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1 – 10 of 12Fanbo Meng, Yixuan Liu, Xiaofei Zhang and Libo Liu
Effectively engaging patients is critical for the sustainable development of online health communities (OHCs). Although physicians’ general knowledge-sharing, which is free to the…
Abstract
Purpose
Effectively engaging patients is critical for the sustainable development of online health communities (OHCs). Although physicians’ general knowledge-sharing, which is free to the public, represents essential resources of OHCs that have been shown to promote patient engagement, little is known about whether such knowledge-sharing can backfire when superfluous knowledge-sharing is perceived as overwhelming and anxiety-provoking. Thus, this study aims to gain a comprehensive understanding of the role of general knowledge-sharing in OHCs by exploring the spillover effects of the depth and breadth of general knowledge-sharing on patient engagement.
Design/methodology/approach
The research model is established based on a knowledge-based view and the literature on knowledge-sharing in OHCs. Then the authors test the research model and associated hypotheses with objective data from a leading OHC.
Findings
Although counterintuitive, the findings revealed an inverted U-shape relationship between general knowledge-sharing (depth and breadth of knowledge-sharing) and patient engagement that is positively associated with physicians’ number of patients. Specifically, the positive effects of depth and breadth of general knowledge-sharing increase and then decrease as the quantity of general knowledge-sharing grows. In addition, physicians’ offline and online professional status negatively moderated these curvilinear relationships.
Originality/value
This study further enriches the literature on knowledge-sharing and the operations of OHCs from a novel perspective while also offering significant specific implications for OHCs practitioners.
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Chunhsien Wang, Tachia Chin, Yuan Yin Chiew and Cinzia Capalbo
Drawing upon insights from knowledge-based theory and the learning perspective, this study aims to explore safeguarding strategies in open innovation. Geographic diversity and…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing upon insights from knowledge-based theory and the learning perspective, this study aims to explore safeguarding strategies in open innovation. Geographic diversity and collaborative breadth can effectively protect proprietary innovations that limit knowledge leakage concerns.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a cross-industry sample from the Taiwanese Technological Innovation Survey III, which covered 1,519 firms, the authors investigate the conditions under which partnership portfolios affect radical innovation.
Findings
The findings suggest that the partnership portfolio has an inverted U-shaped influence on radical innovation and that this relationship is moderated by geographic diversity and collaborative breadth. This work identifies a balance in the tension between diverse partnership portfolios and knowledge leakage with regard to open innovation activities.
Practical implications
This study provides senior managers with an indication of the relationships between partnership portfolios and innovative knowledge protection, identifying the geographic diversity and collaborative breadth that serve as safeguards to prevent leakages of a firm’s innovative knowledge.
Originality/value
This study makes an original contribution to the empirical exploration of innovation knowledge protection and provides new insights into the field of open innovation. The authors, thus, balance the tension between partnership portfolios and knowledge leakage.
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Zhuang Qian, Charles X. Wang and Haiying Yang
This research aims to empirically investigate the impacts of product and international diversification strategies on firm-level inventory performance.
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to empirically investigate the impacts of product and international diversification strategies on firm-level inventory performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This study empirically examines the associations between product and international diversification strategies and inventory performance based on a sample of 64,124 observations across 7,367 US publicly traded firms between 1989 and 2019 from the COMPUSTAT Segment, Fundamental Annual and Fundamental Quarterly data files. We employ both linear and nonlinear regression models to perform our empirical analysis.
Findings
This research provides strong evidence that there exists a U-shaped relationship between unrelated product diversification and inventory level and a partially inverted U-shaped relationship between international diversification and inventory level. We also find a positive impact of related product diversification on inventory level, but there is no significant curvilinear relationship between related product diversification and inventory level.
Practical implications
Our research findings offer important insights into top management’s strategic planning for diversification strategies and operations manager’s inventory control policies to achieve the strategic fit between corporate diversification and inventory management.
Originality/value
Product and international diversification strategies not only play an essential role in the firm’s competitive advantage, but also have a significant influence on operations manager’s inventory decision. This research is among the first to systematically investigate how top management’s related product, unrelated product and international diversification strategies may have complex nonlinear impacts on inventory performance.
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Yang S. Yang, Xiaojin Sun, Mengge Li and Tingting Yan
This study investigates the extent to which a firm’s centrality and autonomy in its supply network are associated with the intensity and complexity of its competitive actions.
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the extent to which a firm’s centrality and autonomy in its supply network are associated with the intensity and complexity of its competitive actions.
Design/methodology/approach
Utilizing social network analysis and dynamic panel data models, this study analyzes a comprehensive panel dataset with 10,802 firm-year observations across various industries between 2011 and 2018 to test the hypotheses.
Findings
Our findings show that a firm’s level of centrality in its supply network has an inverted U-shaped relationship with both competitive intensity and competitive complexity. In addition, the turning points of these two inverted U-shaped relationships differ in that firms with a lower level of centrality tend to compete aggressively by launching more actions within fewer categories, while firms with a higher level of centrality tend to compete aggressively by launching fewer actions that cover a larger range of categories. Finally, we find that a firm’s structural autonomy has a positive relationship with competitive complexity.
