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This article examines the influence of Daoist nothingness on leadership in growing Chinese small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Daoism is based on a “letting-go” approach through maintaining inherent openness, which challenges goal-oriented and hierarchical approaches typical of Western and Confucian leadership theories. This facilitates the cross-fertilization of ideas related to the effective management of smaller firms.

This study focuses on SME leaders in a group of 12 growing SMEs in the Shanghai logistics industry in China. Narrative and semi-structured interviews explored emerging aspects beyond the established model of leadership associated with reputation-building. This led to in-depth, thick descriptions, broadening our understanding of leadership and reputation-building.

SME leaders follow nothingness by continuously adopting a letting-go approach which spontaneously fosters reputation-building. By maintaining inherent openness, nothingness functions as an enabling principle that mobilizes multi-beings leading to reputation-building in unintended ways.

A greater plurality of empirical and methodological contexts in Western and non-Western countries helps to understand the dynamics and intersection of Daoist nothingness, leadership and reputation-building.

SME leaders recounted how they discursively practised nothingness for extended periods in their everyday practice. The study shows the significance of nothingness for SME leaders who aspire to grow their businesses by reputation-building among salient stakeholders.

Daoist nothingness provides insights into the distinctive approach of Chinese SME leaders and their relationships with local and distant stakeholders. By engaging in active non-action they relax pre-determined intentions and immerse themselves in the process of leading, where the connections between goals and processes are automatically animated. Such an approach differs from the top-down and goal-oriented approach to leadership adopted in many Western SMEs.

This paper makes two theoretical contributions. First, it indicates the powerful influence of Daoist nothingness on leadership by drawing on the broader context of entrepreneurship in Chinese SMEs. Secondly, it enriches existing concepts such as reputation by endowment and reputation borrowing by demonstrating how Daoist nothingness silently fosters both local reputation and generalized reputation.

The existing three-stage network Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models with shared input are self-assessment model that are prone to extreme efficiency scores in pursuit of decision-making units (DMUs) efficiency maximization. This study aims to solve the sorting failure problem of the three-stage network DEA model with shared input and applies the proposed model to evaluate innovation resource allocation efficiency of Chinese industrial enterprises.

A three-stage network cross-DEA model considering shared input is proposed by incorporating the cross-efficiency model into the three-stage network DEA model. An application of the proposed model in the innovation resource allocation of industrial enterprise is implemented in 30 provinces of China during 2015–2019.

The efficiency of DMU would be overestimated if the decision-maker preference is overlooked. Moreover, the innovation resource allocation performance of Chinese industrial enterprises had a different spatial distribution, with high in eastern and central China and low in western China. Eastern China was good at knowledge production and technology development but not good at commercial transformation. Northeast China performed well in technology development and commercial conversion but not in knowledge production. The central China did not perform well in terms of technology development.

A three-stage network DEA model with shared input is proposed for the first time, which makes up for the problem of sorting failure of the general three-stage network model.

From a knowledge-management perspective, this paper aims to analyze the digital transformation of the business models of traditional Chinese sporting goods companies in the context of the pandemic crisis and to explore the role of their digital transformation in coping with the crisis.

Using theoretical sampling, typical sporting goods companies are selected for case studies. We provide an in-depth analysis of how these companies achieve high performance levels through the digital transformation of their business models in the post-COVID-19 era and discuss the key role of knowledge management in this achievement.

Focusing on the challenges faced by Chinese sporting goods enterprises during the pandemic crisis from the knowledge-management perspective, we find that through the digital transformation of their business models, enterprises can improve their knowledge-management capabilities, enhance their flexibility to respond to sudden crises and maintain a higher level of corporate performance.

This paper has significant implications for sporting goods companies wishing to achieve high corporate performance through the digital transformation of their business models in the post-COVID-19 era. Future research should address the dynamic mechanism of the digital transformation of business models to improve enterprise knowledge-management capabilities and the impact mechanism of knowledge-management capabilities on interenterprise organizational resilience.

This paper proposes specific strategies in the process of the digital transformation of business models that are essential for improving enterprises’ internal and external knowledge-management capabilities.

