Demystifying blockchain: A critical analysis of challenges,applications and opportunities

The blockchain is considered to be the potential driver of the digital economy. The Blockchain technology outweighs the challenges associated with the traditional transaction business governed and regulated by the third trusted party. There is a growth in the interest among the researchers, the industry, and the academia to study and leverage the potential of Blockchain. Blockchain provides a decentralized and distributed public ledger for all the participating parties. Though it seems that blockchain is a viable choice and solution for all the centralized governed and regulated transactions (in digital online space), it has potential challenges that need to be resolved; opportunities to be explored, and applications to be studied. This paper utilizes a systematic literature review to study several research endeavors made in the domain of blockchain. To further research on blockchain adoption, the paper theoretically constructs an integrated framework of the blockchain innovation adoption process in an organization considering organizational and user acceptance perspectives. This would facilitate its widespread adoption, thereby achieving sustained leadership solutions. The paper offers 23 propositions to information systems (IS)/information management (IM) scholars with respect to innovation characteristics, organizational characteristics, environmental characteristics, and user acceptance characteristics. Further, the paper explores several areas of future research and directions that can provide deep insights for overcoming challenges and for the adoption of blockchain technology.     

Business models shifts: Impact of Covid-19

No amount of crystal ball gazing may help us fathom the full impact of the Covid-19 (C-19) crisis on business organizations in a distinct manner. Given the lack of precedence, any such analyses seem to demand routine revisions as we progress further up the “number of infected” curve. Most countries of the world have imposed restrictions on social congregations or even people working in close proximity to each other. Industries that produce and deliver information products and services therefore, have continued to function while those that manufacture physical products especially labor-intensive firms were forced to minimize operations or temporarily shut down. However, in most countries, physical products which were essential in nature were reluctantly permitted to be manufactured given the need for them in people’s everyday life. In this viewpoint, I draw upon three dimensions – information intensity of product/service, information intensity of process/value chain; along with a third dimension – essential nature of the product/service to help understand the immediate implications of C-19. I also present some anecdotal evidences of attempts to alter business models in these circumstances in order to address the challenges that certain product characteristics impose but at the same capitalize on the business opportunities presented by the essentiality of the products.     

健康领域的支付意愿研究综述

目的:归纳健康领域中有关支付意愿及其影响因素的研究,总结健康领域中支付意愿相关研究现状及前景。方法:在中国知网、万方数据库与维普网检索相关文献,经筛选后获取信息。结果:共纳入50篇相关文献,其中中国知网纳入31篇,万方数据库纳入17篇,维普网纳入2篇。结论:目前我国关于支付意愿的研究仍处于探索阶段,且大部分集中在环境领域,涉及健康领域的研究较少;在健康领域中对支付意愿的研究主要集中在具体疾病及医疗保险方面,其他方面涉及的较少。     

农户视角下的重要农业文化遗产价值与保护主体

社区视角的价值判断和行为决策逐渐成为遗产保护研究与实践的关注点。农业文化遗产是具有活态性特征的农业生产系统,也是一类特殊的保护地。农民是农业文化遗产的拥有者,对遗产价值的认知直接影响着参与保护的积极性和遗产系统的持续性。同时,农户视角下的农业文化遗产价值判断还是衡量其文化自觉和遗产保护成效的重要指标。本文提出以条件价值评估法（CVM）为手段、通过支付意愿及其影响因素反映农户视角下的遗产价值判断这一思路和方法,研究遗产保护过程中的农民文化自觉与遗产保护成效,并在全球重要农业文化遗产——江苏兴化垛田传统农业系统的核心区域进行可行性验证。案例研究显示,农户家庭保护支付意愿率仅为43.2%,家庭人口经济特征与对遗产的认知对是否有支付意愿及支付数额大小具有显著影响;无支付意愿家庭中61.6%认为遗产保护主体应当是国家和地方政府;农户的遗产认知得分较低,文化自觉性有限,保护成效尚未显著惠民。这些结果表明,遗产地在保护与发展方面取得显著成效的同时,也存在着农户认知度与参与度低的问题;有必要深入思考并科学界定“保护主体”及其保护途径,让农业文化遗产的多元价值更好地为农户所认知,使其真正成为农业文化遗产动态性与活态性保护的重要力量;条件价值评估法（CVM）可以支持社区视角的保护认知和成效研究。此外,考虑到中国许多保护地及国家公园体制试点区多有当地居民长期生活生产的现实,本文的思路与方法对于其他类型保护地和社区共管机制建设也有参考价值。     

