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1 – 10 of over 2000Zhi-Fei Li, Jia-Wei Zhao and Shengliang Deng
This paper investigates the current psychological state of Chinese tourism practitioners and their career resilience during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It empirically examines…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates the current psychological state of Chinese tourism practitioners and their career resilience during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It empirically examines the effects of COVID-19 on Chinese tourism practitioners' professional attitudes and their career belief in the future. The study is intended to guide enterprises and governments to design effective strategies/policies to deal with the effect of this unfavorable environment.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample consists of 442 tourism practitioners in 313 tourism enterprises in China. The data were collected via a targeted online survey based on a well-structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using statistical procedures including multilevel regression analysis.
Findings
The study results show that Chinese tourism practitioners have strong career resilience in the face of current turbulent time. After testing, the model shows that career beliefs and social support have a significant positive impact on the professional attitudes of tourism practitioners, and that career resilience has a partial mediating effect on their career beliefs, social support and professional attitude.
Originality/value
This study enriches the existing literature on career belief, social support and career resilience. It provides a new interpretation on how career belief and social support impact career resilience and thus shape tourism practitioners' professional attitudes during pandemics.
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This study provides a configurational examination of how policy designs influence the innovation performance of the emergency industry in China.
Abstract
Purpose
This study provides a configurational examination of how policy designs influence the innovation performance of the emergency industry in China.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employs the Data Envelopment Analysis Malmquist index (DEA-Malmquist) to quantify the innovation performance of the emergency industry and then codes the innovation policies to calculate the syntactic components based on institutional grammar tools (IGTs). The configurations of syntactic components were determined by applying the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).
Findings
The results indicate that rules- and norms-oriented policy designs would improve the innovation performance of China's emergency industry. In the developed provinces, the “Deontic” and “aIm” combinations in the policy are useful for improving performance. In the developing provinces, the ambiguity of the “aIm” and “Context” conditions in the policy is leading to low performance. Additionally, a lack of strategy-oriented policy design would also result in poor performance.
Originality/value
Most previous studies used substitute variables to understand policy impacts. This study contributes to identifying the impacts of the syntactic components of policy designs on the innovation performance of the emergency industry. The findings can assist policymakers in developing more effective policies to stimulate innovation development in the emergency industry.
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The purpose of this paper is to apply a fuzzy LinPreRa cognitive map to evaluate the interaction and importance of factors affecting the development of strategic alliance…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to apply a fuzzy LinPreRa cognitive map to evaluate the interaction and importance of factors affecting the development of strategic alliance partnerships between the outlying island duty-free shops and existing collaboration firms in duty-free shops. Meanwhile, the key factors should be considered in establishing strategic alliance partnerships while analyzing and comparing the perspectives of owners for outlying island duty-free shop and partner vendors of collaborating firms along with differences of influencing key factors on partnership quality.
Design/methodology/approach
This study incorporates a fuzzy linguistic preference relation analytical network process (fuzzy LinPreRa ANP) in the fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) method to formulate a fuzzy LinPreRa cognitive map to evaluate the interactions and importance of key factors and the conditions of interactive impacts during the establishment of strategic alliance partnerships. The authors use the outlying island duty-free shops in Taiwan as the empirical subject to illustrate how the fuzzy LinPreRa cognitive map is applied. In-depth, interviews and questionnaire surveys are conducted to collect and evaluate respondents concerning key factors affecting strategic alliance partnerships establishment.
Findings
The following three findings based on the results of empirical analysis: first, the administrative behavioral patterns of managers for strategic alliance partnerships encompass shared values and goal coherence, while the associative statements are located on the first layer of fuzzy LinPreRa cognitive map core associations, which illustrates that businesses attach great importance to conceptual ideas. Second, integrity and reputations of both parties are the governing mechanism of strategic alliance partnerships, influencing mutual reputation. Third, the relationship of strategic alliance partnerships refers to the profit opportunities of both parties and their ability to respond to the market, including future development, regional indicators, marketing capabilities, brand multiplicity and customer retention. However, it can be inferred that such associative factors are located in the outer layer or belong to noncore associations, which means that both parties’ abilities to respond to market reactions are weakened.
