4,982 research outputs found
UMSL Bulletin 2023-2024
The 2023-2024 Bulletin and Course Catalog for the University of Missouri St. Louis.https://irl.umsl.edu/bulletin/1088/thumbnail.jp
Antecedents of customer loyalty in the manufacturing industry
This thesis concerns the study of customer loyalty and its antecedents in the UK
manufacturing sector. It adopts a critical realist perspective to the study of customer loyalty,
locating the concept in the relationship marketing and social psychology literatures. The
findings generated by the literature review and the results of an exploratory qualitative study
leads to the development of a conceptual framework in which functional, social and
emotional relationship value, customer satisfaction, and moderator variable, relationship age,
are believed to influence the level of customer loyalty in the manufacturing industry.
The conceptual framework is tested empirically using a quantitative survey design in the
context of the UK manufacturing industry. Data is analysed through application of the partial
least squares (PLS) structural equation modelling technique.
From a theoretical perspective, the study makes a number of valuable contributions to the
relationship marketing literature. The study confirms the importance of social and emotional
relationship value aspects on customer satisfaction and loyalty outcomes in the
manufacturing industry. The findings offer a new theoretical perspective of the role social and
emotional value play in creating loyal customers and the role emotional value performs in
buyer’s feelings of satisfaction in the B2B domain. The findings also suggest that customer
satisfaction acts as a partial mediator in the relationship between customer value and
customer loyalty. Moreover, a new theoretical concept of emotional value featuring frustration
and human touch in addition to interpersonal relationships is also evidenced from the
research results. Furthermore, the study also shows that the theory of consumption values
can be applied to the B2B manufacturing domain.
The results propose that behavioural loyalty can be expressed through customer satisfaction,
and functional and emotional elements of relationship value. Whereas, attitudinal loyalty can
be conveyed by customer satisfaction, and functional and social components of relationship
value. These relationships are in turn also partially mediated through customer satisfaction.
The results also indicate that all three dimensions of functional, social and emotional value
influence customer satisfaction outcomes.
Overall, the study provides recommendations on how to maximise customer loyalty through
strategic combinations of relationship value. It also provides guidance on how to improve
customer satisfaction through different elements of relationship value in the manufacturing
industry. From a practical viewpoint, the research study findings offer suppliers important
guidelines and a toolkit for establishing, developing, and maintaining successful relationships
with their customers in the manufacturing industry
International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022
This conference proceedings gathers work and research presented at the International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022 (IASSC2022) held on July 3, 2022, in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia. The conference was jointly organized by the Faculty of Information Management of Universiti Teknologi MARA Kelantan Branch, Malaysia; University of Malaya, Malaysia; Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta, Indonesia; Universitas Ngudi Waluyo, Indonesia; Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges, Philippines; and UCSI University, Malaysia. Featuring experienced keynote speakers from Malaysia, Australia, and England, this proceeding provides an opportunity for researchers, postgraduate students, and industry practitioners to gain knowledge and understanding of advanced topics concerning digital transformations in the perspective of the social sciences and information systems, focusing on issues, challenges, impacts, and theoretical foundations. This conference proceedings will assist in shaping the future of the academy and industry by compiling state-of-the-art works and future trends in the digital transformation of the social sciences and the field of information systems. It is also considered an interactive platform that enables academicians, practitioners and students from various institutions and industries to collaborate
2023-2024 Boise State University Undergraduate Catalog
This catalog is primarily for and directed at students. However, it serves many audiences, such as high school counselors, academic advisors, and the public. In this catalog you will find an overview of Boise State University and information on admission, registration, grades, tuition and fees, financial aid, housing, student services, and other important policies and procedures. However, most of this catalog is devoted to describing the various programs and courses offered at Boise State
Determinants of nesting and nest success in saltmarsh breeding Common Redshank, Tringa totanus, in North West England
Abstract
Breeding populations of Common Redshank, Tringa totanus, Redshank hereafter, on British saltmarshes halved between 1985 and 2011, with the North West of England experiencing some of the largest losses. Understanding the drivers of these declines and exploring conservation management options to redress losses is the primary focus of this thesis.
