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1 – 8 of 8Qingyun Fu, Shuxin Ding, Tao Zhang, Rongsheng Wang, Ping Hu and Cunlai Pu
To optimize train operations, dispatchers currently rely on experience for quick adjustments when delays occur. However, delay predictions often involve imprecise shifts based on…
Abstract
Purpose
To optimize train operations, dispatchers currently rely on experience for quick adjustments when delays occur. However, delay predictions often involve imprecise shifts based on known delay times. Real-time and accurate train delay predictions, facilitated by data-driven neural network models, can significantly reduce dispatcher stress and improve adjustment plans. Leveraging current train operation data, these models enable swift and precise predictions, addressing challenges posed by train delays in high-speed rail networks during unforeseen events.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper proposes CBLA-net, a neural network architecture for predicting late arrival times. It combines CNN, Bi-LSTM, and attention mechanisms to extract features, handle time series data, and enhance information utilization. Trained on operational data from the Beijing-Tianjin line, it predicts the late arrival time of a target train at the next station using multidimensional input data from the target and preceding trains.
Findings
This study evaluates our model's predictive performance using two data approaches: one considering full data and another focusing only on late arrivals. Results show precise and rapid predictions. Training with full data achieves a MAE of approximately 0.54 minutes and a RMSE of 0.65 minutes, surpassing the model trained solely on delay data (MAE: is about 1.02 min, RMSE: is about 1.52 min). Despite superior overall performance with full data, the model excels at predicting delays exceeding 15 minutes when trained exclusively on late arrivals. For enhanced adaptability to real-world train operations, training with full data is recommended.
Originality/value
This paper introduces a novel neural network model, CBLA-net, for predicting train delay times. It innovatively compares and analyzes the model's performance using both full data and delay data formats. Additionally, the evaluation of the network's predictive capabilities considers different scenarios, providing a comprehensive demonstration of the model's predictive performance.
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Qingyun Zhu, Yanji Duan and Joseph Sarkis
The purpose of this study is to determine if blockchain-supported carbon offset information provision and shipping options with different cost and environmental footprint…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to determine if blockchain-supported carbon offset information provision and shipping options with different cost and environmental footprint implications impact consumer perceptions toward retailers and logistics service providers. Blockchain and carbon neutrality, each can be expensive to adopt and complex to manage, thus getting the “truth” on decarbonization may require additional costs for consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
Experimental modeling is used to address these critical and emergent issues that influence practices across a set of supply chain actors. Three hypotheses relating to the relationship between blockchain-supported carbon offset information and consumer perceptions and intentions associated with the product and supply chain actors are investigated.
Findings
The results show that consumer confidence increases when supply chain carbon offset information has greater reliability, transparency and traceability as supported by blockchain technology. The authors also find that consumers who are provided visibility into various shipping options and the product's journey carbon emissions and offset – from a blockchain-supported system – they are more willing to pay a premium for both the product and shipping options. Blockchain-supported decarbonization information disclosure in the supply chain can lead to organizational legitimacy and financial gains in return.
Originality/value
Understanding consumer action and sustainable consumption is critical for organizations seeking carbon neutrality. Currently, the literature on this understanding from a consumer information provision is not well understood, especially with respect to blockchain-supported information transparency, visibility and reliability. Much of the blockchain literature focuses on the upstream. This study focuses more on consumer-level and downstream supply chain blockchain implications for organizations. The study provides a practical roadmap for considering levels of blockchain information activity and consumer interaction.
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Qingyun Xu, Bing Xu, Qiushi Bo and Yi He
Most firms in the fashion industry frequently design and promote new products, which leads to a two-period phenomenon in product sales. This study aims to examine the optimal…
Abstract
Purpose
Most firms in the fashion industry frequently design and promote new products, which leads to a two-period phenomenon in product sales. This study aims to examine the optimal advertising efforts of each channel member and the subsidy strategies of the manufacturer with retail competition in a two-period supply chain.
Design/methodology/approach
By utilizing the game theory, this study developed a cooperative advertising model that considers the element of retailer competition in a two-period supply chain.
Findings
The main results of this study are as follows. An increase in the subsidy rate of one retailer’s advertising cost will lead to a decrease in the share of the other. When a manufacturer’s marginal profit from one retailer is considerably larger than that from the other, the manufacturer will share more advertising cost with the former. This study demonstrates that a bilateral participation contract can achieve supply chain coordination and increases the likelihood of retailers to participate in this contract when competition effect is small.
Research limitations/implications
First, product price is not a decision variable in this model. This concern can be studied in future work. Second, the one-manufacturer and two-retailer supply chain can be expanded to competitive manufacturers.
Practical implications
This study provides some decision references for the manufacturer and retailer on advertising strategies. The manufacturer can also gain insights into cooperative advertising strategy when facing a competitive retail environment.
Originality/value
Most previous studies related to cooperative advertising focused on a single-period supply chain. This study investigates cooperative advertising strategy with retail competition in two-period sales and explores the potential coordinating power of a bilateral participation contract.
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Chunguang Bai, Purvi Shah, Qingyun Zhu and Joseph Sarkis
The purpose of this paper is to identify how organizations can evaluate the green product deletion decision within an environmentally sustainable consumption and production…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify how organizations can evaluate the green product deletion decision within an environmentally sustainable consumption and production environment through a hybrid multistage multiple criteria evaluation approach.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper proposes a decision-making model by integrating “soft computation” using neighborhood rough set theory, fuzzy cluster means, and cumulative prospect theory. Literature is used to identify various factors for the decision environment. An illustrative problem provides insights into the methodology and application.
