PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate gender differences in the formation of mental models of firm strategies.Design/methodology/approachThe specific research question is how gender, social interaction, team psychological safety and synergistic knowledge development influence certain characteristics – complexity and centrality – of an individual's mental model of firm strategies. A survey was conducted on a sample of US business students enrolled in strategic management courses. Social interaction, team psychological safety and synergistic knowledge development were measured by use of multiple‐item seven‐point Likert scales. Mental models were constructed by the causal mapping method. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe regression analyses of the survey data support most of the hypotheses. Gender directly influences complexity and centrality in mental models of firm strategies and moderates the predictive influence of social interaction on synergistic knowledge development.Research limitations/implicationsPossible limitations are the use of a student sample and of respondents as the sole data source. Future research could use managers as research subjects and multiple data sources and explore other determinants of the mental model of firm strategies.Practical implicationsThe findings alert university educators about the importance of helping women develop high‐order knowledge and problem‐solving skills by understanding various business functions and synthesizing diverse perspectives. Corporate managers need to design and implement special mentoring and training programs for women with the aim of enriching their specific management knowledge. This study also suggests that women may increase their chance of developing strategic knowledge by proactively networking with senior managers.Originality/valueThis study on gender differences in accumulating management knowledge and skills helps us better understand the roots of and solutions to the gender gap in management and leadership positions. The most intriguing result is the demonstration of gender differences in the development of specific management knowledge. Biases against women not only contribute directly to the "glass ceiling"; more disturbingly, they negatively influence women's internal development of knowledge structures.
This article discusses the relationship between packaging color symbols and food packaging from the perspective of color psychology, in order to maximize the potential of color, fully understand the various functions of color in food packaging and give products greater value.
AbstractFacing the growing problem of carbon emission pollution, the scientific and reasonable division of environmental management power between governments is the premise and institutional foundation for realizing China's carbon emission reduction target in 2030. In this article, we directly assess the degree of environmental decentralization according to the allocation of environmental managers among different levels of government. By incorporating fiscal decentralization indicators, the provincial panel data and dynamic spatial econometric model are used to empirically test the impact of environmental decentralization on carbon emissions from a spatial perspective. The results show that (1) China's provincial carbon emissions have significant inertia dependence and spatial path dependence. The increase (decrease) of provincial carbon emissions will lead to the increase (decrease) of carbon emissions in neighboring regions. (2) At the national level, environmental decentralization, environmental administrative decentralization, and environmental monitoring decentralization significantly reduce China's carbon emissions, while environmental supervision decentralization and fiscal decentralization significantly increase carbon emissions. Similarly, the interaction of environmental decentralization and its decomposition indicators and fiscal decentralization also significantly promotes carbon emissions, and the impact is related to the types of environmental management decentralization. (3) The carbon emission effects of environmental decentralization in different regions are heterogeneous. The inhibition effect of environmental decentralization, environmental administrative decentralization, and environmental monitoring decentralization on carbon emissions in the western region is significantly greater than that in the eastern and central regions, but the inhibitory effect of the interaction of environmental decentralization and its decomposition index and fiscal decentralization on carbon emissions in the eastern region was significantly stronger than that in the central and western regions. The above results provide theoretical support for China to construct a differentiated carbon emission environmental management system from two aspects of regional differences and environmental management power categories.
Low-value recyclable waste accounts for a large portion of urban waste output in many modern cities. The improper management and disposal of LVRW result in environmental pollution and a waste of resources. Given the characteristics of a high recovery cost and low recovery income of low-value recyclables, it is difficult to obtain a satisfactory waste disposal effect by completely relying on the market mechanism. It is thus necessary for the government to implement effective subsidies for multiple subjects in the urban waste recycling system (UWRS). This study examines the independent roles of four subsidy policies—subsidy to the third-party waste disposal institutions, subsidy to a state-owned waste disposal institution, R& ; D subsidy for green technology, and subsidy for government publicity—and develops a system dynamics model to verify the performance of the UWRS under different combinations of subsidy-based policies under multiple scenarios. Data on urban waste disposal for Guangzhou from 2019 and 2020 were used to validate and simulate the model. A sensitivity analysis of the main exogenous variables was carried out, and the conclusions are as follows: (1) On the premise of a fixed subsidy capital pool, a mixed subsidy policy produced the best impact on the UWRS. (2) The total subsidy needed to reach a certain threshold ; otherwise, the mixed subsidy policy did not improve the UWRS. The total subsidy produced diminishing returns once it had exceeded the threshold. (3) Appropriately reducing subsidies for the third-party waste disposal institutions within a reasonable range does not affect the performance of the UWRS. (4) The effect of government publicity has short-term advantages, while the long-term potential of green technology is greater. Multi-agent coordination and the guidance of the market mechanism are important priorities in the design of subsidy-based policies. In addition, the trade-off between subjects needs attention, and a plan for mixed subsidy policies needs to be designed and implemented according to the response periods of different policies. The research here provides theoretical support for the government for designing subsidy-based policies.
AbstractIn practice, capital‐constrained third‐party logistics (3PL) firms usually obtain bank financing (BF) to invest in logistics technology to enhance the consumer shopping experience. The emergence of financial innovation has prompted the adoption of alternative financing modes by 3PLs, including e‐commerce platform financing (EPF) and fourth‐party logistics financing (4PF). To clarify the differences among the three financing modes at the operational management level, we develop a Stackelberg game model to capture the strategic interactions between the 3PL and creditors. We examine a platform‐based supply chain where a manufacturer sells products through an e‐commerce platform to consumers, with the logistics services for the supply chain provided by the 3PL and fourth‐party logistics (4PL) firms. The analysis results reveal that the equilibrium interest rates under EPF and 4PF share a similar pattern regarding the logistics service cost coefficient, the commission rate, and the 4PL service fee. The difference is that under EPF (4PF), the logistics service level increases in the commission rate (4PL service fee) but decreases under the other financing strategy. Furthermore, the 3PL is inclined to invest in logistics technology only when the fixed investment cost is low, and these financing modes are complementary rather than alternative. The 3PL and manufacturer can benefit from 4PF (BF) when the logistics service cost coefficient is large and the market size is small (large); otherwise, EPF can enhance their profits. We also find that when the opportunity costs of capital are homogeneous, both the 4PL and the platform are consistently willing to act as financiers themselves. However, when considering heterogeneity in the opportunity costs of capital, they may be reluctant to provide financing. Each financing mode may achieve Pareto improvements under specific conditions. Finally, we also analyze the impact of technology R&D risks and endogenous 4PL service fee, yielding some valuable insights.