This study explores the characteristics of high-speed rail (HSR) and air transportation networks in China based on the weighted complex network approach. Previous related studies…
Abstract
This study explores the characteristics of high-speed rail (HSR) and air transportation networks in China based on the weighted complex network approach. Previous related studies have largely implemented unweighted (binary) network analysis, or have constructed a weighted network, limited by unweighted centrality measures. This study applies weighted centrality measures (mean association [MA], triangle betweenness centrality [TBC], and weighted harmonic centrality [WHC]) to represent traffic dynamics in HSR and air transportation weighted networks, where nodes represent cities and links represent passenger traffic. The spatial distribution of centrality results is visualized by using ArcGIS 10.2. Moreover, we analyze the network robustness of HSR, air transportation, and multimodal networks by measuring weighted efficiency (WE) subjected to the highest weighted centrality node attacks. In the HSR network, centrality results show that cities with a higher MA are concentrated in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta; cities with a higher TBC are mostly provincial capitals or regional centers; and cities with a higher WHC are grouped in eastern and central regions. Furthermore, spatial differentiation of centrality results is found between HSR and air transportation networks. There is a little bit of difference in eastern cities; cities in the central region have complementary roles in HSR and air transportation networks, but air transport is still dominant in western cities. The robustness analysis results show that the multimodal network, which includes both airports and high-speed rail stations, has the best connectivity and shows robustness.
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Esta investigación utiliza la Teoría Basada en Recursos como base para un modelo que permite integrar las acciones organizacionales con las variables que pueden moderar, directa o…
Abstract
Propósito
Esta investigación utiliza la Teoría Basada en Recursos como base para un modelo que permite integrar las acciones organizacionales con las variables que pueden moderar, directa o indirectamente, su impacto en el alto desempeño de los clubes de fútbol.
Diseño/metodología/enfoque
Se desarrolla una contrastación empírica en tres fases. La primera fue la técnica de regresión lineal. En segundo lugar, un análisis multivariado de covarianza (MANCOVA) y el tercer procedimiento, una regresión por mínimos cuadrados en dos fases. El objetivo de usar estos dos últimos procedimientos fue evaluar el efecto conjunto de las variables independientes sobre las variables dependientes, así como los efectos de interacción entre las mismas.
Hallazgos
Se validan las relaciones, directas e indirectas, entre las variables organizacionales y decisionales previstas en el modelo. También se valida la importancia de las acciones promocionales del club, para lograr competitividad basada en su desempeño o resultados.
Limitaciones de la investigación/implicaciones
Investigaciones futuras se podrían replicar en otros países, usando muestras más grandes con técnicas estadísticas más complejas. También, se podría contrastar si las relaciones encontradas pueden variar según las culturas, o pueden usarse otras variables no contempladas en este estudio.
Implicaciones prácticas
El cuestionario usado es una fuente de información fiable para los directivos de marketing de los clubes de fútbol, puesto que las escalas pueden ser usadas como guías para evaluar y diagnosticar su potencial de competitividad basada en el desempeño.
Implicaciones sociales
Los clubes de fútbol tienen un desarrollo e impacto directo en la sociedad. Por ello, las implicancias en el club recaerán en el entorno cercano (aficionados y sociedad) a este.
Originalidad/valor
Esta investigación aporta varias contribuciones fundamentales a la literatura sobre la competitividad organizacional en el sector deportivo, con aplicación específica a los clubes de fútbol. Este es uno de los escasos estudios que muestran que la competitividad es el resultado de una dinámica motivacional y organizativa, y que el éxito de los clubes se basa en un fenómeno más complejo que solo la asistencia a los eventos. También, es una investigación en un país emergente, lo cual extiende la aplicabilidad teórica y práctica del fenómeno estudiado.
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Gehan Wishwajith Premathilake, Hongxiu Li, Chenglong Li, Yong Liu and Shengnan Han
Humanoid social robots (HSRs) are an innovative technology revitalizing various service sectors, such as the hospitality industry. However, limited research has explored how…
Abstract
Purpose
Humanoid social robots (HSRs) are an innovative technology revitalizing various service sectors, such as the hospitality industry. However, limited research has explored how anthropomorphic features of HSRs influence user satisfaction with the services delivered by HSRs. To address this, a research model was proposed to evaluate how three distinct anthropomorphic features: appearance, voice and response, impact the perceived values (i.e. utilitarian, social and hedonic values) of HSRs, which, in turn, influence user satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from an online survey of hotel customers was utilized to test the research model (N = 509).
Findings
The results indicated that appearance, voice, and response affect perceived utilitarian, hedonic and social values differently. The response feature of HSRs demonstrated the strongest impact on perceived utilitarian, social and hedonic values. In addition, voice affected all three perceived values, while appearance only affected perceived utilitarian and social values. Furthermore, perceived utilitarian, hedonic and social values showed positive impacts on user satisfaction, with hedonic value being the most influential factor.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature on HSRs and anthropomorphism by explaining how different anthropomorphic features affect users’ value perceptions and user satisfaction with HSR services by utilizing the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) framework.
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Arjun Pratap Upadhyay and Pankaj Kumar Baag
This paper reviews the literature on zombie firms to provide a holistic view by delineating their formation, impact, widespread nature, prevention and policy implications.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper reviews the literature on zombie firms to provide a holistic view by delineating their formation, impact, widespread nature, prevention and policy implications.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a systematic literature review methodology, in which 76 papers published in journals ranked on the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) 2022 list were reviewed. The study period was from 2000 to 2022.