This study examines the impact of knowledge management capabilities on agility, adaptability and alignment (triple-A), drawing upon the nexus of the knowledge-based view and dynamic ambidexterity in the context of manufacturing industry in the USA. It also assesses the performance outcomes of triple-A capabilities in terms of operational and relational performance.

Path analysis was performed in this empirical study in the manufacturing industry.

The results show that knowledge management capabilities are conducive to the development of triple-A capabilities, which in turn lead to the improvement of operational and relational performance.

This study is grounded in the marriage of the knowledge-based view and dynamic ambidexterity to assess the combinative impact of knowledge management capabilities of knowledge acquisition and sharing through absorptive and desorptive capacities on agility and adaptability through knowledge exploration and alignment by knowledge exploitation in the pursuit of triple-A capabilities. This study unentangles the linkage between knowledge management capabilities and triple-As by theorizing the connection between absorptive/desorptive capacity and exploration/exploitation in terms of responsive and efficient supply chain respectively.

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of a digital medical library, including department-based electronic journal access, library training course participation and scholarly publications.

The data on full-text electronic journal access, participants of library training courses and scholarly publications were exported from a digital medical library database during 2017–2021. In addition, electronic journal access and library training courses were divided into high-level and low-level groups, while scholarly publications were divided into physician and non-physician groups.

The scholarly publications had a positive correlation to library training courses and electronic journal access. Furthermore, scholarly publications showed a significant difference between the high-level and low-level electronic journal access groups but not between the high-level and low-level library training course groups. Scholarly publications and electronic journal access had positive correlations for both the physician and non-physician groups. Scholarly publications and library training courses, and electronic journal access and library training courses had positive correlations only in the non-physician group.

The importance of electronic journal access for scholarly publications is suggested based on the findings of the present study. The training courses held by the medical library had a positive effect on scholarly publications for the non-physician group.

The current study provides insights relevant to the electronic journal access of library-supported scholarly publications among medical departments. These results can serve as a reference for medical library development planning and decision-making in the future.

In this paper, the authors aim to propose an effective method to indirectly determine nonlinear elastic shear stress-strain constitutive relationships for nonlinear elasticity materials, and then study the nonlinear free torsional vibration of Al–1%Si shaft.

In this study the authors use BoxLucas1 model to fit the determined-experimentally nonlinear elastic normal stress–strain constitutive relationship curve of Al–1%Si, a typical case of isotropic nonlinear elasticity materials, and then derive its nonlinear shear stress-strain constitutive relationships based on the fitting constitutive relationships and general equations of plane-stress and plane-strain transformation. Hamilton’s principle is utilized to gain nonlinear governing equation and boundary conditions for free torsional vibration of Al–1%Si shaft. Differential quadrature method and an iterative algorithm are employed to numerically solve the gained equations of motion.

The effect of four variables, namely dimensionless fundamental vibration amplitude ϑmax, radius α and length β, and nonlinear-elasticity intensity factor δ, on frequencies and mode shapes of the shafts is obtained. Numerical results are in good agreement with reference solutions, and show that compared with linearly elastic shear stress-strain constitutive relationships of the shafts made of the nonlinear elasticity materials, its actual nonlinearly elastic shear stress-strain constitutive relationships have smaller torsion frequencies. In addition, but β having opposite hardening effect, the rest of the four variables have softening effect on nonlinearly elastic torsion frequencies. Eventually, taking into account nonlinearly elastic shear stress-strain constitutive relationships, changes of the four factors, i.e. ϑmax, α, β and δ, cause inflation and deflation behaviors of mode shapes in nonlinear free torsional vibration.

The study could provide a reference for indirectly determining nonlinear elastic shear stress-strain constitutive relationships for nonlinear elasticity materials and for structure design of torsional shaft made of nonlinear elasticity materials.

This study aims to examine the impact of supplier relationship quality on curtailing opportunism and promoting cooperation between the exchange partners. It also investigates the contingent impact of contract specificity on the relationships and assesses performance implications of relationship quality for both buyer and its major supplier in the exchange.

Confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis were performed based on data collected from manufacturers in a survey. The hypotheses were tested using path analysis.

The findings of this study indicate a pivotal role of supplier relationship quality in suppressing opportunism and enhancing cooperation between exchange parties, which lead to dyadic performance. Furthermore, the effect of supplier relationship quality is strengthened by contract specificity.

