Samuel Aryee, Tae-Yeol Kim, Qin Zhou and Seongmin Ryu
This paper aims to examine how team-level empowering leadership related to service performance through thriving at work and how shared organizational social exchange and customer…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine how team-level empowering leadership related to service performance through thriving at work and how shared organizational social exchange and customer orientation moderated the latter relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected the data from 283 flight attendants and their supervisors working at a major Korean airline. Multi-level analyses were used to test the effect of empowering leadership on employee outcomes.
Findings
Both team-level empowering leadership and customer orientation were significantly and indirectly associated with service performance via thriving at work. Additionally, customer orientation significantly moderated the relationship between team-level empowering leadership and thriving at work such that the relationship was stronger when customer orientation was low rather than high. In addition, shared organizational social exchange augmented the influence of team-level empowering leadership on service performance but not on thriving at work.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that team-level empowering leadership is more effective in enhancing thriving at work of employees when their customer orientation is low rather than high. In addition, a shared high-quality organizational social exchange augments the effect of empowering leadership on employees’ service performance.
Originality/value
This paper provides initial evidence of the interaction of team-level empowering leadership and individual¬-level customer orientation on thriving at work and service performance. Additionally, it documents the differential augmenting effect of shared organizational social exchange on the relationship between empowering leadership and these outcomes. Collectively, the findings explain why and when team-level empowering leadership relates to service performance.
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Yanyan Gao, Jun Sun and Qin Zhou
The purpose of this paper is to estimate the effectiveness of the credit evaluation system using the borrowing data from China’s leading P2P lending platform, Renrendai.com.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to estimate the effectiveness of the credit evaluation system using the borrowing data from China’s leading P2P lending platform, Renrendai.com.
Design/methodology/approach
The current credit valuation systems are classified into the forward-looking mechanism, which judges the borrowers’ credit levels based on their uploaded information, and the backward-looking mechanism, which judges the borrowers’ credit levels based on their historical repayment performance. Probit models and Tobit models are used to examine the effectiveness of credit evaluation mechanisms.
Findings
The results show that only the “hard” information reflecting borrowers’ credit ability can explain the default risk on the platform under the forward-looking credit evaluation mechanism. The backward-looking credit evaluation mechanism (BCEM) based on the repeated borrowings produces both promise-enhancing and “fishing” incentives and thus fails to explain the default risk, and weakens the effectiveness of forward-looking credit indicators in explaining the default risk because it encourages borrowers to invest in forging forward-looking credit indicators. Additional information such as the interest rate and the repayment periods reveals borrowers’ credit and thus can also be used as a predictor of borrowers’ default risk.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that current ex ante screening based on the information collected from the borrowers or repeated borrowings is inadequate to control the default risk in P2P lending markets and thus needs be improved. Ex post monitoring and sharing on defaulter’s information should be strengthened to increase the default cost and thus to deter potential bad borrowers.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper classifying the credit evaluation system in online P2P lending market into the forward-looking type and the backward-looking type, which is important since they provide different incentives to borrowers. The paper also investigates and provides evidence on the promise-enhancing and “fishing” incentives of BCEMs.
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Yongqing Nan, Yanyan Gao and Qin Zhou
Rural credit cooperatives (RCCs) have long dominated China’s rural credit market and met most of agricultural credit demands while the existing literature seldom examines their…
Abstract
Purpose
Rural credit cooperatives (RCCs) have long dominated China’s rural credit market and met most of agricultural credit demands while the existing literature seldom examines their contribution to agricultural sector. The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on the contribution of RCCs to agricultural growth, using China’s provincial panel data from 1997 to 2014.
Design/methodology/approach
Both static fixed effects models and two-step generalized method of moment dynamic panel data models, which control the endogeneity, are employed to identify the causality from RCC credit to agricultural growth in China.
Findings
The results show that the credit from RCCs increases the agricultural output significantly. A 1 percent increase in RCC credit leads to agricultural growth of about 0.08 percent, which is robust to various empirical specifications. Further study shows that the contribution of RCC credit to agricultural growth decreases from the most developed eastern region to the least developed western region and increases over time.
Research limitations/implications
The results imply that RCC credit is critical in financing agricultural activities by relaxing rural credit constraints and intense competition strengthens the contribution of RCCs to agricultural growth by improving managerial efficiency and developing diversified financial products to meet better rural credit demands.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge, this is first empirical study on the effect of RCC credit on agricultural growth despite of many on the role of financial development in agricultural growth.
