Hongwei Huang, Zijun Cai, Wenxi Zhao and Zijun Zhou
This study aims to explore the relationship between experience layoffs and employees’ work engagement. Drawing on the psychological contract theory, we examine the parallel…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the relationship between experience layoffs and employees’ work engagement. Drawing on the psychological contract theory, we examine the parallel mediating role of cognitive and affective job insecurity, along with the moderating role of perceived organisational support.
Design/methodology/approach
The hypotheses were tested based on data collected from 737 employees of companies in various industries in China in an online survey.
Findings
The results showed the significant effect of experiencing layoffs on employees’ work engagement through cognitive and affective job insecurity, and the effect was stronger when perceived organisational support was lower. The moderated mediation effect mainly occurred through affective job insecurity but not cognitive job insecurity.
Originality/value
This study deepens the understanding of the mechanism of the negative effect of experiencing layoffs and the boundaries of its impact from a psychological contract breach perspective. By analysing the mediating role of cognitive and affective job insecurity, we have enhanced our understanding of the exchange-based mechanism of employees after experiencing layoffs. By examining the moderating role of perceived organisational support, we reveal the important role of supportive behaviours of organisations in mitigating the negative effects of experiencing layoffs.
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Jialing Zhao, Hongwei Wang, Ying Zhang and Yuxin Huang
The hosts' third-party certifications in the sharing accommodation platforms have largely overlooked how the provision of such certification information could facilitate the…
Abstract
Purpose
The hosts' third-party certifications in the sharing accommodation platforms have largely overlooked how the provision of such certification information could facilitate the trust-building process and subsequently influence consumers' purchase intention. Adopting an institution-based trust perspective, the authors differentiate various types of hosts' certification information (i.e. financial certification and social certification) and examine their role in the trust-building process between the hosts and the customers on sharing accommodation platforms.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses the property-month level data of Airbnb Beijing from January 2019 to June 2020. Econometric analyses are adopted to evaluate the impact of institution-based trust on consumers' purchase intention. Specifically, the ordinary least square is used to testify the relationship between institution-based trust and purchase intention.
Findings
The empirical results show that the information on institution-based trust increases the likelihood that customers would reach purchase decisions. More importantly, results show that both financial certification and social certification affect consumers' purchase intention. The results further show that listings' attributes moderate the relationship between institution-based trust and customer purchase intention. Moreover, the authors find that “Superhost” and “Experience” positively moderate such relationships.
Originality/value
This paper confirms that the host certification fosters institution-based trust and reveals the impact of hosts' certification on consumers' purchase intentions. This study is among one of the first studies to incorporate institution-based trust into the trust formation on the sharing economy platform, which can improve the understanding of trust in the sharing economy context. The authors emphasize the importance of trust types on sharing economy platforms.
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Liancheng Xiu, Zhiye Du, Yu Tian, Jingxuan He, Hongwei Cai and Fan Yi
The purpose of this paper is to develop a numerical simulation method based on the transient upstream finite element method (FEM) and Schottky emission theory to reveal the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a numerical simulation method based on the transient upstream finite element method (FEM) and Schottky emission theory to reveal the distribution characteristics of space charge in oil-paper insulation.
Design/methodology/approach
The main insulation medium of the converter transformer in high voltage direct current transmission is oil-paper insulation. However, the influence of space charge is difficult to be fully considered in the insulation design and simulation of converter transformers. To reveal the influence characteristics of the space charge, this paper proposes a numerical simulation method based on Schottky emission theory and the transient upstream FEM. This method considers the influence of factors, such as carrier mobility, carrier recombination coefficient, trap capture coefficient and diffusion coefficient on the basis of multi-physics field coupling calculation of the electric field and fluid field.
Findings
A numerical simulation method considering multiple charge states is proposed for the space charge problem in oil-paper insulation. Meanwhile, a space charge measurement platform based on the electrostatic capacitance probe method for oil-paper insulation structure is built, and the effectiveness and accuracy of the numerical simulation method is verified.
