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The purpose of this article is to describe the application of brand building techniques to an existing organization.

The article describes an application of relationship building to increase the success of a service in a competitive environment.

Relationship building strategies have been effective in forming bonds between customers and service and product marketers. They can be effective in many industries and can be highly effective in competitive situations. Instituting a relationship building strategy in a bar helped differentiate the service and attract consumers with relatively high lifetime customer value. By insuring that each type of relationship bond was implemented, the organization gained strong relationships with a group of customers which proved resistant to competitive inroads.

As in all case studies, the specific conditions found in one organization may not be found more generally in others. Readers are cautioned that the conclusions drawn may have limited applicability.

The work illustrates the strategy that a service provider may use to bolster customer relationships and gain the benefits that provide barriers to entry by competitors.

The work describes how tactics and a strategic shift, focusing on specific segments, can earn a service provider a measure of success.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate mathematically the impossibility of achieving a utopian society. Demonstrate that any attempt to correct deviations from a hypothetical trajectory whose ultimate goal is the utopia, increasingly demands more work, including measures that lead to terror, which may even be absolute, leading to the horrible paradox that in seeking paradise hell is constructed.

Scientific tools that the authors have used are: the theory of the system linkage, alysidal algebra, kinematic theory and vector analysis.

Myths are the substrate of some complex systems of beliefs and utopia is its ultimate goal. The use of the combination of the theory of trajectories, belonging to the alysidal algebra, the theorem of unintended effects and kinematics theory provides an approximation to deviations suffering utopian ideological currents and their corrections.

This paper is a continuation of other previous papers developing the theory of complex societies.

The deeply embedded perception that human beings are violent by nature is a worldview that becomes instrumental for justifying armed conflict. Prominent authors in multiple scholarly disciplines have challenged the myth of the violent human being. This article approaches the complexity of challenging political violence by identifying common ground among different disciplines and putting scholarly research in dialogue with recent developments in war and peace across the globe. This article describes the cultural, political and institutional dimensions that sustain violence, and suggests a specific approach for addressing these three strands.

The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of piston position on the in-cylinder swirling flow in a simplified model of a large two-stroke marine diesel engine.

Large eddy simulations with four different models for the turbulent flow are used: a one-equation model, a dynamic one-equation model, a localized dynamic one-equation model and a mixed-scale model. Simulations are carried out for two different geometries corresponding to 100 and 50 percent open scavenge ports.

It is found that the mean tangential profile inside the cylinder changes qualitatively with port closure from a Lamb-Oseen vortex profile to a solid body rotation, while the axial velocity changes from a wake-like profile to a jet-like profile. The numerical results are compared with particle image velocimetry measurements, and in general, the authors find a good agreement.

Considering the complexity of the real engine, the authors designed the engine model using the simplest configuration possible. The setup contains no moving parts, the combustion is neglected and the exhaust valve is discarded.

Studying the flow in a simplified engine model, the setup allows studies of fundamental aspects of swirling flow in a uniform scavenged engine. Comparing the four turbulence models, the local dynamic one-equation model is found to give the best agreement with the experimental results.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a mathematical model to determine invariant sets, set covering, orbits and, in particular, attractors in the set of tourism variables. Analysis was carried out based on an algorithm and applying an interpretation of chaos theory developed in the context of General Systems Theory and Big Data.

Tourism is one of the most digitalized sectors of the economy, and social networks are an important source of data for information gathering. However, the high levels of redundant information on the Web and the appearance of contradictory opinions and facts produce undesirable effects that must be cross-checked against real data. This paper sets out the causal relationships associated with tourist flows to enable the formulation of appropriate strategies.

The results can be applied to numerous cases, for example, in the analysis of tourist flows, these findings can be used to determine whether the behaviour of certain groups affects that of other groups, as well as analysing tourist behaviour in terms of the most relevant variables.

The technique presented here breaks with the usual treatment of the tourism topics. Unlike statistical analyses that merely provide information on current data, the authors use orbit analysis to forecast, if attractors are found, the behaviour of tourist variables in the immediate future.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of total quality management (TQM) and supply chain management (SCM) practices on operational performance, and their interlinkage between each other.

Constructs those are critical to pharmaceutical quality and supply chain have been identified with the help of literature and experts from industry. The impact of TQM practices on supply chain practices and on operational performance has been evaluated. Similarly, the impact of supply chain practices on operational performance has been evaluated. Further, alternate models are tested and evaluated through structural equation modeling.

It was observed during testing of alternate models that TQM practices have a direct impact on operational performance. However, TQM practices also directly impact supply chain components, which, in turn, influence overall operational performance. In comparison of alternate models, the model in which TQM practices affect supply chain practices and supply chain practices further affect the operational performance is found most appropriate.

This study provides some useful implications from industry point of view. TQM practices are critical to pharmaceutical industry. TQM practices are the core of attaining a smooth supply chain, which will have greater impact to achieve operational performance. Strategic supplier partnership, procurement management, information sharing, and quality and inventory management practices are driven by TQM practices. This tri-linkage helps to achieve the desired operational performance.

There are very limited studies that have considered both the areas together to achieve better operational performance. In pharmaceutical industry, both TQM and SCM are the critical areas for any organization to drive its growth.

The purpose of this paper is to show how the bulk of the mobile telecom traffic is starting to migrate towards internet and IP based services, and the choice of alternative paths is widening as new technologies from different backgrounds are emerging. This paper aims to compare some possible approaches to find out suggestions for the most feasible technology selections.

The case study focuses on big Western European operators being in the position to choose the 3G and beyond technology track – whether continuing to the UMTS path or taking a more radical shift towards a full IP based WiMAX technology. The work includes full quantitative modeling of both cost and revenue sides, separating the network provisioning business from the service provisioning for more detailed economical analysis of the technology choices. For the revenue estimation, specific user benefit modeling has been performed against the technology related parameters. Special emphasis in this paper is on the risk and sensitivity analyses, which reveal more of the case dynamics than bare economic key figures.

The UMTS/HSPA path was found to be the most beneficial and robust continuum for the European incumbent mobile operator. Basing the new data services on WiMAX technology was identified to include more risks, although for an operator not having a license for UMTS network it provides a possibility to serve the high end advanced users profitably. The challenge lies especially in the narrower terminal and user base. In the worst development scenarios, especially the network provider of WiMAX is vulnerable, as making big investments on the network.

Not all possible business cases were analyzed, so that no conclusion can be made, based on this study, on operators without wide GSM background, or WiMAX approaches of a limited scope.

The study gives support for the operators in deciding on strategic deployment plans.

The study provides unique information through comprehensive data gathering, analysis and forecasts, with feasible accuracy level for this kind of case study, combining both technical and business aspects of the still widely uncharted and fast developing mobile data arena.