bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Acting in concert leads to success: how to implement Industry 4.0 effectively across companies
Authors: Veile Johannes W.
Published: June 2022

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to shed light on how to implement Industry 4.0 effectively across companies in buyer–supplier relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

The study follows an exploratory research design and analyzes qualitative empirical data of eight case companies from the German automotive industry. The data are inductively categorized to uncover patterns and structures in a qualitative content analysis, whereupon a deeper data structure is developed.

Findings

The research reveals that a comprehensive implementation approach is required to pave the way for digitalized and interconnected supply chains. Several challenges occur during the implementation, such as system heterogeneity and resource scarcity. Prerequisites and fundamentals for a successful implementation include a vision and strategy, management involvement, and sufficient resources. Lastly, indications on how to conduct the implementations were found.

Research limitations/implications

The study is based on an exploratory methodology, analyzing data from the German automotive industry. The methodology entails some limitations, and caution must be given when transferring the results to different industries and national contexts. Future studies could complement the findings by studying different contexts and including further supply chain levels.

Practical implications

Managers and practitioners can study the recurring themes in the implementation approaches and the best practices and subsequently learn from the experiences. This knowledge could aid to shape the strategy of companies accordingly.

Originality/value

The study empirically sheds light on the Industry 4.0 implementation approach across companies in buyer–supplier relationships and helps to understand the success factors and underlying mechanisms.
A panacea for small firm insolvencies? – A critical review of the pre-pack scheme launched in India
Authors: Kavitha D.
Published: June 2022

Purpose

To augment the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, the Indian Government introduced the pre-packaged insolvency process exclusively for small and medium firms. This paper aims to critically review some of the key features of the process and also identifies potential glitches imminent in the initial years of implementation.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is descriptive and based on secondary data. The provisions of the pre-pack scheme, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and reports on the progress of insolvency resolution in India are used to substantiate the observations.

Findings

This study shows that pre-packs would certainly help enhance the small and medium enterprise insolvency resolution process in India. However, the ambitious time frame can be adhered to only if the institutional framework for bankruptcy is strengthened.

Research limitations/implications

This paper is based on the initial regulatory provisions of the pre-pack process. Subsequent changes in regulations may affect the findings.

Practical implications

Some of the concerns in the process and the changes required to facilitate a smooth, speedy and efficient resolution process have been highlighted in this study.

Originality/value

Pre-packs are a very recent introduction to the insolvency regime in India. This paper makes a fervent attempt to explain the pre-pack process and the outcomes that can be expected in the early years after its rollout.
IT-enabled management of project complexity – An Action Design Research project
Authors: Mikkelsen Mogens Frank , Aaltonen Kirsi
Published: June 2022

Purpose

Project complexity has been researched much. The majority of publication is searching for law-like relations or development of descriptive frameworks. More prescriptive knowledge is needed to guide the project managers in navigating the project complexity in project managers' pursuit of success. Identifying the complexities of a given project is a real-world problem for project managers (Mikkelsenet al., 2021). The purpose of the paper is to investigate the research of prescriptive knowledge on the management of project complexity.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a longitudinally case study, this paper uses Action Design Research (Seinet al., 2011) (ADR) to research the management of project stakeholder complexity. ADR is a variation of action research (AR) with inspiration from design science (Hevneret al., 2004) where an artifact is designed to solve a real-world problem. In this case study, an information system was configured in collaboration with the project managers of the recipient organization.

Findings

The findings from the research project are presented using the affordance theory (Gibson, 1977) as a framing concept and give special attention the affordance perception (Pozziet al., 2014). Among the project managers, who were very engaged in the co-design, the majority refrained from activating the information system and got the outside view from the stakeholders. Interviews afterward identified “fear of bad project ratings from the stakeholder” as the main course of resistance to deploy the surveying information system.

Originality/value

The paper contributes on two levels. The paper presents a novel approach to researching project complexity based on engaging the stakeholder in generating a common perception of the ongoing state of the projects. The paper also contributes insights into reasons for reluctance on the part of the participants (the project managers) of the recipient organization and hereby adds to the understanding of the organizational change aspect of AR in the research of project management. The paper concludes with the identified benefits of using ADR in research on project complexity management and gives recommendations for future research.
Loss-averse buyers' optimal procurement decision in a multi-sourcing under e-commerce surroundings
Authors: Xu Xinsheng , Ji Ping , Chan Felix T.S.
Published: June 2022

Purpose

With the rapid development of e-commerce, multi-sourcing with supply contracts and spot buying has become more and more popular in reality. The main purpose of the paper is to explore a loss-averse buyer's optimal procurement policy in a multi-sourcing under e-commerce surroundings.

