Analytics-based decision-making for service systems: A qualitative study and agenda for future research

While the use of big data tends to add value for business throughout the entire value chain, the integration of big data analytics (BDA) to the decision-making process remains a challenge. This study, based on a systematic literature review, thematic analysis and qualitative interview findings, proposes a set of six-steps to establish both rigor and relevance in the process of analytics-driven decision-making. Our findings illuminate the key steps in this decision process including problem definition, review of past findings, model development, data collection, data analysis as well as actions on insights in the context of service systems. Although findings have been discussed in a sequence of steps, the study identifies them as interdependent and iterative. The proposed six-step analytics-driven decision-making process, practical evidence from service systems, and future research agenda, provide altogether the foundation for future scholarly research and can serve as a step-wise guide for industry practitioners.     

Global faculty learning community: a case study

This case study provides an exploratory analysis of the Faculty Learning Community (FLC) aimed at encouraging and supporting sharing of teaching experiences among faculty members at Universitas 21 Global (U21G). The analysis reveals a community in the formative stages of evolutionary development. The preliminary results indicate a prevailing pattern of knowledge sharing characterised by low intensity, variable member participation and selective topical focus. The results also point to a number of possible reasons for the exhibited behaviour including FLC's academic environment, instrumental nature of the community and its majority adjunct faculty membership. Further directions for practical actions are recommended that may help FLC to grow and mature and future research that may help to demystify contemporary learning communities.     

Regulating research: The problem of theorizing community on LambdaMOO

This article considers ongoing attempts to regulate or even ban researchon LambdaMOO. Industry, private individuals, and research institutionshave supported MOOs, or multi-user object-oriented worlds. The earlyresearch on MOOs by Pavel Curtis, who was one of the key designers,suggests that these systems are part of a research project and have beenresearched since they were originally designed. However, a group ofMOOers have grown increasingly uncomfortable about the quotation ofcertain texts on web sites and academic journals and the potentiallypanoptic effect of research. Some of these practices have breachedcommunity conventions. Yet, such things as testing, invisibly watching,freely quoting characters, and ignoring certain rules have always beenaspects of the system. The dispute over research ethics and theparticipation of varied researchers within this setting indicate thatdiverse values are represented among MOOers and different expectationsexist about how the MOO might be a community. The term ``community' andthe presumption that online characters are people may have alsoincorrectly informed the research debate by making it seem that onlinesettings provide immediate access onto spaces, bodies, and individuals.Many MOOers may believe that research threatens individuals andcommunity. However, critical histories and analysis are needed in orderto explain the system to new users and encourage alternative forms ofdevelopment. Such work can only be produced if online systems are opento research and critique.     

Know-how transfer mechanisms in franchise networks: a study of franchisee perceptions

Know-how is a critical element of franchising, and its transfer is a key issue for franchisors and their staff. The aim of this paper was to analyse franchisees’ perceptions about know-how transfer in franchise networks. Findings of our qualitative empirical study show that franchisees seem to value the mechanisms used in their network, which include formalised processes (the operations manual, online tools), training (initial and ongoing) and social mechanisms (discovery sessions, meetings and committees). Only the effectiveness of on-field consultants is questioned, which leads to important managerial implications. At the theoretical level, the paper contributes to our understanding of franchise operations by providing a franchisee-centred model of how knowledge is created and disseminated in the networks.     

跨学科团队的知识创新及其演化特征——基于创新单元和创新个体的双重视角

特定的社会化科学结构与主体创造性思维的交互作用是跨学科研究的创意来源。基于社会网络理论和创造性思维理论分析跨学科团队的知识创新过程,引入创新单元和创新个体之间的知识创新与认知扩展的互动关系视角建立跨学科团队的知识创新模型,揭示多学科知识和创造性思维在内的异质性整合和认知调整,解释创新个体间知识关联与运动促进认知发展过程,和实现跨学科团队知识创新目标的本质。通过对模型性能及影响因素的仿真分析得出,累进式知识创新和激进式知识创新改变网络的知识分布状况,共同扩充个人和群体的知识存量,提升跨学科团队整体知识水平。     

创业种群的衍生机制——基于三个典型案例的研究

 把经营的产品或面向的市场存在相似之处,或者存在密切产业联系的新创企业群体定义为创业种群。基于三个典型案例的讨论,区分了种群内部的原生企业与衍生企业,同时就创业种群的衍生机制的内涵、发生后果进行了研究。文章指出创业种群衍生机制的存在带动了整个创业种群由封闭到开放的成长演进过程,这一过程对于产业内部的企业以及产业本身都具有重要的管理含义。     

