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This paper examines the nexus between supply chain social capital (relational social capital and structural social capital), supply chain responsiveness (operations system responsiveness and supplier network responsiveness) and firm performance. Additionally, the study examines the mediating role of supply chain responsiveness on the relationship between supply chain social capital and firm performance.

The authors test their hypotheses on a sample of 120 firms operating in Ghana. The measurement model and hypothesized paths were assessed using partial least squares structural equation modelling.

The findings revealed that structural social capital had a significant direct effect on firm performance, but relational social capital did not. It was also revealed that both relational and structural social capital have significant effects on operations system responsiveness and supplier network responsiveness. Additionally, operations system responsiveness fully mediated the effect of relational social capital on firm performance and partially mediated the effect of structural social capital on firm performance. Supplier network responsiveness, on the other hand, partially mediated the effect of both relational and structural social capital on firm performance.

This study contributes to the limited literature on supply chain social capital by unearthing the mechanisms through which supply chain social capital enhances firm performance. Specifically, the study demonstrates the intervening role of operations system responsiveness and supplier network responsiveness in the supply chain social capital–firm performance link.

Personal influence is one of the most powerful strategies to influence publics’ behaviours. Yet, there is scant attention on how personal influence is leveraged for different public relations purposes in different cultural contexts. This study empirically investigates the presence and use of personal influence among Italian public relations professionals.

A survey was conducted through a self-administrated, web-based questionnaire and was developed from earlier studies investigating personal influence in public relations literature. Survey participants included public relations professionals across public, non-profit and private sectors.

The findings empirically show the presence and regular use of personal influence by professionals from all sectors to cultivate interpersonal relationships. Personal influence is considered a personal resource and used to leverage own influencing power. The findings also document four major manifestations of personal influence, which were named: relational closeness strategy, engagement strategy, expertise strategy and added value strategy.

This study enhances our understanding of personal influence in a specific cultural context and offers strategic insights for international professionals seeking to leverage influence in the socio-political environment of Italy. It also offers elements to improve public relations education and training.

The study offers some preliminary understandings of how Italian professionals leverage their personal influence in their daily public relations activities contributing with empirical evidence to the body of knowledge in public relations.

Migration is on the rise due to globalization and human mobility. This has led to increased impacts that have affected many industries, including the construction industry. A large number of migrants are employed in the construction sector, and employers are challenged to make sure all employees are properly integrated to meet the demands needed for construction projects. This article addresses key differences between migrant and native workers to help hiring departments in the construction industry analyse workers' attitudes based on cultural and motivational factors to have the workforce they need to succeed.

The research used both quantitative and qualitative surveys. A two-part questionnaire, designed through a comprehensive literature review, was carried out to identify key differences between native and migrant workers. The data were obtained and then analysed using different statistical approaches, including factor analysis protocol, factor structure model, reliability analysis, relative importance index and nonparametric test analysis. A semi-structured interview was then conducted to discuss all the findings.

The study indicated that migrant workers, compared to natives, tend to give more importance to their working environment, particularly accommodation, work safety and relations with teammates. Also, migrants typically take a socialistic approach instead of an individual approach while at work and reveal an extensive range of behaviours based on a sense of belonging. It might be more important for migrants to have a place in society, to have a settled life and to be integrated into an established order than to improve their rights and benefits. On the other hand, the study argued that native workers tend to prioritize their benefits at work, such as regular payments for overtime and insurance premiums. Their behaviours might carry a more neutral and individual attitude as well as specific cultural traces.

The study is limited to a sample of participants in the Turkish construction sector. Further research based on more cultural models and motivational factors with a larger group of respondents from different countries could offer better results. The results of the study might not apply to a broad context due to many other factors that affect worker behaviours, such as geography, cultural structures and working conditions. Despite these drawbacks, the present paper may help employers and other stakeholders understand the best way to incorporate migrants into the construction industry.

This research is very important for the construction industry in various countries that are currently employing thousands of migrants. Being able to address the key differences between migrants and native workers based on cultural and motivational factors might help with engagement and create a level of harmony in the field for greater productivity.

This study aims to investigate the impact of regular Kung Fu and Taekwondo practice on the health and quality of life among elderly individuals in the Maule region, Chile.

