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Article
Publication date: 25 March 2024

Zhixue Liao, Xinyu Gou, Qiang Wei and Zhibin Xing

Online reviews serve as valuable sources of information, reflecting tourists’ attentions, preferences and sentiments. However, although the existing research has demonstrated that…

Abstract

Purpose

Online reviews serve as valuable sources of information, reflecting tourists’ attentions, preferences and sentiments. However, although the existing research has demonstrated that incorporating online review data can enhance the performance of tourism demand forecasting models, the reliability of online review data and consumers’ decision-making process have not been given adequate attention. To address the aforementioned problem, the purpose of this study is to forecast tourism demand using online review data derived from the analysis of review helpfulness.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors propose a novel “identification-first, forecasting-second” framework. This framework prioritizes the identification of helpful reviews through a comprehensive analysis of review helpfulness, followed by the integration of helpful online review data into the forecasting system. Using the SARIMAX model with helpful online review data sourced from TripAdvisor, this study forecasts tourist arrivals in Hong Kong during the period from August 2012 to June 2019. The SNAÏVE/SARIMA model was used as the benchmark model. Additionally, artificial intelligence models including long short-term memory, back propagation neural network, extreme learning machine and random forest models were used to assess the robustness of the results.

Findings

The results demonstrate that online review data are subject to noise and bias, which can adversely affect the accuracy of predictions when used directly. However, by identifying helpful online reviews beforehand and incorporating them into the forecasting process, a notable enhancement in predictive performance can be realized.

Originality/value

First, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to focus on the data issue of online reviews on tourism arrivals forecasting. Second, this study pioneers the integration of the consumer decision-making process into the domain of tourism demand forecasting, marking one of the earliest endeavors in this area. Third, this study makes a novel attempt to identify helpful online reviews based on reviews helpfulness analysis.

Details

Nankai Business Review International, vol. 15 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8749

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 February 2024

Lijuan Pei

The purpose of this study is to explore the coopetition relationships between platform owners and complementors in complementary product markets. Drawing on the coopetition…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore the coopetition relationships between platform owners and complementors in complementary product markets. Drawing on the coopetition theory, the authors examined the evolutionary trends of the coopetition relationships between platform owners and complementors and explore the main influence factors.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used Lotka–Volterra model to analyze the coopetition relationship between platform owners and complementors, including the evolutionary trends as well as the results. Considering the feasibility of sample data collection, simulation is used to verify the effects of different factors on the evolution of coopetition relationships.

Findings

The results show that there are four possible results of the competition in the complementary products market. That comprises “winner-take-all for platform owners,” “winner-take-all for complementors,” “stable competitive coexistence” and “unstable competitive coexistence,” where “stable competitive coexistence” is the optimal evolutionary state. Moreover, the results of competitive evolution are determined by innovation subjects’ interaction parameters. However, the natural growth rate, the initial market benefits of the two innovators and the overall benefits of the complementary product markets influence the time to reach a steady state.

Originality/value

The study provides new insights into the entry of platform owners into complementary markets, and the findings highlight the fact that in complementary product markets, platform owners and complementors should seek “competitive coexistence” rather than “winner-takes-all.” Moreover, the authors also enrich the coopetition theory by revealing the core factors that influence the evolution of coopetition relationships, which further enhance the analysis of the evolutionary process of coopetition relationships.

Details

Chinese Management Studies, vol. 18 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-614X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 December 2023

Yadong Dou, Xiaolong Zhang and Ling Chen

The coal-fired power plants have been confronted with new operation challenge since the unified carbon trading market was launched in China. To make the optimal decision for the…

Abstract

Purpose

The coal-fired power plants have been confronted with new operation challenge since the unified carbon trading market was launched in China. To make the optimal decision for the carbon emissions and power production has already been an important subject for the plants. Most of the previous studies only considered the market prices of electricity and coal to optimize the generation plan. However, with the opening of the carbon trading market, carbon emission has become a restrictive factor for power generation. By introducing the carbon-reduction target in the production decision, this study aims to achieve both the environmental and economic benefits for the coal-fired power plants to positively deal with the operational pressure.