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Hanan Alghamdi and Ali Selamat
With the proliferation of terrorist/extremist websites on the World Wide Web, it has become progressively more crucial to detect and analyze the content on these websites…
Abstract
Purpose
With the proliferation of terrorist/extremist websites on the World Wide Web, it has become progressively more crucial to detect and analyze the content on these websites. Accordingly, the volume of previous research focused on identifying the techniques and activities of terrorist/extremist groups, as revealed by their sites on the so-called dark web, has also grown.
Design/methodology/approach
This study presents a review of the techniques used to detect and process the content of terrorist/extremist sites on the dark web. Forty of the most relevant data sources were examined, and various techniques were identified among them.
Findings
Based on this review, it was found that methods of feature selection and feature extraction can be used as topic modeling with content analysis and text clustering.
Originality/value
At the end of the review, present the current state-of-the- art and certain open issues associated with Arabic dark Web content analysis.
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A full Edgeworth cycle of deposit rate is divided into two phases: an “overcutting cycle” in which the banks battle for deposits, and a “relenting cycle” in which the banks cease…
Abstract
A full Edgeworth cycle of deposit rate is divided into two phases: an “overcutting cycle” in which the banks battle for deposits, and a “relenting cycle” in which the banks cease battling and instead choose to restore a temporarily low deposit rate. Such strategies have two testable implications on overall market movements. First, deposit rate decreases are more likely to be initiated when the deposit rate is near the upper bound of a cycle. Second, deposit rate decreases are more sensitive than increases to market interest rate changes. This chapter empirically confirms this pattern and shows strong evidence for the presence of Edgeworth cycles in deposit rates after Hong Kong’s interest rate deregulation.
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This paper aims to review recent advances and applications of abrasive processes for microelectronics fabrications.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review recent advances and applications of abrasive processes for microelectronics fabrications.
Design/methodology/approach
More than 80 patents and journal and conference articles published recently are reviewed. The topics covered are chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) for semiconductor devices, key/additional process conditions for CMP, and polishing and grinding for microelectronics fabrications and fan-out wafer level packages (FOWLPs).
Findings
Many reviewed articles reported advanced CMP for semiconductor device fabrications and innovative research studies on CMP slurry and abrasives. The surface finish, sub-surface damage and the strength of wafers are important issues. The defects on wafer surfaces induced by grinding/polishing would affect the stability of diced ultra-thin chips. Fracture strengths of wafers are dependent on the damage structure induced during dicing or grinding. Different thinning processes can reduce or enhance the fracture strength of wafers. In the FOWLP technology, grinding or CMP is conducted at several key steps. Challenges come from back-grinding and the wafer warpage. As the Si chips of the over-molded FOWLPs are very thin, wafer grinding becomes critical. The strength of the FOWLPs is significantly affected by grinding.
Originality/value
This paper attempts to provide an introduction to recent developments and the trends in abrasive processes for microelectronics manufacturing. With the references provided, readers may explore more deeply by reading the original articles. Original suggestions for future research work are also provided.
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Li Xiao, Hye-jin Kim and Min Ding
Purpose – The advancement of multimedia technology has spurred the use of multimedia in business practice. The adoption of audio and visual data will accelerate as marketing…
Abstract
Purpose – The advancement of multimedia technology has spurred the use of multimedia in business practice. The adoption of audio and visual data will accelerate as marketing scholars become more aware of the value of audio and visual data and the technologies required to reveal insights into marketing problems. This chapter aims to introduce marketing scholars into this field of research.Design/methodology/approach – This chapter reviews the current technology in audio and visual data analysis and discusses rewarding research opportunities in marketing using these data.Findings – Compared with traditional data like survey and scanner data, audio and visual data provides richer information and is easier to collect. Given these superiority, data availability, feasibility of storage, and increasing computational power, we believe that these data will contribute to better marketing practices with the help of marketing scholars in the near future.Practical implications: The adoption of audio and visual data in marketing practices will help practitioners to get better insights into marketing problems and thus make better decisions.Value/originality – This chapter makes first attempt in the marketing literature to review the current technology in audio and visual data analysis and proposes promising applications of such technology. We hope it will inspire scholars to utilize audio and visual data in marketing research.
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Marina Tsili, Eleftherios I. Amoiralis, Jean Vianei Leite, Sinvaldo R. Moreno and Leandro dos Santos Coelho
Real-world applications in engineering and other fields usually involve simultaneous optimization of multiple objectives, which are generally non-commensurable and conflicting…
Abstract
Purpose
Real-world applications in engineering and other fields usually involve simultaneous optimization of multiple objectives, which are generally non-commensurable and conflicting with each other. This paper aims to treat the transformer design optimization (TDO) as a multiobjective problem (MOP), to minimize the manufacturing cost and the total owing cost, taking into consideration design constraints.
