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1 – 10 of 204Zhi Cao, Dong-Young Kim, Yinping Mu and Vinod Singhal
The growing focus on socially responsible supply chain management (SRSCM) has made it crucial to extend corporate social responsibility (CSR) to upstream suppliers. Drawing on…
Abstract
Purpose
The growing focus on socially responsible supply chain management (SRSCM) has made it crucial to extend corporate social responsibility (CSR) to upstream suppliers. Drawing on resource dependence theory, this study aims to examine how supplier dependence upon socially responsible buyers impacts suppliers' CSR performance and how this relationship is moderated by network prominence and demand uncertainty.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed hypotheses are tested using regression analysis with Heckman's two-stage model and a dyadic supply chain dataset constructed based on publicly traded Chinese firms between 2008 and 2016. This time window is selected due to a one-year lag of the dependent variable and the change in evaluation methods of the database providing CSR performance in 2018.
Findings
The empirical results indicate that supplier dependence upon socially responsible buyers is positively associated with suppliers' CSR performance. However, this positive relationship is attenuated when suppliers occupy a prominent position in the network or when they face high demand uncertainty.
Originality/value
This study extends knowledge about the role of relationship dependence in implementing SRSCM by highlighting its positive impact on suppliers' CSR. Thus, this study contributes to the buyer–supplier relationship literature and the power and relationship dependence literature. This study further advances the understanding of the factors that influence suppliers' behavior by exploring the moderating roles of network prominence and demand uncertainty. The results have several practical implications for managers and policymakers.
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Qu Jun-e, Chen Geng, Wang Hai-ren and Cao Zhi-yong
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of water content of assembly solution on the adsorption behavior and corrosion protection performance of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of water content of assembly solution on the adsorption behavior and corrosion protection performance of 1–tetradecylphosphonic acid [TDPA, CH3(CH2)13P(O)(OH)2] films on aluminum alloy surface in NaCl solution.
Design/methodology/approach
Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of TDPA were prepared on the 2024 aluminum alloy surface in TDPA containing ethanol-water solutions with different water contents. The adsorption behavior of the SAMs on the alloy surface and their corrosion protection properties in a 3.5 per cent NaCl solution were characterized by potentiodynamic polarization scan, Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and atomic force microscopy (AFM).
Findings
The FTIR results demonstrated that the TDPA molecules were successfully adsorbed on the 2024 aluminum alloy surface, and the density of the SAMs increased with the increasing water content in the assembly solution. The electrochemical studies and corrosion morphologies observed by AFM showed that the optimal condition is 2 h of assembling in solution B or solution C. The corrosion inhibition efficiency values follow the order solution B ≈ solution C > solution A at the first 2 h assembly and solution B > solution C > solution A while the assembly time exceeded 2 h. The dependence of corrosion inhibition performance of the SAM on the water content and on the assembly time is related to the balancing of competition between TDPA adsorption and dissolution of the alloy oxidation film.
Originality/value
It illustrates potential application prospects of TDPA for surface treatment of aluminum alloy. Via the comparison with our previous work, this paper provides useful information regarding the difference of corrosion inhibition properties of organic phosphonic acid for aluminum alloy between in neutral and in acid solution.
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Zhi Cao, Baofeng Huo, Yuan Li and Xiande Zhao
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of competition on supply chain integration (SCI).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of competition on supply chain integration (SCI).
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data from 617 manufacturers in China were used in this study. Taxonomy with cluster analysis was used to investigate the patterns of competition, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to investigate the influence of these competition patterns on SCI.
Findings
Seven competition patterns composed of local competition, international competition, and operational challenges were identified from the survey data. The ANOVA results showed that companies with different patterns achieved significantly different levels of SCI, indicating that higher levels of local competition, international competition, and operational challenges drove higher levels of SCI. Post hoc analyses revealed that international competition had stronger effects than local competition on SCI.
Research limitations/implications
The data were collected from a single country, which may limit the generalization of the findings. The data were cross-sectional and thus lacked causal explanatory power.
Practical implications
The findings provide suggestions for managers to use different configurations of SCI to adapt to different patterns of competition.
