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Truck-sharing stands out as an impactful strategy for minimizing emissions and optimizing the streamlined transport of goods. This study seeks to address a gap in understanding by investigating the barriers shippers face in adopting truck-sharing services.

This study employs the innovation resistance theory to examine a range of potential barriers. A total of seven potential barriers are included in the investigation. Survey data from Bangladeshis are analyzed using an artificial neural network.

The barriers, ranked in importance, include image, tradition, value, usage, risk, psychological ownership and privacy concerns. Thus, psychological barriers (image and tradition) mostly underpin resistance to change, showing that the issue is more rooted in shippers' perceptions than operations. Also, they often do not find a financial cause to use truck-sharing services. Usage barriers, explicitly addressing the practical application of truck-sharing services, have now assumed the third position, underscoring their significance in overcoming the barriers.

The findings provide valuable insights for policymakers to reconsider their approaches in addressing the most formidable truck-sharing barriers.

This insight holds implications for shippers and transport companies, offering strategic guidance to optimize their engagement with and support for such services.

To the best of our knowledge, this study examines shippers' reluctance to adopt truck-sharing services in a developing country.

This paper aims to examine the impact of board gender diversity on the likelihood of financial distress in 90 Jordanian companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange from 2010 to 2021.

To examine the hypotheses, this study used the panel logistic regression. In addition, this study used the two-staged Heckman regression model as a robust check. To proxy for the financial distress, the 2005 version of Altman’s Z-score for emerging markets was used.

The results indicate that female directors can reduce the likelihood of financial distress in Jordanian listed companies. These findings align with previous literature that highlights the benefits of female directors on corporate boards.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine the impact of board gender diversity on financial distress in Jordan and the Middle East and highlights several practical implications. It emphasizes the need for policymakers to develop regulations that promote gender diversity on corporate boards as a strategy to enhance stability and prevent financial distress. For corporate managers, incorporating more women into board roles could strengthen decision-making and risk management. Regulators are advised to support these changes through improved governance codes. In addition, increasing female board participation could enhance corporate responsibility, reduce bankruptcy risks and boost overall economic stability, benefiting society at large.

Driven by the rapid expansion of online retail and the surge in livestream commerce, the impact of different livestream mode on brand and platform performance has become a critical issue. This paper analyzes the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and key opinion leader (KOL) livestream on the profitability of brands and the platform, incorporating the effects of horizontal interactions to identify the optimal livestream mode.

This paper develops a model of a platform supply chain involving two brands and a platform, where each brand independently decides whether to utilize KOL or AI livestream. Applying Stackelberg game approach, the study derives equilibria for various livestream scenarios, identifying the optimal livestream mode for both parties. Additionally, the model is extended to incorporate asymmetric market potential and network externality to evaluate their impact on a brand’s choice of livestream mode.

Several interesting and important results are derived in this paper. Firstly, it is found that AI livestream enables brands to leverage network externality and mitigate the market disadvantage, thereby gaining a competitive advantage. Secondly, while KOL livestream promotes trust, the medium KOL commission rates could cause brands to be trapped in a prisoner’s dilemma, and excessively high commission rates may render them less profitable. Thirdly, the KOL commission rate, network externality intensity, horizontal interactions and market disadvantage are critical determinants influencing a brand’s choice of livestream mode.

This study is the first to investigate the effects of horizontal interactions, asymmetric market potential and asymmetric network externality on livestream mode selection by brands within a platform supply chain. The research provides valuable insights into optimizing livestream strategies to enhance brand profitability.

Saudi Vision 2030 is centred around innovation, entrepreneurship and women’s empowerment to foster economic growth and bring about social change. In this context, this study examines the impact of product innovation on the success of women entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia, who constitute around 42% of the population and experience empowerment through recent reforms. Additionally, the study explores the moderating effect of risk-taking behaviour and the mediating role of perseverance.

Employing a quantitative design, this study collected data from 256 Saudi women entrepreneurs from five major cities using a snowball sampling technique. The data were gathered through a survey questionnaire and analysed in SmartPLS 4.

