Search Results (437)

AI-enabled quality control (AI-QC) tools are increasingly available to manufacturing SMEs in emerging economies, yet the firm-level conditions associated with their adoption remain underexamined. Building on the Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework of Tornatzky and Fleischer, integrated with the perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use constructs of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this study examines the determinants of AI-QC adoption intention, and its association with operational performance improvement, in 284 manufacturing SMEs from Turkey, Malaysia, and Egypt. The focal dependent construct is adoption intention rather than realized adoption. The AI-QC technologies considered are machine learning defect detection, computer vision inspection, predictive maintenance, and digital twin integration. Three complementary analytical procedures are applied to the same data: partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to estimate the strength of the modeled associations, importance–performance map analysis (IPMA) to identify high-importance but low-performance predictors, and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to identify combinations of conditions jointly sufficient for high adoption intention. The PLS-SEM estimates indicate positive associations for the technological, organizational, and environmental predictors, with top management support, perceived usefulness, and organizational readiness showing the largest coefficients and data security concern showing a negative association; effect magnitudes varied considerably, and several were small. The IPMA results indicate that the two most important predictors exhibit comparatively low performance scores in the sample. The fsQCA results identify three configurations associated with high adoption intention. Because the design is cross-sectional and based on self-reported, single-respondent data, the findings are interpreted as associations rather than causal effects. The paper concludes with guidance for SME managers, AI technology vendors, and industrial policymakers. Full article

Venture novelty enables startups to overcome entry barriers and establish differentiated competitive advantages. However, research examining its antecedents from an epistemic control perspective remains limited. Drawing on survey data from 230 entrepreneurs and employing structural equation modeling (SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), this study investigates how entrepreneurs’ critical thinking influences venture novelty. The findings reveal a dual effect. On the one hand, critical thinking promotes venture novelty by fostering interactive learning, which facilitates the integration of heterogeneous information and the refinement of entrepreneurial opportunity insights. On the other hand, critical thinking increases cognitive depletion, thereby constraining the cognitive resources available for innovative activities. Furthermore, imagination moderates these relationships by strengthening the positive effect of interactive learning while attenuating the negative impact of cognitive depletion. FsQCA results further identify four configurational pathways to high venture novelty. This study contributes to the literature by stating both the enabling and constraining mechanisms of entrepreneurs’ critical thinking, clarifying its dual role in epistemic control, and providing configurational evidence regarding the role of imagination in fostering entrepreneurial innovation. Full article

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly embedded in marketing work, yet employees who use AI tools may not always disclose AI’s role in producing their outputs. This study examines AI disclosure silence, defined as employees’ intentional withholding of information about the use, role, or contribution of AI tools in work-related outputs after AI has already been used. Unlike AI avoidance or resistance, this construct concerns post-adoption concealment; unlike general employee silence, it focuses on the hidden technological contribution behind visible work. Drawing on Conservation of Resources Theory and Psychological Safety Theory, the study investigates how threat-based conditions, safety and governance conditions, and AI-related capability are associated with AI disclosure silence. Data were collected through a two-wave survey of 635 marketing employees who actively used AI tools at work. The analysis combined measurement validation, Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA), fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), and explainable machine learning. The findings show that no single condition operated as a strong necessary bottleneck. Instead, AI disclosure silence appeared through multiple pathways involving AI anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, perceived creativity threat, perceived job insecurity, low trust in management, weak psychological safety, and unclear AI policy. SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP)-based interpretation further indicated that fear of negative evaluation, AI anxiety, perceived creativity threat, and trust in management had the strongest model-based predictive relevance. The study contributes to workplace AI and employee silence research by positioning AI disclosure silence as an emerging post-adoption disclosure construct. It also highlights the need for clear AI disclosure norms, non-punitive managerial responses, AI-assisted authorship guidelines, and psychologically safe AI-governance practices. The findings should be interpreted as configurational and predictive evidence rather than causal effects, and further scale validation across sectors and cultures is encouraged. Full article

