Search results

This paper aims to examine the determinants of socioeconomic factors on housing prices and their differential effects among regions.

This study employs a hierarchical linear model to analyze the housing and socioeconomic data of 363 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the USA.

This study generates four findings. First, the population, the percentage of the elderly in population, violent crime rates, and foreclosure rates produce greater effects on housing prices in the Northeast than those in the West. Second, the population produces a greater effect on housing prices in the Northeast than those in the Midwest. Third, mortgage rates produce less significant effects on housing prices in the Northeast than those in the Midwest. Fourth, the population, the percentage of the elderly in population, and rent-income ratio produce greater effects on housing prices in the Northeast than those in the South.

Based on data collected for 2010, this study analyzes socioeconomic factors on the demand side under the implicit assumption that supply side remains constant. Future research can lift the restriction on fixed supply assumption.

The results can provide information to buyers and sellers about how socioeconomic factors affect housing prices. Moreover, this study also provides useful information for the government to design and implement relevant housing policies.

This is the pioneering study to examine the differential effect of socioeconomic factors on metropolitan housing prices among regions by employing dummy regional variables to detect changes in slope coefficients. These detailed conclusions would enhance the efficiency of transaction in housing markets.

This paper describes the organic geochemical characteristics and their roles on barium enrichment in the No. 2 Coal from Huanglong Jurassic Coalfield, China. A total of 18 bench samples were taken from Huangling Mine 2. The average content of barium (3701 mg/kg) was about 23 times higher than that of common world coals. Terrestrial higher plants were the main coal-forming parent material. Relying on the parameters of OEP, Pr/Ph and so on, there is little correlation between organic geochemical characteristics and barium enrichment. Therefore, organic material has little influence on the process of coal-forming and the enrichment of barium.

The objective of this paper is to examine the influence of interorganizational relationships on the adoption of e‐business in the supply chain of Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

A questionnaire was distributed to 200 Malaysian SMEs with a response rate of 68 percent. Data were analyzed by employing multiple regression analysis.

Interorganizational relationships such as communication, collaboration and information sharing were found to be significant in affecting Malaysian SMEs' decision to adopt e‐business in their supply chain. Contrary to existing literatures, this research found that trust and trading partners' power have no significant influence on the adoption of e‐business in the supply chain of Malaysian SMEs.

Organizations that would like to adopt e‐business in their supply chain with their trading partners will be able to apply strategies based on the findings from this research. Based on these finding, organizations that would like to implement e‐business with their trading partners in Malaysia should focus on improving interorganizational relationships such as communication, collaboration and information sharing.

The findings created an understanding of what attributes of interorganizational relationships influence the adoption of e‐business in the supply chain. In terms of theoretical contributions, this study has extended previous researches conducted in Western countries and provides great potential by advancing the understanding between the association of adoption factors and e‐business adoption in Malaysian SMEs. SMEs planning to adopt e‐business in their supply chain would be able to applied strategies based on the findings from this research.

The purpose of this study is to clarify business-to-business (B2B) customers’ behavior regarding their social media use for B2B purposes and the antecedents of this behavior in the industrial marketing setting. It explores the influence of corporate culture, colleagues’ support and personal and psychological factors on customer behavior toward social media business use.

The authors conducted an online questionnaire survey among key customer accounts of an information technology service company (N = 82). Partial least squares (PLS) path modeling was utilized to analyze the relationship between the dependent variable (social media business use) and the independent variables.

Results show that private social media usage has the most significant relationship with the social media business use. Colleagues at work are also supporting B2B social media use and personal characteristics are also of importance. Surprisingly, perception of usability of social media for B2B use did not explain social media business use within our sample.

The chosen methodology, sampling frame and sample size may limit generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed hypothesis in other settings, particularly as the diffusion of B2B social media increases.

The paper provides insights into how marketing managers can make an impact with their social media marketing. For example, when planning social media activities, companies need to consider which social media services could serve their marketing and communication targets and would reach the customers.

Studies related to social media in B2B, especially from a customer’s perspective, are still limited, and the authors do not know how customer firms value industrial marketing activities in social media. This novel paper provides insights into managers’ reasons for using social media and gives guidelines for B2B marketers on how to conduct social media marketing in the future.

This study aims to develop an assessment scale for university service quality (university SQ) and examine University Service Quality assessment model (UNIQUAL) of higher education during the pandemic.

Two studies applied a mixed-method design to develop and validate the UNIQUAL scale. In-depth interviews and literature reviews were conducted to refine the initial dimensions and items of UNIQUAL in Study 1. Item analysis, EFA and CFA were then conducted to purify item refinement, scale refinement, purification and validation in Study 2. Finally, a confirmed UNIQUAL model was analyzed via partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using Smart-PLS 4.0.

The research confirms the four-factor structure of UNIQUAL, with a total of 16 items, to be a valid and reliable scale for the assessment of the service quality (SQ) of universities. Having adopted the bias-corrected and accelerated (BCa) bootstrap approach to study 5,000 subsamples from 27 countries, the authors found “responsiveness” and “empathy” to be significantly associated and have positive relationships with students' satisfaction with university SQ. Furthermore, university SQ and satisfaction were mediated by “health and safety” concerns.

The newly developed UNIQUAL scale would be of value to educators and authorities of higher education to assess the SQ of their universities to enhance the effectiveness of student learning. The improvement in satisfaction with higher education's SQ ultimately helps in retaining both international and local students amidst concerns about traveling and studying during the pandemic.

COVID-19 has affected the private and public sectors worldwide. Millions of students have been affected by schools being shut down and substituted with distance-learning programs. Thus, the assessment of the quality of university services has become an important support mechanism for retaining the sustainability of higher education.

The UNIQUAL scale provides a conceptual model and validates an assessment tool. The research hypotheses confirm the relationship between university SQ and satisfaction from the perspective of international students.

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to demonstrate an understanding of:

The importance of big data in the information revolution.

The resource-based view of the firm and dynamic capabilities as they relate to big data.

The use of big data in marketing decisions.

Consumer security concerns over the storage and processing of big data.

The aim of this research paper is to evaluate the effect of knowledge management on the adoption of the e-business in the supply chain of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia.

Questionnaires were distributed to 200 Malaysian SMEs with a response rate of 68 percent. Data were analyzed by employing multiple regression analysis.

The results showed that knowledge management processes such as knowledge acquisition and knowledge application are significant in affecting Malaysian SMEs' decision to adopt e-business in their supply chain. Knowledge dissemination was found not to be significant in affecting the adoption of e-business among Malaysian SMEs.

This study has addressed the previous lack of literature on the relationship between knowledge management processes and e-business adoption among Malaysian SMEs.

Although existing literature has shown a relationship between knowledge management processes and technology adoption, this study empirically verifies an adoption model based on knowledge management processes. SMEs can use this model to do a pre-test baseline measurement and reassessment of effect by any KM changes on e-business adoption periodically. Organizations planning to adopt e-business would also be able to apply strategies based on the findings from this research.

The purpose of this paper is to present the landscape of the cash-per-publication reward policy in China and reveal its trend since the late 1990s.

This study is based on the analysis of 168 university documents regarding the cash-per-publication reward policy at 100 Chinese universities.

Chinese universities offer cash rewards from USD30 to USD165,000 for papers published in journals indexed by Web of Science, and the average reward amount has been increasing for the past ten years.

The cash-per-publication reward policy in China has never been systematically studied and investigated before except for in some case studies. This is the first paper that reveals the landscape of the cash-per-publication reward policy in China.