Design/methodology/approach

The study introduces the loss aversion utility function to characterize the loss aversion effect and derives a loss-averse buyer's optimal procurement policy in a multi-sourcing with a wholesale price contract and spot market.

Findings

A loss-averse buyer could order no items in a wholesale price contract and only needs to replenish commodities from spot market under certain conditions. In addition, the study shows that spot capacity has important influences on a loss-averse buyer's optimal ordering decision in the wholesale price contract.

Originality/value

This is the first paper to study the loss aversion effect on a buyer's procurement decision in a multi-sourcing. The results present important managerial insights for a loss-averse buyer to devise optimal ordering policies in a multi-sourcing under e-commerce surroundings.
Market participation among smallholder farmers in Tanzania: determining the dimensionality and influence of psychological contracts
Authors: Ismail Ismail Juma
Published: June 2022

Purpose

Smallholder farmers in Tanzania were investigated in this paper to determine the dimensions and influence of psychological contracts on smallholder farmers' decisions to participate in the market.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected through structured questionnaires, of which a cross-sectional design was conducted in central Tanzania, the Dodoma region in which 467 smallholder farmers were surveyed. First, a preliminary Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted by involving psychological contracts and market participation items derived from previous studies. This was followed by the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to verify the items obtained in the EFA. The regression analysis was then performed to test the causal effects of psychological contracts on market participation among smallholder farmers.

Findings

The path analysis revealed that transactional, relational, and ideological contracts have a positive and statistically significant impact on the participation of smallholder farmers in the market. Therefore, smallholder farmers have own set of expectations for participating in the marketplace. As a result, smallholder farmers' relationships with market participation decisions can be strengthened.

Research limitations/implications

This study covered only smallholder farmers. However, future studies can include large-scale farmers, because psychological contracts and market participation difficulties also apply to them. This may increase the generalizability of the findings.

Originality/value

Past studies have not extensively covered the psychological contracts in smallholder farming, especially in market participation. Based on prior empirical and theoretical research from other disciplines, the findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of the psychological contract framework and the significance of multiple psychological obligations between smallholder farmers and market management.
Adventures in the metaverse
Authors: Hirsch Peter Buell
Published: June 2022

Purpose

This paper aims to highlight the reputation risks of doing business in the metaverse.

Design/methodology/approach

The viewpoint is a subjective review of the technical, economic and cultural underpinnings of the metaverse from a corporate perspective.

Findings

While still in its infancy, the metaverse poses some reputation risks inherited from the internet and social media as well as new risks of its own.

Originality/value

While there have been numerous examinations of the potential perils of the metaverse, to the best of the author’s knowledge, this viewpoint is one of the first to suggest an approach to dealing systematically with its reputation risks.
Barriers and enablers of TRIZ: a literature analysis using the TASKS framework
Authors: Mohammadi Ali , Yang Jiami , Borgianni Yuri , Zeng Yong
Published: June 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze theory of inventive problem-solving (TRIZ) in terms of knowledge, skill, workload and affect to understand its effectiveness in enabling designers to achieve their optimized mental performance.

Design/methodology/approach

TASKS framework, which aims to capture the causal relations among Task workload, affect, skills, knowledge and mental stress, is adopted as our methodology. The framework supports the analysis of how a methodology influence designer’s affect, skills, knowledge and workload. TRIZ-related publications are assessed using the TASKS framework to identify the barriers and enablers in TRIZ-supported design.

Findings

TRIZ has limitations on its logic and tools. Nevertheless, it could create a beneficial impact on mental performance of designers.

Originality/value

This paper provides a theory-driven TRIZ usability analysis based on the materials in the literature following the TASKS framework. The impact of TRIZ, as an enabler or a barrier, has been analyzed in accomplishing a design task.
Students’ self-perception of social, emotional, and intercultural competences in a public higher education institution in Colombia
Authors: Herrera Granda Andres , Yepes Sara María , Montes Granada Willer Ferney , Alvarez Salazar Johny
Published: June 2022

Purpose

Since social, emotional and intercultural (SEI) competences can help individuals manage their feelings, deal with stressful situations and build relationships with others, they have become useful tools for university students. The purpose of this study is thus to assess students’ self-perception of their SEI competences in a public higher education institution in Colombia.

Design/methodology/approach

For this purpose, we used a cross-sectional quantitative design and a sample of 413 students from different academic programs and levels. The differences across gender, age, socioeconomic stratum and participation in internationalization strategies were examined using statistical and linear regression analysis.

