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In product modular design tasks, especially in the high-tech manufacturing industry, buyers and supplies play distinct roles, which may have different impacts on product architectural and modular innovation. Prior research has tended to view product innovation as a holistic concept, overlooking the importance of this differentiated influence. This study, from a modular design perspective, aims to clarify the impact of black-box supplier involvement on product architectural and modular innovation, as well as the influence of product modularity on these relationships.

Based on the theory of product modular design, this study decomposes product innovation into architectural and modular innovation from the perspective of the product internal structure to conduct in-depth theoretical analysis and model construction. A total of 276 valid questionnaires are collected from typical Chinese high-tech manufacturing firms and used to empirically test the constructed theoretical model using multiple hierarchical regression analysis.

The results show that black-box supplier involvement positively affects modular innovation and takes an inverted U-shape, as moderated by product modularity. However, the impact of black-box supplier involvement on architectural innovation shows contradictory differences at different modularity levels. Under a low level of product modular design, black-box supplier involvement has a negative impact on architectural innovation, but under a moderate level of modular design, it has a positive impact. After the degree of modular design exceeds a certain threshold, the impact gradually weakens.

The results provide valuable insights for managers, highlighting the need to avoid oversimplifying the innovation impact of black-box suppliers solely based on overall product innovation. Instead, a more accurate assessment of the innovation contributions of both the buyer and supplier should be based on the degree of architectural and modular innovation. Additionally, the findings suggest that managers should consider the alignment between their company's product modular design features and innovation priorities (i.e. modular innovation or architectural innovation) when determining an appropriate supplier collaborative development strategy.

This study not only reveals the different impacts of black-box supplier involvement on architectural and modular innovation, but also proves the significant synergistic innovation effect of the relationship between black-box supplier involvement and product modularization. It constitutes an enriched and deepened exploration in the existing research on supplier involvement in product innovation.

This study aims to examine the effect of supplier supply network (SSN) resources on buyer–supplier collaborative product innovation. The existing relevant studies from the network perspective are focused more horizontally on the mobilization of the firm’s entire supplier network resources and less vertically on the utilization of the individual supplier's supply network resources. Therefore, this paper takes a contingency perspective, regards the buyer as the receiver of a supplier’s supply network resources and, based on the theoretical motivation–opportunity–ability framework, explores the important motivation and ability factors that may weaken or enhance the product innovation value of the network resources.

This paper develops a new research model that assesses how the innovation utilization effectiveness of SSN resources is contingent on a buyer’s perception of the SSN effects and relative absorptive capacity on the SSN. A large sample questionnaire is designed and collected from 300 Chinese high-tech manufacturing firms and their suppliers. An empirical test is carried out in which multiple regression analysis is applied to 246 valid sample data.

The results show that SSN resources can significantly enhance buyer–supplier collaborative product innovation; however, the innovation utilization effectiveness is limited by the buyer’s relative absorptive capacity for the SSN and perception of the SSN effects. Specifically, if a buyer perceives that a greater innovation effect of a supplier’s supply network is correlated with an improved relative position in the SSN or with higher network structural equivalence and network cognitive congruence between the buyer and the supplier on the SSN, then the buyer will be more motivated and capable of transforming the SSN resources into actual product innovation value.

The research results provide useful guidance for firms to effectively mobilize their SSN resources to tap into the supplier innovation value for a sustainable competitive advantage.

This paper extends the research on supplier innovation value to the SSN field. Through linking dyadic and network levels of analysis, this paper reveals the value and uniqueness of product innovation utilization of a specific supplier’s supply network resources in the buyer–supplier relationship and provides a new research perspective for future studies on related issues.

This study examined the influence of corporate governance (CG) in relation to venture capital (VC) investment on invested firm's corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance in the Chinese context. More specifically, this paper examined the mediation of the proportion of independent directors (INDD), management shareholding (MSH) and executives' political connections (POLC) in the above-mentioned relationship.

This empirical study performed multiple mediation testing and bootstrap mediation robustness test on data from Chinese A-class shares IPO companies between 2010 and 2018.

The results of direct relationship analysis showed that VC support is detrimental to firm' CSR performance, consistent with previous research studies. The indirect effect analysis showed that VC reduced firm' CSR through reduction of INDD on board and increased MSH. Conversely, VC contributed to firm's CSR through higher POLC, which confirmed the significance of the joint mediation model.

This study offers stakeholders the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of the role of VC institutions, independent directors and executives, in terms of firm's CSR, as well as provides insights on control rights allocation and policy drafting on independent directors when considering accessing VC support.

By analyzing the mediation model of the VC–CSR relationship, this paper provides evidence to enrich the debate on the role of CG in the relation between VC and firm's CSR.

