Suchergebnisse

To evaluate the transportation time reliability of the maritime transportation network for China&rsquo ; s crude oil imports under node capacity variations resulting from extreme events, a framework incorporating bi-level programming and a Monte Carlo simulation is proposed in this paper. Under this framework, the imported crude oil volume from each source country is considered to be a decision variable, and may change in correspondence to node capacity variations. The evaluation results illustrate that when strait or canal nodes were subject to capacity variations, the network transportation time reliability was relatively low. Conversely, the transportation time reliability was relatively high when port nodes were under capacity variations. In addition, the Taiwan Strait, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Strait of Malacca were identified as vulnerable nodes according to the transportation time reliability results. These results can assist government decision-makers and tanker company strategic planners to better plan crude oil import and transportation strategies.

Under the background of increasingly severe environmental problems, green innovation has become a key way to realize coordinated development of economy and environment. Therefore, it is of great significance to explore the antecedent factors of green innovation. Based on the upper-echelon theory, this study explores the influence of the academic background of top management teams (TMT) on firm's green innovation outcomes and firm performance in Chinese listed companies. This study also discusses three boundary conditions for TMT's academic experience to promote firm's green innovation. The results show that TMT's academic experience promotes green innovation output. Moreover, TMT's academic experience do not have a uniform effect: strict environmental regulation strengthens the relationship between TMT's academic experience and green innovation output, while political connection and innovation input negatively moderate this relationship. Furthermore, green innovation output does not result in better economic benefits for enterprises with top executives who have academic experience, and this condition is observed more in state-owned enterprises. This study reveals the motivation of green innovation and provides a useful reference for enterprises to implement green innovation strategy more effectively.

The article examines the origin of symbolism and the cult of colour on the example of colour symbolism in the art of Thangka; it analyses two cultural and logical approaches to colour symbolism comprehension: using inductive method (generalization of natural attributes of colour) and deductive method (further transformation of colour symbolism into a social phenomenon and extension of colour semantic field). Two main symbolic systems generated by colour symbolism in Tibetan culture in the deductive process of its transformation into a social phenomenon - the "system of objectification" and the "system of humanization and deification", their implementation in the Thangka paintings and the features of serving the needs of religion are investigated in this article.

The question, which in the process of maintaining the continuity and development of thangka painting must be addressed both theoretically and practically, is how a religious pictorial art, existing in a complex and multilayered geographical environment, can both maintain its religious character and build a cultural space capable of attracting masses of viewers.

King Hu's films are regarded as drawing on the artistic conventions of traditional Chinese theatre. Their soundtracks were conceived as and, to this day, perform as the legitimate heirs to some of the aesthetic ideas and norms of Chinese traditional theatre, namely Peking Opera. In this dissertation, I survey a limited but historically meaningful repertoire of King Hu's films. In the first chapter, I trace a trajectory leading to the development of Chinese martial arts cinema by reference to the influence that the theatre exerted on the cinema throughout its formative period. In Chapter 2, I look into performance conventions, with a special focus on sound, as the driving force behind the transformation that led from story telling to performance, and from martial arts literature to its theatrical and cinematic manifestations. Taking the 1970, omnibus film Four Moods (Xi Nu Ai Le / Joy, Anger, Sorrow, Happiness, 喜怒哀樂) as my case study, I examine the synchronization between luo gu dian zi (percussive pattern, 鑼鼓點子) and the martial arts moves, which bespeaks the symptomatic triangulation of film, theatre and literature. The film analyzed in Chapter 3, Raining in the Mountain (空山靈雨) (1979), exhibits far more than Hu's debt to the theatre. Here, Hu investigates the body as a religiously, politically and socially meaningful entity, assisted by composer Wu Dajiang's musical experiments. A Buddhist concept is found to be at the core and rhetoric in this work. A closer look at the sonic dimension of Hu's films, then, forces one to redefine its thematics. The fourth chapter focuses on the study of Wu Dajiang's manuscript copy of the score for Painted Skin (畫皮之陰陽法王) (1993), which is the only known existing music score of King Hu's films. Based on an interview with Wu Dajiang's assistant Lu Lianghui, this chapter elaborates their collaborations with King Hu, and explores Hu's artistic criteria for film music, which embodies his stance as an authoritarian director. With a focus on the coordination of the musical cue with the visual and narrative domains, this chapter investigates the score as an element of the film, which reflects King Hu's consistent effort to preserve the aesthetics of Chinese traditional theatre in filmmaking. ; published_or_final_version ; Music ; Doctoral ; Doctor of Philosophy

