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The purpose of this paper is to propose a grey clustering evaluation model based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and interval grey number (IGN) to solve the clustering evaluation problem with IGNs.

First, the centre-point triangular whitenisation weight function with real numbers is built, and then by using interval mean function, the whitenisation weight function is extended to IGNs. The weights of evaluation indexes are determined by AHP. Finally, this model is used to evaluate the flight safety of a Chinese airline. The results indicate that the model is effective and reasonable.

When IGN meets certain conditions, the centre-point triangular whitenisation weight function based on IGN is not multiple-cross and it is normative. It provides a certain standard and basis for obtaining the effective evaluation indexes and determining the scientific evaluation of the grey class.

The traditional grey clustering model is extended to the field of IGN. It can make full use of all the information of the IGN, so the result of the evaluation is more objective and reasonable, which provides supports for solving practical problems.

This paper aims to introduce the psychological variable of “social distance” and use SEM to analyze the relationship between tourism service providers’ physical attractiveness (SPPA) and tourists’ perceptions of social distance, stereotypes and service quality.

The data collectors were instructed to convenience sampling tourists in Guangzhou Chimelong Tourist Resort, the biggest resort in South China and 334 valid questionnaires were collected. This study used CFA to confirm the measurement model and to check the reliability and validity of the constructs. Using Mplus 7.0, SEM was performed to test the hypotheses of this study.

The study found that tourism SPPA can improve tourists’ stereotype perception by reducing the social distance between tourists and service providers, which ultimately improves service quality. This study also found that only warmth perception can significantly improve the service quality evaluation of tourists, with competence perception having no significant effect.

This study focused on the SPPA in tourism services, expanding the research on tourism service management and on the effect of physical attractiveness; enriched the stereotype content model and behaviors from intergroup affect and stereotypes map by clarifying the mediating role of social distance and stereotypes; found different roles played by the competence and warmth stereotype in the enhancement effect; helped find an insightful strategy to improve service quality by recruiting and training employees intentionally.

旅游服务人员的外貌吸引力与顾客服务质量评价：热情与能力同等重要吗？

本文的目的在于利用结构方程模型验证旅游服务人员的外貌吸引力、旅游者感知社会距离与服务质量感知之间的关系, 并为如何提升旅游服务质量提出建议。

研究使用方便抽样的方式在广州长隆旅游度假区共回收有效问卷334份。本文使用Mplus 7.0对研究模型进行了检验。

研究结果表明, 旅游服务人员的外貌吸引力可以通过拉近其与旅游者之间的社会距离, 从而能够提升旅游者对其的热情和能力刻板印象, 进而提升旅游者服务质量感知。本文还发现热情和能力刻板印象的重要性有所不同, 只有后者能够显著提升旅游者服务质量感知。

第一, 本研究从一线旅游服务人员的外貌吸引力因素视角, 推进了旅游服务管理和外貌刻板印象的相关研究。第二, 本文还通过厘清社会距离和刻板印象的中介作用, 丰富了SCM和BIAS map理论。第三, 本文发现了热情和能力刻板印象在提升服务质量感知过程中的不同作用。

关键词：外貌吸引力, 社会距离, 刻板印象, SCM, BIAS map, 服务质量

文章类型： 研究型论文

El atractivo físico de los prestadores de servicios turísticos y la evaluación de la calidad del servicio de los clientes: ¿qué es más importante, la calidez o las competencias?

El objetivo de este artículo es introducir la variable psicológica del “distanciamiento social” y utilizar un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales para analizar la relación entre el atractivo físico de los prestadores de servicios turísticos y la percepción de los turistas sobre el distanciamiento social, estereotipos y la calidad del servicio.

Los recopiladores de datos recibieron instrucciones de tomar muestras de turistas a conveniencia en el centro turístico de Guangzhou Chimelong, el centro turístico más grande del sur de China. Se recolectaron 334 cuestionarios válidos. Este estudio utilizó el AFC para confirmar el modelo de medición y verificar la confiabilidad y validez de los constructos. Para probar las hipótesis de este estudio, se elaboró un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales utilizando Mplus 7.0.

En este estudio se encontró que el atractivo físico de los prestadores de servicios turísticos puede mejorar los estereotipos de los turistas, reduciendo el distanciamiento social entre los turistas y los prestadores de servicios y a la vez, en última instancia, formar una mayor calidad del servicio. En este estudio también se encontró que, en dos estereotipos, la percepción de la calidez y de las competencias, solo el último puede mejorar significativamente la evaluación de la calidad del servicio por parte de los turistas. No existe una relación significativa entre la percepción de la calidez y la evaluación de la calidad del servicio.

