Search results

This study aims to explore and theorize value gaps within value chain management (VCM) by extending the service quality gap model to the context of global manufacturing value chains.

Drawing upon a case study of a small, family-owned Swedish furniture wholesaler, Alpha, this research adapts the service quality gap model and integrates it into the VCM framework. The investigation examines the value creation and delivery processes across a network of actors, highlighting how various gaps emerge at different stages of the value chain.

The study identifies and describes several value gaps, including those related to consumer understanding, manufacturing capabilities and coordination across the value chain. Value creation gaps arise from poor communication about consumer needs and product features, whereas value delivery gaps are mainly tied to manufacturing capacity and material restrictions. These gaps can result in misalignment between consumer expectations and the delivered value.

Although this study provides insights into the emergence of value gaps, further research is needed to determine the magnitude and reduction strategies for these gaps. In addition, understanding how consumers evaluate new products remains a critical area for investigation.

The research highlights the significance of a coordinated approach to managing value creation and delivery processes. It underscores the need for companies to capture accurate consumer data, consider manufacturing capabilities and engage in effective coordination with various actors in the value chain.

By addressing value gaps, companies can enhance consumer satisfaction and minimize potential dissatisfaction caused by misalignment between consumer expectations and delivered value. This, in turn, can lead to improved relationships with consumers and other actors within the value chain.

This research offers a novel perspective on value gaps in VCM, extending the service quality gap model to the realm of manufacturing. It underscores the importance of managing both value creation and delivery processes for enhancing competitive advantage in a global market.

Previous students' housing studies have neglected the need to study all-inclusive student housing and quality of services delivery among students with disability. This study explores the expectations in students' housing among university students living with disabilities (SWDs) in Ghana.

The study adopted a mixed-methods approach, involving 423 SWD selected from five public and three private universities across Ghana. Grounded on the Gap Model, the study employed exploratory factor analysis to extract factors of service quality delivery and universal building design for SWD living in off-campus students' housing.

The study uncovered that, expectations of SWD regarding building design specifications hinges more on inbuilt universal design than external building environment designs. SWD are more interested in safety, health, managerial assurances and security. In all, five factors provided a huge gap in services quality delivered by off-campus students' housing.

The Gap Model technique offers a framework that provides an insight for students' housing investors, managers, researchers and local authorities that provides an insight on the needs of SWD in student housing, thus making it possible to attain satisfactions amongst SWD.

Unlike health-related studies that deals with expectations of all-inclusive buildings for persons with disability in hospitals, this study uniquely uncovered the expectations of services delivery and building design support to SWD in the Ghanaian context.

This paper sets out to compare different methodologies for measuring the value(s) of live popular music and to explore the different motivations amongst a range of organisations engaged in that work.

The authors analyse how the values of live music are measured, who does it and why. Based on this analysis the authors present a model that visualises the myriad of organisations, methods, aims and objectives involved.

The authors identify three approaches to measuring the impact of live music (economic impact studies, mapping and censuses and social sciences and humanities) and three types of actors (industry, policy and academia). The analysis of these demonstrates that measuring live music is not a neutral activity, but itself constructs a vision on how live music ecologies function

For cultural organisations, demonstrating the outcomes of their work is important in acquiring various forms of support. The model presented in this paper helps them to select adequate methodologies and to reflect on the consequences of particular approaches to measuring live music activities.

While the number of studies measuring live music's impact is growing, theoretical and methodological reflection on these activities is missing. The authors compare the different methodologies by discussing strengths and weaknesses. This results in a model that identifies gaps in existing studies and explores new directions for future live music research. It enhances understanding of how different ways of measuring live music affect policymaking and conceptions of what live music is and should be.

The purpose of this study is to effectively optimize vehicle lane-changing behavior and alleviate traffic congestion in ramp area through the study of vehicle lane-changing behaviors in upstream segment of ramp areas.

In the upstream segment of ramp areas under a connected vehicle environment, different strategies of vehicle group lane-changing behaviors are modeled to obtain the best group lane-changing strategy. The traffic capacity of roads can be improved by controlling group lane-changing behavior and continuously optimizing lane-changing strategy through connected vehicle technologies. This paper constructs vehicle group lane-changing strategies in upstream segment of ramp areas under a connected vehicle environment. The proposed strategies are simulated by VISSIM.

The results show that different lane-changing strategies are modeled through vehicle group in the upstream segment of ramp areas, which can greatly reduce the delay of ramp areas.

The simulation results verify the validity and rationality of the corresponding vehicle group lane-changing behavior model strategies, effectively standardize the driver's lane-changing behavior, and improve road safety and capacity.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of shocks in the various components of private capital inflows on economic growth in Nigeria using quarterly data in the period 1986Q1–2016Q4.

The study employs the impulse response function and the forecast error variance decomposition of the structural vector autoregression (SVAR) model.

The research result shows that shocks in foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and portfolio investment inflows have a positive and significant impact on economic growth in Nigeria. In addition, FDIs accounted for significant variation in the growth of the Nigerian economy followed by portfolio investments, while personal remittances exerted the least variation in growth.

The government should promote a favorable macroeconomic environment for existing and potential foreign investors to ensure the continued inflows of FDI and portfolio investment.

The novelty of this study lies in disaggregating private capital inflows and analyzing the effect of the shock of each component on the growth of the Nigerian economy using SVAR.

