Search results

The study aims to pioneer an innovative approach for the evaluation of government portal websites (GPWs) by introducing an eye-tracking-based method. The research meticulously pinpoints and analyses the distinct usability issues and challenges that users encounter while navigating and interacting with GPWs.

This study devises an eye-tracking-based GPW usability evaluation approach, which focuses on the major functions (i.e. government information disclosure, government services and interactive responses) of GPWs. An Entropy Weighted Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (EW-TOPSIS) method is employed to process eye-tracking indicator results for deriving GPW usability results.

The proposed approach is demonstrated to assess the usability of 12 GPWs in pilot smart cities in China, and it is found that most GPWs have lower-than-average usability. GPWs with low usability require more cognitive load that exhibit increased fixation and saccade. The comparisons among the GPW usability results from (1) the eye-tracking experiment, (2) questionnaire surveys and (3) the ready-made performance evaluation report validate the effectiveness of eye-tracking-based GPW usability evaluation.

The work contributes to shifting the GPW usability evaluation approach from a subjective judgment paradigm to an objective paradigm, as well as provides implications for enhancing GPW usability, including improving search function, reducing website complexity and prioritizing user needs.

Water balance is measured by transpiration, which has a significant impact on the performance of geotechnical infrastructure (vegetated slopes), ecological infrastructure (wetlands), urban infrastructure (green roof, biofiltration units) and agricultural infrastructure. Past studies have formulated models using analytical modeling to evaluate the transpiration index based on energy balance and suction. In circumstance of impartial and uncertain information about the root and shoot properties and its effect on the transpiration index, the present work aims to introduce the new optimization algorithm of genetic programming (GP) to quantify and optimize the transpiration index of plant.

The GP framework, having objective function of structural risk minimization, is used for formulating the transpiration index model. The statistical metrics with 2D and 3D analyses of the models are conducted to determine its accuracy and understand the transpiration process.

The model analysis reveals that the proposed model extrapolates the transpiration index values accurately based on five inputs. 2D and 3D relationships between the transpiration index and the five inputs suggest that the total root area has the highest impact on the transpiration index followed by shoot length and root biomass. There is not much impact of the shoot mass and stem basal diameter on the transpiration index. It was also found that the transpiration index increases with an increase in total root area and root biomass.

This work is a first-of-its-kind study involving the extensive computation analysis for quantifying and optimizing the transpiration index of the soil for the complex civil systems.

Many public health systems have struggled with the dual questions of (1) why the uptake rate of maternal health services is low among some subpopulations; and (2) how to raise it. The objective of this study is to assess the uptake rate of a new set of maternal health services in poor rural areas of China.

The analysis is based on the survey responses of women’s representatives and village cadres from almost 1000 villages in June 2012 as part of a wide-scale public health survey in Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan provinces in the western part of China.

We find that the uptake rate of maternal health services (including in-hospital delivery, antenatal care visits and post-partum care visits) in poor rural areas of western China are far below average in China, and that the rates vary across provinces and ethnic groups. Our analyses demonstrate that distance, income, ethnicity and availability appear to be systematically correlated with low uptake rates of all maternal health services. Demand-side factors seem to be by far the most important sources of the differences between subpopulations. We also find that there is potential for creating a Conditional Cash Transfer program to improve the usage of maternal health services.

We believe that our results will contribute positively to the exploration of answers to the dual questions that many public health systems have struggled with (1) why the uptake rate of maternal health services is low among some subpopulations; and (2) how to raise it.

The purpose of this paper is to present a general framework of Homotopy perturbation method (HPM) for analytic inverse heat source problems.

The proposed numerical technique is based on HPM to determine a heat source in the parabolic heat equation using the usual conditions. Then this shows the pertinent features of the technique in inverse problems.

Using this HPM, a rapid convergent sequence which tends to the exact solution of the problem can be obtained. And the HPM does not require the discretization of the inverse problems. So HPM is a powerful and efficient technique in finding exact and approximate solutions without dispersing the inverse problems.

The essential idea of this method is to introduce a homotopy parameter p which takes values from 0 to 1. When p=0, the system of equations usually reduces to a sufficiently simplified form, which normally admits a rather simple solution. As p is gradually increased to 1, the system goes through a sequence of deformations, the solution for each of which is close to that at the previous stage of deformation.

For measuring the effect of crop root content on soil water retention curves (SWRC), a simulation approach (multi-gene genetic programming (MGGP)), which develops the model structure and its coefficients automatically can be applied. However, it does not perform well due to two vital issues related to its generalization: inappropriate formulation procedure of the multi-gene model and the difficulty in model selection. The purpose of this paper is to propose a heuristic-based-MGGP (N-MGGP) to formulate the functional relationship between the water content and two input parameters (soil suction and volumetric crop root content).

A new simulation approach (heuristic-based-MGGP (N-MGGP)), was proposed to formulate the functional relationship between the water content and two input parameters (soil suction and volumetric crop root content). The proposed approach makes use of a statistical approach of stepwise regression and classification methods (Bayes naïve and artificial neural network (ANN)) to tackle the two issues. Simulated data obtained from the models was evaluated against the experimental data.

The performance of proposed approach was found to better than that of standardized MGGP. Sensitivity and parametric analysis conducted validates the robustness of model by unveiling dominant input parameters and hidden non-linear relationships.

