bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Grey clustering evaluation based on triangular whitenization weight function of enterprise's management innovation performance
Authors: Li Tianbo , Qi Ershi , Huang Yimin 
Published: November 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to attempt to establish a grey clustering evaluation model of center-point triangular whitenization weight function to measure the performance of enterprise's management innovation (MI). The author intends to provide some theory basis and tool support for enterprise's managers and other researchers who are engaged in performance measuring.Design/methodology/approach– The study uses questionnaire survey and expert interviews to determine the index weight of enterprise's MI performance (MIP), classifies the grey clusters based on center-point triangular whitenization weight function, calculates the membership of performance criteria and ranks the performance level of all dimensions.Findings– The survey data of case company shows that production performance is in superior level, employee and society influence performance are in satisfied level, finance and market performance are in intermediate level, total MIP is in satisfied level.Practical implications– MI is the fundamental way to keep enterprise's core competitiveness and achieve its strategic objectives. Performance is an effective tool to measure the MI. Therefore, based on the practices of MI in China, the study systematically clarifies the performance level of MI from five dimensions.Originality/value– The evaluation index of enterprise's MIP is built with five dimensions which contain production, market, finance, employee and social influence. The grey clustering evaluation model based on triangular whitenization weight function is applied to assess the performance criteria. This paper presents a new research idea for enterprise's performance evaluation.
Grey dominance variable precision rough set model based on grey dominance relationship
Authors: Liu Yong , Qian Wu-yong , Forrest Jeffrey 
Published: November 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to construct a novel grey dominance variable precision rough model.

Design/methodology/approach
– To deal with the problems that the attribute values of the decision-making object are often not exact numbers but interval grey numbers, and the decision-making attributes satisfy a certain preference relationship in the decision-making information because of the complexity and uncertainty of the real world, the authors take advantage of the theoretical thinking of the grey systems, dominance rough set theory and variable precision rough set theory, and construct a novel dominance variable precision rough set model. On the basis of the thinking logic of grey systems, the authors first define the concepts of balance degree, dominance degree and inferior degree, and then the grey dominance relationship based on the comparison of interval grey numbers. Then the authors use the grey dominance relationship to substitute for the indiscernibility relationship of the variable precision rough set so that the grey dominance variable precision rough model is naturally utilized to reduce the system's attributes in order to derive the needed decision rules. At the end, the authors use a decision-making example of the radar target selection to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the novel model.

Findings
– The results show that the proposed model possesses certain fault tolerance ability and can well-realize decision rule extraction and knowledge discovery out of a given incomplete information system.

Practical implications
– The method exposed in the paper can be used to deal with the decision-making problems with the grey information, preference information and noise data.

Originality/value
– The paper succeeds in realizing both the grey decision-making information with preference information and noise data and the extraction of decision-making rules.
The portfolio models of contained grey profit under uncertainty
Authors: Yan Xi-zu , Song Zhong-min 
Published: November 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to establish the portfolio models of contained grey profit under uncertainty, and the results are applied to solve uncertain investment problem.

Design/methodology/approach
– In investment problems, uncertainties may exist in model parameters and input data. For the investment problems contained grey profit and incomplete information about natural world state, according to the portfolio theory, the grey systems theory and the uncertainty decision theory, the paper puts forward portfolio models and the methods.

Findings
– Traditional uncertainty decision is researched for incomplete information about natural world state, in reality, investment problems are not only uncertain state information, but income are uncertain.

Practical implications
– Because the investment problems have been widely used in economic analysis, decision analysis and economic management, examples are provided at the end to verify its feasibility.

Originality/value
– The paper successfully combined the portfolio theory, the gray system theory and uncertainty decision theory and new uncertainty investment decision-making models and methods are presented.
Banking the unbanked: the Mzansi intervention in South Africa
Authors: Kostov Philip , Arun Thankom , Annim Samuel 
Published: November 2014

