Search results

This paper aims to theoretically and empirically demonstrate the role played by business continuity management (BCM) to address risks such as trade conflicts and natural disasters. This paper also answers whether compliance with international standards such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 22301 is adequate.

A case study of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei is conducted to examine how a robust end-to-end BCM system has been established in two decades and in what way it has helped Huawei to efficiently maintain growth under pressure, such as being added to the “Entity List” and the pandemic.

Huawei case contributes to BCM theory in its approach to establishing the BCM system and its well-established BCM model. Huawei establishes and continually improves its BCM system by applying the Plan (establish), Do (implement and operate), Check (monitor and review) and Act (maintain and improve) cycle. Characterized as 4Ps: BCM policy, BCM process, incident management plan and business continuity plan, Huawei BCM system is shaped into a loop with end-to-end BCM process, covering all steps along its value chain – from suppliers and partners to Huawei itself and then on to its customers – with key initiatives for all domains such as R&D, procurement, manufacturing, logistics and global technical services. In practice, implementing international standards such as ISO 22301 enables Huawei to develop business continuity but not enough. Optimizing the BCM system is an ongoing effort, and BCM maturity is ever present: continually improving Huawei’s own BCM system and benchmarking against best practices available worldwide.

Apart from the case study, other methods such as counter-factual analysis can be used to further test whether Huawei’s BCM system is cost-effective. Another direction for future study is whether suggested BCM maturity levels should be supplemented into ISO 22301. In the digital age, how to use digitalization to ensure business continuity is a current issue not just for practitioners such as Huawei but also for researchers worldwide.

In practice, implementing international standards such as ISO 22301 enables Huawei to develop business continuity but not enough. Optimizing the BCM system is an ongoing effort, and BCM maturity is ever present: continually improving Huawei’s own BCM system and benchmarking against best practices available worldwide.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to focus on how an organization continually improves the suitability, adequacy and effectiveness of its BCM system, with special attention to standards compliance.

Despite its crucial role in ensuring food safety, traceability remains underutilized by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a vital component of China’s agricultural supply chain, thereby compromising the integrity of the supply chain traceability system. Therefore, this study sets out to explore the factors influencing SMEs’ adoption of traceability systems and the impact of these factors on SMEs’ intent to adopt such systems. Furthermore, the study presents a model to deepen understanding of system adoption in SMEs and provides a simulation demonstrating the evolutionary trajectory of adoption behavior.

This study considers the pivotal aspects of system adoption in SMEs, aiming to identify the influential factors through a grounded theory-based case study. Concurrently, it seeks to develop a mathematical model for SMEs’ adoption patterns and simulate the evolution of SMEs’ adoption behaviors using the Q-learning algorithm.

The adoption of traceability among SMEs is significantly influenced by factors such as system attributes, SMEs’ capability endowment, environmental factors and policy support and control. However, aspects of the SMEs’ capability endowment, specifically their learning rate and decay rate, have minimal impact on the adoption process. Furthermore, group pressure can expedite the attainment of an equilibrium state, wherein all SMEs adopt the system.

This study fills the existing knowledge gap about the adoption of traceability by SMEs in China’s agricultural supply chain. This study represents the pioneer study that identifies the factors influencing SMEs’ adoption and examines the effects of these factors on their traceability adoption, employing a multi-methodological approach that incorporates grounded theory, mathematical modeling and the Q-learning algorithm.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the application of non-destructive testing methods in measuring bearing oil film thickness to ensure that bearings are in a normal lubrication state. The oil film thickness is a crucial parameter reflecting the lubrication status of bearings, directly influencing the operational state of bearing transmission systems. However, it is challenging to accurately measure the oil film thickness under traditional disassembly conditions due to factors such as bearing structure and working conditions. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a nondestructive testing method to measure the oil film thickness and its status.

This paper introduces methods for optically, electrically and acoustically measuring the oil film thickness and status of bearings. It discusses the adaptability and measurement accuracy of different bearing oil film measurement methods and the impact of varying measurement conditions on accuracy. In addition, it compares the application scenarios of other techniques and the influence of the environment on detection results.

Ultrasonic measurement stands out due to its widespread adaptability, making it suitable for oil film thickness detection in various states and monitoring continuous changes in oil film thickness. Different methods can be selected depending on the measurement environment to compensate for measurement accuracy and enhance detection effectiveness.

This paper reviews the basic principles and latest applications of optical, electrical and acoustic measurement of oil film thickness and status. It analyzes applicable measurement methods for oil film under different conditions. It discusses the future trends of detection methods, providing possible solutions for bearing oil film thickness detection in complex engineering environments.

This review provides an overview of recent advances in electrochemical sensors for analyte detection in saliva, highlighting their potential applications in diagnostics and health care. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the current state of the field, identify challenges and limitations and discuss future prospects for the development of saliva-based electrochemical sensors.

The paper reviews relevant literature and research articles to examine the latest developments in electrochemical sensing technologies for saliva analysis. It explores the use of various electrode materials, including carbon nanomaterial, metal nanoparticles and conducting polymers, as well as the integration of microfluidics, lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices and wearable/implantable technologies. The design and fabrication methodologies used in these sensors are discussed, along with sample preparation techniques and biorecognition elements for enhancing sensor performance.

Electrochemical sensors for salivary analyte detection have demonstrated excellent potential for noninvasive, rapid and cost-effective diagnostics. Recent advancements have resulted in improved sensor selectivity, stability, sensitivity and compatibility with complex saliva samples. Integration with microfluidics and LOC technologies has shown promise in enhancing sensor efficiency and accuracy. In addition, wearable and implantable sensors enable continuous, real-time monitoring of salivary analytes, opening new avenues for personalized health care and disease management.

