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How does business model design play a role in enabling manufacturing firms’ services? This study aims to investigate the impact of two distinct types of business model design, namely, efficiency-centered business model design (EBMD) and novelty-centered business model design (NBMD), and their effects in balanced and imbalanced configurations, on two types of services: product- and customer-oriented services.

Using matched survey data of 390 top managers and objective performance data of 195 Chinese manufacturing firms, this study uses hierarchical regression, polynomial regression and response surface analysis to test the hypotheses.

The results show that while EBMD positively affects product-oriented services, NBMD positively affects customer-oriented services. Both types of services exert a significant influence on firm performance. Furthermore, the degree of product- and customer-oriented services increases with an increasing effort level with a balance between EBMD and NBMD. Asymmetrical, imbalanced configuration effects reveal that the degree of product-oriented services is higher when the EBMD effort exceeds the NBMD effort, and the degree of customer-oriented services is higher when the NBMD effort exceeds the EBMD effort.

This study enriches the understanding of designing business models to facilitate service growth in manufacturing firms, ultimately benefiting firm performance. In addition, exploring balanced and imbalanced configurations of EBMD and NBMD offers new insights into business model dual design research.

Migration has become a challenging issue in the field of education and an ongoing crisis for many countries. The migration crisis and education have a reciprocal relationship in that the influx of migrants puts a strain on educational systems, particularly regarding resources, funding, and linguistic and cultural differences. However, education can play a crucial role in addressing some of the challenges associated with migration, such as the need to integrate, skill acquisition and cultural awareness in host countries, as well as brain drain in the countries of origin. It is crucial to investigate how education can both address the problems caused by migration and maximise its potential for sustainable development. This chapter targets analysing relevant scholarship and aims to illustrate the broad patterns of relevant scholarly sources on migration in the field of education indexed in the Web of Science between 2015 and 2022, explore their collaboration trends, and reveal the conceptual structure of these studies in the context of international sustainable development. A bibliometric methodology is employed for the exploration and analysis of the publications; 991 studies on migration in the field of education are descriptively analysed in terms of distribution of publications with their citations, topics at the micro level, journals, and the number of authors contributing to these papers. The results contribute to picturing the characteristics and collaboration trend of the scholarly sources on migration in the area of education as a challenging disabler or a driving force that contributes to societal development within the scope of international sustainable development.

In this chapter, we explore the dark side of the metaverse and the need for user protection. While the metaverse offers multiple opportunities it also poses significant risks for users, such as privacy concerns, addiction, harassment, and cyberbullying. First, we discuss the various threats that users may encounter such as online harassment, assaults, cyberbullying, hate speech, identity theft, and virtual property theft. As per the Center for Countering Digital Hate, an incident of violation occurs every seven minutes within VRChat, a popular virtual reality game. The level of misconduct in the metaverse can surpass the extent of internet harassment. Virtual reality gaming has been associated with various health issues like sleep deprivation, and insomnia as well as mental health concerns such as depression, anger, and anxiety. We examine how these issues may impact user’s physical and mental health. The sensors and devices used in the metaverse collect a vast amount of user biometric data and spatial data. Interactions between users and metaverse could be leaked. We examine different methods that improve user protection, including everyone from enhanced security protocols via the application of privacy-enhanced technology to several avatars, two-factor authentication, and user educational and awareness programs. Moreover, we explore how the newest technologies, like blockchain and artificial intelligence, play a role in making user safety more important. We finished the course with the study of the case of Second Life, the virtual reality gaming platform, and pointing out some of the problems that exist within it.

The study aims to investigate the mediating impact of supplier quality integration on the operational performance of the pharmaceutical supply chain (PSCs) by comparing mature and evolving PSCs.

The study adopted a quantitative method where data were gathered through a survey instrument to identify the differentiators of dynamic capabilities and establish the extent of quality integration in PSCs. Thus, 310 questionnaires were collected from mature and evolving PSCs, where the PROCESS technique was used to analyse the data.

The results demonstrate the significant paths that enable companies to create, extend and modify the resources to develop their dynamic capabilities. The results reveal significant differences in internal and supplier quality implementation and their impact on operational performance between mature and evolving PSCs.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine dynamic capabilities aspects of the pharmaceutical supply chain quality integration in mature and evolving PSCs, which extends the body of knowledge and makes a practical contribution.

