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Issue
1, Volume 6, January 2009
Title of the Paper: A New
Traceability System for SMEs with Open Source Software
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Authors:
Yasuo Uchida, Seigo Matsuno, Tatsuhiro Tamaki, Takao Ito
Abstract: Corporations are currently making progress in their efforts toward
traceability, against the backdrop of practical realization of the automatic
identification technologies such as RF tags and 2D barcodes. In order to
consistently manage and access various types of product-related history
information throughout the supply chain, it is necessary to develop
information networks and databases for sharing that information between firms,
and EDI systems play a central role in that context. The main contribution of
this paper is to propose a new distributed traceability system based on open
source software which is particularly suitable for small and medium
enterprises (SMEs). In this paper, we first conduct an exploratory analysis of
factors involved in the adoption of traceability systems by small and medium
enterprises, based on a review of previous research on traceability and
questionnaire survey data. And then we examine the current situation and
issues of RF tags, 2D barcodes and EDI systems, and their linkage with
in-house backend systems. Furthermore, we propose a new model of the
traceability system using open source software which is suitable for small and
medium enterprises based on the above analysis, and discuss the model's
managerial implications.
Keywords:
Traceability Systems, Small and Medium Enterprises, Open Source Software,
Supply Chain, 2D barcodes, EDI
Title of the Paper: The
Study of the Correlation among Personality Traits, Leadership Competence and
Organizational Performance
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Authors:
Meng-Long Shih, Shouhua Lin, Shu-Hua Hsiao, Liang Ming Huang, Chaochang Chiu,
K. Y. Chen
Abstract: The administration and management of a farmer’s associations are
governed by Farmer’s Association Act and Regulations of Credit Division of a
Farmer’s Association to ensure a solid and solvent management of a
farmer-oriented financial institution, guarantee the benefits and privileges
of account holders, and promote the economic development and prosperity of the
communities for farmers and fishermen. This study intends to explore the
correlation among personality traits, leadership competence and organizational
performance. The methods include data envelopment analysis and structural
equation modeling. The findings suggest that the leader’s charisma
demonstrated by the chief executive director serve as an important
intermediated variable for affecting the performance of the management of
Farmers’ Association and propose suggestions for the management. The
indicators of personality traits of chief executive directors in a farmer’s
association should be taken into consideration in the election of a chief
executive director. As well, the indicators of leadership competence of chief
executive directors in a farmer’s association should be taken into
consideration in the election of a chief executive director.
Keywords:
Operational performance, Data envelopment analysis, Structural equation
modeling, Personality traits, Farmers’ organization, Leadership
Title of the Paper:
Maintenance Policies and Buffer Sizing: An Optimization Model
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Authors:
Teresa Murino, Elpidio Romano, Pasquale Zoppoli
Abstract: In production, stops due to maintenance create imbalances within the
system. Let's assume that you have a series of n machines and that the i
stops. In this case the i+1 would be able to continue to work only as long as
stocks were available on the machine, while the i-1 could continue to work
only if there was the possibility that its production would be at least
temporarily placed on the machine. Therefore it is normal in order to contain
the system imbalances, due to maintenance stops, introduce some buffers. In
this paper we propose a simulation model to define the optimal dimension of
the buffer, with regards to the maintenance policy that is applied to the
production system. The model can simulate a system of units that can have very
different characteristics, such as productivity or reliability, and also we
can simulate an inter-operational buffer between them. The model is based on
the concept of thresholds which, when crossed by the parameter of wear,
determine different maintenance interventions. The cost optimization consists
in determining, by simulation, at what value the thresholds should be fixed to
minimize the overall maintenance cost. We use the model to determine the
buffer dimension trend depending on the cost of the buffer.
Keywords:
Maintenance buffer, condition based maintenance, simulation, buffer,
optimization
Title of the Paper:
Hybrid Remanufacturing/Manufacturing Systems: Secondary Markets Issues and
Opportunities
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Authors:
M. Gallo, L. Guerra, G. Guizzi
Abstract: In this paper secondary markets opportunities for hybrid
remanufacturing/manufacturing systems will be analyzed. Recovering options
allow increasing product’s inherent value recovery rate and it have been
experimented by many manufacturers for several years. Particularly, the
remanufacturing has been receiving great attention from many OEMs. In this
case, the joint presence of high quality returns and demand for such products
on secondary markets (e.g. emerging markets), makes the management deciding
about allocating these units on these secondary markets rather than
remanufacturing them and supplying the primary market. To gain insight into
such a system a simulation model has been developed by means of Arena and a
statistical analysis of data obtained from some experimental campaigns has
been carried out. In this way, the factors that mainly impact on system
performance and the operating conditions in which selling on the secondary
market is more profitable will be identified.
Keywords:
Strategic analysis, Quality uncertainty, Remanufacturing, Secondary markets,
Simulation
Title of the Paper:
Economy Efficiency for Renewable Energy Sources in Greece
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Authors:
Evangelos C. Tsiblostefanakis, Koralia A. Mantouka
Abstract: Energy is one of the most valuable social goods. A very important of
the social economy is the search and discovering of new energy sources, the
most efficient management and saving of existent energy resources, as well as
environment protection. In this paper the contribution of public funding
energy projects for producing electricity from RES sectors, to investment
efficiency, will be examined. The Renewable Energy Sources under investigation
in this paper are: Wind Energy, Solar Energy and Hydro Energy. There will be
established for the numerical indeces for measuring and comparing financial
efficiency of different energy investments (eg IRR – Internal rate of return
and NPV – Net Present Value).
Keywords:
Energy, RES, IRR, NPV, Greece
Issue
2, Volume 6, February 2009
Title of the Paper:
Implementation of a Knowledge Management Tool within a VDO Network:
Preliminary Results
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Authors:
Paolo Taticchi, Flavio Tonelli, Eduardo Hernandez, Luca Cagnazzo
Abstract: This paper presents a Knowledge Management (KM) software tool which
has been designed to support managing implementation of best practices and
improvement initiatives within a VDO (Virtual Development Office) Network. A
VDO Network is an organization integrated by SMEs, with a particular form of
governance. Furthermore, the KM tool enables building a knowledge base of key
capabilities available to a VDO to support decision-making and responding
effectively to new business opportunities. KM tool acts not only as a
repository for knowledge pertaining to improvement initiatives, but it also
drives SMEs to apply and share that knowledge within the wider VDO Enterprise
Network. The availability of KM tools for SMEs is rare. This is more evident
for Enterprise Networks. The KM tool can be easily modified to address better
the requirements of the user (VDO) due to its flexible architecture.
Keywords:
Knowledge Management, Knowledge Sharing, Virtual Development Office, SMEs
Title of the Paper: OLAP
Technique – An It&C Support for Marketing Managers Decision-Making Process
(Case Study: Sales Multidimensional Analysis Applied in Hotel Services
Industry)
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Authors:
Adrian Micu, Angela-Eliza Micu, Alexandru Capatina
Abstract: In order to generate the enthusiasm and implicitly, the customers
loyalty, every organization must efficiently manage a marketing database The
information stocked in the databases (gathered by means of the direct contacts
with the sales representatives, as a result of some marketing researches,
registrations on the companies' websites, etc) allow an efficient management
of the customers' portfolio, the determination of a customer profile and an
efficient position of the offers on the market by means of the on-line
analytical processing (OLAP) technique. In this paper, we emphasize the main
capabilities of a CRM software that we developed and applied on the customers'
portfolio of a Romanian hotel. The multidimensional analysis of the sales
applied to the information about customers stored in the software's database
using OLAP technique provides a real support for the marketing managers'
decision making process. By testing the functions of this software, we reveal
the possibilities to create a personalized CRM strategy, to determine
customers' profitability using a RFM model and to determine the best offer
positioning, taking into account the distribution of sales according to the
most important segmentation criteria, using online analytical processing.
