bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Study on free trial decision-making of IT products and services from an IT company's perspective
Authors: Xu Jiaqing , Jiao Weiling , Chen Hao , Yuan Yufei 
Published: September 2020

PurposeFree trial is an effective strategy to gaining users’ data so as to strengthen and optimize product design. The purpose of this paper is to understand the IT companies' dynamic decision-making behavior in the free trial of IT products and services context based on a three-stage theoretical framework and users' decision-making behavior in the respective stage.Design/methodology/approachA three-stage methodology is proposed to clarify relevant decision problems and actions in each stage from IT companies' and users' perspectives, respectively. It then investigates relating variables on IT companies' decision-making based on extant research and users' decision-making.FindingsIn this study, the authors argue that the IT companies have to make the offering, implementation and retention decision in different stage during the whole free trial process. Each decision is determined by several variables from their own and users, namely the offering decision is determined by product characteristics, network effects, product life cycle and WOM (word of mouth); the implementation decision is determined by the quality of products and services, trial type, incentive measures on user's usage and communication strategy; and the retention decision is determined by the product and price strategy.Practical implicationsThe results are practical and can be used by IT companies as a decision basis or reference to make reliable decisions so that IT companies can take target measures to ensure the effectiveness of their free trial strategy so as to meet their users' needs based on products designed by data driven. Thus, the ultimate goal of supply chain management is achieved.Originality/valueIn this study, the decision-making process in the free trial of IT products and services context is investigated as a whole for the first time. From the IT companies' perspective, the process includes offering, implementation and retention decision stages, which are continuous and inseparable. The variables that determine IT companies' decision-making are identified based on users' decision and action. Hence, it represents a brand-new whole process perception to clearly understand the dynamic of the IT companies' decision-making. Considering users' decision and action, the final decisions of the IT companies will be more practical in respect of motivating, retaining and upgrading users.
Completing abandoned public facility projects by the private sector: results of a Delphi survey in the Iranian Water and Wastewater Company
Authors: Sarvari Hadi , Cristofaro Matteo , Chan Daniel W.M. , Noor Norhazilan Md. , Amini Mohammadreza 
Published: September 2020

PurposeCompletion of abandoned public facility projects is one of the major concerns of governments struggling with budget issues. Various research studies have shown that this can only be solved with the help of the private sector. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the capacity of the private sector to complete abandoned public facility projects through the study of the Water and Wastewater Company in Iran.Design/methodology/approachThe Delphi survey questionnaires, which were distributed to and responded by a panel of experts – i.e. three groups of employers of the Iranian Water and Wastewater Company, consulting agents and private sector stakeholders engaging with Water and Wastewater Company projects – identified 50 critical factors allowing the private sector to carry out abandoned facility projects. These have been categorized into four components: financial capacities, management competency, knowledge and expertise and resources and facilities. A descriptive survey method was used to determine and prioritize these factors.FindingsThe survey findings indicate that knowledge and expertise are the main important clusters of factors influencing the completion of abandoned public facility projects. The value of these results is essential in providing the sound basis for mutual trust between the private sector and the public sector for greater participation, thereby helping to complete abandoned public facility projects.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study attempting to investigate the capacity of the private sector to complete abandoned public facility projects through an empirical analysis of factors influencing their completion.
Challenges and potential improvements in hospital patient flow: the contribution of frontline, top and middle management professionals
Authors: Gualandi Raffaella , Masella Cristina , Viglione Daniela , Tartaglini Daniela 
Published: September 2020

PurposeThis study aims to describe and understand the contributions of frontline, middle and top management healthcare professionals in detecting areas of potential improvement in hospital patient flow and proposing solutions.Design/methodology/approachThis is a qualitative interview study. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 22 professionals in the orthopedic department of a 250-bed academic teaching hospital. Data were analyzed through a thematic framework analytical approach by using an a priori framework. The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative (COREQ) checklist for qualitative studies was followed.FindingsWhen dealing with a hospital-wide process, the involvement of all professionals, including nonhealth professionals, can reveal priority areas for improvement and for services integration. The improvements identified by the professionals largely focus on covering major gaps detected in the technical and administrative quality.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focused on the professional viewpoint and the connections between services and further studies should explore the role of patient involvement. The study design could limit the generalizability of findings.Practical implicationsImproving high-quality, efficient hospital patient flow cannot be accomplished without learning the perspective of the healthcare professionals on the process of service delivery.Originality/valueFew qualitative studies explore professionals' perspectives on patient needs in hospital flow management. This study provides insights into what produces value for the patient within a complex process by analyzing the contribution of professionals from their particular role in the organization.
Outbound medical tourism experience, satisfaction and loyalty: lesson from a developing country
Authors: Mahmud Md. Shahed , Rahman Md. Mahbubar , Lima Reshma Pervin , Annie Esmat Jahan 
Published: September 2020

