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Small talk, often regarded as a superficial interaction unrelated to work, is a pervasive and inescapable aspect of daily life and professional settings. In China, where the notion of guanxi – the cultivation of strategic relationships – is deeply valued, workplace small talk (WST) is a strategic tool used by employees to strengthen their interpersonal networks. This study aims to investigate the positive impact of WST on task performance within the Chinese workplace and explores the mechanisms underpinning this relationship.

This study adopted a time-lagged research design to test its hypotheses using data from 516 employees across various Chinese firms.

This study revealed that WST exerts both direct and indirect positive effects on task performance. It boosts task performance indirectly via two mediators: relational energy and positive affect. This study also delineated a chain mediation model wherein WST sequentially elevates task performance by first enhancing relational energy and then fostering positive affect.

Counter to the prevailing focus on the negative repercussions of WST, this study sheds light on its beneficial outcomes, proposing novel pathways connecting WST to task performance. These insights contribute to both academic discourse and the development of practical management strategies.

The main objective of the study was to identify main trends, research directions and important authors in the field of supply chain management (SCM) and logistics in the context of digital transformation and automation through the application of bibliometric analysis. The study is based on the analysis of academic publications and research studies covering the topics of digital transformation (incl. automation) of the logistics sector and SCM. For this purpose, bibliometric methods are applied, including keyword frequency analysis, identification of the most cited sources and authors. The chapter identifies main trends and research directions in the field of digital transformation of the logistics sector and SCM. Also, the most influential sources and authors making significant contributions to the development of this field are identified. Top 10 best authors, citations and documents got illustrated. The results of the study can be useful for researchers involved in the digital transformation of the logistics sector and SCM, as well as for practitioners developing strategies and solutions in the field of logistics and SCM. The bibliometric analysis provides valuable information on status and trends in research on digital transformation of the logistics sector and SCM (444 documents analyzed), which can be useful for further research and strategy development in this area. Based on the results of the study, it was possible to identify that the increase in research on digital transformation of the logistics sector and SCM is related to the emergence and subsequent epidemic of the COVID-19 virus.

This research addresses the challenges encountered when securing bone plates in the human body to treat tibial plateau fractures, specifically focusing on preventing posterolateral fractures. The goal is to develop a 3D buttress plate that offers better stability, facilitating anatomical reduction and rigid fixation. The newly fabricated T-buttress plate enables early knee motion and reduces postoperative complications, marking a significant advancement over existing internal fixation plates.

A new buttress plate model was designed using modeling software, featuring an asymmetric curved design with three fragments. Finite element analysis was used to simulate the biomechanical performance of this new model, comparing it with symmetric flat and symmetric curved plates. Accurately predicting the biomechanical behavior of the implant posed challenges, especially during extensive simulations. Optimal parameters for the asymmetric curved plate were identified from the simulation results, and the 3D buttress plate was then fabricated using the metal fused filament fabrication (MFFF) process. This process presents challenges due to the novel nature of the asymmetric design.

The results indicate that the newly developed buttress plate exhibits superior strength and performance compared to current internal fixation plates. Biomechanical simulations show that the asymmetric curved design provides better stability and support. Moreover, the yield and ultimate tensile strengths were found to be 685 MPa and 855 MPa, respectively.

The study’s finite element analysis model has limitations due to its reliance on assumptions about material properties, boundary conditions and loading scenarios. It also excludes biological factors, patient variability and the bone’s heterogeneous nature, which may affect the accuracy and applicability of the results in real-life situations.

The development of an asymmetric curved buttress plate using MFFF is a novel innovation aimed at improving biomechanical performance and patient outcomes in orthopedic surgery, offering significant potential impact in the medical field.

This paper aims to explore the relationship between digital transformation, international competition and productivity progress by examining the dual margins of export, thereby identifying the digital development pathway for key industrial chains within the context of regional medical and health cooperation.

By constructing models incorporating both the extensive margin and intensive margin, this paper delves into the reasons underlying changes in product trade value and variety within international market competition. Utilizing export data for medical products from China to Belt and Road Initiative partner countries spanning from 2007 to 2020, an industry–destination–time panel benchmark model is established to assess the impact of digital transformation on product expansion and international competition.

