bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Numerical solution of time‐fraction modified equal width wave equation
Authors: Merdan Mehmet , Yildirim Ahmet , Gökdoğan Ahmet
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to show how an application of fractional two dimensional differential transformation method (DTM) obtained approximate analytical solution of time‐fraction modified equal width wave (MEW) equation.

Design/methodology/approach

The fractional derivative is described in the Caputo sense.

Findings

It is indicated that the solutions obtained by the two dimensional DTM are reliable and that this is an effective method for strongly nonlinear partial equations.

Originality/value

The paper shows that exact solutions can also be obtained from the known forms of the series solutions.
Parallel simulation of patient‐specific atherosclerotic arteries for the enhancement of intravascular ultrasound diagnostics
Authors: Balzani D. , Böse D. , Brands D. , Erbel R. , Klawonn A. , Rheinbach O. , Schröder J.
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a computational framework for the simulation of patient‐specific atherosclerotic arterial walls. Such simulations provide information regarding the mechanical stress distribution inside the arterial wall and may therefore enable improved medical indications for or against medical treatment. In detail, the paper aims to provide a framework which takes into account patient‐specific geometric models obtained by in vivo measurements, as well as a fast solution strategy, giving realistic numerical results obtained in reasonable time.

Design/methodology/approach

A method is proposed for the construction of three‐dimensional geometrical models of atherosclerotic arteries based on intravascular ultrasound virtual histology data combined with angiographic X‐ray images, which are obtained on a routine basis in the diagnostics and medical treatment of cardiovascular diseases. These models serve as a basis for finite element simulations where a large number of unknowns need to be calculated in reasonable time. Therefore, the finite element tearing and interconnecting‐dual primal (FETI‐DP) domain decomposition method is applied, to achieve an efficient parallel solution strategy.

Findings

It is shown that three‐dimensional models of patient‐specific atherosclerotic arteries can be constructed from intravascular ultrasound virtual histology data. Furthermore, the application of the FETI‐DP domain decomposition method leads to a fast numerical framework. In a numerical example, the importance of three‐dimensional models and thereby fast solution algorithms is illustrated by showing that two‐dimensional approximations differ significantly from the 3D solution.

Originality/value

The decision for or against intravascular medical treatment of atherosclerotic arteries strongly depends on the mechanical situation of the arterial wall. The framework presented in this paper provides computer simulations of stress distributions, which therefore enable improved indications for medical methods of treatment.
Cubic B‐spline differential quadrature methods and stability for Burgers' equation
Authors: Korkmaz Alper , Dağ İdris
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to simulate numerical solutions of nonlinear Burgers' equation with two well‐known problems in order to verify the accuracy of the cubic B‐spline differential quadrature methods.

Design/methodology/approach

Cubic B‐spline differential quadrature methods have been used to discretize the Burgers' equation in space and the resultant ordinary equation system is integrated via Runge‐Kutta method of order four in time. Numerical results are compared with each other and some former results by calculating discrete root mean square and maximum error norms in each case. A matrix stability analysis is also performed by determining eigenvalues of the coefficient matrices numerically.

Findings

Numerical results show that differential quadrature methods based on cubic B‐splines generate acceptable solutions of nonlinear Burgers' equation. Constructing hybrid algorithms containing various basis to determine the weighting coefficients for higher order derivative approximations is also possible.

Originality/value

Nonlinear Burgers' equation is solved by cubic B‐spline differential quadrature methods.
Antecedents of customer satisfaction: a study of Indian public and private sector banks
Authors: Kaura Vinita
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of service quality, perceived price and fairness and service convenience on customer satisfaction. It also aims to compare multiple regression models between public and new private sector banks.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross‐sectional research on 445 retail banking customers through a questionnaire is conducted. The population of the study consists of valued retail urban customers of banks in Rajasthan, India, who frequently visit bank premises for transactions, have accounts in at least two banks and have availed of at least one information technology based services. Responses are analysed using regression analyses.

Findings

Dimensions of service quality are employee behavior, tangibility and information technology. Dimensions of service convenience are decision convenience, access convenience, transaction convenience, benefit convenience and post‐benefit convenience. For public sector banks, except tangibility, all antecedents have positive impact on customer satisfaction. For private sector banks except tangibility and benefit convenience all antecedents have positive impact on customer satisfaction. Significant difference in beta coefficient is found between public and private sector banks regarding employee behavior, decision convenience, access convenience and post‐benefit convenience.