The results revealed that product innovation positively impacts both entrepreneurial perseverance and women’s entrepreneurial success. Furthermore, the moderating role of risk-taking behaviour and the mediating role of perseverance were found to be statistically significant in the relationship between product innovation and women’s entrepreneurial success.

The research findings help policymakers to focus on important factors that can harness women’s entrepreneurship. The Saudi government and society should offer increased financial, regulatory and moral support to women entrepreneurs to achieve the National Vision 2030.

This research provides empirical evidence on the crucial topic of women’s entrepreneurship in the context of Saudi Arabia, specifically from the perspective of product innovation, risk-taking behaviour and perseverance. The findings provide important practical, social and regulatory implications for various stakeholders.

Damage of engineering structures is a nonlinear evolutionary process that spans across both material and structural levels, from mesoscale to macroscale. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of damage analysis methods at both the material and structural levels.

This study provides an overview of multiscale damage analysis of engineering structures, including its definition and significance. Current status of damage analysis at both material and structural levels is investigated, by reviewing damage models and prediction methods from single-scale to multiscale perspectives. The discussion of prediction methods includes both model-based simulation approaches and data-driven techniques, emphasizing their roles and applications. Finally, summarize the main findings and discuss potential future research directions in this field.

In the material level, damage research primarily focuses on the degradation of material properties at the macroscale using continuum damage mechanics (CDM). In contrast, at the mesoscale, damage research involves analyzing material behavior in the meso-structural domain, focusing on defects like microcracks and void growth. In structural-level damage analysis, the macroscale is typically divided into component and structural scales. The component scale examines damage progression in individual structural elements, such as beams and columns, often using detailed finite element or mesoscale models. The structural scale evaluates the global behavior of the entire structure, typically using simplified models like beam or shell elements.

To achieve realistic simulations, it is essential to include as many mesoscale details as possible. However, this results in significant computational demands. To balance accuracy and efficiency, multiscale methods are employed. These methods are categorized into hierarchical approaches, where different scales are processed sequentially, and concurrent approaches, where multiple scales are solved simultaneously to capture complex interactions across scales.

This study aims to explore how digital platforms (DPs) contribute to value co-creation in municipal solid waste (MSW) management systems.

The present paper conducts an explorative analysis using single case study methodology. The case in question involves a DPs operating in Italy.

Empirical analysis shows that DPs help engage citizens in MSW and reduce the fragmentation in waste management systems by fulfilling a brokerage role that connects citizens, municipalities and waste management companies. The development of bidirectional knowledge and resource flow among actors contributes to better waste recycling processes, as well as fosters economic, environmental and social value co-creation in a complex public service.

This research is limited to a single case study within the Italian context, which may influence the generalizability of the findings. Future research could expand the scope to include multiple case studies across different geographical regions.

For practitioners and policymakers, this paper underscores the strategic benefits of adopting DPs in MSW management systems and thereby improving public service delivery.

The case analysis highlights that DPs can assist public actors in achieving numerous sustainable development goals by enhancing recycling rates and activating learning mechanisms among citizens.

This study contributes to literature by connecting different fields of research (i.e. waste management and public management) and using network theory to show how DPs can contribute to the economic, environmental and social sustainability of MSW while generating relevant benefits for the actors involved.

Artificial intelligence (AI) radically transforms organizations, yet ethical AI’s effect on employee innovation remains understudied. Therefore, this study aims to explore whether responsible artificial intelligence (RAI) enhances high-tech employees’ innovative work behavior (IWB) through creative self-efficacy (CSE) and employee mental health and well-being (EMHWB). The study further examines how leaders’ RAI symbolization (LRAIS) moderates RAI’s effect.

Through structural equation modeling, 441 responses of high-tech firms’ employees from Pakistan were utilized for hypotheses testing via SmartPLS-4.

The results revealed that second-order RAI enhances employees’ IWB. The effect was supported directly and indirectly through CSE and EMHWB. Findings also showed that LRAIS significantly moderates RAI’s influence on CSE, on the one hand, and EMHWB, on the other.

High-tech firms’ managers can fix AI-outlook issues that impair their employees’ IWB by prioritizing an ethical AI design involving actions like AI control mechanisms, bias checks and algorithmic audits. Similarly, these managers should facilitate RAI discussions and targeted trainings focusing on employees’ cognitive development and well-being. Likewise, RAI embracement programs and evaluations for leadership positions could be incorporated into high-tech firms.

