Sustainable Development Goals

Although the literature on university–industry links has begun to uncover the reasons for, and types of, collaboration between universities and businesses, it offers relatively little explanation of ways to reduce the barriers in these collaborations. This paper seeks to unpack the nature of the obstacles to collaborations between universities and industry, exploring influence of different mechanisms in lowering barriers related to the orientation of universities and to the transactions involved in working with university partners. Drawing on a large-scale survey and public records, this paper explores the effects of collaboration experience, breadth of interaction, and inter-organizational trust on lowering different types of barriers. The analysis shows that prior experience of collaborative research lowers orientation-related barriers and that greater levels of trust reduce both types of barriers studied. It also indicates that breadth of interaction diminishes the orientation-related, but increases transaction-related barriers. The paper explores the implications of these findings for policies aimed at facilitating university–industry collaboration.

Investigating the factors that diminish the barriers to university-industry collaboration

The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits Pearson Education Inc., Wharton School Publishing, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 2004; Pages: 432; Price: US $ 29.99; ISBN: 0-13-146750-6. The treasure lying at the bottom of the world's economic pyramid, attracts companies with unimaginable prospects and profits. The economic pyramid of the world contains more than 400 crores of population at the bottom whose earnings and spendings per capita are low, but as an aggregate, are much larger than they are perceived to be. Hence, it is high time for the corporate managers to make an effort to locate the Alibaba's treasure lying hidden at the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP). Broadly, the characteristics and spending patterns of the BOP segment are different as compared to the other segments of the society. In the high and medium range markets, consumers are able to buy bigger packages of consumables such as a 10 kg packet of detergents so that they need not shop frequently. But low-end BOP consumers do not have so much disposable cash to buy in bulk and store. Hence, it is suggested that this segment be provided with "single serve" packages. Already in India, 30% of personal care and other consumables such as shampoo, tea, and cold medicines are sold in single serve packages and most single serve packages are priced at one rupee. Hindustan Lever Limited offers Clinic Plus shampoo priced at 50 Paisa. The major differences between the Bottom of the Pyramid and the Top of the Pyramid markets are differences in buying habits and cultural differences. The Bottom of the Pyramid is characterized by a low brand consciousness due to low economic position, and is mostly need driven. Major emerging BOP markets in the world, including China, India, Mexico, Russia, Brazil, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey and Indonesia, with a combined population of about 300 crores, represent 70% of the world BOP population. Such a huge jumbo size BOP market promises intense marketing opportunities for the companies. THE BOOK UNDER REVIEW Part 1 of the book emphasizes the development of an appropriate framework for the active engagement of the private sector at the BOR It provides the basis for a profitable win-win situation for all stake holders involved in the process of catering to BOP markets. Part 2 describes 12 cases, in a variety of businesses where BOP is becoming an active market and is bringing benefits to its customers far beyond offering just products. Part 3 contains stories in video form-an attempt to present the prospects and prosperity underlying the BOP markets, and to bring the BOP markets into limelight. Around 100 hrs of video was collected as part of the research. The book specifies workable solutions for serving huge population lying at the bottom of the world's economic pyramid. Even with NGOs working tirelessly and government support and international aid being circulated heavily, the problem of poverty still persists. According to the author, the main reason for this situation is that the private sector, which is huge and potentially capable of solving any problem in the world, is practically not involved. The concept of 'Bottom of the Pyramid" is explained in this book. The World's Economic Pyramid contains wealthy people at the top with high spending capacities and habits. But the size of this segment is very small i.e., only about 7.5 to 10 crores of 600 crores plus population, whereas more than 400 crores of population live at the bottom of the pyramid earning less than $2 per day and in India alone around 40 crores of people earn less than Rs. 90 per day. The author opines that, to effectively serve this BOP market, instead of old and tried solutions, continuous innovation and a paradigm shift in the thinking process of the private sector is needed. THE BOOK PRESENTS CASES OF COMPANIES THAT ARE INVOLVED IN BOP MARKETING * The Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF): It established the Solar Electric Light Company (SELCO) in 1995 to market, install, and serve the Solar Home Systems (SHS) in south India. …