Findings
Among the main findings, the widespread problems of zombie firms were evident. The authors found that consistent support, either in the form of government grants or a weak financial framework, was responsible for their formation. The suboptimal performance of factors of production, depressed job creation, low innovation and overall negative impact on economic activity are the consequences of zombification. This can be controlled by ensuring better bankruptcy codes, focused on government assistance, technology use and better due diligence by banks.
Practical implications
This review serves as a reference point for future researchers as a cohesive and holistic study presenting a full picture of the problem, so that the proposed solutions are robust and tenable.
Originality/value
This review is among the initial attempts to comprehensively study published work on zombie firms in terms of analyzing their region-specific nature, with an emphasis on definition, causes, impact and prevention.
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Ehtisham Ali, Liu Jianhua, Mohsin Rasheed and Ahsan Siraj
This study empirically tests a conceptual framework that shows how integration practices are significantly associated with supply chain (SC) performance. This study also intends…
Abstract
Purpose
This study empirically tests a conceptual framework that shows how integration practices are significantly associated with supply chain (SC) performance. This study also intends to achieve the following purposes: first, how the performance is influenced by the integration practices, i.e. internal and external; second, to measure the mediating effect of organizational antecedents (market orientation, learning orientation) between integration practices and firm’s SC performance.
Design/methodology/approach
In a noncontrived study environment, a cross-sectional study design was used with a questionnaire. The study used a stratified proportionate random sample of 205 managers from manufacturing firms in China. Six hypothesized relationships were examined using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique in AMOS software, and five were shown to be valid. The proposed model was validated through various techniques.
Findings
Results of this study indicate that both external and internal integration influence SC performance and confirms the mediating role of organizational antecedents between integration practices and SC performance. According to the findings, five out of the six hypotheses are accepted. Findings of this research also offer very expedient insights for the companies’ management which can help them to ensure optimal output by giving due importance to external as well as internal integration.
Research limitations/implications
The data for the study were only obtained from one province, which was Henan Province, and one industry, which was manufacturing; this constrained the generalizability of the study. The findings may be further validated in the future by expanding the scope of the studies to include various cultural contexts and types of businesses. Second, this study used data from a cross-sectional analysis; however, future research may potentially make use of a longitudinal design in order to more thoroughly confirm the findings.
Practical implications
Findings of this study offer substantial managerial insights suggesting various ways to develop better internal as well as external integration to get better results. Management of the company should focus and give more importance to job rotation, trainings and management commitment as part of internal integration. Moreover, management should strive for improving the capabilities of integration in internal functions prior to external integration as internal collaboration, teamwork and interaction within the company are considered as a precondition to maintain integration with external stakeholders. It is also a social process which needs to be built up over a longer period of time.
Originality/value
The authors contribute to the literature by experimentally evaluating the effects of integration practices on SC performance using a conceptual model drawn from current theories. The study also offer additional empirical evidence for Han et al. (2007), who found that SCI enhances firm performance through quality management in their analyses of the relationships between SCI, quality management practices and firm performance.
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Han Wu, Tao Wang, Tuo Dai, Xiaoyu Wang, Yuanzhen Lin and Yizhou Wang
This paper aims to design a vision-based non-contact real-time accurate heart rate (HR) measurement framework for home nursing assistant.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to design a vision-based non-contact real-time accurate heart rate (HR) measurement framework for home nursing assistant.
Design/methodology/approach
The study applied Second-Order Blind Signal Identification (SOBI) algorithm to extract remote HR signal and analyzed it with Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). Multiple regions of interest are chosen and analyzed to obtain a more accurate result.
Findings
An accurate non-contact hear rate (HR) measurement framework is proposed and proved to be efficient.
Originality/value
The contributions of this HR measurement framework are as follows: accurate measurement of HR, real-time performance, robust under various scenes such as conversation, lightweight computation which is suitable and necessary for home nursing assistance. This framework is designed to be flexibly used in various real-life scenes such as domestic health assistance and affectively intelligent agents and is proved to be robust under such scenes.
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Kaarle Setälä, Leena Aarikka-Stenroos, Stephen J. Wright and Mika Grundström
The purpose of this study is to explore stakeholder responses to an airline’s sustainability signaling act. Responding stakeholders, their interpretations and feedback to the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore stakeholder responses to an airline’s sustainability signaling act. Responding stakeholders, their interpretations and feedback to the signal are studied in light of signaling theory and corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Design/methodology/approach
This study was conducted using the social media analytics approach. A total of 7,002 publications in the public domain were collected from the internet’s news services, blogs and major social media websites. These posts were subjected to content, sentiment and reach analyses.
Findings
Diverse stakeholder groups, ranging from industry professionals to societal influencers, responded via social media to a CSR-related press release, the main types being general influencers of society and those working in the aviation or tourism industry. The themes of responses ranged from sustainability, technical development and the future of transport to green transition policies. Hence, the press release as a signal was linked to other discussions prevalent in society. Sentiments of the publications were mainly neutral or positive, with very few negative responses from stakeholders. Many responses were supportive, and the critical responses did not contain accusations of greenwashing.
Practical implications
Environmental CSR communications are strategically important to companies operating in carbon-intensive industries. The public may view breakthroughs in technology as an efficient way of emissions reductions cascaded with improvements in processes and practices. Utilizing new technology also affects several stakeholders and creates new opportunities for them. Knowledge on the subject may influence the tone of discussion.
Originality/value
This study views a press release as sustainability-related signaling and examines stakeholder responses in social media, contributing to CSR and signaling research in the context of the airline industry by observing the signaling process over time along with the behavior of the actors involved.