Originality/value
This study bridges the gap between the supply chain management literature and strategic management literature and investigates how supply networks shape competitive aggressiveness. In particular, this research investigates how a firm’s structural position in its supply network affects its competitive actions, an important intermediate mechanism for competitive advantage that has been overlooked in the supply chain management literature.
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Hailong Ju, Yiting Fang and Yezhen Zhu
Prior literature has long argued that knowledge networks contain great opportunities for innovation, and researchers can identify these opportunities using the properties of…
Abstract
Purpose
Prior literature has long argued that knowledge networks contain great opportunities for innovation, and researchers can identify these opportunities using the properties of knowledge networks (PKNs). However, previous studies have examined only the relationship between structural PKNs (s-PKNs) and innovation, ignoring the effect of qualitative PKNs (q-PKNs), which refer to the quality of the relationship between two elements. This study aims to further investigate the effects of q-PKNs on innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a panel data set of 2,255 patents from the Chinese wind energy industry, the authors construct knowledge networks to identify more PKNs and examine these hypotheses.
Findings
The results show that q-PKNs significantly influence recombinant innovation (RI), reflecting the importance of q-PKNs analysed in this study. Moreover, the results suggest that the combinational potential of an element with others may be huge at different levels of q-PKNs.
Originality/value
This study advances the understanding of PKNs and RI by exploring how q-PKNs impact RI. At different levels of PKNs, the potential of the elements to combine with others and form innovation are different. Researchers can more accurately identify the opportunities for RI using two kinds of PKNs. The findings also provide important implications on how government should provide support for R&D firms.
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Malika Neifar, Amira Ghorbel and Kawthar Bouaziz
This study attempts to come in help for Morocco by investigating rigorously the linkage between environmental degradation, measured by ecological footprint (EF), and the gross…
Abstract
Purpose
This study attempts to come in help for Morocco by investigating rigorously the linkage between environmental degradation, measured by ecological footprint (EF), and the gross domestic product growth (EG), the human capital (HC) index and the natural resources (NR) depletion over the period of 1980:Q1 to 2021:Q1. The paper examines the validity of environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in the Moroccan context.
Design/methodology/approach
Unlike previous studies, which are based only on the autoregressif dynamic linear (ARDL) model, this paper investigates two recent models: the novel DYNARDL simulation approach and the Kernel-based regularized least squares (KRLS) technics and uses in addition the frequency domain causality (FDC) test.
Findings
Models output say a significant and negative association between HC and the EF and a significant and positive interplay between economic growth and environmental quality in the long term. In the short term, findings reveal a significant and negative association between NR and the EF. Based on the FDC test, results conclude about a unidirectional causality from NR to the EF in short-, medium-, and long-term. Moreover, results validate the EKC hypothesis for the Moroccan environment sustainability.
Originality/value
In this study, the researchers use the “ecological footprint” as dependent variable to obtain more accurate and comprehensive assessment of environmental deterioration. Based on time series data investigations, this study is the first paper, which validates the EKC hypothesis and develops important policy implications for Morocco context to achieve sustainable development targets.
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Sobhan Pandit, Milan K. Mondal, Dipankar Sanyal, Nirmal K. Manna, Nirmalendu Biswas and Dipak Kumar Mandal
This study aims to undertake a comprehensive examination of heat transfer by convection in porous systems with top and bottom walls insulated and differently heated vertical walls…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to undertake a comprehensive examination of heat transfer by convection in porous systems with top and bottom walls insulated and differently heated vertical walls under a magnetic field. For a specific nanofluid, the study aims to bring out the effects of different segmental heating arrangements.
Design/methodology/approach
An existing in-house code based on the finite volume method has provided the numerical solution of the coupled nondimensional transport equations. Following a validation study, different explorations include the variations of Darcy–Rayleigh number (Ram = 10–104), Darcy number (Da = 10–5–10–1) segmented arrangements of heaters of identical total length, porosity index (ε = 0.1–1) and aspect ratio of the cavity (AR = 0.25–2) under Hartmann number (Ha = 10–70) and volume fraction of φ = 0.1% for the nanoparticles. In the analysis, there are major roles of the streamlines, isotherms and heatlines on the vertical mid-plane of the cavity and the profiles of the flow velocity and temperature on the central line of the section.
Findings
The finding of a monotonic rise in the heat transfer rate with an increase in Ram from 10 to 104 has prompted a further comparison of the rate at Ram equal to 104 with the total length of the heaters kept constant in all the cases. With respect to uniform heating of one entire wall, the study reveals a significant advantage of 246% rate enhancement from two equal heater segments placed centrally on opposite walls. This rate has emerged higher by 82% and 249%, respectively, with both the segments placed at the top and one at the bottom and one at the top. An increase in the number of centrally arranged heaters on each wall from one to five has yielded 286% rate enhancement. Changes in the ratio of the cavity height-to-length from 1.0 to 0.2 and 2 cause the rate to decrease by 50% and increase by 21%, respectively.
