In the past decade, a sizeable body of literature has built up on the concept and characteristics of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Western countries, where it has also been referred to as sustainability. More recently, attention has grown for CSR in emerging countries. Remarkably, China has hardly been studied so far. This paper aims to help fill this gap by considering, against this background, the CSR notion in China, through an exploration of a small sample of large retailers in China, both Chinese and non‐Chinese companies. The analysis of CSR/sustainability dimensions, as communicated by these large retailers in both the Chinese and the English language, shows substantial differences between the Chinese and international contexts. Interestingly, the largest divergence can be found for international retailers between their Chinese and corporate attention for CSR (so home versus host settings), most notably in the case of Carrefour, and to a lesser extent Wal‐Mart. In the Chinese context, there are differences between the Chinese and international retailers as well (so domestic versus foreign firms), with the former reporting more on economic dimensions, including philanthropy, and the latter more on product responsibility – contentious labour issues and the environment receive relatively limited attention in both groups in China. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for research and practice. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Biodegradable poly(l-lactide) (PLLA)/polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) nanocomposites were prepared in this work via solution and coagulation method at various POSS loadings in order to get a better dispersion of POSS in the PLLA matrix. Scanning electron microscopy observation indicates that POSS were nicely dispersed in the PLLA matrix. The overall crystallization rates are faster in the PLLA/POSS nanocomposites than in neat PLLA and increase with increasing the POSS loading; however, the crystallization mechanism and crystal structure of PLLA remain unchanged despite the presence of POSS. The storage modulus has been apparently improved in the PLLA/POSS nanocomposites with respect to neat PLLA, while the glass transition temperatures vary slightly between neat PLLA and the PLLA/POSS nanocomposites. It is interesting to find that the hydrolytic degradation rates have been enhanced obviously in the PLLA/POSS nanocomposites than in neat PLLA, which may be of great use and importance for the wider practical application of PLLA. The erosion mechanism of neat PLLA and the PLLA/POSS nanocomposites was further discussed.

Environmental problems, especially in the case of water and air pollution, are the harmful result of the overconsumption of fossil fuels as well as various forms of industrial sewage water discharge. Recently, growing environmentally friendly purchasing behaviour of consumers has become regarded as an effective method for alleviating such environmental problems. Due to concerns regarding the natural environment, consumers have increasingly begun to exhibit favourable attitudes towards environmentally friendly products, and as a result, are more likely to purchase “green” products. However, green purchasing behaviour of consumers varies across different nations and cultures. This study aims to reveal how Chinese cultural values (specifically, the Doctrine of the Mean) influence green purchasing intention of Chinese consumers. As the lifestyles of consumers will be deeply affected by their cultural values, this study examines the mediating effects of the four dimensions of Chinese lifestyle have on consumers. At the same time, environmental knowledge is considered as a moderating variable in order to investigate the relationship between the Doctrine of the Mean and green purchasing intention. The study’s data were collected from Chinese consumers. Empirical results reveal that such Chinese cultural values are positively associated with green purchasing intention, and that three dimensions of consumer lifestyle (namely leadership, cost consciousness and development consciousness), are all found to play mediating roles in the relationship between the Doctrine of the Mean and green purchasing intention in Chinese consumers. The moderating effects of environmental knowledge are exhibited in the influence of leadership as well as development consciousness on green purchasing intention. The study’s findings have theoretical implications for understanding green purchasing intention as well as behaviour of Chinese consumers further. The study’s findings also present practical implications for how to promote green purchasing intention in Chinese consumers better.

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Biodegradable poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL)/polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) nanocomposites at various POSS loadings were prepared via solution casting method in this work. Scanning electron microscopy observation indicates that POSS are homogeneously dispersed in the PCL matrix. The experiments show that the crystallization peak temperature is higher in the nanocomposites than in neat PCL during nonisothermal melt crystallization; moreover, the overall crystallization rate is faster in the nanocomposites than in neat PCL during isothermal melt crystallization. Both nonisothermal and isothermal melt crystallization studies suggest that the crystallization of PCL is enhanced by the presence of POSS and influenced by the POSS loading. The effect of POSS on the crystallization is twofold: the presence of POSS may provide heterogeneous nucleation sites for the PCL crystallization while the aggregates of POSS may restrict large crystal growth of PCL. However, the crystallization mechanism and crystal structure of PCL remain almost unchanged despite the presence of POSS in the nanocomposites. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2011. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers