Competing in the Business Process Outsourcing Industry: A Call Center Case Study

In this paper, we study the business model of a call center in the business process outsourcing industry through case study research method to understand its business model and critical success factors. We found that the case company employed a concept of “virtual call center” and has developed “standard service processes” and “reused” them across various industries, product lines, and countries with only minor adjustment and customization. The case company leaned from Intel’s Copy Exactly technology transfer method and TSMC’s smart copy to take advantage of the experience curve. Its business model, and deployment and integration of information and communication technologies makes it possible to shorten the time for developing new services, reduce CSR training cost, and maintain competitive advantages such that it continues to grow rapidly and is profitable. Therefore, the company can provide streamlined and professional service for their business clients to keep excellent customer relationship. We have observed the new phenomena, “Service Sector Manufacturization” through the analysis of the case data collected

High-performance nn-type organic field-effect transistors with ionic liquid gates

High-performance $n$-type organic field-effect transistors were developed with ionic-liquid gates and N,N$^"$-bis(n-alkyl)-(1,7 and 1,6)-dicyanoperylene-3,4:9,10-bis(dicarboximide)s single-crystals. Transport measurements show that these devices reproducibly operate in ambient atmosphere with negligible gate threshold voltage and mobility values as high as 5.0 cm$^2$/Vs. These mobility values are essentially identical to those measured in the same devices without the ionic liquid, using vacuum or air as the gate dielectric. Our results indicate that the ionic-liquid and $n$-type organic semiconductor interfaces are suitable to realize high-quality $n$-type organic transistors operating at small gate voltage, without sacrificing electron mobility

METAPLEX: AN INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENT FOR ORGANIZATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT

This paper presents an integrated environment, called MetaPlex; for organization and information systems development. The kernel of MetaPlex is a knowledge base management system which captures the semantic primitives of a domain at the meta level and uses these primitives to describe target systems. Three levels of abstraction are used in MetaPlex for representing knowledge: the axiomatic, median, and instance levels. The MetaPlex Language Definition System is used to name the object types in the domain of interest and to define the attributes, relations, and descriptions which can be used by these object types. The structural knowledge of the domain in general is thus captured at the median level. Knowledge of the domain captured at the median level is used by the MetaPlex Specification System to define a target system at the instance level. A rule-based inference engine is embedded in the MetaPlex environment as an intelligent assistant to help end users. The expertise of a designer can be codified into a rule set which can assist users in classifying an object, in decomposing a high level system component, or in clustering the detailed components at the lower level. Both topdown and bottom-up approaches for systems development are thus supported. A layered approach has been proposed to manage the dynamics of such a metasystem environment. An enterprise model has been developed to demonstrate the usage of MetaPlex and the integration of organization and information systems modeling. Directions for future research are also discussed

Single-Crystal Organic Charge-Transfer Interfaces probed using Schottky-Gated Heterostructures

Organic semiconductors based on small conjugated molecules generally behave as insulators when undoped, but the hetero-interfaces of two such materials can show electrical conductivity as large as in a metal. Although charge transfer is commonly invoked to explain the phenomenon, the details of the process and the nature of the interfacial charge carriers remain largely unexplored. Here we use Schottky-gated heterostructures to probe the conducting layer at the interface between rubrene and PDIF-CN2 single crystals. Gate-modulated conductivity measurements demonstrate that interfacial transport is due to electrons, whose mobility exhibits band-like behavior from room temperature to ~ 150 K, and remains as high as ~ 1 cm2V-1s-1 at 30 K for the best devices. The electron density decreases linearly with decreasing temperature, an observation that can be explained quantitatively based on the heterostructure band diagram. These results elucidate the electronic structure of rubrene-PDIF-CN2 interfaces and show the potential of Schottky-gated organic heterostructures for the investigation of transport in molecular semiconductors.Comment: 37 pages, 9 Figures (including supplementary information

Very low bias stress in n-type organic single crystal transistors

Bias stress effects in n-channel organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) are investigated using PDIF-CN2 single-crystal devices with Cytop gate dielectric, both under vacuum and in ambient. We find that the amount of bias stress is very small as compared to all (p-channel) OFETs reported in the literature. Stressing the PDIF-CN2 devices by applying 80 V to the gate for up to a week results in a decrease of the source drain current of only ~1% under vacuum and ~10% in air. This remarkable stability of the devices leads to characteristic time constants, extracted by fitting the data with a stretched exponential - that are \tau ~ 2\cdot10^9 s in air and \tau ~ 5\cdot10^9 s in vacuum - approximately two orders of magnitude larger than the best values reported previously for p-channel OFETs.Comment: Submitted to Applied Physics Letters; 14 pages, 3 figure

A KNOWLEDGE BASED APPROACH FOR RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

