Focus Of Academic Research Research Articles

Blockchain technology adoption and sustainable performance in Chinese manufacturing: insights on learning and organizational inertia

PurposeAchieving sustainability and sustainable performance has emerged as a critical area of focus for both academic research and practice. However, this pursuit faces challenges, particularly concerning the inadequacy of supply chain information. To address this issue, our study employs the organizational information processing theory to explore how adopting blockchain technology enables firms to learn from and collaborate with their supply chain partners, ultimately facilitating their sustainable performance even in the presence of organizational inertia.Design/methodology/approachUnderpinned by the organizational information processing theory and drawing data from 220 manufacturing firms in China, we use structural equation modeling to test our conceptual model.FindingsOur results demonstrate that blockchain technology adoption can significantly enhance sustainable performance. Furthermore, supply chain learning acts as a mediator between blockchain technology adoption and sustainable performance, while organizational inertia plays a negative moderating role between blockchain technology adoption and supply chain learning.Originality/valueThese findings extend the existing literature on blockchain technology adoption and supply chain management, offering novel insights into the pivotal role of blockchain in fostering supply chain learning and achieving sustainable performance. Our study provides valuable practical implications for managers seeking to leverage blockchain technology to enhance sustainability and facilitate organizational learning.

Association of teleworking with employee psychosocial characteristics and well-being: A descriptive study

In recent years, teleworking (also referred to as telecommuting) has been the focus of academic research, due to its wide implementation during the COVID-19 pandemic and its significant implications, including psychosocial effects, job satisfaction, and social interactions among employees. Thus, this study employed a quantitative approach to examine these concepts and determine to what extent they have been changed by the implementation of teleworking in companies. Based on the findings, the most important aspect of teleworking was the need for social interactions. These three concepts also showed a statistically significant, but not a strong correlation. First, the women in the sample had higher psychosocial effects and a greater need for social interactions, compared to the men, whereas the younger participants had less psychosocial effects. Second, the participants aged 51 – 60 years had lower averages for job satisfaction, while the participants aged 41 – 50 years had lower averages for social interactions. Third, those who worked in companies consisting of 51 – 200 employees had significantly higher psychosocial effects, but significantly lower job satisfaction, compared to the rest of the sample. Finally, demographic and work characteristics played important roles in the assessment of the impact of teleworking on psychosocial effects, job satisfaction, and social interactions.

Genetic diseases with skin fragility in children

Genetic diseases leading to skin fragility are clinically and genetically heterogeneous. Dermatologists and pediatricians should be familiar with the variability of manifestations and manifestation age, in order to differentiate these rare diseases from more common causes of blistering, such as infectious (impetigo contagiosa, herpes infection) or traumatic causes (burns, scalds). This is essential to initiate appropriate diagnostic measures, provide information on treatment and prevention and to refer to specialized centers. The classification of the diseases discussed here is based on the clinical appearance, the histologic cleavage level, and genetic alterations. These diseases are all rare and pathogenetically only partially understood. Treatment methods are mostly symptomatic; causal therapies are the exception. Thanks to advances in mutation detection methods and the assumption of costs for massive parallel sequencing (since 2021) by health insurance companies, rare diseases have moved from the focus of academic research into everyday clinical practice. Due to the rarity, variability of the phenotype and, in many cases, high need for care, it is important in everyday clinical practice to be able to apply apathway for suspected diagnoses and to work together with specialized colleagues and care centers. This study provides an overview of genetic diseases with skin fragility in childhood. Knowledge of the underlying mechanisms leading to skin fragility in childhood can help to recognize rare differential diagnoses from more common infectious and traumatic causes of blistering. This is necessary to enable adequate treatment and referral to specialized care centers and colleagues.