This study adds value to the existing streams of studies in several ways. First, informed by the nexus of relational capital theory and transaction cost economics, the authors emphasize the pivotal role of relationship quality in curtailing opportunism and fostering cooperation and the moderating effect of contract specificity on the above linkages. Second, this study provides empirical evidence of the mechanism of the effect of contract specificity on opportunism and cooperation.

This study examines the operational and relational governances as antecedents of cooperation commitment in buyer–supplier exchanges. It also assesses the impact of cooperation commitment on operational performance.

Path analysis was performed on the data collected from manufacturers.

The results of this study show that both operational and relational governances exert impact on cooperation commitment, which, in turn, is associated with operational performance improvement.

First, this is the first study employing the reciprocity theory to theorize the conceptual framework of the governance antecedents of cooperation commitment and operations excellence effect. Second, the study highlights how the research framework can enrich the reciprocity theory in exploring the mechanisms of the operational and relational governances of buyer–supplier exchanges and their impact on the commitment to the cooperation. Third, this study extends the reciprocity theory to examine in detail how cooperation commitment exerts impact on the operational performance.

This study aims to examine escapism as the explanatory mechanism that can account for distinct outcomes of harmonious and obsessive sports fan passion among US and Chinese fans.

The study uses cross-cultural data collected among sports fans in the USA and China. Using structural equation modeling and PROCESS model, the authors test the mediating role of escapism and the moderating role of indulgence on the relationships between sports fan passion and procrastination.

The authors found that positive escapism mediates the relationship between harmonious sports fan passion and procrastination, whereas negative escapism mediates the relationship between obsessive sports fan passion and procrastination. While individual-level indulgence was not a significant moderator, post hoc analyses revealed that the interaction of indulgence and uncertainty avoidance played a moderating role.

The use of sports fan samples from both the USA and China enables a cross-cultural comparison of the proposed model, thereby extending the model’s generalizability. By advancing the dual model of escapism, the authors hope to stimulate a research dialogue that identifies more nuanced (both positive and negative) predictors and outcomes of passion for an activity and escapism in the broader context of other passion-inducing activities (e.g., Internet use, work, etc.).

Marketers promoting sports events can use this study's results to highlight the benefits of harmonious sports fan passion in terms of positive escapism and reduced procrastination. Organizations promoting sports fandom need to also be aware that sports fans can have obsessive passion for sports that can lead to procrastination. Therefore, it is important to be vigilant and distinguish between “healthy” and “unhealthy” passion early to avoid “unhealthy” passion turning into negative escapism and by extension, procrastination.

Socially responsible marketers should understand a potential negative effect that obsessive sports fan passion may entail and prevent or minimize its negative consequences.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that explains why sports fan passion can(not) be associated with procrastination. It does so by using the dual escapism as the explanatory mechanism linking harmonious and obsessive sports fan passion and procrastination.

The possibility function-based grey clustering model has evolved into a complete approach for dealing with uncertainty evaluation problems. Existing models still have problems with the choice dilemma of the maximum criteria and instances when the possibility function may not accurately capture the data's randomness. This study aims to propose a multi-stage skewed grey cloud clustering model that blends grey and randomness to overcome these problems.

First, the skewed grey cloud possibility (SGCP) function is defined, and its digital characteristics demonstrate that a normal cloud is a particular instance of a skewed cloud. Second, the border of the decision paradox of the maximum criterion is established. Third, using the skewed grey cloud kernel weight (SGCKW) transformation as a tool, the multi-stage skewed grey cloud clustering coefficient (SGCCC) vector is calculated and research items are clustered according to this multi-stage SGCCC vector with overall features. Finally, the multi-stage skewed grey cloud clustering model's solution steps are then provided.

The results of applying the model to the assessment of college students' capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship revealed that, in comparison to the traditional grey clustering model and the two-stage grey cloud clustering evaluation model, the proposed model's clustering results have higher identification and stability, which partially resolves the decision paradox of the maximum criterion.

Compared with current models, the proposed model in this study can dynamically depict the clustering process through multi-stage clustering, ensuring the stability and integrity of the clustering results and advancing grey system theory.