Purpose– This paper aims to understand household’s latent behaviour decision-making in accessing financial services. In this analysis, the determinants of the choice of the pre-entry Mzansi account by consumers in South Africa is looked at.Design/methodology/approach– In this study, 102 variables, grouped in the following categories: basic literacy, understanding financial terms, targets for financial advice, desired financial education and financial perception. Using a computationally efficient variable selection algorithm, variables that can satisfactorily explain the choice of a Mzansi account were studied.Findings– The Mzansi intervention is appealing to individuals with basic but insufficient financial education. Aspirations seem to be very influential in revealing the choice of financial services, and, to this end, Mzansi is perceived as a pre-entry account not meeting the aspirations of individuals aiming to climb up the financial services ladder. It was found that Mzansi holders view the account mainly as a vehicle for receiving payments, but, on the other hand, are debt-averse and inclined to save. Hence, although there is at present no concrete evidence that the Mzansi intervention increases access to finance via diversification (i.e. by recruiting customers into higher-level accounts and services), this analysis shows that this is very likely to be the case.Originality/value– The issue of demand-side constraints on access to finance have been largely been ignored in the theoretical and empirical literature. This paper undertakes some preliminary steps in addressing this gap.
Augmented reality and motion capture apparel e-shopping values and usage intention
Authors: M. Kang Ju-Young 
Published: November 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to examine: whether monetary, convenience, emotional, and social values were related to utilitarian and hedonic performance expectancies, which were then related to usage intention of augmented reality and motion capture (ARMC) e-shopping via a webcam and whether ego involvement and cognitive effort moderated the links between performance expectancies and usage intention.

Design/methodology/approach
– The proposed model was based on Prospect Theory and the Value-Attitude-Behavior hierarchy consumer decision model. The participants were US online apparel shoppers (n=806) and were drawn from an online consumer panel. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the proposed model and research hypotheses.

Findings
– This study identified that utilitarian performance expectancy was positively related to usage intention. However, hedonic performance expectancy was not positively related to usage intention. Monetary, convenience, emotional, and social values had an indirect influence on usage intention, mediated by utilitarian performance expectancy. Ego involvement and cognitive effort moderated the link between utilitarian performance expectancy and usage intention. Managerial implications were discussed.

Originality/value
– The results not only verify theoretical conceptions regarding usage intention of ARMC e-shopping but also provide beneficial insights into the implementation and development of ARMC e-shopping applications that use webcams and motion capture technology.
Research on the relationship between clothing pressure developed by women's basketball sports bra and heart rate variation indexes
Authors: Yan Yuxiu , Gao Jie , Jin Zimin , Tao Jianwei 
Published: November 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between dynamic clothing pressure of women's sports bras and heart rate variation indexes during playing basketball.

Design/methodology/approach
– Totally, 35 healthy females aged between 20 and 24 were employed as subjects. Their heart rate variability (HRV) data and the clothing pressure values when wearing sports bras of different bust sizes during playing basketball were measured using Polar RS800CX heart rate monitor and Flexi Force201 thin film type pressure sensor with MFF series pressure test system. Their subjective comfort evaluations were conducted by five-point Likert scale. Grey correlation analysis is used to determine the correlation degree of heart rate variation indexes and subjective comfort evaluations to identify the indexes preferably associated with subjective comfort. Multiple regression analysis is applied to investigate multiple correlations between pressure of test points and the indexes selected above.

Findings
– Combined subjective comfort evaluation with objective HRV evaluation the heart rate variation indexes preferably associated with subjective comfort of these bras were identified, which includes mHR, mRR, RMSSD, pNN50. By the relationship between dynamic clothing pressure and the indexes above, this study finds that the clothing pressure of the chest area during basketball exercise should be controlled in the range of 2.01-4.74 kPa.

Research limitations/implications
– The subjects of different body type should be taken into account. Further, the mathematic models from this study show low R2-value so the models should be provided more reliable prediction.

Originality/value
– The present study indicates that there is an inevitable connection between heart rate variation indexes and subjective comfort of basketball sports bras and creatively points out that heart rate variation indexes can partly assess the comfortable clothing pressure. The study can offer theoretical basis for sports apparel industry to develop the comfortable basketball sports bra.
Heterogeneous transfer learning for activity recognition using heuristic search techniques
Authors: Dillon Feuz Kyle , J. Cook Diane 
Published: November 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to study heterogeneous transfer learning for activity recognition using heuristic search techniques. Many pervasive computing applications require information about the activities currently being performed, but activity recognition algorithms typically require substantial amounts of labeled training data for each setting. One solution to this problem is to leverage transfer learning techniques to reuse available labeled data in new situations.