PurposeThe objective of the study is to measure outbound medical tourists' satisfaction and loyalty based on medical tourists' experience from a developing country's perspective.Design/methodology/approachThe medical tourists taken medical services from India constituted the population of this study. By applying a purposive and snowball sampling techniques, samples were selected. Based on the expectation confirmation theory (ECT) and a modified medical tourism experience model, this study empirically analyzed the research hypotheses by applying the partial least square–structural equation modeling (PLS–SEM) technique.FindingsThe empirical result revealed that the experience of service quality, medical tourism infrastructure and experience of medical tourism expenses has a direct impact on medical tourists' satisfaction. Furthermore, destination appeal and culture has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between medical tourists' satisfaction and destination loyalty. Multigroup analysis (MGA) was performed to examine group differences of the model. The MGA results revealed that, based on age, the research model remains undifferentiated between groups. In contrast, based on income, the only relationship, medical tourism infrastructure and medical tourists' satisfaction significantly differ between groups, while others remain identical from each other.Practical implicationsThe study results will contribute both theoretically and practically. Theoretically, the study will be a helpful instrument to figure out medical tourists' behavior through the lens of ECT in a developing country’s perspective. Furthermore, practically this study results will assist policymakers and practitioners of medical tourism in formulating strategies and making future decisions effectively.Originality/valueThe study has uniqueness in two aspects. First, the study empirically revealed Bangladeshi medical tourists' experience and behavioral intention to Indian medical tourism destinations. Second, the study’s findings exposed quantifiable insights into the Bangladesh–India medical tourism phenomenon.
Capital budgeting practices: evidence from Korea
Authors: Kim Taeyeon , Lee Hongbok , Park Kwangwoo , Waggle Doug 
Published: September 2020

PurposeThe authors present the results of a survey on how Korean firms evaluate new projects and estimate their capital costs. The authors report how Korean firms’ capital budgeting practices compare to other developed countries and to best practices in the field of finance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors survey CFOs of major Korean firms on their capital budgeting practices. The authors then compare the results against the US and European firms and best practices of leading firms and financial advisors.FindingsThe authors find that the capital budgeting practices of Korean firms are as strong as or stronger than firms in developed markets. A majority of Korean firms use best practices techniques such as NPV, IRR and the CAPM for project evaluation and cost of equity estimation. Chaebol affiliation results in somewhat stronger capital budgeting practices. The authors also find that other factors, such as company size, leverage, CEO age and CEO education, impact capital budgeting practices.Originality/valueThis paper is the first article that comprehensively examines Korean firms' capital budgeting practices.
High-fat diets are detrimental of the lipid profile, glucose metabolism and body composition of Wistar rats: the role of fatty acid type and consumption duration
Authors: Rocha-Gomes Arthur , Silva Juliana Dara , Morais Thais Angélica , da Costa Ferreira Amanda Rosa , Costa Viviane Cristina , Teixeira Amanda Escobar , Lessa Mayara Rodrigues , Silva Alexandre Alves da , Dessimoni-Pinto Nísia Andrade Villela , Riul Tania Regina 
Published: September 2020

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the nutritional effects in Wistar rats of supplementation with stand-alone saturated fatty acid (SFA) or monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), the replacement of SFA by MUFA and the combination of both (SFA + MUFA) over a long period of time (13 weeks).

Design/methodology/approach
In total, 30 Wistar rats were used and randomly assigned to receive (n = 6): control – lab chow; lard (L20%) – lab chow with added lard (20%); olive oil (O20%) – lab chow with added olive oil (20%); lard replacement with olive oil (L20% –O20%) – during six weeks lab chow with added lard (20%) replaced by lab chow with added olive oil (20%) given during the past seven weeks of the trial; lard combination with olive oil (L10% + O10%) – lab chow with added lard (10%) and olive oil (10%). Food and caloric intake, weight gain, food and energy efficiency, body mass index, bone mineral composition and blood biochemistry were evaluated.

Findings
All diets with added fatty acids showed higher energy intake (p < 0.001), weight gain (p = 0.01), accumulation of adipose tissue (p = 0.02) and food and energy efficiency (p = 0.01) compared to the control group. All groups exhibited higher levels of blood triglycerides compared to the control group (p = 0.02). In addition, the L10% + O10% group developed hyperglycemia (p < 0.001); the L group showed higher amounts of non- high density lipoprotein (HDL-c) (p = 0.04); and the L20%−O20% group exhibited high levels of the triglyceride/HDL-c ratio (p = 0.04) in relation to the control.

