The concept and practice of e-services has become essential in business transactions. Yet there are still many organizations that have not developed e-services optimally. This is…
Abstract
The concept and practice of e-services has become essential in business transactions. Yet there are still many organizations that have not developed e-services optimally. This is especially relevant in the context of Indonesian Airline companies. Therefore, many airline customers in Indonesia are still in doubt about it, or even do not use it. To fill this gap, this study attempts to develop a model for e-services adoption and empirically examines the factors influencing the airlines customers in Indonesia in using e-services offered by the Indonesian airline companies. Taking six Indonesian airline companies as a case example, the study investigated the antecedents of e-services usage of Indonesian airlines. This study further examined the impacts of motivation on customers in using e-services in the Indonesian context. Another important aim of this study was to investigate how ages, experiences and geographical areas moderate effects of e-services usage.
The study adopts a positivist research paradigm with a two-phase sequential mixed method design involving qualitative and quantitative approaches. An initial research model was first developed based on an extensive literature review, by combining acceptance and use of information technology theories, expectancy theory and the inter-organizational system motivation models. A qualitative field study via semi-structured interviews was then conducted to explore the present state among 15 respondents. The results of the interviews were analysed using content analysis yielding the final model of e-services usage. Eighteen antecedent factors hypotheses and three moderating factors hypotheses and 52-item questionnaire were developed. A focus group discussion of five respondents and a pilot study of 59 respondents resulted in final version of the questionnaire.
In the second phase, the main survey was conducted nationally to collect the research data among Indonesian airline customers who had already used Indonesian airline e-services. A total of 819 valid questionnaires were obtained. The data was then analysed using a partial least square (PLS) based structural equation modelling (SEM) technique to produce the contributions of links in the e-services model (22% of all the variances in e-services usage, 37.8% in intention to use, 46.6% in motivation, 39.2% in outcome expectancy, and 37.7% in effort expectancy). Meanwhile, path coefficients and t-values demonstrated various different influences of antecedent factors towards e-services usage. Additionally, a multi-group analysis based on PLS is employed with mixed results. In the final findings, 14 hypotheses were supported and 7 hypotheses were not supported.
The major findings of this study have confirmed that motivation has the strongest contribution in e-services usage. In addition, motivation affects e-services usage both directly and indirectly through intention-to-use. This study provides contributions to the existing knowledge of e-services models, and practical applications of IT usage. Most importantly, an understanding of antecedents of e-services adoption will provide guidelines for stakeholders in developing better e-services and strategies in order to promote and encourage more customers to use e-services. Finally, the accomplishment of this study can be expanded through possible adaptations in other industries and other geographical contexts.
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L.C. Ruspini, E. Dari, C. Padra, G.H. Paissan and N.N. Salva
The purpose of this paper is to present applications of the topological optimization method dealing with fluid dynamic problems in two- and three dimensions. The main goal is to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present applications of the topological optimization method dealing with fluid dynamic problems in two- and three dimensions. The main goal is to develop a tool package able to optimize topology in realistic devices (e.g. inlet manifolds) considering the non-linear terms on Navier–Stokes equations.
Design/methodology/approach
Using an in-house Fortran code, a Galerkin stabilized finite element is implemented method to solve the three equation systems necessary for the topological optimization method: the direct problem, adjoint problem and topological derivative. The authors address the non-linearity in the equations using an iterative method. Different techniques to create holes into a two-dimensional discrete domain are analyzed.
Findings
One technique to create holes produces more accurate and robust results. The authors present several examples of applications in two- and three-dimensional components, which highlight the potential of this method in the optimization of fluid components.
Research limitations/implications
The authors contribute to the methodology and design in engineering.
Practical implications
Engineering fluid flow systems are used in many different industrial applications, e.g. oil flow in pipes; air flow around an airplane wing; sailing submarines; blood flow in synthetic arteries; and thermal and fissure spreading problems. The aim of this work is to create an effective design tool for obtaining efficient engineering structures and devices.
Originality/value
The authors contribute by creating an application of the method to design a tridimensional realistic device, which can be essayed experimentally. Particularly, the authors apply the design tool to an inlet manifold.
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Leadership for public sector reforms in Indonesia involves both national level efforts and leadership from local levels that have been empowered by prior decentralization. This…
Abstract
Leadership for public sector reforms in Indonesia involves both national level efforts and leadership from local levels that have been empowered by prior decentralization. This chapter focuses on reforms made by the national government, which has been guided by the values of serving public, increasing efficiency and becoming corruption-free. Although the National Development Agency and the Ministry for Administrative Reform provided central impetus and coordination, reforms were seen as quite fragmented across ministries with uneven results. The authors are concerned about reform effectiveness and sustainability. Reform leadership is challenged by human capital and legally mandated but inefficient bureaucratic processes and structures as well as challenges of public distrust and disobedient civil servants. The latter is sometimes dealt with by using patronage to insert allies for reform, and they take note of leaders gaining leverage from working across boundaries and jurisdictions, and by improving their authorizing environment. The chapter describes a strategy of leaders-led efforts that are cascaded through ministries through institutionalization (e.g., of policies) and obtaining support from successive reform champions at different levels and locations. The authors argue for increasing the number of ‘champion leaders’ who pragmatically, transactionally and successfully get subordinates to commit to reform efforts.
