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Personal relationships (i.e., friendships) have been the subject of a great deal of research in the business discipline, with most of the literature concentrating on either positive or negative firm-level results from such interactions. Scientific research, however, has yet to resolve the conflicts that occur between managers and their respective firms when there is a personal relationship between managers of buying and supplying firms in the supply chain. This paper addresses this important gap in supply chain literature. The research is qualitative in nature using the phenomenological approach for exploratory purposes. Overall, 30 semi-structured interviews are conducted with senior managers of purchasing and sourcing firms from Australia's manufacturing and service sector. Results from this study show that personal relationships between buying and supplying managers develop five different conflicts between managers and their respective firms with the potential to generate negative firm-level outcomes. Furthermore, findings from this study suggest that firms should remain cautious when relying on the personal relationships of managers within inter-firm relationships, as such relationships have the potential to divert managers from their firm's interests. The paper concludes by articulating its contribution to theory and practice, alongside the limitations and future research directions.

Personal relationships have been the subject of much research in supply chains, with most studies suggesting that these relationships have a positive effect on supply chain communication. Nevertheless, it is important to realise that a lack of a personal relationship will adversely affect the communication process between the individuals of supply chain member firms. This research fills this important gap in supply chain communication literature. As there is limited research in this field and qualitative approaches are considered ideal for evaluating emerging research phenomena, a case study approach is employed. Overall, 20 semi-structured interviews with senior managers from ten different firms engaged in the process of buying and selling logistics services are undertaken. The results show that the absence of a personal relationship between buyers and suppliers of logistics service providers negatively affects the communication process between the managers of focal firms in five distinct ways. The study concludes by discussing its implications for theory and practice, alongside limitations and future research directions.

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the relationship between mindfulness and study engagement focusing on the mediating mechanism between the relationships proposed. Based on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, the authors examine whether psychological capital (PsyCap) and intrinsic motivation mediate the relationship between mindfulness traits and study engagement. Design/methodology/approach: Path analysis was conducted to test the hypothesized relationships among a sample of 428 international students studying in Chinese universities in Shanghai. Findings: The results support the hypothesized relationships and imply that mindfulness is an essential antecedent of study engagement and more mindful students are more engaged in studying. Besides, the relationship between self-rated mindfulness and study engagement is mediated by PsyCap and intrinsic motivation. Research limitations/implications: For universities, these findings help develop unique educational strategies to resolve issues related to study involvement. The study has several theoretical and practical implications. Originality/value: The current study explored the relationship between mindfulness and study engagement in international students studying in Chinese universities – an understudied context in higher education. The authors find that mindfulness has positive effects on study engagement through PsyCap and intrinsic motivation.

Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been the subject of research in many disciplines. However, its application to the supply chain domain is scant and limited. In particular, extant literature is mute on how BRI may potentially impact sustainable supply chains. Given that BRI is a large-scale project focusing on building large-scale logistics infrastructure, it can have serious implications for sustainable supply chains from environmental and social perspectives. This study attempts to address this gap. Using a phenomenological approach and conducting 36 semi-structured interviews with senior managers from five South Asian countries (Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, and China), this study reveals that BRI can potentially harm organizations' supply chains from environmental, social, and governance perspectives. The study contextualizes the findings in the extant literature and further articulates its implications for theory and practice. It finally concludes by discussing its limitations and future research directions.

Knowledge management has gained vital importance in supply chain management discipline in the last few years. Many studies in supply chain management now argue that effective knowledge sharing is crucial for firm's success. In addition, effective knowledge management in supply chains positively impacts a firm's ability to innovate and remain competitive in the market. However, firms should remain cautions as senior managers can also deliberately hide knowledge from their subordinates in an organisation, which can negatively impact their work performance and innovative work behaviour. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to propose some potential determinants of top-down knowledge hiding in buying and supplying firms, which can adversely affect innovative work behaviour of managers. Furthermore, some suggestions are offered to firms on how to promote the culture of knowledge sharing, while at the same time discouraging the culture of knowledge hiding in firms.

The removal of Cu(II) from chemically diverse wastewater was studied using a sewage sludgebased adsorbent in which the sewage sludge surface had been functionalized with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid anhydride (EDTA) and chitosan via a one-step cross-linkage method. The adsorbent was characterized by scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The effect of metal concentration, contact time, changes in pH, ionic environment, presence of competitive ammonia, and recyclability were all investigated. The EDTA-chitosan modified sludge showed good adsorption capacity (42.4 mg g–1) at pH 3.0, which could be ascribed to the attraction between Cu(II) ions and functional groups of the EDTA-chitosan modified sludge surface. The adsorption isotherm data fitted the Langmuir isotherm suggesting that the adsorption process was homogenous. The adsorption equilibrium was reached within 270 min. The kinetics of adsorption followed a pseudo-second-order model, indicating the adsorption of Cu(II) on the surface of EDTA-chitosan modified sludge was due to chelation and ion exchange. The Cu(II) adsorption by EDTA-chitosan modified sludge in a chemically diverse environment including cations and ammonia was excellent. Furthermore, the adsorbent is stable and has good recyclability with more than 27 mg g–1adsorption capacity after several cycles of regeneration, which suggests its suitability in wastewater treatment.

This study explores a determinant of escalation of commitment when a personal relationship is present between managers of buying and supplying firms in the supply chain context from an agency theory perspective. As there is very limited research in this area, a qualitative, case study method, employing ten semi-structured interviews with senior managers of buying firms was undertaken. Findings from this study reveal that higher interpersonal trust which develops as a result of a personal relationship between managers of buying and supplying firms compels managers of buying firms to escalate their commitment. Results also unveil that escalation of commitment increases operational risk of buying firms. Buying firms can use this finding to understand how and why their managers engage in an escalation of commitment when they share a personal relationship with a manager from the supplying firm. The paper concludes by discussing research limitations and future research directions.