Zhu Jian‐Jun, Liu Si‐Feng and Li Li‐Hong
The purpose of this paper is to aggregate different preference information in group decision‐making process such as interval preference order, interval utility value, interval…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to aggregate different preference information in group decision‐making process such as interval preference order, interval utility value, interval number reciprocal comparison matrix, and interval number complementary comparison matrix.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the consistency definitions of four kinds of uncertain preference information are defined. Then, the upper‐ and low errors are introduced to solve the inconsistent decision‐making case. Following that, the weight model for each uncertain preference is proposed, respectively.
Findings
The aggregation approach based on minimal group deviation errors is suggested in order to obtain the utmost consistent opinion. In addition, the consistency judgment level and consistency extent are defined owing to the aggregation result.
Research limitations/implications
The calculation scale is large, if many decision makers will attend group decision‐making process.
Practical implications
A very useful approach for aggregation of the different preference in group decision‐making case.
Originality/value
Because of differences in knowledge structure, judgment level, and individual preference, decision makers express their judgment preferences via differently structured decision‐making processes. Owing to the complexity and uncertainty of decision‐making problems and the fuzziness of human thought, it is unrealistic to depict complex problems in the certain preference style. For decision‐making preference structures, group decision‐making aggregation approaches include the aggregation on the same kind of preference structure and the different kinds of preference structures. The study on the aggregation of the same kind of preference structure has received a deal of attention, but study into the aggregation of the different kinds of uncertainty preference structures is still a new field.
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The purpose of this paper is to research attribute reduction and decision making by gray dual‐information, taking into account the attribute reduction of attribute decision…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to research attribute reduction and decision making by gray dual‐information, taking into account the attribute reduction of attribute decision unknown for the interval gray numbers.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors obtain the attribute weights considering the consistency of experts’ judgment matrixes and the decision matrixes with gray information. They propose some experts’ attribute reduction ideas based on interval gray numbers of rough set. With the help of experts’ decision information, they consider attribute uncertainty ratio and attribute value ratio to reduce attribute. Finally, a numerical example shows its feasibility.
Findings
Some experts’ attribute reduction ideas are proposed based on interval gray numbers of rough set. With the help of experts’ decision information, attribute uncertainty ratio and attribute value ratio to reduce attribute can be considered.
Originality/value
Attribute reduction is keeping classified information systems under the same conditions and deleting redundant and irrelevant or unimportant attributes in order to solve the problem of decision making. This paper considers the attribute reduction based on gray dual‐information.
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Sam Kaplan and Su Langdon
As the global economy expands, it would seem to be in the interests of the major professional sport leagues of the US to move into new markets, especially China, one of the…
Abstract
As the global economy expands, it would seem to be in the interests of the major professional sport leagues of the US to move into new markets, especially China, one of the fastest growing and largest in the world. In order to sell effectively in this market, it is vital to gain an understanding of the potential fan base. To explore national differences in fandom, a survey was completed by sports fans in both China and the US to assess which sports participants followed and which media they used, to identify fan motives and their feelings about expansion. This study determined that there are clear differences between Chinese and Americans. While many of the Chinese were fans of American sports, they tended to follow individual athletes rather than teams and had relatively low fan identity but high levels of fan motivation. Motives also varied by country, with aesthetics and affiliation the primary motives among the Chinese sample. These distinctions can be utilised to create marketing strategies.
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Meng-Meng Wang, Jian-Jun Wang and Wan-Ning Zhang
The purpose of this paper is to explore the underlying mechanisms through which interactivity and fairness perception impart influence on solvers’ continuance intention in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the underlying mechanisms through which interactivity and fairness perception impart influence on solvers’ continuance intention in crowdsourcing contest settings.
Design/methodology/approach
On basis of self-determination theory and social exchange theory, this study focuses on the mediating roles of motivation and platform trust to explain the underlying influence processes of interactivity and fairness perception on continuance intention. A sample of 306 solvers was obtained from an online crowdsourcing platform through two separated surveys. The hypotheses were tested using the partial least squares method and bias-corrected bootstrapping method.
Findings
The empirical results indicate that motivation and platform trust together fully mediate the effect of interactivity on continuance intention, and the effect of fairness perception on continuance intention is also fully mediated by motivation and platform trust. While motivation is found to have a stronger mediating effect than platform trust does.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the crowdsourcing research by figuring out the pathway through which interactivity and fairness perception influence solvers’ continuance intention.
