Paradigm Innovation through the Strategic Collaboration between TORAY & UNIQLO : Evolution of A New Fast Fashion Business Model

The key purpose of this study is to examine the remarkable context within the evolution of the paradigm innovation in fashion product development, in the case of Japanese fashion apparel, UNIQLO, created by Fast Retailing Corp in 1998. The key theme hereby concerns innovation, and this perspective surely necessitates Fast Retailing's strategic collaboration with a Japanese new material and artificial textile powerhouse, TORAY: as TORAY's technological provision was an essential source for the dynamic product and process innovation behind the extraordinary growth of UNIQLO. Furthermore, the technological superiority also entailed its innovative positioning in market competition. It is crucial to examine how and why the two brought about their core competences together through new combinations of concepts. This should impart a few promising research perspectives regarding their innovative model of unchallenged value creation, strong market competitiveness, and sustainable corporate growth.Paradigm Innovation, Product Development, Business Model, Japanese Apparel Industry, Fashion Apparel, Fast Fashion, Fast Retailing, UNIQLO, TORAY, Alliance, Virtual Vertical Integration

Adaptive Reuse of Religious Buildings and Schools in the US: Determinants of Project Outcomes

This study addresses factors that affect the outcomes of adaptive reuse of empty religious buildings and schools in the United States. Literature-driven observable factors expected to have an impact on project outcomes include both supply side and demand side factors (building characteristics, neighborhood demographics, micro-location characteristics, macro-economic factors, etc.) are used as explanatory variables. This study uses the multinomial logit model with the outcome of adaptive reuse projects (e.g., apartments, condominiums, retail, office and cultural uses) as the dependent variable. This study has found that many supply side and demand side factors are associated with certain outcomes. It is expected that the results of this study can offer valuable basic information about associations between factors and development outcomes for adaptive reuse.Adaptive reuse; Multinomial logit model; Religious buildings and schools

Adaptive Reuse of Religious Buildings in the U.S.: Determinants of Project Outcomes and the Role of Tax Credits

Adaptive reuse of historic buildings generates many tangible and intangible benefits. These benefits are not limited to the initiator (usually the developer) but are expanded to the community and the local government. This dissertation empirically investigates the role of tax credits in initiators\u27 decisions to reuse religious buildings and their choice of reuse project outcomes, including the federal historic preservation tax credit, the low income housing tax credit, and the new market tax credit. Theses tax credits are the most commonly used tax credits in historic preservation projects. In addition, this dissertation also tests whether or not religious buildings were designated as the national historic places have affected initiators\u27 decision to reuse religious buildings and in initiators\u27 choices of reuse project outcomes. As far as I know, this is the first academic dissertation that tests these factors as reuse determinants. To test hypotheses of this dissertation, both the multiple-case study and statistical analyses were used. Five religious buildings that have been reused for different purposes are considered: the Meridian Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Indianapolis, IN the Notre Dame Academy in Cleveland, OH the Ashbury Delaware Methodist Church in Buffalo, NY the First Church of Christ Scientist in Cleveland, OH and the Orthodox Jewish Congregation - Cheva Bikur Cholim in Seattle, WA. In-depth interviews with developers were used to determine the important factors that drove their investments in the reuse projects. In addition, multinomial logit regressions were run using individual religious buildings reused for different purposes or religious purposes as the unit of analysis. Religious buildings sold to other religious entities were set as a reference category, meaning I compared religious buildings sold to other religious entities with each reuse outcome including condominiums, offices, retail space, low income housing, school, cultural place and undeveloped religious building

Adaptive Reuse of Religious Buildings in the U.S.: Determinants of Project Outcomes and the Role of Tax Credits

