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Preparing CrAlN coatings on the surface of silicon nitride bearings can improve their service life in oil-free lubrication. This paper aims to match the optimal process parameters for preparing CrAlN coatings on silicon nitride surfaces, and reveal the microscopic mechanism of process parameter influence on coating wear resistance.

This study used molecular dynamics to analyze how process parameters affected the nucleation density, micromorphology, densification and internal stress of CrAlN coatings. An orthogonal test method was used to examine how deposition time, substrate temperature, nitrogen-argon flow rate and sputtering power impacted the wear resistance of CrAlN coatings under dry friction conditions.

Nucleation density, micromorphology, densification and internal stress have a significant influence on the surface morphology and wear resistance of CrAlN coatings. The process parameters for better wear resistance of the CrAlN coatings were at a deposition time of 120 min, a substrate temperature of 573 K, a nitrogen-argon flow rate of 1:1 and a sputtering power of 160 W.

Simulation analysis and experimental results of this paper can provide data to assist in setting process parameters for applying CrAlN coatings to silicon nitride bearings.

Conservation of green space is crucial to the sustainable urban development of China. Nanjing is a central city in the Yangtze River Delta cluster in eastern China. Owing to urbanization, the green spaces in this city have been affected significantly in terms of their scale and structure. Assessing such changes can provide a basis for environmental protection measures and sustainable development. Using Landsat remote-sensing image data from 1998 and 2007, we constructed a distribution map of the patches of green spaces in Nanjing, and analyzed and assessed the changes in scale and spatial layout of the green spaces using various landscape metrics including CA, PLAND, PD, MPS, LPI, NP, PD, TE, ED, MPI, and LSI. Coinciding with a sharp increase in urban population, the area of green spaces in Nanjing decreased by 27.06% between 1998 and 2007. The patches of green space increased by 39%, and the average area per patch decreased by about 47.52%. Green space patches were found to be unevenly distributed among the districts of Nanjing. In urban areas, significant numbers of such patches were found primarily in various types of parks, while in suburban areas, they were concentrated mainly in the hilly forestlands. Green spaces exhibited tendencies towards fragmentation, miniaturization, and discretization.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the underlying mediating mechanism and contextual conditions in the relationship between dynamic capabilities and novelty-centered business model design (NCBMD).

Using data from 146 firms in China and the process conditional modeling, the authors acquire evidence supporting the hypothesized moderated mediation.

The authors find that interfunctional coordination plays a crucial mediator role in the relationship between dynamic capabilities and NCBMD. Environmental dynamism positively moderates the mediating effect of interfunctional coordination on the relationship of dynamic capabilities and NCBMD.

First, the research setting focuses on a specific intermediary mechanism of dynamic capabilities on NCBMD. Second, dynamic capabilities are considered as an integrative construct in the study. Future research could further examine the effect mechanism of dynamic capabilities' sub-dimensions, which might provide more theoretical findings. Third, the impact of public policies, an important source of environmental dynamism, on NCBMD needs a fine-grained analysis. Fourth, the sample data restricts the popularity of the conclusion.

First, firms should be aware of the irreplaceable role of dynamic capabilities in the process of designing a novel business model. Second, firms promoting the design of business models should pay more attention to interfunctional coordination. Third, the significant moderating mediation effect reveals that the importance of interfunctional coordination for the relationship between dynamic capabilities and NCBMD under a highly dynamic environment.

First, the authors reveal how a firm's dynamic capabilities can promote NCBMD. By focusing on the influence of dynamic capabilities on NCBMD, the authors elucidate the source of value creation from the perspective of organizational capability. Second, the analysis of mediating effect delineates the bridging mechanism of dynamic capabilities and NCBMD. These findings emphasize the important role of interfunctional coordination in designing a novel business model. Third, given the context of this research, the results present implications for the role of a dynamic environment. For the methodology of theoretical research, the different findings indicate that scholars could further refine the manipulation of moderators, which contributes to elucidate new conclusions ignored in the past studies. Accordingly, this research extends both theoretical research and methodology.

The main aim of this chapter is to systematize observations regarding changes in entrepreneurship in Serbia during the previous decade, having in mind some key factors such as high-impact low-probability (HILP) events, dynamic development in the sphere of information technologies (IT), and foreign direct investments (FDI). The choice of these factors was made in accordance with the fact that there were no significant changes in other external factors in the sphere of entrepreneurship (regulatory framework, financial conditions, and socio-political instability). This chapter discusses the assumptions that HILP events and FDI can have both positive and negative impacts on individual sectors or agglomerations of entrepreneurship, while only positive impacts are attributed to IT development. Using official databases and annual financial and business reports given by entrepreneurial agencies and micro and small enterprises we created a set of reports that indicate the strength and direction of the influence of the mentioned factors and their consequences in the sphere of entrepreneurship at the level of Serbia and selected cities, based on the fact that the entrepreneurial ecosystem in those cities faced greater than average challenges. The selected ratios indicate changes in the growth rate of the entrepreneurship sector (number of entrepreneurs and employees) as well as in the improvement of its competitiveness (productivity, assets, and profit per employee).

The use of external project management consulting firms (PMCs) in construction projects has not been widely accepted by practitioners in Malaysia because of several failed experiences in public projects. This study aims to investigate the important roles of PMCs, the key factors contributing to their effective performance, and the appropriate measurement criteria for assessing performance.

A list of potential PMC success factors and performance measurement criteria was initially obtained from a literature review and verified by a panel of selected experts. Opinions from the experts regarding the important roles of PMCs were also analysed. An industry‐wide survey questionnaire was then developed to collect data from industry practitioners who had recent hands‐on experience working with PMCs in construction projects. Finally, the PMC success model was formulated based on the responses of the industry‐wide survey.

