Exploring how to develop customer-oriented business strategies in a clothing supply chain: a study in Southern China

Understanding customer expectations is one of the keys to success for today's clothing manufacturers. Previous studies have explained how operational performance can be improved by a better understanding of customer-perceived values. This paper presents an analysis of data collected through a questionnaire from 62 clothing manufacturers in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) of Southern China. The data collected was first classified into three groups using cluster analysis. The classification is based on how well the respondents recognize the expectations of their customers, including both industrial customers and consumers. The paper then empirically explores the characteristics of each group and how such characteristics are related to the internal operations performance; internal operations are grouped into two major types: planning processes and operational processes. The paper concludes by presenting a relationship model that can be used as a reference tool by those organizations operating in the PRD clothing industry to improve internal operations performance by enhancing customer satisfaction.published_or_final_versio

Explore the behavior of plagiarism at the secondary school level in Hong Kong

Paper Presentation: no. 548Under the new Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) curriculum, students need to build their information literacy skills for fulfilling their school based assessment. Students should be taught how to avoid plagiarism. Some previous studies have identified students’ plagiarism behaviour. However, most current studies portray the situation in Western countries, while related research focusing on Hong Kong is scarce. This study targets the secondary school students in Hong Kong. It explores to what extent the students understand plagiarism in the context of their inquiry based projects. Its findings help design new inquiry project based curriculum.link_to_OA_fulltextThe 2012 CITE Research Symposium (CITERS 2012), Hong Kong, 15-16 June 2012

Assessment of students’ information literacy: a case study of a secondary school in Hong Kong

Paper Presentation: no. 553This study aims to examine Hong Kong secondary school students’ current information literacy (IL) in the context of inquiry project-based learning. Three models: TRAILS, Information Search Process, and IL Framework for Hong Kong Students were adapted to be a modified theoretical framework served as an assessment instrument. The findings showed that the students’ learning outcome for IL was at Level II, which equalled to the stage of Primary Four to Six in the IL Framework outlined by the Education Bureau, HKSAR. The students did well in identifying potential sources while they did not do well in using information properly.link_to_OA_fulltextThe 2012 CITE Research Symposium (CITERS 2012), Hong Kong, 15-16 June 201

Oxygen and sodium plasma-implanted nickel-titanium shape memory alloy: a novel method to promote hydroxyapatite formation and suppress nickel leaching

This study aims at modifying the surface bioactivity of NiTi by sodium and oxygen plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII). Sodium ions were implanted into oxygen plasma-implanted NiTi and untreated NiTi. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that more sodium was implanted into the oxygen pre-implanted sample in comparison with the untreated surface. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) detected calcium and phosphorus rich deposits on both samples after immersion in simulated body fluids for 7 and 21 days. Inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) conducted on the deposits dissolved in diluted hydrochloric acid showed more calcium on the oxygen PIII samples. The improved corrosion resistance of the oxygen PIII NiTi was retained after sodium PIII as evaluated by potentiodynamic polarization tests. Better spreading and proliferation of osteoblasts were also observed on the treated samples. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Mechanical properties, bioactivity and corrosion resistance of oxygen and sodium plasma treated nickel titanium shape memory alloy

Nickel titanium (NiTi) shape memory alloy is a unique material displaying the shape memory effect and superelastic property making it attractive to the orthopedic field. However, with its high nickel content of ∼ 50%, there is concern on health and safety when this material is implanted inside the human body for a prolonged period of time as toxic nickel ions may leach into the body due to corrosion under physiological environment. Previous work demonstrated that the corrosion resistance of this material could be enhanced by implanting a packed oxide layer on the substrate surface using oxygen plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII). The present study aims at improving its bioactivity by further implanting sodium ions into the modified surface using PIII. The chemical composition of the modified surface is characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Simulated body fluid (SBF) immersion tests for 21 days indicate that implantation of sodium successfully enhances the accumulation of calcium/phosphorus-rich deposits on the modified surface. Anodic polarization scans suggest that sodium PIII does not affect the corrosion resistance of the oxygen plasma implanted surface. Three-point bending test reveals changes in the bulk mechanical property after PIII. However, superelasticity can be retained in the implanted NiTi materials. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) suggests a change in the transition temperature of the substrate which likely causes the change in mechanical property. In conclusion, oxygen and sodium PIII can enhance the bioactivity and corrosion resistance of NiTi, but care must be exercised because this treatment may change the bulk mechanical property. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.link_to_subscribed_fulltex