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The purpose of this study is to develop a better understanding of how relational embeddedness offers marketing channel partners both benefits and hazards. The nonlinear effect of relational embeddedness on channel opportunism is investigated. Influence strategies (i.e. coercive and noncoercive influence) are also examined as mediators of this nonlinear effect.

Survey data are gathered from a sample of 149 manufacturers in China. The hypotheses are tested through regression analysis.

The results support the hypothesis that relational embeddedness has a U-shaped effect on opportunism, and that this relationship can be mediated through noncoercive influence strategies. The results also indicate that coercive influence has an inverted U-shaped effect and noncoercive influence has a U-shaped effect on opportunism.

This research serves as a launching point for further investigations into the “black box” of the double-edged effects of relational embeddedness. Other channel behavior constructs can be explored in future studies.

Firms should be aware of the benefits and pitfalls associated with relational embeddedness in marketing channels. They should be alert to using influence strategies when managing channel opportunism.

This study addresses the dilemma of embeddedness in marketing channel relationships and reveals its causes and mechanisms by exploring the mediating effects of influence strategies.

As an important part of the management of railway passenger transport, the rationality and effectiveness of the clearing method of railway passenger transport are directly related to the operating efficiency and service quality of railway passenger transport enterprises. This paper aims to comprehensively and deeply discuss the evolution and development process of China’s railway passenger transport clearing method, analyze its characteristics and influences in each stage, identify the main factors affecting its evolution and development and then put forward thoughts on improving the future development of the clearing method.

Through a detailed review of the railway passenger transport clearing methods from the planned economy period to the reform and opening up period and into the new century, the basis, mode, subject and object of clearing in different development stages are systematically compared.

It comprehensively reveals the evolution of the clearing method, sorted out the characteristics and changes of the clearing method at each stage and the adaptability to the development of railway passenger transport at that time. The characteristics of the development of clearing measures for railway passenger transport in different stages and their far-reaching influence on railway passenger transport business are deeply analyzed.

This paper summarized the factors influencing the development of China’s railway passenger transportation clearing approach evolution, including the simplified rules of clearing, enhanced the market adaptability, establishing and perfecting the incentive mechanism, strengthening the construction of informatization, etc. This paper puts forward the ways to improve the railway passenger transportation clearing future development thinking.

The chapter explored the critical components, challenges, and technological advancements in construction supply chain management (CSCM), focusing on stealth construction (STC). It delved into STC encompassing nature, highlighting its unique challenges in its supply chain management and the necessity for adaptive technologies. It further discussed the benefits of tailoring supply chain management specifically for STC, emphasising the importance of developing the building’s cross-section, managing visibility, controlling energy transmission, and implementing countermeasures. Practical applications of CSCM in STC are also examined. This chapter sheds light on the complexities of managing supply chains in STC contexts and offers insights into strategies and technologies to address these challenges effectively.

This paper aims to enhance lubrication performance of the pitcher plant–like textured surface with various parameters.

A pitcher plant–like structure surface is fabricated on the copper alloy, and the lubrication performance of the pitcher plant–like structure with various parameters is evaluated. In addition, the pressure distribution and oil film load capacity of the pitcher plant–like surface are simulated based on Navier–Stokes equations.

When the direction of motion aligns with the pitcher plant–like structure, the friction coefficient remains lower than that of the nontextured surface, and it exhibits a decreasing trend with the increasing of the texture width and spacing distance; the lowest friction coefficient (0.04) is achieved with B = 0.3 mm, L = 1.0 mm and θ = 45°, marking a 75% reduction compared to the nontextured surface. Simulation results demonstrate that with the increase in texture width and spacing distance, the oil film load-bearing capacity demonstrates an increasing trend.

Bionic pitcher plants are prepared on the copper alloy to improve the lubrication performance and wear resistance.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-04-2024-0119/

This study aims to empirically analyse the influence mechanism of perceived interactivity in real estate APP which affects consumers' psychological well-being. With the growing application of human–machine interaction in real estate APP, it is crucial to utilize human–machine interaction to stimulate perceived interactivity between humans and machines to positively impact consumers' psychological well-being and sustainable development of real estate APP. However, it is unclear whether perceived interactivity improves consumers' psychological well-being.

This study proposes and examines a theoretical model grounded in the perceived interactivity theory, considers the relationship between perceived interactivity and consumers' psychological well-being and explores the mediating effect of perceived value and the moderating role of privacy concerns. It takes real estate APP as the research object, analyses the data of 568 consumer samples collected through questionnaires and then employs structural equation modelling to explore and examine the proposed theoretical model of this study.

The findings are that perceived interactivity (i.e. human–human interaction and human–information interaction) positively influences perceived value, which in turn affects psychological well-being, and that perceived value partially mediates the effect of perceived interaction on psychological well-being. More important findings are that privacy concerns not only negatively moderate human–information interaction on perceived value, but also negatively moderate the indirect effects of human–information interaction on users' psychological well-being through perceived value.

This study expands the context on perceived interaction and psychological well-being in the field of real estate APP, validating the mediating role and boundary conditions of perceived interactivity created by human–machine interaction on consumers' psychological well-being, and suggesting positive implications for practitioners exploring human–machine interaction technologies to improve the perceived interaction between humans and machines and thus enhance consumer psychological well-being and span sustainable development of real estate APP.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of dimple radius, depth and density on the lubrication performance of the plunger.

