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Article
Publication date: 16 May 2019

Kuotsai Tom Liou and Qian Hu

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of technology development to public organizations and related management issues.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of technology development to public organizations and related management issues.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reviews previous studies about technology development in the public sector and analyzes conceptual and managerial issues about their findings.

Findings

Three major lessons identified and analyzed are: the wide influence of technology to public management, the nature of public organizations and their environment, and the need for more research to test existing theories and develop new theories for future public management.

Originality/value

Discussions about theoretical and practical contributions and implications are suggested for future studies about technology application and public management.

Details

International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, vol. 22 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1093-4537

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 December 2020

Abdul-Akeem Sadiq, Naim Kapucu and Qian Hu

The purpose of this viewpoint article is to understand crisis leadership during COVID-19 by examining the decision-making with respect to implementing COVID-19 mitigation…

3833

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this viewpoint article is to understand crisis leadership during COVID-19 by examining the decision-making with respect to implementing COVID-19 mitigation measures, collaboration with stakeholders, and communication strategies of the governors of the States of California, Texas, Florida, and New York in the United States.

Design/methodology/approach

This viewpoint article employs information from the extant literature on crisis leadership and secondary sources to understand the four governor's crisis leadership strategies during COVID-19.

Findings

Governors Gavin Newsom of California and Andrew Cuomo of New York made quicker decisions regarding implementing COVID-19 mitigation measures (e.g. shutting down the economy, mandating physical distancing, issuing stay-at-home orders, mandating wearing face covering in public and issuing a state of emergency) compared to Governors Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida. In addition, all four governors collaborated with state and local governments, private entities, and nonprofits to address COVID-19. Finally, all four governors held some form of briefing on COVID-19 on a regular basis and used different media to get their information out to the public.

Originality/value

This viewpoint article uses decision-making regarding implementation of mitigation strategies, collaboration with stakeholders, and crisis communication strategy to understand governors' crisis leadership during COVID-19.

Details

International Journal of Public Leadership, vol. 17 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4929

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 November 2017

Wenjie Dong, Sifeng Liu, Zhigeng Fang, Xiaoyu Yang, Qian Hu and Liangyan Tao

The purpose of this paper is to clarify several commonly used quality cost models based on Juran’s characteristic curve. Through mathematical deduction, the lowest point of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to clarify several commonly used quality cost models based on Juran’s characteristic curve. Through mathematical deduction, the lowest point of quality cost and the lowest level of quality level (often depicted by qualification rate) can be obtained. This paper also aims to introduce a new prediction model, namely discrete grey model (DGM), to forecast the changing trend of quality cost.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper comes to the conclusion by means of mathematical deduction. To make it more clear, the authors get the lowest quality level and the lowest quality cost by taking the derivative of the equation of quality cost and quality level. By introducing the weakening buffer operator, the authors can significantly improve the prediction accuracy of DGM.

Findings

This paper demonstrates that DGM can be used to forecast quality cost based on Juran’s cost characteristic curve, especially when the authors do not have much information or the sample capacity is rather small. When operated by practical weakening buffer operator, the randomness of time series can be obviously weakened and the prediction accuracy can be significantly improved.

Practical implications

This paper uses a real case from a literature to verify the validity of discrete grey forecasting model, getting the conclusion that there is a certain degree of feasibility and rationality of DGM to forecast the variation tendency of quality cost.

Originality/value

This paper perfects the theory of quality cost based on Juran’s characteristic curve and expands the scope of application of grey system theory.

Details

Grey Systems: Theory and Application, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2043-9377

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 August 2020

Zhao Pan, Yaobin Lu, Sumeet Gupta and Qian Hu

The intense competitive and dynamic environment in mobile social-media market forces service providers to introduce incremental technological changes to achieve sustainable…

Abstract

Purpose

The intense competitive and dynamic environment in mobile social-media market forces service providers to introduce incremental technological changes to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to investigate what and how the user attitude to change influences members' behavioral support for incremental technological change in mobile social media service.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the tripartite model of attitude, this study examines the influence of the cognitive aspect (empowerment with change), affective aspect (arousal with change) and behavioral aspect (habit to change) of attitude toward change on members' behavioral support for incremental technological change. Drawing on the commitment to change theory, we assessed the underlying mechanism by which attitudes toward change influences behavioral support for incremental technological change through the two components of commitment to change (i.e. affective and normative commitment to change). We tested the model using structural equation modeling on the data collected from the popular mobile social media services in China.

Findings

Our results indicate that the effect of empowerment with change, arousal with change and habit to change varies with different dimensions of commitment to change and significant influence of commitment to change on members' behavioral support for incremental technological change.