Findings

According to the results, students exhibited “satisfactory” or high levels of social, emotional and intercultural competences in general. Self-management, global citizenship and intercultural intelligence had the highest average scores, whereas self-awareness, social awareness and relationship skills had the lowest scores. Remarkably, we found a positive relationship between older students and global citizenship and relationship skills and between internationalization strategies and global citizenship and intercultural intelligence, as well as a low correlation between social awareness and younger students (aged 15 to 25 years).

Originality/value

To offer high-quality academic opportunities and internationalization strategies to university students, this article provides insights into how these students perceive and develop eymotional, social and intercultural competences throughout their academic program, considering their sociodemographic conditions. Finally, we recommend incorporating teaching strategies that favor the development of SEI competences into the curriculum.
Mitigation versus adaptation: climate-change-related appeals and pondering the future
Authors: Xu Lina , Hyman Michael R.
Published: June 2022

Purpose

Responding to a recent editorial call for sustainable development (Truong and Saunders, 2021), this study aims to explore the persuasiveness of climate-change-related appeals.

Design/methodology/approach

Three scenario-based experiments were conducted to test the effect of climate-change-related appeals on persuasion, the underlying mechanism causing that effect and associated boundary conditions. Statistical results were based on analysis of variance, mediation and moderation analysis.

Findings

Adaptation-oriented appeals are more persuasive than mitigation-oriented appeals. Specifically, adaptation (versus mitigation) appeals activate a self-regulation process that encourages people to think about the future, making them more likely to address climate change. This effect is salient when consumers’ environmental concerns are low.

Practical implications

To boost message persuasiveness, marketers and public policymakers could construct abstract and long-horizon climate-change-related appeals and provide prompts or interventions to promote people’s elaborations about potential outcomes.

Social implications

To boost message persuasiveness, marketers and public policymakers could construct abstract and long-horizon climate-change-related appeals and provide prompts or interventions to promote people’s elaborations about potential outcomes.

Originality/value

Revealing mitigation and adaptation climate-change-related appeals yield diverse effects.
The straw that breaks the camel's back: service provider vulnerability to customer incivility
Authors: Loh Jennifer , Khan Md Irfanuzzaman , Johns Raechel
Published: June 2022

Purpose

Uncivil customer behaviour is a concern for service providers and can result in increasing vulnerability for them or their customers. This paper aimed to investigate the interactional link between customer incivility and service provider retaliation and job outcomes. Furthermore, power distance orientation and gender were investigated as potential moderators between customer and retaliation incivilities.

Design/methodology/approach

Five hypotheses were examined empirically through structural equation modelling. Overall, 679 (356 males and 323 females) service providers recruited across three countries, namely Australia (N = 233), Singapore (N = 199) and the Philippines (N = 247), were surveyed online.

Findings

The results indicated that incivility caused work exhaustion, which negatively impacted job satisfaction. Power distance orientation moderated the association between customer and retaliatory incivilities, leading to exhaustion and dissatisfaction with one's job. Importantly, the results also revealed that the female service providers with a higher power distance tend to instigate incivility compared to their male counterparts.

Originality/value

By incorporating both conservation of resource and negative spiral incivility theories, this study provided an integrated and cohesive explanation for both the direct and interaction effects between customer incivility, retaliatory incivility and work outcomes. In addition, the finding that emotional exhaustion promoted job dissatisfaction highlighted the importance of examining the former's role especially among the female service providers with a higher power distance as they may be less able to restrain their retaliatory behaviours during uncivil incidents. Several practical solutions aimed at reducing the vulnerability encountered by the mistreated service providers were proposed.
The impact of foreign firm ownership on local renewal activities
Authors: Henning Martin , Yakob Ramsin
Published: June 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate how an increasingly intertwined international geography of ownership affects renewal activities and processes, including innovation, in established local companies that have shifted into foreign ownership. The authors develop a framework for the relations between (foreign) ownership and local renewal activities and processes (including innovation). The authors focus on access to resources for renewal, the development of capabilities for innovation and change, and local mandates to pursue renewal. Based on case studies of eight formerly Swedish-owned mid-size manufacturing companies that have shifted into and remained under foreign ownership during most of the 2010s, the authors develop a framework concerned with the relations between (foreign) ownership and renewal activities and processes in local firms.

Design/methodology/approach

Multiple intensive case studies of eight previously Swedish-owned mid-sized manufacturing companies to gain qualitative insights into the resource, capabilities and mandates for renewal under new ownership conditions. Empirical data collected primarily through semi-structured interviews and complemented with secondary material, including annual reports (2010–2018), databases, press releases and information on company websites. Empirical data were analyzed thematically to isolate key findings pertaining to renewal. At the core of the analysis process was the gradual creation of a framework that stipulates the relations between (foreign) ownership and firm renewal activities and processes.