高校大学生科研创新分析及对策研究——以江苏大学为例

高校大学生科研管理在当今教育改革中是重要内容之一,也是一个热门话题。我国高校大学生科研创新工作起步晚,和国外一流大学相比具有不小差距,存在着管理体制落后、制度建设不完善、科研成果水平偏低等问题。在从社会、高校、学生三方面分析了导致这些问题的原因后,以江苏大学科研创新工作为例,详细总结了该校大学生科研立项工作的成功经验,对推动高校大学生科研创新工作的健康发展、创新高校教育的新途径新举措有重要意义。     

A view from the coal face: UK research student perceptions of successful and unsuccessful collaborative projects

Studies of the effectiveness of collaborative research partnerships between industrial and academic institutions rarely focus on understanding success as perceived by those involved in the research activities. We explore the extent to which three classes of potential success factor are correlated with perceived collaborative research success; supervisor characteristics, project management characteristics, and communication characteristics. Findings are based on a questionnaire-based survey of 348 doctoral students supported by the UK Research Councils’ Engineering Doctorate (EngD) and Co-operative Awards in Science & Engineering (CASE) schemes. Conclusions describe how the experience of collaboration as a process influences and how successful students consider the collaboration to be for themselves and the collaborating institutions.     

Ethical values and social care robots for older people: an international qualitative study

Values such as respect for autonomy, safety, enablement, independence, privacy and social connectedness should be reflected in the design of social robots. The same values should affect the process by which robots are introduced into the homes of older people to support independent living. These values may, however, be in tension. We explored what potential users thought about these values, and how the tensions between them could be resolved. With the help of partners in the ACCOMPANY project, 21 focus groups (123 participants) were convened in France, the Netherlands and the UK. These groups consisted of: (i) older people, (ii) informal carers and (iii) formal carers of older people. The participants were asked to discuss scenarios in which there is a conflict between older people and others over how a robot should be used, these conflicts reflecting tensions between values. Participants favoured compromise, persuasion and negotiation as a means of reaching agreement. Roles and related role-norms for the robot were thought relevant to resolving tensions, as were hypothetical agreements between users and robot-providers before the robot is introduced into the home. Participants’ understanding of each of the values—autonomy, safety, enablement, independence, privacy and social connectedness—is reported. Participants tended to agree that autonomy often has priority over the other values, with the exception in certain cases of safety. The second part of the paper discusses how the values could be incorporated into the design of social robots and operationalised in line with the views expressed by the participants.     

Racial and ethnic variation of PSA in global population: Age specific reference intervals for serum prostate specific antigen in healthy South Indian males

The serum PSA is universally accepted as the useful and clinically relevant tumor marker for monitoring therapy and identifying early recurrence in patients of carcinoma prostate throughout the world. However, application of serum PSA is limited to screening for early adenocarcinoma prostate among males above fifty years of age. Serum PSA concentration varies from one population to another in different parts of the world. Many groups of workers have selected 4 ng/ml of serum PSA as upper limit of normal range without giving due consideration for age specific increase in serum PSA. There is no single report available on normal decade wise age specific reference intervals for serum PSA in Indian males. The present study is undertaken to establish age specific reference intervals in healthy Indian males from 20–89 years belonging to subpopulation of Andhra Pradesh from South India. Our results revealed lowest concentration of 95 percentile serum PSA in Indian males compared to other populations globally. Contrary to this, healthy Afro Americans were found to have highest concentration of serum PSA compared to all other populations.     

Technological innovation in a research laboratory in India: A case study

This paper focuses on the managerial processes involved in a major technological innovation in India. The innovation process was found to be extremely complex with a large number of organizations involved in it at different points in time. The laboratory faced a number of problems as a result of a high degree of uncertainty in the government's policy towards it. a hostile external environment and a lack of credibility with its external constituencies. A number of factors associated with the managerial actions seem to have aided in the success of the innovation. These were: (1) the presence of a product champion during most of the technology development stage. (2) continued support of the project by the top man of the laboratory after the departure of the product champion, (3) strong commitment of the technology development team based on pride in indigenous technology. (4) effective relationships developed by the product champion with the key decision makers in government, (5) close association of the design group team of committed consultants for a considerably long period of lime. (6) supportive external evaluation by funding agencies at a later stage in the innovation process, and (7) an organic linkage between the technology development and stages provided by transferring the development team to the manufacturing enterprise.     

Impelling research productivity and impact through collaboration: a scientometric case study of knowledge management

A case study for impelling university research productivity and impact through collaboration is presented. Scientometric results support the hypothesis that a knowledge management model increased research collaboration and thereby boosted a university’s number of publications and citations. Results come from fifteen years of data at a Mexican university with 2400 researchers who produced 24,000 works in fifteen research disciplines. These data are treated with social network visualizations and algorithms to identify patterns of collaboration and clustering, as well as with normalizations to make disciplines comparable and to verify increasing citation impact. The knowledge management model implemented in the study may be a cost-effective way for universities to intensify collaboration and improve research performance.     

