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Article
Publication date: 8 May 2018

Liqun Tang, Qiang Liu, Wanjiang Yang and Jianying Wang

The purpose of this paper is to clarify agricultural services into five categories, including agricultural materials supply service, financial service, technical service…

1097

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to clarify agricultural services into five categories, including agricultural materials supply service, financial service, technical service, machinery service and processing and sales service, and to examine the effect of agricultural services on cost saving of rice production in China.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a three-year panel data set covering 3,421 rice farmers in 12 Chinese provinces collected from the state rice industry experiment stations’ fixed watch points of China Agriculture Research System, a stochastic frontier model which takes the price vectors of input variables into cost function is developed by stochastic frontier analysis method in the study.

Findings

There is a deviation between the actual cost and the minimum cost on rice production in China due to the loss of cost efficiency, whose score is 0.7983 at the mean. Agricultural services can help improve cost efficiency, thus contributing to cost saving. Specifically, the effect of technical service on cost saving is the highest, followed by processing and sales service, machinery service, financial service and agricultural materials supply service.

Originality/value

The results of this paper are of great significance to the effectiveness and efficiency of the targeted agricultural services and indicate implications for policy improvement under the context of clear upward trend of agricultural production costs.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 10 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 March 2017

Liqun Wen, Mingjian Zhou and Qiang Lu

This study aims to explore the domain of leader’s creativity and suggests that leader’s creativity can be present as both worker-role creativity and manager-role creativity. Then…

1996

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore the domain of leader’s creativity and suggests that leader’s creativity can be present as both worker-role creativity and manager-role creativity. Then, the study examines the influence of leader’s worker-role creativity and manager-role creativity on employees’ creativity and team creativity. As a contextual factor, the identification with leader is taken as a moderator at both the individual and team levels.

Design/methodology/approach

With data that was collected from 229 employees and 32 team leaders in entrepreneurial and R&D teams of China, hierarchical regression is conducted to test the hypotheses at individual and team levels separately.

Findings

The results show that leader identification plays a different role in moderating the effects of worker-role creativity and manager-role creativity on employees’ and team creativity. For the relationships between worker-role creativity and employees’ and team creativity, they are positive when leader identification is high and negative when it is low. For the relationships between manager-role creativity and team creativity, it is stronger when leader identification is higher rather than lower.

Research limitations/implications

This study answers the call for studying the roles of creative role models and provides new evidence of the leader as a role model. The exploration of the domain of leader’s creativity and the different effects on creative outcome brings an interesting perspective on creativity and leadership research.

Originality/value

The present study draws on the advance to develop the content of leader’s creativity. Then, the moderating role of identification with leader between leader’s creativity and employees’ creativity and team creativity is comprehensively examined.

Details

Nankai Business Review International, vol. 8 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8749

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 October 2018

Feng Zhang, Liqun Wei, Hongyi Sun and Lo Choi Tung

Although entrepreneurial learning is widely believed as an important factor in shaping one’s entrepreneurial intention, research finds little consistent results on the direct…

2576

Abstract

Purpose

Although entrepreneurial learning is widely believed as an important factor in shaping one’s entrepreneurial intention, research finds little consistent results on the direct effect of entrepreneurial learning on one’s entrepreneurial intention. To solve the conflicted effects of entrepreneurial learning, the purpose of this paper is to explore how entrepreneurial learning may impact individual entrepreneurial intention.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the authors proposed and tested on a three mediating effect model, in which entrepreneurial learning is associated with entrepreneurial intention through attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control toward entrepreneurship. Moreover, the moderating role of prior exposure to entrepreneurship was proposed and tested. Based on a sample of 200 university students who have taken entrepreneurial courses in Hong Kong, the hierarchical regressions and moderated mediation tests were used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The authors find that the positive relationship between entrepreneurial learning and entrepreneurial intention is significantly mediated by attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control toward entrepreneurship; and the mediating effects of entrepreneurial learning on entrepreneurial intention via attitudes and perceived behavioral control respectively, is moderated by exposure to entrepreneurship.

Originality/value

Contributing to the literature of entrepreneurship education, this study identifies individuals who exposed to the same entrepreneurship education may perform differently in entrepreneurial learning. The findings also help us to better understand the mechanism through which and under which context one’s entrepreneurial learning may enhance his/her entrepreneurial intention.

Details

Chinese Management Studies, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-614X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 April 2020

Feng Zhang, Lei Zhu and Liqun Wei

Whether shareholders’ involvement in management benefits the organization’s performance remains inconclusive. The purpose of this study is to reconcile the conflicting results by…

Abstract

Purpose

Whether shareholders’ involvement in management benefits the organization’s performance remains inconclusive. The purpose of this study is to reconcile the conflicting results by exploring whether and under which contexts shareholder involvement may impact firm innovation performance.

