Hongqing Zhu, Xiaoling Ge, Yang Wang and Zequn Ding
This paper aims to study the present situation of Tianjin industrial energy consumption carbon emissions and put forward constructive suggestions for future energy-saving emission…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the present situation of Tianjin industrial energy consumption carbon emissions and put forward constructive suggestions for future energy-saving emission reduction work.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the energy consumption data form the Tianjin’s Industrial Energy Efficiency Guide (TJBS, 2009-2013) and Tianjin’s Statistical Yearbook (NBS, 2006-2012), some models were able to predict the future with a high degree of accuracy.
Findings
With an average error of 3.06 per cent for the logistic regression model and an average error of 2.03 per cent for the gray model, the R2 for the energy elasticity model is 0.99158. It also indicated that between 2008 and 2012, the energy consumption per unit of industrial added value decreased by approximately 33.61 per cent. These results show that energy-saving efforts and the optimization of the industrial structure have increased the energy efficiency of Tianjin.
Originality/value
The authors think that their contribution refers to a combination between methodology of forecasting and industrial energy consumption.
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While an increasing number of global brands are of emerging country origin, research about emerging global brands remains scare. The purpose of this paper is to provide the first…
Abstract
Purpose
While an increasing number of global brands are of emerging country origin, research about emerging global brands remains scare. The purpose of this paper is to provide the first theoretical effort to understand how consumers in the developed regions evaluate global brands from emerging countries. Building on globalization and social identity theory, the paper aims to shed light on the effect of global identity on consumer attitude toward emerging global brands, the process of such effect, and the boundary condition for it as well.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used two non-student surveys in the USA and UK in which respondents’ global identity was measured and two laboratory experiments in which respondents’ global identity was primed. The operationalization of dependent variables is also divergent, either directly measuring attitude toward the global brands from developing countries or measuring consumer relative evaluation. Convergent results were reported from four studies.
Findings
The results show that when consumers’ global (vs local) identity is accessible, those from developed regions will show more favorable evaluations of global brands from emerging countries. And this effect is mediated by the positive association between global identity and globalization. Further, this effect emerged when consumers view global and local cultures as compatible with each other but disappeared when consumers view global and local cultures as oppositional to each other.
Practical implications
The findings have practical implications for global brand marketers from emerging economies to enter developed country markets, and to make their brands real global. Specifically, global identity consumers should be targeted and the compatible view of global and local cultures should be pronounced.
Originality/value
Focusing on global brands from emerging countries, this paper examines the global identity effect in developed country markets for the first time. The finding add new knowledge to the literature of globalization, global branding, and assimilation effect of global identity, and help to reconcile the heated debate on whether country of origin is still relevant to the globalized world.
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Linhao Ouyang, Zijian Zhang, Xiaoling Huang and Shi Xie
The purpose of this study is to restore the spatial distribution of overseas remittance businesses in Shantou during the 1940s. It explores various socioeconomic factors that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to restore the spatial distribution of overseas remittance businesses in Shantou during the 1940s. It explores various socioeconomic factors that influenced the concentration of local remittance business investment in real estate. By reconstructing the spatial distribution of remittance business activities in Shantou, this study hopes to lay a foundation for further analysis of the business strategies of Chaoshan merchants.
Design/methodology/approach
This research draws on information from the published Swatow Guide, archival sources and cadastral maps to identify the location of remittance enterprises and the native place and overseas networks of property owners.
Finding
This study reveals that the spatial distribution of the remittance enterprises was determined by the native place origins of local property owners, and that the inflow of overseas Chinese capital contributed to real estate development in Shantou.
Research limitations/implications
Despite the limited access to Chinese official archives, this paper manages to identify several building blocks and neighbors in Shantou for spatial analysis.
Practical implications
This study is the first attempt to use the geographical information system (GIS) method in Chinese urban history research and hopes to establish a larger historical database of Shantou as a sample for comparison.
Originality/value
This investigation advances the spatial study of urban history and overseas Chinese remittances in the maritime society of South China.
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Xiaoming Zhang, Mingming Meng, Xiaoling Sun and Yu Bai
With the advent of the era of Big Data, the scale of knowledge graph (KG) in various domains is growing rapidly, which holds huge amount of knowledge surely benefiting the…
Abstract
Purpose
With the advent of the era of Big Data, the scale of knowledge graph (KG) in various domains is growing rapidly, which holds huge amount of knowledge surely benefiting the question answering (QA) research. However, the KG, which is always constituted of entities and relations, is structurally inconsistent with the natural language query. Thus, the QA system based on KG is still faced with difficulties. The purpose of this paper is to propose a method to answer the domain-specific questions based on KG, providing conveniences for the information query over domain KG.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors propose a method FactQA to answer the factual questions about specific domain. A series of logical rules are designed to transform the factual questions into the triples, in order to solve the structural inconsistency between the user’s question and the domain knowledge. Then, the query expansion strategies and filtering strategies are proposed from two levels (i.e. words and triples in the question). For matching the question with domain knowledge, not only the similarity values between the words in the question and the resources in the domain knowledge but also the tag information of these words is considered. And the tag information is obtained by parsing the question using Stanford CoreNLP. In this paper, the KG in metallic materials domain is used to illustrate the FactQA method.
Findings
The designed logical rules have time stability for transforming the factual questions into the triples. Additionally, after filtering the synonym expansion results of the words in the question, the expansion quality of the triple representation of the question is improved. The tag information of the words in the question is considered in the process of data matching, which could help to filter out the wrong matches.
Originality/value
Although the FactQA is proposed for domain-specific QA, it can also be applied to any other domain besides metallic materials domain. For a question that cannot be answered, FactQA would generate a new related question to answer, providing as much as possible the user with the information they probably need. The FactQA could facilitate the user’s information query based on the emerging KG.
