bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Allocation of marketing budgets to customer acquisition and retention spending based on decision calculus
Authors: Koosha Hamidreza , Albadvi Amir 
Published: July 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to allocate marketing budgets in complex environments, where data are scarce and management judgment is available. In this research, marketing budgets are allocated, to maximize customer equity as a long-term profitability measure.

Design/methodology/approach
– The researchers provide a model for allocation of marketing budgets based on both decision calculus and econometric models and combine it with the concept of Markov chain model to cope with data scarcity. Dynamic programming is used to find the optimal solution.

Findings
– The authors examine the model in telecommunication industry. Applicability of the model is supported by an illustrative example. To allocate marketing budgets, researchers consider three strategies for each period: do nothing, retention-focused strategy and acquisition-focused strategy. The results show the applicability and effectiveness of the model to find the best strategy.

Research limitations/implications
– As the suggested approach is based on management judgment, it is useful in situations, as the authors have experts or experienced managers to achieve reliable data. In situations which the authors do not have access to experienced managers, the results may be unreliable.

Practical implications
– The suggested approach is useful in situations of data scarcity, where experienced managers are accessible. The researchers have focused on telecommunication industry cases; however, the model is useful in other industries like the insurance industry.

Originality/value
– The main contribution of the research lies in the suggestion of a new approach to allocate marketing budgets in data scarcity situations in multi-period planning horizons. The researchers use both decision calculus and econometric tools to find the transition matrices of marketing plans.
Modelling the SCM implementation barriers
Authors: Gorane S. J. , Kant Ravi 
Published: July 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to develop the relationships among the identified supply chain management barriers (SCMBs) and understand mutual influences of these SCMBs on supply chain implementation. Further, this paper seeks to identify driving and dependent SCMBs using an interpretive structural modelling (ISM) and fuzzy MICMAC (Matrix of Cross-Impact Multiplications Applied to Classification) analysis.

Design/methodology/approach
– The methodology used in the paper is the ISM with a view to evolving mutual relationships among SCMBs. The identified SCMBs have been classified further, based on their driving and dependence power using fuzzy MICMAC analysis.

Findings
– This paper has identified 15 key SCMBs which hinder the successful supply chain management (SCM) implementation in an organization and has developed the relationships among the SCMBs using the ISM methodology. Further, this paper analyses the driving and dependent SCMBs using fuzzy MICMAC analysis. The integrated approach is developed here, as the ISM model provides only binary relationship among SCMBs. The fuzzy MICMAC analysis is adopted here, as it is useful in specific analysis related to driving and the dependence power of SCMBs.

Research limitations/implications
– The weightage for the ISM model development and fuzzy MICMAC is obtained through the judgement of academics and industry experts. Further, validation of the model is necessary through questionnaire survey.

Practical implications
– The identification of SCMBs, ISM model development and fuzzy MICMAC analysis provide academics and managers a macro picture of the challenges posed by the SCM implementation in an organization.

Originality/value
– The results will be useful for business managers to understand the SCMBs and overcome these SCMBs during the SCM implementation in an organization.
Efficiency improvement based upon overall value judgment and weight restriction
Authors: Zha Yong , Wang Jun , Linlin Zhao , Liang Liang 
Published: July 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to consider the following problem: the authors consider a new constructed unit system to indicate the characteristics of the inputs and outputs of different decision-making units (DMUs) and propose several modified models to calculate their efficiencies based on overall value judgment and weight restriction in the production process.

Design/methodology/approach
– This paper applies principal component analysis (PCA) to analyze the original value judgment information, and the key indices in the production process are extracted. The modified data envelopment analysis (DEA) models are proposed and DEA efficiencies and their projections are calculated.

Findings
– By incorporate PCA and DEA, the authors propose new virtual DMUs composed of unique optimal multipliers of each DMU. Crucial indexes are extracted and the weights of inputs and output are ranked through using PCA by taking the preference and value judgments of all DMUs into consideration. Weight constraints from the ranking are utilized to improve the traditional CCR-DEA model. The empirical results validate the feasibility of the approach.

Practical implications
– The method can be used in many organizations which have excessive amounts of inputs and outputs variables, such as banks, chain stores, car factory, etc.

Originality/value
– This paper presents an integrated methodology of using PCA and DEA for considering the preferences of the inputs and outputs and value judgment of all DMUs and ranks the importance of the indicators from the overall perspectives.
MADM method considering attribute aspirations with an application to selection of wastewater treatment technologies
Authors: Gao Guang-Xin , Fan Zhi-Ping , Zhang Yao 
Published: July 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to develop a method for solving the multiple attribute decision-making (MADM) problem in which the decision maker can provide the five types of attribute aspirations, namely: benefit type with requirements; cost type with requirements; interval type; benefit type; and cost type.

