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1 – 10 of 752Yu-Ching Chiao, Yu-Chen Chang, Yi-Jung Hsu, Chang Hong Lu and Man-Ling Chang
This study is based on the role congruity theory that examines the association between top management team (TMT) gender diversity and corporate social responsibility (CSR…
Abstract
Purpose
This study is based on the role congruity theory that examines the association between top management team (TMT) gender diversity and corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses data from the Taiwan Economic Journal database and the Market Observation Post System provided by the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The sample consists of 4,140 annual observations of Taiwanese-listed companies in the electronics industry from 2016–2020.
Findings
The results revealed that TMT gender diversity is positively associated with CSR performance, and TMT international experience strengthens the positive association between TMT gender diversity and CSR performance.
Practical implications
CSR is imperative. The TMT’s gender diversity aligns with current environmental trends and social expectations, driven for CSR implementation essential. This diverse configuration enables the TMTs to address corporate adaptability and maintain global competitiveness.
Originality/value
The findings contribute significantly to the literature on TMT gender diversity by extending the application of role congruity theory beyond individual to team-level contexts and across gender boundaries. By incorporating diverse capabilities such as international experience within TMTs, the authors identify key boundary conditions that foster CSR. This expansion not only aligns with practical realities but also opens new avenues for research into the dynamics of diverse management teams.
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Kaixiao Jiang and Liam O'Callaghan
This chapter explores how the development of football fandom for the Chinese national team and local football clubs is strongly associated with societal changes. Although the…
Abstract
This chapter explores how the development of football fandom for the Chinese national team and local football clubs is strongly associated with societal changes. Although the performances of Chinese football teams, especially the national team, have failed to impress the world, football remains the most popular because of millions of supporters with loyalty and passion. Most studies related to fans mainly focus on the economic and political implications of spectatorship along with the rise of China. Nevertheless, few articles are available to answer the fundamental questions, such as ‘When did these supporters come out?’ and ‘What were the factors of the development of fandom?’. By going through archival records and published documents over the last decades, this chapter offers a comprehensive and historical analysis of the development of football fandom in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and deals with these unanswered questions. As such, this chapter does not intend to be the most authoritative one but is one of the rare sources to lay down the foundation for research on Chinese football fandom. Furthermore, this chapter also proves that studies on football fandom can be a useful window for observing Chinese society.
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Tai Wai Kwok, Siwei Chang and Heng Li
The unitized curtain wall system (UCWS), one of the prefabricated technologies, is increasingly attracting attention in the Hong Kong construction industry. However, this…
Abstract
Purpose
The unitized curtain wall system (UCWS), one of the prefabricated technologies, is increasingly attracting attention in the Hong Kong construction industry. However, this innovative technology still lacks on-site implementation in high-rise residential buildings. To promote its development, this study aims at identifying the influential factors of UCWS adoption in Hong Kong's high-rise residential buildings from a multi-stakeholder perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
Factors were first selected through an in-depth literature review and a semi-structured interview. Then the factors were validated through a questionnaire survey using Cronbach's Alpha Reliability Test. Next, the factors were ranked regarding their importance using mean-score ranking and standard deviation. Meanwhile, different stakeholders were clustered using an experimental factor analysis (EFA) model to find the shared preferences (namely common factors).
Findings
The result shows that reduction of construction time (B1) and insufficient site storage area (C1) are the most important factors. The six stakeholder groups were clustered into two segments. B1 and improved quality control are the shared interests. While C1 and the need of specification change are the common concerns.
Originality/value
There are two major breakthroughs in this study. First is the novelty of research objects. UCWS, particularly its application preference in high-rise residential buildings, has rarely been studied, yet it is urgently required. Second is the novel research perspective. The influential factors were studied from a multi-stakeholder perspective. Not only the significant factors for six specific stakeholders but also the shared preference for stakeholder groups was identified. The findings contribute to promoting UCWS more targeted, efficient and comprehensive, as well as demonstrating the collaborative possibilities of multi-stakeholders.
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This chapter critically evaluates whether football can attain recognition as a national sport in China. Article No. 11, released by the Chinese government in 2015, aimed to…
Abstract
This chapter critically evaluates whether football can attain recognition as a national sport in China. Article No. 11, released by the Chinese government in 2015, aimed to develop a new national strategy centralised on the sport of football to foster consumption and enhance national soft power. Consequently, this also means encouraging Chinese football fans to support the national football team. Comparing the significance of local football clubs and the national football team to Chinese football fans is deemed meaningless and unable to generate useful information to comprehend Chinese people's attitudes towards local and national communities. Through literature comparisons with established Chinese national sports such as Chinese martial arts, badminton and table tennis, the discussion reveals that football currently falls short of meeting the general criteria of invention and popularity to be considered a Chinese national sport. In the specific Chinese context, it also proves that football fails to meet the criterion of politics, hindering its identification as a national sport. Consequently, the chapter rebuts the assumption and advocates for the validity of comparing how fans assess their fandom for local and national football teams.
