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Nowadays, star athletes are global brand personalities. The increased popularity of the professional sport has contributed to elevating exceptional athletes to international star status. This empirical study aims to assess the impact of athlete performance and brand social value on product involvement with the mediation effect of celebrity athlete endorsement.

A quantitative survey was conducted with 399 Chinese participants. PLS-SEM is adopted to examine the associated paths and the mediating effect of celebrity endorsement.

The results demonstrate the significant impact of athlete performance and brand social value on product involvement. Celebrity endorsement partially mediates the effects of athlete performance and brand social value on product involvement.

This study extends understanding of celebrity athlete endorsement and provides insight into the strategic implications for Chinese social media-based marketing initiatives in the context of the recent Olympic Game in Tokyo 2021.

A fundamental concept of the smart city is to get the right information at the right place to make city-related decisions easier and quicker. The main goal of supply chain management (SCM) systems is to enhance the supply chain process for delivering the identified products to customers correctly in distributed organizations. In addition, new IT infrastructure such as cloud-based systems and internet of things (IoT) have changed many organizations and firms. Hence, this study aims to assess the factors that contribute to the success of SCM systems.

In this paper, the usage of urban knowledge, urban intelligent transportation systems and IT infrastructure was considered as a key factor for the success of SCM systems. For assessing the features of the model, a comprehensive questionnaire was designed. The survey questionnaires were sent to critical informers who are practical heads associated with SCM and urbanism. Of these, 315 usable responses were received, resulting in a response rate of 82.03%. The data were examined using Smart-PLS version 3.2 and IBM SPSS version 25.

The obtained results showed the high strength of the proposed model. This study found that the impact of urban ITS (safety, accessibility, information management and flexibility) is important to the success of supply chain management systems. Another important finding is that the cloud-based system (cloud security, resource virtualization, on-demand self-service and scalability) has a very important role in the success of supply chain management systems. The finding showed that the effect of IoT service variable (commercialization, mobility features, infrastructure capabilities and security and privacy) on the success of supply chain management systems is significant and positive. The findings also showed that urban knowledge (usage skills, awareness, experience and knowledge sharing) is viewed as a significant factor in the success of supply chain management systems.

The inductive nature of research methodology has introduced limitations on the generalizability of results. Therefore, it is recommended to examine the validity of this research model in other supply chains.

The statistical results support the crucial role of urban knowledge, urban intelligent transportation systems, IoT services and cloud-based systems. Therefore, aspects relating to these factors must be the focus of attention of any distributed organization in their endeavor to develop supply chain management systems. Implementing cloud based IoT through accurate and timely availability of information, can predict forecasting and planning processes, resources, logistics and support, service management and spare parts and many sub-processes in the supply chain. These technologies allow organizations to invest in manufacturing and operating processes rather than paying for the software section, which will generate more cash flow.

One of the most crucial and fundamental parts of an organization’s management is the supply chain management. The department is responsible for coordinating all units from the initial stages, such as supplying materials to the final stages, such as delivery and after-sales service. Comprehensive and credible information platforms are essential for managing a supply chain. Therefore, it is important to use integrated information systems such as IoT, cloud computing, intelligent transportation systems and more in this part of the organization management. Covering this information in a timely and accurate manner will facilitate the process and make the process more transparent. For this purpose, a model is needed to determine the relationship between technologies and supply chain management, which this study has provided a comprehensive model.

The number of patents in China has grown rapidly in recent years. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how patents impact economic development in China.

This paper developed an empirical model by using panel data of 42 China's patent-intensive industries to investigate the economic contribution made by Chinese patent-intensive manufacturing industries.

This paper found that the intensity of valid patents is strongly positively related to economic growth. The intensity of yearly added patents presented an inverse U-shaped and a U-shaped curve with the economy made by China’s patent-intensive industries. The correlativity mainly depended on whether the patent intensity converges near the economic indicators. Meanwhile, from the perspective of input–output efficiency, for China’s patent-intensive industries, R&D institutes were overinvested, followed by R&D intensity and R&D staff.

Investigating patent influence on economic development is quite complex research. Existing studies have mainly focused on patent protection in legal systems, but have not provided a definitive answer to what the real influence is. This study sought to narrow this gap from the patent economy perspective.

