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This research aims to understand consumer responses to corporate social responsibility (CSR) during an unprecedented public health crisis. Specifically, two studies were conducted to investigate how companies’ different CSR initiatives in the early stage of COVID-19 would influence consumers’ advocacy intention according to their focus (i.e. targets of institutional CSR). The first study examined the moderating role of individuals’ CSR expectancy on the effects of companies’ CSR initiatives on consumers’ brand advocacy intention. The second study further extends the findings of Study 1 by examining the mediating role of perceived brand motive.

Two between-subject online experiments were conducted to explore the impact of three types of institutional CSR initiatives (i.e. community, employee and consumer-centered CSRs) on brand advocacy. Study 1 (N = 380) examined the moderating role of CSR expectancy in influencing consumer responses to institutional CSR initiatives. Study 2 (N = 384) explored the underlying mechanism through examining the mediating role of a company’s value-driven motivation in the process.

Study 1 indicated that institutional CSR, regardless of type, was more effective in generating a more significant brand advocacy intention than a promotional message, measured as a baseline. The impact of different kinds of institutional CSR on consumers’ brand advocacy intentions was significantly moderated by their CSR-related expectations. Specifically, individuals with moderate to high CSR expectancy showed higher brand advocacy intentions in both consumer- and employee-centered CSR initiatives than the promotional message. In comparison, those with low CSR expectancy only showed higher brand advocacy intentions in the community-centered CSR initiative. In addition, as individuals’ CSR expectations rose, the mediation effect of the perceived value-driven motivation became stronger.

The current study includes guiding principles to help companies effectively respond to COVID-19 as corporate citizens by demonstrating the importance of individuals’ CSR expectancy across three CSR initiatives. This study used real-life examples of how leading companies were stepping up CSR efforts and suggested an approach that aligns CSR behaviors with the urgent and fundamental human needs of COVID-19.

In line with the CSR goal of maximizing benefits for stakeholders, this study’s findings signal that situational changes determine CSR expectations and that companies must be highly susceptible to the changes in consumers’ expectations of CSR and their appraisal process of CSR motives to maximize its CSR value.

This study aims to investigate the evolution of eight Asian countries’ innovation policy instruments during three economic development phases. Another goal is to examine common and different policy instruments of Japan, Korea and China, which have already reached the post-catch-up stage, to provide lessons to less-developed and developing Asian countries.

This study uses a qualitative research methodology, in particular a narrative approach. For triangulation, this paper uses a wide range of secondary data. The authors selected eight Asian countries by using various criteria, including income level and market size, and examined each country in terms of innovation performance and evolution of innovation policy instruments. The evolution of innovation policy in each country is investigated during three economic development phases: pre-industrialization, industrialization and catch-up and post-catch-up.

The findings show, first, that a higher research and development (R&D) expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), R&D activities dominated by private research organizations and more vigorous patent activities by residents than nonresidents are the most critical factors for becoming a high-income country. Second, innovation policy should be suitable for attaining aims, which are different at each economic development stage. Third, seven lessons from three prosperous Asian countries are crucial for economic development: securing political stability; increasing R&D expenditures; facilitating the acquisition, diffusion and internalization of technology; encouraging government–industry–university collaborations; using the selection and concentration strategy; changing the governmental role from regulator to facilitator; and establishing a legal framework.

It is difficult to find research that systematically compares three or more Asian countries’ innovation policies over the long term. This study fills this gap and helps scholars and field workers increase their understanding of innovation policy in eight Asian countries. It also contributes to providing lessons for practitioners that could help developing and less-developed Asian countries establish a suitable innovation policy for each economic development stage.

For knowledge transfer in multinational organizations, knowledge management studies draw on diverse practices, such as employees’ language proficiency or environments, such as cultural contexts, but pay little attention to the practical role of external agents, i.e. translators. The purpose of this study is to analyze how translators facilitate knowledge transfer, using their professional identity in relation to employees’ cultural competence and organizations’ Human Resource Management (HRM) practices.

This study examines survey data on 182 translators and 206 HRM managers who work in multinational organizations. Regarding common method bias, comparing people with different views and inclusion of control variables collected from archival sources will help the empirical results to be robust.

This study finds that translators’ business-oriented professional identities complement employees’ cultural competence and eventually promote knowledge transfer. Furthermore, translators’ business-oriented professional identities are enhanced by organizations’ commitment-based HRM practices.

This study expands knowledge management studies by incorporating external agents into the analysis of knowledge transfer. Particularly for the language approach in knowledge management, the framework of this study sheds light on the critical dimension of translators’ professional identity for organizational goals. Practically, this study suggests that multinational organizations should design commitment-based HRM practices to motivate translators’ business-oriented identity for knowledge transfer.

Purpose: The aim is to explore how family relations are affected by societal changes in relation to informal and formal caregiving and self-determination of older adults.

Design/methodology/approach: Care managers (CMs)/social workers (SWs) (N = 124) participated in a comparative vignette study including Japan, South Korea, and Sweden. Systems theory was used.

Findings: Japanese CMs/SWs clearly describe their efforts to create networks in a relational way between formal and informal actors in the community. South Korean CMs/SWs balance between suggesting interventions to support daily life at home or a move to a nursing home, often acknowledging the family as the main caregiver. In Sweden, CMs/SWs highlight the juridical element in meeting the older adult and the interventions offered, and families primarily give social support. Regarding self-determination, the Japanese priority is for CMs/SWs to harmonize within the family and the community. South Korean CMs/SWs express ambivalent attitudes to older adults’ capability for self-determination in the intersection between formal and family care. Swedish CMs/SWs adhere to the older adult’s self-determination, while acknowledging the role of the family in persuading the older adult to accept interventions. The results suggest emerging defamilialization in South Korea, while tendencies to refamilialization are noticed in Japan and Sweden, albeit in different ways.

Research limitations/implications: In translation, nuances may be lost. A focus on changing families shows that country-specific details in care services have been reduced. For future research, perspectives of “care” need to be studied on different levels.

Originality/value: Using one vignette in three countries with different welfare regimes, discussing changing views on families’, communities’ and societal caregiving is unique. This captures changes in policy, influencing re- and defamilialization.

The paper aims to propose a virtual reality (VR) wisdom teaching model in open university English course from the perspective of “Metaverse”. The study aims to testify the stimulation for English learning and the effectiveness of English-expressing with VR tools for adult learners from the practice in a pilot reform project.

The paper opted for an exploratory study using ICARE Design Model as the framework, under the grounded theories of constructivism and multi-modal teaching. The study compared the evaluation data of one-semester English learning performance between the experimental class (67 students) with VR practice and the controlled class (67 students), including speaking test score, qualitative feedback and in-depth experience analysis. The data were complemented by reflection paper analysis, including manual evaluation (the criteria of semantics, pronunciation, fluency and completeness), questionnaire survey (in the form of five-point Likert scale) and semi-structured interview.

The paper provides empirical insights about the VR wisdom teaching model in English language teaching and learning in a Chinese Open University. The empirical results suggest that “3I” features of VR technology could make up for the shortcomings of traditional English classes in open universities in China, and VR resources designed with curriculum teaching materials could also be helpful for students’ command of knowledge points and language skills. What’s more, the sense of authentic experience in virtual could promote the teaching and learning effect in college English classes.

The present study focuses on a wisdom mode of foreign language teaching and learning for adult learners in open education, so the research results may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to further explore the deep integration of VR/artificial intelligence in foreign language teaching and learning.

This paper fulfills an identified need to study how VR tools provide an engaging, fun and immersive language learning environment, to enhance autonomous learning and learning engagement.