Designing successful temporary loyalty programs: An exploratory study on retailer and country differences

Retailers increasingly adopt temporary loyalty programs (TLPs), in which consumers have limited time, often less than half a year, to save stamps and redeem highly discounted rewards. These programs often run alongside the retailers’ permanent loyalty programs in an attempt to increase customer engagement. Despite the growing popularity of TLPs, the literature on the topic remains limited. We address this gap by looking at the redemption rate, the industry’s primary success indicator, of almost 900 TLPs across a broad set of grocery retailers in 45 countries. We study the effects of four key design characteristics (the duration of the program, the discount offered, the spending requirement before an award can be redeemed, and the reward depth) on the redemption rate, and explore how these effects vary across a broad range of retailer and country characteristics. In doing so, we control for both a retailer’s potential self-selection into running a TLP and the potential endogeneity of the subsequent design choices. We derive a set of actionable results on how to design successful TLPs and show that high redemption rates are not only beneficial for the program operator and reward manufacturer, but also translate into higher sales and profit for the retailer.     

The impact of wearable devices on employee wellness programs: A study of hotel industry workers

Hospitality workplaces are particularly challenging contexts in which to implement wellness initiatives. The present study implemented a technology-based wellness intervention to improve various aspects of employee wellness in contemporary hotel workplaces. The participants were given a wearable device (Fitbit, used here as an innovative tool) in order to monitor their activity levels and sleep patterns over a 14-day period. Additionally, the participants provided researchers with food diaries in separate electronic form. Information regarding job satisfaction, job engagement, organizational citizenship behaviors, and intention to leave was obtained before and after the observation period. The results demonstrate an increase in physical activity, an increase in healthy food consumption, and a reduction in overall caloric intake. Furthermore, positive changes in employee engagement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment were noted. Care should be exercised when implementing such interventions in order to ensure data privacy and positive employee relations.     

移动网络数据中大数据处理的关键技术探索

最近几年以来,我国科技水平持续提升,计算机网络技术也逐渐在各行各业中获得了广泛运用,这也使得信息技术的深度融合发展受到一定的促进,数据规模愈发庞大,在此背景下,开始演变成大数据供不应求的状况。为此,国内陆续推出了一系列相关的管理法规与条例,同时扩大了对大数据的探究创新力度,有效提升了移动通信网络处理数据的速度,这同时促使国内移动通信网络中有关大数据的研究内容更为明晰,由此可知,针对大数据的相关研究具有一定必要性。     

多孔连续斜交框架桥顶进施工过程受力分析

城市道路下穿铁路框架桥顶进施工的关键是合理控制桥梁主体结构的受力。为了对框架桥顶进施工过程进行受力特性分析，采用Midas有限元软件模拟了框架桥在滑板上开始顶进、框架桥重心即将离开滑板、框架桥顶进即将就位三个施工阶段。结果表明，该框架桥的施工过程是安全可靠的，同时结合工程项目实际给出了顶进施工的注意事项。该方法可用来指导类似工程顶进施工过程的受力分析和施工控制。     

Performance management 40 years on: a review. Some key decisions and consequences

This paper reviews the past four decades of experience of performance management (PM). Beginning with a brief history of its international spread and development, a short section on conceptual issues is followed by a strategic analysis of the research thus far. From this analysis is extracted a set of key decisions which must be made for any PM system. Each decision has significant consequences, and none are purely technical (though they may occasionally be represented as such). In many cases difficult trade-offs are inevitable.     

基于社会网络视角的科研合作网络结构及特性分析——以战略性新兴产业领域为例

战略性新兴产业是近几年新出现的研究热点,对其科研合作网络的研究,有助于探究该领域的科研合作现状与发展趋势。基于社会网络分析方法,以中国知网(CNKI)作为数据来源,构建了战略性新兴产业领域作者合作网络、关键词共现网络、作者-关键词耦合网络及机构合作网络,对合作网络的结构及特性等进行了分析。结果表明:战略性新兴产业领域论文合著率基本呈上升趋势,但该领域整体合作仍较为松散,存在较多的小团体;合作网络具有小世界和无标度特性,具有较大影响力的节点作为合作网络的中心,影响着网络内的学术交流和科研工作的开展。     

一种基于量子加密的软件定义网络南向安全防护策略

提出一种以量子加密技术为核心的软件定义网络（Software-defined Network，SDN）的南向安全防护策略，建立了基于量子密钥分发的SDN网络模型并分析了该模型下的身份认证、量子密钥分发和自适应免疫窃听流程。推导出了本策略下窃听攻击强度、用于检测窃听的量子态数目的比例α、系统发现窃听者的概率、密钥分发效率之间的定量关系。通过动态仿真分析确立了不同攻击强度下系统参数α的最优选值区间。SDN控制器可根据该仿真结果，动态地决策系统中α的取值进行自适应免疫密钥分发，实施更为精准的窃听免疫方案。     

贸易争端背景下特朗普政府农业贸易补贴政策研究

美国长期实行农业补贴政策,其中农作物保险、农业风险补贴和价格损失补贴是补贴的主要形式。特朗普政府上台以后,美国同中国等一些国家发生贸易争端,美国农业出口面临关税报复和贸易壁垒的困境。为保持农业稳定发展,特朗普政府在原有农业补贴形式的基础之上新增了农业贸易援助计划,该计划主要包括市场促进项目、食品采购和分配项目、农业贸易促进项目。这些援助计划在稳定农业生产的同时,也扭曲了市场。美国在2019年度的农业补贴可能会超过其对世贸组织承诺的"黄箱"补贴上限,从而导致违反世贸组织规则。如美国长期执行该政策,我国应采取对美施压措施。     

Tick Size and Financial Reporting Quality in Small-Cap Firms: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

Using a natural experiment (the SEC's 2016 Tick Size Pilot Program), we investigate the effects of an increase in tick size on financial reporting quality. The tick size pilot program reduces algorithmic trading (AT) and increases fundamental investors’ information acquisition and trading activities. This in turn increases the scrutiny of managers’ financial reporting choices and reduces their incentives to engage in misreporting. Using a difference-in-differences research design, we find a significant decrease in the magnitude of discretionary accruals, a significant reduction in the likelihood of just meeting or beating analysts’ forecasts, and a marginally significant decrease in restatements for the treated firms in the pilot program. Furthermore, we find that the change in financial reporting quality is concentrated in treated firms experiencing decreases in AT and increases in information acquisition activities. We also find that the mispricing of accruals is significantly lower for treated firms. Taken together, our results suggest that an increase in tick size has a causal effect on firms’ financial reporting quality.     

Policies for managing peak stock of food grains for effective distribution: A case of the Indian food program

The Indian food program has encountered a significant shortfall in storage due to slow expansion of storage facilities in comparison with procurement. The open storage of food grains results in substantial loss and deterioration of quality. While increasing storage capacity is a viable but costly and time consuming option, the adoption of policies for peak storage reduction would go a long way towards effective food grains management. On this background, this study proposes policy adoption for peak storage reduction for effective inventory management. A dynamic simulation model was built by replicating the complex flow process and incorporating the process variability for finding the bottleneck and significant factors. It was found that steep wheat procurement is the critical bottleneck factor for peak storage requirements. Two practical and straightforward, yet effective policies are proposed from the few existing strategies for peak storage reduction owing to the constraints associated with the food program. With the actual data of the food program, reduction in peak stock was estimated for the recommended policies, including the operational cost saving in storage. The practical implications of these policies within the system were also discussed. Through peak reduction, the use of open storage can be significantly reduced, and this leads to better food grains management for effective food distribution.