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The primary objective of this chapter is to synthesize and organize prevailing theoretical perspectives on metacognition into a framework that can enhance understanding of metacognitive phenomena, with the aim of stimulating future research in the field of organizational behavior and human resources management (OBHRM). The author starts with a review of the history of metacognition research, distinguishing it from related theoretical constructs such as cognition, executive function, and self-regulation. Following this, the author outlines five constituent elements of metacognition – metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive experiences, metacognitive monitoring, a dynamic mental model, and metacognitive control – with discussions on their interrelationships and respective functions. Two approaches to metacognition, a process approach and an individual-difference approach, are then presented, summarizing key questions and findings from each. Finally, three broad directions for future research in OBHRM are proposed: examining metacognitive processes, considering mechanisms beyond learning to explain the effects of metacognition, and exploring both domain-specific and general metacognitive knowledge and skills. The implications of these research directions for personnel and human resources management practices are discussed.

What might lead a luxury consumer to signal with an inconspicuous product? Drawing upon luxury consumer maturity theory, which proposes that mature luxury consumers exhibit a greater preference for inconspicuous luxury goods, this papers aims to consider if consumer field-specific knowledge increases the preference for inconspicuous consumption.

By measuring and manipulating consumer knowledge via correlational and experimental designs, respectively, the authors probe the association between consumer knowledge and preferences for inconspicuous luxury products.

This study reports converging evidence suggesting that more knowledgeable (non-)luxury consumers prefer (non-)luxury goods that send inconspicuous signals.

The proposed luxury consumer knowledge effect provides insights into the rise of inconspicuous luxury consumption and offers counterintuitive managerial implications, particularly for marketing communications and advertising.

Inconspicuous luxury brands should engage in an informational sharing approach to their marketing communications, as increasing knowledge may encourage inconspicuous consumption.

While prior work on inconspicuous consumption has addressed the utility of subtle signals and presented a classification of different types of luxury consumers, for instance, the authors instead consider one potential driver of inconspicuous consumption: consumer knowledge. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is also the first to provide empirical support for luxury consumer maturity theory, in addition to examining the boundaries of this framework.

Trust-commitment theory has been fundamental in understanding interorganizational relationships in sustainable supply chain management. Trust-commitment dynamics can provide insights into sustainable sourcing outcomes. Despite recent extensions to trust-commitment theory, trust and commitment correlation and the mediation role of trust between antecedents (i.e. opportunism) and commitment remains fundamental. We revisit trust-commitment theoretical relationships within the context of blockchain technology—and specifically blockchain smart contracts.

We conducted the scenario-based experiment with 100 business professionals from operations, supply chain and related fields to test the proposed hypotheses on how different governance mechanisms impact various managerial perceptions in a buyer–seller setting.

Findings reveal that compared with the formal written contract, blockchain smart contract enhances affect-based trust—as the only significant trust dimension, secures buyer commitment and interestingly, encourages opportunistic behavior. The impact of blockchain smart contract on cognition-based and institution-based trust is not significant. The findings advance trust-commitment theory with valuable managerial insights within the blockchain and sustainable sourcing context.

This study serves as a foundation for future studies to further clarify blockchain technology on sustainable buyer–seller relationships using fundamental relationships of trust-commitment and other social exchange theories.

Online food delivery applications (OFDAs) provide an expedient platform, and consumers’ access to food has been drastically altered, especially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to completely explore the attributes that influence consumers' purchase intention and how an app's aesthetics can evoke feelings that predict continuous usage intentions for OFDAs. The food industry, especially restaurants, heavily relies on mobile technology to facilitate critical online food delivery during the pandemic crisis.

The data for this study are gathered from 477 food consumers located in the federal capital territory (FCT) of Islamabad, Pakistan, through convenient sampling by developing a self-administrated online survey. SmartPLS is used for structural equation modeling to test the proposed research model and perform bootstrapping and algorithmic analysis.

Our findings revealed that perceived value positively predicted consumers’ purchase intentions. Moreover, perceived value mediates the association of information quality, familiarity, time-saving, usability and reputation with purchase intentions and fear of COVID-19 moderates the relationship between perceived value and purchase intention.

This research work has significant implications for researchers, web developers, app designers, delivery services, restaurants and other enterprises as it demonstrates the importance of aesthetically pleasing OFDAs in eliciting positive emotions and bolstering consumers’ intentions to continue using the app for efficient food delivery services.

This study expanded the application of the technology acceptance model (TAM) and attention, interest, desire and action (AIDA) by examining consumers’ purchase intentions in the context of OFDAs. Further, the successful utilization of TAM enhanced the understanding of consumer perceptions and behavioral intentions about the usage of OFDAs.

This study aims to provide understanding of the influence of external factors, such as gravity, during sintering of three dimensional (3D)-printed parts in which the initial relative density and cohesion between the powder particles are lower compared with those present in the green parts produced by traditional powder technologies. A developed model is used to predict shrinkage and shape distortion of 3D-printed powder components at high sintering temperatures.

Three cylindrical shape connector geometries are designed, including horizontal and vertical tubes of different sizes. Several samples are manufactured by binder jetting to validate the model, and numerical results are compared with the measurements of the sintered shape.

Simulations are consistent with empirical data, proving that the continuum theory of sintering can effectively predict sintering deformation in additively manufactured products.

