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The effective prediction of crude oil futures prices can provide a reference for relevant enterprises to make production plans and investment decisions. To the nonlinearity, high volatility and uncertainty of the crude oil futures price, a matrixed nonlinear exponential grey Bernoulli model combined with an exponential accumulation generating operator (MNEGBM(1,1)) is proposed in this paper.

First, the original sequence is processed by the exponential accumulation generating operator to weaken its volatility. The nonlinear grey Bernoulli and exponential function models are combined to fit the preprocessed sequence. Then, the parameters in MNEGBM(1,1) are matrixed, so the ternary interval number sequence can be modeled directly. Marine Predators Algorithm (MPA) is chosen to optimize the nonlinear parameters. Finally, the Cramer rule is used to derive the time recursive formula.

The predictive effectiveness of the proposed model is verified by comparing it with five comparison models. Crude oil futures prices in Cushing, OK are predicted and analyzed from 2023/07 to 2023/12. The prediction results show it will gradually decrease over the next six months.

Crude oil futures prices are highly volatile in the short term. The use of grey model for short-term prediction is valuable for research. For the data characteristics of crude oil futures price, this study first proposes an improved model for interval number prediction of crude oil futures prices.

This paper studies the optimal decision-making and coordination problem of a dual-channel fresh agricultural product (FAP) supply chain. The purpose is to analyze the impact of information sharing on optimal decisions and propose a coordination mechanism to encourage supply chain members to share information.

The two-echelon dual-channel FAP supply chain includes a manufacturer and a retailer. By using the Stackelberg game theory and the backward induction method, the optimal decisions are obtained under information symmetry and asymmetry and the coordination contract is designed.

The results show that supply chain members should comprehensively evaluate the specific situation of product attributes, coefficient of freshness-keeping cost and network operating costs to make decisions. Asymmetric information can exacerbate the deviation of optimal decisions among supply chain members and information sharing is always beneficial to manufacturers but not to retailers. The improved revenue-sharing and cost-sharing contract is an effective coordination mechanism.

The conclusions can provide theoretical guidance for supply chain managers to deal with information asymmetry and improve the competitiveness of the supply chain.

This paper combines the three characteristics that are most closely related to the reality of supply chains, including horizontal and vertical competition of different channels, the perishable characteristics of FAPs and the uncertainty generated by asymmetric demand information.

The incentive cost of enterprises increases significantly with the rapid growth of the social commerce (SC) market. In this context, enterprises need to develop the optimal strategy to improve incentive effectiveness and reduce cost. Different types of consumers’ responses to incentives bring different values to enterprises. Hence, this paper proposes the social commerce value network (SCVN) to help enterprises study the contributions of different types of consumers to the network.

Based on the graphical evaluation and review technique (GERT), the authors construct the social commerce value GERT (i.e. SCV-GERT) network and design three progressive experiments for estimating the value contributions of “network stage”, “consumer type”, and “resource type” to the SCVN under the same incentives. The authors initialize the SCV-GERT model with consumer data in SC and distinguish the most valuable consumers by adjusting the incentive parameters.

The results show that the SCV-GERT model can well describe the value flow of SCVN. The incentive on forwarding consumers brings the greatest value gain to the SCVN, and social trust contributes the most to forwarding consumers.

Under the guidance of the results, platforms and enterprises in SC can select the optimal type of consumers who bring the maximum network value so as to improve the effectiveness of incentive strategy and reduce marketing costs. A four-level incentive system should be established according to the ranking of the corresponding value gains: forwarding consumers > agent consumers > commenting consumers > potential consumers. Enterprises also need to find ways to improve the social resource investments of consumers participating in SC.

This paper investigates the incentive problem in SC grounded in the SCVN and uses the GERT method to construct the SCV-GERT model, which is the first attempt to introduce GERT into the SC context. This study also makes up for the lack of comparative research on different types of consumers in SC and can provide support for enterprises’ customer relationship management and marketing decisions.

The purpose of this paper is to construct a multiwing chaotic system that has hidden attractors with multiple stable equilibrium points. Because the multiwing hidden attractors chaotic systems are safer and have more dynamic behaviors, it is necessary to construct such a system to meet the needs of developing engineering.

