Building Enterprise Architecture Agility and Sustenance with SOA

Service-Oriented Architecture(SOA) is primarily regarded as a technical architecture consisting of tools and service specification to build loosely coupled applications. At another level it is also a means to leverage flexibility and agility to system services as it offers a hierarchical framework to coordinate simultaneous business process design and implementations using loosely coupled service infrastructures. SOA has been debated both in the academy and industry and misinterpretations of its nature impede its adoption. We summarize its historical origins and current evolutions. We review technologies that underlie SOA. In particular, we address how to integrate SOA initiatives with current technology platforms, and how to enforce reuse during the design of loosely coupled systems. We also analyze SOA design methodologies and platforms, and what are their roles in the application integration. Finally we outline challenges and future research directions for SOA

An Improved Locally Weighted PLS Based on Particle Swarm Optimization for Industrial Soft Sensor Modeling

In industrial production, soft sensors play very important roles in ensuring product quality and production safety. Traditionally, global modeling methods, which use historical data to construct models offline, are often used to develop soft sensors. However, because of various complex and unknown changes in industrial production processes, the performance of global models deteriorates over time, and frequent model maintenance is difficult. In this study, locally weighted partial least squares (LWPLS) is adopted as a just-in-time learning method for industrial soft sensor modeling. In LWPLS, the bandwidth parameter h has an important impact on the performance of the algorithm, since it decides the range of the neighborhood and affects how the weight changes. Therefore, we propose a two-phase bandwidth optimization strategy that combines particle swarm optimization (PSO) and LWPLS. A numerical simulation example and an industrial application case were studied to estimate the performance of the proposed PSO–LWPLS method. The results show that, compared to the traditional global methods and the LWPLS with a fixed bandwidth, the proposed PSO–LWPLS can achieve a better prediction performance. The results also prove that the proposed method has apparent advantages over other methods in the case of data density changes

Damped Algorithms for the Split Fixed Point and Equilibrium Problems

The main purpose of this paper is to study the split fixed point and equilibrium problems which includes fixed point problems, equilibrium problems, and variational inequality problems as special cases. A damped algorithm is presented for solving this split common problem. Strong convergence analysis is shown

Money-Back Guarantee, Dual Money-Back Guarantee, and O2O Strategy in a Manufacturer’s Dual-Channel Supply Chain

Return services are increasingly valued by manufacturers, retailers, and customers. In many countries, an offer of money-back guarantee (MBG) is legally binding. In this paper, we discuss how a retailer and manufacturer with a direct channel should choose single or dual MBG and pricing strategies. We identify the conditions under which a retailer or manufacturer should choose a return strategy and show that the handling return loss and the customer return cost in each channel are critical factors that should be considered by the retailer and manufacturer when choosing a return strategy. In addition, the retailer should cooperate with the manufacturer to establish an offline-to-online (O2O) omnichannel to fully benefit from the convenience and advantages of the retail channel. We find that the adoption of the O2O strategy by the retailer in its retail channel always generates profits, while the manufacturer may implement the O2O strategy in its direct channel when the profit from the Internet service is higher than a threshold. Additionally, the impact of various strategies on pricing, market share, and profits is discussed

Performance Analysis and Design Considerations of the Shallow Underwater Optical Wireless Communication System with Solar Noises Utilizing a Photon Tracing-Based Simulation Platform

The performance of the underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC) system is highly affected by seawater´s inherent optical properties and the solar radiation from sunlight, especially for a shallow environment. The multipath effect and degradations in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) due to absorption, scattering, and ambient noises can significantly limit the viable communication range, which poses key challenges to its large-scale commercial applications. To this end, this paper proposes a unified model for underwater channel characterization and system performance analysis in the presence of solar noises utilizing a photon tracing algorithm. Besides, we developed a generic simulation platform with configurable parameters and self-defined scenarios via MATLAB. Based on this platform, a comprehensive investigation of underwater channel impairments was conducted including temporal and spatial dispersion, illumination distribution pattern, and statistical attenuation with various oceanic types. The impact of ambient noise at different operation depths on the bit error rate (BER) performance of the shallow UOWC system was evaluated under typical specifications. Simulation results revealed that the multipath dispersion is tied closely to the multiple scattering phenomenon. The delay spread and ambient noise effect can be mitigated by considering a narrow field of view (FOV) and it also enables the system to exhibit optimal performance on combining with a wide aperture

