Fan-Chen Tseng, Ching-Ter Chang, Hsing-Chen Lee and Ching-I Teng
Gender swapping – when gamers choose avatars of the opposite gender to their own – is a common feature of online gaming behavior, and recent studies have explored the reasons for…
Abstract
Purpose
Gender swapping – when gamers choose avatars of the opposite gender to their own – is a common feature of online gaming behavior, and recent studies have explored the reasons for it. However, no study has yet examined the role gender swapping plays in determining gamers’ continual engagement with communication via online games, i.e., online gamer loyalty. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine this issue and develop hypotheses based on interdependence theory in the online gaming context.
Design/methodology/approach
Responses from a survey of 255 online gamers were used for the analysis.
Findings
Analytical results using structural equation modeling indicate that gender-swapping behavior is negatively related to social intelligence, which in turn is negatively related to network convergence (the extent of sharing a common social circle), thus contributing to relational switching costs and online gamer loyalty.
Originality/value
This study is the first to examine how gender swapping affects online gamer loyalty.
Details
Keywords
This chapter examines how the breakthrough of Zhang Ziyi's depiction of a female kung fu master in The Grandmaster (2013) transforms the figure of the heroine in Chinese action…
Abstract
This chapter examines how the breakthrough of Zhang Ziyi's depiction of a female kung fu master in The Grandmaster (2013) transforms the figure of the heroine in Chinese action films. Zhang is well known for her acting in action films conducted by renowned directors, such as Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou and Wong Kar-wai. After winning 12 different Best Actress awards for her portrayal of Gong Ruomei in The Grandmaster, Zhang announced that she would no longer perform in any action films to show her highest respect for the superlative character Gong. Tracing Zhang's transformational portrait of a heroine in The Grandmaster alongside her other action roles, this analysis demonstrates how her performance projects the directors' distinctive gender viewpoints. I argue that Zhang's characterisation of Gong remodels heroine-hood in Chinese action films. Inheriting the typical plot of a daughter's use of martial arts for revenge for her father's death, Gong breaks from conventional Chinese action films that highlight romantic love during a woman's adventure and the decisive final battle scene. Beyond the propensity for sensory stimulation, Gong's characterisation enables Zhang to determine that women can really act in action films – demonstrating their inner power and ability to create multi-layered characters – not merely relying upon physical action. This chapter offers a relational perspective of how women transform the action film genre not merely as gender spectacles but as embodied figures that represent emerging female subjectivity.
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Shun‐Hsing Chen, Ching‐Chow Yang, Jiun‐Yan Shiau and Hui‐Hua Wang
Most studies on higher education focus on students as customers, and evaluate student levels of satisfaction/dissatisfaction with their programs, while generally neglecting…
Abstract
Purpose
Most studies on higher education focus on students as customers, and evaluate student levels of satisfaction/dissatisfaction with their programs, while generally neglecting teacher work satisfaction. Thus, this study evaluates how employee dissatisfaction with various investment items determines the improvement priority.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used the academic literature to establish a satisfaction model for higher education employees. The model is divided into six dimensions: organisation vision, respect, result feedback and motivation, management system, pay and benefits, and work environment. Using a questionnaire based on the model, 248 teachers were surveyed to investigate and analyze their importance‐satisfaction level. The importance‐satisfaction model (I‐S model) was then applied to place each quality attribute into the I‐S model, and thus determine the improvement strategy.
Findings
The analytical results showed that higher education employees focus on high salaries and fair promotion systems. Investigations of the job satisfaction of college teachers in Europe and America have produced similar results.
Originality/value
The employee satisfaction model for the higher education sector not only considers satisfaction levels but also degrees of importance in deciding the improvement strategy.
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Shun‐Hsing Chen, Hui‐Hua Wang and King‐Jang Yang
To promote university education quality, performance measure indicators (PMIs) must be established. These indicators ensure the maintenance of university operating standards…
Abstract
Purpose
To promote university education quality, performance measure indicators (PMIs) must be established. These indicators ensure the maintenance of university operating standards, encourage individual universities to work on inadequacies, and promote university competitiveness. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature analysis was conducted and European, American and Taiwanese education evaluation indicators were used to develop the PMIs. Data were collected from the following sources: US‐MBNAQ; US News & World Report; two renowned US education journals; UK University Committee Reports; UK‐CVCP/UGC; three renowned UK education evaluation newspapers, opinions from the Ministry of Education and submissions from scholars in Australia and Taiwan. A total of 13 scholars were invited to participate in the literature review and analysis, which employed Delphi methods.
Findings
These indicators included 18 measurement dimensions, and 78 PMIs were developed. Applying these PMIs resulted in the creation of key performance indicators and a balanced scorecard (BSC) of performance measures. In addition, BSC represented a self‐evaluation performance indicator that universities could use to achieve the objective of performance management.
Originality/value
The PMI by means of their integration into the BSC, allow management by objectives, a method to build the performance of each department and organization.
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Chien-Hsing Chen and Ming-Chih Chen
The purpose of this paper is to present a novel position estimation method to accurately locate an object. An accelerometer-based error correction method is also developed to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a novel position estimation method to accurately locate an object. An accelerometer-based error correction method is also developed to correct the positioning error caused by signal drift of a wireless network. Finally, the method is also utilized to locate cows in a farm for monitoring the action of standing heat.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed method adopts the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of a wireless sensor network (WSN) to compute the position of an object. The RSSI signal can be submitted from an endpoint device. A complex environment destabilizes the RSSI value, making the position estimation inaccurate. Therefore, a three-axial accelerometer is adopted to correct the position estimation accuracy. Timer and acceleration are two major factors in computing the error correction value to adjust the position estimate.
Findings
The proposed method is tested on a farm management system for positioning dairy cows accurately. Devices with WSN module and three-axial accelerometer are mounted on the cows to monitor their positions and actions.
Research limitations/implications
If cows in a crowded farm are close to each other, then the position estimation method is unable to position each cow correctly because too many close objects cause interference in the wireless network.
Practical implications
Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method improves the position accuracy, and monitor the heat action of the cows effectively.
Originality/value
No position estimation method has been utilized to locate cows in a farm, especially for monitoring their actions via WSN and accelerometer. The proposed method adopts an accelerometer to efficiently improve the position error caused from the signal drift of WSN.