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This study aims to provide a series of drivers that prompt the blockchain technology (BT) adoption decisions in circular supply chain finance (SCF) and also assesses their degrees of influence and interrelationships, which leads to the construction of a theoretical model depicting the influence mechanism of BT adoption decisions in circular SCF.

This study mainly uses the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework, which focuses on the aspects based on the nature of innovation, intra-organizational characteristics and extra environmental consideration, to identify the drivers of blockchain adoption in circular SCF context, while the significance and causality of the drivers are explained using interpreting structural models (ISMs) and the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method.

The findings of this study indicate that government policy and technological comparative advantage are the underlying reasons for BT adoption decisions, management commitment and financial expectations are the critical drivers of BT adoption decisions while other factors are the receivers of the mechanism.

This study provides theoretical references and empirical insights that influence the technology adoption decisions of both BT and circular SCF by practitioners.

The theoretical research contributes significantly to current research and knowledge in both BT and circular SCF fields, especially by extending the existing TOE model by combining relevant enablers from technological, organizational and external environmental aspects with the financial performance objectives of circular SCF services, which refer to the optimization of the financial resources flows and financing efficiency.

The track impedance is one of the most important parameters in designing the track circuit which is widely used in the railway signal control system to detect the presence of a train. This paper aims to calculate the ballastless track impedance by taking account of the influence of reinforcement bars.

This paper proposes a two-step decomposition approach to calculate the ballastless track impedance. The basic idea is evaluating the track impedance without the reinforcement bars by using two-dimensional (2D) finite element method (FEM), and the incremental impedance, because of the reinforcement bar, is calculated by the partial element equivalent circuit (PEEC) method.

The numerical examples show that the proposed approach can guarantee the accuracy and largely reduce the computing time, at least 20 times, compared with the direct three-dimensional (3D) FEM method.

The study provides a fast approach to calculate the ballastless track impedance. However, compared with the 3D FEM method, the results are less accurate because of the approximation and assumption adopted in the method. A future study should pay more attention to improve accuracy of the model.

A fast approach is proposed to calculate the ballastless track impedance taking account of the influence of the reinforcement bars. The computing time can be largely reduced by using the method. With the proposed approach, the influence of insulation of the reinforcement bars on track impedance can be analyzed.

This paper aims to study the impacts of groundwater seepage on artificial freezing process of gravel strata, the temperature field characteristics of the strata, and the strata process, closure time and thickness evolution mechanism of the frozen wall.

In this paper several laboratory model tests were conducted, considering different groundwater seepage rate.

The results show that there is a significant coupling effect between the cold diffusion of artificial freezing pipes and groundwater seepage; when there is no seepage, temperature fields upstream and downstream of the gravel strata are symmetrically distributed, and the thickness of the frozen soil column/frozen wall is consistent during artificial freezing; groundwater seepage causes significant asymmetry in the temperature fields upstream and downstream of the gravel strata, and the greater the seepage rate, the more obvious the asymmetry; the frozen wall closure time increases linearly with the increase in the groundwater seepage rate, and specifically, the time length under seepage rate of 5.00 m d⁻¹ is 3.2 times longer than that under no seepage; due to the erosion from groundwater seepage, the thickness of the upstream frozen wall decreases linearly with the seepage velocity, while that of the downstream frozen wall increases linearly, resulting in a saddle-shaped frozen wall.

The research results are beneficial to the optimum design and risk control of artificial freezing process in gravel strata.

This is a special issue of Chinese Management Studies and this study aims to engage with debates on innovation in China and to provide new insights for innovation research in the context of China, seeking to develop a greater understanding of the concept of “innovation with Chinese characteristics”.

This study reviews the Chinese innovation management literature in general and the selected papers in this special issue in particular and proposes two new directions for future research.

