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This paper seeks to provide an updated, general understanding of supercenter shopping behavior in the USA.

The study employs a sample generated from Retail Forward panel data to assess the impact of demographic variables, including gender, age, ethnicity, education, income, marital status, and household size, on supercenter shopping frequency across four product categories (apparel, health and beauty, home furnishings, and consumer electronics). Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques (regression, ANOVA) are used to evaluate the data.

The paper identifies demographic groups who frequent supercenters and examines patronage motives as drivers of supercenter shopping behavior.

Generalizations of the findings of this study to markets outside the USA are limited due to the differences in consumers and retail formats available in various countries. Future research could compare shopping behavior within large formats across international markets.

This research provides supercenter retailers who operate within the USA with specific knowledge of the patronage motives driving cross‐category shopping in supercenters (e.g. value, one‐stop shopping convenience, brands, product assortment) and identifies the demographic characteristics of cross‐category shoppers. The results suggest marketing strategy implications for supercenter operators in the US market. As competition in the sector continues to evolve and consumer demographics change within the US market, understanding cross‐category shopping will be critical to retailer performance in the industry.

This study uses demographics and patronage motives as a framework for profiling cross‐category shoppers in the US supercenters. The paper is unique because there are few similar empirical studies which focus on consumer behavior within supercenters.

The supply chain literature highlights chains that are activated by actual or forecasted demand, and has largely overlooked those that are activated by the supply source. This paper aims to position supply driven chains as a distinct class and to develop their properties.

Supply driven examples are given and their structural and behavioral properties are developed. Their properties are compared with those of demand driven chains using Fisher's classification scheme. The paper is conceptual in nature.

Four properties of supply driven chains are advanced. They show that supply driven chains differ significantly from their demand driven counterparts. As example, supply driven chains are prone to a reverse form of the standard bullwhip effect that is associated with demand driven chains.

Investigating supply driven chains opens several research avenues. Further properties and examples can be developed, along with methods to mitigate the reverse bullwhip effect. Research into synergies and boundary issues between supply and demand driven chains will likely yield operational efficiencies overall.

Differentiating between supply and demand driven phenomena helps practitioners design more efficient supply chains. For example, superimposing a demand driven operational structure on a supply driven phenomenon can be disruptive. Also, an efficiently operated supply driven chain may enhance the operations of related demand driven chains.

This paper highlights and develops supply driven supply chains. It extends supply chain theory and practice by providing additional structural characteristics that can be incorporated into supply chain designs.

To detail the changing nature of retail and service activity in Canada's downtowns and examine the role of business improvement areas (BIAs) in promoting downtown vitality.

The research is based on a combination of retail structural analysis and case study research. The structural analysis provides data on transitioning urban demographics and tracks retail and service activity sales change in Canada's major metropolitan downtowns. The case study reports an overview of findings from in‐depth research with the Downtown Yonge BIA. A small number of retail metrics are presented.

The paper highlights the significant suburb shift in retail activity across Canada's metropolitan areas and the associated challenges that this has resulted in for the downtown. The role of BIAs are outlined, and examined with reference to operation of the BIA concept within the downtown core of Canada's largest metropolitan market, Toronto.

The research has been selective in focusing on the Downtown Yonge BIA, the experiences of BIAs across Toronto (and other Canada metropolitan areas) are likely to vary widely. Highlights the need to develop metrics to measure performance and compare BIAs.

The paper provides an interesting perspective on BIA strategies, with the selected metrics providing BIA managers and urban planners with a set of additional measures to assess BIA performance

The paper relates BIA planning to the development of performance metrics.

Problems of competence grow out of institutional culture and from the way these institutions shape the profession and its members. Toward that end, this chapter is organized around three general considerations. First, we discuss some general issues about leader quality. Second, the present shape of the leadership corps in higher education will be discussed. Finally, we introduce several 21st century leadership core competencies (Brooks & Normore, 2009) for consideration to hiring personnel so they do not repeatedly select and promote unqualified leaders who stifle creativity and encourage conformity.

To explain how cumulative efforts contribute to learning and literacy development.

A representation of how efforts lead to lasting growth is discussed through a variety of historical and current perspectives across content disciplines. This chapter includes depictions of how positive experiences can promote further success and recognizing one’s cumulative efforts and the effects from those are fundamental to educational attainment.

The value one places on tasks such as reading or writing is often aligned to the frequency with which those events occur. Students view their time and effort as capital; they are students’ most valued possessions, and how they allocate these commodities is a choice.

For students to become avid readers and writers, we must utilize a host of strategies to impress the notion that these activities are worth their attention, time, and investment.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of diagrammatic visualisation techniques versus sentential learning contexts in an accounting subject using the theoretical lens of cognitive load theory (CLT).

The present study used four groups of students; two groups completed a task using diagrammatic visualisation learning materials, with one of the groups undertaking their leaning activities collaboratively and another on an individual basis, whereas two comparison groups were given a sentential learning context without diagrams, with one group undertaking their leaning activities collaboratively and the other individually. In addition to performance grades, cognitive load self-report scores were also elicited from participants.

The findings of this study indicate support for diagrammatic visualisation techniques for students working collaboratively. Compared with sentential learners, the authors find significantly improved test performance for students who work collaboratively in a diagrammatic visualisation environment. Students in the visualisation environments obtained higher grades than those in the sentential group. In terms of mental effort, students in the visualisation conditions reported the lowest cognitive load.

