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Total quality management (TQM) and technology are fast becoming essential features of business strategy for the success of many leading organizations in the world. More and more companies are using technology and adapting TQM for sustaining competitiveness in the marketplace. TQM works well for internal integration of logistics companies and they can benefit from the use of technology, including information technology (IT), to gain further internal and external integration. Seeks to examine this issue.

This research examines the relationship between quality management practices, technology and performances of the logistics companies. The study seeks to gain insights from organizational variables and their effect on operational, quality, technology and overall business performance.

TQM and technology play important and complementing roles in improving the performance. The analysis shows that both high technology firms and high technology TQM firms perform significantly better than their low technology peers.

The use of IT is crucial in improving operational, quality and overall business performance. The information and management technologies strongly correlate to TQM and serve as an enabler to quality performance.

The use of technology assists logistics operations in many ways, such as cutting down information and processing lead‐time, improve efficiency and minimize errors to the minimum. Perhaps, the logistics companies should look at the long‐term benefits of technology and gradually engage its use to streamline their operations.

The results in this research provide recognition for the importance of technology in quality management in the logistics industry.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the problem faced by many Taiwanese restaurant owners who trying to set up their shops in Thailand.

Two surveys were conducted in this study. The first interview questionnaire was designed using the factors proposed by Parasuraman et al. (1988, 1991) and given to restaurant owners/managers who successfully set up shops in Thailand. The second questionnaire was constructed specifically for Thai consumers.

Gray relational analysis (GRA), theory of inventive problem-solving (teoriya resheniya izobreatatelskikh zadatch, TRIZ) and interpretive structural model (ISM) were used to identify potential difficulties and to determine the key factors impacting the shop establishment and development in Thailand. The results provide a set of strategic sequence when launching restaurant in Thailand.

A result of GRA determined 14 important factors that influence customer perception of quality service. A TRIZ analytic process provided 17 strategies when setting up overseas shop and the ISM class diagram shown the three phases needed to be considered before restaurant owners can set up shops abroad. The three phases are construction, operation and competition phases. These set of strategies sequence when launching a restaurant in Thailand.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between the cost of debt (COD) and auditor industry expertise using Taiwanese data. Since previous studies (Li et al., 2010) have only examined the relation between industry specialization and COD at the audit firm level in western countries, the authors further examine the association between industry specialization and COD at the individual auditor level in an Asian context.

The authors use the interest rate on the firm’s debt as a proxy variable for the COD (Francis, Khurana and Pereira, 2005). The authors adopt three different methods to measure industry specialization, which consist of the auditors’ market share in terms of client sales and number of clients, and client assets.

The results indicate that the clients of industry specialists at individual auditor levels have a lower COD.

First, the authors extend the research of Li et al. (2010) and find that the clients of individual auditor industry specialists also have a lower COD. Second, the authors also believe the evidence on the effects of industry expertise at the individual auditor level may have policy implications for regulators and public investors. Finally, in contrast to works carried out in the US market, the authors provide empirical evidence for the relation between industry specialization and COD in an Asian market.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact indicators of the 2010 Taipei International Flora Exposition from the perspective of residents and to investigate the effects of these impacts on the urban sustainability through the perceptions of Taipei residents after the exposition.

The authors conducted a literature review and consulted experts to identify the impact indicators of the exposition. This process resulted in 17 indicators of economic impact, 12 indicators of environmental impact, and 13 indicators of social impact, and the authors developed a 12-dimension/42-indicator mega-event impact measurement scale. Using a survey of 1,628 host residents after the exposition, the authors performed regression analysis to investigate the effects of these impacts on the urban sustainability.

The results indicated that economic, environmental, and social impacts exerted significant positive effects on urban sustainability. All positive dimensions of economic, environmental, and social impact exerted significant positive effects on urban sustainability, and all negative dimensions exerted nonsignificant effects on urban sustainability.

This study identified the impact indicators of the 2010 Taipei International Flora Exposition and investigated the effects of these impacts on the urban sustainability. The findings of this study indicated that economic, environmental, and social impacts of the exposition exerted significant positive effects on urban sustainability.

The rise of recent product recalls reveals that manufacturing firms are particularly vulnerable to product quality and safety where goods and materials have been sourced globally. The purpose of this paper is to explore the issues of quality and safety problems in global supply networks, and introduce a supply chain risk management (SCRM) framework to reduce the quality risk.

A conceptual SCRM framework for mitigating quality risk is developed. In addition, four SCRM treatment practices are proposed by consolidating the empirical literature in the operations management and supply chain management areas. The general feasibility was discussed based on literature.

The research has identified the root causes of the recent product recalls and a series of product harm scandals ranging from automobiles to unsafe toys. Supply chains are extended by outsourcing and stretched by globalization, which greatly increase the complexity of supply networks and decrease the visibility in risk and operation processes.

The paper identifies four SCRM practices, and proposes two distinct antecedents that can prompt the effectiveness of SCRM.

This paper provides a practical framework for managers to develop a sustainable supply chain. Given that rapid globalization has increased supply disruption risk, managers have been forced to establish efficient and responsive supply chain strategies. Nevertheless, diverse uncertainty factors, such as risk perception of strategies, have made practical management difficult. Quantifying managers' risk perceptions and applying them to supply chain strategies allows the authors to propose a structural and practical model for managing supply disruption.

The existing structural model is refined by taking subjective factors into account using the analytic hierarchy process. The applicability of the refined model is demonstrated through a comparative case study.

