BIG‐BOX RETAILERS,RETAIL EMPLOYMENT,AND WAGES IN THE US

This paper examines the dynamic interrelationship between the presence of big‐box retailers and retail employment and wages in the United States at county level for 1986–2005 using panel vector autoregressions (Panel VAR). The Panel VAR approach addresses endogenous interactions among the variables in the system. In other words, this approach takes into account the fact that the presence of big‐box retailers can have an impact on retail employment and wages and at the same time, retail employment and wages can influence the presence of big‐box retailers. Results indicate that the presence of big‐box retailers has a positive effect on employment but a negative effect on wages. The effect on wages is relatively greater and is more prolonged than the effect on employment. Both employment and wages have an instant (first year) positive effect on the presence of big‐box retailers, which implies that big‐box stores are located in areas where the economy is growing.     

Seeing sustainability in business operations: US and British food retailer experiments with accountability

This article compares how food retail industries in Britain and the United States are facing sustainability challenges. The British and US industries are in different stages of maturity in identifying and responding to sustainability. Some UK retailers have begun developing broad‐based accountability systems that may aid them to see sustainability in their business operations. By examining what retailers are doing, how accountability systems can inform retailers and the business case for accountability, this article argues that retailers can gain significant business advantages with strategies to improve accountability. Compared with their American counterparts, British retailers may be better placed to deal with sustainability issues in future. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Measuring Retailers' Sustainable Development

This study aimed to develop a framework and measurement items for retailers to assess sustainability while avoiding potential subjectivity by combining top‐down and bottom‐up approaches, and verifying their validity based on consumer perceptions of sustainable retailing. The framework consisted of 54 measurement items categorized into a three‐order hierarchical model. At the top level of the model, there were three third‐order dimensions respectively related to consumers, retailers, and society. At the middle level, eight second‐order sub‐dimensions associated with retailing mix were classified into the aforementioned third‐order dimensions. At the bottom level, there were 21 first‐order sub‐dimensions related to the sustainable retailing activities. The development of sustainability assessment by combining top‐down and bottom‐up approaches and including consumer perceptions will allow retailers to assess their sustainability more strategically, as it will reduce the subjectivity and increase consumers' recognition of sustainable retailing. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

两种引流装置在整形外科植皮部位引流的效果观察

目的:通过观察不同引流装置注射器和引流盒在整形外科植皮部位的引流效果。方法:对整形外科172例植皮患者,根据植皮部位、范围、渗液、渗血情况选择合适型号的一次性无菌注射器和引流盒分别作为引流装置进行密封负压引流。结果:注射器作为引流装置较负压引流盒好固定,给患者带来生活上的便利。结论:注射器本身有刻度,能准确记录引流量,注射器成本较引流盒低,注射器便于携带,是整形外科植皮部位最理想的引流装置。     

一种提升卷烟包装箱回收合格率的方法——以遵义烟草为例

为了减少烟草商业企业卷烟物流配送中心件烟包装箱的破损,提升卷烟包装箱的回收合格率,通过对物流配送中心作业过程中烟箱循环各关键环节分析,发现拆、叠烟机设备造成包装箱的破损,提出了一种增大面积法,对拆、叠压机进行升级改造,减少了包装箱的破损,从而提升了卷烟包装箱的回收合格率。结果表明通过此方法,卷烟包装箱回收合格率同比提升了12.46%。     

The role of physical distribution services as determinants of product returns in Internet retailing

Pressure continues to build on Internet retailers to squeeze out inefficiencies from their day-to-day operations. One major source of such inefficiencies is product returns. Indeed, product returns in Internet retailing have been shown to be, on average, as high as 22% of sales. Yet, most retailers accept them as a necessary cost of doing business. This is not surprising since many retailers do not have a clear understanding of the causes of product returns. While it is known that return policies of retailers, along with product attributes, are two important factors related to product return incidents, little is known about which aspects of the online retail transaction make such a purchase more return-prone. In the current study, we seek to address this issue. We use a large data set of customer purchases and returns to identify how process attributes in physical distribution service (PDS) influence product returns. The first attribute involves perceptions of scarcity conditions in inventory availability among consumers when retailers reveal to consumers information on inventory levels for the products that they intend to buy. Our results show that orders in which items are sold when these conditions are revealed to shoppers have a higher likelihood of being returned than orders in which these conditions are not revealed. While prior research has argued that inventory scarcity perceptions have an effect on purchases, our findings suggest that they are also related to the likelihood of these purchases being returned. The second attribute involves the reliability in the delivery of orders to consumers. We find that the likelihood of orders being returned depends on the consistency between retailer promises of timeliness in the delivery of orders and the actual delivery performance of the orders. Moreover, we find that the effect that consistency in the delivery has in the likelihood of returns, is stronger for orders that involve promises for expedited delivery than for orders with less expeditious promises. That is, although the occurrence of returns depends on the delays in the delivery of orders to consumers relative to the initial promises made by the retailers, this effect is more notable for orders that involve promises of fast delivery.     