Research limitations/implications

This study has taken into account a specific category of retail banking customers. Thus, it limits generalization of results to other banking populations.

Practical implications

This study highlights the importance of service quality, service convenience and price in satisfying customers. Bank managers can focus on these factors to satisfy customers.

Originality/value

The paper emphasizes the significance of service quality, price and SERVCON on customer satisfaction for Indian banking sector. It compares the multiple regression models for public and private sector banks.
Computer homogeneous models and magnetization curve of magnetic micro‐fibers
Authors: Wiak Slawomir , Firych‐Nowacka Anna , Di Barba Paolo
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to create computer models of magnetic micro‐ and nano‐fibres. The fibres are the base of textronics devices, such as sensors and actuators. The authors show how one can avoid painstaking work during manufacture process by initial preparing of computer models.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents correspondence between finite element method (FEM) and reluctance network method (RNM). The smooth transition is possible, due to homogeneous models of magnetic micro fibres based on FEM.

Findings

The paper describes the solution to accelerated designing and manufacturing process of magnetic micro‐fibres; it describes also how magnetic permeability of such fibers can be calculated and how to perform a homogenisation in models.

Originality/value

The authors present a new way of modelling magnetic micro‐fibers by combining FEM with RNM. So far, only calculations for the B/H curve of magnetic micro‐fibers have been performed, yet authors propose an innovative way for determination of magnetic micro‐fibers' parameters. Homogenisation of finite element models is the crucial part in the process of combining two different numerical methods.
Modelling of impulse currents in mechanical rolling element bearings
Authors: Kolbe Hendrik , Muetze Annette , Hameyer Kay
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute toward the modelling of the microscopic interaction between high‐frequency discharge bearing currents and rolling element bearings in the contact zone. It also aims to develop a reduced model that can serve as a starting point for further developments.

Design/methodology/approach

The complexity of an ideal comprehensive model is identified and analysed. Based thereon, a reduced model is developed.

Findings

The true system is highly complex and cannot be solved in a single‐step approach. The proposed reduced model allows the explanation of the melting of the bearing surfaces under the influence of the high‐frequency currents. It also provides a starting point for the development of an extended model.

Research limitations/implications

The model excludes the dynamic rolling movement of the bearing. The development of the frosting and fluting observed on the bearing running surfaces can only be explained in parts.

Practical implications

The melting of the bearing race surface can be modelled and thereby explained. The proposed model forms a good basis for further work toward an extended model to explain the high‐frequency bearing current bearing damage mechanism.

Originality/value

The paper offers a method to model the microscopic interaction between high‐frequency discharge bearing currents and rolling element bearings in the contact zone. This phenomenon has not yet been modelled to this extent. Such a model – and the understanding brought forth from it – allows the reduction in the cost for safe operation of modern variable speed drive systems.
A novel bearingless switched reluctance motor
Authors: Wang Xilian , Ge Baoming , Wu Zhaoli , Ferreira Fernando J.T.E.
Published: March 2013

Purpose

This paper seeks to propose a novel bearingless switched reluctance motor (BSRM).

Design/methodology/approach

The operating principle and structure characteristics of the proposed three‐phase 12/8‐pole BSRM is analyzed in detail. Finite element method‐based calculations are applied to a prototype and some important characteristics are obtained, including radial force, static torque, air‐gap magnetic flux density, and effect of control winding current on the torque, where magnetic saturation is taken into account by using a nonlinear B‐H curve.

Findings

On the basis of the simulated results, it can be concluded that the proposed BSRM presents an excellent performance in the suspending force and in the torque. The analyzed results show that the two control‐winding currents can effectively control the radial suspending forces and produce negligible effect on the motor torque, which is mainly produced by the main‐winding currents.

Originality/value

In this paper, a novel BSRM is proposed. Instead of the six sets of radial suspending control windings required by conventional three‐phases BSRM, the proposed structure requires only two sets of suspending control windings, regardless of the phase number, leading to a simpler power converter with less power switches, thus lowering the overall system cost.
An effective taint‐based software vulnerability miner
Authors: Liu Zhi , Zhang Xiaosong , Wu Yue , Chen Ting
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach to detect Indirect Memory‐Corruption Exploit (IMCE) at runtime on binary code, which is often caused by integer conversion error. Real‐world attacks were evaluated for experimentation.

