Champika Liyanage, Taha Elhag, Tabarak Ballal and Qiuping Li
The purpose of this paper is to propose a process model for knowledge transfer in using theories relating knowledge communication and knowledge translation.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a process model for knowledge transfer in using theories relating knowledge communication and knowledge translation.
Design/methodology/approach
Most of what is put forward in this paper is based on a research project titled “Procurement for innovation and knowledge transfer (ProFIK)”. The project is funded by a UK government research council – The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The discussions are mainly grounded on a thorough review of literature accomplished as part of the research project.
Findings
The process model developed in this paper has built upon the theory of knowledge transfer and the theory of communication. Knowledge transfer, per se, is not a mere transfer of knowledge. It involves different stages of knowledge transformation. Depending on the context of knowledge transfer, it can also be influenced by many factors; some positive and some negative. The developed model of knowledge transfer attempts to encapsulate all these issues in order to create a holistic framework.
Originality/value of paper
An attempt has been made in the paper to combine some of the significant theories or findings relating to knowledge transfer together, making the paper an original and valuable one.
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Keywords
Qiuping Yang, Huizhi Li, Yubo Zhai, Xiaofeng Li and Peizhi Zhang
To prepare a new type of composite for selective laser sintering 3D printing, the surface of Al2O3 nanoparticles was modified by the coupling agent…
Abstract
Purpose
To prepare a new type of composite for selective laser sintering 3D printing, the surface of Al2O3 nanoparticles was modified by the coupling agent (3-methacryloxypropyl)-trimethoxy silane (KH570) before coated with thermoplastic epoxy resin (TER).
Design/methodology/approach
Laser diffraction confirmed that the size distribution of prepared powder materials in this study ranged between 20 to 80 µm. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that the loading of organic matter was below 5 per cent. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy indicated that the silane coupling agent molecule bound strongly with the alumina. X-ray diffraction confirmed the prepared powder materials to be α-alumina. Through the angle of repose (AOR) test, the AOR = 18.435º was obtained, suggesting the high flowability of prepared powder materials. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation demonstrated that the shape of the prepared powder materials was sphere-like grains.
Findings
Molding properties of prepared powder materials were studied on the basis of particle size distribution, particle size, sphericity, crystal structure and the reaction mode of the TER. This prepared powder materials can be well applied to the production of epoxy resin-coated Al2O3 composite parts with high precision and good mechanical performance.
Originality/value
This composite can be well applied to the production of epoxy resin-coated Al2O3 composite parts with high precision and good mechanical performance.
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Qiuping Peng, Xi Zhong, Huaikang Zhou and Shanshi Liu
This paper aims to investigate the moderating roles of negative attainment discrepancy and state ownership in the relationship between internationalization speed and firm…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the moderating roles of negative attainment discrepancy and state ownership in the relationship between internationalization speed and firm innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
Panel fixed-effects regressions model was applied to test the influence of internationalization speed on firm innovation using data collected from Chinese listed companies between 2003 and 2017.
Findings
The internationalization speed can positively promote firm innovation. Moreover, negative attainment discrepancy enhances the effect of internationalization speed on firm innovation. The effect of negative attainment discrepancy on internationalization speed and firm innovation performance is more positive in state-owned firms than in non-state-owned firms.
Research limitations/implications
A suitable time of internationalization speed to affect firm innovation is obtained.
Practical implications
This paper suggests that decision-makers should set an appropriate aspiration to internationalize firms and increase firm innovation. Moreover, state-owned enterprises should pay attention to negative attainment discrepancies.
Originality/value
The study revealed the boundary conditions of negative attainment discrepancy and state ownership on the relationship between internationalization speed and firm innovation, contributing to the theoretical advancements in internationalization speed.
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Qiuping Zhang and Jin Li
The complex and changeable working environment makes individual cross-boundary activities inevitable. Yet, how employee's boundary-spanning behavior (BSB) stimulates innovation…
Abstract
Purpose
The complex and changeable working environment makes individual cross-boundary activities inevitable. Yet, how employee's boundary-spanning behavior (BSB) stimulates innovation performance remains to be further explored. This study aims to analyze the intermediary mechanism and boundary conditions between employee's BSB and innovation performance based on knowledge integration theory.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected data in two waves (July and August 2017) and from two hierarchical levels (from the final sample of 286 employees and their 29 direct supervisors) within ten manufacturing firms located in Nanjing and Anhui, China.
Findings
The results indicate that creative ideas generation mediates the relationship between employee's BSB and innovation performance. Moreover, employees with higher levels of team task interdependence (TTI) lead to a stronger relationship between ideas generation and innovation performance compared to lower levels of TTI (positively moderates the second stage of mediation).