Design/methodology/approach
– First, for each type of attribute aspiration, the calculation formula of utility values of alternative concerning attributes is given. Then, using the calculation formulae, the attribute values are transformed into the corresponding utility values. On the basis of this, the overall ranking value of each alternative is calculated. Further, a ranking order of alternatives can be determined according to the obtained overall ranking values.

Findings
– Research shows that it is necessary to develop the method for MADM with attribute aspirations. The example shows that the proposed method is applicable.

Practical implications
– The proposed method can be applied to the selection of wastewater treatment technologies or other areas.

Originality/value
– This paper proposes a new MADM method with multiple types of attribute aspirations. It develops and enriches the existing MADM methods.
A product-service system using requirement analysis and knowledge management technologies
Authors: Zhu Haihua , Gao James , Cai Qixiang 
Published: July 2015

Purpose
– Product-service system (PSS) has been attracting attentions of global manufacturing to providing high-value added services in addition to their traditional product development and manufacturing business. For this reason, it is of great importance to research PSS. The purpose of this paper is to establish a systematic strategy and a system tool for PSS design.

Design/methodology/approach
– A requirement-driven product-service system (RdPPS) is developed using requirements analysis and knowledge management technologies. A framework is proposed to support RdPPS by providing tools and methods for requirement analysis and processing, formalization of PSS by ontology-based knowledge representation, reasoning method for PSS solution finding, and solution optimizing and assessing. Finally, the design support strategies for RdPPS are investigated to demonstrate the usability and functioning of the developed system.

Findings
– Many conventional design methods did not consider the influence of customer requirements (CRs) during the planning phase of PSS design. Moreover, a broader range of knowledge is required to PSS design, since both products and services are considered.

Research limitations/implications
– This research provides a solid foundation for PSS, and promotes an effective means for PSS design.

Originality/value
– A RdPSS is presented. CRs are considered during the design phase of PSS as well as both product and service knowledge.
The effect of fairness preference on managerial entrenchment: an experimental analysis
Authors: Niu Xiaoqin , Li Bingxiang , Niu Xiaodong 
Published: July 2015

Purpose– The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of fairness psychology on the motivation and behavior that drives managerial entrenchment. The paper also provides a theoretical basis to set up an effective incentive and restraining mechanism for corporations.Design/methodology/approach– This paper conducts an experiment to investigate the effect of fairness preference on managerial entrenchment in enterprises.Findings– The results of the experiment show that managers are very concerned about fair payoffs, i.e. the comparison of the principals’ earnings with managers’ market average levels of pay. The worse managers’ fairness preference becomes, the greater are the degrees of managerial entrenchment exhibited. In addition, a large payoff gap between managers and principals produces a higher sensitivity in high-ability managers, while a large payoff gap between managers and managers elsewhere in a market leads to a higher sensitivity in low-ability managers.Originality/value– This paper provides new insights into incentives and constraints affecting the behaviors of managers at the corporate board level. Maintaining equity between managers’ payoffs, principals’ earnings and managers’ market average pay levels can restrain both the entrenchment behavior of managers caused by unfair psychology and also the increasing costs of staff switching jobs, thus producing greater profits for companies.
The impact of TMT functional background on firm performance
Authors: Wang Xueli , Ma Lin , Wang Yanli 
Published: July 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to discuss the influence of different aspects of top management team (TMT) functional background on short-term performance, long-term performance, innovation performance and oversea performance separately. This research aims to verify whether the social categorization theory and information and decision-making theory are applicable in listed companies of China’s information technology (IT) industry so as to provide key theoretical references for TMT enhancement ad corporate performance improvement.Design/methodology/approach– This paper takes A-share listed companies in Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange as its study subjects, and it chooses the data from 2004 to 2010 in all of the 105 companies in IT industry in terms of the classification of Wind Database. The stepwise multiple regressions were run utilizing the regression program in Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS).Findings– The research results show that the social categorization theory can better explain TMT’s influence on corporate performance. TMT functional heterogeneity does not contribute to improving corporate performance and shows significant negative influence on short-term performance and innovation performance in particular. Among the three basic functional backgrounds, TMTs dominated by “throughput” backgrounds show significant positive influence on short-term performance, long-term performance, innovation performance and overseas performance, and the influence turns out to be the largest among these three backgrounds. In terms of the three special professional experiences, top executives with overseas backgrounds have significant positive influence on all of short-term, long-term, innovation and overseas performances. Externally hired executives, however, would impede corporate innovation development, while those with government background would increase corporate overseas performance.Originality/value– This paper analyzes the relationship between TMT functional background and corporate performance in a comprehensive way for the first time and then takes the lead in considering the dynamics and complexity of corporate performance as well as discussing the influence of TMT functional background on four corporate performances. This study not only supports the effect that the social categorization theory has on TMTs but also offers some inspirations on the development of China’s IT companies.
Visual and odour cues: plant responses to pollination and herbivory affect the behaviour of flower visitors
Authors: Lucas‐Barbosa Dani , Sun Pulu , Hakman Anouk , van Beek Teris A. , van Loon Joop J.A. , Dicke Marcel 
Published: July 2015