Design/methodology/approach

Current dynamic analysis detects attacks by enforcing low level policy which can only detect control‐flow hijacking attack. The proposed approach detects IMCE with high level policy enforcement using dynamic taint analysis. Unlike low‐level policy enforced on instruction level, the authors' policy is imposed on memory operation routine. The authors implemented a fine‐grained taint analysis system with accurate taint propagation for detection.

Findings

Conversion errors are common and most of them are legitimate. Taint analysis with high‐level policy can accurately block IMCE but have false positives. Proper design of data structures to maintain taint tag can greatly improve overhead.

Originality/value

This paper proposes an approach to block IMCE with high‐level policy enforcement using taint analysis. It has very low false negatives, though still causes certain false positives. The authors made several implementation contributions to strengthen accuracy and performance.
SEVE: Symbolic Execution based Vulnerability Exploring system
Authors: Chen Ting , Zhang Xiao‐song , Xiao Xu , Wu Yue , Xu Chun‐xiang , Zhao Hong‐tian
Published: March 2013

Purpose

Software vulnerabilities have been the greatest threat to the software industry for a long time. Many detection techniques have been developed to address this kind of issue, such as Fuzzing, but mere Fuzz Testing is not good enough, because the Fuzzing only alters the input of program randomly, and does not consider the basic semantics of the target software. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new vulnerability exploring system, called “SEVE” to explore the target software more deeply and to generate more test cases with more accuracy.

Design/methodology/approach

Symbolic execution is the core technique of SEVE. The user can just input a standard input, and the SEVE system will record the execution path, alter the critical branches of it, and generate a totally different test case which will make the software under test execute a different path. In this way, some potential bugs or defects, even the exploitable vulnerabilities will be discovered. To alleviate path explosion, the authors propose heuristic method and function abstraction, which in turn improve the performance of SEVE even further.

Findings

We evaluate SEVE system to record critical data about its efficiency and performance. We have tested some real‐world vulnerabilities, from which the underlying file‐input programs suffer. After that, the results show that SEVE is not only re‐creating the discovery of these vulnerabilities, but also at a higher performance level than traditional techniques.

Originality/value

The paper proposes a new vulnerability exploring system, called “SEVE” to explore the target software and generate test cases automatically and also heuristic method and function abstraction to handle path explosion.
An improved joint dictionary training method for single image super resolution
Authors: Zeng Lei , Li Xiaofeng , Xu Jin
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce an improved method for joint training of low‐ and high‐resolution dictionaries in the single image super resolution. With simulations, the proposed method is thereafter evaluated.

Design/methodology/approach

Sparse representations of low‐resolution image patches are used to reconstruct the high‐resolution image patches with high resolution dictionary. By using different factors, the scheme weights the two dictionaries in the high‐ and low‐resolution spaces in the training process. It is reasonable to achieve better reconstructed images with more emphasis on the high‐resolution spaces.

Findings

An improved joint training algorithm based on K‐SVD is developed with flexible weight factors on dictionaries in the high‐ and low‐resolution spaces. From the experiment results, the proposed scheme outperforms the classic bicubic interpolation and neighbor‐embedding learning based method.

Originality/value

By using flexible weight factors in joint training of the dictionaries for super resolution, better reconstruction results can be achieved.
Effects of mutual fund advertising disclosures on investor information processing and decision-making
Authors: (David) Lee Taejun , Yun TaiWoong , Haley Eric
Published: March 2013

Purpose

– This research aims to examine the effects of financial services advertising disclosures by pairing a content analysis documenting how mandatory financial disclosures are presented in mutual fund advertisements with a between-subjects experiment assessing whether inclusion of the disclosures influences consumer responses to advertisement, brand and company evaluations.

Design/methodology/approach

– This research examines the effects of financial services advertising disclosures by pairing a content analysis documenting how mandatory financial disclosures are presented in mutual fund advertisements with a between-subjects experiment assessing whether the inclusion of the disclosures influences consumer responses to the ad, brand and company.

Findings

– The findings show more positive consumer responses for perceived advertising responsibility, recall, and cognitive response as well as higher risk perception when consumers are exposed to the financial disclosures in mutual fund advertisements. Also, the results indicate a mediating role of positive cognitive responses on attitude toward the mutual fund company only when consumers are exposed to advertising disclosures.

