Linking internal marketing with customer outcomes

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore how the adoption of an internal marketing (IM) programme in a retail banking setting enhances some positive employee behaviours that promote customer perceived service quality. Design/methodology/approach – A multilevel research design is adopted which draws evidence from branch managers, employees and customers in order to investigate whether branch manager’s adoption of an IM philosophy affects front-line employee responsiveness to the firm’s IM strategies and their levels of motivation, empowerment and organizational identification (OI), respectively. Findings – Results indicate that manager’s IM adoption can enhance employee adoption of IM and raises their levels of motivation, empowerment and OI. The moderating role of manager-employee dissimilarity is also discussed. Finally, findings confirm that employee motivation, empowerment and OI affect customer perceptions of service quality. Originality/value – This study provides an important shift by formally including IM into multilevel marketing research and establishes another link in the IM-organizational performance relationship, uncovering some behavioural routes through which the positive effects of IM can add to the achievement of firm’s external marketing objectives

Adaptive Mixture Methods Based on Bregman Divergences

We investigate adaptive mixture methods that linearly combine outputs of $m$ constituent filters running in parallel to model a desired signal. We use "Bregman divergences" and obtain certain multiplicative updates to train the linear combination weights under an affine constraint or without any constraints. We use unnormalized relative entropy and relative entropy to define two different Bregman divergences that produce an unnormalized exponentiated gradient update and a normalized exponentiated gradient update on the mixture weights, respectively. We then carry out the mean and the mean-square transient analysis of these adaptive algorithms when they are used to combine outputs of $m$ constituent filters. We illustrate the accuracy of our results and demonstrate the effectiveness of these updates for sparse mixture systems.Comment: Submitted to Digital Signal Processing, Elsevier; IEEE.or

Synthesis of structurally diverse 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-ones via sequential Biginelli and Passerini reactions

The Biginelli reaction was combined with the Passerini reaction for the first time in a sequential multicomponent tandem reaction approach. After evaluation of all possible linker components and a suitable solvent system, highly functionalized dihydropyrimidone–α-acyloxycarboxamide compounds were obtained in good to excellent yields. In a first reaction step, different 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-one acids were synthesized, isolated and fully characterized. These products were subsequently used in a Passerini reaction utilizing a dichloromethane/dimethyl sulfoxide solvent mixture. By variation of the components in both multicomponent reactions, a large number of structurally diverse compounds could be synthesized. In addition, a one-pot Biginelli–Passerini tandem reaction was demonstrated. All products were carefully characterized via 1D and 2D NMR as well as IR and HRMS

Catalytic Biomass Gasification in Supercritical Water and Product Gas Upgrading

The gasification of biomass with supercritical water, also known as SCWG, is a sustainable method of hydrogen production. The process produces a mixture of hydrogen, carbon oxides, and hydrocarbons. Upgrading this mixture through steam or dry reforming of hydrocarbons to create synthesis gas and then extra hydrogen is a viable way to increase hydrogen production from biomass. This literature review discusses combining these two processes and recent experimental work on catalytic SCWG of biomass and its model compounds and steam/dry reforming of produced hydrocarbons. It focuses on catalysts used in these processes and their key criteria, such as activity, selectivity towards hydrogen and methane, and ability to inhibit carbon formation and deposition. A new criterion is proposed to evaluate catalyst performance in biomass SCWG and the need for further upgrading via reforming, based on the ratio of hydrogen bound in hydrocarbons to total hydrogen produced during SCWG. The review concludes that most catalysts used in biomass SCWG trap a large proportion of hydrogen in hydrocarbons, necessitating further processing of the product stream

Supercritical water gasification and subsequent steam reforming of the product gas under elevated temperature and pressure

