Shanglong Fang, Wei Xiao, Kewen Chen and Xuding Song
Resin-based friction materials are the most widely used key materials in industry for braking and transmission. However, the friction coefficient of resin-based friction materials…
Abstract
Purpose
Resin-based friction materials are the most widely used key materials in industry for braking and transmission. However, the friction coefficient of resin-based friction materials significantly decreases at temperatures above 300°C, which reduces their friction performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This study combines elevated-temperature mechanical experiments with friction and wear experiments to explain the thermal degradation resistance performance and temperature recovery performance of resin-based friction materials. It also investigates the influence of friction material strength and worn morphology on the friction coefficient of materials at elevated temperature.
Findings
The experimental results show that the increase in friction coefficient of friction materials below 300°C is mainly due to the increase in worn morphology characterization parameters, and the thermal degradation phenomenon above 300°C is mainly due to the decrease of shear strength of friction film. Basalt fiber can significantly improve the thermal degradation resistance of friction materials. The friction coefficient of basalt fiber-reinforced specimens after thermal degradation reaches 0.421–0.443, which is 19–25% higher than the original. The thermal decay rate is 9.03–11.0%, which is 7.9–9.87% lower than the original. Moreover, the friction coefficient has good cooling recovery performance.
Originality/value
Revealed the thermal degradation mechanism of resin-based friction materials, verified that basalt fibers can improve the thermal degradation resistance of friction materials and provided reference for the development of new friction materials.
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Kewen Wu, Julita Vassileva, Qinghua Zhu, Hui Fang and Xiaojie Tan
Wiki forms a new model of virtual collaboration. The original wiki is designed to hide content authorship information. Such design may hinder users from being aware of task…
Abstract
Purpose
Wiki forms a new model of virtual collaboration. The original wiki is designed to hide content authorship information. Such design may hinder users from being aware of task conflict, resulting in low-efficient conflict management and decreased group performance. This study aims at increasing users' awareness of task conflict to facilitate wiki-based collaboration.
Design/methodology/approach
A visual feedback dialog box is designed to increase users' awareness of task conflict. A survey-based comparative study is conducted by using original wiki and modified wiki (the new design). A total of 301 participants are invited. Structural equation model (SEM) is used to analyze survey data.
Findings
Most users are willing to solve conflict issues, and the dialog box can increase users' awareness of task conflict. Conflict awareness can promote user's participation, gain better conflict resolution and improve group performance. The dialog box can enhance the influence of conflict awareness on user participation and conflict resolution, but reduce the influence of conflict awareness on group performance.
Research limitations/implications
Only undergraduate students are invited, some typical variables are not included. The design needs improvement.
Originality/value
A new wiki tool is designed. The influence of conflict awareness is explored while previous studies largely ignore this variable.
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Chia-Chen Chen, Kuo-Lun Hsiao and Shan-Jung Wu
With the advent of the digital era, the internet has gradually become an essential factor in people’s lives. Its increasing popularity has also caused e-commerce to thrive, and…
Abstract
Purpose
With the advent of the digital era, the internet has gradually become an essential factor in people’s lives. Its increasing popularity has also caused e-commerce to thrive, and has increased the power of online marketing. In recent years, social commerce has emerged as a new mode of operation which can be distinguished from traditional e-commerce. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The main purpose of this study is to determine which factors influence a consumer’s behavioral intention in the context of social commerce websites, and to explore overall purchase intentions based on the consumer’s cognitive evaluation. The examination reveals that consumers’ multidimensional perceptions influence both their perceptions of value and their purchase intentions. Other related social awareness factors explored by this study are also shown to influence customers’ purchase intentions.
Findings
In summary, the results show that perceived value and social awareness factors influence customers’ purchasing decisions and behavioral intentions for different gender. These findings have significant theoretical and managerial implications.
Originality/value
Social commerce is a subset of e-commerce brought about by the development of social networking. Activities conducted on social networking websites can be considered as a form of social commerce. In Taiwan, social commerce is still in the early stages of development.
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Qinghua Zhu, Xiaoling Sun, Jia Tina Du, Yuxiang Zhao, Kewen Wu and Hua Zheng
This chapter aims to investigate the research status and development of virtual community (VC) in China by a critique of library and information science (LIS) journal articles and…
Abstract
This chapter aims to investigate the research status and development of virtual community (VC) in China by a critique of library and information science (LIS) journal articles and to put forward future directions in virtual community for the researchers in our discipline. We used a multiple case of methods including bibliometric approaches (such as keyword frequency and co-word analysis) and a coding system to reveal several characteristics of the research status quo and trends. The results show that from 2000 to the present, VC-related research by LIS Chinese scholars has experienced rapid development with an increasing number of academic papers, authors, journals and institutions. However, LIS research is still at an early stage with the slow introduction of fundamental concepts and frameworks, lack of theoretical support, and organisations focused on empirical studies. VC-related research in China in recent years fully demonstrates its diversified attributes. Our study is limited to the analysis of academic journal literature published in mainland China while excluding dissertations and books, and publications in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Our classification system also needs to be more specific. Our findings have implications for researchers, students, journals and sponsors of Chinese LIS research related to virtual communities.
