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The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to an indigenous community that lives in the periphery of Taiwan. The Dao on Orchid Island have had to face serious abuse of their human rights in terms of ecological exploitation and environmental injustice. The article highlights the empowerment of the indigenous group through collective learning. In this process the importance of being represented at both local and international levels is emphasized. Despite the democratization and implemented mechanism to protect indigenous peoples' rights and dignity, the issue of self‐determination and dependency on financial compensation still remains unsolved.

Data are collected and elaborated primarily using recognized research methods that are common in social anthropology (Bernard). Field research was conducted in 2007, 2008, and 2011 in Taiwan. A variety of interviews and formal and informal conversations formed the basis of data collection. According to qualitative content analysis, concepts and procedures developed by Gläser and Laudel, Bernard, as well as Schmidt were applied.

The outcomes of the research highlight the need to investigate the dynamic between modern technologies and the fight of vulnerable minorities in multicultural and democratic countries. Collective learning, solidarity, and presence at national and international levels are essential to improve empowerment to gain justice and respect of human rights.

The indigenous Dao were excluded from decision making processes regarding the government's appropriation of land on Orchid Island to be used to store nuclear waste. The Dao gained power due to educational technologies within a local and global network. Although Taiwan promotes its cultural diversity nowadays, social and environmental justice is still a goal to reach.

The paper provides valuable insights of an indigenous community in Taiwan and their struggles against environmental injustice and exploitation. Due to the fieldwork, a unique and authentic picture of the indigenous peoples' situation is offered.

Because natural resource utilization is a predictor of sustainable development, an evaluation of the efficiency of resource utilization is critical for assessing developmental potentiality. The purpose of this paper is to apply three-dimensional (3D) ecological footprint theory to assess the effects of production and consumption on ecological systems in Hefei, China.

Using data for Hefei for the period 2005-2014, an ecological footprint model (EFM) was developed to calculate the area’s ecological footprint (EF), ecological carrying (EC) capacity and obtain two indices, namely, footprint depth and size. The relationship between economic development and natural resource utilization was subsequently evaluated based on the calculated ecological deficit and the EF demand per Renminbi 10,000 of gross domestic product (GDP).

Over the last decade, Hefei’s EF per capita evidenced a 9.87 percent growth rate, increasing from 1.16 hm²/person in 2005 to 2.70 hm²/person in 2014. EC capacity per capita increased from 0.21 hm²/person in 2005 to 0.36 hm²/person in 2014, evidencing a gradually increasing trend at an average annual growth rate of 6.24 percent. Thus, between 2005 and 2014, the ecological deficit increased annually by three times. The amplification of footprint depth significantly exceeded that of footprint size. Between 2005 and 2014, Hefei’s EF per capita Renminbi 10,000 of GDP decreased annually by 4.68 percent. Thus, energy consumption in Hefei exceeded the natural regeneration capacity of energy resources, with excessive development and resource utilization impacting on the regional ecological system.

The application of a 3D EFM sheds light on natural resource utilization within regional development. Moreover, footprint depth and size are significant predictors of the impacts of natural resource utilization. These findings will also benefit other countries or cities.

This is one of the first empirical studies to apply a 3D EFM to evaluate the relationship between natural resource utilization and economic development. Adopting a sustainable development framework, it provides insights into the effects of natural resource utilization in relation to the balance between the natural ecological system and economic development. This has far-reaching implications beyond Hefei and China.

This paper explores the contextual factors involved in the development and application of paradigmatic theories in general, and the application and development of Agency Theory in the Chinese context in particular.

Referring to four templates for the design of conceptual papers as outlined by Jaakkola (2020), i.e. theory synthesis, theory adaptation, typology and model – we adopt an approach combining theory/literature synthesis and model establishment. Based on a thorough analysis and discussion of the literature on the topics of “context effect “, “interface between theory and context”, “special characteristics of Chinese context” and “invalid application of Agency Theory in a Chinese context”, we use Agency Theory as the lens to discuss the importance of context in applying and developing paradigmatic theory specifically. We start from the contextualization of Agency Theory and then explore approaches to theorizing the Chinese context by developing a conflict coefficient model.

