Liang Zhao

Drawing on the lens of green value co‐creation, this study investigates how such co‐creation mediates the relationship between employees' green behavioral intentions and corporate green innovation performance. By integrating internal and external moderating factors, the study constructs a comprehensive model of the green innovation process. Data from 448 survey responses were analyzed using covariance‐based structural equation modeling (CB‐SEM). The results demonstrate that green value co‐creation partially mediates the link between employee intentions and innovation outcomes. Furthermore, the study finds that market and policy orientations positively moderate the impact of employee intentions on value co‐creation. At the organizational level, leadership collaboration awareness and a corporate green innovation culture strengthen the transition from value co‐creation to innovation performance. These findings offer critical theoretical insights and practical pathways for firms seeking to alleviate environmental pressure and achieve sustainable development.

Greenwashing threatens the credibility of corporate environmental strategies and ESG disclosure by creating a disconnect between symbolic claims and substantive action. Existing research mainly focuses on external pressures and formal governance mechanisms, with limited attention to the relational structure of the top management team. Integrating agency theory and relational perspectives on top management teams, this study conceptualises CEO‐CFO tenure staggering as an informal relational governance condition and examines its association with greenwashing. Using panel data from Chinese A‐share–listed firms from 2011 to 2023, we find that greater CEO‐CFO tenure staggering is associated with a lower greenwashing index. The finding is externally validated through its link to independently observed environmental penalties. Mediation analyses identify performance volatility and investment inefficiency as plausible mediating organisational channels. Moderation results reveal that higher financing constraints weaken this negative association, whereas stronger CFO tournament incentives strengthen it. Subgroup analyses further indicate stronger associations under greater market competition, weaker CEO power and lower board independence; the association is also statistically evident among manufacturing firms. These findings highlight the governance relevance of the CEO‐CFO relationship and offer theoretical and practical insights for strategic environmental management and the credibility of ESG disclosure.

This paper investigates whether institutional investor site visits serve as an effective external governance mechanism for curbing environmental, social and governance (ESG) hypocrisy. Using panel data on Chinese A‐share listed firms from 2012 to 2021, we find that site visits significantly reduce ESG hypocrisy by improving internal control quality and alleviating financing constraints. This disciplinary effect is strengthened by investment–financing maturity mismatch and analyst coverage. Heterogeneity analyses further show that the effect is more pronounced when firms are visited by independent institutional investors, operate in regions with stronger investor protection, belong to less competitive industries, are non‐state‐owned and do not experience executive turnover. These findings highlight the governance role of on‐site external oversight in mitigating less visible strategic behaviours such as ESG hypocrisy.

Drawing on the attention-based view (ABV), we develop an analytical framework linking digital transformation, contextual attention reconfiguration, and subsidiary innovation autonomy within diversified business groups. Using panel data from Chinese A-share listed business groups spanning 2013 to 2023, we examine how parent firms' digital transformation reshapes contextual attention structures and, in turn, affects subsidiaries' innovation autonomy. We find that digital transformation significantly enhances subsidiary innovation autonomy, particularly through the decentralization of decision-making rights and increased collaborative innovation. Moreover, patent transfers and resource allocation efficiency positively moderate this relationship. These effects are more pronounced in state-owned enterprises (SOEs), large business groups, and subsidiaries with higher cash holdings. By challenging the traditional multidivisional (M-form) logic, this study demonstrates how digital technologies necessitate a fundamental rethinking of corporate scope and structure to effectively govern diversified entities in the digital age.

In the context of the global green transformation of supply chains, corporate greenwashing has exhibited a networked diffusion trend, yet the role of chain leaders in this governance process remains unclear. Based on resource orchestration theory (ROT), this study uses data from Chinese A‐share listed firms and their supply chain partners spanning 2011–2022 as a sample to explore the mechanisms by which the dominant position of chain leaders suppresses greenwashing within supply chains. It also examines the contextual effects of digital transformation and government supervision. The findings reveal that: (1) chain leaders utilize dual pathways, namely, coordination (reducing supply–demand coordination costs and reconstructing business credit networks) and guidance (cultivating green cognition and facilitating green technological spillovers) to suppress greenwashing; (2) digital transformation unexpectedly exacerbates greenwashing, whereas government supervision strengthens governance efficacy; (3) greenwashing among geographically proximate partners and customer partners is more significantly influenced by chain leaders' governance. This study challenges the traditional supply chain efficiency paradigm by introducing a network‐embedded explanation for greenwashing behavior.

