bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The impact of high-tech companies’ performance and growth on capital structure
Authors: Spitsin Vladislav , Vukovic Darko B. , Spitsina Lubov , Özer Mustafa 
Published: July 2021

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the joint influence of two factors (companies’ performance and growth) on the company’s capital structure and to determine the conditions for financially sustainable competitive strategies in the coordinates profitability and growth.

Design/methodology/approach
The study sample includes 1,996 companies from 6 high-tech industries in Russia (panel data: 7,984 observations). The authors use regression models with random effects and carry out a three-dimensional visualization of the resulting dependencies.

Findings
The study found that profitability improves the capital structure (reduces the share of borrowed capital) and, on the contrary, the growth of companies (assets growth or sales growth) increases the leverage ratio. In the case of assets growth, the combined influence of two factors reduces the negative effect of assets growth. The results have shown that the outstripping growth of most high-tech companies requires an increase in debt capital and deterioration in the capital structure and financial stability.

Practical implications
In general, based on the results of this study, the authors have identified groups of fast-growing companies that need financial support, and have defined the main areas of impact (reducing the loan burden and increasing profitability) that will allow these companies to maintain high growth rates and demonstrate advanced development.

Originality/value
The relationships (which the authors identified between the control variables, the studied variables and leverage) were obtained for the first time for a sample of companies in high-tech industries and services in bigger transition country (Russia).
Dynamic asymptotic model of rolling bearings with a pitting fault based on fractional damping
Authors: Li Yunlong , Li Zhinong , Wang Dong , Peng Zhike 
Published: July 2021

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the asymptotic models of different parts with a pitting fault in rolling bearings.Design/methodology/approachFor rolling bearings with a pitting fault, the displacement deviation between raceways and rolling elements is usually considered to vary instantaneously. However, the deviation should change gradually. Based on this shortcoming, the variation rule and calculation method of the displacement deviation are explored. Asymptotic models of different parts with a pitting fault are discussed, respectively. Besides, rolling bearing systems have prominent fractional characteristics unconsidered in the traditional models. Therefore, fractional calculus is introduced into the modeling of rolling bearings. New dynamic asymptotic models of different parts with a pitting fault are proposed based on fractional damping. The numerical simulation is performed based on the proposed model, and the dynamic characteristics are analyzed through the bifurcation diagrams, trajectory diagrams and frequency spectrograms.FindingsCompared with the model based on integral calculus, the proposed model can better reflect the periodic characteristics and fault characteristics of rolling bearings. Finally, the proposed model is verified by the experiment. The dynamic characteristics of rolling bearings at different rotating speeds are analyzed. The experimental results are consistent with the simulation results. Therefore, the proposed model is effective.Originality/value(1) The above models are idealized, i.e. the local pitting fault is treated as a rectangle. When a component comes into contact with the fault, the displacement deviation between the component and the fault component immediately releases if the component enters the fault area and restores if the component leaves. However, the displacement deviation should change gradually. Only when the component touches the fault bottom, the displacement deviation reaches the maximum. (2) Due to the material's memory and fluid viscoelasticity, rolling bearing systems exhibit significant fractional characteristics. However, the above models are all proposed based on integral calculus. Integral calculus has some local characteristics and is not suitable for describing historical dependent processes. Fractional calculus can better describe the essential characteristics of the system.
Seeing through their eyes: the diversity and inclusion lessons learned from rural university students
Authors: Browers Catherine S. , Ho Henry Wai Leong 
Published: July 2021

PurposeIn recent years, diversity and inclusion in higher education has become a topic of increased interest both nationally and internationally. Given the importance of this topic in today's world, it is surprising that the research is limited, especially with university students in the rural areas. This study examines on-campus students' perceptions of university diversity initiatives, and their value to the university environment.Design/methodology/approachFocus-group interviews with both undergraduate and graduate students from a public university in rural Michigan, USA, were conducted. Focus groups were used in this study because they are a particularly good method for generating discussion and stimulating ideas.FindingsOverall, the participants identified several positive attitudes toward diversity and inclusion that included being accepting and respectful. However, it is significant that some participants are limited in their perceptions of culturally diverse backgrounds, which has resulted in some anxiety.Originality/valueThis study not only provides guidance to current institution administrators to create effective inclusive environments in their university. It can also be treated as a model for other rural universities, as building a successful inclusive environment in the future.
Distribution planning problem of a supply chain of perishable products under disruptions and demand stochasticity
Authors: Suryawanshi Pravin , Dutta Pankaj 
Published: July 2021

