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Autonomous vehicles rely on IoT-based technologies to take numerous decisions in real-time situations. However, added information from the sensor readings will burden the system and cause the sensors to produce inaccurate readings. To overcome these issues, this paper aims to focus on communication between sensors and autonomous vehicles for better decision-making in real-time. The system has unique features to detect the upcoming and ongoing vehicles automatically without intervention of humans in the system. It also predicts the type of vehicle and intimates the driver.

The system is designed using the ATmega 328 P and ESP 8266 chip. Information from ultrasonic and infrared sensors are analyzed and updated in the cloud server. The user can access all these real-time data at any point of time. The stored information in cloud servers is used for integrating artificial intelligence into the system.

The real-time sensor information is used to predict the surrounding environment and the system responds to the user according to the situation.

The system is implemented on embedded platform with IoT technology. The sensor information is updated to the cloud using the Blynk application for the user in real time.

The system is proposed for smart cities with IoT technology where the user and the system are aware of the surrounding environment. The system is mainly concerned with the accuracy of sensors and the distance between the vehicles in real-time environment.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the influence of price and products on the promotion (through in-store temporary displays) on consumer sales in an emerging market context (i.e. Brazil) in different regions with contrasts in the market and store formats analyzed.

The data originate from retail market audits conducted over three years and are broken down by a region and a channel for a product category that has experienced increased competition and growth and is highly distributed throughout the analyzed regions and channel formats (i.e. the ready-to-drink juice category). This study uses a panel vector autoregression framework and an impulse-response function to determine the effects on sales over time.

The results suggest that price sensitivity and the effects of promotions on sales vary with the type of store format rather than through structural differences between regions with lower vs higher levels of economic development in an emerging market.

Managers should consider differences in store format more than the heterogeneity among regions when making price and promotion decisions. Additionally, this paper highlights the importance of in-store product visibility through temporary displays of promoted products, especially in smaller stores in an emerging market.

By considering the challenges of managing a consumer brand for which market heterogeneity is key, this paper extends the current research by contrasting consumer price and in-store promotion decisions across two heterogeneous regions and store formats within an emerging market.

Piezoelectric extension mode smart beams are vital part of modern control technology and their numerical analysis is an important step in the design process. Finite elements based on First-order Shear Deformation Theory (FSDT) are widely used for their structural analysis. The performance of the conventional FSDT-based two-noded piezoelectric beam formulations with assumed independent linear field interpolations is not impressive due to shear and material locking phenomena. The purpose of this paper is to develop an efficient locking-free FSDT piezoelectric beam element, while maintaining the same number of nodal degrees of freedom.

The governing equations are derived using a variational formulation to establish coupled polynomial field representation for the field variables. Shape functions based on these coupled polynomials are employed here. The proposed formulation eliminates all locking effects by accommodating strain and material couplings into the field interpolation, in a variationally consistent manner.

The present formulation shows improved convergence characteristics over the conventional formulations and proves to be the most efficient way to model extension mode piezoelectric smart beams, as demonstrated by the results obtained for numerical test problems.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no such FSDT-based finite element with coupled polynomial shape function exists in the literature, which incorporates electromechanical coupling along with bending-extension and bending-shear couplings at the field interpolation level itself. The proposed formulation proves to be the fastest converging FSDT-based extension mode smart beam formulation.

This paper aims to investigate customers’ motivations and the decision-making process when choosing a channel in a “social” multichannel environment that includes social media channels, and the complementary and competitive effects compared to traditional channels within the multichannel strategy of a major European telecoms provider. A conceptual framework of multichannel customer behaviour in a “social” multichannel environment is proposed.

The study adopts an exploratory approach through 74 semi-structured interviews with customers of a major European telecoms provider who have also used social media channels to contact the company (customer-initiated contact, CIC).

Users of distinct social media channels are driven by different motivations. For instance, the social motivation for using social media is evident for Facebook users, while Twitter users are mainly driven by utilitarian considerations. Although users of different social media channels represent distinct segments in terms of behaviours and motivations, complementary effects among channels (new and traditional) are generally detected in the sense that a better customer experience is driven by the presence of multiple channels.

Data collection was performed for only one company in one industry and should be extended to other industries, although our results were confirmed by discussions with social media managers of other companies.

The research offers suggestions to develop multichannel strategies in a “social” multichannel environment.

This study advances knowledge in the multichannel management field by investigating why and how customers utilize channels in a multichannel environment that includes social media channels. The authors develop a conceptual framework of multichannel customer behaviour for CIC in a “social” multichannel environment.

Suitable for both MBA- and undergraduate-level courses such as “Integrated Marketing Communications,” this case series traces a product from idea to established, successful brand. In this A case, a spirits industry executive perceives a gap between the under-$10 and the $25-and-up vodkas. Could a midpriced vodka capture some volume from each of those markets? Decisions on pricing, target, distribution, branding, and promotion are considered.

Max Weber called the maxim “Time is Money” the surest, simplest expression of the spirit of capitalism. Coined in 1748 by Benjamin Franklin, this modern proverb now has a life of its own. In this paper, I examine the worldwide diffusion and sociocultural history of this paradigmatic expression. The intent is to explore the ways in which ideas of time and money appear in sedimented form in popular sayings.

