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Article
Publication date: 19 October 2018

Lei Zhu, Orhan Kara and Xiaowei Zhu

The purpose of this paper is to compare women entrepreneurship in China and Vietnam by examining the motivations, success factors and problems related to establishing women-owned…

1517

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to compare women entrepreneurship in China and Vietnam by examining the motivations, success factors and problems related to establishing women-owned businesses.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample in this study consisted of 170 women entrepreneurs in Vietnam and 180 women entrepreneurs in China. The authors used the survey instrument developed by H.M. Chu (Chu and Katsioloudes 2001), which has been adopted in a number of small business studies since 2002. To determine whether there is a significant difference between the two countries regarding each factor of motivations, success factors and problems, the authors use the non-parametric Wilcoxon rank-sum test.

Findings

Women entrepreneurs are motived to earn more income in both China and Vietnam. Vietnamese businesswomen value intrinsic rewards such as gaining personal satisfaction and freedom. They also take business ownership as a way to reduce work–family conflict. Demonstrating the ability and gaining public recognition play a more important role when Chinese women entrepreneurs decide to establish their businesses. Both Chinese and Vietnamese women agree that good management skills are essential to achieve their goals. Women entrepreneurs in both countries share similar challenges, such as the inability to recruit and retain employees, severe competition, a weak economy and limited access to financial capital.

Practical implications

Given the nature of transitional economies in both countries, the government is required to improve the regulatory environment for protecting private sector employment and private property rights. Policies such as subsidies and tax incentives may assist the development of women enterprises. To support the sustainable growth of women businesses, it is suggested that the government should design effective programs that direct women entrepreneurs to move into high-growth or high-technology sectors. Training programs are also required to improve the knowledge and skills of women entrepreneurs. Making capital accessible to women is also important to stimulate entrepreneurial growth. As a further stimulus, governments should coordinate with financial institutions to provide low-cost loans or even venture capital to facilitate this process.

Originality/value

This study is among one of the first attempts to compare women entrepreneurship in the two transitional economies of Vietnam and China. It provides insight into motivations, success factors and problems that women entrepreneurs experienced by examining small business owners in Vietnam and China.

Details

Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, vol. 11 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-4604

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 July 2019

Lei Zhu and Peter Reeves

The purpose of this paper is to surface themes which may influence Chinese students’ decision making in relation to postgraduate study in international universities.

1936

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to surface themes which may influence Chinese students’ decision making in relation to postgraduate study in international universities.

Design/methodology/approach

The study utilises a semi-structured qualitative interview methodology (n=15).

Findings

The main findings are discussed according to the following themes: financial and time costs; employment prospects; postgraduate education as a cultural adventure; linguistics; visa issues; admissions; climate; influence of referents; and academic image and reputation.

Research limitations/implications

The sample size is small, yet affords greater depth of data and discussion.

Practical implications

The research offers practitioners in universities who are managing postgraduate recruitment of Chinese students, some greater understanding of the reasons behind prospective Chinese postgraduate students’ choice; from which they can evaluate the effectiveness of their institutions’ recruitment strategies.

Originality/value

Extant research has tended to report reasons why Chinese students study overseas, whereas this study offers deeper insight and exploration of the reasoning of Chinese international students in the postgraduate context. The research is of value given the importance of postgraduate Chinese students to international university recruitment.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 33 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 November 2021

Feng Zhang, Chongchong Lyu and Lei Zhu

Empirical results remain unclear as to whether organizational unlearning can improve radical innovation performance. The purpose of this study is to investigate how, and under…

1058

Abstract

Purpose

Empirical results remain unclear as to whether organizational unlearning can improve radical innovation performance. The purpose of this study is to investigate how, and under which conditions, organizational unlearning influences firms’ radical innovation performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the knowledge-based view, this study develops a theoretical model that hypothesizes a positive relationship between organizational unlearning and radical innovation performance, which is mediated by knowledge generation strategies. It also proposes that the impact of unlearning on knowledge generation strategies will be moderated by dysfunctional competition. Using survey data from 191 Chinese manufacturing firms, the hierarchical regressions were used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The empirical results show that organizational unlearning not only impacts radical innovation performance directly, but also indirectly affects radical innovation performance through two distinct types of knowledge generation strategies: (internal) knowledge creation and (external) information searching. Moreover, dysfunctional competition plays a dual role, strengthening the positive relationship between organizational unlearning and information search and weakening the positive relationship between organizational unlearning and knowledge creation.

Research limitations/implications

The present research broadens the understanding of how to promote radical innovation performance, which has great potential to improve the performance of firms on the market. Specifically, it deepens the knowledge of how organizational unlearning facilitates radical innovation performance by focusing on two distinct types of knowledge generation strategies as the crucial links, and enriches existing literature on the effectiveness of organizational unlearning in a dysfunctional competitive environment.