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Yu Jia, Yongqing Ye, Zhuang Ma and Tao Wang
This study aims to verify the respective and interactive effects of subnational formal and informal institutions (i.e. legal effectiveness and social trust) on foreign firm…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to verify the respective and interactive effects of subnational formal and informal institutions (i.e. legal effectiveness and social trust) on foreign firm performance, and further identify the contingent factor (i.e. institutional experience) that moderates these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on the institutional-based view, this study develops several hypotheses that are tested using a comprehensive dataset from four main data sources. The authors’ unit of analysis is foreign firms operating in China. The authors ran ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model to investigate the effects. A series of robustness tests and endogeneity tests were performed.
Findings
The results show that both legal effectiveness and social trust at subnational level positively affect foreign firm performance respectively. Legal effectiveness and social trust at subnational level have complementary effect in promoting the performance of foreign firms. Foreign firm's institutional experience in target region of emerging economies host country strengthens the positive impact of subnational legal effectiveness on performance, but weakens the positive impact of subnational social trust on performance.
Practical implications
It is important to fully understand the impact of heterogeneous institutional environments of subnational regions in emerging economies on foreign firm performance, which would help foreign firm make a more suitable secondary choice decision of investment destinations at the subnational regional level.
Originality/value
First, drawing on institutional-based view, the authors incorporate the subnational formal and informal institutional factors to investigate their impacts on foreign firm performance by switching the attention from national level to subnational level in emerging economy host countries. Second, this research furthers existing studies by bridging a missing link between both subnational formal and informal institutional environments and foreign firms' outcomes. Third, the authors prove that the model of subnational formal and informal institutions in influencing foreign firms' performance is contingent on their institutional experience in target subnational region of emerging economy host country.
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Fan-Chen Tseng, Pei-Hsun Emma Liu, T.C. Edwin Cheng and Ching-I Teng
This study intended to identify and categorize the drivers of using online English learning resources (OELR) and to understand OELR's impacts.
Abstract
Purpose
This study intended to identify and categorize the drivers of using online English learning resources (OELR) and to understand OELR's impacts.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted an online survey, obtained complete responses from 157 OELR users and used structural equation modeling (SEM) for hypothesis testing.
Findings
Most utilitarian and hedonic drivers lead to positive perceptions of OELR, which in turn positively contribute to continuance intention (CI). Two counterintuitive findings were obtained. First, functionality was negatively related to the perception of ease of use. Second, perceived ease of use (PEOU) was not related to CI to use OELR.
Practical implications
This study has implications as follows: (1) complexity of the functions of OELR may deter rather than attract users, (2) ease of use of OELR is not directly positively related to CIs and (3) users may seek practical benefits (utilitarian) and experiential learning processes (hedonic) when using OELR.
Originality/value
The authors' study has theoretical significance by being the first to caution that excessive functionality or complexity in assisting learning tools would likely hinder further use of OELR. The practical significance of this finding is that the finding highlights two factors (perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived enjoyment) that could effectively increase OELR use.
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Foreign subsidiaries of multinational enterprises (MNEs) operate in complex and competitive international environments, implement market and non-market strategies, manage…
Abstract
Purpose
Foreign subsidiaries of multinational enterprises (MNEs) operate in complex and competitive international environments, implement market and non-market strategies, manage resources and value-added activities and contribute to the overall performance of their parent firms. Thus, the research question on the determinants of MNE foreign subsidiaries’ performance is of interest to managers and academic researchers. The empirical literature has flourished over the recent decades; however, the domains are fragmented, and the findings are inclusive. The purpose of this study is to systematically review, analyse and synthesize the empirical articles in this area, identify research gaps and suggest a future research agenda.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses the qualitative content analysis method in reviewing and analysing 150 articles published in 24 scholarly journals during the period 2000–2023.
Findings
The literature uses a variety of theoretical perspectives to examine the key determinants of subsidiary performance which can be grouped into six major domains, namely, home- and host country-level factors; distance between home and host countries; the characteristics of parent firms and of subsidiaries; and governance mechanisms (the establishment modes and ownership strategy, subsidiary autonomy and the use of home country expatriates for transferring knowledge from the headquarters and controlling foreign subsidiaries). A range of objective and subjective indicators are used to measure subsidiary performance. Yet, the research shows a lack of broader integration of theories and presents inconsistent theoretical predictions, inconclusive empirical findings and estimation bias, which hinder our understanding of how the determinants independently and jointly shape the performance of foreign subsidiaries.
