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1 – 10 of over 8000Xuemei Liu, Zhiwei Zhu, Zheng Liu and Chunyan Fu
This study, based on construal level theory, aims to examine the influential mechanism of leader empowerment behaviour on employee creativity. Specifically, it examines the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study, based on construal level theory, aims to examine the influential mechanism of leader empowerment behaviour on employee creativity. Specifically, it examines the mediating role of cognitive flexibility between leader empowerment behaviour and employee creativity, along with the moderating effect of consideration of future consequences (CFC) on this linkage.
Design/methodology/approach
A two time-point survey study (n = 214) was conducted to collect information from leaders and employees in terms of mutual evaluation in several Chinese industries. To effectively avoid common source bias, this survey was conducted through pairing leaders and employees. During the survey, the supervisors and subordinates were double-blinded. Correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were used to test the research hypotheses.
Findings
Firstly, leader empowerment behaviour can significantly predict employee creativity. Second, cognitive flexibility plays a partial mediating role in the linkage between leader empowerment behaviour and employee creativity. Thirdly, CFC moderates the relationship between leadership empowerment behaviour and cognitive flexibility. The mediating role of cognitive flexibility underlies the overall moderating effect of CFC on the relationship between leader empowerment behaviour and employee creativity.
Research limitations/implications
We used construal level theory to explain the influence of the mechanism of leader empowerment behaviour on employee creativity. In this manner, this study bridges the gap between theory and practice, as well as enriching the research on leader empowerment behaviour and employee creativity, especially in the Chinese context. Moreover, our study has several practical managerial implications, based on the importance of employee creativity. It inspires the implementation of leader empowerment behaviour, cultivation of employee creativity and introduction of several procedures.
Originality/value
This paper discusses the influential mechanism of leader empowerment behaviour on employee creativity from a new perspective and explains the process of encouraging employee creativity through information-processing methods. It mainly highlights the application of construal level theory to discuss employee creativity and develops a new research frame for employee creativity. Leaders can raise employee creativity through leader empowerment behaviour.
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Dayu Cao, Yan Zheng and Gucheng Li
This study aims to identify and describe the relationships among sensory-driven pleasure, cognition-driven pleasure, symbolic-driven pleasure and organic food purchase behavior…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify and describe the relationships among sensory-driven pleasure, cognition-driven pleasure, symbolic-driven pleasure and organic food purchase behavior considering the moderating effects of functionality trust and authenticity trust from the viewpoint of the theory of planned behavior (TPB).
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected using a structured questionnaire survey in first-tier cities in China. A total of 352 consumers of organic foods participated in the study. Structural equation modeling and hierarchical regression analysis were employed for data analysis.
Findings
The results indicated the significant association of perceived behavioral control, subjective norm, attitude, sensory-driven pleasure and cognition-driven pleasure with purchase intention. Perceived behavioral control and purchase intention had significantly positive effects on purchase behavior. Moreover, functionality trust had a positive moderating effect on purchase intention and purchase behavior.
Practical implications
This study not only provides novel and original insights for understanding organic consumption but also provides a reference for organic producers, sellers and policymakers to develop effective strategies to guide organic consumption that are conducive to promoting sustainable consumption.
Originality/value
For the first time, this research introduces the construct of food pleasure into the TPB to explore the relationships between food pleasure and purchase behavior based on the TPB. It may expand the scope of the TPB and provide valuable insights regarding how to improve the existing intention–behavior gap in organic consumption.
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Bilian Cheng, Zheng Liu, Guang Chen and Fengyuan Zou
The purpose of this paper is to quickly acquire a cheongsam pattern using the fit quantification method to meet individual fit requirement.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to quickly acquire a cheongsam pattern using the fit quantification method to meet individual fit requirement.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the cheongsam pattern database including basic patterns and graded patterns, we defined the main control parts of the cheongsam pattern by analyzing the pattern modification. Combining human body shape characteristics, this paper utilized the fuzzy membership function to quantify the cheongsam fit, and defined the modified model of the cheongsam control part.
Findings
The fitness quantification method can provide suitable primary body characteristics for custom-pattern and helps to produce customized cheongsam quickly.
Originality/value
This paper proposed a method of generating customized cheongsam pattern based on fitness quantification by using fuzzy membership function. The method combined the industry pattern design experience and mathematic knowledge to generate the individual fit pattern rapidly. It can be applied in cheongsam customization.