Faiza Bashir and Nosheen Fatima Warraich
The purpose of this study is to look into the concept of blockchain technology which stores data in a distributed, tamper-resistant setting and how this technology may affect the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to look into the concept of blockchain technology which stores data in a distributed, tamper-resistant setting and how this technology may affect the future library and information (LI) centers’ operations and policy. It explores the potential benefits and limitations of this technology, for LI centers are the core objectives of this paper.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic review of both academic and practitioner literature was conducted. It followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (2020) standards.
Findings
The review shows that the decentralized nature of blockchain will transform the work in libraries and improve the inter-communication among communities. It can provide better privacy of user data thus increasing collaboration. However, there might be technological, financial, legal and social challenges that may act as hurdles to the realization of these goals in the true sense. The overall result shows that by keeping data updated, libraries can evaluate blockchain opportunities and make the best use of this technology.
Practical implications
Given the huge investments by industry, academic research that explores potential ramifications and supports libraries is required. The adoption of blockchain was investigated in this study from a variety of perspectives for LI center’s while also providing directions for future research.
Originality/value
It is evident that globally there is progress in blockchain technology development in terms of research and adoption in many industries, but the intention to adopt blockchain by libraries is still a fantasy. The lack of empirical evidence in the existing literature justifies the gap that needs to be filled. This systematic review attempts to fill the gaps in the existing knowledge which may serve as a reference for future initiatives in this field.
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Xiaodong Li, Chen Zhang, Juan Chen and Shengliang Zhang
The domain of monetary donation is evolving with the combination of professional donation platforms and social network sites (SNSs) in the agency process, potentially enhancing…
Abstract
Purpose
The domain of monetary donation is evolving with the combination of professional donation platforms and social network sites (SNSs) in the agency process, potentially enhancing information communication and facilitating money transfers between donors and recipients. However, SNS donation avoidance hinders the leveraging of significant economic and social values. To address the limited understanding of the phenomenon of SNS donation avoidance, this study aims to investigate the influencing factors of people's avoidance behavior in the agency process of SNS donation.
Design/methodology/approach
A model was devised containing four process-related factors (requests overload, process ambiguity, channel security concerns and perceived distributive injustice) as antecedents of SNS donation avoidance, with probable mediating paths of negative emotions, altruistic outcome expectation and egoistic outcome expectation. Data were collected through a survey of 398 users of WeChat Moment in China. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the proposed model.
Findings
All four process-related factors have positive associations with SNS donation avoidance. Requests overload, channel security concerns and perceived distributive injustice all positively influence people's expectation of negative emotions and lead, in turn, to their SNS donation avoidance. Perceived distributive injustice also leads to SNS donation avoidance via negatively influencing people's expectations of both altruistic and egoistic outcomes.
Originality/value
Theoretically, this empirical study synthetically associates process-related factors to donation avoidance through the paths of emotional responses and rational outcome expectations. Practically, it emphasizes key factors to consider in the process management of SNS donation.
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Jianguang Zeng, Yuanyuan Lu, Qian Xu and Xun Yang
This study aims to examine whether corporate stconcerns on social responsibility issues pressurize corporate managers to act in a socially responsible way and how this affects…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine whether corporate stconcerns on social responsibility issues pressurize corporate managers to act in a socially responsible way and how this affects corporate value.
Design/methodology/approach
This study follows previous studies such as Wu et al. (2008) and Jiang and Huang (2011) in using the research model.
Findings
The analysis shows that in regions where large attention paid to demolitions, corporate managers are under great pressure from corporate stakeholders and they thus act in more socially responsible ways; this, in turn, results in higher corporate values. Furthermore, in regions in which demolition events attract more attention, the increase in corporate value is relatively small for state-owned enterprises and unprofitable listed enterprises.
Originality/value
The findings demonstrate that internet governance heightens corporate stakeholders’ awareness of social responsibility, and this leads to pressure on corporate relative behaviors to satisfy the requests of corporate stakeholders, leading to an increase in corporate value and improvement in social welfare.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the moderating role of culture in terms of uncertainty avoidance in the antecedents of customer-based bank reputation in two countries with…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the moderating role of culture in terms of uncertainty avoidance in the antecedents of customer-based bank reputation in two countries with different cultural patterns.
Design/methodology/approach
This study was carried out by surveying 910 bank customers of the main banks in the UK and Spain. The hypotheses employed in this research were developed by contrasting the moderating role of uncertainty avoidance in the relationships between bank reputation and its antecedents, and were then tested through the use of partial least squares modelling.
Findings
Significant differences between British and Spanish bank customers were found with regard to the impact of innovation, workplace and leadership on bank reputation. However, the results obtained when considering uncertainty avoidance as a continuous moderator variable suggested that only the differences found as regards workplace and leadership were owing to this variable, thus providing empirical support for two out of the eight hypotheses developed on the basis of cultural theories.
Originality/value
This is the first study to analyse whether the relative importance of the antecedents of bank reputation differ with regard to customers’ uncertainty avoidance patterns, which is the cultural variable that is most closely linked in literature to customers’ banking decisions. This study contributes towards reputation research by showing that cultural differences in terms of uncertainty avoidance should be used with caution when establishing business guides for bank managers.