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Despite an emerging interest in constructive deviance, the exploration of its antecedents is still limited, particularly from an ethical perspective. This study aims to uses moral disengagement theory to investigate how team identification, moral justification and team environmental instability interact to affect employee constructive deviance.

With survey data collected in two waves from 315 employees of 49 work teams in five service companies in China, this study develops four hypotheses and tests them through hierarchical linear model.

The survey results support the complete mediating effect of moral justification on the positive impact of team identification on constructive deviance. They also confirm the moderating effect of environmental instability on the relationship between team identification, moral justification and constructive deviance.

This study explores the sources of constructive deviance at team level from the ethical decision-making perspective and reveals the mechanism and contingency factors in the relationship between identity and constructive deviance. In practice, the study findings imply that managers should encourage their employees to cultivate their identification with their team and align their moral justification with the team’s norms especially when the team faces turbulent environment.

Chinese multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) unprecedented, aggressive cross-border mergers and acquisitions (CBMAs) have led to several studies examining Chinese CBMAs, which importantly has also led to some degree of “theorising”. This study aims to undertake a “non-theoretical” fact-finding exercise before any theorising and empirical “causal” examination for a better understanding of the phenomenon (the rise of Chinese CBMAs).

This study uses a “stylised facts” approach which documents “empirical regularities” concerning Chinese CBMAs and thus guides new research questions.

Several facts are documented. Firstly, both the value and frequency of Chinese CBMAs are catching up to greenfield investments, with CBMA deals being larger in scale but lower in frequency. Secondly, Chinese CBMAs show a global reach away from the regional orientation of their early years. Thirdly, Chinese MNEs are possibly transforming their value chain with industrial upgrading as an aim. Fourthly, Chinese “full” acquisitions of targets have surged, especially in OECD countries, suggestive of Chinese MNEs’ “radical” acquisition approaches.

The gathered facts lend support to the view of the need for such fact-finding exercises to explicate and shed “new” light on the phenomenon (beyond our “current” views/beliefs). An understanding of the underlying trends beyond bare facts can also identify new knowledge, which can in turn provide new directions for research.

This study aims to determine the factors affecting the adoption of digital entrepreneurship among the pioneers of private schools in the Nineveh Governorate, using the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT). The study seeks to address an academic problem represented by the low level of interest in the research literature on digital entrepreneurship. By contrast, the problem in the field is the failure of several entrepreneurial organizations, in general, and private schools, in particular.

The researchers chose the private school sector in the Nineveh Governorate, Republic of Iraq, as the field of study. The targeted individuals represented school founders serving as investors and entrepreneurs, totaling 154 participants. The deductive approach was used as the main research method, with the survey approach as a sub-method. A questionnaire was used for data collection, and the researchers used structural equation modeling software, SmartPLS.

The results revealed that constructs such as effort expectation, social influence, facilitating conditions, behavioral intention and experience are factors contributing to predicting the transition to digital entrepreneurship.

This study contributes to bridging the academic gap identified in previous research and addresses the spatial gap by focusing on private schools in the Nineveh Governorate. It aims to assess the level of interest in adopting digital leadership within this context.

One of the most important implications of the results of the current research is the potential expansion of the use of digital entrepreneurship by understanding the behaviors of entrepreneurs. This understanding can have positive outcomes in attracting broad segments of society to engage in this type of work due to its low costs, low risks and the absence of the need for practicing licenses. Such an expansion could contribute to the establishment of digital pioneering projects aimed at reducing unemployment in society. Additionally, this study offers insights that can guide policymakers in the country toward establishing digital business incubators that provide a suitable work environment for initiating and supporting such projects.

The current study presents a unique contribution, represented by using the UTAUT, to identify the acceptance of digital entrepreneurship in private schools in Iraq. This can bring benefits to entrepreneurs and educational policymakers in the country.

The purpose of this study is to optimize and improve conventional welding using EMF assisted technology. Current industrial production has put forward higher requirements for welding technology, so the optimization and improvement of traditional welding methods become urgent needs.