Design/methodology/approach
– This paper introduces three novel heterogeneous transfer learning techniques that reverse the typical transfer model and map the target feature space to the source feature space and apply them to activity recognition in a smart apartment. This paper evaluates the techniques on data from 18 different smart apartments located in an assisted-care facility and compares the results against several baselines.

Findings
– The three transfer learning techniques are all able to outperform the baseline comparisons in several situations. Furthermore, the techniques are successfully used in an ensemble approach to achieve even higher levels of accuracy.

Originality/value
– The techniques in this paper represent a considerable step forward in heterogeneous transfer learning by removing the need to rely on instance – instance or feature – feature co-occurrence data.
Eco-Innovation – does additional engagement lead to additional rewards?
Authors: Doran Justin , Ryan Geraldine 
Published: November 2014

Purpose
– Eco-innovation is any form of product, process or organisational innovation that contributes towards sustainable development. Firms can eco-innovate in a variety of ways. The purpose of this paper is to identify nine different eco-innovation activities – including such items as reducing material use per unit of output, reducing energy use per unit of output, reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) “footprint” – and the authors ask whether these act as substitutes or complements to one another.

Design/methodology/approach
– Eco-innovation is any form of product, process or organisational innovation that contributes towards sustainable development. Firms can eco-innovate in a variety of ways. In this paper the authors identify nine different eco-innovation activities – including such items as reducing material use per unit of output, reducing energy use per unit of output, reducing CO2 “footprint” – and the authors ask whether these act as substitutes or complements to one another.

Findings
– Introducing only one eco-innovation activity has little payoff (in terms of turnover per worker) with only those firms who reduce their CO2 “footprint” having higher levels of turnover per worker. When introducing more than one eco-innovation activity the authors find that certain eco-innovation activities complement one another (e.g. reducing material use within the firm at the same time as improving the ability to recycle the product after use) others act as substitutes (e.g. reducing material use within the firm at the same time as recycling waste, water or materials within the firm).

Practical implications
– The results suggest that firms can maximise their productive capacity by considering specific combinations of eco-innovation. This suggests that firms should plan to introduce eco-innovation which act as complements, thereby, boosting productivity. It also suggests that eco-innovation stimuli, introduced by policy makers, should be targeted at complementary eco-innovations.

Originality/value
– The paper analyses whether eco-innovations act as complements or substitutes. While a number of studies have analysed the importance of eco-innovation for firm performance, few have assessed the extent to which diverse types of eco-innovation interact with each other to complement or substitute for one another.
Production and scale efficiency of maize farming households in South-Western Nigeria
Authors: Karimov Aziz , Amoke Awotide Bola , Timothy Amos Taiwo 
Published: November 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to estimate production and scale efficiency of maize producing farms in South-Western Nigeria.

Design/methodology/approach
– This study is based on a semi-parametric approach and uses a combination of econometrics and linear programming to build two stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model.

Findings
– Model findings shows existence of production and scale inefficiencies in maize production. The study concludes that there is still room for efficiency improvements in the existence of the current maize production technology. It also finds several socio-economic variables such as, off-farm work, education, extension services and credit, which positively impact on technical efficiency of farm households.

Practical implications
– Efficiency indicators could be used to monitor resource use efficiency in crop production by local government.

Social implications
– Efficiency improvements will increase maize production in the country which in turn reduce social unrest and food insecurity.

Originality/value
– This study is one of the first which has employed DEA approach to analyze maize productivity and pioneer in using non-traditional bootstrapping approach to obtain robust efficiency scores in the case of Nigeria.
Analysis of automobile repeat-purchase behaviour on CRM
Authors: Kim Juyoung , Suk Kim Myung 
Published: November 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to suggest a method of selecting efficient customer service programmes and of providing relevant customer information to dealers, based on the analysis of repeat-purchase behaviour data in the automobile industry.

Design/methodology/approach
– A recurrent event model is proposed and employed to determine which variables affect repurchasing behaviour in consumers' repurchase cycles. Unlike the conventional recurrent event model, the proposed model uses common variables for all strata, as well as stratum-specific variables.

Findings
– Empirical results show that age, price difference, change in vehicle type, and marketing promotion affect the likelihood of repeat purchase. VIP service centres and repair services are effective marketing tools, and dealers should pay more attention to existing customers having certain characteristics, depending on prior purchase behaviour.

Practical implications
– Though many customer service programmes are devised and implemented at great cost, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) data reveal that classic car-care services are the most essential. CRM can provide dealers with essential customer information that enables real purchases.

