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Since megaproject social responsibility (MSR) has received increasing attention in megaproject management and plays critical roles in megaproject practices, the purpose of this paper is to explore how MSR facilitates an improved sustainability of the construction industry.

By integrating multiple theoretical perspectives of transaction cost theory, institutionalism and attention- and resource-based views, and by using survey data of Chinese megaprojects and construction enterprises, this paper offers a theoretical elaboration of and an empirical investigation into the impacts that MSR’s four dimensions exert on industrial improvement in economic sustainability and social responsibility.

The study’s empirical results indicate that MSR has positive impacts on improving the sustainability of the construction industry, and that such positive impacts are weakened by the interactions of primary stakeholders in the megaprojects but are strengthened by the interactions of secondary stakeholders.

This paper suggests that managers and policymakers make efforts to governmental guidance, media monitoring and public participation in megaprojects, so as to limit the potential unethical behaviors in megaproject management and enhance the sociopolitical legitimacy that are essential for the sustainability of the construction industry.

By analyzing the industrial outcomes of MSR, this paper extends studies on the topic beyond the current literature’s focus on the antecedents of MSR, and it enriches the research on MSR stakeholders by elaborating on the contingent roles of the various stakeholders in megaproject management.

This paper aims to numerically investigate the impact of gas diffusion layer (GDL) anisotropic transport properties on the overall and local performance of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs).

A three-dimensional numerical model of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell with a single straight channel has been developed to investigate the sensitivity of the fuel cell performance to the GDL anisotropic transport properties – gas permeability, diffusivity, thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity. Realistic experimentally estimated GDL transport properties were incorporated into the developed PEFC model, and a parametric study was performed to show the effect of these properties on fuel cell performance and the distribution of the key variables of current density and oxygen concentration within the cathode GDL.

The results showed that the anisotropy of the GDL must be captured to avoid overestimation/underestimation of the performance of the modelled fuel cell. The results also showed that the fuel cell performance and the distributions of current density and oxygen mass fraction within the cathode GDL are highly sensitive to the through-plane electrical conductivity of the GDL and, to a lesser extent, the through-plane diffusivity, and the thermal conductivity of the GDL. The fuel cell performance is almost insensitive to the gas permeability of the GDL.

This study improves the understanding of the importance of the GDL anisotropy in the modelling of fuel cells and provides useful insights on improving the efficiency of the fuel cells.

Realistic experimentally estimated GDL transport properties have been incorporated into the PEFC model for the first time, allowing for more accurate prediction of the PEFC performance.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of three different flow channel cross sections on the performance of the fuel cell.

A comprehensive three-dimensional polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell model has been developed, and a set of conservation equations has been solved. The flow is assumed to be steady, fully developed, laminar and isothermal. The investigated cross sections are the commonly used square cross section, the increasingly used trapezoidal cross section and a novel hybrid configuration where the cross section is square at the inlet and trapezoidal at the outlet.

The results show that a slight gain is obtained when using the hybrid configuration and this is because of increased velocity, which improves the supply of the reactant gases to the catalyst layers (CLs) and removes heat and excess water more effectively compared to other configurations. Further, the reduction of the outlet height of the hybrid configuration leads to even better fuel cell performance and this is again because of increased velocity in the flow channel.

The data generated in this study will be highly valuable to engineers interested in studying the effect of fluid cross -sectional shape on fuel cell performance.

This study proposes a novel flow field with a variable cross section. This design can supply a higher amount of reactant gases to the CLs, dissipates heat and remove excess water more effectively.

This study aims to investigate how New Zealand companies use Twitter to communicate and engage effectively with stakeholders during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study proposes a conceptual framework for effective stakeholder engagement by using social media to analyse the themes and emotion of company tweets during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand. The engagement of stakeholders with these tweets is also examined. This study argues that companies use selected themes and emotive language to connect with their stakeholders.

The findings show that selective themes and emotions are useful in company COVID-19 tweets to engage with the stakeholders. COVID-19 tweets contained significantly more emotion than non-COVID tweets, with emotions that can convey empathy being the most common. By presenting themselves as real, personable and empathetic towards others through emotive language, companies can engage in more meaningful and ethical way with their stakeholders.

The paper has implications for managing company communications by providing empirical evidence that both the themes and emotion expressed in the messages are important for effective stakeholder engagement in social media.

The conceptual framework for effective stakeholder engagement using social media is novel and can be used to evaluate and investigate stakeholder engagement during a global crisis.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of hydrogen humidity on the performance of air-breathing proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells.

An efficient mathematical model for air-breathing PEM fuel cells has been built in MATLAB. The sensitivity of the fuel cell performance to the heat transfer coefficient is investigated first. The effect of hydrogen humidity is also studied. In addition, under different hydrogen humidities, the most appropriate thickness of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) is investigated.

The heat transfer coefficient dictates the performance limiting mode of the air-breathing PEM fuel cell, the modelled air-breathing fuel cell is limited by the dry-out of the membrane at high current densities. The performance of the fuel cell is mainly influenced by the hydrogen humidity. Besides, an optimal cathode GDL and relatively thinner anode GDL are favoured to achieve a good performance of the fuel cell.