SummaryPlants evolved strategies to attract pollinators that are essential for reproduction. However, plant defence against herbivores may trade off with pollinator attraction.Here, we investigated the role of inducible plant secondary metabolites in such a trade‐off. Our objective was to reveal the mechanisms underlying the effects of induced plant responses to pollination and herbivory. We assessed how responses of plants to pollination and insect herbivory affect the behaviour of flower visitors. Subsequently, we investigated how the production of volatile and non‐volatile compounds changes after pollination and herbivory.Both herbivores and pollinators induced important phenotypic changes in flowers.Brassica nigraplants respond to pollination and herbivory with changes in the profile of volatiles and non‐volatiles of their flowers. Our results show that butterflies use different cues when searching for an oviposition site or a nectar source. Pollination status influenced the behaviour of butterflies, but not that of syrphid flies.We discuss the results in the context of the trade‐off between defence and reproduction in plants and suggest that systemic responses to herbivores can interfere with local responses to pollination. Therefore, these responses must be addressed in an integrated way because, in nature, plants are simultaneously exposed to herbivores and pollinators.
Macrophysiology – progress and prospects
Authors: Chown Steven L. , Gaston Kevin J. 
Published: July 2015

SummaryMacrophysiology is the investigation of variation in physiological traits over large geographic and temporal scales and the ecological implications of this variation. It has now been undertaken, as a defined field, for a decade.Here, we overview its conceptual foundations, methodological approaches and insights, together with challenges the field is facing currently.Macrophysiology builds on approaches that investigate the ecological and evolutionary significance of physiological trait variation and feedbacks in these processes. One of its key strengths is its ability to provide a basis for examining interactions among the intraspecific, interspecific and assemblage levels.Macrophysiology is distinct from and typically concerns larger spatial and temporal scales than conservation physiology, whereas it is in several respects similar to, but antecedes, functional biogeography. Contrary to some claims, macrophysiology is not concerned only with the implications for geographic ranges of physiological trait variation.Several insights, which would not otherwise have been achieved, have arisen from the field, notably the understanding of variation in global patterns of upper and lower lethal temperature limits and organism performance, which have important implications for forecasting the impacts of climate change.Ten major challenges are identified for the field of macroecology, including better integration of approaches and information for plants and animals. Nonetheless, the prospects for macrophysiology as a significant way to understand our world remain bright.
Complementarity in both plant and mycorrhizal fungal communities are not necessarily increased by diversity in the other
Authors: Wagg Cameron , Barendregt Christoph , Jansa Jan , van der Heijden Marcel G.A. 
Published: July 2015

SummaryHigher species diversity can improve community performance within a species guild when different species complement each other in their use of the available niche, such as through resource partitioning. However, species in one guild of organisms may act as resources for another such that the diversity in one guild alters the realized niche for species in another. Yet, it remains largely untested as to whether diversity in one guild of organisms influences species complementarity in another.The productivity and diversity in plant and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal communities can be positively associated with each other through their typically mutualistic exchange of resources. Here, we utilized these two interacting species guilds to determine whether greater diversity in one influences species complementarity in the other. This was performed by creating monocultures and a mixture of a grass, forb and legume in a full factorial design with monocultures and a mixture of fourAMfungi.The presence ofAMfungi reduced differences in the performance among plant species and greater diversity of fungi generally improved plant productivity over the average of the fungal monocultures. However, plant species complementarity was not greatest with a higher diversity of fungi and was only positive with a particular fungal monoculture.AMfungal abundance was not affected by plant diversity, but was greatly reduced in the grass monoculture compared to the other plant communities. Variation in fungal complementarity among plant communities was low overall and was little influenced by plant diversity.Synthesis. Using a model plant‐mycorrhizal system, our results suggest that the composition rather than the diversity of species within one guild may be more influential in determining how species function within an associated species guild. However, our model system does not represent a broad gradient of diversity in either plant or fungal communities and only assesses the initial growth phase. Nonetheless, our results highlight that changes in species compositions in one species guild can affect the functioning of species diversity in another.
Fertility treatments and adverse perinatal outcomes in a population‐based sampling of births in Florida, Maryland, and Utah: a cross‐sectional study
Authors: Stanford JB , Simonsen SE , Baksh L 
Published: July 2015

