The mediator effects of imagination between learning environment and academic performance: a comparison between science and engineering majors

The purpose of the present study was twofold: (1) to examine the mediator effects of imagination between learning environment and academic performance, and (2) to compare differences between the environment–imagination–performance structural models of science and engineering majors. A survey was administered at eight universities across different regions of Taiwan. The participants in this study were divided into two groups. The first group consisted of 529 science majors, whereas the second group consisted of 523 engineering majors. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to confirm the structure of the measures employed in this study. A structural equation modeling was used to test all the hypotheses proposed. With respect to the science group, our results showed that, through the mediation of imagination, learning resources had a dominant impact on academic performance, whereas both human aggregate and organizational measure had moderate influences. In contrast, among the engineering group, both human aggregate and social climate had relatively strong effects on academic performance, whereas both learning resources and organizational measure had mild influence. These findings seem promising enough to warrant further inquiry. They also provide insights for fields in which imaginative talent and creative performance are essential. Finally, practical applications of the present study were suggested, limitations were acknowledged, and future research was discussed.     

Constructing Taiwan's Low-Carbon Tourism Development Suitability Evaluation Indicators

This study aimed to construct an operable, monitorable, and quantifiable low-carbon tourism development suitability evaluation model. This paper presents quantitative indicator standardization. Delphi and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process methods were used for data collection and carrying out the corresponding weight analysis. Through abundant literature review and expert interviews, this study constructed an objective and quantitative evaluation model, consisting of 6 aspects and 16 evaluation categories with 53 indicators that were significant to develop low-carbon tourism. The six aspects include transportation, travel agencies, hotel accommodation, destinations, local communities, and food service. This study also used Yilan Taiwan, a low-carbon tourism county, as an example, and carried out a comprehensive assessment, providing advice for developing low-carbon travel. This model can be used for evaluating the development of low-carbon tourism not only in Taiwan but in all places that aspire to promote low-carbon tourism development.     

Investor Sentiment Influence on the Risk-Reward Relation in the Taiwan Stock Market

We examine the influence of investor sentiment on the risk-reward relationship in the Taiwan stock market. Regression results show that the risk-reward relationship is weakly positive (significantly negative) under low (high) levels of investor sentiment. Granger causality tests indicate unidirectional, not bidirectional, causal relationships. Moreover, the negative return-variance relationship is more strongly characteristic of the over-the-counter index than of the Taiwan Stock Exchange weighted index, indicating that an unreasonable risk-reward trade-off may be more prevalent in emerging markets than in mature markets. Finally, the Wald test demonstrates that industry effects on the risk-reward relationship may be negligible.     

Investigating critical organizational factors toward sustainability index: Insights from the Taiwanese electronics industry

To improve sustainable practices and attract investors, companies in emerging markets have increasingly embraced strategies for inclusion in rapidly expanding sustainability indices. However, most early studies on socially responsible investment or sustainability investment have only focused on exploring the relationship between corporate sustainability and firm value. Moreover, little has been done to explore the practices of emerging market companies for engaging with a sustainability index. To address this research gap, we employed the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method to identify critical factors that influence the inclusion of emerging market companies in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). Five critical factors and best practices were identified based on the analysis of seven Taiwanese electronics companies that have been listed in the DJSI for several consecutive years. Our results provide insights on the critical factors and best practices that reinforce the sustainable practices of emerging market companies for inclusion in the DJSI. This study also contributes to the literature by investigating the engagement of emerging market companies with the DJSI.     

Virtually Compatible or Risky Business? Investigating Consumers’ Proclivity Toward Online Banking Services

The present research examines online banking services, and it challenges the prevailing assumptions underlying the nomological validity of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Results from 594 Taiwan respondents support a negative relationship between sub-constructs of consumers’ risk propensity and ensuing online banking services (OBS) engagement. The most important contribution is the strong empirical support that both consumers’ positive impact of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness are positively related to the adoption of OBS. Furthermore, the results reveal that the assumptive impact of perceived risk construct is negatively associated with OBS adoption. The diminished impact of perceived risk explicitly challenges the predominant underpinnings of the TAM framework. In addition, findings reveal that the perceived risk factor consists of five underlying dimensions: financial risk, performance risk, time risk, psychological risk, and privacy risk.     

Core self-evaluation and workplace creativity

Drawing on the approach and avoidance framework in the core self-evaluation literature, this study proposes that core self-evaluation may not only prompt a person to acquire more job-related knowledge but may also inspire employees' intrinsic motivation for their jobs and indirectly help the person think of creative ideas at work. Surveying time-lagged data from workers in Taiwanese firms, this study finds support for the mediating effects of domain knowledge and intrinsic motivation. Although previous research has demonstrated the positive effect of core self-evaluation on overall work performance, scholars argue that creativity is a separate dimension of work performance and that factors conducive to overall work performance are not the same as factors that can stimulate creative ideas. Thus, findings from this study may expand scholarly knowledge about the consequences of core self-evaluation and complement the creativity literature by validating an individual-level antecedent to creativity yet unexamined in the creativity research.     

Cross-Functional collaboration,competitive intensity,knowledge integration mechanisms,and new product performance: A mediated moderation model

This study draws upon the structural contingency theory to develop a mediated moderation model in order to examine how knowledge integration mechanisms mediate the impact of competitive intensity on the cross-functional collaboration–new product performance relationship. A final sample of 182 Taiwanese manufacturing firms provides the data for the analyses. The results show that (1) competitive intensity weakens the effect of cross-functional collaboration on new product performance and (2) knowledge integration mechanisms mediate the negative effect of competitive intensity on the cross-functional collaboration–new product performance relationship. These results not only provide an explanation for the inconsistent findings documented in the marketing literature but also call on managers to take relevant actions to alleviate the negative influence of competitive intensity on the performance effects of cross-functional collaboration and knowledge integration mechanisms.     

Efficiency in government health spending: a super slacks-based model

This article evaluates the performance of health expenditure and demonstrates how productivity has changed over time for 46 selected countries in Europe and Central Asia by applying three nonparametric data envelopment analysis models that assume variable returns-to-scale, slacks-based measures (SBM), and Super SBM, respectively. Our results show that countries could have increased output by 1.2 % based on existing levels of inputs. The finding of decreased productivity growth is related to technical change, and super efficiency is found to provide a good framework for ranking efficient units. Based on the Super SBM model, we obtain proper scores and find the most efficient country.     

A necessary and sufficient condition for justifying non-parametric likelihood with censored data

The non-parametric likelihood L(F) for censored data, including univariate or multivariate right-censored, doubly-censored, interval-censored, or masked competing risks data, is proposed by Peto (Appl Stat 22:86–91, 1973). It does not involve censoring distributions. In the literature, several noninformative conditions are proposed to justify L(F) so that the GMLE can be consistent (see, for examples, Self and Grossman in Biometrics 42:521–530 1986, or Oller et al. in Can J Stat 32:315–326, 2004). We present the necessary and sufficient (N&S) condition so that \(L(F)\) is equivalent to the full likelihood under the non-parametric set-up. The statement is false under the parametric set-up. Our condition is slightly different from the noninformative conditions in the literature. We present two applications to our cancer research data that satisfy the N&S condition but has dependent censoring.