Keywords:
CRM software, online analytical processing, sales multidimensional analysis,
hotel services management
Title of the Paper:
Determination of a Cause and Effect Decision Making Model for Leisure Farm’s
Service Quality in Taiwan
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Authors:
Zen-Pin Lin, Ray Wang, Ming-Lang Tseng
Abstract: Causal and effect analysis influences the effectiveness of
decision-making and the consumer behaviour. The complex relationship between
cause and effect as well as the fuzzy nature of human life make the casual and
effect analysis difficult. This research applies a fuzzy DEMATEL method for
group decision-making to gather group ideas and analyze the cause and effect
relationship of complex problems in fuzzy environments. Procedures of the
fuzzy DEMATEL method are presented. Using the fuzzy DEMATEL procedures, a set
of service quality criteria involved are separated into the cause and effect
groups for helping decision-makers focus on those criteria that provide great
influence. An empirical study applies the fuzzy DEMATEL method to the service
quality expectation of Taiwanese leisure farms. This study used purpose
sampling, a total of 215 valid instruments collected from Beijing tourists’
perception on service quality. The result and contribution are discussed.
Keywords:
Service quality expectation, fuzzy logic, Decision Making Trial and Evaluation
Laboratory (DEMATEL)
Title of the Paper: The
Analysis of Store Image Concerning the Visual Point Tacking of the Consumers
on Viewing the Window Display
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Authors:
Wen-Cheng Wang, Ying-Hsiu Chen, Chen-Yuan Kao
Abstract: The models of global economy, society, culture and business have
changed greatly as a result of the improvement of scientific development and
the standard of living. Window display has propagandized media effect.
Consumers can get fashion information from shop windows; stores can attract
consumers and stimulate their purchase desire. The main purpose of window
display is to attraction consumer’s attention, deliver the product’s
information and induce consumer’s memory connection. Therefore, vision
composition of window display can create psychological feeling and emotion and
it will be the first store image information received by consumers; it mainly
influences consumer’s decision of whether to stay or make a purchase and so it
turns out to be the key factor which determines the success of window display.
This research is based on the multitudinous conditions of the vision
requirement and the numerous complicated formations of the window display in
order to satisfy the visual perception. Through the measurement of the
eye-tracker equipment (Face Lab), we seek to understand while the consumers
are viewing the window display, how can the various design affect the visual
focus and the route production of the consumers. Therefore, it is known
through the result of this research’s experiment that 1) when the subject is
viewing the windows display, the first visual focus is placed on the central
position of the windows, and the visual tracking is been emphasized on the
displayed products; 2) The different display position of the products will
cast an effect on the concentration distribution of the subjects when viewing
the window display; 3) generally speaking, when the subjects are viewing the
window display samples, the order of the first five fixation points of the
visual tracking transit in a clock-wise direction, the first is to view the
displayed products, and then it’s the project, the properties and the
background of the theme; 4) the difference in the design of the window display
is the cause for the different visual landingpoints of the consumers,
moreover, the concentrated region of the visual tracking will be different as
well.
Keywords:
Store Image, Window Display, Eye Tracking
Issue
3, Volume 6, March 2009
Title of the Paper:
Towards Profitability on the Financial Markets; A Discriminant Analysis
Approach
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Authors:
Stefan Alexandru Ionescu, Cristiana Stefania Murgoci, Camelia Monica Gheorghe,
Emilia Ionescu
Abstract: In this paper we tried to group in three classes the companies
listed without interruption for 6 years from Bucharest Stock Exchange. We used
cluster analysis, namely an iterative method of clustering, the k-means
algorithm. Using data results, we have made tests for the three classes of
prediction using discriminant analysis. Fisher's functions have helped us to
make predictions on the affiliation of a new listed company on one of the 3
classes of risk. In this study, emphasis was placed on the liquidity of
companies, but also on how efficient are used the raw materials, the basic
elements in the current financial crisis. This should give us a clearer
picture of companies that are ready to get over this difficult time.
Keywords:
Discriminant analysis, Cluster analysis, Pattern recognition, Stock exchange,
Portfolio analysis, Classifiers
Title of the Paper: The
Transmission Mechanism of Monetary Policy in Romania
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Authors:
Stefan Alexandru Ionescu, Andreea Raluca Voicu, Alexandru Ionescu
Abstract: As concerns the process to traverse the macroeconomics analysis
reasoning of the budgetary earnings and expenses, there shall be crossed the
phases whose target consists in defining and understanding the „the balanced
production” term. The issue of the consequences generated by the increase of
the real quantity of money on the interest rate from the transmission
mechanism point of view is by means of the monetary policy management
mechanism that the National Bank shall control the money stock as an
independent variable, and, consequently, shall also control the interest rate
and the available income as associate variables. The multiplier modelling
process can make it possible to render evident a possible interaction between
the central bank and the other banks as concerns the money offer. This
interaction implies an adjustment mechanism that consists in re-defining the
monetary base, in re-formulating the multiplier, and in studying the money –
credit relationship.
Keywords:
Macroeconomics modeling, cybernetic systems, money supply, multiplier process,
interest rate, monetary base
Title of the Paper:
Economic Comparison of Conventional and Optimum Scheduling of the Electric
Transmission/Distribution Substations in Jeddah City Using the Net Present
Value
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Authors:
Said Ali Hassan, Ibrahim A. El-Darrab
Abstract: This paper focuses on the electricity field in Jeddah city. It is
devoted to predicting and economically scheduling the needed number of
electric transmission/distribution substations for long-term time horizon (10
years). Forecasting is based on predicting the electricity total demand in
each year and then finding the needed number of substations for each year. The
forecasting is used to predict the projected annual total consumptions for
years from 2009 to 2018 using an artificial Neural Network (ANN) depending on
the historical data for six predictor variables for the time period 1979-2008.
Scheduling is based on a dynamic programming model under the constraints of
needed demand and budget availability. The objective function is to minimize
the total cost; the decision variables are the number of
transmission/distribution substations to be built in each year (stage). The
state of the system is the number of transmission/distribution substations
still required in remaining years. The optimum schedule for constructing and
operating the substations is found and compared with the conventional method
of scheduling used by the company. The comparison is based on the net present
value for both alternatives. The net present value (NPV) = 1446.783 and
1748.981 millions Saudi Riyals (SR) for the optimal and the conventional
schedules, respectively. So the NPV for the optimal schedule saves SR 302.198
millions, i.e. about 17% over the planning horizon of the next 10 years.
Keywords:
Net Present Value, Dynamic Programming, Electric Transmission/Distribution
Substations, Scheduling
Title of the Paper:
Database Marketing Intelligence Supported by Ontologies
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Authors:
Filipe Pinto, Manuel Filipe Santos, Alzira Marques
Abstract: Marketing departments handles with a great volume of data which are
normally task or marketing activity dependent. This requires the use of
certain, and perhaps unique, specific knowledge background and framework. This
article aims to introduce an almost unexplored research at marketing field:
the ontological approach to the Database Marketing process. We propose a
framework supported by ontologies and knowledge extraction from databases
techniques. Therefore this paper has two purposes: to integrate the
ontological approach into Database Marketing and to create a domain ontology,
a knowledge base that will enhance the entire process at both levels,
marketing and knowledge extraction techniques. In order to structure and
systematize the marketing concepts, Action Research methodology has been
applied. At the end of this research the ontologies will be used to
pre-generalize the Database Marketing knowledge through a knowledge base.
