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The purpose of this paper is to engage in the research gap regarding the missing link between retail innovation and branding by providing a brand-driven process to systematically develop retail format innovation projects. The so-called “Brand-driven Retail Format Innovation” (BRFI) approach provides a structured three-phase model that serves as a conceptual guide for the development of any type of retail format.

Longitudinal collaborative action research over a time span of 20 years plus extended case study research to develop the current BRFI approach.

BRFI is a circular three-phase framework, which integrates branding, and retail format innovation. It starts with the definition of the intended retail brand identity, which in phase 2 becomes translated into concrete touchpoint experiences along the main constituents of a retail format, finally during phase 3 materializing into the new retail format. A case study of a major food retailer is prototypically used to illustrate the application of the designed approach and to report achieved results.

Brand-driven retail format development based on translating socio-cultural meanings into touchpoint experiences to materialize format constituents is opening up new research avenues to govern retail format development. At present the approach is based on retail and services case studies in Western Austria.

The three-phase model represents a practical tool for retail managers, who want to renew and to develop their retail format in a structured way. The approach is applicable to all retail industries from small- to large-scale organizations as well as online and offline environments.

This is the first study engaging in the missing link regarding retail innovation and branding by providing a brand-driven process to systematically develop retail format innovation projects. BRFI locks into anthropological research findings where cultural meanings are considered as the main source for the construction of brand identities whereby the new retail format is transformed around brand-derived touchpoint experiences.

This study assesses changing aesthetic values and their characteristics in urban environments based on human perception. With this in mind, a model for assessing the aesthetic values of the urban environment based on the three steps of human cognition has been developed to elaborate the user's perception in different urban environments.

The results of the survey confirm that by changing urban morphology the aesthetic perception of the environment also changes. The finding of this research opens up a new window for urban planners to assess the aesthetic effects of the elements of urban spatial configuration for future urban development.

The modern family constitution is a written declaration summarizing a process of agreement and decision-making within an entrepreneurial family regarding the motives, guidelines, and regulations for the family members’ cooperation within the family and the family business association. This chapter exposes facets of family constitutions from a historical and a practical point of view. In order to do so, it begins with a review of the predecessors and origins of family constitutions. Subsequently, focusing especially on the interplay between a family constitution and the family business’ binding legal agreements, it describes four forms of family constitutions that have evolved from different consulting approaches in practice. The chapter concludes with some legal implications.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of services quality, customer satisfaction and corporate image on customer perceived value in the banking sector of Pakistan.

A model is developed to show the relationship between dependent and independent variables taken from the existing literature. The data are collected from 200 respondents taken from the five major cities of Pakistan using structured questionnaire. Correlation and regression are applied to estimate the relationship between variables and find out the extent to which the independent variables have impact on the dependent variable.

Results show that there is a positive relation between the service quality, customer satisfaction and corporate image. It is also analyzed by the results that service quality and customer satisfaction have high impact on the customer perceived value where corporate image also effect the customer perceived value.

This paper identified the impact of service quality, customer satisfaction and corporate image on the customer perceived value that helps the services sector especially banks how they can improve the customer perceived value through improving their service quality, customer satisfaction and corporate image.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of brand familiarity on the various dimensions of brand experience, and to identify the factor structure of brand familiarity for financial services brands.

This study used a convenience sampling technique by contacting 216 respondents, and examined the relationship between brand experience dimensions and brand familiarity. An independent sample t-test was performed to assess the differences for brand experience dimensions. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed for both low familiarity and high familiarity service brands to highlight the differences.

The improvement in brand familiarity is positive for sensory, emotional, behavioral and relational brand experiences for high familiarity service brands. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis found a four-factor brand experience model for low brand familiarity and a five-factor brand experience structure for high familiarity financial services brands. The study of financial services brands validates the service brand experience framework of Nysveen et al. (2013) for high familiarity brands, but not for low familiarity financial services brand.

There is a need for marketers to comprehend various dimensions of brand experience in the context of financial services brands which are experiencing increased competition with non-banks.

The study makes a contribution to the existing literature as the concept of brand familiarity and its relationship with brand experience have received scant attention in the past.

