Yi-Ming Wei, Bi-Ying Yu, Hui Li, Jia-Ning Kang, Jin-Wei Wang and Wei-Ming Chen
Climate engineering management (CEM) as an emerging and cross-disciplinary subject gradually draws the attention to researchers. This paper aims to focus on economic and social…
Abstract
Purpose
Climate engineering management (CEM) as an emerging and cross-disciplinary subject gradually draws the attention to researchers. This paper aims to focus on economic and social impacts on the technologies of climate engineering themselves. However, very few research concentrates on the management of climate engineering. Furthermore, scientific knowledge and a unified system of CEM are limited.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the concept of CEM and its characteristics are proposed and elaborated. In addition, the framework of CEM is established based on management objectives, management processes and supporting theory and technology of management. Moreover, a multi-agent synergistic theory of CEM is put forward to guide efficient management of climate engineering, which is composed of time synergy, space synergy, and factor synergy. This theory is suitable for solving all problems encountered in the management of various climate engineering rather than a specific climate engineering. Specifically, the proposed CEM system aims to mitigate the impact of climate change via refining and summarizing the interrelationship of each component.
Findings
Overall, the six research frontiers and hotspots in the field of CEM are explored based on the current status of research.
Originality/value
In terms of the objectives listed above, this paper seeks to provide a reference for formulating the standards and norms in the management of various climate engineering, as well as contribute to policy implementation and efficient management.
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Xinzhi Zhu, Shuo Yang, Jingyi Lin, Yi-Ming Wei and Weigang Zhao
Electricity demand forecasting has always been a key issue, and inaccurate forecasts may mislead policymakers. To accurately predict China’s electricity demand up to 2030, this…
Abstract
Purpose
Electricity demand forecasting has always been a key issue, and inaccurate forecasts may mislead policymakers. To accurately predict China’s electricity demand up to 2030, this paper aims to establish a cross-validation-based linear model selection system, which can consider many factors to avoid missing useful information and select the best model according to estimated out-of-sample forecast performances.
Design/methodology/approach
With the nine identified influencing factors of electricity demand, this system first determines the parameters in four alternative fitting procedures, where for each procedure a lot of cross-validation is performed and the most frequently selected value is determined. Then, through comparing the out-of-sample performances of the traditional multiple linear regression and the four selected alternative fitting procedures, the best model is selected in view of forecast accuracy and stability and used for forecasting under four scenarios. Besides the baseline scenario, this paper investigates lower and higher economic growth and higher consumption share.
Findings
The results show the following: China will consume 7,120.49 TWh, 9,080.38 TWh and 11,649.73 TWh of electricity in 2020, 2025 and 2030, respectively; there is hardly any possibility of decoupling between economic development level and electricity demand; and shifting China from an investment-driven economy to a consumption-driven economy is greatly beneficial to save electricity.
Originality/value
Following insights are obtained: reasonable infrastructure construction plans should be made for increasing electricity demand; increasing electricity demand further challenges China’s greenhouse gas reduction target; and the fact of increasing electricity demand should be taken into account for China’s prompting electrification policies.
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Yi Wei, Jianguo Chen and Carolyn Wirth
This paper aims to investigate the links between accounting values in Chinese listed companies’ balance sheets and the exposure of their fraudulent activities.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the links between accounting values in Chinese listed companies’ balance sheets and the exposure of their fraudulent activities.
Design/methodology/approach
Every balance sheet account is proposed to be a potential vehicle to manipulate financial statements.
Findings
Other receivables, inventories, prepaid expenses, employee benefits payables and long-term payables are important indicators of fraudulent financial statements. These results confirm that asset account manipulation is frequently carried out and cast doubt on earlier conclusions by researchers that inflation of liabilities is the most common source of financial statement manipulation.
Originality/value
Previous practices of solely scaling balance sheet values by assets are revealed to produce spurious relationships, while scaling by both assets and sales effectively detects fraudulent financial statements and provides a useful fraud prediction tool for Chinese auditors, regulators and investors.
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Hong Beng Yeoh, Chooi Yi Wei, Surindar Kaur and Malvin Kaur
As the world is embarking on Industry Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0), employers demand more learning and soft skills from graduates to adapt to agile and disruptive work environments…
Abstract
Purpose
As the world is embarking on Industry Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0), employers demand more learning and soft skills from graduates to adapt to agile and disruptive work environments. Hence, 21st century learning skills are vital for sustainable career advancement in the current job paradigm shift initiated by IR 4.0-driven technologies. This research examines inter-relationships among 21st century skills and their effects on tertiary learners’ readiness for future employment in IR 4.0 era.
Design/methodology/approach
The quantitative research methodology with a questionnaire survey is used. Question items in the questionnaire were adapted from past studies. A sample of tertiary learners who are currently pursuing their final year degree programs in a comprehensive university are recruited using a multi-staged cluster sampling technique. Partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is applied to analyze data collected from 174 respondents.
Findings
The research findings reveal that tertiary learners’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills significantly influence their perceived readiness to face future employment in IR 4.0 era. Tertiary learners’ communication skills facilitate better collaboration skills that directly influence their problem-solving skills. Their critical thinking skills partially mediate the effect of tertiary learners’ creativity skills on their problem-solving skills.
