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The purpose of this paper is to identify the effect of similarity in a customer-to-customer-relationship and of perceived performance risk as a boundary condition in a service setting.

Following theoretical methodology, hypotheses were developed in order to analyze the effect of similarity as well as perceived performance risk. An experimental scenario-based design was used to manipulate similarity and performance risk and to test the hypotheses.

The analysis reveals that similarity is an important dimension in the customer-to-customer-relationship. Positive similarity effects are shown in relation to subjects' willingness to interact with present customers, joining and recommending a service provider, and subjects' evaluation of the service provider. A mediating effect of positive emotions (joy and interest) on the link between similarity and willingness to interact with customers present is shown. Performance risk is also discovered as a boundary condition under which the predicted relationships are weakened.

This study suggests that similarity in the customer-to-customer-relationship leads to positive effects. If managers take this into account, their business may benefit from these positive effects. The study offers suggestions on how to “manage” customers' similarity.

As this study is one of the first empirical studies to concentrate on the effect of similarity in a customer-to-customer-relationship, it is meaningful. Moreover significant effects are shown; further research ideas are developed and management implications are proposed.

Introduction There is little doubt that organisations wishing to survive in the increasingly competitive environment of the 1990s must have a clear plan for their acquisition and utilisation of human resources. The various activities carried out by the personnel function, such as selection, recruitment, development and assessment have a far greater impact on organisational excellence if they are part of a thought‐out human resources plan, rather than piecemeal, and perhaps disconnected outputs of the personnel department. Because of the realisation of the need for integrated planning, human resources planning (HRP) has become increasingly well accepted, but there is still a large gap between theory and practice in HRP. There is considerable lip‐service to the need for sophisticated HRP, but many practitioners continue to use simple HRP techniques and less frequently use the more powerful techniques that are available. This may be a function of the gap between theory and practice as practitioners are likely to prefer to work with the techniques that they understand and which they control, rather than having to make use of what they see as “sophisticated” planning models which typically require the help of a head office planning or computer department.

To introduce the presumed cultural similarity paradox as a possible explanation for the findings that adjusting to a culturally similar country is just as difficult as adjusting to a culturally dissimilar country. We provide a conceptual framework, enabling further understanding and research into this phenomenon.

Expatriates moving to a country that shares common characteristics may presume more cultural similarity and easier adjustment than is actually the case. During their stay abroad, expatriates may find that these expectations are not met. While the smaller cultural distance may facilitate adjustment, the undermet expectations inhibit adjustment and performance.

A first preliminary test compared Dutch expatriates in Belgium (culturally similar) and in China (culturally dissimilar). The expectations of cultural similarity and adjustment difficulty of the expatriates in Belgium were significantly more undermet than those of the expatriates in China and this had a negative influence on affective adjustment. The larger cultural distance of China was negatively related to intercultural adjustment. Better adjustment, both affective and intercultural, led to better job performance.

Future research should try to replicate and extend our findings to other cultural contexts.

Expatriates and their employers must consider and prepare for the increased chance of undermet expectations and the negative consequences this can have on adjustment and job performance, when moving to a culturally similar country.

Expatriates and their employers must consider and prepare for the increased chance of undermet expectations and the negative consequences this can have on adjustment and job performance, when moving to a culturally similar country.

This paper conceptualizes and provide a theoretical framework that should allow future research to empirically test the psychological process that occurs in this paradox, accommodate the contrasting effects of cultural distance and met expectations of cultural similarity and investigate which characteristics of countries lead expatriates to presume more cultural similarity than is the case.

The present study aims to resolve the adjustment problem of cavitation bubble number density in simulations of the cavitating flows within the diesel injection nozzle holes using a two-fluid cavitation model.

The basic rule that determines the variations of cavitation bubble number density has been checked through the scaling analysis of a two-fluid model under the assumption of hydrodynamic similarity of the cavitating flows. Moreover, a phenomenological model for the number density of cavitation bubbles that takes the hydrodynamic effect into account has been developed through the combined analysis of cavitation bubble dynamics and internal flow characteristics of diesel injection nozzle holes. This new model has also been validated by the discharge coefficient measures in a wide range of injection conditions.

The values of cavitation bubble number density must rationally match changes both in liquid quality effect and in hydrodynamic effect corresponding to different cavitating flows. The validation results show that the two-fluid cavitation model together with this new cavitation bubble number density model predicts well both the cavitation content inside the diesel nozzle hole and the relationship between discharge coefficient and cavitation number, and the new cavitation bubble number density model has the potential to further expand the application range of the two-fluid cavitation model.

This study provides insight into hydrodynamic effect corresponding to cavitating flows inside diesel nozzle holes and presents an idea to model the cavitation bubble number density phenomenologically. The model idea and the developed model are useful to researchers and engineers in the area of nozzle internal flow and cavitating flow.

By introducing Stacking algorithm to solve the underfitting problem caused by insufficient data in traditional machine learning, this paper provides a new solution to the cold start problem of entrepreneurial borrowing risk control.