Practical implications

Practicing organizational unlearning for firms’ long-term success requires firms to develop and implement appropriate knowledge generation strategies in accordance with the characteristics of market competition in their operating environment.

Originality/value

This study offers new insights into how and under what conditions organizational unlearning affects radical innovation performance, enhancing the understanding of how organizational unlearning can be implemented to drive firm radical innovation.

Article
Publication date: 9 December 2019

Lei Zhu, Ming Shan and Zhao Xu

Although the handover stage is the key transition stage between the construction and operation, there is no critical overview of issues and research at the handover stage…

1093

Abstract

Purpose

Although the handover stage is the key transition stage between the construction and operation, there is no critical overview of issues and research at the handover stage, hindering the achievement of sustainable development of buildings. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to review the building handover-related issues and research in construction and facility management (FM) journals. The specific objectives of this study include: analyze the research trends and overview the handover-related publications; identify the major research topics on the handover of buildings; identify research gaps and propose future research directions.

Design/methodology/approach

This study opted for a four-step systematic review of papers from the well-known academic journals in the construction and FM respects.

Findings

The results first revealed the increasing research interest in the handover of buildings from the researchers. Moreover, the post-construction defects, poor information fidelity, poor interoperability between building information modeling (BIM) and FM technologies, and insufficient consideration of end users were identified as the most concerned challenges for a building handover. Furthermore, identifying and formalizing information requirements for handover, improving the handover process, and improving the interoperability between BIM and FM were solutions mostly emphasized by researchers.

Research limitations/implications

As the first systematic review of building handover-related issues and research, this study is the building block for future research on this topic. The findings provide guidance for researchers in the construction and FM research community, and help them form useful collaboration for future research opportunities and find future research directions.

Practical implications

The identified significant challenges and potential solutions for a building handover could assist practitioners in making rational decisions on developing or adopting relevant technologies, and reshaping their management patterns and working processes. Moreover, the findings could be severed as evidence for policymakers to initiate policies, such as documents e-submission and timely updating BIMs, to achieve the vision of model-based project delivery.

Originality/value

This study contributed to the body of knowledge of sustainable development by providing a new insight to tackle the hindrance to the smooth transition from the construction to the operation.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 28 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 January 2021

Feng Zhang, Lei Zhu and Chongchong Lyu

A firm's geographic boundaries represent an important demarcation line when searching for new knowledge. Prior research on geographic search has generated conflicting results…

Abstract

Purpose

A firm's geographic boundaries represent an important demarcation line when searching for new knowledge. Prior research on geographic search has generated conflicting results concerning its influence on firm innovation outcomes. The purpose of this study is to fill the gap by examining how and under which conditions geographic search affects firm radical innovation performance.

Design/methodology/approach

This study hypothesizes a positive association between a firm's geographic search and radical innovation performance, which is mediated by potential absorptive capacity (PAC). It further proposes that the influence of geographic search on PAC will be moderated by a firm's collaborative network. Drawing on a random sample of 286 Chinese manufacturing firms, the theoretical model is tested.

Findings

The study's results show a positive relationship between geographic search and radical innovation performance, which is partially mediated by PAC. Moreover, attributes of collaborative networks (i.e. diverse location of and strong relational ties with partners) are observed to enhance the positive effect of geographic search on PAC.

Originality/value

This paper advances the understanding of how and when firms can better capture the benefits of geographic search in the development of radical innovation.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 25 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 July 2020

Feng Zhang and Lei Zhu

From the dynamic capability perspective, the aim of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for collaborative capability, including scanning, relational skills and…

Abstract

Purpose

From the dynamic capability perspective, the aim of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for collaborative capability, including scanning, relational skills and adaptation and to test the impact of each dimension on the acquisition of technological and marketing knowledge from partners. The conceptual framework also suggests that these two types of knowledge acquisition have different impacts on new product development (NPD) creativity and speed.

Design/methodology/approach

This study builds a theoretical framework and tests it with survey data from 289 Chinese manufacturing firms.

Findings

Firms with strong collaborative capability are identified to gain better knowledge acquisition from their partners and achieve higher NPD performance. While acquired technological knowledge has a greater effect on NPD creativity than acquired marketing knowledge, the latter has a greater effect on NPD speed. In addition, these two types of knowledge acquisition form different mediating paths between collaborative capability and NPD performance.

Practical implications

This study not only underlines the important role of collaborative capability in facilitating knowledge acquisition, which in turn improves NPD performance, but also suggests that decision-makers should note the different roles of technological knowledge and market knowledge in influencing NPD performance.

Originality/value

These findings enrich the understanding of how firms enhance NPD performance by developing collaborative capability in a major emerging economy (i.e. China). In addition to demonstrating the differential effects of heterogeneous knowledge acquisition on NPD performance, different pathways of mediation through knowledge acquisition are also identified in the relationship between collaborative capability and NPD outcomes.