The nine papers that constitute this special issue present research on important aspects of innovation in China, ranging from the effectiveness of government subsidisation for innovation, the impact of fiscal decentralisation on innovation, the role of management behaviour in promoting (or discouraging) innovation and the effects of differing business models on innovation. These papers shed valuable new light on the theory and practice of innovation in China. The papers are discussed in the context of four primary arguments about innovation management in China identified from the broader literature in the field. These relate to the pattern of China’s innovation performance over time, the reasons for its effectiveness, the role of alliances and influences of indigenous factors. It is also shown that management of the internationalisation of innovation and of efficient internal innovation are two important directions for future research on Chinese innovation in an era of de-globalisation.

The studies presented here provide valuable contributions to theory building in innovation research, as well as some important ideas for directions of future research on innovation in China in the new era of de-globalisation.

The purpose of this paper is to gain an in-depth understanding of the research progress, hotspots and future trends in the field of functional clothing.

The records of 4,153 pieces of literature related to functional clothing were retrieved from Web of Science by using a comprehensive retrieval strategy. A piece of software, CiteSpace was used as a tool to visualize the results of specific terms, such as author, institution and keyword. By analyzing the knowledge maps with several indicators, the intellectual basis and research fronts for the functional clothing domain could then be demonstrated.

The result indicated that functional clothing was a popular research field, with approximately 500 papers published worldwide in 2020. Its main research area was material science and involved public environmental and occupational health, engineering, etc. showing the characteristic of multi-interdisciplinary. Textile Research Journal and International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology were the top two journals in this field. The USA, China, Australia, England and Germany have been active and frequently cooperating with each other. Donghua University, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and NASA, with the largest number of publications, were identified as the main research drivers. According to the co-citation analysis, thermal stress, nanogenerator and electrospinning were the topics of most cited articles during the past 20 years.

The findings identified smart clothing and protective clothing to be the research frontiers in the field of functional clothing, which deserved further study in the future.

The outcomes offered an overview of the research status and future trends of the functional clothing field. It could not only provide scholars with convenience in identifying research hotspots and building potential cooperation in the follow-up research, but also assist beginners in searching core scholars and literature of great significance.

This paper aims to focus on three main strands of research relating to entrepreneurship in China: the role of local governments in the development of entrepreneurial activities in twon and village‐based enterprises (TVEs); institutional environments and strategic responses of private firms; and culture and its impact upon entrepreneurship. It aims to suggest a tentative research agenda and offer directions for further research.

The paper employs a critical review approach to research on entrepreneurship and small business development in China.

It is suggested that the combination of local entrepreneurial state theory with an analysis of the institutional environment at the macro level offers plausible explanations on the causes, context and extent of Chinese entrepreneurship development during the past two decades. The paper argues that existing theories need to be revised on a continuous basis, as ongoing reforms and developments redefine relationships between stakeholders and the wider economic environment in China.

The paper reviews progress to date and offers suggestions for further research. It posits that topics of future interest could include the changing relationship between stakeholders in both rural and urban areas, the impact of increasingly institutionalised environments on entrepreneurship and small business development, and longitudinal analyses of emerging models of entrepreneurial behaviour and growth.

Transformational leadership (TFL) has been identified by a number of studies as a positive force for business success. However, few studies have explicitly examined its influence on the cooperative employment relationship, such as frontline employees' voice in the workplace. Thus, this study conducts an empirical analysis of dual-level (i.e. group-focused and individual-focused) TFL and its effect on frontline employees' cooperative voice.

This empirical study is based on data from a survey of 468 full-time frontline workers from 38 hotels in China.

The empirical results revealed that both individual-level and group-level TFL are significantly associated with frontline employees' cooperative voice. Person–Organization value congruence and Person–Supervisor value congruence both act as mediators in the linkage between group-level TFL and employees' cooperative voice behaviors. The partial mediating role of Demand–Ability congruence on the relationship between individual-level TFL and cooperative voice is also established.

First, this study investigates the dual-level effects of TFL on the cooperative voice behavior of frontline employees. Second, this study explores whether three dimensions of value congruence mediate the influence of TFL on the voice behaviors of employees.