Search results

This study aims to investigate the antecedents of design crowdsourcing decision-making, the impact of design crowdsourcing on new product performance and the moderating effect of network connectivity.

The sample (n = 104) was collected from a leading social product development website; the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis and two-stage least square methods were used in the investigation.

Three design attribute feature configurations (rational, emotional and kinesthetic value configurations) are conducive to firms’ adoption of design crowdsourcing and there are two configurations in which firms do not adopt design crowdsourcing. Design crowdsourcing influences new product performance positively. Network connectivity has an inverted U-shaped effect on the relationship between design crowdsourcing and new product performance.

These findings not only enrich crowdsourcing and social network studies but also guide crowdsourcing firms to better manage their processes and community members.

This paper examines the relationship between transport connectivity and regional economic development in China. It develops measurements appropriate for transport connectivity based on a set of evaluation models. This model is used to analyze the logistic connectivity of China’s 31 provinces by focusing on 11 variables, including some new factors (Density of road network, Density of railway network, Number of Internet Users) not used in previous studies, over the 13-year period from 2002 to 2014. Using panel data regression analysis, the empirical results show a statistically significant and positive impact of transport connectivity (factors like Density of road network, Density of railway network and Number of Internet Users) on economic development in China. In particular, the Number of internet users is a key factor reflecting information connectivity in all the variables. Comparative analysis regarding economic development is conducted to benchmark between coastal provinces and interior provinces. Like most previous research, this study yields the same finding of higher impact of transport connectivity on economic development in eastern provinces than in western provinces. This study suggests that decentralized decision-making will be significantly more efficient for analyzing regional infrastructure development. It also shows that the influence of transport connectivity on economic development is dependent on a certain developmental stage. This suggests that an economic region should adopt different development strategies for transport connectivity during different stages of development.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to explore the negative consequences of ubiquitous connectivity enabled by personal IT ensembles (PITEs) usage; and second, to investigate the gender differences in the adverse effects of ubiquitous connectivity.

This study employs a socio-technical approach to identify the technical and interpersonal dimensions of PITE-enabled ubiquitous connectivity and develops a theoretical model to investigate their stress-inducing effects based on the framework of technostress. Furthermore, the moderating role of gender is examined based on the social role theory. The authors test the model on a sample of 439 Chinese netizens.

Ubiquitous technical and interpersonal connectivity induce four stressors: information overload, communication overload, life invasion and privacy invasion. These stressors further lead to psychological exhaustion and reluctance to try new ITs. The ubiquitous technical connectivity exerts stronger effects on stressors for female users than male users, and interpersonal connectivity exerts a stronger effect for male users than female users.

This study primarily contributes to the small amount of research on PITE-enabled ubiquitous connectivity by considering ubiquitous connectivity from a socio-technical perspective and examining the stress-related effects and outcomes of both technical and interpersonal dimensions of ubiquitous connectivity. This study also provides valuable insights into the gender differences in the stress-inducing effects of the two dimensions of ubiquitous connectivity.

The paper aims to further understanding of connectivity from the perspective of blockchain technology (BT) in the supply chain (SC). It presents the weaknesses (inhibitors) of connectivity during technology implementation, focusing on supply chain interaction and resilience.

Restricting the focus to digital connectivity, interaction and supply chain resilience, this paper uses a systematic literature review (SLR) to examine how the literature has addressed, related or flagged connectivity weaknesses affecting supply chain interaction and resilience.

This study highlights the influence of connectivity for blockchain-technology projects. Technical and organisational influencers that affect the adoption of technology in the SC are presented. These influencers support the factors proposed in this study regarding the weaknesses that negatively affect the interaction between the agents involved and the SC's resilience. The research suggests that the weaknesses are related to technical needs and the relationships between companies arising from functionalities.

This paper is restricted to a review of the theory and the researched material. Although the author was careful to choose the best search terms related to the research objective, some potentially relevant articles may have been excluded.

The study summarises research on blockchain connectivity influencers in the SC, helping managers to anticipate and mitigate some of doubts and concerns in projects of this nature.

This is one of the first articles in the area of operations and SCs that addresses the topic of connectivity, focusing on its restrictive factors (connectivity inhibitors), in the context of blockchain implementation in the SC.

Liner shipping plays a crucial role in facilitating the movement of manufactured goods around the world. While previous literature has shown that liner shipping is an important trade driver, potential differences across trade routes and world regions have not as yet been explored. This paper examines whether the impact of liner shipping on bilateral trade flows differs significantly across world regions, as well as exploring other geographical patterns.

Using state-of-the-art gravity modelling, this paper investigates the impact of the UNCTAD's Liner Shipping Bilateral Connectivity Index on bilateral trade in manufactured goods using a comprehensive database of disaggregated trade data for the period from 2006 to 2019.

The results show that the trade effect of liner shipping is greater in long-distance and interregional bilateral flows. For some regions, such as North America and Oceania, the effect is greater than the world average, while for others, such as Africa and South America, the effect is significantly smaller. The trade effects of liner shipping connectivity on the main east–west routes are average, but clear asymmetry emerges when analysing China's inward and outward trade flows separately.

The results of this paper show that the major east–west routes determine the baseline trade effects of liner shipping, demonstrate that some north–south trades such as those involving Oceania generate larger trade effects and confirm that the trade effects of liner shipping can be improved for some world regions such as South America and Africa.