Practical implications

The findings of this study contribute to better insights for services providers for implementing incremental technological change strategies.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the theory of incremental technological changes by empirical examination of the impacts of users' attitudes toward change on members' behavioral support for incremental technological change in mobile social media. The paper extends the commitment to change theory with the discussion of the mediating effect of commitment to change in the continuing members' behavioral support for incremental technological change in mobile social media.

Article
Publication date: 16 May 2019

Qian Hu

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of understanding, analyzing and managing big data in the field of public administration.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of understanding, analyzing and managing big data in the field of public administration.

Design/methodology/approach

It discusses the unique attributes of Twitter data and proposes a text-mining and analysis framework for conducting research using data on social networking sites. Furthermore, this paper reviews recent scholarship that collected and analyzed Twitter data to address public administration or policy issues. It examines what research questions have been addressed through analyzing Twitter data and how researchers collected and analyzed Twitter data.

Findings

It concludes that a more systematic process is needed for data collection, and more in-depth analysis is needed to better understand and utilize Twitter data for public administration.

Originality/value

This paper is one of the early attempts to synthesize and review the existing research that used Twitter data to address public administration issues.

Details

International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, vol. 22 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1093-4537

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 July 2023

Qian Hu, Zhao Pan, Yaobin Lu and Sumeet Gupta

Advances in material agency driven by artificial intelligence (AI) have facilitated breakthroughs in material adaptivity enabling smart objects to autonomously provide…

417

Abstract

Purpose

Advances in material agency driven by artificial intelligence (AI) have facilitated breakthroughs in material adaptivity enabling smart objects to autonomously provide individualized smart services, which makes smart objects act as social actors embedded in the real world. However, little is known about how material adaptivity fosters the infusion use of smart objects to maximize the value of smart services in customers' lives. This study examines the underlying mechanism of material adaptivity (task and social adaptivity) on AI infusion use, drawing on the theoretical lens of social embeddedness.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopted partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), mediating tests, path comparison tests and polynomial modeling to analyze the proposed research model and hypotheses.

Findings

The results supported the proposed research model and hypotheses, except for the hypothesis of the comparative effects on infusion use. Besides, the results of mediating tests suggested the different roles of social embeddedness in the impacts of task and social adaptivity on infusion use. The post hoc analysis based on polynomial modeling provided a possible explanation for the unsupported hypothesis, suggesting the nonlinear differences in the underlying influencing mechanisms of instrumental and relational embeddedness on infusion use.

Practical implications

The formation mechanisms of AI infusion use based on material adaptivity and social embeddedness help to develop the business strategies that enable smart objects as social actors to exert a key role in users' daily lives, in turn realizing the social and economic value of AI.

Originality/value

This study advances the theoretical research on material adaptivity, updates the information system (IS) research on infusion use and identifies the bridging role of social embeddedness of smart objects as agentic social actors in the AI context.

Details

Internet Research, vol. 34 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1066-2243

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 November 2016

Tengwei Zhu, Feng Huang, Jing Liu, Qian Hu and Wei Li

This paper aims to investigate the atmospheric corrosion mechanism of structural materials to develop more advanced corrosion-control technologies and cost-reduction strategies…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the atmospheric corrosion mechanism of structural materials to develop more advanced corrosion-control technologies and cost-reduction strategies. As a second phase in steels, the non-metallic oxide inclusions are considered to not only affect the mechanical properties of steel but also the corrosion resistance of steel. So, an important research goal in this paper is to investigate the indoor accelerated corrosion kinetics of Q450NQR1 weathering steel, analyzing the galvanic polarity of different inclusions in electrochemical corrosion microcell between the inclusion and steel matrix and then elucidating the influence mechanism of inclusions on corrosion resistance of weathering steel.

Design/methodology/approach

Two methods of inclusion modification are usually used to improve the properties of weathering steel: one is calcium treatment on aluminum killed steel and the other one is rare earth (RE) modification. Wet/dry cyclic immersion corrosion test field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) metallographic optical microscope.

Findings

The indoor accelerated corrosion kinetics of Q450NQR1 weathering steel could be divided into two stages with different log (thickness loss, D)-log (time, t) fitting functions, and the effect of inclusions on the corrosion resistance of Q450NQR1 weathering steel was only reflected in the initial stages of corrosion. The inclusions of CaS in Ca-modified test steel and RE oxides and sulfides in RE-modified test steel were preferentially dissolved in acid media, slowing down the corrosion rate of steel matrix, but the non-metallic inclusion Al2O3 may accelerate the corrosion rate of the steel matrix as a form of differential aeration corrosion.