Findings
The results indicate that green products can be evaluated from both their relative environmental burdens and benefits. Sustainable consumption and production factors that play a role in this multifactor decision are identified. The results show that a comprehensive evaluation can capture an effective overall picture on which green product(s) to delete.
Research limitations/implications
The opaqueness of the proposed methodology may cause less acceptance by management. The methodology made a number of assumptions related to the data. An actual application of the tool rather than just an illustrative example is needed.
Originality/value
The main contribution of this study is the novel integration of supply chain perspectives, both upstream (supply and production) and downstream (demand/usage), with green product deletion decision making. The hybrid multistage technique has advantages of being able to incorporate many factors that have a variety of quantitative and qualitative characteristics to help managers address green product deletion issues as well as its impact on greening of supply chains and organizational environmental sustainability. This paper adds value to product deletion, supply chain management, and sustainable production and consumption literatures.
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Mahtab Kouhizadeh, Qingyun Zhu, Lojain Alkhuzaim and Joseph Sarkis
Overconsumption of resources has become a global issue. To deal with resource depletion and mitigate these impending crises, the circular economy (CE) holds some promise. A wide…
Abstract
Overconsumption of resources has become a global issue. To deal with resource depletion and mitigate these impending crises, the circular economy (CE) holds some promise. A wide range of performance measurements for CE have emerged over the years. However, with increasing complexity of supply chains, appropriate and potentially new performance measurements are needed for effective CE management. Blockchain is an innovative technology that may advance CE development. This chapter provides an overview of the potential linkages between blockchain technology and CE from sustainability perspectives – the specific focus will be on the performance measurement of reverse logistics activities. One of the main findings indicates that both blockchain and CE performance measurements – especially reverse logistics processes – are still evolving in both theory and practical developments. Future directions with a critical analysis including research and theoretical applications will conclude this chapter.
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Jing Sun, Qian Li, Wei Xu and Mingming Wang
Paying to view others' answers is a new mode for question and answer (Q&A) platforms. The purpose is to build a model to explore the determinants of the number of listeners and…
Abstract
Purpose
Paying to view others' answers is a new mode for question and answer (Q&A) platforms. The purpose is to build a model to explore the determinants of the number of listeners and further explore certain meaningful characteristics of the model in the context of different types of questions and answerers.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors develop an empirical model and use real panel data to test the hypothesis. Specifically, cues from the answerer and from the question elicit the listener's trust in the answerer (including direct and indirect trust) and perceived value in the question (including intrinsic and extrinsic attributes), respectively.
Findings
The authors find that cues from answerers (experience for paid Q&As and popularity for free Q&As) and questions (length, sentence structure, value and number of likes) all have positive effects on the number of listeners. The impact of answerer authentication is more significant than the popularity of free Q&As. Moreover, the length of the question matters only for subjective questions, while sentence structure matters only for objective questions. In addition, the answerer's own attributes and the behavior and feedback of others have greater impacts when the answerer is below average in popularity.
Originality/value
The authors summarize the unique features of the mode of paying to view others' answers in contrast with the traditional mode of paid Q&As. In addition, the authors focus on the characteristics of the question (including the subjectivity and the sentence structure of the question), a topic which has not been studied previously. Our research provides a reference for exploring user behavior patterns. The practical implications for knowledge platforms are also concretely described.
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Cengiz Kahraman, İhsan Kaya and Emre Çevikcan
The purpose of this paper is to show how intelligence techniques have been used in information management systems.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show how intelligence techniques have been used in information management systems.
Design/methodology/approach
The results of a literature review on intelligence decision systems used in enterprise information management are analyzed. The intelligence techniques used in enterprise information management are briefly summarized.
Findings
Intelligence techniques are rapidly emerging as new tools in information management systems. Especially, intelligence techniques can be used to utilize the decision process of enterprises information management. These techniques can increase sensitiveness, flexibility and accuracy of information management systems. The hybrid systems that contain two or more intelligence techniques will be more used in the future.
Originality/value
The intelligence decision systems are briefly introduced and then a literature review is given to show how intelligence techniques have been used in information management systems.
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Omar El Midaoui, Btihal El Ghali, Abderrahim El Qadi and Moulay Driss Rahmani
Geographical query formulation is one of the key difficulties for users in search engines. The purpose of this study is to improve geographical search by proposing a novel…
Abstract
Purpose
Geographical query formulation is one of the key difficulties for users in search engines. The purpose of this study is to improve geographical search by proposing a novel geographical query reformulation (GQR) technique using a geographical taxonomy and word senses.
Design/methodology/approach
This work introduces an approach for GQR, which combines a method of query components separation that uses GeoNames, a technique for reformulating these components using WordNet and a geographic taxonomy constructed using the latent semantic analysis method.
Findings
The proposed approach was compared to two methods from the literature, using the mean average precision (MAP) and the precision at 20 documents (P@20). The experimental results show that it outperforms the other techniques by 15.73% to 31.21% in terms of P@20 and by 17.81% to 35.52% in terms of MAP.
Research limitations/implications
According to the experimental results, the best created taxonomy using the geographical adjacency taxonomy builder contains 7.67% of incorrect links. This paper believes that using a very big amount of data for taxonomy building can give better results. Thus, in future work, this paper intends to apply the approach in a big data context.
Originality/value
Despite this, the reformulation of geographical queries using the new proposed approach considerably improves the precision of queries and retrieves relevant documents that were not retrieved using the original queries. The strengths of the technique lie in the facts of reformulating both thematic and spatial entities and replacing the spatial entity of the query with terms that explain the intent of the query more precisely using a geographical taxonomy.
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