Originality/value
A variety of models are calculated and analyzed by the numerical simulation method in this paper, and the distribution characteristics of the space charge and total electric field in oil-paper insulation medium with single-layer, polarity reversal of plate voltage and double-layer are obtained. The research results of this paper have the guiding significance for the engineering application of oil-paper insulation and the optimal design of converter transformer insulation.
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Hongwei Wang, Song Gao, Pei Yin and James Nga-Kwok Liu
Comparative opinions widely exist in online reviews as a common way of expressing consumers’ ideas or preferences toward certain products. Such opinion-rich texts are key proxies…
Abstract
Purpose
Comparative opinions widely exist in online reviews as a common way of expressing consumers’ ideas or preferences toward certain products. Such opinion-rich texts are key proxies for detecting product competitiveness. The purpose of this paper is to set up a model for competitiveness analysis by identifying comparative relations from online reviews for restaurants based on both pattern matching and machine learning.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors define the sub-category of comparative sentences according to Chinese linguistics. Classification rules are set up for each type of comparative relations through class sequence rule. To improve the accuracy of classification, a comparative entity dictionary is then introduced for further identifying comparative sentences. Finally, the authors collect reviews for restaurants from Dianping.com to conduct experiments for testing the proposed model.
Findings
The experiments show that the proposed method outperforms the baseline methods in terms of precision in identifying comparative sentences. On the basis of such comparison-rich sentences, product features and comparative relations are extracted for sentiment analysis, and sentimental score is assigned to each comparative relation to facilitate competitiveness analysis.
Research limitations/implications
Only the explicit comparative relations are discussed, neglecting the implicit ones. Besides that, the study is grounded in the assumption that all features are homogeneous. In some cases, however, the weights to different aspects are not of the same importance to market.
Practical implications
On the basis of comparative relation mining, product features and comparative opinions are extracted for competitiveness analysis, which is of interest to businesses for finding weakness or strength of products, as well as to consumers for making better purchase decisions.
Social implications
Comparative relation mining could be possibly applied in social media for identifying relations among users or products, and ranking users or products, as well as helping companies target and track competitors to enhance competitiveness.
Originality/value
The authors propose a research framework for restaurant competitiveness analysis by mining comparative relations from online consumer reviews. The results would be able to differentiate one restaurant from another in some aspects of interest to consumers, and reveal the changes in these differences over time.
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Xin Chen, Xiaoyu Zheng, Meiling He, Yuling Liu, Hong Mao, Xiwu Li, Hongwei Yan, Yi Kong, Liya Li and Yong Du
During the forming process, aluminum alloy sheets develop various types of textures and are subjected to cyclic loading as structural components, resulting in fatigue damage. This…
Abstract
Purpose
During the forming process, aluminum alloy sheets develop various types of textures and are subjected to cyclic loading as structural components, resulting in fatigue damage. This study aims to develop polycrystalline models with different orientation distributions and incorporate suitable fatigue indicator parameters to investigate the effect of orientation distribution on the mechanical properties of Al-7.02Mg-1.78Zn alloys under cyclic loading.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, a two-dimensional polycrystalline model with 150 equiaxed grains was constructed based on optical microscope images. Subsequently, six different orientation distributions were assigned to this model. The fatigue indicator parameter of strain energy dissipation is utilized to analyze the stress response and fatigue crack driving force in polycrystalline models with different orientation distributions subjected to cyclic loading.
Findings
The study found that orientation distribution significantly influences fatigue crack initiation. Orientation distributions with a larger average Schmid factor exhibit reduced stress response and lower fatigue indicator parameters. Locations with a larger average Schmid factor experience greater plastic deformation and present a higher risk for fatigue crack initiation. RVE with a single orientation undergoes more rotation to reach cyclic steady state under cyclic loading due to the ease of deformation transfer.
Originality/value
Currently, there are no reports in the literature on the calculation of fatigue crack initiation for Al-Mg-Zn alloys using the crystal plasticity finite element method. This study presents a novel strategy for simulating the response of Al-7.02Mg-1.78Zn materials with different orientation distributions under symmetric strain cyclic loading, providing valuable references for future research.
