Buyer–seller relationships of the dental devices industry in Taiwan: perspective of relationship

Purpose: While research in marketing and management has addressed characteristics associated with buyer and seller, relatively little research has been reported on the marketing of relationship benefits and relationship bonding tactics, particularly involving their relationships with customers. Given a dyadic perspective, it can be surmised that gaps in buyer and seller perceptions may well dampen relationships, and will inevitably occur, since a perfect match is highly unlikely between two exchange parties. To enhance relationships, major gaps need therefore to be identified and eliminated. Therefore, the purpose of this study is developing matrices of customer relationship benefits and relationship bonding tactics separately from buyer’s and seller’s perspectives, together with the insights of interrelated propositions.

Methodology: This research subjects chosen for this study consist of those distributors of dental devices, procurement in hospitals, and dentists. Using the grounded theory, four stages of coding analysis are conducted.

Findings: The results indicated that buyers and sellers differed in their perceptions in all field interviews due to their different attitudes toward different benefits. While buyers’ perceived benefits were based on the consideration of confidence and trust in the practical use of purchased medical devices, sellers primarily considered specialized issues of provided services and technologies. Based on this, buyer and seller perspectives were distinguished.

Research Implications: As a self-enclosed system, the medical device industry is difficult to enter for new manufacturers. Therefore, from the perspective of product providers, academic support can increase their product visibility, improve their company’s image, and provide more opportunities to contact new clients. From the perspective of medical institutions, the participation of hospitals and clinics in relationship marketing activities and seminars can raise their prestige and provide more opportunities for gaining new information.

Originality/Value/Contribution: Theoretical contribution of this study is in building matrices of customer relationship benefits and relationship bonding tactics separately from buyer’s and seller’s perspectives, together with the insights of six propositions. These insights shall expose the undisclosed systems of the dental devices industry.     

输电杆倒塌破坏模式分析及安全防护装置研制

为了解决输电杆倒塌事故对电力系统稳定运行造成的影响,保障电力输送,以输电杆为研究对象,研究制造了输电杆安全防护装置。基于输电杆倒塌典型事故分析,理清输电杆倒塌破坏的力学特点,掌握其破坏模式,设计了相应的输电杆安全防护装置结构,并搭建模拟实验平台,验证装置的实用有效性。结果表明：输电杆倒塌破坏的主要模式为异物压覆输电线产生张力,并沿线路作用于输电杆杆体,当超出输电杆的破坏阈值时,就会导致输电杆倒塌破坏;输电杆安全防护装置以牺牲薄弱环节的方式卸载卸荷,准确动作保护输电杆;装置可减少各类灾害对输电杆的损伤和因输电杆倒塌事故造成的损失,提高了抢修效率和电力供给的可靠性。所研制的输电杆安全防护装置具有结构简单、适用范围广等特点,可为配网系统的抗灾预防提供新的借鉴。     

Geospatial technologies in the location-aware future

Arguably, there have been few shifts in the GISciences so paradigmatic as the emergence of locationally-aware mobile devices. GISc researchers in the US have witnessed these changes in just the last crop of PhD students, with topics on location-based services, the geoweb, volunteered geographic information and neogeography, somewhat eclipsing earlier, trendy topics on web-based GIS and interactive digital cartography. Indeed, there are new important players in GISc, with training in and outside of Geography, with backgrounds as diverse as the engineering/computational sciences and the digital humanities as well as critical human geographies. Mobilities researchers, qualitative GIS scholars, cyberinfrastructural scientists, and social and cultural geographers have configured research programs around the proliferation of locationally-aware devices and the ‘big data’ that have emerged from them. In this viewpoint, I shall outline these diverse developments and sketch what I argue are the foundational issues that comprise a research agenda with and about geospatial technologies in the location-aware future: technological development, the social life of data, and the everyday practices around mobile digital devices.     

The insight-value-perception (iVP) model for user-centered design

Through an inductive, multi-case analysis of eight medical device firms, this paper maps user-centered design and development practices to product performance outcomes. First, the data highlight that designing products under variable use conditions enabled firms to optimize products for widespread use and to increase the predictability of product outcomes. Second, the study shows that product adoption relied on maximizing benefits for multiple product stakeholders with often-conflicting needs, while minimizing required changes in end user behavior. Third, the paper highlights that managing perceptions toward product use through performance data positively influenced product adoption among the cases studied to a greater degree than did market demand or regulatory clearance. Fourth, rival explanations for outcomes involving limited user involvement, indicate that competitive advantages were achieved through maintaining dominant financial and intellectual property positions. From these findings, the insight-value-perception (iVP) model for user-centered design was constructed. This model links design and development practices to outcomes, from a combination of consumer-oriented, technical, and financial perspectives. Although rooted in the experiences of device developers within early stage medical device companies, the iVP Model may be used as a theoretical framework to examine a range of complex systems involving an embedded network of product users and stakeholders.     

Understanding Customer Engagement and Loyalty: A Case of Mobile Devices for Shopping

This study aims at developing and validating a measurement model for customer engagement with specific focus on mobile devices for shopping. Further, role of customer engagement in building customer loyalty is explored. The research in this investigation used three studies for developing customer engagement scale and validating the proposed model. The study involved data collection from experts and users through varied methods including in-depth interviews, and surveys. Further structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Findings of this study include development and validation of customer engagement as second order construct arising out of six different customer experiences - social-facilitation, self-connect, intrinsic enjoyment, time-filler, utilitarian and monetary evaluation experiences. Further, the study established significant role of customer engagement in predicting customer loyalty in addition to existing constructs of satisfaction and convenience. This study contributes to evolving scholarly research on customer engagement. This study further provides a framework to retailers for devising matrices to track experiences and engagement of customers on mobile devices for shopping. Further, retailers may be able to use customer engagement to differentiate themselves from competition in attracting merchants and advertisers.     

单片集成电路实现大功率开关稳压控制

脉总宽度调制开关稳压集成电路TL494应用在大功率开关稳压器中，可以实现斩波和变换器等多种型式的调压及稳压电路的简化设计，本文介绍了这两种应用。     

Efficient introduction of Pigovian taxes

This paper considers the dynamics of introducing pollution taxes when firms have to invest into abatement facilities. This accumulation of abatement capital, however, proceeds sluggishly. Therefore, actual policy proposals of pollution taxes consider a phased introduction. This paper considers the normative aspects of such a policy. More precisely, it proves that pollution taxes should be introduced radically rather than gradually.     

用声表面波卷积器实现扩频接收机的几种可能模型

本文给出六种形式的使用声表面波卷积器的直接序列扩频接收机模型,并对这几种模型进行了分析.比较了它们的平均误码概率以及实现的复杂程度.     

浅谈电力电子器件的发展

电力电子器件的发展经历了晶闸管（SCR）、可关断晶闸管（GTO）、大功率晶体管（GTR）、绝缘栅晶体管（IGBT）等阶段，本文简单回顾了电力电子技术及电力电子器件的发展过程，介绍了主流现代电力电子器件的工作原理、现状和发展动态。最后，探讨了现代电力电子器件的发展展望。     

语篇的衔接手段研究对大学英文写作教学的启示

本文从词汇、替代、省略、指代和连接词的使用等5个角度举例分析了衔接手段在篇章中的具体使用,探讨了衔接手段的使用对作文质量的积极作用,指出了衔接手段教学在大学英文写作教学过程中的重要性。