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The purpose of this teaching case is to introduce students to an alternative business model as practiced by the Haier Group, a Chinese company, and how that model was used to turn around an acquired company in the United States of America (USA). The explicit teaching objectives are threefold. First, the case provides insights into Haier’s unique employee-centered culture. Second, Haier’s efforts to transfer parts of its culture to the newly acquired General Electric (GE) Appliance Division are discussed. Third, to improve the performance of the acquired division, Haier had to invest in people, equipment and new product technology.

This case is based on both primary and secondary research. The authors interviewed the chief executive officer. In addition, one of the authors spent a week in China observing and participating in meetings at the Haier Group. Both before and after the interviews, the authors searched both print and electronic media for additional information.

The case describes how Haier, a large Chinese appliance manufacturer, learned from its own difficult growth in building an employee- and client-driven organization. Haier was able to transfer key aspects of its culture, management practices and technology to help turnaround the well-known American appliance brand GE. The results of the first five years have been financially successful and investment in new product technology (Smart Home) bodes well for the future.

This case represents only one successful turnaround of one acquisition, GE Appliances, by the Haier Group in the USA. Whether the changes introduced would work with other acquisitions in other countries is unknown. Thus, additional follow-up research needs to be done.

This case brings into question the traditional, hierarchical, bureaucratic, spreadsheet-driven model of management that is the predominant model taught and practiced in the USA. Others, such as Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini, have also raised the same question. This case introduces readers to another way and is just one more example of how managers who practice a high engagement style and share financial success with workers can outperform those who do not.

This case documents the introduction of nontraditional management and human resource management practices by a foreign, Chinese company, into what at one time had been a highly regarded division of a traditional major American corporation. GE had become known for strident labor-management relationships. The employees’ acceptance of the alternative approach to management was in doubt prior to the acquisition, but over the past five years, the labor–management relationship appears to have improved as well as the profitability of the division.

Although the acquisition of the GE Appliance Division by the Haier Group has been widely reported in the press, knowledge of how the acquisition was successfully turned around from a money-losing GE Division to a profitable and growing portion of the Haier Group has been largely ignored in both the popular press and in instructional material for the classroom. This case study seeks to ameliorate the latter deficiency.

Macroeconomic policy shocks have consistently provoked debate across global economies, given their significant effect on economic growth, particularly by affecting markets and employment through changes in consumer behavior. Policymakers need proper abatement measures for both internal and external uncertainties.

The present study aims to analyze the impacts of internal and external policy uncertainty on consumption in 22 countries with their trading shares with each other from 2010q1 to 2021q4. In this regard, for external policy shocks the study constructed an index for each country based on their bilateral trade shares a weighted average of internal policy uncertainty.

By applying the panel ARDL, a U-shaped relationship between consumption and policy shocks is observed. Further, for the county wise assessment of internal and external policy uncertainty on domestic consumption is assessed and it has shown to be negative in most of countries. Gross effects are also revealed where internal policy shocks have more influence than external policy shocks as countries can diversify external risks from their trade portfolio. Other determinates of consumption like income and exchange rate have positive effects, while interest rate and inflation have negative influences.

The outcomes provide internal and external policy insights for consumption stabilization.

Drawing on social exchange and street-level bureaucracy (SLB) theories, the authors of the present paper seek to identify how public banks in Egypt strategically manage their frontline employees to maintain high performance even during periods of economic uncertainty.

The empirical sample comprises semi-structured interviews with 28 frontline employees working in 4 public banks. The authors used the Gioia mechanism to analyze their data.

The authors identified job-related (discretionary power of bank employees, nature of banking jobs and hiring elite individuals for banking jobs); learning-related (continuous learning of bank employees, spread of MBA programs and resilience of bank employees) and context-related categories of factors (career support and more financial rewards during economic uncertainty) that explain the stability of the performance of the frontline bank employees addressed in this study despite the economic uncertainty their country is passing through.

Given the findings of the present paper, the authors propose that the administration of the addressed banks maintain the policy of providing training opportunities to their employees. However, such training should pay more attention to issues such as crisis management, customer-employee engagement and the mental health of employees during crises, among others. Second, as dissatisfaction is very high with other public sector organizations in Egypt, their top management should try to learn from public banks, follow the best practices and collaborate with them to improve their service offerings to the citizens. Finally, for global financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund who are involved in rescuing Egyptian economy should incorporate strategic human resources management implementation in public sector organizations in their recommendations, along with economic reforms package.

This paper contributes by filling a gap in the literature on strategic human resources management and economic uncertainty in which empirical studies of the association between them, particularly in the context of North African countries such as Egypt, have been limited so far.

