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1 – 10 of 18Jin Xue, Geoffrey Qiping Shen, Xiaomei Deng, Adedayo Johnson Ogungbile and Xiaoling Chu
Relationship management evolves with dynamic and complex environments of megaprojects. However, studies on the longitudinal measurement of relationship management performance for…
Abstract
Purpose
Relationship management evolves with dynamic and complex environments of megaprojects. However, studies on the longitudinal measurement of relationship management performance for each stakeholder in dynamic and complex project environments are lacking. The purpose of this research is to propose an NK-network evolution model to evaluate stakeholder performance on relationship management in the development of megaprojects.
Design/methodology/approach
The model input includes the stakeholder-associated issues and stakeholders' relational strategies, the co-effects of which determine the internal effects of relationship management in megaprojects. The model processing simulates the stakeholder performance of relationship management under the dynamic and complex nature of megaprojects. The NK model shows the dynamic stakeholder interactions on relationship management, whereas the network model presents the complex stakeholder structures of the relationships between stakeholders and relevant issues. The model output is the evolution graph to reveal the weak stakeholder performance on relationship management in the timeline of the project duration.
Findings
The research finding reveals that all stakeholders experience the plunge of stakeholder performance of relationship management at the decision-making moment of the planning stage. Construction, environmental and pressure groups may experience the hardship of relationship management at the start of the construction stage. The government is likely to suffer difficulties in relationship management in the late construction stage. Local industry groups would face challenges in relationship management in the middle of the construction stage and handover stage.
Originality/value
The research provides a useful approach to measuring weak moments of relationship management for each stakeholder in various project phases, considering the dynamic and complex environments of megaprojects. The proposed model extends the current knowledge body on how to make project stakeholder analysis by modelling dynamic and complex environments of megaprojects, with bridging the knowledge domains of evolution modeling techniques and network methods.
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Qinghua Zhu, Jia Tina Du, Fei Meng, Kewen Wu and Xiaoling Sun
The purpose of this study is to develop an evaluation criteria system for search engines using the Delphi method and the analytic hierarchy process, and to conduct an empirical…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to develop an evaluation criteria system for search engines using the Delphi method and the analytic hierarchy process, and to conduct an empirical study on Chinese search engines to verify it. This is because the evaluation criteria in current research rarely considers expert opinions and experience, and seldom calculates the weight of each criterion by quantitative methods.
Design/methodology/approach
Expert investigation of the web‐based Delphi method was employed to develop the evaluation criteria, and the analytic hierarchy process based on an exponential scale was adopted to calculate the weight of each criterion. An empirical study was designed to test the evaluation criteria system. A total of 12 study participants were invited to evaluate six popular Chinese search engines by means of e‐mail questionnaires. All the calculation processes were executed automatically by Java programming.
Findings
The indexing structure and search method were the core criteria for evaluating the search engines. Google (using simplified Chinese characters) achieved the best performance among the six typical Chinese search engines.
Originality/value
The criteria for search engine evaluation were determined and weighted by the web‐based Delphi method and the analytic hierarchy process based on an exponential scale.
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Yuchen Xiao, Huiyi Tang, Hehe Zhang, Xiaoling Yang, Ling Sun, Yong Xie, Baoan Wu, Baifeng Luan, Weidong Xie and Xinnan Cai
The purpose of this paper is to develop high-performance Au-coated Ag alloy wires (ACAA wires) and demonstrate the effect of Au coating layers on the bonding performance and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop high-performance Au-coated Ag alloy wires (ACAA wires) and demonstrate the effect of Au coating layers on the bonding performance and oxidation resistance for stable and reliable electronic packaging applications.
Design/methodology/approach
ACAA wire with a diameter of approximately 25 µm and Au layer thickness of approximately 100 nm were prepared by the continuous casting, plating and wire drawing method. The bonding performance of the ACAA wires were studied through bonding on 3,535 chips. The oxidation resistance of ACAA wires and Ag alloy wires (AA wires) were comparatively studied by means of chemical oxidation tests, accelerated life tests and electrochemical tests systematically.
