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The health and survival of massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) are of paramount concern to stakeholders. It is essential to understand the usage behaviors of exploitative and exploratory strategies. By combining the typical user experience with psychological mechanisms in MMOGs, this study is devoted to clarifying how technology affordance and digital perfectionistic intention influence reinforcement and variety-seeking orientations of MMOGs use.

This study adopted a sequential triangulation mixed-methods design to explore how diverse usage behaviors of reinforced and varied use in MMOGs are formed. After proposing the theoretical framework from MMOGs affordance, perfectionistic intentions, and diverse use, empirical evidence was initially collected from representative samples through a survey. Qualitative interviews from players in MMOGs and game industry practitioners are conducted to confirm the results, supplement understanding, and gather insights from diverse backgrounds. The quantitative and qualitative inferences are discussed to validate the research focus.

Findings from various perspectives suggest that perfectionistic intentions are critical antecedents of different usage behaviors influenced by affordances provided in MMOGs. Goal-driven affordance with reward and competition, interaction affordance, and identity affordance are key MMOGs affordances and could affect perfectionistic intentions differently. People with different perfectionistic intentions, which are the psychological outcome of MMOGs affordances, possess diverse usage behaviors.

This study is the first to consider diverse usage behaviors in virtual worlds such as MMOGs by combining lenses of perfectionistic intentions and technology affordance. Findings from mixed-methods analysis significantly enrich the research on online game usage behavior, offering valuable theoretical and practical implications for studying usage behaviors within the virtual world.

Research on the relationship between customer bargaining power and supplier performance in supplier–customer relationships has flourished in recent decades. This study aims to empirically investigate whether product market overlap (PMO) in a supply chain moderates the effect of customer bargaining power on supplier profitability.

This study uses large-scale secondary data from multiple databases. Econometric panel data techniques are used to test the hypotheses.

The results show that PMO in a supplier–customer relationship and PMO in supplier–supplier relationships both exacerbate the negative effect of the bargaining power of customers on supplier profitability.

This study contributes to the field of supply chain management. This study brings new insights into the ongoing debate surrounding the relationship between customer bargaining power and supplier profitability. The study also contributes to the literature on supply chain networks by showing the impact of indirect supply chain relationships.

We examine the relationships among leader spirituality, organizational innovativeness, transformational leadership style and project success. Integrating principles of behavioral learning and social learning theories, we argue that spiritual leadership style is positively linked to project success, and this relationship is mediated by transformational leadership. Furthermore, the relationship between leader spirituality and transformational leadership is moderated by organizational innovativeness.

Data are collected from 180 individuals working in seven large project-based organizations from the telecom sector in Pakistan. The individuals comprise engineers, functional managers, dedicated project managers and individuals who have led and/or worked in project teams. Data are analyzed using variance-based structural equation modeling.

Results suggest that the relationship between spiritual leadership style and project success is positive and is partially mediated by transformational leadership. Furthermore, organizational innovativeness positively moderates the spiritual leadership and transformational leadership relationship.

Research calls for examining the relationship between leadership styles and project success. We address this call through examining the role of spiritual leadership style (which is rather ignored in project management literature) for project success. Furthermore, we take a novel evolutionary approach of integrating different leadership styles and indicating determinants as well as contingencies to leadership development.

This study aims to examine the impact of transformational leadership on leadership effectiveness and the mediating effect of emotional skills in this relationship.

The study used quantitative methodology, collecting data from 350 respondents from the Lebanese context. The data were analysed using AMOS for structural equation modelling.

Results indicated that transformational leadership positively impacts leadership effectiveness, and this relationship is partially mediated by emotional skills. Specifically, adaptability, assertiveness and relationship management partially mediate the relationship of transformational leadership to leadership effectiveness. The findings suggest that leaders who possess emotional skills, especially those related to adaptability, assertiveness and relationship management, can be more effective in their roles by inspiring and motivating their followers through transformational leadership.

The study relies on self-reported data, which can introduce potential biases such as social desirability bias and subjectivity. The study uses a cross-sectional design, which hinders establishing causal relationships or examining changes over time.

This study highlights the significance of transformational leadership on leadership effectiveness and its potential benefits on emotional skills as a mediator in this relationship.

The research is unique and provides potential contribution to the Lebanese context.

This study aims to explore how relationship trust and different types of influence strategy (i.e., non-coercive and coercive influence strategy) impact green customer integration (GCI), while investigating the moderating mechanisms of big data development and social capital.

Following hierarchical linear regression analysis, the authors examine hypothesized relationships by combining survey data from 206 Chinese manufacturers with secondary data.

The results show that relationship trust positively affects non-coercive influence strategy, while its impact on coercive influence strategy is insignificant. Non-coercive influence strategy has an inverted U-shaped impact on GCI. Furthermore, big data development flattens the inverted U-shaped relationship between non-coercive influence strategy and GCI. Conversely, social capital steepens the inverted U-shaped relationship between non-coercive influence strategy and GCI.

This study sheds light on managers on how to involve customers in GCI through friendly strategies that favor the involvement of customers and the willingness to develop environmentally friendly initiatives.

Although GCI has received widespread attention, how it can be enhanced remains unclear. These findings provide novel insights into the emerging GCI literature and complement social exchange theory.

In the era of the digital economy, higher demands are placed on versatile talents, and the cultivation of students with innovative and entrepreneurial abilities has become an important issue for the further development of higher education, thus leading to extensive and in-depth research by many scholars. The study summarizes the characteristics and patterns of dual-innovation education at different stages of development, hoping to provide a systematic model for the development of dual-innovation education in China and make up for the shortcomings.

