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This paper aims to examine the optimal promotion strategy of an e-retailer, who may advertise, or launch rebates initiative to encourage consumers' disseminating electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) messages, with an aim to boost product sales.

This paper analyzes the decisions of the e-retailer in a two-period model, using utility function approach and backward induction method, and obtains the optimal solutions in four promotion strategies.

The study finds that rebate scheme greatly impacts the timing of advertising, and neither lower nor higher consumers' eWOM effort invariably benefits the retailer, rather, a medium level is the best choice for the retailer. When eWOM impact power is at a relatively high level, it can supplement advertising effect to attract more consumers' purchase. Otherwise, eWOM may counteract the role of advertising.

Different from the extant literature focusing on advertising or eWOM without rebates, the paper studies the issue of advertising and eWOM with rebates in two- period model which seldom addresses before the authors examine the optimal timing of advertising and eWOM with/without rebates in four promotion strategies i.e. the A-NE model the NE-A model the A-ER model and the ER-A model.

This study aims to integrate the social cognitive theory and flow theory to examine how e-skills self-efficacy (ESSE) and trust-building self-efficacy (TBSE) impact work-related flow in remote work. It also explores how work-related flow (WOLF) mediates the connection between these factors and employee resilience (ER) in the context of the growing shift toward remote work.

The study tested an empirical mediation model with 535 remote workers from Indian organizations that adopted remote work either before or during the pandemic. Hypotheses were tested using Hayes’ PROCESS macro.

The study confirmed the direct influence of ESSE and TBSE on WOLF. Moreover, a mediation analysis demonstrated that WOLF significantly mediates the association linking ESSE, TBSE and ER.

This study, evaluating experienced remote employees in the quaternary sector, offers data-driven insights for informed organizational decisions. These findings aims to guide HR and training departments in formulating recruitment and training strategies, emphasizing digital skill development to enhance knowledge and skills effectively.

This study highlights the need for remote workers and organizations to be aware of the challenges of remote work. It is among the first to explore the link between ESSE, TBSE and ER, addressing psychological factor, i.e. WOLF, often overlooked in organizational contexts.

This study explored whether the critical incident management systems (CIMS) model can predict the EMS performance in the COVID-19 context. Past research has established the significance of early detection and response (ER) in the context of Ebola virus disease (EVD), prompting a question of whether the model can also be helpful in the COVID-19 context. Consequently, the authors assessed whether ER influences the impact of communication capacity (CC), reliable information channel (RC) and environment (EN) on COVID-19 EMS performance. Assessing these relationships will advance emerging infectious disease (EID) preparedness.

The authors employed standardized measurement instruments of the CIMS model (CC, ER, RC and EN) to predict the performance of COVID-19 EMS using structural equation modeling (SEM) in a study of 313 participants from frontline responders.

The results show that the relationship of ER and EN with COVID-19 EMS performance is positive, while that of EN on CC is negative. The relationship between EN and COVID-19 EMS performance was insignificant. Contrary to the hypothesis, CC was negatively significant to COVID-19 EMS performance due to poor communication capacities.

The authors acknowledge some limitations due to challenges faced in this study. First, Data collection was a significant limitation as these questionnaires were built and distributed in June 2020, but the response time was prolonged due to the recurring nature of the pandemic. The authors had wanted to implore the inputs of all stakeholders, and efforts were made to reach out to various Ministry of Health, the local CDC and related agencies in the region via repeated emails explaining the purpose of the study to no avail. The study finally used the frontline workers as the respondents. The authors used international students from various countries as the representatives to reach out to their countries' frontline workers. Second, since the study was only partially supported using the CIMS model, future studies may combine the CIMS model with other models or theories. Subsequent research reassesses this outcome in other contexts or regions. Consequently, further research can explore how CC can be improved with COVID-19 and another future EID in the region. This may improve the COVID-19 EMS performance, thereby expanding the lesson learned from the pandemic and sustaining public health EID response. Additionally, other authors may combine the CIMS model with other emergency management models or theories to establish a fully supported theoretical model in the context of COVID-19.