Design/methodology/approach

A dynamic optimization approach with both long- and short-term decisions was proposed in this study to control the carbon emissions and power production. First, the operation rules of carbon, electricity and coal markets are analyzed, and a two-step decision-making algorithm for annual and weekly production is presented. Second, a production profit model based on engineering constraints is established, and a greedy heuristics algorithm is applied in the Gurobi solver to obtain the amounts of weekly carbon emission, power generation and coal purchasing. Finally, an example analysis is carried out with five generators of a coal-fired power plant for illustration.

Findings

The results show that the joint information of the multiple markets of carbon, electricity and coal determines the real profitability of power production, which can assist the plants to optimize their production and increase the profits. The case analyses demonstrate that the carbon emission is reduced by 2.89% according to the authors’ method, while the annual profit is improved by 1.55%.

Practical implications

As an important power producer and high carbon emitter, coal-fired power plants should actively participate in the carbon market. Rather than trade blindly at the end of the agreement period, they should deeply associate the prices of carbon, electricity and coal together and realize optimal management of carbon emission and production decision efficiently.

Originality/value

This paper offers an effective method for the coal-fired power plant, which is struggling to survive, to manage its carbon emission and power production optimally.

Details

International Journal of Energy Sector Management, vol. 18 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6220

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 November 2024

Oluwadamilare Olamide Ilesanmi, Dorcas T. Moyanga, Ayodeji Emmanuel Oke and John Aliu

Despite the global shift toward smart building features and technologies, the level of awareness among stakeholders in Nigeria’s construction sector remains unclear, limiting…

Abstract

Purpose

Despite the global shift toward smart building features and technologies, the level of awareness among stakeholders in Nigeria’s construction sector remains unclear, limiting engagement with these innovations. This study examines the awareness of smart building features and technologies, providing insights to address knowledge gaps and improve understanding within the sector.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopted the quantitative research approach, using a questionnaire survey to obtain data from construction stakeholders that were purposively selected in Lagos State and Abuja, Nigeria. The collected data were analyzed using various statistical tools such as frequencies, percentiles, mean item scores, standard deviation and the Mann–Whitney U test.

Findings

From the result of the analysis, the study concluded that the most cognizant smart building features and technology were security doors, escalators and lifts, solar panels and energy-saving equipment, fire alarms, heating, ventilation, air and conditioning.

Practical implications

This study provides insights into the awareness of smart building features and technologies among Nigerian construction stakeholders, bridging theory and practice. It informs policy development, enhances professional knowledge and promotes educational initiatives. Its findings support sustainable construction efforts, potentially improving societal attitudes and quality of life.

Originality/value

This study uniquely explores the level of awareness of smart building features and technologies among clients and professionals in Nigeria’s construction sector. Identifying existing knowledge gaps provides critical insights that can guide efforts to enhance understanding and foster deeper engagement with these innovations.

Details

International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-4708

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 November 2024

Alaeldin Abdalla, Xiaodong Li, Fan Yang and Qianhui Lou

With the rise in international construction projects, addressing the psychological health concerns of expatriate construction professionals (EXCPs) has become of paramount…

Abstract

Purpose

With the rise in international construction projects, addressing the psychological health concerns of expatriate construction professionals (EXCPs) has become of paramount importance. Therefore, this study aims to identify and evaluate effective intervention measures to promote optimal psychological health and well-being in overseas working environments.

Design/methodology/approach

Intervention measures were identified through a comprehensive literature review. Subsequently, using a case study of Chinese international contractors, data were collected via a quantitative survey administered to EXCPs holding managerial positions in international construction projects. Fuzzy synthetic evaluation was employed to analyze the data.

Findings

The findings identified 23 intervention measures and 4 constructs, among them, measures focused on enhancing organizational justice and training practices offer the greatest potential for enhancing the psychological health and well-being during international assignments. Furthermore, the analysis showed that the overall criticality of the intervention measures to the international contractors is significant, suggesting that if put into practice, the psychological health and well-being of EXCPs can be significantly enhanced.

