Effects of a Trust Mechanism on Complex Adaptive Supply Networks: An Agent-Based Social Simulation Study

This paper models a supply network as a complex adaptive system (CAS), in which firms or agents interact with one another and adapt themselves. And it applies agent-based social simulation (ABSS), a research method of simulating social systems under the CAS paradigm, to observe emergent outcomes. The main purposes of this paper are to consider a social factor, trust, in modeling the agents\' behavioral decision-makings and, through the simulation studies, to examine the intermediate self-organizing processes and the resulting macro-level system behaviors. The simulations results reveal symmetrical trust levels between two trading agents, based on which the degree of trust relationship in each pair of trading agents as well as the resulting collaboration patterns in the entire supply network emerge. Also, it is shown that agents\' decision-making behavior based on the trust relationship can contribute to the reduction in the variability of inventory levels. This result can be explained by the fact that mutual trust relationship based on the past experiences of trading diminishes an agent\'s uncertainties about the trustworthiness of its trading partners and thereby tends to stabilize its inventory levels.Complex Adaptive System, Agent-Based Social Simulation, Supply Network, Trust

Progressive Trust Formation within the South African Fresh Produce Industry through the use of Self-Service Technologies

When using self-service solutions to deliver services the challenge is to retain the trust of the end user. This is specifically the case when dealing with end users in the fresh produce market environment. This sector has not seen the adoption of self-service technologies specifically in southern Africa. In this paper we propose a model to enhance our understanding of trust formation using self-service technologies. A qualitative research approach, based on a case study was followed to create the model. This case study offers insight into how the dynamics of the product, supporting services and the technology shapes trust forming behaviour

A review of approaches to supply chain communications: from manufacturing to construction

With the increasing importance of computer-based communication technologies, communication networks are becoming crucial in supply chain management. Given the objectives of the supply chain: to have the right products in the right quantities, at the right place, at the right moment and at minimal cost, supply chain management is situated at the intersection of different professional sectors. This is particularly the case in construction, since building needs for its fabrication the incorporation of a number of industrial products. This paper provides a review of the main approaches to supply chain communications as used mainly in manufacturing industries. The paper analyses the extent to which these have been applied to construction. It also reviews the on-going developments and research activities in this domain

Intelligent Agent Architectures: Reactive Planning Testbed

An Integrated Agent Architecture (IAA) is a framework or paradigm for constructing intelligent agents. Intelligent agents are collections of sensors, computers, and effectors that interact with their environments in real time in goal-directed ways. Because of the complexity involved in designing intelligent agents, it has been found useful to approach the construction of agents with some organizing principle, theory, or paradigm that gives shape to the agent's components and structures their relationships. Given the wide variety of approaches being taken in the field, the question naturally arises: Is there a way to compare and evaluate these approaches? The purpose of the present work is to develop common benchmark tasks and evaluation metrics to which intelligent agents, including complex robotic agents, constructed using various architectural approaches can be subjected

Servitization strategies & firm boundary decisions

This PhD thesis focuses on a particular manifestation of the servitization of manufacturing phenomenon, namely the offering of advanced asset management services for mature capital equipment in a business to business context. In contrast to past research in the field, the study approaches the issue from the often neglected point of view of the offerings’ intended customers and assumes a strategic perspective to shed light on the considerations that affect the customers’ propensity to accept or reject them. Upon conceptually analysing what the acceptance of such offerings actually requires of customers at an operational level, the study reveals that the latter are in most cases required to outsource a number of activities that have traditionally been handled in‐house. Thus, the issue of accepting servitized offerings of this nature is treated as a make‐or‐buy, or otherwise a firm boundary decision dilemma on behalf of customers. In adopting this treatment, the study then engages with the firm boundary/outsourcing literature and considers the state‐of‐the–art in four contemporary theoretical frameworks of make‐or‐buy decisions that reflect a customer firm’s efficiency, dependence, competence and identity related strategic considerations. In particular, insights are drawn respectively from Transaction Cost Economics, Resource Dependency Theory, a strand of the Resource‐Based View of the firm as well as the tenet of Identity Coherence. Augmented with a number of novel propositions, the collective body of considerations is then empirically explored through a quasi‐experimental cross‐sectional survey of deep‐sea dry and wet cargo shipping firms (considered as customers of servitization) that focuses on six key maintenance activities related to a ship’s main propulsion engine (considered as the object of servitization). In performing a two tier statistical analysis of the empirical data through logistic and multiple regression techniques, the study finds that alternative considerations affect a customer firm’s decision of whether to outsource an activity or not and the decision of how much of an activity to outsource once the first‐tier dilemma is answered positively. Furthermore, the study finds that combined theoretical perspective approaches offer better explanations of the phenomenon in question. With its conclusion, the thesis offers a number of implications directed at the literature streams involved as well as the practice of outsourcing and pursuing a servitization strategy