The current study improves the understanding of the effect of the hydrogen humidity in air-breathing fuel cells and this new model can be used to investigate different component properties in real designs.

The hydrogen relative humidity and the GDL thickness can be controlled to improve the performance of air-breathing fuel cells.

This paper aims to identify the influence of innovation network and technological learning on innovation performance of high-tech cluster enterprises.

Using a questionnaire, data are collected from Dalian High-tech Industrial park in China. In addition, structural equation model is used to identify the influence of innovation network and technological learning on the innovation performance of high-tech cluster enterprise.

The findings of this study show that the centrality of network location and the strength of the network relationship have a direct positive effect on technology acquisition, technology digestion and technology exploit of high-tech cluster enterprises. Meanwhile, technology acquisition has a direct positive effect on technology digestion, technology digestion has a direct positive effect technology exploit, and technology exploit has a direct positive effect innovation performance of high-tech cluster enterprises.

To improve innovation performance, high-tech cluster enterprises should not only nurture and optimize innovation networks but also improve technological learning ability.

This paper empirically supports the significant influence of innovation network and technological learning on innovation performance. While the results provide guidance for researchers and practitioners, it also adds value to innovation-related research.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the effect of rural finance on industrial integration of rural primary, secondary and tertiary industries.

Using household-level data collected by Third National Agricultural Census and the provincial-level data collected from Wind database, the authors estimated the impacts of rural finance on rural industrial integration using Logit and Probit regression models. Further, the authors examined how the effect of rural finance varies with the age and education of householders, and with household and provincial characteristics by investigating the moderating effect.

The findings show that rural finance has a significant and positive effect on promoting farmers’ participation in new agricultural management organizations. This effect is more obvious in families whose householders are 40–50 years old, or families that have more educated members. This is because the middle-aged or educated people are more willing to accept and take part in industrial integration. The results further indicate that rural finance has a greater effect on industrial integration in provinces with a high degree of marketization, and in provinces with the high output value of industries and services in agricultural intermediate input.

The authors investigated the impact of rural finance on rural industrial integration empirically, and this topic is rarely covered before. The findings of this study also enrich the literature on financial development and economic growth as well as provide policy suggestions on how to promote rural industrial integration.

The concept of harmonic systems is introduced from a standpoint of a model of general systems. Systems might be compatible in some respects and incompatible in others; this depends on the purpose for which the systems are introduced as well as the environmental factors. Two fundamental principles are given in different optimal situations with respect to a given environment. Some tests of applications are discussed. Moreover, one kind of an invariant harmonic systems principle is proved.

This paper aims to examine the influence of culture on the adoption and use of social media platforms for corporate disclosures by firms in a cross-country setting.

It is contended that social media corporate disclosure (SMCD) is culturally influenced because the primary purpose of social media is to connect people in social settings, and social settings are distinguished by their cultures. Using a sample of 1,420 firms from 36 countries and Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, this study examines the direct effects of culture on SMCD and its moderating effects on the relationship between SMCD and the agency determinants of corporate disclosure.

It is found that cultural dimensions directly affect the adoption and use of SMCD. Additionally, the agency determinants of disclosure, size, leverage and growth are positively associated with the adoption, and use of SMCD, and these associations are moderated by the cultural dimensions.

The Hofstede cultural dimensions are broad country-level variables based on the culture of the majority in the population. However, larger countries have many cultures. This study does not cover within-country cultural effects on SMCD. It also does not cover firm-level culture and accounting culture because these factors are derived from national culture. This study adds culture as a country-level determinant of why companies adopt and use social media.

The study provides investors and policymakers with an understanding of the nature of SMCD adoption and use in different cultural settings. It also makes managers aware of which cultural settings are more amenable to SMCD.

Social media, by design, have social implications. Examining the role of culture in the use of social media provides societal reasons for the use of SMCD by companies.

Since social media are interactive in form rather than simply one-way disclosure devices, this study goes beyond the realm of corporate disclosure into the less researched area of corporate communication via social media.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the dimensionality of intragroup conflict and to develop an instrument with acceptable psychometric properties for the comprehensive measurement of conflict.

This paper strictly follows the standard scale-developing method: first, establish theoretical dimensions of intragroup conflict; then, develop the initial scale through in-depth interviews and coding schemes; third, revise and verify the scale through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis; and, finally, examine the predictive validity of the new intragroup conflict scale.

This study identifies four dimensions of intragroup conflict – cognitive conflict, affective conflict, behavioral conflict, and interest-based conflict – and provides evidence of construct validity for a new measure. The results show that cognitive and interest-based conflict affect group innovation performance positively, whereas affective and behavioral conflict affects it negatively.

This study first detects interest-based conflict as a new dimension and explores a more comprehensive scale (ABCI) that reflects all the connotations of conflict, which deepens the understanding of intragroup conflict, laying a solid foundation for empirical studies of conflict.