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Users' voluntary forwarding behavior opens a new avenue for companies to promote their brands and products on social networking sites (SNS). However, research on voluntary information disseminators is limited. This paper aims to bring an in-depth understanding of voluntary disseminators by answering the following questions: (1) What is the underlying mechanism by which some users are more enthusiastic to voluntarily forward content of interest? (2) How to identify them? We propose a theoretical model based on the Elaboration-Likelihood Model (ELM) and examine three types of factors that moderate the effect of preference matching on individual forwarding behavior, including personal characteristics, tweet characteristics and sender–receiver relationships.

Via Twitter API, we randomly crawled 1967 Twitter users' data to validate the conceptual framework. Each user’s original tweets and retweeted tweets, profile data such as the number of followers and followees and verification status were obtained. The final corpus contains 163,554 data points composed of 1,634 valid twitterers' retweeting behavior. Tweets produced by these core users' followees were also crawled. These data points constitute an unbalanced panel data and we employ different models — fixed-effects, random-effects and pooled logit models — to test the moderation effects. The robustness test shows consistency among these different models.

Preference matching significantly affects users' forwarding behavior, implying that SNS users are more likely to share contents that align with their preferences. In addition, we find that popular users with lots of followers, heavy SNS users who author tweets or forward other-sourced tweets more frequently and users who tend to produce longer original contents are more enthusiastic to disseminate contents of interest. Furthermore, interaction strength has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between preference matching and individuals' forwarding decisions, suggesting that users are more likely to disseminate content of interest when it comes from strong ties. However, the moderating effect of perceived affinity is significantly negative, indicating that an online community of individuals with many common friends is not an ideal place to engage individuals in sharing information.

This work brings about a deep understanding of users' voluntary forwarding behavior of content of interest. To the best of our knowledge, the current study is the first to examine (1) the underlying mechanism by which some users are more likely to voluntarily forward content of interest; and (2) how to identify these potential voluntary disseminators. By extending the ELM, we examine the moderating effect of tweet characteristics, sender–receiver relationships as well as personal characteristics. Our research findings provide practical guidelines for enterprises and government institutions to choose voluntary endorsers when trying to engage individuals in information dissemination on SNS.

This study aims to examine how employee advocacy, via the value and credibility of their professional social media content, affects their followers’ attitudes toward the brand through the mediating role of parasocial relationships.

A quantitative research was used, and questionnaires were answered by LinkedIn users who follow at least one person they consider to be an employee advocate. A total of 390 responses were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The results suggest that the credibility of an employee advocate positively impacts the parasocial relationship between the user and the employee, which, in turn, impacts the user’s attitude toward the brand represented by the employee advocate.

The results of this study suggest that employee advocacy on LinkedIn can shape positive attitudes toward the advocate’s brand. These findings suggest that organizations should consider employee content and credibility as strategic tools in marketing communications.

This study delineates the linkages between the credibility and content value of the employee advocate, the parasocial relationship they have with followers and their attitude toward the brand. This research contributes to the literature on employee advocacy and studies on the concepts of parasocial interactions and relationships.

The purpose of this paper is to propose an new online path planning method for porcine belly cutting. With the proliferation in demand for the automatic systems of pork production, the development of efficient and robust meat cutting algorithms are hot issues. The uncertain and dynamic nature of the online porcine belly cutting imposes a challenge for the robot to identify and cut efficiently and accurately. Based on the above challenges, an online porcine belly cutting method using 3D laser point cloud is proposed.

The robotic cutting system is composed of an industrial robotic manipulator, customized tools, a laser sensor and a PC.

Analysis of experimental results shows that by comparing with machine vision, laser sensor-based robot cutting has more advantages, and it can handle different carcass sizes.

An image pyramid method is used for dimensionality reduction of the 3D laser point cloud. From a detailed analysis of the outward and inward cutting errors, the outward cutting error is the limiting condition for reducing the segments by segmentation algorithm.

This paper aims to investigate how value drivers of internet medical business model affect value creation through a configurational approach. The internet medical business model (IMBM) is such a business model that integrates online and offline medical services with the driving force of internet technologies covering prediagnosis, in-diagnosis and postdiagnosis. The outbreak of COVID-19 and the support of national policies have boosted the development of internet health care. However, there are still many challenges in practice, such as the unclear innovation path, as well as difficulties in landing and profiting. Academic research has not yet provided sufficient theoretical insights. Therefore, to better explain and guide practice, it is urgent to clarify the innovation path and mechanism of value creation for IMBM.

