Bicycle Industry Research Articles

The Wholesale Bicycle Industry in the Taisho Period

The Wholesale Bicycle Industry in the Taisho Period

Bicycle trade organizations in modern Shanghai

ABSTRACT:Trade associations were widely established as new industrial and commercial organizations in modern China, particularly during the Republican era. They were characterized by enormous spatial, temporal and industrial differences, and generalizing, one-sided studies are very unlikely to lead to a truthful, precise historical understanding of these associations. Case-studies that are more fully multidimensional are urgently needed to supplement our understanding. The national bicycle industry was representative of emerging industries in modern China. This article focuses on bicycle industry-related trade associations in modern Shanghai. Files housed in the Shanghai Municipal Archives are analysed to offer a concrete dissection of an individual case-study that will illuminate broader questions in trade association historical research.

The impacts of brand equity, brand attachment, product involvement and repurchase intention on bicycle users

The 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen was over on 19 December 2009. Undoubtedly, people will pay more attention to global warming and green life in the future. Enhancing protection of ecology is a key point in future development of world bicycle industry. Bicycle industry in Taiwan has complete upper, middle and lower systems. As bicycle companies in Taiwan gradually focus on medium and high end bicycles and total export reached USD1.2 billion in 2009. This shows increasing added values. In such a competitive environment, bicycle brands must offer various product types to meet needs of different consumers. Brands are important intangible assets to a company and under great attention of major world players. Therefore and this study aims at impacts of brand equity, brand attachment, product involvement and repurchase intention on bicycle users when selecting bicycle brands and engaging in activities. Target included users in bicycle recreation on bicycle lanes in areas north of Taichung. A total of 400 questionnaires were issued in convenience sampling; 350 valid questionnaires were collected and verified with LISREL. The conditions were: brand equity has positive influence on brand attachment, repurchase intention and product involvement; product involvement has positive influence on brand attachment and repurchase intention and indirect influence on brand attachment through product involvement. Through product involvement and brand attachment, it has indirect influence on repurchase intention. Suggestions were proposed against the preceding conclusions as reference on marketing strategies and operation management in developing own brands by bicycle companies in Taiwan. Key words: Bicycle, brand equity, brand involvement, brand attachment, repurchase intention, Structural Equation Modeling.

Relationship between leadership behaviors and task performance: The mediation role of job satisfaction and the moderation role of social distance

The 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen was over on 19 December 2009. Undoubtedly, people will pay more attention to global warming and green life in the future. Enhancing protection of ecology is a key point in future development of world bicycle industry. Bicycle industry in Taiwan has complete upper, middle and lower systems. As bicycle companies in Taiwan gradually focus on medium and high end bicycles and total export reached USD1.2 billion in 2009. This shows increasing added values. In such a competitive environment, bicycle brands must offer various product types to meet needs of different consumers. Brands are important intangible assets to a company and under great attention of major world players. Therefore and this study aims at impacts of brand equity, brand attachment, product involvement and repurchase intention on bicycle users when selecting bicycle brands and engaging in activities. Target included users in bicycle recreation on bicycle lanes in areas north of Taichung. A total of 400 questionnaires were issued in convenience sampling; 350 valid questionnaires were collected and verified with LISREL. The conditions were: brand equity has positive influence on brand attachment, repurchase intention and product involvement; product involvement has positive influence on brand attachment and repurchase intention and indirect influence on brand attachment through product involvement. Through product involvement and brand attachment, it has indirect influence on repurchase intention. Suggestions were proposed against the preceding conclusions as reference on marketing strategies and operation management in developing own brands by bicycle companies in Taiwan. Key words: Bicycle, brand equity, brand involvement, brand attachment, repurchase intention, Structural Equation Modeling.

고부가가치 자전거 개발을 위한 제품모델 및 관리시스템 개발

Nowadays, environmentally friendly technology is attracting considerable attention because of environmental pollution and the increasing price of raw materials. Korea has a high level of dependence on exports, and therefore it has stressed the development of environmentally friendly technologies. Bicycle manufacturing industry has a bright future because bicycles do not use fossil fuels, and cycling is good for one's health. We develop a management system for the effective development of next-generation environmentally friendly technology for bicycles. The goal is to promote the bicycle industry in Korea while keeping the product in the low to medium price range.

Exploring technological innovation trajectories through latecomers: evidence from Taiwan's bicycle industry

By examining the technological innovation trajectories of Taiwan's bicycle industry over the last 30 years, this paper identifies three specific periods that constitute industry cycles with peaks occurring in 1980, 1990 and 2002. In each period, innovation capabilities within the six bicycle subsystems shifted, accompanied by variations in the needs of international markets and in export performance. The empirical results demonstrate that innovation activity in the production of key components by technological latecomers increases only when that of the market leaders is in decline. It is also demonstrated that through incremental technological innovations, taking advantage of modularity and appropriate strategic organisational innovations, such latecomers can become and remain competitive in the international market. By providing an understanding of the sequences that make up modularised technological trajectories and of the cycles experienced by the global bicycle market, this study is able to elicit some practical insights into the policy and managerial implications for latecomers involved in technological innovation.

