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This paper aims to explore how a shared service centre (SSC) is mobilised in a power-dominant context of a Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE). Specifically, it examines the mobilisation of SSC within this multi-divisional SOE, the role and dynamics of actors involved and the influence of changes in the integrated information system (IIS) during the mobilisation process.

The study follows a qualitative case study methodology. The authors draw on actor-network theory to examine the network and translation processes constructed in mobilising SSC in the chosen SOE. The data sources of this study were collected through semi-structured interviews, observations and documentary reviews.

The mobilisation of SSC is not a linear process but rather a “spiral” interplay through continuous interactions and compromises between human and non-human actors. Power gave the core actor as an orchestrator legitimacy and formality to reduce resistance and obstruction in translation for the mobilisation of SSC. The changes in IIS appear to facilitate the interaction between the heterogeneous actors.

This case study contributes towards understanding the mobilisation of SSC in a power-dominant context by highlighting the impact of changes in IIS and the details of the mobilisation of SSC in terms of the role played by both the individual actors and the technology.

This study provides a broader understanding of the interactions of the heterogeneous actors for mobilising SSC in a power-dominant context. More importantly, the study inspires future research into examining how SSC practices unfold and how the changes in IIS influence the mobilisation of SSC.

This study explores the characteristics of high-speed rail (HSR) and air transportation networks in China based on the weighted complex network approach. Previous related studies have largely implemented unweighted (binary) network analysis, or have constructed a weighted network, limited by unweighted centrality measures. This study applies weighted centrality measures (mean association [MA], triangle betweenness centrality [TBC], and weighted harmonic centrality [WHC]) to represent traffic dynamics in HSR and air transportation weighted networks, where nodes represent cities and links represent passenger traffic. The spatial distribution of centrality results is visualized by using ArcGIS 10.2. Moreover, we analyze the network robustness of HSR, air transportation, and multimodal networks by measuring weighted efficiency (WE) subjected to the highest weighted centrality node attacks. In the HSR network, centrality results show that cities with a higher MA are concentrated in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta; cities with a higher TBC are mostly provincial capitals or regional centers; and cities with a higher WHC are grouped in eastern and central regions. Furthermore, spatial differentiation of centrality results is found between HSR and air transportation networks. There is a little bit of difference in eastern cities; cities in the central region have complementary roles in HSR and air transportation networks, but air transport is still dominant in western cities. The robustness analysis results show that the multimodal network, which includes both airports and high-speed rail stations, has the best connectivity and shows robustness.

The construction industry is experiencing digital transformation, which is also defined as intelligent construction. With the rise of intelligent construction, job characteristics are changing rapidly. Current knowledge about job competencies required by intelligent construction is lacking. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to explore job competencies related to intelligent construction by text mining recruitment information. It is expected to reveal the trend of talent development for the intelligent construction industry.

A total of 375 job advertisements regarding the demanding professionals and industrial workers related to intelligent construction were collected and analyzed to reveal the demands of the current labor market. Different job posts related to intelligent construction were classified into 11 categories. Job competencies were extracted and analyzed using the latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) model, frequency–inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) algorithm and k-means cluster analysis method. The text mining results identified 10 job competencies.

Currently, there was a high demand for high-tech talents in the labor market related to intelligent construction. Those high-tech job posts, such as software engineers and R&D staff, required digital technology, R&D skills, electrical automation knowledge and programming capability. Current employees demanding for intelligent construction are expected to be capable of both using information technology and having a general knowledge of the construction industry.

Through text mining of current job advertisements, the overall demand for compound talents in the labor market of intelligent construction were explored. The results provide empirical reference for personnel training and talent cultivation in the development of intelligent construction. Higher educational institutions, human resources professionals, as well as experts that are already employed or aspire to be employed in intelligent construction companies, would benefit from the results of our analysis.

The construction industry has experienced an irreversible digital transformation to smart construction. Many countries have published supporting policies to encourage the development of smart construction. However, there is no universally valid approach. This paper thus aims to evaluate smart construction policies issued by 24 pilot cities in China and identify applicable policy tools and their impact.

This paper collected 33 governmental documents on smart construction through the official websites in China. Different policy tools were classified into supply-side, demand-side and environment-side categories. The supporting policies of smart construction development in pilot cities were quantitatively evaluated by using a policy modeling consistency index (PMC-index) model.

