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Reports on the development and the validation of a measurement scale of International Business Negotiators (IBNs), derived from the literature and confirmed byself‐perceptions of Chinese business negotiators. Following a qualitative approach, the authors analyzed literature based on prior works in international business negotiations, cross‐cultural management, international business executives, and Sino‐Western business negotiations, to derive themes and items for developing an IBNs measurement scale. The key‐informant method was used to survey Chinese business negotiators (N₁=92, N₂ =478) for operationalizing the IBNs scale. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, as well as structural equation modeling analysis, were carried out to examine and to validate factor structures, internal consistency, unidimensionality and the construct validity of the IBNs. The results justify a ten‐factor IBNs scale with significant psychometric properties.

This paper aims to explore consumer perceptions of Internet‐based e‐retailing in a highly concentrated retail market environment.

The present research incorporates market and social factors to examine consumer attitude and behavioral intention to use internet‐based e‐retailing based on the survey data collected from individuals in Hong Kong.

The empirical results suggest that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use have positive impact on consumer attitude towards e‐retail business. The easily accessible local retail market and the concern about risk in the virtual environment significantly affect consumer attitude and behavioral intention to use e‐retailing. However, consumers may consider using e‐retailing if they are influenced by particular social groups.

Future research can be carried out along similar contextual dimensions to explore consumer behavior and critical success factors of e‐retail business in different geographical environments and social contexts.

The present findings have theoretical and practical implications for managing and developing e‐retail business.

Small and mid‐sized enterprises (SMEs) are facing challenges in an increasingly fierce environment. This paper aims to explore the promise of information systems (IS) in enhancing the survival and competitiveness of SMEs in a dynamic environment. To address this issue, the paper draws upon the dynamic capability theory and develops a research model of IS‐enabled dynamic capabilities to examine the role of IS competence for enhancing SMEs dynamic capabilities in a competitive business environment.

An empirical study is conducted by using survey data from senior managers of 120 SMEs in China.

The analytic outcomes support the research model and confirm that IS competence significantly contributes to SMEs' dynamic capabilities for gaining competitive advantage.

This paper contributes to the literature on IS impact on dynamic capabilities of SMEs by incorporating IS competences into a research model of IS‐enabled dynamic capabilities and articulating the relationships between IS competences and dynamic capabilities of SMEs in a changing business environment. The research findings enrich dynamic capabilities theory by justifying IS as an enabling antecedent for organizational capability development. The findings may empirically convince SMEs owners and management to effectively invest in and deploy IS for enhancing SMEs' dynamic capabilities and performance.

A capability‐building perspective is used to examine how IS can leverage SMEs' capabilities to enhance their competitive advantage in a dynamic environment.

The purpose of this paper is to establish a new model for non‐equidistance sequence and research affine properties of the new model.

Generalized non‐equidistance GM(1,1) model is put forward based on generalized accumulated generating operation (AGO) theory, and particle swarm optimization is used to solve the parameters of the new model, then affine properties of the new model are researched based on matrix analysis.

The results are convincing: the simulation and prediction precisions of generalized non‐equidistance GM(1,1) model are raised greatly, and it is proved that the affine transformation sequence has the same simulative accuracy with the raw sequence for generalized non‐equidistance GM(1,1) model.

The method exposed in the paper can be used to model and predict for non‐equidistance sequence in the practical problem.

The paper succeeds in establishing a new non‐equidistance grey model and obtaining the affine properties of generalized non‐equidistance GM(1,1) model.

The purpose of this paper is to review systematically the research of grey relation analysis (GRA) models.

Three different approaches, the springboard to build a GRA model, the angle of view in modelling, and the dimension of objects, are analysed, respectively.

The GRA models developed from the models based on relation coefficients of each point in the sequences in early days to the generalized GRA models based on integral or overall perspective. It evolved from the GRA models which measure similarity based on nearness, into the models which consider similarity and nearness, respectively. The objects of the research advanced from the analysis of relationship among curves to that among curved surfaces, and further to the analysis of relationship in three‐dimensional space and even the relationship among super surfaces in n‐dimensional space.

The further research on GRA models is proposed. One is about the property of GRA model. An in‐depth knowledge about the properties of GRA model will help people to understand its function, applicable area and requirements for modelling. The other one is about the extension of research object system. The object to be analysed should be extended from the common sequence of real numbers to grey numbers, vectors, matrices, and even multi‐dimensional matrices, etc.