This paper discusses the applicability of a knowledge based system to resource management in the context of information centers. The Information Center Expert (ICE) system has been developed in the MIS Department of the University of Arizona to support the consultation process of information center personnel. The system determines the (software) resource requirements of the end-users and makes appropriate recommendations. ICE further aids the management of the IC software resources by keeping track of user consultations and the recommendations made. Issues of knowledge requirements, acquisition, representation and implementation of ICE are discussed. ICE is currently being tested at IBM/Endicott (New York), IBM/Tucson (Arizona) and the Center for the Management of Information at the University of Arizona. Preliminary feedback from users has confirmed the applicability of the knowledge based approach to resource management. The implications of this approach for future research are discussed

[60]PCBM Single Crystals: Remarkably Enhanced Band-like Charge Transport, Broadband UV-Visible-NIR Photo-responsivity and Improved Long-term Air-stability

We report the charge transport mechanism, long-term stability and UV-Visible-NIR photo-responsivity of single crystals of [60]PCBM (phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester) – the dominant acceptor material in organic photovoltaics. Despite [60]PCBM’s paramount role in such device, its intrinsic properties was largely unknown because of highly disordered solution-processed films, the electron transport mechanism remained ill-defined, and the long-term stability was poor – posing a major bottleneck for advancing cell efficiency and stability. We employed a liquid−liquid interfacial precipitation strategy to grow single crystals of [60]PCBM, which allowed us to experimentally elucidate its electron transport properties, long-term stability and photo-responsivity. Temperature-dependent mobility studies enabled us to reveal its charge transport mechanism. Promisingly, [60]PCBM single crystals were found to exhibit a more favorable band-like charge transport mechanism at room temperature and present electron mobility exceeding their thin-film counterparts by two orders of magnitude. Photodetectors based on single crystals show broadband photo-responsivity from UV, Visible to NIR regions. Long-term stability test showed the performance of devices based on single crystals remained 80% after 480-hour aging, whereas the performance of thin film devices dropped by over 80% under the same condition. Our findings underscore single crystals as a key strategy to achieve breakthroughs in highly efficient and stable devices

Organic Single-Crystalline Donor-Acceptor Heterojunctions with Ambipolar Band-Like Charge Transport for Photovoltaics

Solution-processed organic single-crystalline donor-acceptor heterojunctions (SCHJs) composed of N,N,N',N'-tetraphenylbenzidine (TPB) and phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester ([60]PCBM) were successfully obtained and fundamental studies on its charge transport properties were demonstrated; Revealing the advantages of applying single-crystalline heterojunctions in photovoltaic devices. The SCHJs exhibited a balanced high-mobility ambipolar charge transport with both hole and electron mobility being more than one order magnitude higher than its thin-film heterojunction (TFHJ) counterparts. The difference between single-crystalline and thin-film heterojunctions in charge transport mechanisms was revealed, and we showed that SCHJs present a more favorable band-like charge transport properties at room temperature. Organic photovoltaics fabricated on SCHJs present much higher current density and a 32-times higher PCE than thin-film heterojunction devices. The present work, which outlined comprehensive advantages of single-crystalline heterojunctions in charge transport properties, should accelerate the application of organic single crystals for high performance photovoltaics

Compound-specific carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of chlorophyll a and its derivatives reveal the eutrophication history of Lake Zurich (Switzerland)

© 2016 Elsevier B.V. To reconstruct the impact of eutrophication on phototrophic communities and the biogeochemical cycling of carbon and nitrogen in the surface water, we investigated the distributions and carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions (d13C and d15N values) of chlorins in the sediments of Lake Zurich. The chlorin distributions were dominated by chlorophyll a (Chl a) and its derivatives, which reflect rapid degradation to the pheopigments in the water column and sediments of the lake. The d13C values of these sedimentary chlorins followed the historical trends of eutrophication and reoligotrophication, except in the surface sediments, which were characterised by higher relative contributions of aged, redeposited organic matter (OM). The d13C values of the sedimentary chlorins together with bulk sediment d13C values and C/N ratios indicate that the phototrophic communities in the lake used a 13C-depleted carbon source, which is mainly of aquatic origin. The d15N values of chlorins reflect the predominance of nitrate assimilating phototrophs, especially the non-N2-fixing cyanobacterium Planktothrix rubescens prevalent during sediment deposition. Shifts in d15N values of Chl a followed mostly the trends in eutrophication and reoligotrophication, but were also affected by community assemblage shifts to diatoms and/or other cyanobacteria at the end of the 19th century and during the eutrophication maximum in the 1970s.The lower d15NChl-a values in the surface sediments coincide with increasing nitrogen to phosphorus ratios and reduced water column mixing that characterise the recent reoligotrophication period and may explain the predominance of P. rubescens in Lake Zurich. In contrast, the higher contributions of laterally transported OM explains the large offset of d15N values of the pheopigments relative to Chl a, which is supported by the high radiocarbon age of the surface sediments