Keywords:
Ontologies, Database Marketing, Knowledge Extraction Process, Action Research
Title of the Paper: Data
Mining Strategies and Methods to Develop Microfinance Market - Use Case
Currency Exchange
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Authors:
Hameed Ullah Khan, Zahid Ullah, Maqsood Mahmud
Abstract: The intrinsic characteristics of data mining are being inculcated in
the market of microfinance. The use case that is brought under our
consideration is of Currency Exchange. The idea was conceived and perceived by
the current financial crises in the world market in the year 2008-09.The
financial recession in world wide compelled individuals to think and start
micro businesses rather than macro businesses. In our paper we conceived and
designed some algorithms by using data mining techniques to have general micro
currency exchange businesses for a developing country. Our algorithm processes
two years historical data of currency rates and applies data mining
strategies. The "Median Method" and "Rise & Fall Method" with probabilistic
approach are being presented. It can be applied to N year’s data with unless
desired results are achieved. This is to give best choice to micro currency
business men to take decision either to buy or to sell currency. Some previous
currency rates (i.e. Ups & Down) are also recorded from a popular bank of
Canada & currency open markets as a proof of concept using our algorithm. The
statistical and graphical analysis are being made on the data. Our algorithm
can be efficiently used by all those who wish to initialize a small business
(Cottage Industries) with a profitable income with less investment. Our
research will lead to a new dimension in the fields of Micro finance and Data
mining.
Keywords:
Data mining strategies , Microfinance, Currency Exchange, Rise and Falls
Method
Issue
4, Volume 6, April 2009
Title of the Paper:
System-Theoretic Foundations of the Theory of Economic Policy
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Authors:
Reinhard Neck
Abstract: In this paper, we formulate a dynamic theory of economic policy
using some concepts and axioms of mathematical system theory. First, the
notion of a dynamic economic system is characterized axiomatically. Then the
basic problem of the theory of economic policy as introduced by Tinbergen and
Theil is expressed as a control problem for a dynamic economic system. In this
way, a more general framework for the theory of economic policy than available
so far can be developed in terms of mathematical system theory. Finally, we
discuss some extensions of the framework, in particular to economic policy
problems with more than one decision-maker.
Keywords:
Dynamic system, system theory, control theory, economics, economic policy,
modeling
Title of the Paper:
Estimating Spatial Heterogeneous Panel Data: An Information-Theoretic Approach
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Authors:
Rosa Bernardini Papalia
Abstract: This paper introduces an entropy-based estimation strategy for
spatial heterogeneous panel data models where separate processes for each unit
are considered. The starting point is a general model specification which
account for both temporal and spatial lagged effects in a panel data context
by treating individual relationships as a system of seemingly unrelated
regression equations. An empirical application is provided to demonstrate
practical implementation of the GME estimator when one has to deal with
estimation of ill-posed or ill-conditioned models in analyzing spatial
structures.
Keywords:
Heterogeneous panel data, Generalized maximum entropy estimation, Spatial
models
Title of the Paper:
Artificial Neural Network Model for Estimating the Female and Male Population
in Working Age in Venezuela
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Authors:
Samaria Munoz-Bravo, Anna Perez-Mendez, Francklin Rivas-Echeverria
Abstract: This work presents an Artificial Neural Networks application for
estimating the female and male population with working age in Venezuela. This
model will predict future values of the Venezuelan population with working
age, which will help in decision making at governmental, firms and
institutions responsible for Venezuelan social security, in order to improve
the functioning of the labor market both female and male. For the creation of
the model it is used the previous year values related to the employed,
unemployed and inactive population (out of the labor force).
Keywords:
Labor Force, Regression Analysis, Artificial Neural Networks
Title of the Paper:
Improvement's Methodology, under Uncertainty, of the Management of a Public
Transportation Service
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Authors:
Catalin Popescu, Tatiana Cucu, Luminita Ion, Y. Ducq, Augustin Mitu
Abstract: To be attractive, a self-service public transportation (bicycles or
cars) have to ensure to the subscribers a degree of availability without
fault. Our work is focused in the development of a methodology to aid decision
makers to ensure the balance between the stations, to test new locations for
the car-sharing stations. This work proposes a hybrid method based on concepts
resulting from fuzzy logic, optimization and the theory of the beliefs, making
it possible to model the preferences of the subscribers and to determine the
maximum utilization ratio of the stations. The manager of a car-sharing
service can based on this step for better planning the activities of his team
and to reduce the cost of unavailability and the exploitation. Performance
indicators are defined for it and the optimization is based on the modelling
of preferences of customers.
Keywords:
Car-sharing, grid GRAI, use rate of a service, customers’ needs, fuzzy logic,
uncertainty
Issue
5, Volume 6, May 2009
Title of the Paper: A
Managerial Approach Regarding the Romanian Municipal Bonds Market in Regional
Context
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Authors:
Mirela Matei, Catalin Popescu, Mariana Eftimie
Abstract: The universe of bonds is huge because the innovative process is very
intense. For this reason, the issuers have multiple choices in order to
finance their activity and the investors have many possibilities to buy
different types of bonds. In Romania, the offer of bonds is limited, the
public securities being the most important type of bonds listed on exchange.
The municipal bonds are new instruments used by many Romanian local
authorities in order to finance their development’s activity. These securities
are important not only for issuers, but also for local and foreign investors.
Many of these securities are traded on the official Romanian stock market -
the Bucharest Stock Exchange. For many years, the municipal bonds were the
only securities traded on the bonds market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange. In
time, even if the dimensions of this market have grown, the share has
decreased because new bonds are listed on official stock exchange: corporate
bonds and treasury bonds.
Keywords:
Bond, securities, municipalities, loan, interest rate, capital market,
maturity
Title of the Paper:
Nonlinear Forecasting using Nonparametric Transfer Function Models
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Authors:
Jun M. Liu
Abstract: The focus of this paper is using nonparametric transfer function
models in forecasting. Nonparametric smoothing methods are used to model the
relationship between variables (the transfer function) and the noise is
modeled as an Autoregressive Moving Average (ARMA) process. The transfer
function is estimated jointly with the ARMA parameters. Nonparametric
smoothing methods are flexible thus can be used to model highly nonlinear
relationships between variables. In this paper polynomial splines are used to
model the transfer function. Modeling noise term as an ARMA process removes
the serial correlation so the transfer function can be estimated efficiently.
As a result, the nonparametric transfer function model can generate accurate
forecasts when the transfer function is highly nonlinear with unknown
functional form. The proposed polynomial splines-based estimator is also
highly computationally efficient. The performance of nonparametric transfer
function models is demonstrated in this paper by forecasting river flow based
on temperature and precipitation. A comparison of the results show that the
performance of this model is better than some widely accepted benchmark
models.
Keywords:
Nonparametric smoothing, Time series, Forecast
Title of the Paper: Green
Environmental Business
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Authors:
Davorin Kralj
Abstract: The process of market globalization has lead to many changes.
Corporate responsibility now extends to encompass not only the needs of
employees, but also the environment and society as a whole. The article
focuses on green environmental business as a part of global marketing.
Integrated marketing management integrates the requirements of sustainable
green development and environmental excellence. The world is today facing
unique environmental challenges. The idea that business has a responsibility
other than producing goods and services is not new. Corporate responsibility
now extends to encompass not only the needs of employees, but also the
environment and society as a whole. As industry grows in strength and
importance, it is also is being called upon to share the benefits of its
growth with members of society. The article focuses on Sustainable Green
Business as a way for sustainable development. PESTLE analysis is a useful
tool for understanding the industry situation as a whole, and is often used in
conjunction with a SWOT analysis to assess the situation of an individual
business.