Implementing a green strategy to enhance the competitiveness of enterprises is a hot topic in current research. Although most enterprises have formed a green strategy orientation (GSO), it has not been transformed into green competitiveness (GC). Prior studies have not thoroughly studied the effect and mechanism of GSO on GC. To fill this research gap, based on optimal distinctiveness theory, this paper discusses the mediating role of two kinds of green innovation (GI) in the GSO–GC relationship and the moderating role of big data capability (BDC).

This study adopts the quantitative research methods of multiple linear regression, Bootstrap and structural equation modeling (SEM). Data were collected through a questionnaire and a random sampling method was used to survey middle and senior managers and professionals in manufacturing enterprises. About 400 questionnaires were distributed, and 342 valid questionnaires were collected.

The conclusions show that GSO significantly positively affects GI and GC. Still, it turns out that only strategic green innovation (SGI) mediates the GSO–GC relationship. BDC can positively moderate the mediation effect of SGI between GSO and GC, thus supporting the moderated mediation model.

This study used a survey questionnaire from Chinese manufacturing enterprises to collect data, but the sample size was limited. Furthermore, the mediating mechanism by which GSO affects GC requires further exploration. This study directly establishes the GSO–GC relationship based on the optimal distinctiveness theory, making an essential contribution to the literature on GSO and GC. At the same time, this paper uses GI as a bridge to connect the relationship between GSO and GC, enriching the literature on GI. In addition, we consider BDC to be a moderator, expanding the boundaries of the GSO–GC relationship.

This study provides new knowledge and insights for manufacturing enterprises to construct and implement green strategies to achieve GC. More importantly, managers should attach great importance to the critical role of SGI and BDC.

This study understands the importance of GSO, SGI and BDC to GC in theory and practice.

Despite the increasing interest in the role of supply chain concentration (SCC) in improving performance, its influence on firms' sustainability performance remains unexplored, as do the underlying mechanisms of this relationship. Drawing on resource dependence theory, the authors investigate the relationship between SCC and manufacturing firms' sustainability performance and the moderating roles of operational slack and information transparency.

The authors use secondary data from 3,581 manufacturing firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share stock markets from 2006 to 2020 to conduct an empirical analysis using panel data regression models.

Manufacturing firms' SCC is negatively related to sustainability performance until it reaches a certain point, where SCC positively affects sustainability performance, presenting a U-shaped relationship. In addition, operational slack represented by a quick ratio moderates the relationship between SCC and sustainability performance by flattening the curve. Operational slack represented by receivable turnover ratio moderates the relationship between SCC and sustainability performance by steepening the curve and shifting the turning point left. Information transparency strengthens the effect of SCC on the sustainability performance by steepening the curve.

This investigation provides a comprehensive view of the SCC– sustainability performance relationship.

This study aims to explore how to overcome and address the loss of exploratory innovation, thereby achieving greater success in exploratory innovation. This phenomenon of loss occurs when enterprises decrease their investment in and engagement with exploratory innovation, ultimately leading to an insufficient amount of such innovation efforts. Drawing on dynamic capabilities, this study investigates the relationship between organizational foresight and exploratory innovation and examines the moderating role of breakthrough orientation/financial orientation.

This study used survey data collected from 296 Chinese high-tech companies in multiple industries and sectors.

The evidence produced by this study reveals that three elements of organizational foresight (i.e. environmental scanning capabilities, strategic selection capabilities and integrating capabilities) positively influence exploratory innovation. Furthermore, this positive effect is strengthened in the context of a high-breakthrough orientation. Moreover, the relationships among environmental scanning capabilities, strategic selection capabilities and exploratory innovation become weaker as an enterprise’s financial orientation increases, whereas a strong financial orientation does not affect the relationship between integrating capabilities and exploratory innovation.

Ambidexterity is key to successful enterprise innovation. Compared with exploitative innovation, it is by no means easy to engage in exploratory innovation, which is especially important in high-tech companies. While the loss of exploratory innovation has been observed, few empirical studies have explored ways to promote exploratory innovation more effectively. A key research implication of this study pertains to the role of organizational foresight in the improvement of exploratory innovation in the context of high-tech companies.

This paper contributes to the broader literature on exploratory innovation and organizational foresight and provides practical guidance for high-tech companies regarding ways of avoiding the loss of exploratory innovation and becoming more successful at exploratory innovation.

This paper aims to compare the differences between single- and multi-person interactions in virtual tourism, underpinned by the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework and media richness theory (MRT).

In this study, quantitative data gathered from questionnaires applied to 558 individuals was analyzed by using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The moderating role of interaction type was tested through multigroup analysis (MGA).

The results showed that vividness positively influenced telepresence, perceived attractiveness and authentic experiences; telepresence positively affected authentic experiences and perceived attractiveness; and authentic experiences and perceived attractiveness positively impacted willingness to visit in both interaction groups. A difference was detected between the two groups in that perceptions of media vividness were more easily transformed into a willingness to visit through telepresence in the multi-person interaction group. Interaction type moderated the effect of vividness on telepresence. The vividness of the media had a more significant effect on telepresence among those who participated in virtual tourism together.