企业孵化器发展的国际比较研究

企业孵化器的概念自20世纪80年代引入中国,逐渐成为中国高新技术产业化支撑服务体系的重要组成部分.但是从总体上讲,中国企业孵化器还没有形成良好的运行机制及管理规范,制约了孵化器作用的进一步发挥.通过对欧美国家及以色列企业孵化器发展的比较研究,揭示其企业孵化器成功发展的经验,为中国企业孵化器进一步发展提供借鉴.     

高职商务英语人才培养模式——以就业为导向、以职业能力为本位的探索与实践

高等职业教育是一种以职业能力为基础的教育。以就业为导向、以能力为本位的人才培养模式,是高等职业教育改革和发展的主要任务之一。针对高职商务英语人才培养目标,从课程体系设置和职业素质培养等方面阐述高职商务英语人才培养模式的探索与实践经验。     

自然资源非市场价值评估的选择实验法:原理及应用分析

选择实验作为资源环境领域非市场价值评估的重要方法之一.经过近30年的应用与发展,选择实验已经成为目前主要发达国家研究非市场价值评估和公共政策评价最主要的方法之一.但是,该方法在我国的理论研究相对较少,针对性研究与应用缺乏系统性.本文首先介绍了选择实验的原理,对选择实验诞生以来在资源环境和生态管理等领域的应用进行了综述,在举例说明国内外选择实验实践应用的基础上,提出了选择实验在我国可能的应用范围,包括生态补偿、流域管理、珍稀物种保护、自然景观的开发等方面,同时还总结了选择实验在实践应用中应注意的关键问题,旨在为我国相关理论研究与实践提供基础.     

关于科创企业估值难点的思考

本文从科创企业创新创业的四个维度、四个阶段、行业领域及其耦合关系,论证了其估值的复杂性;从私募投资的视角,分析了现有估值方法的局限性;从科创企业创新创业创造经济价值的三大机制的角度,阐述了其估值需要依据其创造经济价值的机制的重要性。因此,从投资的视角进行估值,不论科创企业创新创业的复杂性如何,必须以成本回收为投资基础,以创造经济收益的时间长短为投资周期,控制不确定性风险为投资底线原则,以创造更大的预期收益为投资最终目标,同时还要实现一定的投资速度。通过专家组研究、数据平台构建和深入学习与实践等方面的建议,希望能够有效突破科创企业估值难问题。     

Business schools,the anxiety of finance,and the order of the ‘middle tier’

Financial imagination plays a fundamental, yet ambivalent role in the establishment of hierarchies within and between business schools, and in business life at large. This study examines this process in the ‘middle tier’ of business education: that is, in the social space in which students and instructors understand themselves to occupy a ‘mid-range’ position within an order of excellence and success. Largely articulated through business school rankings, this order strongly relies on the centrality of the financial curriculum, proficiency in which is understood as both a proxy for smartness and a sign of moneymaking capacity. In the ‘middle tier’, this order manifests in the form of an anxiety: an order that, though legitimate, is thought not to be attained, or hardly attainable. The study draws from ethnographic investigation in a ‘middle tier’ business school with attention to how finance is made sense of in relation to an alternative curriculum, and in connection with the aim of ‘making it to the top’. A comparison with a ‘top tier’ business school allows furthering understanding of how the order of business schools relies on the anxiety of finance in order to reproduce an acquiescence to dominant financial imagination.     

Managing Disagreement while Managing not to Disagree: Polite Disagreement in Negotiation Discourse

This paper explores the exercise of politeness by Malays in business negotiations with Japanese. The study looks at how disagreement is realized linguistically. Its linguistic configurations in the form of speech acts and discourse strategies and their underlying politeness strategies are identified and described. The study also reports on how Malay cultural values are reflected in the language use. The implications of the study for negotiation in general and the expression of disagreement in particular are then discussed. The findings are significant for an understanding of disagreement by Malays, particularly when interacting in English. Additionally it provides insights into how Malay cultural values impinge on Malay interaction styles vis-à-vis styles of disagreement. The findings work towards an understanding of how Malay values are manifested in the discourse of disagreement in oral communication.