Keywords:
Business, environment, management, PESTLE analysis, sustainable development
Title of the Paper:
Application of Experiential Marketing Strategy to Identify Factors Affecting
Guests' Leisure Behaviour in Taiwan Hot-Spring Hotel
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Authors:
Kuo-Ming Lin, Chia-Ming Chang, Zen-Pin Lin, Ming-Lang Tseng, Lawrence W. Lan
Abstract: Understanding the experiential outcomes of guests' stay is becoming
increasingly important for developing practicable marketing strategies in
hot-spring hotel service economy. This paper proposes a conceptual framework
to explicate the causal hypotheses among experiential marketing, perceived
experiential value, guest satisfaction, and guest loyalty. A questionnaire
survey is conducted to the guests staying in hot-spring hotels and structural
equation modeling approach is used to test and validate the hypothesized
relationships. The results indicate that all causal relationships are
statistically significant except for the relationship between perceived
experiential value and guest loyalty. The present study provides an in-depth
understanding of the hot-spring hotel guests' repurchase decision-making
intention. The findings can facilitate the hotel practitioners to develop more
practical marketing strategies.
Keywords:
Experiential marketing, guest loyalty, guest satisfaction, hot-spring hotel,
perceived experiential value, structural equation modeling
Title of the Paper: A
Quantitative Operational Risk Management Model
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Authors:
Aleksandra Brdar Turk
Abstract: A possible modified use of the New Basel Accord’s LDA capital
adequacy calculation method is proposed, including expert’s estimates in
addition to available historical data and using calculation methods from the
Extreme Value Theory (EVT). In financial institutions with short histories the
operational risk losses follow a fat-tailed distribution from the EVT, which
is why an EVT-based model is most suitable for their analysis. In cases of
small historical data samples the addition of experts’ estimates and the use
of simulated data provides for both a simple and a reliable model to be used
for operational risk management by identifying key business areas and key risk
factors in both smaller financial institution as well as larger financial
institutions, sub-divided into smaller comprehensive sections.
Keywords:
Operational risk, Extreme value theory, Quantitative model
Issue
6, Volume 6, June 2009
Title of the Paper: An
Empirical Study of Supplier Development Practices in a Developing Economy -
SMEs Perspective
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Authors:
Nadeem Kureshi, Faheem Qureshi, Ali Sajid
Abstract: SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) sector forms as much as 99% of
business entities around the world. While SMEs in developed economies are
getting fair attention of policy makers, those in developing economies,
particularly in South Asia, are yet to get such attention. Being the primary
suppliers to most exporting firms, or being exporters themselves, the
performance of SMEs can be fairly expected to contribute to industrial
development and growth of an economy. With the recent emphasis by businesses
around the world on "core-competence", more and more activities are being
outsourced to SMEs in developing economies. However the performance and
business practices of SMEs in developing economies remain much lower than
those of SMEs from developed economies. Considering the lack of required
policy support for SMEs, effective Supplier Development by large buyers
presents a potent tool for developing the performance and business practices
of SMEs in developing economies. Based on the literature base addressing
current supplier development practices around the globe, particularly in
developing economies, this paper presents the results of a survey of Supplier
Development activities undertaken by manufacturing rms in Pakistan. The
results offer an insight into the most and least used techniques with
discussion on the reasons of adoption or otherwise. The results will be of
interest to large firms that outsource their business activities to South
Asia.
Keywords:
SMEs, Supplier Development, Outsourcing, Developing Economies, Pakistan,
Extended Enterprise
Title of the Paper:
Organisation and Operation of the Romanian Capital Market
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Authors:
Mirela Matei, Catalin Popescu, Mariana Eftimie
Abstract: The European exchanges are in a development process that means
consolidation through mergers and acquisitions and also, innovation of
structured and derivatives products. The Romanian capital market has a
marginal position on European continent because of its small dimensions and
modest offer of derivatives products. Some steps have been made in the
development process in Romania, but some measures must be taken in the future:
the launch of commodities derivatives, the calculation of new stock indices
and mergers between the Romanian exchanges.
Keywords:
Capital market, exchange, derivatives, innovation, crises
Title of the Paper: A
Competency-Based Model for the Success of an Entrepreneurial Start-Up
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Authors:
Wei-Wen Wu
Abstract: Many people envy entrepreneurs and want to emulate them as a road to
wealth, fame, and freedom. A large number of works have argued about what
makes a person act entrepreneurially, and various traits and characteristics
of entrepreneurs have been enthusiastically discussed. This study focuses on
one particular point: how to facilitate a person’s efforts to become a small
firm entrepreneur through competency assessment and development. To this end,
this study proposes an entrepreneur competency model and employs the rough set
theory (RST) and the best attribute-value (BAV) to investigate whether there
are diverse competencies between small firm entrepreneurs and large firm
managers. The results of this study indicate that the small firm entrepreneur
generally excels in “building a mechanism for talent development”, while a
large firm manager is good at “knowing the different urgency of elements of a
problem” or “making feasible solutions for actions”. Thus, if a large firm
manager wants to emulate a small firm entrepreneur, the suggestion is to
de-emphasize methodical thinking and paper work, and to undertake more human
networking.
Keywords:
Entrepreneur, competency model, rough set theory, best attribute-value
Title of the Paper:
Optimization Framework for Road Network Directed by Unblocked Reliability for
Given Network Topology and Inelastic Demand with Stochastic User Equilibrium
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Authors:
Shujun Hou, Naoki Maruyama, Masafumi Hirota, Seizo Kato
Abstract: To provide more reliable service for drivers, it is necessary to
establish an optimization framework in which a reliability index is adopted as
a performance index to evaluate road networks. First, a modified fourlevel
model of unblocked reliability (link, path, Origin-Destination pair and entire
road network) is proposed, in which the unblocked reliabilities of the
Origin-Destination pair and the entire road network are formulated by the law
of total probability when the unblocked reliability of path is a conditional
probability. Then, a bi-level program is established based on the new model of
unblocked reliability since planners design the road network and drivers
respond the change in the road network. The objective function of the
upper-level program is the maximized balance between the unblocked reliability
of the entire road network and the road network expansion ratio which implies
cost of improving the road network. The program equivalent of Stochastic User
Equilibrium is adopted as the lower-level model so as to achieve consistency
in route choices and to model the congestion effect in the road network. Next,
a set of link capacity expansions is determined as a planning scheme by
solving the bi-level program. This planning scheme not only improves the link
of lower reliability but also takes into account the performance of the
Origin-Destination pair and the entire road network. The proposed optimization
framework is capable of improving the road network to its highest possible
reliability level with a minimum scale of road network expansion.
Keywords:
Road Network Planning, Bi-level Program, Unblocked Reliability, Stochastic
User Equilibrium, Logit loading model
Issue
7, Volume 6, July 2009
Title of the Paper: A
Framework for Assessment and Implementation of Product-Service Systems
Strategies: Learning From an Action Research in the Health-Care Sector
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Authors:
Flavio Tonelli, Paolo Taticchi, Elena Starnini Sue
Abstract: Product-Service Systems (PSS) are new business strategies moving and
extending the product value towards its functional usage and related required
services. From a theoretical point of view the PSS concept is known since a
decade and many Authors reported reasonable possible success factors: higher
profits over the entire life-cycle, diminished environmental burden, and
localization of required services. Many researchers reported very interesting
experiments in large enterprises, typically specialized in functional goods
production, while only few researches have been performed for small and medium
enterprises (SME). From the flexibility point of view, SMEs seem to be
facilitated in approaching a PSS business strategy, thanks to the rapid
re-organization of their value-chain/supply-chain (VC/SC), but, on the other
hand, requiring a structured, and interrelated approach in order to assess and
implement such a strategy. This paper presents the learning from an action
research (AR) in the health-care sector. AR has been used in order to
experience a PSS initiative and therefore define, develop, and test a complete
framework for assessing and implementing PSS strategies. Reflection on the
story in the light of the experience and the theory is presented, as well as
extrapolation to a broader context and articulation of usable knowledge.