By introducing a multilevel pulse function into a three-dimensional chaotic system with two stable node–foci equilibrium points, a hidden multiwing attractor with multiple stable equilibrium points can be generated. The switching behavior of a hidden four-wing attractor is studied by phase portraits and time series. The dynamical properties of the multiwing attractor are analyzed via the Poincaré map, Lyapunov exponent spectrum and bifurcation diagram. Furthermore, the hardware experiment of the proposed four-wing hidden attractors was carried out.

Not only unstable equilibrium points can produce multiwing attractors but stable node–foci equilibrium points can also produce multiwing attractors. And this system can obtain 2N + 2-wing attractors as the stage pulse of the multilevel pulse function is N. Moreover, the hardware experiment matches the simulation results well.

This paper constructs a new multiwing chaotic system by enlarging the number of stable node–foci equilibrium points. In addition, it is a nonautonomous system that is more suitable for practical projects. And the hardware experiment is also given in this article which has not been seen before. So, this paper promotes the development of hidden multiwing chaotic attractors in nonautonomous systems and makes sense for applications.

This study explores how strategic human resource practices enhance the competitive capability of differentiation and cost-effectiveness by leveraging knowledge resources in Indian IT/software organizations. It examines the mediating effect of knowledge management (KM) processes in the relationship between strategic HR practices, competitive differentiation and cost-effectiveness capabilities.

An online questionnaire survey collected data from 380 knowledge workers in 25 IT/software and consultancy firms. The authors checked data reliability and validity by conducting exploratory factor analysis in SPSS and confirmatory factor analysis in AMOS. The authors evaluated hypotheses using path analysis in structural equational modeling in AMOS.

Strategic HR practices significantly and positively affect KM processes and competitive capabilities-differentiation and cost-efficiency. Both strategic HR practices and KM processes have a closer association with differentiation than cost-effectiveness. Knowledge management processes significantly and positively mediate between strategic HR practices and competitive capabilities. The mediation is more substantial in predicting differentiation than cost-effectiveness.

It is a cross-sectional study with a constrained capacity to predict accurate causal inferences; The authors call for future studies with longitudinal design and objective measures. Further studies are required to explore the impact of various strategic HR configurations on KMP to understand how different routes stimulate a particular competitive strategy. This conceptual framework can be validated across different industry types and sizes.

This study provides practical insights to HR and knowledge managers regarding devising HR and KM processes to accomplish the goals of differentiation and cost-effective, competitive strategies. This study highlights that leveraging human capital for effective KM is crucial for gaining a competitive advantage.

The paper adds to the strategic HR and KM literature by exploring the mediating role of KM processes in enabling strategic HR processes to enhance differentiation and cost-effective, competitive strategies. It provides original empirical evidence from knowledge-intensive IT/software consultancies, particularly in India's emerging economy. It indicates the current state of HR practices adopted for optimum utilization of knowledge resources and the importance of differentiation strategy for Indian knowledge-intensive IT/software firms.

Innovation is critical for businesses to stay competitive in today's world, as it allows them to constantly look for new ways to differentiate their products or services from their competitors as well as improve cost-effectiveness. This study explore the role of strategic human resource practices in developing organizations' competitive capabilities-differentiation and cost-effectiveness, which, improves their innovation performance to create a competitive advantage.

The authors collected data from 387 employees from 25 knowledge-intensive information technology organizations in India through a questionnaire-based survey. After checking for biases, reliability and validity, the hypothesized relationships were tested by structural equational modeling using AMOS 26.

Strategic HR practices have a significant and positive effect on innovation performance and both competitive capabilities-differentiation and cost-effectiveness. While the differentiation capability had a strong positive effect on innovation performance, cost-effectiveness capability was not significantly related to innovation performance. The differentiation capability mediates the relationship between strategic HR practices and innovation performance link, whereas the cost-effectiveness capability did not have a mediating effect.

This study provides practical insights to HR and knowledge managers to focus on development of human capital and invest in hiring, training, development, strategic performance management practices to enhance employees' knowledge behaviors, which, stimulates innovation performance.

The paper adds to the strategic HRM paradigm by clarifying the underlying process of how strategic HR practices leads to higher innovation. It affirms the vitality of choosing appropriate competitive capabilities, and supporting organizational factor for business's success. It fills an important research gap by providing original empirical evidence from knowledge intensive information technology organizations in the emerging economy of India.

This study aims to investigate socioeconomic diversity in the hospitality industry by examining the relationship between social class background, family expectations and career outcomes of Generation Z employees. The relationship was further tested by investigating job titles and perceived prestige.

