Explore the vast range of titles available.

PurposeAs a sociotechnical system, the metaverse has sparked heated discussion. However, concerns abound that the concept is “old wine in a new bottle” used for capital hype. The mixed definitions of the metaverse and unclear relationships between its technical features and user behaviors have greatly impeded its design and application. Therefore, the authors aim to sort out the metaverse definition and properties, analyze its technical features in various contexts and unveil the mechanisms leading to user behaviors.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conduct a literature review on the definition, technical features and user behaviors of/in the metaverse.FindingsFirst, the authors identify two main categories of the metaverse definition and find a mixed conceptualization. Second, the authors present technologies and technical features in the diverse contexts of the metaverse. Third, the authors summarize the effect of technical features on user behaviors from a sociotechnical perspective.Originality/valueThe authors analyze the definition, technical features, user behaviors of the metaverse and their theoretical foundations. Based on these findings, the authors propose a theoretical framework unveiling how social and technical elements affect user behaviors in the metaverse. In conclusion, the study offers a research agenda for future studies.

The main object of this work is to present a powerful method of construction of subshifts which we use chiefly to construct WAP systems with various properties. Among many other applications of this so called labeled subshifts, we obtain examples of null as well as non-null WAP subshifts, WAP subshifts of arbitrary countable (Birkhoff) height, and completely scrambled WAP systems of arbitrary countable height. We also construct LE but not HAE subshifts, and recurrent non-tame subshifts

PurposeThe extensive distribution of fake news on the internet (FNI) has significantly affected many lives. Although numerous studies have recently been conducted on this topic, few have helped us to systematically understand the antecedents and consequences of FNI. This study contributes to the understanding of FNI and guides future research.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on the input–process–output framework, this study reviews 202 relevant articles to examine the extent to which the antecedents and consequences of FNI have been investigated. It proposes a conceptual framework and poses future research questions.FindingsFirst, it examines the “what”, “why”, “who”, “when”, “where” and “how” of creating FNI. Second, it analyses the spread features of FNI and the factors that affect the spread of FNI. Third, it investigates the consequences of FNI in the political, social, scientific, health, business, media and journalism fields.Originality/valueThe extant reviews on FNI mainly focus on the interventions or detection of FNI, and a few analyse the antecedents and consequences of FNI in specific fields. This study helps readers to synthetically understand the antecedents and consequences of FNI in all fields. This study is among the first to summarise the conceptual framework for FNI research, including the basic relevant theoretical foundations, research methodologies and public datasets.

Purpose People seem to function according to different models, which implies that in business and social sciences, heterogeneity is a rule rather than an exception. Researchers can investigate such heterogeneity through multigroup analysis (MGA). In the context of partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM), MGA is currently applied to perform multiple comparisons of parameters across groups. However, this approach has significant drawbacks: first, the whole model is not considered when comparing groups, and second, the family-wise error rate is higher than the predefined significance level when the groups are indeed homogenous, leading to incorrect conclusions. Against this background, the purpose of this paper is to present and validate new MGA tests, which are applicable in the context of PLS-PM, and to compare their efficacy to existing approaches. Design/methodology/approach The authors propose two tests that adopt the squared Euclidean distance and the geodesic distance to compare the model-implied indicator correlation matrix across groups. The authors employ permutation to obtain the corresponding reference distribution to draw statistical inference about group differences. A Monte Carlo simulation provides insights into the sensitivity and specificity of both permutation tests and their performance, in comparison to existing approaches. Findings Both proposed tests provide a considerable degree of statistical power. However, the test based on the geodesic distance outperforms the test based on the squared Euclidean distance in this regard. Moreover, both proposed tests lead to rejection rates close to the predefined significance level in the case of no group differences. Hence, our proposed tests are more reliable than an uncontrolled repeated comparison approach. Research limitations/implications Current guidelines on MGA in the context of PLS-PM should be extended by applying the proposed tests in an early phase of the analysis. Beyond our initial insights, more research is required to assess the performance of the proposed tests in different situations. Originality/value This paper contributes to the existing PLS-PM literature by proposing two new tests to assess multigroup differences. For the first time, this allows researchers to statistically compare a whole model across groups by applying a single statistical test.

