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This study aims to examine the impact of board characteristics on firm performance while also exploring the influential mechanisms that help Chinese listed companies establish effective boards of directors and strengthen their corporate governance mechanisms.

This paper uses machine learning methods to investigate the predictive ability of the board of directors' characteristics on firm performance based on the data from Chinese A-share listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges in China during 2008–2021. This study further analyzes board characteristics with relatively strong predictive ability and their predictive models on firm performance.

The results show that nonlinear machine learning methods are more effective than traditional linear models in analyzing the impact of board characteristics on Chinese firm performance. Among the series characteristics of the board of directors, the contribution ratio in prediction from directors compensation, director shareholding ratio, the average age of directors and directors' educational level are significant, and these characteristics have a roughly nonlinear correlation to the prediction of firm performance; the improvement of the predictive ability of board characteristics on firm performance in state-owned enterprises in China performs better than that in private enterprises.

The findings of this study provide valuable suggestions for enriching the theory of board governance, strengthening board construction and optimizing the effectiveness of board governance. Furthermore, these impacts can serve as a valuable reference for board construction and selection, aiding in the rational selection of boards to establish an efficient and high-performing board of directors.

The study findings unequivocally demonstrate the superiority of nonlinear machine learning approaches over traditional linear models in examining the relationship between board characteristics and firm performance in China. Within the suite of board characteristics, director compensation, shareholding ratio, average age and educational level are particularly noteworthy, consistently demonstrating strong, nonlinear associations with firm performance. Within the suite of board characteristics, director compensation, shareholding ratio, average age and educational level are particularly noteworthy, consistently demonstrating strong, nonlinear associations with firm performance. The study reveals that the predictive performance of board attributes is generally more robust for state-owned enterprises in China in comparison to their counterparts in the private sector.

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether and how principles from variation theory can contribute to the planning of teaching and learning beyond learning study.

We study whether and how principles from variation theory contributed to a group of teachers’ planning of teaching and learning about decimal numbers in Grades 4 to 7 working in Subject Didactic Groups – a collaborative arrangement suited to daily teaching. A theoretical thematic analysis approach was used when analyzing eight audio-recorded meetings and written documents.

The study shows that variation theory principles contributed to the teachers’ planning of teaching and learning. Two themes were identified: the theory contributed to the teachers being able to (1) specify what their students needed to learn and (2) design tasks that they anticipated would afford the opportunity to learn what was identified as being necessary to learn.

The paper demonstrates how variation theory can contribute to teachers’ planning of teaching and learning when used in a collaborative arrangement other than learning study. This leads into a discussion about variation theory being used separately from learning study and the benefits and limitations this other collaborative arrangement can have for gaining knowledge of what is to be learned and taught.

Due to the worldwide internet usage and online presence of businesses, digital marketing is an integrated part of the overall marketing strategy. One of the main investments in this field is the investment on more creative content that engages more potential customers. Online brand communities (OBCs) are used by businesses as a tool to have higher rates of engagement. Many researchers have developed customer engagement (CE) models to better understand it, but the transition economies like the countries of the Balkan are somehow left aside. Due to this identified gap in the literature, this paper aims to provide a model explaining the drivers and outcomes of CE, specifically on OBCs.

The research is based on primary data collected with an online questionnaire. Sample consisted of 764 respondents from four Balkan countries (Kosovo, North Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro). Data were analyzed using SPSS Statistics and IBM AMOS 26. To test the research model and hypotheses, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used.

First, the study found a positive impact of entertainment and customer satisfaction, and celebrities’ endorsement in CE. Furthermore, the results revealed a positive impact of CE on customer purchase intention and customer loyalty.

The research findings aim to help businesses of Balkan countries to better understand the importance and operation of CE in OBC.

This paper enriches the existing digital marketing literature of transition economies with a model of online CE.

This paper aims to explore the pathways connecting perceived social isolation, perceived stress, hedonic browsing and e-impulse buying in social commerce.

A theoretical model was proposed. Data from 394 young adults was analyzed using structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized relationships in the model.

Perceived social isolation is associated with elevated levels of perceived stress and engagement in hedonic browsing. Young consumers often turn to hedonic browsing as a coping mechanism for stress, and both stress and hedonic browsing play significant roles in fostering impulsive purchases. Perceived stress fully mediates the influence of perceived social isolation on hedonic browsing. Conversely, hedonic browsing partially mediates the impact of perceived stress on e-impulse buying.

