PurposeThis study evaluates the knowledge structure of the phubbing (phone + snubbing) phenomenon in today's digitalized environment. Overreliance on smartphones has led people to neglect others in social contexts. Understanding the basis of past studies would help researchers and practitioners plan effective mitigative interventions. However, despite the increasing number of studies on phubbing, the knowledge structure and development in the field remain unclear. This highlights the need for a comprehensive understanding of phubbing research through bibliometric analysis to synthesize existing research and identify future research directions.Design/methodology/approachApplying a science mapping approach, this study identifies current and future trends in phubbing and suggests crucial gaps for future research. 309 articles were retrieved from the Web of Science core collection.FindingsThe current and emerging themes included (1) partner phubbing and relationship satisfaction, (2) negative impact of parental phubbing, (3) fear of missing out, phubbing and social media addiction and (4) impact of phubbing behavior.Research limitations/implicationsThe implication of this study is crucial for practitioners and scholars in human behavioral studies to mitigate the negative impact of smartphones and other digital technologies on human relationships. Authorities and policymakers can benefit from the findings in this study by designing intervention strategies at the micro-level family settings and at the macro-level at the national stage to further reduce the burden of the phubbing phenomenon.Originality/valueThis study fills the gap by presenting a network visualization through bibliometric science mapping analysis. This study reveals the field's intellectual structure and key research themes, including partner phubbing, parental phubbing, smartphone addiction and social media addiction, while highlighting current trends and future research directions.

This study examines how research and development (R D) activities influence firm efficiency and how human capital moderates his relationship within Taiwan’s 5G industry. Motivated by limited empirical evidence on how R D translates into operational outcomes through workforce capabilities, the research draws on the resource-based view and human capital theory. A dynamic network Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model is applied to evaluate innovation, profitability, and overall efficiency using panel data from 27 publicly listed 5G-concept firms over 2013–2023. Patent data were obtained from the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office, and financial data from the Taiwan Economic Journal, while human capital was measured by the average years of employee service. The findings show that firms with higher innovation efficiency exhibit significantly greater profitability efficiency, and that human capital amplifies this positive relationship. These results highlight the pivotal role of experienced and stable workforces in transforming R D inputs into profitable outcomes, particularly during periods of technological and environmental uncertainty. Theoretically, the study advances the innovation and efficiency literature by integrating dynamic efficiency measurement with a moderating perspective of human capital. Practically, it underscores the need for strategic investment in workforce retention and development to maximize the returns from R D. The study’s novelty lies in combining a dynamic network DEA framework with moderation analysis to capture the compounded effects of innovation and human capital in a rapidly evolving high-tech industry.

ABSTRACT This study examines how environmental initiatives undertaken by supply chain partners influence multidimensional efficiency and whether national long‐term orientation moderates these relationships. Using panel data from 30 counterparts of Merck & Co. Inc. (180 firm–year observations, 2018–2023), innovation efficiency, eco‐efficiency, and market efficiency are estimated using a three‐stage range directional measure network data envelopment analysis model. Firm and year fixed‐effects regressions with Driscoll–Kraay standard errors are employed to evaluate the effects of resource use, emissions reduction, and environmental innovation initiatives. Results reveal distinct nonlinear relationships across environmental dimensions. Resource use initiatives exhibit diminishing returns, whereas emissions reduction and environmental innovation involve initial efficiency losses before generating positive outcomes at higher implementation levels. Long‐term orientation strengthens these later‐stage benefits, indicating that the institutional context shapes the timing and magnitude of environmental investment returns. Findings demonstrate that environmental initiatives should be evaluated according to their specific dimensions and implementation horizons rather than as uniformly efficiency‐enhancing strategies.

