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Smart-work has been attracting more attention since the COVID-19 outbreak hit the world in 2020. Smart-working practices do not always run smoothly despite the necessary infrastructure being in place. Taking the quality-value-loyalty chain and information system continuance model as the basis, this study aims to identify how “smart-work support service” leads to employees’ continuance intention toward smart-work. In this study, the smart-work support service refers to the infrastructure making smart-work possible and services needed to support smart-work.

Using data collected from a survey of 406 employees working in Korea, this study verifies the components of smart-work support service quality and dimensions of perceived value through partial least squares analysis and then tests the proposed conceptual model using structural equation modeling.

The results verified that the quality of smart-work support service consists of eight attributes while dividing the perceived value of smart-work into three dimensions and further revealed that the service quality influences the intention to continue smart-working by way of perceived value and satisfaction.

This study sought to explore the relationship among service quality, perceived value and satisfaction by clearly conceptualizing and measuring them in the context of smart-work, thereby ultimately understanding the impact they have on the intention to continue smart-work.

The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of temperature on Zn–Ni alloys in ChCl–Urea.

Based on cyclic voltammetry experiments, the deposition behavior and kinetics of the Zn–Ni alloy are studied. The nucleation process of the Zn–Ni alloy is studied in detail via chronoamperometry experiments. The effects of the deposition temperature on the microstructure, Ni content and phase composition of Zn–Ni alloy coatings are investigated via scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) combined with classical thermodynamics.

The results show that with increasing temperature, the reduction peak shifts toward a more positive electric potential, which is beneficial for the co-electric deposition process, and the diffusion coefficient is estimated. With increasing temperature, the nucleation process of the Zn–Ni alloy becomes a three-dimensional instantaneous nucleation, the typical kinetic parameters are determined using the standard 3D growth proliferation control model and the Gibbs free energy is estimated. The Zn–Ni alloy coatings are prepared via normal co-deposition. With increasing temperature, the degree of crystallinity increases, the coating gradually becomes uniform and compact and the XRD peak intensity increases.

The nucleation process of the Zn–Ni alloy at different temperatures is analyzed. The diffusion coefficient D and Gibbs free energy are calculated. The contribution of the three processes at different temperatures is analyzed. The effect of temperature on the morphology of the Zn–Ni alloy coatings is studied.

The purpose of this study is to prepare a robust superhydrophobic coating on concrete substrate with remarkable chemical and mechanical durability through “all-covalent” strategy.

Amino-modified silica nano/micro-particles were prepared through two synthetic steps. “All-covalent” strategy was introduced to prepare a robust superhydrophobic coating on concrete surface via a “all-in-one” dispersion and a simple spraying method. The successful construction of the products was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, water contact angles (WCA), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The concrete protective properties were verified by solution immersion test, pull-off test and rapid chloride migration coefficient test. The mechanical durability was tested by falling sand impact.

Hierarchical structures combined with the low-surface-energy segments lead to typically superhydrophobic coating with a WCA of 156° and a sliding angle of 1.3°. The superhydrophobic coating prepared through “all-covalent” strategy not only improves chemical and mechanical durability but also achieves higher corrosion and wear resistance than the comparison sample prepared by physically blending strategy. More importantly, the robust superhydrophobic coating showed excellent adhesion and protective performance of concrete engineerings.

This new “all-covalent” superhydrophobic coating could be applied as a concrete protective layer with properties of self-cleaning, anti-graffiti, etc.

Introduction of both silica nanoparticles and silica microparticles to prepare a robust superhydrophobic coating on concrete surface through “all-covalent” strategy has not been systematically studied previously.

The purpose of this paper is to add expanded perlite (EP) immobilized microorganisms that replace part of the standard sand in mortar to improve the self-healing ability of mortar cracks and reduce the water absorption of mortar after healing.

Bacillus pseudofirmus spores were immobilized with EP particles as self-healing agents. The effects of adding self-healing agents on the compressive strength of mortar specimens were observed. The ability of mortar specimens to heal cracks was evaluated using crack microscopic observation and water absorption experiments. The filler at the cracks was microscopically analyzed by scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction experiments.