Design/methodology/approach

This study attempts to combine previous theoretical views (reactance and agency theories) to examine a curvilinear effect of shareholder involvement on firm innovation performance based on governance related to cost-benefit analysis. Drawing on data from 174 Chinese manufacturing firms, the hierarchical regressions were used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The study finds that shareholder involvement has a U-shaped relationship with firm innovation performance. Moreover, ownership incentive strengthens the U-shaped relationship, while monitoring weakens it.

Originality/value

Examination of the U-shaped main effect of shareholder involvement and these contingent factors further explains the mixed empirical results concerning the link between shareholder activism and firm-level performance.

Details

Chinese Management Studies, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-614X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 8 July 2020

Yang Li, Yaochen Qin, Liqun Ma and Ziwu Pan

The ecological environment of the Loess Plateau, China, is extremely fragile under the context of global warming. Over the past two decades, the vegetation of the Loess Plateau…

1307

Abstract

Purpose

The ecological environment of the Loess Plateau, China, is extremely fragile under the context of global warming. Over the past two decades, the vegetation of the Loess Plateau has undergone great changes. This paper aims to clarify the response mechanisms of vegetation to climate change, to provide support for the restoration and environmental treatment of vegetation on the Loess Plateau.

Design/methodology/approach

The Savitsky–Golay (S-G) filtering algorithm was used to reconstruct time series of moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) 13A2 data. Combined with trend analysis and partial correlation analysis, the influence of climate change on the phenology and enhanced vegetation index (EVI) during the growing season was described.

Findings

The S-G filtering algorithm is suitable for EVI reconstruction of the Loess Plateau. The date of start of growing season was found to gradually later along the Southeast–Northwest direction, whereas the date of the end of the growing season showed the opposite pattern and the length of the growing season gradually shortened. Vegetation EVI values decreased gradually from Southeast to Northwest. Vegetation changed significantly and showed clear differentiation according to different topographic factors. Vegetation correlated positively with precipitation from April to July and with temperature from August to November.

Originality/value

This study provides technical support for ecological environmental assessment, restoration of regional vegetation coverage and environmental governance of the Loess Plateau over the past two decades. It also provides theoretical support for the prediction model of vegetation phenology changes based on remote sensing data.

Details

International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, vol. 12 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-8692

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 October 2021

Hongyi Sun, Zulfiqar Ali and Liqun Wei

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship and effect of management support on individual creativity performance by focusing on the individual learning opportunity…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship and effect of management support on individual creativity performance by focusing on the individual learning opportunity, adaptability to change and learning motivation in Hong Kong manufacturing companies.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on survey data collection by using a respondent-driven approach from 266 employees working in Hong Kong-based manufacturing firms. The model and hypotheses were tested by employing variance-based structural equation modeling.

Findings

The findings indicate that management support has a positive effect on individual learning opportunity and creativity performance. Also, a significant positive relationship between individual creativity, performance, individual learning opportunity, adaptability to change, and learning motivation has been yielded. The management support has an overall positive link with all variables directly and indirectly.

Practical implications

Top management can foster employee creativity by supporting and providing learning opportunities and motivating employees to develop adaptive capability at an individual level.

Originality/value

An empirical study of how management support can foster individual creativity performance and individual learning opportunity. This study is one of the first to examine the positive relationship between management support and individual creativity by validating a purposed model, especially in the context of the Hong Kong manufacturing industry.

Details

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, vol. 33 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-038X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 May 2008

Lan‐Ying Huang and Liqun Cao

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the conceptual and empirical issues related to sexual harassment (SH) in a police department in Taiwan.

1329

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the conceptual and empirical issues related to sexual harassment (SH) in a police department in Taiwan.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data were collected. Through the analysis, the paper proposes that SH can be better divided into two subcategories: quid pro quo and hostile work environment harassment. Multivariate analysis is used to explore the sources of SH.

Findings

It was found that both types of SH can be better explained by work environment variables than by demographic variables, but the specific sources differ. Hostile work environment harassment is predicted by the extent to which female officers perceive or experience that deployment and transfer practices are influenced by their gender. Quid pro quo harassment is related to job barriers and dodging from work.

Research limitations/implications

The two scales used in this research have captured the core of SH, but they might not fully depict the nature of SH in the police department in Taiwan. The sample was limited to the largest police department in Taiwan and it may not represent the entire police in Taiwan.