Findings

The companies are endowed with liberal but conditional mandates to pursue strategic innovation in their original sites and draw on a stronger resource repertoire within their ownership spheres. In comparison to the established international business (IB) literature, the authors add considerations about how local aspects interact with international ones to form global distribution of renewal activities in our time. To economic geographers and innovation scholars, consideration of the local and its importance in renewal activities and processes is certainly not new, but we show how ownership is an important aspect that conditions some of the strategic interactions that companies have with their “outsides”.

Originality/value

Contributes to the burgeoning conversation between IB and economic geography disciplines. Emphasizes a deeper local aspect to the IB literature, partly how companies access resources and capabilities from the ownership sphere at points that suit their renewal efforts and partly the persistence of path-dependent aspects of local companies even as they get acquired by multinationals. Emphasizes ownership and mandate aspects to the literature in Economic geography, which tends to focus on regional/non-regional assets for renewal and innovation. Findings show that the non-regional assets are, in fact, two distinct categories as ownership becomes internationalized: assets within and outside the ownership sphere.
A neutrosophic approach to evaluate the factors affecting performance and theory of sustainable supply chain management: application to textile industry
Authors: Aytekin Ahmet , Okoth Basil Oluoch , Korucuk Selçuk , Karamaşa Çağlar , Tirkolaee Erfan Babaee
Published: June 2022

Purpose

Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices and policies are necessary for businesses that seek to take part in international markets and ensure any form of competitiveness. Over time, and especially in the recent past, researchers, governments, and other policymakers have made use of broad and systematic approaches and come to appreciate the value-enhancing activities of sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

Businesses have embraced the integration of sustainable policies and practices within the supply chain as a critical step in ensuring the efficiency of their operations. It is clear in previous studies and operational programs of enterprises that SSCM practices accord businesses certain benefits including improving their environmental, social, and economic performance, and increasing their ecological awareness by way of influencing performance elements within supply networks in enterprises. The study examines the factors influencing performance and theories of SSCM using a neutrosophic method in the textile industry.

Findings

SSCM performance is thus of great importance in ensuring business success and competitiveness, realizing customer satisfaction, and leaving the environment in a desirable state for future generations. Performance management, by assisting in the decision-making by managers and ensuring an adequate level of internal interaction, is an integral part of assimilating sustainability management into businesses. SSCM theories also have a strong impact on the determination of the sources of competitive advantage through effective utilization of business capabilities to solve environmental and social challenges that may affect business performance.

Originality/value

In line with the benefits highlighted, this study seeks to evaluate and select the factors affecting SSCM performance and theory in textile enterprises with corporate identity in Ordu and Giresun provinces following a neutrosophic approach. To this end, the elements obtained from the literature review are evaluated using the MULTIMOORA-mGqNN method.
“The club on the hill”: footballing place as an arena for sustainable and ethical action
Authors: Samuel Anthony , McGouran Cathy , Thomas Robert J. , Reginald Gareth , White Terence
Published: June 2022

Purpose

Places have deep-seated meaning and serve to shape our social grouping and practices. Sporting stadia are a highly influential aspect of many people’s lives that drive the inexorable journey towards team affiliation, immersive experiences, intense loyalty and the creation of an enduring, local identity. This paper aims to explore how the nature of a sporting place has been shaped to change the practice of football as a sport, as a business and as entertainment. This paper uncovers how Forest Green Rovers (FGR) differentiates itself from the historical and socio-economic roots of football and uses numerous novel sustainability initiatives to re-imagine a new type of football place, club and fandom.

Design/methodology/approach

Over a two-year period, the authors used multiple data collection methods, engaging in participant observation, interviews and focus groups, at FGR and related events. A thematic data analysis was conducted to pinpoint and extract key areas surrounding the unique structures, practices and reinforced behaviours that have developed in FGR.

Findings

The findings show that FGR’s place operates as a central location through which stakeholders, ideas, resources and practices have been disrupted and re-imagined around the principles of sustainability. This fundamental shift in FGR’s place, changing its composition, character and reach, means that FGR can be conceptualised as a novel place synonymous with new global social movements.