The authors introduce semi-supervised learning and integrated learning into the field of migration learning, and innovatively propose the Stacking model migration learning, which can independently train models on entrepreneurial borrowing credit data, and then use the migration strategy itself as the learning object, and use the Stacking algorithm to combine the prediction results of the source domain model and the target domain model.

The effectiveness of the two migration learning models is evaluated with real data from an entrepreneurial borrowing. The algorithmic performance of the Stacking-based model migration learning is further improved compared to the benchmark model without migration learning techniques, with the model area under curve value rising to 0.8. Comparing the two migration learning models reveals that the model-based migration learning approach performs better. The reason for this is that the sample-based migration learning approach only eliminates the noisy samples that are relatively less similar to the entrepreneurial borrowing data. However, the calculation of similarity and the weighing of similarity are subjective, and there is no unified judgment standard and operation method, so there is no guarantee that the retained traditional credit samples have the same sample distribution and feature structure as the entrepreneurial borrowing data.

From a practical standpoint, on the one hand, it provides a new solution to the cold start problem of entrepreneurial borrowing risk control. The small number of labeled high-quality samples cannot support the learning and deployment of big data risk control models, which is the cold start problem of the entrepreneurial borrowing risk control system. By extending the training sample set with auxiliary domain data through suitable migration learning methods, the prediction performance of the model can be improved to a certain extent and more generalized laws can be learned.

This paper introduces the thought method of migration learning to the entrepreneurial borrowing scenario, provides a new solution to the cold start problem of the entrepreneurial borrowing risk control system and verifies the feasibility and effectiveness of the migration learning method applied in the risk control field through empirical data.

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.

Research into firm internationalisation has identified psychic distance as a key factor in explaining variations in both expansion patterns and organisational performance. Despite the substantial growth in research on the internationalisation of retailing, most contributions have been highly descriptive and generally bereft of coherent theoretical frameworks. This paper postulates that the psychic distance concept may provide an appropriate theoretical framework to explain variations in the organisational performance of retailers operating in the international arena. It is recognised that psychic distance alone cannot explain variations between countries inretailers’ performance. Other factors, such as the strategic decision making process, entry strategy adopted, the nature of the retail offer and the extent of adaptation, and organisational and managerial characteristics also influence the organisational performance of international retailers.

The purpose of the study was to test the assumption of similarities between neurodivergents and other minority groups regarding their reaction to stereotype threat. In addition, it aimed to identify the source of stereotype threat and the neurodivergent's response to it.

Two studies were conducted. Study 1 employed three exercises consisting of brochures, learning sets and posters to test organisational cues, notions of intelligence and situational cues. It collected data from 53 participants to establish whether stereotype threat observed in visible difference such as race, gender and intelligence is equally relevant to neurodiversity. Study 2 consisted of interviews with 44 participants to establish stereotype threat source, reaction and effect on declaration of invisible difference.

Neurodivergents, defined by their invisible difference, react similarly to those with a visible difference with respect to organisational cues and stereotype threat. They will cognisantly define their behaviours depending upon those cues and stereotype threat. In doing so, they draw upon previous personal and work experiences. After the event, they will make a comparison to their assessment. If it is similar to their assessment, it reinforces it; however, if it is dissimilar, the neurodivergent will make an adjustment to the assessment. In both cases, the experience will form part of a future threat assessment.

The research is limited by its interpretivist nature and sample comprising personnel within a UK government organisation.

The research has practical implications for employers, providing managers with a model to understand the impact a neurodivergents' previous experiences can have on their ability to interact within the workplace. Such understanding can provide insight into how best to utilise human capital.

This study makes a contribution to theory by expanding knowledge of neurodiversity in the workplace and by identifying the neurodivergents' reaction to the anticipation of a stereotype threat. In addition, it offers the stereotype threat anticipation conceptual model as a representation of the cognitive decisions made by neurodivergents to conceal or reveal their invisible difference.

The purpose of this chapter is to serve as a basic guide to introduce the reader to different types of valuation techniques utilized when valuing new technologies. The goal is to familiarize the reader with the differing techniques along with some of the issues in utilizing them. The chapter begins with the foundation of corporate finance – the time value of money – and moves through brief discussions on discounted cash flow, decision tree analysis, Monte-Carlo analysis, and real option analysis. The chapter ends with a discussion emphasizing the need to place valuation into a larger context of firm control rights and ownership.

The aim of this conceptual paper is to explore Mentor-protégé fit as important to the selection and development of successful doctoral student–faculty mentoring relationships. We suggest that the student–faculty relationship in doctoral education is an additional and previously untested type of Mentor-protégé fit.

Generated from an existing framework of identity in the academy, we explore how three types of identity (professional, relational, personal) may influence students’ fit assessments as they seek to initiate and develop relationships.

We offer propositions for research to further explore the potential application of the proposed framework to knowledge generation about the doctoral student experience.

While the research about doctoral education has considered all three aspects of students’ identities individually, it has not explicated the ways in which these intersecting identities relate to students’ needs and expectations related to mentoring, their choices related to mentor selection, or the effectiveness and outcomes of mentoring relationships in fostering success and satisfaction.