Industry 4.0 (I4.0), the Fourth Industrial Revolution, integrates Big Data analytics, blockchain, cloud computing, digitisation and the Internet of Things to enhance supply chain (SC) activities and achieve sustainable growth through dynamic capabilities (DCs). This approach equips businesses with the necessary tools to optimise their operations and remain competitive in a dynamic business environment. The value proposition of a business encompasses a wide range of activities that add value at each stage. By leveraging DCs, a firm can achieve innovation, gain a competitive advantage and enhance its adaptability. Conversely, effective value chain management can amplify the influence of a firm's DCs on SC sustainability, by reducing waste, optimising resource utilisation and fostering strategic partnerships. This mutually beneficial connection takes the form of a dynamic interaction in which I4.0 technologies act as a catalyst to help organisations become more resilient, adaptive and responsive. The adoption of these technologies denotes a comprehensive approach to business shift, not merely technical integration. I4.0 has an impact on several organisational disciplines outside of manufacturing, from automation and efficiency advantages to quality enhancements. This chapter offers an extensive literature review to explore the level of SC sustainability that a business can achieve by combining its DCs and implementing strategic I4.0 adoption. The function of value chain management in moderating the effects of I4.0 and DCs on SC sustainability is also assessed. This study proposes a theoretical model that is grounded in the insights extracted from the literature review.

The goal of this study was to understand the relationships between mentoring roles, career calling, and the transmission of tacit knowledge in the setting of executive development centers. The purpose of this research was to determine if there is a link between mentoring roles and the transmission of tacit knowledge and, if so, to what extent mentoring structure and culture moderate this link.

The study used a quantitative strategy based on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine information gathered from 287 workers at four executive development centers. Mentoring roles, vocational calling, and the transmission of tacit knowledge were quantified using scales derived from existing research.

Results showed a beneficial association between mentoring roles and vocational interest. Tacit knowledge was more likely to be shared when it was directly related to one’s chosen profession. A person’s vocation mediated the connection between mentoring roles and the transmission of tacit knowledge. Furthermore, the form of mentoring moderated the relationship of mentoring roles and the transfer of tacit knowledge.

This study is novel because it investigates the interplay between mentoring roles, vocational vocation, and the transmission of tacit knowledge in a non-traditional business setting. This research emphasizes the mediating impact of vocation and the moderating effect of mentorship structure in influencing knowledge-sharing practices in Pakistan’s public sector.

The aim of this study is to review the literature on how intellectual capital (IC) contributes to the decarbonization efforts of firms. It explores how carbon accounting can measure the components of IC in decarbonization efforts to balance profitability with environmental and social goals, particularly in promoting decent work and economic growth (Sustainable Development Goal [SDG] 8 and its targets [2, 5, 6, 8]). Moreover, it emphasises the importance of multi-stakeholder partnerships for sharing knowledge, expertise, technology, and financial resources (SDG17-Target 17.G) to meet SDG8.

As a consolidated methodological approach, a systematic literature review (SLR) was used in this study to fill the existing research gaps in sustainability accounting. To consolidate and clarify scholarly research on IC towards decarbonization, 149 English articles published in the Scopus database and Google Scholar between 1990 and 2024 were reviewed.

The results highlight that the current research does not sufficiently cover the intersection of carbon accounting and IC in the analysis of decarbonization practices. Stakeholders and regulatory bodies are increasingly pressuring firms to implement development-focused policies in line with SDG8 and its targets, requiring the integration of IC and its measures in decarbonization processes, supported by SDG17-Target 17.G. This integration is useful for creating business models that balance profitability and social and environmental responsibilities.

The integration of social dimension to design sustainable business models for emission reduction and provide a decent work environment by focusing on SDG17-Target 17.G has rarely been investigated in terms of theory and practice. Through carbon accounting, IC can be a key source of SDG8-Targets 8.[2, 5, 6, 8] and SDG17-Target 17.G. Historically, these major issues are not easily aligned with accounting research or decarbonization processes.

