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Article
Publication date: 19 January 2024

Shaoyan Wu, Mengxiao Liu, Duo Zhao and Tingting Cao

Although trust is generally taken as a fundamental factor in influencing relational behavior in contractor–subcontractor collaboration, the determination of an optimal level of…

Abstract

Purpose

Although trust is generally taken as a fundamental factor in influencing relational behavior in contractor–subcontractor collaboration, the determination of an optimal level of trust is still lacking. Trust with an optimal tipping point that matches dependence best is considered the optimal trust to improve relational behavior between general contractors and subcontractors. To fill the knowledge gap, this study explores how combinations of trust and dependence trigger relational behavior between general contractors and subcontractors through a configurational approach.

Design/methodology/approach

Questionnaires were administered to 228 middle management and technical staff members of the general contractor. The data were analyzed using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), and the inductive analytic method allowed researchers to explore configurations of different dimensions and levels of dependence and trust.

Findings

Necessity analysis results indicated that neither dependence nor trust was a necessary condition for facilitating relational behavior. Through sufficiency analysis, four configurations of optimal trust matched with dependence were identified in contractor–subcontractor collaboration. Even if contractors rely only on subcontractors for resources, the optimal trust between contractors and subcontractors should include both institution- and cognition-based trust. In the event that contractor–subcontractor collaboration involves relational dependence, both affect- and cognition-based trust are necessary for the optimal trust.

Originality/value

This study enhances existing research by delving deeper into a nuanced understanding of optimal trust in dependence scenarios, and enriches project governance theory by uncovering the internal transmission of relational governance. Practically, this study offers general contractors guidance on how to establish optimal trust strategies based on the dual dependence level with subcontractors, which can facilitate subcontractors' relational behavior, and ultimately improve contractor–subcontractor collaboration performance.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 November 2023

Yu Han, Anna Yumiao Tian, Woon Kian Chong, Alain Yee Loong Chong and Antony Paulraj

The purpose of this paper is to provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets with an updated Purchasing Portfolio Matrix (PPM) specifically for…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets with an updated Purchasing Portfolio Matrix (PPM) specifically for international sourcing. This data-driven PPM matrix is designed to provide a dynamic and process perspective that can help SMEs survive the disruptions caused by emergency situations such as the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

This research reports on qualitative interviews with experienced informants from 15 SMEs in the manufacturing industry. The authors follow process-based research using a combination of retrospective and real-time case study approaches to gradually unveil the dynamics in segmentation and sourcing strategies in the international sourcing context during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Findings

The findings reveal the dynamics of segmentation and international sourcing strategies during global disruptions and unpack the underlying logic behind the dynamics that is specific to SMEs in emerging economies.

Originality/value

Existing literature on PPM predominantly focuses on static and normal sourcing circumstances. This paper addresses this gap by adopting a dynamic approach to study how sourcing strategies of SMEs from emerging economies evolve in a highly volatile environment from an international sourcing perspective.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 January 2024

Ai-Fen Lim, Voon-Hsien Lee, Keng-Boon Ooi, Pik-Yin Foo and Garry Wei-Han Tan

Soft total quality management (STQM) practices are essential for promoting value-added organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) among employees in quality-focussed manufacturing…

Abstract

Purpose

Soft total quality management (STQM) practices are essential for promoting value-added organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) among employees in quality-focussed manufacturing firms. This study intends to investigate how STQM practices (empowerment, training, teamwork and involvement) affect OCB under the moderating influence of collectivism among employees for excellence in business performance using social exchange and social cognitive theories (SET-SCT).

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 245 useable surveys were gathered from manufacturers. Given the importance of the two-staged structural equation modelling–partial least squares–artificial neural networks (SEM-PLS-ANN) technique, this study used a two-staged SEM-PLS-ANN analysis to capture both linear and compensatory PLS models and nonlinear and noncompensatory ANN models.

Findings

The findings confirmed that empowerment, involvement and training had a significant impact on OCB. However, teamwork had no impact on OCB. Interestingly, collectivism was found to have a significant and positive moderating effect on training and OCB.