Similar opportunities, different responses: Explaining the divergent patterns of development between Taiwan and South Korea

Taiwan and Korea are said to have shared many similarities during the postwar period (e.g. Japanese colonial legacy and postwar geopolitics), but most importantly, both countries are presented as showcases of the theory of the developmental state. The similarities imply a convergence in their development path during the postwar period, yet Taiwan and Korea have evolved very different patterns in organizing economic activities to compete internationally. What explains these differences despite the similarities? The arguments in this article are threefold. First, the differences lie in industrial organization. Second, the article demonstrates how such differences shape different paths of interaction with the world economy in Taiwan and Korea through a comparative case study of the bicycle industry. Lastly, it is argued that the origin of the differences has to do with the variations in the existing social structures that gave rise to different state— society relationships, and subsequently yielded divergent paths of development.

An Integrative Methodology for Product and Supply Chain Design Decisions at the Product Design Stage

Supplier selection is one of the key decisions in supply chain management. Companies need not only to make the “make” or “buy” decisions but also differentiate across potential suppliers in order to improve operational performance. Product design is an engineering based activity that realizes the customer requirements into functions of a new product. Many studies have pointed out that the integration of product and supply chain is a key factor for profitability and efficiency. However, most studies address supply chain performance after freezing the design of the product; only a few studies discuss when and how to incorporate supply chain decisions during product design. This paper presents a graph theory based optimization methodology to tackle this problem. The supplier selection issue is considered by evaluating its impact on both internal (e.g., ease of assembly) and external (e.g., transportation time) enterprise performances, which are aggregated as supply chain performance at the conceptual design stage. A case study in the bicycle industry demonstrates the advantages of this methodology. The presented mathematical programming formulation enables simultaneous optimization of both product design and supply chain design during the early design stages.

From One Closed Enterprise Group System to Open Industrial Agglomeration:Structural Transformation of Bicycle Industry in Tianjin

From One Closed Enterprise Group System to Open Industrial Agglomeration:Structural Transformation of Bicycle Industry in Tianjin

Database for real-time loading path prediction for tube hydroforming using multidimensional cubic spline interpolation

Tube hydroforming (THF) is a metal-forming process that uses a pressurized fluid in place of a hard tool to plastically deform a given tube into a desired shape. In addition to the internal pressure, the tube material is fed axially toward the die cavity. This process has various applications in the automotive, aerospace, and bicycle industries. Accurate coordination of the fluid pressure and axial feed, collectively referred to as a loading path, is critical to THF. Workable loading paths are currently determined by trial and error, which can be time consuming. This study discusses an innovative technique for developing an interactive, real-time database that would be able to predict loading paths for many THF components and hence reduce the computational time required. By classifying most of the commercial THF parts into families, parameters such as material properties, part geometry, and tribological factors were simulated by category and stored in the database. Multidimensional cubic spline interpolation was implemented to enable an end user to request from the database a loading path for a wide range of conditions. Test results from the database for different THF families were shown to approximate the simulated results. In addition to reducing the computation time, the use of interpolation techniques eliminates the need for carrying out multiple simulations for similar THF parts.

SMC developments boost performance and strength

Developments in soft magnetic materials have significantly enhanced performance through lower losses, higher permeability and increased mechanical strength. The electric car and bicycle industries may be among the beneficiaries of the technology's increased competitiveness …

The wind-averaged aerodynamic drag of competitive time trial cycling helmets

This paper documents a wind tunnel test program that measured the aerodynamic drag (Fd), lift (Fl) and side force (Fs) of 12 contemporary time trial (TT) helmets at yaw angles of 0 to 15∘. Fd measurements at yaw were subjected to a novel analysis technique adapted from the automotive fuel efficiency literature to provide a single wind averaged drag (F̄d) at a velocity (v) of 14.75 m sec−1 (53 km/h). Ranked wind averaged Fd measurements of TT helmets provide a simple performance index and it is recommended that this analytical procedure be adopted by the bike industry to permit uniform Fd comparisons of helmets, wheels, frames and other components that are subjected to yaw angle wind tunnel tests.

Learning and innovation in small and medium enterprises

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between knowledge acquisition, knowledge absorptive capacity, and innovation performance in small and medium enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approach – Questionnaire data were collected from research and development (R&D) managers or owners of 49 SMEs of the bicycle industry in Taiwan. The questionnaire was designed to measure variables including: knowledge absorptive capacity, knowledge acquisition of company, technical and industrial experiences of owner's and the R&D staff, innovation performance measures, and control variables.Findings – The results show that the depth and the breadth of its owner's technical and industrial experiences best explained absorptive capacity of an SME. In turn, the absorptive capacity and the knowledge acquisition activities of an SME affect its innovation performance.Research limitations/implications – The findings show that, first, SME owners' technical and industrial experiences are contributing fa...

