Jianlan Li, Yuzhi Wang, Wang Zeng and Kaibo Liang
As the China–US trade tensions escalate, the implementation of US sanctions has imposed severe restrictions on the innovation resources of Chinese firms. This study introduces the…
Abstract
Purpose
As the China–US trade tensions escalate, the implementation of US sanctions has imposed severe restrictions on the innovation resources of Chinese firms. This study introduces the theory of peer effect to investigate whether US sanctions stimulate a homogenization of innovation strategies among Chinese companies in the same industry, thereby giving rise to an innovation peer effect.
Design/methodology/approach
This study utilizes a sample of 4,078 A-share listed companies from 2015 to 2021 and employs a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model for analysis.
Findings
The findings indicate that US sanctions significantly stimulate innovation inputs among companies in the same industry, but concurrently, they suppress innovation outputs. Moreover, a higher degree of internationalization weakens the promotion of innovation inputs by US sanctions and amplifies the inhibitory effect on innovation outputs. A high proportion of long-term loans offsets the negative impact on innovation outputs, whereas a high proportion of short-term loans diminishes the positive impact on innovation inputs.
Research limitations/implications
This study elucidates how external shocks impact companies’ innovation capabilities within the same industry, offering a fresh perspective on understanding the influence of China–US trade tensions on innovation among Chinese firms.
Practical implications
Chinese firms should view US sanctions-induced technological challenges as opportunities, fostering breakthrough innovations through industry-academia collaboration. Balancing risk and reward is also key when navigating technological innovation and global strategies.
Originality/value
This study comprehensively reflects the impact of the US sanctions on Chinese firm innovation. It lays the foundation for analyzing the transmission mechanism of other trade policies under the framework of trade friction theory.
Details
Keywords
Hong Lu, Bin Liang and Deena DeVore
The victim’s rights movement and restorative justice (RJ) have gained momentum around the world. More laws and policies have focused on crime victims and their families. Western…
Abstract
The victim’s rights movement and restorative justice (RJ) have gained momentum around the world. More laws and policies have focused on crime victims and their families. Western literature suggests that the victim’s family suffers physical, emotional, and financial tolls and that the power of the victim’s family in pursuing justice for their loved ones remains limited. This is particularly concerning within the political and legal context of the abolitionist movement, innocence project, and human rights groups’ campaigns against police torture. Grounded in the perspectives of RJ and Chinese legal culture, this study examines the victim’s family, represented by Ding and senior Yu, of the Nian Bin capital murder case. Drawing on published reports and using the thematic content analysis method, this study examines the following aspects of victim’s family in a death penalty case: 1) victim family’s physical, emotional, and financial tolls; 2) victims’ family and the criminal justice system; 3) victims’ family and the media; and 4) the relationship between the victims’ and the accused’s families. This study concludes with discussions of the competing goals of families impacted by a crime and RJ practices that would help mitigate the loss of the victim’s family and enhance their confidence in the criminal justice system.
Details
Keywords
Jianlan Zhong, Yizhong Ma, Yiliu Tu and Xia Li
This paper aims to focus on supply chain quality (SCQ) in the hospitality industry in China, and to stress the importance of the synergy of quality management (QM) and supply…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to focus on supply chain quality (SCQ) in the hospitality industry in China, and to stress the importance of the synergy of quality management (QM) and supply chain management (SCM). The authors have investigated the relationship among QM practices, SCM practices, SCQ and hotel performance, and examined the effect of contextual variables.
Design/methodology/approach
This study mainly uses a questionnaire survey to collect data relating to the research hypotheses. Structural equation model technique is suited for our research purposes, and the LISREL software is implemented to test the conceptual model.
Findings
The results show that QM practices and SCM practices are significantly correlated. QM practices/SCM practices are positively related to SCQ, and consequently influence hotel performance. SCQ has the mediating effect between QM/SCM practices and hotel performance. Contextual variables truly play a moderator between QM/SCM practices and SCQ.
Research limitations/implications
Hotel managers should look beyond their own hotels into supply chain to manage quality, highlight the importance of interdepartmental or external (i.e. customers or suppliers) connectedness, such as building close and long-term relationships with well-chosen suppliers, encouraging customer involvement and establishing an effective interface for accumulating information regarding customers’ needs and feedback. Hotel managers are also able to realize the influence of contextual variables (e.g. the new normal state of the Chinese economy), and further to gain chance of hotel’s survival.
