The quality of crystals grown from melt depends on the flow field in themelt. To simulate melt conditions, a finite element analysis is performed onflow in a heated cavity under…
Abstract
The quality of crystals grown from melt depends on the flow field in the melt. To simulate melt conditions, a finite element analysis is performed on flow in a heated cavity under the driving forces of natural convection, thermocapillary effects and rotation. In addition, the gravity field is modulated to simulate a microgravitational environment. The purpose for conducting this research is to determine whether the use of baffles can effectively reduce convection and suppress temperature oscillations. The results show that the baffle is able to suppress convection and reduce the amplitude of the temperature oscillations when placed perpendicular to the modulation direction. Under crystal and crucible rotation, the results with and without baffles are similar. In all cases, baffles did not induce temperature oscillations. From this study, it can be concluded that the effects of baffles on the flow behaviour depends greatly on the direction of gravity modulation and frequency.
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Francesco Saverio Massari, Pasquale Del Vecchio and Eva Degl'innocenti
This paper aims to explore how digital technologies can transform the museum into an “interaction platform” able to play a key role in the value co-creation processes of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how digital technologies can transform the museum into an “interaction platform” able to play a key role in the value co-creation processes of the tourism destination.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper applies the “co-creation through interactions” perspective by Ramaswamy and Ozcan. Empirically, the paper is based on the methodology of single case study identified in MArTA, the well-known National Archeological Museum of Taranto (South Italy). Data collection has been implemented through interviews with key informants and secondary data related to online interviews, press release and reports.
Findings
Findings provide empirical evidence about the contribution that a digitalization strategy can create a “museum as a platform” in which the interactions between the museum, its stakeholders and other co-creation elements (interfaces, artifacts and processes) bring benefits in terms of tourism experiences and sustainable development of the destination.
Practical implications
This research highlights the cultural changes and the actions that museum management has to implement to properly benefit from digitalization and to transform the museum into a reference point for reflection and innovation.
Originality/value
Elements of originality can be found in (1) the exploration of the wide spectrum of benefits and innovations that digital technologies can offer to the museum-mediated interactions and (2) the contribution to the understanding of the museum as a digitalized “interaction platform” capable of supporting the processes of co-creation of value in the complex network of actors and objects of a tourism destination.
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Sinusoidal gravity modulation fields imposed on two‐dimensional Rayleigh‐Benard convection flow are studied to understand the effects of periodic source (g‐jitter) on fluids…
Abstract
Sinusoidal gravity modulation fields imposed on two‐dimensional Rayleigh‐Benard convection flow are studied to understand the effects of periodic source (g‐jitter) on fluids system and heat transfer mechanism. The transient Navier‐Stokes and energy equations are solved by semi‐implicit operator splitting finite element method. Results include two sets. One is considered at normal terrestrial condition and the other one is related to low‐gravity condition. Under low‐gravity condition the research focuses on the effects of modulation frequency and direction in order to find out the critical frequency for heat transfer mechanism transferring from conduction to convection.
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Tiziana Russo Spena, Angela Caridà, Maria Colurcio and Monia Melia
The purpose of this paper is to focus on Temporary Shops, a recent communication and distribution innovation used by firms in order to improve interaction with customers and to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on Temporary Shops, a recent communication and distribution innovation used by firms in order to improve interaction with customers and to reinforce brand loyalty and equity. The main aim of the study is to frame the Temporary Shops phenomenon in Italy and to analyze its value co‐creation potential.
Design/methodology/approach
The DART model proposed by Prahalad and Ramaswamy has been chosen as the theoretical framework for understanding the Temporary Shops phenomenon. The authors investigate the process of value co‐creation inside the Temporary Shops through its four key building blocks, namely, dialogue, access, risk/benefits and transparency. Through a multiple‐case study, the authors study in‐depth evidence from five leading firms that represent the main Temporary Shops in Italy over the last two years.
Findings
Temporary Shops provide a locus of value co‐creation in which the interactive and experiential relationship between the firm and the customer is engaged and value co‐creation emerges.
Research limitations/implications
There are two main limitations: this study is exploratory and analyzes co‐creation only from the company perspective. Further studies may widen the unit of analysis from firm to customer's network and thus provide further insights about antecedents and implications of the interaction in a multi‐sensory context.
