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The purpose of this paper is to study distance measuring and sorting method of general grey number.

First, the concept of generalised grey number based on grey system theory is given in this paper. Second, from the perspective of kernel and degree of greyness of general grey number, the method of measuring the distance of general grey number and its properties are given. At the same time, the concepts of the kernel expectation and the kernel variance of the general grey number are proposed.

Up to now, the method of measuring the distance and sorting of general grey number is established. Thus, the difficult problem for set up sorting of general grey number has been solved to a certain degree.

The method exposed in this paper can be used to integrate information form a different source. Distance measuring and sorting method of general grey number could be extended to the case of grey algebraic equation, grey differential equation and grey matrix which includes general grey numbers, etc.

The concepts of the kernel expectation and the kernel variance of the general grey number are proposed for the first time in this paper; the novel sorting rules of general grey numbers were also constructed.

The performance of the measurement matrix directly affects the quality of reconstruction of compressive sensing signal, and it is also the key to solve practical problems. In order to solve data collection problem of wireless sensor network (WSN), the authors design a kind of optimization of sparse matrix. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Based on the sparse random matrix, it optimizes the seed vector, which regards elements in the diagonal matrix of Hadamard matrix after passing singular value decomposition (SVD). Compared with the Toeplitz matrix, it requires less number of independent random variables and the matrix information is more concentrated.

The performance of reconstruction is better than that of Gaussian random matrix. The authors also apply this matrix to the data collection scheme in WSN. The result shows that it costs less energy and reduces the collection frequency of nodes compared with general method.

The authors design a kind of optimization of sparse matrix. Based on the sparse random matrix, it optimizes the seed vector, which regards elements in the diagonal matrix of Hadamard matrix after passing SVD. Compared with the Toeplitz matrix, it requires less number of independent random variables and the matrix information is more concentrated.

With the rise of customer engagement in online products and services innovation, enterprises are seeking effective referral reward program (RRP) to encourage customers’ follow-up electronic-referral (e-referral) behaviors. Therefore, how to stimulate more customers to participate in the RRP is very important to enterprises. However, little empirical work has systemically investigated the impact of RRP on customers’ follow-up e-referral, as well as the moderating effects of customers’ characteristics. To fill those research gaps, the purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of RRP (particularly, reward amount and reward type) on customers’ follow-up e-referral, and the role of creative self-efficacy.

Based on the self-perception theory and the context of online customer innovation, this paper establishes a theoretical model and uses an experiment with 160 participants to test the hypotheses on the role of reward (amount and type) and the moderating effect of creative self-efficacy.

The results of the experiment suggest that both reward amount and reward type in RRP positively impact customers’ follow-up e-referral. Furthermore, customers’ creative self-efficacy moderates the relationship between rewards and customers’ follow-up e-referral. Customers with low creative self-efficacy, reward amount significantly stimulate their follow-up e-referral, but such effect is insignificant when customers’ creative self-efficacy is high. In terms of reward type, gift reward has more positive effect on customers’ follow-up e-referral when they have high (rather than low) creative self-efficacy, but cash reward has more positive effect on those with low (rather than high) creative self-efficacy.

First, based on the self-perception theory, the study clarifies the inconsistent relationship between reward and customers’ e-referral and contributes to related research. Second, the study broadens the existing research perspective by introducing creative self-efficacy, which shows interesting and powerful moderating effect but has been ignored in previous studies. Third, the study provides valuable advice on how enterprises design an effective RRP to enhance customers’ follow-up e-referral.

As a powerful mathematical analysis tool, the local fractional calculus has attracted wide attention in the field of fractal circuits. The purpose of this paper is to derive a new ℑ-order non-differentiable (ND) R-C zero state-response circuit (ZSRC) by using the local fractional derivative on the Cantor set for the first time.

A new ℑ-order ND R-C ZSRC within the local fractional derivative on the Cantor set is derived for the first time in this work. By defining the ND lumped elements via the local fractional derivative, the ℑ-order Kirchhoff voltage laws equation is established, and the corresponding solutions in the form of the Mittag-Leffler decay defined on the Cantor sets are derived by applying the local fractional Laplace transform and inverse local fractional Laplace transform.

The characteristics of the ℑ-order R-C ZSRC on the Cantor sets are analyzed and presented through the 2-D curves. It is found that the ℑ-order R-C ZSRC becomes the classic one when ℑ = 1. The comparative results between the ℑ-order R-C ZSRC and the classic one show that the proposed method is correct and effective and is expected to shed light on the theory study of the fractal electrical systems.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper, for the first time ever, proposes the ℑ-order ND R-C ZSRC within the local fractional derivative on the Cantor sets. The results of this paper are expected to give some new enlightenment to the development of the fractal circuits.

Drawing on conversation of resources theory, the present paper aimed to investigate the effect of strengths-based leadership on follower career satisfaction and the mediating role of follower strengths use as well as the moderating role of emotional exhaustion in the relationship.

Research data were gathered at 3 time points with a sample of 210 participants working in various organizations in China. Structural equation model (SEM) was applied to examine the authors' hypotheses.