Against the background of profound transformation within the construction industry, the construction industry ecosystem serves as a vital vehicle for regional economic development. Its resilience has become a key factor in influencing the sustainable development of industry. From an ecological perspective, this paper integrated the cusp catastrophe model and Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) method, using data from Shandong Province to investigate the evolutionary state of the construction industry ecosystem and the diverse concurrent paths driving the system toward high levels of functionality. This study found that: (1) the resilient development of the construction industry ecosystem in Shandong Province presented a differentiated pattern, characterized by dual-core leadership, relative strength in the east, and weakness in the west, and localized catch-up. (2) The results from the cusp catastrophe model indicated that construction industry ecosystems in different regions were primarily undergoing stable evolution, though some cities faced the risk of functional degradation due to the combined effects of insufficient resilience and severe shocks. (3) fsQCA identified three equivalent configuration paths for achieving high system functionality: the “resilience accumulation path”, “resilience synergy path”, and “resilience transition path”, as well as three equivalent configuration paths for low system functionality: the “low resilience-low shocks dependency path”, “low-resilience, fixed-type path”, and “low resilience-high shocks imbalance path”. (4) These paths demonstrated that recovery was the key factor determining a system’s level of functionality. Full article

Improving the cultivated land use eco-efficiency (CLUE) is crucial to achieving sustainable land use and the green transformation of agriculture. This study is based on the data from 353 prefecture-level cities in China from 2013 to 2021. The slacks-based measurement (SBM)-undesirable model, the social network analysis (SNA), and the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) are adopted to measure and analyze the spatial patterns, network characteristics, and multiple driving pathways of inefficiency in the cultivated land use eco-efficiency in prefecture-level administrative units. Results show the following: (1) From 2013 to 2021, CLUE in the study areas shows spatial heterogeneity, with most efficiency values at a moderate level and showing a fluctuating downward trend over time. (2) The nine major agricultural regions have formed a complex association network, with the overall network connectivity being weak but efficiency relatively high. The hierarchical structure is gradually flattening, and inter-regional cooperation is increasing. (3) There are significant differences in influence, control, and accessibility within individual networks, and the collaborative network is developing into a “multi-core-hierarchical” structure. (4) The formation of inefficiency involves multiple concurrent mechanisms. Four typical inefficiency paths were identified, with significant heterogeneity across different agricultural regions. In the future, differentiated land use and ecological protection policies should be implemented based on the spatial network characteristics and inefficiency driving pathways of each agricultural region to promote the coordinated improvement of CLUE. Full article

Digital traceability has become an important capability in international trade, especially in high-regulation and high-risk supply chains. However, existing research has not fully explained how institutional, technological, and coordination-related conditions combine to produce successful outcomes. This study applies fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to 24 trade-corridor/product-chain cases to identify the configurational drivers of Digital Traceability Success (DTS). The findings show that Digital Trade Readiness (DTR), Market Strictness (MKT), Digital Infrastructure (DIF), and Cross-border Coordination (COO) are highly consistent necessary conditions for DTS, whereas Blockchain-enabled Traceability (BCT) is not. The sufficiency analysis identifies one dominant pathway, DTR * PRK * MKT * DIF * COO, with perfect consistency and substantial coverage. These results indicate that traceability success emerges from the alignment of institutional readiness, regulatory pressure, infrastructural capacity, product-related risk, and cross-border coordination rather than from blockchain adoption alone. The study contributes to digital trade and supply-chain governance literature by offering a configurational explanation grounded in conjunctural causation and causal asymmetry. It also clarifies blockchain’s role as a contingent enabling component rather than a universally necessary determinant. Practically, the findings suggest that policymakers and firms should prioritize interoperable infrastructure, institutional readiness, and cross-border governance mechanisms over stand-alone technological solutions. Full article

