to consider the adaptation of IMO at the departmental level, whereby internal departments are identified as internal customers; gauging the impact of IMO on interdepartmental relationships, employee satisfaction and organizational performance; and testing the mediating role of employee satisfaction in linking interdepartmental relationships, i.e. connectedness and conflict with organizational performance.

The study observes the proposed relationships by drawing on a sample of 816 managers from 272 companies. Through accessing three respondents in each organization and asking them to focus on different constructs, the study’s methodology avoids common methods bias. Partial least square was used to test the hypotheses posited in the concept.

The findings confirm that IMO at the departmental level is critical for facilitating interdepartmental relationships within the organization. In particular, high levels of IMO can enhance interdepartmental connectedness, reduce interdepartmental conflict and improve employee satisfaction. Employee satisfaction not only influences firm performance directly but also plays a mediating role in linking interdepartmental relationships, i.e. connectedness and conflict with performance.

While this study is conducted in the Chinese context, future research may consider testing the framework in different sectors and geographical areas. In addition, more objective measures of firm performance could be used in future studies, and other mediating and moderating variables may be added to further advance the understanding of the subject at large.

The identification of IMO at the departmental level can help firms collect ideas from staff across different departments, facilitate open and constructive communication and react promptly to other departments. Through a social information processing lens, this leads to the creation of a positive organizational atmosphere, contributing significantly to enhancing employee satisfaction and firm performance.

The findings of the study contribute to the area by supporting the legitimacy of IMO at the departmental level and its positive impact on internal relationships and employee satisfaction, which, in turn, leverages performance advantages for the firm.

The purpose of this study is to provide an alternative approach to teacher learning on top of the usual practices of listening to experts' lectures and conducting school-based activities among peers in China. A boundary-crossing lesson study (BCLS) through school-university partnership served as an example to illustrate how a class teacher's mindset changed towards her students in equal interactions with university scholars.

With the lenses of action science theory and boundary-crossing learning theory, the study used qualitative research approach to collect and analyze data. One Chinese primary school class teacher from a workshop on narrative action research was selected as the case for this study. Interviewing, observation and document analysis were used to collect data. Data analysis methods included categorization and contextualization of the teacher's mindset change towards her student.

The case teacher, Mrs. Li, collaborated closely in paired teaching with her university partner AP Yu in all the four phases of their BCLS. Each phase was marked with an interactive event such as dialogic illumination, reflexive theorization, embodied conversation, and fusion of teacher and trainer roles. With inspirational trust as a major interactive mechanism, Mrs. Li jumped out of her single-loop learning (changing strategies according to results) to double-loop learning (changing both strategies and values/values). As a result, her mindset changed from attribution to appreciation towards her low-achieving student.

This study made contributions in two ways. First, it examined a class teacher's mindset change towards her student, rather than that of subject matter teachers towards their teaching materials and methods. Second, it revealed how reflective interactions in a special kind of BCLS by school teachers and university scholars may promote the teacher's mindset change. The findings further confirm that having differences as boundaries is not enough for teacher learning. For deep learning like Mrs. Li's mindset change, it requires a respectful and inspirational relationship between school teachers and university scholars in the BCLS.

Many works have been written on numerical simulation in semiconductor device theory. In this paper we consider the following problem:

This paper aims to examine the impacts of relational capital on supply chain quality integration (SCQI) and operational performance from the holistic perspective of the entire supply chain.

Structural equation modeling with LISREL was used to test the conceptual model based on data collected from 308 companies in China.

The results indicate that with the exception of internal relational capital not having a significant impact on customer quality integration, supplier, internal and customer relational capital have positive impacts on supplier, internal and customer quality integration, which consequently improve operational performance. The results also show that internal relational capital has positive impacts on supplier and customer relational capital, and internal quality integration has positive impacts on supplier and customer quality integration.

The results provide important managerial insights for the improvement of operational performance through the development of relational capital and the implementation of SCQI practices throughout the supply chain.

The authors contribute to the relational capital and supply chain quality management literature by exploring the effectiveness of relational capital in improving SCQI and operational performance from the holistic perspective of the entire supply chain. The findings enrich the knowledge of SCQI management from the perspective of relational capital.

The purpose of this paper is to combine task-technology fit, theory of planned behaviour and individual technology optimism, and propose a better hybrid technology behavioural intention model to explain Taiwanese students’ usage behaviour for weblog learning.

A 31-item questionnaire with eight constructs was administered to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in three universities in Taiwan. A total of 380 voluntary, usable responses were received, and a research model estimated using Smart PLS was used to interpret the structural relation results.

The results of the research model were analysed using a structural equation modelling approach to test six hypotheses and three moderating hypotheses; significant support were found for seven of them. Accordingly, this study considered the level of technology optimism as a moderator to explore whether it impacts perceived behavioural control, attitudes and social influences on behavioural intention related to weblog learning.

This research provides a better understanding of individual and system characteristics, as well as social factors regarding weblog learning system acceptance and intention.