First, the internal curing effect of EP promotes the hydration of cement in mortar, which generates more amount and denser crystal structure of Ca(OH)2 at mortar cracks and improves the self-healing ability of mortar. Second, the self-healing ability of mortar improves with the increase of self-healing agent admixture. Adding a self-healing agent of high admixture makes the planar undulation of calcite crystal accumulation at mortar cracks more significant. Finally, the initial crack widths that can be completely healed by adding EP and self-healing agents to the mortar are 200 µm and 600 µm, respectively.

The innovation points of this study are as follows. (1) The mechanism of the internal curing effect of EP particles on the self-healing ability of mortar cracks was revealed by crack microscopic observation tests and microscopic experiments. (2) The effect of different self-healing agent amounts on the self-healing ability of mortar cracks has been studied. (3) The effects of EP particles and self-healing agents on healing different initial widths were elucidated by crack microscopic observation tests.

The aim of this paper is to research the acceptance mechanism of building information modeling (BIM) technology and to explore the differences among Architecture/Engineering/Construction (A/E/C) professionals with different individual characteristics. The proposed acceptance mechanism of BIM technology is intended to be used by industry stakeholders to propose decisions and measures, and improve the degree of BIM adoption.

Traditional hypothesis testing is adopted by the current study to empirically research the specific mechanism of A/E/C professionals accepting BIM technologies. In the one phase, a conceptual model based on technology acceptance model (TAM) and technology organization environment (TOE) theory was established and a large-scale questionnaire survey was conducted. In the other phase, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze acquired sample data, so as to empirically test the validity of the proposed linkage.

The results show first that perceived ease of use has no significant influence on perceived usefulness, and perceived usefulness has no significant effect on behavior intention as well. Second, BIM technical features and government BIM policies have positive effects on perceived usefulness, BIM technical features and organization supports have positive effects on perceived ease of use. Third, the BIM acceptance mechanism of A/E/C professionals is diverse from respondents with different characteristics, e.g. regions and working time.

The authors highlight the large sample size, as well as the nationwide context, of the questionnaire survey. Meanwhile, acceptance differences among A/E/C professionals with different demographic characteristics have been clarified using profound data and t-test. The findings of this study enrich the research on the acceptance mechanism of BIM technology, and contribute to relevant stakeholders taking targeted measures to promote the effective application of BIM technology nationwide.

This paper aims to investigate the cooperative governance mechanisms for personal information security, which can help enrich digital governance research and provide a reference for the formulation of protection policies for personal information security.

This paper constructs an evolutionary game model consisting of regulators, digital enterprises and consumers, which is combined with the simulation method to examine the influence of different factors on personal information protection and governance.

The results reveal seven stable equilibrium strategies for personal information security within the cooperative governance game system. The non-compliant processing of personal information by digital enterprises can damage the rights and interests of consumers. However, the combination of regulatory measures implemented by supervisory authorities and the rights protection measures enacted by consumers can effectively promote the self-regulation of digital enterprises. The reputation mechanism exerts a restricting effect on the opportunistic behaviour of the participants.

The authors focus on the regulation of digital enterprises and do not consider the involvement of malicious actors such as hackers, and the authors will continue to focus on the game when assessing the governance of malicious actors in subsequent research.

This study's results enhance digital governance research and offer a reference for developing policies that protect personal information security.

This paper builds an analytical framework for cooperative governance for personal information security, which helps to understand the decision-making behaviour and motivation of different subjects and to better address issues in the governance for personal information security.

This research aims to explore how consumers' local brand choices differ between air-polluted days and clean days, and why the difference occurs.

Two studies were conducted. Study 1 used the longitudinal consumption data of various yogurt brands and daily air quality indexes in 2014 and 2015. Study 2 conducted three rounds of surveys on a clean day, a general air-polluted day and a seriously air-polluted day.

The findings indicate that consumers show less tendency of attribution and compensatory consumption during air-polluted days, which in turn decrease their willingness to choose local brands.

