Social Enterprises’Institutional Rationale and Its Inspirations for the Modern Market Economy

This study analyzes the ways in which social enterprises contribute to society’s goals.In the new era of human development,many social problems cannot be resolved without the participation of social enterprises(SEs).The study on these enterprises is of great significance for theoretical research and practical observation.In a modern market economy,SEs have pro-social market vitality and compatibility with the market economy;their action gives a glimpse into the truth of human development.As can be seen from the socio-economic reality,numerous entrepreneurs nurture a desire to run SEs at a certain stage of their career development.The tendency of some entrepreneurs to run SEs is of great significance for this study.Social enterprises are hybrid enterprises as opposed to for-profit enterprises and SEs must address complex problems through organizational and institutional innovations.State owned enterprises(SOEs)and SEs share many topics of research and have much to learn from each other,and a key question for SOE reform is what makes SOEs efficient quasi-social enterprises.Both SOEs and SEs assume a social mandate,and their fulfillment of social responsibilities is underpinned by their economic efficiency(market competitiveness).The theoretical rationale and institutional mechanism of SEs-not least their innovation practice and formation of rules-stem from the relationship and coordination between economic and social exchanges under market-based conditions.Social enterprises focus on altruistic social exchange but need to be supported by a certain economic exchange to finance their operations.The biggest social problem for China is its failure to balance economic and social exchanges,as well as the method of reward.Research on SEs should promote the understanding of these questions and the quest for their solutions.Social enterprises may inspire more enterprises to pursue pro-social innovation and development.

Online Vaccine Information in a Knowledge Exchange Social Website (KESW)

Background: The potential for misinformation on usercontrolled Knowledge Exchange Social Websites (KESWs) is concerning since it can actively influence Internet users’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to childhood vaccinations. Objective: The present study examines the accuracy and predictors of health information posted to a Knowledge Exchange Social Website (KESW). Methods: A sample of 480 answers to childhood vaccination questions were retrieved and rated for accuracy. Multiple logistic regression modeling was used to examine whether answer characteristics (best answer, professional background, statistical information, source disclosure, online link, word count, vaccine stance, and tone) predict accuracy. Results: Overall, only 56.2% of the posted answers were rated as “accurate.” Accuracy varied by topics with between 52.8% - 64.3% being rated as accurate. When Yahoo Answers’ “best answers” were examined, only 49.2% rated as accurate compared to 57.7% of all other answers, a finding attributed to widespread nominations of vaccine misinformation as “best answers” for questions addressing the side effects of vaccines. For all other types of questions, “best answers” were more likely to be accurate. Regression modeling revealed that discussions of personal choices regarding childhood vaccinations predicted the accuracy of posted answers, with those who mentioned vaccinating their own children proving more likely to communicate accurate vaccine information, and those expressing vaccine hesitancy proving more likely to share factually inaccurate statements about vaccines. Conclusion: The high prevalence of misinformation on KESWs suggests that these websites may serve as a vector for spreading vaccine misperceptions. Further research is needed to assess the impact of various KESWs and to develop effective, coordinated responses by public health agencies.

Blog acceptance model: An empirical study on exploring users' acceptance and continual usage of blogs

Blogs have permeated into our daily lives at a fast speed, and various kinds of blog spaces have attracted our attention. However, little effort has been made on studying the users' motivation to participate in blog activities. This paper aims to construct a theoretical model about the blog adoption based on technology acceptance model(TAM theory), social capital theory and social exchange theory, and put forward 18 related hypotheses. Then the survey method is adopted to analyze the data from 208 questionnaires using the SPSS and LISREL tools, and to examine the theoretical model and hypotheses. Finally, the paper makes a discussion from five aspects due to the results of data analysis, including individual driving factors, group driving factors, community driving factors, technology acceptance factors and moderating variables. The results show that curiosity/enjoyment, user's experience, social interaction and social identification will greatly affect users' motivation to accept a blog; meanwhile, perceived ease of use, exchange cost and trust will partially influence users' intention to participate in blog activities. The results also suggest that age and education degrees have significant moderating effects on users' acceptance and updating of blogs.

Psychological Contract within Labor Relation and Its Management Strategy

The paper argues that labor contracts between employees and organization includes two facets, i.e. economic contracts and psychological contracts, and along with enterprise competition becoming fierce increasingly and labor force becoming diversified all the more, the psychological contracts have crucial effects on employees＇ attitudes, behaviors and performances. We also argue that, under the challenging organization context, if managers want to make strategic partnership with employees, they must link employees with hearts, pay attention to the management of psychological contracts before, during and after signing labor contracts, and keep dynamic equilibrium of psychological contracts.