Originality/value
This study makes three main contributions to the literature. First, it extends the research on the relationship between competition and cooperation to the supply chain management area. Second, it extends the concept of competition by incorporating not only competitive intensity, but also competitive scope and competitive capability. Third, the use of a configuration approach rather than a dimensional approach to investigate the effects of competition on SCI solves many methodological problems.
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This study aims to address the following question: when strategic flexibility can be most beneficial to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the context of emerging economies…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to address the following question: when strategic flexibility can be most beneficial to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the context of emerging economies.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on dynamic capabilities perspective, this study builds a contingency model and examines it with survey data collected from 166 SMEs in China.
Findings
This study finds that the relationship between strategic flexibility and firm performance is extensively moderated by external (competitive intensity and environmental munificence), internal (resource combination activities), as well as bridging factors (managerial ties).
Originality/value
The findings contribute to the contingency view of strategic flexibility and firm performance research by incorporating insights from the dynamic capabilities perspective and by expanding the scope of existing research to emerging economies.
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Zhi Cao, Baofeng Huo, Yuan Li and Xiande Zhao
This study aims to bridge the gap in understanding the effects of organizational culture on supply chain integration (SCI) by examining the relationships between organizational…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to bridge the gap in understanding the effects of organizational culture on supply chain integration (SCI) by examining the relationships between organizational cultures and SCI. The extant studies investigating the antecedents of SCI focus mainly on environments, interfirm relationships and other firm-level factors. These studies generally overlook the role of organizational culture. The few studies that do examine the effects of organizational culture on SCI show inconsistent findings.
Design/methodology/approach
By placing organizational culture within the competing value framework (CVF), this study establishes a conceptual model for the relationships between organizational culture and SCI. The study uses both a contingency approach and a configuration approach to examine these proposed relationships using data collected from 317 manufacturers across ten countries.
Findings
The contingency results indicate that both development and group culture are positively related to all three dimensions of SCI. However, rational culture is positively related only to internal integration, and hierarchical culture is negatively related to both internal and customer integration. The configuration approach identifies four profiles of organizational culture: the Hierarchical, Flexible, Flatness and Across-the-Board profiles. The Flatness profile shows the highest levels of development, group and rational cultures and the lowest level of hierarchical culture. The Flatness profile also achieves the highest levels of internal, customer and supplier integration.
Research limitations/implications
This study is subject to several limitations. In theoretical terms, this study does not resolve all of the inconsistencies in the relationship between organizational culture and SCI. In terms of methodology, this study uses cross-sectional data from high-performance manufacturers. Such data cannot provide strong causal explanations, but only broad and general findings.
Practical implications
This study reminds managers to consider organizational culture when they implement SCI. The study also provides clues to help managers in assessing and adjusting organizational culture as necessary for SCI.
Originality/value
This study makes two theoretical contributions. First, by examining the relationships between organizational culture and SCI in a new context, the findings of the study provide additional evidence to reconcile the previously inconsistent findings on this subject. Second, by departing from the previous practice of investigating only particular dimensions of organizational culture, this study adopts a combined contingency and configuration approach to address both the individual and synergistic effects of all dimensions of organizational culture. This more comprehensive approach deepens our understanding of the relationship between organizational culture and SCI.
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Weinan Zheng, Peng Xiao and Andrew Madden
Academic contention occurs when research evidence is amenable to more than one interpretation. China has a long tradition of Shang Que (商榷), in which authors argue for their…
Abstract
Purpose
Academic contention occurs when research evidence is amenable to more than one interpretation. China has a long tradition of Shang Que (商榷), in which authors argue for their preferred interpretation. The modern form of this tradition is the Shang Que article, which often takes the form of research papers in Chinese-language journals and which tends to be question-oriented. Shang Que articles usually take the views of a particular author or article as the focus of independent and complete criticism by another, independent, academic. This paper explains the role of Shang Que articles in Chinese scholarship and their influence on international academia.
Design/methodology/approach
A bibliometric analysis was used to explore the characteristics and evolution of Chinese Shang Que articles using 30,577 articles published between 1979 and 2018. Microsoft Excel and Gephi were used for data analysis and visualization.
Findings
Findings suggest a decline in the number of Shang Que articles and an increase in the number of co-authors. Shang Que articles remained particularly prominent in Philosophy and Humanities and Social Sciences, where they focused on local issues such as classical Chinese, the Sinicization of Marxism and Chinese literature. This suggests that the number of Shang Que articles is related to the degree of internationalization of a research field.
