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Consumer behaviors in internet are changing over time. The purpose of this paper is to propose and examine a research model that describes the repurchase behavior for the legal and paid music products of physical genre and online genre. The consumption value theory is used to develop the research model. Comparison of physical genre with online genre is presented. Implications and suggestions are addressed.

The research model is examined empirically. The research targeted music product consumers who had purchasing experience in the past one year. The research results are obtained, and the findings are revealed on the basis of 728 valid music product consumers.

The functional, emotional and epistemic value are the significant driving factors, though it shows a limited distinction for the two types. In comparing of the concepts of designed functional value, physical music consumers tend to have a stronger enthusiasm in music consumption. Social value and conditional value are not the predicators of repurchase satisfaction, implying that the music consumption is self-oriented for any normal amusement. The epistemic value shows significant on all levels of significance for the physical type, whereas insignificant if a = 0.01 for the type of online.

The research model is applied for the two contrariety product types, and to make a comparison, trying to understand the reasons why music fans are still willing to spend money on music products and what factors make them choose between product genres. After fluctuation and alternation of the music industry within this decade, this research provides a reference and correlated results for the future studies for the related studies, especially for the prosperous physical parallel imports items and online music.

When the bearing operates under static load, the lubrication state of the bearing can be well distinguished by the absolute value of the thermoelectric potential. However, when the bearing operates under dynamic loads, the thermoelectric potential is in an alternating state, fluctuating within a high range, making it difficult to straightforwardly characterize the lubrication state through thermoelectric potential. The purpose of this paper is to find the relationship between the thermoelectric potential and the lubrication state under dynamic load.

A thermoelectric simulation is executed using COMSOL Multiphysics to calculate the relationship between thermoelectric potential, load, oil film thickness, oil film pressure and contact pressure. Based on the test rig experimental data, the characteristics of thermoelectric potential in journal bearings under different dynamic loads and operation conditions are investigated and analyzed using feature extraction, clustering and indicator construction methods.

The results showed that the low potential percentage and the percentage of bad operation state cluster can effectively characterize the lubrication state of journal bearings under dynamic load conditions. Specifically, in this experiment, when the low potential percentage reaches 15% and the bad operation state cluster dominates most of the time, it indicates that the bearing is in a poor lubrication state. The results of scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy of bearing specimens under different operation states also validated the above analytical results.

The relationships elucidating the thermoelectric and tribological interactions under dynamic load remain unclear and there is still no efficient method to estimate the lubrication state using thermoelectric potential in previous studies. This paper used simulation and experimental analysis methods to find the relationship between the thermoelectric potential and the lubrication state under dynamic load.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-11-2024-0410/

Smart farming technologies (SFTs) can increase yields and reduce the environmental impacts of farming by improving the efficient use of inputs. This paper is to estimate farmers' preference and willingness to pay (WTP) for a well-defined SFT, smart drip irrigation (SDI) technology.

This study conducted a discrete choice experiment (DCE) among 1,300 maize farmers in North China to understand their WTP for various functions of SDI using mixed logit (MIXL) models.

The results show that farmers have a strong preference for SDI in general and its specific functions of smart sensing and smart control. However, farmers do not have a preference for the function of region-level agronomic planning. Farmers' preferences for different functions of SDI are heterogeneous. Their preference was significantly associated with their education, experience of being village cadres and using computers, household income and holding of land and machines. Further analysis show that farmers' WTP for functions facilitated by hardware is close to the estimated prices, whereas their WTP for functions wholly or partially facilitated by software is substantially lower than the estimated prices.

Findings from the empirical study lead to policy implications for enhancing the design of SFTs by integrating software and hardware and optimizing agricultural extension strategies for SFTs with digital techniques such as videos.

This study provides initial insights into understanding farmers' preferences and WTP for specific functions of SFTs with a DCE.

The goal of this research is to demonstrate how web‐based applications improve the effectiveness of a very important human resource (HR) function. It proposes a framework of a web‐based training needs assessment system for HR professionals to effectively assess employee needs for competency‐based training.

A conceptual framework of a survey‐based training needs assessment using the Internet was developed. A use case detailing a walkthrough of a prototype system developed under this proposed framework was created to illustrate how this system works. A two‐phased operation test of the prototype system was then conducted to assess how well human resource (HR) managers would accept and adopt this technology to develop organizational competencies. The first phase involved demonstrating the use case to a group of experienced HR managers and polling their opinion toward the system. The second phase involved one‐on‐one interviews with three select HR managers who were asked to experience the prototype system hands‐on.

