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This paper aims to acquaint readers with Louis J. DeLamarter and the innovative strategies he used to extend the profitability of the street railway in the USA.

Initially the researchers were interested in street railways (trolleys) and why they had flourished in Grand Rapid, Michigan when they were failing in other parts of the USA. Extensive research in local and national newspapers, business journals and trade publications of the time led to the story of Louis J. DeLamarter. His innovative approach to running the street railway in Grand Rapids MI emerged as the cause of the Grand Rapids Railway Company's unique, though temporary, success.

DeLamarter conceived and implemented a number of innovative marketing practices which were rooted in a differentiation strategy: he focused on the customer whereas other transportation companies did not. His strategy made the company successful after others became bankrupt. His ideas were lauded in the industry, adopted, and are still used in public transportation today. Only external factors such as the depression, the advent of the automobile and burdensome regulations undermined his success.

Despite extensive searches, no original papers by DeLamarter could be located.

Public service companies worldwide can learn about the importance of customer focus from DeLamarter's work. Additionally, managers can learn that even the most successful innovative strategy will only yield a short‐term competitive advantage if the industry faces unfavorable external factors.

The story of Louis J. DeLamarter and his innovations in public transportation are presented for the first time.

Since the declaration of reform and market opening from China in 1990, China has drawn much attention from the world thanks to its rapid economic growth and its emergence as the world's major consumer market and the center of the global economy. Moreover, it established the new trade order, making East Asia the center of the new trade trend as it becomes a manufactural and sales stronghold of multinational companies. The Chinese distribution market is expected to show a high growth rate by 2010 and it draws attention as a new business sector which can bring huge profits. However, advancement of the Chinese distribution industry now faces systemic problems and research on such problems is insufficient. Therefore, in this study we will conduct SWOT analysis based on previous studies on the Chinese distribution industry and use it as a ground to propose strategic solutions for development.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of musical tempo on consumer choice of tea in different temperatures.

Across two studies, participants were asked to listen to several musical stimuli with different tempi (i.e. slow or fast). Then, they were asked to evaluate and choose one drink (i.e. iced tea or hot tea).

Results suggest that consumers who listen to fast (slow) tempo music are more likely to choose iced (hot) tea. This effect is robust across different musical modes (i.e. major or minor) (Study 1). However, this musical tempo effect is attenuated when the participants are aware that the music they listened to can influence their judgments (Study 2).

This research is an exploratory study. Thus, further examinations are needed to fully understand the underlying mechanism of this effect. Nonetheless, this research provides an initial evidence of the mediator of this effect.

This research explores how different musical tempi can influence consumer choice of hot or iced tea. Thus, this research adds understanding on how auditory cues (e.g. musical stimuli) can influence consumer choice of other food and drink variables (e.g. temperature).

This study aims examine to what extent four variable categories of individual ethical ideology, organizational ethical culture, superior's ethical quality and job satisfaction (JS) are causally linked to personal (un)ethical behaviors among South Korean police officers.

With a stratified sampling technique, 687 surveys were collected from 16 major local police headquarters across the nation. The reliability and validity of the variables were checked. The structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to test the hypotheses.

Idealism, principlism, utilitarianism and JS have a negative influence on unethical behaviors, whereas superior's unethical standards are positively associated with unethical behaviors.

The findings can be applied as a reference to improve ethical framework to promote behaviors by enriching the higher level of personal ethical ideology, superior's ethical quality and principlism and utilitarianism by adding an ethics training course to the continuing education program for all officers and developing further education programs for police leadership to raise ethical awareness and quality.

To the authors' knowledge, the study is among the first studies with four comprehensive categories of relevant variables and adds understanding to (un)ethical behaviors of police officers.

There are elevated debates on the role of teacher unions on the effectiveness of education in the USA. The purpose of this paper is to examine if the unionization of education has an impact on the comparative performance of public education in the USA.

The authors classify states into two groups such as highly unionized states and less unionized states for comparing their performance differences. The analyses consist of two stages. First, the authors apply data envelopment analysis (DEA) to the key performance indicators of the groups. Next, the authors use statistical analysis for confirming the statistical significance of the performance differences that may exist between two groups.