Originality/value

This study presents unique insights into the world’s first socially and environmentally conscious football club. This study examines the construction and operation of the place that facilitates its actions which go beyond what has been seen and maybe expected from commercial sporting institutions.
Productive possibilities? Valorising urban space through pop-up?
Authors: Warnaby Gary , Medway Dominic
Published: June 2022

Purpose

The “pop-up” epithet has become a synonym for virtually any temporary event in a range of commercial, non-commercial and cultural contexts within the urban spatial arena. This paper aims to discuss the role of the pop-up concept within urban space, to address the question articulated in the Call for Papers for this special issue, of whether “everywhere needs to become a marketplace”.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors review a range of sources – both academic, popular press and practitioner publications and reports – to inform our critique of the use of the pop-up activities in urban space.

Findings

The authors identify four ways in which the pop-up concept can be valorised – pop-up stores and experiences, pop-up agglomerations, pop-up service facilities and pop-up space brokerage services.

Originality/value

Adopting a critical perspective, the authors address pop-up’s implications, especially the impact on urban places and the people within them. This study concludes by discussing the potential for an increased use of pop-up within urban spaces impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which could be focused as much on social as economic value.
Conforming to and resisting imposed identities – an autoethnography on academic motherhood
Authors: Krysa Isabella , Kivijärvi Marke
Published: June 2022

Purpose

This research attempts to make sense of the experiences of two academic women who become mothers.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is an autoethnography. Applying the autoethnographic method allows us to discuss cultural phenomena through personal reflections and experiences. Our autoethnographic reflections illustrate our struggles and attempts of resistance within discursive spaces where motherhood and our identity as academics intersect.

Findings

Our personal experiences combined with theoretical elaborations illuminate how the role of the mother continues to be dominated by such gendered discursive practices that conflict with the work role. Once women become mothers, they are othered through societal and organizational practices because they constitute a visible deviation from the masculine norm in the organizational setting, academia included.

Originality/value

This paper explores how contemporary motherhood discourse(s)within academia and the wider society present competing truth claims, embedded in neoliberal and postfeminist cultural sensibility. Our autoethnographic reflections show our struggles and attempts of resistance within such discursive spaces.
Environmental MCS package, perceived environmental uncertainty and green performance: in green dynamic capabilities and investment in environmental management perspectives
Authors: Bresciani Stefano , Rehman Shafique Ur , Alam Gazi Mahabubul , Ashfaq Khurram , Usman Muhammad
Published: June 2022

Purpose

The organizations focus on environmental factors as stakeholders exert pressure to reduce the environmental influence arising from production tasks. This study aims to see the influence of the environmental management control system (MCS) package and perceived environmental uncertainty on green performance with the mediating role of green dynamic capabilities in Pakistani manufacturing organizations. Moreover, this study aims to see the moderating role of investment in environmental management between green dynamic capabilities and green performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The partial least square structural equation modeling technique is used to test hypotheses. The data was collected through questionnaires using simple random sampling, and a total of 404 questionnaires were used in the final analysis. The data was collected from September 2021 to November 2021. Multiple regression analysis followed to see the influence of environmental MCS package, perceived environmental uncertainty, green dynamic capabilities and investment in environmental management on green performance.

Findings

Environmental MCS package, green dynamic capabilities and investment in environmental management are positively related to green performance. Despite this, perceived environmental uncertainty is negatively related to green performance. Moreover, green dynamic capabilities significantly mediate between environmental MCS package, perceived environmental uncertainty and green performance. Finally, investment in environmental management significantly moderates between green dynamic capabilities and green performance.

Practical implications

This research covers vital issues that how top management uses the environmental MCS package, perceived environmental uncertainty, green dynamic capabilities and investment in environmental management in determining green performance.

Originality/value

This research adds value to the existing literature by focusing on predictors that determine green performance. This pioneering study observes the influence of environmental MCS package and perceived environmental uncertainty on green performance and green dynamic capabilities as mediators by applying natural resource-based view theory. Moreover, investment in environmental management is used as a moderator between green dynamic capabilities and green performance. Finally, this study can benefit management, industrial policymakers and academicians.
Insiders’ characteristics and market timing capabilities: buying and selling evidence
Authors: Santos Dinis Daniel , Gama Paulo
Published: June 2022

Purpose

This paper aims to study individual managers’ market timing capabilities while trading (either buying or selling) stock from their portfolios, as well as the impact of gender, seniority and trading frequency on their market timing performance.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a relative transaction price approach introduced by Dittmar and Field (2015) on 837 aggregated trades made by managers from their portfolios between 2010 and 2015. These were taken from publicly disclosed information through the Portuguese regulator. Furthermore, this study uses a median regression-based method to infer the authors’ conclusions.

