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1 – 10 of 13Zhicheng He, Guangyao Li, Guiyong Zhang, Gui-Rong Liu, Yuantong Gu and Eric Li
In this work, an SFEM is proposed for solving acoustic problems by redistributing the entries in the mass matrix to “tune” the balance between “stiffness” and “mass” of…
Abstract
Purpose
In this work, an SFEM is proposed for solving acoustic problems by redistributing the entries in the mass matrix to “tune” the balance between “stiffness” and “mass” of discrete equation systems, aiming to minimize the dispersion error. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
This is done by simply shifting the four integration points’ locations when computing the entries of the mass matrix in the scheme of SFEM, while ensuring the mass conservation. The proposed method is devised for bilinear quadratic elements.
Findings
The balance between “stiffness” and “mass” of discrete equation systems is critically important in simulating wave propagation problems such as acoustics. A formula is also derived for possibly the best mass redistribution in terms of minimizing dispersion error reduction. Both theoretical and numerical examples demonstrate that the present method possesses distinct advantages compared with the conventional SFEM using the same quadrilateral mesh.
Originality/value
After introducing the mass-redistribution technique, the magnitude of the leading relative dispersion error (the quadratic term) of MR-SFEM is bounded by (5/8), which is much smaller than that of original SFEM models with traditional mass matrix (13/4) and consistence mass matrix (2). Owing to properly turning the balancing between stiffness and mass, the MR-SFEM achieves higher accuracy and much better natural eigenfrequencies prediction than the original SFEM does.
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Robyn Clay-Williams, Andrew Johnson, Paul Lane, Zhicheng Li, Lauren Camilleri, Teresa Winata and Michael Klug
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of negotiation training delivered to senior clinicians, managers and executives, by exploring whether staff…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of negotiation training delivered to senior clinicians, managers and executives, by exploring whether staff members implemented negotiation skills in their workplace following the training, and if so, how and when.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a qualitative study involving face-to-face interviews with 18 senior clinicians, managers and executives who completed a two-day intensive negotiation skills training course. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and inductive interpretive analysis techniques were used to identify common themes. Research setting was a large tertiary care hospital and health service in regional Australia.
Findings
Participants generally reported positive affective and utility reactions to the training, and attempted to implement at least some of the skills in the workplace. The main enabler was provision of a Negotiation Toolkit to assist in preparing and conducting negotiations. The main barrier was lack of time to reflect on the principles and prepare for upcoming negotiations. Participants reported that ongoing skill development and retention were not adequately addressed; suggestions for improving sustainability included provision of refresher training and mentoring.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations include self-reported data, and interview questions positively elicited examples of training translation.
Practical implications
The training was well matched to participant needs, with negotiation a common and daily activity for most healthcare professionals. Implementation of the skills showed potential for improving collaboration and problem solving in the workplace. Practical examples of how the skills were used in the workplace are provided.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first international study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of an integrative bargaining negotiation training program targeting executives, senior clinicians and management staff in a large healthcare organization.
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Yang Li, Zhixiang Xie, Yaochen Qin and Zhicheng Zheng
This paper aims to study the temporal and spatial variation of vegetation and the influence of climate change on vegetation coverage in the Yellow River basin, China. The…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the temporal and spatial variation of vegetation and the influence of climate change on vegetation coverage in the Yellow River basin, China. The current study aimed to evaluate the role of a series of government-led environmental control projects in restoring the ecological environment of the Yellow River basin.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses unary linear regression, Mann–Kendall and wavelet analyses to study the spatial–temporal variations of vegetation and the response to climate changes in the Yellow River, China.
Findings
The results showed that for the past 17 years, not only the mean annual increase rate of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was 0.0059/a, but the spatial heterogeneity also yields significant results. The vegetation growth in the southeastern region was significantly better than that in the northwestern region. The variation period of the NDVI in the study area significantly shortened, and the most obvious oscillation period was half a year, with two peaks in one year. In addition, there are positive and negative effects of human activities on the change of vegetation cover of the Loess Plateau. The project of transforming cultivated land to forest and grassland promotes the increase of vegetation cover of the Loess plateau. Unfortunately, the regional urbanization and industrialization proliferated, and the overloading of grazing, deforestation, over-reclamation, and the exploitation and development of the energy area in the grassland region led to the reduction of the NDVI. Fortunately, the positive effects outweigh the negative ones.
Originality/value
This paper provides a comprehensive insight to analysis of the vegetation change and the responses of vegetation to climate change, with special reference to make the planning policy of ecological restoration. This paper argues that ecological restoration should be strengthened in areas with annual precipitation less than 450 mm.