Affordance theory suggests that technology offers certain opportunities or ‘affordances’ that can be exploited by users. In this context, we are exploring how FinTech adoption provides opportunities to address corporate greenwashing. Drawing on an affordance perspective, we assert that FinTech adoption effectively inhibits corporate greenwashing behaviour, primarily through facilitating green innovation and improving managerial efficiency. We also contend that the impact of FinTech adoption on reducing greenwashing behaviour is not uniform across all industries. It is more pronounced in heavy‐polluting industries, indicating that FinTech has a greater effect in encouraging accurate disclosure of environmental information in environmentally sensitive sectors. Conversely, its impact is weaker in high‐tech industries, which might already have strong environmental commitments. The findings contribute to the literature on sustainability, FinTech and governance.

The rise of cutting‐edge technologies motivates corporations to undertake and carry forward green innovation, aiding economic development by maintaining environmental sustainability. Using A‐share listed firms from 2013 to 2022 as the research sample, the paper empirically examines the impact of digital transformation on corporate green innovation from an affordance perspective. The findings suggest that the higher the level of digital transformation, backed by accumulative and variational affordances, in a firm, the more conducive it is to corporate green innovation as it enables the homogenization, recombination, and transformation of existing information related to green environmental protection and low‐carbon energy efficiency, facilitating firms to achieve targeted and breakthrough green innovations. The analysis of the moderating effects of public environmental concern, economic policy uncertainty, and regional innovation readiness suggested that public environmental concern and regional innovation readiness positively moderate the relationship between digital transformation and corporate green innovation, while economic policy uncertainty perception negatively moderates this relationship. Heterogeneity analyses suggest that digital transformation positively affects corporate green innovation within labor‐intensive firms and state‐owned enterprises. The study contributes to the literature by enhancing our understanding of the affordance theory in the domain of digital transformation. By investigating the key organizational and institutional affordances – economic policy uncertainty perception, public environmental concern, and regional innovation readiness – the research provides valuable insight to policymakers in fostering green innovation.

Knowledge about whether entrepreneurs’ backer‐oriented actions help facilitate successful fundraising, and the mechanism behind it, is still limited. This study aims to mitigate this gap by exploring reward‐based crowdfunding success through the consumer‐based perspective (CBP). Using the elaboration likelihood model (ELM), we investigate how entrepreneurs’ backer‐oriented behaviour influences potential backers’ information processing and changes their attitude towards campaigns. By analysing a unique dataset collected from China's largest reward‐based crowdfunding platform, our empirical results demonstrate that an entrepreneur's backer‐oriented behaviour and strength are positively associated with reward‐based crowdfunding success. This paper provides a new angle to investigate reward‐based crowdfunding success, emphasizing the importance of CBP during the fundraising stage. In addition to high‐quality campaign content, entrepreneurs’ backer‐oriented actions, such as answering questions and providing elaborate answers, are crucial in facilitating fundraising. The implications for future theory development, empirical research and crowdfunding practitioners are discussed.

Purpose: The study aims to examine the effects of guanxi and harmonious leadership on acquisition performance and the role of sociocultural integration as a mediating mechanism impacting the above links, with a focus on Chinese cross-border acquisitions in The Netherlands.Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected through survey questionnaire with 91 respondents who work in Dutch-acquired companies. Regression analysis was used for exploring the relationship.Findings: The study finds that both guanxi and harmonious leadership are positive to acquisition performance, and sociocultural integration represents a significant mediating mechanism by which guanxi and harmonious leadership can result in improved acquisition performance.Originality/value: This study contributes to culture research by emphasizing the clarification of specific Chinese cultural values and cultural practices in cross-border acquisitions and examining the role of guanxi and harmonious leadership in acquisition performance. Meanwhile, this study helps to unveil Chinese cross-border acquisitions in The Netherlands by examining the mediating force – sociocultural integration.