The authors designed a 12-week Kung Fu and Taekwondo workshop with activities suitable for their age. Through semistructured interviews (at the beginning and the end of the workshop), along with periodic monitoring of vital signs and cardiovascular components, the authors observed an improvement in participants’ physical (strength, speed of reaction and flexibility) and psychological conditions (self-esteem and resilience), quality of life (relationships with family and friends and ability to deal with stressful events in working life) and health (waist circumference, percentage of oxygen saturation in blood, blood pressure, among other values).

From these results, the authors affirm that this workshop improves health and physical condition and helps the participants develop the coping capacity to deal with stressful situations and complicated interpersonal relationships. In this sense, the authors conclude that Kung Fu and Taekwondo as regular sports activities can benefit senior citizens’ aging process.

This research is based on an original study project.

People are more likely to participate in work-related events that might cause positive and negative affective reactions. Prior research linked coworker friendship with incivility; however, few studies investigated negative workplace gossip. Simultaneously, linking coworker friendship with incivility through positive/negative affective responses is lacking. As such, this paper aims to examine this relationship via the dual mediation effect of positive and negative workplace gossip.

A total of 398 subordinates at family restaurants in Greater Cairo were surveyed, and data was analyzed using SmartPLS4.

Coworker friendship significantly influences coworker incivility via positive and negative workplace gossip and other underlying mechanisms.

Managers should take the initiative to decrease gossip by sharing information promptly and thoroughly and establishing effective channels for information exchange. In the case of an informal plan, restaurant managers may seek to create a welcoming and motivating corporate atmosphere and cultivate social ties among subordinates to prevent the creation of negative gossip. Restaurant managers should give victims of negative gossip timely psychological counseling.

This paper contributes to the restaurant literature on affective emotional responses to coworkers’ judgment-driven behavior from new perspectives.

This study aims to construct a mental health service system for middle school students in the post-COVID-19 era with the framework of Six Sigma DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve and control) and analyze the influencing factors of the mental health service system to study the implementation strategies of quality-oriented mental health services in middle schools.

This study was conducted in Tianjin, China, from September to November 2022, and 350 middle school students from Tianjin Public Middle School were selected as subjects. A questionnaire survey was used to collect data. In this study, the Six Sigma DMAIC method, sensitivity analysis method, exploratory factor analysis and principal component analysis were used to analyze the mental health services provided to middle school students.

Based on the Six Sigma DMAIC framework, this study indicates that the contribution rate of the mental health service process factor is the largest in the post-COVID-19 era. The mental health cultivation factor ranks second in terms of its contribution. Mental health quality and policy factors are also important in the construction of middle school students’ mental health service system. In addition, the study highlights the importance of parental involvement and social support in student mental health services during the post-COVID-19 era.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, a study on middle school students’ mental health in the post-Covid-19 era has not yet been conducted. This study developed a quality-oriented mental health system and analyzed the influencing factors of mental health for middle school students based on data analysis and the Six Sigma DMAIC method.

This paper investigates the focal role of close co-worker friendship in reducing incivility. Furthermore, this paper examines negative workplace gossip as a mediator and gender and promotion focus as moderators.

Using a time-lagged approach, 553 full-service restaurant front-line co-workers in Greater Cairo responded. Further, the data were analyzed using SmartPLS v.4.

Promotion focus weakened close co-workers’ friendships, causing them to speak negatively about each other with other co-workers. Multi-group analysis showed that males were more likely to spread negative gossip about their close co-workers and thus were subjected to incivility-related behaviors by their co-workers.

This paper is an early attempt to explore the focal role of promotion focus in the full-service restaurant context. This paper adds to affective events theory (AET) with a limited understanding of explaining and predicting co-worker incivility.

本文擬探討同僚間緊密的友好關係在減少不文明行為方面所扮演的重要角色。此外、本文擬把職場的流言蜚語看作是調解員而對其加以探索; 本文亦把性別和對晉升的關注看作是仲裁人而進行探究。

研究人員使用時間差距法進行研究和探討。數據來自553名於大開羅提供整套服務的餐館內工作的一線員工所給予的回應。研究人員以SmartPLS 結構方程建模軟體第四版 (SmartPLS v.4) 對數據進行分析。

研究人員發現，僱員對晉升的關注削弱了同僚間緊密的友好關係，並驅使他們在其他同事中對同僚作負面的評價。另外，多組分析顯示了男性員工更有可能散播關於其要好同僚的閒言閒語，因此，他們會遭受同僚不文明的待遇。

