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This paper seeks to examine how leaders shape employee creativity by using interpersonal emotion management (IEM) strategies. Drawing on the social information processing (SIP) theory, the authors argue that psychological safety translates leader problem-focused IEM into employee creativity, an impact which is moderated by organizational justice.

Data were collected in two waves from 201 employees and their leaders in China. Regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses.

Leader problem-focused IEM is positively related to employee creativity, and this relationship is mediated by psychological safety. Organizational justice positively moderates the relationship between leader problem-focused IEM and psychological safety as well as the indirect relationship between leader problem-focused IEM and employee creativity via psychological safety.

This paper identifies a novel and useful predictor of employee creativity from the perspective of leader problem-focused IEM and provides practical insights for organizations regarding ways of improving employee creativity.

Drawing upon the social identity approach, this research examines whether and how leader–subordinate congruence at high levels of proactive personality facilitates subordinate creativity.

Two different data sets (Study 1: N = 205; Study 2: N = 222) were collected from leader–subordinate dyads in China to provide stronger empirical evidence regarding our hypotheses. Polynomial regression and response surface analyses were used to test our predictions.

Subordinate creativity in the scenario in which the leader and subordinate shared a highly proactive personality (i.e. high–high congruence) was higher than that in the incongruence or low–low congruence scenario. The subordinate's identification with the leader mediated the above relationships such that the indirect relationship between leader–subordinate proactive personality and subordinate creativity via identification with the leader was maximized in the high–high congruence scenario.

The findings suggest that organizations should consider selecting both highly proactive leaders and highly proactive subordinates to facilitate the subordinates' identification and subsequent creativity.

This research highlights the crucial role of leader–subordinate congruence in strong proactive personality for the promotion of creativity and reveals that identification with the leader accounts for the above relationship.

This study aims to explore whether and how workplace loneliness leads to cyberloafing and the role of leader problem-focused interpersonal emotion management in buffering this relationship.

Drawing on ego depletion theory, the authors propose that employees' workplace loneliness leads to cyberloafing via ego depletion, while leader interpersonal emotion management (i.e. leadership behavior targeted at managing employees' negative emotions) can help to alleviate the situation. To test this study’s predictions, the authors collected multisource data at three time points from a sample of 219 employee–colleague dyads.

The results show that workplace loneliness is positively related to cyberloafing and that ego depletion mediates this relationship. Leader problem-focused interpersonal emotion management weakens the relationship between workplace loneliness and ego depletion and the indirect relationship between workplace loneliness and cyberloafing via ego depletion such that the above relationships are weak (versus strong) when leader problem-focused interpersonal emotion management is high (versus low).

The study results suggest that workplace loneliness is an important hidden danger that leads to cyberloafing because lonely employees suffer more from ego depletion. Leaders' interpersonal emotion management strategy serves as a potential buffer for such a negative effect.

The operation safety of the high-speed railway has been widely concerned. Due to the joint influence of the environment, equipment, personnel and other factors, accidents are inevitable in the operation process. However, few studies focused on identifying contributing factors affecting the severity of high-speed railway accidents because of the difficulty in obtaining field data. This study aims to investigate the impact factors affecting the severity of the general high-speed railway.

A total of 14 potential factors were examined from 475 data. The severity level is categorized into four levels by delay time and the number of subsequent trains that are affected by the accident. The partial proportional odds model was constructed to relax the constraint of the parallel line assumption.

The results show that 10 factors are found to significantly affect accident severity. Moreover, the factors including automation train protection (ATP) system fault, platform screen door and train door fault, traction converter fault and railway clearance intrusion by objects have an effect on reducing the severity level. On the contrary, the accidents caused by objects hanging on the catenary, pantograph fault, passenger misconducting or sudden illness, personnel intrusion of railway clearance, driving on heavy rain or snow and train collision against objects tend to be more severe.

The research results are very useful for mitigating the consequences of high-speed rail accidents.

Complicated tubes extensively exist in the industrial equipment. The manufacturing precision of the tubes is difficult to be ensured with bending machine. Therefore, the tubes’ 3D geometric error should be fixed according to measurement results. However, there are no convenient methods to accomplish the measurement accurately and effectively. Thus, this paper aims to propose a new tube measurement method to achieve tube's automatic measurement. The accurate measurement results can be used to fix the geometric error of the tube to achieve stress-free assembly.