External magnetic field assisted welding is an emerging technology in recent years, acting in a non-contact manner on the welding. The action of electromagnetic forces on the arc plasma leads to significant changes in the arc behavior, which affects the droplet transfer and molten pool formation and ultimately improve the weld seam formation and joint quality.

In this paper, different types of external magnetic fields are analyzed and summarized, which mainly include external transverse magnetic field, external longitudinal magnetic field and external cusp magnetic field. The research progress of welding behavior under the effect of external magnetic field is described, including the effect of external magnetic field on arc morphology, droplet transfer and weld seam formation law.

However, due to the extremely complex physical processes under the action of the external magnetic field, the mechanism of physical fields such as heat, force and electromagnetism in the welding has not been thoroughly analyzed, in-depth theoretical and numerical studies become urgent.

The principal purposes of the research are to empirically investigate three forms of perceived overload on social media and shed light on their associations with users’ passive usage intention by contemplating the mediating influence of social network exhaustion and discontented feelings.

This study employed a cross-sectional methodology to collect statistical data (N = 679) from WeChat users in mainland China. Primitive analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were employed to test the corresponding hypotheses.

The findings reveal that three dimensions of perceived overload influence social network exhaustion positively. In addition, communication overload and system feature overload exert positive impacts on the discontented feeling. Furthermore, it is uncovered that social network exhaustion and discontented feeling are related to passive usage intention positively.

Theoretically, this paper offers a conceptual framework to explicate passive usage intention through elucidating social network exhaustion and the discontented feeling that arises from perceived overload in contemporary social media-mediated environments. Practically, the current research has certain realistic implications for WeChat users and SNS operators.

Probing what triggers people’s passive usage intention of social media has been an emerging theme in recent years, yet there is a dearth of discourse that delves into the antecedents of WeChat users’ passive usage intention. The results obtained from the study have enhanced the understanding of the adverse consequences associated with the utilization of social media in mainland China.

Tourist confidence plays an important role in people’s decision-making, including decisions related to consuming tourism products. However, little research has explored this concept in depth to provide proper guidance on its operation and measurement. This paper aims to explore the concept of tourist confidence, develop and test a measurement and test the effects of tourist confidence on people’s travel intentions at different periods of time.

This study used repeated cross-sectional data and collected responses from three waves of national surveys of U.S. residents in 2021.

The results revealed three underlying dimensions of tourist confidence: (1) confidence in tourism/hospitality service providers, (2) self-confidence in tourist competency and (3) confidence in travel safety. The validity and reliability of the instrument were deemed satisfactory. The results also indicate the positive associations between tourist confidence and people’s travel decisions.

This study developed a measurement that is specific to the domain of tourist confidence. The findings of this paper reveal the multidimensional nature of tourist confidence. When translated into practice, the findings of this study can help practitioners understand how to effectively enhance tourist confidence in challenging, difficult and uncertain times.

Drawing on person–environment fit theory, this study aims to investigate how the relationships between service task types (i.e. utilitarian and hedonic service tasks) and perceived authenticity (i.e. service and brand authenticity) differ under different conditions of service providers (human employee vs service robot). This study further examines whether customers’ stereotypes toward service robots (competence vs warmth) moderate the relationship between service types and perceived authenticity.

Using a 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design, Study 1 examines a casual restaurant, whereas Study 2 assesses a theme park restaurant. Analysis of covariance and PROCESS are used to analyze the data.

Both studies reveal that human service providers in hedonic services positively affect service and brand authenticity more than robotic employees. Additionally, the robot competence stereotype moderates the relationship between hedonic services, service and brand authenticity, whereas the robot warmth stereotype moderates the relationship between hedonic services and brand authenticity in Study 2.

Restaurant managers need to understand which functions and types of service outlets are best suited for service robots in different service contexts. Robot–environment fit should be considered when developers design and managers select robots for their restaurants.