The purpose of this paper is evaluate the public value of municipal Wi-Fi networks by examining their costs and benefits. Increasing attention has been focused on the digital divide, i.e. inequalities in digital access, use and benefits, to a lesser extent on technologies providing opportunities to overcome these inequalities. Different theoretical traditions have approached the problem of the digital divide, this research represents a synthesis by combining a bottom-up approach to calculating the benefits of municipal Wi-Fi networks with an in-depth analysis of the digital divide in Europe.

After a systematic literature review, the paper uses a bottom-up methodology to evaluate the public value of a municipal Wi-Fi network by quantifying its potential benefits and costs. In addition, it includes different types of users based on the access opportunities available to them. It develops different scenarios for these users depending on the connection alternatives and the digital skills available across European countries.

By using data from the euro-28, the paper shows that, in general, the private value of a municipal Wi-Fi network is negative, the public value is positive. However, a greater public value is depending on the extent to which the benefits can be attributed to expectations about the arrival and usage of e-government services.

Based on the quantitative analysis, the authors suggest that municipal Wi-Fi networks can provide the potential to bridge the digital divide. To generate public value, these networks have to be driven by a strong need for e-government services.

However, important factors in the adoption of these services are related to digital skills available in the particular region.

In addition, public investment is required to stimulate the growth of broadband infrastructure in a complementary manner to enable public wireless networks.

The paper combines new insights into the cost calculations of municipal Wi-Fi networks with socioeconomic data on digital skills to examine different types of users.

In this digital age, students and researchers are less and less dependent on physical libraries. Any university library without internet connectivity is simply cut‐off from the rest of the world. Because they cannot provide quality and timely services to its users, neither can they communicate or share knowledge with others globally. The purpose of this study is to investigate the availability of internet connectivity in university libraries in Nigeria, and to bring to limelight their readiness to render quality services and communicate with the rest of the world.

The study covered the 104 universities in Nigeria made up of federal, state, and private universities. Out of the number, 86 university libraries responded to the survey. E‐mail and telephone interview methods were used to elicit data from the university librarians and senior library personnel.

The study revealed that despite the laudable directives from the National University Commission (NUC), many university libraries in Nigeria are still operating without internet connectivity. They are mostly the state‐owned and private university libraries. This may be why many programs in the universities are either suffering from partial or no accreditation from the NUC Accreditation Team. Many of the university librarians and senior library personnel interviewed mentioned lack of fund, absence of technical staff to maintain the networks, and lack of maintenance culture as some of the factors hindering internet connectivity.

The paper will help decision makers plan for installation of internet facilities in their libraries.

The paper calls for proactive effort by the library administrators to lobby for fund and the technical staff to enable their libraries get connected to the rest of the world.

This paper aims to investigate how relational connectivity can enhance accountability through non-financial reporting regulation in Europe. The paper contributes to the mandatory disclosure literature and provides practical implications for the application of the EU Directive 2014/95/EU.

A case study research methodology is used, analyzing how a listed Italian insurance company embraces a dialogic communication approach with stakeholders along 2018.

From a theoretical standpoint, this paper enhances the scholarly understanding of the relevance and role of the concept of relational connectivity as a mean for effectively enhancing accountability, providing some prerequisites for effectively implementing relational connectivity. From a practical perspective, results address the criticism related to the directive 2014/95/EU guidelines in effectively helping the organization toward enhancing accountability. Through a case study, results show how companies can achieve in practice the goal of enhancing corporate accountability.

The paper is original, as it addresses the topic of relational connectivity applied to the EU Directive 2014/95/EU. Results contribute to the development of the understanding of the mandatory disclosure in a dialogic perspective. Additionally, the paper addresses a case study showing how the analyzed company used relational connectivity to engage an effective dialogue with stakeholders.

Aims to conceptualize flexible logistics programs and information connectivity as two important aspects of logistics flexibility and to examine the role of information connectivity in making flexible logistics programs successful.

A hierarchical regression model is used to test the research hypotheses.

The results suggest that flexible logistics programs are strongly related to all performance dimensions, and that information connectivity fully mediates the relationship between flexible logistics programs and asset productivity and partially mediates the relationship between flexible logistics programs and delivery competence.

Future theoretical research can develop a detailed conceptualization of logistics flexibility. In this paper, the constructs are developed utilizing an exploratory factor analysis approach. Future research utilizing confirmatory factor analysis approach will allow a better validation of the performance constructs. The paper also considers that studies that link flexible logistics program, information connectivity and performance in a structural equations modeling framework will further enrich one's understanding. In this framework, flexible logistics programs can be considered as a latent variable comprising several individual resource level flexibility measures.

This research highlights the need for organizational structure, role dependencies and a proactive preparedness in terms of managerial policies. The concept of special programs for accommodating changing customer requirements exemplifies the importance for a firm to be aware of shifting demand characteristics and the ability to tailor service delivery accordingly.

An examination of the research questions sheds some light on logistics flexibility as a critical component of logistics capability. With this study logistics flexibility is characterized in terms of flexible logistics programs and information connectivity and hypotheses are tested that link these aspects with performance. It is believed that this enhances and enriches the existing logistics literature and presents avenues for further investigation. Meanwhile, testing the link presents managerial insights for prudent decision making. An investigation of the role of information connectivity provides directions for firms to align their information system strategies with their flexibility‐oriented planning decisions.