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The purpose of this paper is to investigate how social comparison and motivation to compete account for elevated risk-taking in fund management corroborated by asset market experiments when performance depends on rank-based incentives.

In two laboratory experiments, university students (n1 = 240/n2 = 120) make choices between risky and certain outcomes of hypothetical sums of money. Both experiments investigate in which direction risky choices in an individual condition (individual risk preference) are shifted when participants compare their performance to another participant's performance (social comparison), being instructed or not to outperform the other (incentive to compete).

In the absence of incentives to compete, participants tend to minimize the differences between expected outcomes to themselves and to the other, but when provided with incentives to compete, they tend to maximize these differences. An independent additional increase in risk-taking is observed when participants are provided with incentives to compete.

Original findings include that social comparison does not evoke motivation to compete unless incentives are offered and that increases in risk-taking depend both on what the other chooses and the incentives.

The purpose of this paper is to review behavioral explanations of the empirical observation that investment managers in mutual fund companies increase their risk taking when offered incentives based on how their performance is ranked compared to peers.

A conceptual model is proposed of how research on social comparison, competition and financial risk taking may explain increased investor risk taking induced by rank-based incentives. Research findings in each of the strands of research are reviewed.

A proposed main explanation is that an above-average bias in comparing oneself with competitors results in overconfidence that increases risk taking. A complementary proposed explanation is that an anticipated loss when lagging behind increases risk taking, and another proposed complementary explanation the belief that risk taking is a winning strategy.

The results provide a broad framework for directions of research on social comparison processes in the mutual fund industry addressing the difficulties in implementing performance evaluations.

This special issue reveals how lesson study in China continues to serve as a powerful platform to support change in teaching. The papers included in this issue explore how university faculty members and researchers support teachers to cross boundaries resulting from the introduction of key competencies-based (hexin suyang 核心素养) curriculum reform (KCR).

The theme of continuity and change is examined against the backdrop of Chinese lesson study's (CLS's) consistent supporting role in enabling curriculum reform. These analyses make use of concepts involved in understanding boundary crossing, such as using boundary objects and their roles, to help make sense of the new theories, tools, and resources as well as relationships engendered in responding to the reform's demand. While recognizing the continuity at play in Chinese LS, the authors use the lens of learning at the boundary of research-practice partnerships (RPPs) (Farrell et al., 2022) to contemplate the future of CLS.

The papers touch on three major themes: (1) the role of university-school partnerships in meeting the new demands of key competencies reform; (2) resourceful tools, strategies and structures to support boundary crossing for teachers; and (3) roles and relationships for mutual learning in university-school partnerships. Together these three themes, considered across the papers in this issue, point to the need to redefine CLS to engender versatility and hybridity and to enlist mutual learning relationships in future university-school partnerships. Such redefinition positions lesson study to both continue and change.

The papers in this issue are expected to promote mutualist learning in future CLS research-practice partnerships. To do so, research needs to move from focusing on change of a single case teacher to clarifying what experts and teachers each learn from the LS and from each other. Attention also needs to focus on the collaborative discourse and ways such discourse is able to promote mutual learning, emotional support in facing change as well as critical and constructive problem solving.

Practically, to better support boundary crossing, this special issue encourages academics and teachers to identify and work around boundary objects and their enabling features to enhance knowledge and identity of both university and teacher participants for more effective research-practice partnerships.

This special issue offers a pioneering set of studies that contributes to an in-depth understanding of how CLS is supporting the current competencies-based reform in China. It also provides concrete future directions for research and practice to enhance university-school partnerships' response to reform.

Online reputation manager has become increasingly important in tourism industry. Managers, regardless of working for a hospitality structure or a tourism destination, are paying more and more attention in respect of the importance of reputational levels. Online reputation, in fact, originates in visitor's user-generated contents (UGCs) but reverberates on the whole web, on successive visitors' attitude and behavior, and on managed organization performances. How to manage online reputation in tourism and destination management anyway mostly stayed an anecdotal topic for many years. While best practices exist, indeed, literature has frequently neglected their systematization. Building on this need, this book will try to improve and organize the existing body of knowledge on this topic to help future hotel and destination managers to better deal with the mounting environmental complexity.

This paper aims to present a successful partnership between the library and other campus units of California State University Sacramento in the program of campus‐wide laptop loan service. As an integral part of university resources, the library staff and systems play an exceptional role in collaborating with other university units in the campus‐wide program.

Three campus units worked together to create a model of support in innovation, cooperation and sharing of the campus resources, technology and expertise. Introducing the establishment of the campus‐wide loan service program and sharing service feedback retrieved from multiple service units in the project contributed to the success of this new program in the campus resource‐sharing practice.

Collaboration, cooperation, and teamwork are fundamental in sharing campus resources, and creating staffing synergies and delivering an ever‐increasing range of university services, especially in an environment of budget constraints and economic difficulties.

There are many academic libraries now providing laptop loan service, but campus‐wide laptop loan service needs more collaboration, cooperation and communication for the program crew to embrace differences in serving a common‐interest group.

This paper aims to develop a method to extract the weld seam from the welding image.

The initial step is to set the window for the region of the weld seam. Filter and edge‐operator are then applied to acquire edges of images. Based on the prior knowledge about characteristics of the weld seam, a series of routines is proposed to recognize the seam edges and calculate the seam representation.