A lubrication model was adopted to consider eccentricity and deformation during the working process of the plunger, and a rig test was performed to confirm the simulation results. The texture was fabricated using laser surface texturing.

The simulation results suggested that when dimple radius or depth increases, oil film thickness of the plunger increases before decreasing, and asperity friction displays an opposite trend. Therefore, appropriate microdimple texture could facilitate lubrication performance improvement and reduce the wear. Microdimples were then lased on the plunger surface, and a basic tribological test was conducted to validate the simulation results. The experimental results suggested that the average friction coefficient decreased from 0.18 to 0.13, a reduction of 27.8%.

The introduction of microdimple on a plunger couple to reduce friction and improve lubrication is expected to provide a new approach to developing high-performance plunger couple and improve the performance of the internal combustion engine. If applied, the surface texture could help reduce friction by around 27% and cap the cost relative to the plugger friction.

The microdimple texture was introduced into the plunger couple of a vehicle to reduce the friction and improve the performance. Findings suggested that surface texture could be used in the automotive industry to improve oil efficiency and lubrication performance.

The peer review history for this article is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ILT-07-2020-0259.

The origins of corporate social responsibility (CSR) have been widely attributed to the work of scholars, and business managers as well, in North America and Western Europe. Inevitably, however, as the economic interaction of individual firms and entire nations has grown over the past several decades — call it globalization — so too has the concept and the practice of CSR spread throughout the world. It is certainly time to explore how CSR is being incorporated into the practice of business management in other regions and other countries. Therefore, in this chapter we will focus on Asia: specifically on Japan, South Korea, India, and China. It is interesting for academicians to understand how CSR is being absorbed and adapted into the business cultures of these four countries. Perhaps of even greater importance, it is vital that business managers know what to expect about the interaction between business and society as well as the government as their commercial activities grow in this burgeoning part of the world.

For each of these four countries, we will provide an overview of the extent to which CSR has become a part of the academic community and also how it is being practiced and incorporated in everyday management affairs. We will see that there are very significant differences among these countries which lead to the natural question: why? To answer this question, we will use an eight-part analytical framework developed specifically for this purpose. We will look at the history, the dominant religious beliefs, the relevant social customs, the geography, the political structures, the level of economic development, civil society institutions, and the “safety net” of each country. As a result of this analysis, we believe, academicians can learn how CSR is absorbed and spread into commercial affairs, and managers can profit from learning more about what to expect when doing business in this increasingly important region.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the self‐assembled monolayers (SAMs) of phytic acid on cupronickel B30 surface of anticorrosion and inhibiting mechanisms.

Electrochemical and photocurrent response methods were performed to determine the effect of phytic acid SAMs on cupronickel B30.

The results indicated that phytic acid was liable to interact with B30 as a result of formation of complexes on B30 surface for anti‐rust and anti‐corrosion. The SAMs changed the structure of the electrochemical double layer and made the value of double layer capacitance decrease significantly. The B30 electrode showed p‐type photoresponse, which came from Cu₂O layer on its surface. The photoresponse decreased greatly due to the SAMs of phytic acid as the corrosion resisting property was enhanced. This finding was in good agreement with the results obtained from EIS and polarization curves. Adsorption of phytic acid was found to follow the Langmuir adsorption isotherm and the adsorption mechanism was typical of chemisorption.

The SAMs of phytic acid on cupronickel B30 was gained for the first time. The photo‐electrochemical method was an in situ method, which was effective for characterizing optical and electronic properties of passive films.

Due to the rapid urbanization in China, the living environment in urban areas improves considerably, while that in rural settlements does not improve remarkably, or even worsens. The purpose of the research is to propose an organizational approach to the improvement of the living environment in the poverty-stricken rural settlements and an architectural design pattern under a variety of requirements in the context of China’s rapid urbanization and socio-economic development in the redevelopment of rural settlements in Yongsheng Village, Lizhuang Town, Yibin City of Sichuan Province in Southwest China. In this redevelopment project, the architects, as the important third party, are not just architects in the traditional sense in that they are involved in the organizational process and architectural design throughout the whole project. The redevelopment project has been completed, and is aimed at providing a scientific redevelopment model and a design method for other rural residents by guiding them in the improvement of their living environment under a variety of restrictions.

This research is interested in how dynamics in negotiating cultural meanings in the globalizing market place in China become visible in one particular aspect of culture: colour culture. The purpose of this paper is to explore the provenance of some of the many potential meanings invested in colours in contemporary China, and how and why these influence international business, communication, design and marketing management in particular.

A qualitative empirical study with ambition for an emic cultural approach to Chinese colour culture. Narrative analysis of accounts by Chinese colour professionals participating in a focus group interview, and by individually interviewed managers with extensive experience in Sino‐Finnish business are reported in narrative format.

The findings support the proposed existence of a phenomenon which the author has named “Colour culture” – a cultural set of meanings that are invested in colours. Unexpectedly, the empirical study proposes a strong tendency towards these meanings being value based in China. Visual manifestations of cultural values appear to be dynamic and dependent on context.

The current study does not offer generalizable prescriptions for contextual colour usages. The explorative, qualitative nature of this study serves as a basis for contextual and quantifiable future research on the phenomenon.

Since, for the Chinese, colours manifest cultural values and are highly emotional, not only linguistic, but also visual translation of communication is needed. For international communication, design and marketing managers, this further implies a need for contextual understanding of local colour culture.

Recognizing the existence of colour culture and its value‐based proposition in China opens up new research avenues and practical considerations for cross‐cultural studies.