HR managers from both phases of validation demonstrated positive acceptance of both the needs assessment model and the process improvement generated from the web‐based prototype system.

The qualitative validation test was conducted to a small sample of Taiwan's HR managers. Caution is advised when generalizing the positive results to other regions or countries with more advanced IT applications in HR practices.

This study contributes to the HR practice in several ways. First, it qualitatively confirms that HR professionals accept a competence‐based approach to build company's training curriculum. Second, it observes a lack of effective tools to help HR professionals in the task of training needs assessment. Third, it shows that HR professionals do recognize the power of web technology in helping them become more efficient.

Formal competency‐based training programs are rarely implemented in the real world because the process required is both tedious and time‐consuming. This paper adopts Internet technologies in a conceptual model for effective competency‐based training needs assessment, and presents an efficient web‐based tool to assist HR professionals in the needed analysis.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the changes of the scale of urban tourists in mainland China under the impact of COVID-19 and, specifically, the following questions: how did the scale of domestic tourists change nationwide and in the seven geographic regions? What are the differences in the changes among the seven geographic regions? What are the changes in the hot spot areas and spatial clustering of domestic tourists across the country?

Using the data of domestic tourist arrivals in 337 cities in mainland China from 2018 to 2021, this research analyzes the absolute differences and relative differences in the scale of domestic tourists nationwide and in seven geographic divisions with the help of indicators such as range analysis, standard deviation, coefficient of variation and Herfindahl–Hirschman Index and explores the changes in the hot spot areas and spatial concentration degree of the spatial scale of domestic tourists nationwide under the influence of the epidemic using kernel density analysis and spatial auto-correlation analysis.

The absolute differences in all seven geographical divisions continue to increase during 2018–2021. The domestic tourism in southwest China is extremely uneven. Absolute differences in the northwest and northeast regions are relatively small, and the development in attracting domestic tourists is more balanced. Relative differences in southwest China are comparatively large, with the trend of uneven development being obvious. The northeast, northwest and eastern regions of China are small, and the development is more balanced. The popularity of domestic tourism in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, as well as the Yangtze River Delta region, continues to decline and then pick up in 2021. The inland southwest region became a new domestic tourism hot spot in 2021. The size of domestic tourists from 2018 to 2021 in mainland China cities shows a significant positive spatial correlation, and there is a spatial agglomeration phenomenon, but some regional agglomeration types change from 2018 to 2021.

The impact of the epidemic on the number and spatial scale of domestic tourism in China has been clarified, which makes up for the comparison of domestic tourism changes before and after the epidemic. A clear understanding of the changes in the number and spatial scale of domestic tourists in different regions after the epidemic is conducive to the development of domestic tourism revitalization strategies in accordance with the actual situation of each province and promotes the internal circulation of Chinese tourism.

This paper tries to clarify the quantitative scale of domestic tourism in different regions after the epidemic, which is conducive to the development of domestic tourism revitalization strategies in cities in different regions according to regional characteristics and the actual situation of each province and to promote the healthy operation of the internal circulation of tourism in China. This paper also tries to show the changes of domestic tourism market hot spots, agglomeration conditions changes before and after the outbreak and the clarity of tourists’ preference space changes.

Scale of domestic tourists; Absolute difference; Relative difference; Spatial hot spot distribution; Spatial agglomeration change

本文旨在探寻疫情影响下中国大陆城市游客规模演化规律, 具体而言, 疫情影响下, 全国及七大地理分区的国内游客量规模变化如何？七大地理地区的变化有何差异？以及疫情影响下, 全国国内游客空间规模的热点区域和空间集聚程度有何变化？

利用2018-2021年中国大陆337各城市的国内游客量数据, 借助极差、标准差、变异系数、赫芬达尔指等指标分析全国及七大地理分区国内游客规模的绝对差异和相对差异; 借助核密度分析、空间自相关分析等ArcGIS分析工具, 探寻疫情影响下全国国内游客空间规模的热点区域和空间集聚程度的变化情况。