Originality/value
These results indicate that regardless of the fatty acid type, consumption in large quantities of fatty acids for long periods of time can cause obesity and dyslipidemia.
How does real earnings management respond to the 2007-2008 financial crisis?
Authors: Li Zhigang , Hsu Yuan-Teng , Gao Xiang 
Published: September 2020

Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the dynamics of repurchase-based earnings management vis-à-vis other real activities manipulations during the 2007–2008 financial crisis.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts a Probit model to regress alternate real earnings management (REM) methods on a dummy variable indicating whether a firm falls in the crisis event window or not, during our 15-year sample period. This paper also detects switches made by suspected firms from repurchasing to other REM tools such as reducing discretionary expenditures.

Findings
This paper provides solid evidence indicating that firms suspected of earnings management have the tendency to decrease accretive share repurchases after the onset of the crisis. Conversely, the above pattern is neither observed in non-suspect firms nor over non-crisis periods. A further investigation documents that firms that switch REM during crisis can be characterized by less cash holding, smaller size, more severe liquidity shortage and/or tighter financial constraint.

Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature on understanding the respective and interactive implications of both share repurchases and global financial crisis on firms’ REM activities.
CEO characteristics: do they matter for carbon performance? An empirical investigation of Australian firms
Authors: Elsayih Jibriel , Datt Rina , Hamid Ali 
Published: September 2020

PurposeResearch suggests that chief executive officers (CEOs) play an important role in enhancing a firm’s legitimacy with regard to environmental performance. The purpose of this paper is to use the upper echelons theory and stakeholder theory to investigate whether the characteristics of CEOs are associated with carbon performance (CP).Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses a sample of 128 firm-year observations from Australian companies that participated in the carbon disclosure project from 2011 through 2014.FindingsTwo-stage least squares estimation reveals that CEO executive experience and CEO duality are positively associated with CP. By contrast, CEO tenure, CEO functional background experience and CEO industry experience are negatively related to CP, and CEO ownership is not related to CP.Practical implicationsThe results might provide evidence for investors, policymakers and regulators with respect to the effectiveness of CEO characteristics for addressing carbon risks and possible linkages between CEO characteristics and carbon emission levels. In addition, the results give support CEO accountability regarding the carbon emissions.Originality/valueThis study provides the first empirical evidence of the impact of CEO characteristics on CP. Furthermore, this study contributes to the existing literature by showing how the characteristics of CEOs can impact corporate CP and provides a more in-depth understanding of whether such characteristics play important roles in determining corporate carbon action.
Dominant community mycorrhizal types influence local spatial structure between adult and juvenile temperate forest tree communities
Authors: Eagar Andrew C. , Cosgrove Colleen R. , Kershner Mark W. , Blackwood Christopher B. 
Published: September 2020

Abstract

Plant–soil feedback (PSF) is known to influence plant community composition, and recent work suggests that these effects may be regulated by traits related to mycorrhizal associations and phylogenetic relationships. However, there is a critical need to test the usefulness of these traits in predicting PSF outcomes in natural plant communities.

To test for evidence of mycorrhizal and phylogenetic controls over PSF at both the species and community level, we examined the spatial relationship between adult and juvenile trees in stem‐mapped hardwood forest plots using point pattern analyses and linear mixed‐effect models.

We found that spatial patterns of adult and juvenile trees, as well as overall adult tree recruitment, were significantly affected by the dominant mycorrhizal type of our forested communities, but were not influenced by the phylogenetic relationship between adult and juvenile trees. Additionally, PSF experienced by individual species was dependent on the mycorrhizal dominance of the surrounding community.

Spatial patterns in communities dominated by arbuscular mycorrhizal trees reflected overdispersion between adult and juvenile trees (suggestive of negative PSF), while communities dominated by ectomycorrhizal trees reflected clustering (suggestive of positive PSF).

Our findings indicate that PSFs are driven by the mycorrhizal associations of dominant trees, with effects of dominant community member traits on soil microorganisms and biogeochemistry ‘spilling over’ onto less abundant individuals in the community. Our research supports the use of whole‐community, mycorrhizal‐based frameworks for studying PSF in plant communities where multiple mycorrhizal types are present.

A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Sequential disturbances alter the outcome of inter‐genotypic interactions in a clonal plant
Authors: Kollars Nicole M. , DuBois Katherine , Stachowicz John J. 
Published: September 2020

Abstract

Multiple disturbances can have mixed effects on biodiversity. Whether the interaction of sequential disturbances drives local extinctions or promotes diversity depends on the severity of biomass reductions relative to any stabilizing and/or equalizing effects generated by the disturbance regimes.

Through a manipulative mesocosm experiment, we examined how warming events in the fall and simulated grazing disturbance (i.e. clipping) in the winter affected the density, biomass and genotypic diversity of assemblages of the clonal seagrass Zostera marina.