Keywords:
Business strategy, Product-service systems, Small-medium enterprises, Action
Research, Health-care
Title of the Paper: The
B2B Market: Corporate Social Responsibility or Corporate Social
Responsiveness?
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Authors:
Michal Kubenka, Renata Myskova
Abstract: Initially it was the corporate social responsibility concept; later
other similar concepts have emerged. Corporate social responsiveness turned
out to be a significant alternative concept. This article deals with a
corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate social responsiveness
(CSR2) and the analysis of usage on B2B market. Company research in industry
was carried out in the Czech Republic. The aim was to determine whether the
CSR or CSR2 concept penetrated into the firms and their supplier-customer
relationships. Specifically, the research focused on the enterprise approach
to CSR and CSR2 concept and evaluation of suppliers based on CSR criteria. The
question is what concept penetrated into practice – it is CSR or CSR2?
Keywords:
CSR, CSR2, B2B market, CSR levels, brand switching, CSR benefits, stakeholder,
RDAP scale
Title of the Paper:
Cluster and Factor Analysis of Structural Economic Indicators for Selected
European Countries
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Authors:
Natasa Kurnoga Zivadinovic, Ksenija Dumicic, Anita Ceh Casni
Abstract: The last wave of EU enlargement ended on 1st January 2007 with the
accession of Romania and Bulgaria. Many countries of the South-Eastern Europe
aspire to join the EU. Croatia appears to be the next prospective member, so
the aim of this paper was to classify Croatia and EU 27 Member States
according to the structural economic indicators. These countries were gathered
into homogenous groups in terms of the following structural economic
indicators: GDP per capita, total employment rate, comparative price levels,
employment rate of older workers, long term unemployment and productivity of
national economies expressed in relation to the European Union (EU-27)
average. Firstly, the cluster analysis was used on three structural economic
indicators: GDP per capita, total employment rate and comparative price
levels. The hierarchical cluster analysis and non-hierarchical cluster
analysis were applied and gave similar results. The factor analysis was then
provided to find out the common factors of six structural economic indicators:
GDP per capita, total employment rate, comparative price levels, employment
rate of older workers, long term unemployment and productivity of national
economies. Two factors were extracted and the factor scores for each
observation were calculated. The factor scores were used in further cluster
analysis and again similar results of classification was given.
Keywords:
Classification, Structural economic indicators, Multivariate methods,
Hierarchical cluster analysis, Non-hierarchical cluster analysis, Factor
analysis
Title of the Paper:
Infiltration of the "New Japanese-Style Management System" for an Enterprise
Union––Case Study of a Japanese Electrical Appliance Company
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Authors:
Toru Fukumoto
Abstract: The “New Japanese-Style Management System” was introduced by the
Japan Business Federation in 1995 to reinforce the “Three Sacred Treasures”
that are peculiar to the management style in Japan. This paper investigates
the penetration and influence of the New Japanese-Style Management System on
the enterprise union and union members as well as labor-management relations
by providing examples such as testimonials and documents. The purpose of this
is to observe how the union deals with various company measures and how these
measures are exchanged between the union and management. This paper treats a
certain electrical equipment manufacturer and its labor union to conduct this
research.
Keywords:
Three Sacred Treasures, New Japanese-Style Management System, Enterprise
Union, Case Study
Title of the Paper:
Reporting Frameworks for Financial Instruments in Czech: Czech Accounting
Practices versus International Financial Reporting Standards
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Authors:
Jiri Strouhal
Abstract: During last decades financial accounting faces the shift of
financial reporting paradigms from historical costs accounting towards fair
value concept. The most visible item of this change is reporting for financial
instruments, particularly for financial derivatives. The research presents the
particular approach of the analyzed area, namely identifying the
particularities of reporting for financial instruments in correspondence to
IFRS, through both theoretical description and empirical analysis, and
continuously linking the findings to the actual knowledge stage and theories
developed in the field. The results show a high level of similarity between
Czech accounting principles and IFRS for reporting of financial instruments.
Keywords:
Financial Instruments, Financial Reporting, IFRS (International Financial
Reporting Standards), Czech Republic, Historical Costs Accounting, Fair Value
Accounting
Title of the Paper: The
Impact of the Economic Crises on Romanian Labour Market
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Authors:
Daniela Zirra
Abstract: The international economic crisis, initially emerging as a series of
financial disruptions in the world’s highly developed countries, has severely
destabilized all the sectors of our daily life, whether economic, social,
cultural or otherwise. The labour market is the most afflicted area given its
particular sensibility to negative stimuli. The important role played by this
market (it ensures the labour supply in relation to the employment demand of
firms), is no longer a new concept. Therefore, we can say that the Romanian
labour market represents a good example to illustrate the difficulty of
creating the conditions that could make labour supply more adaptive and
flexible in a very dynamic business environment, satisfying a very exigent
labour demand taking into account the technology evolution and building high
quality new work places. In the last almost two decades, the evolution of the
Romanian labour market was spectacular, by comparison to the analogue
phenomena in the developed countries of the European Union. The
transformations undergone by the labour market have been quite profuse and
their impact on the environment significant. One of the most important ones
being that the global economic crises generated a reduction of the general
economic activity. As a direct consequence of this evolution, the labour
market suffered a strong imbalance, a lot of Romanian workers are returning
for a safe work place in Romania, but the national economy is not capable to
help them. The subject of this paper is to make some appreciations about what
could happen in the future and how the Romanian firms and authorities could
react to one of the biggest issue of economic crises, respectively the
unemployment and the instability of the work places in a very disturbing
economic environment.
Keywords:
Labour market, Economic environment, Economic crises, Unemployment, Work
place, Instability, Dynamic
Title of the Paper: The
Competitiveness of the Tourist Destination on the Future Tourism Market
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Authors:
Melinda Candea, Felicia-Aurelia Stancioiu, Mirela Mazilu, Roxana Cristina
Marinescu
Abstract: The motto “action, not beautiful words” should guide the national
policies of tourism from any country, starting from the compliance with the
typical responsibilities taken to the following levels: national, provincial,
regional, local. Also, in the government of a tourist destination we must take
into account the cycle of life of the respective destination. Any model
postulates the fact that the tourist destinations tend to experiment five
distinct development stages: exploration, involvement, development,
consolidation and stagnation. According to the reaction of the managers of the
destination in stagnation, various scenarios are possible, ncluding the
decline, stabilisation, rejuvenating and reinvention. Within the consolidation
and the stagnation stages, the managers must intervene and act in order to
avoid the unwanted decline of the respective tourist destination. That is why,
it is very important to organise a Destination Management (DMO – Destination
Management Organisation), whose stages of governance ensure the destination
sustainability, too. The more difficult such an action is, when the
destination Drobeta – The Danube Bend – Ponoare, although endowed with an
exceptional natural potential, which has offered a priority place in the
excellent European destinations list (the 4th place) – a pilot project for
promoting this region started by the European Commission – because of the lack
of a coherent development strategy and of a management and of a sustainable
development of the destination.
Keywords:
Tourism, sustainable, destination, revival, re-launching, strategy
Title of the Paper:
Skills for Future Engineers: Challenges for Universities in Bulgaria
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Authors:
Elissaveta Gourova, Yanka Todorova, Nikolay Gourov
Abstract: The paper considers the global challenges for universities, and the
emerging models in higher education. It highlights the debates for e-skills in
Europe and for skills needs of future engineers. A special focus is made on
the educational environment in Bulgaria and the trends in last decade which
have influenced the development of universities. The paper presents results of
surveys carried out in two leading universities in Bulgaria – Sofia University
and Technical University - Sofia, and the problems of skills and competences
of their staff, organizational environment, as well as of collaboration with
external stakeholders. On this base are considered some main steps towards
improving the education framework in both universities, and putting it into a
more strategic way.