Supply-type and environment-type policy instruments were used more frequently than demand-type policies in 24 pilot cities. Most of the 24 pilot cities had an evaluation of PMC-index over 8, realizing the consistency of smart construction policies. Eight pilot cities had an evaluation of PMC-index of 6–7.99, realizing acceptable consistency. Only Foshan City has an evaluation of PMC-index below 4, which may reflect a poor consistency of policy implementation. The paper proposes consistencies of smart construction policies of 24 pilot cities and valid policy instruments, including the presale of commercial residential buildings, additional bonus points in the tendering process and cooperating with multiple departments when promoting smart construction.

This paper contributes to expanding policy evaluation studies in the smart construction field and provides concrete suggestions for policymakers to formulate more effective and specific policies and strategies for the development of smart construction.

As an unhealthy dependence on social media platforms, social media addiction (SMA) has become increasingly commonplace in the digital era. The purpose of this paper is to provide a general overview of SMA research and develop a theoretical model that explains how different types of factors contribute to SMA.

Considering the nascent nature of this research area, this study conducted a systematic review to synthesize the burgeoning literature examining influencing factors of SMA. Based on a comprehensive literature search and screening process, 84 articles were included in the final sample.

Analyses showed that antecedents of SMA can be classified into three conceptual levels: individual, environmental and platform. The authors further proposed a theoretical framework to explain the underlying mechanisms behind the relationships amongst different types of variables.

The contributions of this review are two-fold. First, it used a systematic and rigorous approach to summarize the empirical landscape of SMA research, providing theoretical insights and future research directions in this area. Second, the findings could help social media service providers and health professionals propose relevant intervention strategies to mitigate SMA.

The purpose of this study is to empirically examine how psychological power explains dual conflicting emotions, influences and jeopardises knowledge sharing and eventually affects job performance. Specifically, this study argues that psychological power can induce feelings of pride and anxiety, which have opposite downstream effects on employees’ knowledge sharing and tasks, proactive and affiliative (TPA) performances.

This study tested the model using three waves of multi-source data from 46 teams and 357 respondents in the information technology and software industry in China. This study used multilevel structural equation modelling with Mplus 7.4 to examine the within-level team variance and thereby estimated the confidence intervals for the direct and indirect paths.

The results indicate that increased psychological power can cause contradictory emotions (i.e. pride and anxiety). Pride positively mediates the indirect influence of psychological power on knowledge sharing and TPA performance, while anxiety negatively mediates the above-mentioned indirect relationships.

This study provides a novel perspective on how psychological forces shape people’s emotional experiences and subsequently their motivation to share knowledge and job performance. By integrating the existing power literature rooted in the approach/inhibition theory of power and cognitive appraisal theory of emotion, we identify two discrete emotions as underlying mechanisms between increased psychological power and motivation to share knowledge and job performance.

This research provides insights for managers regarding the ways in which psychological power can stimulate individuals to engage in negative behaviour towards others. Managers, in turn, must consider self-regulation to control this negative impact.

This study is among the earliest to examine the role of discrete positive and negative emotions caused by increased psychological power, which subsequently affect knowledge sharing and TPA performance.

This study aims to investigate the mechanical and tribological behavior of 70Mn steel with different laser re-melted textured patterns.

Laser surface re-melting (LSR) was used to manufacture various textured patterns (i.e. line, grid and mixed) on both the original and heat-treated 70Mn steel plates. The micro-hardness, microstructure, tensile strength, yield strength, elongation, coefficients of friction (COF) and worn morphologies were characterized to evaluate the impact of different textured patterns on the overall performance.

The results show that re-melted unit exhibited the highest surface hardness on the subsurface. The increase in surface hardness of the re-melted unit for the heat-treated 70Mn steel samples was much lower than that of the original ones. The re-melted textured patterns did not improve the tensile strength, yield strength and elongation of either original or heat-treated 70Mn steel samples. The re-melted textured patterns effectively reduced the average COFs of heat-treated 70Mn steel samples, but increased friction of the non-heat-treated samples.