This study investigates how business strategy moderates the relationship between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices and firm efficiency in the multinational food industry, specifically focusing on sustainability and market outcomes. Using a sample of 44 multinational food firms from 2017 to 2021, the study applies a network data envelopment analysis to measure sustainability and market efficiency. Subsequently, a truncated regression analysis examines the effects of ESG three pillars and business strategy. The results show that the governance pillar consistently enhances sustainability efficiency and exhibits a generally positive, though less stable, relationship with market efficiency, highlighting the role of strong corporate governance structures. In contrast, the environmental and social pillars display heterogeneous effects. Environmental practices are associated with lower sustainability efficiency, but this negative effect is mitigated under a more proactive business strategy. Similarly, social practices tend to reduce market efficiency at lower levels of business strategy, but the relationship becomes positive when aligned with a proactive strategic orientation. These findings extend the ESG-efficiency literature by identifying business strategy as a key contingency factor that shapes how ESG initiatives are translated into efficiency outcomes. The study also provides practical implications for regulators, investors, and managers to promote more effective ESG integration and sustainable competitive advantage.

ABSTRACT This study examines the impacts of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives and eco‐efficiency and the achievement of net‐zero emissions within the Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturing company (TSMC). This study sources its data from 37 firms within TSMC's value chain for years 2020–2023 from the Refinitiv and Taiwan Economic Journal databases and employs an inverse data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach to allocate greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets and develop a chance‐constrained DEA model to address the high uncertainty in the industry. Results indicate significant differences in eco‐efficiency across firms in different regions, with the environmental dimension exhibiting a statistically significant negative effect on eco‐efficiency performance. While the social and governance dimensions are positively correlated with eco‐efficiency, this relationship is not statistically significant. This study introduces innovative methodological approaches, including the inverse DEA method for optimal GHG reduction and the chance‐constrained DEA model, to handle the high level of uncertainty in the industry. The findings provide valuable insights for policymakers, operational managers, and industries prioritizing ESG initiatives, and the significant regional differences in eco‐efficiency highlight the need for tailored, region‐specific strategies to improve eco‐efficiency across the semiconductor industry. By offering novel contributions through its methodology and empirical findings, this study enhances the present understanding of how ESG initiatives influence eco‐efficiency and supports the development of effective policies for achieving net‐zero emissions in high‐tech industries.

This study examines the relationship between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives and firm efficiency, which is assessed through two dimensions: innovation efficiency and eco-efficiency. ESG performance is decomposed into its three pillars; namely, ESG, and board gender diversity is introduced as a moderating variable. Using social network analysis and panel data from pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms across America, Europe, and Asia from 2017 to 2023, this study explores interfirm linkages and governance dynamics within four subindustries. Findings reveal that the social pillar positively influences eco-efficiency, indicating that firms emphasizing employee welfare, community engagement, and customer responsibility achieve a stronger economic-environmental balance. Conversely, the governance pillar is negatively associated with eco-efficiency, suggesting that higher compliance and monitoring costs may constrain operational sustainability. Although female directors play a vital role in shaping organizational outcomes, their moderating effect is significant only in the ESG-innovation efficiency relationship, where they help mitigate the negative effects of ESG initiatives on innovation efficiency. However, board gender diversity does not moderate the relationship between ESG pillars and eco-efficiency, implying its greater influence on strategic innovation than on operational outcomes. Overall, ESG initiatives and gender-diverse boards are essential for fostering innovation, eco-efficiency, and sustainable growth in the P&B sectors.

This study analyzes 66 publicly listed integrated circuit (IC) design companies in Taiwan by using 330 decision-making unit observations from 2019 to 2023. By integrating multistage network data envelopment analysis (network DEA), multiple regression, k-means clustering, and classification and regression tree (CART) models, it examines the relationships between ESG performance and firms' innovation, operational, and market outcomes. The results indicate that the Taiwan IC design industry is highly concentrated, with a small number of leading firms dominating R&D investment, patent resources, and market value, while most firms adopt relatively cost-oriented strategies. The network DEA results reveal significant efficiency differences across the three performance stages and among the identified firm clusters. The findings further show that ESG-related associations vary across performance stages. Environmental and social indicators are generally associated with short-term adjustment burdens at the innovation and operational stages, whereas governance-related indicators, particularly ownership and board structure, demonstrate relatively stable positive associations with operational and market performance. Clustering and CART analyses further identify three strategic types: sustainability governance enhanced, conservative stable operations, and performance-driven innovation. Overall, the findings suggest that sustainability governance has become an important source of competitive differentiation within the IC design industry, supporting the integrated stakeholder RBV ESG framework in which ESG functions as a governance and resource allocation mechanism associated with long-term value creation.

