Guolei Wang, Qiankun Yu, Tianyu Ren, Xiaotong Hua and Ken Chen
To paint large workpieces automatically, painting manipulators with hollow wrists must be transported by mobile platforms to different positions because of their limited…
Abstract
Purpose
To paint large workpieces automatically, painting manipulators with hollow wrists must be transported by mobile platforms to different positions because of their limited workspaces. This paper aims to provide a visualization method for finding appropriate base positions (BPs) and maximum painting areas for manipulators.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper begins by analyzing the motion characteristics of manipulators possessing a spherical wrist and summarizing them into three constraints – positioning, orientation and singularity avoidance. The hollow wrist is simplified and considered as spherical by introducing the concepts of an inner wrist center and an outer wrist center. Taking the three constraints into consideration, the boundaries of the manipulating space are formulated analytically. Finally, to verify the method, the space obtained is applied to determine the maximum painting areas for flat, cylindrical and conical surfaces. Experiments of robotic painting were used to confirm the results.
Findings
Compared with previous studies, the maximum areas obtained using the proposed method increased by 17-131 per cent with an algorithm of lower complexity, and the process remained visually intuitive, thereby demonstrating that the method of manipulating space is more effective.
Originality/value
Such a method allows individuals to visualize the entire painting area at the current BP, thereby maximizing painting areas or optimizing BPs. It opens a black box that is the relationship between BPs and blocks. The method can also be used to choose the best configuration for painting manipulators, select the end-effector structure parameters, split surfaces into blocks, etc.
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Yupei Liu, Weian Li and Qiankun Meng
This study aims to explore whether investors’ inattention is associated with firms’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) decoupling, which is defined as the misalignment…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore whether investors’ inattention is associated with firms’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) decoupling, which is defined as the misalignment between the implementation and incorporation of ESG policies.
Design/methodology/approach
Focusing on a sample of the components of ESG ratings for China Securities Index (CSI) 300 companies between 2017 and 2019, the authors test the relationship between firms’ ESG decoupling level and mutual fund investors’ distraction by applying exogenous shocks to their portfolios.
Findings
The results show that firms with distracted mutual fund investors engage in more external than internal ESG actions, leading to a high ESG decoupling level. Mutual fund investors use “threat of exit” rather than “voice” as a governance mechanism to influence corporate ESG decoupling. While external ESG actions mitigate stock price crash risk, internal ESG actions increase firm value; firms with a high ESG decoupling level suffer lower valuations.
Practical implications
This study has implications for increasing the congruence between firms’ external and internal ESG actions, thereby improving firms’ ESG performance and long-term economic outcomes.
Social implications
This paper helps policy-makers and regulators to reassess how ESG policies can be implemented to be consistent with organizations’ core business activities.
Originality/value
Contributing to prior studies of greenwashing and corporate social responsibility decoupling, this paper extends decoupling literature by revisiting ESG impacts in an integrated framework and explores the antecedents of corporate ESG decoupling from the perspective of institutional investor monitoring.
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Qiao Shi, Qiankun Wang and Zeng Guo
This paper aimed to examine the role of knowledge sharing among member enterprises between collaborative innovation activities and innovation performance and between building…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aimed to examine the role of knowledge sharing among member enterprises between collaborative innovation activities and innovation performance and between building information modeling (BIM) application and innovation performance in the construction supply chain.
Design/methodology/approach
The structural equation model was used in this study. First, the hypothesis of the relationship between collaborative innovation activities, BIM application, knowledge sharing and innovation performance in the construction supply chain was proposed based on experience; then, the research data were collected by investigation; finally, this hypothesis was tested through data analysis.
Findings
(1) Collaborative innovation activities in the construction supply chain had a positive impact on explicit knowledge sharing, tacit knowledge sharing and innovation performance. (2) BIM application had a positive impact on explicit knowledge sharing and innovation performance, while it had no significant impact on tacit knowledge sharing. (3) Explicit knowledge sharing had no positive effect on innovation performance, while tacit knowledge sharing had positive effect on organizational performance. (4) Tacit knowledge sharing produced partial mediating effect between collaborative innovation activities, BIM application and innovation performance, while explicit knowledge sharing produced complete mediating effect between BIM application and tacit knowledge sharing.
Originality/value
A relationship model among collaborative innovation activities, BIM application, explicit and tacit knowledge sharing and innovation performance in the construction supply chain was proposed, and the rationality of the model was verified by empirical analysis. Discovering the relationships between these factors can be not only conducive to mastering the effect of explicit and tacit knowledge sharing in the collaborative innovation process of construction supply chain, but also play a guiding role for the function development of BIM.
