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High turnover of project managers is a common phenomenon in the construction industry, which has a negative impact on the productivity and performance of construction firms. The study investigates the mechanisms of person-environment fit on turnover intention of construction project managers and the mediating role of job embeddedness. The authors also tested the moderating role of perceived organizational support in the influence of job embeddedness on turnover intention.

The data were collected from managers of 62 construction and infrastructure projects in Wuhan. Based on person-environment fit theory, job embeddedness theory and social exchange theory (SET), the authors employ structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the hypotheses.

Results show that if project managers are not well-fitted with the environment of organizations, it reduces their embeddedness in jobs, which in consequence makes them more inclined to leave. Job embeddedness mediates the relationship between person-environment fit and turnover intention. In addition, the authors validated the moderating effect of perceived organizational support, showing that the higher the employee's job embeddedness, the lower the employee's turnover intention.

Construction companies can retain project managers and stabilize management teams through effective management strategies, thus effectively reducing the separation costs of construction companies.

Modern construction projects are increasingly complex and rely heavily on multi-discipline collaboration, and this leads to a more and more decentralized project-based structure widely adopted in the construction industry. While job satisfaction (JS) and job performance (JP) have been heavily studied previously, few considered the impact of organizational structure and none investigated the relationship between the organizational decentralization degree with JS and JP. This research aims to fill this research gap and investigate the impacts of organizational decentralization degree on JS and JP and facilitate a better project management practice for large-scale construction projects.

This research firstly establishes four hypotheses based on the literature review on general project-based organizations, then the hypotheses are tested by a survey covering 25 large complex construction projects in China. A hierarchical linear model analysis was carried out to analyze the survey data and to study the relationships between organizational decentralization degree, job satisfaction and job performance.

Analysis results show that projects' employees' JS and JP are positively correlated with the construction project organizations' decentralization degree, respectively. The decentralization degree has a higher impact on JS than on JP. Employees' JP is positively correlated with their JS, and a higher decentralization degree leads to a more significant positive impact that JS puts on JP.

The findings are new evidence of how construction organization structure and its decentralization degree can affect project employees' JS and JP. This research provides valuable guidance for the industry's management practice and is particularly important for large, complex and highly decentralized construction projects.

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 study investigates the impact of Chinese senior leaders’ diplomatic visits on outward and inward foreign direct investment (OFDI and IFDI, respectively). Additionally, it aims to discern the differential impacts of diplomatic visits on FDI across different Chinese administrations.

We utilize data about the diplomatic visits of Chinese senior leaders to 146 host countries. The dataset was divided into two leadership eras: the tenure of President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao from 2003 to 2012 and the period from 2013 to 2021 under President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang. We employ generalized least squares, lagged effect, and two-stage least squares methods to estimate the econometric model. This analytical framework assesses the influence of high-level diplomatic visits on FDI flows, addressing potential time-serial and endogeneity concerns.

The findings reveal that senior leaders’ diplomatic visits significantly boost Chinese OFDI. The effect on IFDI in China is not statistically significant. The administrations of Hu and Xi played positive roles in promoting OFDI. However, only Hu’s administration showed a statistically significant positive relationship with IFDI. The result suggests a potential increase in IFDI between China and host countries within two to three years following diplomatic visits.

This study contributes to the understanding of how Chinese senior leaders’ diplomatic activities affect foreign direct investment. It provides a deeper understanding of Chinese senior leaders’ diplomatic efforts to compensate for investment across two administration periods. It offers insights into the potential influence of diplomatic efforts on FDI, enriching the understanding of diplomacy’s role in international business contexts.

In order to overcome the uncertainty and improve the accuracy of spectral estimation, this paper aims to establish a grey fuzzy prediction model of soil organic matter content by using grey theory and fuzzy theory.

Based on the data of 121 soil samples from Zhangqiu district and Jiyang district of Jinan City, Shandong Province, firstly, the soil spectral data are transformed by spectral transformation methods, and the spectral estimation factors are selected according to the principle of maximum correlation. Then, the generalized greyness of interval grey number is used to modify the estimation factors of modeling samples and test samples to improve the correlation. Finally, the hyper-spectral prediction model of soil organic matter is established by using the fuzzy recognition theory, and the model is optimized by adjusting the fuzzy classification number, and the estimation accuracy of the model is evaluated using the mean relative error and the determination coefficient.

The results show that the generalized greyness of interval grey number can effectively improve the correlation between soil organic matter content and estimation factors, and the accuracy of the proposed model and test samples are significantly improved, where the determination coefficient R² = 0.9213 and the mean relative error (MRE) = 6.3630% of 20 test samples. The research shows that the grey fuzzy prediction model proposed in this paper is feasible and effective, and provides a new way for hyper-spectral estimation of soil organic matter content.

The research shows that the grey fuzzy prediction model proposed in this paper can not only effectively deal with the three types of uncertainties in spectral estimation, but also realize the correction of estimation factors, which is helpful to improve the accuracy of modeling estimation. The research result enriches the theory and method of soil spectral estimation, and it also provides a new idea to deal with the three kinds of uncertainty in the prediction problem by using the three kinds of uncertainty theory.

The paper succeeds in realizing both the grey fuzzy prediction model for hyper-spectral estimating soil organic matter content and effectively dealing with the randomness, fuzziness and grey uncertainty in spectral estimation.

Based on a theoretical framework of ambidexterity in technology sourcing beyond organizational and technological boundaries, this study aims to explore how start-ups balance technology sourcing in organizational ambidexterity (TSOA) to produce high venture performance.

