Purpose -The purpose of the paper is to assess the state of the business development services (BDS) market in Chengdu, with a view to identifying demand and/or supply side deficiencies, which public policy might help to address. Design/methodology/approach -The data are drawn from two surveys undertaken in Chengdu between November 2005 and January 2006. Findings -The research shows there are small firms that are active users of BDS, reflecting the emergence of non-state owned enterprises in the city. The survey also shows evidence of unfulfilled latent demand, with a particular reference to sales and marketing advice and helping firms to access sources of finance. In addition, the survey of BDS providers shows that some are sensitive to the needs of small firms, although the latter are typically under-represented in their client base. Practical implications -The findings suggest that the BDS market in Chengdu is underdeveloped from a small business perspective, which can be illustrated by pointing to both demand-and supply-side deficiencies. It can be argued that this is an important policy issue, if small enterprises are to fulfil their potential contribution to local economic development, particularly in relation to the development of non-local sales. Originality/value -This research adopts an "evidence-based" approach to inform policy development.
Population aging is a global challenge and the degree of population aging is continuing to deepen in China. Under the active aging policy framework by WHO, great importance has been attached to aging women and participation is emphasized for the well-being of the elderly. This study aimed to investigate the relation between social participation and self-rated health status of aging women in China and whether caring for grandchildren mediated such an association. Adopting data from the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), this study used Oprobit regression, propensity score matching (PSM), and instrument variable regression to estimate the effects. The result showed that there was a positive association between social participation and self-rated health among aging women in China, and social activities that directly made contributions to others had the most significant impacts on self-rated health. Furthermore, the mediator analysis confirmed that caring for grandchildren played a role between social participation and self-rated health. In conclusion, to deal with population aging challenges, the society should recognize the value of intergenerational care for aging women and the government need to strengthen policy supports to guarantee platforms and opportunities for the elderly to participate in social activities.
A novel method for the selective extraction of free (pH 8.4) and total sulfite (pH 11.0) from muscle foods and the following determination by a voltammetric sensor was reported. The proposed method was based on the eletrocatalytic oxidation of sulfite at modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) fabricated by immobilizing 9 μg of acetylferrocene on the surface of GCE along with 35 μg of carbon black to improve the electron transfer within poly(vinyl butyral) membrane matrix. The external standard calibration curve was linear in the range of 0.03-4.0 mmol L(-1) with a detection limit of 15 μmol L(-1). This method had been applied to the determination of free and total sulfite in shrimp muscle fortified samples and compared with an ion chromatography method. The proposed electrode and analysis methods were proven to be sensitive, accurate, and rapid and exhibited very good reproducibility and stability under the used conditions.
Quality function deployment (QFD) is a customer-oriented structural development approach. Along the gaps in the circle of service satisfaction, a new model of service quality function deployment (SQFD) has been established to develop new service. The purpose of this paper is to provide a new service development approach both in terms of academic model and practical application. A Chinese mobile telecommunication case study (tariff package design) has been employed to verify and revise the model. The findings are that, although a concise model is adopted unusual according the actual service situation, the GAP-based QFD model expands the investigative scope of GAP study from GAP 1 and/or GAP 5 to GAP1 to GAP 5. It has also been found that it is a useful tool to develop new service using a reasonable and delicate combination of Kano model, SERVQUAL scales, and GAP circle, although several further directions are presented in the latter part of the study.
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