Determining consumer satisfaction and commitment through self-service technology and personal service usage

This paper expands research into self-service technology in the service encounter. Self-service technology is where customers deliver service themselves using some form of a technological interface. There is still a great deal unknown about self-service technology, in particular its impact on consumer satisfaction and consumer commitment. With that in mind, this empirical study explores the relative impact of self-service technology on consumer satisfaction and on a multidimensional measure of consumer commitment containing affective commitment, temporal commitment and instrumental commitment. The results reveal that in a hotel context personal service still remains very important for assessments of satisfaction, and affective and temporal commitment. What is particularly interesting is that self-service technology, while impacting these constructs, also impacts instrumental commitment. This suggests that positive evaluations of self-service technology may tie consumers into relationships with hotels. A discussion and implications for managers are provided on these and other results, and the paper is concluded with further potential research.

Translation research and interpreting research:traditions, gaps and synergies

Despite differences, translation and interpreting have much in common. This volume focuses on aspects of conducting research into these two modes. It reviews recent developments and explores kinship, differences and prospects for partnership between Translation Research and Interpreting Research.

The integration of knowledge within science, technology and industry : enzymes a case study

Enzyme technology is widely regarded as an exciting new technology possessing great opportunities for commercial interests and is one of a small group of key technologies singled out by the Science Research Councils during the 1960's as worthy of special support. In this thesis I outline the basic characteristics of this technology analysing the nature of the Government's policy towards it. The approach I have chosen requires an in depth analysis of the innovation process for enzymes which forms the basis for a model. This model is then used to focus on aspects of the UK science policy towards innovation in enzyme technology, assessing its impacts, and appraising the usefulness of this approach for future policy initiatives.

The visual cortex in Alzheimer disease:laminar distribution of the pathological changes in visual areas V1 and V2

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an important neurodegenerative disorder causing visual problems in the elderly population. The pathology of AD includes the deposition in the brain of abnormal aggregates of ?-amyloid (A?) in the form of senile plaques (SP) and abnormally phosphorylated tau in the form of neurofibrillary tangles (NFT). A variety of visual problems have been reported in patients with AD including loss of visual acuity (VA), colour vision and visual fields; changes in pupillary responses to mydriatics, defects in fixation and in smooth and saccadic eye movements; changes in contrast sensitivity and in visual evoked potentials (VEP); and disturbances in complex visual tasks such as reading, visuospatial function, and in the naming and identification of objects. In addition, pathological changes have been observed to affect the eye, visual pathway, and visual cortex in AD. To better understand degeneration of the visual cortex in AD, the laminar distribution of the SP and NFT was studied in visual areas V1 and V2 in 18 cases of AD which varied in disease onset and duration. In area V1, the mean density of SP and NFT reached a maximum in lamina III and in laminae II and III respectively. In V2, mean SP density was maximal in laminae III and IV and NFT density in laminae II and III. The densities of SP in laminae I of V1 and NFT in lamina IV of V2 were negatively correlated with patient age. No significant correlations were observed in any cortical lamina between the density of NFT and disease onset or duration. However, in area V2, the densities of SP in lamina II and lamina V were negatively correlated with disease duration and disease onset respectively. In addition, there were several positive correlations between the densities of SP and NFT in V1 with those in area V2. The data suggest: (1) NFT pathology is greater in area V2 than V1, (2) laminae II/III of V1 and V2 are most affected by the pathology, (3) the formation of SP and NFT in V1 and V2 are interconnected, and (4) the pathology may spread between visual areas via the feed-forward short cortico-cortical connections.

Tracking and updating academic research in selling and sales management:a decade later

This study examines the state of academic research in selling and sales management (S&SM) from the years 2003-7, ten years after the data collected by Moncrief, Marshall, and Watkins (2000). Sales articles are reviewed that appeared in 19 marketing journals and evidence is provided on the state of the S&SM discipline by comparing the number of authors, authorships, and publications versus a comparable five-year period a decade ago. Of interest are the universities that produce and employ faculty in S&SM and to identify those schools and geographic regions that are publishing the majority of articles. Publication distribution trends across journals are also examined. A dramatic increase in non-U.S. authors and authorships is noted versus the prior study. Overall, the findings indicate that, perhaps contrary to some popular misconceptions, the state of S&SM research is healthy, vibrant, and evolving.

