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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 January 2024

Chang Liu, Shiwu Yang, Yixuan Yang, Hefei Cao and Shanghe Liu

In the continuous development of high-speed railways, ensuring the safety of the operation control system is crucial. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) faults in signaling…

Abstract

Purpose

In the continuous development of high-speed railways, ensuring the safety of the operation control system is crucial. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) faults in signaling equipment may cause transportation interruptions, delays and even threaten the safety of train operations. Exploring the impact of disturbances on signaling equipment and establishing evaluation methods for the correlation between EMI and safety is urgently needed.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper elaborates on the necessity and significance of studying the impact of EMI as an unavoidable and widespread risk factor in the external environment of high-speed railway operations and continuous development. The current status of research methods and achievements from the perspectives of standard systems, reliability analysis and safety assessment are examined layer by layer. Additionally, it provides prospects for innovative ideas for exploring the quantitative correlation between EMI and signaling safety.

Findings

Despite certain innovative achievements in both domestic and international standard systems and related research for ensuring and evaluating railway signaling safety, there’s a lack of quantitative and strategic research on the degradation of safety performance in signaling equipment due to EMI. A quantitative correlation between EMI and safety has yet to be established. On this basis, this paper proposes considerations for research methods pertaining to the correlation between EMI and safety.

Originality/value

This paper overviews a series of methods and outcomes derived from domestic and international studies regarding railway signaling safety, encompassing standard systems, reliability analysis and safety assessment. Recognizing the necessity for quantitatively describing and predicting the impact of EMI on high-speed railway signaling safety, an innovative approach using risk assessment techniques as a bridge to establish the correlation between EMI and signaling safety is proposed.

Details

Railway Sciences, vol. 3 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2755-0907

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 February 2024

Rongrong Shi, Qiaoyi Yin, Yang Yuan, Fujun Lai and Xin (Robert) Luo

Based on signaling theory, this paper aims to explore the impact of supply chain transparency (SCT) on firms' bank loan (BL) and supply chain financing (SCF) in the context of…

Abstract

Purpose

Based on signaling theory, this paper aims to explore the impact of supply chain transparency (SCT) on firms' bank loan (BL) and supply chain financing (SCF) in the context of voluntary disclosure of supplier and customer lists.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on panel data collected from Chinese-listed firms between 2012 and 2021, fixed-effect models and a series of robustness checks are used to test the predictions.

Findings

First, improving SCT by disclosing major suppliers and customers promotes BL but inhibits SCF. Specifically, customer transparency (CT) is more influential in SCF than supplier transparency (ST). Second, supplier concentration (SC) weakens SCT’s positive impact on BL while reducing its negative impact on SCF. Third, customer concentration (CC) strengthens the positive impact of SCT on BL but intensifies its negative impact on SCF. Last, these findings are basically more pronounced in highly competitive industries.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the SCT literature by investigating the under-explored practice of supply chain list disclosure and revealing its dual impact on firms' access to financing offerings (i.e. BL and SCF) based on signaling theory. Additionally, it expands the understanding of the boundary conditions affecting the relationship between SCT and firm financing, focusing on supply chain concentration. Moreover, it advances signaling theory by exploring how financing providers interpret the SCT signal and enriches the understanding of BL and SCF antecedents from a supply chain perspective.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 March 2024

Jing Liang, Ming Li and Xuanya Shao

The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of online reviews on answer adoption in virtual Q&A communities, with an eye toward extending knowledge exchange and community…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of online reviews on answer adoption in virtual Q&A communities, with an eye toward extending knowledge exchange and community management.

Design/methodology/approach

Online reviews contain rich cognitive and emotional information about community members regarding the provided answers. As feedback information on answers, it is crucial to explore how online reviews affect answer adoption. Based on signaling theory, a research model reflecting the influence of online reviews on answer adoption is established and empirically examined by using secondary data with 69,597 Q&A data and user data collected from Zhihu. Meanwhile, the moderating effects of the informational and emotional consistency of reviews and answers are examined.

Findings

The negative binomial regression results show that both answer-related signals (informational support and emotional support) and answerers-related signals (answerers’ reputations and expertise) positively impact answer adoption. The informational consistency of reviews and answers negatively moderates the relationships among information support, emotional support and answer adoption but positively moderates the effect of answerers’ expertise on answer adoption. Furthermore, the emotional consistency of reviews and answers positively moderates the effect of information support and answerers’ reputations on answer adoption.

Originality/value

Although previous studies have investigated the impacts of answer content, answer source credibility and personal characteristics of knowledge seekers on answer adoption in virtual Q&A communities, few have examined the impact of online reviews on answer adoption. This study explores the impacts of informational and emotional feedback in online reviews on answer adoption from a signaling theory perspective. The results not only provide unique ideas for community managers to optimize community design and operation but also inspire community users to provide or utilize knowledge, thereby reducing knowledge search costs and improving knowledge exchange efficiency.

