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Beyond the farm gate: addressing labour and human right issues occurring downstream in the textiles and apparel value chain
No full textPurposeOur research seeks to understand how actors in the Australian cotton industry can address downstream labour and human rights risks in the textiles and apparel value chain.Design/methodology/approachTaking the Australian cotton industry as the site of our action research project, we conducted a qualitative thematic analysis of 19 interviews, supplemented by industry engagement and desktop research.FindingsWe identify seven opportunities for action by the Australian cotton industry to address downstream labour and human rights risks, which are articulated in the context of a strategic enforcement approach.Originality/valueThe research focuses on opportunities for action to address downstream labour and human rights risks, thereby going beyond the traditional interventions by fashion brands and retailers that target upstream actors.</p
Integration of Heat Pumps in Social Housing—Role of User Behaviour and User Satisfaction
No full textMany countries around the world have rolled out energy efficiency programs and incentives to encourage the adoption of energy-efficient technologies, including heat pumps. Currently, the academic investigation of heat pump technology implementation in Australia, particularly within the social housing sector, is quite sparse. This knowledge gap is particularly evident in the realm of comprehending user acceptance related to comfort, operating and capital costs, and the ability to operate and the extent to which occupants in social housing embrace and adapt to this technological advancement. This paper aims to systematically review studies that have surveyed users and other stakeholders involved in the heat pump ecosystem within the social housing setting. The key objective is to investigate the impact of heat pump installation in social housing on tenant well-being, focusing on the reduction of energy costs, improvements in indoor comfort, and tenant perceptions of financial and social barriers. By analysing 69 studies, this paper identifies the critical challenges and opportunities in integrating heat pump systems into social housing. The key findings emphasise that tenant education, effective communication, and engagement are essential for maximising the benefits of heat pumps. Furthermore, the financial feasibility of heat pumps depends on government incentives and careful system design to avoid excessive upfront and operational costs. This review offers a comprehensive guide for future research and policy development, aiming to facilitate the integration of heat pumps in social housing, with a focus on improving tenant well-being and reducing energy poverty.</p
Cycles of adversity: Parental joblessness in childhood and energy poverty in adulthood
No full textThis study examines the causal relationship between exposure to father's joblessness during childhood and adolescence and experiencing energy poverty in adulthood using data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. To address concerns that father's joblessness is endogenous, we employ the interaction between the average number of recessions that occurred in the period before the individual was age 14 and maternal education level as an instrumental variable. We find that for individuals whose fathers were unemployed for six months or more growing up, the likelihood of being in energy poverty as an adult measured by subjective ability to heat the home, the objective Low-Income-High-Cost (LIHC) measure and the 10 % threshold indicator increases by 29.9 percentage points, 58.5 percentage points and 16.9 percentage points, respectively. We find that this relationship is mediated by education, health, labour market outcomes, locus of control and social capital.</p
Exploring customer stickiness during “smart” experiences: a study on AI chatbot affinity in online customer services
No full textPurpose Drawing on the technology affordance and affinity theories, this study proposes a framework explaining the antecedents and consequences of customers’ smart experiences (CSEs) in the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot context. Design/methodology/approach The quantitative approach employing an online survey was adopted to obtain data from chatbot users (N = 761) and analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings Results from a survey study show that chatbot affordances, including interactivity (two-way communication, active control and synchronicity), selectivity (customization and localization), information (argument quality and source credibility), association (connectivity and sense of safety) and navigation positively affect CSEs (hedonic and cognitive), leading to customer chatbot stickiness through affinity. Originality/value Our study provides evidence that supports and extends the affordances and affinity lens by highlighting the roles of specific chatbot affordances that contribute to a positive-smart experience and subsequently enhances customer chatbot stickiness through affinity</p
A Knowledge Graph-Based RAG-GLLM Approach for Literature Review and Knowledge Discovery
No full textThe rapid growth of academic publications has intensified the challenges of conducting rigorous
literature reviews, pushing traditional and computational approaches to their limits. While Generative
Large Language Models (GLLMs) offer advanced capabilities for summarisation, abstraction, and
“synthesis”, their use in scholarly contexts is constrained by hallucination, limited context windows, and
weak evidential grounding. Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) mitigates some of these issues by
anchoring outputs in verifiable sources, yet current applications remain focused on fact retrieval rather
than higher-level conceptual integration. To address this gap, we propose a knowledge graph-based
RAG–GLLM approach that combines structured knowledge representation with generative reasoning.