A questionnaire survey is distributed among start-ups in the science and technology park of a university in eastern China, producing a total of 45 valid responses. The fuzzy-set approach to qualitative comparative analysis is used in this study.

The findings show that start-ups achieve high venture performance through external technology sourcing (external exploration and exploitation) in the initial stage. In the growth stage, start-ups adopt external and internal technology sourcing (internal exploration and exploitation) to produce high venture performance. The technology sourcing strategy in ambidextrous activity for start-ups is punctuated equilibrium and evolving from the external ambidexterity to internally and externally coordinate ambidexterity at entrepreneurial stages.

This study creatively adopts configuration-based thinking to investigate how to balance TSOA for high venture performance, extending the literature on technology sourcing and contributing to the balance theory of exploration and exploitation.

The regulations for qualitative genetically modified (GM) food labeling do not effectively eliminate the information asymmetries pertaining to the consumption of GM products. China's GM food labeling law requires the presentation of certain categories of GM products on GMO labels on packages. Such information is invaluable for understanding whether the disclosure of more information on GM foods can help alleviate information asymmetry while reducing consumer fear and risk perceptions of GM foods, and thus cause changes in their behaviors. The purpose of this paper is to explore the heterogeneity of consumer preferences for enhanced GM food labeling, how consumer preferences are influenced by labeling information, and how these preferences vary in different consumers.

Both descriptive statistics and econometric techniques, including the multivariate ordered Probit model, were applied to a sample of 566 urban consumers in the Yangtze River Delta region of China. All respondents were divided into two groups: people who would definitely not buy GM foods before selecting enhanced labeling information (“consumer group 1”, sample size 282) and people who would definitely not object to buying GM foods before selecting enhanced labeling information (“consumer group 2”, sample size 274).

The findings suggest that urban consumers have a preference for different types of enhanced labeling information about GM foods, that such a preference significantly influences their willingness to pay for GM foods, that there exists a large difference in the preferences of different consumer groups, and that enhanced GM food labeling information has a greater impact on those consumers who would not accept GM foods.

This research identifies the GM information disclosures that most affect consumer preferences and how these preferences vary across different segments of consumers, which is a current gap in the literature. The study has demonstrated that enhanced labels of GM foods with diverse information would not alter a consumer's WTP for GM foods who does not perceive the value of information from the enhanced labels, but change positively consumers with uncertainty willingness to pay before disclosure.

This paper aims to develop a new magnetorheological polishing (MRP) device with roller and investigate the polishing mechanism of MRP fluids using this new device.

The principle of MRP process with roller is discussed, and then the structure of the polishing device is designed in detail. The polishing experiments of K9 glass are carried out using MRP device with roller.

A series of tests are performed to evaluate the effect of the excitation gaps, working gap and polishing time on the polishing characteristics, and the optimized polishing parameters can be obtained. The surface roughness Ra of the sample is reduced from 359 to 38 nm under optimized polishing parameters.

MRP method with roller is proposed in this paper, and the MRP device with roller can reduce the surface roughness Ra significantly. After being polished, the circular ring-shaped polishing belt disappears on the workpiece surface, which means it has great potential for polishing.

Some researchers argue that consumers’ lack of knowledge is an important factor increasing risk for a new product derived from emerging agricultural technology. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the potential impacts and the differential effects of subjective and objective perceptions on Chinese consumers’ preferences for the application of a novel biotechnology.

Taking transgenic technology as an example and employing data from a survey of 1,000 consumers in Jiangsu Province, the authors develop a mixed-process regression model based on Fishbein’s multiple attributes attitude model.

The results suggest that there are apparent differences between Chinese consumers’ subjective perceptions and objective perceptions concerning transgenic technology and genetically modified (GM) food, and there exists certain selective perceptions of the emerging biotechnology. Having a subjective perception concerning transgenic technology has a positive effect on consumers’ overall attitudes, whereas subjective and objective perceptions concerning GM foods have a negative effect on consumers’ overall attitudes. Self-identification generated from subjective perception occupies a dominant position in determining consumers’ attitudes.

Consumers’ attitudes regarding an agricultural product depend on their perception of the attributes of the technology used to produce such a product. This study attempts to distinguish and empirically test urban consumers’ subjective perceptions (self-assessed or perceived) and objective perceptions (obtained from a test) about transgenic technology and GM foods and the impact of these four types of perception on the consumers’ attitudes regarding the application of transgenic technology. In this paper, the authors construct a mixed-process regression model to address the possible endogeneity of the perception variables.

In modern China, sports and nationalism always have close connection, and nationalism is the important reason for the promotion of Chinese sports. However, the relationship between Chinese sports and nationalism in globalised China could be much more examined by academics, as well as its influencing factors. This chapter selects the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games as the context and representative three Chinese sports heroes in the period of globalisation to study. The findings show that in some extent, Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and three Chinese sports heroes represent the national image of China in the globalised world, also bearing the burden of washing away historical humiliation and pursuing national glory. Furthermore, it is manifested that China have a complex nationalism in the process of hosting the 2008 Olympic Games. Under the influence of mass media, market economy and sports professionalisation, nationalism still exists in Chinese sports, but people gradually start to reflect on the ‘Juguo Tizhi’, the traditional Chinese sports system and the concept of ‘winning glory for the nation’. The relationship between Chinese nationalism and sports shows the important implications of rapid Chinese sports development.