The proposed method can be used to extract seams of different deviations from noise‐polluted images efficiently. Besides, the method is low time‐consuming and quick enough for real time processing.

Weld seam extraction is the key problem in passive vision based seam tracking technology. The proposed method can extract the weld seam even when the image is noisy, and it is quick enough to be applied in seam tracking technology. The method is expected to improve seam tracking results.

A useful method is developed for weld seam extraction from the noise‐polluted image based on prior knowledge of weld seam. The method is robust and quick enough for real time processing.

This article aims to outline the functions and activities performed by California State University, Sacramento Library Media Center in the University Distance and Distributed Education (DDE) program, with an emphasis on the unique role of the library media services in partnership with other campus units in the system‐wide integrative DDE service.

The article observes and examines the effectiveness of the library media services through the framework functions of the University DDE Program.

The article finds that faculty and librarians may share benefits of information resources and university technologies through a well‐organized collaboration program in an environment of learner‐centered service.

This paper highlights the library cooperative efforts in expanding access to library media resources in serving DDE educators and students, and the exceptional role of the library media services in collaboration with other campus units in handling consistent change, sharing fund and achieving successful alliance in the University Distance and Distributed Education program.

The purpose of this paper is to construct a grey clustering evaluation model based on center-point mixed possibility function and to evaluate the tourism development potential of tea intangible cultural heritage. The research results provide a certain reference for the tourism development department and related researchers who are engaged in the tourism development of intangible cultural heritage.

The study uses literature research, questionnaire investigation, expert interviews and factor analysis to determine the evaluation index system of tourism development potential of tea intangible cultural heritage and applies analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to determine the weight of each criteria. Then, according to the grey clustering evaluation theory and two-stage decision model, a grey clustering evaluation model is constructed to assess the tourism development potential of tea intangible cultural heritage. Finally, a new model is employed to evaluate the tourism development potential of tea intangible cultural heritage in Huangshan city.

The results show that there is a big difference in the tourism development potential of different tea intangible cultural heritages in Huangshan City and it further illustrates the scientificity and rationality of the method proposed in this paper.

The model constructed in the paper can be effectively applied to the evaluation of tourism development potential of tea intangible cultural heritage scientifically and reasonably.

This manuscript not only constructs the evaluation index system of tourism development potential of tea intangible cultural heritage but also creatively applies the grey clustering theory to the evaluation of tourism development potential of tea intangible cultural heritage, which provides a new research idea for the evaluation of tourism development potential of tea intangible cultural heritage.

This paper aims to investigate the greenhouse gas (GHG)-related disclosure trends, content and strategies of the eight most high GHG-emitting Chinese power companies, over a period when government pressure to manage GHG emissions increased.

Data were collected from the 2000-2009 annual reports, corporate social and environmental responsibility reports and websites of eight Chinese power companies. Content analysis results were supplemented with excerpts from documents written in English or Chinese. Legitimacy theory informed the interpretation of the findings.

GHG-related disclosures increased from 2002 when the Chinese Government ratified the Kyoto Protocol and promulgated stringent environmental regulations. However, some expected types of GHG-related disclosure were absent or rare. Disclosure practices were found to be underpinned by reputation management objectives and reflected a symbolic rather than substantive legitimation strategy.

This study extends the literature on GHG-related disclosures by carbon-intensive firms and points to the need for future research to examine such disclosures in different countries to appreciate the variety in practice.

While the Chinese Government appears to have driven the emergence of GHG-related disclosure practices, companies can effect improvement by expanding the scope and content of what they disclose. Also, the growing emphasis on website disclosures may present challenges in ensuring the reliability and assurance of GHG disclosures.

This is the first study to examine GHG-related disclosure practices by Chinese power-generating companies, a sector crucial to managing the GHG effects of China’s significant economic growth.

The purpose of this paper was to develop an indigenous understanding of work-family interface (WFI) that reflects the drastic changes and evolving social context in China over the past three decades and challenge the existing conceptualizations of WFI and identify societal impact of the changing nature of the WFI.

We conducted literature review, content and thematic analyses.

The core idea of prioritizing work for family (PWF) is that Chinese employees, especially Chinese male employees, tend to integrate work and family roles as well as deal with WFI issues at the family level. Thus, Chinese employees can be strongly committed to the family while simultaneously prioritizing work performance.

The proposed indigenous perspective of PWF may furnish a contextualized theory for future research. The proposed measurement approaches may help developing indigenous scales for the perspective of PWF for future empirical studies.

Although Chinese employees tend to be more tolerant of work-family conflict (WFC) than their Western counterparts, such tolerance may be combined with the expectation of long-term returns to their families. Managers may assist employees with career planning and realistic goal setting to compensate for their endurance of WFC.

As a cornerstone of the society, the family plays an important role in building a “harmonious society” promoted by the government. A perceived balance of work and family is a significant factor for family harmony. We bring to the attention of policy makers the changing nature of the Chinese employees' WFI. A corresponding policy may be formulated to help Chinese employees balance their lives.

We challenge the existing conceptualizations of WFI by proposing and elaborating a perspective of PWF for context-based conceptualization.