Practical implications
By verifying the key effects of ideas generation and TTI between employee's BSB and innovation performance, the findings of this study provide practical guidance for enterprises to improve the efficiency of employee's BSB.
Originality/value
First, the authors use knowledge integration theory (Grant, 1996a) to deduce the formation process of the mechanism between employee's BSB and his/her innovation results, which clearly shows the driving forces and integral power of the formation process within an individual knowledge integrating system. The authors’ second contribution is further exploring the conditions under which engaging innovative ideas generated by the integration of employee's BSB is more likely to lead to ideas for implementation by examining TTI as a team-level moderator.
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Qiuping Huang, Xiande Zhao, Min Zhang, KwanHo Yeung, Lijun Ma and Jeff Hoi-yan Yeung
The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the joint effects of lead time, information sharing and the accounts receivable period on reverse factoring (RF) adoption…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the joint effects of lead time, information sharing and the accounts receivable period on reverse factoring (RF) adoption from the suppliers’ perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
Supported by one of the largest commercial banks in China, survey data are collected from 424 Chinese manufacturing firms and analyzed using regression methods.
Findings
The results suggest that lead time positively affects suppliers’ RF adoption directly and indirectly through the accounts receivable period. Meanwhile, information sharing has a positive, direct and a negative, indirect influence on suppliers’ RF adoption.
Originality/value
The findings give suppliers and financial institutions a better understanding of how to leverage the benefits of RF.
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Min Zhang, Qiuping Huang, Xiande Zhao and Lijun Ma
In this study, we examine the implementation of purchase order finance (POF) which is an innovative supply chain finance (SCF) solution by an innovative SCF lender (i.e. supply…
Abstract
Purpose
In this study, we examine the implementation of purchase order finance (POF) which is an innovative supply chain finance (SCF) solution by an innovative SCF lender (i.e. supply chain service provider (SCSP)). The effect of information integration between the SCSP (lender) and product designers (borrowers) on the lender's POF decisions and the borrowers' new product launch is investigated.
Design/methodology/approach
We conduct a case study in the Chinese smartphone industry. A mixed methods design is used, and data are collected from both the supply chain service provider (SCSP) and product designers. We first conduct a qualitative study. Hypotheses are developed concerning the relationships between information integration, in terms of social interaction and information system integration, POF and new product launch. We then conduct a quantitative study. The multilevel structural equation modelling method is used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
We find that information system integration is positively associated with POF but has no significant effect on new product launch. Social interaction is negatively associated with POF but positively associated with new product launch. POF is positively associated with new product launch.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by empirically examining the implementation of POF from both the lender's and borrower's perspectives. We find that information system integration and social interaction have different effects on POF and new product launch. The results thus provide insights into how a lender makes POF decisions and reveal the benefits of POF for borrowers.
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Qiuping Wang, Subing Liu and Haixia Yan
Due to high efficiency and low carbon of natural gas, the consumption of natural gas is increasing rapidly, and the prediction of natural gas consumption has become the focus. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Due to high efficiency and low carbon of natural gas, the consumption of natural gas is increasing rapidly, and the prediction of natural gas consumption has become the focus. The purpose of this paper is to employ a prediction technique by combining grey prediction model and trigonometric residual modification for predicting average per capita natural gas consumption of households in China.
Design/methodology/approach
The GM(1,1) model is utilised to obtain the tendency term, then the generalised trigonometric model is used to catch the periodic phenomenon from the residual data of GM(1,1) model for improving predicting accuracy.
Findings
The case verified the view of Xie and Liu: “When the value of a is less, DGM model and GM(1,1) model can substitute each other.” The combination of the GM(1,1) and the trigonometric residual modification technique can observably improve the predicting accuracy of average per capita natural gas consumption of households in China. The mean absolute percentage errors of GM(1,1) model, DGM(1,1), unbiased grey forecasting model, and TGM model in ex post testing stage (from 2013 to 2015) are 32.5510, 33.5985, 36.9980, and 5.2996 per cent, respectively. The TGM model is suitable for the prediction of average per capita natural gas consumption of households in China.
Practical implications
According to the historical data of average per capita natural gas consumption of households in China, the authors construct GM(1,1) model, DGM(1,1) model, unbiased grey forecasting model, and GM(1,1) model with trigonometric residual modification. The accuracy of TGM is the best. TGM helps to improve the accuracy of GM(1,1).
