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This paper aims to examine the effectiveness of control mechanisms in promoting collaborative performance by exploring the moderating effects of formal institutions (government support and legal enforcement in this study) and informal ties (business ties in this study) on the relationship between control mechanisms and collaborative performance.

A conceptual model is developed with the direct effects of contractual execution and relational norms on collaborative performance and the moderating effects of government support, legal enforcement and business ties on the above relationships. Hierarchical regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses based on 393 responses from Chinese computer and computer components distributors.

The empirical results generally support the conceptual model. First, consistent with most previous studies, both contractual execution and relational norms contribute to collaborative performance. Second, government support and business ties weaken the role of contractual execution, whereas legal enforcement strengthens it. Third, business ties enhance the effects of relational norms, and, unexpectedly, government support also fosters the relationship between relational norms and collaborative performance.

First, this study solves the problem of conflicting findings on the relationship between contract and performance by examining the effect of contractual execution, rather than contract design, on collaborative performance. Second, this study contributes to institutional theory by examining the moderating role of formal institutions. Third, this study deepens the understanding of the role of business ties by exploring its moderating effect on the relationship between control mechanisms and collaborative performance.

With the rapid development of the society and the economy, the scale of urban construction has been continuously improved, and the service supply of the agricultural transfer population in the city has become a problem that must be solved. Based on this, the planning and design of the public cultural service supply and the urban integration of the agricultural transfer population were put forward in this paper. First of all, the background of the study on the cultural needs of the current agricultural transfer population was expounded, and the planning and design of the current urban public cultural service supply was discussed; then the design of public cultural architecture was put forward on the basis of meeting the demand of agricultural transfer population; with the public cultural and architectural project in a city as an example, the planning of urban parks and cultural and art centers was proposed to provide reference for promoting the integration of agricultural transfer population.

As indentation rolling resistance accounts for the major part of the total resistance of belt conveyors, the purpose of this paper is to compute it using a proper method.

First, an approximate formula for computing indentation rolling resistance is offered. In this formula, a one-dimensional Winkler foundation and a three-parameter viscoelastic Maxwell solid model of the belt backing material are used to determine the resistance to the motion of a conveyor belt over idlers. The velocity of the belt is an important operating parameter in the working conditions of the belt conveyor. What is more, a set of experimental apparatus which can measure the value of indentation rolling resistance is designed.

With the help of the experimental apparatus, the authors obtained a series of measured data under different belt speeds. Finally, a computation example that is provided for a typical rubber compound backing material shows the comparison between measured results and theoretical results which offers the influence of speed on rolling resistance.

This study provides the design of an apparatus, and finds the relationship between belt speed and indentation rolling resistance.

Shadow banking has been evolving rapidly in China, with banks actively using wealth management products (WMPs) to evade regulatory restrictions. These products are the largest constituent of China's shadow banking sector. A large number of these products are off-balance-sheet and considered a substitute for bank deposits. China's banking sector, especially the small and medium-sized banks (SMBs), uses these products to avoid regulatory restrictions and sustainability risk in the deposit market.

This study empirically examined how banks in China, specifically SMBs, utilize these products on a short and long-run basis to manage and control their deposit levels. This study utilized a quarterly panel dataset from 2010 to 2019 for the top 30 Chinese banks, by first implementing a Panel ARDL-PMG model. For cross-sectional dependence, this study further executed a cross-sectional augmented autoregressive distributive lag model (CS-ARDL).

Under regulations avoidance theory, the findings revealed that WMPs and deposits have a stable long-run substitute relationship. Furthermore, the WMP–Deposit substitute relationship was only significant and consistent for SMBs, but not for large four banks. The findings further revealed that the WMP–Deposit substitute relationship existed, even after the removal of the deposit rate limit imposed by the People's Bank of China (PBOC) to control the deposit rates.

The individual bank-issued WMPs' amount data is not available in any database. Therefore, this study utilized the number of WMPs as a proxy for China's banking sector's exposure to the wealth management business.