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Jian-jun Yuan, Weiwei Wan, Xiajun Fu, Shuai Wang and Ning Wang
This paper aims to propose a novel method to identify the parameters of robotic manipulators using the torque exerted by the robot joint motors (measured by current sensors).
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to propose a novel method to identify the parameters of robotic manipulators using the torque exerted by the robot joint motors (measured by current sensors).
Design/methodology/approach
Previous studies used additional sensors like force sensor and inertia measurement unit, or additional payload mounted on the end-effector to perform parameter identification. The settings of these previous works were complicated. They could only identify part of the parameters. This paper uses the torque exerted by each joint while performing Fourier periodic excited trajectories. It divides the parameters into a linear part and a non-linear part, and uses linear least square (LLS) parameter estimation and dual-swarm-based particle swarm optimization (DPso) to compute the linear and non-linear parts, respectively.
Findings
The settings are simpler and can identify the dynamic parameters, the viscous friction coefficients and the Coulomb friction coefficients of two joints at the same time. A SIASUN 7-Axis Flexible Robot is used to experimentally validate the proposal. Comparison between the predicted torque values and ground-truth values of the joints confirms the effectiveness of the method.
Originality/value
The proposed method identifies two joints at the same time with satisfying precision and high efficiency. The identification errors of joints do not accumulate.
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Jian-Jun Wang, Haozhe Chen, Dale S. Rogers, Lisa M. Ellram and Scott J. Grawe
Interest in reverse logistics (RL) as a critical component of supply chain management (SCM) is gaining more traction with both practitioners and academics. Because of RL’s growing…
Abstract
Purpose
Interest in reverse logistics (RL) as a critical component of supply chain management (SCM) is gaining more traction with both practitioners and academics. Because of RL’s growing strategic importance, it is imperative to conduct a timely and comprehensive literature review and to identify associated opportunities for future research. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the researchers conduct an extensive bibliometric analysis of published academic articles on RL for the period of 1992-2015. Specifically, the CiteSpace software is utilized to conduct document co-citation analysis and burst detection analysis on 912 selected RL articles and their 22,642 references.
Findings
This research identifies the most influential RL research publications/citations in each of the five periods and their research contribution. Using co-citation analysis, the authors are able to identify and illustrate major research themes, knowledge groups, and future research opportunities in the RL field.
Originality/value
In contrast to existing literature review studies in the logistics field, the study uses impact factor as a key article selection criterion. The influential articles identified in this process well represent the core literature and RL body of knowledge and have important implications for future research.
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Muhammad Salman Latif and Jian-Jun Wang
Given the progressive rise of online health communities (OHC) that have predominantly changed health delivery services, healthcare organizations still face tremendous challenges…
Abstract
Purpose
Given the progressive rise of online health communities (OHC) that have predominantly changed health delivery services, healthcare organizations still face tremendous challenges of low patient participation and lack of high-quality contribution to OHC. Prior scholars indicated that inducing patient value co-creation behavior (VCB) is substantially beneficial for the sustainable growth of OHCs. However, what drives patients' behavior to co-create value is still unknown. To fill this important gap, this study used the service-dominant logic of value co-creation theory and face (mianzi in Chinese) literature to discover how patient co-creation attitude (CA) affects patient VCB. Also, this study aimed to explore the joint mechanism of how face gain (FG) and face loss (FL) impact patients' VCB in OHCs.
Design/methodology/approach
The survey data of 322 patients actively using OHC in China were analyzed via partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).
Findings
The results revealed that patient CA positively influences VCB, that is participation behavior (PB) and citizenship behavior (CB). Face gain (FG) strengthens the impact of CA and patient PB and CB, whereas face loss (FL) weakens the impact of CA and patient PB and CB. Furthermore, the fsQCA findings signify the robustness of the study model.
Originality/value
This study explores the multifaceted mechanism of patient value co-creation in OHC and discloses the crucial role of face for the first time. Further, the novel findings of this study provide a robust framework for advancing the understanding of important drivers of patient VCBs that significantly helps healthcare service providers and OHC managers to sustain OHCs.