My approach is sociological in orientation and multidisciplinary in method. Drawing upon the works of Max Weber, Antonio Gramsci, Wolfgang Mieder, and Dean Wolfe Manders, I explore the global spread of Ben Franklin’s famed adage in three ways: (1) via evidence from the field of “paremiology” – that is, the study of proverbs; (2) via online searches for the phrase “Time is Money” in 30-plus languages; and (3) via evidence from sociological and historical research.

The conviction that “Time is Money” has won global assent on an ever-expanding basis for more than 250 years now. In recent years, this phrase has reverberated to the far corners of the world in literally dozens of languages – above all, in the languages of Eastern Europe and East Asia.

Methodologically, this study unites several different ways of exploring the globalization of the capitalist spirit. The main substantive implication is that, as capitalism goes global, so too does the capitalist spirit. Evidence from popular sayings gives us a new foothold for insight into questions of this kind.

Public libraries are incubators for collective action in the knowledge economy. As three case studies from the United States and Singapore demonstrate, public libraries can serve as influential champions that garner financial resources, communicate an urgent need for change, and respond to the unmet information and economic needs of marginalized individuals and communities. In the Raise Up Radio (RUR) case, public librarians engaged schools, museums, youth, and families in rural communities to develop and deliver STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) content over local radio stations. In collaboration with organizational partners, RUR librarians created a model for library-community-radio projects for the rural United States. In the What Health Looks Like (WHLL) case, public librarians engaged senior citizens in discussions of health and the creation of health comics. In partnership with an interdisciplinary health research team, WHLL librarians developed a pilot for library-community-public health projects aimed at information dissemination and health narrative generation. In the Singapore shopping mall libraries case, the National Library Board (NLB) created public libraries in commercial spaces serving working families, senior citizens, and the Chinese community. The NLB developed an exportable model for locating information centers in convenient, popular, and useful business spaces. These case studies demonstrate how libraries are nodes in the knowledge economy, providing vital services such as preservation of cultural heritage, technology education, community outreach, information access, and services to working families, small- and medium-size businesses, and other patrons. In the years to come, public libraries will be called upon to respond to shifting social norms, inequitable opportunities, emergencies and disasters, and information asymmetries. As the cases of RUR, WHLL, and the shopping mall libraries show, public librarians have the vision and capacities to serve as influential champions for collective action to solve complex problems and foster sustainable development and equitable participation in the knowledge economy.

Nowadays companies are constantly changing their retail settings and strategies to keep up with technological developments and consumer needs. Digital transformation enabled one’s shopping experience to be more efficient in terms of money, time, physical effort and other elements that determine the price a consumer has to pay. Channels of communication and distribution have evolved, increased in number and also became integrated. Mobile devices, mobile applications and location services help consumers in their shopping journey. These developments have led us to a new concept called omni-channel management. In theory, the omni-channel refers to a single and unified channel experience with multiple touchpoints, which include physical stores, online stores and direct marketing; mass communication channels (television, radio, print media, C2C, etc.), online channels (social media, search engines, comparison sites, e-mail, display etc.) and mobile channels (SMS, branded apps, etc.). Some examples of omni-channel practices are click-reserve, click-collect, tablets as in-store sales tools, in-store product order through mobile apps, etc.

In this chapter, the latest trends in marketing channels are discussed with enabling digital technologies and relevant success factors. Challenges and opportunities in implementing omni-channel strategies and several omni-channel initiatives from Turkey are reported.

A research was employed to present consumers’ preferences of touchpoints/channels for search, payment and delivery, and to find out the drivers that lead consumers to use more than one channel simultaneously and/or interchangeably in a buying process. The results will guide the readers to understand consumer behaviour in the new omni-channel world.

Flapping-wing vehicles show various advantages as compared to fixed wing vehicles, making flapping-wing vehicles' study necessary in the current scenario. The present study aims to provide guidelines for fixing geometric parameters for an initial engineering design by a simple aerodynamic and flight dynamic parametric study.

A mathematical analysis was performed to understand the aerodynamics and flight dynamics of the micro-air vehicle (MAV). Only the forces due to the flapping wing were considered. The flapping motion was considered to be a combination of the pitching and plunging motion. The geometric parameters of the flapping wing were varied and the aerodynamic forces and power were observed. Attempts were then made to understand the flight stability envelope of the MAV in a forward horizontal motion in the vertical plane with similar parametric studies as those conducted in the case of aerodynamics.

From the aerodynamic study, insights were obtained regarding the interaction of design parameters with the aerodynamics and feasible ranges of values for the parameters were identified. The flapping wing was found to have neutral static stability. The flight dynamic analysis revealed the presence of an unstable oscillatory mode, a stable fast subsidence mode and a neutral mode, in the forward flight of the MAV. The presence of unstable modes highlighted the need for active control to restore the MAV to equilibrium from its unstable state.

The study does not take into account the effects of control surfaces and tail on the aerodynamics and flight dynamics of the MAV. There is also a need to validate the results obtained in the study through experimental means which shall be taken up in the future.

The parametric study helps us to understand the extent of the impact of the design parameters on the aerodynamics and stability of the MAV. The analysis of both aerodynamics and dynamic stability provides a holistic picture for the initial design. The study incorporates complex mathematical equations and simplifies such to understand the aerodynamics and flight stability of the MAV from an engineering perspective.

The study adds to already existing knowledge on the design procedures of a flapping wing.