Originality/value

The study contributes significantly to the literature on TQM and human resource management. First, the study broadens researchers’ understanding of how to apply SET by including a collective value from SCT as positive reciprocity to foster positive workplace behaviour. Second, the authors offer a solid management strategy for organizations to assist them in understanding an STQM model that promotes OCB while including collectivism for superior business performance.

Details

Management Decision, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 July 2023

Justin Zuopeng Zhang, Wu He, Sachin Shetty, Xin Tian, Yuming He, Abhishek Behl and Ajith Kumar Vadakki Veetil

Despite rapid growth in blockchains, there was limited discussion about non-technical and technical factors on blockchain governance in the extant literature. This study aims to…

Abstract

Purpose

Despite rapid growth in blockchains, there was limited discussion about non-technical and technical factors on blockchain governance in the extant literature. This study aims to contribute new knowledge to the literature on potential factors affecting the adoption, governance and scale-up of blockchain technologies in the health-care and energy sectors, presented in a holistic framework.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts the qualitative case study research methodology to research blockchain governance in practice. The authors contacted a national blockchain consortium to conduct their research on the governance issue of blockchain. Two leading case organizations, one from the health-care industry and another from the energy industry, were deliberately selected for their study for their active role and reputation in the consortium and practical experience in blockchain governance.

Findings

The developed framework helps identify potential research gaps or concerns on adopting a blockchain as well as assessing blockchain implementation and governance in other industries. Depending on the circumstances, some of the factors can be either drivers or obstacles to further blockchain development. The different forces may also be more or less evident over time as blockchains develop. The two real-world case studies contribute to the information technology governance literature on blockchain governance.

Originality/value

The results of this case studies will be beneficial for developing theories and empirical models to determine antecedents for achieving consensus and trust in blockchain and testing the relationship between these factors and blockchain governance at different levels. As a result, theories related to the governance of blockchain technologies could be further developed.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 January 2024

Xiao Peng, Hessam Vali, Xixian Peng, Jingjun (David) Xu and Mehmet Bayram Yildirim

The study examines the potential moderating effects of repeating purchase cues and product knowledge on the relationship between the varying consistency of the review set and…

Abstract

Purpose

The study examines the potential moderating effects of repeating purchase cues and product knowledge on the relationship between the varying consistency of the review set and causal attribution. This study also investigates how causal attribution correlates with the perceived misleadingness of the review set.

Design/methodology/approach

A scenario-based experiment was conducted with 170 participants to explore the relationship between the consistency of the review set and causal attribution and how repeating purchase cues and product knowledge moderates this relationship.

Findings

Findings suggest that inconsistent review sets lead to more product (vs reviewer) attribution than consistent review sets. The repeating purchase cues mitigate the negative relationship between the consistency of the review set and product attribution, whereas product knowledge mitigates the positive relationship between the consistency of the review set and reviewer attribution. Furthermore, the results indicate that high product attribution and low reviewer attribution are associated with low perceived misleadingness.

Originality/value

This study is novel because it examines the moderating effects of repeating purchase cues and product knowledge on the relationship between the consistency of the review set and causal attribution. It adds to the literature by shedding light on the causal attribution process underlying the formation of perceived misleadingness of online reviews. The findings of this study provide valuable insights for managers on how to enhance the positive effects of consistent review sets and mitigate the negative effects of inconsistent review sets.

Details

Internet Research, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1066-2243

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 February 2024

Chong Wu, Xiaofang Chen and Yongjie Jiang

While the Chinese securities market is booming, the phenomenon of listed companies falling into financial distress is also emerging, which affects the operation and development of…

Abstract

Purpose

While the Chinese securities market is booming, the phenomenon of listed companies falling into financial distress is also emerging, which affects the operation and development of enterprises and also jeopardizes the interests of investors. Therefore, it is important to understand how to accurately and reasonably predict the financial distress of enterprises.