Originality/value

– The paper extends knowledge of whether and how required information disclosures pertaining to mutual funds influence investors ' psychological responses in mutual fund advertising contexts. From a managerial perspective, it has implications for financial services advertising and other social marketing campaigns by uncovering the effects of advertising-as-information in financial decision-making. From a public policy standpoint, the paper is among the first to make explicit claims regarding the role of advertising disclosure in retail investment circumstances.
Determinants of diners ' variety seeking intentions
Authors: Ha Jooyeon , (Shawn) Jang SooCheong
Published: March 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this study is to identify diners ' fundamental reasons for seeking variety in their choice of a restaurant and to understand their variety-seeking intentions from the perspective of personality characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach

– An online survey was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire and 309 usable responses were collected. To test the hypothesized relationships, structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed. A multiple group analysis was also conducted to test the moderating effects of personality characteristics.

Findings

– The results suggested that diners ' desired values are more critical than prior dining experiences in determining variety seeking intentions. Further, satisfaction and desired hedonic/utilitarian values differently affect variety seeking intentions across high and low allocentric personality groups.

Practical implications

– Regarding personality types, satisfaction and desired values were found to have a significant impact on variety seeking intentions in the high allocentric group, but not the low allocentric group. This suggests that the restaurant industry could develop effective marketing strategies by considering their target customers ' personality characteristics.

Originality/value

– This study is unique in that it identified customers ' fundamental reasons for seeking variety in consumption situations, particularly in terms of restaurant choice. This study also considered individuals ' personality characteristics associated with optimal stimulation level in order to understand why consumers seek variety.
Effects of attitudes vs experience of workplace fun on employee behaviors
Authors: Gin Choi Young , Kwon Junehee , Kim Wansoo
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The aim of this study is to reveal how Generation Y employees' attitude toward workplace fun affects their experienced workplace fun, job satisfaction, task performance, and organizational citizenship behaviors toward individuals (OCBI) in the hospitality business context.

Design/methodology/approach

The conceptual model of this study was tested based on responses from 234 hospitality students in the USA who are Generation Yers and had worked in the hospitality industry for more than three months.

Findings

This study revealed that Generation Y employees' attitude toward workplace fun positively affects their experienced workplace fun. In turn, Generation Yers' experienced workplace fun showed positive direct effects on their job satisfaction, task performance, and OCBI.

Research limitations/implications

First, the older Gen. Yers who are 26 or older were underrepresented in this study. Also, Gen. Yers who are less than college educated are not included in this study. Second, a nation‐wide economic crisis in the USA may affect college students' attitude toward workplace fun, making them more serious about work.

Practical implications

The management in hospitality businesses needs to foster fun‐loving cultures to get rid of any unnecessary guilt feeling of having fun at work among employees, and thus fully enjoy the positive effects of workplace fun in the organization.

Originality/value

This study is the first to empirically test how hospitality employees' attitude toward workplace fun affects their job performance.
The impact of electronic word of mouth on a tourism destination choice
Authors: Reza Jalilvand Mohammad , Samiei Neda
Published: March 2013

Purpose

In an environment in which there has been a reduction in consumer trust of both organizations and advertising, as well as a decrease in television advertising, word of mouth (WOM) offers a way to obtain a significant competitive advantage. WOM is especially important in the hospitality and tourism industry, whose intangible products are difficult to evaluate prior to their consumption. When WOM becomes digital, the large‐scale, anonymous, ephemeral nature of the Internet induces new ways of capturing, analyzing, interpreting, and managing the influence that one consumer may have on another. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of electronic WOM (eWOM) on a tourism destination choice, using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Further, an effort was employed to determine the effect of past travel experience on using eWOM and TPB constructs.

Design/methodology/approach

A structural equation modeling procedure was applied to the examination of the influences of eWOM on attitudes towards visiting Isfahan, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and travel intention. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was utilised in order to analysing the relations between these constructs and past travel experience. The research model was tested empirically using a sample of 296 inbound tourists who had experience within the online communities and travelled to Isfahan during the period of research.

Findings

Findings indicate that online WOM communications have a significant impact on attitudes toward visiting Isfahan, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intention to travel. In addition, travel experience has a significant impact on using eWOM and TPB constructs.

Practical implications

The paper suggests that eWOM activity is more complex than previous research has argued. Managers should consider various eWOM facets and try to motivate tourists for participating in online travel communities and to build online travel communities with characteristics such usefulness and ease of use.

Originality/value

There has been a lot of marketing research on eWOM but none has focused on covering eWOM in tourism industry and its impact on tourism destination choice by adding new dimension of eWOM to the theory of planned behavior. This paper seeks to fill this gap.
To establish online shoppers’ markets and rules for dynamic CRM systems
Authors: Chiang Wen‐Yu
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to establish customers’ markets and rules of dynamic customer relationship management (CRM) systems for online retailers.

