Showing papers by "College of Management and Economics published in 2014"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors employed a questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews with 157 firms from manufacturing clusters in China, and found that a striking gap existed between a firm's awareness and its actual behavior in developing a circular economy.
Abstract: Despite the wealth of information concerning environmental awareness and the behavior of firms, there is little empirical research on the awareness and behavior of firms in developing the circular economy. The study employed a questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews with 157 firms from manufacturing clusters in China. Results indicated that the firms had a relatively good understanding about the circular economy and its values and had a strong willingness to operate a circular economy, but this was not indicative of enthusiastic behavior. A striking “gap” existed between a firm's awareness and its actual behavior in developing a circular economy. Reasons for the gap are explored mainly based on the results of interviews. Finally, recommendations for overcoming the gap between the awareness and behavior are suggested.
209 citations
TL;DR: A security risk analysis model (SRAM) is proposed, which enables organizations to establish proactive security risk management plans for information systems, which is validated via a case study.
153 citations
TL;DR: Some cultural values directly impact knowledge sharing, while most cultural values have interactive effects with knowledge sharing motivations; some cultural values, like concern for face, have complex effects on knowledge sharing.
145 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify the main themes of green procurement in the private sector through a literature review of papers published between 1996 and 2013 and to develop some future research directions.
142 citations
TL;DR: The food traceability regulations of 21 Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries were examined with attention to whether these regulations are comprehensive for all food commodities and processed foods as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The food traceability regulations of 21 Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries were examined with attention to whether these regulations are comprehensive for all food commodities and processed foods. The countries were evaluated based on responses to a series of questions that were developed to allow assessment of their traceability programs. The questions sought background information on whether: mandatory traceability regulation(s) exists at the national level within a given country; regulations include imported products, and the nature of required documentation for imports; an electronic database(s) for traceability exists and, if present, its accessibility; and labeling regulations allow consumer access and understanding of traceability. The examination ranked the countries that have specific traceability regulations for all commodities, both domestic and imports, as "Progressive," while countries with less broad or stringent regulations were ranked as "Moderate," and countries that were still in the developmental stage of mandatory or industry-led traceability requirements were ranked as "Regressive." Aggregate scores were developed from all of the rankings, determined on the basis of the questions, for each of the 21 countries, to provide an overall world ranking score. The aggregate scores were "Superior," "Average," or "Poor."
141 citations
01 Dec 2014
TL;DR: A hybrid model-based movie recommendation system which utilizes the improved K-means clustering coupled with genetic algorithms (GAs) to partition transformed user space and employs principal component analysis (PCA) data reduction technique to dense the movie population space which could reduce the computation complexity in intelligent movie recom-mendation as well.
Abstract: Recommendation systems have become prevalent in recent years as they dealing with the information overload problem by suggesting users the most relevant products from a massive amount of data. For media product, online collaborative movie recommendations make attempts to assist users to access their preferred movies by capturing precisely similar neighbors among users or movies from their historical common ratings. However, due to the data sparsely, neighbor selecting is getting more difficult with the fast increasing of movies and users. In this paper, a hybrid model-based movie recommendation system which utilizes the improved K-means clustering coupled with genetic algorithms (GAs) to partition transformed user space is proposed. It employs principal component analysis (PCA) data reduction technique to dense the movie population space which could reduce the computation complexity in intelligent movie recom-mendation as well. The experiment results on Movielens dataset indicate that the proposed approach can provide high performance in terms of accuracy, and generate more reliable and personalized movie recommendations when compared with the existing methods. Proposed an optimized clustering algorithm to partition user profiles.To represent denser profile vectors by principal component analysis transforming.Be examined to provide high prediction accuracy and more reliable recommendations.
130 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a dual-channel supply chain with one risk neutral manufacturer and one risk-averse retailer where there is only one perishable product with price-dependent stochastic demand is investigated.
