An Empirical Study of Online Word of Mouth as a Predictor for Multi-product Category e-Commerce Sales

The ability to exchange opinions and experiences online is known as online word of mouth (WOM) and has been shown in the literature to have the potential to impact e-commerce sales. The purpose of this paper is to expand previous findings by empirically evaluating the impact of online WOM attributes and other related factors (e.g. product views, promotion, and category) on e-commerce sales using real data from a multi-product retail e-commerce firm. Research has previously shown that the introduction of online WOM on a retail e-commerce site can positively impact product sales. We propose and validate a conceptual model of online WOM and its impact on product sales and the impact of moderator variables such as promotion, product category and product views. It is our conclusion that previous research on online WOM has been limited as our research empirically demonstrates the conclusion that it is the interaction of product category, volume and product views, and the interaction of product views and product category which are statistically significant in explaining changes in unit product sales. Pure increase in volume or number of reviewer comments has no significant effect on sales. These conclusions have critical implications for the practical use of online WOM in e-commerce and for internet marketing

ANALISIS PENGARUH PDB, POPULASI, KURS DAN INFLASI TERHADAP IMPOR DI INDONESIA

The aim of this study is to analyze factors that influence import of Indonesia during 1991-2015. Demand for import of Indonesia is used as dependent variable and for independent variables in this research are gross domestic product, population, the exchange value of rupiah to dollar US, and inflation. The data that is used in this research is time series data. Quantitative estimates based on OLS (Ordinary Least Square) with the classic assumption and estimated using E-Views 8 program, indicate population and the exchange value of rupiah to dollar US are significantly determine the demand of Indonesia during 1991-2015. The R2 value = 0,9745 means that the relation between dependent and independent variables can be explained 97,45 percent in the estimated model and the rest 2,55 percent is explained out of the estimated model

Application of Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL) Bound Test on Selected Macroeconomic Variables

This study examined the application of Auto-regressive distributed lag model (ARDL) bound test on some selected macroeconomic variables spanning from 1981-2017 obtained from the statistical Bulletin of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The data were analyzed using the E-views 9.0 software. F-statistic of 5.9167 was found to be higher than the critical value of 3.79 in the Lower Bound I(0) and 4.85 in the Upper bound I(1)  at the 5 % level, thus null hypothesis was rejected. ARDL (1, 2, 0) was found to be the best fit model for showing a long-run and short-run relationship between Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Exchange rate, and Interest rate. There is a long-run relationship among GDP, Exchange rate, and Interest rate which means that the variables under study are co-integrated. Also, a unidirectional relationship running from exchange rate to GDP exist. The study recommends the use of supportive fiscal and monetary policies that will tighten the local currency market and provide a set of incentives aimed at removing anti-export bias barriers so as to promote exports and boost GDP, particularly non-oil exports and discourage import of consumer goods to stabilize the exchange rate. Keywords: ARDL Bound test; Gross Domestic Product; Exchange rate; Macroeconomic Variables; Interest rate.JEL Codes: E06; O2; O

Multiple Representation Approach to Geometric Model Construction From Range Data

A method is presented for constructing geometric design data from noisy 3-D sensor measurements of physical parts. In early processing phase, RLTS regression filters stemming from robust estimation theory are used for separating the desired part of the signal in contaminated sensor data from undesired part. Strategies for producing a complete 3-D data set from partial views are studied. Multiple representations are used in model construction because there is no single representation that would be most appropriate in all situations. In particular, surface triangulation, NURBS, and super-ellipsoids are employed in order to represent efficiently polygonal and irregular shapes, free form surfaces and standard primitive solids. The size of the required control point mesh for spline description is estimated using a surface characterization process. Surfaces of arbitrary topology are modeled using triangulation and trimmed NURBS. A user given tolerance value is driving refinement of the obtained surface model. The resulting model description is a procedural CAD model which can convey structural information in addition to low level geometric primitives. The model is translated to IGES standard product data exchange format to enable data sharing with other processes in concurrent engineering environment. Preliminary results on view registration using simulated data are shown. Examples of model construction using both real and simulated data are also given

Passive investing before and after the crisis: investors' views on exchange-traded funds and competing index products

Investment in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has been remarkably robust in the course of the recent financial crisis. This paper analyzes investors' perceptions of ETFs and other indexing products by comparing the answers to two surveys of ETF users carried out in 2008 and 2009, before and after the height of the financial crisis. We find that the crisis has divided the ETF market in two segments. Whereas ETFs in standard asset classes have been unaffected by the crisis, ETFs for alternative asset classes face challenges. However, ETFs are generally well ranked in comparison to other indexing products – presumably because of an increased focus on liquidity and transparency

A Product Oriented Modelling Concept: Holons for systems synchronisation and interoperability

Nowadays, enterprises are confronted to growing needs for traceability, product genealogy and product life cycle management. To meet those needs, the enterprise and applications in the enterprise environment have to manage flows of information that relate to flows of material and that are managed in shop floor level. Nevertheless, throughout product lifecycle coordination needs to be established between reality in the physical world (physical view) and the virtual world handled by manufacturing information systems (informational view). This paper presents the "Holon" modelling concept as a means for the synchronisation of both physical view and informational views. Afterwards, we show how the concept of holon can play a major role in ensuring interoperability in the enterprise context

Past, present and future of information and knowledge sharing in the construction industry: Towards semantic service-based e-construction

The paper reviews product data technology initiatives in the construction sector and provides a synthesis of related ICT industry needs. A comparison between (a) the data centric characteristics of Product Data Technology (PDT) and (b) ontology with a focus on semantics, is given, highlighting the pros and cons of each approach. The paper advocates the migration from data-centric application integration to ontology-based business process support, and proposes inter-enterprise collaboration architectures and frameworks based on semantic services, underpinned by ontology-based knowledge structures. The paper discusses the main reasons behind the low industry take up of product data technology, and proposes a preliminary roadmap for the wide industry diffusion of the proposed approach. In this respect, the paper stresses the value of adopting alliance-based modes of operation

Ship product modelling

This paper is a fundamental review of ship product modeling techniques with a focus on determining the state of the art, to identify any shortcomings and propose future directions. The review addresses ship product data representations, product modeling techniques and integration issues, and life phase issues. The most significant development has been the construction of the ship Standard for the Exchange of Product Data (STEP) application protocols. However, difficulty has been observed with respect to the general uptake of the standards, in particular with the application to legacy systems, often resulting in embellishments to the standards and limiting the ability to further exchange the product data. The EXPRESS modeling language is increasingly being superseded by the extensible mark-up language (XML) as a method to map the STEP data, due to its wider support throughout the information technology industry and its more obvious structure and hierarchy. The associated XML files are, however, larger than those produced using the EXPRESS language and make further demands on the already considerable storage required for the ship product model. Seamless integration between legacy applications appears to be difficult to achieve using the current technologies, which often rely on manual interaction for the translation of files. The paper concludes with a discussion of future directions that aim to either solve or alleviate these issues