Search results

In the general discussion of yield management and its accent on increasing capacity and maximizing revenue, the area of customer satisfaction and environmental sustainability seem to have been lost. Examines these four forces and their effects on a nature‐based tour boat operation.

Investigates the differences in protocols between arbitral tribunals and courts, with particular emphasis on US, Greek and English law. Gives examples of each country and its way of using the law in specific circumstances, and shows the variations therein. Sums up that arbitration is much the better way to gok as it avoids delays and expenses, plus the vexation/frustration of normal litigation. Concludes that the US and Greek constitutions and common law tradition in England appear to allow involved parties to choose their own judge, who can thus be an arbitrator. Discusses e‐commerce and speculates on this for the future.

In a number of recent multi-billion dollar cases brought against cigarette manufacturers, plaintiffs have in part alleged that the cigarette manufacturers (1) conspired not to compete on the basis of health claims or the introduction of potentially safer cigarettes since the 1950s, and (2) engaged in fraudulent advertising by making implied health claims in advertisements selling ‘low tar’/‘light’ cigarettes. In this type of litigation, defendants’ actions could be due to alleged illegal behaviour as asserted by plaintiffs, or be the result of market forces that may have nothing to do with allegedly inappropriate acts. We examine the economic evidence relating to these allegations, taking into account some of the major influences on cigarette company behaviour. In particular, our analyses show that much of the cigarette manufactures’ behaviour can be explained by Federal Trade Commission and related government actions, rather than conspiracy or fraudulent acts. We find the economic evidence is inconsistent with an effective conspiracy to suppress information on either smoking and health or the development and marketing of potentially safer cigarettes. Regarding ‘lower tar’ and ‘light’ cigarettes, the economic evidence indicates that the cigarette manufacturers responded to government and public health initiatives, and that disclosing more information on smoking compensation earlier than the cigarette companies did would not have had any significant impact on smoking behaviour.

The Bureau of Economics in the Federal Trade Commission has a three-part role in the Agency and the strength of its functions changed over time depending on the preferences and ideology of the FTC’s leaders, developments in the field of economics, and the tenor of the times. The over-riding current role is to provide well considered, unbiased economic advice regarding antitrust and consumer protection law enforcement cases to the legal staff and the Commission. The second role, which long ago was primary, is to provide reports on investigations of various industries to the public and public officials. This role was more recently called research or “policy R&D”. A third role is to advocate for competition and markets both domestically and internationally. As a practical matter, the provision of economic advice to the FTC and to the legal staff has required that the economists wear “two hats,” helping the legal staff investigate cases and provide evidence to support law enforcement cases while also providing advice to the legal bureaus and to the Commission on which cases to pursue (thus providing “a second set of eyes” to evaluate cases). There is sometimes a tension in those functions because building a case is not the same as evaluating a case. Economists and the Bureau of Economics have provided such services to the FTC for over 100 years proving that a sub-organization can survive while playing roles that sometimes conflict. Such a life is not, however, always easy or fun.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate numerically the thermal and hydrodynamics performance of circular microchannel heat exchanger (CMCHE) using various nanofluids.

The three‐dimensional steady, laminar developing flow and conjugate heat transfer governing equations of a balanced MCHE are solved using finite volume method.

The results are shown in terms of temperature profile, heat transfer coefficient, pressure drop, wall shear stress, pumping power, effectiveness and performance index. The addition of nanoparticles increased the heat transfer rate of the base fluids. The temperature profiles of the fluids have revealed that higher average bulk temperatures were obtained by the nanofluids compared to water. The addition of nanoparticles also increased the pressure drop along the channels slightly. The increase in nanoparticle concentrations yielded better heat transfer rate while the increase in Reynolds number decreased the heat transfer rate.

The tested nanofluids are Ag, Al₂O₃, CuO, SiO₂, and TiO₂. Reynolds number range varied from 100 to 800 and the nanoparticle concentration varied from 2 per cent to 10 per cent.

Parallel flow in CMCHEs is used in thermal engineering applications and the design and performance analysis of these CMCHE are of practical importance.

This paper provides the details of the thermal and hydrodynamics performance analysis of flow heat exchangers using nanofluids, which can be used for heat transfer augmentation in thermal design.