Keywords:
Engineering skills and competences, education environment, university models,
factors
Issue
8, Volume 6, August 2009
Title of the Paper:
Error-Based Learning Processes on Financial Markets
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Authors:
Dima Bogdan, Pirtea Marilen Gabriel, Cristea Stefana
Abstract: A critical issue in financial markets’ research is the debate
between the academic orthodox approach of the Efficient Markets’ Hypothesis
and the critics rising from the behavioral finance paradigm and practice.
Several alternative explanations have been proposed in order to provide a more
realistic description of the financial markets’ inner mechanisms. This
debate’s importance consists in the implications of the adopted point of view
on the assessment of the financial markets’ predictability degree. [4], [5]
proposed a unified approach labeled as Adaptive Markets Hypothesis. Thus, from
a practical point of view, the main issue consists in providing a pertinent
answer to the next question: Is an active portfolio management able to provide
better results that a passive “follow the market on long-run” strategy? If in
adaptive models the markets are considered to display, at least in a certain
sense, a degree of predictability, then, one of the major difficulties in
supplying empirical evidences is the requirement of knowing ex ante the
“exact” forecast model used by the economic subjects. The aim of this study is
providing a solution to this problem inspired by the transduction’s
(supervised learning) algorithms. Our main output consists in the thesis that
the forecasting errors matter for price formation in financial markets. So,
despite the fact that nor the theoretical foundations nor the empirical
evidences are conclusive, we argue that the nature of the “exact” learning
mechanisms can be seen as one of the key variables in investors’ decisions and
markets evolution. There is a significant positive payoff of a more detailed
study of such mechanisms inside an extended framework of financial markets as
complex systems.
Keywords:
Financial markets, FTSE 100, Adaptive Markets Hypothesis, forecasting
algorithms, forecasting errors, adaptive mechanisms
Title of the Paper: Is
Cultural Tourism Attractive in Transylvania? A Focus on Cluj and Sibiu
Counties, Romania
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Authors:
Alexandra Viorica Dulau, Monica Maria Coros
Abstract: The current paper aims at sketching the manner how both native and
foreign visitors perceive, appreciate and, why not, intend to consume the
cultural tourism offer of Transylvania, a Romanian region. The article is
elaborated on the findings of an Internet based research study that was
carried out at the beginning of this year, findings that are correlated to the
ones obtained in two previous personal researches. Cluj and Sibiu, two
Romanian counties belonging to Transylvania, represent the focus points of our
paper. Why were they chosen? Cluj is a major economic center of Romania, while
Sibiu was the European Capital of Culture in 2007. This paper tries to
contribute to the identification of the possible answers to several questions.
Is Transylvania’s cultural heritage attractive to tourists? Do foreigners
travel to Romania for cultural purposes? Are the Romanians still interested in
cultural activities? Transylvania’s potential related to the development of
cultural tourism is extremely valuable for the region’s branding process.
Keywords:
Cultural tourism, Cultural heritage, Cluj County, Sibiu County, Transylvania,
Romania, Economic crisis, Tourism development and branding
Title of the Paper: The
Place of Religious Tourism in Romania's Tourist Industry
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Authors:
Magdalena Vorzsak, Carmen Maria Gut
Abstract: At global level, the industry of tourism represents the most dynamic
activity sector, the most important generator of workplaces, and a source of
recovery for the national economy. Specialists consider that, in the global
perspective, travel and tourism, together with information technology and
telecommunications will be the three industries of services with the highest
turnover. Religious tourism is an essential component of cultural tourism.
This form of tourism exists for centuries and shows some features of
pilgrimage proper, but has undergone considerable changes, nevertheless.
Nowadays, religious tourism involves high educational and cultural level of
the tourists, which would allow appreciation of cultural-religious sights from
the point of view of the architecture, value construction, spiritual
significance and content of works of art. In the present paper the authors
realized a comparative analysis of the Romanian religious tourism and the
sector of tourism in general and highlighted the main issues this sector is
currently confronted with.
Keywords:
Tourism, religious tourism, SWOT analysis, development strategies, development
perspectives, Romania
Title of the Paper:
Evaluation of Worker Productivity Improvement Criteria using Interpretive
Structural Modeling and Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process
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Authors:
Chi-Horng Liao, Ming-Lang Tseng
Abstract: In recent years, many printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing
firms have looked upon worker productivity improvement as the means by which
they could improve their firm performance. This paper uses the critical
factors and interpretive structural modeling (ISM) that determine the
structure of analytical hierarchical process model in fuzzy environment. Fuzzy
analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) based methodology be discussed to tackle the
different decision criteria in a hierarchical structure in the improvement of
worker productivity. The findings advocate that these manufacturing firms
would thereby the hierarchical model to setup the priorities of the worker
productivity improvement. The result finds that the best practice is most
critical factor to overall objective.
Keywords:
Worker productivity improvement, interpretive structural modeling, fuzzy
analytical hierarchical process
Title of the Paper: The
Effects of Time-limited Pressure and Perceived Value on Consumers' Intention
to Purchase: A Study of Travel Fairs
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Authors:
Hsien-Lun Wong, Tsung-Yi Shen, Chung-Yi Yan, Mei-Chi Tsai
Abstract: In this paper we establish a consolidated framework to verify the
association of consumers’ purchase intention under the time-limited situation,
by employing the linear structure equation model for data test. The
questionnaire sample collected from consumers visiting two annual
International Travel Fairs in Taiwan, 2007. The empirical results indicate
that time-limited pressure has positive significant influence on perceived
value and purchase intention. In addition, perceived value is served as a
mediating factor between the relationship of time-limited pressure and
purchase intention. The results would provide tourism businesses with a
beneficial reference for planning a marketing strategy.
Keywords:
Time-limited pressure, perceived value, purchase intention, linear structure
equation model, travel fairs
Title of the Paper:
Generic Project Success and Project Management Success Criteria and Factors:
Literature Review and Survey
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Authors:
Morteza Shokri-Ghasabeh, Kamyar Kavousi-Chabok
Abstract: This paper covers a thorough literature review on “Project Success”
and “The Generic Project Success Criteria and Factors”. In recent times, it
has become a common belief that project success is defined by meeting the
time, cost and quality requirements of organizations. However, there are some
important project success criteria (PSCs) and factors (PSFs) which often get
neglected when it comes to evaluating a project. The results of a survey,
conducted by the researchers, show that to the contrary of what is mentioned
in the literature, “Top Management Support” turned out to be the most
important measure of project success. “Time” and “Quality” and their process,
on the other hand, were not considered as critical success criteria. In fact,
a controversial discovery is that some so called project success factors could
potentially be considered as criteria for evaluating projects. This paper
suggests the necessity of further investigations on the discrepancy between
theoretical project success criteria and factors and those considered
important in industry. In fact, the paper’s authors believe that this
controversy occurs because projects’ stakeholders have different definitions
of project success. Moreover, the survey presents a balance between the
numbers of respondents who believe that project success is deemed project
management success and the respondents, who consider that this is not
necessarily true.
Keywords:
Project Success, Project Success Criteria, Project Success Factors, Project
Failure
Title of the Paper:
Location Problems Solving by Spreadsheets
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Authors:
Wen-Chen Lee, Neng-Shu Yang
Abstract: Location problems have been the focus of considerable attention both
in research and practice for many years. Numerous extensions have been
described to broaden its appeal and enhance its applicability. This study
proposes a spreadsheet approach for three well-known facility location
problems, the p-median problem (PMP), capacitated p-median (CPMP), and maximal
covering location problem (MCLP). The advantages of the method are not only
relatively simple but are also effectively used, maintained and updated by
users. The results show that the spreadsheet approach can generate good
solutions, including conditions descriptions of location and allocation,
within a reasonable process time. For some instances, the solutions obtained
by this method are better than those by state of the art approaches. In
addition, most location problems can also apply this approach.