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Xun Gong, Yue Bai, Zhicheng Hou, Changjun Zhao, Yantao Tian and Qiang Sun
The quad‐rotor is an under‐actuation, strong coupled nonlinear system with parameters uncertainty, unmodeled disturbance and drive capability boundedness. The purpose of…
Abstract
Purpose
The quad‐rotor is an under‐actuation, strong coupled nonlinear system with parameters uncertainty, unmodeled disturbance and drive capability boundedness. The purpose of the paper is to design a flight control system to regulate the aircraft track the desired trajectory and keep the attitude angles stable on account of these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Considering the dynamics of a quad‐rotor, the closed‐loop flight control system is divided into two nested loops: the translational outer‐loop and the attitude inner‐loop. In the outer‐loop, the translational controller, which exports the desired attitude angles to the inner‐loop, is designed based on bounded control technique. In consideration of the influence of uncertain rotational inertia and external disturbance, the backstepping sliding mode approach with adaptive gains is used in the inner‐loop. The switching control strategy based on the sign functions of sliding surface is introduced into the design procedure with respect to the input saturation.
Findings
The validity of the proposed flight control system was verified through numerical simulation and prototype flight experiment in this paper. Furthermore, with relation to the flying, the motor speed is kept in the predetermined scope.
Originality/value
This article introduces a new flight control system designed for a quad‐rotor.
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Songshan (Sam) Huang, Zhicheng Yu, Yuhong Shao, Meng Yu and Zhiyong Li
This study examines the relative effects of human capital (HC), social capital (SC) and psychological capital (PC) on hotel employees’ job performance.
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the relative effects of human capital (HC), social capital (SC) and psychological capital (PC) on hotel employees’ job performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 417 employees from seven five-star hotels in China was recruited for the study. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to confirm the quality of measurement structures. Stepwise regression was used to examine the relative effects of the three capitals on hotel employees’ job performance.
Findings
PC was found to be the strongest predictor of self-reported job performance (SJP) among the three capitals under investigation. Education and work experience in the HC domain affected SJP, whereas SC dimensions did not. However, only education and work experience in the HC domain were found to affect supervisor-rated job performance (RJP).
Practical implications
Given the impact of PC on hotel employee’s SJP, human resource managers should attend to this capital in staff recruitment, retention and training and development.
Originality/value
This study provides a holistic comparative lens to examine the relative contribution of the three capitals on hotel employees’ job performance. This will help to further clarify the roles played by each of the capitals in hotel service work, thus advancing the development of the theories underlying each of the three capitals.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of cultural beliefs on governance in a business network without a legal institutional framework. Particular…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of cultural beliefs on governance in a business network without a legal institutional framework. Particular emphasis is placed on the cross-country remittance mail operating network in Chaoshan, China, during the period 1860-1949. This investigation builds on Greif’s business governance theory and develops an analytical framework that considers cultural beliefs, agency relationships and multilateral punishment mechanisms. Furthermore, it uses the institutional analysis method to identify the institutional factors that sustained the remittance mail operating networks and their underlying mechanisms.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts the qualitative research method. First, it investigates the history of the remittance mail operating network and agency relationships by searching through the contents of the relevant historical documents preserved in the official archives and information found in other records. Thereafter, it summarizes and demonstrates the cultural beliefs inferred from that research. The archival materials permit analysis of the interactions between cultural beliefs, agency relationships and multilateral punishment mechanisms by the institutional analysis method.
Findings
Due to the lack of legal institutions in China during the period under review, cultural beliefs played a central institutional role in cross-country business relations. Network governance was coupled with clan cultural beliefs in the remittance mail operating network. This relationship was the key to sustain the efficient operation of the remittance mail network.
Originality/value
In the West, corporate governance has been influenced by and has become an integral feature of Western culture and values. This is not necessarily so for the corporate governance in terms of Chinese culture and values. Thus, instead of mimicking the modes of developed countries, it is important for Chinese enterprises to seek a mode of corporate governance that is in accord with their local cultures. This may be an important focus for enterprise development.
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Zhen Ye, Wangwei Lin, Neshat Safari and Charanjit Singh
The purpose of this paper is to review the criminal enforcement of insider dealing cases in People's Republic of China's (PRC) securities market and to provide feasible…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the criminal enforcement of insider dealing cases in People's Republic of China's (PRC) securities market and to provide feasible suggestions for improvement for a more coherent and streamlined insider dealing regulatory framework in the PRC during the enforcement of China's new Securities Law (SL 2020) in March 2020.
Design/methodology/approach
Through analysing the previous literature on public interest theories and economic theories of regulation, this paper examines the necessity to regulate insider dealing in China with criminal law to ensure fairness and avoid monopolies in its securities market. The paper reviews the criminalising of severe insider dealing cases in China from the Nanking National Government in the 1920s to the inception of the securities market of the PRC in the 1990s to the present day. The investigation, prosecution, enforcement and trial of criminal offences of insider dealing in China are thoroughly examined.
Findings
The paper finds a tendency for over reliance on the investigation and the administrative judgement of the China Securities Regulatory Commission in criminal investigation, prosecution and trial in the PRC.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first papers to critically and thoroughly analyse the criminal enforcement of insider dealing in China following the recent enforcement of China’s new Securities Law in March 2020.