Knowledge graphs provide persistent context, reduce hallucination, and enable analysis across five
levels of literature review, from concepts to themes. Our research-in-progress outlines the conceptual
design, development plan, and early prototyping results, contributing a methodological foundation for
scalable, reliable, and theory-informed literature reviews in Information Systems research.</p
A Strategy Quadripod Perspective of Chinese Firms’ International Competitiveness
No full textWith the advent of globalisation, the economic, political and technological conditions in emerging economies (EEs) tend to be more volatile or changeable than developed countries and, as their business environment evolves rapidly, the influences on the international competitiveness of firms also change significantly. As such, it has become critically important to understand how firms overcome their disadvantages, leverage their internal and external resources and capabilities, and build sustainable competitiveness in the global market. Despite the increasing relevance of this issue, the key determinants of MNEs’ international competitiveness have not been adequately examined in the literature. More specifically, much of the existing research tends to isolate individual variables or consider only a limited subset of factors, thereby limiting our understanding to the complex interplay among multiple determinants of competitiveness. In response, this thesis aims to examine the multilevel antecedents of international competitiveness within emerging-economy MNEs by integrating the strategy tripod view (Peng et al., 2008) and dynamic managerial capability (DMC) perspectives.Most notably, the strategy tripod view posits that a firm’s strategy—especially in international contexts—is shaped by three complementary perspectives: institution-based view, industry-based view and resource-based view (RBV). The strategy tripod view addresses limitations of relying on just one perspective, showing that combining industry, resource, and institutional insights results in a more robust understanding of complex phenomena, such as internationalisation and global expansion, which provides a theoretical foundation for the study of international competitiveness. However, it overlooks the effects of individual-level factors, especially how the individual characteristics interact with institutional and industry environments, as well as internal firm resources, and how these relationships impact firm performance in the global market. On the other hand, DMC literature emphasises the importance of individual’s human capital, social capital and cognitive capabilities to sense, seize, and transform opportunities in shaping firm strategies and outcomes (Adner & Helfat, 2003; Helfat & Martin, 2015). Although the international business field has revealed the need for cooperations and interactions with individual capabilities, these two theories have developed independently, limiting our holistic understanding of the potential antecedents for international competitiveness; particularly how managers navigate, integrate and reconfigure organisational resources to co-evolve with institutional and industrial environments.To address this gap, I extend the scope of the strategy tripod view by incorporating the DMC perspective, aiming to delineate the effect of the DMC’s core attributes that in conditioning the influence of institutional, industrial and firm-level domains, and proposing a multilevel theoretical framework – strategy quadripod view. In line with the logic of co-evolution perspective (Lewin & Volberda, 1999; Cantwell et al., 2010), I argue that as the institution and industry environments evolve, firms should develop strategic methods to deploy their internal resources in order to “fit” with those external environments. Simultaneously, individuals must co-evolve their capabilities to better interact with the contingent factors associated with institutional, industrial and firm level characteristics. Specifically, this study examines the impact of perceived institutional support, industry cluster, and the intensity of digitalisation on international competitiveness, with firm-level innovation capability as a mediating mechanism. It also explores the moderating effects of top managers’ human capital, social capital, and cognitive abilities across institutional, industry, and firm domains.To test the proposed model and associated hypothesis, Chinese MNEs, as typical EE firms, are the perfect natural laboratory to examine international competitiveness. A survey was conducted among 236 top managers at the headquarters of Chinese textile firms and their counterparts in foreign subsidiaries or international trade roles. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) in Analysis of Moment Structure (AMOS) software was employed to assess mediating and moderating effects, with Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) used for data management and descriptive analyses. Key findings indicate that institutional support, industry cluster, and digitalisation intensity positively influence radical innovation but negatively affect incremental innovation. These outcomes enhance patent performance and return on investment but reduce management satisfaction. In addition, the moderation results indicate that a manager’s government networking unexpectedly weakens the relationships between institutional support and radical/incremental innovation; a manager’s age amplifies the influence of clustering on radical/incremental innovation; a manager’s attention on R&D surprisingly dampens the relationships between intensity of digitalisation and radical/incremental innovation.This study makes four contributions. First, it introduces the strategy quadripod framework by integrating DMC with the strategy tripod view to provide a more comprehensive explanation of firm performance in international contexts. Second, it bridges the fields of strategic management (SM) and international business (IB) by advancing a multilevel perspective that connects macro-, meso-, micro-, and individual-level factors, studying the interaction and cooperation among those factors and their effects on MNEs’ international competitiveness. Thirdly, this study contributes to digitalisation literature by delineating the distinguishing characteristics of digitalisation and its profound implications for MNEs’ innovations and international competitiveness, while also highlighting the contingent role of managers’ cognitive capabilities in linking digitalisation to innovation. Lastly, this study challenges the assumption of homogeneity in the industry cluster literature and highlights the moderating influence of cluster size on innovation and firms’ international competitiveness.</p
Elegies in Urban Decay
No full textElegies in Urban Decay investigates how analog photography can visualise the affective and ecological residues of “lost futures” in rapidly transforming Southeast-Asian cities. Drawing on Fisher’s hauntology, Thacker’s cosmic pessimism and Morton’s dark ecology, it asks: How can obsolete photographic technologies render the spectral traces of unfulfilled modernities embedded in Saigon’s urban fabric?