To the best of authors’ knowledge, an empirical model is developed that measures the effect of crop root content on the SWRCs. The authors also proposed a new genetic programming approach in simulating the crop root content dependent SWRCs.

This paper seeks to explore the evolution of a third generation mobile communications (3G) industry based on TD‐SCDMA technical standard in China through the lens of network analysis.

The authors argue that inter‐firm alliances help companies gain and integrate internal and external resources and foster technical innovation. The paper analyzes alliance governance structures and governance mechanisms in particular, and shows how they protect and improve network‐based innovation capabilities and competitive advantages during a ten‐year period with the method of social network analysis and case studies.

The authors offer a theoretical model that incorporates cooperation among organizations, the maturity of the industrial chain, and the accumulation of organizational knowledge and social capital.

The paper offers a theoretical model of factors that contributes greatly to the development of technical innovation.

The purpose of this study is to examine the mediating effect of psychological well-being between organizational dehumanization and two outcome variables: service recovery performance and service sabotage. This research also investigates whether organizational tenure moderates the relationship between organizational dehumanization and psychological well-being.

Using survey methodology, 200 hotel frontline service employees (FLEs) in Turkey were sampled over two time points. Additionally, employees’ direct supervisors rated their service recovery performance. The partial least squares method, specifically SmartPLS 3.3.3, was used for data analysis.

The results indicate that organizational dehumanization negatively influences employees’ psychological well-being. However, organizational tenure moderates this relationship, in which organizational dehumanization has less of a negative effect on employees’ psychological well-being in those with longer tenure. Psychological well-being was found to mediate the relationship between organizational dehumanization and service recovery performance. Finally, psychological well-being mediates the relationship between organizational dehumanization and service sabotage.

Managers should consider the negative effect organizational dehumanization has on FLEs’ psychological well-being and aim to establish an organizational culture that values these employees as individuals and as invaluable resources for the organization. Further, this study has found that less tenured employees are less likely to have the psychological resources to cope with organizational dehumanization and are more susceptible to decreased productivity (i.e. service recovery performance) and engaging in counterproductive work behaviors (i.e. service sabotage) due to mistreatment in the workplace.

This study furthers our understanding of organizational dehumanization, an understudied concept in hospitality research, which influences employee outcomes. The findings of this study contribute to the advancement of the self-determination theory and how organizational dehumanization impacts psychological well-being. It also contributes to the conservation of resources theory and current literature on service recovery performance and service sabotage.

This study aims to examine how and when leader humility influences subordinates’ proactive customer service performance (PCSP). Drawing upon the conservation of resources theory, this study theorizes a moderated mediation model with relational energy as the mediator and person–supervisor fit (P-S fit) as the moderator.

This study conducted a three-wave survey in 20 hotels in China, collecting 467 valid questionnaires from frontline employees and supervisors. Hierarchical regression analysis and the PROCESS procedure were adopted for data analyses.

Leader humility can facilitate followers’ PCSP, and relational energy mediates this relationship. Furthermore, P-S fit amplifies leader humility’s direct influence on relational energy, as well as magnifies leader humility’s indirect effect on PCSP through relational energy.

Companies need to be more concerned about selecting qualified candidates for management positions and fostering their humility via training, focus on employees’ relational energy and P-S fit and attempt to encourage PCSP in multiple ways.

Research on PCSP has largely neglected the influence of leader humility, which has the potential to be particularly effective in today’s hospitality industry, characterized by high dynamics. This study extends the literature on PCSP by connecting it with leader humility. It also provides new insights into the mechanism and boundary condition from a relational and resource perspective.

On the basis of social identity theory, the purpose of this study is to simultaneously examine how social-based identity (i.e. organizational identification and supervisor support) and personal-based identity (i.e. work-related characteristics and job embeddedness) influence employees’ service sabotage.

By using a sample of 685 employee–customer dyads, this study investigated whether the cross-level moderating roles of organizational identification and supervisor support can activate linkage between work-related characteristics and job embeddedness.

The results of this study indicated that job embeddedness mediates the multiple cross-level effects of organizational identification, supervisor support and work-related characteristics on service sabotage. Moreover, work-related characteristics influence job embeddedness more positively in higher than lower levels of organizational identification and supervisor support.

This study provides a valuable approach to effective management practices, helps to clarify identification at work and expands perceived external prestige for hospitality companies.

These findings support that identity in organizations can be recognized as one of the fundamental concepts that influence individual psychological traits, capabilities, bodily attributes, group classifications and organizational effectiveness.

This study aims to use psychological contract theory to explore the substantial impact of illegitimate tasks on the well-being of hospitality employees. It also examines the mediating role of psychological contract breach and the moderating role of employee emotional intelligence within the proposed moderated mediation model.

Data were collected from 338 hospitality employees in Guangdong, China, and the hypotheses were examined through hierarchical regression analysis.

The results revealed that illegitimate tasks could negatively impact employee well-being through psychological contract breach. Furthermore, employee emotional intelligence was confirmed as a critical moderator that buffers the negative impact of illegitimate tasks on psychological contract breach.

This research offers novel insights into the dynamics affecting hospitality employee well-being by framing illegitimate tasks within psychological contract theory. It identifies the critical conditions under which employees’ well-being is impacted, thus broadening the understanding of employee–organization interactions.