Originality/value
– Collecting primary data on automobile purchase behaviour and customer service usage is difficult, and therefore, customer behaviour strategy is often formulated using basic principles alone. The paper proposes a method to construct a service strategy and formulate deal guidelines based on CRM data and statistical modelling.
ICT service providers strategies and customer migration
Authors: Lee Sang-Gun , Trimi Silvana , Yang Chang-Gyu 
Published: November 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate how ICT service providers’ strategies affect customer migration.

Design/methodology/approach
– Using a simulation approach and the agent-based model, this research explores how an incremental technology affects customer migration and changes the market structure.

Findings
– The authors found that a strategy of disruptive technology innovation not only helps a follower company increase its market share, but it also completely disrupts the market.

Originality/value
– This study investigates customer migration patterns in the saturated mobile telecommunication market based on service providers’ strategies.
Service convergence and service integration in medical tourism
Authors: Wernz Christian , Thakur Wernz Pooja , Phusavat Kongkiti 
Published: November 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to introduce and discuss the concepts of service convergence and service integration, illustrate them in the context of the medical tourism industry, and link them to factors that contributed to the success of a medical tourism firm.

Design/methodology/approach
– The basis for the conceptual development of service convergence and service integration is an in-depth case study of Bumrungrad International Hospital (BIH) in Thailand. Based on semi-structured interviews and archival data, BIH's business model is analyzed and factors are identified that led to its success in the industry.

Findings
– BIH's success can be attributed to nine key initiatives that enhanced customer focus, operational efficiency, and service quality. These initiatives supported BIH's twofold business model of product differentiation and globally competitive prices. The firm's activities led to the integration of medical and hospitality services resulting in a new, enhanced product. Competitors adopted BIH's service integration approach, which started the service convergence trend in the medical tourism industry.

Research limitations/implications
– The conceptual foundations for service convergence and service integration are laid in this paper and can serve as the basis for future research.

Practical implications
– Insights from BIH's business model can guide firms in medical tourism and related industries on how to innovate and how to successfully implement their service products.

Originality/value
– This paper introduces the term service convergence and discusses its mechanisms. Furthermore, it identifies success factors of a leading firm in the medical tourism industry and links them to service integration.
The long run industrial growth of Veracruz state, 1955-2008
Authors: Brock Gregory J. 
Published: November 2014

Purpose
– Has the Mexican inter-regional growth and convergence experience also occurred within single regions? Using the important southern region of Veracruz, the purpose of this paper is to examine this question over a 48-year period within a single Mexican state.

Design/methodology/approach
– Growth is examined using a standard two input stochastic production function (SPF) that creates a measure of technical efficiency. Convergence is measured using a convergence equation from the literature but which also included the results from the SPF analysis to incorporate not only initial levels of inputs but also the ability of a municipio to utilize these inputs. Data collection in Mexico and online included a long run database of 149 municipios in Veracruz from 1960 thru 2008.

Findings
– A stochastic Cobb-Douglas technology is found to fit the long run growth of Veracruz province well. In the 1960s, 2000s and the long run (1960-2008), weak evidence for the municipios in Veracruz appear to be converging with a relatively higher level of technical efficiency resulting in slower growth of industrial labor productivity is found. Some very recent improvement in technical efficiency may be the result of institutional as well as economic reforms finally allowing an exiting of inefficient firms that has kept the levels of municipio industrial technical efficiency stagnant for decades at about 70 percent.

Research limitations/implications
– Data were limited to 149 municipios because of the need to track long run trends. Data were also limited by the need to use what was available in 1960 in a direct comparison with 2008. The design of the study was to use the technical efficiency index as a proxy for much of the missing data on institutions in the historic period. Panel data were used because the economic census is not done every year plus the turmoil in the Mexican economy in the 1980s thru the end of the 1990s make imputation of missing years at the local level quite difficult.

Practical implications
– The paper provides a baseline to analyze the long run intra-regional economic growth of other Mexican states which have a large number of municipios. It begins the exciting possibility of looking at Mexican long run growth from the municipio level which has historically played an important role in Mexico.

Originality/value
– This is the first study to examine long run growth within a Mexican state at the municipio level using both the production function and convergence literature. Results suggest several avenues for further research inside Veracruz and across Mexico.