Two wheels good

In the teeth of a severe economic downturn, the global bike industry enjoyed an impressive year in 2009, following a spectacular 2008. Retailers in recession-hit Britain have told of record sales, and shortages of their most popular models. Europe, one London cycle shop owner commented, running out of bikes. Brompton, purveyors of folding bikes that are built from scratch somewhat incongruously perhaps in ritzy west London, explained that a bike ordered in early December could not be with the purchaser for 13 weeks. It was a similar story over at Pashley's factory in Stratford-upon-Avon. Technical director Dan Farrell commnted that sales were up by 30 per cent year on year, and that it was a case of 'all hands on deck' to get orders that had been placed months before boxed up and shipped out in time for Christmas.A combination of convenience, cost saving and health and environmental concerns seems to have inspired this urge to saddle up, for both the daily commute and for getting out and about at weekends. In Britain, the government's 'Cycle to Work' tax incentive has been a trigger; it is estimated to account for as much as half of all sales in some bike shops. London is leading the way, with a dramatic 90 per cent increase in the number of cyclists since 2005, amid worries about obesity and carbon footprints, with a cycling Mayor, and a cycling leader of the parliamentary opposition. It has also coincided with the gentrification of areas once derided as 'inner cities'. Their affluent residents have discovered that a five-mile daily commute is easily achievable in normal, non-lycra, clothing and often preferable to the costly hurly burly of rush-hour public transport. Homes that are close to a city centre-bound cycle path have become highly sought after.

Technological innovations and industry clustering in the bicycle industry in Taiwan

This study explores technological innovations and industry clustering in the bicycle industry in Taiwan. It shows that clustering in the bicycle industry not only decreases transaction costs among the firms in the cluster but also increases cooperation and efficiency between the bicycle manufacturers and their partners as a result of standardization and modularization of bicycle components. Following a patent analysis, the study finds that two systems—the wheel system and the bicycle frame system—are the strengths of Taiwanese bicycle and component manufacturers; conversely, the transmission (i.e., gears) and brake systems are their weaknesses. Moreover, industry clustering increases the efficiency of information exchange such that the spillover effect of technological innovation is significant.

Selecting the advanced manufacturing technology using fuzzy multiple attributes group decision making with multiple fuzzy information

Selection of advanced manufacturing technology in manufacturing system management is very important to determining manufacturing system competitiveness. This research develops a fuzzy multiple attribute decision-making applied in the group decision-making to improving advanced manufacturing technology selection process. Since numerous attributes have been considered in evaluating the manufacturing technology suitability, most information available in this stage is subjective, imprecise and vague, fuzzy sets theory provides a mathematical framework for modeling imprecision and vagueness. In the proposed approach, a new fusion method of fuzzy information is developed to managing information assessed in different linguistic scales (multi-granularity linguistic term sets) and numerical scales. The flexible manufacturing system adopted in the Taiwanese bicycle industry is employed in this study to demonstrate the computational process of the proposed method. Finally, sensitivity analysis can be performed to examine that the solution robustness.

A Study on the Bicycle and Boat Racing Act for Development Plan of Bicycle and Boat Racing Industry

A Study on the Bicycle and Boat Racing Act for Development Plan of Bicycle and Boat Racing Industry

G-COT

This paper explores the process of technological innovation from a geographical perspective. Some explanations of technological change concentrate on the development of technology itself - in which makers play a central role, while other explanations focus more on consumption and the users of technology. In this paper, discussion will focus on interactions between makers and users, and on the particular places in which such interactions occur. It is proposed that these interactions, especially during the early phase of rapid product development, produce creative spaces. An adaptation of the social construction of technology (SCOT) model is therefore proposed which stresses the geographical settings in which rapid innovation occurs, and therefore is called geographical construction of technology (G-COT). The G-COT model is illustrated by the case of the Coventry bicycle industry from its foundation in 1869 to 1880 when this town had become the world's largest center of bicycle production.

Development of a freeride mountain bike suspension fork

For the benefit of engineers working outside the bicycle industry, this paper describes some engineering considerations related to the development of a new model full suspension bicycle fork. The impact of market forces on the development process is considered, and a description of various design tools currently in use is provided. A detailed model of a new fork travel adjustment feature is included, along with simulation results produced by this model. The paper also includes an overview of the laboratory testing resources that are used to ensure the robustness of contemporary bicycle components.

Group decision-making model using fuzzy multiple attributes analysis for the evaluation of advanced manufacturing technology

Selection of advanced manufacturing technology is important for improving manufacturing system competitiveness. This study builds a group decision-making model using fuzzy multiple attributes analysis to evaluate the suitability of manufacturing technology. Since numerous attributes have been considered in evaluating the manufacturing technology suitability, most information available in this stage is subjective and imprecise, and fuzzy sets theory provides a mathematical framework for modeling imprecision and vagueness. The proposed approach involved developing a fusion method of fuzzy information, which was assessed using both linguistic and numerical scales. In addition, an interactive decision analysis is developed to make a consistent decision. When evaluating the suitability of manufacturing technology, it may be necessary to improve upon the technology, and naturally advanced manufacturing technology is seen as the best direction for improvement. The flexible manufacturing system adopted in the Taiwanese bicycle industry is used in this study to illustrate the computational process of the proposed method. The results of this study are more objective and unbiased, owing to being generated by a group of decision-makers.