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Minglong Xu, Song Xue, Qionghua Wang, Shaoxiang He, Rui Deng, Zenong Li, Ying Zhang, Qiankun Li and Rongchao Li
This study aims to improve the stability and obstacle surmounting ability of the traditional wall-climbing robot on the surface of the ship, a wheel-track composite magnetic…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to improve the stability and obstacle surmounting ability of the traditional wall-climbing robot on the surface of the ship, a wheel-track composite magnetic adsorption wall-climbing robot is proposed in this paper.
Design/methodology/approach
The robot adopts a front and rear obstacle-crossing mechanism to achieve a smooth crossover. The robot is composed of two passive obstacle-crossing mechanisms and a frame, which is composed of two obstacle-crossing magnetic wheels and a set of tracks. The obstacle-crossing is realized by the telescopic expansion of the obstacle-crossing mechanism. Three static failure models are established to determine the minimum adsorption force for the robot to achieve stable motion. The Halbach array is used to construct the track magnetic circuit, and the influence of gap, contact area and magnet thickness on the adsorption force is analyzed by parameter simulation.
Findings
The prototype was designed and manufactured by the authors for static failure and obstacle crossing tests. The prototype test results show that the robot can cross the obstacle of 10 mm height under the condition of 20 kg load.
Originality/value
A new structure of wall-climbing robot is proposed and verified. According to the test results, the wall-climbing robot can stably climb over the obstacle of 10 mm height under the condition of 20 kg load, which provides a new idea for future robot design.
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Ming Gao, Qiankun Gu, Shijun He and Dongmin Kong
Does the history of the bureaucratic system, along with the establishment of the Great Wall during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368–1911), affect firm behavior across the…
Abstract
Purpose
Does the history of the bureaucratic system, along with the establishment of the Great Wall during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368–1911), affect firm behavior across the borderlands of the Great Wall?
Design/methodology/approach
The Ming and Qing dynasties built a centralized administrative system in the borderlands on the south side of the Great Wall, in contrast to the “feudal lordship” system on the north side. Employing a regression discontinuity analysis framework with the Great Wall as a geographical discontinuity, we examine the long-run effects of the Great Wall on firms’ earnings management.
Findings
Using a large sample of nonlisted firms in the central core frontier region, we show that the earnings management of firms in the region south of the Great Wall is significantly curtailed compared with firms in the north of it, and this effect is more pronounced for non-SOEs. Our findings are robust to a battery of tests to account for alternative explanations.
Practical implications
Overall, by emphasizing the role of institutions, like legal system, shaped in history on firms’ earnings management, this study sheds new light on institutional determinants of firms’ behaviors in earnings information disclosure.
Originality/value
First, we enrich our understanding of the institutional determinants of firms’ financial reporting outcomes. Second, our findings shed new light on the long-term effects of historical ruling styles on modern corporate behavior.
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Qiankun Wang, Zeng Guo, Tingting Mei, Qianyao Li and Peng Li
Construction industrialization is emerging in the construction industry, as a result, buildings with prefabricated assemblies are gaining more and more ground. In most situations…
Abstract
Purpose
Construction industrialization is emerging in the construction industry, as a result, buildings with prefabricated assemblies are gaining more and more ground. In most situations, the prefabricated building assemblies are installed by labor crews manually. If some assemblies are ill-designed, clashes between labor crews’ workspaces and them may occur, which will have bad effect on workers’ productivity and even incur hazard. The purpose of this paper is to provide a 4D building information modeling (BIM) based approach to find potential workspace conflicts during the installation process of prefabricated building assemblies in the detailed design process so as to eliminate them in advance.
Design/methodology/approach
First, a workspace modeling method is provided; second, three kinds of workspace conflicts are analyzed; third, a 4D-BIM-based approach is established; fourth, a prototype tool based on the approach is developed; and finally, a case study is conducted to test the tool.
Findings
The result shows that the proposed tool can detect or precaution workspace conflicts and visualize them in a series of views; in doing so, valuable information can be obtained for improving the design quality of prefabricated assemblies.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed approach and tool only concern the congestions caused by ill-designed prefabricated components; the tool needed to be further optimized for speed; the tests on the tool are limited to a single case study; and more tests are needed to verify its effectiveness.
Originality/value
This research provides a 4D-BIM-based approach and a prototype tool for installation workspace analysis. It can be used to provide support for design optimization of prefabricated building assemblies.
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Xin Huang, Ting Tang, Yu Ning Luo and Ren Wang
This study aims to examine the impact of board characteristics on firm performance while also exploring the influential mechanisms that help Chinese listed companies establish…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the impact of board characteristics on firm performance while also exploring the influential mechanisms that help Chinese listed companies establish effective boards of directors and strengthen their corporate governance mechanisms.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses machine learning methods to investigate the predictive ability of the board of directors' characteristics on firm performance based on the data from Chinese A-share listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges in China during 2008–2021. This study further analyzes board characteristics with relatively strong predictive ability and their predictive models on firm performance.