First, the application validity of paradigmatic theories is not sustainable; contextual factors are critical in applying and developing not only propositional but also paradigmatic theories, such as Agency Theory. Second, the Chinese context requires special attention when applying paradigmatic theories originating from Western countries. Third, the traditional application logic of Agency Theory is invalid in the Chinese context due to the coexistence of principal-agent conflicts (PAC) and principal–principal conflicts (PPC), and changeable dominance status of two conflicts according to the contexts. Based on these observations, a model of contextualization theory of PAC and PPC (i.e. conflict coefficient model) is developed from a dynamic perspective, which connects the separated situation states and allows the identification and measurement of the relative severity of the two types of agency conflicts.

Practitioners can also use this model to identify and measure the relative strength of the two conflicts and determine the direction of control and improvement. Moreover, analysis of Chinese context and agency problems of Chinese firms also has great practical significance considering the increased importance of the Chinese market and the increasingly important role played by Chinese firms in the international economy in general, and in specific host countries in particular.

First, in general, this study expands Whetten's (2009) study of the interface between theory and context. It specifically discusses approaches to considering contextual factors in the development and application of the relatively overlooked paradigmatic theories, using traditional and widely used Agency Theory as a lens. Our study suggests that typical Agency Theory, developed based on Western-centric assumptions, does not completely hold in the context of Chinese business practices because of different cultural, legal and governance realities. Second, it improves and extends the application of Agency Theory by proposing the new perspective that PAC and PPC coexist in specific contexts and positing that the relative severity of two types of agency conflicts depends on the context variables. Third, it puts forward a conflict coefficient model offering a more comprehensive, intuitive and quantifiable method for comparing the extent of the two conflicts in different scenarios, providing a reference for empirical studies of corporate governance.

The importance of online reviews on online hotel booking has been widely acknowledged. However, not all online reviews affect consumers equally. Compared with common online reviews, key online reviews (KORs) have a greater influence on consumers' decisions and online hotel booking. This study takes the first step to investigate the factors affecting the identification of KORs and the role of KORs in online hotel booking.

To test the research hypotheses, this study develops a crawler to obtain 551,600 online reviews of 650 hotels in ten representative large cities in China. This study first uses a binary logistic regression to identify KORs by combining review content quality and reviewer characteristics and then uses a log-regression model to investigate the role of KORs in online hotel booking.

This study mined the factors affecting the identification of KORs by analyzing review contents and reviewer characteristics. Our results revealed that KORs play a mediating role in the effects of review content and reviewer characteristics on online hotel booking.

This study focuses on KORs, which have received limited attention in research but are important to practitioners. Specifically, this study investigates the antecedents and consequences of KORs. Our results enable hotel managers to manage online reviews effectively, particularly KORs.

The conclusions of studies on the factors correlated with the perceived usefulness of online reviews are inconsistent due to differences in research perspectives, research objects, research methods and data types. This study conducted a meta-analysis to verify a proposed model of perceived usefulness to obtain general conclusions.

A meta-analysis was conducted to study the factors correlated with the perceived usefulness of online reviews based on 51 studies.

The results indicate that, with the exception of negative reviews, the order of relevance for the perceived usefulness of online reviews is as follows: the trust tendency of review readers, review replies, review depth, review pictures, reviewer trustworthiness, positive reviews, reviewer expertise, review time and reviewer information disclosure. Perceived usefulness was significantly positively correlated with purchase intention. Review time, positive reviews and negative reviews were also more significantly correlated with perceived usefulness for search products than for experiential products. Review depth, reviewer trustworthiness, reviewer expertise and purchase intention had greater positive correlations with perceived usefulness for experiential products than for search products.

This study proposes an extended information adoption model based on argument quality and source credibility. The model includes personal factors such as the trust tendency of review readers, constructs a theoretical model of the factors correlated with the perceived usefulness of online reviews and considers the moderating effects of product type.

The purpose of this paper is to develop initial evidence about the nature and features of crowdfunding in China, given it is largely unregulated regulatory frameworks.

The paper used extensive desk research using data collected from the public and private sectors, after which the data was analyzed parallel to existing academic literature, that is, institutional context by Bruton et al. (2014). This paper uncovered patterns of development, profiling crowdfunding platforms, examining the regulatory landscape and providing antecedents of successful crowdfunding projects in China.

When the traditional financial markets are hard to reach, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) were starved for capital. Crowdfunding can play a major role in funding and risk sharing. It is an innovative and dynamic vehicle for MSMEs as well as enthusiastic investors in China. Since its initial introduction to China in 2009, crowdfunding has gained substantial popularity in a relatively short period. Currently, there is still not an identifiable guideline on how to delineate the significance of the crowdfunding platform. The development of crowdfunding in China faces a few unresolved key issues. As researchers exploring this phenomenon in new ways, crowdfunding platforms can be enhanced in a manner that benefits the capital seeker, investors and society as a whole.

