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This study aims to develop an assessment scale for university service quality (university SQ) and examine University Service Quality assessment model (UNIQUAL) of higher education during the pandemic.

Two studies applied a mixed-method design to develop and validate the UNIQUAL scale. In-depth interviews and literature reviews were conducted to refine the initial dimensions and items of UNIQUAL in Study 1. Item analysis, EFA and CFA were then conducted to purify item refinement, scale refinement, purification and validation in Study 2. Finally, a confirmed UNIQUAL model was analyzed via partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using Smart-PLS 4.0.

The research confirms the four-factor structure of UNIQUAL, with a total of 16 items, to be a valid and reliable scale for the assessment of the service quality (SQ) of universities. Having adopted the bias-corrected and accelerated (BCa) bootstrap approach to study 5,000 subsamples from 27 countries, the authors found “responsiveness” and “empathy” to be significantly associated and have positive relationships with students' satisfaction with university SQ. Furthermore, university SQ and satisfaction were mediated by “health and safety” concerns.

The newly developed UNIQUAL scale would be of value to educators and authorities of higher education to assess the SQ of their universities to enhance the effectiveness of student learning. The improvement in satisfaction with higher education's SQ ultimately helps in retaining both international and local students amidst concerns about traveling and studying during the pandemic.

COVID-19 has affected the private and public sectors worldwide. Millions of students have been affected by schools being shut down and substituted with distance-learning programs. Thus, the assessment of the quality of university services has become an important support mechanism for retaining the sustainability of higher education.

The UNIQUAL scale provides a conceptual model and validates an assessment tool. The research hypotheses confirm the relationship between university SQ and satisfaction from the perspective of international students.

Drawing on uncertainty management theory, the purpose of this paper is to propose that experiencing the authoritarian leadership (AL) will weaken followers’ self-efficacy, which induces their compulsory citizenship behaviors (CCBs), defined as workers’ unwilling prosocial behaviors in helping colleagues.

Survey/regression: data collected from Taiwanese workers supports the proposal.

The results not only support the proposal but also show that supervisor support will exacerbate the negative effect of AL with workers’ self-efficacy. Further, workers’ political skill will attenuate the above relationship.

This study complements scholarly knowledge about how AL, supervisor support, and political skill together influence workers’ self-efficacy, which then induces CCBs. The findings also remind supervisors not to offer support while at the same time demonstrating an AL style.

The purpose of this paper is to present the landscape of the cash-per-publication reward policy in China and reveal its trend since the late 1990s.

This study is based on the analysis of 168 university documents regarding the cash-per-publication reward policy at 100 Chinese universities.

Chinese universities offer cash rewards from USD30 to USD165,000 for papers published in journals indexed by Web of Science, and the average reward amount has been increasing for the past ten years.

The cash-per-publication reward policy in China has never been systematically studied and investigated before except for in some case studies. This is the first paper that reveals the landscape of the cash-per-publication reward policy in China.

Although an important facet of modernist architecture in which function plays a prominent role, building flexibility is not entirely a new concept. Its relevance transcends generations, allowing space and structure to evolve through time. This paper investigates the relationship among main building structures, infill elements, and space by studying examples in ancient Chinese architecture. It reveals the role of building owners, users, and craftsmen from a survey of historical documentation. In studying these examples, it is concluded that craftsmen in ancient China were involved not only during the construction phase but throughout the period of use as well. Thus, in select cases, the relationship between craftsmen and owners or users had been preserved for generations. Finally, this paper suggests potential strategies for the building industry and technology in the move towards sustainable development.

In recent years, there has been a growing trend of individuals willingly opting for employment positions that do not fully use their education, skills and abilities, a phenomenon known as voluntary overqualification. This study aims to investigate the factors that influence and the formation mechanism of this emerging phenomenon. Drawing upon social cognition theory, this study explores the relationship between work values and voluntary overqualification while also examining the mediating role of the future work self and the moderating role of perceived marketability.

This study used a longitudinal approach, collecting data through questionnaires administered at multiple time points. The sample consisted of 607 employees from various departments of five Chinese companies. Regression analysis using the PROCESS macro in SPSS was used to test the research hypotheses.

The results indicate a positive relationship between employees’ work values and voluntary overqualification. Furthermore, this relationship is mediated by the future work self. Additionally, perceived marketability plays a moderating intermediary role in the whole model.

This study contributes to the overqualification literature by introducing a novel type of overqualification and unveiling the mechanism by which work values influence voluntary overqualification. The findings provide insights for understanding and managing employees who are voluntarily overqualified.

This paper describes the organic geochemical characteristics and their roles on barium enrichment in the No. 2 Coal from Huanglong Jurassic Coalfield, China. A total of 18 bench samples were taken from Huangling Mine 2. The average content of barium (3701 mg/kg) was about 23 times higher than that of common world coals. Terrestrial higher plants were the main coal-forming parent material. Relying on the parameters of OEP, Pr/Ph and so on, there is little correlation between organic geochemical characteristics and barium enrichment. Therefore, organic material has little influence on the process of coal-forming and the enrichment of barium.

Since a firm’s management performance can be evaluated in terms of financial ratios, efficient management using financial factors is proposed as the key element for upgrading a firm’s productivity. Investigates productivity in terms of certain financial factors of large‐scale manufacturing firms in Taiwan. First determines several influential financial factors using factor analysis. Based on these factors, employs fuzzy clustering approaches to categorize the manufacturing firms into several patterns with distinct characteristics of financial factors. Using the characteristics of productivity and financial factors for each pattern, makes two kinds of analysis, and proposes some suggestions to improve the firms’ productivity.

First, this paper aims to explore how CEO humility and relationship conflict in entrepreneurial teams affect the firm-level performance of new ventures. Second, it investigates the moderating effect of CEO political skills on the indirect association between CEO humility and entrepreneurial performance through relationship conflict in entrepreneurial teams.

A questionnaire survey was administered to CEOs and their entrepreneurial team members in 171 start-ups in Shanghai, China. The data obtained from the survey were subjected to multiple regression analysis using the SPSS PROCESS macro and confirmatory factor analysis using Mplus.

The findings are as follows. First, CEO humility can reduce relationship conflict in entrepreneurial teams. Second, CEO political skills moderate the link between CEO humility and relationship conflict in entrepreneurial teams. The weaker the CEO political skills, the stronger the effect of CEO humility on relationship conflict, and the stronger the CEO political skills, the weaker the effect of CEO humility on relationship conflict. Third, relationship conflict in entrepreneurial teams is negatively related to entrepreneurial performance. Finally, CEO political skills moderate the mediating effect of entrepreneurial team relationship conflict on the CEO humility – entrepreneurial performance link.

The findings of this study offer guidance for entrepreneurs seeking to improve firm performance. The findings suggest that entrepreneurs should adopt a humble leadership style that cultivates their strengths and minimizes their weaknesses. To improve the centripetal force and cohesion of the entrepreneurial team, they should focus on the team, affirm the contribution of subordinates and accept subordinates’ advice.

The study reveals that CEO humility has a positive effect on entrepreneurial performance, which enriches research on the effectiveness of humble leadership at the firm level. From the perspective of team relationship conflict, the study also explores the mechanism underlying the effect of CEO humility on entrepreneurial performance, opening the “black box” of CEO humility and entrepreneurial effectiveness. In addition, the study reveals the boundary conditions of the influence of CEO humility, enriching the theoretical literature on humble leadership, political skills and resource conservation.