Charity shops on the high street: complementarity or unwanted neighbour?

Within the last ten years there has been substantial growth of the charity retailing sector. This increased retail presence and sophistication of marketing practices have led to the contention by mainstream retailers that charity shops, which enjoy specific fiscal arrangements, have an unfair competitive advantage. Utilising evidence from a range of town centre locations, this paper examines whether this allegation can be substantiated. Three sources of primary research are used: the profile of charity shops within a town centre context; the attitudes and perceptions of mainstream retailers and their organisational bodies; and finally, the perspective of town centre managers towards charity retailing. Analysis and subsequent discussion suggests that charity retailers can perform a complementary role within town centres, thus reducing the potential of conflict with mainstream retailing. Copyright © 2000 Henry Stewart Publications     

浅谈七箱单室梁架设施工技术

广珠城际轨道顺德站特大桥,桥梁结构布置类型为(39.3+64+39.3)m直线(四线)连续道岔连续梁+15孔32m七箱单室梁+(4×32)m(四线)道岔连续梁+(32+48+32)m缓和曲线连续梁,七箱单室梁中间三榀湿接后整体架设为全国首例,其箱梁在梁场内湿接,架桥机整体提运架工艺,及箱梁滑移梁技术为全国首创。根据七箱梁现场湿接的经验及其架梁的实际工艺,结合广珠城际轨道综合工程ZH-1标顺德梁场LC31.5-740运价一体式架桥机架梁工艺,介绍七箱单室梁架设施工工艺。     

可变容积周转箱的设计

文中通过分析目前企业使用周转箱普遍存在的问题,设计出一种可变容积周转箱。详细介绍了结构设计过程与使用效果,为仓储管理中物流设备的使用提供了一种可行性的思路和方案,同时在方案设计中体现了实用性与绿色环保的思想。     

Behind the veil: an exploratory study of the myths and realities of women in the Iranian workforce

Despite significant advancements, women executives and professionals have continued to complain about the existence of a glass ceiling in the UK, the USA, Canada and other countries that espouse equal employment opportunities. Little is known about the role and plight of women in the workforce in Islamic countries. In general, Western societies perceive the participation of women in the workforce and their upward career mobility as very limited in Islamic societies. This article seeks to address this limitation in the field by unravelling some of the myths and realities pertaining to women in the Iranian labour force. Based on interviews with 12 Iranians, reality checks were performed on five widely held perceptions of the status of women in Iran, including women's participation in the labour force, appointment to managerial/professional positions, representation in higher education, segregation in the workplace, and Islam's attitude towards non‐Muslims. These issues are discussed in the contexts of foreign direct investment in Iran and other Islamic countries. Implications for international human resource management, including the assignment of women expatriates to Iran and other Islamic nations, are also addressed.     

Customers,competitors and choice: employee relations in food retailing

This article examines the nature of employee relations in three of the leading food retailers in the UK. It compares and contrasts policies and practices by analysing the links between product markets, management choice, and employee relations. Special reference is made to features of work relations, employment relations, and industrial relations     

高校快递纸箱回收再利用网络节点选址研究--以郑州大学为例

为解决高校快递纸箱回收再利用问题,提出构建高校快递纸箱回收再利用层级网络,并确定层级网络中物流节点的选址布局。首先,基于现有校园快递服务点,构建包括消费点、回收站、处理中心和快递服务点的四级快递纸箱回收再利用层级网络。然后,以成本最小化为目标构建高校快递纸箱回收再利用网络节点选址模型。最后,以郑州大学为例,确定了郑州大学新校区快递纸箱回收再利用网络中回收站和处理中心的选址,验证了模型的可行性。     

基于DCL的参数化绘图通用对话框设计

介绍在AutoCAD环境下采用Visual LISP语言及对话框设计语言(DCL)开发的通用参数化设计对话框函数。对于使用Visual LISP二次开发参数化设计或绘图程序的用户,可直接调用该函数,通过对函数代入参数,即可显示图形与参数直观对应的对话框,并可直观确定选定的参数。用户不必编写繁杂的对话框管理程序,即可写出较专业的参数设计与绘图的Visual LISP程序。     

HR,perceived organisational support and organisational identification: an analysis after organisational formation

Academic research has rarely investigated the role that people management plays in encouraging employees to identify with their employing organisation. This article reports on a study investigating the role that employee perceptions of the HR environment plays in encouraging organisational identification and the importance of perceived organisational support in this relationship. Two research surveys are discussed, one carried out shortly after the formation of the new organisation within the UK National Health Service, and one is a replication study undertaken 13 months later. The results show that key HR‐related factors predict organisational identification; this effect is both direct and indirect through perceptions of organisational support. The findings also demonstrate that, as the organisation matures, there are some interesting changes in which aspects of the HR environment predict identification and perceptions of organisational support.     