Article
Publication date: 20 December 2023

Ernan E. Haruvy and Peter T.L. Popkowski Leszczyc

This paper aims to demonstrate that Facebook likes affect outcomes in nonprofit settings. Specifically, Facebook likes influence affinity to nonprofits, which, in turn, affects…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to demonstrate that Facebook likes affect outcomes in nonprofit settings. Specifically, Facebook likes influence affinity to nonprofits, which, in turn, affects fundraising outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors report three studies that establish that relationship. To examine social contagion, Study 1 – an auction field study – relies on selling artwork created by underprivileged youth. To isolate signaling, Study 2 manipulates the number of total Facebook likes on a page. To isolate commitment escalation, Study 3 manipulates whether a participant clicks a Facebook like.

Findings

The results show that Facebook likes increase willingness to contribute in nonprofit settings and that the process goes through affinity, as well as through Facebook impressions and bidding intensity. The total number of Facebook likes has a direct signaling effect and an indirect social contagion effect.

Research limitations/implications

The effectiveness of the proposed mechanisms is limited to nonprofit settings and only applies to short-term effects.

Practical implications

Facebook likes serve as both a quality signal and a commitment mechanism. The magnitude of commitment escalation is larger, and the relationship is moderated by familiarity with the organization. Managers should target Facebook likes at those less familiar with the organization and should prioritize getting a potential donor to leave a like as a step leading to donation, in essence mapping a donor journey from prospective to active, where Facebook likes play an essential role in the journey. In a charity auction setting, the donor journey involves an additional step of bidder intensity.

Social implications

The approach the authors study is shown effective in nonprofit settings but does not appear to extend to corporate social responsibility more broadly.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first investigation to map Facebook likes to a seller’s journey through signals and commitment, as well as the only investigation to map Facebook likes to charity auctions and show the effectiveness of this in the field.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 58 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 November 2023

He Wan, Jialiang Fu and Xi Zhong

Although the impact of environmental, social and governance (ESG) on firms' innovation has attracted attention, the existing research findings diverge. The authors believe that…

Abstract

Purpose

Although the impact of environmental, social and governance (ESG) on firms' innovation has attracted attention, the existing research findings diverge. The authors believe that failure to consider both innovation input and output is an important reason for the divergence of conclusions in the extant literature when discussing the impact of ESG and firm innovation. Thus, based on signaling theory, this study aims to reconcile these divergent findings by examining the impact of ESG performance on firms' innovation efficiency.

Design/methodology/approach

To seek empirical evidence to support the authors’ theoretical view, the authors conduct an empirical test based on the Tobit model using 8 years of data from Chinese listed companies.

Findings

Although ESG performance effectively improves firms' innovation efficiency, the institutional-level signaling environment (including state-owned firms and regional market development) weakens the positive effect of ESG performance on firms' innovation efficiency. Further tests suggest that financing constraints partially mediate the relationship between ESG performance and firms' innovation efficiency.

Originality/value

By systematically revealing whether, how and under what circumstances ESG performance improves firms' innovation advantages, this study bridges the gap in the existing literature and highlights important implications to suggest how firms can better capture the value associated with ESG.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 30 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 July 2023

Qiang Lu, Yihang Zhou, Zhenzeng Luan and Hua Song

This study empirically investigates how ambidextrous innovations and their balancing affect the supply chain financing performance (SCFP) of small and medium-sized enterprises…

Abstract

Purpose

This study empirically investigates how ambidextrous innovations and their balancing affect the supply chain financing performance (SCFP) of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), based on signaling theory. Moreover, this study explores the moderating effect of the breadth and depth of digital technology deployment on the relationship between ambidextrous innovations and the SCFP of SMEs.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed-methods design is used, including a qualitative study and a quantitative study. Qualitative data have been collected from six multi-cases in different industries. Questionnaire data have been collected from 259 SMEs in China, and a multiple regression model is used to verify the research hypotheses.

Findings

The findings indicate that, in supply chain financing, both exploitative innovation and exploratory innovation are helpful in improving the SCFP of SMEs. For resource-constrained SMEs, a relative balance between exploitative innovation and exploratory innovation can help improve SCFP. The breadth of digital technology deployment can strengthen the relationship between exploitative innovation and SCFP, while the depth of digital technology deployment can weaken the relationship between exploratory innovation and SCFP. In addition, increasing the depth of digital technology deployment strengthens the positive correlation between the relative balance of ambidextrous innovations and SCFP.

Practical implications

To effectively obtain supply chain financing, SMEs can either concentrate their limited resources on a single type of innovation or use relative balance strategies to simultaneously pursue two innovations. In addition, in the process of obtaining supply chain financing by ambidextrous innovations, SMEs should appropriately deploy digital technologies.

Originality/value

This study first deconstructs the impact mechanism of ambidextrous innovation capabilities on SCFP based on signaling theory, and then discusses the balancing effect of ambidextrous innovations on SCFP in the cases of resource-constrained SMEs. This study also goes further and finds the negative moderating effect of digital technology deployment in the process of supply chain financing.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 44 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 October 2023

Fereshteh Zihagh, Masoud Moradi and Vishag Badrinarayanan

Adopting a brand prominence perspective, this study aims to examine how textual and visual brand elements influence the success of crowdfunding campaigns for aftermarket offerings.