①绝对差异方面, 七大地理分区的绝对差异均持续增大。西南地区的游客量的绝对差异巨大, 国内游发展极不均衡。西北地区、东北地区绝对差异相对较小, 在吸引国内游客方面发展较为均衡。②相对差异方面, 西南地区的国内游发展相对差异较大, 发展不均衡趋势明显; 东北地区、西北地区、华东地区的国内游发展相对差异较小, 发展较为均衡。③热点区域变化方面, 京津冀地区、长三角地区的国内旅游热度持续下降, 在2021年有所回升; 内陆西南地区在2021年成为新的国内游热点区域。④2018年至2021年城市国内游客量规模均呈现出显著的空间正相关的关系, 存在着空间集聚现象, 但部分区域集聚类型在2018到2021年间发生变化。

①理论意义：明晰了疫情对中国国内旅游人次的数量规模和空间规模的影响, 弥补了当前疫情前后国内旅游业变化对比的研究; 阐明了疫情前后中国城市国内游客空间格局的变化, 拓展了研究情景, 丰富了中国旅游业时空变化的相关研究。②实践意义：明晰了疫后不同地区国内旅游人次的数量规模和空间规模变化情况, 以及国内旅游市场热点变化和游客空间偏好变化, 有利于各地区城市对症下药, 制定符合各省份实际情况的国内旅游业振兴策略, 促进中国旅游业内循环。

China’s swift economic rise, as symbolized by the first Chinese Olympics and by surpassing Japan to become the world’s second largest economy despite the recent global financial meltdown, has been accompanied by a transformation of Chinese foreign policy behavior. After spending the last decade emphasizing China’s “peaceful rise” or “peaceful development,” Beijing has begun to expound its policy preferences and territorial claims more forthrightly, even assertively. The purpose of this chapter will be to consider the origins, consequences, and likely future of the new Chinese foreign policy in the wake of the leadership transition at the 18th Party Congress in 2012 and the 12th National People’s Congress in 2013.

This paper proposes a framework for director evaluation in the context of Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs), taking into account the influences of traditional and modern Chinese ideologies.

Following the Delphi method, a series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with Chinese SOE directors.

The framework used has been validated by examining seven dimensions of virtue and four dimensions of competence functions in Chinese SOEs. Effective and representative characteristics of each dimension are identified through interviews.

First, through this research, indicators of virtue have been materialized and those of competence have been specified in a broader range. Second, this research provides advice for training of candidate directors whose experience were in private firms before they step in as SOE directors.

Answering the call to study important issues in the real world (Buckley et al., 2017; Delios, 2017; Phan, 2019), and motivated by the trade war between the US and China, the authors look beyond it to examine the more fundamental issues behind it. From a political economy perspective, the authors examine the interplay of government, society and firms in China to identify new phenomena that may impact business with, and research on, China.

A multi-case qualitative method is used to present and analyze evidence and develop our arguments. Specifically, we use scholarly sources, anecdotal evidence, reports, statistics and government documents and policies to support our arguments.

After four decades of economic reform, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) controls every aspect of the society. Living, working and doing business are not a right but a privilege granted by the party. To a great degree, state-owned firms are business units/subsidiaries, and private/foreign firms are franchisees of the party, with the party leader being the CEO of China, Inc. The interplay between China and other countries is essentially a competition between a huge corporation and other states.

At the firm level, our study suggests that for MNCs dealing with Chinese firms, they need to know that Chinese firms are units of China, Inc. Practitioners should take into account the long-term strategic goals of the CCP as well as business considerations when dealing with Chinese partners or competitors.

At the country level, our study shows that other countries dealing with China must be aware that they are dealing with a huge corporation.

That the CCP runs China as a corporation is a new perspective that will help the international community reexamine global competition.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of mandatory corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending on firm value in the Indian context.

Using firm-level data over the period 2012–2017, this study uses the difference-in-differences (DID) technique combined with matching to control for potential endogeneity of the decision to comply with the CSR Act since the Act in its current form is applicable as a comply-or-explain obligation.

The results of this study suggest that mandatory CSR spending has a positive and statistically significant impact on firm value. These results remain robust to alternative econometric techniques such as regression discontinuity design (RDD) and randomization inference test as well as to alternative empirical specifications. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that the positive effect of CSR spending on firm value is more pronounced for firms with higher information asymmetry problem and lower institutional holdings.

This study explicitly considers the “comply-or-explain” flexibility option, in terms of spending on CSR, provided to Indian firms for the initial two to three years and investigates whether spending on CSR helps firms enhance their firm value. The study also finds that the positive effect of CSR spending on firm value is more pronounced for firms with higher information asymmetry problems and lower institutional holdings.