The authors have confirmed the adverse impact of unionization on public education using DEA models and non-parametric rank-sum tests. However, the authors are cautious for generalizing the finding due to the limitations described in the research limitation section.

The finding is limited within the selection of the variables and model specification and requires additional studies using different variables and models. The authors hope that the study motivates researchers to conduct further studies in this area.

Major contributions of the study include a novel approach for measuring the performance of primary and secondary schools at the state level by classifying and choosing less or highly unionized states and suggesting insights for improvements.

Taking the element of saving face into account, this chapter uses LJN Resources as an example, specifically the communication pattern between the manager, Mr John (Gen Y category), and the founder, Mr Lim (Baby Boomers category), in which the son-in-law and father-in-law relationship complicates the communication dynamics. Communication exchange in the western versus eastern society is explained. Utilising lifespan development perspective as the framework, communication among employees of different ages in family business is examined, particularly those at the establishment stage versus maintenance stage. Application of two models of communication in choice theory, namely (a) caring habits replacing deadly habits and (b) circle of strength replacing triangle of pain, is being discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to measure and benchmark the retail operations of selected coffee stores owned by a specialty coffee company.

Data envelopment analysis is used for benchmarking the performance of eight coffee stores for two years using internal annual reports.

Major findings are that the inefficient stores need to improve occupancy related expenses and revenues from non‐coffee items. In addition, the coffee stores locate in an affluent residential area outperform the stores in the business district.

The limitation of this paper is in the use of financial data. To overcome this issue, non‐financial data should be included.

The contributions of this paper are twofold: providing a framework for performance measures within a benchmarking perspective and evaluating the comparative efficiency of coffee stores using internal data, which is not accessible to the general public.

This study aims to review the relationship between financial self-efficacy, financial attitude and financial well-being from an individual perspective. Individual decision-making concerning finance is influenced by a number of factors; hence, it becomes pertinent to explore these factors. Financial well-being is an emerging field in finance that has drawn the attention of researchers and it explains individual perception on his/her ability to meet current and future financial obligations.

To achieve the research objectives, the study used cross-sectional research design and data were collected from retirees in the north-central Nigeria. Statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 23 was used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics, correlations and regression analyses were generated to explain the relationship between financial self-efficacy, financial attitude and financial well-being of retirees in Nigeria.

The results revealed significant relationship between financial self-efficacy, financial attitude and financial well-being of retirees. Furthermore, the results also indicated that educational qualification has significant effects on the financial well-being of retirees in Nigeria.

The study used cross-sectional design, hence, leaving out longitudinal study. Future research using longitudinal data that explore behaviors of retirees over time could be suitable. In addition, only quantitative data were used to measure constructs under study and use of qualitative data were ignored. Further studies using qualitative data are possible.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to examine the relationship between financial self-efficacy, financial attitude and financial well-being of the retirees in a developing country situation. These factors are missing in finance literature in promoting financial well-being, especially in Nigeria.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between financial knowledge, socialization and financial satisfaction with financial risk attitude and financial behavior as a mediator after demonetization and introduction of GST.

The sample consisted responses of 286 individuals from the city of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India and making financial decisions for the household for at least last two years. The data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and mediation regression analysis.

All sub-scales used to measure constructs had satisfactory reliabilities and internal consistencies. It was found that financial risk attitude and financial behavior both mediate the relationship between financial socialization and financial satisfaction as well as between financial knowledge and financial satisfaction.

This research is based upon survey method and voluntary participation. Hence one can question generalization of findings to larger samples. Moreover, the study is limited to a restricted geographical region which could affect the generalization of findings.

Results provide insights into the antecedents of financial satisfaction of individuals from tier II city of India. Financial planners may utilize this study for enhancement of financial satisfaction of their clients and hence retention of the same.

A majority of researchers use survey without evaluation validity of instruments in the selected context and sample. This research contributed to the literature and practice by testing validation of constructs of financial satisfaction in India.