Details

International Journal of Emerging Markets, vol. 16 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-8809

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 April 2020

Feng Zhang, Lei Zhu and Liqun Wei

Whether shareholders’ involvement in management benefits the organization’s performance remains inconclusive. The purpose of this study is to reconcile the conflicting results by…

Abstract

Purpose

Whether shareholders’ involvement in management benefits the organization’s performance remains inconclusive. The purpose of this study is to reconcile the conflicting results by exploring whether and under which contexts shareholder involvement may impact firm innovation performance.

Design/methodology/approach

This study attempts to combine previous theoretical views (reactance and agency theories) to examine a curvilinear effect of shareholder involvement on firm innovation performance based on governance related to cost-benefit analysis. Drawing on data from 174 Chinese manufacturing firms, the hierarchical regressions were used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The study finds that shareholder involvement has a U-shaped relationship with firm innovation performance. Moreover, ownership incentive strengthens the U-shaped relationship, while monitoring weakens it.

Originality/value

Examination of the U-shaped main effect of shareholder involvement and these contingent factors further explains the mixed empirical results concerning the link between shareholder activism and firm-level performance.

Details

Chinese Management Studies, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-614X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 June 2023

Yusheng Zhou, Lei Zhu, Chuanhui Wu, Houcai Wang, Qun Wang and Qinjian Yuan

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of social media affordances, specifically social engagement and social endorsement, on knowledge contribution in online Q&A…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of social media affordances, specifically social engagement and social endorsement, on knowledge contribution in online Q&A communities. Building on self-determination theory, this research seeks to tackle the issue of under-provision of knowledge in these communities.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employs a sample collected from a popular social Q&A community in China and uses linear panel data models along with multiple robustness checks to test the research model.

Findings

The findings reveal that both social engagement and social endorsement have a positive effect on users' knowledge contribution to the online Q&A community. However, the impact of social engagement is mitigated by social endorsement.

Originality/value

This paper makes a valuable contribution to the field by filling the research gap on the role of social engagement behaviors and their interaction with social endorsement in online Q&A communities. The results provide insights into how social media affordances can be leveraged to enhance knowledge contribution in these communities.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 123 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2022

Lei Zhu, Wanyi Chen and Qianwen Zheng

Emerging markets are characterized by weak institutions and strong relationships, which give rise to different market characteristics in supply chain relationships. This study…

Abstract

Purpose

Emerging markets are characterized by weak institutions and strong relationships, which give rise to different market characteristics in supply chain relationships. This study investigates the impact of customer concentration on suppliers' real earnings management.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on China's relationship-based transaction, this study selects 2007–2019 Shenzhen and Shanghai Stock Exchange A-share manufacturing listed companies as the research samples. The empirical analysis is derived from the ordinary least square regression model with industry and year fixed effects, and cross-sectional analysis is used for further analysis.

Findings

It is found that the higher the degree of customer concentration, the more likely a company is to engage in real earnings management mainly through discretionary expenses instead of accrual-based earnings management. Further research shows that when suppliers provide customers with higher commercial credit and make more relationship-specific investments, and when major customers are also major suppliers, the effect of customer concentration on real earnings management is more significant. It can be seen from the results that high customer concentration is beneficial for suppliers to cooperate with major customers in emerging markets.

Originality/value

This research expands the relationship between customer relationship-based transaction and earnings management from the perspective of collaboration. These conclusions are of great significance for market regulators to reform information disclosure related to customers and for participants to pay attention to the composition of major customers of the company.

Details

International Journal of Emerging Markets, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-8809

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 October 2019

Lei Zhu, Minghai Pan and Xiaohua Qiao

This paper aims to classify the inductorless Chua’s circuits into two types from the topological structures and construct a chaotic circuit under this new classification framework.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to classify the inductorless Chua’s circuits into two types from the topological structures and construct a chaotic circuit under this new classification framework.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, two types of inductorless Chua’s circuit models are presented from topological structure, among which the first type of inductorless Chua’s circuit (FTICC) model is much closer to the original Chua’s circuit. Under this classification framework, a new inductorless Chua’s circuit that belongs to the FTICC model is built by replacing LC parallel resonance of the original Chua’s circuit with a second order Sallen–Key band pass filter.

Findings

Compared with a paradigm of a reported inductorless Chua’s circuit that belongs to the second type of inductorless Chua’s circuit (STICC) model, the newly proposed circuit can present the attractors which are much more closely to the original Chua’s attractors. The dynamical behaviors of coexisting period-doubling bifurcation patterns and boundary crisis are discovered in the newly proposed circuit from both numerical simulations and experimental measurements. Moreover, a crisis scenario is observed that unmixed pairs of symmetric coexisting limit cycles with period-3 traverse through the entire parameter interval between coexisting single-scroll chaotic attractors and double-scroll chaotic attractor.

Originality/value

The newly constructed circuit enriches the family of inductorless Chua’s circuits, and its simple topology with small printed circuit board size facilitates the various types of engineering applications based on chaos.

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