Tubes’ shape can be determined by control points. First, the point clouds of the centre line by multi-stereo-vision technology are reconstructed. Then, the point clouds to the spine of the tube are thinned by moving least-squares and segmented into lines and arcs. Finally, the control points are calculated and the model is reconstructed. The authors can get the tube’s geometric dimensions from the model.

The experiment results indicate that the multi-stereo-vision technology can solve the occlusion problem and measure the complicated tubes efficiently and accurately.

The paper proposed a tube measurement method. The repeatability measuring precision was 0.12 mm, and the absolute measuring precision was within 0.78 mm. The tube spectra assessed in this paper are in the range of angles between two adjacent line segments of 3-177° and the shortest length of the line segment is greater than 5 mm, confirming that the proposed algorithm can measure various complicated tubes effectively and accurately.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of knowledge management (KM) in China and its Western origins.

The paper is developed by exploring the existing KM survey results in China. Discussions from KM surveys into Chinese KM practices and the Chinese economy are presented. A discussion of KM in the Chinese service sector provides a set of KM research reviews to examine the current issues and status of KM studies in this area. To understand KM and its importance to people, technology and process for innovation and knowledge sharing on different levels in the service sector in China, this paper is divided into seven distinct parts, which addresses three main KM issues in China, i.e. development and challenges for Chinese economy and service industry, KM research and practice in China and knowledge sharing and innovation with cultural factors. This paper offers guidance to researchers and managers involved in KM efforts to understand how KM is developed in China and what kind of research model is required for Chinese KM studies.

KM surveys in China were based on different purposes and scopes. While Western KM theories did provide a foundation for the KM studies in China, the unique Chinese culture environment requires the Chinese research models. The development of KM in China is still at its early stage. Limitations of the current Chinese KM studies are revealed and the KM status of the Chinese service sector also discussed.

A research model that is suitable for the Chinese KM practices is yet to be formally established.

This paper contrasts the development of KM in China by examining different KM survey results from China. For practitioners, findings provide understanding on how KM is developing. For KM researchers, the understanding of culture and analytic directions of KM studies from the Chinese service sector are discussed.

In this paper, KM development in China revealed, that can provide guidance to researches involved in KM efforts and directing the future path of KM analytic model with a cultural perspective.

The majority of knowledge management theory and practice literature is based on, and relates to, western and Japanese business environments and related assumptions. A number of generic knowledge management cross sectional studies based on Chinese organizations have taken place; however there is a lack of in‐depth critical studies which are culturally grounded and which focus on a particular aspect or domain of knowledge management in Chinese organizations, as opposed to applying western or Japanese knowledge management models and concepts. Hence the paper seeks to make a contribution by carrying out a critical study in knowledge sharing within Chinese organizations that explores the role of culture in relation to the knowledge‐sharing process, where the people‐based aspects of knowledge sharing are likely to be influenced by the prevailing culture. The aim of the paper is to explore the role of knowledge sharing at multiple organizational levels within Chinese service‐based organizations.

Five consulting firms are analyzed within the multi case study, to explore knowledge sharing at multiple levels, where existing literature and preliminary research has shown that consulting organizations in the service sector are more likely to have advanced their understanding of knowledge sharing as a source of innovation and competitiveness. The research methods included interviews (n=40), focus groups (n=10) and observations made during four visits, each of several weeks, to the companies. The five organizations were Chinese owned and at a similar growth stage and hence the effects of external cultures or organizational specific cultures were secondary to that of the prevailing Chinese culture.

The findings show that cultural interpretations of knowledge sharing practices can help in explaining Chinese conceptions and applications of knowledge sharing at multiple organizational levels. Moreover these cultural influences suggest that non‐Chinese conceptions of knowledge sharing can in some circumstances result in misleading approaches being used in attempting to promote knowledge sharing in a Chinese context and that the strong group culture is a key vehicle for knowledge sharing as opposed to individual idea generation.

The findings show the need for further research in comparing Chinese and western organizations in relation to collaboration knowledge sharing where the case organizations have had different levels of exposure to western culture. Much more in‐depth case‐based research is needed to explore these contextual issues and to develop theoretical propositions.

The extrapolation of western and Japanese‐based knowledge sharing concepts and practices to Chinese contexts without an examination of Chinese culture and its impact on organizational culture may produce sub‐optimal results. A more culturally grounded approach, where knowledge sharing practices are indigenously grounded, is suggested.