Originality/value
This study provides a comprehensive, nuanced and systematic review that synthesizes and clarifies the determinants of subsidiary performance, offers deeper insights from both theoretical, methodological and empirical aspects and proposes some promising avenues for future research directions.
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Shan Shan Lu, Ruwen Tian and Dickson K.W. Chiu
The study aims to investigate the characteristics of the current situation of library programs and explore the possible reasons behind the low participation in Hong Kong. It…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to investigate the characteristics of the current situation of library programs and explore the possible reasons behind the low participation in Hong Kong. It focuses on the development of library programs in the era of digital technology, which can lead to discussion and reflections on the further development of library programs with innovative technology services.
Design/methodology/approach
This study applied a mixed-method research approach to investigate the current situation of library programming and the reasons for low participation in Hong Kong. The first part analyzes the characteristics of library programs offered by the Hong Kong Public Libraries (HKPL) through data collection from the HKPL website. The second part of this study investigated the reasons behind the low participation in library programs through quantitative research through an online survey.
Findings
The findings show that current library programs were dominated by reading activities and children's programs to a great extent, which both users and non-users are not very interested in. Further, most respondents expressed more interest in cultural and leisure events and hands-on activities (especially new technologies related) than traditional library programming. Many lapsed and non-users chose not to attend the library programs for boredom and uselessness. As a result, there is a need for HKPL to adjust its services to stay relevant to the needs and interests of local communities.
Originality/value
Scant studies explored the reasons behind non-users of public library programs, especially in Asia. This research contributes to the literature by analyzing and proposing the characteristics of the current situation of library programs and exploring the possible reasons behind the low participation in Hong Kong.
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Renfei Gao, Jane Lu, Helen Wei Hu and Geoff Martin
The rapid, yet low-profit, expansion of the production capacity of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) represents a remarkable phenomenon. However, the motivation behind this key…
Abstract
Purpose
The rapid, yet low-profit, expansion of the production capacity of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) represents a remarkable phenomenon. However, the motivation behind this key operational decision remains underexplored, especially concerning the prioritization of sociopolitical and financial goals in operations management. Drawing on the multiple-goal model in the behavioral theory of the firm (BTOF), the authors' study aims to examine how SOE capacity expansion is driven by performance feedback regarding the sociopolitical goal of employment provision and how SOEs differently prioritize sociopolitical and financial goals based on negative versus positive feedback on the sociopolitical goal.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors' study uses panel data on 826 Chinese SOEs in manufacturing industries from 2011 to 2019. The authors employ the fixed-effects model with Driscoll–Kraay standard errors, which are robust to heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation and cross-sectional dependence.
Findings
The authors find that SOEs increase capacity expansion as sociopolitical feedback becomes more negative, but they may not increase capacity expansion in response to positive sociopolitical feedback. Moreover, negative profitability feedback strengthens SOEs' capacity expansion in response to negative sociopolitical feedback. In contrast, negative profitability feedback weakens their response to positive sociopolitical feedback.
Originality/value
The authors' study offers a novel behavioral explanation of SOEs' operational decisions regarding capacity expansion. While the literature has traditionally assumed multiple goals as either hierarchical or compatible, the authors extend the BTOF's multiple-goal model to illuminate when firms pursue sociopolitical and financial goals as compatible (i.e. the activation rule) versus hierarchical (i.e. the sequential rule), thereby reconciling their tension in distinct performance situations. Practically, the authors provide fine-grained insights into how operations managers can prioritize multiple goals when making operational decisions. The authors' study also shows how policymakers can influence SOE operations to pursue sociopolitical goals for public benefit.
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Ying Kit Cherry Kwan, Mei Wa Chan and Dickson K.W. Chiu
In the 21st century, libraries are experiencing a significant decline in users due to shifting reading habits and the impact of technology, necessitating library transformation…
Abstract
Purpose
In the 21st century, libraries are experiencing a significant decline in users due to shifting reading habits and the impact of technology, necessitating library transformation and a heightened emphasis on library marketing. Special libraries, in particular, rely heavily on patrons for survival, often due to their private ownership and limited resources. This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned objectives.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper examines the Taste Library, a special library in Hong Kong, and analyzes its current practices based on an interview with its founder, website content, and social media presence. The 7Ps Marketing Mix model is employed to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the library's current market position.
Findings
The Taste Library's existing practices exhibit limitations in attracting young patrons. To address this issue, we propose marketing strategies focused on enhancing social network presence, offering digitized content, and engaging in school outreach.
Practical implications
By concentrating on youth marketing, this study offers valuable insights for special libraries in developing strategic plans for transitioning and maintaining sustainability.
Originality/value
Few studies concentrate on marketing small special libraries, particularly in the East, within today's digitized economy.
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