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The purpose of this paper is to document relationships between accountants’ socioeconomic beliefs and attitudes and their professional commitment and ethical decisions in a domain-specific context. Specifically, it investigates the relationships among Chinese tax accountants’ level of belief in the importance of corporate ethics and social responsibility, affective/normative professional commitment and ethical judgements/intentions in a case involving client pressure to commit tax fraud.

The study employs a survey of tax practitioners employed by public accounting firms in China. The data are analyzed using linear regression and structural equation modelling.

The stakeholder view, representing both normative and practical support for the importance of corporate ethics and social responsibility, was strongly and positively associated with professional commitment among tax practitioners. The stakeholder view also exhibited a strong negative association with intentions to engage in tax fraud. Tax accountants who possessed higher levels of professional commitment judged tax fraud as more unethical, and such ethical judgements were associated with a lower likelihood of intending to engage in fraud.

The associations between: first, professional accountants’ beliefs in the importance of corporate ethics and social responsibility and their level of professional commitment; and second, professional commitment and tax professionals’ ethical judgements have received little attention in the prior literature. The findings of this study suggest that the integrity of public accounting services may be influenced by relatively broad socioeconomic attitudes, and that this effect may operate partially through commitment to professional values.

This paper aims to examine the UK’s small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) policies under Margaret Thatcher’s era in the 1980s, with a view to understand the success stories, historical development and the structures of Chinese family business through a case study of See Woo Holdings Ltd.

The authors have achieved the objective on the study of the SMEs policies under Margaret Thatcher through critical evaluation of the historical literatures, books, journals and newspapers. The study on overseas Chinese business and the case of See Woo Holdings Ltd. is mainly through the research of the Chinese overseas in the UK and Southeast Asia, and the companies report from the Companies House in the UK. The authors have used the latest 2011 UK Census statistics and academic reports to locate the most current demographic changes and Chinese business characteristics in the UK and the Northeast of England.

First, the UK’s SMEs policies under Margaret Thatcher were quite receptive towards the ethnic business. Second, the case of See Woo Holdings Ltd. indicates that family business networks are still one of the characteristics of Chinese business. Finally, the broader UK’s SMEs policies play an important role in this case study.

The authors provide a tentative linkage between the UK’s SMEs policies under Margaret Thatcher and Chinese family business. In addition, the case study of See Woo Holdings Ltd. improves the current understanding of Chinese family business with a clearer picture about their structure, practice, characteristics and development.

Governance can often be assessed as one part of directing companies’ action toward something better. This study examines how governance quality at the country level and firm level can affect sustainability performance that aligns with sustainable development goals (SDG). Prior academic literature explains that if a country has a low institutional condition, it is a great challenge to implement sustainability. However, the internal awareness of the company to implement sustainability plays an important role as well. To examine the research question, this study uses the banking sector as a research sample with an observation period from 2017 to 2019. Prior literature overlooks research in the banking sector and does not feature country-level governance with firm-level governance. The data were collected either from the annual report or sustainability report, which comprises 141 companies, with the total observation of 423 firm-year. This study used panel data regression analysis and was based on the Hausman Test; it shows that random effect is used to test the hypothesis. This research finds that good quality governance at the country level, results in good sustainability performance. However, contrary to expectations regarding the quality of firm-level governance, which is thought to be positively related to sustainability performance, this study found a negative relationship. The argument that might answer the finding is the existence of governance conditions at the state level and at the firm level that mutually subsidize each other. This research contributes to policymakers continuing to provide counseling and improve institutional conditions to motivate companies to support the achievement of the SDGs. Companies should also pay attention to the effectiveness of their internal governance and strive to use stakeholder opinions as a guide in the realization of SDGs.

During a fall, a significant part of the major forces is absorbed by the dorsolumbar column area. When the applied stresses exceed the yield strength of the bone tissue, fractures can occur in the vertebrae. Vertebral fractures constitute one of the leading causes of trauma-related hospitalizations, accounting for 15% of all admissions. Posterior pedicle screw fixation has become a common method for treating burst fractures. However, physicians remain divided on the number of fixed segments that are needed to improve clinical outcomes. The present work aims to understand the biomechanical impact of different fixation methods, improving surgical treatments.

A finite element model of the dorsolumbar spine (T11–L3) section, including cartilages, discs and ligaments, was created. The dorsolumbar stability was tested by comparing two different surgical orthopedic treatments for a fractured first lumbar vertebra on the L1 vertebra: the posterior short segment fixation with intermediate screws (PSS) and the posterior long segment fixation (PL). Distinct loads were applied to represent daily activities.

Results show that both procedures provide acceptable segment fixation, with the PL offering less freedom of movement, making it more stable than the PSS. The PL approach can be the best choice for an unstable fracture as it leads to a stiffer spine segment.

This study introduces a novel computational model designed for the biomechanical analysis of dorsolumbar injuries, aiming to identify the optimal treatment approaches within both clinical and surgical contexts.

Demanding applications could benefit from the mathematical parametrization of lattice structures as this could lead not only to the characterization of structure–property relation but also facilitates the tailoring of the effective mechanical properties. This paper aims to characterize the mechanical performance of sine-based lattices. The characterization includes the results of in-plane Poisson’s ratio plates models, and the stiffness of additively manufactured lattice plates when loaded in the out-of-plane direction, with the objective of obtaining a relation with their geometrical parameters.

