Soe-Tsyr Daphne Yuan, Szu-Yu Chou, Wei-Cheng Yang, Cheng-An Wu and Chih-Teng Huang
Customer engagement (customers’ behavioral manifestations going beyond customer-firm purchase transactions) has been regarded as strategic imperatives for generating enhanced…
Abstract
Purpose
Customer engagement (customers’ behavioral manifestations going beyond customer-firm purchase transactions) has been regarded as strategic imperatives for generating enhanced corporate performance. The plethora of new media has provided customers with different options to interact with firms and other customers. However, the primacy of value-laden interactive customer relationships and value co-creation raises challenges for firms and customers, especially in the context of broader business ecosystems such as brand partnership for extending value co-creation. This study aims to explore how customer engagement with well-designed choreograph of various new media’s channels can increase the value co-creation extent in the context of broader business ecosystems, resulting in higher levels service offerings, experiences and innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
This exploratory study presents a new framework of customer engagement that holistically integrates the elements of multiple new media and broader business ecosystem, stimulating a virtuous circle of realizing customer engagement toward superior results or innovations. The framework considers new media’s different information service and technologies (e.g. search engine, social recommender, social media) that can be properly choreographed to achieve a virtuous customer engagement circle.
Findings
This paper uses an exemplar framework's instantiation – an information technology enabled engagement platform (called iEngagement) – that can demonstrate how to empower the central companies together with their eco-stakeholders to holistically perform customer engagement utilizing new media toward fruitful customer engagement.
Originality/value
This exploratory study is among the first that addresses the theory and practice of customer engagement within multiple new media and broader business ecosystem. This paper presents a customer engagement framework and an exemplified engagement platform that holistically integrate the elements of multiple new media and broader business ecosystem, for stimulating a virtuous circle of realizing customer engagement toward superior results or innovations.
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Cheng-Wei Lin, Wan-Chi Jackie Hsu and Hui-Ju Su
The shipper selects a suitable shipping route and plans for a voyage in order to import and export cargo on the basis of published sailing schedules. The reliability of the…
Abstract
The shipper selects a suitable shipping route and plans for a voyage in order to import and export cargo on the basis of published sailing schedules. The reliability of the sailing schedule will influence the shipper’s logistics expense, which means that the logistics costs will depend on the reliability of schedules published by container shipping companies. Therefore, it is important to consider factors which can cause delays would for container ships sailing on sea routes. The reliability of published sailing schedules can be affected by a number of different factors. This study adopts the multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) method to estimate the importance of the delaying factors in a sailing schedule. In addition, the consistent fuzzy preference relations (CFPR) method is applied to identify the subjective importance (weights) of the delaying factors. The entropy weight method combined with the actual performance of the container shipping company are both used when estimating the objective importance (weights) of the delaying factors. According to the analysis results, the criteria can be divided into four quadrants with different management implications, which indicate that instructions for chase strategy, sailing schedule control, fleet allocation, transship operation arrangement and planning for ports in routes are often ignored by container shipping companies. Container shipping companies should consider adjusting their operational strategies, which would greatly improve their operational performance.
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This study aims to benchmark Chinese TEFL academics’ research productivities, as a way to identify and, subsequently, address research productivity issues. This study investigated…
Abstract
This study aims to benchmark Chinese TEFL academics’ research productivities, as a way to identify and, subsequently, address research productivity issues. This study investigated 182 Chinese TEFL academics’ research outputs and perceptions about research across three Chinese higher education institutions using a literature‐based survey. ANOVA, t‐tests and descriptive statistics were used to analyse data from and between the three institutions. Findings indicated that more than 70 per cent of the TEFL academics had produced no research in 10 of the 12 research output fields during 2004‐2008. The English Language and Literature Department in the national university outperformed all other departments at the three institutes for most of the research output categories. While a majority of the participants seemed to hold positive perceptions about research, t‐tests and ANOVA indicated that their research perceptions were significantly different across institutes and departments. Developing TEFL research capacity requires tertiary institutions to provide research‐learning opportunities.
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Cheng-Chi Tai, Wei-Cheng Wang and Yuan-Jui Hsu
This study aims to establish a dynamic process model of an electromagnetic thermotherapy system (ETS) to predict the temperature of a thermotherapy needle.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to establish a dynamic process model of an electromagnetic thermotherapy system (ETS) to predict the temperature of a thermotherapy needle.
Design/methodology/approach
The model is used for real-time predicting the static and dynamic responses of temperature and can therefore provide a valuable analysis for system monitoring.
Findings
The electromagnetic thermotherapy process is a nonlinear problem in which the system identification is implemented by a neural network identifier. It can simulate the input/output relationship of a real system with an excellent approximation ability to uncertain nonlinear system. A system identifier for an ETS is analyzed and selected with recurrent neural networks models to deal with various treatment processes.
Originality/value
The Elman neural network (ENN) prediction model on ETS proposed in this study is an easy and feasible method. Comparing two situations of inputs with more and fewer data, both are trained to present low mean squared error, and the temperature response error appears within 15 per cent. The ENN, with the advantages of simple design and stable efficacy, is useful for establishing the temperature prediction model to ensure the security in the thermotherapy.