The authors conclude that diagrammatic visualisation learning techniques enhance student performance outcomes, particularly for those who work collaboratively. CLT assists in the understanding of the mental processes involved in learning. Instructional designers need to consider CLT when developing diagrammatic visualisation material to enable students to obtain the best possible learning outcomes.

This study addresses a gap in the literature by examining the use of diagrammatic visualisation materials as an alternative to text when learning accounting. The study explores the effect of visualisation material on students’ cognitive load by analysing their mental effort. The study contributes useful findings on visualisation as a conduit to enhancing the understanding of accounting using CLT principles.

Wiki forms a new model of virtual collaboration. The original wiki is designed to hide content authorship information. Such design may hinder users from being aware of task conflict, resulting in low-efficient conflict management and decreased group performance. This study aims at increasing users' awareness of task conflict to facilitate wiki-based collaboration.

A visual feedback dialog box is designed to increase users' awareness of task conflict. A survey-based comparative study is conducted by using original wiki and modified wiki (the new design). A total of 301 participants are invited. Structural equation model (SEM) is used to analyze survey data.

Most users are willing to solve conflict issues, and the dialog box can increase users' awareness of task conflict. Conflict awareness can promote user's participation, gain better conflict resolution and improve group performance. The dialog box can enhance the influence of conflict awareness on user participation and conflict resolution, but reduce the influence of conflict awareness on group performance.

Only undergraduate students are invited, some typical variables are not included. The design needs improvement.

A new wiki tool is designed. The influence of conflict awareness is explored while previous studies largely ignore this variable.

This paper aims to critique the rationalist theoretical framework of international mediation, which ignores emotions in analyzing the decision by conflict parties to pursue a negotiated settlement or continue fighting, and to present an alternative framework that integrates emotions.

The paper draws on psychology research on emotions and conflict to develop an emotionally informed framework for analyzing conflict parties’ decision-making regarding a settlement. It demonstrates the framework’s validity and value through a case study of the 2000 Camp David mediation to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

A rationalist approach to mediation does not have adequate explanatory and predictive power theoretically. In practice, it can reduce the prospect of success.

The paper highlights the necessity for mediation researchers to study the effects of emotion, draw on psychology studies on conflict and explore the emotional implications of different mediation strategies and tactics.

The framework highlights the challenge of designing and conducting mediation in a way that cultivates emotions favorable to a settlement and lessens emotions unfavorable to a settlement.

This is the first study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to critique the rationalist framework of international mediation studies and develop an alternative framework that integrates emotions.

The purpose of this paper is to study the problem of wave propagation in an infinite, homogeneous, transversely isotropic thermo-piezoelectric solid bar of polygonal (triangle, square, pentagon and hexagon) cross-section immersed in fluid is using Fourier expansion collocation method, with in the frame work of linearized, three-dimensional theory of thermo-piezoelectricity.

A mathematical model is developed to study the wave propagation in an infinite, homogeneous, transversely isotropic thermo-piezoelectric solid bar of polygonal cross-sections immersed in fluid is studied using the three-dimensional theory of elasticity. Three displacement potential functions are introduced, to uncouple the equations of motion and the heat and electric conductions. The frequency equations are obtained for longitudinal and flexural (symmetric and antisymmetric) modes of vibration and are studied numerically for triangular, square, pentagonal and hexagonal cross-sectional bar immersed in fluid. Since the boundary is irregular in shape; it is difficult to satisfy the boundary conditions along the curved surface of the polygonal bar directly. Hence, the Fourier expansion collocation method is applied along the boundary to satisfy the boundary conditions. The roots of the frequency equations are obtained by using the secant method, applicable for complex roots.

From the literature survey, it is clear that the free vibration of an infinite, homogeneous, transversely isotropic thermo-piezoelectric solid bar of polygonal cross-sectional bar immersed in fluid have not been analyzed by any of the researchers, also the previous investigations in the vibration problems of transversely isotropic thermo-piezoelectric solid bar of circular cross-sections only. So, in this paper, the wave propagation in thermo-piezoelectric cylindrical bar of polygonal cross-sections immersed in fluid are studied using the Fourier expansion collocation method. The computed non-dimensional frequencies are plotted in the form of dispersion curves and its characteristics are discussed, also a comparison is made between non-dimensional wave numbers for longitudinal and flexural modes piezoelectric, thermo-piezoelectric and thermo-piezoelectric polygonal cross-sectional bars immersed in fluid.

Wave propagation in an infinite, homogeneous, transversely isotropic thermo-piezoelectric solid bar of polygonal cross-sectional bar immersed in fluid have not been analyzed by any of the researchers, also the previous investigations in the vibration problems of transversely isotropic thermo-piezoelectric solid bar of circular cross-sections only. So, in this paper, the wave propagation in thermo-piezoelectric cylindrical bar of polygonal cross-sections immersed in fluid are studied using the Fourier expansion collocation method. The computed non-dimensional frequencies are plotted in the form of dispersion curves and its characteristics are discussed, also a comparison is made between non-dimensional wave numbers for longitudinal and flexural modes of piezoelectric, thermo-piezoelectric and thermo-piezoelectric polygonal cross-sectional bars immersed in fluid.

The researchers have discussed the wave propagation in thermo-piezoelectric circular cylinders using three-dimensional theory of thermo-piezoelectricity, but, the researchers did not analyzed the wave propagation in an arbitrary/polygonal cross-sectional bar immersed in fluid. So, the author has studied the free vibration analysis of thermo-piezoelectric polygonal (triangle, square, pentagon and hexagon) cross-sectional bar immersed in fluid using three-dimensional theory elasticity. The problem may be extended to any kinds of cross-sections by using the proper geometrical relations.