Design/methodology/approach

This research proposes a procedure to discover customers’ markets and rules, which adopts the recency, frequency, monetary value (RFM) variables, transaction records, and socioeconomic data of the online shoppers to be the research variables. The research methods aim at the supervised apriori algorithm, C5.0 decision tree algorithm, and RFM model.

Findings

This research discovered eight RFM markets and six rules of online retailers.

Practical implications

The proposed framework and research results can help retailer managers to retain and expand high value markets via their dynamic CRM and POS systems.

Originality/value

This research uses data mining technologies to extract high value markets and rules for marketing plans. The research variables are easy to obtain via retailers’ systems. The found customer values, RFM markets, shopping association rules, and marketing decision rules can be discovered via the framework of this research.
Friend me: which factors influence top global brands participation in social network sites
Authors: Araujo Theo , Neijens Peter
Published: March 2013

Purpose

This study focuses on how brands participate in social network sites (SNSs) and investigates both the different strategies they adopt and the factors that influence these strategies.

Design/methodology/approach

The activities of top brands in SNSs were investigated through a content analysis of brand web sites in three countries, measuring two primary dimensions: presence in SNSs and level of engagement which the brand hoped to establish with stakeholders. The study then built logistic regression models to understand which factors drive brands to adopt and use SNSs, using insights from previous studies related to internet innovation adoption cycles.

Findings

The study confirmed that SNS adoption follows a general path of Internet innovation adoption by brands. Industry markets exert influence, with technology and consumer intensive brands being more likely than all other industry segments to be present in SNSs and to participate at higher engagement levels, while brands targeting younger audiences also engage at higher levels than brands targeting generic audiences. The country in which the brand operates plays a significant role in a brand's likelihood of adopting SNSs: web sites in the USA are more likely to use SNSs than other countries, even after controlling for factors such as pre‐existing web operations or the headquarters being in the same country. It was also found that top brands operate in a global world, as shown by their preference for SNSs with global coverage compared to local SNS, even when the penetration rates of these local SNSs were higher.

Originality/value

The paper advances research on SNS adoption by brands from an organizational standpoint, at a time when the majority of the top global brands actively promote such services.
The effects of blogger recommendations on customers’ online shopping intentions
Authors: Hsu Chin‐Lung , Chuan‐Chuan Lin Judy , Chiang Hsiu‐Sen
Published: March 2013

Purpose

Blogging has become part of a consumer's decision making process when shopping online; however, the understanding of blog recommendation's effect on consumer purchase decision is still vague. The purpose of this study is to examine whether the blog reader's trusting belief in the blogger is significant in relation to the perceived usefulness of the blogger's recommendations; and how the blog reader's perceptions influence his/her attitude and purchasing behavior online. The moderating effect of blogger's reputation on readers’ purchasing intentions is also tested.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on various theories, a model was proposed in this study. A survey involving 327 blog readers as participants was analyzed in the empirical study to investigate whether the usefulness of bloggers’ recommendations and trusting beliefs toward blogger had influence on consumers’ attitudes and behavioral intentions toward online shopping.

Findings

The results indicated that perceived usefulness of bloggers’ recommendations and trust had significant influential effect on blog users’ attitude towards and intention to shop online. Moreover, the findings showed that different determinants affected the users of perceived‐high‐reputation and perceived‐low‐reputation blogs.

Originality/value

The findings suggest bloggers’ electronic word‐of‐mouth (eWOM) to be a promising marketing strategy for increasing sales. The marketers should provide free trial products and services to the perceived‐high‐reputation bloggers who, as valued opinion leaders, will influence and prompt others to shop online through a trusting effect. As for perceived‐low‐reputation bloggers, the marketing strategists should strive to emphasize the usefulness of products and services being marketed, so these perceived‐low‐reputation bloggers can focus more on describing the advantages and benefits of products or services discussed in their blogs.
Why people share knowledge in virtual communities?
Authors: Lin Fu‐ren , Huang Hui‐yi
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to answer the question: why Google Answers and Yahoo! Kimo Knowledge+, both virtual communities built on users asking and answering questions with different rewarding mechanisms, have different outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the theory of reasoned action (TRA), the authors developed the constructs, including self‐efficacy, altruism, reward, and the sense of virtual community, that influence the intention of sharing knowledge in terms of answering questions on Knowledge+.

