Flávio Cunha, Jose Dinis-Carvalho and Rui M. Sousa
This study aims to identify the perception of people in a Portuguese company regarding the main barriers to the effectiveness of the existing performance measurement system (PMS…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify the perception of people in a Portuguese company regarding the main barriers to the effectiveness of the existing performance measurement system (PMS) and whether those perceptions are dependent of people’s hierarchical levels, education levels, work shifts, gender and department.
Design/methodology/approach
Primary data was collected through structured interviews (adapted to three levels of interviewees in the company hierarchy) and Likert scale questionnaires. Descriptive statistical analysis of the collected data was performed as well as a chi-square test.
Findings
The results provide an insight on the perception of barriers to the PMS effectiveness in the company. After performing interviews and questionnaires it was possible to identify that the main perceived barriers were: poor communication system and issues on target definition, lack of trained resources, employee involvement, indicators understanding and use for improvement.
Practical implications
This study is the starting point to develop actions aiming to eliminate, or at least mitigate, the impact of the barriers on the PMS effectiveness.
Originality/value
PMSs play an essential role in an organization, so it is essential to identify what hinders its effectiveness. This study opens the discussion by diagnosing the company’s perception of the barriers to PMS effectiveness.
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Rui Mu and Yuting Wang
To fill the gap, this article examines the inter-governmental collaboration mechanisms behind the platform curtain.
Abstract
Purpose
To fill the gap, this article examines the inter-governmental collaboration mechanisms behind the platform curtain.
Design/methodology/approach
Behind the curtain is to look at what makes things happen backstage. For collaborative e-governance platforms, scholars have assumed that technological factors and user characteristics are the determinants for platform success. Little attention has been paid to the issue of how multiple governments, acting as platform co-builders and co-operators, interact and collaborate backstage to provide integrated e-services.
Findings
Based on data from survey questionnaires sent to government employees, the results show that governments’ information processing capacities cannot directly affect collaboration; however, these capacities can impact collaboration via the mediating variable of horizontal relations. In addition, we found that higher-ranking authorities are better suited to intervene once horizontal relations have been established and that more adaptable organizations are better at forming horizontal relations with peers. For governments participating in collaborative e-governance platforms, our findings are practically applicable.
Originality/value
The research question reads as: How do various government departments acting as platform co-builders and co-operators judge their collaboration performance, and what collaboration mechanisms contribute to it? We study this research question by constructing a conceptual model based on the Organizational Information Processing Theory (OIPT) and the Collaborative Governance Theory (CGT), both suggesting information processing capacities, organizational flexibility, horizontal relations and vertical intervention as indispensable factors influencing collaboration performance in ICT-supported groupwork. We propose and test four hypotheses on the relationships among these four factors to reveal the inter-governmental collaboration mechanisms for cross-government platformisation projects.
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Xiao-Yu Xu, Syed Muhammad Usman Tayyab, Qingdan Jia and Albert H. Huang
Video game streaming (VGS) is emerging as an extremely popular, highly interactive, inordinately subscribed and very dynamic form of digital media. Incorporated environmental…
Abstract
Purpose
Video game streaming (VGS) is emerging as an extremely popular, highly interactive, inordinately subscribed and very dynamic form of digital media. Incorporated environmental elements, gratifications and user pre-existing attitudes in VGS, this paper presents the development of an extended model of uses and gratification theory (EUGT) for predicting users' behavior in novel technological context.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed model was empirically tested in VGS context due to its popularity, interactivity and relevance. Data collected from 308 VGS users and structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to assess the hypotheses. Multi-model comparison technique was used to assess the explanatory power of EUGT.
Findings
The findings confirmed three significant types elements in determining VGS viewers' engagement, including gratifications (e.g. involvement), environmental cues (e.g. medium appeal) and user predispositions (e.g. pre-existing attitudes). The results revealed that emerging technologies provide potential opportunities for new motives and gratifications, and highlighted the significant of pre-existing attitudes as a mediator in the gratification-uses link.
Originality/value
This study is one of its kind in tackling the criticism on UGT of considering media users too rational or active. The study achieved this objective by considering environmental impacts on user behavior which is largely ignored in recent UGT studies. Also, by incorporating users pre-existing attitudes into UGT framework, this study conceptualized and empirically verified the higher explanatory power of EUGT through a novel multi-modal approach in VGS. Compared to other rival models, EUGS provides a more robust explanation of users' behavior. The findings contribute to the literature of UGT, VGS and users' engagement.
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Shaoming Chai, Emily Pey-Tee Oon, Yuan Chai and Zuokun Li
Metadiscourse is an important dialogue technique used in productive knowledge building to help a group evaluate and advance their knowledge progress. Previous studies have…
Abstract
Purpose
Metadiscourse is an important dialogue technique used in productive knowledge building to help a group evaluate and advance their knowledge progress. Previous studies have identified and defined various types of metadiscourse. However, there is scant knowledge about how different metadiscourse types emerge among different groups or what implicit correlations lie between progressive discourse and metadiscourse. Moreover, research on how different types of metadiscourse influence groups' knowledge advancement and artifacts is still inadequate. Therefore, this study aims to further examine the roles that different types of metadiscourse play in the collaborative knowledge building community on both a fine-grained (i.e. progressive discourse) and coarse-grained (i.e. group knowledge advancement and group artifacts) level.