En primer lugar, este estudio se enfocó en el atractivo físico del personal de primera línea que presta los servicios turísticos, ampliando la investigación a la gestión de los servicios de turismo y el efecto del atractivo físico. En segundo lugar, este estudio enriqueció el SMC y el mapa BIAS al aclarar el rol mediador del distanciamiento social y los estereotipos. En tercer lugar, en este estudio se encontraron los diferentes roles que juegan el estereotipo de las competencias y el de la calidez en la relación entre el atractivo físico y la calidad del servicio.

Atractivo físico, distanciamiento social, estereotipos, SMC, mapa BIAS, calidad del servicio

The purpose of this study is to explore how nationalistic appeals may affect consumers’ perception and purchasing of targeted brands. Qualitative historical data from old China (1900–1949) reveal that social movement groups can adopt nationalistic appeals assisted by meaning framing – defined as a creative interpretation of symbols, designs, behaviors, social events and cultural identities to serve social and political goals – to shape consumers’ attitudes toward foreign brands. After examining the mechanisms and processes underlying consumer boycotts from 1900 to 1949, the responsive strategies of affected foreign companies are illustrated.

Critical historical research method is applied to historical data and historical “traces” from China’s corporate documents, memoirs, posters, advertisements, newspapers and secondhand sources documenting Chinese boycotts from 1900 to 1949.

Consumers may pursue interests beyond economic interests. Nationalistic appeals can mobilize consumer boycotts against foreign brands that were perceived to support or relate to targeted countries. Political framing of certain events shapes consumers’ perceptions and concomitant brand choices.

Although differences between historical and current contexts may require tailoring past marketing strategies to current conditions, past strategies can inform current and future strategies.

Strategies adopted by foreign companies in old China (1900–1949) can help contemporary companies design effective marketing strategies for a hostile marketplace infused with nationalistic appeals and competing interests.

Although local companies can adopt economic or political nationalism to realize their economic goals, it represents a double-edged sword that can harm national brands.

A historical analysis of nationalistic business appeals in pre-1949 China can inform the counterstrategies modern companies adopt to overcome consumer boycotts.

Drawing upon Folkman and Lazarus’ (1984) coping framework and interdependence theory (Thibaut and Kelley, 1959), the purpose of this paper is to investigate how expatriate spouses’ coping strategies (problem-focused and emotion-focused) affect expatriate spouse adjustment and expatriate adjustment. In addition, the authors also examine the mediating effect of expatriate adjustment on the spouse coping strategies-spouse adjustment relationship.

To test these relationships, the authors collected multi-source data from 191 expatriate spouses and their expatriate partners living in 37 countries.

The results revealed that problem- and emotion-focused coping strategies positively and negatively, respectively, influenced all types of spouse adjustment: personal, interaction, and cultural. Both forms of spouse coping also influenced expatriate adjustment. The authors also found that expatriate adjustment mediated the relationship between expatriate spouses’ coping strategies and spouse adjustment.

The results suggest that multinational organizations should pay equal attention to the adjustment of both their expatriates and their spouses. Both expatriates and their spouses should be included in the initial selection process and in pre-departure training to get well equipped before the international assignment. Training spouses to adopt problem-focused coping strategies would help to facilitate the effective adjustment of both spouses and expatriates.

The research provides one of the first examinations that investigate expatriate spouses’ coping strategies and their impact on expatriate and expatriate spouse adjustment. This research also highlights the interdependency of expatriates and their spouses.

The purpose of the paper is to explore impacts of financing and supplier subsidy on capital-constrained retailer and the value of returns subsidy contract under a situation where the retailer makes joint operations and finance decisions.

This paper considers a two-level supply chain, including a retailer and a supplier. Facing problems of capital constraints and even customer returns, the newsvendor-like retailer orders from a well-capitalized supplier. The supplier allows the retailer a delay in payment and provides a subsidy contract to alleviate its problems if it is profitable. Considering their difference of initial capital status, the retailer is assumed to be Follower of Stackelberg Game and the supplier is the Leader.

The supplier return subsidy contract has some merits for both of partners in the chain. And it does not coordinate the supply chain when the retailer has enough initial capital; however, when the retailer is capital constrained, it does. In addition, the retailer’s initial capital level significantly affects the supplier’s subsidy decision.

Return rate is simplified to a fixed proportion of completed demand. In addition, trade credit is only financing source in this paper, and other types of financing methods, such as bank credit, can be taken too.

This paper first incorporates trade credit financing and customer returns into a modeling framework to investigate the capital-constrained retailer’s joint operations and finance decisions and the value of supplier’s subsidy contract.

This study aims to explore the influence of social interaction processes on transactive memory system (TMS) practice, the mediation of knowledge integration to the relationship between TMS and team performance and the moderation of team psychological safety to the relationship among TMS, knowledge intentions and team performance.