Findings
ACAA wires could form axi-symmetrical spherical free air balls with controllable diameter of 1.5∼2.5 times of the wire diameter after electric flame-off process. The ball shear strength of ACAA wire was higher than that of AA wires. Most importantly, because of the surface Au coating layer, the oxidation resistance of ACAA wires was much enhanced.
Research limitations/implications
ACAA wires with different lengths of heat affected zone were not developed in this study, which limited their application with different loop height requirements.
Practical implications
With higher bonding strength and oxidation resistance, ACAA wires would be a better choice than previous reported AA wire in chip packaging which require high stability and reliability.
Originality/value
This paper provides a kind of novel ACAA wire, which possess the merits of high bonding strength and reliability, and show great potential in electronic packaging applications.
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Ting Wang, Xiaoling Shao and Xue Yan
In intelligent scheduling, parallel batch processing can reasonably allocate production resources and reduce the production cost per unit product. Hence, the research on a…
Abstract
Purpose
In intelligent scheduling, parallel batch processing can reasonably allocate production resources and reduce the production cost per unit product. Hence, the research on a parallel batch scheduling problem (PBSP) with uncertain job size is of great significance to realize the flexibility of product production and mass customization of personalized products.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors propose a robust formulation in which the job size is defined by budget constrained support. For obtaining the robust solution of the robust PBSP, the authors propose an exact algorithm based on branch-and-price framework, where the pricing subproblem can be reduced to a robust shortest path problem with resource constraints. The robust subproblem is transformed into a deterministic mixed integer programming by duality. A series of deterministic shortest path problems with resource constraints is derived from the programming for which the authors design an efficient label-setting algorithm with a strong dominance rule.
Findings
The authors test the performance of the proposed algorithm on the extension of benchmark instances in literature and compare the infeasible rate of robust and deterministic solutions in simulated scenarios. The authors' results show the efficiency of the authors' algorithm and importance of incorporating uncertainties in the problem.
Originality/value
This work is the first to study the PBSP with uncertain size. To solve this problem, the authors design an efficient exact algorithm based on Dantzig–Wolfe decomposition. This can not only enrich the intelligent manufacturing theory related to parallel batch scheduling but also provide ideas for relevant enterprises to solve problems.
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MA Jiao and WU Guoyuan
The paper is aimed to avoid the situation that historical relics are encroached, isolated and fragmented because of cities in the rapid urban process. Taking the environment…
Abstract
The paper is aimed to avoid the situation that historical relics are encroached, isolated and fragmented because of cities in the rapid urban process. Taking the environment around the Qinglong Temple in Xi'an city as an example and based on the characteristics of urban patterns in the history, this paper explores the spatial connection relationship between historical relics and surrounding villages as well as the connection between metro traffic and commercial bodies. At the end of the paper, the improvement strategy is put forward, namely the design concepts of “stepwise style” and “landscape style”, which can be achieved by the demand of ecological restoration and the relationship between urban axis. To be noted, the research shows, by restructuring new connection space, the city can promote the urban memory to be restored, the urban appearance to be reshaped, and the urban patterns in the history to be respected and displayed.
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Anna Marie Johnson, Claudene Sproles and Robert Detmering
The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper introduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and audiovisual material examining library instruction and information literacy.
Findings
The paper provides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.
Originality/value
The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.
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Senmao Xia, Yu Xiong, Min Zhang, James Cornford, Yipeng Liu, Ming K. Lim, Dongmei Cao and Fengwen Chen
The purpose of this paper is to empirically explore the mechanisms through which Chinese National Science Parks' (NSPs) services facilitate returnee entrepreneurs' (REs…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically explore the mechanisms through which Chinese National Science Parks' (NSPs) services facilitate returnee entrepreneurs' (REs) acquisition of resources for their new ventures. Resource acquisition is crucial for new ventures, but it inevitably leads to significant costs increase. Although the NSPs offer various services to REs to reduce these costs, they still struggle to find the right mix of services.