A Bibliometric Analysis of Employee Turnover Intention among IT Sector Employees

Employee turnover is an important problem in the IT sector. However, there are still few comprehensive discussions on the current trends in employee turnover research. This study aims to comprehensively investigate relevant literature from 2019 to 2023 by bibliometric analysis to facilitate detailed exploration. The study has collected many academic documents and provided a comprehensive overview of recent research landscapes. Using the Scopus database, we used library analysis to examine the publication on employee turnover intentions between 2019 and 2023. The results showed a significant increase in research on turnover intentions, which highlighted their continued relevance in organizational research. In addition, the study identified and mapped a group of academic research focusing on employee turnover intentions, job satisfaction, employee management, and employee turnover. Key themes, influential works, and outstanding contributions were highlighted, showing the main contributors and key publications in this area. The information obtained from this study provides a valuable basis for future research and guides researchers to the most important research areas. The recommendations proposed will contribute to the development of effective retention strategies and promote better working conditions, ultimately contributing to the success and well-being of organizations and employees.

Research on the Configuration Path of Innovation Performance of Strategic Emerging Enterprises

As vehicles for implementing innovation-driven strategies, the strategic emerging industries are crucial for enhancing national competitiveness and sustainable development. Improving innovation performance in these industries has been a central focus of academic research. Notably, existing studies have primarily analyzed the net effects from a single perspective. This study examined 261 strategic emerging Chinese enterprises listed on the A-share market. Utilizing the Technology–Organization–Environment framework and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis, this study explores the impact paths and mechanisms of the coupling configurations of technology, organization, and environment to enhance enterprises’ innovation performance from a configuration perspective. We discovered that, first, no single antecedent condition is necessary to achieve high enterprise innovation performance. However, increasing the level of digital transformation and intensity of innovation investments universally results in high innovation performance. Second, the technological, organizational, and environmental conditions exhibit “multiple concurrency”, forming diverse configurations that drive enterprise innovation performance; hence, the driving paths of enterprise innovation performance are varied. Third, four schemes exist for achieving high innovation performance in strategic emerging enterprises: environment-driven under technological dominance, technology–organization driven type, organization-driven under technological–environmental dominance, and technology–organization–environment co-driven type. Exploring the synergistic paths driving innovation performance from a configuration perspective enhances our understanding of the complex interactions among multiple factors in improving such performance. This provides significant theoretical and practical implications for enterprises aiming to improve their innovation performance.

Corporate innovation and performance: a textual measure based on securities analysts’ research reports

ABSTRACT The relationship between innovation investment and firm performance has been a central focus of academic research. Traditional metrics, such as patent counts and R&D expenditures, are often criticised for their limited scope and lack of diversity. In contrast, analyst reports offer a richer source of information on innovation activities. This study employs textual analysis to assess firms’ innovation efforts by examining research reports on publicly listed companies. Using methods such as word segmentation, the research constructs corporate innovation indicators based on the LDA (Latent Dirichlet Allocation) topic model. Analyzing data from 2010 to 2021, the study empirically validates these new innovation indicators and investigates their impact on firm performance. The findings indicate that corporate innovation significantly enhances firm performance. Compared to traditional metrics like patents, the indicators developed here are more comprehensive, offering a broader measure of innovation and addressing the limitations of conventional metrics. These results are consistent across various robustness checks. Additionally, the study finds that corporate innovation improves performance primarily by increasing total factor productivity. Furthermore, strong corporate governance amplifies the positive impact of innovation on firm performance.

Looking and Listening for Lived Theologies of Truth and Reconciliation: Learning from a Diffuse Art Installation in the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa

[Figure: see text] Christian complicity in colonialism and the need for truth telling and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples have been a central focus of academic theological research shared at the Canadian Theological Society in recent years. Many Canadian churches have offered official apologies and made formal commitments to right relations with Indigenous peoples. This paper considers the experience of “people in the pews.” Taking a diffuse visual art installation of white ceramic feathers as a starting point, it traces the contours of how local congregations in the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa are engaged with truth and reconciliation intellectually, emotionally, and actively. It names the need to bridge the gaps between academic theology and lived theology, and official church statements and everyday practices in congregations. It invites academic theologians to consider the questions: To whom are we listening? Who is listening to us?

Academic entrepreneurship in the humanities and social sciences: a systematic literature review and research agenda

The predominant empirical focus of academic entrepreneurship research has been in the science, technology and engineering domains. To date there has been a limited research and empirical focus on academic entrepreneurship in the humanities, arts and social sciences (HASS). This is against a background of the growing societal and policy recognition of the important contributions and impact of HASS based research. The purpose of this paper through a systematic literature review is to examine the current state of academic entrepreneurship research in HASS. Our systematic literature identified four key themes namely, actors,barriers,mechanismsandmeasurementandevaluation. From this, we develop and outline a research agenda for academic entrepreneurship in HASS.

