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The purpose of this paper is to increase wear resistance of aluminum.

The authors have studied the ways to improve the tribological performance of aluminum by assembling stearic acid on aluminum coated by sol-gel-derived TiO₂ film. The samples were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, contact angle measurements and a macro friction and wear tester.

Enhanced wear resistance was clearly obtained after functionalization of TiO₂ film on aluminum by stearic acid.

The relevant results might be helpful for guiding the surface modification of aluminum devices in industrial applications.

Based on the advice response theory perspective, this study aims to investigate the effects of human managers and artificial intelligence (AI) systems on customer-contact employees’ aversion to AI systems in the hospitality industry. It examined the mediating role of advice content characteristics (efficacy, feasibility and implementation limitations) and advice delivery (facework and comprehensibility) on customer-contact employees’ aversion to AI systems.

Two scenario-based experiments were conducted (Nexperiment 1 = 499 and Nexperiment 2 = 300). Experiment 1 compared the effects of different advisor types (human managers vs AI systems) on employees’ aversion to AI systems. Experiment 2 investigated the mediating role of advice content characteristics (efficacy, feasibility and implementation limitations) and advice delivery (facework and comprehensibility).

The results showed employees tended to prioritize advice from human managers over output from AI systems. Moreover, advice content characteristics (efficacy, feasibility and implementation limitations) and advice delivery (facework and comprehensibility) played mediating roles in the relationship between advisor type characteristics and employees’ aversion to AI systems.

These findings contribute to the understanding of AI system aversion and provide theoretical insights into management practices involving customer-contact employees who interact with AI technology in the hospitality industry.

The primary contribution of this study is that it enriches the literature on employee aversion to AI systems by exploring the dual mediators (advice content characteristics and advice delivery) through which advisor type characteristics affect AI system aversion.

Digital technologies (DTs) are one of the most important and beneficial ways to enhance the effectiveness of supply chain finance activities. Based on resource orchestration theory, the purpose of this study is to apply the “resources-capability-performance” framework to investigate how DT deployment (in terms of both breadth and depth) impacts supply chain financing performance (SCFP).

Hierarchical regression analysis was applied in the theoretical modeling examination. Through the sample of 380 survey questionnaires from the Chinese manufacturing industry, this study empirically validated the proposed model.

Results of this study present that both the breadth and depth of DT deployment positively impact SCFP, whereas supply chain transparency (SCT) acts as a mediator between them. Moreover, financing alignment positively moderates the relationship between the breadth of DT deployment and SCT.

From an integrated perspective, this study highlights the dual deployment ways of DTs to improve SCFP. Moreover, this research further enriches and extends the application of resource orchestration theory by providing theoretical mechanisms for the mediating role of SCT and elucidating the moderating role of financing alignment.

This paper aims to investigate whether a complementary effect exists between government R&D subsidies (GRSs) and intellectual property rights (IPR) protection on innovation performance in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in China. This paper also attempts to understand whether this complementary effect is significantly different across China’s eastern, central and western regions.

The study sample comprised 28 provinces involved in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in China from 2003 to 2014. Ordinary least squares was used to test the complementary effects of GRSs and IPR protection on innovation performance. The seemingly unrelated estimation test was also applied to ascertain whether differences existed between the eastern and western regions.

A complementary effect between GRSs and IPR protection in terms of improving the innovation of pharmaceutical manufacturers was found to exist only in eastern and western regions. There was no significant difference in the complementary effect between GRSs and IPR protection in terms of improving innovation among the three regions. Without considering the interaction effect of GRSs and IPR protection, the GRSs were negatively associated with innovation in the eastern region, but positively related to the innovation in central region.

This study contributes to the literature on government policies and innovation by incorporating the interaction effect of GRSs and IPR protection on innovation in the context of a high-tech industry (pharmaceutical manufacturing) in an emerging economy (China). It also explores the internal differences in the influence of this complementary effect on innovation in an emerging economy, enriching the institution-based view.