Design/methodology/approach
Data for this study are drawn from the behaviour of undergraduate students participating in a 12-week course at a key university in China. On the fine-grained level, epistemic network analysis (ENA) is applied to illustrate how metadiscourse promotes the development of progressive discourse. On the coarse-grained level, two different chi-square tests are conducted to examine the roles of different types of metadiscourse in groups' knowledge advancement and artifacts.
Findings
The analysis allowed several conclusions to be drawn. First, the types of metadiscourse that students most often adopted were reflecting on ideas development (RD) and commenting on ideas (CI); they less frequently adopted setting group goals (SG) and making group plans (MP). Second, most types of metadiscourse correlated with developments in progressive discourse, particularly RD and CI. Third, the metadiscourse types RD, CI and coordinating group efforts (CE) played essential roles in knowledge advancement. Fourth, higher-quality artifacts could be created by using the metadiscourse type reviewing the state of knowledge building progress (RP).
Originality/value
A more profound comprehension of the role that metadiscourse plays in the collaborative knowledge building community not only contributes to the literature in the knowledge building field but also carries a significant meaning in regulating community, promoting learner agency and sustained knowledge, and consequently improving collaborative learning performance.
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Jing Li, Rui Ling, Fangjie Sun, Jinming Zhou and Haiya Cai
This paper adds risk perception and personalized human-computer interaction to the technology acceptance model, and further analyzes the impact of personalized unmanned ride…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper adds risk perception and personalized human-computer interaction to the technology acceptance model, and further analyzes the impact of personalized unmanned ride hailing on users' behavior intention.
Design/methodology/approach
This study model was tested using a sample of 299 social media users from China and we apply structural equation modeling (SEM) to build the theoretical framework.
Findings
Our results show that perceived ease of use has a greater positive impact on behavior intention compared to perceived usefulness. In addition, we find that the impact of risk perception on behavior intention is manifested in a number of ways, including people’s risk perception of the new technology, people’s risk perception of data leakage, and so on. Finally, we find that users’ personalized human-computer interaction has a positive effect on their perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and behavior intention.
Originality/value
Our study contributes to illuminate the pivotal role of tailoring the human-computer interface to individual preferences and needs for ride-hailing platforms from the perspective of behavior intention.
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Yamin Xie, Zhichao Li, Wenjing Ouyang and Hongxia Wang
Political factors play a crucial role in China's initial public offering (IPO) market due to its distinctive institutional context (i.e. “economic decentralization” and “political…
Abstract
Purpose
Political factors play a crucial role in China's initial public offering (IPO) market due to its distinctive institutional context (i.e. “economic decentralization” and “political centralization”). Given the significant level of IPO underpricing in China, we examine the impact of local political uncertainty (measured by prefecture-level city official turnover rate) on IPO underpricing.
Design/methodology/approach
Using 2,259 IPOs of A-share listed companies from 2001 to 2019, we employ a structural equation model (SEM) to examine the channel (voluntarily lower the issuance price vs aftermarket trading) through which political uncertainty affects IPO underpricing. We check the robustness of the results using bootstrap tests, adopting alternative proxies for political uncertainty and IPO underpricing and employing subsample analysis.
Findings
Local official turnover-induced political uncertainty increases IPO underpricing by IPO firms voluntarily reducing the issuance price rather than by affecting investor sentiment in aftermarket trading. These relations are stronger in firms with pre-IPO political connections. The effect of political uncertainty on IPO underpricing is also contingent upon the industry and the growth phase of an IPO firm, more pronounced in politically sensitive industries and firms listed on the growth enterprise market board.
Originality/value
Local government officials in China usually have a short tenure and Chinese firms witness significantly severe IPO underpricing. By introducing the SEM model in studying China IPO underpricing, this study identifies the channel through which local government official turnover to political uncertainty on IPO underpricing.
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Ayşe Meriç Yazıcı and Hüseyin Çiçeklioğlu
The purpose of this study is to examine how green innovation awareness is integrated into corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and what regulatory role environmental…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine how green innovation awareness is integrated into corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and what regulatory role environmental ethics plays in this process. This study evaluates how green innovation shapes the environmental, social and economic responsibilities of businesses and its impact on achieving sustainable development goals.
Design/methodology/approach
The population of this study consists of four field operation centers of a nuclear power plant operating in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey. The sample consists of 397 employees in the field operation center using simple random sampling method.
Findings
The findings of this study revealed positive and significant relationships between the variables. According to the results obtained from both models, green innovation awareness and environmental ethics variables have a positive and significant effect on CSR, but environmental ethics does not have a moderating role in the effect of green innovation awareness on CSR.