In China, policy-driven rural renewal projects have transformed many village public spaces, but some renewed sites are still weakly integrated into villagers’ everyday routines. This study asks why some renewed public spaces sustain routine use and low-intensity social interaction, while others remain materially complete but socially weak. The study was conducted in a rural township in Puyang County, Henan Province. Twelve renewed public spaces across several villages were examined through structured spatial audits and 579 resident questionnaires. Five spatial conditions were assessed: visibility, stay support, activity accommodation, interaction-supportive arrangement, and experienced locational convenience. Two behavioral outcomes were used to describe post-renewal vitality: use frequency and social participation. The analysis combines necessary condition analysis (NCA) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). NCA is used as a diagnostic tool for identifying upper-limit constraints, while fsQCA is used to identify sufficient combinations of conditions. The results suggest that experienced locational convenience is the clearest bottleneck condition for both outcomes. When a site is difficult to incorporate into residents’ daily walking routines, internal design quality has limited capacity to translate into sustained behavioral use. Among better-located spaces, high vitality is associated with several design configurations. The most stable recurrent pattern combines visibility, stay support, and locational convenience as core conditions, together with either interaction-supportive arrangement or activity accommodation. Low-vitality spaces follow a different logic, being characterized by the simultaneous absence of several supporting conditions rather than by the absence of one isolated feature. The paper therefore proposes a two-step diagnostic logic for rural public-space renewal: first checking whether a site is embedded in everyday mobility and then matching internal spatial conditions with local patterns of use. Full article

As plant-based diets catalyze a global shift toward sustainable consumption, Chinese plant-based food firms are experiencing rapid growth and seeking to expand their international footprint. This study investigates the mechanisms underlying the internationalization performance of these firms by integrating the Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework with a configurational perspective. We operationalize nine antecedents across three dimensions: the technological dimension (technological maturity, supply chain resilience, and digital transformation), the organizational dimension (food safety certification intensity, strategic partnership intensity, and talent acquisition intensity), and the environmental dimension (market adaptability, compliance and risk management, and product line breadth). Utilizing fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) on a sample of N = 29 publicly listed Chinese plant-based firms, this research identifies three distinct equifinal pathways to superior internationalization performance. The first is the Collaboration-Compliance configuration (Organization–Environment-driven), which is primarily characterized by the synergy between strategic partnerships and regulatory risk management. The second is the Supply Chain-Compliance-Product Diversification configuration (Technology-Environment-driven), where international success is predicated on the interplay among supply chain resilience, institutional compliance, and product variety. The third is the Full-Factor Synergy configuration (Technology-Organization-Environment jointly driven), which emphasizes a holistic coupling of technological innovation, organizational coordination, and external institutional adaptation. By uncovering these complex causal mechanisms, this study moves beyond traditional linear analysis to reveal how diverse capability configurations can lead to equivalent internationalization outcomes. The findings provide actionable strategic guidance for firms navigating the global plant-based market and offer theoretical insights for policy frameworks supporting sustainable dietary transitions. Full article

Existing accounts of platform-mediated complementor growth rest on two limiting assumptions: that platform enablement constitutes a homogeneous environmental input and that firm growth is a unitary outcome. This double simplification obscures how distinct platform provisions generate qualitatively different forms of firm transformation. This study asks which combinations of mechanistically distinct platform enablement types and internal strategic response capabilities activate which forms of leapfrog growth among complementor firms operating under dual institutional governance. We employ fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) on survey data from 374 complementor firms in China’s autonomous driving platform ecosystem. Five antecedent conditions are examined across two dimensions: platform enablement, comprising rule-based enablement (RE) and business platform enablement (BPE); and strategic response capabilities, comprising network linkage capability (NLC), organizational ambidexterity (OA), and policy responsiveness (PR). Three outcome variables capture three non-reducible leapfrog dimensions: technology-chain (TL), value-chain (VL), and institutional-chain (IL) transitions. A reverse-causality robustness check and a common-method-bias assessment corroborate the validity of findings. The analysis identifies equifinal configurational pathways with distinct dominant logics across the three chains. Technology-chain transitions are predominantly network-linkage-driven; value-chain transitions are policy-responsiveness-anchored; institutional-chain transitions exhibit genuine equifinality between network-linkage and policy-responsiveness pathways, both requiring dual-platform enablement as a universal structural precondition. No single enabling condition or capability suffices; leapfrog growth is irreducibly configurational and causally asymmetric. The study offers a dual-enablement, three-chain configurational framework for understanding platform-mediated firm growth under dual institutional governance. For complementor firms, findings support dimension-selective capability investment over uniform accumulation strategies. For platform orchestrators, differentiated governance design calibrated to specific complementor upgrading trajectories outperforms homogeneous resource provisioning. For policymakers, institutionalized consultative channels linking private platform governance with public regulatory processes are recommended to facilitate coordinated digital industrial transformation. Full article