Practical implications
This study provides valuable relationship managerial strategies to maintain long-term partnerships for outlying island duty-free shops and their alliance collaborating firms including strengthened relationships of both parties’ managers to achieve common values and consistent objectives; improved beneficial value of both parties in strategic alliance partnerships; continued close communications to enhance the quality of strategic alliance partnerships; and establishment of personnel training mechanisms and strict formulation of management rules for strategic alliance partnerships.
Originality/value
The main valuable contributions are included the fuzzy LinPreRa cognitive map by combining two different decision methods including FCM and fuzzy LinPreRa ANP is proposed to help decision makers to improve the evaluation quality and calculation efficiency for critical elements’ interaction and importance; the fuzzy LinPreRa cognitive map can clarify considering significant factors when maintaining strategic alliance partnerships and further provide valuable relationship managerial strategies to maintain long-term relationships for duty-free shop owners and their alliance collaborating firms.
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Wei Jia and J. Alexander Nuetah
Market integration in China is still progressing, while the border effects of trade among regions still exist. The question of whether eliminating or weakening regional bias can…
Abstract
Purpose
Market integration in China is still progressing, while the border effects of trade among regions still exist. The question of whether eliminating or weakening regional bias can promote of China's agricultural trade still remains an important issue. This paper analyzes the impact of regional bias on China's agricultural trade.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper constructs a pure exchange computable general equilibrium model of nine regions and three sectors, and analyzes the impact of regional bias on China's regional agricultural trade; Comparing the differences of regional bias on China's inter-regional and external agricultural trade, the paper especially analyzes the impact of the agricultural imports and exports in eight regions of China.
Findings
The results show that regional bias has had substantial impacts on China's agricultural trade. Elimination of regional bias would therefore increase China's agricultural exports and imports by factors of 1.32 and 1.63, respectively while its agricultural trade deficit would increase by 84%. Inter-regional agricultural trade in China would increase by 3.53 times. With the elimination of regional bias, the Northern coastal, Central and Northwestern regions would have the largest increase in inter-regional agricultural trade. Unlike the Northern coastal region, inter-regional agricultural import in the Central and Northwestern regions tends to be greater than inter-regional agricultural exports.
Originality/value
This paper thus aims to fill existing gap in investigating the impacts of regional bias on China's agricultural trade. Firstly, the model proposed in this paper does not only consider the linkage between the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors, but also the inter-regional agricultural trade linkages of the different regions in China. Secondly, the authors decompose home bias into national and regional biases and assess how regional bias affects agricultural trade of the various regions of China.
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Yunyun Yuan, Lifeng Yang, Xiangyang Cheng and Jia Wei
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships among knowledge attributes (complexity and implicitness), interpersonal distrust, knowledge hiding (KH) and team efficacy…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships among knowledge attributes (complexity and implicitness), interpersonal distrust, knowledge hiding (KH) and team efficacy and second, to explore a new dimension of KH.
Design/methodology/approach
Data for this research were collected from more than 940 employees working in manufacturing, information technology (IT), finance and the purification industry. Structural equation modeling was used to test hypothesized relationships.
Findings
First, the research confirmed the existence of bullying hiding behaviors in the knowledge economy era based on “knowledge power.” Second, the findings suggest that knowledge attributes are an important predictor of KH behaviors in organizations. The findings implicate the mediating effect of interpersonal distrust and the moderating role of team efficacy, while team efficacy negatively moderated the relationships between interpersonal distrust with evasive hiding and playing dumb, but positively moderated the relationship between interpersonal distrust with rationalized hiding and bullying hiding.
Originality/value
This is the first study to propose bullying hiding, a behavior that has emerged in organizational knowledge transfer, and it is more detrimental to knowledge sharing than other KH behaviors. The results of research on the different regulating effects of team efficacy on KH behaviors enrich the boundary conditions of KH research.
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Jia Wei Chin, Michael J Mustafa and Melati Nungsari
Adopting an institutional view of entrepreneurship, this study aims to explore the potential mediating role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) in the relationship between…
Abstract
Purpose
Adopting an institutional view of entrepreneurship, this study aims to explore the potential mediating role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) in the relationship between subjective norms and the entrepreneurial intentions of Malaysian students. Additionally, social role theory (SRT) was used to examine whether gender acts as a boundary condition in the proposed relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Empirical evidence was based on responses from 220 final-year students registered from a final-year entrepreneurship module at a private university in Malaysia. The hypothesised relationships were tested using Model 7 of the PROCESS macro.