The findings have practical implications for incident managers, local CDCs, governments, international organizations and scholars. The outcome of the study might inform these stakeholders on future direction and contribution to EID preparedness. This study unfolds the impact of lessons learned in the region demonstrated by moderating early detection and responses with other constructs to achieve COVID-19 EMS performance. The findings reveal that countries that experienced the 2013–2016 Ebola outbreak, were not necessarily more prepared for an epidemic or pandemic, judging by the negative moderating impact of early detection and response. However, these experiences provide a foundation for the fight against COVID-19. There is a need for localized plans tailored to each country's situation, resources, culture and lifestyle. The localized plan will be to mitigate and prevent an unsustainable EID management system, post-epidemic fund withdrawals and governance. This plan might be more adaptable and sustainable for the local health system when international interventions are withdrawn after an epidemic. Public health EID plans must be adapted to each country's unique situation to ensure sustainability and constantly improve EID management of epidemics and pandemics in emergency response. The high to moderate importation risk in African countries shows Africa's largest window of vulnerability to be West Africa (Gilbert et al., 2020). Therefore, they should be in the spotlight for heightened assistance towards the preparedness and response for a future pandemic like COVID-19. The West African region has a low capacity to manage the health emergency to match the population capacities. The COVID-19 outbreak in West Africa undoubtedly inflicted many disruptions in most countries' economic, social and environmental circumstances. The region's unique challenges observed in this study with CC and reliable information channels as being negatively significant highlight the poor maintenance culture and weak institutions due to brain drain and inadequate training and monitoring. This outcome practically informs West African stakeholders and governments on aspects to indulge when trying to improve emergency preparedness as the outcomes from other regions might not be applicable.

This study explored the relevance of the CIMS model in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, revealing different patterns of influence on COVID-19 EMS performance. In contrast to the extant literature on EVD, the authors found the moderating effects of ER in the COVID-19 context. Thus, the authors contribute to the COVID-19 EMS performance domain by developing a context-driven EMS model. The authors discuss the theoretical and practical implications.

Because employees’ positive attitudes and behaviors are important to ensure organizational performance, organizations attempt to carry out human resource practices to shape these attitudes and behaviors. This paper aims to examine this issue by focusing on the effects of training and development (TD) on employee engagement (EE), satisfaction (ES) and retention (ER).

For empirical analysis, the authors use structural equation modeling and data collected from employees in a developing economy.

TD is positively and directly associated with EE, ES and ER. In addition, EE is found to mediate the indirect effects of TD on ES and ER.

The findings suggest some practical implications for TD activities to enhance employees’ positive attitudes and behaviors.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is among the early attempts to examine the direct and indirect effects of TD on EE, ES and ER in a developing economy. The findings add to the growing literature suggesting that TD can contribute to the improvement of employees’ positive attitudes and behaviors.

The study aims to investigate the effect of entrepreneurial leadership (EL), competencies (ECs) and intentions (EIs) on enterprise performance (EP) via entrepreneurial resilience (ER) and risk-taking propensity (RTP).

Data were collected from 403 early-stage small and medium enterprise (SME) owners in Pakistan at two-time intervals and were analyzed using AMOS 22.

All predictors (i.e. EIs, EL and ECs) positively affected EP and ER, except for EL and ER. Furthermore, RTP and ER were serially mediated in linking EIs and ECs with EP but could not establish a link between EL and EP.

The findings reveal that the Pakistani government and business owners must focus on SMEs’ sustained development and prioritize ECs.

This paper is unique in nature, as understanding EIs, EL and ECs in a holistic framework has never been tested before in relation to EP.

Green transition is a long-term direction of corporate development that can achieve sustainable corporate development. This study aims to investigate whether state ownership promotes corporate green transition by mitigating managerial myopia and the impact of environmental regulations, internal controls and ownership on this pathway.

Using data from 2,608 Chinese listed companies for 2010–2019, the authors investigate the relationship between state ownership, managerial myopia and corporate green transition by using fixed-effects and moderated mediation models.

State ownership can boost green transitions and alleviate managerial myopia. Managerial myopia mediates the relationship between state ownership and corporate green transition. Furthermore, environmental regulations, internal controls and ownership moderate the mediating effects of managerial myopia.