The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits

Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis

Green marketing stems from the degrading of ecological environment and consumer's increasing sense of(environmental) protection.The essence of green marketing is to response actively to man's increasing concern for ecological(environment) and make choices and decisions in marketing by adhering to the environmental protection principle and the(ecological) principle and building up green technology,green market and green industry.Therefore,green marketing has profound ethical connotation.However,green marketing in present Chinese enterprises is actually in conflict with the logics of enterprise behavior.

On "Green Marketing"

Although the rapid progress of the global economy and technology has advanced human civilization, it has also caused tremendous damage to the global ecological environment. Therefore, humans are thinking seriously about the environment and its sustainable development. One of the solutions to environmental problems is new energy vehicles. Since the promulgation of the “Energy Saving and New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2012–2020)” by the General Office of the State Council, the Chinese government has determined a strategy of pure electric driving technology. The electric vehicle market in China has expanded rapidly, making China the largest electric vehicle market in the world. Hence, research on the situation of electric vehicles in China is highly necessary and of reference value for other countries to develop electric vehicles. As a result, it is a critical issue to develop low-carbon, energy-saving, and intelligent electric vehicles to reduce the environmental impact. This paper establishes a theoretical framework based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), technology acceptance model (TAM) and innovation diffusion theory (IDT), and explores the key factors influencing consumers’ purchase of electric vehicles. The results show that: The application of the key factor model constructed in this study to consumers’ behavioral intention regarding electric vehicle purchase is acceptable. According to the structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis results, (1) In terms of behavioral intention: Consumers’ control over the resources required to purchase electric vehicles has the highest influence on their behavioral intention, while consultation opinions from consumers’ surroundings also significantly affect their behavioral intention to purchase electric vehicles. In addition, consumers’ environmental awareness and acceptance of technology products will also influence their behavioral intention. (2) In terms of attitude toward behavior: When consumers believe that electric vehicles are more beneficial at the individual, environment or national level, or they believe that the usage of electric vehicles is simpler and more convenient, they will show a more positive attitude towards the purchase of electric vehicles. Consumers consider electric vehicles as forward-looking technology products with similar driving operation and usage cost compared to traditional vehicles. (3) In terms of regulations: The opinions of consumers’ family members, friends, colleagues or supervisors do not significantly affect the attitude or behavior of consumers regarding electric vehicle purchase. The key factors influencing consumers’ purchase of electric vehicles are not only applicable to the design and development of electric vehicles that better suit consumer demands, but also serve as a theoretical basis for the popularization of electric vehicles, and provide a reference for consumers’ choice and purchase. Therefore, the government and relevant manufacturers need to consider increasing the publicity of electric vehicles and launch more attractive battery and charging schemes to attract consumers and promote the sustainable development of the automobile industry.

Key Factors Influencing Consumers’ Purchase of Electric Vehicles

Due to industrial demand and the influence of government policies, the number of design colleges and students specializing in design in Taiwan has been increasing year by year. As a result, the topics on design education have gained great attention. To adapt to the rapidly-changing society, training that is designed to strengthen the professionalism and integration ability of those design majors should also be adjusted. Unlike traditional teaching methods, Stanford Design Thinking is a people-oriented problem-solving method. Proceeding from human needs, it offers creative solutions to various topics. Placing emphasis on integrated team communication and the cooperation and exchange among interdisciplinary talents, it is a new teaching model in response to the changes to the design environment. In this study, Stanford Design Thinking was introduced to the integrated design curriculum education as a creativity teaching strategy, and the action research method was adopted to explore the learning effectiveness of the design thinking method. According to the findings, the design thinking method can improve teaching; it can promote student participation through interview training in class during the Empathize stage; it offers substantial assistance to students in actual interviews; it reveals information about the demands of target groups, deepens students’ discussions on design-related topics, and creates a favorable atmosphere for teaching; it fosters a positive interaction between students and teachers and makes students more attentive in class. Inspired by this teaching method, students can independently seek product-testing objects to review their design concepts and develop a stronger motivation for self-learning.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/8/2649/pdf