We show that the interaction of the two disturbance types reduced density and biomass to a greater degree than warming or clipping alone.

The genotype with the highest biomass in the assemblage shifted under the different experimental regimes such that the traits of winners were distinct in the different treatments. The favouring of different traits by different disturbances led to reduced evenness when a single disturbance was applied, and enhanced evenness under multiple disturbances.

We conclude that sequential disturbances can alter the outcome of inter‐genotypic interactions and maintain genotypic diversity in clonal populations. Our study expands the context in which disturbance can influence intraspecific diversity by showing that fluctuating selection may result from the sequential application of different disturbance types and not simply seasonal changes in a single agent.

A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Partial or complete? The evolution of post‐juvenile moult strategies in passerine birds
Authors: Delhey Kaspar , Guallar Santiago , Rueda‐Hernández Rafael , Valcu Mihai , Wang Daiping , Kempenaers Bart 
Published: September 2020

AbstractMoulting strategies in birds have evolved to avoid overlap with, or prepare for, other demanding parts of the annual cycle, such as reproduction or migration. When moulting for the first time after leaving the nest, young birds replace their typically poor‐quality plumage during the post‐juvenile moult. The extent of this moult varies between species from partial to complete.Earlier studies, restricted to Western Palearctic birds, suggest that in most species a complete post‐juvenile moult may not be possible simply because young birds are constrained by not having the same access to resources as adults, unless environmental conditions are favourable. These studies also show that complete post‐juvenile moult is more common in species with poor‐quality nest‐grown plumage.We expanded the spatial and taxonomic scope of previous studies to 1,315 species of passerines from across the world and considered both the role of constraints, plumage quality and other selective pressures favouring a complete post‐juvenile moult. Thus, we test whether complete moult is more prevalent in species where nest‐grown feathers are presumably of poor quality (shorter nestling period), that live in environments that foster quick plumage degradation (open habitats, high insolation and humidity), and where males are under strong sexual selection.Our data reveal that 24% of species carry out a complete post‐juvenile moult, and that this trait has a strong phylogenetic signal. Complete moult is more common in species that inhabit warmer regions and open habitats, show no delayed plumage maturation and have higher levels of sexual dichromatism (indicative of strong sexual selection). Neither the presumed quality of the nest‐grown plumage nor living in regions with high insolation correlates with complete moult.In conclusion, the evolution of complete post‐juvenile moult not only depends on whether birds can perform a complete moult (i.e. suitable environmental conditions) but also on the strength of selection associated with the need of a complete moult. In particular, the necessity to keep the plumage in good condition in challenging environments and the benefits associated with producing adult‐like plumage colours to attract mates or deter rivals seem to play an important role.
Conservation in post‐industrial cities: How does vacant land management and landscape configuration influence urban bees?
Authors: Turo Katherine J. , Spring MaLisa R. , Sivakoff Frances S. , Delgado de la flor Yvan A. , Gardiner Mary M. 
Published: September 2020

Abstract

Rich pollinator assemblages are documented in some cities despite habitat fragmentation and degradation, suggesting that urban areas have potential as pollinator refuges. To inform urban bee conservation, we assessed local‐ and landscape‐scale drivers of bee community composition and foraging within vacant lots of Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Cleveland is a shrinking city, a type of urban area that has an over‐abundance of vacated greenspaces as a result of population loss and subsequent demolition of abandoned infrastructure. As such, Cleveland represents over 350 post‐industrial cities worldwide that are all promising locations for bee conservation.

Across a network of 56 residential vacant lots (each ~30 m × 12 m), we established seven unique habitats, including seeded native prairies, to investigate how vegetation management and landscape context at a 1,500 m radius influenced urban bee communities. We assessed the distribution of several bee functional traits, diversity and abundance with pan and malaise traps. Foraging frequency was determined with plant–pollinator interaction networks derived from vacuum collections of bees at flowers.

We observed higher bee richness and increased abundance of smaller sized bees as the size of surrounding greenspace patches increased within a 1,500 m radius landscape buffer. Within habitats, seeded treatments had no effect on bees but greater plant biomass and shorter vegetation were correlated with increased bee richness and abundance. Plant–pollinator interaction networks were dominated by spontaneous non‐native vegetation, illustrating that this forage supports urban bees.

Synthesis and applications. Our study indicates that proximity to larger greenspaces within an urban landscape promotes overall bee richness and increased occurrence of smaller bee species within residential vacant lots. While we did not observe our seeded native plants enhancing the bee community, native wildflowers were still establishing during the study and may have a greater influence when blooming at higher densities. Importantly, spontaneous non‐native vegetation provided the majority of urban bee's forage. Thus, vacant land that is minimally managed and vegetated with what many consider undesirable ‘weeds’ provides valuable habitat for bee conservation in cities.