The relationship between organisational innovation and firm performance was investigated in this study with transformational leadership as a moderator. Data were collected from 79 respondents across manufacturing firms listed on the main market of Bursa Malaysia using a stratified random sampling approach. Organisational innovation was conceptualised as a second-order construct comprising management, product and process innovation. Structural equation modelling was employed to test the proposed relationships. Results show that organisational innovation has a positive and significant effect on firm performance, whilst transformational leadership strengthens the relationship between organisational innovation and firm performance. These findings support the theoretical premise that firm-level capabilities and leadership behaviours jointly enhance firm performance. For firms seeking to enhance their competitive position, their innovation strategies must be supported by leadership styles that inspire, motivate and stimulate innovation. The empirical insights in this study are taken from an emerging market, making the results particularly relevant to policymakers and industry leaders in the Malaysian manufacturing sector.

This research investigates the influence of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors on the sustainable performance of global autonomous driving firms, specifically examining the moderating effect of business strategy. Drawing on data from 2017 to 2024 for 34 global enterprises—collectively representing approximately 85% of total market capitalisation—this study assesses operational and market efficiency via a data envelopment analysis framework. These assessments are further refined through nonparametric tests and truncated regression analyses. Findings demonstrate that social initiatives enhance operational efficiency, whereas environmental and governance initiatives primarily strengthen market performance. Furthermore, business strategy moderates these relationships; strategic misalignment, such as rigid governance structures within prospector firms, diminishes ESG effectiveness. Regional analysis reveals distinct patterns: North American firms excel in social and environmental metrics; European firms lead in governance and operational efficiency; and Asian firms, whilst driven by technology and production, exhibit lower marketability and social responsibility scores. Beyond firm-specific metrics, these results underscore the broader societal importance of autonomous driving technologies. Integrating ESG frameworks remains essential to guiding innovation that is ethical, environmentally sustainable and socially responsible. Ultimately, this study offers actionable insights for policymakers, industry leaders and investors, highlighting the importance of aligning ESG practices with strategic priorities to foster sustainable technological development and ensure that autonomous driving yields public and economic benefits.

This study aims to examine how organizational socialization and job autonomy influence teachers’ job performance, and to advance the literature by positioning organizational citizenship behaviour as a mediating behavioural mechanism rather than a direct outcome. Drawing on Social Exchange Theory and Job Characteristics Theory, the study proposes that supportive organizational conditions enhance teacher performance through discretionary work behaviours. Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey of 402 full-time teachers from public secondary schools across four states in Malaysia, and the proposed relationships were tested using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings show that organizational socialization has a strong direct effect on both organizational citizenship behaviour and teachers’ job performance, whereas job autonomy affects job performance primarily through organizational citizenship behaviour rather than directly. These results highlight the central role of citizenship behaviours in translating organizational support into performance outcomes. The study contributes to the educational and organizational behaviour literature by clarifying the behavioural pathways linking work design and performance in public schools. Practically, it offers insights for school leaders and policymakers on the importance of structured socialization practices, autonomy-supportive work environments, and recognition of discretionary behaviours to enhance teacher effectiveness.

This study aims to evaluate the innovation, operational, and sustainability performance of Taiwan's food industry, addressing the critical need for resource optimization, efficiency enhancement, and sustainable development. Utilizing the Range Directional Measure Network Data Envelopment Analysis (RDM-NDEA) model, combined with truncated regression and multidimensional scaling, the research identifies key ESG variables influencing performance. The study observes a sample of 120 companies in Taiwan's food industry over the period 2017-2021. Findings reveal that operational performance consistently surpasses both sustainability and innovation performance, highlighting the need for managers to focus on innovation-driven strategies. Key ESG issues include energy and water management, and data security under the environmental pillar, as well as product quality, safety, and employee health and safety under the social pillar. These findings provide significant implications for managers and policymakers, offering actionable insights to address performance bottlenecks, enhance competitive advantages, and promote industrial upgrading. The study's methodology and results contribute to the growing discourse on ESG integration, providing a robust framework for performance evaluation and supporting sustainable development in the food industry.