Findings

The authors find that insiders buy (sell) at a relatively lower (higher) price when compared to other traders. This evidence shows that insiders have market timing capabilities. Moreover, this paper shows that contrarily to gender, both seniority and frequency help explain market timing performance and that insiders’ trades made over-the-counter (OTC) generally overperform the ones made on the open market (OM). Finally, this study finds a significant crisis-related influence on insiders’ market timing performance.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature by studying insider trading at the portfolio level, by analyzing the impact of personal characteristics of insiders (including gender, tenure and eagerness), focusing both on studying the buying and selling behavior across both OMs and OTC and analyzing firsthand the impact of a macroeconomic shift on insider trading performance.
Cytokine‐producing B‐cell balance associates with skin fibrosis in patients with systemic sclerosis
Authors: Horii Motoki , Fushida Natsumi , Ikeda Tomoyuki , Oishi Kyosuke , Hamaguchi Yasuhito , Ikawa Yuichi , Komuro Akito , Matsushita Takashi
Published: June 2022

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease characterized by skin and lung fibrosis. Over 90% of patients with SSc are positive for autoantibodies. In addition, the serum levels of B‐cell activating factor, a potent B‐cell stimulator, are correlated with SSc severity and activity. Thus, B cells play an important role in SSc pathogenesis. However, two opposing B‐cell subsets exist: effector B cells (Beff) and regulatory B cells (Breg). Interleukin (IL)‐6‐producing Beff have been shown to promote scleroderma in a mouse model, whereas IL‐10‐producing Breg inhibit scleroderma development. In the present study, we investigated the clinical association of effector and regulatory B cells in patients with SSc. The blood levels of IL‐6‐producing Beff and IL‐10‐producing Breg were measured in 30 patients with SSc and 21 healthy subjects by flow cytometry. The frequency of IL‐6‐producing Beff in the blood was significantly (p < 0.0001) elevated in patients with SSc (median, 56.2%; range, 35.3–81.3%) compared with that in healthy controls (median, 41.3%; range, 21.0–61.3%). In contrast, the frequency of IL‐10‐producing Breg in the blood was significantly (p < 0.05) decreased in patients with SSc (median, 1.4%; range, 0.5–2.8%) compared with that in healthy controls (median, 2.0%; range, 1.1–3.8%). The Beff/Breg ratio was significantly increased in patients with SSc. In addition, the Beff/Breg ratio was positively correlated with the skin score and extent of interstitial lung disease. These results suggest that dysregulation of effector and regulatory B‐cell balance contributes to SSc pathogenesis.
Plant specialisation may limit climate‐induced vegetation change to within topographic and edaphic niches on a sub‐Antarctic island
Authors: Cramer Michael D. , Hedding David W. , Greve Michelle , Midgley Guy F. , Ripley Brad S.
Published: June 2022

Extreme changes in temperature, rainfall and wind regimes have been correlated with plant species range expansion upslope on sub‐Antarctic islands. Ongoing climatic changes are expected to continue driving changes in species distributions globally, but niche specialisations may limit the capacity for range shifts.

We hypothesised that non‐climatic characteristics of ecological niches of vascular plant species could limit climate induced range shifts. We determined the altitudinal ranges of vascular plant species (n = 13) on sub‐Antarctic Marion Island and measured air temperature, topographic, foliar and soil properties along transects on geologically distinct substrates. Climatic and non‐climatic associations were determined using multiple linear regression and boosted regression tree (BRT) analyses. The degree of niche specialisation was determined using outlying mean index analysis within the range of species on the island.

Several species (7 of 13) exhibited niche‐specialisation. Correlation analysis revealed that edaphic properties including soil depth, loss on ignition, the principal component of most soil nutrients (Mg, Cl, K, Ca, Cu, Zn, P, S), Si, Mn and clay dominated the BRT prediction of overall plant cover. Although air temperature was correlated with plant cover in linear models, model simplification dropped temperature in both BRT and linear models. As a consequence, multiple determinants, including temperature, climate, topography and soils control the distribution of vascular plant species on this sub‐Antarctic island.

Edaphic and topographic factors is likely to limit range‐shifts of specialised vascular plant species and could limit their survival when climate change drives them beyond the extent of their particular ecological niches. Resilience of such species is likely poorly predicted by distribution models that depend heavily on climate rather than less labile non‐climatic factors.

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Size‐dependent intraspecific variation in wood traits has little impact on aboveground carbon estimates in a tropical forest landscape
Authors: Thripob Patcharapan , Fortunel Claire , Réjou‐Méchain Maxime , Nathalang Anuttara , Chanthorn Wirong
Published: June 2022

There is increasing evidence that intraspecific trait variation plays a role in governing rates of ecosystem functioning. While wood traits such as wood specific gravity (WSG) and wood carbon concentration (WCC) are key drivers of forest aboveground carbon (AGC) stocks, the sources of intraspecific variation in these wood traits and the consequences of this variation on AGC are poorly known, especially in the tropics.