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Hongwei Liao, Mingyue Li, Ari Van Assche, Jiaojiao Zheng and Liangping Yang
In the context of China’s efforts to build world-class enterprises through mixed-ownership reform, this study aims to build an agency theory framework to analyze the differential…
Abstract
Purpose
In the context of China’s efforts to build world-class enterprises through mixed-ownership reform, this study aims to build an agency theory framework to analyze the differential relation between ownership structure and firm performance in majority versus minority state-owned enterprises (SOEs). It also evaluates the differential influence that political connectedness has on firm performance in the two types of SOEs.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a panel data set of Chinese state-controlled mixed-ownership enterprises covering the period 2010–2019, this paper uses ordinary least squares, random-effects, fixed-effects and three stage least squares regression analysis to study the differential impact of ownership structure and political connectedness on firm performance in majority versus minority SOEs.
Findings
In minority SOEs, firm performance is positively related to the ownership share of the largest private shareholder and state ownership positively moderates this relation. Furthermore, minority SOEs with a politically connected chairman perform worse than those with a politically connected chairman. In majority SOEs, there is no relation between the ownership share of the largest private shareholder and firm performance. In addition, majority SOEs with a politically connected chairman perform similar to those without a politically connected chairman.
Originality/value
The theoretical framework demonstrates that agency problems are substantially different in minority versus majority SOEs and that this influences how changes in ownership structure and in the type of chairman that is assigned affect firm performance. The empirical analysis confirms these predictions.
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Yan Xia, Yi Wan, Hongwei Wang and Zhanqiang Liu
As the transmission component of a locomotive, the traction gear pair system has a direct effect on the stability and reliability of the whole machine. This paper aims to provide…
Abstract
Purpose
As the transmission component of a locomotive, the traction gear pair system has a direct effect on the stability and reliability of the whole machine. This paper aims to provide a detailed dynamic analysis for the traction system under internal and external excitations by numerical simulation.
Design/methodology/approach
A non-linear dynamic model of locomotive traction gear pair system is proposed, where the comprehensive time-varying meshing stiffness is obtained through the Ishikawa formula method and verified by the energy method, and then the sliding friction excitation is analyzed based on the location of the contact line. Meantime, the adhesion torque is constructed as a function of the adhesion-slip feature between wheelset and rail. Through Runge–Kutta numerical method, the system responses are studied with varying bifurcation parameters consisting of exciting frequency, load fluctuation, gear backlash, error fluctuation and friction coefficient. The dynamic behaviors of the system are analyzed and discussed from bifurcation diagram, time history, spectrum plot, phase portrait, Poincaré map and three-dimensional frequency spectrum.
Findings
The analysis results reveal that as control parameters vary the system experiences complex transition among a diverse range of motion states such as one-periodic, multi-periodic and chaotic motions. Specifically, the significant difference in system bifurcation characteristics can be observed under different adhesion conditions. The suitable gear backlash and error fluctuation can avoid the chaotic motion, and thus, reduce the vibration amplitude of the system. Similarly, the increasing friction coefficient can also suppress the unstable state and improve the stability of the system.
Originality/value
The numerical results may provide a systemic understanding of dynamic characteristics and present some available information to design and optimize the transmission performance of the locomotive traction system.
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Lawrence Hoc Nang Fong, Hongwei He, Melody Manchi Chao, Galli Leandro and David King
The purpose of this study is to understand Chinese consumers’ responses to ethnically tailored hotel services from the theoretical perspective of cultural essentialism.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to understand Chinese consumers’ responses to ethnically tailored hotel services from the theoretical perspective of cultural essentialism.
Design/methodology/approach
Data collection was conducted through an online survey with Chinese respondents. Hierarchical moderated regression was performed to analyze the data.
Findings
The results show a positive relationship between cultural essentialism and consumer responses to hotel services that are tailored to their culture. Furthermore, the findings show that prior service satisfaction does not only positively influence the consumer responses, but also amplifies the link between cultural essentialism and the consumer responses.
Practical implications
Hoteliers are recommended to consider the cultural essentialism of Chinese consumers when adaptive services are introduced. Hotel services that are tailored to Chinese culture is a viable strategy if most Chinese customers are cultural essentialists.
