Relationship Quality and Performance Outcomes: Achieving a Sustainable Competitive Advantage

As firms strive to develop a sustainable competitive advantage, the relationships formed among supply chain parties become a critical consideration. Firms seek to establish relationships that can provide the desired level of performance and competitiveness. Relationship quality provides a global measure of buyer–supplier relationships and can be used to assess the types of relationships a firm has within its supply chain. This research examines the impact of relationship quality on supply chain operational performance and satisfaction with strategic performance while considering both buyer and supplier perspectives and collaborative and arm’s length types of relationships.     

The impact of using kiosk on enterprise systems in service industry

The hospitality industry services many types of travellers. Each of them needs to be analysed differently in order to accurately determine their respective service quality attributes and customer delight. The effective and efficient enterprise information systems (EISs) play a significant role in traveller’s experience and in the competitive advantages that hotels can gain. For this study, self-service kiosks and guest service agents as part of hotel’s EISs are used to investigate the impact each has on the experience of business and leisure travellers. This study provides empirical results that further investigate how to improve the service quality for both types of travellers during the registration process. This process is the first physical interaction between the travellers and the hotel. Any problem in registering would generate a long-lasting negative first impression on the travellers, thus diminishing the customer delight. In the light of our findings, this study will contribute to the effective and efficient design of self-service kiosk systems, hotel’s EISs, and improved front office management to better accommodate the specific needs of both types of travellers.     

An introduction: the challenges of the Chinese electricity industry and its reform

This introduction is to highlight comprehensively the Chinese electricity industry for issues related to the institutional reform, capacity growth, pricing regime, technology development, supply structure and new investment in upgrading electric power grids. Through reviews of statistics and documentaries, we provide a generally updated understanding of the current development and reform of China’s electric power industry, which is one strategic focus of the Chinese Government for its further reform in the energy sector.     

Simulating Ruin Probabilities for a Class of Semimartingales by Importance Sampling Methods

We consider the problem of finding the probability of ruin when the risk process is assumed to be a special semimartingale with absolutely continuous characteristics. We show how the generalized Girsanov theorem can be used in connection with Monte Carlo simulation to obtain estimates of the ruin probabilities. It is shown by both analytical and numerical examples that these methods can be significantly better than ordinary simulations provided the new measure is chosen with some care.     

Stock market,capital flow and output: some analytical and policy perspectives

The article will theoretically examine how financial opening up can influence the real sector under alternative exchange rate regimes. We will show that private capital flows can produce favourable macroeconomic outcomes through an adjustment in stock market valuation and wealth effect induced by a change in asset prices. What we choose for analytical purpose is an effective demand framework, which can apply to a large class of emerging market economies.     

《儿童文学》课程教学如何体现“教学做一体化”

儿童文学课程教学,要适应教育改革与发展的需要,必须改变传统的纯理论的讲授方法,采取"教学做"一体化的新的教学模式,将理论与实践结合起来、作品与技能结合起来、训练与实用结合起来、校内实训和校外实训结合起来,才能把儿童文学作品演化为实用的教师技能。     

城市社区业主委员会发展困境与对策

随着我国经济发展和社会管理的复杂化,多元主体、社区治理是现代社会基层管理的必然方向,业主委员会这一公民自治组织将成为重要的社会互动载体。本文通过梳理社区自治理论及公共治理理论,描述社区业主委员会发展现状并分析其困境,尝试提出突破业主委员会发展瓶颈的对策建议。     

Healthcare-related characteristics of low vs normal folate levels among women of child-bearing age

Abstract

Objective:

Despite the institution of mandatory folic acid fortification in the US, folate deficiencies still occur and are associated with an increased risk of several conditions. Since little is known regarding the relationship between folate status and other clinical, demographic, and healthcare-related characteristics, the objective of the study was to compare healthcare-related characteristics among US child-bearing age women with low vs normal red blood cell (RBC) folate levels.

Research design and methods:

Data from the 2003–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were used to conduct a retrospective cohort study. Women (aged 18–45 when surveyed) were categorized in two cohorts for comparison: normal RBC folate level (≥140?ng/ml, NFL) and low RBC folate level (<140?ng/ml, LFL).

Results:

Of the 2816 subjects, 5.9% were assigned to the LFL cohort and were significantly younger (28 vs 30 years, p?=?0.01); a greater proportion were 18–25 years old (55.7% vs 39.9%, p?<?0.001) or African-American (55.1% vs 22.3%, p?<?0.01). A lower proportion of LFL women were insured (67.3% vs 75.5%, p?=?0.01) with low rates of private insurance (39.5% vs 53.1%, p?<?0.01), while Medicaid/SCHIP coverage was similar (16.8% vs 15.1%, p?=?0.56). Predictors of low folate levels included aged 36–45 years (OR: 2.14 [95% CI: 1.04, 4.39]) and never being married (2.65 [1.34, 5.24]), while a household income ≥ $75,000 reduced the likelihood of having low folate levels (0.20 [0.06, 0.73]).

Limitations:

The proportion of women with low folate levels was small, with the sample size limiting the ability to adjust for other factors during analysis. Medical histories were based on patient interviews and are subject to recall bias.

Conclusion:

LFL women are younger and have low rates of private insurance coverage compared to women with normal folate levels. Differences in age, marital status, and household income are associated with folate status.     

Hotel guests’ perceptions of environmental friendly practices in social media

Despite hotels’ managers spend substantial time and money on environmental initiatives; they are not sure whether their guests perceive their green efforts appropriately. The purpose of this study is to analyze guests’ perceptions of hotels’ environmental practices expressed through social media. Main results suggest that even though customers perceive green efforts regarding six items: Energy, Water, Purchasing, Waste, Site and Education & Innovation, they do not discern hotels' level of environmental commitment. Moreover, guests' perceptions of hotel efforts in environmentally friendly practices do not significantly differ by the mode of travel nor by the reviewer's experience in travel platforms. A relevant implication is that the communication about environmentally friendly practices needs to be redesigned and intensified by hotel managers in order to take advantage of these efforts.     

基于Krashen监察模式的公安英语口语教学改革研究

为积极响应教育部加强大学英语教学改革的号召,进一步加快公安院校行业英语口语教学的改革步伐以提升公安院校学生听说能力,以Krashen监察模式理论为研究视角深入剖析公安英语教学的现状,从教改目标、思路及实施方法三方面论述了进行公安英语口语教学改革的可行性和实效性。