This study advances the mainstream AI literature and addresses a notable gap concerning RAI’s influence on employees’ IWB while grounding in social cognitive theory. Moreover, this study unveils how CSE and EMHWB affect IWB within RAI milieus. Additionally, through signaling theory, it underscores the significance of LRAIS in amplifying the direct association between RAI, CSE, and EMHWB within high-tech firms in emerging markets.

This study aims to investigate the direct nexus between board characteristics, corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure and the cost of equity capital (CEQ). This is done by using agency theory, stakeholder theory and signalling theory, followed by an investigation into the indirect mediation impact of CSR disclosure in the board characteristics-CEQ nexus. It intends to present new experimental evidence from Jordan’s developing economy.

The study’s target population was services companies registered on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) between 2012 and 2020. As a result, the population and sampling of this study are represented by all services companies for whom complete data are available over the period, with a total of 43 services companies yielding 387 company-year observations. Data for our study were obtained from their annual disclosures and the ASE’s database.

The main findings demonstrated that board size, board gender variety and the number of board sessions positively affect CSR disclosure significantly. In addition, three board characteristics (i.e. board size, board independence and board gender variety) significantly negatively affect CEQ. Besides, CSR disclosure significantly negatively affects CEQ and it fully mediates the relationship between two board characteristics (i.e. board size and board gender variety) and CEQ, whereas it partially mediates the nexus between board independence, CEO/Chairman duality and the number of board sessions of board characteristics and CEQ.

This study varies from earlier studies, in that it builds a new research model by looking at the mediating role of CSR disclosure in the nexus among board characteristics and the CEQ.

The purpose of this study is to comprehensively evaluate the impact of the prefabrication rate on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and sustainability in prefabricated construction. In addition, it aims to identify the optimal prefabrication rate threshold that can promote the transformation of the construction industry toward more environmentally friendly practices.

This study uses an interdisciplinary methodology that combines emergy analysis with an extended input-output model to develop a GHG emission accounting model tailored for prefabricated buildings. The model assesses various construction schemes based on different rates of prefabrication and uses the emergy phase diagram from ecological economics to quantify the sustainability of these schemes.

This study indicates that within a prefabrication rate threshold of 61.27%–71.08%, a 5% increase in the prefabrication rate can significantly reduce emissions by approximately 36,800 kg CO₂(e). However, emissions begin to rise when the prefabrication rate exceeds this threshold. The case analysis identifies steel, concrete and electricity as the primary sources of GHG emissions, suggesting strategies for optimizing their usage and promoting the adoption of clean energy.

This study represents a novel tool for assessing the environmental impact and sustainability of prefabricated buildings. It offers scientific guidance for the construction industry’s environmental protection and sustainable development strategies, thereby contributing to a transition toward more environmentally friendly practices.

In the context of growing efforts by online businesses to enhance consumer connections, understanding consumer engagement behaviors is imperative. This study explores consumer engagement within online shopping platforms, specifically introducing and examining the roles of crowdsourcing and crowdsending.

The study developed and validated measurement scales for crowdsourcing and crowdsending engagement across transactional, multi-sided and inspirational platforms.

Identifying five sub-dimensions within crowdsourcing and crowdsending, the results unveiled nuances in consumer–platform interactions, emphasizing the value of co-creation. Crowdsourcing entails transaction-oriented engagements such as knowledge gathering, utilitarian and hedonic browsing, interaction and co-shopping. The findings revealed that crowdsourcing significantly influenced platform commitment, surpassing the impact of crowdsending on transactional platforms. Conversely, crowdsending involves knowledge sharing, feedback, participation, advocacy and reciprocity, fostering active engagement and shared value within the platform ecosystem. Notably, the results showed that crowdsending strengthened commitment to inspirational platforms more than to conventional shopping platforms.

This study contributes to the theoretical understanding of a range of consumer engagement experiences in online shopping environments and presents practical applications, offering valuable insights for commerce businesses aiming to optimize their digital strategies.