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Gustovo C. Buscaglia and Raúl A. Enrique
Presents a new method for the numerical simulation of diffusion withphase‐change. The method is able to handle hysteresis and finite‐ratekinetics in the phase‐change reaction…
Abstract
Presents a new method for the numerical simulation of diffusion with phase‐change. The method is able to handle hysteresis and finite‐rate kinetics in the phase‐change reaction. Such phenomena are frequent in solid‐solid phase transitions. The model problem discussed concerns hydrogen migration and hydride precipitation in zirconium and its alloys, a problem of interest to the nuclear industry. With respect to previous ones, our method is the first to incorporate an implicit treatment of diffusion, thus avoiding mesh‐dependent stability limits in the time step. The CPU time can in this way be reduced by a factor of 10–20 in applications. Addresses, through numerical studies, convergence with respect to mesh refinement and reduction of the time step. Also reports on an application of the method to the simulation of laboratory experiments. Shows that the method is a powerful tool to deal with general phase‐change problems, extendable to other physical systems.
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A.M. TJOA and R.R. WAGNER
The various aspects of database systems are formalized. An information base is described as a projection of the real world which follows certain semantical constraints. The…
Abstract
The various aspects of database systems are formalized. An information base is described as a projection of the real world which follows certain semantical constraints. The concepts of the external, conceptual and internal model of a database are integrated in this theory. Furthermore, interactions (query, update, add and delete) on databases are defined exactly with the help of this generalized concept.
Presents the development of object‐oriented finite element classes based on the concept of parameterized types of templates of the C++ programming language. Two parameter array…
Abstract
Presents the development of object‐oriented finite element classes based on the concept of parameterized types of templates of the C++ programming language. Two parameter array classes were implemented which are used extensively in other classes. The implementation was simple, resulting in a set of manageable, efficient and simple C++ finite element classes. Initially, object‐oriented programming concepts, C++ templates and template array classes are presented. The finite element classes and some examples using those classes are also discussed.
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Marco L. Bittencourt, Craig C. Douglas and Raúl A. Feijóo
This paper presents some linear adaptive non‐nested multigrid methods which are applied to linear elastic problems discretized with triangular and tetrahedral finite elements…
Abstract
This paper presents some linear adaptive non‐nested multigrid methods which are applied to linear elastic problems discretized with triangular and tetrahedral finite elements using unstructured and Delaunay mesh generators. The Zienkiewicz‐Zhu error estimator and a h‐refinement procedure are used to obtain the non‐nested meshes used by the multigrid methods. We solve problems with a specified percentage error in the energy norm using the optimal performance of multigrid methods.
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Gives a bibliographical review of the finite element meshing and remeshing from the theoretical as well as practical points of view. Topics such as adaptive techniques for meshing…
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Gives a bibliographical review of the finite element meshing and remeshing from the theoretical as well as practical points of view. Topics such as adaptive techniques for meshing and remeshing, parallel processing in the finite element modelling, etc. are also included. The bibliography at the end of this paper contains 1,727 references to papers, conference proceedings and theses/dissertations dealing with presented subjects that were published between 1990 and 2001.
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Gives a bibliographical review of the error estimates and adaptive finite element methods from the theoretical as well as the application point of view. The bibliography at the…
Abstract
Gives a bibliographical review of the error estimates and adaptive finite element methods from the theoretical as well as the application point of view. The bibliography at the end contains 2,177 references to papers, conference proceedings and theses/dissertations dealing with the subjects that were published in 1990‐2000.
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Pablo A. Caron, Marcela A. Cruchaga and Axel E. Larreteguy
The present work is a numerical study of a breaking dam problem. The purpose of this paper is to assess the effect of turbulence and surface tension models in the prediction of…
Abstract
Purpose
The present work is a numerical study of a breaking dam problem. The purpose of this paper is to assess the effect of turbulence and surface tension models in the prediction of the interface position in a long-term analysis. Additionally, dimensional effects are analyzed by carrying out both 2D and 3D simulations.
Design/methodology/approach
Finite volume simulations performed with the different models are compared between them and contrasted with numerical results computed using other numerical techniques and experimental data.
Findings
The reported numerical results are in general in good agreement with experimental results available in the literature. They are also consistent with numerical solutions of other authors obtained using different numerical techniques. The results show that the laminar simulations exhibit strong mesh size dependency, while the turbulence models seem to help in producing mesh-independent solutions. Surface tension modeling does not seem to play a relevant role in the interface evolution.
Practical implications
Model validation.
Originality/value
The value of the present work encompass the comparison of different flow conditions used to simulate a free surface problem and their validation by contrasting numerical results with experiments. Also, the results shown in the present work are a contribution to the understanding of the role of some specific aspects of the models in the simulation of the proposed problem.