There are process uncertainties and material property variations during laminated steel sheet forming, and those fluctuations may result in non-reliable forming quality issues such as fracture and delamination. Additionally, the optimization of sheet forming process is a typical multi-objective optimization problem. The target is to find a multi-objective design optimization and improve the process design reliability for laminated sheet metal forming. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Desirability function approach is adopted to conduct deterministic multi-objective optimization, and response surface is used as meta-model. Reliability analysis is conducted to evaluate the robustness of the multi-objective design optimization. The proposed method is implemented in a step-bottom square cup drawing process. First, forming process parameters and three noise factors are assumed as probability variables to conduct reliability assessment of the laminated steel sheet forming process using Monte Carlo simulation. Next, only two forming process parameters, blank holding force and frictional coefficient, are considered as probability variables to investigate the influence of the forming parameter deviation on the variance of the response using the first-order second-moment method.

The results indicate that multi-objective design optimization using desirability function method has high efficiency, and an optimized robust design can be obtained after reliability assessment.

The proposed design procedure has potential as a simple and practical approach in the laminated steel sheet forming process.

The aims of this paper is to establish an appropriate physical-change-based renewal (PCBR) projects selection mechanism capable of selecting the combination of the PCBR projects that can make up an integrated urban renewal program in high-density cities.

The research design follows a sequential integrated methodology that combines the calculation algorithms of Fuzzy Analytic Network Process (Fuzzy-ANP) with Zero-One Goal Programming (ZOGP) to support decisions for the selection of PCBR projects. In the first phase, general criteria for assessing the sustainability performance of PCBR projects were collected from relevant literature. In the second phase, the Fuzzy-ANP was used to identify the priority weights of the candidate projects through clarifying the interdependent degree between the criteria and candidate projects. Finally, ZOGP method was selected as a predetermined number of PCBR projects among candidate projects.

The feasibility and effectiveness of this hybrid approach is then verified in a case study of Yuzhong District, Chongqing in China. The results of this study indicate that the integrated method is capable of directing the decision maker toward the best compromising solution of PCBR program that can achieve the maximization of sustainable benefits and allocate limited resources most efficiently.

The novelty of this paper consists in combining the algorithms of the Fuzzy-ANP method with those of the ZOGP model that serves as an effective analysis tool to address practical decision problems. This is the first hybrid algorithms to make PCBR projects selection decision that reach the maximization of the sustainable benefits, both in economic and socio-environmental terms.

This paper aims to focus on the preparation of Kevlar fiber (KF) and alkaline hydrolyzed KF (KF-H) to improve the dispersed condition of polyaniline (PAn), as the aggregation of PAn would lead to some adsorption sites buried. And then the materials were used to enrich anionic dye Congo red (CR) from aqueous solution.

The materials (KF@PAn and KF-H@PAn) were designed by means of “diffusion-interfacial-polymerization” under mild condition as high affinity due to the structural properties of PAn, KF and KF-H. The dispersed degree of PAn on the surface of KF and KF-H was validated according to adsorption efficiency for CR.

The content of PAn introduced was not beyond 20 wt.%, while adsorption capacity for CR was significantly enhanced by 4–8 times (on the basis of kinetic data) according to the calculation only by the content of PAn due to KF and alkaline hydrolyzed KF exhibited almost no adsorption for CR, indicating dispersed situation of PAn coating was greatly enhanced and more active sites exposed, which was favorable for the adsorption process. Presence of NaCl would exhibit a more or less positive effect on CR uptake, suggesting the materials could be used for high salt environment.

The investigated means of dispersed degree of PAn on the surface of KF and KF-H are the further and future investigation.

This study will provide a method to improve the dispersed situation of PAn and a theoretical support to treat anionic dyes from aqueous solution especially for salt environment.

The results showed that the dispersed condition of PAn on the surface of KF and KF-H was greatly improved. According to the adsorption capacities for CR, it can be concluded that part of adsorption sites were buried due to the aggregation of PAn, and introduction of KF and KF-H, buried adsorption sites decreased greatly. This study will provide a method to decrease buried adsorption sites of PAn and a contribution for their convenient application in wastewater treatment especially for high salt environment.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the feasibility of adopting a market‐based land use model, Transfer of Development Rights (TDR), which is very popular in America and other countries as a positive land use control mechanism for conservation, in an evolving socialist land economy, namely China.

This paper utilizes a case study approach, supplemented by a cost‐benefit model, to estimate the feasibility of establishing a TDR model in Chongqing, China.

From the analysis, it is found that a market‐based land use mechanism can serve to maximize the benefits of all parties and can balance the interests between development pressures and conservation needs. However, this is based on a number of conditions, including: that a well‐developed legal framework should be set up, to clearly delineate property rights; that a good and enforceable planning system should be in place; and that a mature land market mechanism should be developed that allows open market prices to be realized in the trading of development rights.