This study examines how configurations of innovation ecosystem functions are associated with dual performance outcomes in global science cities. Moving beyond dominant variable-centered approaches, the study adopts a configurational perspective to explore how interdependent ecosystem conditions jointly shape (1) innovation capacity and (2) innovation-driven entrepreneurial dynamism. Drawing on an original dataset of 200 global science cities in 2023, the study employs fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to identify ecosystem configurations associated with these outcomes. The findings reveal pronounced equifinality and configurational asymmetry. High innovation capacity is associated with two distinct ecosystem arrangements: an endogenous knowledge-production configuration characterized by the alignment of human capital, research institutions, and industrial actors, and an openness-enabled configuration in which talent mobility co-occurs with institutional and industrial support. By contrast, high innovation-driven entrepreneurial dynamism is more consistently associated with configurations combining endogenous knowledge capacity with conditions related to commercialization and scaling, including talent circulation or advanced computing infrastructure. Configurations associated with non-high outcomes further suggest that underperformance is linked not only to resource deficiencies but also to misalignment across ecosystem domains. The study contributes to innovation ecosystem research by demonstrating that performance differences among global science cities are associated with internally coherent combinations of ecosystem functions rather than the independent effects of isolated factors. More broadly, the findings suggest that innovation capacity and entrepreneurial scaling follow partially different configurational logics, highlighting the importance of complementarity and context-specific ecosystem arrangements in global science cities. Full article

Hyperscale data center construction has become one of the largest concentrated capital flows in the global built-environment sector, with global hyperscale capital expenditure exceeding USD 230 billion in 2024 and the leading hyperscalers committing more than USD 325 billion for 2025. Generative artificial intelligence workloads have driven a structural shift in mechanical and electrical design, increased delivery-pace demands, and concentrated supply-chain pressure on a small number of specialist general contractors. This paper develops and tests a microfoundational model of dynamic capabilities for hyperscale data center project delivery using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) on a sample of N = 18 primarily North American hyperscale-active general contractors. Capabilities are formalized as fuzzy sets X ⊆ Ω with membership functions μ_X: Ω → [0, 1] over the case space Ω; necessity and sufficiency consistency are computed using the canonical formulas Cons_N(X→Y) = Σ_i min(μ_X(i), μ_Y(i))/Σ_i μ_Y(i) and Cons_S(C→Y) = Σ_i min(μ_C(i), μ_Y(i))/Σ_i μ_C(i), and necessity is interpreted as the fuzzy-set containment PDP_high ⊆ X. Capability scores are coded from secondary public sources—ENR rankings, SEC filings, trade press, and company disclosures—rather than from primary survey or interview data. Three findings emerge: process microfoundations and seizing capability are necessary conditions for both project delivery performance and competitive advantage (Cons_N ≥ 0.97); the dominant causal recipe for high project delivery performance is the conjunction SEN ∩ SEI ∩ TRA ∩ ED with consistency 1.000 and coverage 0.771; the dominant recipe for high sensing capability is the conjunction IND ∩ PRO ∩ STR ∩ INT with consistency 1.000 and coverage 0.799. The findings are positioned against prior dynamic-capabilities studies and microfoundations theory, confirming convergence on conjunctive bundle structure while extending literature into a previously unstudied AEC segment with sharper containment relations. Full article