Design/methodology/approach

In the present study, ensemble feature selection (EFS) and improved stacking were used for financial distress prediction (FDP). Mutual information, analysis of variance (ANOVA), random forest (RF), genetic algorithms, and recursive feature elimination (RFE) were chosen for EFS to select features. Since there may be missing information when feeding the results of the base learner directly into the meta-learner, the features with high importance were fed into the meta-learner together. A screening layer was added to select the meta-learner with better performance. Finally, Optima hyperparameters were used for parameter tuning by the learners.

Findings

An empirical study was conducted with a sample of A-share listed companies in China. The F1-score of the model constructed using the features screened by EFS reached 84.55%, representing an improvement of 4.37% compared to the original features. To verify the effectiveness of improved stacking, benchmark model comparison experiments were conducted. Compared to the original stacking model, the accuracy of the improved stacking model was improved by 0.44%, and the F1-score was improved by 0.51%. In addition, the improved stacking model had the highest area under the curve (AUC) value (0.905) among all the compared models.

Originality/value

Compared to previous models, the proposed FDP model has better performance, thus bridging the research gap of feature selection. The present study provides new ideas for stacking improvement research and a reference for subsequent research in this field.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 February 2024

Mengyang Gao, Jun Wang and Ou Liu

Given the critical role of user-generated content (UGC) in e-commerce, exploring various aspects of UGC can aid in understanding user purchase intention and commodity…

Abstract

Purpose

Given the critical role of user-generated content (UGC) in e-commerce, exploring various aspects of UGC can aid in understanding user purchase intention and commodity recommendation. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of UGC on purchase decisions and proposes new recommendation models based on sentiment analysis, which are verified in Douban, one of the most popular UGC websites in China.

Design/methodology/approach

After verifying the relationship between various factors and product sales, this study proposes two models, collaborative filtering recommendation model based on sentiment (SCF) and hidden factors topics recommendation model based on sentiment (SHFT), by combining traditional collaborative filtering model (CF) and hidden factors topics model (HFT) with sentiment analysis.

Findings

The results indicate that sentiment significantly influences purchase intention. Furthermore, the proposed sentiment-based recommendation models outperform traditional CF and HFT in terms of mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean square error (RMSE). Moreover, the two models yield different outcomes for various product categories, providing actionable insights for organizers to implement more precise recommendation strategies.

Practical implications

The findings of this study advocate the incorporation of UGC sentimental factors into websites to heighten recommendation accuracy. Additionally, different recommendation strategies can be employed for different products types.

Originality/value

This study introduces a novel perspective to the recommendation algorithm field. It not only validates the impact of UGC sentiment on purchase intention but also evaluates the proposed models with real-world data. The study provides valuable insights for managerial decision-making aimed at enhancing recommendation systems.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 November 2022

Nazanin Kordestani Ghalenoei, Mostafa Babaeian Jelodar, Daniel Paes and Monty Sutrisna

The development of prefabrication into full-scale offsite manufacturing processes in the construction industry is paradigm-shifting. Moreover, Building Information Modelling (BIM…

Abstract

Purpose

The development of prefabrication into full-scale offsite manufacturing processes in the construction industry is paradigm-shifting. Moreover, Building Information Modelling (BIM) is becoming the primary mode of communication and integration in construction projects to facilitate the flow of information. Although research has been performed on BIM and Offsite Construction (OSC), integrating these two concepts remains ambiguous and complex and lacks documentation and structure, especially in New Zealand. Therefore, this paper develops a robust framework for OSC and BIM integration. The study focusses on identifying integration challenges and proposes strategies for overcoming these challenges.

Design/methodology/approach

This study applied scientometric analysis, a systematic literature review (SLR) and semi-structured expert interviews to investigate OSC and BIM integration challenges. Multiple themes were investigated and triangulation conducted in this research supports the creation of applicable knowledge in this field.

Findings

Multiple gaps, research trends and the pioneer countries in the paper's scope have been identified through scientometric analysis. Then, a classified cluster of challenges for OSC and BIM implementation and integration strategies of OSC and BIM were demonstrated from the findings. The interviews provided comprehensive and complementary data sets and analyses. The findings from the Systematic Literature Review and interview structured the integration framework.