The findings reveal the following insights. First, digital transformation positively impacts the intensive margin of medical products, whereas it does not exert a positive influence on the extensive margin. Second, the impact mechanism test indicates that digital transformation fosters the intensive export margin by enhancing the technical efficiency of exports but exhibits an inverted U-shaped effect on technological progress. Third, digital transformation demonstrates a notable non-linear characteristic, with a substantial increase in the lifting effect once a certain threshold is surpassed.

While previous research has extensively explored the effects of digital transformation on export trade, this study uniquely integrates the concepts of the intensive and extensive margins of export, thereby enriching the research insights derived from existing literature. It focuses on the nonlinear effects and threshold dynamics of digital transformation, particularly in relation to total factor productivity. Additionally, the paper makes a contribution to the understanding of the Health Silk Road by incorporating the health index.

This paper aims to address the issue of privacy leakage indirectly caused by non-private data shared by travellers on location-based social media (LBSM) in data mining.

This paper proposes a privacy-preserving location data collection approach based on local differential privacy (LDP) and validates the feasibility of the approach through experiments on three real-world public check-in datasets.

The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed approach, which preserves privacy while retaining over 90% of the data utility.

This research has the potential to assist tourism practitioners in establishing improved collaborations with trusted third parties, enabling the exploration of user location data insights without undue concerns regarding indirect privacy breaches during data mining, thereby enhancing travellers’ experience and aiding businesses’ decision-making.

This paper is likely to be the first to represent a promising solution for addressing privacy leakage concerns related to non-sensitive data in data mining. It provides a location data collection technology that strikes a balance between user privacy and data utility for tourism practitioners.

The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the importance of effectively leading a remote workforce in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environments. This study examines the effectiveness of transformational–transactional leadership (Full-Range Leadership Model, FRLM) and its recent extension of instrumental leadership (eFRLM) in remote work contexts.

We surveyed 529 remote working followers, providing perceptions on (1) their leaders’ manifestation of eFRLM dimensions and factors, (2) their leaders’ leadership effectiveness and (3) their organizational environment as VUCA.

Results show that instrumental leadership represents a strongly effective leadership dimension in remote work contexts, explaining unique variance beyond transformational–transactional leadership. Moreover, VUCA environments moderated the association between eFRLM leadership behaviors and leadership effectiveness, with instrumental leadership being particularly effective in more pronounced VUCA environments and transformational–transactional leadership being less effective.

Overall, instrumental leadership appears crucial to consider when predicting leadership effectiveness in virtual and uncertain contexts.

This study aims to empirically investigate how knowledge paradox affects collaboration performance. Knowledge paradox, which arises from the simultaneous need for knowledge sharing and protection, is common in interorganizational collaboration. Using the ambidexterity perspective, this paper aims to reexamine the effect of the knowledge paradox on collaborative performance to explore the moderating roles of structural and contextual ambidexterity.

This study used a sample of 153 firms involved in vertical and horizontal collaboration, collected via questionnaires. Hypotheses were tested using hierarchical regression analysis.

This study demonstrates that the stronger the knowledge paradox is, the higher the potential for value creation. Thus, knowledge paradox has a positive impact on collaborative performance. The functions of structural ambidexterity and contextual ambidexterity strengthen this positive relationship.

This paper not only expands the theoretical application of the knowledge paradox and ambidexterity theory in the context of interorganizational relationships but also provides significant managerial implications. By comprehending the dynamics of the knowledge paradox and the role of ambidexterity, managers can make well-informed decisions to enhance their collaborative performance.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the dynamics of capillary underfill flow (CUF) in flip-chip packaging, particularly in a multi-chip configuration. The study aims to understand how various parameters, such as chip-to-chip spacing (S12), chip thickness (tc) and others, affect the underfill flow process. By using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and experimental studies, the goal is to provide insights into understanding the dynamics of CUF in heterogeneous electronic packaging.