Originality/value

The effects of inclusions on corrosion resistance of Q450NQR1 weathering steel was investigated by dry–wet cycle immersion test and FE-SEM. The effect of inclusions on the corrosion resistance of Q450NQR1weathering steel was only reflected in the initial stages of corrosion. The inclusions of CaS in Ca-modified test steel and rare earth (RE) oxides and sulfides in RE-modified test steel were preferentially dissolved in acid media, slowing down the corrosion rate of steel matrix, but the non-metallic inclusion Al2O3 may accelerate corrosion rate of the steel matrix as a form of differential aeration corrosion.

Details

Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, vol. 63 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0003-5599

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 June 2016

Qian Hu, Jing Liu and Feng Huang

The purpose of this paper was to clarify the influence of H2PO4-, HCO3-, pH increase and phosphate coating on corrosion rate and localized corrosion tendency of AZ31 magnesium…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper was to clarify the influence of H2PO4-, HCO3-, pH increase and phosphate coating on corrosion rate and localized corrosion tendency of AZ31 magnesium alloy.

Design/methodology/approach

The corrosion behavior of AZ31 magnesium alloy in physiological environments was investigated by hydrogen evolution collection measurements, electrochemical techniques and by use of a three-dimensional digital microscope.

Findings

H2PO4- and HCO3- have corrosion inhibition effects on AZ31 magnesium alloy in normal saline solutions. After immersing for 54 h, the surface undulations decrease from 100 to about 60 μm and 45 μm. The average corrosion rate decreased with increasing pH value. The localized corrosion tendency, however, increased significantly. CaHPO4·2H2O [dicalcium phosphate dehydrate (DCPD)] coating could decrease the initial icorr of AZ31 substrate in Hank’s solution. With partial dissolution of the coating, localized corrosion was readily evident on the AZ31 substrate surface, and a large corrosion pit with depth of over 350 μm appeared. The combined effect of the presence of inhibited ions, the increase in pH during corrosion process and the DCPD coating caused the decrease in the average corrosion rate while enhancing the localized corrosion tendency, resulting in the observed localized attack.

Originality/value

The paper provides an essential insight into the localized corrosion mechanism of AZ31 magnesium alloy in physiological environments.

Details

Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, vol. 63 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0003-5599

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 August 2019

Qian Hu, Saiwen Lu, Jing Liu and Feng Huang

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the influence of bicarbonate, chloride and outer electrode potential on crevice corrosion occurrence and development of X70 steel.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the influence of bicarbonate, chloride and outer electrode potential on crevice corrosion occurrence and development of X70 steel.

Design/methodology/approach

The crevice corrosion behavior in NaHCO3 and NaCl solutions was investigated through modeling and experiments. The electrode potential and current density distribution were simulated, and the acidification of crevice solution was monitored in situ.

Findings

The bicarbonate concentration and outer electrode potential remarkably influenced the occurrence of crevice corrosion. The former changes the passivation curves, and the latter alters the initial potential. Moreover, chloride concentration exerted minimal influence. The location of acidification and pitting occurrences depended on the potential difference between the outer electrode and electrode at the active dissolution current peak.

Originality/value

This study provides a better understanding of the crevice corrosion behavior and mechanism under natural conditions.

Details

Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, vol. 66 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0003-5599

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 November 2017

Heng Shao, Zhigeng Fang, Qin Zhang, Qian Hu, Jiajia Cai and Liangyan Tao

As productions show characteristics of multi-varieties and small batch in a recent new product system, it is more difficult to acquire its failure rate data. With the help of…

Abstract

Purpose

As productions show characteristics of multi-varieties and small batch in a recent new product system, it is more difficult to acquire its failure rate data. With the help of expert experience information, the authors can get the interval estimation of failure rate data under different methods, so how to make the interval convergence with the new information is an important problem to be solved. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the concept of generalized standard grey number is used to characterize the multi-source heterogeneous uncertainty failure rate data into a unified framework. Then, the engineering construction method is used to calculate the average failure rate and build the grey exponential distribution reliability function, whose image is presented as the possible region of the two-curve envelope.

Findings

Further, according to the normal distribution assumption of the regional convergence based on the information supplement, the convergence problem of the reliability function is transformed into the convergence of the area of the curve envelope region, and construct the multi-objective programming model with the minimum envelope area and the lowest total cost of information acquisition, acquire the conclusion that the failure rate is equal to the nuclear of the average failure rate when the envelope region converges.

Originality/value

Through the case analysis of the equipment ejection system of the Harbinger system, five groups of results are obtained by Matlab simulation, which verify the rationality and feasibility of the model described in this paper.

Details

Grey Systems: Theory and Application, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2043-9377

Keywords

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