The purpose of this paper is to deal with the ill‐conditioned problem for the non‐equigap GM(1,1) control model by using the method of multiple transformations.

Owing to noises and interferences from both inside and outside of the system, many control systems contain unequal intervals and sharp variation which may result in undesirable systems instability. In order to ensure the stability and efficiency of grey forecasting control model, the data transformation for a raw series is an important and useful method for enhancing accuracy and improving ill‐condition of the non‐equigap GM(1,1) model.

This paper discusses the quantitative relations between the multiple transformation and the parameters of the non‐equigap GM(1,1) model in detail, and studies the effect of the multiple transformation on the condition number of the non‐equigap GM(1,1) model.

Accessibility and availability of data are the main limitations based on which model will be applied.

Choosing an appropriate multiple of transformation cannot only eliminate dimension, lessen computation and maintain high accuracy, but also largely reduce the condition number of the model and improve the ill‐condition of non‐equigap GM(1,1) model effectively.

This paper seems to be the first to discuss the stability problems for the non‐equigap GM(1,1) model.

Internet + and Electronic Business in China is a comprehensive resource that provides insight and analysis into E-commerce in China and how it has revolutionized and continues to revolutionize business and society. Split into four distinct sections, the book first lays out the theoretical foundations and fundamental concepts of E-Business before moving on to look at internet+ innovation models and their applications in different industries such as agriculture, finance and commerce. The book then provides a comprehensive analysis of E-business platforms and their applications in China before finishing with four comprehensive case studies of major E-business projects, providing readers with successful examples of implementing E-Business entrepreneurship projects.

Internet + and Electronic Business in China is a comprehensive resource that provides insights and analysis into how E-commerce has revolutionized and continues to revolutionize business and society in China.

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the advances in grey system theory research and various application achievements in science and engineering. At the same time, it commemorates the 40th anniversary of the birth of grey system theory and the 10th anniversary of Grey Systems–Theory and Application.

Firstly, the innovations of theoretical research in grey system theory were summarized and some of the widely recognized new results are briefly described. By searching and combing the research results of grey system theory in China national knowledge infrastructure (CNKI) database and Web of Science by Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), this paper shows the rapid development trend of grey system theory in the past 40 years, and the successful applications of grey system theory in the fields of social sciences, natural sciences and engineering technologies.

More than 227 thousands literature were found by input 10 phrases such as grey system, grey number and sequence operator etc. in CNKI database. After entering the new century, the number of grey system papers included in CNKI database is increasing rapidly. Since 2008, more than 10 thousands papers have been included per year and more than 15 thousands papers have been included per year since 2014. Grey system method and model are widely used in physics, chemistry, biology and other fields of natural science, as well as transportation, electric power, machinery and other fields of engineering technology, and a large number of valuable results have been achieved.

It can be seen that the grey system theory plays an important role in promoting China’s scientific and technological progress, innovation and development and high-level talent training from tens of thousands of literatures marked with important national science and technology projects and a large number of grey system literatures published by China’s double first-class universities and double first-class discipline construction universities.

Both innovations of theoretical research and practical application play important role in the growth of new theory. The innovations of theoretical research provide methods and tools for practical application, which is conducive to improve application efficiency and broaden application fields. A large number of practical applications needs have become the source of theoretical innovation and the solid background for the birth of theoretical innovation achievements.

The People's Republic of China (PRC) is the world's largest official creditor nation with its outstanding debt claims on the rest of the world totaling an estimated US$5.5 trillion in 2019 or more than 6% of global GDP. However, given Beijing’s very limited transparency in its disclosures when it comes to its external lending (and now its alleged culpability in the spread of the coronavirus) the accusation that the PRC has for years engaged in “debt-trap diplomacy” has come under renewed scrutiny. Specifically, the charge is that the Chinese government, which is the world's leading creditor lending via its multibillion dollar “Belt and Road Initiative” as well as various state-owned and controlled entities, lures developing countries, in particular, low-income countries, with easy money to fund often economically unviable projects. This is because China's ultimate goal is to get access to the borrowers' local markets and natural resources and indirectly controlling or outright seizing assets and resources, including extracting economic and political concessions when these countries fail to service their loans – which is often given at market or above-market interest rates and carry shorter maturities, thereby requiring regular refinancing. This paper reviews this claim and concludes that it seems exaggerated.