Adaptive reuse of historic buildings generates many tangible and intangible benefits. These benefits are not limited to the initiator (usually the developer) but are expanded to the community and the local government. This dissertation empirically investigates the role of tax credits in initiators\u27 decisions to reuse religious buildings and their choice of reuse project outcomes, including the federal historic preservation tax credit, the low income housing tax credit, and the new market tax credit. Theses tax credits are the most commonly used tax credits in historic preservation projects. In addition, this dissertation also tests whether or not religious buildings were designated as the national historic places have affected initiators\u27 decision to reuse religious buildings and in initiators\u27 choices of reuse project outcomes. As far as I know, this is the first academic dissertation that tests these factors as reuse determinants. To test hypotheses of this dissertation, both the multiple-case study and statistical analyses were used. Five religious buildings that have been reused for different purposes are considered: the Meridian Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Indianapolis, IN the Notre Dame Academy in Cleveland, OH the Ashbury Delaware Methodist Church in Buffalo, NY the First Church of Christ Scientist in Cleveland, OH and the Orthodox Jewish Congregation - Cheva Bikur Cholim in Seattle, WA. In-depth interviews with developers were used to determine the important factors that drove their investments in the reuse projects. In addition, multinomial logit regressions were run using individual religious buildings reused for different purposes or religious purposes as the unit of analysis. Religious buildings sold to other religious entities were set as a reference category, meaning I compared religious buildings sold to other religious entities with each reuse outcome including condominiums, offices, retail space, low income housing, school, cultural place and undeveloped religious building

Adaptive Reuse of Religious Buildings in the U.S.: Determinants of Project Outcomes and the Role of Tax Credits

Adaptive reuse of historic buildings generates many tangible and intangible benefits. These benefits are not limited to the initiator (usually the developer) but are expanded to the community and the local government. This dissertation empirically investigates the role of tax credits in initiators\u27 decisions to reuse religious buildings and their choice of reuse project outcomes, including the federal historic preservation tax credit, the low income housing tax credit, and the new market tax credit. Theses tax credits are the most commonly used tax credits in historic preservation projects. In addition, this dissertation also tests whether or not religious buildings were designated as the national historic places have affected initiators\u27 decision to reuse religious buildings and in initiators\u27 choices of reuse project outcomes. As far as I know, this is the first academic dissertation that tests these factors as reuse determinants. To test hypotheses of this dissertation, both the multiple-case study and statistical analyses were used. Five religious buildings that have been reused for different purposes are considered: the Meridian Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Indianapolis, IN the Notre Dame Academy in Cleveland, OH the Ashbury Delaware Methodist Church in Buffalo, NY the First Church of Christ Scientist in Cleveland, OH and the Orthodox Jewish Congregation - Cheva Bikur Cholim in Seattle, WA. In-depth interviews with developers were used to determine the important factors that drove their investments in the reuse projects. In addition, multinomial logit regressions were run using individual religious buildings reused for different purposes or religious purposes as the unit of analysis. Religious buildings sold to other religious entities were set as a reference category, meaning I compared religious buildings sold to other religious entities with each reuse outcome including condominiums, offices, retail space, low income housing, school, cultural place and undeveloped religious building

Machine Learning Regularization for the Minimum Volume Formula of Toric Calabi-Yau 3-folds

We present a collection of explicit formulas for the minimum volume of Sasaki-Einstein 5-manifolds. The cone over these 5-manifolds is a toric Calabi-Yau 3-fold. These toric Calabi-Yau 3-folds are associated with an infinite class of 4d N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories, which are realized as worldvolume theories of D3-branes probing the toric Calabi-Yau 3-folds. Under the AdS/CFT correspondence, the minimum volume of the Sasaki-Einstein base is inversely proportional to the central charge of the corresponding 4d N=1 superconformal field theories. The presented formulas for the minimum volume are in terms of geometric invariants of the toric Calabi-Yau 3-folds. These explicit results are derived by implementing machine learning regularization techniques that advance beyond previous applications of machine learning for determining the minimum volume. Moreover, the use of machine learning regularization allows us to present interpretable and explainable formulas for the minimum volume. Our work confirms that, even for extensive sets of toric Calabi-Yau 3-folds, the proposed formulas approximate the minimum volume with remarkable accuracy.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, 4 table