This case study is based on a hypothetical situation of one case. More data are needed to support the argument in the future.

Conservation is a major concern for the local governments in China, given the recent high speed economic growth. A model that can balance development pressure, while allowing the market to compensate fully for the infringement of property rights in the process of urban regeneration, is worthy of the authority's attention in future policy formulation.

This paper shows that the society as a whole can strike a balance between the need for economic development and conservation of historic sites, provided some conditions can be met.

This paper fulfills an identified need to study the establishment of a market‐based land use model in the conservation policy of land in China.

Quality improvement is critical to the success of software development organizations. Automated tools can greatly assist in the implementation of quality improvement. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the state of tool support of software process improvement.

The authors first review three quality improvement models that can be used for improving the quality of software products, and then identify the required activities of the quality improvement effort based on those models. These activities identified then serve as a reference list to determine the support provided by commercial tools. The paper then conducts two surveys of software quality improvement tools and presents the results.

The results from two surveys indicate that: there is no tool that supports problem identification; most tools can provide several software process improvement functions to help software organizations to improve their process capability and the quality of their products; and there is no set of tools that can provide a complete coverage of all improvement activities.

Although the authors have conducted a detailed search on the internet to identify SPI tools, such a survey will miss those tools which have no presence on the internet. However, the authors are confident that their results can reflect what is available in the marketplace.

Process practitioners will learn about the state of support available in the marketplace and what they may need to develop on their own to provide complete support for their improvement efforts.

The paper proposes a classification of software process improvement functions and present a first survey of software quality improvement tools. The results will be beneficial to process practitioners.

Given a baffling contradiction that the availability of safety knowledge may not necessarily lead to workers' safety behavior, this study aims to develop an exploratory two-step working model of safety knowledge in translating safety climate into safety behavior. In particular, this study highlights the importance of articulating tacit safety knowledge and improving workers' systematic problem solving (SPS) capacity in a favorable safety climate.

This study uses 110 valid responses from Pakistan-based construction workers to test five hypotheses which embody the exploratory two-step working model of safety knowledge. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is used to analyze the data.

The results of this study support the two-step working mechanism of safety knowledge in translating safety climate into safety behavior. Furthermore, results suggest that safety climate as a job resource facilitates converting construction workers' tacit safety knowledge into explicit safety knowledge (i.e. safety knowledge articulation) and then enabling them to spot non-conformities in safety management practices (i.e. SPS) and consequently to work safely (i.e. safety behavior).

The study has both theoretical and practical significance. In theory, it extends organizational learning theory and job demands-resources (JD-R) theory in the construction safety research domain and elaborates on the mediating role of safety knowledge articulation and SPS for the relationship between safety climate and safety behavior. In practice, it highlights the importance of continuous articulation of tacit safety knowledge and accumulation and use of explicit safety knowledge in construction safety management practices.

Safety professionals' primary job is to execute safety control measures towards frontline personnel, and previous studies focus on the effectiveness of such controls. Rare research efforts, however, have been devoted to the effectiveness of management control measures towards safety professionals themselves. This study aimed to fill up this knowledge gap by examining whether safety professionals under differing management control configurations differ in their work attitudes, including affective commitment, job satisfaction, career commitment and intention to quit.

Drawing on a holistic view of control, five forms of management control, i.e. outcome control, process control, capability control, professional control and reinforcement, were investigated. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey targeting at construction safety professionals was conducted. The latent profile analysis approach was employed to identify how the five forms of management control are configured, i.e. identifying the distinctive patterns of control profiles. The Bolck–Croon–Hagenaars method was then used to examine whether safety professionals' work attitudes were different across the identified control profiles.

Seven distinct control profiles were extracted from the sample of 475 construction safety professionals. The overall test of outcome means showed that mean levels of affective commitment, job satisfaction and intentions to quit were significantly different across the seven profiles. The largest that was also the most desirable subgroup was the high control profile (n = 161, 33.9%). The least desirable subgroups included the low control profile (n = 75, 15.8%) and the low capability and professional control profile (n = 12, 2.5%). Pairwise comparison suggested that capability, professional and process controls were more effective than outcome control and reinforcement.

In theory, this study contributes to the burgeoning literature on how to improve the effectiveness of control measures targeted at safety professionals. The results suggested that effective management controls involve a fine combination of formal, informal, process and output controls. In practice, this study uncovers the ways in which managers leverage the efforts of safety professionals in achieving safety goals. Particularly, it informs managers that the control configurations, instead of isolated controls, should be executed to motivate safety professionals.