The authors collected data from a sample of 366 team members from 55 research and development (R&D) teams in Taiwan and conduct the analysis using the partial least squares method.

The results of this study indicate that social interaction processes have a positive effect on a TMS; a TMS can foster team performance, but knowledge integration mediates the relationship between the TMS and team performance; and team psychological safety can moderate the relationship between the TMS, knowledge integration and team performance.

Existing studies not only fail to explore the influence of social interaction processes on a TMS practice but also lack empirical analyses to explore knowledge integration as a mediator and team psychological safety as a moderator. This study fills that gap by developing a model that includes these types of relationships and suggests the importance of the TMS in the context of R&D.

Studies have not investigated how the International Standards Organization (ISO) 9000 quality management system (QMS) guides manufacturers’ and their partners’ creative processes in devising an innovative supply chain structure. Accordingly, this study aims to explore this subject.

A systematic literature analysis was conducted to explore how the ISO 9000 QMS might guide manufacturers’ and supply chain partners’ creative processes and the further development of an innovative supply chain organizational structure. The systematic literature analysis is divided into the following two parts: the first part collects related literature to analyze and explore based on the research questions and purpose. The second part is an association analysis. The results of the association analysis show that these related literatures are suitable for the analysis and exploration of the research questions and purpose.

This study developed an analytic framework to compare the elements of four components of the ISO 9000 QMS and the ingredients that drive creativity and innovation; the study also reviewed related publications to deeply analyze the relationship between the elements of the four components and the ingredients of creativity and innovation. The authors observed that when manufacturers and partners implement the ISO 9000 QMS, their use of the elements of the four components engages all ingredients and thereby facilitates the manufacturers’ and partners’ creative process in the development of an innovative organizational structure.

According to the results of the analysis, practitioners can understand how to improve the innovation of an organization’s supply chain from ISO 9000 QMS components. In addition, the research has resulted in developing additional research propositions concerning the relationship between the four components of the ISO 9000 QMS and ingredients that drive creativity and innovation. Based on these propositions, more research hypotheses can be further developed.

The research results prove that the ISO 9000 QMS has a positive effect on facilitating the creative process and innovation, with regard to the organizational structure, and it also provides the underlying reasons for this effect.

This paper aims to improve the wear resistance of metal rubber microfilaments and the service life. The effect of surface texture by laser processing on the fretting friction properties of metal rubber microfilaments was studied.

The LQL-F20A laser marking machine was used to fabricate a ring groove array with equal spacing and dense arrangement on the surface of metal rubber microfilaments. The test was carried out with a self-made micro-dynamic frictional tester. The topography of the microfilaments was observed by scanning electron microscopy and analyzed.

It has shown that laser surface texturing can improve the wear performance of microfilaments. Under the same experimental conditions, the microfilaments of textured surface has a smaller depth of wear than un-textured specimen. The wear resistance increases with the increase of texture density. The friction coefficient of textured specimen is significantly reduced compared with un-textured specimen, and the surface texture density of microfilaments has little influence on the friction coefficient after stabilization. In the stage of stable fretting wear, the wear depth will be more with the increase of the load.

There is little research on metal rubber microfilaments tribological properties. In this paper, the effect of laser texturing of microfilaments on micro-dynamic friction properties was studied by friction machine to provide a reference for the application of metal rubber in aerospace, medical and other fields.

This paper aims to provide an innovative solution on new service development (NSD) implementation by the project management competences and processes of IPMA ICB 3.0 and PMI PMBOK Guide 5th E.

By breaking NSD work breakdown structure into five control accounts, each account has its own suggested work packages concluded from reviewed literatures.

This research sequentially presents proper PM competences and processes as solutions for these control accounts and their work packages.

This study was to provide an innovative solution on NSD implementation by the project management competences and processes of IPMA ICB 3.0 and PMI PMBOK Guide 5th E. By breaking NSD work breakdown structure into five control accounts, each account has its own suggested work packages concluded from reviewed literatures. This research sequentially presents proper PM competences and processes as solutions for these control accounts and their work packages. Consequently, we concluded that the PM competences and processes furnish a favorable base where any NSD project is suitable to deploy without compromising its original features.

Consequently, it is concluded that the PM competences and processes furnish a favorable base where any NSD project is suitable to deploy without compromising its original features.

This paper suggests that motives for engaging in affiliative‐promotive “helping” extra‐role behavior is related to cross‐cultural differences. The cultural dimensions of in‐group collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, performance orientation, and humane orientation, and their differential effect on helping extra‐role behavior in a diverse workforce are examined. Theoretical implications provide guidance for future empirical research in this area, and provide managers with more realistic expectations of employee performance in the workplace.