Originality/value
The work contributes to understanding the role of experiential environment in value co‐creation processes, as well as analyzing the contribution of a new distribution phenomenon with respect to co‐creation through the application of the DART model.
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Lorena Blasco-Arcas, Blanca Isabel Hernandez-Ortega and Julio Jimenez-Martinez
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of emotions in developing customer engagement and brand image during virtual service interactions. The authors explore the concept…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of emotions in developing customer engagement and brand image during virtual service interactions. The authors explore the concept of engagement platforms (EPs) and how their extrinsic characteristics or cues (i.e. C2C interactions–and personalization-related cues) originate both non-transactional (i.e. customer engagement and brand image) and transactional (i.e. purchase intentions) responses. Specifically, the authors propose that customer emotions (i.e. pleasure, arousal and dominance) mediate the influence of EP cues on customer responses. The authors also analyze how the engagement developed during interactions in EPs contributes to brand image perceptions and the effect of these two concepts on purchase intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
Building on servicescapes and stimulus-organism-response theories, the present paper carries out two studies. Study 1 adopts an experimental approach to explore C2C interactions–and personalization-related cues. Study 2 focusses on the importance of customer emotions to foster engagement and brand image, and also analyzes their effect on purchase intentions. It employs structural equations modeling techniques. Both studies analyze the effect of customer engagement on brand image.
Findings
Findings corroborate that, during interactions in the platform, customer engagement with the firm influences brand image. Moreover, the pleasure and arousal experienced by customers influence their engagement while dominance modifies brand image. Finally, customer engagement and brand image have a positive effect on purchase behavior.
Research limitations/implications
This paper contributes to research demonstrating the key role of emotions in interactions with EPs. The authors demonstrate the importance of fostering pleasant and arousing experiences to enhance the level of customer engagement with the firm in first interactions. Dominance constitutes a key dimension to improve brand image in EPs. Finally, the research demonstrates that engagement develops customers’ transactional behaviors and not only non-transactional ones, as seen in previous literature.
Originality/value
In digital worlds, EPs emerge as touch points beyond purchase that allow individuals to integrate resources and co-create value between them and with the firm. Despite the interest of BCPs, few works have analyzed how interactions with these platforms and the elicited emotions contribute to developing customer engagement and brand image, key factors for understanding customer participation and behavior in interactive media.
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While literature discussed value cocreation, most still has its focus from customer perspective, this study fills up this gap by focusing on supplier perspective. Second, prior…
Abstract
Purpose
While literature discussed value cocreation, most still has its focus from customer perspective, this study fills up this gap by focusing on supplier perspective. Second, prior works discussed the outcomes of cocreation; however, the process mechanisms are still under-explored, this study thus aims to explore these process mechanisms that drive value co-creation in the agro-food industry.
Design/methodology/approach
Case study is used as the method; specifically, six in-depth interviews on an agro-food company and its suppliers (i.e. farmers) are conducted, and data are analyzed using the grounded theory approach.
Findings
(1). Agro-food company and its rice suppliers invest different resource types and resource density, and the agro-food company is a main actor, i.e. resource investor and integrator; (2). While motivations of the agro-food company and farmers are different, they are mutually fit in the sustainability value; (3). Both parties share similar process mechanisms, i.e. co-production, senses of identification and trust, mutual interaction and information sharing and (4). Both parties thus have similar consequences, i.e. sustainability, codevelopment.
Originality/value
This study (1) proposes an innovative model of what and how values are cocreated, particularly in the agro-food industry; (2). uses three theories, i.e. input–process–output (I–P–O) model (McGrath and Kelly, 1986), service-dominant logic (SD-L) (Vargo and Lusch, 2004), cocreation design framework (Frow et al., 2015), to understand this phenomenon and thus demonstrates and enriches these three theories, particularly applied in the agro-food contexts; (3).offfers practical suggestions to agro-food firms and social enterprises, particularly those having food safety and environment issues.
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Sri Vanamalla Venkataraman and Faiz Hamid
Government distributing rationed goods through a public distribution system often do not reach the deserving citizens primarily due to the practice of corruption. This paper aims…
Abstract
Purpose
Government distributing rationed goods through a public distribution system often do not reach the deserving citizens primarily due to the practice of corruption. This paper aims to design an incentive mechanism to curtail such corrupt practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The incentive mechanism is developed in a principal-agent framework where the information asymmetry is in the form of moral hazard.