Originality/value

While prior research has explored intervention measures suitable for construction professionals working on domestic projects, little attention has been paid to EXCPs in the context of international construction projects. This study offers an initial exploration of the most crucial intervention measures and provides a valuable resource for policymakers and practitioners seeking to establish a psychologically healthy working environment for international construction projects.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 November 2024

Shengqi Guan, Tengfei Ma, Zhenhu Hao and Shibo Wang

When handling small-sized shafts and holes, achieving optimal safety, size compatibility and shape adaptability using rigid grippers presents significant problems. Recent…

Abstract

Purpose

When handling small-sized shafts and holes, achieving optimal safety, size compatibility and shape adaptability using rigid grippers presents significant problems. Recent advancements have introduced soft end-effectors that offer enhanced safety and adaptability for gripping parts. However, these soft end-effectors often struggle to maintain the necessary gripping positional accuracy. The purpose of this paper is to design a soft end-effector specifically engineered to address these problems, combining precise gripping capabilities with improved safety, positional accuracy and adaptability to the size and shape of fragile, small-sized components.

Design/methodology/approach

A soft finger with multilayer decreasing drive air chambers is designed to achieve the finger bending increasing from the root to the tip of the finger to improve the flexibility of the fingertip. Additionally, a three-finger self-centering configuration is employed, coupled with an expandable structure to increase the gripping range. Furthermore, a theoretical mathematical model of the finger is established. The physical prototype is manufactured and subjected to experimental testing, including gripping tests on small-sized, fragile shaft holes, to validate its operational performance.

Findings

The grasping experiments confirm that the designed end-effector can maintain coaxial positioning and meet adaptability requirements when handling fragile components with small-sized shaft holes. Furthermore, the addition of expanding palm structure increases the gripping attitude and enriches the application scene and gripping space.

Originality/value

The design of multilayer decreasing air chamber structure to solve the problem of poor gripping stability and low positional accuracy of soft manipulator; the expandable palm design is introduced to enhance gripping space; and solved the problem of gripping accuracy in the assembly of fragile parts with small-size shafts and holes.

Details

Industrial Robot: the international journal of robotics research and application, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 November 2024

Yongliang Wang, Yifeng Duan, Yanpei Song and Yumeng Du

Supercritical CO2 (SC–CO2) fracturing is a potential technology that creates a complex fracturing fracture network to improve reservoir permeability. SC–CO2-driven intersections…

Abstract

Purpose

Supercritical CO2 (SC–CO2) fracturing is a potential technology that creates a complex fracturing fracture network to improve reservoir permeability. SC–CO2-driven intersections of the fracturing fracture network are influenced by some key factors, including the disturbances generated form natural fractures, adjacent multi-wells and adjacent fractures, which increase the challenges in evaluation, control and optimization of the SC–CO2 fracturing fracture networks. If the evaluation of the fracture network is not accurate and effective, the risk of oil and gas development will increase due to the microseismicity induced by multi-well SC–CO2 fracturing, which makes it challenging to control the on-site engineering practices.

Design/methodology/approach

The numerical models considering the thermal-hydro-mechanical coupling effect in multi-well SC–CO2 fracturing were established, and the typical cases considering naturally fracture and multi-wells were proposed to investigate the intersections and connections of fracturing fracture network, shear stress shadows and induced microseismic events. The quantitative results from the typical cases, such as fracture length, volume, fluid rate, pore pressure and the maximum and accumulated magnitudes of induced microseismic events, were derived.

Findings

In naturally fractured reservoirs, SC–CO2 fracturing fractures will deflect and propagate along the natural fractures, eventually intersect and connect with fractures from other wells. The quantitative results indicate that SC–CO2 fracturing in naturally fractured reservoirs produces larger fractures than the slick water as fracturing fluid, due to the ability of SC–CO2 to connect macroscopic and microscopic fractures. Compared with slick water fracturing, SC–CO2 fracturing can increase the length of fractures, but it will not increase microseismic events; therefore, SC–CO2 fracturing can improve fracturing efficiency and increase productivity, but it may not simultaneously lead to additional microseismic events.

Originality/value

The results of this study on the multi-well SC–CO2 fracturing may provide references for the fracturing design of deep oil and gas resource extraction, and provide some beneficial supports for the induced microseismic event disasters, promoting the next step of engineering application of multi-well SC–CO2 fracturing.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

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