Security is the most important issue in Internet of Things (IoT)-based smart cities and blockchain (BC). So, the present paper aims to detect and organize the literature regarding security in the IoT-based smart cities and BC context. It also proposes an agenda for future research. Therefore, the authors did a statistical review of security in IoT and BC in smart cities. The present investigation aims to determine the principal challenges and disturbances in IoT because of the BC adoption, the central BC applications in IoT-based smart cities and the BC future in IoT-based smart cities.

IoT) has a notable influence on modernizing and transforming the society and industry for knowledge digitizing. Therefore, it may be perceived and operated in real time. The IoT is undergoing exponential development in industry and investigation. Still, it contains some security and privacy susceptibilities. Naturally, the research community pays attention to the security and privacy of the IoT. Also, the academic community has put a significant focus on BC as a new security project. In the present paper, the significant mechanisms and investigations in BC ground have been checked out systematically because of the significance of security in the IoT and BC in smart cities. Electronic databases were used to search for keywords. Totally, based on different filters, 131 papers have been gained, and 17 related articles have been obtained and analyzed. The security mechanisms of BC in IoT-based smart cities have been ranked into three main categories as follows, smart health care, smart home and smart agriculture.

The findings showed that BC’s distinctive technical aspects might impressively find a solution for privacy and security problems encountering the IoT-based smart cities development. They also supply distributed storage, transparency, trust and other IoT support to form a valid, impressive and secure distributed IoT network and provide a beneficial guarantee for IoT-based smart city users’ security and privacy.

The present investigation aims to be comprehensive, but some restrictions were also observed. Owing to the use of some filters for selecting the original papers, some complete works may be excluded. Besides, inspecting the total investigations on the security topic in BC and the IoT-based smart cities is infeasible. Albeit, the authors attempt to introduce a complete inspection of the security challenges in BC and the IoT-based smart cities. BC includes significant progress and innovation in the IoT-based smart cities’ security domain as new technology. Still, it contains some deficiencies as well. Investigators actively encounter the challenges and bring up persistent innovation and inspection of related technologies in the vision of the issues available in diverse application scenarios.

The use of BC technology in finding a solution for the security issues of the IoT-based smart cities is a research hotspot. There is numerable literature with data and theoretical support despite the suggestion of numerous relevant opinions. Therefore, this paper offers insights into how findings may guide practitioners and researchers in developing appropriate security systems dependent upon the features of IoT-based smart city systems and BC. This paper may also stimulate further investigation on the challenge of security in BC and IoT-based smart cities. The outcomes will be of great value for scholars and may supply sights into future investigation grounds in the present field.

As the authors state according to their knowledge, it is the first work using security challenges on BC and IoT-based smart cities. The literature review shows that few papers discuss how solving security issues in the IoT-based smart cities can benefit from the BC. The investigation suggests a literature review on the topic, recommending some thoughts on using security tools in the IoT-based smart cities. The present investigation helps organizations plan to integrate IoT and BC to detect the areas to focus. It also assists in better resource planning for the successful execution of smart technologies in their supply chains.

The divergence equations in Maxwell’s theory are Gauss law and the statement that magnetic monopoles do not exist; from this point of view these two equations are fundamental. However, from a practical point of view, it is generally believed that Maxwell’s divergence equations are redundant and may be ignored provided that they are satisfied at some time t‐0. It has been proved recently that this idea is not correct for boundary‐initial value problems. To make mathematical arguments more accessible, we analyse here the role of the divergence equations in the framework of 2D‐electromagnetism.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the difference in the process of higher education (HE) internationalization across faculties in a post‐1992 university and to identify faculty‐specific factors through evaluating the four faculties in the case study.

A qualitative research is conducted in a post‐1992 UK university. Four faculties are involved and a total of 20 interviewees from three key departments participate in this project. Content analysis, critical discourse analysis and categorization of meaning are adopted as data analysis strategies.

This study explains the reasons why the level of internationalization across faculties is different.

This research helps gain rich understanding of faculty‐specific factors in terms of the degree of internationalization. Further research in this area is encouraged to test these faculty‐specific factors through quantitative population studies in other institutions.

Most faculty‐specific factors are management matters which can be improved by internal adjustment. HE internationalization cannot be conducted the same way in each faculty, but should be considered a part of faculties’ particular focus. These factors highlight the areas where the faculties need to improve, in order to better accommodate HE internationalization.