Fostering firm innovativeness:Understanding the sequential relationships between human resource practices,psychological empowerment,innovative work behavior,and firm innovative capability

This study investigated the relationships between human resource(HR)practices,employee psychological empowerment,employee innovative work behavior,and firm innovation capability in the context of the Information and Communication Technology(ICT)sector in Jordan.Employing the Social Exchange Theory(SET)as a guiding framework,this study explored how employee psychological empowerment and innovative work behavior mediated the influence of HR practices on a firm’s innovative capabilities.Drawing on extensive data collected from ICT organizations in Jordan,our analysis had several key findings.A significant positive correlation between HR practices and psychological empowerment was observed.Job design emerged as the most influential factor affecting psychological empowerment,whereas compensation had a weaker impact.Furthermore,we established that psychological empowerment significantly enhanced innovative work behavior,underscoring its role as a catalyst for innovative work behavior within the sector.Finally,our study supported the theory that psychological empowerment influenced a firms’innovation capabilities,emphasizing the pivotal role of employee empowerment in driving firm-level innovation in the Jordanian ICT sector.These findings provide insights for academic and practical audiences,clarifying how HR practices,employee psychological empowerment,and innovative work behavior collectively influenced firm innovation capability within the unique context of the Jordanian ICT sector.

Authoritarian leadership and task performance:the effects of leader-member exchange and dependence on leader

This study examines how and when authoritarian leadership affects subordinates’task performance.Using social exchange theory and power dependence theory,this study proposes that authoritarian leadership negatively influences task performance through leader-member exchange(LMX).This study further proposes that the effect of authoritarian leadership on LMX is stronger when a subordinate has less dependence on a leader.A two-wave survey was conducted in a large electronics and information enterprise group in China.These hypotheses are supported by results based on 219 supervisor-subordinate dyads.The results reveal that authoritarian leadership negatively affects subordinates’task performance via LMX.Dependence on leader buffers the negative effect of authoritarian leadership on LMX and mitigates the indirect effect of authoritarian leadership on employee task performance through LMX.Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.

Work-family conflict and organizational citizenship behavior： the role of job satisfaction and decision authority

Drawing upon the conservation of resources theory （Hobfoll, Am Psychol 44：513- 524, 1989）, social exchange theory （Blau, Exchange and power in social life, 1964） and the job demand-control model （Karasek, Adm Sci Q 24：285-308, 1979）, this study uncovers the theoretical mechanism that explains the relationship between work- family conflict and organizational citizenship behavior （OCB）. First, this study focuses on how employee job satisfaction mediates the relationship. Then, we investigate the moderating role of decision authority in, the mediated relationsip. We employ three-wave data collected from 324 employees in 102 teams to test our hypotheses. Aesults of hierarchical linear modeling （HLM） first shows that job satisfaction mediates the relationship between work interference with family （WIF） and OCB. In addition, employees＇ decision authority moderates the direct effect of WlF on OCB. Specifically, the negative relationship between WlF and OCB is stronger when employees＇ decision authority is high. Moreover, decision authority moderates the indirect effect of WIF on OCB via job satisfaction. Specifically, the negative relationship between WlE and job satisfaction is weaker when employees＇ decision authority is high. The results suggest that organizations should give employees enough decision authority over their work, as a high level of decision authority may act as a double-edged sword regarding critical organizational outcomes.

More humility,less counterproductive work behaviors?The role of interpersonal justice and trust

Leader humility has emerged as an important topic in understanding the role of leadership in organizations in recent years.Though it was found to enhance subordinates’work performance and positive work behaviors,we are unaware of the psychological mechanism and boundary conditions underlying leader humility and employees’negative behaviors toward leaders.Drawing on social exchange theory and using a multistage sample including 273 employees and 55 supervisors in China,we demonstrated a negative indirect effect between leader humility and subordinates’counterproductive work behaviors toward supervisors(CWB-S)via interpersonal justice and trust in supervisor.Furthermore,we find that leader political skill moderates the effect of leader humility on interpersonal justice and trust in supervisor.The indirect effect of leader humility on subordinates’CWB-S through interpersonal justice is stronger when leader political skill is high,suggesting a moderated mediation model.Finally,we discuss the theoretical contributions and practical implications of this study,and highlight future directions for research on leader humility.