This paper uses Citespace software to visualize and analyze the relevant literature in CNKI and Web of Science databases from a bibliometric perspective, focusing on quantitative analysis in terms of article trends, topic clustering, keyword co-linear networks and topic time evolution, etc., to summarize and sort out the development of innovation and entrepreneurship education research at home and abroad.

The study found that the external characteristics of the literature published in the field of bi-innovation education in China and abroad are slightly different, mainly in that foreign publishers are more closely connected and have formed a more stable ecosystem. In terms of research hotspots, China is still in a critical period of reforming its curriculum and teaching model, and research on the integration of specialization and creative education is in full swing, while foreign countries focus more on the cultivation of students' entrepreneurial awareness and the enhancement of individual effectiveness. In terms of cutting-edge analysis, the main research directions in China are “creative education”, “new engineering”, “integration of industry and education” and “rural revitalization”.

Innovation and entrepreneurship education in China is still in its infancy, and most of the studies lack an overall overview and comparison of foreign studies. Based on the econometric analysis of domestic and foreign literature, this paper proposes a path for domestic innovation and entrepreneurship education reform that can make China's future education reform more effective.

From a relational maintenance perspective, this study explores the impact of being envied (benignly vs maliciously) on consumers' feelings of social anxiety and its influence on their tendencies toward inconspicuous consumption, based on the resource conservation theory and the model of “Sensitivity about Being the Target of a Threatening Upward Comparison.” (STTUC)

Four studies were conducted in this paper. Studies 1a and 1b tested the main hypothesis that being maliciously envied (vs benignly) can increase consumers' inconspicuous consumption of luxury products and luxury hotel experiences. Study 2 replicated this finding and examined the mediating role of social anxiety. Study 3 investigated the moderating effect of ideal self-congruity (low vs high).

The findings reveal that being maliciously envied (vs benignly) is associated with higher levels of inconspicuous consumption and social anxiety acts as a mediating role. Moreover, when individuals have a strong sense of ideal self-congruity, the positive impact of being maliciously envied (vs benignly) on inconspicuous consumption is further amplified, confirming the moderating role of ideal self-congruity.

This study sheds light on a novel mechanism that elucidates how different types of being envied influence consumers' inconspicuous consumption and the conditions under which this impact is heightened.

We attempt to construct a grey three-way conflict analysis model with constraints to deal with correlated conflict problems with uncertain information.

In order to address these correlated conflict problems with uncertain information, considering the interactive influence and mutual restraints among agents and portraying their attitudes toward the conflict issues, we utilize grey numbers and three-way decisions to propose a grey three-way conflict analysis model with constraints. Firstly, based on the collected information, we introduced grey theory, calculated the degree of conflict between agents and then analyzed the conflict alliance based on the three-way decision theory. Finally, we designed a feedback mechanism to identify key agents and key conflict issues. A case verifies the effectiveness and practicability of the proposed model.

The results show that the proposed model can portray their attitudes toward conflict issues and effectively extract conflict-related information.

By employing this approach, we can provide the answers to Deja’s fundamental questions regarding Pawlak’s conflict analysis: “what are the underlying causes of conflict?” and “how can a viable consensus strategy be identified?”

The purpose of this study was to synthesize composite nanoparticles (TiO₂@SiO₂) via the chemical deposition method and investigate their efficacy as additives in polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) lubricating grease. The focus was on examining the frictional and conductive properties of the TiO₂@SiO₂ grease using a friction tester.

Composite nanoparticles (TiO₂@SiO₂) were synthesized using the chemical deposition method and incorporated into PTFE grease. Frictional and conductive properties were evaluated using a friction tester. Surface morphology and chemical composition of wear tracks were analyzed using scanning electron microscope and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively.

Incorporating TiO₂@SiO₂ at a mass fraction of 1 Wt.% led to a significant reduction in friction coefficient and wear width. The wear depth exhibited a remarkable decrease of 260%, while the contact resistance reached its peak value. This improvement in tribological properties could be attributed to the presence of TiO₂@SiO₂, where TiO₂ served as the core and SiO₂ as the shell during the friction process. The high hardness of the SiO₂ shell contributed to enhanced load-bearing capacity. In addition, the exceptional insulation properties of SiO₂ demonstrated excellent electron-capturing capabilities, resulting in improved friction and insulation performance of the TiO₂@SiO₂ lubricating grease.

This study demonstrates the potential of TiO₂@SiO₂ composite nanoparticles as additives in lubricating greases, offering improved friction and insulation performance. The findings provide insights into the design of advanced lubricating materials with enhanced tribological properties and insulation capacity, contributing to the development of more efficient and durable lubrication systems.

Improving productivity and efficiency has always been crucial for industrial companies to remain competitive. In recent years, the topic of environmental impact has become increasingly important. Published research indicates that environmental and economic goals can enforce or rival each other. However, few papers have been published that address the interaction and integration of these two goals.

In this paper, we identify both, synergies and trade-offs based on a systematic review incorporating 66 publications issued between 1992 and 2021. We analyze, quantify and cluster examples of conjunctions of ecological and economic measures and thereby develop a framework for the combined improvement of performance and environmental compatibility.

Our findings indicate an increased significance of a combined consideration of these two dimensions of sustainability. We found that cases where enforcing synergies between economic and ecological effects were identified are by far more frequent than reports on trade-offs. For the individual categories, cost savings are uniformly considered as the most important economic aspect while, energy savings appear to be marginally more relevant than waste reduction in terms of environmental aspects.

No previous literature review provides a comparable graphical treatment of synergies and trade-offs between cost savings and ecological effects. For the first time, identified measures were classified in a 3 × 3 table considering type and principle.