This research evaluates and identifies the faculty‐specific factors in relation to the level of internationalization from a faculty's standpoint. These critical factors are unique to HE internationalization and transferrable to other similar institutions.

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine higher education (HE) internationalisation in terms of international recruitment and academic collaboration, with a focus on market entry strategies and programme delivery methods, and to define an education‐specific dynamic framework.

A single university was chosen as the case study and 20 interviewees participated in this qualitative research. Content analysis, critical discourse analysis and categorisation of meaning are adopted as data analysis strategies.

The dynamic framework is constructed based on the analysis of both commercial internationalisation and HE internationalisation. It presents the relationship between these two areas, and creates an education‐specific pattern of HE internationalisation, including modes of entry, programme delivery methods and potential areas of further development.

The dynamic framework contributes to rich understanding of internationalisation of HE in the case study. Further research in this area is encouraged to test the framework in other universities.

The dynamic framework presents international market expansion within an institutional context. This framework can help institutions better understand international development in HE, and guide universities' implementation of internationalisation by providing education‐specific modes of entry and programme delivery methods.

This research uses literature on commercial internationalisation to interpret HE internationalisation, explains the relationship between them, and creates an education‐specific framework, which is bespoke for international market expansion in HE.

The purpose of this research is to identify and critically evaluate key issues faced by an institution in the quest to implement higher education internationalization.

A qualitative research is conducted in a post‐1992 UK university. A total of 20 interviewees from three key departments participated in this project. Content analysis, critical discourse analysis and categorisation of meaning were applied on analysing three sources of data collection.

This study identifies critical issues that impede international strategy implementation within an institutional context. These issues include resource allocation, communication, operational process, cooperation and coordination, organizational culture, resistance to change, student support and external environment. Researching findings indicate that most issues are rooted internally. Higher education (HE) internationalization is deemed to be integration and cohesion.

This research contributes to rich understanding of challenges of the present case study; therefore, further research in this area is encouraged to test these highlighted issues through quantitative population studies in other institutions.

Research findings show different understanding of critical issues of HE internationalization, and highlight the areas that need to be improved. This study encourages different key departments to conduct and evaluate internationalization internally.

This research suggests that HE internationalization is primarily an internal matter of integration rather than a process driven only by external environment. This study addresses particular forms of critical issues within an institutional context through a qualitative analysis.

This chapter examines China’s corporate governance and accounting environment that shapes the adoption of internationally acceptable principles and standards. Specifically, it examines international influences, including supranational organizations; foreign investors and international accounting firms; domestic institutional influences, including the political system, economic system, legal system, and cultural system; and accounting infrastructure. China’s convergence is driven by desired efficiency of the corporate sector and legitimacy of participating in the global market. Influenced heavily by international forces in the context of globalization, corporate governance and accounting practices are increasingly becoming in line with internationally acceptable standards and codes. While convergence assists China in obtaining legitimacy, improving efficiency is likely to be adversely affected given that corporate governance and accounting in China operate in an environment that differs considerably from those of Anglo-American countries. An examination of the corporate governance and accounting environment in China suggests heavy government involvement within underdeveloped institutions. While the Chinese government has made impressive progress in developing the corporate governance and accounting environment for the market economy, China’s unique institutional setting is likely to affect how the imported concepts are interpreted and implemented.

This paper aims to analyze the situation of knowledge dissemination in Chinese rural areas and explore factors that affect the efficiency of knowledge dissemination, to provide some suggestions for further improvements.

A survey was conducted to collect data in 17 provinces of China, with 267 questionnaires returned out of 300. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesis with LISEREL 8.8.

The results show that factors of knowledge such as government participation, dissemination capability, learning motivation and trust have a positive effect on knowledge transfer. By contrast, factors of knowledge such as complexity and richness of knowledge carriers do not have a significant correlation with the knowledge sharing level.

This paper conducts a cross-sectional analysis while ignoring the longitudinal effects of some factors on knowledge dissemination, such as the reform and opening policy in China. An analysis on a more concrete problem could be conducted for future study.

This paper proposes some suggestions to enhance the efficiency of knowledge dissemination in rural areas from the knowledge dissemination mode, knowledge products and the role of government playing.

This paper is among the first attempts to conduct comprehensive and systematic research on the influential factors of knowledge dissemination. It contributes to literature by offering a systematical empirical study with the consideration of the role of government in knowledge dissemination.