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Xin Ying, Zheng Liu, Guang Chen and Fengyuan Zou
The comfort and fit of clothes are affected by fabric properties, dressed ease and environmental conditions, in which dressed ease is influenced by the interaction among complex…
Abstract
Purpose
The comfort and fit of clothes are affected by fabric properties, dressed ease and environmental conditions, in which dressed ease is influenced by the interaction among complex shapes of human body, style design and fabric mechanical properties.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the dressed ease distribution at waist section, which is related to body surface convex angle, was investigated using 3D scanning. A series of surface convex angles on bust and back were formed after adjusting the mannequin. The mannequin was scanned by TC2 separately in garments with eight different ease allowances. Then the dressed ease distributions at waist under different convex angles of body surface have been acquired by calculating the distance between waist points and dressed surfaces along normal directions.
Findings
The results showed that the body surface convex angle was weakly related to the dressed ease when the garments’ bust ease allowance was below 4 cm. When the garments’ bust ease allowance was within 6–12 cm, the body convex angle had a great impact on the dressed waist ease distribution in the condition of 26º–33º bust convex angle and 13.96º–17.96º back slope angle. For slack garments with more than 16 cm ease allowance, the dressed waist ease distribution did not relate to the bust convex angle, while it strongly related to the bust convex angle between 13.96º and 17.96º. The regression model was statistically significant between the dressed ease value and the body surface convex angle.
Originality/value
According to the dressed waist ease distribution of different body surface convex angles, this paper gives an application of pattern modification in order to optimize the waist fit. The results can provide guidance for the optimization of different body shapes. At the same time, the application of gap data to 3D virtual fitting can greatly improve the authenticity of virtual simulation effect.
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Yanting Huang, Sijia Liu and Yuqing Liang
This paper aims to explore the effect of fairness concerns on supply chain members' optimal decisions and profits, to compare their profits under different policies, and to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the effect of fairness concerns on supply chain members' optimal decisions and profits, to compare their profits under different policies, and to investigate the impact of each policy on members, consumers, and the environment with fairness concerns.
Design/methodology/approach
Considering government policies and fairness concerns in recycling management, this paper develops five recycling and remanufacturing decision models (anarchy policy model, reward-penalty mechanism model, recycling investment subsidies model, government tax model, and fund subsidy system model). In each model, the manufacturer and the online platform form the Stackelberg game. This research further discusses comprehensive environmental benefits and consumer surplus under five scenarios.
Findings
First, the fairness concerns of the online platform inhibit the recovery rate and supply chain members' profit while increasing the platform's utility. Second, fairness concerns increase the profit gap between the manufacturer and online platform, and the higher the degree of fairness concerns, the greater the profit gap; however, the four policies reduce the profit gap. Finally, when there are fairness concerns, environmental taxes damage the interests of supply chain members and consumers, but are most beneficial to the environment; recycling investment subsidies are on the contrary; the fund subsidy system depends on the relative size of the treatment fund and the subsidy fund.
Originality/value
This paper provides useful insights on how to regulate government policy to improve supply chain management with fairness concerns.
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Yang Yang, Weijing Zhang, Zheng Liu and Peihua Zhang
The purpose of this work is to investigate the effect of filament composition with different specifications on the thermal comfort properties of bi-layer knitted fabrics.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this work is to investigate the effect of filament composition with different specifications on the thermal comfort properties of bi-layer knitted fabrics.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper eight bi-layer knitted fabrics with the same knitting structure but different filament compositions were prepared, and the thermal-wet comfort properties of these fabrics were examined. According to experimental data, the effect of filament composition on the thermal comfort properties of fabric was analyzed.
Findings
The increasing difference of hydrophilicity between inner and outer layers resulted in the enhancement of moisture management properties. Better thermal-physiology performance was exhibited by fabrics made up of finer and circular section fibers. Excellent thermal transfer, drying performance and one-way water transport capacity benefited the improvement of dynamic cooling effect of fabrics.
Originality/value
This work provides a useful and effective method for the development of bi-layer knitted fabric applied for sports and summer clothing.
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Yongjiang Shi, Jialun Hu, David Tianxin Shang, Zheng Liu and Wei Zhang
In the past two decades, manufacturing has witnessed significant transformations alongside ecological challenges. Meanwhile, industrial 4.0 digital technologies have accelerated…
Abstract
Purpose
In the past two decades, manufacturing has witnessed significant transformations alongside ecological challenges. Meanwhile, industrial 4.0 digital technologies have accelerated industrialisation with potentials of innovation in the context of circular economy. However, current concepts and models are fragmented and impractical. This paper aims to develop a holistic view integrating the three bodies of knowledge – industrialisation, ecologicalisation and digitalisation (IED) – in order to achieve sustainable development.
Design/methodology/approach
Critical literature review is conducted across three bodies of knowledge. Key themes are summarised with the identification of research gaps. A theoretical framework is synthesised and developed aiming to achieve synergy from IED with the modules, integration architecture, mechanism and dynamic paths.
