Responsible production is receiving growing attention in manufacturing operations, but systematic analysis of its concept is scanty. This paper aims to advance the knowledge by examining the research evolution of responsible production for sustainability. Using the concept analysis approach, we first summarize four underlying attributes, including the change to sustainability, preventive initiatives, process management, and company-specific context. Next, we identify that contextual factors and firm characteristics are antecedents of responsible production, which consequently affects customer attitude, employee behavior, and firm performance. Through a bibliometric review of 518 most relevant articles, we observe that responsible production for sustainability has seen a research boom in developing countries and that China is one of the most conspicuous countries in this regard. We also recognize that the link of responsible production and financial performance receives particular interest, but it needs a more synthesized assessment framework. To promote research development of responsible production for sustainability, research collaboration, either at the author or country level, is highly desirable for knowledge creation and transfer. In view of the growing interest on its performance value, we propose a research framework with guideposts for studying responsible production and financial performance. This review provides managerial and policy implications for responsible production with insights to advance knowledge in this emerging research field.

Under information asymmetry, electronic word of mouth (eWOM) is crucial to understanding customer experience in peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation. However, the topics of what dimensions are included in eWOM and how these dimensions determine sales performance from a contingency perspective remain starkly underinvestigated. Drawing upon trust transfer theory and signaling theory, we identify two eWOM dimensions (i.e., listing-based eWOM and host-based eWOM) and examine their interactions with price and responsiveness on sales performance. Using objective data from Xiaozhu.com, a leading accommodation-sharing platform in China, we apply machine learning algorithms and economic analysis to illustrate customer behavior. Our results indicate that the valence of listing-based eWOM and that of host-based eWOM are positively associated with sales performance. Compared with listing-based eWOM, host-based eWOM exerts a more decisive influence on sales performance. Notably, the relationship between the valence of listing-based eWOM (host-based eWOM) and sales performance is weakened (strengthened) by listing price (host’s responsiveness). These findings provide helpful managerial insights for service strategies and policy actions to improve the accommodation-sharing economy.

Purpose: Knowledge sharing, as a kind of social behavior that incorporates collective intelligence to achieve a certain goal, has become a remarkable developing trend in recent years. Under the context of traditional teaching, this study aims to explore the manner in which students become effective in sharing knowledge to help optimize course design and improve our existing education. Design/methodology/approach: Among 195 university students taking an elective, the effects of different incentives on group performance in completing tasks is explored on the basis of a randomized experiment. Findings: Results show that intra-group cooperation can be helpful to student performance, whereas intra-group competition neither improves nor worsens student performance. The former is mainly driven by reciprocity, especially for that stimulated by inter-group competition, whereas the latter is stimulated by egoism. Thus, proper reciprocity can promote student behavior to increase voluntary contribution. In addition, intra-group differences do not interfere with group performance, especially task-oriented groups. Originality/value: Certain suggestions are proposed to improve the curriculum design in large classrooms. Forming groups is the best way to strengthen student knowledge sharing. Within task-oriented groups, the incentives of inter-group competition can encourage students to deepen intra-group cooperation and thus effectively improve group performance under the conditions of external competition.

Open innovation (OI) is crucial for firms to obtain external resources and enhance their market value. This article examines whether OI network resources (i.e., breadth and depth) affect firms’ market value and how these relationships are contingent on the firms’ internal capabilities (i.e., absorptive capacity and financial leverage). Based on longitudinal data from 2015 to 2019 for 132 Chinese firms, we use panel data in a fixed effects model to address these research questions from an extended resource-based view. The results show that network breadth and depth are positively associated with firms’ market value. Notably, absorptive capacity strengthens the positive effects of network breadth and depth on firms’ market value, but these effects are weakened by financial leverage. Our findings add new insights to the OI literature by revealing the market value of OI in firms’ external networks and internal capabilities. More importantly, we provide suggestions for managers to occupy an advantageous market position by proactively embracing external search strategies and developing their firms’ absorptive capacity rather than using debt financing to increase their firms’ OI.

Currently, on the Chinese internet, the term “involution” refers to intense but meaningless competition for limited resources, also known as “the inflation of effort.” Involution is a prevalent phenomenon in various social competition scenarios and can lead to significant social contradictions. On the other hand“, lying flat” refers to a conscious choice by individuals to withdraw from intense competition and pursue a self-centered and hollow existence. The propagation of lying flat culture may lead to nihilism or irrationalism. However, existing literature on involution and lying flat has two main limitations. First, previous studies have separately examined involution and lying flat as two opposite yet closely related outcomes of intense social competition. This approach fails to provide a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of involution and lying flat in the context of increasingly fierce social competition. Second, existing literature predominantly adopts value-based payoff allocation methods, disregarding the prevalence of rank-based payoff allocation methods. Consequently, the other prevalent rank-based allocation (RA) method remains understudied. To address these limitations, we propose an evolutionary game model on a square lattice to abstract the fierce social competition between involution, cooperation, and lying flat. Our experimental results demonstrate that various factors, including social resources, the cost of involution, the relative utility of the involution strategy, and the variance of agents’ competition abilities, play distinct yet significant roles in social competition. Furthermore, these factors exhibit interaction effects on the levels of cooperation, involution, and lying flat. The rank threshold ( $T)$ positively affects the level of cooperation, exhibits a U-shaped effect on the level of lying flat, and an inverted U-shaped effect on the level of involution. The RA rule tends to result in a higher level of involution, whereas the value-based rule tends to result in a higher level of lying flat. These findings remain robust across different network sizes. Our study provides insights into strategies for suppressing the levels of involution and lying flat in social competitions.