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Muhammad Salman Latif, Jian-Jun Wang and Mohsin Shahzad
Online health communities (OHCs) have been recognized as emerging platforms on the Internet used for health purposes. Despite its emergence, developing a successful OHC is still a…
Abstract
Purpose
Online health communities (OHCs) have been recognized as emerging platforms on the Internet used for health purposes. Despite its emergence, developing a successful OHC is still a challenge. Prior studies identified that value co-creation behavior (VCB) of members is an essential factor for sustaining OHCs; however, little is known about how members’ behavior drives to co-create value? Therefore, this study aims to discover the inclusive mechanism for members’ VCB in OHCs.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors develop the study model and hypothesis based on the service-dominant logic of value co-creation theory and social support (SS) literature. The survey data of 608 active OHCs users in China were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).
Findings
The results revealed that SS positively affects members’ VCBs. Ethical aspects; Trust and ethical interaction (EI) partially mediate their relationships. In addition, community members’ current health status (CHS) negatively moderates the relationships between SS and VCB. From the findings, it becomes evident that only SS is not enough; developing an ethical environment in OHCs, i.e. trust and ethically rich interactions among members, significantly helps OHCs to promote co-creation. Also, the negative moderation of CHS findings provides novel insights when cramming health conditions.
Originality/value
Exploring the complex mechanism of co-creation in OHC, the authors illustrate the potential of service-dominant logic to create new theoretical insight for healthcare and provide the framework of co-creation with ethics for the first time. This will extend the application of ethics in healthcare services and offer a robust platform from which the understanding of drivers of members’ VCB can be advanced in the OHC context.
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Muhammad Salman Latif, Jian-Jun Wang, Mohsin Shahzad and Muhammad Mursil
Online health communities (OHCs) have emerged on the Internet, substantially changing the conventional healthcare delivery model. Despite this emergence, the lack of patient…
Abstract
Purpose
Online health communities (OHCs) have emerged on the Internet, substantially changing the conventional healthcare delivery model. Despite this emergence, the lack of patient participation and contribution always limits the success and sustainability of OHCs. Previous studies have disclosed that patients’ value co-creation behavior (VCB) helps organizations sustain OHCs. However, how the recent surge in artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as social support chatbots (SSCs), drives patients’ VCB is still unknown. Therefore, this study examines the complex mechanism behind patients’ VCB to establish sustainable OHCs.
Design/methodology/approach
Using value co-creation and social support theories, the author develops a moderated mediation model and analyzes survey data from 338 respondents using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and artificial neural network (ANN) methods.
Findings
Results demonstrate that perceived social support (PSS) from SSCs positively affects VCB directly and indirectly via patient learning (PL). This indirect effect is stronger when patient ability/readiness (PAR) is high. ANN findings highlight the model’s robustness and the significant role of PAR in VCB.
Originality/value
This study’s integrated framework offers unique insights into key drivers of patients’ VCB in OHCs. The findings indicate that PSS from SSCs enhances PL and VCB, with PAR influencing the strength of these relationships. Understanding these dynamics can inform user-centric interventions to promote effective learning and collaboration in OHCs.
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Jian-Jun Wang, Negin Sasanipoor and Meng-Meng Wang
The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of PRINCE2 (PRoject IN Controlled Environments 2) standard on customer satisfaction jointly with vendor relationship…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of PRINCE2 (PRoject IN Controlled Environments 2) standard on customer satisfaction jointly with vendor relationship management capability in the information technology outsourcing (ITO) context. This paper further tries to explore the above underlying mechanism by studying the mediating effect of deliverable quality.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper develops a mediated moderation model to explain the underlying influence processes of PRINCE2 standard, vendor relationship management capability and deliverable quality on ITO customer satisfaction. By conducting a pair-wise survey of 260 project managers in seven Iranian firms, the model and hypotheses are empirically tested with the partial least squares method.
Findings
Our results suggest that firms benefit more in terms of IT costs reduction when they have a higher level of complementary investment in an external standard, especially through an interplay effect of the external standard and internal relational aspect. Firms can make business processes more amenable to outsourcing and facilitate monitoring of vendor performance and effective coordination with vendors. More interestingly, we find that this interactive effect is fully mediated by deliverable quality, which, in turn, directly increases ITO customer satisfaction.
Originality/value
This study adds some new knowledge and provides new views to study ITO customer satisfaction by addressing the importance of PRINCE2 standard. This study further enhances our understanding in terms of the underlying pathway through which the PRINCE2 standard jointly affects customer satisfaction with vendor relationship management capability and deliverable quality. With the effort of explicitly explaining the complex mechanisms, this study helps ITO managers proactively escort outsourcing activities and projects.