PurposeThis review assesses the environmental, social and governance (ESG) knowledge structure and its relationship to women's leadership and board gender diversity in firms' corporate agendas. The pertinent issue of women and gender equality in organizations has been extensively addressed in the literature, warranting a holistic and comprehensive analysis.Design/methodology/approachDrawing from the bibliometric approach, a science mapping analysis based on two techniques was applied to evaluate the impact of ESG on organizational diversity.FindingsCurrent and emerging trends are associated with (1) Gender diversity and its impact on ESG disclosure, (2) Gender diversity and organizations' ESG performance and (3) Bank Financial performance based on gender diversity. Future trends primarily revolve around ESG's impact on organizational performance.Research limitations/implicationsAs gender diversity has been heavily considered, if not mandatory, in ESG reporting, this issue remains a highly sensitive subject. Implications would be imminent for large corporations and the larger business ecosystem.Originality/valueThis study's originality lies in its science mapping approach, which uncovers the current and future trends of board gender diversity, women leadership and its association with ESG and firm performance.

This study examines how national cultural dimensions moderate the relationship between institutional quality, innovation efficiency, and eco-efficiency within a two-stage sustainable competitiveness framework, using data from 33 countries over the period 2015–2022. Institutional quality is proxied by the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), while culture is captured using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. The results reveal substantial cross-country heterogeneity in how institutional integrity translates into efficiency outcomes. Power distance and long-term orientation are positively associated with innovation efficiency, whereas individualism and uncertainty avoidance exhibit negative direct effects. Interaction results indicate that the innovation-enhancing benefits of cleaner institutions are weaker in highly individualistic societies but stronger in uncertainty-averse and long-term oriented cultures. In contrast, the effects on eco-efficiency are more complex. Higher CPI scores do not automatically correlate with eco-efficiency, as cultural traits such as masculinity and indulgence tend to reinforce short-term economic–environmental trade-offs. However, institutional transparency significantly associates with eco-efficiency in uncertainty-averse societies by reducing regulatory ambiguity and strengthening compliance. Overall, the findings suggest that lower corruption fosters innovation efficiency and eco-efficiency only when aligned with compatible cultural contexts. This study contributes to the literature by integrating institutional quality and culture into a unified efficiency framework and offers insights for designing culturally aligned anti-corruption, innovation, and sustainability strategies.

This study examines how Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives influence firm efficiency in Taiwan's network communication industry. It specifically pays attention to the moderating effect of organizational agility. Using a two-stage Dynamic Network Slack-Based Measure Data Envelopment Analysis and regression analysis for 2017-2022, the study distinguishes between sustainability and market efficiencies. Findings reveal that ESG dimensions exert asymmetric effects across performance domains. Environmental pillar is positively associated with market efficiency but not sustainability efficiency, suggesting that environmental initiatives are recognized by investors but do not generate immediate operational gains. Conversely, social and governance pillars show no significant effects, indicating that their benefits may be indirect or delayed. In contrast to conventional expectations, organizational agility negatively moderates the relationship between the environmental pillar and both efficiency measures, suggesting that excessive flexibility may undermine long-term environmental investments. Therefore, it challenges the view of agility as a universally beneficial dynamic capability. The study contributes by demonstrating that ESG effectiveness depends on performance domain alignment and that organizational capabilities such as agility can act as constraints rather than enablers. Managerially, the results caution against overemphasizing flexibility at the expense of long-term sustainability strategies. This study advances ESG-efficiency research by showing that the effectiveness of sustainability strategies depends not only on what firms do but also on how their internal capabilities are aligned with the temporal nature of those strategies.

As environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations gain prominence across global supply chains, understanding how specific ESG subcomponents influence firm performance has become increasingly critical. This study examines the nonlinear relationships between ESG dimensions and firm efficiencies within Honda’s automotive supply chain, encompassing suppliers, partners, supplier-partners, and customers. A two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) model is first applied to measure innovation efficiency and eco-efficiency. It is followed by a two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator to address endogeneity and explore the dynamic effects of ESG practices on firm efficiency. The results reveal heterogeneous and nonlinear ESG–efficiency linkages, including U-shaped and inverse U-shaped patterns across ESG indicators. Environmental innovation and emission-reduction efforts demonstrate diminishing marginal returns for innovation efficiency, whereas workforce and shareholder-related practices show threshold effects for innovation and eco-efficiency. These findings underscore the importance of strategic, not incremental or excessive, ESG investments because the efficiency impact varies across ESG pillars and among different supply chain actors. This study provides actionable insights for Honda and other manufacturers seeking to optimize ESG engagement by integrating DEA and dynamic GMM approaches within a holistic supply chain perspective. The results highlight the need to balance ESG commitments to avoid inefficiencies arising from underinvestment or overinvestment, thereby enhancing sustainability outcomes and operational performance across intricate supply chain networks.

This study examines the relationship between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors and firm efficiency of Unity Software Inc.’s suppliers, customers, and partners from 2010 to 2021. We apply a network data envelopment analysis to measure firm efficiency across a three-stage production process. Second, we investigate how ESG factors are associated with firm efficiency using a generalized additive model (GAM). The GAM results reveal a nonlinear relationship between ESG factors and firm efficiency, although it does not follow a clear U- or inverted U-shaped pattern. Overall, this study contributes to stakeholder theory by using a unique dataset to demonstrate the link between ESG performance and firm efficiency and highlighting ESG strategies that may improve/degrade firm efficiency in converting resources into business outcomes.

There has been a significant increase in the number of recorded casualties within the construction business between 2020 and 2022, with a monthly rise in the frequency of such incidents. This study examines the correlation between safety practices and turnover intentions in the construction industry, focusing on registered construction companies in Kuala Lumpur. The target participants were Grade G5 to G7 construction companies registered with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) in Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur. The data was gathered through an online survey with 136 respondents and analysed using Structural Equation Modelling. A strong correlation was found between improper safety practices and turnover intention among construction workers. The findings hope to provide valuable insights for the construction industry to comprehend the impact of several variables on turnover intention. It also serves as an indicator for the most effective interpretation of employee turnover measurements to improve successful safety policies

ABSTRACT Many environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives have emerged because of the world's fast economic growth. On the one hand, ESG appears to be good for firm efficiency. However, the substantial costs of ESG investments expose companies to significant operational risks. This study analyzes the overall effects of ESG, the combined effects of ESG and ESG controversies, and the individual effects of the three pillars of ESG and ESG controversies on firm efficiency, which is derived using a two‐stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) model. This study achieves its objectives by analyzing 1630 firm‐year observations from 2011 to 2020 that pertain to companies in the supply chain of Microsoft Corporation. The regression results indicate a significantly positive association between overall ESG and firm efficiency. However, the combined effects of ESG and ESG controversies on firm efficiency are insignificant. While ESG controversy efforts have a negative impact on firm efficiency, the regression results show that the environmental and governance pillars of ESG have a beneficial effect each. The findings suggest that firms should take active measures to address environmental issues and strengthen governance systems to improve firm efficiency.

Intellectual capital (IC) is a crucial driver of sustainable financial performance, particularly in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. This study uses panel data from Vietnamese firms between 2017 and 2022 to investigate how IC and research and development (R&D) investment influence firm sustainability in an emerging market. This research, compared with previous studies, confirms the positive impact of IC and R&D on short- and long-term financial stability and also highlights the moderating role of firm characteristics. Specifically, firm size and growth rate enhance the benefits of R&D investment, whilst older firms exhibit a diminishing effect, potentially owing to reduced adaptability or innovation capacity. By emphasising the relationship amongst R&D, IC and firm characteristics, this study offers fresh insights into maximising financial sustainability in dynamic markets. Findings provide a foundation for future research and practical strategies to foster long-term competitiveness in emerging economies.