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Article
Publication date: 30 August 2021

Sunny Li Sun, Yanli Zhang and Zhu Zhu

The purpose of this paper is to propose a broadened and integrated red team strategy with concrete steps to help companies better deal with the disruptive forces prevalent in the…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a broadened and integrated red team strategy with concrete steps to help companies better deal with the disruptive forces prevalent in the world today and turn disruptions into growth.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper synthesizes and builds on previous research and relevant business cases accumulated through our research and executive teaching experience. The authors offer a broadened and integrated red team strategy with practical guidance for business executives

Findings

The authors provide four key steps to help companies implement the red team strategy: create a red team culture and encourage diverse perspectives; establish an independent red team to overcome organizational inertia; use the red team to embrace disruption and growth opportunities; and take a milestone approach to red team execution and resource allocation.

Research limitations/implications

More research on red team strategy is needed to delve into the underlying factors and delineate the boundary conditions for specific details in this strategy and implementation.

Practical implications

The red team strategy provides concrete steps to help companies in their efforts to adapt to and capitalize on disruptive forces.

Originality/value

The red team strategy extends the concept and application of red teams and integrates previously fragmented ideas and practices into a systematic model with simple steps, which make it easier for companies to cope with disruption.

Article
Publication date: 6 March 2023

Yanli Zhang, Huy Will Nguyen, Young Hoon Jung and Isabelle Yi Ren

The social media industry has entered a new stage with intensifying competition and heightened uncertainty about future directions. The purpose of this paper is to provide…

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Abstract

Purpose

The social media industry has entered a new stage with intensifying competition and heightened uncertainty about future directions. The purpose of this paper is to provide analyses of the current challenges and to identify industry-wide trends that may offer a roadmap for the future.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on publicly available key performance metrics, company reports and press reports, this paper offers critical analyses of the challenges facing the major social media platforms and new trends in the social media industry.

Findings

This study identified five major trends in the current social media industry: 1) content is king, and that content is moving to visual; 2) artificial intelligence is key to competitive advantage; 3) network effects still matter, but business model innovation can overcome that barrier; 4) the need to broaden revenue sources; and 5) the strive for the everything app. In this changing environment, social media companies need to adapt and innovate their business models proactively to stay ahead.

Originality/value

This paper not only sheds light on the current challenges of individual social media platforms but also identifies industry-wide trends that may apply across all platforms. Taken together, these insights paint a comprehensive picture of the current industry landscape, as well as offer clues about its future directions.

Details

Journal of Business Strategy, vol. 45 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0275-6668

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 December 2021

Yanli Zhang and Lixia Yao

In this article, we study how a Chinese real estate broker - Lianjia successfully transformed itself into Beike - China’s leading digital platform for housing transactions and…

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Abstract

Purpose

In this article, we study how a Chinese real estate broker - Lianjia successfully transformed itself into Beike - China’s leading digital platform for housing transactions and services. We explain the motivation behind this platform transformation, how it turned out, and what are the lessons learned for other companies contemplating a platform transformation. Beike’s lessons are significant as they not only can help the companies achieve growth via platform transformation but also create social value by contributing to higher service quality in traditional service industries.

Design/methodology/approach

We draw upon comprehensive archival research into Beike, and our many years of ongoing research on platform strategy and business growth strategy.

Findings

This article provides important lessons for companies in traditional service industries on how to expand growth via digital platforms. We summarize four key lessons learned: 1) data is central to success in platform transformation; 2) industry knowledge and experience play an important role; 3) the right platform governance is critical in value creation; 4) harness the double powers of platform and digital transformation.

Research limitations/implications

More research on digital platforms and platform transformation in traditional service industries is needed to delve into the underlying factors and delineate the boundary conditions for specific details in this strategy and implementation.

Practical implications

This article is useful to business executives, academics, management consultants, and entrepreneurs interested in learning more about how to use digital platforms to achieve business growth and create economic and social value. In particular, Beike’s case offers inspiration and valuable lessons to companies in traditional service industries and helps them consider the factors that are important in the process of platform transformation.

Social Implications

This article on Beike provides an innovative solution to business leaders in traditional service industries grappling with a lack of professional standards and trust to use digital platforms to elevate service quality and create social value.

Originality/value

This article is unique and add value because Beike is a pioneer of using the digital platform to achieve growth and transform traditional service industries. Our study shows that platform transformation not only can help a company in a traditional industry achieve impressive growth but at the same time can create enormous social value by elevating the service quality of the whole industry.

Details

Strategy & Leadership, vol. 50 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1087-8572

Article
Publication date: 23 June 2021

Shufang Yang, Lin Huang, Yanli Zhang, Pengzhu Zhang and Yuxiang Chris Zhao

The literature reports inconsistent findings about the effects of social media usage (SMU). Researchers distinguish between active and passive social media usage (ASMU and PSMU)…

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Abstract

Purpose

The literature reports inconsistent findings about the effects of social media usage (SMU). Researchers distinguish between active and passive social media usage (ASMU and PSMU), which can generate different effects on users by social support and social comparison mechanisms, respectively. Drawing on social presence theory (SPT), this study integrates an implicit social presence mechanism with the above two mechanisms to explicate the links between SMU and seniors' loneliness.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from a field study by interviewing seniors living in eight aging care communities in China. Loneliness, social media activities and experiences with social media in terms of online social support (OSS), upward social comparison (USC) and social presence (SP) were assessed. Factor-based structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.

