Designing a medicalized wellness service: balancing hospitality and hospital features

Medicalized environments around the world are challenged with making trade-offs between the clinical nature of the service and the customer service elements needed to deliver the service. Many medicalized wellness services have yet to achieve an effective balance between their hospitality and hospital features to generate loyalty (repeat patronage). We present a case study of a blood service organization in a developed country that, at the time of data collection (2011), was working to resolve tension between clinical goals and expectations of Millennial donors. The results identified seven principles: ‘control over booking and service interactions’; ‘build social connections’; ‘offer a luxury, indulgent experience’; ‘build relationship with customer beyond the “medical” procedure’. The three remaining principles related to hospital-like features: ‘hide the functional/medical features of the service experience’; ‘demystify the “hidden” processes’; ‘ability for the physical service environment to be modified by the customer’.     

Flat versus spatially variable tolling: A case study in Fresno,California

A number of studies have examined the feasibility of temporal variations in tolls. However, spatial variation in tolls has not received much attention, especially in practice. Spatial variation could effectively reduce congestion and increase profits. To fill this gap, we conduct an empirical application on 3 different road segments using the Fresno, California's transportation planning model. Our modeling results in a number of interesting insights. First, the derived optimal flat toll values are very close to the average variable tolls, but the effects of applying spatially variable tolls on improving total revenues (from 4% to 24%) and total improved travel time (from 18% to 1083%) measures are significant. Second, spatially variable tolls are more effective, but more costly, particularly for arterials, which can be attributed to the higher number of access points for arterials. Third, spatial variations in tolls are more effective for peak hours than for off-peak hours and for social optimization than for profit maximization. Fourth, to improve throughputs for both profit maximization and social optimization, the prevalent tolling pattern along a corridor induces lower final volumes per capacity (V/Cs) (after pricing) at the mainline flow sections and relatively higher final V/Cs at the entrance and exit (boundary) points. Finally, optimal toll patterns are not dependent on vehicle miles traveled (VMTs) or volumes but, rather, are related to targeted V/Cs. Therefore, flow-dependent charges along a corridor should be based on V/Cs rather than on volumes or VMTs.     

基于CFD的羧化釜搅拌改造设计

通过改变搅拌桨形状,对8立方液固两相体系的羧化釜进行了搅拌流场、固含率进行模拟,从流体力学角度对羧化釜进行了优化。将模拟优化结果用于实际工业生产中,结果表明:计算流体力学(CFD)模拟优化后的羧化釜能够改善釜内流体流动情况,从而对反应产生影响,使原料转化率提高了5.6个百分点。     

企业英文简介语料对比研究——以宁波模具行业企业为例

在搜集宁波模具企业中英文简介的基础上,对比了国外模具企业简介,从宁波模具企业简介涵盖的主要内容特点、英文简介的主要错误、国外模具企业简介相对宁波模具企业简介的不同侧重点等方面进行了深入的分析,并在此基础上提出了宁波模具企业英文简介改进建议.     

Optimal order display in limit order markets with liquidity competition

Order display is associated with benefits and costs. Benefits arise from increased execution-priority, while costs are due to adverse market impact. We analyze a structural model of optimal order placement that captures trade-off between the costs and benefits of order display. For a benchmark model of pure liquidity competition, we give a closed-form solution for optimal display sizes. We show that competition in liquidity supply incentivizes the use of hidden orders to prevent losses due to over-bidding. Thus, because aggressive liquidity competition is more prevalent in liquid stocks, our model predicts that the proportion of hidden liquidity is higher in liquid markets. Our theoretical considerations ares supported by an empirical analysis using high-frequency order-message data from NASDAQ. We find that there are no benefits in hiding orders in il-liquid stocks, whereas the performance gains can be significant in liquid stocks.     

Application of cultural tourist typology in a gaming destination – Macao

The aim of the paper is to study how cultural tourist typologies apply in an urban gaming destination and how such typologies could aid in the segmentation and profiling of this niche tourist market. Results showed that there exists a certain demand for cultural tourism in Macao and there are different ways to distinguish between cultural and non-cultural tourists, as well as to identify sub-groups of cultural tourists. The three approaches used to distinguish between the two cohorts came up with different percentages of cultural tourists within the total tourist sample. Other findings showed significant differences in trip characteristics and information search behaviour between the two cohorts and among sub-groups of cultural tourists. Such information could be used for profiling purposes. The resulting profiles have implications on marketing and promotion strategies which should not focus only on tourists' primary motives but should attempt to induce or arouse their secondary interests. The methodology could be applied to other destinations hoping to develop cultural tourism.     

Online Customer Experience and Its Relationship to Repurchase Intention: An Empirical Case of Online Travel Agencies in China

The study reported here examines the relationship between flow experience and repurchase intention by focusing on the joint mediating effects of loyalty. Data were taken from a survey of shopping experiences, at online travel websites, of 325 customers in China. The results show that flow experience has a significant effect on repurchase attention. Moreover, interactive speed, skill, challenge, perceived control, telepresence, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use are positively related to flow experience. Lastly, the findings show that loyalty, to some extent, acts as a mediator between flow experience and repurchase attention.     

Do Customers Affect the Value Relevance of Sustainability Reporting? Empirical Evidence on Stakeholder Interdependence

In spite of the strategic importance of sustainability reporting in current business practice and the resulting increase in research on its value relevance, studies accounting for stakeholder interdependence are scarce. On the basis of the instrumental stakeholder theory, we investigate whether customers have an impact on the value relevance of sustainability reporting. Using a sample of US listed firms, we show that the value relevance of sustainability reporting is affected by customer profile differences, thereby confirming customer–shareholder interdependence. However, customer profile effects are only predominant if firms' profitability levels are low and disappear as profitability increases. Overall, our findings provide a more nuanced understanding of the value relevance of sustainability reporting. Therefore, we offer managers fine‐grained guidance for value relevant sustainability reporting. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

基于多情景的景区自然灾害风险评价方法研究——以九寨沟树正寨为例

文章采用参与式地理信息系统(PGIS)技术,模拟景区未来典型自然灾害风险情景,建立典型致灾因子强度与灾害风险情景对应关系;对旅游资源、旅游设施进行分类,分析游客居民景区内时空分布特征,建立致灾因子强度与景区承载体的脆弱性对应关系;最后通过拟合风险曲线,建立景区综合灾损模型并预测出多情景年均损失。综合景区利益相关方可接受风险,基于灾损和防灾成本进行风险决策。案例研究以九寨沟树正景群为例,模拟九寨沟在分别遭遇20、50、100、200、500、1000年一遇6种暴雨情景下引发泥石流的流速、流量和冲击力,建立6种情景泥石流与树正景群脆弱性关系;预测6种情景潜在损失和人员伤亡;结合可接受风险,提出九寨沟树正寨未来自然灾害防灾降险措施。     

Corporate Cash Holding in Asia

In this paper, we analyze the determinants of corporate saving in the form of changes in cash holdings for 11 Asian economies using firm‐level data from the Oriana Database for the 2002–2011 period. We find some evidence that cash flow has a positive impact on the change in cash holdings (i.e. that the cash flow sensitivity of cash is positive) and that the positive impact of cash flow on the change in cash holdings is larger and more significant in the case of smaller and presumably more constrained firms than in the case of larger and presumably less constrained firms in both developed and developing economies. Both of these findings corroborate the importance of financial constraints in Asian firms. In addition, we find that the cash flow sensitivity of cash declined after the global financial crisis and that Tobin's q has a positive impact on the change in cash holdings, especially in the case of larger and presumably unconstrained firms.