This study provides valuable insights into enhancing the mechanical properties and tribological characteristics of 70Mn steel, particularly in the automotive, heavy machinery and high-load application sectors. These industries have stringent requirements for durability and friction control, and the findings of this research are expected to effectively extend the lifespan of mechanical components.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-11-2024-0443/

Previous studies demonstrate that market-oriented reform has contributed significantly to China's economic growth from the efficiency-based economic view. But some argue that state-owned firms have access to policy information, scarce resources, and government support, and thus state-owned firms might foster innovation. This study tries to find out either market force or state ownership helps improve firms' R&D efficiency.

Using data from China's high-tech industry, we employed the fixed-effect stochastic frontier model and the spatial panel Han-Philips linear dynamic regression model to investigate the relationship between market-oriented reform and the dynamic evolution of R&D efficiency in both temporal and spatial dimensions. Moreover, we examined whether the relationship is affected in a state-owned economy and an industry protection environment.

The results indicate the following: (1) the R&D efficiency of China's high-tech industry has improved steadily and has converged gradually across its regions during the market-oriented reform; (2) the marketization degree is positively correlated with R&D efficiency and its regional convergence; (3) the state-owned economy and industry protection have significantly weakened the ability of market forces to shape R&D efficiency — i.e. they reduce, rather than enhance, R&D efficiency.

This investigation helps understand the drivers of R&D efficiency in transition economies, and the findings are also helpful in defining the boundaries and constraints of market forces.

Green innovation in human-centric smart manufacturing (HSM-GI) has emerged as a new paradigm in innovation management for Industry 5.0. The evaluation analysis method is crucial for measuring the development progress and guiding continual improvements of HSM-GI. Since this process of HSM-GI can be regarded as complex and interactive, a holistic picture is often required to describe the interrelations of its antecedents and consequences. In this respect, this study aims to construct a causality network indicator system and proposes a synergy evaluation method for HSM-GI.

Firstly, based on the Driver force-State-Response (DSR) causal-effect framework, this study constructs a holistic indicator system to analyze the interactions between environmental and human concerns of HSM-GI. Secondly, owing to the imprecision of human cognition and synergy interaction in the evaluation process, a flexible hesitant fuzzy (HF) superiority-inferiority synergetic evaluation method is presented. This method quantifies the strengths of causal relationships and expresses the incentives and constraints attitudes of humans. Finally, the proposed framework is applied to six HSMs in the electronic technology industry.

The driving force and state of the HSM-GI system exhibit an upward trend, while the response continues to decline due to changing market demands. The order and synergy degree have shown an increasing trend during 2021–2023, particularly significant for BOE and Haier Smart Home. HSM-GI systems with higher scores mostly have functional coordination and a coherent synergy structure.

This study demonstrates the proposed approach’s applicability and assists policymakers in formulating targeted strategies for green innovation systems.

China after 1949, especially since entering the 21st century, significant progress has been made in leadership research under Chinese context. However, so far there has been no systematic review and prospect of China's leadership research in the past 70 years. Therefore, with the help of scientific visualization software Citespace, this paper analyzes the research papers on leadership in the context of China from the top international journals of management science and applied psychology (1949–2018), supplemented and verified the previous research conclusions based on qualitative review, and quantitatively demonstrated the research evolution of leadership field.

Using a scientific visualization tool CiteSpace and 145 international leadership works, which were published in 64 top international journals and collected from the Web of Science database, and 852 domestic works which were published in 28 top domestic journals and collected from the CNKI database from 1949 to 2018, we draws keyword co-occurrence knowledge graph and keyword strategy map to visualize the landscape and evolution of leadership research and analyze the hot topics and research trends in the field of leadership.

The research found that: (1) Before 2002, there were only 7 articles published in 64 international top journal, mainly focusing on Western leadership theories such as transformational, cross-cultural comparison and the adaptability in Chinese context; (2) From 2003 to 2012, scholars had begun to introduce mainstream quantitative research paradigm in international academic community; (3) From 2013 to 2018, researches tended to be synchronized, with 461 and 99 papers published respectively. How emerging leaderships (such as ethical leadership) affect on various emerging outcome variables (such as creativity, voice behavior, unethical pro-organizational behavior etc.) is hot topic for future research.

Different from the previous qualitative reviews on organizational culture research, this paper, for the first time, uses bibliometric research methods to systematically analyze the evolution path of leadership research during the 70 years of China(1949–2018, and puts forward the future research prospects.