The project comprises ten analogue photographs captured in Ho Chi Minh City on redscale 35 mm, 120 mm and 110 mm film. Instability in colour, deliberate under-exposure and the often use of expired stock create visual entropy and melancholic stillness. Construction sites, derelict cinemas and overgrown riverbanks become poetic elegies that foreground ecological anxiety and temporal disjunction. By fusing experimental film practice with hauntological theory in a non-Western metropolis, the series offers a new method for articulating affective urbanism through material obsolescence.
The portfolio was accepted through a competitive, peer-reviewed selection for exhibition at the VNxDesign Forum (Ho Chi Minh City, 4–6 July 2025), a regionally recognised platform for design-led research. This recognition affirms the work’s scholarly merit and situates it within debates on creative practice, ecological aesthetics and post-development urban studies. The series advances disciplinary conversations by providing a transferable visual methodology for examining ecological estrangement and cultural memory in other rapidly urbanising contexts.</p
Advancements in detecting combustion events through vibration analysis in internal combustion engines: a literature review
No full textAccurate combustion characterization is very important for the reliability, efficiency, and emissions of internal combustion engines (ICEs). Standard in-cylinder pressure sensors are costly, obtrusive, and have a short lifespan under harsh environments. This research examines vibration-based analysis as a non-intrusive method for identifying and reconstructing combustion events in compression ignition (CI) and homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines. We examine the correlation between engine block vibrations and combustion parameters, including start of combustion (SOC), peak pressure (PP), pressure rise rate (PPRR), maximum heat release rate (HRRmax), and mass fraction burned (MFB), while assessing signal decomposition techniques such as Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) and Variational Mode Decomposition (VMD). Advanced signal processing is also combined with machine learning (ML) models to improve real-time estimation and nonlinear mapping. Our study shows that vibration signals can be used as reliable indicators of combustion, with timing precision of less than 1 CAD and pressure reconstruction error of less than 5%. Nonetheless, difficulties persist in adaptive parameter tuning, signal decoupling during transient situations, and the comprehensibility of machine learning models. Hybrid and explainable ML frameworks, multi-sensor data fusion, and the creation of virtual combustion noise sensors for onboard diagnostics are some promising areas of research. In the end, vibration-based combustion analysis provides a cheap and scalable means to get to real-time, non-intrusive monitoring, which will help the shift to cleaner, quieter, and more efficient engines.</p
Are auditors insulated to positive client news? Evidence from audit fees and going‐concern opinions
No full textThis paper investigates if and how auditors consider positive news, related to their clients, when making audit decisions. Using a large sample of US listed companies, we find that auditors charge lower audit fees and are less likely to issue going‐concern opinions when there are a higher number of positive news items related to their clients. Additional analyses show that the influence of positive client news on audit decisions varies with news characteristics, client size, auditor tenure, and auditor size. We also find some evidence that auditors' reactions to positive client news varies with the topic of news, and positive client news has implications for financial reporting quality and accuracy of going‐concern opinions. Collectively, these findings suggest that the media affects auditors' business risk and that auditors are not insulated to positive news.</p
Industry 4.0 Technologies for Sustainable Transportation Projects: Applications, Trends, and Future Research Directions in Construction
No full textThis study presents a mixed-method systematic literature review (SLR) investigating the applications of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies for enhancing sustainability in transportation infrastructure projects from a construction perspective. A corpus of 199 scholarly articles published between 2009 and November 2023 was meticulously selected from the Scopus database. The thematic analysis categorised the publications into four main clusters: infrastructure type, technology types, project lifecycle stages, and geographic context. The scientometric analysis revealed a burgeoning interest in the integrating of I4.0 technologies to enhance sustainability—particularly environmental sustainability. Among these, Building Information Modelling (BIM)-related tools emerged as the most extensively studied domain (33.50%), followed by the Internet of Things (IoT) and sensors (14%), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) (13.22%). The findings demonstrate that roads, highways, and bridges are the most studied infrastructure types, with BIM being predominantly utilised for energy assessment, sustainable design, and asset management. The main contributions of this review are threefold: (1) providing a comprehensive framework that categorises I4.0 applications and their sustainability impacts across transportation infrastructure types and project lifecycle stages, (2) identifying key technical challenges in integrating I4.0 technologies with sustainability assessment tools, and (3) revealing underexplored areas and providing clear directions for future research. The findings provide actionable insights for researchers and industry practitioners aiming to adopt integrated, sustainability-driven digital approaches in transport infrastructure delivery.</p