In this study, a model was developed to explain how media vividness affected willingness to visit by considering the relationships between telepresence, authentic experiences and perceived attractiveness in virtual reality, as well as the social interaction aspect.

本研究旨在比较虚拟旅游中单人和多人互动的差异, 基于刺激-有机体-反应（S-O-R）框架和媒介丰富度理论（MRT）。

本研究对 558 名受试者的问卷调查数据进行了定量分析, 采用 PLS-SEM 模型分析, 并通过多群组分分析（MGA）测试了互动类型的调节作用。

研究结果显示, 生动性对临场感、感知吸引力和真实体验有正向影响; 临场感对真实体验和感知吸引力有正向影响; 真实体验和感知吸引力对参观意愿有正向影响。两组之间的差异在于, 在多人互动组中, 媒介生动性更容易通过临场感转化为参观意愿。互动类型调节了生动性对临场感的影响, 参与虚拟旅游的多人群体中, 媒介的生动性对临场感的影响更为显著。

本研究构建了一个模型, 解释了在虚拟现实中, 媒介生动性如何通过临场感、真实体验和感知吸引力的关系影响参观意愿, 同时考虑了社会互动的因素。

Globally, co-production is of great significance in promoting neighborhood regeneration. However, in the Chinese context, characterized by a governance system with strong government discourse power and a tradition of passive public participation, co-production has faced significant challenges. To address issues, this paper aims to deeply understand the co-production behaviors and strategy choices of local governments and residents in the co-produced neighborhood regeneration.

An evolutionary game approach was utilized as the research method to analyze the interest interactions between the two parties, the differences and similarities in strategy choices and the influencing factors in government and resident-initiated project types, respectively. Chongqing was selected as the case area for empirical analysis, with data derived from project materials and in-depth interviews.

This study revealed dynamic interactions between local governments and residents, significant differences between the two project types regarding co-production levels, the positive role of residents' perceived loss and the effect of marginal benefits on critical influencing factors.

Drawing upon co-production theory, this paper elucidates how different levels of co-production are implemented and highlights the differences between the two types of neighborhood regeneration projects within governance systems characterized by strong state discourse power and a lack of public participation tradition. It addresses current issues and provides critical references for government policymakers and urban planners to make informed decisions and promote co-produced neighborhood rehabilitation projects.

This study investigates the relationships among digital transformation, technological innovation, industry–university–research collaborations and labor income share in manufacturing firms.

The relationships are tested using an empirical method, constructing regression models, by collecting 1,240 manufacturing firms and 9,029 items listed on the A-share market in China from 2013 to 2020.

The results indicate that digital transformation has a positive effect on manufacturing companies’ labor income share. Technological innovation can mediate the effect of digital transformation on labor income share. Industry–university–research cooperation can positively moderate the promotion effect of digital transformation on labor income share but cannot moderate the mediating effect of technological innovation. Heterogeneity analysis also found that firms without service-based transformation and nonstate-owned firms are better able to increase their labor income share through digital transformation.

This study provides a new path to increase the labor income share of enterprises to achieve common prosperity, which is important for manufacturing enterprises to better transform and upgrade to achieve high-quality development.

Recent studies suggested that owner dynamic capabilities (ODCs) enabling public owners of megaprojects to activate, orchestrate and reorganize resources to uncertainties were beneficial to improving the project resilience of megaprojects. However, most of them pay insufficient attention to the specific context of long cycles and deep uncertainty in megaprojects, neglecting the causal complexity that different dimensions of ODCs and learning mechanisms interact with each other in terms of enhancing project resilience. Therefore, this study aims to systematically unveil the complex causality among ODCs, learning mechanisms and project resilience of megaprojects.

This study introduces a configurational perspective to explore how multi-dimensional ODCs combine to improve project resilience in megaprojects along with different organizational learning mechanisms and learning orientations. Based on 330 ODC events in 19 construction megaprojects, a multi-temporal crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis method is adopted to extract configurations of ODCs for project resilience improvement and unveil their evolution features over the whole megaproject lifecycle.

Six configurations are identified for improving project resilience in megaprojects, including cognition-dominant, cognition-deficient, transformation-dominant, innovation-driven, value-co-creation and exploitative-transformation configurations. The results also indicate that distinct megaproject stages appeal to corresponding ODC configurations for project resilience improvement under unique uncertain contexts.

This study not only makes theoretical contributions to the literature on dynamic capability and project resilience in the megaproject management field but also provides useful practical guidance for public owners of megaprojects to better utilize ODCs for project resilience improvement.