The purpose of air-intake duct used in combat aircrafts is to decelerate the inlet flow and concurrently raise the static pressure recovery at the compressor inlet. Because of side-slip movement during sharp maneuvers of the aircrafts, the airflows ingested into twin air-intake ducts are not same and symmetric at its two inlets but are asymmetric in nature. The asymmetric inlet flow conditions at the twin air-intakes thus caused instabilities and deteriorated aerodynamic performance of aircraft components such as compressors and other downstream components. This study aims to investigate the flow control in a twin air-intake with asymmetric inflows.

The continuity and momentum equations are solved with second-order upwind scheme for computing finite-volume method-based unsteady computational fluid dynamics simulation.

Performance parameters are deteriorated with the increase of inflow asymmetry in the twin air-intake duct. Slotted synthetic jets are used to manage flow separation, thereby increasing aerodynamic performance of the air-intake. A variety of vortical structures are generated from the rectangular slots, convected downstream of the twin air-intake. The use of slotted synthetic jets increases static pressure recovery by 64 per cent whereas reducing total pressure loss coefficient by 63 per cent, distortion coefficient by 58 per cent and swirl coefficient by 55 per cent which is an indicative of better aerodynamic performance of twin air-intake.

The study stresses the need of robust flow control technique to improve the performance of combat air-intake system under extreme maneuvering conditions. The results can be useful in designing air-intake satisfying the stealth features for modern combat aircrafts.

This study aims to address the following questions: What is enduring about consumer behavior on social media given that digital and social media (DSM) technologies change rapidly? Why do millennials use social media to the extent they do? The authors’ review revealed that a prevailing theoretical approach that may help answer these questions is inadequate. The technology acceptance model (TAM) from information systems was grafted into marketing to explain consumer technology adoption. TAM predicts Facebook adoption effectively, as demonstrated in the authors’ first study, but does not go beyond that in explaining the why’s behind its use. In a second study, the authors used the means-end approach (MEC) complementarily to unearth the why’s of millennials’ use of Facebook.

The authors used a mixed-methods design combining the structural modeling of TAM with the probing one-on-one interviews and laddering of MEC.

The authors found that the laddering process both widened and deepened TAM’s scope. It not only confirmed the importance of the TAM attributes, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, but it also revealed others, in determining adoption. It was also able to dig deeper from these to uncover a mesh of fundamental values that millennials used Facebook to satisfy, such as belongingness, pleasure, social acceptance and inner harmony, in their quest for inner and relational contentment. The authors also found negative aspects that kept consumers away, such as its lack of privacy and the overwhelming nature of unwanted video in its feed, tying these back to important values.

The authors build on prior exploratory work relating to DSM use and uncover psychological drivers of consumer behavior on social media, by blending TAM in a consumer context, and the MEC approach. The TAM-MEC framework used here offers a technology-independent template for other DSM research, by focusing on how and why consumers use media socially.

Managerially, the authors discuss the building of sustainable marketing strategy on enduring consumer values rather than on transient attributes or technologies. The authors also discuss potential areas of vulnerability for Facebook, such as its increasing use of video and live content, which creates negative consumer sentiment and which may drive consumers to competitors.

By blending the quantitative TAM and the qualitative MEC, something that has not been done before in marketing, this research provides trustworthy answers to the research questions. In so doing, this study also contributes some cohesion to the fragmented DSM research field, as called for recently in prominent journals, by anchoring DSM study in well-established theories in marketing.

This study elicits the critical attributes, consequences and values associated with the purchasing process in the context of cross-border e-commerce (CBEC). The purpose is to provide a better understanding of the fundamental factors that determine consumer values in CBEC.

The study applies the means-end-chain theory and soft-laddering techniques to interview 60 CBEC consumers to construct an implication matrix and a hierarchical value map (HVM) of the consumer purchasing process, consisting of attribute-consequence-value (A-C-V) paths.

By analyzing the significant linkages, elements, ladders and chains in the HVM, four dominant A-C-V paths were identified: economic-driven, efficiency-driven, progress-driven and quality-driven paths.

This study included only Chinese CBEC buyers. This limitation might affect the generalizability of the conclusions as culture, purchase habits and economic development differ between China and other countries.

The results of this study provide CBEC practitioners an understanding of the consumer purchasing process and how consumer values are associated with platform characteristics. Thus, the results aid practitioners in allocating resources and developing CBEC platforms in an appropriate manner and direction.

This study sheds lights on the emerging phenomenon of CBEC. By applying the means-end-chain approach, the study provides a comprehensive HVM for interpreting the consumer online purchasing process in this novel context. By illustrating the dominant paths, this research provides deeper theoretical insights into the specific focuses of CBEC consumer purchasing.