Managers' risk perceptions vary not only among companies but also between managing divisions within a company, which necessitates possible changes in strategy due to environmental turbulence. The principal component analysis (PCA) characterizes managers' risk perceptions that illustrate companies' emphases on disruption risk.

The proposed approach quantifies risk perception, which enables practitioners to deal with subjective information in quantitative form. Comparative studies clarify differences in perception given different business backgrounds. The results provide managers with in-depth insights for establishing supply chain strategies reflecting their risk perception.

Quantification of managers' subjective risk perception clarifies both the trend and the individual features for uncertainties. The results allow the authors to conduct the PCA, which characterizes companies. Comparative studies generalize the results of extant work, shedding light on cross-sectional differences given different business backgrounds. The effectiveness of the approach is confirmed through retrospective interviews with practitioners.

The friendliness of a destination is a key factor influencing tourists' destination selection. However, few studies have explored the construct of friendly tourism destinations. The purpose of this study was to establish a typological framework of friendly tourism destinations and compare older and younger adults' valuations of friendly destination attributes.

A mixed-method approach was used; in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 tourism stakeholders. Content analysis of the collected data was performed to construct a friendly tourism destination framework.

The framework consisted of 37 categories, which were classified into six themes: transportation and infrastructure, friendly tourism environments, government policies and tourism promotion measures, tourism products and activities, tourism information services and friendly residents. Furthermore, survey data from 1,153 respondents in Taiwan revealed that older adults valued friendly tourism environments and friendly residents more highly than younger adults did.

The participants were all from Taiwan; therefore, the results might not be applicable to tourists in other countries or regions. Furthermore, this study only compared the valuations of older and younger adults for the attributes of friendly tourism destinations.

Friendly tourism destination categories can provide a reference for tourists when making travel decisions. The framework provides destination marketers with a new tool for managing friendly tourism destinations. The findings can act as a reference for travel suppliers seeking to improve tourism-friendly services.

This study introduced a multifaceted framework for developing friendly tourism destinations from a holistic perspective. The results contribute to the tourism literature, revealing that younger and older adults have different valuations for the attributes of friendly tourism destinations.

The primary purpose of this paper is to present an integrated framework for user interface prototyping and evaluation for the development of information systems and to present architecture for evaluating generic applications.

The framework is constructed through combining two distinctive methods of prototyping and evaluation, statechart and goals, operators, methods, and selection rules. Relevant methods and architectures of the integrated framework are presented in unified modeling language when possible.

The importance of the usability of information systems is highlighted in this research. However, it still lacks an integrated framework for information system development and usability evaluation. This paper provides a framework that evaluation method is intertwined with user interface prototyping to shorten the time of development lifecycle. The architecture for evaluating generic applications is also invaluable for motion and time study and the procurement of vender‐provided systems.

The user base of information systems is diverse and the requirements of these systems change over time. This paper provides a framework that helps managers and engineers smooth and shorten the development phases. For future works, an object‐oriented programming framework and a tool for evaluating generic applications will be developed.

This paper proposes a comprehensive framework for combining prototyping and evaluation, as well as architecture for the evaluation of generic applications. It shortens the development phases by using formal modeling for user interface construction and evaluation. It also provides means to evaluate candidate systems whose program logics cannot be accessed and modified. It also complements the models used in the framework by extending their practical and academic values.

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated unprecedented public fear, impeding both individuals’ social life and the travel industry as a whole. China was one of the first major countries to experience the COVID-19 outbreaks and recovery from the pandemic. The demand for outings is increasing in the post-COVID-19 world, leading to the recovery of the ride-sharing industry. Integrating protection motivation theory and the theory of reasoned action, this study aims to investigate ride-sharing customers’ self-protection motivation to provide anti-pandemic measures and promote the resilience of ride-sharing industry.

This study followed a two-phase mixed-methods design. In the first phase, the authors executed a qualitative study with 30 interviews. In the second phase, the authors used the results of the interviews to inform the design of a survey, with which 272 responses were collected. Both studies were conducted in China.

The present results indicate that customers’ perceived vulnerability of COVID-19 and perceived COVID protection efficacy (self-efficacy and response efficacy) are positively correlated with their attitude toward self-protection, thus leading to their self-protection motivation during the rides. Moreover, subjective norms and customers’ distrust appear to also impact their self-protection motivation during the ride-sharing service.

The present research provides one of the first in-depth studies, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, on customers’ protection motivation in ride-sharing services in the new normal. The empirical evidence provides important insights for ride-sharing service providers and managers in the post-pandemic world and promote the resilience of ride-sharing industry.

This paper aims to examine the relationship between social presence and consumer purchase intention in the context of livestreaming commerce and test the mediating role of immersive experience and the moderating role of positive emotions.

The authors used a convenience sampling method to select 408 college students from a university in Ganzhou as the participants. They employed structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses, as well as Hayes' PROCESS to test the mediation and moderation effects.

The authors found that immersion experiences partially mediate the relationship between social presence and consumers' purchase intentions and positive emotions moderate the “social presence–immersion experience–consumer purchase intentions” path. Therefore, social presence constitutes a moderating mediating effect on consumer purchase intentions.

This study offers meaningful insights into how livestreamers and e-retailers can stimulate consumers' buying behavior in livestreaming environments. E-commerce platforms should strengthen consumer interactions and increase consumers' perceptions of social presence. In addition, companies should meet the social and psychological needs of consumers and generate positive emotional resonance.

This research sheds light on the effect of social presence on consumer purchase intentions in livestreaming commerce and extends the social presence literature by investigating the mediation mechanism of immersive experience.