Productivity in China's high technology industry:regional heterogeneity and R&D

This paper analyzes the impact of Research and Development (R&D) on the productivity of China's high technology industry. In order to capture important differences in the effect of R&D on output that arise from geographic and socioeconomic differences across three major regions in China, we use a novel semiparametric approach that allows us to model heterogeneities across provinces and time. Using a unique provincial level panel dataset spanning the period 2000–2007, we find that the impact of R&D on output varies substantially in terms of magnitude and significance across different regions. Results show that the eastern region benefits the most from R&D investments, however it benefits the least from technical progress, while the western region benefits the least from R&D investments, but enjoys the highest benefits from technical progress. The central region benefits from R&D investments more than the western region and benefits from technical progress more than the eastern region. Our results suggest that R&D investments would significantly increase output in both the eastern and central regions, however technical progress in the central region may further compound the effects of R&D on output within the region.

Advanced manufacturing technology and work design:towards a theoretical framework

This paper introduces a theoretical framework to guide research into the psychological effects of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) on shopfloor operators. The framework has two main aspects. First, based on the emerging literature on the job content implications of AMT, it identifies four key constructs, namely: control, cognitive demand, production responsibility and social interaction. Second, by drawing on the more established job design, stress and related literatures, it predicts how these independent variables differentially affect system performance, job-related strain and job satisfaction. The wider implications and limitations of the theoretical framework are discussed.

Internationalization of small and medium sized UK manufacturing enterprises:technology and knowledge transfer perspective

This dissertation examines internationalisation of small and medium sized enterprises. There has been a journey to achieve this. The research has started as an action research as Teaching Company Scheme Associate. This has been done in two research cycles, which investigated factors for successful internationalisation of a small and medium sized UK manufacturing enterprise. This has revealed that successful internationalisation requires good technology and knowledge transfer to the new operations. The action research is followed by a survey that has been conducted within UK manufacturing companies. The data collected was analysed under three models: entry mode selection, role of factory and level of internationalisation. The first two models explain two major aspects of internationalisation decision. The last is showing what makes successful internationalising small and medium sized companies. These models provided several important results. The small and medium sized enterprise internationalisation is harder to achieve because most of these organisations do not have experience in technology and knowledge transfer. The success of internationalisation depends on the success of the transfer. This is achieved through employee ownership of the new knowledge. There are many factors affecting this result such as the network relationships such as trust, control and commitment and cognitive distance between two organisations. The last is a product of the difference between prior knowledge and the required level of knowledge. The entry mode and role of factory are decided through these factors while the level of internationalisation can only be explained by absorptive capacity of the recipient organisation and the technology transfer ability of the host organisation.

Modeling naturalistic argumentation in research literatures:representation and interaction design issues

This article characterizes key weaknesses in the ability of current digital libraries to support scholarly inquiry, and as a way to address these, proposes computational services grounded in semiformal models of the naturalistic argumentation commonly found in research literatures. It is argued that a design priority is to balance formal expressiveness with usability, making it critical to coevolve the modeling scheme with appropriate user interfaces for argument construction and analysis. We specify the requirements for an argument modeling scheme for use by untrained researchers and describe the resulting ontology, contrasting it with other domain modeling and semantic web approaches, before discussing passive and intelligent user interfaces designed to support analysts in the construction, navigation, and analysis of scholarly argument structures in a Web-based environment. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Int Syst 22: 17–47, 2007.

Corporate environmental and climate change disclosures:empirical evidence from Bangladesh

Purpose-In this article, we examine the nature and the extent of corporate environmental and climate change disclosures in Bangladesh. Design/methodology/ approach-For this purpose, we have undertaken a content analysis of annual reports related to the year 2008 and websites of the 100 largest companies (according to market capitalization) listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange. We have used 24 content analysis categories to capture the relevant disclosures related to climate change and other environmental issues. Findings-Key findings of our analysis suggest that the level of environmental and climate change disclosures is very low in Bangladesh. Although 91% of companies made disclosures in at least one category, most companies disclosed information only on the ''energy usage'' category, which is a mandatory requirement. Even fewer companies made disclosures in the specific areas of climate change. No disclosure was made in the significant categories such as GHG emissions. The second most popular category related to climate change was adaptation measures. Among the other environmental disclosures, a significant finding is that only 5% of (website 6%) companies disclosed that they had an effluent treatment plant. Closer examination of the nature of disclosures suggests that most of the disclosures are positive and descriptive in nature. Originality/value-As far as we are aware, this is the first study of its kind in Bangladesh which systematically examines corporate climate change disclosures as a particular focus of research. Copyright © 2010 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Recommendations for sex/gender neuroimaging research:key principles and implications for research design, analysis and interpretation