Discovering the power of Discord: Members’ experiences and their performances in learning English

Discord has experienced a recent surge in its utilization for educational purposes. Numerous communities have embraced Discord servers as a means to foster and support learning activities. Many studies discuss Discord in learning English, but there is a lack of extensive academic research focusing on a member’s experiences in using Discord. Most studies on broader online language learning communities and other digital platforms, but only a few studies investigate Discord application from an overview of this phenomenon, this study aimed to determine how the members’ experience in using the Discord application as contributed to facilitating English learning and to describe the performances of Discord in fostering English. a qualitative method with a phenomenological study applied in this research. twenty members who have been using Discord for a year and more than a year and are interested in learning English became the sample by purposive random sampling. Data was gathered from unstructured interviews and participant observation online. The results from the observation demonstrated that the efficacy of Discord can be seen from the function of features, it supports English online learning through seven crucial features that users can leverage: voice channels, text channels, direct messages, screen sharing, resource sharing, bot integrations, and notifications and reminders. Data from the interview showed members’ experiences said Discord can help them in mastering English. As a result, the implications of the research can guide the development of more effective, engaging, and inclusive Discord-based learning communities, ultimately enhancing the overall learning experience and outcomes for participants.

Debating the Yemen conflict: Toward a synthesis of debates and diverse perspectives on causes and actors

AbstractDuring the last decade, a significant amount of academic research focusing on the causes of, and the actors involved in the Yemen conflict has been published in peer‐reviewed journals, edited volumes, and books. Yet this research has emerged in a fragmented way that renders a comprehensive understanding of the conflict a challenging enterprise. Through our systematic review of peer‐reviewed academic articles and meta‐analysis of their findings, we identified and analyzed three main debates about the Yemen conflict. We conclude that each of these discussions contributes valuable insights but alone cannot fully explain the complex reasons behind the Yemen conflict. Instead, they offer individual pieces of the puzzle. We argue that a comprehensive understanding of the conflict necessitates considering and synthesizing all three debates.

How Does a Major Corporate Customer’s ESG Performance Drive the Supplier’s Green Innovation?

In the current climate of intensifying global demands for sustainability, the influence of major corporate customers in driving environmental initiatives across supply chains has emerged as a pivotal focus of academic research and practical application. This study investigates how these influential customers can drive green innovation along their supply chains, which remains under-explored in the previous literature. The study focuses on critical indicators such as the green patent application to measure green innovation outcomes. Leveraging a panel dataset of paired Chinese listed firms from 2009 to 2022, we examine the impact of customers’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance on suppliers’ green innovation activities. Our model is integrated with fixed effects for both industry and year. Our analysis reveals that customers with firm ESG commitments significantly enhance their suppliers’ green innovation outcomes, particularly when they possess greater bargaining power and advanced green innovation capabilities. Additionally, we identify pressure and collaboration as critical mechanisms through which these effects are realized. These findings extend the discourse on sustainable supply chain management by highlighting the crucial role of customer-driven ESG initiatives in fostering upstream innovation, offering valuable insights for scholars and practitioners.

What brings you to our humble abode? Tourist motivation for visiting rural destinations: The case of Nqileni village, South Africa

Rural areas, especially in developing countries, have considered using rural tourism to advance economic and social development. Many authors have conducted academic research focusing on tourism to develop rural areas. However, more clarity is needed on what constitutes rural tourism. While several studies have investigated the reasons for rural tourism development, more is needed to understand what attracts visitors to rural areas. This research paper aims to enhance understanding of rural tourism by examining rural tourists' motivations for places such as Nqileni village, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The authors identified the motivational factors that push tourists to rural areas and the activities that tourists prefer at the destination. Finally, the research determined the tourists' overall satisfaction during their stay at the destination. Numerous research studies have been conducted to investigate the factors influencing the growth of rural tourism, but more is needed to determine what attracts tourists to rural destinations. The study adopted a quantitative research approach, using questionnaires to collect data. The results conclusively show that tourists were motivated to visit the area for relaxation, visit family and relatives, and enjoy a feeling of freedom in the countryside.