Originality/value
Shang Que articles, which have been influenced by academic paradigms in English, are a fusion of China's Shang Que tradition and of the modern academic system. Through considering Shang Que articles, this paper explores the benefits of local academic traditions in non-English-speaking cultures.
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Yann Truong, Dirk Schneckenberg, Martina Battisti and Rachid Jabbouri
Xia Cao, Zhi Yang, Feng Wang, Chongyu Lu and Yueyan Wu
This study investigates the effect of keyword portfolio characteristics on sales in paid search advertising. The authors propose two keyword portfolio characteristics (variety and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the effect of keyword portfolio characteristics on sales in paid search advertising. The authors propose two keyword portfolio characteristics (variety and disparity) and examine the effects of portfolio variety and portfolio disparity on direct and indirect sales in both PC and mobile environment.
Design/methodology/approach
By conducting a field study at a large e-commerce platform, the authors use a negative binomial model to develop empirical findings that provide insights into paid search advertising strategies.
Findings
For main effect, (1) portfolio variety has a negative effect on direct sales. However, (2) portfolio disparity has positive effects on both direct and indirect sales. Advertising channels influence the contribution of keyword portfolio to sales. (3) On mobile devices, portfolio variety positively affects both direct and indirect sales. However, portfolio disparity negatively affects both direct and indirect sales. (4) On PCs, portfolio variety negatively affects both direct and indirect sales. However, portfolio disparity positively affects both direct and indirect sales on PC.
Practical implications
The findings provide advertisers with insights into how to manage keyword portfolio between mobile devices and PCs.
Originality/value
The current study shifts the attention from keyword to keywords (keyword portfolio), which extends the paid search literature. Moreover, it also contributes to the literature by comparing the relative effectiveness of mobile and PC search advertising.
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Audhesh K. Paswan, Francisco Guzmán and Zhi Pei
The fundamental question asked in this study is – should all firms engage in innovation and branding activities to the same extent to achieve their goals? The purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
The fundamental question asked in this study is – should all firms engage in innovation and branding activities to the same extent to achieve their goals? The purpose of this paper is to answer this question, a strategic typology that integrates branding and innovation (BI) from an organizational ambidexterity perspective is proposed.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper builds theory by proposing a typology. Integrating the literature on BI, organizational ambidexterity and resource/knowledge-based view of firms, this study posits that to create a value proposition, a firm could choose to engage in innovation and branding activities in a variety of ways depending on their dominant strategic orientation along two dimensions of ambidexterity.
Findings
The four proposed typical branding-innovation orientations are low innovation × low branding; low innovation × high branding; high innovation × low branding; and high innovation × high branding.
Practical implications
A firm should choose its dominant strategic orientation depending on conditions such as market, consumers, needs and demand and resources.
Originality/value
By framing the innovation-branding paradox within an organizational ambidexterity framework, the proposed typology helps integrate two complementary and yet conflicting organizational functions by shifting the focus from an operational to a strategic level.
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Zhixin Wang, Peng Xu, Bohan Liu, Yankun Cao, Zhi Liu and Zhaojun Liu
This paper aims to demonstrate the principle and practical applications of hyperspectral object detection, carry out the problem we now face and the possible solution. Also some…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to demonstrate the principle and practical applications of hyperspectral object detection, carry out the problem we now face and the possible solution. Also some challenges in this field are discussed.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the paper summarized the current research status of the hyperspectral techniques. Then, the paper demonstrated the development of underwater hyperspectral techniques from three major aspects, which are UHI preprocess, unmixing and applications. Finally, the paper presents a conclusion of applications of hyperspectral imaging and future research directions.
Findings
Various methods and scenarios for underwater object detection with hyperspectral imaging are compared, which include preprocessing, unmixing and classification. A summary is made to demonstrate the application scope and results of different methods, which may play an important role in the application of underwater hyperspectral object detection in the future.
Originality/value
This paper introduced several methods of hyperspectral image process, give out the conclusion of the advantages and disadvantages of each method, then demonstrated the challenges we face and the possible way to deal with them.
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