Findings

The results show that users showing higher levels of contribution tended to be motivated by virtual rewards, such as advanced ranks, and the need for self‐fulfillment. Additionally, for these knowledge providers, altruism is also an important factor. Therefore, these users share not because of a reward but because of altruism and fulfillment. The findings can answer why Google Answers failed with its monetary rewards but Knowledge+ remains with its virtual rewarding mechanism.

Research limitations/implications

This study extends the literature on understanding the antecedents of sharing knowledge in terms of answering others’ questions in virtual communities. Especially, it identifies different factors affecting the intention of users in different levels of engagement with the community to share knowledge.

Practical implications

The various effective factors influencing users’ knowledge sharing behavior identified in this study can guide the incentive mechanism design for virtual communities.

Originality/value

Besides proposing research models to identify the constructs affecting the users’ intention to answer questions in a virtual community, such as Knowledge+, this study compares the models explaining the intention to share knowledge in different user groups with different levels of knowledge contribution. This research design is unique from the prior literatures; Moreover, the results shed light on designing incentive mechanisms for knowledge sharing in virtual communities.
Illusions of team working in health care
Authors: West Michael A. , Lyubovnikova Joanne
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The ubiquity and value of teams in healthcare are well acknowledged. However, in practice, healthcare teams vary dramatically in their structures and effectiveness in ways that can damage team processes and patient outcomes. The aim of this paper is to highlight these characteristics and to extrapolate several important aspects of teamwork that have a powerful impact on team effectiveness across healthcare contexts.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws upon the literature from health services management and organisational behaviour to provide an overview of the current science of healthcare teams.

Findings

Underpinned by the input‐process‐output framework of team effectiveness, team composition, team task, and organisational support are viewed as critical inputs that influence key team processes including team objectives, leadership and reflexivity, which in turn impact staff and patient outcomes. Team training interventions and care pathways can facilitate more effective interdisciplinary teamwork.

Originality/value

The paper argues that the prevalence of the term “team” in healthcare makes the synthesis and advancement of the scientific understanding of healthcare teams a challenge. Future research therefore needs to better define the fundamental characteristics of teams in studies in order to ensure that findings based on real teams, rather than pseudo‐like groups, are accumulated.
Segmenting tourists by direct tourism expenditures at new festivals
Authors: Taylor Damonte L. , Collins Michael D. , Megehee Carol M.
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a method for estimating new direct tourism spending resulting from a new event in an existing destination.

Design/methodology/approach

Intercept surveys were conducted on site at six of nine festival locations. Of the 308 festival participants approached at random and asked to participate, 264 agreed to participate (86 percent response rate). Upon further inquiry, only 47 percent of those agreeing to participate were found to be from zip codes outside of the Horry/Georgetown County “Grand Strand” tourist area. These 145 festival participants were administered surveys.

Findings

Less than 30 percent of total tourist spending at the festival is attributable to new tourists – those who specifically traveled to the destination primarily for the event and have historically attended Myrtle Beach less than one time per year. Consequently, the economic impact of the festival, in terms of new spending, was relatively small compared to the total amount of tourist spending by all tourists at the festival.

Originality/value

The study provides an example of an event for which new tourist spending could have been overestimated if all tourist spending had been considered to be new spending.
Intangibles: enhancing access to cities' cultural heritage through interpretation
Authors: Mitsche Nicole , Vogt Franziska , Knox Dan , Cooper I. , Lombardi Patrizia , Ciaffi Daniela
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to utilise commodification for the conservation and promotion of cultural heritage in cities by developing interpretative strategies, specifically enabling access to intangible cultural heritage through its tangible parts.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, three case studies were conducted in the cities of Amsterdam, Genoa and Leipzig, through a workshop cycle with destination and local tourism stakeholders and citizen representatives, to develop interpretative strategies for the cities.

Findings

The paper identifies tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the three cities, and integrates them into stories and outlines the development of an interpretative strategy for destinations independent from, but aligned with, the current marketing and positioning strategy development level.

Research limitations/implications

Future research should examine the integration process of interpretative strategies and heritage interpretation of cultural heritage in marketing strategies, and in particular focus on the intangible aspects.

