Search Results (5)

Amidst rapid technological progress and increasing regulatory demands, the Chinese video game industry has undergone rapid changes that have provided a fruitful context for examining corporate competencies. Drawing on the Resource-Based View (RBV) and Dynamic Capability View (DCV) theories, this study investigates how firm capabilities (FC) and firm resources (FR) contribute to value creation (VC), which subsequently influences firm performance (FP) and sustainable competitive advantage (SCA). A quantitative research approach was employed, utilizing the data collected from a questionnaire survey of 241 video game firms. The data analysis was conducted using SmartPLS4 software, revealing that FC/FR has a significant effect on VC, which, in turn, mediates the relationship between FC/FR and FP. This study identifies three dimensions of VC—customer value (CV), employee value (EV), and shareholder value (SV)—with EV showing stronger mediating effects than CV and SV. It then uses the BSC framework to assess FP’s intermediary role in bridging VC with SCA through the integration of both financial and non-financial performance indicators relevant to the dynamic video game industry. These results have strong theoretical and practical implications, offering valuable guidance for fostering sustainable development. Specifically, they provide actionable insights for managers to enhance value creation and firm performance while also offering policy recommendations to support regulatory compliance and promote sustainable practices in China’s dynamic video game industry. Full article

In this paper, we review the emerging concept of digital twins (DTs) for urban water systems (UWS) based on the literature, stakeholder interviews and analyzing the current DT implementation process in the utility company VCS Denmark (VCS). Here, DTs for UWS are placed in the context of DTs at the component, unit process/operation or hydraulic structure, treatment plant, system, city, and societal levels. A UWS DT is characterized as a systematic virtual representation of the elements and dynamics of the physical system, organized in a star-structure with a set of features connected by data links that are based on standards for open data. This allows the overall functionality to be broken down into smaller, tangible units (features), enabling microservices that communicate via data links to emerge (the most central feature), facilitated by application programing interfaces (APIs). Coupled to the physical system, simulation models and advanced analytics are among the most important features. We propose distinguishing between living and prototyping DTs, where the term “living” refers to coupling observations from an ever-changing physical twin (which may change with, e.g., urban growth) with a simulation model, through a data link connecting the two. A living DT is thus a near real-time representation of an UWS and can be used for operational and control purposes. A prototyping DT represents a scenario for the system without direct coupling to real-time observations, which can be used for design or planning. By acknowledging that different DTs exist, it is possible to identify the value-creation from DTs achieved by different end-users inside and outside a utility organization. Analyzing the DT workflow in VCS shows that a DT must be multifunctional, updateable, and adjustable to support potential value creation across the utility company. This study helps clarify key DT terminology for UWS and identifies steps to create a DT by building upon digital ecosystems (DEs) and open standards for data. Full article

Research on Value co-Creation (VcC) has been more extensive in B2C (business-to-consumer) than in B2B (business-to-business) and mainly for service contexts, under dyadic approaches (supplier–client). Moreover, research has paid little attention to the impacts of VcC on Satisfaction in its duality: Social and Economic Satisfaction. As a novelty, this study examines VcC in B2B industrial relationships in the triad of supplier–manufacturer–client. A model proposes VcC as an antecedent of manufacturer’s Economic Satisfaction, with the mediating role of Social Satisfaction. The model is empirically contrasted for a sample of 77 firms from an industrial panel—the Spanish Furniture Market Observatory. The triadic approach is depicted with bi-directional relationships of the manufacturer with its main supplier and main client). Results evidence that VcC and Economic Satisfaction are greater in the manufacturer–main client relationship. Moreover, the manufacturer’s Satisfaction relies on its social dimension, which has a key role to produce Economic Satisfaction. Results also show asymmetry in the supply chain, different from those with the main supplier. Implications for managers invite to achieve a long-term VcC chain with all business partners, the focus being on manufacturer’s social dimension, so the triad supplier–manufacturer–client could be better aligned. Full article

This paper investigates the impact of an acquirer’s experience on the acquisition of private firms (i.e., private target acquisition) in high-technology industries by analyzing a dataset of NASDAQ-listed firms operating in information technology (IT) industries. Specifically, this paper examines whether two types of experience (i.e., early venture capital (VC)-backed experience and prior mergers and acquisitions (M&A) experience) matter to the acquisition. We find that both types of experience have positive effects on private target acquisition, while only prior M&A experience positively influences public target acquisition, implying that early VC-backed experience is effective in mitigating information asymmetry related to private target acquisition and exploring opportunities for value creation. We also find that an acquirer’s growth performance and absorptive capacity prior to the acquisition enhance the positive effects of the experiences on private target acquisition. Full article

For some metals, downcycling appears when scrap is polluted with undesirable elements or mixed with lower quality scrap grades in a way that the material displays a change in inherent properties when recycled. The article recommends the use of different scrap class prices instead of a solitary secondary alloy price to represent the level of downcycling inflicted on aluminum over a product’s life cycle. The price ratio between scrap price and primary aluminum price is shown to be stable across all available scrap classes for the years 2007–2010. While the revised approach to value-corrected substitution (VCS) puts a stronger emphasis on the creation of high-quality scrap by penalizing its pollution more than the original version, its key limitation is the correct identification of the appropriate point of substitution along the scrap value chain. If relevant sorting or pre-treatment steps are omitted, the substitution factor would be overcorrected, which is why it is crucial to establish the scrap value right before the scrap is either mixed with scraps from other product systems or right before it enters the remelting step. Full article