ObjectiveTo investigate perinatal outcomes associated with fertility treatments, including assisted reproductive technology (ART), intrauterine insemination with ovulation stimulation (IUI), and ovulation stimulation alone (OS).DesignPopulation‐representative cross‐sectional survey of women with live births, 2004–2008.SettingFlorida, Maryland, and Utah, USA.Sample21 803 women, weighted to represent 1 022 597 women.MethodsSurvey and birth certificate data were analysed with logistic regression models adjusted for age, education, race, income, and parity, using separate models for singletons and all births. We used two referent groups: (1) women who never used fertility treatment and (2) subfertile women conceiving without treatment.Main outcome measuresPreterm birth (<37 weeks), very preterm birth (<34 weeks), low birthweight (<2500 g), and very low birthweight (<1500 g).ResultsReferent group 1: In singletons, ART was associated with preterm birth (OR 3.28; 95% CI 1.74, 6.20) and low birthweight (OR 2.91; 95% CI 1.99, 4.26). OS was also associated with low birthweight (OR 1.62; 95% CI 1.19, 2.19). Including all births, treatment was associated with preterm birth and low birthweight: ART (OR 6.21; 95% CI 4.21, 9.16 and OR 6.51; 95% CI 4.85, 8.73); IUI (OR 2.10; 95% CI 1.24, 3.56 and OR 2.41; 95% CI 1.54, 3.76); OS (OR 1.40; 95% CI 1.01, 1.94 and OR 2.10; 95% CI 1.60, 2.75), respectively. Referent group 2: ART was associated with both outcomes in all births, but not singletons.ConclusionsPreterm birth and low birthweight associated with fertility treatments are largely attributable to multiple gestation, but are also related to underlying subfertility.Tweetable abstractPreterm birth is associated with subfertility, and with fertility treatments through multiple gestation.
Effects of Changes in Diabetes Pay‐for‐Performance Incentive Designs on Patient Risk Selection
Authors: Hsieh Hui‐Min , Tsai Shu‐Ling , Mau Lih‐Wen , Chiu Herng‐Chia 
Published: July 2015

ObjectiveTaiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) Program implemented a Diabetes Pay‐for‐Performance Program (P4P) based on process‐of‐care measures in 2001. In late 2006, that P4P program was reformed to also include achievement of intermediate health outcomes. This study examined how the change in design affected patient risk selection.Designs/Study PopulationsStudy populations were identified from a 2002 to 2003 period (Phase 1) and a 2007 to 2008 period (Phase 2), spanning pre‐ and postimplementation of reforms in the P4P incentive design. Phase 1 had 74,529 newly enrolled P4P patients and 215,572 non‐P4P patients, and Phase 2 had 76,901 newly enrolled P4P patients and 299,573 non‐P4P patients. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the effect of changes in design on P4P patient selection.Principal FindingsPatients with greater disease severity and comorbidity were more likely to be excluded from the P4P program in both phases. Furthermore, the additional financial incentive for patients' intermediate outcomes moderately worsened patient risk selection.ConclusionsPolicy makers need to carefully monitor the care of the diabetes patients with more severe and complex disease statuses after the changes of P4P financial incentive design.
Discussion of “Does the Identity of Engagement Partner Matter? An Analysis of Audit Partner Reporting Decisions”
Authors: Kinney William R. 
Published: July 2015

AbstractThe authors of this provocative study apply commonly used audit quality surrogate measures to a large and unique set of financial and other data on statutory audits of small private companies in Sweden. The paper has received unparalleled attention by the financial press and the PCAOB for its presumed support for regulatory intervention in standards for U.S. public company audits. In this Discussant Comment, I review the paper's content, analyze its predictive validity, and discuss its multiple implications plus, following Conference instructions, I provide constructive suggestions for improvements. Based on predictive validity analysis, I conclude that engagement partner assignment strategy is an important and acknowledged omitted variable that affects the study's internal validity via both the independent variable (partner's prior performance measure) and the dependent variable (borrower's cost of debt capital). The omission also affects construct validities and, if audit firms are applying a plausible assignment strategy, then interpretation of the study's main results would be reversed. Finally, the lack of a standards intervention noted by the authors and the extreme size and other differences between audits of Swedish private companies and U.S. public companies impair external validity and generalization to the U.S. intervention. As to improvements, I suggest that the authors (i) ask Swedish lenders to validate their presumed use of partner performance ratings in determining a borrower's interest rate, and (ii) ask Swedish Big 4 audit firms to provide a few internal partner performance ratings for comparison with the external performance measures used in the study. This two‐pronged, multimethod approach might confirm or deny critical assumptions underlying the present study and may substantively inform standards setters, evidence‐based standards, and fellow researchers about the validity of commonly applied surrogates for audit quality and the study's stated conclusion.