PurposeThe emergence of risk in today's business environment is affecting every managerial decision, majorly due to globalization, disruptions, poor infrastructure, forecasting errors and different uncertainties. The impact of such disruptive events is significantly high for perishable items due to their susceptibility toward economic loss. This paper aims to design and address an operational planning problem of a perishable food supply chain (SC).Design/methodology/approachThe proposed model considers the simultaneous effect of disruption, random demand and deterioration of food items on business objectives under constrained conditions. The study describes this situation using a mixed-integer nonlinear program with a piecewise approximation algorithm. The proposed algorithm is easy to implement and competitive to handle stationary as well as nonstationary random variables in place of scenario techniques. The mathematical model includes a real-life case study from a kiwi fruit distribution industry.FindingsThe study quantifies the performance of SC in terms of SC cost and fill rate. Additionally, it investigates the effects of disruption due to suppliers, transport losses, product perishability and demand stochasticity. The model incorporates an incentive-based strategy to provide cost-cutting in the existing business plan considering the effect of deterioration. The study performs sensitivity analysis to show various “what-if” situations and derives implications for managerial insights.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the scant literature of quantitative modeling of food SC. The research work is original as it integrates a stochastic (uncertain) nature of SC simultaneously coupled with the effect of disruption, transport losses and product perishability. It incorporates proactive planning strategies to minimize the disruption impact and the concept of incremental quantity discounts on lot sizes at a destination node.
Patient hospital experience and satisfaction on social media
Authors: Chakraborty Subhajit , Church E. Mitchell 
Published: July 2021

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show the value of open-ended narrative patient reviews on social media for elucidating aspects of hospital patient satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach
Mixed methods analyses using qualitative (manual content analyses using grounded theory and algorithmic analyses using the Natural Language Toolkit) followed by quantitative analyses (negative binomial regression).

Findings
Health-care team communication, health-care team action orientation and patient hospital room environment are positively related to patient hospital satisfaction. Patients form their hospital satisfaction perceptions based on the three facets of their hospital stay experience.

Research limitations/implications
In the spirit of continuous quality improvement, periodically analyzing patient social media comments could help health-care teams understand the patient satisfaction inhibitors that they need to avoid to offer patient-centric care.

Practical implications
By periodically analyzing patient social media comments hospital leaders can quickly identify the gaps in their health service delivery and plug them, which could ultimately give the hospital a competitive advantage.

Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to apply mixed methods to patient hospital review comments given freely on social media to critically understand what drives patient hospital satisfaction ratings.
Impact of customers' interpersonal interactions in social commerce on customer relationship management performance
Authors: Hossain Md Shamim , Rahman Mst Farjana , Zhou Xiaoyan 
Published: July 2021

PurposeSocial commerce is a subpart of electronic commerce (e-commerce), where social media is forced to support user contributions. The purpose of this study is to measure the impact of customers' interpersonal interactions in social commerce on customer relationship management (CRM) performance, based on the flow, commitment-trust and stimulus–organism–response (SOR) theories.Design/methodology/approachOn the basis of the SOR framework, the authors developed a study model to determine the impact on CRM performance of customers' interpersonal interactions in social commerce. The primary data of the study were collected from 640 users of social commerce through a web questionnaire during the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic situation, and the authors tested the study model using the approach of covariance-based structural equation modeling (SEM).FindingsResults of the current study reveal that customers' interpersonal interactions in social commerce optimistically influence their perceived flow. Moreover, perceived flow absolutely controls users' trust and CRM performance. In turn, collective users' trust positively influences users' commitment and CRM performance. Finally, collective users' commitment absolutely influences the performance of CRM.Practical implicationsThe authors provide a valuable contribution to the theoretical field of online marketing and CRM. Besides, the findings of this study are relevant for marketers to know the issues for increasing customer trust, commitment and performance of CRM.Originality/valueThe current study develops a model based on the flow, commitment-trust and stimulus–organism–response (SOR) theories. The authors' research is the first to estimate the effect of customers' interpersonal interactions in social commerce on CRM performance.
Addressing cumulative harm: responding to chronic child maltreatment in the context of an intensive family support service
Authors: Collier Simone , Bryce India 
Published: July 2021

Purpose
Adverse childhood experiences that are consistently experienced over a sustained period of time throughout childhood result in an accumulation of childhood adversity, which is often referred to in the literature as cumulative harm. This paper aims to closely examine statutory child protection practice, which favours an episodic and incident-focused approach to assessing risk and harm, failing to account for the evaluation of the accumulation of adversity and harm, commonly experienced by children exposed to maltreatment. The paper defines an existing gap in practice frameworks to adequately identify and respond to the accumulation of adversity.

Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on practice experiences in Queensland Australia, the paper examines service delivery responses to cumulative harm in the context of the Intensive Family Support model of service delivery.

Findings
Within current frameworks for child protection service delivery, there is no method of assessing the diverse and cumulative effects of ongoing chronic child maltreatment and adversity, despite research confirming that cumulative harm very often co-occurs with other child protection concerns. To effectively and collaboratively intervene in matters of chronic and cumulative abuse and neglect, practitioners and stakeholders must be guided by frameworks and assessments that accurately recognise and acknowledge the impact of ongoing exposure to adverse experiences and maltreatment.

Research limitations/implications
The need for a valid and reliable assessment method that draws together all elements contributing to the chronic maltreatment experience for a child and family: multiplicity, diversity and severity.

Social implications
Practice solutions tailored to each child’s specific cumulative experiences of adversity and maltreatment will promote better social, emotional and health outcomes across the lifespan.

Originality/value
This paper highlights a significant gap in assessment and practice frameworks and advances the impetus for cumulative harm to be proactively integrated into social care and service delivery.
Perceived threat and officer-involved shootings: characteristics leading to fatal vs non-fatal instances
Authors: Nazaretian Zavin , Heraux Cedrick , Merolla David 
Published: July 2021

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to compare the fatality rate of Black and White subjects shot by police. This comparison is meant to explore whether officer-involved shootings (OIS) are impacted more by perceived threat or by demographic characteristics. Beyond race, contextual and officer-level variables are examined for their influence on lethal vs non-lethal police shootings.Design/methodology/approachThe study utilizes data from the Tampa Bay Times database on police shootings in Florida from 2009 through 2014. Our analysis focuses on the substantive importance of this issue, using the population of OIS in one specific state over a specified time period. The authors also including multinomial logistic regression models analyzing the impact of race, contextual and officer-level variables on the lethal outcome of OIS is clear that the police are shooting at two very different populations.FindingsAlthough Black subjects are disproportionately represented as the subjects of OIS, there was no significant difference in the lethality of such incidents based simply on race. However, when we compare Black subjects to White subjects, it is clear that the police are shooting at two very different populations. Black subjects were younger, less likely to be armed, less likely to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and less likely to have suspected or known mental health considerations than their White counterparts.Research limitations/implicationsThus, it is possible that any racialized difference in the lethality of police shootings is being suppressed because we are comparing very different groups of subjects to one another.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to examine the racial threat that officers experience past the decision to engage in violence. The authors are looking at how they shoot at minorities vs the decision to shoot at minorities.
Analysing competing logics towards sustainable supplier management
Authors: León Bravo Verónica , Jaramillo Villacrés Mariuxy , Silva Minelle E. 
Published: July 2021

Purpose
To understand the context surrounding the sustainable supplier management (SSM) process (i.e. selection, development and evaluation), this paper aims to explore institutional logics existing in the Ecuadorian cocoa supply chain (SC). By considering local characteristics and sustainability practices, this study illustrates how competing logic influences SSM.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a multiple-case study method for which the authors interviewed different cocoa SC members in Ecuador and used a ground-up approach to analyse the data and reveal singularities influencing sustainability management.

Findings
The analysis uncovered two main logics operating within the Ecuadorian cocoa SC SSM process: a commercial logic (e.g. potential for market access, product traceability) and a sustainability logic (e.g. local development and traditions/cultural issues). These logics address market demand requirements; however, some local producers’ needs that impact SSM remains unexplored such as the existence of a regional ancestral culture that poses sustainability as a dominant logic with meaning beyond the triple bottom line. While the two logics have influenced supplier sustainability performance, this paper finds that, of the three SSM sub-processes (selection, development and evaluation), supplier development was the most relevant sub-process receiving attention from SC managers in the studied context.

Practical implications
By understanding the differences in logic and needs, SC managers can better develop strategies for SSM.