The authors construct a multidimensional green transition index to examine the influence of state ownership on corporate green transition behavior and reveal the underlying mechanism by which state ownership promotes green transition by “mitigating managerial myopia.” This study enriches the literature on state ownership, management myopia and green transition and provides important evidence for the promotion of mixed ownership reforms.

In this paper, the authors take the central environmental protection inspection (CEPI) as an exogenous shock to study the reaction of the stock market in China. Using the event study method, the authors check how the first round of the first batch of CEPI supervision affects the cumulative abnormal return (CAR) of the listed firms on the Shenzhen or Shanghai stock exchange. This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned objective.

In this paper, the authors take the first round of the first batch of CEPI supervision as a clean exogenous shock to study its effects on the capital market. The authors collect daily trading data from the China stock market and accounting research (CSMAR) database, with the sample containing 1,950 Chinese firms listed on either the Shenzhen or Shanghai stock exchanges. And detailed information on CEPI supervision is obtained from the official website of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China. The event study method is adopted to analyze the reaction of the stock market under CEPI supervision. Specifically, the authors constructed the cumulative abnormal return of each firm around the event day of CEPI. To capture the deterrent effects of CEPI supervision, the authors examine the situation of polluting and non-polluting firms in the supervised provinces, adjacent provinces and provinces that are not supervised or close to the supervised provinces, respectively.

This paper throws light on the following: (1) the polluting firms in the supervised provinces were negatively impacted by CEPI within 20 trading days of the event day, and its effects spread to the polluting firms in the neighboring provinces; (2) CEPI had a favorable impact on the non-polluting businesses in the provinces that are neither supervised nor close to the supervised provinces. The authors contend that it is because the investment is being forced out of the polluting sector and into the non-polluting sector, which is more pronounced in the provinces not directly or indirectly targeted by CEPI; (3) by comparison, the “looking back monitoring of the first round” has had no discernible detrimental impact on the firms' CAR, indicating an important role of psychology anticipation of investors in the stock market performance; (4) although not physically located in the supervised provinces, the downstream enterprises of the polluting firms suffer significantly from CEPI shock; (5) the effectiveness of CEPI supervision in the supervised provinces depends on the level of local environmental regulation and the ownership structure of the company. Private firms in the provinces with stronger environmental regulations suffer more from the CEPI shock; (6) the multivariate analysis shows that while enterprises with high ROE and financial leverage may be at risk of CAR loss, older, larger firms are less likely to experience CEPI shock; (7) the study of persistent effect reveals that the strike of CEPI supervision can last for at least 10 months after the event day and deterrent effect can be spread within the whole polluting industry.

In this paper, the authors only concentrate on the market reaction within 20 trading days after the event day. An analysis of long-term effects should be valuable to get a deeper knowledge of the capital market reaction to the CEPI policy. In addition, the paper only focuses on the first round of the first batch of CEPI. Since CEPI has been built as a constant regulation of local environmental performance, further study may need to track both the reaction of listed firms and investment behavior in the capital market.

Policy implications of the paper are as follows: First, for the policymakers, it is important to construct a constant environmental regulation system instead of a campaign movement. Second, for investors, as environmental issues are receiving increasing attention from both the government and the public, investment decisions should take into account firms' environmental performance, which can help reduce the risk from environmental regulations. Third, the firms in the polluting industry should take more action to reduce pollutant releases and adopt green technology, which is essential for sustainable development under environmental protection.

This paper contributes to the existing literature in the following aspects. First, the authors provide new evidence on the effects of environmental regulations as a shock to the stock market, which has been wildly concentrated in the literature about environmental policies evaluation and capital market reaction. Second, the authors supplement the literature on green finance and sustainability transformation, which has got increasing attention in recent years. Theoretically, by guiding investment and affecting the stock market performance, environmental regulations are considered to be an efficient way to stimulate polluting firms to transform into green development. The results of the paper support this intuition by showing that the CAR of the non-polluting firms in non-supervised provinces in fact benefit from the CEPI supervision.

Sustainable consumption is an important topic for different industries, including the fashion industry. Despite a favourable attitude of consumers towards sustainable products in the fashion industry, the actual purchase by the consumers is limited. Thus, the present study examines sustainable consumption using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). The purpose of this paper is to study the mediating impact of strategies of justification of unethical behaviour on the gap-based relationship between a purchase intention and a purchase decision for a consumer in a sustainable clothing context.