Originality/value
This paper gives a successful practical application of grey model GM(1,1) with the trigonometric residual modification, where the cyclic variations exist in the residual series. The case demonstrates the effectiveness of trigonometric grey prediction model, which is helpful to understand the modeling mechanism of trigonometric grey prediction model.
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He Wan, Qiuping Peng and Xi Zhong
Noncontrolling large shareholders can reduce the agency problem of executives and can reduce the expropriation or tunneling behavior of controlling shareholders, thereby promoting…
Abstract
Purpose
Noncontrolling large shareholders can reduce the agency problem of executives and can reduce the expropriation or tunneling behavior of controlling shareholders, thereby promoting corporate innovation. However, too many noncontrolling large shareholders may also lead to excessive supervision, thereby inhibiting innovative activities that contribute to the long-term value of the firm. Research to date, however, has not examined the nonlinear impact of noncontrolling large shareholders on corporate innovation. Based on principal–agent theory and the too-much-of-a-good-thing (TMGT) effect, the authors discuss the inverted U-shaped influence of noncontrolling large shareholders on corporate innovation and the moderating effect of industry competition and corporate product diversification on the above relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the empirical data of Chinese listed companies from 2003 to 2017, the authors use the bidirectional fixed effects model to conduct empirical testing and robustness testing of the research hypotheses.
Findings
There is an inverted U-shaped relationship between noncontrolling large shareholders and corporate innovation; type I and type II agency costs play a mediating role between noncontrolling large shareholders and corporate innovation. In addition, firm product diversification weakens the inverted U-shaped relationship between noncontrolling large shareholders and corporate innovation, but industry competition has no significant moderating effect on the above relationship.
Practical implications
This research has important implications for policy makers, to better activate corporate innovation vitality, and investors, to better choose investment targets. Specifically, investors and policy makers should be aware that an appropriate increase in larger noncontrolling shareholders can maximize the enthusiasm of firms for innovation and enhance corporate value, but they should also realize that having too many noncontrolling large shareholders may backfire.
Originality/value
This research helps the authors to understand the pros and cons of increasing the number of noncontrolling large shareholders more comprehensively and also helps to understand corporate innovation more comprehensively from a supervisory perspective. In addition, this research also enhances the explanatory and predictive power of the TMGT effect.
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Xi Zhong, He Wan and Qiuping Peng
The authors analyze the effects of controlling shareholders' stock pledging on firms' strategic change behavior, and investigate how the balance of power between shareholders and…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors analyze the effects of controlling shareholders' stock pledging on firms' strategic change behavior, and investigate how the balance of power between shareholders and analyst coverage moderates those effects.
Design/methodology/approach
Employing fixed effects models, the authors test hypotheses based on Chinese listed company data from 2011 to 2017.
Findings
Controlling shareholders' stock pledges has a negative effect on strategic change. As the balance of power among shareholders and/or analyst coverage increases, it mitigates the effect of controlling shareholder stock pledges on strategic change. In particular, the balance of power between shareholders and analyst coverage weakened the relationship between controlling shareholder stock pledges and strategic change. Lastly, after distinguishing family from nonfamily firms, the authors discovered that these findings only held for family firms.
Originality/value
This study makes important contributions to strategic change, stock pledge and family firm literature, and also provides guidance on firms' strategic change practices.
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Yue Pan, Qiuping Chen and Pengdong Zhang
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether and how policy uncertainty affect corporate environmental information disclosure.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether and how policy uncertainty affect corporate environmental information disclosure.
Design/methodology/approach
This study conducts a difference-in-difference estimation and systematically investigates the relationship between policy uncertainty and corporate environmental information disclosure. The baseline regression results are robust to a series of robustness and endogeneity tests.
Findings
The authors show that firms located in cities with stronger policy uncertainty disclose less information on environmental issues. Furthermore, this negative relationship is stronger in the Midwest and in pre-industrial regions and for stated-owned firms and firms in highly polluting industries.
Practical implications
This study argues that policy uncertainty reduce the corporate disclosure of environmental information. Therefore, the results provide evidence on how to better emphasize the importance of green gross domestic product in the performance appraisal system for officials.
Social implications
This study confirms that corporate environmental disclosure is a response to public pressure. The results encourage the government and the public to increase corporate awareness of environmental protection.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature in the following ways. First, the authors provide a new perspective to study the relationship between policy uncertainty and corporate finance. Second, it contributes to the literature on corporate environmental information disclosure by linking policy uncertainty with firms’ disclosure of environmental information. Third, this study is a serious attempt to solve the problem of endogeneity between policy uncertainty and corporate environmental information disclosure.