Keywords:
Location problems, p-median problem, capacitated p-median problem, maximal
covering location problem, spreadsheets
Issue
9, Volume 6, September 2009
Title of the Paper:
Decision Processes in Public Organizations
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Authors:
Sylvia Encheva, Sharil Tumin
Abstract: Application of binary Analytic Hierarchy Process in a decision
process related to public sector is in the main focus of this work. We argue
that the standard nine point scale based rating system used by the classical
Analytic Hierarchy Process is not the most optimal one with respect to
decision processes in the majority of public organizations. This mainly
because it requires a lot of resources that such organizations do not have.
Therefore a simpler rating system like binary or ternary point scale can be
used instead. At the same time simpler rating systems are not very effective
when a large number of criteria is involved since pairwise comparisons with
respect to different criteria might end up with the same evaluation due to
lack of alternatives.
Keywords:
Cooperation, multi-criteria decision-making, AHP
Title of the Paper:
Differences in the Development of New Services between Developed and
Developing Financial Markets
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Authors:
Majda Bastic, Mojca Nekrep
Abstract: There is a lack of literature regarding development of service
innovations in developing financial markets. The study addresses the factors
influencing the success/failure of innovations in developing financial
markets. We hypothesized that the factors such as new service development
process, quality of service, organizational culture and knowledge have the
significant impact while market characteristics have no impact on the success
of new financial services. The hypotheses are tested on the sample of 60
innovations offered on Slovenian financial market, as one of the developing
financial markets. The discrepancies between the development of financial
innovations in developing and developed markets with respect to the impact of
these factors are also revealed. The most important differences referred to
the impact of two factors, i.e. market characteristics, and technical
development and technical activities.
Keywords:
Innovation, Financial Service, Success Factors, Slovenia
Title of the Paper:
Information Quality Improvement as a Measure of Business Intelligence System
Benefits
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Authors:
Jurij Jaklic, Pedro Simoes Coelho, Ales Popovic
Abstract: Since business intelligence systems’ impact on performance is first
of all long-termed and indirect, most measures of business value are not
sufficiently close to immediate influence of such systems and therefore not
suitable to justify investments into business intelligence systems in real
business environments. Thus, measures related to increased information quality
as a result of business intelligence systems introduction are commonly used.
The purpose of this study is to test how much does implementation of business
intelligence systems actually contribute to solving the major issues regarding
information quality. Empirical data were collected through a survey of
Slovenian medium and large size organizations. Quantitative analysis was
carried out on the data, which related to 181 medium and large size
organizations. The results of the analysis show that business intelligence
systems actually have a positive impact on both segments of information
quality, namely content quality and media quality. However, the impact of
business intelligence systems on media quality is stronger, while the quality
of content is more important for making better business decisions and
providing higher business value of business intelligence systems. Thus, there
is still a gap between available information quality and knowledge workers’
needs, in other words – key information quality problems still exist.
Keywords:
Analytics, Business intelligence, Business intelligence systems maturity, Data
integration, Information quality, PLS methodology
Issue
10, Volume 6, October 2009
Title of the Paper:
Project Tracking using a Metrics Binder Analysis (MBA) Model on Software
Project Initiatives (SPI)
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Authors:
Evangelos Markopoulos, Georgios Alexopoulos, Nikolitsa Bouzoukou, Javier
Bilbao
Abstract: Project management and software project management in particular is
about managing the implementation effort required towards the completion of a
project in time, budget and quality. The management effort is based heavily on
project tracking techniques and practices were the project implementation
progress is closely monitored and analyzed. This paper presents a project
tracking model based primarily on the project requirements and its
implementation evolution through the project lifecycle. The tracking process
is supported by a set of metrics which cumulatively collaborate, since day one
of the project implementation, towards the interpretation of the real project
progress via various measurements and results continuously. This live project
tracking system is a metric binder analysis for software projects and
initiatives, were more than 30 metrics are bind together, creating an
accurate, practical and realistic picture of the project progress for the
entire project or for any of its components, all the way down to its
requirements.
Keywords:
Software Metrics, Project Management, Project Tracking, Software Quality
Engineering
Title of the Paper:
Measuring Financial and Business Operation Impacts, of Software Project
Initiatives and Investments, using Project Tracking MarkPoints on the Project
Volume
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Authors:
Evangelos Markopoulos, Nikolitsa Bouzoukou, Georgios Alexopoulos, Javier
Bilbao
Abstract: Measuring the size of a project has always been a challenge in all
the disciplines involved in project management. In software project
management, defining a measurement unit for a project is even more difficult
since the unique characteristics of the software make it invisible and
untouchable, and therefore much more difficult to be measured. This paper
presents a model that can contribute towards this issue. The MarkPoint
presented can be considered as a sizing and measurement unit to a software
project. The MarkPoints are based on the requirements of a project where their
initial weighted distribution per requirement, implementation phase and other
project elements makes the project size needed for the management of the
project. The paper initially states the need for such models in the business
world and defines the excepted environment for them to be applied
successfully. The model and the overall concept is approach from a business
and financial perspective, since it’s a business oriented approach driven by
business needs and expectations in managing software project and investments.
Keywords:
Software Economics, Project Management, Project Tracking, Software Sizing,
Project Volume Metrics
Title of the Paper: To
Trust or not to Trust: The Influence of Regional Culture and Gender on
Economic Behavior in an EU-Non EU Trust Game
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Authors:
Larissa-Margareta Batrancea
Abstract: My paper tries to see if there are any economic behavioral
differences between EU and Non-EU citizens under the influence of regional
culture and gender, in a one-shot version of trust game played by students of
different nationalities at Universita degli Studi di Brescia, Italy. During
twenty-four experimental sessions participants, both senders and receivers,
have not discriminated against when playing with partners from a different
region or of different gender.
Keywords:
Trust, trustworthiness, European Union, economic behavior, experiment,
regional culture, gender
Issue
11, Volume 6, November 2009
Title of the Paper:
Matching TRIZ Engineering Parameters to Human Factors Issues in Manufacturing
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Authors:
Denis A. Coelho
Abstract: An overview of the development of the TRIZ problem solving approach
is provided in the first part of this paper. Having emerged in Russia in 1946,
the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving Technique (TRIZ) has been commonly
used in the USA and Europe in the last few decades. TRIZ, as a method, has
been used successfully to solve problems such as many of those typically
arising during the process of product development, as reviewed in the second
part of the paper. While the TRIZ method is also considered fit to address
human factors problems in manufacturing, straightforward application would
benefit from a resource gathering supporting knowledge and techniques. In the
third part, analysis of previous work leads to suggest that new TRIZ method
users might benefit from specific guidance in the interpretation of the
engineering parameters in the contradiction matrix, considering human factors
problems in manufacturing. A tentative correspondence is proposed in the
fourth part between human factors issues in manufacturing and the engineering
parameters in the matrix. The paper concludes emphasizing the need to further
extract and categorize human factors and ergonomics principles and understand
and analyze them under the light of the 40 inventive principles of TRIZ.
Keywords:
Industrial engineering, Inventive principles, Contradiction, Resource for new
users
Title of the Paper: A
Fuzzy Approach to Compare Human Performance in Industrial Plants and
Service-Providing Companies
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Authors:
Edson Pacheco Paladini
Abstract: This paper presents basic concepts of fuzzy logic area used to
structure an evaluation process of the performance levels of human resources
who operate in both - industrial and service providing organizations. A model
has been developed to each sector. The models use specific mechanisms for
comparing performance seeking to define suitable standards for achieving
operational, tactical and strategic goals defined by productive organizations.