Over the last decade, the accounting convergence process with the development and adoption of IFRS as national standards has become the focus of governments, professionals, and researchers. In 2005, the EU (including Germany) and Australia adopted IFRS. A survey by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (2010) reported that 89 countries have adopted or intend to adopt IFRS for all their domestic listed companies. Currently, more than 100 jurisdictions require or permit the use of IFRS, with countries such as Canada, Brazil, and Argentina being the most recent adopters (IFRS Foundation, 2011b). This growing number of countries implementing IFRS and their experiences and emerging challenges have further raised researchers' interest in this controversial topic (Ashbaugh & Pincus, 2001; Atwood et al., 2011; Byard et al., 2011; Christensen et al., 2007; Daske et al., 2008; Ding et al., 2007; Hail et al., 2010a, 2010b; Kvaal & Nobes, 2010; McAnally et al., 2010; Mechelli, 2009; Niskanen, Kinnunen, & Kasanen, 2000; Stolowy, Haller, & Klockhaus, 2001; Tyrrall et al., 2007). However, these studies have concentrated on the development and application of specific accounting standards and practices and/or cross-national and cross-cultural issues concerning adaptation, implementation, and evaluation of IFRS. Moreover, an increasing number of studies have been devoted to classifications of accounting models and categorization of accounting standards, principles, and values (Chanchani & Willett, 2004; D'Arcy, 2000, 2001; Doupnik & Richter, 2004; Doupnik & Salter, 1993; Gray, 1988; Kamla, Gallhofer, & Haslam, 2006; Nair & Frank, 1980; Patel, 2003, 2007; Perera & Mathews, 1990; Salter & Doupnik, 1992). However, very few studies have critically examined the historical development of accounting practices and issues related to convergence in its socioeconomic context and, importantly, we are not aware of any study that has rigorously examined the institutionalization of Anglo-American accounting practices as international practice with an emphasis on power and legitimacy in the move toward convergence of accounting standards.

This paper aims to answer the following four research questions: Where do tourists gaze at the destination? What do tourists gaze at the destination? How do tourists gaze differently? Why do tourists gaze differently referring to relevant theory?

With a computer vision approach, this study illustrated a series of maps that reflect where and what do tourists gaze at and compared the differences in the visual perceptions among Asian, European and North American tourists in Hong Kong.

The findings confirm that the “tourist gaze” is influenced by geographical and cultural conditions. The conclusions provided three types of implementations for destination management strategies and advocated a high engagement with computer vision technology.

In theory, this study proves that the “tourist gaze” is influenced by geographical and cultural conditions. The study’s methodological contribution lies in applying advanced technology of visual content analysis for big data relevant to the issue of the tourist gaze. Practically, the finding that has not been achieved via previous questionnaire surveys will serve as a reference for tourism recommendations and precision marketing. In addition, its practical contribution is that it offers a means by which to explore tourists’ perceptions of destinations and understand the attractiveness of destinations to tourists.

研究一方面使用计算机视觉深入学习模型对游客照片内容进行识别, 比较了亚洲、欧洲和北美游客在香港不同空间场景的视觉感知差异。另一方面, 研究借助ArcGIS软件对游客凝视地点和内容差异进行了具体可视化分析。

这项研究有四个研究子问题：

• （1） 游客在哪里凝视？

• （2） 游客凝视了什么？

• （3） 游客凝视内容有什么不同？

  （4） 为什么游客凝视不同？

（1） 游客在哪里凝视？

（2） 游客凝视了什么？

（3） 游客凝视内容有什么不同？

（4） 为什么游客凝视不同？

不同游客在旅游目的地的“凝视”存在差异, 差异表征具体体现在地点选择和内容偏好等维度。同时, 研究结果显示计算机视觉技术在旅游研究领域呈现较好的应用潜力。

理论上, 本研究佐证了”游客凝视”受地理和文化条件影响的理论。技术上, 本研究探索了视觉分析技术在游客凝视议题上应用, 为旅游目的地感知评估提供了新的视角。应用层面, 研究结论为旅游目的地精准营销提供了参考。

Resumen

Con un enfoque de visión artificial, este estudio ilustra una serie de mapas que reflejan dónde y qué miran los turistas, y compara las diferencias en las percepciones visuales entre los turistas asiáticos, europeos y norteamericanos en Hong Kong.

El estudio tiene cuatro preguntas de investigación:

• (1) ¿Dónde miran los turistas en el destino?

• (2) ¿Qué miran los turistas en el destino?

• (3) ¿Cómo miran los turistas de forma diferente?

• (4) ¿Por qué los turistas miran de forma diferente en referencia a la teoría pertinente?

(1) ¿Dónde miran los turistas en el destino?

(2) ¿Qué miran los turistas en el destino?

