The Majority Illusion in Social Networks

Social behaviors are often contagious, spreading through a population as individuals imitate the decisions and choices of others. A variety of global phenomena, from innovation adoption to the emergence of social norms and political movements, arise as a result of people following a simple local rule, such as copy what others are doing. However, individuals often lack global knowledge of the behaviors of others and must estimate them from the observations of their friends' behaviors. In some cases, the structure of the underlying social network can dramatically skew an individual's local observations, making a behavior appear far more common locally than it is globally. We trace the origins of this phenomenon, which we call "the majority illusion," to the friendship paradox in social networks. As a result of this paradox, a behavior that is globally rare may be systematically overrepresented in the local neighborhoods of many people, i.e., among their friends. Thus, the "majority illusion" may facilitate the spread of social contagions in networks and also explain why systematic biases in social perceptions, for example, of risky behavior, arise. Using synthetic and real-world networks, we explore how the "majority illusion" depends on network structure and develop a statistical model to calculate its magnitude in a network

al. RFID Adoption in Supply Chain Activities Proceedings of the Seventeenth Americas Conference on Information Systems, Detroit, Michigan August 4th-7th 2011 1 Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Adoption in Supply Chain Activities: Facilitators and Inhibitors

RFID is an increasingly important technology whose adoption is not well understood from a supply chainperspective. Drawing from the Technology-Organization-Environment framework, we have developed a theoreticalmodel for RFID adoption, incorporating critical factors perceived to influence RFID adoption. Survey data wascollected from industry professionals worldwide for the empirical study. The findings suggest that (1) organizationsfacing greater competitive pressure and trading partner readiness are more likely to adopt RFID and (2) perceivedcomplexity of RFID is a significant inhibitor for the adoption of this technology. The implications of our results arediscussed

Will Ezhou become an air cargo superhub in China? A comparison to Memphis

Purpose: As China boosts high-end manufacturing and modern services along with industrial relocation to its central and west regions, air cargo hubs become more critical for development in these regions. Meanwhile, aviation logistics has been listed as a new momentum for further economic growth in multiple Chinese cities, among which Ezhou is said to become Asia’s first and the world’s fourth professional cargo airport. This article assesses the possibility for Ezhou to realize this goal, based on a comparison to the US busiest air cargo hub, Memphis. Design/methodology: Factors under comparison include Geographical location, city foundation, weather conditions, traffic connections, and policy support. Also, this article evaluates Ezhou’s privileges against other Chinese cities, taking Zhengzhou as an example. Findings: Ezhou is finally found to be more suited to be a Chinese Memphis. Research limitations/implications: No permission was given to make interviews with the ground handling personnel and gather real-life data to analyze task durations and workers’ body movements. Originality/value: This article is the first to analyze the possible rise of an air cargo hub in China in English literature.Peer Reviewe

The Impact of RFID on Firm and Supply Chain Performance: a Simulation Study

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a tracking technology that enables firms to digitize their supply chain processes and manage their supply chain activities efficiently and effectively. This study develops an analytical model of the impact of RFID use on inventory accuracy and on the firm-level and supply chain-level performance of a single product line. Due to the complexity of the analytical model, we propose to analyze the model using simulation and to gain insights into the behaviors of the various players in the supply chain. This research in progress will help better understand RFID value in supply chain, from an inventory management perspective and also bring into focus the impact of product type and technology development status on technology use

The diffusion and impact of radio frequency identification in supply chains : a multi-method approach

As a promising and emerging technology for supply chain management, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a new alternative to existing tracking technologies and also allows a range of internal control and supply chain coordination. RFID has generated a significant amount of interest and activities from both practitioners and researchers in recent years. However, the factors important for its diffusion in supply chains and the impact on supply chain performance have not been well understood. Many organizations are reluctant to participate in supply-chain level RFID projects because of this lack of understanding. My dissertation proposes to help understand RFID's use in supply chains through a multi-method approach - an empirical study to understand the diffusion and impact of RFID and a simulation study to understand RFID's impact on inventory accuracy in supply chains. My first study on the factors influencing RFID adoption decision showed that compatibility, trading partner's RFID capability, trading partner power, competitive pressure, transaction volume and financial resources are significant factors for RFID adoption in a supply chain context. The second study which looked into the post-adoption use of RFID for supply chain has found that adoption cost, complexity, organizational readiness, external pressure and trading partner readiness significantly influence RFID infusion, which finally improves firm's supply chain process performance. The third study used a simulation model to examine RFID's impact on inventory management in supply chains. The key findings were that the benefits reaped from RFID heavily depend on product type which implements RFID. The above findings indicate that organizations have to carefully evaluate their RFID project with different factors identified in this dissertation to successfully implement RFID and derive its full benefits. My dissertation has contributed to RFID research in particular, and supply chain technology adoption in general, by showing the importance of trading partner issues for supply chain technology diffusion and use

Epitaxial stabilization of the frustrated Ge-based spinel thin films

Frustrated magnets can host numerous exotic many-body quantum and topological phenomena. GeNi$_2$O$_4$ is a three dimensional $S=1$ frustrated magnet with an unusual two-stage transition to the two-dimensional antiferromagnetic ground state, while GeCu$_2$O$_4$ is a high-pressure phase with a strongly tetragonally elongated spinel structure and magnetic lattice formed by $S=1/2$ CuO$_2$ linear chains with frustrated exchange interactions and exotic magnetic behavior. Here we report on the first thin-film epitaxial stabilization of these two compounds. Developed growth mode, surface morphology, crystal structure and copper valence state were characterized by in-situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction, atomic force microscopy, X-ray reflectivity, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and resonant X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Our results pave an alternative route to the comprehensive investigation of the puzzling magnetic properties of these compounds and exploration of novel emergent features driven by strain