Complementary Product Pricing and Service Cooperation Strategy in a Dual-Channel Supply Chain

This paper investigates a pricing game and service cooperation for complementary products in a dual-channel supply chain composed of two manufacturers and one retailer. The products of the two manufacturers are complementary products. One manufacturer sells products simultaneously through its own online channel and the traditional retailer, and the manufacturer delivers the product’s service to the retailer in its network direct sales channel by cooperating with the retailer in the form of service cost sharing. Considering the different market power structures of channel members, we establish three different pricing game models. By using the backward induction method and game theory, we obtain the corresponding analytical equilibrium solutions. Then, the service cooperation strategy of using the channel service sensitivity coefficients to construct the weight to share the service cost is proposed. Finally, numerical examples of optimal pricing strategies and profit conditions in different game situations are given, and sensitivity analysis of some key parameters is selectively performed, in which some valuable management insights are obtained

Self-Image Congruence, Functional Congruence, and Mobile App Intention to Use

Although the research on the technology acceptance model (TAM) has received much attention, limited research has been done on the role of self-image congruence on the mobile application (app) intention to use. Therefore, leveraging the lens of the self-congruence theory, the primary objective of the present research is to examine the impact of self-image and functional congruence on the mobile app intention to use. We conduct a survey and collect 349 responses from Chinese smartphone users. The results of the current research reveal that self-image congruence is positively significantly related to mobile app intention to use. Also, our findings show that symbolic congruence is a vital determinant of the mobile app intention to use among Chinese smartphone users. Overall, the present study extends the understanding of TAM and concludes that symbolic congruence, such as functional attributes, is equally essential for technology intention to use. Moreover, this study extends the TAM and self-congruence theory literature by empirically investigating and validating the conceptual framework. The present study highlights the significance of self-image congruence to understand the user mobile app adoption behavior better. It provides important knowledge for the app developers, researchers, policymakers, and marketing managers of the famous social commerce and popular brand apps

Impact of Excessive use of Social media on Employee Creativity through Strain: Moderation effect of Communication Visibility

The rapid development of social media technologies has resulted in excessive use of social media in the organizations, which have a negative effect on work outcome. Previous studies have not focused that much on the negative effects of excessive use of social media in the organizational context. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of excessive use of social media on employee creativity through strain; using primary data collected from 359 Chinese employees working in different organizations. Findings have shown that excessive use of social media has a negative effect on employee creativity, and positive effect on strain, whereas strain has a negative effect on individual creativity. Communication visibility positively moderates the relationship between excessive use of social media and strain. Additionally, communication visibility also moderates the negative relationship between excessive use of social media and employee creativity. The managerial and theoretical implications of this study is also discussed in the last section

A Behavior-Driven Forum Spammer Recognition Method with Its Application in Automobile Forums

10.1155/2021/7682579Mathematical Problems in Engineering2021768257

Using cloud-based virtual learning environments to mitigate increasing disparity in urban-rural academic competence

The unequal distribution of educational opportunities between urban and rural areas is still a significant challenge in China. As a result, students from urban areas can benefit from highly qualified teachers and enjoy state-of-the-art facilities in contrast with their rural counterparts. Consequently, students from urban areas are more likely to join higher education institutes in comparison with their rural counterparts. In such a scenario, a cloud-based virtual learning environment (C-VLE) is of great importance to provide quality education in rural areas. This study aims to predict C-VLE usage\u27s impact on academic performance and gender differences in rural China. The respondents belonged to rural areas and experienced varying levels of such difficulties. This study extended the task-technology fit theory with the channel expansion theory. The study revealed that task-technology fit, individual-technology fit, perceived media richness, omnipresence, and interactivity positively influence C-VLE usage that leads elevating academic performance. As a result, the students from rural areas have a better competitive position than their urban counterparts. Surprisingly, gender did not play any moderating role. The study provides significant theoretical and practical implications for scholars, educational authorities, and policymakers