Findings
The findings indicated that subjective norms had a weak but positive effect on the entrepreneurial intentions of Malaysian students. Moreover, ESE was found to mediate the relationship between subjective norms and entrepreneurial intentions. However, contrary to theoretical expectations, gender did not act as a boundary condition in the proposed mediation relationship.
Originality/value
By incorporating SRT with institutional theory, this study sought to address a knowledge gap in the existing literature by investigating and empirically exploring the moderating influence of gender on the mediating effect of ESE in the relationship between subjective norms and entrepreneurial intentions.
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Melati Nungsari, Kirjane Ngu, Jia Wei Chin and Sam Flanders
Youth entrepreneurship has been identified as a key driver in overcoming the economic crisis spurred by youth unemployment. However, the understanding of youth entrepreneurship is…
Abstract
Purpose
Youth entrepreneurship has been identified as a key driver in overcoming the economic crisis spurred by youth unemployment. However, the understanding of youth entrepreneurship is largely based on research in high-income countries. Furthermore, entrepreneurship studies to date are largely limited to the independent effects of individual traits on entrepreneurial intention (EI). Hence, this study aims to model the cognitive and social conditions, mediating processes and interactions to understand how youth EI can be formed and strengthened in an emerging economy.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional sample of 295 Malaysian youths participating in an online entrepreneurship program were included to assess their family socioeconomic background, individual personality traits and EI using regression, mediation and moderation models. Within the sample, 29 youths who completed the program were examined for pre- and post-training intervention differences to identify whether entrepreneurial traits can be developed.
Findings
Results showed that a proactive personality or proactiveness was a key mediator in how an internal locus of control (ILOC) and self-esteem influence EI. Furthermore, ILOC and proactiveness were found to compensate for the lack of parental financial support in the formation of EI among low-income youth. Finally, there was a significant increase in proactive personality scores post-intervention, indicating that this trait can be strengthened through entrepreneurship programs.
Research limitations/implications
This study focused on parental income as an indicator of family socioeconomic background, which may not accurately represent the diversity of the socio-ecological environment of an individual. Therefore, future research should assess the multi-dimensional indicators of socioeconomic status and their relations with psychological attributes in shaping EI. Furthermore, this study observed a small sample size for the pre- and post-intervention analysis. Hence, more studies with large sample sizes are needed to examine the impact of entrepreneurship education.
Practical implications
Considering that entrepreneurship is envisioned as an instrument to lift youths out of poverty, this study has important implications for entrepreneurship programs that target low-income youths. The findings suggest that such programs need to first emphasize developing ILOC and proactiveness among these youths, thus enabling them to overcome various structural barriers toward entrepreneurship, as opposed to a purely knowledge-based learning approach.
Social implications
To effectively lift youths out of poverty through entrepreneurship, policymakers and educational institutions need to first recognize that the EI of youth from varying socioeconomic backgrounds are formed differently. Hence, the approach of entrepreneurship programs catered toward youth from lower socioeconomic backgrounds will differ from programs catered to youths who are financially secure. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, entrepreneurship programs targeted at low-income youths must first emphasize building their mindsets of ILOC and proactivity to overcome financial challenges as opposed to focusing solely on building entrepreneurial skills and knowledge.
Originality/value
The findings offer a more holistic and nuanced view of the contingencies where the efforts of policymakers, educational institutions and practitioners are more likely to succeed in stimulating EI among youths in emerging economies. In addition, the study also bridges the gap between the theoretical understanding of EI and the practical implications of developing effective entrepreneurship programs by combining the cross-sectional analysis and pre- and post-intervention test in the same study. Importantly, the study highlighted the importance of considering youth’s socioeconomic background in the design and implementation of entrepreneurship programs.
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Melati Nungsari, Kirjane Ngu, Denise Wong Ni Shi, Jia Wei Chin, Shu Yee Chee, Xin Shi Wong and Sam Flanders
Entrepreneurship studies have established various antecedents leading to eventual entrepreneurship by measuring entrepreneurial intention (EI). However, evidence has shown that…
Abstract
Purpose
Entrepreneurship studies have established various antecedents leading to eventual entrepreneurship by measuring entrepreneurial intention (EI). However, evidence has shown that intention does not necessarily translate into behaviour, especially for complex behaviours such as creating a business venture. Hence, this paper aims to examine how contextual and individual factors interact with one another to promote or inhibit one’s translation of EI into entrepreneurial action in an emerging economy.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors adopt a retrospective qualitative approach by interviewing 37 Malaysian micro and small business owners. Then, multidimensional scaling is used to examine the interactions between the identified factors.