Here, we investigated intraspecific variation in wood specific gravity (WSG) and wood carbon concentration (WCC) from 556 individual trees belonging to 15 species that well characterize different successional stages of seasonal evergreen forests in Southeast Asia. Specifically, we tested the contribution of individual or species characteristics (tree size, growth rate and regeneration guilds) and local environmental conditions (topographic wetness index and successional stages) to intraspecific variation in WSG and WCC, and assessed the consequences of intraspecific variation in these wood traits on AGC estimates in 14 permanent forest plots established along a successional gradient in Khao Yai National park, Thailand.

We found that tree size was the main driver of intraspecific variation in WSG and WCC as tree sizes increased from 10–100 cm in diameter, WSG increased by 7.3%, while WCC increased by 2.4% in heartwood, 1.6% and 2.7% in sapwood without and with volatile carbon included. There was no effect of the topographic wetness and other local environment condition in wood traits led to a slight overestimation of AGC in young secondary forests (+0.09% to +1.29%) and a small underestimation in older forests (−0.86% to −2.87%), but overall AGC estimates (13 of 14 forest plots) remained within error margins (the 95% interval).

Our study provides evidence that tree size variation translates into intraspecific variability in wood traits, whereas local environmental conditions related to topography successional stages had no effect on wood trait variability. While size‐dependent variation in WSG and WCC have largely been undocumented and thus ignored in forest carbon assessment approaches, we highlight that it has a limited impact on AGC estimates, indicating that it does not invalidate current forest carbon stock estimation approaches.

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
The tone from above: Does tunnelling by ultimate owners impinge on the relations between managerial compensation and earnings management?
Authors: Li Wenzhou , Chen Liang , Sheng Pengfei
Published: June 2022

This study aims to explore the impact of tunnelling by ultimate owners on the relation between managerial compensation and earnings management. Using a sample of the Chinese listed firms from 2009 to 2019, we find that tunnelling by ultimate owners leads to adjustments in pay‐performance sensitivity and impinges on the magnitude of earnings management. In private‐dominated firms, tunnelling by ultimate owners reduces pay‐performance sensitivity, and the decreased pay‐performance incentives do not motivate managers to inflate corporate profits by manipulating earnings information. Moreover, owing to managers' resistances, tunnelling does not generate more severe problems in the quality of earnings information. In state‐dominated firms, due to government regulation, tunnelling by ultimate owners does not induce significant adjustments in pay‐performance sensitivity. However, due to the strong motivation of managers delighting their superiors in the administrative hierarchy by adjusting financial reporting, the quality of earnings information of state‐dominated firms may be worse. Our results suggest that in firms with concentrated ownership structures‐irrespective of the nature of ownership, both the formulation and implementation of managerial compensation incentive programmes, and the magnitude of earnings management, are equilibrium results of a dynamic game between ultimate owners and managers.
“Samhandling”: On the nuances of resilience through case study research in emergency response operations
Authors: Steen Riana , Haakonsen Geir , Patriarca Riccardo
Published: June 2022

Standard emergency‐management procedures offer guidance on how organizations can improve their handling of all types of emergencies. However, such a generalization undermines uncertainties and oversimplifies the complexity of real work practices during an emergency response operation (ERO). The handling of the COVID‐19 pandemic highlights how uncertainty and escalating consequences reinforce the need for resilience in EROs. To illustrate the key elements of our suggested approach and its practical implications, we discuss the issues in light of a case study related to a COVID‐19 outbreak on a floating oil rig in the North Sea. The analysis reveals several instances of creative problem solving, and individual and collective efforts beyond the scope of the standard procedures. It also underlines how the shortcomings of resource allocation and over‐planning might lead to inflexibility, thus harming EROs' efficiency. Our analysis highlights that the key to resilient EROs lies in robust coordination, the ability to improvise, transparency, and trusting communication between the actors involved. Greater focus on network building—proactively maintained through regular training and exercise activities—strengthens resilience in emergency‐management systems. All these traits link to the Norwegian term “samhandling,” a notion which is here proposed to summarize and connect these resilience capacities.
Divergent shifts in fear of terrorism
Authors: Kantorowicz Jaroslaw , Kuipers Sanneke , Liem Marieke , Boin Arjen
Published: June 2022