Businesses can use the findings to develop effective marketing strategies that entice customers to purchase on social commerce platforms. Moreover, the findings offer valuable insights for young consumers, providing them with an understanding of the complexities of impulsive buying in social commerce. This knowledge can empower them to make informed decisions and exercise enhanced control over their purchasing habits. Furthermore, the findings could be used as a basis for developing targeted interventions to reduce unnecessary purchases, particularly during challenging times that necessitate social isolation.

This study offers new empirical insights into the ways in which perceived social isolation, perceived stress and hedonic browsing contribute to the heightened prevalence of e-impulse buying in social commerce.

The purpose of this study is to examine knowledge management (KM) infrastructure and processes on automobile manufacturing firm innovative performance through the mediating role of agile project management (APM) practice.

The data collection involved purposive and convenience sampling techniques to gather information from 692 employees employed in various public and private automobile manufacturing firms operating in Pakistan. To test the hypothesis, data analysis was conducted using Smart PLS software version 4, using the partial least squares and structural equation modeling technique.

The result revealed that knowledge management infrastructure and processes has a positive and significant effect on firm innovative performance. Moreover, agile project management practices positively and significantly mediate the relationship between knowledge management infrastructure and processes and firm innovative performance.

The performance of high-tech automobile manufacturing firms can be enhanced by implementing agile project management practices, especially when stimulated by external factors such as innovation. In an increasingly dynamic environment, innovation acts as a favorable factor that amplifies the positive impact of agile methodologies on firm performance.

Researchers can use these findings to identify knowledge gaps that need to be addressed in future studies and understand how strategies relate to processes within the KM-APM framework. This study provides practitioners with insights on applying KM practices in an APM context to enhance knowledge performance. Practitioners can use the framework to plan KM activities that support corporate strategy across all organizational layers, ensuring the appropriate knowledge is conveyed at each level.

The discrepancy between the content of an article and its title is a key characteristic of fake news. Current methods for detecting fake news often ignore the significant difference in length between the content and its title. In addition, relying solely on textual discrepancies between the title and content to distinguish between real and fake news has proven ineffective. The purpose of this paper is to develop a new approach called semantic enhancement network with content–title discrepancy (SEN–CTD), which enhances the accuracy of fake news detection.

The SEN–CTD framework is composed of two primary modules: the SEN and the content–title comparison network (CTCN). The SEN is designed to enrich the representation of news titles by integrating external information and position information to capture the context. Meanwhile, the CTCN focuses on assessing the consistency between the content of news articles and their corresponding titles examining both emotional tones and semantic attributes.

The SEN–CTD model performs well on the GossipCop, PolitiFact and RealNews data sets, achieving accuracies of 80.28%, 86.88% and 84.96%, respectively. These results highlight its effectiveness in accurately detecting fake news across different types of content.

The SEN is specifically designed to improve the representation of extremely short texts, enhancing the depth and accuracy of analyses for brief content. The CTCN is tailored to examine the consistency between news titles and their corresponding content, ensuring a thorough comparative evaluation of both emotional and semantic discrepancies.

The purpose of this paper is to review cases of artificial reefs built through additive manufacturing (AM) technologies and analyse their ecological goals, fabrication process, materials, structural design features and implementation location to determine predominant parameters, environmental impacts, advantages, and limitations.

The review analysed 16 cases of artificial reefs from both temperate and tropical regions. These were categorised based on the AM process used, the mortar material used (crucial for biological applications), the structural design features and the location of implementation. These parameters are assessed to determine how effectively the designs meet the stipulated ecological goals, how AM technologies demonstrate their potential in comparison to conventional methods and the preference locations of these implementations.

The overview revealed that the dominant artificial reef implementation occurs in the Mediterranean and Atlantic Seas, both accounting for 24%. The remaining cases were in the Australian Sea (20%), the South Asia Sea (12%), the Persian Gulf and the Pacific Ocean, both with 8%, and the Indian Sea with 4% of all the cases studied. It was concluded that fused filament fabrication, binder jetting and material extrusion represent the main AM processes used to build artificial reefs. Cementitious materials, ceramics, polymers and geopolymer formulations were used, incorporating aggregates from mineral residues, biological wastes and pozzolan materials, to reduce environmental impacts, promote the circular economy and be more beneficial for marine ecosystems. The evaluation ranking assessed how well their design and materials align with their ecological goals, demonstrating that five cases were ranked with high effectiveness, ten projects with moderate effectiveness and one case with low effectiveness.