Findings
The results show that nonlinear machine learning methods are more effective than traditional linear models in analyzing the impact of board characteristics on Chinese firm performance. Among the series characteristics of the board of directors, the contribution ratio in prediction from directors compensation, director shareholding ratio, the average age of directors and directors' educational level are significant, and these characteristics have a roughly nonlinear correlation to the prediction of firm performance; the improvement of the predictive ability of board characteristics on firm performance in state-owned enterprises in China performs better than that in private enterprises.
Practical implications
The findings of this study provide valuable suggestions for enriching the theory of board governance, strengthening board construction and optimizing the effectiveness of board governance. Furthermore, these impacts can serve as a valuable reference for board construction and selection, aiding in the rational selection of boards to establish an efficient and high-performing board of directors.
Originality/value
The study findings unequivocally demonstrate the superiority of nonlinear machine learning approaches over traditional linear models in examining the relationship between board characteristics and firm performance in China. Within the suite of board characteristics, director compensation, shareholding ratio, average age and educational level are particularly noteworthy, consistently demonstrating strong, nonlinear associations with firm performance. Within the suite of board characteristics, director compensation, shareholding ratio, average age and educational level are particularly noteworthy, consistently demonstrating strong, nonlinear associations with firm performance. The study reveals that the predictive performance of board attributes is generally more robust for state-owned enterprises in China in comparison to their counterparts in the private sector.
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Huijie Zhong, Xinran Zhang, Kam C. Chan and Chao Yan
Robots are widely used in industrial manufacturing and service industries around the world. However, most of the previous studies on industrial robots use data at the national or…
Abstract
Purpose
Robots are widely used in industrial manufacturing and service industries around the world. However, most of the previous studies on industrial robots use data at the national or industry level in the context of developed countries. This study examines the impact of imported industrial robots on firm innovation at the firm level in China.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on a large dataset of more than three million records in China, including non-publicly traded small and medium firms, the authors adopt a difference-in-differences method to investigate the impact and channels of industrial robots on firm innovation.
Findings
The authors find that the application of industrial robots increases firm innovation. Two possible channels are identified through which robots promote innovation: alleviation of financial constraints and the improvement of human capital. Further analysis shows that the effect of robots on innovation is more pronounced for firms that are highly dependent on external financing, belong to high-tech industries, import high-end robots, have insufficient supply of skilled labor and private firms (non-SOEs). The authors also find that industrial robots increase the firms' innovation quality and the marginal contribution of innovation to firms' total factor productivity.
Originality/value
This study provides big data evidence of the unintended positive consequences of industrial robots on firm innovation. The results are helpful to clarify the controversy of industrial robots. It also has important implications for government industrial policy making, firm innovation and human resource management.
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Amit Kumar, Saurav Snehvrat, Prerna Kumari, Priyanka Priyadarshani and Preyaan Ray
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is viewed as a differentiating strategy that wins over stakeholders’ confidence. Due to the potential strategic and positive effects on…
Abstract
Purpose
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is viewed as a differentiating strategy that wins over stakeholders’ confidence. Due to the potential strategic and positive effects on businesses, the study of CSR and its relationship to competitiveness has gained relevance. While studies have examined the impact of CSR activities on firm competitiveness, the findings so far remain contradictory. Further research on the underlying processes/mechanisms that explain how CSR contributes to competitiveness remains scarce. Accordingly, this study aims to look into the link between CSR and competitiveness with a focus on Asian business and management studies.
Design/methodology/approach
By using a bibliometric approach, this paper aims to provide a review of the state-of-the-art research on the linkage between CSR and competitiveness in Asian context. The sample for this research included all 538 studies from the period of 2001–2023 in the Scopus database. A bibliometric study included both co-occurrence and co-citation analysis.
Findings
The study’s findings made significant contributions by identifying seven distinct clusters of co-occurrences. Using co-citation, three journals-based co-citation clusters and another three authors-based co-citation clusters are identified. The findings show how processes/mechanisms such as – accountability, multi-stakeholder dialogue/engagement, resource generation, emphasizing sustainable development goals and emerging markets, redefining strategy, cultivating value/vision and CSR leadership – are increasing in importance.
Practical implications
Overall, the authors argue that CSR-led competitiveness is indeed one of the key drivers for improved sustainability performance of a firm.
Originality/value
Based on findings, a conceptual framework has been proposed highlighting different processes and mechanisms that influence the CSR-led competitiveness – outcomes relationship.