The paper introduces a CFD analysis and experimental study on CUF in a multi-chip configuration, aiming to understand underfill flow dynamics. A 3D geometry models of multi-chip arrangement are created using computer-aided design (CAD) software. After that, the CAD models are meshed and simulated in Ansys Fluent using incompressible and non-Newtonian fluid properties. The study maintains S12 of 2.86 and tc of 22.29 between experimental and simulation data for results validation. Next, a various of S12 values (1.14, 2.86, 5.71, 8.57, 14.29 and 20) which focus on tc of 22.29 have been investigated. Further studies have been conduct using S12 of 5.71 and tc of 8.00, 14.29 and 22.29.

Results show a strong correlation between simulation and experiment which validate the correctness and robustness of simulation. Further parameter’s studies using simulation for various of S12 indicated that higher S12 values lead to faster flow. This effect is due to large underfill weight from reservoir able to flow into S12 region which contributed to higher mass momentum movement. Furthermore, the effect of various of tc shows that the thicker the chip the faster the underfill to flow in S12 region.

The intentional exclusion of solder bump pattern arrangements from the experiment and simulation may limit the study's ability to fully understand the impact of solder bump patterns on underfill flow. Therefore, more parameters can be investigated such as solder bump pattern, underfill weight and dispense pattern in the future using CFD.

The manuscript provides a comprehensive examination of the contributions of CFD to the advancement of knowledge regarding CUF phenomena in heterogeneous electronic packaging assemblies. Moreover, it delineates the utilization of CFD methodologies to assess the influence of chip-to-chip spacing (S12) and the thickness of the chip (tc) on the underfill flow characteristics.

This paper fulfills an identified need of computational fluid dynamics method to study capillary underfill flow dynamics in heterogenous electronic packaging.

This paper aims to study whether rural collective construction land marketization (RCCLM) affects pension industry and analyze its impact mechanism.

Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and social cognition theory (SCT), this paper constructs a theoretical framework for the purchase behavior of rural retirement housing with the influence of RCCLM. A mixed-methods investigation combining qualitative and quantitative study is adopted in this paper.

The research results indicate that the purchase intention of rural retirement housing has a significant positive impact on the purchase behavior. However, RCCLM has a significant negative impact on the purchase intention of rural retirement housing. A logical framework of “land system participant behavior” has been constructed from three main bodies: government, developers and elderly urban and rural residents.

This paper provides suggestions for the three entities from the perspectives of macro, medium and micro-level to improve transaction system for rural collective construction land use right (TSRCCLUR), providing references for the collective construction land marketization policy and the development of the pension industry.

This paper deepens the study of behavior intention in planned behavior, enriches TPB model in the study of rural retirement housing security and clarifies the influence mechanism of the rural retirement housing purchase intention with the theoretical and empirical test of the model.

This study disentangles the impact of consumers’ adoption of mini-program channels on social media on their purchase behavior in e-marketplaces from a multichannel retailer’s perspective and examines the moderating roles of two types of brand messages (informational and transformational messages).

Based on 2,204 transaction records from a Chinese multichannel retailer, this study used a Poisson regression model with fixed effects for empirical testing. The case of the WeChat mini-program in China was employed.

Adopting mini-program channels on social media reduces consumers’ purchase frequency but increases their purchase breadth in e-marketplaces. Moreover, informational messages worsen the negative effect of mini-program channel use on purchase frequency. In contrast, transformational messages reduce the negative effect of mini-program channel use on purchase frequency and amplify its positive effect on purchase breadth.

Managers can effectively leverage mini-programs to widen the range of consumers’ product purchases in e-marketplaces and the intensity of transformation messages posted within mini-programs to alleviate their negative impact on purchase frequency in e-marketplaces.

Previous studies only focus on the intrachannel impact of mini-program channels; however, this study highlights their cross-channel impact. Its findings underscore the dual role of mini-program channel use in e-marketplaces. Additionally, the nuanced moderating effects of informational and transformational messages enrich our understanding of mini-program channels on social media. Moreover, a substitution framework is utilized to understand the cross-channel effects generated by mini-program channels, demonstrating the applicability and generalizability of the framework in a new context.