The results indicated that strengths-based leadership has a positive impact on follower career satisfaction and follower strengths use fully mediates the effect of strengths-based leadership on follower career satisfaction. More importantly, emotional exhaustion enhanced the direct relationship between strengths use and career satisfaction and the indirect association of strengths-based leadership with follower career satisfaction through follower strengths use.

The main limitation of the present paper was the single source of research data.

The present paper advances strengths-based leadership theory and research and provides a new insight into cultivating employee career satisfaction.

Following the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between ethical decision-making attitude, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and past behavior; to examine ethical intentions of frontline employees with their love of money as a moderator.

The authors collected data from 310 frontline employees (FLEs) in five US-based fast food chains (McDonald’s, Subway, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Hardees) across three cities of Pakistan, using self-administered questionnaires. The authors adopt the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique to test the theoretical model.

The authors demonstrate that LOM is a significant moderator. The relationships between two dimensions of TPB – the ethical attitude and subjective norms – and ethical intentions are much stronger for FLEs with a lower LOM orientation.

The inclusion of LOM to enrich TPB framework, investigation of ethical intentions of frontliners employed in US-based fast food chains and a developing country context are unique products of this study.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the perception of skills shortages, namely, skills scarcity and skills deficiencies among managers, and its relationship with organizational characteristics.

The study used a quantitative approach and data were collected from 243 managers working in China. Multivariate analysis of variance and box plots were employed for data analysis.

The results revealed that organizational characteristics were found to have a significant positive impact on managers’ skill levels, and hard-to-fill vacancies caused by skills shortages were found in all types of organizations. Existing and deficient skills were also identified as affecting all organizations.

The results suggest that organizations would benefit from the adoption of a system supporting internal retention, training and development and external recruitment to close the skills gaps.

This is an empirical study that provides an insight into the skills shortages from a multi-organizational context. It highlights the effects of organizational characteristics in relation to skills shortages and provides a foundation to support the skills needed in the context of national and global organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to increase understanding of the influence mechanisms of specific HR practices variables – salary, job stability and job enrichment – upon employee commitment, through the mediating role of job satisfaction, in a developing country context. Crucially, these indicate employee commitment.

The study analyzed three specific HR practices with a sample of 263 employees in the banking industry of Pakistan. A structural equation modeling methodology is adopted.

The findings indicate that remuneration strategies were positively related to job satisfaction and employee commitment. Regarding the intervening impact of job satisfaction, this study found that it mediates only for non-monetary strategies between job satisfaction and employee commitment.

A key limitation is that this is a cross-sectional study, perhaps not generalizable over longitudinal approaches. Another limit is posed by the developing country context of this study, perhaps not applicable to some developed countries.

From an HR perspective, managing salary structure is an ongoing issue. The proposed model suggests the use of specific practices about satisfaction and commitment as intermediate steps to manage employee commitment.

The research offers a unique understanding from the developing country context of Pakistan. This provides a novel study conducted to examine employee commitment using the high-performance work practices model.

The widespread lockdown restrictions brought by the global COVID-19 epidemic inculcated a culture of “work-from-home”. However, most rural areas lack reliable and effective community amenities including transportation, health and education, thereby impeding healthy living and productive employment. Therefore, the underlying goal of this research is to investigate the development of smart infrastructure (SI) in non-urban areas. However, governments' resource limitations must be addressed to develop SI, which urges the research on the potential for public-private partnerships (PPP) to supplement public sector resources when necessary.

This paper examined and evaluated the “benefits and enablers” and “barriers” to deploying PPPs to create SI in non-urban areas, using a thorough literature review, five expert interviews and analytic hierarchy process (AHP)-based questionnaire responses. The AHP technique and content analysis were used to analyse the results and generate the conclusions.

The availability of a favourable investment climate and legal framework were identified as the significant factors among the “benefits and enablers” of adopting PPP in SI developments in non-urban areas, while low community acceptance of the private sector involvement, and community culture and values were identified as the significant factors among the “barriers”. These highlight the significance of removing barriers connected to community culture and “values”.

The findings and conclusions of this study provide a strong foundation to support the growth of SI in non-urban settings, facilitating more sustainable development that is more evenly distributed in the post-COVID-19 future.

This paper aims to explore the university as a nexus of socially innovative support and engagement with micro- and small-sized (mSME) creative businesses in rural and semi-rural regions. This paper argues that universities can play a socially innovative role in and around their regions.

The authors used an action research approach to shape university-led interventions for creative mSMEs in a predominantly rural/semi-rural deprived area in the North East of England. A series of additional interviews were conducted with a sample to further explore issues raised during the action research phase.

The research found that the university is seen by these mSMEs as a trusted source of socially innovative support, though the expectation is for long-term and meaningful interventions that facilitate impactful change. University-based knowledge exchange and innovation can be oriented toward these tiny businesses for mutual benefit and as an enabler of societal change in a transitional economy.

As this study focused on a small, geographically similar cohort of creative mSMEs, the further application of these findings may be limited in dissimilar settings. More research is encouraged to further explore and test the conceptual points this paper raises.

This paper contributes to the social innovation field and creative economies policy research by presenting how a university can enable and shape authentic forms of engagement and impact in the mSME creative economy across the rural/semi-urban landscape.