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The paper aims to explore how the participants in the closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) select collecting strategies under the scenarios of information symmetry and asymmetry, and to investigate the value of corporate social responsibility (CSR) cost information for participants.

This paper constructs a two-echelon CLSC Stackelberg game consisting of one manufacturer and one retailer, where the manufacturer undertakes CSR and is responsible for the remanufacturing of used products. First, the authors establish two collecting models under information symmetry: manufacturer-collecting and retailer-collecting. Second, the authors construct two collecting models under information asymmetry and propose a two-part tariff contract to coordinate the participants’ profits. Finally, the authors make a numerical analysis to verify the results.

Under information symmetry, the profit of the participant who does not undertake collecting is positively related to the collecting rate, and the other participant may not benefit from the increase in the collecting rate. Under information asymmetry, the manufacturer will still select the retailer-collecting channel. Asymmetric information only affects the retailer’s selection. In addition, the manufacturer’s private CSR cost information is always valuable to the retailer.

This paper first explores the influence of the CSR cost information value on the selection of collecting channel under information asymmetry in the CLSC. The results can help company managers choose optimal collecting channel under information symmetry or under information asymmetry.

The purpose of this paper is to solve a post-disaster humanitarian logistics problem in which medical assistance teams are dispatched and the relief supplies are distributed among demand points.

A mixed integer-programming model and a two-stage hybrid metaheuristic method are developed to solve the problem. Problem instances of various sizes as well as a numerical example based on the 2016 Kyushu Earthquake in Japan are used to test the proposed model and algorithm.

Computational results based on comparisons with the state-of-the-art commercial software show that the proposed approach can quickly find near-optimal solutions, which is highly desirable in emergency situations.

Real data of the parameters of the model are difficult to obtain. Future collaborations with organizations such as Red Cross and Federal Emergency Management Agency can be extremely helpful in collecting data in humanitarian logistics research.

The proposed model and algorithm can help governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to effectively and efficiently allocate and coordinate different types of humanitarian relief resources, especially when these resources are limited.

This paper is among the first ones to consider both medical team scheduling (routing) and relief aid distribution as decision variables in the humanitarian logistics field. The contributions include developing a mathematical model and a heuristic algorithm, illustrating the model and algorithm using a numerical example, and providing a decision support tool for governments and NGOs to manage the relief resources in disasters.

This study aims to explore the impact of organizational search (local and boundary-spanning search) on business model innovation (efficiency-centered/novelty-centered business model innovation) and the moderating role of knowledge inertia between them.

The relationships are examined through data provided by a sample of Chinese firms and by multiple hierarchical regressions.

Local search has a stronger effect on efficiency-centered business model innovation, whereas boundary-spanning search plays a stronger role in novelty-centered business model innovation. Knowledge inertia strengthens the effect of local search on efficiency-centered business model innovation but weakens the effect of boundary-spanning search on efficiency-centered business model innovation and the effect of local search on novelty-centered business model innovation.

The findings enable firms’ managers to understand the subtle ways in which organizational search interacts with knowledge inertia to affect business model innovation and may help them to make knowledge management efforts to harvest the full value of organizational search.

Previous studies have not examined the effect of different organizational search on different business model innovation from knowledge management perspective. With knowledge inertia as the moderator, the results reveal the contingent impact mechanism of organizational search on business model innovation, the findings provide fresh evidence that can bridge the gap between knowledge management and business model innovation.

The coordinated development of the urbanization and construction industry is crucial for the sustainable development of cities. However, the coupling relationship and coordination mechanism between them remain unclear. To bridge this gap, this study attempts to explore the level of coupling coordination between new urbanization and construction industry development and investigate the critical driving factors influencing their coupling coordination degree.

By referring to the existing literature, two index systems were established to evaluate the development level of the new urbanization and construction industry. The spatiotemporal characteristics of the coupled coordinated development of the new urbanization and construction industry in China from 2014 to 2020 were investigated using the coupling coordination model. The Markov chain and geographic detector were adopted to understand the transition probability and driving factors of the coupling coordination degree.

The results indicate that the coupling degree of China's new urbanization and construction industry is high, and the two systems exhibit obvious interaction phenomena. However, the construction industry in most provinces lags behind the new urbanization. A positive interactive relationship and coordination mechanism has not been established between the two systems. Furthermore, the  coupling contribution degree of the driving factors from high to low is as follows: market size > labor resource concentration > government investment ability > economic development level > industrial structure > production efficiency > technology level. Accordingly, a driving mechanism including market, policy, economic, and production technology drivers was developed.

This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by providing a set of scientific analysis methods to address the deficiency of coordination mechanism research on new urbanization and the construction industry. The results also provide a theoretical basis for decision makers to develop differentiated sustainable development policies.

The critical issue in financial management is investigating the role of government in an organization's economy. Governmental facilities, loans and long-term financial plans may affect the performance of financial management systems. Financial management systems may be affected by various other factors, such as organizational, technological and governmental factors. Studying and investigating the influence of organizational, technological and governmental factors on financial management systems' performance is the primary goal of this paper.

Financial management has always been affected by the increasing role of technology. Also, the use of financial software, the entry of computer-based computing and math planning are examples of technology entry to financial management that has led to changes in recent years. Data were collected from the insurance offices through a questionnaire. Distributed questionnaires were conducted on a Likert scale. The causal model has been appraised by the structural equation modeling (SEM) method that has been utilized to assess the validity and reliability of the model. The software has been used to evaluate the questionnaire, and the hypotheses of the research are evaluated using SPSS 22 and SMART-PLS software.