Originality/value
These research findings provide insights into the inter-relationships among 21st century learning skills that significantly influence tertiary learners’ readiness for their future careers so that stakeholders, including tertiary learners, lecturers and higher education policymakers, can work hand-in-hand toward enhancing employability among fresh graduates in IR 4.0 era.
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Tobias Fredberg and Johanna E. Pregmark
The literature on innovation/change predicts that entrepreneurial initiatives will be killed by the established organizational system. The general answer is to put innovations in…
Abstract
The literature on innovation/change predicts that entrepreneurial initiatives will be killed by the established organizational system. The general answer is to put innovations in separate units. This is not possible for corporate entrepreneurship initiatives, however. In this action research study, we focus on corporate entrepreneurship initiatives’ strategies for survival. We collected data by following 11 corporate entrepreneurship initiatives as they were pursued. We summarize their effort in three transformation mechanisms: aligning with purpose, creating trust, and creating attachment with autonomy. The data indicate that these factors not only contributed to the success of the initiatives but also to renewing the organizational system.
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Luo Lu, Cary L. Cooper, Shu‐Fang Kao and Yun Zhou
Towards the end of the twentieth century, the world has witnessed an amazing economic take‐off in the East Asia, especially within the territory of so‐called “Greater China”…
Abstract
Towards the end of the twentieth century, the world has witnessed an amazing economic take‐off in the East Asia, especially within the territory of so‐called “Greater China”, encompassing the PRC and Taiwan. Against this economic and cultural background, this study surveyed 258 and 189 employees respectively in Taiwan, and the PRC (Shanghai), to examine generalizability of a generic work‐stress model to the Chinese societies. It further examined the sub‐cultural differences in the work‐stress processes, by drawing contrast of the PRC and Taiwan. In addition, roles of emic constructs of Chinese primary and secondary control beliefs were also examined. Results showed that the generic work‐stress model could be reasonably applied to Chinese urban work contexts in the PRC and Taiwan. Work stress related as expected to strain effects. At a more refined sub‐cultural level, it was found that different sources of work stress became salient contributors to strain outcomes in the PRC and Taiwan. These differences reflect the diverse political, social, and economic characteristics of the two Chinese societies. More importantly, emic constructs of Chinese control beliefs were found to have rather consistent direct effects on strain outcomes. However, indirect (moderating) effects of control beliefs were not strong and inconsistent.
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Citizens are substantial stakeholders in every e-government system, thus their willingness to use and ability to access the system are critical. Unequal access and information and…
Abstract
Citizens are substantial stakeholders in every e-government system, thus their willingness to use and ability to access the system are critical. Unequal access and information and communication technology usage, which is known as digital divide, however has been identified as one of the major obstacles to the implementation of e-government system. As digital divide inhibits citizen’s acceptance to e-government, it should be overcome despite the lack of deep theoretical understanding on this issue. This research aimed to investigate the digital divide and its direct impact on e-government system success of local governments in Indonesia as well as indirect impact through the mediation role of trust. In order to get a comprehensive understanding of digital divide, this study introduced a new type of digital divide, the innovativeness divide.
The research problems were approached by applying two-stage sequential mixed method research approach comprising of both qualitative and quantitative studies. In the first phase, an initial research model was proposed based on a literature review. Semi-structured interview with 12 users of e-government systems was then conducted to explore and enhance this initial research model. Data collected in this phase were analyzed with a two-stage content analysis approach and the initial model was then amended based on the findings. As a result, a comprehensive research model with 16 hypotheses was proposed for examination in the second phase.
In the second phase, quantitative method was applied. A questionnaire was developed based on findings in the first phase. A pilot study was conducted to refine the questionnaire, which was then distributed in a national survey resulting in 237 useable responses. Data collected in this phase were analyzed using Partial Least Square based Structural Equation Modeling.
The results of quantitative analysis confirmed 13 hypotheses. All direct influences of the variables of digital divide on e-government system success were supported. The mediating effects of trust in e-government in the relationship between capability divide and e-government system success as well as in the relationship between innovativeness divide and e-government system success were supported, but was rejected in the relationship between access divide and e-government system success. Furthermore, the results supported the moderating effects of demographic variables of age, residential place, and education.
This research has both theoretical and practical contributions. The study contributes to the developments of literature on digital divide and e-government by providing a more comprehensive framework, and also to the implementation of e-government by local governments and the improvement of e-government Readiness Index of Indonesia.
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Yaqun Yi, Meng Gu and Zelong Wei
How do firms make effective strategic change when competitive advantage deteriorates fast in a dynamic environment? Based on information-processing theory and organizational…
Abstract
Purpose
How do firms make effective strategic change when competitive advantage deteriorates fast in a dynamic environment? Based on information-processing theory and organizational inertia theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how bottom-up learning affects the speed and magnitude of strategic change and if these relationships are contingent on strategic flexibility.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data of 213 firms in China, the authors conduct an empirical test of hypotheses through a stepwise multivariate regression approach.
Findings
The empirical study suggests that resource flexibility weakens the positive relationship between bottom-up learning and the speed of strategic change while strengthens the impact of bottom-up learning on the magnitude of strategic change. In addition, coordination flexibility strengthens the positive impact of bottom-up learning on the speed and magnitude of strategic change.
Originality/value
The findings not only provide a more nuanced and in-depth understanding of strategic change, but also offer strong guidance for firms on how to make better use of strategic flexibility in order to benefit from bottom-up learning.