Originality/value
The study highlighted in this paper investigated the underexplored topic of the effects that competing logic may have on SSM. This paper focusses on the supplier’s point of view regarding sustainability requirements, addressing a consistent research gap in the literature.
3D numerical analysis of pile response due to soil movements induced by an adjacent deep excavation
Authors: Amari Tamir , Houhou Mohamed Nabil 
Published: July 2021

Purpose
This paper aims to investigate single pile and pile group responses due to deep braced excavation-induced soil movement in soft clay overlying dense sand. The analysis focuses first on the response of vertical single pile in terms of induced bending moment, lateral deflection, induced axial force, skin resistance distribution and pile settlement. To better understand the single pile behaviour, a parametric study was carried out. To provide further insights about the response of pile group system, different pile group configurations were considered.

Design/methodology/approach
Using the explicit finite element code PLAXIS 3 D, a full three-dimensional numerical analysis is carried out to investigate pile responses when performing an adjacent deep braced excavation. The numerical model was validated based on the results of a centrifuge test. The relevance of the 3 D model is also judged by comparison with the 2 D plane strain model using the PLAXIS 2 D code.

Findings
The results obtained allowed a thorough understanding of the pile response and the soil–pile–structure interactions phenomenon. The findings reveal that the deep excavation may cause appreciable bending moments, lateral deflections and axial forces in nearby piles. The parametric study showed that the pile responses are strongly influenced by the excavation depth, relative pile location, sand density, excavation support system and pile length. It also showed that the response of a pile within a group depends on its location in relation to the other piles of the pile group, its distance from the retaining wall and the number of piles in the group.

Originality/value
Unlike previous studies which investigated the problem in homogeneous geological context (sand or clay), in this paper, the pile response was thoroughly studied in a multi-layered soil using 3 D numerical simulation. To take into account the small-strain nonlinear behaviour of the soil, the Hardening soil model with small-strain stiffness was used in this analysis. For a preliminary design, this numerical study can serve as a practical basis for similar projects.
Nitrogen fixation and crop productivity enhancements co‐driven by intercrop root exudates and key rhizosphere bacteria
Authors: Hu Heng‐Yu , Li Hong , Hao Min‐Min , Ren Ya‐Nan , Zhang Meng‐Kun , Liu Ru‐Yue , Zhang Yin , Li Geng , Chen Jian‐Sheng , Ning Tang‐Yuan , Kuzyakov Yakov 
Published: July 2021

Abstract

Crop diversity management is widely used to increase agricultural productivity and sustainability. Recent studies have demonstrated that maize root exudates can drive interspecific facilitation to enhance N2 fixation of bean in intercropping systems. However, the mechanisms of N2 fixation enhancement stimulated by root exudates in the intercropping systems remain unclear.

Four experiments were designed to provide a progressively deeper understanding of how root exudates stimulate microbial‐mediated N2 fixation. First, the effects of faba bean/maize intercropping on yields and soil microbial communities were determined in a field experiment. Second, root‐derived interspecific facilitation was evaluated using a root partitioning approach. Third, the key microbial taxa in the faba bean rhizosphere were traced using 13C‐labelled maize root exudates. Fourth, the co‐driven mechanism of maize root exudates and micro‐organisms in the faba bean rhizosphere were explored.

Faba bean/maize intercropping with maize residue return increased the yields of faba bean (26%), maize (27%) and broccoli (9.1%) compared to that under monocropping. Nodulin‐like 4 (NODL4), chalcone‐flavanone isomerase (CFI) and early nodulin‐like (ENODL2) gene expression in faba bean roots intercropped with maize increased by 1.5–2.3‐fold compared to that observed under monoculture. More than half of the N2 fixation of faba bean increase under intercropping was due to interactions with micro‐organisms. Nine key bacterial genera in the faba bean rhizosphere were identified by 13C‐DNA‐based stable isotope probing analysis. Among them Agromyces, Arthrobacter, Bacillus, Lysobacter and Paenibacillus directly fix N2, while Gemmatimonas, Heliobacillus, Natronocella and Sorangium increase the N2 fixation capacity of Azotobacter by providing additional carbon sources. These key bacteria triggered by maize root exudates played an important role in the rhizosphere facilitation of intercropping.

Synthesis and applications. We demonstrated a novel root–root facilitation of N2 fixation and increased crop yields co‐driven by root exudates and rhizosphere bacteria under faba bean/maize intercropping, and nine key bacteria associated with this process were identified by 13C‐DNA‐based stable isotope probing. We recommend the adoption and optimization of intercropping systems with residue return to reduce the shortcomings of continuous cropping and to increase the sustainability of crop production.