Qiubin Huang and Mengyuan Xiong
This paper aims to examine the effects of managerial ability (MA) on the likelihood and the timeliness of goodwill impairment and explore whether the desirable effect of MA vary…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the effects of managerial ability (MA) on the likelihood and the timeliness of goodwill impairment and explore whether the desirable effect of MA vary with the degree of agency problems.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors propose a unified framework to simultaneously examine the effects of MA on the likelihood and the timeliness of goodwill impairment by incorporating a market-based impairment indicator (denoted as BTM), MA and the interaction of BTM with MA to this study’s regression model to account for the likelihood of goodwill impairment. BTM addresses the timeliness of goodwill impairment.
Findings
This study finds that firms with higher MA have lower likelihood of goodwill impairment, and such firms are more likely to recognize goodwill impairment in a timely manner when the underlying value of goodwill is economically impaired. This desirable effect of MA is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprise (SOEs) and firms without chief executive officer (CEO) duality.
Practical implications
Firms can reduce the losses arising from goodwill impairment by enhancing the ability of their management teams combined with improved corporate governance structure.
Originality/value
This paper provides novel insights on understanding the role of MA in not only reducing the likelihood but also enhancing the timeliness of goodwill impairment. The findings help advance the upper echelons theory by uncovering the heterogenous effects of executives with different levels of ability.
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Mengyuan Cheng, Heap-Yih Chong, Guoliang Liu and Qian Li
Perceived justice is crucial to achieving public–private partnership (PPP) projects’ goals, but little is known about the transmission mechanism of perceived justice that affects…
Abstract
Purpose
Perceived justice is crucial to achieving public–private partnership (PPP) projects’ goals, but little is known about the transmission mechanism of perceived justice that affects added value in PPP projects. Therefore, this research intends to investigate the link between perceived justice and PPP projects’ added value and their underlying mechanism by analysing the mediating role of cooperative behaviour.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on 246 valid survey data collected from the Chinese PPP professionals, structural equation modelling was adopted to analyse and test the proposed hypotheses.
Findings
The results show all three dimensions of perceived justice positively correlated with PPP projects’ added value. The influence effect from high to low was determined to be as follows: interactive, distributive and procedural justice. Moreover, both perfunctory and consummate performance were found to be positively correlated with and thus of great importance to PPP projects’ added value, but perfunctory performance was found to have a greater influence coefficient. The relationship between perceived justice and PPP projects’ added value is mediated by perfunctory and consummate performance. Therefore, the strategies of perceived justice in improving added value are verified in the context of Chinese PPP projects.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this study can help realise added value in three ways. Firstly, new perspectives for PPP project added value should be proposed by combining the improvement of project basic objectives and the realisation of the participants’ implicit demands. Secondly, the effects of different perceived justice on added value should be analysed instead of a single dimension of perceived justice. Thirdly, the mediating effects of different types of cooperative behaviour that may influence the relationship between perceived justice and added value should be evaluated.
Practical implications
This study contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between perceived justice and PPP projects’ added value and provides a reliable reference for project managers to achieve added value outcomes in PPP projects. In addition, this study reveals the impact of perceived justice on PPP projects’ added value and the path of perceived justice transformation. This provides a useful reference for project managers to take advantage of the positive effects of distributive, interactive and procedural justice to enhance inter-organizational cooperative behaviour. This study thus helps improve the practice and value of PPP projects by using the right strategy of perceived justice.
Originality/value
The research clarifies the impacts of multidimensional perceived justice for added value of PPP projects throughout the implementation process. It offers a new perspective on PPP projects’ added value by combining the improvement of the realisation of participants’ implicit claims.
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Mengyuan Cheng, Guoliang Liu and Yongshun Xu
The role of conventional contracts in achieving sustainability goals in public–private partnership (PPP) projects has been questioned. From the multifunctional perspective of…
Abstract
Purpose
The role of conventional contracts in achieving sustainability goals in public–private partnership (PPP) projects has been questioned. From the multifunctional perspective of contract theory, joint-contract functions that combine contractual control, coordination and adaptation may be a potential approach for improving PPP project sustainability performance. This research intends to investigate the link between the joint-contract functions and PPP project sustainability performance, and their underlying mechanism, by analyzing the mediating role of relationship quality and moderating roles of environmental uncertainty and behavioral uncertainty.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on 170 valid survey data collected from the Chinese PPP professionals, partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was adopted to test the hypothesis.
Findings
The results reveal that joint-contract functions are positively associated with the PPP project sustainability performance. This relationship is strengthened by environmental and behavioral uncertainty. Moreover, the relationship between the joint-contract functions and PPP project sustainability performance is mediated by relationship quality.
Research limitations/implications
This research extends contract governance theory and sustainability research in PPP projects. The research implications are as follows: (1) joint-contract functions are a second-order construct consisting of three first-order dimensions: control, coordination and adaptation and are positively associated with PPP project sustainability performance; (2) joint-contract functions enhance the sustainable benefits of PPP projects during environmental uncertainty and behavioral uncertainty; (3) informal relationships are a critical bridge connecting formal institutions with the sustainability performance of PPP projects.
Practical implications
In general, these findings guide project participants who aim to achieve sustainable outcomes in PPP projects. (1) Project participants should consider the process of contract design and sign contracts that focus on joint-contract functions. (2) Project participants should investigate the degree of uncertainty of a PPP project before designing contracts, and design the contracts with corresponding complexity. (3) Project participants should work to enhance PPP sustainable benefits by improving the relationship between partners, such as encouraging mutual trust and joint problem-solving.
Originality/value
This research verifies the relationship between joint-contract functions and PPP project sustainability performance, and the boundary and intermediary conditions between them.
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The purpose of this paper is to present an integrated data-driven framework for processing and analyzing large-scale vehicle maintenance records to get more comprehensive…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present an integrated data-driven framework for processing and analyzing large-scale vehicle maintenance records to get more comprehensive understanding on vehicle quality.
Design/methodology/approach
We propose a framework for vehicle quality analysis based on maintenance record mining and Bayesian Network. It includes the development of a comprehensive dictionary for efficient classification of maintenance items, and the establishment of a Bayesian Network model for vehicle quality evaluation. The vehicle design parameters, price and performance of functional systems are modeled as node variables in the Bayesian Network. Bayesian Network reasoning is then used to analyze the influence of these nodes on vehicle quality and their respective importance.
Findings
A case study using the maintenance records of 74 sport utility vehicle (SUV) models is presented to demonstrate the validity of the proposed framework. Our results reveal that factors such as vehicle size, chassis issues and engine displacement, can affect the chance of vehicle failures and accidents. The influence of factors such as price and performance of engine and chassis show explicit regional differences.
Originality/value
Previous research usually focuses on limited maintenance records from a single vehicle producer, while our proposed framework enables efficient and systematic processing of larger-scale maintenance records for vehicle quality analysis, which can support auto companies, consumers and regulators to make better decisions in purchase choice-making, vehicle design and market regulation.