The Intentional Use of Service Recovery Strategies to Influence Consumer Emotion, Cognition and Behaviour

Service recovery strategies have been identified as a critical factor in the success of. service organizations. This study develops a conceptual frame work to investigate how specific service recovery strategies influence the emotional, cognitive and negative behavioural responses of . consumers., as well as how emotion and cognition influence negative behavior. Understanding the impact of specific service recovery strategies will allow service providers' to more deliberately and intentionally engage in strategies that result in positive organizational outcomes. This study was conducted using a 2 x 2 between-subjects quasi-experimental design. The results suggest that service recovery has a significant impact on emotion, cognition and negative behavior. Similarly, satisfaction, negative emotion and positive emotion all influence negative behavior but distributive justice has no effect

Cloud manufacturing as a sustainable process manufacturing route

Cloud Manufacturing (CM) is a service oriented business model to share manufacturing capabilities and resources on a cloud platform. Manufacturing is under pressure to achieve cost and environmental impact reductions, as manufacturing becomes more integrated and complex. Cloud manufacturing offers a solution, as it is capable of making intelligent decisions to provide the most sustainable and robust manufacturing route available. Although CM research has progressed, a consensus is still lacking on the concepts within CM as well as applications and scope beyond discrete manufacturing. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how CM offers a more sustainable manufacturing future to the industry as a whole, before focusing specifically on the application to process manufacturing (e.g. food, pharmaceuticals and chemicals). This paper details the definitions, characteristics, architectures and previous case studies on CM. From this, the fundamental aspects of the CM concept are identified, along with an analysis of how the concept has progressed. A new, comprehensive CM definition is formulated by combining key concepts drawn from previous definitions and emphasizes CM potential for sustainable manufacturing. Four key methods of how CM increases sustainability are identified: (1) collaborative design; (2) greater automation; (3) improved process resilience and (4) enhanced waste reduction, reuse and recovery. The first two key methods are common to both discrete and process manufacturing, however key methods (3) and (4) are more process manufacturing specific and application of CM for these has yet to be fully realised. Examples of how CM’s characteristics may be utilised to solve various process manufacturing problems are presented to demonstrate the applications of CM to process manufacturing. Waste is an important consideration in manufacturing, with strong sustainability implications. The current focus has been on using CM for waste minimisation; however, process manufacturing offers waste as a resource (valorisation opportunities from diversifying co-products, reuse, recycle and energy recovery). Exploring CM’s potential to characterise and evaluate alternative process routes for the valorisation of process manufacturing waste is considered for the first time. The specific limitations preventing CM adoption by process manufacturers are discussed. Finally, CM’s place in the future of manufacturing is explored, including how it will interact with, and complement other emerging manufacturing technologies to deliver a circular economy and personalised products

Performance of current microbial tests for screening antibiotics in sheep and goat milk

[EN] The detection capability (CC beta) of some microbial screening tests currently available was calculated for sheep and goat milk in accordance with Commission Decision 657/2002/EC. The CC beta was at or below the maximum residue limit (MRL) for most beta-lactams assessed and other non-beta-lactam drugs such as neomycin, tylosin, sulfadiazine and sulfadimethoxine. However, the tests were less sensitive in the detection of most non-beta-lactam drugs such as quinolones and tetracyclines at safety levels. When individual sheep milk samples free of antibiotics were analysed, an elevated somatic cell count was related to the occurrence of non-compliant results in all the methods assessed. To guarantee the safety of milk and dairy products from small ruminants, the periodical implementation of screening tests more sensitive towards non-beta-lactam drugs would be appropriate. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.This research forms part of the Project AGL2009-11524 financed by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (Madrid, Spain).Beltrán Martínez, MC.; Berruga Fernandez, MI.; Molina Casanova, A.; Lisandro Althaus, R.; Molina Pons, MP. (2015). Performance of current microbial tests for screening antibiotics in sheep and goat milk. International Dairy Journal. 41:13-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idairyj.2014.09.007S13154

Moisture susceptibility of high and low compaction dry process crumb rubber modified asphalt mixtures

The field performance of dry process crumb rubber-modified (CRM) asphalt mixtures has been reported to be inconsistent with stripping and premature cracking on the surfacing. One of the concerns is that, because achieving field compaction of CRM material is difficult due to the inherent resilient nature of the rubber particle, nonuniform field compaction may lead to a deficient bond between rubber and bitumen. To assess the influence of compaction, a series of CRM and control mixtures was produced and compacted at two levels: 4% (low, optimum laboratory compaction) and 8% (high, field experience) air void content. The long-term durability, in regard to moisture susceptibility of the mixtures, was assessed by conducting repeated moisture conditioning cycles. Mechanical properties (stiffness, fatigue, and resistance to permanent deformation) were determined in the Nottingham Asphalt Tester. Results indicated that compared with conventional mixtures, the CRM mixtures, regardless of compaction effort, are more susceptible to moisture with the degree of susceptibility primarily depending on the amount of rubber in the mixture, rather than the difference in compaction. This behavior is different from that of conventional mixtures in which, as expected, poorly compacted mixtures were found to be more susceptible to moisture than were well-compacted mixtures