Abstract: This paper investigates a dual-channel supply chain with one risk-neutral manufacturer and one risk-averse retailer where there is only one perishable product with price-dependent stochastic demand. We choose Conditional Value-at-Risk criterion to measure the retailer’s risk-averse level, and assume that the manufacturer’s direct sales channel and the retailer’s traditional channel adopt a consistent pricing strategy. The model explores a Nash bargaining problem where the manufacturer and the retailer negotiate with each other on the wholesale price, the retail price and the order quantity when they have equal bargaining power. It is found that when demand uncertainty follows a uniform distribution, a Nash bargaining equilibrium exists and the retail price will decrease as the retailer becomes more risk averse. However, when the risk-averse indicator increases, the manufacturer’s profit on his direct channel will decrease, increase or first increase and then decrease, depending on the values of the relate...
105 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors adopted the environmental Malmquist index, which is based on a SBM-DEA (slack based measure data envelopment analysis) model, to investigate the environmental TFP (total factor productivity) index of electric power industries in 26 OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) and BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries from 1996 to 2010.
100 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed the solar energy literature from 1992 to 2011 using bibliometric techniques based on databases of the Science Citation Index (SCI) and the Social Science Citation index (SSCI).
99 citations
TL;DR: The key challenge is how to deal with explicitly the coupling of these two design optimization problems: module configuration and scaling design.
89 citations
TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper studied 15 barriers with the aid of information collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, and proposed policy recommendations based on these in-depth and targeted analyses.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors employ a multiple-case study method to identify barriers to the adoption of low carbon production, and categorize these barriers into four domains: structural, regulatory, cultural, and contextual.
TL;DR: This paper employed the number of news appeared in Baidu News as a novel proxy for information arrival and investigated the validation of the Mixture of Distribution Hypothesis (MDH) using a sample of SME PRICE INDEX in China.
Abstract: This article employs the number of news appeared in Baidu News as a novel proxy for information arrival and investigates the validation of the Mixture of Distribution Hypothesis (MDH) using a sample of SME PRICE INDEX in China. The empirical results reveal a positive impact of internet information on the conditional volatility of stock returns. Compared with the prevailing proxies (trading volume and its adjustments), the volatility persistence is most decreased when this novel proxy is incorporated into the conditional variance equation of the GARCH model. Some tentative explanations are also given to expound the non-disappeared GARCH effects.
TL;DR: The result showed drivers' risk attitudes and route choice characteristics could be captured by PT under real-time information shown on VMS, which was the basis of traffic guidance measures formulation and implementation for targeted traffic management.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report an important Six Sigma management case study at the world's largest cold rolling mill situated in China, where a Black Belt project was conducted to improve the cold rolling capability to meet the thickness requirements using the Six Sigma methodology, which led to a significant financial impact on the profitability of the company.
Abstract: Six Sigma as a framework for eliminating defects at the project level and improving performance and customer satisfaction at the corporate level has been generally recognised. This case-oriented paper reports an important Six Sigma management case study at the world’s largest cold rolling mill situated in China. The descriptions of measures taken at the company level, as well as that of the exemplary application experience of this company, would constitute a most comprehensive account of the impact brought about by Six Sigma to the company. A Black Belt project was conducted to improve the cold rolling capability to meet the thickness requirements using the Six Sigma methodology – DMAIC (define, measure, analyse, improve and control) principle. The implementation of Six Sigma methodology led to a significant financial impact on the profitability of the company. Seven key factors were also found to be instrumental to the successful Six Sigma management implementation in the company.
TL;DR: This paper develops an integrated optimization model on the basis of improved time-cost and quality-time models, and builds a new quality model, called quality performance index (QPI), to describe system reliability.