Design/methodology/approach
To deal with this optimization problem, a new method is proposed that combines the unrestricted population-size evolutionary multiobjective optimization algorithm (UPS-EMOA) with differential evolution, also applying lognormal distribution for tuning the scale factor and the beta distribution to adjust the crossover rate (UPS-DELFBC). The proposed UPS-DELFBC is useful to maintain the adequate diversity in the population and avoid the premature convergence during the generational cycle. Numerical results using UPS-DELFBC applied to the transform design optimization of 160, 400 and 630 kVA are promising in terms of spacing and convergence criteria.
Findings
Numerical results using UPS-DELFBC applied to the transform design optimization of 160, 400 and 630 kVA are promising in terms of spacing and convergence criteria.
Originality/value
This paper develops a promising UPS-DELFBC approach to solve MOPs. The TDO problems for three different transformer specifications, with 160, 400 and 630 kVA, have been addressed in this paper. Optimization results show the potential and efficiency of the UPS-DELFBC to solve multiobjective TDO and to produce multiple Pareto solutions.
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Zumin Wu, Chenxing Sheng, Zhiwei Guo, Yifei Li, Reza Malekian and Zhixiong Li
Water-lubricated bearings can significantly reduce the pollution to environment because the traditional oil lubricant is replaced by water in the bearings. The ultrahigh molecular…
Abstract
Purpose
Water-lubricated bearings can significantly reduce the pollution to environment because the traditional oil lubricant is replaced by water in the bearings. The ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) has proven to be effective and reliable for the manufacturing of water-lubricated bearings. However, limited work has been done to address the improvement of the tribological performance of the UHMWPE-based water-lubricated bearings using surface texture processing. This paper aims to investigate the effects of bar-grooved surface on the tribological performance improvement of UHMWPE-based water-lubricated bearings.
Design/methodology/approach
For the first time, the bar grooves were processed on the surfaces of UHMWPE-based water-lubricated bearings. The CBZ-1 friction and wear tester have been used to test the wear and friction performance of the bearing samples. The LI laser interference surface contour graph and the digital microscope have been used to measure the surface morphology of the specimens. The tribological characteristics of the tested bearings were analyzed.
Findings
With bar grooves added on the surfaces of the specimens, the friction coefficient of the specimens were lower than that of the specimens without surface texture processing; the wear quantity of the two kinds of specimens were almost the same; by using the LI laser interference surface contour graph and the digital microscope to measure the surface morphology of the specimens, the furrows of the specimens with bar grooves were narrower and shallower than that of the specimens without bar grooves.
Practical implications
The paper implicates that the surface texture processing using bar grooves can reduce the friction coefficient and prolong the service life of the water-lubricated bearings in practical applications.
Originality/value
This paper fulfills an identified need to provide important theoretical and experimental support to the design of water-lubricated bearings in practical applications.
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Zhenzong Zhou, Geoffrey Shen, Jin Xue, Chengshuang Sun, Yongyue Liu, Weiyi Cong, Tao Yu and Yaowu Wang
This study aims to develop an improved understanding of the formation of citizens' purchase intention to increase the adoption of prefabricated housing (PH).
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to develop an improved understanding of the formation of citizens' purchase intention to increase the adoption of prefabricated housing (PH).
Design/methodology/approach
An integrative model of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and norm activation model (NAM) was proposed based on previous studies. To verify the conceptual model, an analysis was conducted after data collection from a questionnaire survey. Lastly, findings were presented by explaining the formation of purchase intention in the egoistic and altruistic contexts. Practical implications were likewise discussed.
Findings
Findings manifest that citizens' purchase intention is influenced by egoistic and altruistic cognitions. An effective strategy is to show citizens the pro-environmental features of PH to promote its adoption because they value the environmental performance of housing. Meanwhile, consumers' social fitness also plays an essential role in decision-making, and the dual contradiction in the PH market is revealed.
Originality/value
This study extends the knowledge of psychological decision-making theories in the field of purchase intention toward PH by proposing an integrative framework of TPB and NAM. Results indicate a systematic and comprehensive understanding of consumers' decision-making in the PH domain. Moreover, results of this research contribute to specifying and refining the applicable contexts of TPB and NAM by adding two antecedents: subjective knowledge and environmental concern. This research contributes to the literature by being one of the first to investigate purchase intention toward a high-cost product with invisible technological innovation.