Abstract

Purpose

Adopting a brand prominence perspective, this study aims to examine how textual and visual brand elements influence the success of crowdfunding campaigns for aftermarket offerings.

Design/methodology/approach

A Python-based Web scraper was used to collect data from 620 crowdfunding campaigns for aftermarket offerings hosted on Kickstarter. The linguistic inquiry and word count application programing interface was then used to analyze the linguistic aspects of these campaigns. A fixed effects regression model was used to evaluate the hypotheses.

Findings

Textual and visual brand prominence are positively associated with campaign success. Further, with some variations, both types of brand prominence augment the positive effects of narrative and graphic design elements on campaign success.

Research limitations/implications

This study makes novel theoretical contributions to the literature on branding, crowdfunding and aftermarket products. The results also provide practical insights to aftermarket enterprises on creating compelling crowdfunding campaigns.

Originality/value

By analyzing the direct and synergistic effects of branding, narrative and graphic design elements on crowdfunding success, this study extends various literature streams and identifies several future research opportunities.

Details

Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 33 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1061-0421

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 February 2024

Jiamin Peng, Liwen Chen, Xiaoyun Yang and Lishan Xie

Drawing on signaling theory and the “signal transmission–interpretation–feedback” framework, this study explores the effects of perceived distributive justice and respect from…

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing on signaling theory and the “signal transmission–interpretation–feedback” framework, this study explores the effects of perceived distributive justice and respect from managers on nurses' work meaningfulness and work effort in public hospitals in China and examines the moderating role of work self-efficacy.

Design/methodology/approach

We collected 341 paired questionnaires for nurses and managers from four public hospitals in China. The data were analyzed by structural equation modeling and hierarchical regression analysis.

Findings

Distributive justice and managers' respect for employees are positively related to work meaningfulness. Additionally, work self-efficacy negatively moderates this relationship. Work meaningfulness is positively related to work effort and fully mediates the relationships between perceived distributive justice and respect from the manager and work effort.

Practical implications

This study provides useful insights for healthcare organizations to improve nurses' work meaningfulness from the perspectives of their material and emotional needs, according to their work self-efficacy characteristics, thus promoting their work effort. The findings offer important guidance for improving the effectiveness of grass-roots human resources to cope with unpredictable situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Originality/value

This study focuses on the organization's environmental factors that affect the primary staff's work meaningfulness. Further, it analyzes the differences in signal interpretation among nurses with different work self-efficacy characteristics, thus providing new insights into work meaningfulness. Through manager–nurse pairing data, it reveals the important role of work meaningfulness in motivating work effort.

Details

Management Decision, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 May 2023

Zhaojun Han, Shenyang Jiang, Zhanzhi Zheng and Yong Jin

While researchers recognize the significance of philanthropic donations in disaster relief and recovery, the benefits that firms derive from such donations remain unclear…

Abstract

Purpose

While researchers recognize the significance of philanthropic donations in disaster relief and recovery, the benefits that firms derive from such donations remain unclear, particularly when firms are adversely impacted by the disaster. To address this gap, this study seeks to elucidate the impact of various donation strategies on firm resilience in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the hand-collected data on donations, the authors employ ordinary least squares regressions to investigate the effectiveness of various donation strategies – including type, timing and location – in enhancing firm resilience in terms of the severity of stock price losses during the pandemic. To address potential endogeneity concerns, the authors use a two-stage least squares regression with instrumental variables.

Findings

This study finds robust evidence that certain donation strategies are more effective at mitigating stock price losses during the pandemic. Specifically, the authors find that in-kind donations (compared to monetary ones), earlier donations (compared to later ones) and donations targeting severely impacted areas (Hubei province vs. other places) are more effective methods to reduce the severity of stock price losses.

Originality/value

This study points out an alternative mechanism through which donations influence firm resilience during a crisis context and provides important managerial implications for firms to better engage in disaster donations.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 44 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 April 2023

Prasanta Kr Chopdar and Justin Paul

From the signaling theory perspective, the current study explores various drivers of brand transparency and its effect on users' interactions with food delivery apps.

Abstract

Purpose

From the signaling theory perspective, the current study explores various drivers of brand transparency and its effect on users' interactions with food delivery apps.

Design/methodology/approach

First, a set of precursors of brand transparency of food delivery apps from focus group discussions was identified. Next, an integrated model tests the impact of brand transparency, perceived risk and brand trust on users' ordering frequency. Data collected from 522 users were analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling method.

Findings

The outcomes showed the effectiveness of brand communications as the strongest indicator of brand transparency. Moreover, brand transparency favorably influences users' brand trust and ordering intention and negatively influences perceived risk. Hygiene rating attenuates the adverse effects of perceived risk.

Originality/value

The current study is a pioneering attempt that offers ways for online food delivery providers to build brand transparency, lessen users' risk perceptions and foster greater use of apps in the post-pandemic scenario.

Details

Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7122

Keywords

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