比较国际电子商务商务税收政策的主要主张谈中国电子商务税收问题的研究对策

综合主要发达国家及国际组织对电子商务税收问题的主要政策，阐述其对中国政府管理企业的思路和方式提出新的挑战，全面论述中国应对电子商务采取的税收政策、方针，加快改革现行税制步伐，促进电子商务的发展。     

在线知识社区协作冲突影响因素研究-以Wikipedia为例

基于社会认知理论,构建了在线知识社区协作冲突影响模型,探讨了知识异质性、群体分化、隐匿性、任务复杂性和协调机制对协作冲突的影响机制。以364个英文版Wikipedia条目为样本,采用层次回归分析进行了实证检验,结果表明：知识异质性和群体分化与协作冲突呈正向关系;隐匿性与协作冲突呈倒U型关系;任务复杂性正向调节知识异质性、隐匿性与协作冲突之间的关系;协调机制正向调节知识异质性与协作冲突之间的关系,负向调节群体分化与协作冲突之间的关系。     

Print vs. electronic resources: A study of user perceptions,preferences, and use

The arrival and proliferation of electronic resources and digital libraries have a number of significant impacts on the use of print resources and traditional libraries. This study explores the extent to which graduate students in a metropolitan university setting use print and electronic resources. Reading preferences and use of print and electronic resources vary among different disciplines. Graduate students seem to expect a hybrid of print and electronic resources. They desire to meet their information needs through a mix of print and online resources, even though reasons for supplementing another type of resource differ. Circumstances that affect the selection of use between digital libraries and traditional libraries are also discussed.     

社会排斥视角下的西北农村社区服务

需求为本的社区服务期冀提升居民生活福祉,培育多元、尊重和和谐的公民社会。社会排斥是社会成员不能正常参与社会生活、公民权利不能实现的状态。文章从社会排斥视角分析了构筑西北农村社区服务的基础,以及社区服务与社会排斥的关系。认为,应着眼于消除排斥、增进融合,构筑以"发展"为核心价值、需求为本、生产生活兼顾、保障居民社会权利、提升生存发展能力的西北农村社区服务体系。     

Learning how to implement and manage SME marketing networks: a qualitative analysis

The theme of SME marketing networks acquires high relevance because of their positive influence over internationalization and market competitiveness. Within this stream of research, how partners learn to implement and manage collaborations has received little attention. This article aims to bridge this gap, first, by analysing the mechanisms partners use throughout their learning process, and, second, by investigating whether this learning process may have an association with the network ability to explore new market opportunities, which is the ultimate objective of SMEs willing to overcome the liability of smallness. The results of this article unveils the different structures, processes and tools, which are used to create new knowledge on how to implement and manage SME marketing networks; furthermore, it suggests that an effective learning process may have a positive association with the exploration of new market opportunities through networks.     

Haemoglobin A1c-based screening for prediabetes and diabetes mellitus: a multi-center study in Croatian adult population

IntroductionBased on the hypothesis that there is a substantial rate of adults with prediabetes and undiagnosed diabetes mellitus (DM), our aim was to perform haemoglobin A1c (HbA_1c)-based screening in a cohort of Croatian adults and estimate the prevalence of prediabetes and undiagnosed DM according to American Diabetes Association criteria.Materials and methodsThis multi-center, cross-sectional study performed in six Croatian hospitals included 5527 patients aged 40 to 70 years admitted to the Emergency Department or undergoing a primary care check-up. Haemoglobin A1c was measured from leftover whole blood samples using the enzymatic method on either Alinity c or Architect c-series analyser (Abbott Laboratories, Chicago, USA). Haemoglobin A1c between 39-47 mmol/mol was classified as prediabetes, while ≥ 48 mmol/mol as undiagnosed DM.ResultsAfter exclusion of 435 patients with known DM, the final cohort included 5092 patients (median age 57; 56% males). A total of 882 (17.3%) patients had HbA_1c values between 39 and 47 mmol/mol. There were 214 (4.2%) patients with HbA_1c ≥ 48 mmol/mol. Prediabetes prevalence ranged from 14.2% to 20.5%, while undiagnosed DM from 3.3% to 7.3%, with statistically significant differences among settings (P < 0.001). Age-stratified analysis showed that prediabetes and undiagnosed DM prevalence increase with age (P < 0.001), being 25.4% and 5.8%, respectively, in patients aged 60 to 70 years.ConclusionUnderlying impairment of glucose metabolism was identified in about one in five adults, with significant number of patients with already overt DM. These results should serve as a starting point for further steps directed towards promotion of preventive measures for DM in Croatia.