Originality/value
This study focuses on SCQ and tries to fill a gap in the exiting literature on SCQ management in hospitality industry.
Details
Keywords
Jianlan Zhong, Han Cheng, Hamed Gholami, L. Thiruvarasu Letchumanan and Şura Toptancı
Knowledge management (KM) significantly affects supply chain management (SCM) and its performance in today's highly competitive corporate climate. It is crucial to consider this…
Abstract
Purpose
Knowledge management (KM) significantly affects supply chain management (SCM) and its performance in today's highly competitive corporate climate. It is crucial to consider this relationship to achieve optimal supply chain performance (SCP). This study aims to assess this impact by defining and examining the multi-dimensional relationships between KM Process Elements (KMPEs) and SCP Evaluation Criteria (SCPEC) within a comprehensive theoretical framework.
Design/methodology/approach
Integrating KMPEs and SCPEC becomes an uncertain decision-making problem due to data deficiency and the vagueness of decision-makers’ judgments. To address uncertainties, this study uses interval-valued neutrosophic (IVN) sets and proposes an IVN model consisting of SWARA, which is one of the effective multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approaches, and house of quality (HOQ) methods. IVN-SWARA is used to weight the SCPEC while IVN-HOQ establishes relationships and prioritizes the KMPEs and SCPEC.
Findings
The results show that reliability is the most significant SCP evaluation criterion. Among the KMPEs, capitalization, sharing, and transfer exhibit stronger associations with the SCPEC compared to the other elements. Capitalization as one of the KMPEs was found to be the most critical one, and efficiency is the criterion most affected by all elements of the KM process.
Originality/value
This study uses innovative methodologies to evaluate the adoption of KM processes on SCP under uncertain environments and involving multi-decision-makers. The proposed integrated model demonstrates flexibility and practicality in combining KM and SCM, leading to improved SCP. Notably, this study presents the development of IVN-SWARA and the use of the integrated IVN-SWARA - IVN-HOQ decision tool, which are novel contributions to the existing literature.
Details
Keywords
Jianlan Zhong, Han Cheng, Xiaowei Chen and Fu Jia
This paper aims to systematically review the literature on quality management in agri-food supply chains (SCs) and propose an integrated conceptual framework.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to systematically review the literature on quality management in agri-food supply chains (SCs) and propose an integrated conceptual framework.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review that analyses 93 papers in peer-reviewed academic journals published from 1996 to November 2021 is conducted. A conceptual model is advanced.
Findings
Based on a hierarchy of capabilities perspective, the authors develop an integrated conceptual framework in which SC quality (SCQ) management practices promote three levels of SC dynamic capabilities, which in turn lead to agri-food SCQ performance.
Originality/value
The authors propose a hierarchy of capabilities perspective of quality management in agri-food SCs and develop a conceptual framework. Furthermore, a number of propositions based on dynamic capabilities and the review findings are provided. Four future research directions are presented.
Details
Keywords
Jian-Ping Wang, Mei-Ru Wang, Jian-Lan Zhou, Qing-Jun Zuo and Xun-Xian Shi
The purpose of this study is to develop optimal evacuation plan to provide valuable theoretical and practical insight in the fire evacuation work of similar structures, by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to develop optimal evacuation plan to provide valuable theoretical and practical insight in the fire evacuation work of similar structures, by proposing a systematic simulation-based guided-evacuation agent-based model (GAM) and a three-stage mathematical evacuation model to investigate how to simulate, assess and improve the performance efficiency of the evacuation plan.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors first present the self-evacuation and guided-evacuation models to determine the optimal evacuation plan in ship chamber. Three key performance indicators are put forward to quantitatively assess the evacuation performance within the two fire scenarios. The evacuation model in tower is built to obtain the dividing points of the three different fire evacuation plans.
Findings
The study shows that the optimal evacuation plan determined by the GAM considering social relationships effectively relieves the congestion or collision of evacuees and improves the evacuation uniformity. The optimal evacuation plan not only solves the crush caused by congestion or collision of evacuees but also can greatly shorten the evacuation time for passenger ship fire.