Significant roles of PMCs were determined, as well as 12 underlying PMC success factors and five important criteria for assessing PMC performance. Practical applications of the PMC success model devised from the identified success factors and measurement criteria were also highlighted.

The findings of this study can help industry practitioners who are working or planning to work in projects implementing the PMC concept in Malaysia to gain an enhanced understanding of how to apply the concept effectively, leading to increased benefits of appointing PMCs and promoting the utilisation of the PMC concept in the Malaysian construction industry.

The aim of this paper is to review the recent corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature in China, which has the world's largest developing economy. Through discussions and critical review, the objective is to suggest future directions for CSR research in this country.

The paper starts with a review of recent CSR literature in the mainland, followed by an in‐depth critique of two major Chinese CSR studies conducted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

In China, much of the CSR literature is conceptual, descriptive, or argumentative in nature. Proper research methodologies are not systematically applied in some studies, and supporting theories are lacking. Besides, self‐developed indicator systems, rather than internationally adopted systems, are used as the mainstream measurement tools in research focusing on CSR performance evaluation. In general, CSR research in China has just got started and has a long way to go.

Recent reviews of CSR literature have concentrated on emerging economies, particularly Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and so on. This paper is one of the first reviews of CSR studies in mainland China. It contributes to understanding the development of Chinese CSR research. After the review and discourse, several research questions are suggested for future research.

“Fostered idols” refer to entertainment idols and young stars-in-the-making who begin their careers as amateurs. Today, the fostered idol model has become increasingly popular in China, and fans demonstrate incredible consumption power. Despite the booming market, little is known about this phenomenon. Therefore, this study aims to explore fans’ motivations and consumption practices from the consumer’s perspective within the framework of self-determination theory.

In all 20 in-depth interviews with fostered idol fans were conducted through online phone calls. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and subsequently analysed using a grounded approach.

The results indicate that fans’ consumption practices are motivated both intrinsically and extrinsically. Intrinsic motivation includes sensory pleasure while extrinsic motivations are composed of a sense of being needed and a sense of success. Extrinsic motivations play a dominant role and reflect the needs of relatedness and competence. Additionally, consumption practices are found to be consistent with motivations.

The results show the crucial role of psychological satisfaction experienced by fans in the consumption of the fostered idol and highlight the importance of a relatedness- and competence-supportive environment to secure fans’ persistent consumption and loyalty.

This study focuses on fans of fostered idols that has not been explored in existing studies and offers valuable insights regarding the similarities and differences between fan consumption in China and other Asian countries. The results will inform marketing practitioners for the development of effective strategies and business decisions.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the mechanism of the role of government subsidies on corporate environmental investment and explore how specific characteristics of firms affect corporate environmental responsibility.

This paper examines the relationship between government subsidies and corporate environmental investment and models with a sample of 78,854 industries. The authors measure the corporate environmental investment by the natural logarithm of the volume of waste gas treatment facilities.

The results show the positive effect of government subsidies on corporate environmental investment. In addition, state ownership positively regulates the relationship between government and corporations, but the relationship between them is negatively regulated by the slack resources.

When people are increasingly concerned about corporate social and environmental responsibility, clarifying the link between government subsidies and corporate environmental investments can help policymakers formulate policies and allocate limited resources.

This study uses the resource-based view as a theoretical framework to reveal the mechanism of action between government subsidies and corporate environmental responsibility, enriching the previous literature that explores the issue based on the legitimacy perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to re-examine the statement of Peloza (2006) that enterprise corporate social responsibility (CSR) investment provides a protection efficacy similar to insurance.

This study uses the event study method and data from the 2008-2010 China listed company social responsibility report and the Taiwan Economic Journal.

The authors find that the insurance-like effect of CSR investment also exists in China. Both short- and long-term CSR investments of Chinese companies provide this efficacy to corporate stock prices. The authors also find diminishing marginal insurance-like effects in China market.

The CSR investment of firms in China can reduce company stock-price loss when negative events occur. The authors therefore obtain a better understanding of the value of enterprise CSR investment.

This study aims to regarding the application of traditional pulse frequency modulation control full-bridge LLC resonant converters in wide output voltage fields such as on-board chargers, there are issues with wide frequency adjustment ranges and low conversion efficiency.

To address these issues, this paper proposes a fixed-frequency pulse width modulation (PWM) control strategy for a full-bridge LLC resonant converter, which adjusts the gain by adjusting the duty cycle of the switches. In the full-bridge LLC converter, the two switches of the lower bridge arm are controlled by a fixed-frequency and fixed duty cycle, with their switching frequency equal to the resonant frequency, whereas the two switches of the upper bridge arm are controlled by a fixed-frequency PWM to adjust the output voltage. The operation modes of the converter are analyzed in detail, and a mathematical model of the converter is established. The gain characteristics of the converter under the fixed-frequency PWM control strategy are deeply analyzed, and the conditions for implementing zero-voltage switching (ZVS) soft switching in the converter are also analyzed in detail. The use of fixed-frequency PWM control simplifies the design of resonant parameters, and the fixed-frequency control is conducive to the design of magnetic components.

According to the fixed-frequency PWM control strategy proposed in this paper, the correctness of the control strategy is verified through simulation and the development and testing of a 500-W experimental prototype. Test results show that the primary side switches of the converter achieve ZVS and the secondary side rectifier diodes achieve zero-current switching, effectively reducing the switching losses of the converter. In addition, the control strategy reduces the reactive circulating current of the converter, and the peak efficiency of the experimental prototype can reach 95.2%.

The feasibility of the fixed-frequency PWM control strategy was verified through experiments, which has significant implications for improving the efficiency of the converter and simplifying the design of resonant parameters and magnetic components in wide output voltage fields such as on-board chargers.