Abstract: The importance of time-cost-quality trade-off in construction projects has been widely recognized by the construction industry. In this paper, we develop an integrated optimization model on the basis of improved time-cost and quality-time models. We improve the traditional cost-time model by taking reward and punishment into consideration. Further, we build a new quality model, called quality performance index (QPI), to describe system reliability. The avoidance of assigning the node weights and referring to expert experience adds to the practicality of the quality calculation. In the process of decision-making, we use contractual time, cost, and quality as benchmarks for evaluation of feasible solutions. Then, we combine an immune genetic algorithm with a constriction factor particle swarm optimization to get a new algorithm, called immune genetic particle swarm optimization (IGPSO). We test the effectiveness of IGPSO using two typical test functions and solve a practical example. Optimization re...
TL;DR: A decision-making method for these problems based on partial least squares (PLS) path modelling, which not only fully exploits the decision information of decision makers (DMs), but also effectively addresses the relativity problem in the decision attributes and objectively assigned weights to the primary decision attributes.
TL;DR: Wang et al. as discussed by the authors analyzed the relationship between urban compactness and CO2 efficiency in China and selected and calculated a quantitative indicator of urban comp-tivity, which was selected and measured using remote sensing and panel data analysis.
TL;DR: There is a “S-curve” for adoption rate of SVW users, and there is a "critical timeframe" for persuading users’ continuous adoptions, according to a theoretical framework established to explain how virtual world strategies impact on short-term and long-term customer commitment.
TL;DR: This paper studies the estimation accuracy by assuming that the second player makes his estimation based on recursive least-square (RLS) algorithm and compares the profit in two-period decision-making process with that in one- period decision- making process.
TL;DR: Results show that the performance of the new model is the best and models in the three-phase theory are not necessarily better than models inThe fundamental diagram approach and vice versa, at least for the brake light models.
Abstract: Traffic breakdown is one of the most important empirical phenomena in traffic flow theory. Unfortunately, it cannot be simulated by many traffic flow models. In order to clarify its mechanism, the new brake light cellular automaton model has been proposed. Comparing with previous brake light models, three different aspects have been considered: (i) drivers tend to take large decelerations if the time gap is smaller than the safe time gap and the leading vehicle’s brake light is on; (ii) the brake light rule is set according to the reality; (iii) the randomization rule is put forward before the acceleration rule to weaken the impact of brake light on driving behaviors. Analyses show that the new model can explain the mechanism of traffic breakdown and the failures of other brake light models. Simulations confirm that all empirical features of traffic breakdown are successfully reproduced. At last, brake light models are calibrated and validated by the I-80 empirical data provided by NGSIM. Results show that the performance of the new model is the best and models in the three-phase theory are not necessarily better than models in the fundamental diagram approach and vice versa, at least for the brake light models.
TL;DR: A paired cooperative reoptimization (PCR) strategy to solve the vehicle routing problem with stochastic demands (VRPSD) and a heuristic that dynamically alters the visiting sequence and the vehicle assignment given updated information are proposed.
TL;DR: In this article, a simulation model is proposed to investigate the effects of traffic conflicts and traffic accidents at a non-signalized intersection, where vehicle's movement is simulated by the cellular automaton (CA) model.
Abstract: At a non-signalized intersection, some vehicles violate the traffic rules to pass the intersection as soon as possible. These behaviors may cause many traffic conflicts even traffic accidents. In this paper, a simulation model is proposed to research the effects of these behaviors at a non-signalized intersection. Vehicle’s movement is simulated by the cellular automaton (CA) model. The game theory is introduced for simulating the intersection dynamics. Two types of driver participate the game process: cooperator (C) and defector (D). The cooperator obey the traffic rules, but the defector does not. A transition process may occur when the cooperator is waiting before the intersection. The critical value of waiting time follows the Weibull distribution. One transition regime is found in the phase diagram. The simulation results illustrate the applicability of the proposed model and reveal a number of interesting insights into the intersection management, including that the existence of defectors is benefit for the capacity of intersection, but also reduce the safety of intersection.
TL;DR: This study formulates the QSC problem as amulti-criteria goal programming (MCGP) model, and develops a multi-population genetic algorithm (MGA) to solve the model, showing empirical comparisons demonstrate MGA outperforms to the GA.