Originality/value
This study establishes the GAM considering the interactive evacuee characteristics and the proportion of evacuees guided by the crew members to make the optimal evacuation plan more time-efficient. The self-evacuation process is simulated to assess the performance of the guided-evacuation strategies, which are used to verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the optimal evacuation plan in this research.
Details
Keywords
Jianlan Zhong, Han Cheng and Fu Jia
Despite its crucial role in ensuring food safety, traceability remains underutilized by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a vital component of China’s agricultural supply…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite its crucial role in ensuring food safety, traceability remains underutilized by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a vital component of China’s agricultural supply chain, thereby compromising the integrity of the supply chain traceability system. Therefore, this study sets out to explore the factors influencing SMEs’ adoption of traceability systems and the impact of these factors on SMEs’ intent to adopt such systems. Furthermore, the study presents a model to deepen understanding of system adoption in SMEs and provides a simulation demonstrating the evolutionary trajectory of adoption behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
This study considers the pivotal aspects of system adoption in SMEs, aiming to identify the influential factors through a grounded theory-based case study. Concurrently, it seeks to develop a mathematical model for SMEs’ adoption patterns and simulate the evolution of SMEs’ adoption behaviors using the Q-learning algorithm.
Findings
The adoption of traceability among SMEs is significantly influenced by factors such as system attributes, SMEs’ capability endowment, environmental factors and policy support and control. However, aspects of the SMEs’ capability endowment, specifically their learning rate and decay rate, have minimal impact on the adoption process. Furthermore, group pressure can expedite the attainment of an equilibrium state, wherein all SMEs adopt the system.
Originality/value
This study fills the existing knowledge gap about the adoption of traceability by SMEs in China’s agricultural supply chain. This study represents the pioneer study that identifies the factors influencing SMEs’ adoption and examines the effects of these factors on their traceability adoption, employing a multi-methodological approach that incorporates grounded theory, mathematical modeling and the Q-learning algorithm.
Details
Keywords
Bingcheng Yang, Hongyan Yu, Yu Yu and Miaoling Liu
Based on the online brand community, this study focuses on how online brand community experience affects customer voice and discusses the relationship between community engagement…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on the online brand community, this study focuses on how online brand community experience affects customer voice and discusses the relationship between community engagement and community commitment. Specifically, we examine the mediation effect of community engagement between community experience and customer voice and also the moderation role of community commitment.
Design/methodology/approach
The survey data is collected through the online survey of people who participate in the online mobile phone brand community. In total, 369 members of online community users (Huawei and Apple communities) were collected as the research samples. Then the structural equation model analysis was tested through the SPSS 25 and Mplus 7 in a two-stage analysis program.
Findings
The results show that (1) customer online brand community experience has a positive impact on customer voice; (2) community engagement mediates the positive relationship between online brand community experience and customer voice; and (3) community commitment plays a moderating role between customer experience and customer voice. Compared with low level customer's community commitment, when customer's community commitment is high, the level of community engagement has a greater mediation effect on the positive relationship between community experience and customer voice.
Research limitations/implications
On the one hand, the model of customer community experience to customer voice built in this paper has not been fully validated. Whether the model can get more robust results needs to be extended to more different community scenarios. On the other hand, this paper is actually cross-sectional data, which cannot strictly reveal the causal relationship. The authors recommend that future research may use other research methods to further reveal its internal mechanism.
Practical implications
This paper shows that customer's community experience has an important impact on customer voice behavior. Among them, information experience and sociability remain as the important factor affecting customer voice behavior, which is quiet important for maintaining brand community and product or service improvement. Brand community managers need to consistently create multiple forms of information presentation and interaction channels to enhance the information and social experience of community members.
Originality/value
First, this paper puts forward a new perspective on customer comments or feedback-customer voice, which provides a solid foundation and reference value for future scholars to explore such important phenomena. Second, the relationship between community experience and customer voice behavior was examined, which enriched the research on community experience and also discovered another positive significance of community experience in community construction. Finally, the authors examine the mediation effect of community engagement on customer voice behavior. Community engagement is one of the important indicators that reflexing community performance, which is of great significance to the brand community.