In this study, we examine how the two facets of the fear of terrorism—the affective and behavioural fears—shift over time. To this end, we use a unique longitudinal data set of a representative sample of 755 Dutch respondents, recruited from the Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences panel, in the time period between November 2017 and May 2020. We find that the reported affective fear of terrorism is significantly lower during the COVID‐19 crisis in 2020 than it was in 2017. Yet a divergent trend for behavioural fear of terrorism occurred. In spite of decreased affective fear of terrorism threats, respondents in 2020 reported increased protective and avoidance behaviours, similar to behaviours promoted to stop the spread of COVID‐19.
Gastrointestinal fate of food allergens and its relationship with allergenicity
Authors: Sun Na , Liu Yao , Liu Kexin , Wang Shan , Liu Qiaozhen , Lin Songyi
Published: June 2022

Food allergens are closely related to their gastrointestinal digestion fate, but the changes in food allergens during digestion and related mechanisms are quite complicated. This review presents in detail digestion models for predicting allergenicity, the fates of food allergens in oral, gastric and duodenal digestion, and the applications of digestomics in mapping IgE‐binding epitopes of digestion‐resistant peptides. Moreover, this review highlights the structure–activity relationships of food allergens during gastrointestinal digestion. Digestion‐labile allergens may share common structural characteristics, such as high flexibility, rendering them easier to be hydrolyzed into small fragments with decreased or eliminated allergenicity. In contrast, the presence of disulfide bonds, tightly wound α‐helical structures, or hydrophobic domains in food allergens helps them resist gastrointestinal digestion, stabilizing IgE‐binding epitopes, thus maintaining their sensitization. In rare cases, digestion leads to increased allergenicity due to exposure of new epitopes. Finally, the action of the food matrix and processing on the digestion and allergenicity of food allergens as well as the underlying mechanisms was overviewed. The food matrix can directly act on the allergen by forming complexes or new epitopes to affect its gastrointestinal digestibility and thereby alter its allergenicity or indirectly affect the allergenicity by competing for enzymatic cleavage or influencing gastrointestinal pH and microbial flora. Several processing techniques attenuate the allergenicity of food proteins by altering their conformation to improve susceptibility to degradation by digestive enzymes. Given the complexity of food components, the food itself rather than a single allergen should be used to obtain more accurate data for allergenicity assessment.

Practical Application

The review article will help to understand the relationship between food protein digestion and allergenicity, and may provide fundamental information for evaluating and reducing the allergenicity of food proteins.
Integrated analysis of miRNA and mRNA expression profiles in response to gut microbiota depletion in the abdomens of female Bactrocera dorsalis
Authors: Xie Junfei , Cai Zhaohui , Zheng Wenping , Zhang Hongyu
Published: June 2022

Insect gut microbiota has been reported to participate in regulating host multiple biological processes including metabolism and reproduction. However, the corresponding molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Recent studies suggest that microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in complex interactions between the gut microbiota and the host. Here, we used next‐generation sequencing technology to characterize miRNA and mRNA expression profiles and construct the miRNA–gene regulatory network in response to gut microbiota depletion in the abdomens of female Bactrocera dorsalis. A total of 3016 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 18 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) were identified. Based on the integrated analysis of miRNA and mRNA sequencing data, 229 negatively correlated miRNA–gene pairs were identified from the miRNA–mRNA network. Gene ontology enrichment analysis indicated that DEMs could target several genes involved in the metabolic process, oxidation–reduction process, oogenesis, and insulin signaling pathway. Finally, real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction further verified the accuracy of RNA sequencing results. In conclusion, our study provides the profiles of miRNA and mRNA expressions under antibiotics treatment and provides an insight into the roles of miRNAs and their target genes in the interaction between the gut microbiota and its host.
E‐voice in the digitalised workplace. Insights from an alternative organisation
Authors: Bernauer Vanessa Sandra , Kornau Angela
Published: June 2022

Digitalisation permeates all aspects of organizational life, especially the ways we communicate with each other. Drawing on a case study of an alternative organisation—the German collective Premium, which is almost entirely digitally organised—we seek to explore contextual factors that facilitate or hinder the expression of electronic voice (e‐voice). Based on 20 semi‐structured interviews with different members of the collective, we identified various contextual facilitators and barriers to e‐voice expression: Collective belief in the value of diverse voices, cautious online and complementary face‐to‐face communication facilitate e‐voice, while less formalised structures, power and knowledge asymmetries, and information overload hinder it. These findings demonstrate that despite an alternative organisation's firm intention and self‐reflective efforts to create an inclusive and participatory digital space, tensions arise. Further, our study contributes to employee voice theorising by outlining contextual factors that are specifically relevant to e‐voice practices.