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The purpose of this paper is to control the size of online advertising by the use of the single factor experiment design using the eight matching methods of logo and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to control the size of online advertising by the use of the single factor experiment design using the eight matching methods of logo and commodity picture elements as independent variables, under the premise of background color and content complexity and to investigate the best visual search law of logo elements in online advertising format. The result shows that when the picture element is fixed in the center of the advertisement, it is suggested that the logo element should be placed in the middle position parallel to the picture element (left middle and upper left), placing the logo element at the bottom of the picture element, especially at the bottom left should be avoided. The designer can determine the best online advertising format based on the visual search effect of the logo element and the actual marketing purpose.
Design/methodology/approach
In this experiment, the repeated measurement experiment design was used in a single factor test. According to the criteria of different types of commodities and eight matching methods, 20 advertisements were randomly selected from 50 original advertisements as experimental stimulation materials, as shown in Section 2.3. The eight matching methods were processed to obtain a total of 20×8=160 experimental stimuli. At the same time, in order to minimize the memory effect of the repeated appearance of the same product, all pictures, etc., the probability was randomly presented. In addition, in order to avoid the pre-judgment of the test for the purpose of the experiment, 80 additional filler online advertisements were added. Therefore, each testee was required to watch 160+80=240 pieces of stimulation materials.
Findings
On one hand, when the image elements are fixed for an advertisement, the advertiser should first try to place the logo element in the right middle position parallel to the picture element, because the commodity logo in this matching mode can get the longest average time of consumers’ attention, and the duration of attention is the most. Danaher and Mullarkey (2003) clearly pointed out that as consumers look at online advertising, the length of fixation time increases, the degree of memory of online advertisement is also improved accordingly. Second, you can consider placing the logo element in the left or upper left of the picture element. In contrast, advertisers should try to avoid placing the logo element at the bottom of the picture element (lower left and lower right), especially at the lower left, because, at this area, the logo attracts less attention, resulting in shortest duration of consumer attention, less than a quarter of consumers’ total attention. This conclusion is consistent with the related research results.
Originality/value
Advertising owners in the logo and picture elements for typesetting, if advertisers want to highlight the elements of the commodity logo, the logo should be arranged in the first point of view more locations, which cause consumers more unconscious processing, to achieve good memory and communication effects. Therefore, based on the above conclusions, it is also recommended that the logo elements should be placed on the right side of the picture elements in the advertising layout, and the sixth form of matching should be avoided as much as possible.
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Xiaodong Zhang, Ping Li, Xiaoning Ma and Yanjun Liu
The operating wagon records were produced from distinct railway information systems, which resulted in the wagon routing record with the same oriental destination (OD) was…
Abstract
Purpose
The operating wagon records were produced from distinct railway information systems, which resulted in the wagon routing record with the same oriental destination (OD) was different. This phenomenon has brought considerable difficulties to the railway wagon flow forecast. Some were because of poor data quality, which misled the actual prediction, while others were because of the existence of another actual wagon routings. This paper aims at finding all the wagon routing locus patterns from the history records, and thus puts forward an intelligent recognition method for the actual routing locus pattern of railway wagon flow based on SST algorithm.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the big data of railway wagon flow records, the routing metadata model is constructed, and the historical data and real-time data are fused to improve the reliability of the path forecast results in the work of railway wagon flow forecast. Based on the division of spatial characteristics and the reduction of dimension in the distributary station, the improved Simhash algorithm is used to calculate the routing fingerprint. Combined with Squared Error Adjacency Matrix Clustering algorithm and Tarjan algorithm, the fingerprint similarity is calculated, the spatial characteristics are clustering and identified, the routing locus mode is formed and then the intelligent recognition of the actual wagon flow routing locus is realized.
Findings
This paper puts forward a more realistic method of railway wagon routing pattern recognition algorithm. The problem of traditional railway wagon routing planning is converted into the routing locus pattern recognition problem, and the wagon routing pattern of all OD streams is excavated from the historical data results. The analysis is carried out from three aspects: routing metadata, routing locus fingerprint and routing locus pattern. Then, the intelligent recognition SST-based algorithm of railway wagon routing locus pattern is proposed, which combines the history data and instant data to improve the reliability of the wagon routing selection result. Finally, railway wagon routing locus could be found out accurately, and the case study tests the validity of the algorithm.
Practical implications
Before the forecasting work of railway wagon flow, it needs to know how many kinds of wagon routing locus exist in a certain OD. Mining all the OD routing locus patterns from the railway wagon operating records is helpful to forecast the future routing combined with the wagon characteristics. The work of this paper is the basis of the railway wagon routing forecast.
Originality/value
As the basis of the railway wagon routing forecast, this research not only improves the accuracy and efficiency for the railway wagon routing forecast but also provides the further support of decision-making for the railway freight transportation organization.
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