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Although research on how the downstream calculations of a patent’s profit potential influence invention renewal decisions is extensive, the impact of the upstream knowledge creation stages is overlooked. The purpose of this study is to address this theoretical vacuum by examining the intra-organizational configuration of knowledge networks and collaboration networks.

The data consist of 491 global pharmaceutical firms that patent in the USA. Drawing on patent records, the authors simultaneously construct intra-organizational knowledge networks and collaboration networks and identify network cohesion features (i.e. local and global). The authors employ panel fixed-effects models to test the hypotheses.

The results show that local knowledge cohesion and local social cohesion decrease invention renewals, while global knowledge cohesion and global social cohesion increase renewals. Moreover, the marginal effects of local and global social cohesion are stronger than those of local and global knowledge cohesion, respectively.

The hypotheses are tested using the pharmaceutical industry as a research setting, which limits the generalizability of our findings. In addition, potential formal and informal contingencies are not considered.

Despite its limitations, this study provides valuable implications. First, managers are cautioned against the adverse effects of local cohesion structures on invention renewal. Second, firms can dynamically adjust their local and global network configuration strategies to harmonize the generation of valuable inventions and the retention of good ideas.

Complementary to previous research that focused on inventions’ performance feedback, this study delves into upstream knowledge creation stages to understand invention renewals.

As a high-reward strategy to differentiate social platforms, value co-creation is increasingly becoming a tool to enhance customers' social attachment. However, there is still a lack of academic understanding of the value co-creation that enables users to build social attachment with social platforms. To address this challenge, we develop and then examine a theoretical model grounded in value co-creation theory considering the relationship between value co-creation and social attachment, and also explore the mediating effect of user experience and the moderating effect of self-disclosure.

This study takes representative social platform users as the research object, chooses Questionnaire Star as the platform for questionnaire distribution and collection and collects 531 eligible data through the snowball sampling questionnaire method. And then, MPLUS7.4 is used to analyze the data and thus examine our proposed theoretical model.

The results of structural equation modeling analysis suggest that two dimensions of value co-creation (i.e. initiated value co-creation and spontaneous value co-creation) affect social attachment not only directly but also indirectly (i.e. the mediating role of user experience) and that self-disclosure moderates the impact of value co-creation affecting social attachment.

This study verifies the impact of different dimensions of value co-creation toward social platforms on social attachment, showing that value co-creation plays an important role in developing users' social attachment and provides practical implications for promoting the sustainable development of social platforms and building users' psychological well-being.

Theories are crucial for addressing research questions and advancing the boundaries of knowledge. However, in the field of strategic management, the existence of diverse schools of thought from various disciplines, including economics, politics, and sociology, poses significant challenges for researchers seeking to develop theories for argumentation and theorization. In this study, we have conceptualized a novel approach to selecting an appropriate theory for addressing specific research questions.

Thought experiment, disciplined imagination, and a conceptual examination of a diverse set of theories.

Because the central focus in the field of strategic management revolves around how firms achieve sustainable high performance, a research question should initially clarify the fundamental phenomenological issues it aims to address. Subsequently, the process of problematization should identify the ontological assumptions and premises that establish a connection between the research question and existing theories. Finally, the identification and abstraction of rhetorical concepts derived from these assumptions and premises lead to theory selection criteria, namely connectedness, reliability, parsimoniousness, and falsifiability.

Although we believe that our model for theory selection is generalizable to a wide range of management disciplines, we have primarily focused on its application in the field of strategic management. Future work could validate and further explore the applicability and effectiveness of this model in selecting appropriate theories for conceptual development in other domains.

While many researchers have proposed methods for writing theoretical papers, few have provided suggestions specifically focused on theory selection. This paper stands out as one of the few that not only attempts to address this gap but successfully develops a comprehensive model for theory selection.

The purpose of this study is to make property price forecasts for the Chinese housing market that has grown rapidly in the last 10 years, which is an important concern for both government and investors.

This study examines Gaussian process regressions with different kernels and basis functions for monthly pre-owned housing price index estimates for ten major Chinese cities from March 2012 to May 2020. The authors do this by using Bayesian optimizations and cross-validation.

The ten price indices from June 2019 to May 2020 are accurately predicted out-of-sample by the established models, which have relative root mean square errors ranging from 0.0458% to 0.3035% and correlation coefficients ranging from 93.9160% to 99.9653%.

The results might be applied separately or in conjunction with other forecasts to develop hypotheses regarding the patterns in the pre-owned residential real estate price index and conduct further policy research.

This case study is designed to enable students to understand the reasons behind the launch of a beauty brand grounded on traditions and culture, understand the strategies adopted by Florasis to establish its presence in the C-beauty space and emerge successful, analyze the positioning of a C-beauty brand in a highly competitive beauty market, identify the issues and challenges faced by a C-beauty brand in its efforts to disrupt the C-beauty space and suggest strategies that Florasis can adopt to emerge as a market leader in the global beauty industry.