本研究是早期的嘗試，去探索在提供整套服務餐館的背景下，僱員對晉升的關注所扮演的重要角色。另外，本研究的結果將會添加至情感事件理論 - 該理論就解釋和預測同僚不文明行為所提供的闡釋似有點不足。

Online gaming has emerged as a popular activity providing a social outlet for millions. However, implications of online game networks for mental health remain disputed. Concepts of bridging social capital and bonding social capital may help characterize protective factors within social networks. This study aims to examine the associations between social capital derived from online versus in-person networks and mental health indicators among gamers.

Online gamers (n = 301) completed an online survey assessing their social networks (both in-person and through online gaming) and mental health indicators (depressive symptoms, anxiety, social isolation, perceived social support). Social network analysis was used to analyze bridging (network size, effective size, heterogeneity, weak ties) and bonding (closeness, frequent contact, confiding, connection quality) social capital. Separate linear regression models evaluated associations between bridging and bonding social capital for both online and in-person networks and depressive symptoms, anxiety, social support and social isolation.

In-person network characteristics showed the strongest associations with mental health outcomes. Greater average closeness and frequent confiding in the in-person network predicted lower isolation and fewer depressive symptoms. More diverse relationship types also correlated with lower depression. For online networks, closeness and confiding ties associated only with less isolation and greater support, not depressive symptoms, or anxiety.

While online gaming networks provide some degree of social support, in-person social capital exhibited stronger associations with mental health. This reinforces the importance of face-to-face relationships for emotional well-being. Findings suggest helping gamers cultivate close bonds offline. However, online connections still matter and should not be discounted.

This study aims to investigate how indigenous socio-cultural (ISC) practices within informal networks, such as guanxi and wasta, provide benefits beyond mere access. Specifically, the authors explore their global impact on B2B relationships, focusing on reciprocity. A multiregional sample extends research on ISC practices in B2B relationships by examining contingency effects of informal network ties.

The authors surveyed 404 buyers in two developed (Hong Kong and Portugal) and two emerging economies (Kuwait and Colombia), and also categorized by strong and weak informal network ties. Using structural equation modeling, the authors examined a relationship marketing (RM) model from a typology (Clubs, Sociocracies, Clans and Compadres) for assessing contingency effects.

The study reveals that in developed economies with strong formal institutions, negative aspects of favor reciprocity norms intensify unless informal networks are driven by strict sociomoral obligations. This supports research indicating that contractual governance competes rather than complements relational governance. Moreover, trust-building processes are crucial in regions with low uncertainty tolerance to mitigate adverse effects.

Suppliers from developed nations need more than cultural communication insights when engaging in business in emerging markets. We acknowledge changes buyers may expect adherence to reciprocity rules embedded in the ISC practices of their informal networks.

This study pioneers a typology of social structures to analyze ISC practices across buyers with varying formal institutional strength and informal network ties. It sheds light on institutional dynamics, trust-building processes, and nuances surrounding both positive and negative aspects of reciprocity practices. Furthermore, it broadens the scope of RM to Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

The purpose of this study is to contribute to previous research on customer relationships by quantitatively examining differences in the monetary benefits obtained by consumers using social and commercial relationships to make purchases from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Customer transaction and relationship data from an SME in the USA is used to quantitatively assess the value of different marketplace relationships in an entrepreneurial context. Tobit regression is used to empirically model and test the impact of specific relationship characteristics on customer discounts.

Customers using social connections to make purchases obtain significantly larger discounts than customers using commercial connections; customers using direct connections attain significantly larger discounts than consumers using indirect connections (referrals). Interestingly, when examined by connection type, direct and indirect connections do not produce significant differences for social connections, yet they yield notable differences for commercial connections. The findings provide valuable insights to entrepreneurs for understanding and managing customer relationships.

This study empirically demonstrates that social relationships can be both prevalent and influential in the marketplace. The methodology used to quantitatively assess the monetary value associated with different methods of engaging with SMEs allows objective comparisons among different types of customer relationships. Quantification also allows important relationship characteristics to be empirically examined, including how the relationships compare to one another and to nonpersonal marketing activities. Ultimately, these novel contributions generate important insights to help marketers and entrepreneurs better understand customer relationships.