Business Ethics and Social Responsibility for the Multinational Corporation （MNC）

Business ethics and social responsibility in multinational corporations （MNCs） are more and more challenging, because they are operated in culturally varied environments, which vary from host to host country of each foreign subsidiary and are often very different from the MNC headquarters＇ （HQs） home country culture. A host country＇s societal and cultural factors, combined with local economic conditions and business practices, play major roles in determining the preferred business ethics and social responsibility in each foreign subsidiary. An MNC＇s global HQ should partner with all foreign subsidiaries to determine the global corporate business ethics, social responsibility core, general values, and objectives. Further, each foreign subsidiary should develop in partnership with the HQ, the customized details of its business ethics, social responsibility objectives, goals, strategies, and specific programs for its host country＇s environment.

Thoughts on International Situation and China's Response

As a major event at the turn of the century, NATO’s world-shocking air strikesagainst Yugoslavia represent certain dangerous trends in US global strategyand international strategic configuration. The event has aroused widespread con-cern and heightened vigilance among the international community. Althoughflames of war have died out in the Balkans, yet the dust there has yet to settle. It,therefore, remains a matter of urgency to engage in some comprehensive, in-depth, strategic reflections on the major event itself, its international

Quantitative Analysis Using Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry and Correlation between Mass Spectrometry Data and Sulfur Content of Crude Oils

Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry(FT-ICR MS) has become a powerful tool for analyzing the detailed composition of petroleum samples. However, the correlation between the numerous peaks obtained by FT-ICR MS and bulk properties of petroleum samples is still a challenge. In this study, the internal standard method was applied for the quantitative analysis of four straight-run vacuum gas oils(VGO) by atmospheric pressure photoionization(APPI) FT-ICR MS. The heteroatom class distribution of these VGO samples turned to be different when the concentration changed. Linear relationship between the normalized abundance and the concentration of VGO samples was identified for the total aromatic compounds, aromatic hydrocarbons, S1 and N1 species. The differences of the response factors were also discussed. The sulfur contents of a series of crude oils were proved to be linear with the FT-ICR MS data calibrated by the response factor of S1 species. This study demonstrated the feasibility of the internal standard method in quantitative analysis with APPI FT-ICR MS, and the bulk properties of petroleum samples could be correlated directly with the FT-ICR MS data.

Coupling model for waves propagating over a porous seabed

The wave-seabed interaction issue is of great importance for the design of foundation around marine infrastructures. Most previous investigations for such a problem have been limited to uncoupled or one- way coupled methods connecting two separated wave and seabed sub models with the continuity of pressures at the seabed surface. In this study, a strongly coupled model was proposed to realize both wave and seabed processes in a same program and to calculate the wave fields and seabed response simultaneously. The information between wave fields and seabed fields were strongly shared and thus results in a more profound investigation of the mechanism of the wave-seabed interaction. In this letter, the wave and seabed models were validated with previous experimental tests. Then, a set of application of present model were discussed in prediction of the wave-induced seabed response. Numerical results show the wave-induced liquefaction area of coupled model is smaller than that of uncoupled model.

The influence of the corporate social responsibility disclosures on consumer brand attitudes under the impact of CO VID-19

This study focuses on the use of we-media by small-and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs)to disclose internal corporate social responsibility(ICSR)under the impact of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease(COVID-19).Study 1 interprets the catalyst effect of COVID-19 on the externalization of SMEs'ICSR.The fuzzy grading evaluation method is initially verified.Under the impact of COVID-19,SMEs fulfilling their ICSR can enhance consumer brand attitudes.Study 2 uses a structural equation model and empirical analysis of 946 effective samples and finds that consumers perceive the self-sacrifice of corporations during the coronavirus disease period.SMEs can fulfill their ICSR to enhance the internal explanation mechanism of consumer brand attitudes and the moderating role of enterprise losses.

Appraisal of the Production-Oriented Approach： An Introduction

The production-oriented approach （POA） has been developed over a decade. It is driven by the need to improve English classroom instruction for university students in China （Wen, 2016）. It is also motivated by the aspiration to enhance the quality of foreign language education in other similar pedagogical contexts outside China. A volume of research has been done by Wen Qiufang and her research team, to formulate the theory of POA and to test its effectiveness in classroom pedagogy （e.g. Wen, 2016, 2015; Yang, 2015; Zhang, 2015）. At the moment, the POA is still at an early stage of theory building and almost all empirical research is done in the Chinese context. In order to improve the quality of this theory and to make it intelligible to the international academic community, a one-day symposium was held in Beijing Foreign Studies University on May 15, 2017. The symposium was entitled ＇The first international forum on innovative foreign language education in China： Appraisal of the POA＇. In the forum, leading experts in applied linguistics were invited to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the POA and the directions for its future development. The symposium was the first attempt for the POA research team to discuss its latest work with international scholars. This Viewpoint section collects the responses of four experts who participated in the symposium, listed in alphabetical order. The collection of articles covers three topics related to the POA： its pedagogical application, its use for teacher training, and its research. Alister Cumming is Professor Emeritus and the former Head of the Centre for Educational Research on Languages and Literacies, University of Toronto, Canada. His article focuses primarily on POA research as an exemplary case of design-based research. Rod Ellis is Research Professor in the School of Education at Curtin University, Australia. He discusses POA in terms of pedagogy, teacher training and research, with both critiques and constructive suggestions. Paul Kei Matsuda is Professor of English and Director of Second Language Writing at Arizona State University, the writed states. He responds to POA from the perspective of an expert researcher and teacher of L2 writing. Charlene Polio is Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Linguistics ＆ Germanic, Slavic, Asian ＆ African Languages atMichigan State University, the writed states. She conceptualises POA as a useful method to address some issues in pre-service teacher development. Overall, the articles in this section are insightful and reader-friendly. They are not only useful for the development of POA in particular, but may also be valuable to a broad range of researchers as they touch upon pertaining issues, as well as emerging topics, in the field of applied linguistics. We therefore find it necessary to make them accessible to a wide readership.