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This paper aims to disentangle the mechanism linking digital servitization and manufacturing firm performance. The contributions of the service networks and slack resources are analyzed.

Drawing on a survey of manufacturing firms that have implemented or are implementing digital service projects in China, this paper examines the mediation effect of service networks and the moderated mediation effect of slack resources to capture the role of service networks and slack resources in the relationship between digital servitization and manufacturing firm performance.

Both basic and advanced digital services can equally contribute to manufacturing firm performance. Service networks mediate the relationship between basic digital servitization and manufacturing firm performance. No moderated mediation effect of slack resources is found, but slack resources negatively moderate the effects of basic digital services on service networks and positively impact service networks.

The mediating mechanism of service networks in the relationship between digital servitization and manufacturing firm performance is theorized, and it is clarified that service networks mediate the association between basic digital services and manufacturing firm performance but not advanced digital services. Additionally, there is no significant difference in performance implications when manufacturing firms provide basic versus advanced digital services, answering the call for research on the various types of digital servitization. This paper also identifies firms’ slack resources as the boundary conditions under which basic digital services influence service networks and the positive impacts of slack resources on service networks, bridging the network literature, organizational slack literature and digitalization literature under the framework of service ecosystem research.

The purpose of this paper is to solve the problem of a pure time delay in the hydraulic automatic gauge control (HAGC) system.

Smith predictor is selected to solve pure time delay of the HAGC system. The model of thickness predictor is identified by the extended recursive least square algorithm. The parameters of controller are adjusted by particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO). The simulation result shows that the Smith predictor has good response performance and anti‐disturbances ability.

The control precision of the HAGC system in the finished mill can be obviously improved by Smith predictor with PSO arithmetic. The Smith predictor with PSO arithmetic is suitable to solve the pure time delay in the HAGC system.

Randomicity in rolling process and the effect of other mill stands are the main limitations based on which the model will be applied.

A very useful method to improve the precision of the strip.

This paper presents a new method of Smith predictor with PSO arithmetic is designed for a HAGC system in the finished mill to solve a pure time delay problem. The object model is acquired by system identification method.

This paper aims to examine the relationship between the female participation in top management team (TMT) and the growth performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Chinese economic environment.

Adopting resource dependence theory, this paper tests the hypotheses using panel data from 469 Chinese-listed SMEs during the period of 2011 to 2013.

The results show that female participation in TMT significantly promotes the growth performance of SMEs, and there is significantly inverted U-shaped relationship between these two variables.

This paper finds that education level weakens the inverted U-shaped relationship between the female’s participation in TMT and the growth performance of SMEs.

The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of political connections and institutional environment differences on private enterprises' acquiring bank loans, and to analyze the governance effect of bank debts and its impact on firm value.

Choosing private listed enterprises in China as samples, this study builds equation models and uses the three‐stage least squares estimation method to estimate these models.

The results show that: political connections influence lending policies of banks; the politically connected private enterprises could acquire more loans from banks. In poorer institutional environment, political connections can help private enterprises to acquire more bank loans; building political connections is an informal substitute mechanism for private enterprises to overcome the drawbacks of market institutions. The bank loans have governance effects on politically connected private enterprises and can increase firm value; the allocation of bank loans through political connections is efficient.

This study provides a meaningful perspective for understanding the impact of political connections on firm value and allocation of social resources.

The purpose of this paper is to reduce the crop losses at two ends and both sides of a plate in the rolling process, to produce a rectangular plan view pattern plate and to enhance the total product yield of the plates.

Based on sample data and the unchangeable principle of the slab volume in the rolling process, the predictive MAS control models were set‐up. They are width broad MAS predictive model, width broad MAS control model, gaugemeter automatic gauge control (GM‐AGC) model, and plates tracking model. After the models were tuned, the rolling test was implemented at LinFen Iron & Steel Co., Ltd.

It is found that by accurately predictive online modeling of MAS methods, the plan view pattern control can be applied in plate mills.

As the rolling process is in high temperature, the plan view pattern is difficult to be detected. Normally, the real‐time abnormity distortion cannot be obtained.

The test results showed that the crop losses are reduced and the product yield is greatly increased.

This paper presents an accurately predictive online modeling of MAS method.