Originality/value

The contribution of this paper to existing knowledge is a developed framework that serves as a guideline for the OSC stakeholders. This framework can assess OSC's alignment with BIM and consolidate strategies for incorporating OSC into a BIM-based project delivery process. The framework consists of 23 strategies categorised into 8 clusters: a policy document, training and professional development, documentation, technology management, governmental development, contract development, accurate definition and detailing and communication. The proposed strategies will streamline integration by reducing potential challenges, thus enhancing project productivity.

Details

Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6099

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 July 2023

Wensheng Lin, Guangbin Wang, Yan Ning, Qiuwen Ma and Shuyuan Dai

Megaproject performance measurement (MPM) has received great attention in the project management community, but it primarily focused on the design of performance measures or…

Abstract

Purpose

Megaproject performance measurement (MPM) has received great attention in the project management community, but it primarily focused on the design of performance measures or frameworks. Yet, whether MPM utilization can improve megaproject performance and how project actors use MPM to improve megaproject performance is less well understood. This study aims to investigate whether and how the use of MPM can contribute to better megaproject performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Through the lens of the lever of control, this study conceptualizes MPM utilization as diagnostic use and interactive use. A holistic research model and related hypotheses integrating MPM use, project complexity and megaproject performance were established. The model was validated using a partial square-structural equation modeling method.

Findings

Based on 214-megaproject data collected through a questionnaire survey in China, the results show positive effects of diagnostic use and interactive use on megaproject performance. Both, however, have substitutional interaction effects. The moderating results suggest that the higher project complexity weakens the positive effects of MPM utilization on megaproject performance.

Originality/value

This study advances megaprojects performance measurement and management literature by validating the value of MPM utilization on performance. It also presents practical implications for project managers to improve performance by appropriate MPM utilization.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 August 2022

Paul Strickland and Kim M. Williams

This exploratory study aims to examine how wine stakeholders' are adopting innovative advancements in smart industry 4.0 application technology (SI4.0AT) coupled with electronic…

Abstract

Purpose

This exploratory study aims to examine how wine stakeholders' are adopting innovative advancements in smart industry 4.0 application technology (SI4.0AT) coupled with electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) techniques to increase winery visitation and wine sales, prior to and during a global pandemic in the Yarra Valley in Victoria, Australia.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative interpretivist geographical bounded case study approach was used to collect data from fifteen Victorian wine stakeholder's prior to and during the global pandemic COVID-19. A thematic analysis was applied to interpret participant responses and how they viewed, reacted to and harnessed S14.0AT and e-WOM to continue and increase wine sales.

Findings

The findings suggest few wine stakeholders' were actively implementing SI4.0AT prior to the global pandemic, COVID -19. With the forced closure of wineries to visitors across Australia, most small to medium-sized wineries immediately changed their business models to concentrate on domestic e-commerce wine sales and home delivery. To support these new business models, e-WOM techniques were quickly adopted or increased whereas other S14.0AT technologies were not, due to financial restraints.

Research limitations/implications

The number of participants used in this study is a limitation, however, this can be overcome by replicating this study in other wine regions. This research focused on the wine stakeholders' viewpoint only and may not be easily generalised. Future studies may examine the “what” aspect of SI4.0AT is being used and e-WOM content such as investigating what consumers are saying about these wineries, the method of communication and the motivations for consumers to engage with a winery.

Practical implications

The implications for the wine industry and overall results offer insight into the wine stakeholders' perceptions of SI4.0AT and e-WOM and consequent marketing strategy of wineries in the Yarra Valley, Victoria, both pre- and during forced face-to-face winery closures due to a global pandemic. Wineries need to continue to harness and leverage the benefits of e-WOM wine marketing in their marketing strategies and continue to explore the affordability of 4.0 app technology and Tourism 4.0 options.

Originality/value

This study is the first attempt at investigating how wine stakeholders' view; react to and harness SI4.0AT and e-WOM through formalised online marketing strategies which should continue to be investigated in the future.

Details

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9792

Keywords

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