The purpose of this paper is to summarize different methods of constructing the financial conditions index (FCI) and analyze current studies on constructing FCI for China. Due to shifts of China’s financial mechanisms in the post-crisis era, conventional ways of FCI construction have their limitations.

The paper suggests improvements in two aspects, i.e. using time-varying weights and introducing non-financial variables. In the empirical study, the author first develops an FCI with fixed weights for comparison, constructs a post-crisis FCI based on time-varying parameter vector autoregressive model and finally examines the FCI with time-varying weights concerning its explanatory and predictive power for inflation.

Results suggest that the FCI with time-varying weights performs better than one with fixed weights and the former better reflects China’s financial conditions. Furthermore, introduction of credit availability improves the FCI.

FCI constructed in this paper goes ahead of inflation by about 11 months, and it has strong explanatory and predictive power for inflation. Constructing an appropriate FCI is important for improving the effectiveness and predictive power of the post-crisis monetary policy and foe achieving both economic and financial stability.

Electrification is a promising solution for decarbonising the road freight transport system, but it is challenging to understand its impact on the system. The purpose of this research is to provide a system-level understanding of how electrification impacts the road freight transport system. The goal is to develop a model that illustrates the system and its dynamics, emphasising the importance of understanding these dynamics in order to comprehend the effects of electrification.

The main methodological contribution of the study is the combination of the multi-layer model with system dynamics methodology. A mixed methods approach is used, including group model building, impact analysis, and literature analysis.

The study presents a conceptual multi-layer dynamic model, illustrating the complex causal relationships between variables in the different layers and how electrification impacts the system. It distinguishes between direct and induced impacts, along with potential policy interventions. Moreover, two causal loop diagrams (CLDs) provide practical insights: one explores factors influencing electric truck attractiveness, and the other illustrates the trade-off between battery size and fast charging infrastructure for electric trucks.

The study provides stakeholders, particularly policymakers, with a system-level understanding of the different impacts of electrification and their ripple effects. This understanding is crucial for making strategic decisions and steering the transition towards a sustainable road freight transport system.

The energy performance gap (EPG) in building construction has been one of the major barriers to the realization of environmental and economic sustainability in the built environment. Although there have been a few studies addressing this issue, studying this topic with a special focus on the project delivery process has been almost overlooked. Hence, this study aims to address the EPG in building construction through the lens of collaborative and life cycle-based project delivery.

In order to realize the objective of this study, the development of a theoretical framework based on the literature review was followed by a qualitative study in which 21 semi-structured interviews were conducted with Finnish project professionals representing clients, design/planning experts, constructors and building operation/maintenance experts to explore their views on the topic under study.

The findings reveal the project delivery-related causes of EPG in building construction. Moreover, the obtained results present a collaborative and life cycle-based delivery model that integrates project and product (i.e. building) life cycles, and it is compatible with all types of contractual frameworks in building construction projects.

Although the findings of this study significantly contribute to theory and practice in the field of collaborative and sustainable construction project delivery, it is acknowledged that these findings are based on Finnish professionals’ input, and expanding this research to other regions is a potential area for further studies. Moreover, the developed model, although validated in Finland, needs to be tested in a broader context as well to gain wider generalizability.

The obtained results reveal the significance and impact of collaborative and life cycle-based project development and delivery on the realization of environmentally sustainable building construction.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the applicability of a direct current (DC) hysteresis measurement on power transformer terminals for the subsequent hysteresis model parametrization in transformer grey box topology models.

Two transformer topology models with two different hysteresis models are used together with a DC hysteresis measurement via the power transformer terminals to parameterize the hysteresis models by means of an optimization. The calculated current waveform with the derived model in the transformer no-load condition is compared to the measured no-load current waveforms to validate the model.

The proposed DC hysteresis measurement via the power transformer terminals is suitable to parametrize two hysteresis models implemented in transformer topology models to calculate the no-load current waveforms.

Different approaches for the measurement and utilization of transformer terminal measurements for the hysteresis model parametrization are discussed in literature. The transformer topology models, derived with the presented approach, are able to reproduce the transformer no-load current waveform with acceptable accuracy.

In fire resistance tests (FRTs) of building materials, a crucial criterion to pass the test procedure is to avoid the leakage of the hot flue gases caused by gaps and cracks occurring due to the thermal exposure. The present study's aim is to calculate the deformation of a steel door, which is embedded within a wall made of bricks, and qualitatively determine the flue gas leakage.

A computational fluid dynamics/finite element method (CFD/FEM) coupling was introduced representing an intermediate approach between a one-way and a full two-way coupling methodology, leading to a simplified two-way coupling (STWC). In contrast to a full two way-coupling, the heat transfer through the steel door was simulated based on a one-way approach. Subsequently, the predicted temperatures at the door from the one-way simulation were used in the following CFD/FEM simulation, where the fluid flow inside and outside the furnace as well as the deformation of the door were calculated simultaneously.

The simulation showed large gaps and flue gas leakage above the door lock and at the upper edge of the door, which was in close accordance to the experiment. Furthermore, it was found that STWC predicted similar deformations compared to the one-way coupling.

Since two-way coupling approaches for fluid/structure interaction in fire research are computationally demanding, the number of studies is low. Only a few are dealing with the flue gas exit from rooms due to destruction of solid components. Thus, the present study is the first two-way approach dealing with flue gas leakage due to gap formation.