Designing for interaction

At present, the design of computer-supported group-based learning (CS)GBL) is often based on subjective decisions regarding tasks, pedagogy and technology, or concepts such as ‘cooperative learning’ and ‘collaborative learning’. Critical review reveals these concepts as insufficiently substantial to serve as a basis for (CS)GBL design. Furthermore, the relationship between outcome and group interaction is rarely specified a priori. Thus, there is a need for a more systematic approach to designing (CS)GBL that focuses on the elicitation of expected interaction processes. A framework for such a process-oriented methodology is proposed. Critical elements that affect interaction are identified: learning objectives, task-type, level of pre-structuring, group size and computer support. The proposed process-oriented method aims to stimulate designers to adopt a more systematic approach to (CS)GBL design according to the interaction expected, while paying attention to critical elements that affect interaction. This approach may bridge the gap between observed quality of interaction and learning outcomes and foster (CS)GBL design that focuses on the heart of the matter: interaction

Understanding decision quality through satisfaction

"PAAMS 2014 International Workshops, Salamanca, Spain, June 4-6, 2014. Proceedings"One of the most important factors to determine the success of an or-ganization is the quality of decisions made. In order to improve the decisions taken and to strengthen the competitiveness of organizations, systems such as Group Decision Support Systems (GDSSs) have been strongly developed and studied in recent decades. The amount of GDSSs incorporating automatic nego-tiation mechanisms, such as argumentation, is increasing nowadays. The evalu-ation of these mechanisms and the understanding of their real benefits for the organizations is still a hard challenge. In this article, we propose a model that allows a GDSS to measure the participant’s satisfaction with the decision, con-sidering aspects such as problem evaluation, personality, emotions and expecta-tions. This model is intended to enable the understanding of the decision’s qual-ity achieved with an argumentation system and to evaluate its capability to po-tentiate the decision’s quality. The proposed model validates all the assump-tions found in the literature regarding the participant’s satisfaction.This work is supported by FEDER Funds through the “Programa Operacional Fac-tores de Competitividade - COMPETE” program and by National Funds through FCT “Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia” under the project: FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-PEst-OE/EEI/UI0760/2011 and SFRH/BD/89697/2012

Choosing how to choose : Institutional pressures affecting the adoption of personnel selection procedures

The gap between science and practice in personnel selection is an ongoing concern of human resource management. This paper takes Oliver´s framework of organizations´ strategic responses to institutional pressures as a basis for outlining the diverse economic and social demands that facilitate or inhibit the application of scientifically recommended selection procedures. Faced with a complex network of multiple requirements, practitioners make more diverse choices in response to any of these pressures than has previously been acknowledged in the scientific literature. Implications for the science-practitioner gap are discussed

Workloads of Competitive Surfing: Work-to-Relief Ratios, Surf-Break Demands, and Updated Analysis

The study provides an in-depth descriptive and quantitative time-motion analysis of competitive surfing, using Global PositioningSystem (GPS) units and video synchronization, which serves toextend upon the results of Farley, Harris, and Kilding (Journal ofStrength and Conditioning Research, 26, 7 [2012]). In addition,comparisons between locations and surfers competing in thesame heats were performed. Global Positioning System andvideo data were collected from 41 male competitive surfers(23.266.1 years, 71610.3 kg, 177.266.4 cm) participatingin 3 professional domestic surfing events, with competitive heatsof 20-minute duration. Fifty data sets were analyzed across the 3competitions, with velocities and distances covered, proportionof time spent performing various surfing activities, and totalwork-to-relief ratio determined. Results revealed surfers paddled44% of the total time, followed by stationary periods (42%).Surfers performed at a significantly (p#0.05) higher work-to-relief ratio (1.7:1) at the Beach-break (an exposed beach) com-pared with point-break 1 and 2 (waves breaking around a rockypoint). Point-breaks 1 and 2 had longer continuous durations ofpaddling, with significantly longer rides at point-break 1 over theBeach-break (p#0.01) and point-break 2 (p#0.01). Theaverage maximal speed (24.8 km$h21) from point-break 2 wassignificantly faster than point-break 1 (p#0.01) and Beach-break (p#0.05). This information should influence surfing drills and conditioning methods to prepare these athletes for the disparate demands, such as training for a point-break competition involving longer durations of continuous paddling and short, high-intensity workloads for a Beach-break