I first evaluated the reliability of a standardised survey method (SSM) for estimating Redshank nesting density on saltmarshes. This involved multiple walked censuses on four saltmarshes in North West England. Estimates of peak nesting density derived from the SSM were compared to detailed nest monitoring information gathered at the same sites. The SSM was found to overestimate nesting density by 42% across the study sites. Reasons for this discrepancy were considered to be, (i) the presence of non-breeding birds, (ii) differing causes of nest failure across different habitats and areas, and (iii) geographical variation in, and temporal changes to, nesting phenology, the latter likely related to ongoing climate change.
I then examined the temporal and spatial distribution of wildfowl and livestock, and their effect on saltmarsh vegetation height in relation to Redshank nesting attempts. To do this, I used observational and experimental exclusion approaches on Banks Marsh, part of the Ribble Estuary National Nature Reserve, over a 30-month period. Cattle usage was variable spatially across the site with higher usage of the inner (landward) marsh compared to the outer marsh, but with a consistency of areas with greatest and least use between years. The number of nests trampled by cattle was relatively low (15%), occurring in areas of shorter vegetation and higher cattle use. Winter wildfowl herbivory played a crucial role in reducing saltmarsh vegetation height, with wildfowl grazed vegetation typically one third of the height of ungrazed vegetation (wildfowl excluded) during the peak Redshank nesting period. Redshank selected nest sites in taller vegetation and successful nests were in significantly taller vegetation than nests that failed. Using the data collected from Banks Marsh, I developed a logistic regression model based on key biotic (cattle, duck, and goose herbivory) and abiotic variables, including elevation above sea level, to predict where Redshank nest on saltmarshes. Winter grazing by Eurasian Wigeon, Mareca penelope, had a strong negative impact on Redshank nesting, whereas light, late summer grazing by cattle had a positive impact. A modelled reduction in Wigeon use whilst maintaining light cattle grazing optimised the availability of suitable nesting habitat. Under such a regime, Redshank numbers were projected to remain relatively unchanged in future under a scenario of a sea level rise of 0.25m. Under other scenarios of sea-level rise and management, Redshank populations were much reduced. The model developed provided a framework for simulating potential ‘trade-offs’ between wildfowl and breeding wader populations, where a conservation conflict could occur, and for long-term conservation management planning for future climate change impacts.
Finally, I investigated the effects of livestock and wildfowl herbivory, flooding, and predation on Redshank nest survival. I analysed self-collected and long-term nest-record data from Banks Marsh between 1969 and 2018, using Program MARK. Redshank nest survival was most strongly negatively affected by dramatic increases in winter duck herbivory. Increasing cattle grazing intensity during the Redshank breeding season also negatively impacted nest survival but to a lesser extent. Identifying the key environmental variables that influence Redshank nest survival should assist conservation managers to reflect on strategies to maintain this vulnerable species whilst also conserving other target species.
Overall, this project highlights, (i) the benefits of retesting established survey methods and developing improved population estimates, (ii) the need to address the impact of both wildfowl and livestock grazing in future research and conservation management for Redshank, and (iii) the value of long- term data that permit new insights into population dynamics of species
LegalBench: A Collaboratively Built Benchmark for Measuring Legal Reasoning in Large Language Models
The advent of large language models (LLMs) and their adoption by the legal
community has given rise to the question: what types of legal reasoning can
LLMs perform? To enable greater study of this question, we present LegalBench:
a collaboratively constructed legal reasoning benchmark consisting of 162 tasks
covering six different types of legal reasoning. LegalBench was built through
an interdisciplinary process, in which we collected tasks designed and
hand-crafted by legal professionals. Because these subject matter experts took
a leading role in construction, tasks either measure legal reasoning
capabilities that are practically useful, or measure reasoning skills that
lawyers find interesting. To enable cross-disciplinary conversations about LLMs
in the law, we additionally show how popular legal frameworks for describing
legal reasoning -- which distinguish between its many forms -- correspond to
LegalBench tasks, thus giving lawyers and LLM developers a common vocabulary.
This paper describes LegalBench, presents an empirical evaluation of 20
open-source and commercial LLMs, and illustrates the types of research
explorations LegalBench enables.Comment: 143 pages, 79 tables, 4 figure
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