This study constructs and empirically validates a Creative Activity Chain (CCA) structure model tailored for innovation in sustainable infrastructure development. In today’s competitive environment, fostering innovation is crucial for maintaining the relevance and effectiveness of infrastructure projects. The research underscores that a significant portion of a project’s long-term value is established during its initial concept and planning stages, highlighting the critical role of creativity in infrastructure development. The CCA model is developed through theoretical frameworks and empirical data, encompassing three key dimensions: creative subject chain, creative action chain, and creative operation chain. The model’s validity is tested with data from five large infrastructure development firms in China, involving 768 R&D staff as respondents. Rigorous statistical methods, including exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), structural equation modeling (SEM), and regression analysis, confirm the model’s robustness. The findings reveal significant positive correlations between the creative activity chain’s dimensions and the successful development of sustainable infrastructure projects. Additionally, the study examines the mediating effect of link strength within the creative activity chain, demonstrating its substantial impact on project outcomes. Implications for management include promoting diverse creative teams, systematic process management, and leveraging varied operational tools to enhance creativity in infrastructure development. This research contributes to the literature by introducing an integrated model for managing creative activities in sustainable infrastructure development, offering practical insights for improving innovation processes.

The high unemployment rate among university graduates is prompting universities to enhance the business skills of their students. This research aims to holistically explain the role of university support and entrepreneurial resilience in increasing students’ business innovation capabilities. To analyze phenomena and relationships between variables, a quantitative approach using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used. This research sample involved 165 student entrepreneurs who are members of the student entrepreneur community in Indonesia. Knowledge management does not significantly impact increasing business innovation capabilities. However, perceived university support and entrepreneurial resilience have been shown to significantly impact business innovation capabilities and strengthen the influence of knowledge management activities on increasing business innovation capabilities. Universities must create policies supporting extracurricular entrepreneurship programs, focusing on building entrepreneurial resilience. This can be achieved through workshops and business incubator initiatives involving partnerships with industry and the entrepreneurial community. This research provides a new perspective in analyzing higher education entrepreneurship education through a more in-depth explanation of the extracurricular activities of the student business community to build business innovation capabilities based on knowledge, institutional, and trait theory perspectives.

Based on the resource-based view and institutional theory, this study investigates the impact of their environmental management capabilities and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) pressure on the non-financial performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In particular, it examines the interaction effect of ESG pressures on the relationship between SMEs’ environmental management capabilities and non-financial performance. For this study, a total of 1865 SME lists were obtained through Jeonnam Techno Park and Jeonnam Small Business Job and Economy Promotion Agency. Based on this, a total of 127 questionnaires were returned as a result of a telephone, e-mail, and online survey, and finally, an empirical analysis was conducted based on 120 questionnaires. We conducted an empirical analysis of Korean SMEs and obtained the following results: First, environmental management capabilities have a significant, positive effect on SMEs’ non-financial performance. Second, ESG pressure has a significant, negative effect on the non-financial performance of SMEs. Next, we analyzed the moderating effect of ESG pressures and observed that ESG pressures strengthen the positive effect of environmental management capabilities on non-financial performance. Based on the resource-based perspective and institutional theory, this study provides meaningful academic implications by examining environmental management capabilities and ESG pressures, which have not been identified in previous studies, as factors of non-financial performance that are becoming important under the new management paradigm, such as climate change and ESG. Furthermore, while ESG pressure has a significant negative effect on non-financial performance, we find that it is a moderating variable that strengthens the relationship between SMEs’ environmental management capabilities and non-financial performance, which has useful academic and practical implications for ESG and strategic management.

Institutional thinking, a concept that underscores the importance of internal perspectives and the enduring purposes of institutions, plays a critical role in maintaining societal stability and ethical governance. This paper explores the dual nature of institutional thinking, highlighting its positive aspects and inherent dangers. Through an examination of economic, political, and philosophical forces, the paper identifies modern challenges that undermine long-term commitments and ethical values within institutions. By drawing on historical and contemporary examples, including slavery, Nazism, and discriminatory practices, the discussion provides a comprehensive understanding of how institutional thinking can both promote human well-being and perpetuate systemic issues. The paper concludes by emphasizing the need to reaffirm institutional values, promote long-term thinking, and balance individual rights with collective responsibilities to harness the positive aspects of institutional thinking while mitigating its risks.

Delay is the leading challenge in completing Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) projects. Delay can cause excess costs, which reduces company profits. The relationship between subcontractors and the main contractor is a critical factor that can support the success of an EPC project. The problematic financial condition of the main contractor can cause delay in payments to subcontractors. This research will set a model that combines the system dynamics and earned value method to describe the impact of subcontractor advance payments on project performance. The system dynamics method is used to model and analyze the impact of interactions between variables affecting project performance, while the earned value method is applied to quantitatively evaluate project performance and forecast schedule and cost outcomes. These two methods are used complementarily to achieve a holistic understanding of project dynamics and to optimize decision-making. The designed model selects the optimum scenario for project time and costs. The developed model comprises project performance, costs, cash flow, and performance forecasting sub-models. The novelty in this research is a new model for optimizing project implementation time and costs, adding payment rate variables to subcontractors and subcontractor performance rates. The designed model can provide additional information to assist project managers in making decisions.

This study explores the interconnected roles of organizational atmosphere, psychological capital, work engagement, and psychological contract on the work performance. Structural equation modeling and moderated mediation analyses were conducted to test the hypothesized relationships. Methodologically, the study employed a stratified random sampling of 369 faculty members across various disciplines. Key findings reveal that both organizational atmosphere and psychological capital have a significant positive impact on work engagement, which in turn, enhances work performance. Work engagement acted as a mediator in these relationships. Moreover, the psychological contract was found to moderate the relationship between work engagement and work performance, indicating that the engagement-performance link is stronger when employees perceive their psychological contract has been fulfilled. The implications of this research are multifaceted. Theoretically, it contributes to organizational behavior literature by integrating psychological contracts into the engagement-performance narrative. Practically, it provides actionable insights for university administrators, suggesting that investments in a supportive organizational atmosphere and the development of faculty psychological capital are likely to yield improvements in engagement and performance. The study also underscores the importance of effectively managing psychological contracts to maximize employee output.