Supervised topic models with word order structure for document classification and retrieval learning

One limitation of most existing probabilistic latent topic models for document classification is that the topic model itself does not consider useful side-information, namely, class labels of documents. Topic models, which in turn consider the side-information, popularly known as supervised topic models, do not consider the word order structure in documents. One of the motivations behind considering the word order structure is to capture the semantic fabric of the document. We investigate a low-dimensional latent topic model for document classification. Class label information and word order structure are integrated into a supervised topic model enabling a more effective interaction among such information for solving document classification. We derive a collapsed Gibbs sampler for our model. Likewise, supervised topic models with word order structure have not been explored in document retrieval learning. We propose a novel supervised topic model for document retrieval learning which can be regarded as a pointwise model for tackling the learning-to-rank task. Available relevance assessments and word order structure are integrated into the topic model itself. We conduct extensive experiments on several publicly available benchmark datasets, and show that our model improves upon the state-of-the-art models

The Marketing-Entrepreneurship Interface: A Contextual and Practical Critique of the Role of Entrepreneurship

In the late nineteen eighties, Hills proposed that marketing scholars should pay far more attention to entrepreneurship and the smaller enterprise. He founded an annual research symposium and associated proceedings published under the title of Research at the Marketing/Entrepreneurship Interface. The symposia and proceedings still flourish and both the Academy of Marketing in the UK and the American Marketing Association have special interest groups for this area. This thesis is concerned with the contribution that entrepreneurship can make to understanding this interface. Without a robust definition of entrepreneurship, the interface simply becomes a study of a very common and disparate organisational form - Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). There is no shame in this for they deserve our interest, support and help. Without an understanding of the entrepreneurship component of the interface that help and support might be less effective than we, and they, would desire. Small business is not a little large business, they operate in very different circumstances with very much fewer resources to hand, and, because of who they are may have very different motivations and skill sets. Not necessarily worse but different. So entrepreneurial marketing might offer different insights, and help, compared to a standard academic approach to small business. This is a PhD by published work and twenty-three submissions are organised into four themes and form a core for discussion. The first theme considers appropriate definitions of entrepreneurship and the role they play in conceptualising the interface. The second theme considers how adopting an entrepreneurial marketing approach could guide and inform the SME in two particular respects: addressing critical situations and developing and maintaining appropriate relationships. This theme is considering entrepreneurial marketing within the SME. The third theme considers firstly entrepreneurial marketing extended away from the SME to larger organisations in both public and private ownership and to a particular form of public art where participants can be small or large and in either public or private ownership. Secondly the experience of organisations within a cluster and SMEs within a conflict zone are considered. The distinguishing focus of this third theme is that it extends the interface away from the traditional focus on SMEs. Whilst it was natural for the interface to arise out of a desire to understand a neglected organisational form in marketing – it can be applied in other contexts. The final theme considers how the author’s conceptualisation of the interface has informed their teaching and the implications for practical business support. A fundamental argument that is made in respect of understanding the role of entrepreneurship within entrepreneurial marketing is that we should not treat entrepreneurship as an absolute attribute which would direct us into classifying people simply into entrepreneurs as opposed to non-entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs range from the exceptional ‘stellar’ entrepreneur to those who are imitative of current market offerings and we should work across this range appropriately. Having discussed both an appropriate definition and role for entrepreneurship within the marketingentrepreneurship interface the implications of such a view are illustrated through considering the different contexts discussed in themes two and three above and reflecting upon the delivery of teaching programmes based partly or wholly on the notion of the marketing-entrepreneurship interface. The work is a critique of the role of entrepreneurship within the interface. The contexts selected and discussed draw out practical lessons for a wide range of individuals from undergraduates through SMEs to larger organisations in either private or public ownership

IEOM Society International

IEOM Society Internationa

Undergraduate Bulletin of the University of San Diego 2014-2016

276 pages : illustrations, photographs ; 28 cmhttps://digital.sandiego.edu/coursecatalogs-undergrad/1023/thumbnail.jp

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN ROMANIA

The purpose of this paper is to identify the main opportunities and limitations of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The survey was defined with the aim to involve the highest possible number of relevant CSR topics and give the issue a more wholesome perspective. It provides a basis for further comprehension and deeper analyses of specific CSR areas. The conditions determining the success of CSR in Romania have been defined in the paper on the basis of the previously cumulative knowledge as well as the results of various researches. This paper provides knowledge which may be useful in the programs promoting CSR.Corporate social responsibility, Supportive policies, Romania

Undergraduate Bulletin of the University of San Diego 2012-2014

329 pages : illustrations, photographs ; 28 cmhttps://digital.sandiego.edu/coursecatalogs-undergrad/1022/thumbnail.jp

Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction towards E-shopping in Malaysia

Online shopping or e-shopping has changed the world of business and quite a few people have decided to work with these features. What their primary concerns precisely and the responses from the globalisation are the competency of incorporation while doing their businesses. E-shopping has also increased substantially in Malaysia in recent years. The rapid increase in the e-commerce industry in Malaysia has created the demand to emphasize on how to increase customer satisfaction while operating in the e-retailing environment. It is very important that customers are satisfied with the website, or else, they would not return. Therefore, a crucial fact to look into is that companies must ensure that their customers are satisfied with their purchases that are really essential from the ecommerce’s point of view. With is in mind, this study aimed at investigating customer satisfaction towards e-shopping in Malaysia. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed among students randomly selected from various public and private universities located within Klang valley area. Total 369 questionnaires were returned, out of which 341 questionnaires were found usable for further analysis. Finally, SEM was employed to test the hypotheses. This study found that customer satisfaction towards e-shopping in Malaysia is to a great extent influenced by ease of use, trust, design of the website, online security and e-service quality. Finally, recommendations and future study direction is provided. Keywords: E-shopping, Customer satisfaction, Trust, Online security, E-service quality, Malaysia

A mediating effect of customer retention on the Customer Lifetime Value Achievement among fitness industry in Malaysia: A study on the fitness industry in Malaysia and the creation of Customer Lifetime Value to enhance customer retention

The fitness business is an industry that is receiving an immense amount of attention and growth in Malaysia. With the growing awareness of Malaysians to seek methods to live a balanced lifestyle, fitness has now become a trend in most social media news. However, most fitness gyms are unable to retain their customers for long as these businesses lack the knowledge of creating a concrete and innovative business strategy which provides a direction towards innovation and long-term relationships. Customer Lifetime Value may be the solution to retain quality customers. Fitness studio owners need to apply the knowledge acquired from understanding the reasons members of the fitness studio subscribe to their membership and use that knowledge to invoke or ignite their desire through their business strategy. The inability of management to ‘see the light’ and act upon the concept of investing in customer lifetime value as a more profitable avenue than acquiring new clients prove to be the fall of many organizations in the fitness industry. This business research will be practising the philosophy of positivism with quantitative data being retrieved from members of the boutique fitness studios through a survey questionnaire and data collected from boutique gym owners through semi structured interviews. This is in line with the current research as the perspective of both members and fitness studio owners is taken into consideration. This business research is carried out in the fitness industry particularly with boutique fitness studios in Klang Valley which fills the gaps in academic literature regarding the use of Customer Lifetime Value in Customer Retention Strategies but also in the context of boutique fitness studios rather than big box gyms. The current study is done in Klang Valley, Malaysia which also contributes to the Asian context while most studies have been done in the Western countries