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Shamirah Najjinda, Godfrey Akileng, Vincent Bagire and Peter Turyakira
The purpose of this study is to establish whether all the dimensions of entrepreneurial resources matter in fostering the well-being of women entrepreneurs.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to establish whether all the dimensions of entrepreneurial resources matter in fostering the well-being of women entrepreneurs.
Design/methodology/approach
An explanatory research design was used to collect data through a questionnaire survey of 283 women entrepreneurs who benefited from the Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme (UWEP). This study used Statistical Package for Social Sciences to analyze the data.
Findings
Study results show that social and human capital matter unlike financial capital in boosting the well-being of women entrepreneurs.
Originality/value
This study provides maiden empirical evidence on contribution of entrepreneurial resource dimensions in fostering the well-being of women entrepreneurs, unlike extant studies that mostly focused on entrepreneurial resources as a global variable. This was done using evidence from Uganda, a developing context where the government and other stakeholders are still grappling with improving the well-being of women as a pathway for social-economic development.
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Swati Garg, Shuchi Sinha, Arpan Kumar Kar and Mauricio Mani
This paper reviews 105 Scopus-indexed articles to identify the degree, scope and purposes of machine learning (ML) adoption in the core functions of human resource management…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper reviews 105 Scopus-indexed articles to identify the degree, scope and purposes of machine learning (ML) adoption in the core functions of human resource management (HRM).
Design/methodology/approach
A semi-systematic approach has been used in this review. It allows for a more detailed analysis of the literature which emerges from multiple disciplines and uses different methods and theoretical frameworks. Since ML research comes from multiple disciplines and consists of several methods, a semi-systematic approach to literature review was considered appropriate.
Findings
The review suggests that HRM has embraced ML, albeit it is at a nascent stage and is receiving attention largely from technology-oriented researchers. ML applications are strongest in the areas of recruitment and performance management and the use of decision trees and text-mining algorithms for classification dominate all functions of HRM. For complex processes, ML applications are still at an early stage; requiring HR experts and ML specialists to work together.
Originality/value
Given the current focus of organizations on digitalization, this review contributes significantly to the understanding of the current state of ML integration in HRM. Along with increasing efficiency and effectiveness of HRM functions, ML applications improve employees' experience and facilitate performance in the organizations.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence mechanism of waiting time on customer satisfaction based on first impression bias, which explains how customers’ perceived…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence mechanism of waiting time on customer satisfaction based on first impression bias, which explains how customers’ perceived service-entry waiting time (PSWT) influences their first impression of service staff and satisfaction in the context of online service. Furthermore, the moderating effect of three information formats (formal, informal and hybrid) of opening remark on the relationship between PSWT and first impression, and the moderating effect of perceived in-service waiting time (PIWT) on the relationship between first impression and customer satisfaction are investigated.
Design/methodology/approach
Two studies were used to verify the research model. First, an experiment on prepurchase consulting services for cruise tourism products was designed, and 810 Chinese individuals have participated. Second, 20 interviews with e-commerce practitioners in China were conducted.
Findings
The results show that, first, PSWT negatively influences customers’ first impression of service staff. Second, customers prefer the hybrid format to present opening remarks, which not only conveys the respect of the staff but also fosters a relationship. Third, in-service waits are equally as important as service-entry waits in online service. When PIWT is longer, the positive influence of first impression on customer satisfaction is weakening, resulting in lower customer satisfaction.
Practical implications
This study provides suggestions for online service enterprises to minimize the negative impact of waiting time and improve customer satisfaction through waiting time management.
Originality/value
This study provides a new perspective for exploring the mechanism of waiting time on customer satisfaction in online service context, and extends previous research related to waiting time by exploring the influence of waiting time in multiple service stages and expression modes of service staff.
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The purpose of this paper is to model the sustainable food security system using various technologies driving internet of things (IoT). The right to food is a fundamental right of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to model the sustainable food security system using various technologies driving internet of things (IoT). The right to food is a fundamental right of humans. With increasing population and urbanization, less land is being used for agricultural purposes. In addition, the climate change due to global warming often leads to frequent disasters such as droughts and floods, adversely affecting the food production. This leads to increased levels of poverty and hunger. Ensuring food security has become the prime agenda for all the policymakers and government bodies across the world. With changing global dynamics, traditional ways of ensuring food security will not be sufficient alone.
Design/methodology/approach
There is a need to develop a sustainable food security system that not only focusses on food production but also equally emphasizes on the efficacy of food distribution and reducing food wastage. In this digital age, the emerging disruptive technologies like Block chain, robotics, big data analytics, and cloud computations, etc., are increasingly changing the functioning of various sectors, giving rise to IoT-based working environment. The policymakers are also exploring these technologies to maximize their outreach so as to benefit the larger set of population and to gain visualization and control over policy implementation using IoT. This paper attempts to model the sustainable food security system using various technologies driving IoT. It also studies the interrelationship among various technologies and their application in various levels of policy implementation. The methodology used in the paper is fuzzy-TISM, which not only provides the causal relationship among two technologies but also provides the magnitude of the cause–effect relationship and the hierarchical framework for the complex problem.
Findings
The paper is addressed to the design of sustainable food security system in the Indian context wherein government ensures food security for all, using public distribution system (PDS).
Social implications
The paper is addressed to the design of sustainable food security system in Indian context wherein government ensures food security for all, using PDS.
Originality/value
This study is a novel attempt to integrate the IoT into the design of the PDS to ensure food security. The enabling factors for IOT are modelled using Fuzzy-TISM.