This review presents an up-to-date overview of electrochemical sensors for analyte detection in saliva, offering insights into their design, fabrication and performance. It highlights the originality and value of integrating electrochemical sensing with microfluidics, wearable/implantable technologies and point-of-care testing platforms. The review also identifies challenges and limitations, such as interference from other saliva components and the need for improved stability and reproducibility. Future prospects include the development of novel microfluidic devices, advanced materials and user-friendly diagnostic devices to unlock the full potential of saliva-based electrochemical sensing in clinical practice.

This study aims to test the relationship between emotional labor and service quality of the frontline employees of Chinese restaurants during the coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19). This study further investigated the mediating role of work fatigue (WF) and the moderating role of supervisor–subordinate Guanxi (SSG).

The authors used a time-lag approach to gather data from a sample of 365 frontline staff members working in Chinese restaurants. All hypotheses were tested using SPSS and AMOS.

First, restaurant frontline employees’ deep acting was associated with higher service quality, whereas surface acting leads to lower service quality. Second, WF mediated the relationship between emotional labor and service quality. Third, SSG moderated the impact of emotional labor on WF during COVID-19.

All variables measured in this study were self-reported by restaurant frontline employees, which may increase the risk of common-method bias. However, this study enriches the literature on emotional labor, WF and SSG during COVID-19.

COVID-19 has severely affected the hotel, restaurant and catering sector and especially the psychological state and the work performance of frontline employees. Restaurant managers should implement some measures to improve employees’ service quality during COVID-19.

The present findings show that restaurant frontline employees adopted various emotional labor strategies when they were faced with higher than usual job demands and the risk of infection during COVID-19.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have experienced career shocks, especially employees in the hotel industry. To address how to retain talent in the industry, this study aims to examine the joint impacts of employee resilience, work social support and proactive personality on hotel employees’ career change intentions.

A survey questionnaire was developed to test the proposed framework. Data from 339 current hotel employees in the USA was analyzed using the PROCESS model.

Results show a significant three-way interaction, indicating that for less proactive employees, resilience is negatively associated with career change intentions. However, for highly proactive employees, an additional situation cue in the form of strong work social support is required to activate the expression of resilience. Highly proactive and resilient employees who receive strong supervisor or coworker support during the pandemic have lower career change intentions. However, highly proactive employees who receive weak supervisor or coworker support exhibit similar levels of career change intentions, regardless of resilience level.

Hotel managers should consider helping employees enhance their resilience and overcome career shocks by providing training and resources and establishing a learning culture. More importantly, it is essential to offer strong supervisor and coworker support to promote resilience among proactive employees. Hotel managers should actively promote strong work social support, and offer training and counseling opportunities to promote employee retention during the pandemic.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine employee resilience in the hospitality field. This study contributes to the employee resilience literature as well as trait activation theory by examining situational cues that can activate employee resilience and by providing empirical evidence to reveal the boundary conditions of how employee resilience impacts career change intentions.

This research aims to find out the reasons why Chinese people prefer domestic products. The authors examine the effect of consumer ethnocentrism (CE), social norms (SNs) and national identity (NI) on willingness to buy (WTB) domestic products in two time points and test the product category differences and age group differences.

Two survey studies (n₁ = 314; n₂ = 346) were conducted in China in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The authors measured CE, SNs, NI and WTB domestic products in both studies and WTB four categories of products in study 2. Multiple hierarchical linear regression was conducted to test the hypotheses.

In study 1, the authors found that SNs and NI significantly predicted WTB domestic products, but CE did not. In study 2, the authors found that all three indicators significantly predicted WTB domestic products. CE played a significant and consistent role in different product categories, while SNs and NI had inconsistent effects. NI predicted WTB domestic products for younger people but not for older people.

This research is the first to examine CE, SNs and NI in the same study and the first to explore the role of SNs and NI in WTB domestic products in China. It promotes the understanding of CE and other related factors, increases the knowledge of Chinese consumers’ purchasing behavior and indicates the power of the situation. Practical implications are also discussed.

This study aims to explore the mediating role of digital technologies-based supply chain integrating (SCI) strategies on the agri-supply chain performance (SCP) and firm performance (FP). This research has introduced recently emerged digital technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT). Further, based on theoretical support and an extensive literature review, this research has proposed some hypotheses, which have been quantitatively validated for their significance.

A conceptual model was formulated based on an extensive literature review. Data for this research were gathered from a survey completed by 119 respondents from different departments of agri-firms. Further, partial least square (PLS)-based structured equation modelling (SEM) was used to test the proposed hypothetical model.

The results confirm that IoT-based digital technologies and supply chain processes (organization integration [OI], information sharing and customer integration [CI]) have a significant positive correlation. Furthermore, supply chain practices are positively associated with SCP. Finally, it has been found that FP is positively impacted by SCP.

This research is used to analyse the mediating impacts of digital supply chain processes as a linking strategy for SCP and FP. For practical purposes, this research provides investment decisions for implementing digital technologies in SC strategies. The findings have proposed implications for managers and practitioners in agri-firms based on existing theories: contingency theory (CT) and relational view theory. Also, this study suggests the deployment of smarter electronically based tags and readers, which improve the data analytics capabilities based on auto-captured data. Thus, the availability of quality information improves the data-driven decisional capabilities of managers at company level.

This is a unique and original study exploring the relationship between digitalization, resilient agri-food supply chain (AFSC) management practices and firm performance. This research may be extended to other industries in view of the results from SCP and impact of digitalization.