(3) ¿Cómo miran los turistas de forma diferente?

(4) ¿Por qué los turistas miran de forma diferente en referencia a la teoría pertinente?

Las conclusiones confirman que la “mirada del turista” está influida por las condiciones geográficas y culturales. Las conclusiones aportan tres tipos de aplicaciones para las estrategias de gestión de destinos y abogan por un alto compromiso con la tecnología de visión artificial.

En teoría, este estudio demuestra que la “mirada del turista” está influenciada por las condiciones geográficas y culturales. La contribución metodológica del estudio radica en la aplicación de tecnología avanzada de análisis de contenido visual para big data relevante para el tema de la mirada del turista. En la práctica, los hallazgos que no se han logrado a través de encuestas anteriores servirán de referencia para las recomendaciones turísticas y el marketing de precisión. Además, su contribución práctica es que ofrece un medio para explorar las percepciones de los turistas sobre los destinos, y comprender el atractivo de los mismos para los turistas.

This purpose of this paper is to design a peg-in-hole controller for a cable-driven serial robot with compliant wrist (CDSR-CW) using cable tensions and joint positions. The peg is connected to the robot link through a CW. It is required that the controller does not rely on any external sensors such as 6-axis wrist force/torque (F/T) sensor, and only the compliance matrix’s estimated value of the CW is known.

First, the peg-in-hole assembly system based on a CDSR-CW is analyzed. Second, a characterization algorithm using micro cable tensions and joint positions to express the elastic F/T at the CW is established. Next, under the premise of only knowing the compliance matrix’s estimate, a peg-in-hole controller based on force/position hybrid control is proposed.

The experiment results show that the plug contact F/T can be tracked well. This verifies the validity and correctness of the characterization algorithm and peg-in-hole controller for CDSR-CWs in this paper.

First, to the authors’ knowledge, there is no relevant work about the peg-in-hole assembly task using a CDSR-CW. Besides, the proposed characterization algorithm for the elastic F/T makes the peg-in-hole controller get rid of the dependence on the F/T sensor, which expands the application scenarios of the peg-in-hole controller. Finally, the controller does not require an accurate compliance matrix, which also increases its applicability.

The purpose of this paper is to further advance an existing supplier evaluation model for the purpose of identifying those supplier relations which predominantly threaten or worsen a company's performance. A defined basic set of parameters to determine complexity facilitates the identification of critical locations within a supply network (SN) under certain business conditions.

This paper is based on a structured literature review in scientific periodicals in logistics/supply chain management between 2000 and 2009. Articles are analysed based on a structured framework and the identified complexity parameters are operationalised using quantitative and summable measures. The conceptual model is applied within a multiple case study in the Austrian agricultural industry.

This paper illustrates how complexity in SNs can be operationalised in a company‐specific configuration in order to achieve concrete managerial recommendations. Hence, the model allows evaluating SN‐partners based on selected parameters to determine the contribution of a single partner to the overall complexity.

Due to the literature review executed and the case study approach chosen, the research may lack generalisability. Therefore, continued validation by means of implementing a greater amount of use cases in other companies and industries is advisable.

Applying the model, a company is able to determine tier‐1 to tier‐n suppliers which are predominantly affecting its business from a complexity perspective.

Unlike typical current complexity evaluation approaches, the proposed model respects rapid and continuous applicability, profound conceptualisation and practical feasibility.

The purpose of this paper is to present a method which enables a robot to learn both motion skills and stiffness profiles from humans through kinesthetic human-robot cooperation.

Admittance control is applied to allow robot-compliant behaviors when following the reference trajectories. By extending the dynamical movement primitives (DMP) model, a new concept of DMP and stiffness primitives is introduced to encode a kinesthetic demonstration as a combination of trajectories and stiffness profiles, which are subsequently transferred to the robot. Electromyographic signals are extracted from a human’s upper limbs to obtain target stiffness profiles. By monitoring vibrations of the end-effector velocities, a stability observer is developed. The virtual damping coefficient of admittance controller is adjusted accordingly to eliminate the vibrations.

The performance of the proposed methods is evaluated experimentally. The result shows that the robot can perform tasks in a variable stiffness mode as like the human dose in the teaching phase.

DMP has been widely used as a teaching by demonstration method to represent movements of humans and robots. The proposed method extends the DMP framework to allow a robot to learn not only motion skills but also stiffness profiles. Additionally, the authors proposed a stability observer to eliminate vibrations when the robot is disturbed by environment.