AbstractObjectiveThis study examined associations between marital adjustment and children's learning behaviors, as well as the potential mediation effects of maternal involvement and parenting on these associations in Chinese contexts.BackgroundThe family is a vital setting for children's early learning behaviors, encompassing self‐efficacy in learning and approaches to learning. Marital adjustment, as well as maternal involvement and maternal parenting, are crucial factors in the family setting. However, there is a paucity of research on the pathway mechanism between these three family factors and children's early learning behaviors.MethodThere were 750 mothers of Chinese preschoolers (48.24% girls, Mage = 5.94 years, SD = 1.43) in three provinces—Fujian, Sichuan, and Xinjiang—who participated in the study. Mothers completed questionnaires related to marital adjustment, maternal involvement, maternal parenting, and children's learning behaviors. Structural equation models were estimated to test the hypothesized paths.ResultsThe results revealed a positive association between higher marital adjustment and improved children's self‐efficacy in learning (β = .10, p = .004) and approaches to learning (β = .15, p < .001), with maternal involvement (for self‐efficacy, β = .25, p < .001; for approaches to learning, β = .23, p < .001) and parenting (for self‐efficacy, β = .25, p < .001; for approaches to learning, β = .31, p < .001) recognized as significant mediators in this relationship.ConclusionsThe study indicated that marital adjustment, maternal involvement, and parenting have significant direct and indirect effects on children's early learning behaviors.ImplicationsGiven the research findings, marital adjustment is worth considering when recognizing children's early learning. Furthermore, parents may be encouraged to understand proper involvement and parenting practices with their children. Briefly, these findings contribute to the existing body of knowledge on how family variables are related to children's learning behaviors.

Purpose
In the context of global economic downturn and intense competition, firms are increasingly resorting to supply chains to acquire capital support and achieve sustainability. This study aims to investigate the effect of supply chain finance (SCF) on corporate sustainability performance (CSP) and identifies SCF-related recipes for CSP.


Design/methodology/approach
Based on a sample of 1,038 firms that disclose CSP – namely, corporate financial performance (CFP) and environmental, social and governance performance (ESGP) – the authors use a quasi-replication method consisting of empirical analysis with fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to investigate SCF's effects on CSP.


Findings
The authors find that SCF has a "doing well by doing good" effect on CSP. CFP can promote the positive effect of SCF and ESGP while ESGP's positive effect on SCF and CFP is nonsignificant. In addition, heterogeneity tests show that SCF's promoting effect on CSP is affected by high-low CFP and ESGP. The fsQCA results verify the empirical findings and reveal five SCF-related recipes for achieving high CSP.


Research limitations/implications
This study has the following two limitations. First, we do not consider how SCF affects CSP in different industries. There is a need to investigate whether industry heterogeneity changes SCF's effects on CSP, especially in prominent industries, such as the energy industry, with its high susceptibility to ESGP, and the manufacturing industry, with its extensive application of SCF. It will be important to investigate these industries to better understand SCF's role in sustainability. Second, we study the secondary supply chain – namely, core firm–suppliers and core firm–customers. The authors do not consider financial institutions (e.g. banks and guarantee institutions). SCF modes that include the participation of financial institutions, such as factoring financing and reverse factoring financing, cater more to the capital needs of diversified firms. In the future, studying specific industries that have made significant contributions to the application of SCF along with others that are more sensitive to environmental governance could better highlight the effect of SCF on sustainability and help supply chain managers understand the application value of SCF. Future research could also extend SCF participants into multiple roles to explore separate effects. Tracking financing demanders, fund providers and credit guarantors could capture SCF characteristics more comprehensively. Methodologically, it will be challenging to accurately measure SCF networks in terms of quantification. In future work, this could be performed with the help of artificial intelligence.


Practical implications
First, our findings indicate that SCF has a "doing well by doing good" effect on core firms. SCF can not only overcome the capital shortage of SMEs but also provide significant benefits to core firms. Second, our findings provide SCF-related recipes to help firms fulfil ESGP obligations without sacrificing CFP under the pressure to "do good." The authors provide valuable insights and diverse recommendations to help supply chain managers, marketing executives and researchers adjust supply chain management strategies. Third, this work can guide executives in various fields to adopt SCF to achieve sustainability as a risk-mitigation strategy by means of marketing.


Originality/value
This study identifies better, more straightforward SCF-related recipes for CSP (consisting of CFP and ESGP) using a quasi-replication analysis that improves upon conventional methods such as regression analysis, which have limited power. The authors provide valuable insights and diverse recommendations to help managers pursue sustainable development. The findings point to practical guidelines and feasible solutions that can support well-founded operational strategic and management decision-making, which can enhance a firm's competitiveness under uncertainty and a sluggish economy.

AbstractThe home-rearing environment (HRE) is significantly related to preschoolers' academic and behavioral development. Children's screen time has become an increasingly important aspect of the family environment in today's digital age. However, few studies explored screen time's indirect role in the relationships between HRE and children's development. This study was conducted in three provinces of China, and 825 child-parent dyads participated. The results indicated that a high-quality HRE is directly associated with better language and cognitive skills, self-regulation, self-efficacy, and fewer problem behaviors in children. Screen time has an indirect role in this relationship, suggesting that a better HRE associated with lower screen time improves children's outcomes. However, the HRE did not show a significant indirect role through screen time related to children's problem behavior, indicating other factors may play a role. The study highlights the importance of fostering enriching home environments and managing screen time to support children's development.