The geometrical parameter–Poisson’s ratio relationship was characterized via finite element (FE) simulations. The stiffness was also measured on additively manufactured polylactic acid lattice plates and contrasted with FE computations.

The characterization of auxetic lattice plates performed using in-plane and out-of-plane loading leads to key properties when deciding the geometry specific for applications: relative density, auxetic behavior and stiffness. Approximately 26% reduction of stiffness was observed between the square lattice and sine-based lattices of the same volume fraction.

Auxetic metamaterials are potential candidates for applications in biomedical engineering, smart sensors, sports and soft robotics. This paper aims to contribute to the existing gap in the study of auxetic metamaterials subjected to complex loading conditions, other than simple tension and compression, required for the mentioned applications.

Throughout history, from ballads to requiems, music has played an important social role in reflection on mortality. Not only do musicians articulate their angst and thoughts about death, but, in so doing, they enable listeners to explore their own feelings. While the relationship between music and mental health can be examined from a number of perspectives, two broad approaches can be taken: artist-centred approaches and listener-centred approaches. The first analyses the life and work of artists, focussing particularly on the ways in which they explore death and angst in their music. The second looks at the ways in which the life and work of an artist is interpreted by listeners. Within these general approaches, a complex set of questions emerge – often at the interface of both approaches. How is the music used by listeners in their reflection on mortality? How is music used to manage mental health? Does reflection on the life and work of an artist contribute to suicidal ideation? Is the reception of music altered by an artist’s suicide? Using both these approaches and drawing particularly on the work of Émile Durkheim, this discussion demonstrates the significance of popular music analysis for death studies, focussing particularly on the issues surrounding popular music’s relationship to suicidal ideation.

This study aims to explore university students' push and pull motivational factors towards their study tour destination choices and to investigate the differences between experienced and non-experienced students concerning their push and pull motivational factors.

The study collected surveys from Hong Kong university students. In total, 248 usable responses were gathered. Among the 248 respondents, 148 university students from various universities did not have experience on a study tour in their university lives while 100 students did. The study also conducted interviews and collected qualitative data to supplement the survey findings.

Top push and pull motivational factors were highlighted in the study tour context. This study also indicated that non-experienced students relatively have more concerns about geographic location, political stability and financial budget as pull factors and education as the push factor than experienced students. Education, as a high-level human need and push motivational factor, becomes less important for experienced students.

A large number of Asian university students participated in study tour programmes each year. Nevertheless, there are few research papers relevant to exploring university students’ motivation to choose study tour destinations. This study provides useful insight for the universities to design and implement appropriate study tours according to students’ motivation.

The concept of a “sustainable career” has gained significant attention in recent academic literature, extending beyond mere professional success, encompassing elements of happiness, health, productivity and social empowerment. This study aims to develop and validate the sustainable career scale (SCS) to measure this multidimensional construct, including the innovative dimension of “social empowerment,” which emphasizes the importance of responsibly addressing global needs and challenges.

The research comprises five studies with distinct objectives: Study 1 focuses on item development and latent structure verification; Study 2 confirms the factorial structure; Study 3 assesses concurrent and discriminant validity; Study 4 examines predictive validity and reliability; and Study 5 measures gender invariance.

Results demonstrate the validity and reliability of the SCS items and structure. Concurrent and discriminant validity are supported by analyzing relationships with work engagement, meaning, employability, burnout, decent work and job satisfaction. Additionally, the scale shows reliability and predictive validity in forecasting eudaimonic, hedonic and social well-being. Gender invariance is confirmed.

Future research could explore its applicability across diverse contexts. The SCS has significant implications for researchers and practitioners, serving as an assessment tool to advance research in sustainable career development and guide interventions to improve careers that address global needs and foster responsible management practices.

The SCS stands out as the first measure to integrate a truly sustainable perspective, encompassing societal and global contexts within the framework of career sustainability. The findings enhance the understanding of sustainable careers and demonstrate the empirical robustness of the SCS.

Prior studies have demonstrated the important role of coopetition in firms’ innovation. Based on the paradox perspective, this study aims to focus on technology transfer, the pre-innovation stage, to provide a supplementary understanding of the complementarity and contradictoriness of paradoxical coopetition, with the formal and informal governance mechanisms which are suitable with this understanding in coopetition.

This study conducted an original, multisource survey of 280 Chinese manufacturing firms. Hypotheses were tested through multiple regressions.

Coopetition has a positive impact on technology transfer between firms. Along with the increasing specificity of assets invested ex ante as a kind of formal governance mechanism, the relationship between coopetition and technology transfer becomes stronger. Meanwhile, inter-firm justice as an informal governance mechanism in the technology transfer process can be positively affected by coopetition between partners.

The study adds to the business-to-business coopetition literature on how to properly treat and use coopetition in technology transfer. Using the paradox perspective in the Chinese context, the findings emphasize the positive role of coopetition in the inter-firm technological exchange process, enriching the understanding of the complementary and contradictory features of paradoxical coopetition. To govern coopetitive relationships, the firms should also implement two fundamental governance mechanisms, that is, specialty asset and inter-firm justice.