Study on the Learning Effectiveness of Stanford Design Thinking in Integrated Design Education

Green design is advocated and developed in response to the increasingly deteriorating global environment, but its implementation is only based on the morality of the entrepreneurs, without economic incentive and legal restraint. As a result, green design has not been widely adopted. In recent years, the European countries, the U.S., Japan, the UN and Taiwan have successively promoted environmental accounting guidelines and required enterprises to disclose environmental improvement information, so as to improve the environment through production that will unavoidably impact product manufacturing. How product design should respond to this trend is a concern of this study. This study adopted the KJ (Kawakita Jiro) method and the meta-research method to analyze the influence factors. Then, it was discussed whether green design is feasible. The results showed that the requirements of green accounting include: expanding corporate social responsibility, production cannot be exempted from environmental protection, the manufacturing of clean products can generate pollution, the external production cost should be internalized, the redesign to improve the product production process and packaging, reducing resource waste and implementing the (Reduce, Recycle, Reuse) 3R policy, lifecycle assessment for all assessments and developing environmentally-friendly products, which can be solved with green design.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/5/6264/pdf

Analysis on the Relationship between Green Accounting and Green Design for Enterprises

In low-carbon product design, product environment, as well as economic and manufacturing capabilities, should be considered simultaneously. The purpose of this paper is to improve the product carbon footprint calculation efficiency. This study not only considers cost, supplier manufacturing capacity, and transport modes of product components from the viewpoint of low-carbon product design, but it also provides information on product GHG values, design phase cost, as well as the product decisions made by enterprises. In this way, enterprise objectives about carbon footprints and product cost can be met. Based on the product life cycle and product category specifications, this study, following the actual industry process flow, collects and calculates data on GHG emissions of components within the product life cycle, cost and supplier production capacity. The aim is to determine the operational parameters and constraint equations. Multi-objective planning is used to establish a low carbon optimal evaluation model. By reviewing carbon emissions in each phase, the study further determines whether or not to modify product structure and consumption in order to improve the efficiency of product carbon footprint calculation, reduce R&D cost, and help enterprises design low-carbon products. Finally, the findings are used for a case analysis.

Applying multi-objective planning in low-carbon product design

As one of the internationally recognized solutions to environmental problems, electric vehicles feature zero direct emissions and can reduce dependence on petroleum. An increasing number of countries have attached importance to the electric vehicle and developed it, and it is predicted that it will become a main force in the transportation system. Hence, it is necessary to explore the factors that drive consumers to buy electric vehicles. This study analyzes the factors that influence the consumer’s intention to buy electric vehicles and tests the relationship between them, and intends to offer information for the formulation of policies designed to popularize electric vehicles in order to reduce carbon emissions from transportation. As a result, consumer attitudes are the most important factor influencing the intention to purchase electric vehicles. The greatest effect is found in this line: Brand Trust→Perceived Benefit→Attitude→Purchase Intention. This means that the brand can increase the consumer’s perceived benefit of electric vehicles, make consumers more attracted to electric vehicles, and influence their final purchase intention.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/8/3496/pdf

Jui-Che Tu

Papers

Key Factors Influencing Consumers’ Purchase of Electric Vehicles

Study on the Learning Effectiveness of Stanford Design Thinking in Integrated Design Education

Analysis on the Relationship between Green Accounting and Green Design for Enterprises

Applying multi-objective planning in low-carbon product design

The Influential Factors of Consumers’ Sustainable Consumption: A Case on Electric Vehicles in China