Findings

OSS can mediate the relationship between ASMU and seniors' loneliness. Moreover, SP mediates between ASMU, PSMU, and seniors' loneliness, and between OSS, USC and seniors' loneliness. OSS mediates the relationship between ASMU and SP, and USC mediates the relationship between PSMU and SP.

Practical implications

This study shows that social media can alleviate seniors' loneliness, which could help relieve the pressures faced by health and social care systems. Social presence features are suggested to help older users interact with social health technologies in socially meaningful ways.

Originality/value

This study not only demonstrates that SP can play a crucial role in the relationship between both ASMU and PSMU and loneliness, but also unravels the links between SP and OSS, as well as USC.

Details

Internet Research, vol. 31 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1066-2243

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 November 2017

Yanli Zhang, Hang Zhou, Dianhai Zhang, Ziyan Ren and Dexin Xie

This paper aims to investigate the magnetostrictive phenomenon in a single electrical steel sheet, which may cause vibration and noise in the cores of transformers and induction…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the magnetostrictive phenomenon in a single electrical steel sheet, which may cause vibration and noise in the cores of transformers and induction motors. A measurement system of magnetostriction is created and the principal strain of magnetostriction is modeled. Furthermore, the magnetostriction property along arbitrary alternating magnetization directions is modeled.

Design/methodology/approach

A measurement system with a triaxial strain gauge is developed to obtain the magnetostrictive waveform, and the principal strain is computed in terms of the in-plane strain formula. A three-layer feed-forward neural network model is proposed to model the measured magnetostriction property of the electrical steel sheet.

Findings

The principal strain of magnetostriction of the non-oriented electrical steel has strong anisotropy. The proposed estimation model can be effectively used to model the anisotropic magnetostriction with an acceptable prediction time.

Originality/value

This paper develops the neural network combined with fast Fourier transform (FFT) to model the principal strain property of magnetostriction under alternating magnetizations, and its validation has been verified.

Details

COMPEL - The international journal for computation and mathematics in electrical and electronic engineering, vol. 36 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0332-1649

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 October 2018

Sunny Li Sun, Jianqiang Xiao, Yanli Zhang and Xia Zhao

How do entrepreneurs use simple rules to build their business models? Based on an inductive study of three Chinese Internet and technology firms, the authors find that business…

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Abstract

Purpose

How do entrepreneurs use simple rules to build their business models? Based on an inductive study of three Chinese Internet and technology firms, the authors find that business models emerge from simple rules that entrepreneurs learn from their experience. Simple rules also guide entrepreneurs to actualize and exploit opportunities in the marketplace, and they can help business models evolve through market feedback, especially in internationalization. This paper aims to delve into the black box of entrepreneurial decision-making and offer a better depiction of the business model development process in uncertain and fast-changing environments and thus provide guidance for future entrepreneurs.

Design/methodology/approach

Following the case method (Eisenhardt, 1989; Yin, 2003), the authors first present a thick description of characteristics of three companies and the dynamics of their business models. They then code these descriptions into first-order measures. Finally, they aggregate these measures into abstract constructs. They constantly compare the theoretical constructs and the emerging theory with the existing literature on business models.

Findings

The authors generate three key insights from the findings: business models emerge from simple rules learned from entrepreneurs’ experience, simple rules help entrepreneurs exploit and actualize opportunities in the marketplace and simple rules help businesses expand and evolve business models through market feedback, especially in internationalization.

Originality/value

This paper falls into the intersection of strategy and entrepreneurship – an emerging new field of strategic entrepreneurship – and is concerned with how businesses create and sustain a competitive advantage while simultaneously identifying and exploiting new opportunities. The authors bring people – the individual decision-makers for businesses – back in strategy research and depict a more realistic picture of the behavior of successful entrepreneurs and their business model development process.

Details

Multinational Business Review, vol. 26 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1525-383X

Keywords

Case study
Publication date: 2 April 2015

Sunny Li Sun and Yanli Zhang

This case discusses Qihoo 360's free business model, how it used this free model to overpower competitors, and how the model evolved over time. Qihoo 360 is a company that took…

Abstract

Synopsis

This case discusses Qihoo 360's free business model, how it used this free model to overpower competitors, and how the model evolved over time. Qihoo 360 is a company that took just six years to become a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (with a market value of over US$ 2 billion). At Qihoo 360's Initial Public Offering (IPO) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Qihoo's founder Zhou Hongyi reflected on how Qihoo's free business model had brought its current success and speculates on its future challenges.