For the study, the primary data from 229 graduate-level fashion students enrolled in universities across India has been analyzed with the help of structural equation modelling.

The study results have proven that attitudes and subjective norms can positively affect purchase intentions when it comes to purchase of the environmentally sustainable products. Further, economic rationality (ER) and government dependency (GD) partially mediate the purchase intention–behaviour gap of the justification strategies for unethical behaviour.

The results would be helpful in implementing sustainable clothing consumption among Indian consumers. The study would be beneficial for industry professionals, export houses and scholars to discover possible reasons which can lead to the widening of the intention–behaviour gap when it comes to the purchase of the sustainable clothing consumption for Indian consumers. Critical implications for marketers from the present research assert that ER and GD are important factors that could increase the purchase intention of young consumers towards sustainable clothing.

The results of the study contribute to the existing literature in a novel way by adding justification strategies for unethical behaviour to the TPB model. This study is innovative as it adds new constructs to the TPB model by including the three justification strategies that people use for unethical consumption behaviour (ER, economic development and GD) to gain insight into why a purchase intention–behaviour gap exists for sustainable clothing.

This paper aims to solve the major assessment problem in matching the satisfaction of psychological gratification and mission accomplishment pertaining to volunteers with the disaster rescue and recovery tasks.

An extended belief rule-based (EBRB) method is applied with the method's input and output parameters classified based on expert knowledge and data from literature. These parameters include volunteer self-satisfaction, experience, peer-recognition, and cooperation. First, the model parameters are set; then, the parameters are optimized through data envelopment analysis (DEA) and differential evolution (DE) algorithm. Finally, a numerical mountain rescue example and comparative analysis between with-DEA and without-DEA are presented to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method. The proposed model is suitable for a two-way matching evaluation between rescue tasks and volunteers.

Disasters are unexpected events in which emergency rescue is crucial to human survival. When a disaster occurs, volunteers provide crucial assistance to official rescue teams. This paper finds that decision-makers have a better understanding of two-sided match objects through bilateral feedback over time. With the changing of the matching preference information between rescue tasks and volunteers, the satisfaction of volunteer's psychological gratification and mission accomplishment are also constantly changing. Therefore, considering matching preference information and satisfaction at two-sided match objects simultaneously is necessary to get reasonable target values of matching results for rescue tasks and volunteers.

Based on the authors' novel EBRB method, a matching assessment model is constructed, with two-sided matching of volunteers to rescue tasks. This method will provide matching suggestions in the field of emergency dispatch and contribute to the assessment of emergency plans around the world.

This study aims to explore the relationship between the degree of state-owned enterprises’ (SOEs) mixed reform and the environmental response of enterprises, against the background of actively promoting the reform of mixed ownership in China.

The study is conducted on a sample of A-share listed manufacturing companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen of China, investigated for the period 2015 to 2020. The baseline regression results are robust to a series of robustness and endogeneity tests. To deal with the issue of endogeneity, the technique of instrumental variable method has been applied.

The study confirms the U-shaped effect of the depth and restriction of mixed ownership on SOEs’ environmentally responsive behaviour in the manufacturing industry, especially for lower environmental regulation and higher level of risk-taking firms. The findings indicate that the government, shareholders and other stakeholders of enterprises should not simply consider that the mixed reform is directly promoting or reducing the environmental response behaviour of enterprises.

SOEs should improve their shareholding structures to undermine performance enhancement at the expense of the environment and increase environmentally beneficial behaviours. Regulators and governments should improve the institutional mechanism of environmental regulation and make efforts to promote corporate awareness of the environment.

Although the adoption and implementation of environmentally friendly policies are costly, improved environmental response and other social responsibilities are helpful to corporate long-term growth and reputation and obtain more capital market attention. Therefore, firms would benefit from improving their environmental response to protect nature, as well as to enjoy the economic and social benefits of a better environmental response.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is a lack of studies focussing on the environmental behaviour of SOEs of mixed reform. As the mixed reform in China has come to a climax phase in recent several years, SOEs of mixed reform is an ideal environment for research. The study focusses on manufacturing firms as these firms are more susceptible to contribute to environmental pollution, exploitation of natural resources and labour concerns.