Findings
The mechanism designed through this study sufficiently penalizes the agent who receives bribe and incentivizes if desired level of effort is applied.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the existing literature by developing an incentive mechanism to prevent bureaucratic corruption. Appropriate wages are also quantified in this study.
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Tara Shankar Shaw and Sridhar Telidevara
Indian households having the below poverty line (BPL) ration card receive rice, wheat, sugar and kerosene from the Indian Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) at subsidized…
Abstract
Purpose
Indian households having the below poverty line (BPL) ration card receive rice, wheat, sugar and kerosene from the Indian Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) at subsidized rates. The paper uses the National Sample Survey Organization's consumption expenditure survey for the 61st round to study the causal effect of the BPL ration card on BPL households' calorie consumption. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This causal effect is estimated by comparing per-capita-per-day calorie consumption of the BPL households having BPL card with that of a matched counterfactual BPL household from the same state not having BPL card, using stratified propensity score matching.
Findings
The BPL ration card was found to increase calorie consumption from cereals and decrease calorie consumption from non-cereal food items without affecting the overall calorie consumption of household. Thus, TPDS induces households to consume more cereals and less non-cereal without significantly changing the overall calorie consumption.
Research limitations/implications
The research methodology controls for selection bias due to observable variables. Further, research needed to devise experimental set up to control for the selection bias due to unobserved variables.
Originality/value
The paper uses the targeting error in identifying BPL households in TPDS as a quasi-experiment set up to study the causal effect of the BPL ration card.
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Jabir Ali and Waseem Khan
This paper aims at analyzing the determinants of access to relief under social assistance programs among rural households during COVID-19 outbreaks in India.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims at analyzing the determinants of access to relief under social assistance programs among rural households during COVID-19 outbreaks in India.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on the data of COVID-19-Related Shocks Survey, which covered 5,200 rural households across 6 states of India namely Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. The access to relief has been assessed as relief-in kind (RIK) as a free special package of wheat, rice, and pulses, supplied through the public distribution system; and direct benefit transfer (DBT) in cash under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) Yojana and the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). The association between demographic profiles of rural households and access to relief has been analyzed using the chi-square test. Further, marginal effects have been estimated to assess the determinants of rural households' access to relief.
Findings
The results show a significant association between types of relief vis-à-vis demographic profiles of the rural households. A significant difference in access to relief among rural households is also evident across the states. Further, the analysis of the marginal effects indicates that female-headed households belonging to lower social class, depending on non-agricultural occupation with lower income, belonging to below poverty line families and seeking wage employment, are more likely to access relief as food grains; whereas male respondents with lower age, belonging to lower-income quartile with memberships in Self Help Groups are more likely to access the cash benefit transfers.
Practical implications
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the food security and livelihood of many across the globe, which necessitated provisioning a package of support to everyone, particularly rural poor households. The World Bank undertook the COVID-19-Related Shocks Survey to provide a quick policy response for managing the risk of COVID-19 outbreak effectively. The results of this study provide timely insights for developing an effective relief strategy for rural households during a crisis.
Originality/value
There is limited investigation on access to relief by rural households during the COVID-19 outbreaks and factors affecting the access to relief in terms of cash and kind. This study has utilized a reliable data source to analyze the access of relief packages by the rural communities during the coronavirus outbreak.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-10-2021-0632.
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Mahdi Salehi, Hamdollah Sojasi Qeidari and Ahmad Asgari
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implementation of the targeted subsidies plan in the rural and agricultural sectors of Iran and its impact on the government’s…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implementation of the targeted subsidies plan in the rural and agricultural sectors of Iran and its impact on the government’s sales income, operating cash flow (OCF) and receivables collection ratio.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the panel data approach, the authors examine their hypotheses on a sample of six provinces of Iran, including Khorasan Razavi, Khorasan Jonoubi, Kerman, Semnan, Kermanshah and Kurdistan, during 2009-2013.
Findings
The findings indicate that the implementation of the targeted subsidies plan leads to increased actual electricity sales in the rural sector. Further, while the coefficient on OCF in the estimated model suggests a significant and positive relationship between the OCF and the implementation of the targeted subsidies plan, the coefficient on receivables collection ratio demonstrates a significant but negative association. Contrary to the government’s primary expectations, the results do not provide any support for the reduction of electricity consumption.
Originality/value
The current study is apparently the first study which conducted on the subject under study.