Originality/value
This study adds knowledge to the hospitality scholarship by introducing cultural essentialism and demonstrating its role in influencing consumer preferences for familiarity as opposed to exotic hotel services. Furthermore, the moderating role of service satisfaction extends the consumer behavior literature.
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Gongxing Guo, Hongwei Tu and Bao Cheng
This study aims to clarify the relationship between two plausible conflicting attitudes in cross-cultural context-consumer affinity and consumer ethnocentrism (CET) and to explore…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to clarify the relationship between two plausible conflicting attitudes in cross-cultural context-consumer affinity and consumer ethnocentrism (CET) and to explore their interactive effect on product trust and willingness-to-buy.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 392 usable responses were obtained. Previously validated scales of consumer affinity, CET, product trust and willingness-to-buy were used and showed good reliability. Hierarchical multiple regression and the bootstrapping method were conducted to test the hypotheses.
Findings
This study revealed that consumer affinity is positively associated with product trust, which in turn promotes consumers’ intention to buy products from the affinity country; CET moderates the relationship between consumer affinity and product trust; and CET also moderates the mediating effect of product trust on the relationship between consumer affinity and willingness-to-buy.
Research limitations/implications
First, this study helps to explain how consumer affinity boosts willingness-to-buy, and it reveals the type of consumers whose product trust is most notably influenced by their level of ethnocentrism. Second, this study examines the moderating effects of CET on the relationship between consumer affinity and product trust, which can help to identify the situations in which consumer affinity influences product trust most strongly. Third, this study examined the interactive effect of consumer affinity and CET on product trust and its subsequent effect on willingness-to-buy. The findings help to explain the CET’s critical role in the effect of consumer affinity by relating it to the literature of product trust and willingness-to-buy.
Practical implications
Given the crucial role that consumer affinity plays in improving consumers’ trust in and buying intention for a country’s products, governments, multinational enterprises and international marketers should strategically construct, maintain and magnify a positive national image to the world. This study’s results also clarify that consumer affinity does not conflict with CET; not only can they coexist but also they are positively related. The crucial implication is that CET is not always a barrier to purchasing foreign products.
Originality/value
Although research interest in consumer attitudinal conflict issues is increasing, the real relationship and interactive effects of plausible conflicting attitudes between consumer affinity and CET remain to be understood. This study bridges a gap between CET and willingness-to-buy by considering the boundary conditions of consumer attitudes toward a specific country (inherent in consumer affinity). Furthermore, this study is, to the best of the author’s knowledge, the first to link consumer affinity with willingness-to-buy through the mediating effect of product trust. These findings are helpful for understanding how consumer affinity positively effects willingness-to-buy.
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Yuming Guan, Jingbo Mu, Hongwei Che, Xiaoliang Zhang and Zhixiao Zhang
The purpose of this study is to design carbon electrode materials for high performance electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) with pores that are large enough and have suitable…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to design carbon electrode materials for high performance electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) with pores that are large enough and have suitable pore size distribution for the electrolyte to access completely to improve EDLCs’ electrochemical performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This study develop an improved traditional KOH activation method, and a series of micro-meso hierarchical porous carbons have been successfully prepared from phenol formaldehyde resin by combining polyethylene glycol (PEG) and conventional KOH activation.
Findings
As evidenced by N2 adsorption/desorption tests, the obtained samples present Types IV and I-IV hybrid shape isotherms compared with KOH-activated resin (typical of Type I). The sample AC2-7-1, which the addition quantity of PEG is 25 per cent PF (weight ration) activated at 700? For 1 h is considered as the optimum preparation condition. It exhibits the highest specific capacitance value of 240 F/g in 30 wt% KOH aqueous electrolytes because of its higher specific surface area (2085 m2/g), greater pore volume (1.08 cm3/g) and the maximum mesoporosity (43 per cent). In addition, the capacity decay of this material is only 3.1 per cent after 1000 cycles.
Originality/value
The materials that are rich in micropores and mesopores show great potential in EDLC capacitors, particularly for applications where high power output and good high-frequency capacitive performances are required.