This study blazes a new theoretical trail of service robot research to systematically propose customer experiences with different service types by drawing upon person–environment fit theory and examining the moderating role of customers’ stereotypes toward service robots.

Accurate and timely cost prediction is critical to the success of construction projects which is still facing challenges especially at the early stage. In the context of rapid development of machine learning technology and the massive cost data from historical projects, this paper aims to propose a novel cost prediction model based on historical data with improved performance when only limited information about the new project is available.

The proposed approach combines regression analysis (RA) and artificial neural network (ANN) to build a novel hybrid cost prediction model with the former as front-end prediction and the latter as back-end correction. Firstly, the main factors influencing the cost of building projects are identified through literature research and subsequently screened by principal component analysis (PCA). Secondly the optimal RA model is determined through multi-model comparison and used for front-end prediction. Finally, ANN is applied to construct the error correction model. The hybrid RA-ANN model was trained and tested with cost data from 128 completed construction projects in China.

The results show that the hybrid cost prediction model has the advantages of both RA and ANN whose prediction accuracy is higher than that of RA and ANN only with the information such as total floor area, height and number of floors.

(1) The most critical influencing factors of the buildings’ cost are found out by means of PCA on the historical data. (2) A novel hybrid RA-ANN model is proposed which proved to have the advantages of both RA and ANN with higher accuracy. (3) The comparison among different models has been carried out which is helpful to future model selection.

In the vibrant world of social commerce (SC), where information flows freely, interactions thrive and online purchases abound, there is an escalating challenge. Users are uninstalling and disengaging due to approach and avoidance stimuli, a trend mirroring the approach-avoidance motivation model (AAMM). Our study, anchored in AAMM and the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model, aims to dive into the complex dynamics of these factors that shape users' SC continuance intentions.

Our findings, drawn from 472 SC users in Malaysia, paint an intriguing research framework via PLS-SEM analysis by testing the proposed hypotheses. A purposive sampling technique was utilized, deliberately selecting respondents based on specific criteria. Subsequently, data were gathered through the distribution of face-to-face questionnaires at selected shopping malls, facilitating a focused and comprehensive exploration of consumer perspectives.

The empirical results demonstrate the following: (1) Users' determination to stay engaged on SC platforms hinges on approach factors, like emotional support, surveillance gratification and multisensory gratification. (2) Simultaneously, avoidance factors such as technostress and perceived deception exert their negative influence. (3) Flow experience, rooted in flow theory, emerges as the underlying mechanism connecting these duality stimuli, influencing the continuance intention.

In a departure from conventional research, our study pioneers a comprehensive approach and boldly confronts the research gap by introducing a rich tapestry of antecedents, embracing both the appeal of approach factors and the deterrence of avoidance ones, using the AAMM that sheds light on how individuals navigate between embracing opportunities and avoiding pitfalls based on perceived gains and losses. This holistic approach enables us to redefine our understanding of digital engagement dynamics, offering a captivating journey into the realm of user experience and intention that transcends the ordinary.

The importance of the agri-food supply chain in both food production and distribution has made the issue of its development a critical concern. Based on configuration theory and congruence theory, this research investigates the complex impact of supply chain concentration on financial growth in agri-food supply chains.

The cluster analysis and response surface methodology are employed to analyse the data collected from 207 Chinese agri-food companies from 2010 to 2022.

The results indicate that different combination patterns of supply chain concentration can lead to different levels of financial growth. We discover that congruent supplier and customer concentration is beneficial for companies’ financial growth. This impact is more pronounced when the company is in the agricultural production stage of agri-food supply chains. Post-hoc analysis indicates that there exists an inverted U-shaped relationship between the overall levels of supply chain concentration and financial growth.

Our research uncovers the complex interplay between supply chain base and financial outcomes, thereby revealing significant ramifications for agri-food supply chain managers to optimise their strategies for exceptional financial growth.

This study proposes a combined approach of cluster analysis and response surface analysis for analysing configuration issues in supply chain management.