Research methodology

The authors used both secondary data and field interviews when preparing this case. After reading through various company reports, competitor information, and financial filings, the authors interviewed five top manager team (TMT) members of Qihoo 360, three TMT members of its competitors, and two partners of venture capital investors who have invested in these companies in Beijing or Shenzhen during the last three years. The authors collected 347 media reports related to these companies in Chinese covering seven years of history. This long span of data collection improves the interpretation of the company and helps construct the storyline of the case.

Relevant courses and levels

This case is suitable for an MBA course or an advanced undergraduate course in strategic management or a technology-oriented entrepreneurship course, focussing on the topic of the free business model, business model innovation, disruptive innovation, and evolution of the business model during the entrepreneurial process.

Details

The CASE Journal, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Case Study
ISSN: 1544-9106

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 September 2022

Xvdong Ren, Xiuke Yan, Chen Xu, YanLi Zhang and Dexin Xie

The purpose of this study is to develop a reliable finite element algorithm based on the transmission line method (TLM) to solve the nonlinear problem in electromagnetic field…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to develop a reliable finite element algorithm based on the transmission line method (TLM) to solve the nonlinear problem in electromagnetic field calculation.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the TLM has been researched and applied to solve nonlinear iteration in FEM. LU decomposition method and the Jacobi preconditioned conjugate gradient method have been investigated to solve the equations in transmission line finite element method (FEM-TLM). The algorithms have been developed in C++ language. The algorithm is applied to analyze the magnetic field of a long straight current-carrying wire and a single-phase transformer.

Findings

FEM-TLM is more effective than traditional FEM in nonlinear iteration. The results of FEM-TLM have been compared and analyzed under different calculation scales. It is found that the LU decomposition method is more suitable for FEM-TLM because there is no need to repeatedly assemble the global coefficient matrix in the iterative solution process and it is not affected by the disturbance of the right-hand vector.

Originality/value

An effective algorithm is provided for solving nonlinear problems in the electromagnetic field, which can save a lot of computing costs. The efficiency of LU decomposition and CG method in FEM-TLM nonlinear iteration is investigated, which also makes a preliminary exploration for the research of FEM-TLM parallel algorithms.

Details

COMPEL - The international journal for computation and mathematics in electrical and electronic engineering , vol. 42 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0332-1649

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 May 2022

Mengxing Li, YanLi Zhang, Ying Jing, Zhen Wang and Dexin Xie

The purpose of this paper is to improve the modeling accuracy of the magnetostrictive hysteretic characteristics by introducing hysteresis energy instead of pinning energy in the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to improve the modeling accuracy of the magnetostrictive hysteretic characteristics by introducing hysteresis energy instead of pinning energy in the assembled domain structure model (ADSM).

Design/methodology/approach

First, the magnetostrictive characteristics and the domain movement process in an electrical steel sheet are measured and observed. The reasons for the influence of stress on magnetostriction are discussed on the mesoscopic level. Second, the ADSM model using the hysteresis energy is investigated to estimate the influence of external stress. Finally, the simulation results of the modified ADSM model are compared with the experimental data under the same calculation conditions.

Findings

The results show that the improved model not only explains the cause of hysteresis clearly from the perspective of the magnetic moment but also improves the modeling ability of magnetostrictive hysteretic.

Originality/value

The magnetostriction in electrical steel lags behind the external magnetic field, and it is significant for reducing core vibration to estimate the magnetostrictive hysteretic property accurately. This paper proposes an effective approach to model the hysteretic characterization of magnetostriction.

Details

COMPEL - The international journal for computation and mathematics in electrical and electronic engineering , vol. 42 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0332-1649

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 June 2017

Wencang Zhou, Yanli Zhang and Yali Shen

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to explore the contingency effects of personality composition on the shard leadership and entrepreneurial team performance…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to explore the contingency effects of personality composition on the shard leadership and entrepreneurial team performance relationship and second, to examine different contingency effects that team personality mean score and team personality diversity have on the shared leadership – entrepreneurial team performance relationship, using the person-team fit theory and the Big-5 framework.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample consisted of 200 entrepreneurial teams in a technology incubator founded in 2009 in eastern China. Data were collected through an online survey.

Findings

Team conscientiousness level and team openness to experience diversity were found to interact with shared leadership to influence team effectiveness in a supplementary way, such that the relationship between shared leadership and team effectiveness will be stronger when the team’s mean score on conscientiousness level is high and diversity score on openness to experience is low. Another finding from this study is that team diversity scores on emotional stability and agreeableness interact with shared leadership in a complementary way; that is, the higher the diversity score, the better influence shared leadership has on team effectiveness.

Practical implications

First, this study provides policy implications for government agencies, foundations, and universities who provide support for start-ups in incubators. These institutions should know the importance of entrepreneurial team composition and team process to start-up performance and should provide entrepreneurial teams support in team development. Second, the study provides entrepreneurs with implications regarding team member selection.

Originality/value

This is one of the first papers to study the interaction between personality composition and shared leadership and its impact on new venture performance. These findings advance the literature on moderators of shared leadership by demonstrating that team personality composition on conscientiousness, openness to experience, emotional stability, and agreeableness moderates the relationship between shared leadership and entrepreneurial team performance.

Details

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 24 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1462-6004

Keywords

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