Originality/value

The article integrates and highlights the value of intangible cultural heritage and interpretation of cultural heritage in general for marketing purposes through the development of an interpretative strategy improving access to destinations' cultural heritage supporting destination management. The article adds to the research discussion of the commodification of cultural heritage.
Relevant attributes of Portuguese wines: matching regions and consumer's involvement level
Authors: Fernandes Ferreira Madureira Teresa C. , Simões de Sousa Nunes Fernando J.
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify and understand the relevant attributes, extrinsic and intrinsic, that Portuguese consumers value and are relevant in the decision process for choosing wine. Further, the study aims to check possible differences in the valued attributes regarding consumer's involvement level and wine Region Origin.

Design/methodology/approach

The research was designed to identify relevant wine attributes and measure their importance when choosing a wine. In order to achieve this objective and match it with consumers' involvement and wine origin region, 30 Focus Groups were performed, involving 171 consumers from five Portuguese regions of origin.

Findings

The region of origin is the attribute that triggers the process of choosing a wine. Label/back label, price, bottle, brand, and wine varieties are also important clues, nevertheless differently valorised according to consumers' involvement. The less relevant attributes are winemaker/producer information, medals/awards, and overall design. Their importance varies with the degree of consumers' involvement and the wine region of origin. The main intrinsic attributes are flavour and aroma, regardless of involvement level or region of origin. Wine balance, freshness, acidity, colour and body have different perceptions, depending on the regions of origin. Alcohol content and gas are the least valued attributes.

Originality/value

Results allow an extended perspective about the process of buying wine, matching the importance of the relevant attributes with consumers' involvement level and region of origin. The study can contribute to an accurate market‐orientation perspective.
Lean and six sigma – critical success factors revisited
Authors: Näslund Dag
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the critical success factors (CSF) for lean and six sigma and an analysis of these CSF as compared to previously popular change methods.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses a literature search and comparative analysis complemented with examples from previous case studies.

Findings

With only slight variations, the critical success factors are similar for all the change methods. Furthermore, the critical success factors seem to be relatively constant over time. Another important finding is that the CSF tend to relate more to how an organization approaches the change effort versus change method specific factors. The issues of management support and organizational culture are often emphasized as especially critical. The paper highlights and discusses three additional important CSF: strategic alignment, project management and training.

Practical implications

The awareness of CSF, in combination with an awareness of similarities between the methods, can potentially guide organizations in implementations of existing change efforts, and also prepare them for the next widely popular change method – when it arrives.

Originality/value

The paper presents the comparison of such aspects as goals, approaches, structure and tools and a detailed analysis of critical success factors.
Financial inclusion and its determinants: evidence from India
Authors: Kumar Nitin
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The objective of paper is to examine status of financial inclusion in India and study its determinants.

Design/methodology/approach

Panel fixed effects and dynamic panel generalized methods of moments (GMM) methodologies have been applied to study determinants of financial inclusion. Additionally, Kendall's index of rank concordance has been derived to test for convergence of states in achieving financial inclusion.

Findings

Branch network has unambiguous beneficial impact on financial inclusion. Both proportion of factories and employee base turn out to be significant determinants of penetration indicators. The findings reveal the importance of a region's socio‐economic and environmental setup in shaping banking habit of masses. Using test for convergence it is found that regions tend to maintain their respective level of banking activity, with no support for closing gap.

Originality/value

To the best of the author's knowledge, no panel data study has been performed for India based on data for large number of states and a reasonable time span. This study utilizes 29 major states and union territories encompassing 1995 to 2008, which helps to increase degree of freedom and provide reliable results. The study helps us to ascertain direction and strength of various causal factors in process offer policy makers' strategies, for improving financial inclusion.
Fighting consumer price inflation in Africa
Authors: Asongu Simplice A.
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of policy options in financial dynamics (of money, credit, efficiency and size) on consumer prices. Soaring food prices have marked the geopolitical landscape of African countries in the past decade.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample is limited to a panel of African countries for which inflation is non‐stationary. VAR models from both error correction and Granger causality perspectives are applied. Analyses of dynamic shocks and responses are also covered and six batteries of robustness checks are applied, to ensure consistency in the results.

Findings

First, it is found that there are significant long‐run equilibriums between inflation and each financial dynamic. Second, when there is a disequilibrium, while only financial depth and financial size could be significantly used to exert deflationary pressures, inflation is significant in adjusting all financial dynamics. In other words, financial depth and financial size are more significant instruments in fighting inflation than financial efficiency and activity. Third, the financial intermediary dynamic of size appears to be more instrumental in exerting a deflationary tendency than financial intermediary depth. Fourth, the deflationary tendency from money supply is double that based on liquid liabilities.

