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Gives a bibliographical review of the finite element methods (FEMs) applied for the linear and nonlinear, static and dynamic analyses of basic structural elements from the theoretical as well as practical points of view. The range of applications of FEMs in this area is wide and cannot be presented in a single paper; therefore aims to give the reader an encyclopaedic view on the subject. The bibliography at the end of the paper contains 2,025 references to papers, conference proceedings and theses/dissertations dealing with the analysis of beams, columns, rods, bars, cables, discs, blades, shafts, membranes, plates and shells that were published in 1992‐1995.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of consumers' intention to adopt or continue to use Internet-only banks based on the benefit–risk framework and network externality theory. It also examines the difference in the determinants between pre- and postadoption stages of innovation.

The proposed research model was tested by using online survey data collected from a South Korean sample, which was divided into two subgroups of 321 nonadopters and 351 existing users.

In both pre- and postadoption stages, the number of services provided and trust had a significant positive impact on consumers' behavioral intentions, while security risks had a negative impact. Critical mass in the preadoption stage and convenience and economic efficiency in the postadoption stage had positive effects on consumer's adoption intention and continuance intention, respectively.

Internet-only banks must reduce the security risks for consumers and increase their trust. In addition, to facilitate the adoption of nonadopters, focus should be on securing a critical mass; on the other hand, to promote the continued use of existing users, the focus should be on enhancing benefits such as convenience and economic efficiency.

The results of this study confirm the influence of network externalities on consumers' adoption and use of financial technology services and show differences in consumer decision-making according to the innovation diffusion process.

Applies a new strategy formulation instrument (named as the strategy formulation (SF) framework), which is geared for an Asian (Chinese) culture within the banking industry of Hong Kong. In particular, the focus will be on a case study of the ABC Bank. The ABC Bank remains one of the more conservative banks in Hong Kong. Its major advantages are that it only deals with inter‐banking, and corporate banking. It has no bad debts and is extremely cash rich. However, because of its conservativeness, it remains a very low profile bank within the Hong Kong market. The main objective of this paper is to develop a set of strategies for the organization based on the SF framework. The SF framework is a combination of the SWOT analysis, the balanced scorecard (BSC), and Sun Tzu’s Art of Business Management in Strategic Planning, via the quality function deployment methodology. This new strategic management instrumentation was developed by Lee and Ko. The SF framework is unique because it integrates strategy formulation tools from both the Eastern and Western cultures, and its flexibility allows intercultural adaptations for most organizations.

Gives a bibliographical review of the error estimates and adaptive finite element methods from the theoretical as well as the application point of view. The bibliography at the end contains 2,177 references to papers, conference proceedings and theses/dissertations dealing with the subjects that were published in 1990‐2000.

The Art of War, by the ancient Chinese military theorist Sun Tzu, is the most famous work on military operation in ancient China and the books have been repeatedly translated, investigated and discussed. Today, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War remains a compulsory text in major military schools around the world and its influences on twentieth century military thinking is undisputed. Also in recent times, the use of military strategies in the business and management contexts is increasing. This paper proposes a set of criteria based on Sun Tzu’s philosophy for evaluation of business management strategies against the world class business excellence models. The total quality management models of the European Quality Award and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award are used to compare with Sun Tzu’s business management strategy model developed under the quality function deployment (QFD) methodology. The results of the QFD methodology can be used as performance indicators showing organisations’ improvement priorities for self‐assessment.

TERMITES, or as they are commonly and erroneously called, “White Ants”, belong to the zoological class “Insects”. Insects are characterized by having in the adult state three distinct parts to the body: the head, with one pair of feelers and usually three pairs of jaws; the thorax, bearing three pairs of legs and at most two pairs of wings; and the abdomen. The class is divided into three sub‐classes, of which the termites belong to the exopterygota: insects which change, mainly by enlargement, their appearance each time they moult, the wings developing outwardly, and thus visibly, throughout the process until they are fully winged at maturity. Of the many orders of this sub‐class the termites belong to the isoptera, having two similar and almost equal pairs of wings, large heads, and powerful jaws. The order is sub‐divided, as is common in zoology, into families. There are four families of termites, one, the mastotermitidæ, is purely Australian; the other three are common throughout the tropics and named according to their degrees of development. The most primitive of the three tropical families is the protermitidae (known as kalotermitidæ in the U.S.A.); rather more advanced, the mesotermitidæ (rhinotermitidæ in the U.S.A.); and the termitidæ, the most highly developed of all. True ants belong not only to a different order, but to a different sub‐class, the endopterygota, in which the development is quite different from the termite type, they are allied closely to bees and wasps, whereas the termites are allied to cockroaches.