Neuroimaging (NI) technologies are having increasing impact in the study of complex cognitive and social processes. In this emerging field of social cognitive neuroscience, a central goal should be to increase the understanding of the interaction between the neurobiology of the individual and the environment in which humans develop and function. The study of sex/gender is often a focus for NI research, and may be motivated by a desire to better understand general developmental principles, mental health problems that show female-male disparities, and gendered differences in society. In order to ensure the maximum possible contribution of NI research to these goals, we draw attention to four key principles—overlap, mosaicism, contingency and entanglement—that have emerged from sex/gender research and that should inform NI research design, analysis and interpretation. We discuss the implications of these principles in the form of constructive guidelines and suggestions for researchers, editors, reviewers and science communicators.

Recovering Valuable Artifacts of the Cultural Heritage through Modern Technology and Equipment

This paper presents the digital reconstruction of the carving of the iconostasis of the Assumption church in the town of Bansko in its original form, a research project of the Department of Mathematical Linguistics of the Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

Encouraging the intellectual craft of living research:tattoos, theory and time

This chapter contributes to the anthology on learning to research - researching to learn because it emphases a need to design curricula that enables living research, and on-going researcher development, rather than one that restricts student and staff activities, within a marketised approach towards time. In recent decades higher education (HE) has come to be valued for its contribution to the global economy. Referred to as the neo-liberal university, a strong prioritisation has been placed on meeting the needs of industry by providing a better workforce. This perspective emphasises the role of a degree in HE to secure future material affluence, rather than to study as an on-going investment in the self (Molesworth , Nixon & Scullion, 2009: 280). Students are treated primarily as consumers in this model, where through their tuition fees they purchase a product, rather than benefit from the transformative potential university education offers for the whole of life.Given that HE is now measured by the numbers of students it attracts, and later places into well-paid jobs, there is an intense pressure on time, which has led to a method where the learning experiences of students are broken down into discrete modules. Whilst this provides consistency, students can come to view research processes in a fragmented way within the modular system. Topics are presented chronologically, week-by-week and students simply complete a set of tasks to ‘have a degree’, rather than to ‘be learners’ (Molesworth , Nixon & Scullion, 2009: 277) who are living their research, in relation to their own past, present and future. The idea of living research in this context is my own adaptation of an approach suggested by C. Wright Mills (1959) in The Sociological Imagination. Mills advises that successful scholars do not split their work from the rest of their lives, but treat scholarship as a choice of how to live, as well as a choice of career. The marketised slant in HE thus creates a tension firstly, for students who are learning to research. Mills would encourage them to be creative, not instrumental, in their use of time, yet they are journeying through a system that is structured for a swift progression towards a high paid job, rather than crafted for reflexive inquiry, that transforms their understanding throughout life. Many universities are placing a strong focus on discrete skills for student employability, but I suggest that embedding the transformative skills emphasised by Mills empowers students and builds their confidence to help them make connections that aid their employability. Secondly, the marketised approach creates a problem for staff designing the curriculum, if students do not easily make links across time over their years of study and whole programmes. By researching to learn, staff can discover new methods to apply in their design of the curriculum, to help students make important and creative connections across their programmes of study.

Human brain slices for epilepsy research:pitfalls, solutions and future challenges

Increasingly, neuroscientists are taking the opportunity to use live human tissue obtained from elective neurosurgical procedures for electrophysiological studies in vitro. Access to this valuable resource permits unique studies into the network dynamics that contribute to the generation of pathological electrical activity in the human epileptic brain. Whilst this approach has provided insights into the mechanistic features of electrophysiological patterns associated with human epilepsy, it is not without technical and methodological challenges. This review outlines the main difficulties associated with working with epileptic human brain slices from the point of collection, through the stages of preparation, storage and recording. Moreover, it outlines the limitations, in terms of the nature of epileptic activity that can be observed in such tissue, in particular, the rarity of spontaneous ictal discharges, we discuss manipulations that can be utilised to induce such activity. In addition to discussing conventional electrophysiological techniques that are routinely employed in epileptic human brain slices, we review how imaging and multielectrode array recordings could provide novel insights into the network dynamics of human epileptogenesis. Acute studies in human brain slices are ultimately limited by the lifetime of the tissue so overcoming this issue provides increased opportunity for information gain. We review the literature with respect to organotypic culture techniques that may hold the key to prolonging the viability of this material. A combination of long-term culture techniques, viral transduction approaches and electrophysiology in human brain slices promotes the possibility of large scale monitoring and manipulation of neuronal activity in epileptic microcircuits.