Based on the sample of 58 internet medical firms in China, this paper adopts fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to explore the configurational effects of IMBM’s value drivers on value creation.

Building on the business model canvas and the characteristics of internet health care, five value drivers of IMBM are identified, namely, functional value proposition, emotional value proposition, user involvement, resource capabilities and connection properties. And the five value drivers form three configurations, which are, respectively, labeled as resource-driven configuration, user-operated configuration and product-combined configuration. From the perspective of the integration of traditional and emerging theories, such as resource-based view, internet economics and value cocreation, each configuration leads to value creation and improves value results with different mechanisms behind it.

First, combined with the business model canvas and the characteristics of internet health care, this paper identifies five value drivers of IMBM, thus improving the relevant research on internet health care. Second, based on the configurational effects, this paper discusses the mechanism behind the configurational effects of IMBM’s value drivers on value creation, thus expanding relevant research on the value creation of business models. Third, applying fsQCA and combining the advantages of qualitative research and quantitative research, this paper adds to the configurations of IMBM’s value drivers that achieve high-value results.

Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that uses cryptography to ensure transmission and access security, which provides solutions to numerous challenges to complex supply networks. The purpose of this paper is to empirically test the impact of blockchain implementation on shareholder value varying from internal and external complexity from the complex adaptive systems (CASs) perspective. It further explores how business diversification, supply chain (SC) concentration and environmental complexity affect the relationship between blockchain implementation and shareholder value.

Based on 138 blockchain implementation announcements of listed companies on the Chinese A-share stock market, the authors use event study methodology to evaluate the impact of blockchain implementation on shareholder value.

The results show that blockchain implementation has a positive impact on shareholder value, and this impact will be moderated by business diversification, SC concentration and environmental complexity. In addition, environmental complexity exerts a moderating effect on SC concentration. In the post hoc analysis, the authors further explore the impact of blockchain implementation on long-term operational performance.

This is the first research empirically examining the effect of blockchain implementation on shareholder value varying from internal and external complexity from the CASs perspective. This paper provides evidence of the different effects of blockchain implementation on short- and long-term performance. It adds to the interdisciplinary research of information systems (IS) and operations management (OM).

The patient-side manipulator (PSM) achieves high torque capability by combining harmonic servo system with high reduction ratio and low torque motor. However, high reduction ratio can increase inertia and decrease compliance of the manipulator. To enhance the backdrivability of the minimally invasive surgical robot, this paper aims to propose a resistance torque compensation algorithm.

A resistance torque compensation algorithm based on dynamics and Luenberger observer is proposed. The dynamics are established, considering joint flexibility and an improved Stribeck friction model. The dynamic parameters are experimentally identified by using the least squares method. With the advantages of clear structure, simple implementation and fast solution speed, the Luenberger observer is selected to estimate the unmeasured dynamic information of PSM and realize the resistance torque compensation.

For low-speed surgical robots, the centrifugal force term in the dynamic model can be simplified to reduce computational complexity. Joint flexibility and an improved Stribeck friction model can be considered to improve the accuracy of the dynamic model. Experiment results show that parameter identification and estimated results of the Luenberger observer are accurate. The backdrivability of the PSM is enhanced in ease and smoothness.

This algorithm provides potential application prospects for surgical robots to maintain high torque while remaining compliant. Meanwhile, the enhanced backdrivability of the manipulator helps to improve the safety of the preoperative manual adjustment.

Given the complexity of building information modeling (BIM) adoption decisions in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry, understanding BIM adoption decision-making through the net effect of a single factor on BIM adoption decisions alone is limited. Therefore, this paper analyzed the co-movement effect of managers' psychological factors on the BIM adoption decisions from the perspective of managers' perceptions. The purpose is to let managers have a deep understanding of their BIM adoption decisions, and put forward targeted suggestions for the AEC industry to promote the adoption of BIM by SMEs.

Data from 192 managers in SMEs collected by the questionnaire were used in a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Due to the limitations of fsQCA in making the best use of the data used, as a complement to fsQCA, necessary conditions analysis (NCA) was used to analyze the extent to which necessary conditions influenced the outcome.