Abstract: Internet of things (IoT) will create new opportunities to build applications that better integrate real-time state of the industry. With Web services accomplishing similar function proliferated, industrial enterprises have to choose appropriate Web services according Quality of Service (QoS) properties. It introduces the problem of QoS-oriented service composition (QSC). This study formulates the QSC problem as a multi-criteria goal programming (MCGP) model, and develops a multi-population genetic algorithm (MGA) to solve the model. MCGP not only automatically assigns high quality Web services to combine a composite service, but also finds non inferior composite services by relaxing QoS constraints to satisfy users' QoS requirements. Empirical comparisons demonstrate MGA outperforms to the GA. Moreover, the experiments indicate MGA is capable to solve the large-scale QSC problem in terms of efficiency and scalability.
TL;DR: In this paper, a framework is outlined, based on the foundation of extant literature, within which firms can make strategic decisions on supply chain structure by categorising the characteristics they prioritise in their supply chain strategy.
Abstract: Supply chains are becoming increasingly complex. The structure of the supply chain and the suppliers who participate in it are critical decisions for managers. The supply chain is no longer simply a source of inputs or services but an integral source of value added. It is clear that in some cases strategic supply chain objectives may require trade-offs, for example, between cost and innovation capability or between managing risk and maximising flexibility. These decisions balancing trade-offs between desirable partner characteristics are critical and can make a significant contribution to business performance. A framework is outlined, based on the foundation of extant literature, within which firms can make strategic decisions on supply chain structure by categorising the characteristics they prioritise in their supply chain strategy. There is also a strong foundation in the literature on developing mathematical models that provide insight into the decision-making process. A mixed integer programming mode...
01 Nov 2014
TL;DR: The IVIF-PCA model represents major information of original attributes, effectively reduces dimensions of attribute space, and synthesizes original attributes into several relatively independent principal components (PCs).
Abstract: In the complex multi-attribute large-group decision making (CMALGDM) problems where attribute values are interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy numbers (IVIFNs), the number of decision attributes is often large and their correlation degrees are high, which increase the difficulty of decision making and thus influence the accuracy of the result. To solve this problem, this paper proposes the interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy principal component analysis (IVIF-PCA) model. This model represents major information of original attributes, effectively reduces dimensions of attribute space, and synthesizes original attributes into several relatively independent principal components (PCs). The basic thought of this model is as follows: first, we use thoughts of `equivalency' and `order invariance' to transform IVIFN samples into interval number samples; subsequently, we use the `error theory' to replace interval numbers with their middle points, and combine the middle points with the traditional PCA to obtain the PC scores of interval number samples; finally, we adopt the thought of `equivalency' to obtain the PC scores of IVIFN samples. Moreover, based on the IVIF-PCA model, we give a decision making method for the CMALGDM problem. The feasibility and validity of the decision making method is investigated through a numerical example.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare investment and production levels under PSC and buyback contracts and show that PSC leads to higher investment levels than buyback, while investment level increases with international oil companies' (IOCs') share.
TL;DR: An agent-based CDA stock market is designed and built, which uses the same trading mechanism as the Chinese stock market, and a scaling analysis of the absolute returns in both the artificial and real stock markets shows volatility correlations as power laws in all the markets.
TL;DR: Assessment of food safety awareness and perceptions of artisan cheese makers using semi-structured interviews based on the Risk Analysis Framework found that cheese safety education was valued, but participation was limited due to the lack of financial resources and available programs.
TL;DR: Knowledge management of a new product development project team is critical for a firm's competitive advantage, and incentive mechanism is one of the most effective knowledge management drives as mentioned in this paper. But, the incentive mechanism has its own drawbacks.
Abstract: Knowledge management of a new product development project team is critical for a firm's competitive advantage, and incentive mechanism is one of the most effective knowledge management drives. In t...