Prosumer behaviour in emerging electricity systems

This dissertation investigates the interface between technology and society in the emerging electricity systems and in particular the role of the energy prosumer in the energy transition. It contributes to the understanding of the role of consumers in emerging electricity systems within the current EU energy policy context where consumer active participation is regarded as "a prerequisite for managing the energy transition successfully and in a cost-effective way". Emerging energy systems are characterized by a high level of complexity, especially for what concerns the behaviour of social actors. Social actors interact through physical and social networks by sharing information and learning from one another through social interactions. These interactions determine self-organization and emergent behaviours in energy consumption patterns and practices. I argue that the best suited tool to study emergent behaviours in energy consumption patterns and practices, and to investigate how consumers' preferences and choices lead to macro behaviours is agent based modelling. To build a sound characterization of the energy prosumer, I review the current social psychology and behavioural theories on sustainable consumption and collect evidence from EU energy prosumers surveys, studies and demand side management pilot projects. I employ these findings to inform the development of an agent based model of the electricity prosumer, Subjective Individual Model of Prosumer – SIMP, and its extended version, SIMP-N, that includes the modelling of the social network. I apply SIMP and SIMP-N models to study the emergence in consumer systems and how values and beliefs at consumer level (as defined by social psychology and behavioural theories and informed by empirical evidence) and social dynamics lead to macro behaviours. More specifically, I explore the diffusion of smart grid technologies enabled services among a population of interacting prosumers and evaluate the impact of such diffusion on individual and societal performance indicators under different policy scenarios and contextual factors. The analysis of the simulation results provides interesting insights on how different psychological characteristics, social dynamics and technological elements can strongly influence consumers' choices and overall system performance. I conclude proposing a framework for an integrated approach to modelling emerging energy systems and markets that extend the SIMP model to also include markets, distribution system operator and the electricity network

Determinants Influencing Middel School Students’ Loyalty to Intangible Cultural Heritage in Mianyang, China

Purpose: Student satisfaction and loyalty have been debated to elevate the education service and its sustainability. This paper aims to evaluate the essential determinants that significantly impact students’ loyalty to intangible cultural heritage art practice courses in three secondary schools in Mianyang, China. Trust, commitment, service innovation, service quality, value, and satisfaction were all investigated to determine the effect on secondary school students’ loyalty of to the intangible cultural heritage art practice courses. Research design, data, and methodology: The researcher applied a quantitative exploration approach to distribute the quantitative questionnaire to 500 students in the three target middle schools. The sampling methods are judgmental, quota and convenience sampling. The index of item-objective congruence (IOC) and pilot test (n=50) were conducted before the data collection. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Model (SEM) were utilized to determine the relationships between the variables under study. Results: Most hypotheses were approved. Trust, service innovation, service quality, and value significantly influence satisfaction, but commitment has no significant impact on satisfaction. In addition, satisfaction significantly influences trust. Conclusions: Educators need to focus at establishing quality curriculum and continue to update it for future advancement to enhance student satisfaction and loyalty

The impact of system features on call centre agents' job performance and on their service delivery

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-79).The study was conducted with the agents in a contact centre environment in one of the leading insurance organisations in South Africa. The framework adopted was Theoretical Framework of User Satisfaction with a Web Interface which is adapted from Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene theory.It was found that there are several factors impacting agents' job performance and customer service, including systems performance, page loading capacity, complexity and speed of information seeking tasks, system-telephonic integration, system-emails integration, system-system integration, frequent changes of service delivery processes, and difficulties of combining products with systems training. It was found that the greatest impact of these factors was on average handling time (AHT) and 'not ready' time