Regions of the southern Atlantic Ocean: A study on the sea surface temperature and sea surface salinity of the southern Atlantic Ocean region

Followed by the fast advancement of computer science and technology, studies involving massive datasets, especially environmental sciences, have been more accessible for researchers. Yet, with the completion of high-resolution data about the southern Atlantic Ocean region, there has not been sufficient academic research focusing on this specific area. In this regard, this paper investigates the connection between the Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and Sea Surface Salinity (SSS). The researchers chose South Atlantic as the research subject, and based on the visualization of the datasets from year 2010 to year 2014 to determine the number of clusters, the team applied k-means clustering to analyze the relation between SSS and SST by MATLAB. As a result, the research team found that the variation of the value of SSS and SST within the five years showed a stable tendency. The team classified the South Atlantic Ocean into four different oceanographical regions (based on the clusters acquired from the k-means technique), which each area showed a distinct feature in SSS and SST.

How does family economic capital affect the non-cognitive ability of children in China?

ABSTRACT Cognitive ability, as the initial human capital, has been the focus of academic research for many years. However, few human capital studies have focused on non-cognitive ability and explored its socio-economic value. With the inclusion of non-cognitive ability, the human capital study has got rid of the shortcoming of single-dimensional abilities and the socio-economic value of non-cognitive ability has been gradually explored. Therefore, it is of great academic and practical significance to explore the factors influencing children’s non-cognitive ability. Using the CFPS database in 2018, this study investigates the effects and mechanisms of family economic capital on the non-cognitive ability of children. The robustness test is also used to further verify the reliability of the conclusions. The results reveal that family economic capital is significantly associated with children’s non-cognitive ability, and this effect is biased by the subject. In addition, the mediating effect model suggests that family economic capital affects children’s non-cognitive ability mainly through family education expenditure and family time investment. Therefore, helping families improve their economic capital, education expenditure and time investment contributes to promote the development of their children’s non-cognitive ability, which will effectively raise human capital stock and help China achieve economic transformation as soon as possible.

Bibliometric Analysis of Turkish Journalism Theses and Dissertations: Research Approach Transformation

The rapidly changing landscape in the media sector, driven by the dynamic interplay of technology, communication systems, and societal influences, is causing a profound paradigm shift in academic research focus. This study investigates the landscape of journalism theses and dissertations in Turkey, spanning years, universities, types, subjects, keywords, and methodologies. Our approach employs bibliometric analysis to illuminate the transformation in research strategies within the journalism field. We collected data from the Council of Higher Education Thesis Center, where all graduate theses and doctoral dissertations are submitted through institutional channels using a web scraping technique. Over 36 years (1985–2021), 1,709 graduate studies were authored in journalism in Turkey. Our findings reveal that Istanbul University and Marmara University were prolific publishers of doctoral dissertations and master's theses, respectively. Predominant interdisciplinary themes revolve around communication sciences, sociology, and political communication. Notably, content analysis, discourse analysis, and field research have emerged as the primary research methodologies in journalism.

Bibliometric Mapping of Academic Research Focusing on Animal Production and Climate Change in Association with Methane Emissions and Animal Productivity

Climate change is a pressing global challenge, and animal production is a major contributor to methane emissions. This study examines the academic landscape of research on CH4 emissions and animal productivity, with a focus on cattle, sheep, and goats. Using a bibliometric analysis of 2500 documents published between 1987 and 2023, the study finds that research on this topic has increased significantly over time, with a record high in 2022. The leading countries in terms of research output are the United States, China, Brazil, Canada, and Italy. The study identifies several key research themes, including the impact of CH4 emissions on animal productivity parameters, the development of mitigation strategies, and the assessment of trade-offs and synergies between CH4 emissions reduction and other sustainability goals. The study concludes by highlighting the importance of continued research on CH4 emissions and animal productivity to develop and implement effective mitigation strategies. This study has important implications for policymakers, researchers, and the livestock industry. Policymakers can use the findings to inform the development of policies and regulations that support the reduction of CH4 emissions from animal production. Researchers can use the findings to identify gaps in the existing knowledge base and to develop new research directions. The livestock industry can use the findings to develop more sustainable production practices. By working together, policymakers, researchers, and the livestock industry can develop and implement effective mitigation strategies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect the environment, and support sustainable food production.