This research helps policymakers to understand the Deposit–WMP relationship from the off-balance-sheet perspective. During the various stages of interest rate liberalization, banks were given more control to establish their deposit and loan interest rates. However, the deposit rates are still way below the WMP returns, making WMPs more competitive. This research suggests that policymakers should formulate a more balanced strategy regarding deposit rates and WMPs returns.

This study contributes to the existing literature on China's shadow banking by concentrating on the WMPs. This research represents one of the few studies that analyze regulatory arbitrage in terms of the WMP–Deposit relationship. Moreover, the implementation of CS-ARDL panel data models and multiple data sources makes this study's findings more reliable and significant.

Online comments significantly impact consumer choice and product sales. Existing research focuses on the direct effects of online comments on product sales, whereas studies on the spillover effects of online comments are relatively limited, especially for high-involvement products. This study explores the impact of online comments of competing products on focal product sales in high-involvement products.

Data mining techniques are used to collect 72,367 online comments from the Autohome platform, and sentiment analysis algorithms are used to quantify the textual information for subsequent analysis. Specifically, two panel two-way fixed-effects models are constructed to explore the impact of the average valence and quantity of online comments of competing cars on focal car sales, and analyse this impact in terms of heterogeneity across car price levels, while the moderating effect of online comments of competing cars is explored.

The results show that the average quantity of online comments of competing cars has a significant effect on the sales of the focal car in the overall sample, while the average valence of online comments of competing cars does not have a significant spillover effect. Moreover, the spillover effect varies by car price level. For high-priced cars, the average quantity of online comments of competing cars significantly and negatively affects focal car sales, and the average valence of online comments of competing cars significantly and negatively moderates the effect of the valence of focal car online comments on its sales. For lower-priced cars, online comments of competing cars don’t significantly affect focal car sales.

This study not only enriches the theory of online comments and high-involvement product sales, but also provides reference and guidance for exploring spillover effects of online comments for other products.

Sensing coverage is a critical issue in sensor network deployments. The paper aims to propose a novel scheme to maintain the sensing coverage in sensor networks, which is termed coverage‐aware self‐scheduling (CASS).

The paper describes a generic unifying framework to incorporate different connectivity and coverage maintenance schemes. Simulations are carried out under the framework by integrating CASS with an existing connectivity maintenance scheme ‐ the low‐energy adaptive clustering hierarchy.

Different from the existing work on coverage maintenance, CASS probabilistically schedules sensing activities according to the sensor's contribution to the sensing coverage of the whole sensor network. CASS reduces the number of active sensors to maintain certain coverage. Besides the sensing coverage, the connectivity of the network topologies is required for the purpose of communicating among sensors to collect sensing data. Simulation results show that CASS can considerably improve the energy efficiency of sensing coverage with low communication and computation overhead.

The paper shows that CASS is designed to allow sensors with higher coverage contribution to have more chance to sense.

This study aimed to develop a psychometrically reliable job satisfaction (JS) measure for university employees, guiding administrative decisions and monitoring satisfaction over time in public universities.

A JS survey developed by a Brazilian federal university’s sustainability committee containing 58 items across physical, cognitive and organizational domains was longitudinally tested with 1,214 responses collected. The data were analyzed using Item Response Theory (IRT) analysis, employing the Graded Response Model, with tools such as frequency analysis, item characteristic curve, and full-information factor analysis in RStudio. The scale’s criterion validity was also established via expert qualitative interpretation.

The instrument’s internal consistency was confirmed as the results demonstrated its high reliability with a marginal reliability coefficient of 0.95. Significant findings revealed that recognition and supervisor relationships were key discriminators of JS and that workers began to perceive satisfaction when basic environmental conditions were met.

It is important to mention that the application of this scale is specifically limited to higher education institutions and may not be directly applicable to other educational settings or industry sectors without modifications.

Although numerous measures and scales have been developed to assess JS, one elaborated by using IRT in a public university environment was lacking. Due to shifting dynamics in the workplace, traditional measurement of JS has proven inadequate, necessitating a more precise, accessible and updated tool. The developed scale allows precisely targeted interventions to improve JS and can be reapplied to evaluate their effectiveness. This research thus contributes a valuable tool for academic organizational psychology, enhancing the understanding of the measurement of JS.