There is a dearth of information on start-up crowdfunding in Asia. With little data available to analyze, so this paper hopes to contribute to knowledge and provide valuable information to researchers and industry representations. Crowdfunding represents a potentially disruptive change in the way that new ventures are funded. This paper represents an initial analysis in the study of new ventures in China. Finally, the authors provide recommendations for entrepreneurs, investors and policymakers as well as researchers and practitioners with suggestions about yet unexplored avenues of research.

A high-boron concentration solution is commonly used as a buffer system in the study of metal corrosion. However, it is impossible to apply such a high-boron concentration solution in the practical use because of the high-cost and environment problem.

In this study, the authors examined the effect of a low dosage of boric acid and borax mixture as inhibitor to suppress carbon steel corrosion in 1 M HCl solution by weight loss experiment and various electrochemistry methods (potentiodynamic polarization curves, electrochemical impedance spectra and electrochemical noise).

Results showed that the borate mixture exhibited an anodic-type inhibitor characteristic, when the total boron concentration was in the range of 100∼150 mg L⁻¹. The passivation performance derived from the formation of a passive film with and FeBO₃-FeOOH structure, whose integrity and thickness gradually increased with the increasing boron concentration.

Low boron solution could protect carbon steel from the attraction of corrosive ions by forming a passive film with Fe-O-B structure. The findings broaden the application range of borate solution in the industry.

This paper aims to explore the problem of power imbalance within decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and propose potential solutions that could contribute to enhancing the democratic nature of DAOs.

In this paper, the authors apply a qualitative methodology. Using a thematic coding analysis, the authors process data collected from interviews with 11 experts.

Multiple factors contribute to the perceived lack of democracy within DAOs, such as token concentration and effective stakeholder communication. Next, quadratic voting has the potential to enhance democracy within DAOs, but this mechanism must be implemented mindfully. Finally, the results were nuanced when it comes to the effectiveness of liquid democracy in DAOs to enhance voter participation and representation.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first research contributions to propose recommendations to address the power imbalance within DAOs and to contribute to the advancement of decentralized decision-making structures.

Decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) are internet-native self-governing enterprises where individual groups, communities, agencies, consumers and providers work together using blockchain-led smart contracts (SCs). This study aims to examine the role of DAO marketplaces in technology-led autonomous organisation design for enterprise technology sourcing industries, with algorithmic trust and governance.

The authors examined the importance of an enterprise marketplace governance platform for technology sourcing using DAO as a decentralised/democratised business model. A total of 98 DAO products/services are evaluated across 11 industries that envisage DAO as a strategic choice for the governance of decentralised marketplace platforms.

The research findings validate how a DAO-led enterprise marketplace governance platform can create a cohesive collaboration between consumers (enterprises) and providers (solution vendors) in a disintermediated way. The proposed novel layered solution for an autonomous governance-led enterprise marketplace promises algorithmic trust-led, self-governed tactical alternatives to a strategic plan.

The research targets multiple industry outlooks to understand decentralised autonomous marketplace governance and develop the theoretical foundation for research and extensive corporate suitability.

The research underpinnings boost the entrepreneurs’ ability to realise the practical potential of DAO between multiple parties using SCs and tokenise the entire product and service offerings over immutable ledger technologies.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is unique and the first of its kind to study the multi-industry role of algorithmic trust and governance in enterprise technology sourcing marketplaces driven by 98 decentralised and consensus-based DAO products across 11 industries.

This chapter outlines the philosophic underpinnings of the self-management paradigm developed over the past three decades by China’s Haier Group, a global leader in white goods. The successful transformation of Haier from a small resource-poor firm to a dominant global giant is often attributed to the self-management culture established in the company by its legendary leader Zhang Ruimin. This management paradigm is a function of the humbleness displayed by Mr. Zhang Ruimin and rooted in his strong belief in the traditional Chinese philosophy of I-Ching and Daoism. We show how the hexagram of Qian (“qian”: humbleness, modesty) from I-Ching is linked to Mr. Zhang’s humble approach and analyze how the six parts of the hexagram of Qian are related to the six development stages of the Haier Group. These insights are used to give some thoughts to the leadership challenge associated with the creation of a dynamic and responsive global organization.