The results showed that organizational, technological and governmental factors directly affect financial management systems' performance. For this reason, the role of organizational, technological and governmental factors on the success of financial management systems in insurance companies must be considered for decision-making in the future.

This study includes some restrictions required to be examined in assessing the outcomes. First, sample research was selected from the managers of the insurance offices in Harbin, China. So, the sample size is not big, and the generalization of the results is limited. Second, the current research might have ignored other variables, which affect the performance of financial management systems. Future researchers intend to investigate the impact of investments and projects on financial management systems' performance as a proposal. Nevertheless, the subsequent investigation can assess vital factors like investments and plans on financial management systems' performance.

The research also includes insurance companies and all departments and individuals associated with financial management systems somehow.

In the current article, the performance of financial management systems is highlighted, and the method to resolve the issue has been utilized as an experimental example. This article's introduced model supplies a comprehensive framework to investigate the impact of organizational, technological and governmental factors on financial management systems' performance.

This chapter delves into the impact of digital initiatives on firms and sheds light on how they can be explained through market reactions and the resource/capabilities mechanism. By providing a novel conceptual framework that reflects the potential impact of digital initiatives on the sensing, seizing and transforming capabilities of dynamic capabilities, this chapter reveals the tremendous potential of digital initiatives to help firms become more adaptive to their environment and create sustainable competitive advantages that elicit positive market responses. This conceptual framework represents an original contribution to the literature. It enhances the understanding of the resource-based view and efficient market hypothesis, providing a fresh perspective on the influence of digital initiatives on firm performance and the dynamic capabilities mechanism that has hitherto been overlooked. As a result, this chapter enables researchers to develop testable hypotheses that examine the causal relationships between digital initiatives, dynamic capabilities and market performance using robust quantitative research methods. Furthermore, this chapter offers valuable insights for managers seeking to develop a more focused approach to digital transformation and enhance their competitive advantage. By exploring the impact of digital initiatives on sensing, seizing and transforming capabilities, managers can gain a deeper understanding of how they can leverage digital initiatives to improve their organisational performance and respond more effectively to the demands of an ever-changing landscape.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the indigenous Chinese concept of suzhi (素质) with the aim of furthering the development of Chinese human resource management (HRM) research and practice.

An extensive review of the literature on suzhi, published in the West, as well as in China, is the basis for proffering an organizational-level conceptualization of suzhi in the Chinese context.

Instead of understanding it as a free-floating signifier, we argue that suzhi can be considered as a criterion-based framework for HRM research and practice. Suzhi research is classified into two major sources – indigenous Chinese and indigenized Western constructs. We further make a distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic suzhi, and analyze a popular set of suzhi criteria, considering de (morality) and cai (talent), while focusing on de in HRM selection (德才兼备, 以德为先). As multilevel and multidimensional framework, suzhi criteria may form different gestalts in different organizations and industries.

From a social cultural and historical perspective, HRM research that incorporates a combination of indigenous and indigenized suzhi characteristics may receive better acceptance by individuals, organizations and the society in the Chinese context. Accordingly, the reconstruction of suzhi into manageable and measurable dimensions can be undertaken for more effective HRM practice in the Chinese context.

The HRM literature is advanced by linking the indigenous suzhi discourse to Chinese indigenous HRM research and practice.

Considering the external disturbances and dynamic uncertainties during the process of the trajectory tracking, this paper aims to address the problem of the welding robot trajectory tracking with guaranteed accuracy.

The controller consists sliding mode control, fuzzy control and low pass filter. The controller adopts low-pass filter to reduce the high frequency chattering control signal in sliding mode control. The fuzzy control model is used to simulate the external disturbance signal and the dynamic uncertainty signal, so that the controller can effectively restrain the chattering caused by the sliding mode control algorithm, realizing the track of the welding robot effectively and improving the robustness of the robot.

An innovative experiment device was adopted to realize the performance of the proposed controller. Considering the kinematic and dynamic uncertainty during the process of robot tracking, the tracking accuracy was realized within 0.3 mm.

This paper uses Lyapunov stability theory and Barbalat theorem to analyze the stability of the proposed controller.

This paper introduces a new mathematical model for analyzing the economic benefits of incorporating the fourth party logistics (4PL), which is a contractor (i.e. agent) for the supply chain coordination and construction based on the division of community and the outsourcing development. Based on the physical theory and the wave-particle duality, a supply chain is the special organization whose characteristic has wave-particle duality. The mathematical model enriches the connotation of 4PL and it broadens the thought for 4PL development. Secondly, the proposed mathematical model predicated on transaction costs, is supported by Transaction Cost Theory (TCT) and acts as the theoretical analysis tool of 4PL for coordinating 3-party generic supply chain. Through the model, some trendy conclusions can be drawn to provide theoretical support for 4PL’s practices. Finally, a case illustrates our conclusions.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of technology on organizational performance of private higher learning institutions (HLIs) in Malaysia and to determine the area of focus for private HLIs in Malaysia.

Data collection was carried out over two months through an online self-administered questionnaire and yielded 155 samples. Subsequently, the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the reflective measurement model and the structural model for validity, reliability and hypotheses, respectively.

This paper discovered that between the two constructs of technology tested (technology management and technology usage), only technology management influenced organizational performance.

As Industry 4.0 is disrupting the existing business environment, inquiring into the influence of technology is of critical importance for the organizational performance of private HLIs in Malaysia. This paper provides a different perspective of how technology affects the overall organizational performance of private HLIs which differs from past studies which focused more on the effects of technology on individuals such as teachers/instructors and learners.