Some essential criteria were used for the performance evaluation, which
involve Strategic Management (competitive differentiation in terms of
products, services and processes); Tactical Management (human resources
management) and Operational Area (management of the productive process). The
results of the practical applications in industrial organizations and in
service-providing companies were described and discussed. A comparative method
to detect specific characteristics of each sector is described. The
performance standards compose what can be called an ideal profile of
decision-making agents in industrial and service-providing organizations.
Keywords:
Human performance; services and industrial goods; fuzzy approach to evaluation
Title of the Paper: The
Contribution of Adaptive Selling to Positive Word-of-Mouth in Malaysian
Computer Retail Business
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Authors:
Maznah Wan Omar, Kamaruzaman Jusoff, Mohd Noor Mohd Ali
Abstract: The application of salesperson adaptive selling skills and sales
presentation skills by a salesperson during their interaction with customers
in the sales situation can have a significant effect on customer intention to
promote through word-of-mouth in the Malaysian Computer retail business. The
purpose of this paper is to examine the relations between salesperson adaptive
selling skills, positive word-of-mouth and the relative roles played by
cognitive satisfaction in the development of customer satisfaction which will
lead to customer’s intention to promote through word-of-mouth in a computer
retail setting in Malaysia. This will then lead to increased benefits for the
organization in the form of customer loyalty. The cognitive evaluation of
customer satisfaction was found to explain customer loyalty in a retail
setting significantly. This finding holds importance to those retailers who
have been able to generate high expectations in the eyes of their customers.
Keywords:
Adaptive Selling, Cognitive Satisfaction, Word-of-Mouth, Customer Loyalty,
Malaysian Computer Retail Business
Issue
12, Volume 6, December 2009
Title of the Paper: The
Study of ISO9001 Processes as Basis for Business Explicit Knowledge
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Authors:
S.-C. Lee
Abstract: Our research invited the electronic and electrical manufacturer as
the samplings those owned the ISO9001 certification that was widely recognized
as the practical formality and normality of flow in firms. Based on business
size, we distinguished the research factors affecting by asset amount,
employee number and establishing period. According to the tendency and cross
analysis, we found that almost are significantly centered on the product
realization knowledge, and the higher amount of asset, the more number of
employee that appears then the business flow is more positive influenced by
product realization knowledge. It means that firm should pay more treatments
on business flows when investing of asset or growing of employee. Against
previous work, our contribution has clearly demonstrated that the business
practical flow especially on the product realization as explicit knowledge is
stronger influenced by business size; also, four propositions were from the
nine inferences in the conclusion as well.
Keywords:
Knowledge management, Business flows, ISO9001, Electronic and Electrical
Title of the Paper: An
Empirical Case Study on the Service Quality for Traditional Chinese Medical
Clinics
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Authors:
Yung-Chia Chang, Tsan-Ming Chang
Abstract: Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry introduced “A Service Quality
Model.” and further explored the gap between expected quality customers having
before receiving the service and perceived quality customers regarding after
receiving the service (they call this gap as the perceived service quality
gap). In their methodology, customers are asked to fill out a questionnaire
regarding both expected and perceived service after they received the service.
Since both expected and perceived service quality are rated in one single
questionnaire, it is questionable that the results obtained can effectively
convey the differences of the gap as originally defined. This research
proposed a Service Quality Diagnosis Model to re-explore the perceived service
quality gap. A traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinic in Taiwan is used as
an example to demonstrate the proposed approach. The first stage of the
proposed approach involved developing a suitable scale containing the key
service factors to measure the service quality of TCM clinics. The second
phase of the proposed approach explored the service quality of the case TCM
clinic by analyzing the results obtained from questionnaire filled out by its
patients. Different from any exist approach, respondents need to fill out two
questionnaires separately before and after they receive services. The proposed
research successfully divided perceived service quality into three types:
ideal quality, unacceptable quality and satisfactory quality. As with
enterprise diagnosis, the research results can effectively help managers to
identify abnormalities in current service quality and further to recommend
in-time solutions to the problems or countermeasures for continuous
improvement.
Keywords:
Service quality, Expected service, Perceived service, Traditional Chinese
medicine clinic
Title of the Paper:
Knowledge Audit Concepts, Processes and Practice
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Authors:
Elissaveta Gourova, Albena Antonova, Yanka Todorova
Abstract: The paper considers the importance of knowledge management in the
new economy, and focuses on the concept of knowledge audit and its need for
developing and monitoring the knowledge management implementation. A special
focus is made on knowledge audit concept and the approaches and processes
proposed and used in practice. The paper highlights also some tools utilized
in knowledge audit and the metrics used for knowledge measurement and
evaluation of knowledge management benefits for organizations. A special
attention is paid on balanced scorecard methodology and social network
analysis use in knowledge audit. A new extended knowledge audit approach is
proposed and some measurement considerations. The paper presents results of
surveys carried out in some small and medium organizations for determining the
knowledge management needs and usage, as well as knowledge audit pilot
results.
Keywords:
Knowledge audit, knowledge metrics, knowledge management, knowledge audit
approaches
Title of the Paper:
National and International Financial Reporting Rules: Testing the
Compatibility of Czech Reporting from the SMEs Perspective
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Authors:
Jiri Strouhal, Libuse Mullerova, Zdenka Cardova, Marie Pasekova
Abstract: There is a strong pressure from investors to report accounting items
using fair value concept upon economic boom. The financial crisis period may
raise an issue of revival of conservative concepts in financial reporting,
e.g. historical costs measurement and application of prudence principle.
Conceptual solution of valuation issues need not to come out from current
economic situation and it is impossible to change this concept every time when
economic conditions tend to change. Unsystematically changes of valuation
concepts may conduce to instability of economic system. This paper performs a
comparative analysis of reporting under national standards of Czech Republic
and International Financial Reporting Standards with the special focus on
small-and-medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The results show significant
compatibility of reporting under both regulations.
Keywords:
Financial Reporting, IFRS, Investors, Czech Republic, Compatibility Tests,
Comparative Analysis, SMEs
Title of the Paper:
Incentive Effects on the Decision to Utilize e-Tax and Motor OSS in Japan
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Authors:
Hiroyuki Kawaguchi
Abstract: The author conducted a survey of 100 administrative scriveners who
file tax returns in regards to whether or not they utilize e-filing and tax
payment systems for national taxes (e-Tax) at the time of filing income tax
returns as well as in regards to factors that resulted or did not result in
such utilization. According to the survey results, a 5,000 yen tax credit is
considered to serve as an incentive to promote e-Tax utilization. Those who
continue to utilize e-Tax also tend to be interested in other incentives. On
the other hand, a demographic exists who choose not to utilize e-Tax
regardless of the monetary incentive, indicating the limitation of the
monetary incentive. Meanwhile, the same survey was also conducted in regards
to one stop service for procedures relating to automobile ownership (Motor OSS)
governed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, but
the number of cases of utilization was zero. As a nationwide trend, the rate
of utilization was 0.7% (11,175 vehicles), indicating a stagnant rate of
utilization. The author assumed that a policy to design effective incentives
can be established by comparing incentive factors for e-Tax with those for
Motor OSS and analyzing the differences, and for that purpose prepared a buyer
persona (virtual character) in consideration of the background on the side of
an automobile buyer. Incentives that are effective in the case that this buyer
persona utilizes Motor OSS were investigated and analyzed. As a result, it was
found that monetary incentives for automobile buyers to utilize Motor OSS were
not effective, including the incentive that does not require attachments as
well as one stop service itself.
Keywords:
E-Tax, Motor OSS, Decision Making, Monetary Incentive, e-Government, Online
Application, Questionnaire Survey, Persona Model
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