Implications are provided for future research and marketing practice, especially for local companies that rely heavily on local consumers, and retailers in heavy air-polluted areas.

This paper is the first to illustrate the influence of air pollution on consumers' local brand choices, and it extends current understanding on air pollution and consumer choices by discovering psychological process underneath to explain the effect.

The study aims to investigate the relationships between green intellectual capital, green human resource management (HRM), and sustainability.

The research is based on information gathered from 112 large Malaysian manufacturing companies.

The study findings revealed that green human capital and green relational capital positively influence green HRM. In addition, green HRM positively related to social, environmental and economic performance. Besides, green HRM positively mediates the relationships between green human capital and economic, social and environmental performance. Finally, green relational capital improves sustainability (economic, environmental, and social performance) mediated by green HRM.

The current study contributes to the literature by examining green IC (green human capital, green structural capital, and green relational capital) as an independent variable and green HRM as a mediating variable for sustainability (economic, environmental, and social performance). The findings and recommended for the managers of large manufacturing firms and practitioners to invest in green IC to achieve sustainability through green HRM.

A cross-domain intelligent software-defined network (SDN) routing method based on a proposed multiagent deep reinforcement learning (MDRL) method is developed.

First, the network is divided into multiple subdomains managed by multiple local controllers, and the state information of each subdomain is flexibly obtained by the designed SDN multithreaded network measurement mechanism. Then, a cooperative communication module is designed to realize message transmission and message synchronization between the root and local controllers, and socket technology is used to ensure the reliability and stability of message transmission between multiple controllers to acquire global network state information in real time. Finally, after the optimal intradomain and interdomain routing paths are adaptively generated by the agents in the root and local controllers, a network traffic state prediction mechanism is designed to improve awareness of the cross-domain intelligent routing method and enable the generation of the optimal routing paths in the global network in real time.

Experimental results show that the proposed cross-domain intelligent routing method can significantly improve the network throughput and reduce the network delay and packet loss rate compared to those of the Dijkstra and open shortest path first (OSPF) routing methods.

Message transmission and message synchronization for multicontroller interdomain routing in SDN have long adaptation times and slow convergence speeds, coupled with the shortcomings of traditional interdomain routing methods, such as cumbersome configuration and inflexible acquisition of network state information. These drawbacks make it difficult to obtain global state information about the network, and the optimal routing decision cannot be made in real time, affecting network performance. This paper proposes a cross-domain intelligent SDN routing method based on a proposed MDRL method. First, the network is divided into multiple subdomains managed by multiple local controllers, and the state information of each subdomain is flexibly obtained by the designed SDN multithreaded network measurement mechanism. Then, a cooperative communication module is designed to realize message transmission and message synchronization between root and local controllers, and socket technology is used to ensure the reliability and stability of message transmission between multiple controllers to realize the real-time acquisition of global network state information. Finally, after the optimal intradomain and interdomain routing paths are adaptively generated by the agents in the root and local controllers, a prediction mechanism for the network traffic state is designed to improve awareness of the cross-domain intelligent routing method and enable the generation of the optimal routing paths in the global network in real time. Experimental results show that the proposed cross-domain intelligent routing method can significantly improve the network throughput and reduce the network delay and packet loss rate compared to those of the Dijkstra and OSPF routing methods.

By adopting a cross-country analysis, this study aims to investigate how consumers' perception of book covers affects their online book purchases in terms of feelings of delight and perceived value of the book.

The authors tested the hypotheses using a structural equation model using two countries' datasets obtained from 191 Japanese and 207 French consumers.

The perceived attractiveness of a picture/photo on a book cover can positively influence feelings of delight. Such emotion enhances a book's perceived value, resulting in active online book purchases. Furthermore, when the perceived value of a book is evident, the French are more strongly motivated to purchase books compared to Japanese consumers.

By simultaneously examining emotion and perceived value as an organism, the authors advance the knowledge of the relationship between book covers and online book purchases. In addition, the authors offer evidence that cross-cultural differences (between the French and Japanese) can stimulate different responses to each affective and cognitive internal state, although similar environmental stimuli are provided.