Information systems and technology sourcing strategies of e-Retailers for value chain enablement

In the e-Retail industry, a well-designed IT infrastructure is essential in creating a tightly integrated value chain and delivering high quality service. With intense competition for market share and profits, information systems and technology (IST) sourcing decisions are becoming increasingly important to e-Retail firms to support continued growth and market responsiveness. Drawing on the contingency theory, we examine organizational and environmental factors that influence an e-Retailer's IST sourcing strategy of make versus buy in enabling its value chain activities, and we also look at firm-level performance impacts of IST sourcing decisions that involve bundling across value chain activities. We test the proposed model and hypotheses using a panel data set of 307 firms over the period of 2006–2010. The results show that firms that make transformative IT investments tend to source a smaller portion of IST for their e-Retail value chain activities than firms that pursue automate or informate as their strategic role for IT investment. Capabilities are positively associated with IST sourcing. Firms experienced in e-Retail are more likely to build rather than buy their IST. In addition, we find mimicking behavior for IST sourcing among firms in the same merchandizer category. We find that IT strategic role is strongly associated with growth metric, whereas sourcing decisions predominantly impact operational performance measures. There is partial evidence that alignment between IT strategic role and IST sourcing decisions results in better performance effects. Moreover, complementary IST sourcing of synergistic marketing and sales activities positively impacts Web sales and conversion rate, but the sourcing combination of logistics, operations, and sales activities is associated with lower Web sales and conversion rate.     

Weekly scheduling models for traveling therapists

This paper presents a series of models that can be used to find weekly schedules for therapists who provide ongoing treatment to patients throughout a geographical region. In all cases, patient-appointment times and visit days are known prior to the beginning of the planning horizon. Variations in the models include single vs. multiple home bases, homogeneous vs. heterogeneous therapists, lunch break requirements, and a nonlinear cost structure for mileage reimbursement and overtime. The single home base and homogeneous therapist cases proved to be easy to solve and so were not thoroughly investigated. This left two cases of interest: the first included only lunch breaks while the second added nonlinear overtime and mileage reimbursement costs. For the first case, 40 data sets were solved, each consisting of either 15 or 20 therapists and between roughly 300 and 540 patient visits over five days. For each instance, we were able to obtain the minimum cost of providing residential healthcare services using a commercial solver. The results showed that CPU time increases more rapidly than total cost as the total number of visits grows. For the second case, which was much more difficult, it was necessary to develop heuristics to find good solutions quickly. Results for 5- through 20-therapist instances are presented and compared to the linear programming relaxation lower bounds. In the first of two parametric analyses, the tradeoff between the number of therapists on staff and the cost of providing service was examined. In the second, a similar tradeoff was explored between cost can the number of home bases used by the therapists.     

Sustainable consumption in China: New trends and research interests

China is currently the largest CO₂ emitter in the world and demonstrates one of the highest levels of energy consumption. The sustainable consumption behavior has increased in China, especially in urban cities. Some clear evidence of this includes food purchasing behavior. Recent studies have also suggested that considering full product information transparency, consumers are willing to pay premium prices for products. With this in mind, sustainable consumption must still be facilitated by related policies, regulations, and tools. This study focuses on sustainable consumption behavior in China and collects and analyzes the literature from the last decade (2007–2017) on the topic. In so doing, it highlights new trends and research topics against the background of circular economy development. The method of systematic review is applied. The review is categorized into several main groups: national policies and regulations, the green awareness of consumers, the definition of related concepts, the barriers between sustainable consumption and the circular economy, and the indicators for circular economy assessment in China. Future research directions are discussed. Furthermore, future challenges are addressed from three perspectives: sustainable consumption facilitating the circular economy, “cradle‐to‐cradle” practices, and the link between the European Union and China. This is a fundamental study in the research domain of sustainable consumption behavior. It provides added value that benefits both academic researchers and decision makers. It also sheds light on the further study of sustainable consumption behavior in China from a macroeconomic perspective.     

我国建筑节能对策研究

随着人民生活水平的逐渐提高,对小区建筑保温要求越来越高,但我国单位建筑面积耗能量比气候条件相近的发达国家要多2倍左右。本文从我国目前民用建筑所面临高耗能的严峻形式出发,阐述建筑节能的必要性。并针对我国建筑发展情况提出切实可行的技术方法,以及针对实施过程中出现的问题提出合理的对策。     

上市公司如何在非理性世界中确定股权回报率

确定股权回报率是进行长期投资决策的关键步骤,但在现实非理性世界中难以直接运用传统财务理论所推荐的资本资产定价模型来确定股权回报率。针对FAR与NEER方法,本文首先探讨这两类方法的理论依据并揭示其本质内涵,然后说明:在非理性世界中,如果上市公司管理者追求公司价值最大化目标,那么就应该基于公司项目的基本风险来确定股权回报率;相反地,如果管理者追求近期股价最大化,那么就应该基于市场投资者的预期来确定股权回报率。     

浅析物流外包

近年来,我国掀起了一股物流热,大大小小的第三方物流公司纷纷成立,许多企业也将物流外包出去,但是有些物流外包的结果并不理想。本文在概述了第三方物流发展状况之后,分析了物流外包的利弊,提醒企业不要盲从,应根据具体情况决定是否进行物流外包。     

数据挖掘技术在客户关系管理(CRM)中的应用

首先介绍当今消费者的购物和消费心理,从而指出在零售业中的CRM应将重点放在哪些方面,最后介绍了DM在零售业中的CRM中的运用,就如何获取客户、客户保持及客户忠诚度方面与DM结合进行了阐述。     

Tripartite consultation: an emergent form of governance shaping employment relations in China

This article examines China's approach to industrial consultation by examining six tripartite bodies at the national, provincial and county levels. It argues that the institutionalisation of tripartitism is consistent with China's overall approach to market reform being characterised by experimentalism, gradualism, dynamism and a gradual softening of party domination. Despite limitations, it is accepted that China is building a transition tripartite system that is bolstering the autonomy and representational capacity of the social partners.     

专业市场的物流配送研究

加强市场物流配送建设是现代专业市场物流发展的必然趋势。通过分析专业市场发展配送的意义和独特优势,提出了发展专业市场物流配送的相应对策和建议。     

港口货流预测分析及软件技术

物流技术随着电子商务的崛起已逐渐成为新经济研究的焦点。随着入世的临近及入世的实现,作为物流中心枢纽的港口,其货（物）流将会发生极大的变化,无论是货种、流向还是货物公司及运输方式、运输始发地等,都会有较大的改变,迫切需要行之有效的预测方法及软件。基于灰色理论的预测方法较传统的统计预测方法有较大的不同,它不需要多数据统计的样本,是解决少数据不确定系统预测的有效方法,对我国新港多,港口统计数据不稳定不全面等情况尤为合适。本预测分析软件运用最新的数据库与界面技术,使得预测快捷、直观、界面友好。