A continuous process combining the supercritical water gasification (SCWG) of ethanol with the subsequent steam reforming (SR) of the product gas was investigated. An experimental study was conducted that involved the operating parameters in the SR reactor, the ethanol concentration, and a comparison of two commercial catalysts for SR. With ethanol as a biomass model compound, complete gasification in the SCWG reactor was achieved. Regarding the SR reactor, high pressures, i.e., 20–40 bar, required a temperature of 750$^◦$C to achieve methane conversion higher than 90% at a constant gas hourly space velocity of 63500 h$^{-1}$. The increase in EtOH concentration significantly decreased the steam/carbon ratio of the SCWG product and increased the content of CH$_4$, C$_{2+}$ hydrocarbons, and CO. This in turn resulted in a decrease in H$_2$ yield in the SR reactor from 98.6% to 58.3%, as the EtOH concentration increased from 5 wt% to 20 wt% at a temperature of 730$^◦$ C, pressure of 30 bar, and a space velocity of 47877 h$^{-1}$. Under atmospheric pressure, both catalysts showed similar CH₄ con- version. However, at higher pressures (30–40 bar), the catalyst with the higher Ni loading exhibited greater activity in SR

Supercritical Water Gasification of Ethanol as Biomass Model Compound in Tandem with Steam Reforming: Kinetic Modeling of the Reforming Step and Techno-Economic Analysis of the Integrated Concept

The integration of “biomass gasification with supercritical water ”, “steam reforming of hydrocarbons”, and “water–gas shift reaction” is a promising process concept for the conversion of moist biomass to “green hydrogen”. This process concept was investigated in this work, considering ethanol as a biomass model compound. The gasification of ethanol with supercritical water can be accurately simulated, allowing a very good prediction of the gaseous product that will undergo steam reforming. A multidisciplinary study is presented, in which a comprehensive kinetic model for steam reforming of the gasification product gas was developed and validated with experimental data and then employed in a simulation of the whole process chain. Finally, a techno-economic and sensitivity analysis was applied. In the kinetic model, the high steam content overshadowed the influence of other substances in the sites balance on the catalyst surface, except for methane. After investigating the effect of ethanol concentration and feed flow rate, and considering the technical constraints imposed by the high organic matter content and the availability of actual waste biomass, the optimal values of the ethanol concentration and feed flow rate were 50 t h$^{–1}$ and 15 wt % ethanol, reaching a hydrogen break-even price of 6.8 $kgH$_2^{–1}$. The sensitivity analysis identified the ethanol price as the primary cost driver. Exploring waste biomass feedstocks, such as sewage sludge, demonstrated potential break-even prices as low as 0–1.8 $ kgH$_2^{–1}$, which can compete with conventional technologies

Customer incivility as an identity threat for frontline employees: The mitigating role of organizational rewards

This work proposes identity theory as a novel theoretical lens for understanding frontline employees' responses to customer incivility in tourism and hospitality. We advance pertinent research by demonstrating that customer incivility constitutes a dual identity threat (individual/collective threat) for frontline employees. Two experimental studies reveal that: customer incivility towards frontline employees' individual identity affects their psychological responses more adversely than their citizenship behavior; non-monetary rewards are more effective at reducing the adverse effects of customer incivility on frontline employees' psychological responses (than monetary rewards); finally, allowing frontline employees to choose the reward they deem most appropriate enhances both their psychological responses and citizenship behavior. Based on these results a four-step process is proposed to help managers dealing with customer incivility

Multicomponent reactions provide key molecules for secret communication

A convenient and inherently more secure communication channel for encoding messages via specifically designed molecular keys is introduced by combining advanced encryption standard cryptography with molecular steganography. The necessary molecular keys require large structural diversity, thus suggesting the application of multicomponent reactions. Herein, the Ugi four-component reaction of perfluorinated acids is utilized to establish an exemplary database consisting of 130 commercially available components. Considering all permutations, this combinatorial approach can unambiguously provide 500,000 molecular keys in only one synthetic procedure per key. The molecular keys are transferred nondigitally and concealed by either adsorption onto paper, coffee, tea or sugar as well as by dissolution in a perfume or in blood. Re-isolation and purification from these disguises is simplified by the perfluorinated sidechains of the molecular keys. High resolution tandem mass spectrometry can unequivocally determine the molecular structure and thus the identity of the key for a subsequent decryption of an encoded message