Findings
The authors find that social networks are the main influence on an individual’s propensity to start a business – it provides financial and social capital, provides other means of support such as practical help and business opportunities and instils passion and drive. Furthermore, organisations such as schools, universities and employers play an important role in instilling the motivation for a career shift to entrepreneurship and by providing opportunities to upskill. In addition, the findings indicate that entrepreneurial traits such as proactiveness, resourcefulness and passion enable individuals to overcome entrepreneurial structural constraints, such as lack of resources and negative action-related emotions. By contrast, the role of macro-environmental factors such as governmental support play less prominent roles in the narratives of the entrepreneurs.
Practical implications
This study has important implications for governments and policymakers in implementing support for those transitioning from salaried employment to self-employment and for entrepreneurship interventions to adopt a holistic approach that encompasses building one’s entrepreneurial knowledge, skills and mindsets, alongside providing external incentives.
Originality/value
The authors provide a more holistic approach to exploring the EI–behaviour gap. In addition, this study explored facilitators and barriers to entrepreneurship specific to the context of an emerging economy such as Malaysia, which is highly dependent on small-scale self-employment.
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Hartmut Hoehle, Jia Wei, Sebastian Schuetz and Viswanath Venkatesh
In the aftermath of data breaches, many firms offer compensation to affected customers to recover from damaged customer sentiments. To understand the effectiveness of such…
Abstract
Purpose
In the aftermath of data breaches, many firms offer compensation to affected customers to recover from damaged customer sentiments. To understand the effectiveness of such compensation offerings, Goode et al. (2017) examined the effects of compensation offered by Sony following the PlayStation Network breach in 2011. Although Goode et al. (2017) present key insights on data breach compensation, it is unclear whether their findings generalize beyond the context of subscription-based gaming platforms whose customers are young and experience substantial switching costs. To address this issue, we conducted a methodological replication in a retail context with low switching costs.
Design/methodology/approach
In our replication, we examine the effects of compensation offered by Home Depot in the aftermath of its data breach in 2014. Home Depot is the largest home improvement retailer in the US and presents a substantially different context. Data were collected from 901 participants using surveys.
Findings
Our results were consistent with the original study. We found that in retail breaches, effective compensation needs to meet customers' expectations because overcompensation or undercompensation leads to negative outcomes, such as decreased repurchase intention.
Originality/value
Our study provides insights into the effectiveness of compensation in the retail context and confirms the findings of Goode et al. (2017).
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Yong-Hua Li, Yang Cao, Yong-Xin Wu, Xiao-Ning Bai and Jia-Wei Mao
This paper aims to establish the relationship between crosswind speed and pantograph-catenary lateral deviation, as well as quantify the influence of crosswind speed and rod size…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to establish the relationship between crosswind speed and pantograph-catenary lateral deviation, as well as quantify the influence of crosswind speed and rod size uncertainty on pantograph-catenary contact reliability.
Design/methodology/approach
The closed vector method is used to establish the pantograph-catenary kinematics formula. A new prediction model is proposed by using the bird swarm algorithm to optimize the grey model. The lateral deviation of the pantograph and catenary is predicted via the new model. Then the relationship between the effective length of the rod and operating mileage is inferred by combining the effective length theory with the Gamma process, as well as the pantograph-catenary contact reliability model is established according to reliability theory.
Findings
The results obtained show the impacts of uncertainty design parameters of pantograph rods on pantograph-catenary contact reliability index, and the results at crosswind speed of 0 ms−1 and 5 ms−1 are 5.0630 and 4.1442, respectively. The reliability decreases with the increasing crosswind speed, and can be greater than the reliability calculated for rod size degradation due to long-term use.
Originality/value
Most preceding works on pantograph-catenary contact reliability were based on principles of dynamics, without considering the pantograph-catenary relative motion. This research reveals the law of pantograph-catenary relative motion for uncertainty design parameters and crosswind, and quantifies the reliability from the angle of kinematics.
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