AM represents an innovative method for marine restoration and management. It offers a rapid prototyping technique for design validation and enables the creation of highly complex shapes for habitat diversification while incorporating a diverse range of materials to benefit environmental and marine species’ habitats.

This research investigates the role of trust and social capital in shaping consumer behaviour in collaborative consumption (CC) platforms. By integrating system quality, social referral and shared goals, this study aims to develop a comprehensive framework that explains how these factors influence social trust, self-efficacy and ultimately drive consumers' intention to adopt CC.

In an era where global supply chains are increasingly susceptible to disruptions, this study aims to unlock the potential of IT integration within the supply chain in enhancing supply chain resilience. It investigates how this integration, combined with IT-driven capabilities, acts as a cornerstone in strengthening supply chain resilience (SCRs). The research navigates through the intricate dynamics of supply chain management to chart a strategic pathway for managers, illuminating the investments necessary to cultivate a resilient supply chain.

Grounding their investigation within the theoretical lens of dynamic resource-based theory, the authors designed a conceptual model to investigate the relationship between IT integration and SCR. Through the survey responses from supply chain professionals, the authors applied partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to unravel the complexities of building a resilient supply chain.

Their investigation reveals that IT-driven supply chain capabilities (SCCs) are not just beneficial but essential in bridging IT integration with SCR. These capabilities emerge as vital, fully mediating the relationship between IT integration and SCR. Moreover, the significance of robust supply chain risk management (SCRM) in harnessing these IT-driven capabilities to bolster resilience is undeniable, offering organisations a sustainable advantage during times of turbulence.

The primary limitation of this study is that data collection occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the results may not be representative of different circumstances or periods. This study uncovered several noteworthy findings. The authors found that SCCs fully mediate the relationship between Supply Chain Management IT Integration (SCMITI) and SCR. In addition, the authors found that SCRM positively moderates the relationship between SCMITI and SCCs. The authors observed that Supply Chain Structural Complexity (SCSC) has no significant moderating effect on the relationship between IT-driven SCCs and SCR.

The results of this study offer managers a clear path forward for investing in SCR. Businesses must invest in SCMITI and SCRM to boost their SCR through developing IT-driven SCCs to ensure consistent business continuity. SCMITI does not necessarily increase SCR resilience when it is done poorly and does not lead to SCCs effectively. In this regard, managers must rely on collective wisdom to determine which technologies and IT applications will best meet their business needs and their peers’ requirements in the supply chain.

This study sheds light on the mechanisms through which IT enhances SCR. It fills a critical knowledge gap, focusing on the synergy between IT integration, risk management and the cultivation of IT-driven capabilities to navigate supply chain disruptions.

This study aims to explore the roles of Zhongyong and political efficacy on citizens’ intention to use digital government platforms for e-participation (i.e. e-participation intention). Zhongyong is a dialectical way of thinking that influences Chinese behavioral intentions and approaches. Political efficacy is a predictor of traditional political participation. Both of them have not been adequately investigated in this digital era, particularly regarding e-participation in digital government platforms. Therefore, this study investigates their relationships.

A quantitative model is constructed to examine the relationship between Zhongyong and citizens’ e-participation intention (internal and external) political efficacy serves as a mediator. An online questionnaire gathered 345 responses from three representative provinces of China (i.e. Guangdong, Jiangxi and Shanxi). Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was adopted and executed with Smart PLS 4.0 to analyze the data.

Zhongyong and (internal and external) political efficacy can positively influence citizens’ e-participation intention. Moreover, (internal and external) political efficacy mediates the relationship between Zhongyong and citizens’ e-participation intention.

This research focuses on Chinese culture Zhongyong and surveyed Chinese citizens, thus is limited to the Chinese context. Second, this study used cross-sectional data. Third, this study only investigated two factors’ effects on e-participation, i.e. Zhongyong and political efficacy.

The findings provide multifaceted strategies for improving citizens’ adoption of digital government platforms for e-participation. Incentive policies to boost citizens’ (internal and external) political efficacy can be launched. To achieve broader citizen participation, a participative culture can be cultivated based on Zhongyong.

This study constructs a novel model that innovatively links Zhongyong thinking, political efficacy and e-participation intention. The results underscore the importance of Zhongyong culture and political efficacy in increasing citizens’ e-participation intention.