Two studies were developed to test the research questions – first, the social prestige of hospitality jobs compared to other industries with similar skill sets. Second, a between-subjects experimental design was used to examine the moderating effect of job title on the relationship between social class background, family expectations and career decisions.

The findings of the first study confirm the negative perceptions of the hospitality industry. Study 2 demonstrated a negative relationship between social class background and intentions to choose hospitality through family expectations among Generation Z. The negative effect was attenuated when a manager position was offered. However, college students majoring in hospitality reported positive intentions to accept a job in the hospitality industry for both frontline and managerial positions.

The findings emphasize the importance of extending organizational diversity beyond traditional demographics like race, gender and age by examining socioeconomic factors that influence career decisions among Generation Z employees. By considering social class background as a dimension of organizational diversity, the hospitality industry can cultivate a more inclusive culture and enhance recruitment and attraction efforts.

Examining the relationship between social class background and career decisions through the lens of social cognitive career theory provides insight into the social cognitive process of career development among Generation Z. The unique contribution of this study extends beyond observable dimensions of diversity to challenge the socioeconomic composition of the hospitality industry.

The purpose of this paper is to provide scientific guidance for the integration of industrialization and information (TIOII). In recent years, TIOII has promoted the development of intelligent manufacturing in China. However, many enterprises blindly invest in TIOII, which affects their normal production and operation.

This study establishes an efficiency evaluation model for TIOII. In this paper, entropy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) constraint cone and cross-efficiency are added based on traditional data envelopment analysis (DEA) model, and entropy AHP–cross-efficiency DEA model is proposed. Then, statistical analysis is carried out on the integration efficiency of enterprises in Guangzhou using cross-sectional data, and the traditional DEA model and entropy AHP–cross-efficiency DEA model are used to analyze the integration efficiency of enterprises.

The data show that the efficiency of enterprise integration is at a medium level in Guangzhou. The efficiency of enterprise integration has no significant relationship with enterprise size and production type but has a low negative correlation with the development level of enterprise integration. In addition, the improved DEA model can better reflect the real integration efficiency of enterprises and obtain complete ranking results.

By adding the entropy AHP constraint cone and cross-efficiency, the traditional DEA model is improved. The improved DEA model can better reflect the real efficiency of TIOII and obtain complete ranking results.

The purpose of this study is to examine the link between knowledge-oriented leadership (KOL) and organizational performance (OP) at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) both directly and indirectly through service innovation and knowledge-sharing quality.

This research used Smart PLS 4.0 to model structural equations using a sample comprising 237 academic staff from HEIs in China.

According to the study data, KOL has a negligible direct influence on organizational performance. The link between KOL and OP, on the other hand, is entirely mediated by the quality of knowledge sharing quality and service innovation.

The study results validate universities' experience with KOL and propose ways for academics at higher education institutions to prioritize the quality of knowledge sharing and service innovation, which in turn helps organizations function better in a volatile environment.

Despite the growing relevance of knowledge-oriented leadership in higher education, little research has been conducted to examine the mediating impact of numerous factors in the link between KOL and OP. The present research examines the link between knowledge-oriented leadership, the quality of knowledge sharing, service innovation and the performance of higher education institutions. The current study scientifically investigates the link between KOL and OP and offers insight into the existing literature by examining the mediating role of KSQ and SI.

This study sought to populate a concise set of guidelines for use of the case study research methodology and evaluate the adequacy with which the methodology has been used previously within both the positivist and interpretivist domains of architectural research.

Firstly, the study set out to establish, from the literature, the nature of the case study methodology. Thereafter, a set of guidelines for adequate use of the methodology was populated. The study, then, proceeded to examine selected architectural research papers that had used the case study methodology in order to evaluate the adequacy with which they had used the methodology. The research papers were randomly drawn from two major architectural research journals publishing scholarly work within the positivist and interpretivist paradigms.

Within the interpretivist domain of architectural research, the study found that there might exist some inadequacy in the way in which the case study methodology has been used.

Despite the popularity of the case study methodology, there have only been limited scholarly attempts at developing a set of guidelines with which to evaluate the adequacy of its usage, particularly within the context of architectural research. This lack of a concise set of guidelines might lead to inappropriate usage of the methodology. This study sought to undertake a review of the usage of the methodology within architectural research with two objectives, namely, populating a concise set of guidelines for use of the methodology and evaluating the adequacy with which the methodology has been used previously.