Research limitations/implications
Further research with additional parameters, geometries and configurations will consolidate the understanding. Experimental validation can complement the numerical simulations presented in this study.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the field by integrating segmented heating, magnetic fields and hybrid nanofluid in a porous flow domain, addressing existing research gaps. The findings provide valuable insights for enhancing thermal performance, and controlling heat transfer locally, and have implications for medical treatments, thermal management systems and related fields. The research opens up new possibilities for precise thermal management and offers directions for future investigations.
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Litao Zhong, Lei Wen and Zhimin Wang
This paper aims to explore the interplay between industrial diversity and sustainable economic development in US counties.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the interplay between industrial diversity and sustainable economic development in US counties.
Design/methodology/approach
Among other popularly used measures, this study uses an underused measure, Hachman index, to gauge the degree of industrial diversity in the models. To capture the impact of industrial diversity on the local community, this study estimates the relationship of two diversity measures to four traditional socioeconomic indicators: per capita personal income growth, gross domestic product per worker, income inequality ratio and poverty rate.
Findings
Statistical results suggest that industrial diversity, which is measured by Hachman index, is significantly related to the four socio-economic indicators. Industrial diversity can positively contribute to regional per capita personal income growth and mitigate income inequality and poverty stress; however, it is negatively related to the gross domestic product (GDP) per worker, which means industrial specialization may contribute to GDP per worker growth.
Originality/value
The findings of this study show that there is a nonlinear relationship between industrial diversity and all socioeconomic indicators. Most of the control variables, human capital variables and business and industry profile variables also display significant and positive impacts on economic development.
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Mosab I. Tabash, Umar Farooq and Adel Ahmed
Due to an increase in energy demands, it has become vital to devise efficient energy policies. Literature has suggested multiple factors influencing the consumption of specific…
Abstract
Purpose
Due to an increase in energy demands, it has become vital to devise efficient energy policies. Literature has suggested multiple factors influencing the consumption of specific energy types. Among others, institutional quality (INQ) is another factor that can determine energy consumption. Given this, the current study aimed to investigate the impact of INQ on fossil fuel energy (FFE) and renewable energy consumption (REC).
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical analysis was conducted on 20 years (2000–2019) of data from South Asian economies, and regression among variables was established by employing the dynamic ordinary least square and fully modified ordinary least square models. The selection of both techniques is subject to the existence of cointegration identified by the Johansen cointegration test. Other pre-estimation techniques include cross-section dependence and unit root testing validating the estimation of coefficients in the long run.
Findings
The analysis mainly reveals the negative impact of INQ on FFE and the positive impact of INQ on REC. The authors further find the asymmetric impact of control variables including foreign direct investment inflow, economic growth, inflation rate, financial sector development and energy investment on the consumption of both types of energy.
Research limitations/implications
Given the positive influence of INQ on REC, it is recommended to focus on improving the efficiency of institutions specifically those that are directly linked with energy-related policies. A better INQ can ensure environmental sustainability by enhancing the consumption of renewable energy. Therefore, it is advised to exert more efforts to improve the INQ.
Practical implications
In view of the positive influence of INQ on REC, it is recommended to focus on improving the efficiency of institutions specifically that are directly linked with energy-related policies. A better INQ can ensure environmental sustainability by enhancing the consumption of renewable energy. Therefore, it is advised to exert more efforts for improving the INQ.
Originality/value
This study offers robustness to the empirical findings of existing literature on the INQ-REC nexus and complements the underdeveloped literature on the INQ-FFE relationship.
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Cosimo Magazzino and Fabio Gaetano Santeramo
In this paper, the heterogeneity of the linkages among financial development, productivity and growth across income groups is emphasized.
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, the heterogeneity of the linkages among financial development, productivity and growth across income groups is emphasized.
Design/methodology/approach
An empirical analysis is conducted with an illustrative sample of 130 economies over the period 1991–2019 and classified into four subsamples: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), developing, least developed and net food importing developing countries. Forecast error variance decompositions and panel vector auto-regressive estimations are computed, with insightful findings.
Findings
Higher levels of output stimulate the economic development in the agricultural sector, mainly via the productivity channel and, in the most developed economies, also through access to credit. Differently, in developing and least developed economies, the role of access to credit is marginal. The findings have practical implications for stakeholders involved in the planning of long-run investments. In less developed economies, priorities should be given to investments in technology and innovation, whereas financial markets are more suited to boost the development of the agricultural sector of developed economies.
Originality/value
The authors conclude on the credit–output–productivity nexus and contribute to the literature in (at least) three ways. First, they assess how credit access, agricultural output and agricultural productivity are jointly determined. Second, they use a novel approach, which departs from most of the case studies based on single-country data. Third, they conclude on potential causality links to conclude on policy implications.
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