Originality/value
This study is important in that it will help to clarify the gray areas in the literature by developing recommendations for practitioners, researchers and professionals in line with the research results. In addition, the fact that the research was conducted in the field studies of a nuclear power plant, which is one of the best places to address the issues of green innovation, CSR and environmental ethics, increases its importance.
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Muzammil Hussain, Trong Tuan Luu and Timothy Marjoribanks
Healthcare is a service industry where fulfilling the needs of patients (customers) is challenging. Various factors, including cost, system complexity, staffing behaviours and…
Abstract
Purpose
Healthcare is a service industry where fulfilling the needs of patients (customers) is challenging. Various factors, including cost, system complexity, staffing behaviours and technological advances, play vital roles. Drawing upon social exchange theory, this study seeks to determine how paternalistic leadership (authoritarianism, benevolence and morality) influences employee service innovative behaviour and counterproductive work behaviour via perceived supervisor support in the healthcare sector. Additionally, the study investigates the role of the public service motivation of individuals as a moderating factor in this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
A pilot study and a main study were conducted to test the hypotheses. We collected data from healthcare professionals in Pakistan’s large public, private and semi-government hospitals. We applied bootstrapping with 5,000 replications and structural equation modelling to analyse the data.
Findings
Results indicate that authoritarianism was negatively associated with service innovative behaviour, whereas benevolent and moral behaviours were positively associated with service innovative behaviour via perceived supervisor support (mediation). Our findings shed light on the moderating role of public service motivation.
Originality/value
This empirical quantitative study has several theoretical and practical implications. Findings of our study provide evidence that a paternalistic leadership style can influence both positive (service innovative behaviour) and negative (counterproductive working behaviour) working behaviours simultaneously via perceived supervisor support at an individual level in the service (healthcare) industry. This study also highlights the moderating role of public service motivation as an individual motivation factor.
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Rui Zhang, Zehua Dong, Yanjun Zhang, Liuhu Fu and Qiaofeng Bai
This paper aims to propose a new ultrasonic detection method for stainless steel weld defects based on complex synergetic convolutional calculation to solve two problems in the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to propose a new ultrasonic detection method for stainless steel weld defects based on complex synergetic convolutional calculation to solve two problems in the ultrasonic detection of austenitic stainless steel weld defects. These include ignoring the nonlinear information of the imaginary part in the complex domain of the signal and the correlation information between the amplitude of the real part and phase of the imaginary part and subjective dependence of diagnosis model parameters.
Design/methodology/approach
An ultrasonic detection method for weld defects based on complex synergetic convolution calculation is proposed in this paper to address the above issues. By mapping low-density, 1D detection samples to a complex domain space with high representation richness, a multi-scale and multilevel complex synergetic convolution calculation model (CSCC) is designed to match and transform samples to mine amplitude changes, phase shifts, weak phase angle changes and amplitude-phase correlation features deeply from the detection signal. This study proposed an Elite Sine-Cosine Sobol Sampling Dung Beetle Optimization Algorithm, and the detection model CSCC achieves global adaptive matching of key hyperparameters in 19 dimensions. Finally, a regulative complex synergetic convolutional calculation model is constructed to achieve high-performance detection of weld defects.
Findings
Through experiments on a self-developed Taiyuan intelligent detection and information processing weld defect dataset, the results show that the method achieves a detection accuracy of 92% for five types of weld defects: cracks, porosity, slag inclusion and unfused and unwelded components, which represent an average improvement of 11% relative to comparable models. This method is also validated with the PhysioNet electrocardiogram public dataset, which achieves better detection performance relative to the other models.
Originality/value
This method provides a theoretical basis and technical reference for developing and applying intelligent, efficient and accurate ultrasonic defects detection technology.
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Hongjie Lin, Faqun Qi, Yuxin Liu, Xiang Chen and Wenfei Zha
This paper aims to develop an optimal maintenance and spare parts policy for an urban micro wind power system, focusing on two urban micro wind farms (UMWF). The reliability and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to develop an optimal maintenance and spare parts policy for an urban micro wind power system, focusing on two urban micro wind farms (UMWF). The reliability and efficiency of these systems are sought to be enhanced by considering the relationship between urban wind parameters and wind turbine degradation.
Design/methodology/approach
A proportional hazards (PH) model is utilized to describe how urban wind conditions impact turbine degradation. The maintenance strategy includes preventive maintenance (PM), corrective maintenance (CM) and opportunistic maintenance (OM). A multi-objective optimization algorithm is developed to optimize the joint policy of OM plans and spare parts resource allocation.
Findings
The proposed maintenance and spare parts policy effectively balances the trade-offs between PM, CM and OM strategies. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the policy improves the reliability of UMWF, reducing downtime and maintenance costs while ensuring the availability of spare parts when needed. The results show a significant enhancement in system performance compared to traditional maintenance approaches.
Originality/value
A novel maintenance policy and spare parts management approach for urban micro wind power systems is proposed. A multi-objective optimization algorithm is developed to optimize the OM schedule and maintenance spare parts resource management strategy for wind farms in urban wind environments.