토욕혼(吐谷渾) 명칭 재고찰

The naming issues of the Tuyuhun tribe has long been a focus of academic research on Tuyuhun history, with abundant research findings both domestically and internationally. On the basis of previous research, this article employs methods such as Chinese phonology, ethnic history and literature to study the pronunciation of terms such as “吐谷渾(Tuyuhun)”, “退渾(Tuihun)”, “吐渾(Tuhun)”, “吐谷(Tuyu)”, and “渾(Hun)”. It reconstructs their pronunciation and studies the meanings behind terms such as “阿柴虜(A-chailu)”, “貲虜(Zilu)”, “河南(Henan)”, “阿貲虜(A-zilu)”, “野虜(Yelu)”, and “va zha(A-za)”, which may increase the understanding of ethnic nomenclature. In fact, “退渾(Tuihun)”, “吐渾(Tuhun)”, “渾(Hun)”, and “吐谷”(Tuyu)” are all variant readings and abbreviations of “吐谷渾”(Tuyuhun). “阿貲”(A-zi) and the ancient Tibetan A-za(also written as va zha, translated as “阿夏” in Chinese) share the same pronunciation but differ in translations of the name “阿柴 (A-chai)”. “阿柴虜(A-chailu)”, “貲虜(Zilu)”, “阿貲虜(A-zilu)”, and “野虜(Yelu)” are surnames of some Xianbei people who settled in the Hexi region. These surname also serve as derogatory terms for “吐谷渾(Tuyuhun)”. However, a cautious attitude should be taken in the interpretation of the name “吐谷渾(Tuyuhun)”. In the absence of clear and direct interpretation records, premature conclusions are not advisable.

Big Data and Audit Quality: Theoretical Study

This paper provides an extensive examination of academic research focusing on the application of big data in relation to audit quality. The literature review is derived from published articles in auditing-related journals. Our review is structured around three primary impacts of applying big data in accounting, auditing, and audit quality. Within each effect, we delve into the findings pertaining to the quality of audits and financial reports. We assert that the limited empirical evidence, coupled with recent technological advancements in information technology, creates opportunities for future research to explore the significant effects of big data application on audit quality and auditing in a broader context.

A novel two‐step extrapolation‐insertion risk model based on the Expectile under the Pareto‐type distribution

AbstractThe catastrophe loss model developed is a challenging problem in the insurance industry. In the context of Pareto‐type distribution, measuring risk at the extreme right tail has become a major focus for academic research. The quantile and Expectile of distribution are found to be useful descriptors of its tail, in the same way as the median and mean are related to its central behavior. In this article, a novel two‐step extrapolation‐insertion method is introduced and proved its advantages of less bias and variance theoretically through asymptotic normality by modifying the existing far‐right tail numerical model using the risk measures of Expectile and Expected Shortfall (ES). In addition, another solution to obtain the ES is proposed based on the fitted extreme distribution, which is demonstrated to have superior unbiased statistical properties. Uniting these two methods provides the numerical interval upper and lower bounds for capturing the real quantile‐based ES commonly used in insurance. The numerical simulation and the empirical analysis results of Danish reinsurance claim data indicate that these methods offer high prediction accuracy in the applications of catastrophe risk management.

QFII shareholding, information access and corporate asset mismatching

Existing research on the efficiency of corporate asset allocation based on different perspectives has become the focus of academic attention and research. However, there are few studies that consider the underlying causes of asset mismatch, especially the lack of in-depth research on the role of information acquisition time difference in the mechanism between asset mismatch and inventory holding. Therefore, based on perspective of information access time difference and empirical evidence from listed companies from 2007 to 2022, this paper empirically finds that QFII stockholding significantly inhibits corporate asset mismatch behaviour; meanwhile, information access time difference can strengthen this inhibiting effect.