This work includes the assessment of the accuracy and limits of a multiphysics continuum mechanics–based sintering model in predicting gravity-induced distortions in complex-shaped additively manufactured components.

The personalities of the design team members constitute one of the factors that influence team effectiveness. In this study, 223 members of the “American Institute of Architects” who are employed by the largest architectural design firms in the United States of America were categorized according to their personality types by using “The Enneagram Personality Type Model.” Also, the respondents’ opinions about eight team effectiveness outcomes were recorded in order to explore the relationship between team members’ personality types and team effectiveness outcomes.

The information was collected by a questionnaire where the first part included 144 pairs of statements that were used to identify respondents’ personality types. The second part sought designers’ opinions about the importance of eight team effectiveness outcomes rated on a Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5. The results were assessed by performing the Kruskal–Wallis test first and Dunn’s post-hoc test with Bonferroni adjustment subsequently.

The findings highlight the significance of personality types in effective design teams. While Type 6 (loyalist and skeptic) and Type 3 (achiever and performer) architects prioritize team effectiveness the most, Type 7 architects (enthusiasts and epicureans) assign the lowest importance. However, the presence of Type 1 (reformist and perfectionist) and Type 8 (challenger and protector) architects within the same design team may involve challenges or conflicts.

The primary contribution of this study is that it is the first study in the construction management literature that utilizes The Enneagram of Personality Test to understand the relationship between team members’ personality types and team effectiveness outcomes. This study is of direct relevance to practitioners and could be utilized in design team-building activities.

This study aims to provide a comprehensive review of electric tugboat deployment in maritime transportation, including an in-depth assessment of its advantages and disadvantages. Along with the identification of advantages and disadvantages of electric tugboat deployment, the present research also aims to provide managerial insights into the economic viability of different tugboat alternatives that can guide future investments in the following years.

A detailed literature review was conducted, aiming to gain broad insights into tugboat operations and focusing on different aspects, including tugboat accidents and safety issues, scheduling and berthing of tugboats, life cycle assessment of diesel tugboats and their alternatives, operations of electric and hybrid tugboats, environmental impacts and others. Moreover, a set of interviews was conducted with the leading experts in the electric tugboat industry, including DAMEN Shipyards and the Port of Auckland. Econometric analyses were performed as well to evaluate the financial viability and economic performance of electric tugboats and their alternatives (i.e. conventional tugboats and hybrid tugboats).

The advantages of electric tugboats encompass decreased emissions, reduced operating expenses, improved energy efficiency, lower noise levels and potential for digital transformation through automation and data analytics. However, high initial costs, infrastructure limitations, training requirements and restricted range need to be addressed. The electric tugboat alternative seems to be the best option for scenarios with low interest rate values as increasing interest values negatively impact the salvage value of electric tugboats. It is expected that for long-term planning, the electric and hybrid tugboat alternatives will become preferential since they have lower annual costs than conventional diesel tugboats.

The outcomes of this research provide managerial insights into the practical deployment of electric tugboats and point to future research needs, including battery improvements, cost reduction, infrastructure development, legislative and regulatory changes and alternative energy sources. The advancement of battery technology has the potential to significantly impact the cost dynamics associated with electric tugboats. It is essential to do further research to monitor the advancements in battery technology and analyze their corresponding financial ramifications. It is essential to closely monitor the industry’s shift toward electric tugboats as their prices become more affordable.

The maritime industry is rapidly transforming and facing pressing challenges related to sustainability and digitization. Electric tugboats represent a promising and innovative solution that could address some of these challenges through zero-emission operations, enhanced energy efficiency and integration of digital technologies. Considering the potential of electric tugboats, the present study provides a comprehensive review of the advantages and disadvantages of electric tugboats in maritime transportation, extensive evaluation of the relevant literature, interviews with industry experts and supporting econometric analyses. The outcomes of this research will benefit governmental agencies, policymakers and other relevant maritime transportation stakeholders.

This study examines the relationship between economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and managers' ex ante strategic choice on firms’ fixed and variable costs structure, i.e. cost rigidity and the moderating effect of government contracts and political connections.

Using a sample of 4,162 US firms during 2003–2019 and EPU measure from Baker et al. (2016), the authors examine the association between EPU and cost rigidity using multivariate regression analysis. The authors also examine the moderating effects of government customers and political connections using the subsampling method.

This study finds that increases in EPU leads to higher cost rigidity, suggesting that managers tend to look ahead and make an ex ante commitment to invest more in fixed costs to avoid congestion costs in anticipation of future product demand during EPU. The study also finds that the presence of government customers and political connections moderates the need for adopting greater cost rigidity.

This study measures firms' cost rigidity based on archival data. Future studies could utilize managers' cost structure choices using firms' internal management cost structure forecasts data to measure cost rigidity to examine the relationship between cost rigidity and EPU.

This study demonstrates that managers tend to make a proactive commitment to invest in fixed inputs when facing demand uncertainty from EPU to avoid congestion costs. This study also highlights the value of having government contracts and political connections by demonstrating that managers are less concerned about the congestion costs, hence weakening the impact of EPU on cost rigidity when they have government as major customers and/or political connections.

This study extends the management accounting literature by documenting that cost rigidity is related to EPU and that the relationship between cost rigidity and EPU also depends on whether the firm has government as major customers and/or political connections or not.