The dissemination of 3D printing is contingent upon the strategic formulation of innovative business models that are integrated with supply chain management. While 3D printing is considered a disruptive innovation that has simultaneously transformed business models and supply chain operations, previous research has often treated these two aspects separately. To bridge this gap, this paper aims to explore the alignment between business model and supply chain operations that enhance the proliferation of 3D printing technology.

This study integrates manufacturer- and customer-centric business models through 3D printing’s capacity to support both centralized and decentralized supply chains, conducts a strategic evaluation to align business model innovations with supply chain operations and employs fsQCA analysis with Chinese 3D printing provider cases.

Our research reveals that business models focusing on efficiency benefit from aligning with centralized supply chain strategies, while those emphasizing novelty are enhanced by decentralized supply chains, both positively influencing the adoption of 3D printing technology innovation. The research highlights the benefits of combining hybrid manufacturing and customization in centralized environments, as well as the significance of embracing supercenter and marketplace models in decentralized supply chains to foster 3D printing innovation.

The findings of our research provide valuable insights for practitioners looking to assess their supply chains and explore how their business innovations can be effectively implemented within the supply chain structure. This examination can help them recognize the transformative potential of 3D printing and how it can revolutionize their industry by enabling new business models and processes.

The contribution of this paper is (a) to analyze business model innovation considering the strategic alignment between the business model and supply chain strategy driven by 3D printing; (b) to empirically testify this aligned performance in 3DP manufacturer for the first time.

The developed plasto-elastohydrodynamic lubrication (PEHL) model is used to demonstrate the permanent change of macro morphology by critical high local stress at micro asperities in contact, which may further affect the fluid-film characteristics.

Geometric morphology is integrated into the PEHL model to elucidate the fluid-film properties governed by both macro- and micromorphologies.

Results show the model, accounting for combination of elastic and plastic deformations, realistically reveals fluid film distribution affected by the significant pressure highly concentrated within surface micro roughness interaction. The designed macroscopic textured surface mitigates the fluid film rupture phenomenon and prevents accumulated wear degradation from plastic deformation.

The PEHL model takes into account both elastic and plastic deformations and realistically reveals the fluid film distribution affected by large pressures that are highly concentrated in surface micro-roughness interactions. The macro-textured surfaces are designed to mitigate fluid film rupture phenomena and prevent cumulative wear caused by plastic deformation.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-05-2024-0170/

The internationalization of higher education institutions (HEIs) is the top stage of international relations among universities, and it is no longer regarded as a goal but as a means to improve the education of sustainability. As institutional commitments to internationalize higher education continue to grow, so does the need to critically consider the intended purposes and actual outcomes of the resulting programs and policies. This study aims to explore how institutional international policies influence outcomes of HEIs internationalization in the East Asian region, specifically in Taiwan and Japan.

The study used quantitative design. 3,158 participants, including 1,192 participants from Taiwan and 1,966 participants from Japan, were randomly recruited to complete the Academic Profession in the Knowledge Society (APIKS), an international survey examining the change in academic work in HEIs. The study adopted quantitative data and used two variables (institutional international policies and outcomes of internationalization) with descriptive, correlational, and moderated multiple hierarchical regression analysis with SPSS computer software to answer the research questions.

The study showed that both Taiwanese and Japanese academics have high agreements on the outcomes of internationalization for enhancing academic quality and increasing mobility of students. In both countries, two institutional international policies of HEIs internalization-- clear internationalization strategies and funding for faculty members to undertake research abroad-- can significantly influence the process of internationalization in the teaching-oriented and research-oriented HEIs respectively.

This study provides insight into the relationship between institutional international policies and the outcomes of HEIs internationalization in Taiwan and Japan. It provides university leaders with empirical evidence for implementing managerial strategies of internationalization that promote education for sustainability in HEIs.