(1) NCA analysis shows that high perceived resource availability (PRA) and high performance expectancy (PE) are necessary conditions for high BIM adoption intention (AI). (2) fsQCA analysis shows that high PE is the single core condition for high AI. fsQCA analysis identifies three configurations of managers' psychological factors, reflecting three types of managers' decision preferences, namely benefit preference, loss aversion and risk avoidance, respectively. Different decision preferences may lead to different BIM adoption strategies, such as full in-house use, partial in-house/outsourcing and full outsourcing of BIM processes. (3) High perceived risk (PR) and low perceived business value of BIM (PBV) are the core conditions for low AI.

This paper expands on the application of fsQCA to context of BIM adoption decisions. Based on the results of fsQCA analysis, this paper also establishes the relationship between managers' decision-making psychology and BIM adoption strategy choice and analyzes the impact of different decision biases on BIM adoption strategy choice. It concludes with suggestions for encouraging managers to adopt BIM and for avoiding decision-making bias.

This study aims to investigate how firms of different sizes respond to competitive pressure from peers.

This study employs machine learning techniques to measure competitive pressure based on management discussion and analysis (MD&A) documents and then utilises the constructed pressure indicator to explore the relationship between competitive pressure and corporate risk-taking behaviours amongst firms of different sizes.

We find that firm sizes are positively associated with their risk-taking behaviours when firms respond to competitive pressure. Large firms are inclined to exhibit a high level of risk-taking behaviours, whereas small firms tend to make conservative decisions. Regional growth potential and institutional ownership moderate the relationships.

Utilising text mining techniques, this study constructs a novel quantitative indicator to measure competitive pressure perceived by focal firms and demonstrates the heterogeneous behaviour of firms of different sizes in response to competitive pressure from peers, advancing research on competitive market pressures.

In recent years, railway systems worldwide have faced challenges such as the modernization of engineering projects, efficient management of intelligent digital railway equipment, rapid growth in passenger and freight transport demands, customized transport services and ubiquitous transport safety. The transformation toward intelligent digital transformation in railways has emerged as an effective response to the formidable challenges confronting the railway industry, thereby becoming an inevitable global trend in railway development.

This paper, therefore, conducts a comprehensive analysis of the current state of global railway intelligent digital transformation, focusing on the characteristics and applications of intelligent digital transformation technology. It summarizes and analyzes relevant technologies and applicable scenarios in the realm of railway intelligent digital transformation, theoretically elucidating the development process of global railway intelligent digital transformation and, in practice, providing guidance and empirical examples for railway intelligence and digital transformation.

Digital and intelligent technologies follow a wave-like pattern of continuous iterative evolution, progressing from the early stages, to a period of increasing attention and popularity, then to a phase of declining interest, followed by a resurgence and ultimately reaching a mature stage.

The results offer reference and guidance to fully leverage the opportunities presented by the latest wave of the digitalization revolution, accelerate the overall upgrade of the railway industry and promote global collaborative development in railway intelligent digital transformation.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical historical analysis of the business (mis)behaviors and influencing factors that discourage enduring cooperation between principals and agents, to introduce strategies that embrace the social values, economic motivation and institutional designs historically adopted to curtail dishonest acts in international business and to inform an improved principal–agent theory that reflects principal–agent reciprocity as shaped by social, political, cultural, economic, strategic and ideological forces

The critical historical research method is used to analyze Chinese compradors and the foreign companies they served in pre-1949 China.

Business practitioners can extend orthodox principal–agent theory by scrutinizing the complex interactions between local agents and foreign companies. Instead of agents pursuing their economic interests exclusively, as posited by principal–agent theory, they also may pursue principal-shared interests (as suggested by stewardship theory) because of social norms and cultural values that can affect business-related choices and the social bonds built between principals and agents.

The behaviors of compradors and foreign companies in pre-1949 China suggest international business practices for shaping social bonds between principals and agents and foreign principals’ creative efforts to enhance shared interests with local agents.

Understanding principal–agent theory’s limitations can help international management scholars and practitioners mitigate transaction partners’ dishonest acts.

A critical historical analysis of intermediary businesspeople’s (mis)behavior in pre-1949 (1840–1949) China can inform the generalizability of principal–agent theory and contemporary business strategies for minimizing agents’ dishonest acts.