The recent growth of interests in applying the Chinese art of warfare to complement the Western style of management process suggested that an integrated business model that combined the Western scientific management and ancient Chinese wisdom could be an effective tool for gaining strategic advantages, especially for companies that want to share the newly opened markets in mainland China. Among all, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War has been widely adopted and applied in various business areas. However, there are few presentations with strategic models. Moreover, works on his successor, Sun Pin, are limited particularly to the area of applying his art of warfare in gaining strategic advantages and transforming business crisis into opportunities. While various business and quality management models at national level have been established by various countries to emphasise their differences in economic development and culture, models of similar type that make use of the ancient Chinese wisdom are not available either in Hong Kong or in China. As China has become a member of the WTO, a national model that framed both the Chinese management philosophy and Western management wisdom would certainly help in driving local and international enterprises for business competitiveness. This paper is therefore a first attempt to investigate the applicability of Sun Pin’s The Art of Warfare for business management strategies by amalgamating the Western wisdom and the Chinese art of warfare.

The aim of this study is to profile types of gifters via a set of psychographic consumption traits (frugality, gratitude, market mavenism and novelty seeking) and identify differences among the groups regarding their gift-purchasing behavior.

Based on the data from 193 participants, the authors seek to identify and profile unique consumer segments (gifters) generated from the four psychographic consumption traits. Second, once the segments are established, the authors analyze how the segments differ across 16 unique gift-purchasing behaviors.

The data generated four distinct consumer segments: experiential gifters, considerate gifters, convenience gifters and astute gifters. Across the segments, there were differences in their gift consumption behavior (e.g. time/effort spent, desire for customization, gift presentation, derived joy, purchasing frequency, eco-friendliness, seeking assistance, regifting and more).

US-based sample was collected via an online panel in January; this may restrict the generalizability of the research, given that gift consumption customs may vary across different countries. Thus, future research should include participants from other geographic regions to increase the external validity of the research.

Retail managers can use this knowledge to devise marketing strategies focused on the gift-purchasing behaviors of each group.

Segmenting clusters based on differences in consumption traits provides insights to retailers looking to build a competitive advantage, particularly in a gift purchasing context.

This paper is an empirical attempt to verify the interplay between political change, fleet nationality, and the evolution of shipping networks. North Korea offers a good example of a socialist maritime country that has experienced much contrasting geopolitical contexts since 1990. A database of vessel movements between North Korean ports and other ports is analyzed. Main results show differences between North Korean and foreign fleets in terms of traffic (vessel size, age, berthing time) and geographical coverage. South Korean ports tend to play a new role in the reorganization of North Korean-related flows in Northeast Asia.

The link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate firm performance (CFP) has been extensively studied, but a significant research gap remains when considering potential mediating factors that can provide a more comprehensive and complete picture of the CSR-CFP link. Among the possible mediators, innovation is one of the most noteworthy factors, but previous studies have found inconsistent results between CSR and innovation in the service industry context. Existing studies have reported an insignificant or negative relationship between CSR and innovation in the service industry, including the hospitality industry. To clarify this controversy, this study aims to propose the positive mediating role of innovation to explain the CSR-CFP link in the hotel and casino industry.

To discover the relationship among CSR, innovation and CFP, a panel data analysis, the two-way fixed-effects model, is used with robust standard errors. Particularly, to examine the mediating role of innovation, this study conducts Sobel, Aroian and Goodman tests. The sample period is from 2000 to 2017, consisting of 342 firm-year observations.

With a sample of publicly traded US hotel and casino firms, this study confirms the mediating role of innovation and suggests a strategic direction of CSR, highlighting the importance of innovation in the hospitality industry.

This study presents an important piece of evidence regarding non-technological innovation and proposes a strategic direction of CSR in the hotel and casino industry to achieve competitive advantages.

Adopting a new measurement method of innovation using data envelopment analysis, this study serves as a reference for a better understanding of a role of innovation in the CSR-CFP link for hospitality scholars.