Practical implications

Monetary policy aimed at fighting inflation only based on bank deposits may not be very effective until other informal and semi‐formal financial sectors are taken into account. It could be inferred that, tight monetary policy targeting the ability of banks to grant credit (in relation to central bank credits) is more effective in tackling consumer price inflation than that, targeting the ability of banks to receive deposits. In the same vein, adjusting the lending rate could be more effective than adjusting the deposit rate. The insignificance of financial allocation efficiency and financial activity as policy tools in the battle against inflation could be explained by the (well documented) surplus liquidity issues experienced by the African banking sector.

Social implications

This paper helps in providing monetary policy options in the fight against soaring consumer prices. By keeping inflationary pressures on food prices in check, sustained campaigns involving strikes, demonstrations, marches, rallies and political crises that seriously disrupt economic performance could be mitigated.

Originality/value

To the best of the author's knowlege, there is yet no study that assesses monetary policy options that could be relevant in addressing the dramatic surge in the price of consumer commodities.
The scripting of male and female rape
Authors: Davies Michelle , Walker Jayne , Archer John , Pollard Paul
Published: March 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how male and female rape is scripted.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 100 (50 male, 50 female) participants were asked to write down in their own words what they considered to be the typical rape when the victim was either an adult male or female.

Findings

Results revealed that men's and women's rape scripts did not dramatically differ, though several differences were revealed between male and female rape scripting, focussing around the gender stereotypes of men verses women.

Originality/value

Results are discussed in relation to gender role stereotyping and wider implications are considered.
Perspectives of occupational therapists working in primary health promotion
Authors: Wood Rebecca , Fortune Tracy , McKinstry Carol
Published: March 2013

Background/aim

Given a global reorientation of health services towards upstream, or primary health promotion, there is a need to explore the role of occupational therapy in this area of practice. This study aimed to explore and describe the primary health promotion practice of community health workers with an occupational therapy background. The study highlights their practice working at a community or population (macro) level, rather than at the client service (micro) level, and explores related enablers and barriers to this practice.

Methods

The study utilised the qualitative methodology of narrative enquiry. Five workers with an occupational therapy background were recruited from community health services within Victoria. Data were gathered via in‐depth interviews. Individual participant interview data were ordered to form a narrative detailing each participant's experience. These narratives were then analysed to generate themes representing important aspects of participant's experiences.

Results

Although some practitioners with an occupational therapy background perform primary health promotion, the findings indicate that a number of barriers deter occupational therapists from engaging in this type of practice, including lack of funding, preparation and limited understanding of the role of occupational therapy in health promotion. Enablers to engagement included undertaking further education, gaining clinical experience and establishing a professional identity.

Conclusion

This study provides insights into the experiences of occupational therapists who work at a macro rather than micro‐level of practice, and emphasises some of the barriers and enablers to embracing the sorts of roles that are emerging as part of a changing health system.
Working with populations from a refugee background: An opportunity to enhance the occupational therapy educational experience
Authors: Smith Yda J. , Cornella Erika , Williams Nyles
Published: March 2013

Background/aim

The purpose of this study was to determine the educational value of an occupational therapy fieldwork placement where students work with people from a refugee background. Research was designed to contribute to the limited evidence regarding the benefits and challenges of traditional vs. non‐traditional fieldwork settings and to explore the application of occupational therapy related to working with refugee populations.

Method

Fourteen participants were interviewed using semi‐structured, open‐ended questions to explore perspectives on how their experience influenced their education and professional development. Face‐to‐face interviews were audio‐recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcriptions and hard‐copy data were analysed to identify emergent themes and subthemes. Triangulation and member‐checking increased trustworthiness.

Results

Three major themes emerged in this study: Operational therapy at its Core; Cultural Awareness and Competence; and Basic Skills for Any Setting. Subthemes emerged but for the purposes of this article only the major themes are discussed.

Conclusion

A fieldwork experience working with people of a refugee background can facilitate the development of cultural awareness and competence, as well as foundational professional skills. In this setting, the importance of occupation‐based, client‐centred practice can be fully realised. Results indicate that this fieldwork setting is a suitable environment for experiencing occupational therapy principles and that labelling fieldwork experiences working with people from a refugee background as ‘non‐traditional’ may be inappropriate. Learning experiences reported by students also reveal the benefits of working independently at times without direct supervision of an occupational therapist.