Telehealth has been utilized to provide behavioral services to families with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other disabilities. This systematic review provides an update on current research pertaining to the use of telehealth to provide behavior analytic-based services and train caregivers in implementing behavioral procedures. This review also describes information on reported training components and caregivers’ procedural fidelity. Empirical studies were collected from five databases. Overall, the studies provide evidence of the utility of telehealth as a service delivery model for providing behavior analytic-based services and for training caregivers to implement behavioral assessments and procedures. The authors discuss potential considerations for developing training packages and training caregivers via telehealth. Future research should use experimental methods to determine effective components for training individuals via telehealth to use behavioral procedures with good fidelity as well as to detect other factors that may influence procedural fidelity.

PurposeA new business model online to offline (O2O) has emerged in recent years. Similar to many new models at an early stage, O2O has inconsistent definitions which not only inhibit its adoption but also poorly differentiate O2O from other existing business models. To resolve the two issues, the authors propose an approach of definition development.Design/methodology/approachTo show the usefulness of the approach, the authors demonstrate the differences among O2O and other business models with the use of the distinctive definition and thereby evaluate adoption of O2O from a practical perspective and identify research directions from a theoretical perspective based on the differences.FindingsThe authors' proposed approach of definition development integrates the work of Tatarkiewicz (1980) and Nickerson et al. (2013). The approach generates a distinctive definition of O2O with important analytical dimensions which help decision-making of adoption of O2O.Originality/valueThe paper aims to make several contributions. First, on theoretical contribution, the authors confine the scope of O2O studies and facilitate accumulation of more coherent knowledge of O2O. The authors help O2O evolve from a “buzz word” of successful stories in real businesses to a more serious concept from an academic perspective. Second, from a practical perspective, the authors' definition provides business executives with critical evaluative dimensions for gauging the adoption of O2O. Lastly, from a methodological perspective, the proposed approach can be used in future to define an emerging concept in real life businesses.

Conventional supply chains face challenges in reducing overall logistics costs and optimizing the consumption of logistics resources. To address these challenges, we propose a two-phase path planning method for handling periodic logistics tasks. The novelty of our approach lies in harnessing the collective power of vehicles with periodic commuting paths to minimize logistics costs, offering a practical and convenient solution for achieving smart supply chains. In the first phase, we develop an optimization model to determine the optimal delivery paths for periodic logistics tasks, with the objective of minimizing the overall cost. Leveraging the A-star algorithm, we search for suitable sequence sets of commuting vehicles within the commuting path network for each logistics task. In the second phase, we select vehicle sequences from the available sets for each task, forming a combination that can effectively accomplish all logistics tasks. To obtain the optimal solution, we employ an adaptive genetic algorithm to refine and optimize this combination. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach effectively solves the problem of periodic logistics delivery planning in smart supply chains. It achieves cost savings of 15.6% and 13.8% in two cases compared to traditional methods, showcasing its practicality and efficiency in reducing logistics costs.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand what inhibit or facilitate cloud computing (CC) assimilation. Design/methodology/approach The authors investigate the effects of two enablers, top management support (TMS) and government support (GS), and two inhibitors, organization inertia (OI) and data security risk (DSR) on CC assimilation. The authors posit that enablers and inhibitors influence CC assimilation separately and interactively. The research model is empirically tested by using the field survey data from 376 Chinese firms. Findings Both TMS and GS positively and DSR negatively influence CC assimilation. OI negatively moderates the TMS–assimilation link, and DSR negatively moderates the GS–assimilation link. Research limitations/implications The results indicate that enablers and inhibitors influence CC assimilation in both separate and joint manners, suggesting that CC assimilation is a much more complex process and demands new knowledge to be learned. Practical implications For these firms with a high level of OI, only TMS is not enough, and top managers should find other effective way to successfully implement structural and behavioral change in the process of CC assimilation. For policy makers, they should actively play their supportive roles in CC assimilation. Originality/value A new framework is developed to identify key drivers of CC assimilation along two bipolar dimensions including enabling vs inhibiting and internal vs external.