With burgeoning interest in the low-altitude economy, applications of long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (LE-UAVs) have increased in remote logistics distribution. Given LE-UAVs’ advantages of wide coverage, strong versatility and low cost, in addition to logistics distribution, they are widely used in military reconnaissance, communication relay, disaster monitoring and other activities. With limited autonomous intelligence, LE-UAVs require regular periodic and non-periodic control from ground control resources (GCRs) during flights and mission execution. However, the lack of GCRs significantly restricts the applications of LE-UAVs in parallel.

We consider the constraints of GCRs, investigating an integrated optimization problem of multi-LE-UAV mission planning and GCR allocation (Multi-U&G IOP). The problem integrates GCR allocation into traditional multi-UAV cooperative mission planning. The coupling decision of mission planning and GCR allocation enlarges the decision space and adds complexities to the problem’s structure. Through characterizing the problem, this study establishes a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model for the integrated optimization problem. To solve the problem, we develop a three-stage iterative optimization algorithm combining a hybrid genetic algorithm with local search-variable neighborhood decent, heuristic conflict elimination and post-optimization of GCR allocation.

Numerical experimental results show that our developed algorithm can solve the problem efficiently and exceeds the solution performance of the solver CPLEX. For small-scale instances, our algorithm can obtain optimal solutions in less time than CPLEX. For large-scale instances, our algorithm produces better results in one hour than CPLEX does. Implementing our approach allows efficient coordination of multiple UAVs, enabling faster mission completion with a minimal number of GCRs.

Drawing on the interplay between LE-UAVs and GCRs and considering the practical applications of LE-UAVs, we propose the Multi-U&G IOP problem. We formulate this problem as a MILP model aiming to minimize the maximum task completion time (makespan). Furthermore, we present a relaxation model for this problem. To efficiently address the MILP model, we develop a three-stage iterative optimization algorithm. Subsequently, we verify the efficacy of our algorithm through extensive experimentation across various scenarios.

Environmental pollution has been a great concern for the government of Bangladesh. Bangladesh was the least developed country, with a lot of financial challenges. The industrial process in Bangladesh has not been able to maintain the directives of the SDGs. The lack of proper industrial policy, technological backwardness and lacunae in implementing environmental governance have affected the environment of the country. The unorganised and informal manufacturing units are often accused of emitting greenhouse gases. Like other South Asian countries, the informal manufacturing sector in Bangladesh has been established without proper planning and environmental guidelines. In Bangladesh, the informal sector includes brick kilns, food processing factories, leather tanning, etc., which are responsible for environmental pollution, health hazards and violations of SDG goals. The issue of environmental pollution by the informal manufacturing sectors of Bangladesh needs to be investigated in the context of the socioeconomic profile of the country and the performance of the government in monitoring the issue. Due to the lack of environmental governance, a high level of pollution has been occurring in the country. What kinds of economic tools and industrial policies are needed to be implemented to avoid environmental hazards? The content analysis method will be applied in this chapter.

This study aims to extract knowledge of ancient Chinese scientific and technological documents bibliographic summaries (STDBS) and provide the knowledge graph (KG) comprehensively and systematically. By presenting the relationship among content, discipline, and author, this study focuses on providing services for knowledge discovery of ancient Chinese scientific and technological documents.

This study compiles ancient Chinese STDBS and designs a knowledge mining and graph visualization framework. The authors define the summaries' entities, attributes, and relationships for knowledge representation, use deep learning techniques such as BERT-BiLSTM-CRF models and rules for knowledge extraction, unify the representation of entities for knowledge fusion, and use Neo4j and other visualization techniques for KG construction and application. This study presents the generation, distribution, and evolution of ancient Chinese agricultural scientific and technological knowledge in visualization graphs.

The knowledge mining and graph visualization framework is feasible and effective. The BERT-BiLSTM-CRF model has domain adaptability and accuracy. The knowledge generation of ancient Chinese agricultural scientific and technological documents has distinctive time features. The knowledge distribution is uneven and concentrated, mainly concentrated on C1-Planting and cultivation, C2-Silkworm, and C3-Mulberry and water conservancy. The knowledge evolution is apparent, and differentiation and integration coexist.

This study is the first to visually present the knowledge connotation and association of ancient Chinese STDBS. It solves the problems of the lack of in-depth knowledge mining and connotation visualization of ancient Chinese STDBS.