The Value of Online Seller Reputation: Evidence from a Price Comparison Site

This paper examines the value of seller reputation for e‐retailers trading via a price comparison site (PCS). E‐markets are widely held to accommodate sellers of differing service quality, including some who behave opportunistically. The paper uses a sample of offers on up to 295 digital cameras traded on a leading PCS, over a 134‐day period to estimate reputation's price impact. User‐generated reputation measures have a significant impact in the expected direction. However, their magnitude is small compared with variables capturing economy‐wide reputation. The strength of the reputation signal increased non‐monotonically with the number of reviews on which it was based. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Supply Chain Strategies in the UK Fashion Industry—The Rhetoric of Partnership and Realities of Power

This paper focuses on the fashion industry, one characterised by issues such as dramatic shifts in the scale and power of major retail buyers in the market, the advent of retailer own brands, and the nature of sourcing and supply chain decisions, issues that are increasingly global in nature. The aim of this research is to explore the nature of relationships between UK high street multiple fashion retailers and their contracted suppliers, many of whom are entrepreneurial firms by most definitions of the term. Four core themes emerge from the literature and provide a framework for the research, namely, power, process, partnership, and people. The research approach was qualitative, and conducted over a period of twelve months. The paper ends with an agenda for future research.     

The impact of corporate social responsibility associations on trust in organic products marketed by mainstream retailers: a study of Italian consumers

This paper investigates the determinants of consumer attitudes toward organic products marketed by mainstream retailers under a private label. Since organic products are credence goods, consumers cannot directly verify whether these products comply with official standards. Organic labels are the primary source of consumer trust in organics, but these labels must be noticed and understood before consumers will actively seek them out. In that some consumers may not prioritize product labels when they shop, it is sometimes up to retailers to strengthen consumer trust. Within the antecedents of this trust, we isolated the contribution of the corporate social responsibility associations held by consumers about retailers. We surveyed Italian customers interested in organics and found that they are more likely to trust the private‐label organic products sold by a retailer when it is considered socially responsible. Our results also show that consumer trust translates into brand loyalty and a willingness to pay a premium price for organic products. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

基于遗传算法的港口堆场入场模型设计

码头堆场的集装箱调度成本过高一直以来都是困扰各港口企业的难题之一。调度成本中又以翻箱成本占最大比重。传统控制翻箱率的方法主要是靠码头调度中心的调度员通过个人经验等方式进行调度控制,不仅对调度员要求很高,而且由于人为判断容易失误,会造成大量翻箱。文中拟通过将堆场流程模型化设计,并通过遗传算法行之有效地模拟出堆场入场的最优方案。     

Opening up the black box: a UK case study of top managers’ attitudes to their performance related pay

This paper examines the attitudes of the top managers within one large financial services organization in the UK to fixed and variable components of their compensation package. The rationale for performance-related pay for senior managers is to align their interests with those of the shareholders, but little is known about the views of top managers on the effectiveness of such incentives. The results suggest that the design of effective bonus systems is not just a technical issue: perceptions of market fairness with respect to the compensation package and the clear communication of goals are important in getting senior managers to focus on shareholder interests.     

Feeling poor,acting stingy: the effect of money perceptions on charitable giving

In research on philanthropy, much attention has been given to the impact of the actual economic costs of giving. This paper argues that the perceived psychological costs of giving should also be taken into consideration when seeking to understand donations to charitable organizations. It is already known that people differ in their attitudes towards money, and that money attitudes are mostly independent from income, but these findings have been largely overlooked in the study of philanthropy and altruism. This paper seeks to rectify that omission by investigating the relationship between charitable giving and money perceptions. The analyses show that, regardless of the actual financial resources held by a donor, the size of their donations is negatively affected by feelings of retention (a careful approach to money) and inadequacy (people who worry about their financial situation). We conclude that an understanding of money perceptions is an additional important factor in the understanding of charitable behaviour. Fundraising professionals should not only select potential donors based on their absolute financial capacities but also take the potential donor's own financial perceptions into account when asking for donations. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.