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Shin‐Rong Shiah‐Hou and Chin‐Wei Cheng
The purpose of this paper is to explore how outside directors' experience and their compensation affect firm performance through the quality of their monitoring and advising, when…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how outside directors' experience and their compensation affect firm performance through the quality of their monitoring and advising, when traditional board structure devices do not seem to work well.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the authors use a two‐way fixed effects (FE) regression model to explore the effects of outside director experience and compensation on firm performance. Second, in order to address the potential endogeneity problem of outside director compensation, the authors adopt two‐stage least squares regression (2SLS).
Findings
Controlling for other potentially influential variables, it is found that outside director experience and outside director compensation have an economically positive impact on a firm's accounting and market performance. Even when taking into account the endogeneity problem of outside director compensation, outside director compensation and experience still have positive effects on firm performance, consistent with the authors' predictions.
Practical implications
It is inferred that regulators are able to ask publicly owned firms to provide outside director's experience and compensation in detail. In addition, future research should investigate the social relationships between outside directors, which also affect the functions of monitoring and advising.
Originality/value
First, this paper contributes to this area of the extant literature by simultaneously considering the direct impacts arising from the outside director's experience and compensation. Second, the paper highlights the importance of considering multiple dimensions of director's experience in assessing its effects on firm performance.
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Yu-Sheng Su, Wen-Ling Tseng, Hung-Wei Cheng and Chin-Feng Lai
To support achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs), we integrated science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and extended reality technologies into an artificial…
Abstract
Purpose
To support achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs), we integrated science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and extended reality technologies into an artificial intelligence (AI) learning activity. We developed Feature City to facilitate students' learning of AI concepts. This study aimed to explore students' learning outcomes and behaviors when using Feature City.
Design/methodology/approach
Junior high school students were the subjects who used Feature City in an AI learning activity. The learning activity consisted of 90-min sessions once per week for five weeks. Before the learning activity, the teacher clarified the learning objectives and administered a pretest. The teacher then instructed the students on the features, supervised learning and unsupervised learning units. After the learning activity, the teacher conducted a posttest. We analyzed the students' prior knowledge and learning performance by evaluating their pretest and posttest results and observing their learning behaviors in the AI learning activity.
Findings
(1) Students used Feature City to learn AI concepts to improve their learning outcomes. (2) Female students learned more effectively with Feature City than male students. (3) Male students were more likely than female students to complete the learning tasks in Feature City the first time they used it.
Originality/value
Within SDGs, this study used STEM and extended reality technologies to develop Feature City to engage students in learning about AI. The study examined how much Feature City improved students' learning outcomes and explored the differences in their learning outcomes and behaviors. The results showed that students' use of Feature City helped to improve their learning outcomes. Female students achieved better learning outcomes than their male counterparts. Male students initially exhibited a behavioral pattern of seeking clarification and error analysis when learning AI education, more so than their female counterparts. The findings can help teachers adjust AI education appropriately to match the tutorial content with students' AI learning needs.
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Behrooz Nazemi and Mohsen Rafiean
The purpose of this paper is to use Group Method of Data Handling (GMDH)-type artificial neural network to model the affecting factors of housing price in Isfahan city housing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to use Group Method of Data Handling (GMDH)-type artificial neural network to model the affecting factors of housing price in Isfahan city housing market.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents an accurate model based on GMDH approach to describing connection between housing price and considered affecting factors in case study of Isfahan city based on trusted data that have been collected from 1995 to 2017 for every six months. The accuracy of the model has been evaluated by mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) in this case.
Findings
Due to the obtained value of MAPE, RMSE and MAE and also their interpretation, accuracy of modelling the factors affecting housing price in Isfahan city housing market using GMDH-type artificial neural network that has been conducted in this paper, is acceptable.
Research limitations/implications
Due to limitation of reliable data availability about affecting factors, selected period is from 1995 to 2017. Accessing to longer periods of reliable data can improve the accuracy of the model.
Originality/value
The key point of this research is reaching to a mathematical formula that accurately shows the relationships between housing price in Isfahan city and effective factors. The simplified formula can help users to use it easily for analysing and describing the status of housing market in Isfahan city of Iran.
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Shawn H. Charles, Alice Chang-Richards and (Kenneth) Tak Wing Yiu
The purpose of this study is to elicit the success factors from empirical evidence, as construction industry requires an improved understanding of factors for managing projects to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to elicit the success factors from empirical evidence, as construction industry requires an improved understanding of factors for managing projects to positive outcomes. Increased stakeholder involvement, including the new technologies, achieving sustainability and safeguarding health and safety, whilst at the same time facing uncertainties, it is crucial to examine whether there are new factors that drive construction projects to succeed, especially from a value-driven perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a systematic review approach, this research reviewed 172 studies published after 2004. When compared to a comprehensive project success factor framework presented by Chan et al. in 2004, 19 factors are considered new since 2004.
Findings
Though several scholarly outputs highlighted significant improvements to project operations and innovations in equipment and techniques, there has not been a comprehensive oversight since Chan’s et al. (2004) conceptual framework. This paper investigates 16 years of industry changes and identified two new success factors categories (innovation and sustainability) and 19 new factors that add to Chan’s et al. (2004) study. Consequently, a new framework of factors affecting project success was developed.
Originality/value
This paper was very specific in its attempt to find the new and additional success factors for managing construction projects. A new conceptual framework, which includes the newly identified factors, was then developed that will create a greater awareness of stakeholders’ concerns and ultimately contribute to significant improvement in developing project objectives and defining success measures.