There is a paucity of multi‐level knowledge sharing studies which seek to both address cultural considerations and systematically inquire into the development of knowledge sharing in Chinese organizations from a cultural perspective. The findings from this study can help inform western‐Chinese business collaboration through improved understanding of the cultural effects on knowledge sharing.

This paper aims to examine how customer knowledge management (CKM) be implemented in international projects between the UK and China in practice, with a focus on the marketing process application, i.e. how analytical CKM systems are used to support customer knowledge (CK) acquisition.

The case study practice of CKM application is based upon examining qualitative results reported from a two‐year study of CKM applications in an UK education service provider. An evaluation of CKM analytical functions provided by the international marketing team from the UK and its China counterparts in international joint education projects. A conceptual model of an analytical CKM system for CKM in this UK‐China environment is developed from the findings and literature review.

UK‐China related CKM research is relatively new. Current CKM researches are dominated by Western cases and theories. China related international joint projects in this case study suggest that cultural factors play important roles in successful marketing. Meanwhile, CKM provides key factors in the implementation system.

The findings shed light on the potential areas in which organisations can practically use CKM in international joint projects. The application of analytical CKM was investigated to build up a CKM model in practice. The paper also provides guidance for the service industry as how an analytical CKM system needs to be developed to support marketing process.

The latest findings on CKM application in this UK‐China case study are reported. An innovative analytical CKM model is proposed for marketing process, i.e. environmental influences, value specification, solution development and customer development. Key factors, such as knowledge about, for and from customer in CKM are examined.

The purpose of this paper is to explore challenges and opportunities in knowledge management (KM) research trends in China.

The literature review presents the status quo of China KM research from a world‐wide perspective and China's economy today. Then the paper explains theoretical analysis of KM development and future trend in the West. The third part of literature review addresses the debate of KM practices followed by the way how KM trend is discussed in Western research. Empirical evidences from the journal literature, the web sites of consultancy companies, and in the presentation of research centres are examined. A triangulated methodology include data from two well known management database searching results for “China” and “Knowledge Management”; two KM surveys in China and other web site and journals.

The paper is an initial exploration of the KM research trends in China. The research explains the opportunities and challenges facing KM researchers and provides useful guidance for KM practice in China. In general, China has relatively newly developed KM awareness. The importance of KM, however, has not yet been fully explored in research. One the one hand, the lack of access to China practitioners, the scarceness of related comparative study and the arguable KM domain are three major reasons that lead to insufficient research in KM. On the other hand, given the rapid development of China's economy today, there are questions and phenomena with specific Chinese characters need to be examined from KM perspective. Two major challenges of China economy, i.e. reforming in the process of development, and the privatization as well as the regional difference need to be reflected in China KM research. Comparative approaches in the research are needed. Although KM is arguably undergoing fast development in recently years and China is becoming one of the important spotlights, China‐related KM research is still at its very early stage. Challenges and opportunities are presented for further research guidance.

This paper shows that KM research in China has its own characters if compare with the West. Future directions and opportunities for China‐related KM researches are discussed by a triangulated approach. The findings present future trends of KM research in China that help practitioner to reinforce KM practice. This paper suggests important areas that researchers need to address as new challenges and opportunities in the KM trends in China context.

Research on workplace loneliness has thus far been dominated by perceptions of followers; hence, few researchers have considered the perspective of leader-follower congruence. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the leader-follower relationship mediates the relationship between leader-follower congruence/incongruence in workplace loneliness and turnover intentions.

Data were collected from 232 leader-follower dyads from ten companies in China. Polynomial regression combined with the response surface methodology was used to test the hypotheses.

Four conclusions were drawn. First, leader-member exchange (LMX) was higher when leaders and followers were aligned in terms of workplace loneliness than otherwise. Second, in the case of leader-follower congruence, LMX rose as their workplace loneliness fell. Third, in the case of incongruence, followers had lower LMX when they were lonelier than their leaders. Finally, LMX partially mediated the leader-follower congruence/incongruence effect of workplace loneliness on followers’ turnover intention.

This study emphasized the importance of leaders’ congruence with followers in workplace loneliness. Additionally, it extended research on leader-follower congruence from a positive perspective to a negative one.