Set in 2021, the case study discusses about the emerging C-beauty brand Florasis innovative strategies to promote the brand. Florasis was founded in 2017 with a vision to become a century old national makeup brand of China. Florasis was successful in getting on board a story-telling experience that featured traditional Chinese culture, aesthetics and heritage. It sold cosmetic products with retro packaging, concepts derived from traditional Chinese style, promoting a sense of national pride and nostalgia. The case study highlights the innovative strategies Florasis adopted like influencer marketing through key opinion leaders and key opinion customers, celebrity endorsements, user co-creation programs, social content and network marketing, brand crossovers and collaborations, etc. In April 2021, Florasis became the No. 1 cosmetic company in China with a gross merchandise value of 218m yuan and further the total sales for second quarter of 2021 reached 830m yuan, endorsing its supremacy over other global and local beauty brands in China. However, with success came along a set of challenges. Some analysts pointed that the brand was slow in innovating its product line-up, it focused more on promotions and advertisements and the brand positioning with a single sales channel, the cost performance and quality of the products and excessive marketing campaigns targeting a niche segment. Going forward, what should Florasis do to conquer the global beauty space? Can Florasis aspire to become a digitally empowered global beauty brand? Has it got the momentum? Will its direct-to-consumer model and unprecedented marketing and promotion gimmicks, help it achieve the lead in the global beauty space?

This case study is suitable for students of the graduate and undergraduate programs in management.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

This paper aims to explore the hierarchy of motivations behind Chinese young wine consumers’ wine-purchasing behavior.

This study used a random and snowball sampling technique to collect data from Chinese young wine consumers. Ultimately, 840 participants were included, representing diverse geographic regions across China. The gathered data was analyzed to explore wine customer behavior using SPSS and AMOS.

The hierarchical structure of motivations guiding young consumers’ wine consumption becomes apparent when analyzed across ascending levels: from considerations of health benefits and emotional assessments to social interactions and status symbols. These factors wield significant influence over the purchase of wines among Chinese young wine consumers. Moreover, these consumption motivations notably impact consumption behavior by mediating through consumption intentions.

This study integrates the theory of planned behavior with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, systematically identifying four primary motivations that hierarchically influence wine consumption among Chinese young wine consumers. It empirically validates the relationships between motivations, intentions and behaviors, underscoring intentions as a mediating factor linking motivations and behaviors.

Despite the growing interest in enhancing mass customization capability (MCC), firms still have little knowledge of dealing with the superimposed challenges of increased market uncertainty and supply chain disruptions. Based on the dynamic capability view, this study focuses on the impacts of frequent sensing and reconfiguring processes on MCC and the mediating roles of proactive and reactive supply chain resilience (SCR).

We collected survey data from 277 manufacturing firms and conducted a structural equation model to test hypotheses.

The results reveal that although its direct effect on MCC is insignificant, sensing process improves MCC indirectly via reactive SCR. Our findings also show that reconfiguring process enhances MCC both directly and indirectly via reactive SCR.

This study provides theoretical and practical insights into how to combine dynamic capability and SCR to strengthen MCC.

This study aims to distinguish how unabsorbed and absorbed slack affects market and financial performance via proactive and reactive supply chain resilience (SCRES), particularly under varying conditions of organizational ambidexterity.

By collecting survey data from 277 Chinese manufacturers, we verify the conceptual model applying structural equation modeling.

Proactive SCRES mediates the positive impacts of both unabsorbed and absorbed slack on market and financial performance, whereas reactive SCRES mediates only their positive effects on financial performance. High levels of organizational ambidexterity strengthen the indirect effects of both types of slack on market and financial performance via proactive SCRES, but not when mediated by reactive SCRES.

We introduce a new theoretical perspective to view fits (as mediation) between the use of unabsorbed/absorbed slack in different ways when switching attentions to proactive or reactive SCRES, both of which can be improved through organizational ambidexterity. This study offers novel insights into how managers can switch attentions between proactive and reactive SCRES knowing when to appropriately use unabsorbed/absorbed slack for which purposes, and the use of different learning modes (explorative vs exploitative).

Building resilience in food supply chains is considered vital to tackle disruptions and ensure the availability of food. This study aims to empirically explore how firms operating in food supply chains can develop dynamic capabilities and use digital technologies to address disruption.

A multiple case study methodology was adopted to understand how the firms built resilience by developing dynamic capabilities. Twenty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted with four case companies to gather data across various functional areas (sourcing, operations and logistics).

Results show that knowledge management is a key antecedent to developing dynamic capabilities. The development of such dynamic capabilities − sensing, seizing and transforming, along with the adoption of digital technologies enabled firms to address the disruptions and, hence, build resilience. Resilience is demonstrated in the form of maintaining or improving performance outcomes such as profit, waste reduction, food quality, lead time, efficiency and customer satisfaction.

This is one of the earliest empirical studies that provide insights into how firms operating in food supply chains have built resilience by developing dynamic capabilities through knowledge management practices and, which required the implementation of digital technologies. The study extends dynamic capability theory with the knowledge-based view and develops a novel framework along with a pathway to build resilience.