Practical implications

If hostile work environment and quid pro quo harassments are related to different organizational factors, it is useful for policy makers in the police to differentiate these two different types of SH and develop differential prevention and response measures.

Originality/value

This paper highlights the need to differentiate quid pro quo and hostile work environment harassments. It fills a gap in the literature by providing the baseline information on the prevalence of SH in one police department in Taiwan and by examining sources of SH in a profession dominated by males.

Details

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 31 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 July 2019

Ali Ahmad Bodla, Ningyu Tang, Rolf Van Dick and Usman Riaz Mir

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between authoritarian leadership, organizational citizenship behavior toward one’s supervisor (OCBS) and organizational…

3767

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between authoritarian leadership, organizational citizenship behavior toward one’s supervisor (OCBS) and organizational deviance. The authors hypothesized curvilinear relationships between authoritarian leadership and OCBS, and between authoritarian leadership and organizational deviance.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors analyzed two-source survey data of 240 employee–supervisor dyads collected from seven organizations in Pakistan.

Findings

Employees exhibited most OCBS and least organizational deviance at intermediate levels of authoritarian leadership. Employees’ perception of a benevolent climate at work moderated the curvilinear relations.

Research limitations/implications

The authors cannot draw causal inferences because of cross-sectional data. Furthermore, the authors’ results may be limited to cultures with high collectivism and high power distance.

Practical implications

This study envisions and illuminates a new avenue of curvilinear relationships among authoritarian leadership, OCBS and organizational deviance.

Originality/value

The two sources (employee–supervisor dyads) data collected from seven organizations supported a unique curvilinear relationship between authoritarian leadership, OCBS and organizational deviance.

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 40 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 April 2023

Salim Ahmed, Khushboo Kumari and Durgeshwer Singh

Petroleum hydrocarbons are naturally occurring flammable fossil fuels used as conventional energy sources. It has carcinogenic, mutagenic properties and is considered a hazardous…

1384

Abstract

Purpose

Petroleum hydrocarbons are naturally occurring flammable fossil fuels used as conventional energy sources. It has carcinogenic, mutagenic properties and is considered a hazardous pollutant. Soil contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons adversely affects the properties of soil. This paper aim to remove pollutants from the environment is an urgent need of the hour to maintain the proper functioning of soil ecosystems.

Design/methodology/approach

The ability of micro-organisms to degrade petroleum hydrocarbons makes it possible to use these microorganisms to clean the environment from petroleum pollution. For preparing this review, research papers and review articles related to petroleum hydrocarbons degradation by micro-organisms were collected from journals and various search engines.

Findings

Various physical and chemical methods are used for remediation of petroleum hydrocarbons contaminants. However, these methods have several disadvantages. This paper will discuss a novel understanding of petroleum hydrocarbons degradation and how micro-organisms help in petroleum-contaminated soil restoration. Bioremediation is recognized as the most environment-friendly technique for remediation. The research studies demonstrated that bacterial consortium have high biodegradation rate of petroleum hydrocarbons ranging from 83% to 89%.

Social implications

Proper management of petroleum hydrocarbons pollutants from the environment is necessary because of their toxicity effects on human and environmental health.

Originality/value

This paper discussed novel mechanisms adopted by bacteria for biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons, aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation pathways, genes and enzymes involved in petroleum hydrocarbons biodegradation.

Details

Arab Gulf Journal of Scientific Research, vol. 42 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1985-9899

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 October 2023

Tri Lam, Jon Heales and Nicole Hartley

The continuing development of digital technologies creates expanding opportunities for information transparency. Consumers use social media to provide online reviews that are…

Abstract

Purpose

The continuing development of digital technologies creates expanding opportunities for information transparency. Consumers use social media to provide online reviews that are focused on changing levels of consumer trust. This study examines the effect of perceived risk that prompts consumers to search for online reviews in the context of food safety.

Design/methodology/approach

Commitment-trust theory forms the theoretical lens to model changes in consumer trust resulting from online reviews. Consumer-based questionnaire surveys collected data to test the structural model, using structural equation modelling (SEM).

Findings

The findings show when consumers perceive high levels of risk, they use social media to obtain additional product-related information. The objective, unanimous, evidential and noticeable online reviews are perceived as informative to consumers. Perceived informativeness of positive online reviews is found to increase consumers trust and, in turn, increase their purchase intentions.

Originality/value

The findings contribute to the knowledge of online review-based trust literature and provide far-reaching implications for information system (IS)-practitioners in business.

Details

Aslib Journal of Information Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-3806

Keywords

1 – 10 of 12