Findings
First, the authors review and develop three conceptual models of ecologicalised industrialisation (IE3), industrial system digitalisation (D1) and digital technology industrialisation (D2) separately. Second, the authors propose a theoretical framework seeking to synthesise the above three conceptual models together to form the IED. Third, the authors design a process orientated abductive approach to improve and validate the IED framework.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the limited literature addressing the linkage of IED by integration different perspectives to develop theory in a novel way. Practically, it provides important tools for organisations to consider resource cascading in combination with digitalisation during the industrial system design.
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Rongping Ruan, Wang Xiuhua and Fengtian Zheng
Rural China has been undergoing the “religion fever” since the Reform and Opening-up. By comparing the intergenerational lock-in effects of religious belief with that of…
Abstract
Purpose
Rural China has been undergoing the “religion fever” since the Reform and Opening-up. By comparing the intergenerational lock-in effects of religious belief with that of non-religious belief, the purpose of this paper is to explain why more and more peasants convert to religion especially Christianity in China.
Design/methodology/approach
Data used in this paper comes from a field survey conducted in villages, Funan county. The samples were obtained by the two-stage cluster probability proportional sampling method. Based on the collected survey data, econometric model on the intergenerational lock-in effects of belief was constructed and used for analysis.
Findings
Compared with non-religious believers, religious believers can transmit their beliefs more successfully. In addition, the intergenerational lock-in effects of religious beliefs is weakened by oblique socialization in contemporary rural China.
Originality/value
This is the first paper focussing on intergenerational transmission of belief in rural China; although many researchers did careful analyses on effects of parents’ belief or religiosity on children’s belief or religiosity in the West, few of them compared the success of intergenerational transmission between different beliefs. This paper fills this gap; as an interdisciplinary study, this paper tries to study religion in economics analysis approaches. This attempt extends research field in Economics and at the same time enriches analysis tools in Religion.
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Ning Zhang, Hong Zheng, Chi Yuan and Wenan Wu
This article aims to present a direct solution to handle linear constraints in finite element (FE) analysis without penalties or the Lagrange multipliers introduced.
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to present a direct solution to handle linear constraints in finite element (FE) analysis without penalties or the Lagrange multipliers introduced.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the system of linear equations corresponding to the linear constraints is solved for the leading variables in terms of the free variables and the constants. Then, the reduced system of equilibrium equations with respect to the free variables is derived from the finite-dimensional virtual work equation. Finally, the algorithm is designed.
Findings
The proposed procedure is promising in three typical cases: (1) to enforce displacement constraints in any direction; (2) to implement local refinements by allowing hanging nodes from element subdivision and (3) to treat non-matching grids of distinct parts of the problem domain. The procedure is general and suitable for 3D non-linear analyses.
Research limitations/implications
The algorithm is fitted only to the Galerkin-based numerical methods.
Originality/value
The proposed procedure does not need Lagrange multipliers or penalties. The tangential stiffness matrix of the reduced system of equilibrium equations reserves positive definiteness and symmetry. Besides, many contemporary Galerkin-based numerical methods need to tackle the enforcement of the essential conditions, whose weak forms reduce to linear constraints. As a result, the proposed procedure is quite promising.
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Yunmiao Gui, Huihui Zhai, Feng Dong and Zhi Liu
This paper aims to investigate how user expectations affect value-added service (VAS) investment and pricing decisions of two-sided platforms. It draws on the information…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate how user expectations affect value-added service (VAS) investment and pricing decisions of two-sided platforms. It draws on the information asymmetry theory and offers suggestions on how platform operators can manage user expectations.
Design/methodology/approach
According to the game theory, this study considers three user expectations (responsive, passive and wary). By framing the Hotelling duopoly model and comparing the VAS investment, price and platform profits, the optimal platform decision is analyzed and discussed.
Findings
The conclusions demonstrate that the monopolistic two-sided platform obtains more profits from the informed users with responsive expectations than uninformed users with passive or wary expectations. The marginal investment cost and cross-network externalities are two key factors that determine the platform's VAS investment and pricing strategies of passive or wary users. Furthermore, considering the expectation preferences, i.e. the uniformed users hold wary expectations with more information and hold passive expectations with less or no information, the results suggest that the proportion of wary users to all uninformed users increases the platform's VAS investment, profits and the price of informed users, and increase (decrease) the price of uninformed users when the cross-network externalities of informed users are relatively small (larger).
Practical implications
These results can provide insightful enlightenment into how platform operators utilize bilateral users' expectations and information level to guide their VAS investment and pricing decisions.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the first to explore the impact of three user expectations and the heterogeneity of preferences in informing users' passive or wary expectations, based on different levels of information on the decision-making of two-sided platforms regarding VAS.
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