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Given the great upheaval in the international situation and the increasing operating risk in international business, research on corporate diplomacy is thriving. However, it still lacks clear conceptualization and operationalization. Based on social capital theory, our study conceptualizes corporate diplomacy as a three-dimensional construct and quantifies its distinct and combined impacts on multinational enterprises’ (MNE) subsidiary performance.

This research analyzes 134 responses collected from a questionnaire survey among key informants in Chinese MNEs using the regression method.

This research finds that corporate diplomacy is positively correlated with MNEs’ subsidiary performance. Specifically, compatriot-oriented diplomacy is the most effective, followed sequentially by host-partner-oriented and host-regulator-oriented diplomacy. In addition, compatriot-oriented diplomacy substitutes for host-partner-oriented diplomacy but complements host-regulator-oriented diplomacy in enhancing subsidiary performance.

Our research enriches the conceptualization and operationalization of corporate diplomacy and provides a nuanced view of its distinct and combined effects on MNEs’ subsidiary performance.

This study aims to examine the risk-resistant role of environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in the capital market, focusing on an organizational standpoint. Furthermore, it aims to offer management decision advice to companies seeking protection against stock market risks. Conclusions obtained through this research have the potential to enrich the economic consequences of ESG performance, provide practical implications for enhancing corporate ESG performance, improving corporate information quality and stabilizing capital market development.

Based on the data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2020, this study examines the risk-resistant function of ESG performance in the capital market. The impact of ESG performance on management behavior is analyzed from the perspective of organizational management and the three mechanisms of pre-event, during the event and post-event.

This paper demonstrates that companies that effectively implement ESG practices are capable of effectively mitigating risks associated with stock price crashes. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the inhibitory effect of ESG performance on stock price crash risk is more pronounced in nonstate-owned enterprises and enterprises with higher levels of marketization. After controlling for issues such as endogeneity, the conclusions of this paper are still valid. The mechanism analysis indicates that ESG performance reduces the risk of stock price crash through three paths of organizational management: pre-event, during the event and post-event. That is, ESG performance plays the role of restraining managers’ opportunistic behavior, reducing information asymmetry and boosting investor sentiment.

This paper provides new insights into the relationship between ESG performance and stock price crash risk from an organizational management perspective. This study establishes three impact mechanisms (governance effect, information effect and insurance effect), offering a theoretical basis for strategic corporate decisions of risk management. Additionally, it comprehensively examines the contextual differences in the role of ESG performance, shedding light on the specific domains where ESG practices are influential. These findings offer valuable insights for promoting stable development in the capital market and fostering the healthy growth of the real economy.

Due to the unintentional or even the intentional mistakes arising from a survey, the purpose of this paper is to present a data-driven method for detecting students’ friendship network based on their daily behaviour data. Based on the detected friendship network, this paper further aims to explore how the considered network effects (i.e. friend numbers (FNs), structural holes (SHs) and friendship homophily) influence students’ GPA ranking.

The authors collected the campus smart card data of 8,917 sophomores registered in one Chinese university during one academic year, uncovered the inner relationship between the daily behaviour data with the friendship to infer the friendship network among students, and further adopted the ordered probit regression model to test the relationship between network effects with GPA rankings by controlling several influencing variables.

The data-driven approach of detecting friendship network is demonstrated to be useful and the empirical analysis illustrates that the relationship between GPA ranking and FN presents an inverted “U-shape”, richness in SHs positively affects GPA ranking, and making more friends within the same department will benefit promoting GPA ranking.

The proposed approach can be regarded as a new information technology for detecting friendship network from the real behaviour data, which is potential to be widely used in many scopes. Moreover, the findings from the designed empirical analysis also shed light on how to improve GPA rankings from the angle of network effect and further guide how many friends should be made in order to achieve the highest GPA level, which contributes to the existing literature.

Based on cognitive evaluation theory and gamification affordances, this study aims to understand how gamification affordances influence users’ intention to engage in sustainable behaviour and how new trends in Ant Forest influence its impact on green intrinsic motivation to support sustainable behaviours.

The authors developed a research model to explore the mechanisms underlying gamification affordances, psychological needs and green intrinsic motivation. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to assess the survey data (n = 393) and test the research model.

The results show that different gamification affordances can satisfy users’ needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness, which positively influences their green intrinsic motivation and engagement in sustainable behaviours. However, some affordances, such as competition, might negatively impact these psychological needs.

This research updates information system research on environmental sustainability and the Ant Forest context. The authors provide a new framework that links gamification affordances, psychological needs and sustainable behaviour. The study also examines changing trends in Ant Forest and their implications.

Paying to view others' answers is a new mode for question and answer (Q&A) platforms. The purpose is to build a model to explore the determinants of the number of listeners and further explore certain meaningful characteristics of the model in the context of different types of questions and answerers.

The authors develop an empirical model and use real panel data to test the hypothesis. Specifically, cues from the answerer and from the question elicit the listener's trust in the answerer (including direct and indirect trust) and perceived value in the question (including intrinsic and extrinsic attributes), respectively.

The authors find that cues from answerers (experience for paid Q&As and popularity for free Q&As) and questions (length, sentence structure, value and number of likes) all have positive effects on the number of listeners. The impact of answerer authentication is more significant than the popularity of free Q&As. Moreover, the length of the question matters only for subjective questions, while sentence structure matters only for objective questions. In addition, the answerer's own attributes and the behavior and feedback of others have greater impacts when the answerer is below average in popularity.

The authors summarize the unique features of the mode of paying to view others' answers in contrast with the traditional mode of paid Q&As. In addition, the authors focus on the characteristics of the question (including the subjectivity and the sentence structure of the question), a topic which has not been studied previously. Our research provides a reference for exploring user behavior patterns. The practical implications for knowledge platforms are also concretely described.