As global manufacturing pursues green and low-carbon transitions, servitization offers a critical pathway for firms to advance sustainability goals. Yet the “servitization paradox” persists, dampening firms’ willingness and capacity to adopt service-oriented strategies, while existing research offers limited explanations for why some transformations succeed and others fail. Drawing on embeddedness theory, this study applies fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to a sample of 110 A-share listed servitization demonstration manufacturers in China (2015–2022). It systematically investigates how configurations of cognitive, relational, and environmental embeddedness jointly drive servitization outcomes. The findings reveal the following. (1) The service-oriented transformation of manufacturing enterprises is the result of the synergistic interaction of multiple antecedent conditions, with relational embeddedness playing a core driving role in SSP and strategic flexibility playing a core driving role in SSC. (2) There are multiple equivalent pathways for the service-oriented transformation of manufacturing enterprises; the three configuration pathways for high SSP are innovation-driven gap filling–flexible supply chain collaboration, competition-led–product–customer coupling, and institutional backstop–relationship embedded compensation. The three pathways for high SSC are: low supply dependency–autonomous flexibility, institutional guidance–flexible compensation, and innovative customer lock-in–loose market empowerment. This study enhances the understanding of service transformation in manufacturing enterprises and provides theoretical guidance and decision-making references for enterprises to select service transformation pathways tailored to their specific circumstances. Full article

Amid global overcapacity and AI proliferation, equipment manufacturers confront a critical challenge: does digital transformation (DT) create competitive advantages or merely accelerate existing problems? This study reconceptualizes DT through a complex adaptive systems (CAS) perspective, where success depends on business units coordinating as adaptive agents rather than IT departments deploying technologies. We investigate how configurations of digital technologies and strategic orientations activate distinct multi-agent coordination mechanisms, producing differentiated performance outcomes and revealing why certain pathways demonstrate superior long-term stability through emergent organizational capabilities. Analyzing a panel dataset of 552 Chinese equipment manufacturers (2017–2022), this research employs a mixed-methods approach. It first uses fixed-effects regression to establish DT’s net effect on firm performance. Then, it applies natural language processing (NLP) to measure operational management and dynamic fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to identify configurations of DT dimensions (foundation, boundary, application) and strategic orientations leading to high performance. Regression results confirm that business-embedded DT improves firm performance, but the net effects of digital foundation (positive), boundary (insignificant), and application (negative unless supported) diverge sharply. fsQCA identifies five equifinal pathways, highlighting that success depends on aligning DT investments with innovation focus and operational management. Operational-management-oriented configurations demonstrate greater long-term stability, with notable variations across regions and industries. This study emphasizes that effective digital transformation is not a technology-first unified deployment, but a business-driven adaptive evolution process, providing a new theoretical perspective for understanding performance variations in DT. Full article

As an emerging application, AI shopping has received increasing attention from both enterprises and users. Based on the push–pull–mooring (PPM) model, this research examined user switching intention from traditional online shopping to AI shopping. We conducted an online survey to collect 422 valid responses and adopted a mixed method of structural equation modeling (SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The results show that choice overload and perceived inefficiency lead to online shopping fatigue, while perceived convenience, perceived anthropomorphism, and perceived coolness affect AI shopping attractiveness. Online shopping fatigue, AI shopping attractiveness, and inertia determine user switching intention. These results provide a comprehensive understanding of the mechanism underlying user switching from traditional online shopping to emerging AI shopping. They also imply that e-commerce platforms need to mitigate online shopping fatigue and increase AI shopping attractiveness in order to expand their user base and maintain a competitive advantage. Full article

As climate governance increasingly shifts toward consumption-side intervention, digital platforms such as the Carbon Generalized System of Preferences have become important tools for promoting low-carbon behavior. However, existing studies have mainly focused on participation and engagement, paying limited attention to users’ advocacy intentions. Drawing on the perceived value perspective and Social Exchange Theory, this study examines how perceived rewards and gameful experiences influence advocacy intentions through perceived benefits and low perceived costs. A three-wave survey of Chinese respondents was analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). The results show that perceived rewards enhance perceived benefits, while gameful experiences increase perceived benefits and reduce users’ actual perceived burden. In turn, perceived benefits and lower perceived costs both promote advocacy intentions. The mediation analysis confirms the important roles of perceived benefits and low perceived costs, while the fsQCA results identify three distinct configurations leading to high advocacy intentions. This study extends CGSP research from participation to advocacy and offers practical implications for designing digital low-carbon platforms. Full article