Design/methodology/approach
From the transaction cost's perspective, an exploratory multiple-case study was conducted with data collected from six NSPs in China.
Findings
The results reveal that four types of NSP services (mentoring and training, social event, promotion of REs and accreditation of resource holders (RHs)) have both individual and joint effects on reducing REs' resource acquisition costs. Specifically, the “accreditation of RHs” service directly helps REs reduce search costs. The combination of “accreditation of RHs”, “promotion of REs” and “social event” services help REs and RHs to establish guanxi. Further, guanxi, working along with the “mentoring and training” service, helps REs to reduce contracting, monitoring and enforcement costs.
Originality/value
This study is among the first to explore the matching mechanisms between science parks’ services and entrepreneurs' cost reduction. This helps reconcile the inconsistent findings on science parks' effect by explaining why some NSPs are able to provide strong support to REs while others are less successful. In addition, the findings are useful for NSPs to develop the right mix of tailored services for REs. Finally, REs will find this study useful to evaluate which NSP is a more suitable location for their new ventures.
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Adil Khan, Abdul Saboor Mohammad and Shahaliza Muhammad
This study aims to develop, propose and test an integrated framework of brand love and brand experience in the context of halal industry. Particularly, this study investigates the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to develop, propose and test an integrated framework of brand love and brand experience in the context of halal industry. Particularly, this study investigates the relationship of brand experience and brand love concepts with several outcome variables such as brand trust, brand satisfaction, brand loyalty purchase intention and word of mouth.
Design/methodology/approach
A structured questionnaire has been constructed using scales from past studies. Hypotheses have been tested using partial least square structural equation modelling methodology.
Findings
This study has found that brand experience is a significant determinant of brand love. Further, brand love has a significant influence on trust, satisfaction and loyalty. Both variables, brand experience and brand love, have either direct or indirect influences on several branding-related outcome variables such as brand trust, brand satisfaction and brand loyalty.
Research limitations/implications
This study has been conducted only using cross-sectional sample of one country, which may limit the generalisations. However, the results of this study offer valuable insights for the brand managers in the halal sector.
Originality/value
Previous studies pertaining to halal food consumption have focussed more on understanding the attitude or the buying intention of the consumers. Only few studies have attempted to investigate the branding aspect of halal food consumption. This study is one of its kinds, which offers a comprehensive framework by incorporating important brand-related antecedents and outcome variables to understand the branding aspect of the halal food consumption behaviour.
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Cesare Amatulli, Matteo De Angelis, Giovanni Pino and Sheetal Jain
This paper investigates why and when messages regarding unsustainable luxury products lead to negative word-of-mouth (NWOM) through a focus on the role of guilt, need to warn…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates why and when messages regarding unsustainable luxury products lead to negative word-of-mouth (NWOM) through a focus on the role of guilt, need to warn others and consumers' cultural orientation.
Design/methodology/approach
Three experiments test whether messages describing unsustainable versus sustainable luxury manufacturing processes elicit guilt and a need to warn others and whether and how the need to warn others affects consumers' NWOM depending on their cultural orientation.
Findings
Consumers experience guilt in response to messages emphasizing the unsustainable (vs sustainable) nature of luxury products. In turn, guilt triggers a need to warn other consumers, which leads to NWOM about the luxury company. Furthermore, the results suggest that two dimensions of Hofstede's model of national culture – namely individualism/collectivism and masculinity/femininity – moderate the effect of the need to warn others on NWOM.
Practical implications
Luxury managers should design appropriate strategies to cope with consumers' different reactions to information regarding luxury brands' unsustainability. Managers should be aware that the risk of NWOM diffusion may be higher in countries characterized by a collectivistic and feminine orientation rather than an individualistic and masculine orientation.
Originality/value
Consumer reaction to unsustainable luxury, especially across different cultural groups, is a neglected area of investigation. This work contributes to this novel area of research by investigating NWOM stemming from unsustainable luxury manufacturing practices in different cultural contexts.
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