An Exploratory Study of E-Business Success Factors

E-business success factors are Important for traditional enterprises to implement e-business. This topic is attracting more and more researchers to study. This paper makes an exploratory study on the factors influencing e-business success. Firstly, based on the literature review, 52 factors are suggested. Secondly, two rounds of survey with Delphi method are conducted. Qualitative and quantitative analysis are used to identify 57 factors. This is the foundation of empirical study.

Analysis on Critical Success Factors for Agile Manufacturing Evaluation in Original Equipment Manufacturing Industry-An AHP Approach

Manufacturing industries are facing challenges in the implementation of agile manufacturing in their products and processes. Agility is widely accepted as a new competitive concept in the manufacturing sector in fulfilling varying customer demand. Thus, evaluation of agile manufacturing in industries has become a necessity. The success of an organisation depends on its ability to manage finding the critical success factors and give them special and continued attention in order to bring about high performance. This paper proposes a set of critical success factors （CSFs） for evaluating agile manufacturing considered appropriate for the manufacturing sector. The analytical hierarchy process （AHP） method is applied for prioritizing the success factors, by summarizing the opinions of experts. It is believed that the proposed CSFs enable and assist manufacturing industries to achieve a higher performance in agile manufacturing so as to increase competitiveness.

An Evaluation of the Critical Success Factors in Sustainable Food Supply Chains in Developing Countries

Food is one of the biggest industries in developed and underdeveloped countries. Supply chain sustainability is essential in established and emerging economies because of the rising acceptance of cost-based outsourcing and the growing technological, social, and environmental concerns. The food business faces serious sustainability and growth challenges in developing countries. A comprehensive analysis of the critical success factors (CSFs) influencing the performance outcome and the sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) process. A theoretical framework is established to explain how they are used to examine the organizational aspect of the food supply chain life cycle analysis. This study examined the CSFs and revealed the relationships between them using a methodology that included a review of literature, interpretative structural modeling (ISM), and cross-impact matrix multiplication applied in classification (MICMAC) tool analysis of soil liquefaction factors. The findings of this research demonstrate that the quality and safety of food are important factors and have a direct effect on other factors. To make sustainable food supply chain management more adequate, legislators, managers, and experts need to pay attention to this factor. In this work. It also shows that companies aiming to create a sustainable business model must make sustainability a fundamental tenet of their organization. Practitioners and managers may devise effective long-term plans for establishing a sustainable food supply chain utilizing the recommended methodology.

Review of constraints and critical success factors of developing urban underground space

The development of urban underground space(UUS)is of great significance for sustainable urban development because it has potential to solve many urban problems.However,the development of UUS is limited because there are still a lot of constraints and challenges.To better understand the constraining factors of developing UUS and improve the development and utilization of UUS,this study conducts a comprehensive survey of existing literature retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database.Five main constraining factors,including the limited geological conditions,high cost,lack of natural light and ventilation,high incidence,and difficulty in collecting data and information on UUS,have been discussed to better understand how they affect the development of UUS.Based on the survey,the critical success factors of developing UUS,such as the effective governance structure,planning system for integrating UUS into urban development,coordination of the design of ground and underground,delineation of land property rights of UUS,and application of information techniques in the use of UUS,have been identified and discussed.In addition,knowledge gaps in the studies on development of UUS have been identified.Finally,the research trends and future directions have been proposed for better understanding and practice of UUS development.

An Inquiry into Success Factors for Post-disaster Housing Reconstruction Projects: A Case of Kerala, South India

The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami triggered significant destruction to housing and related infrastructures across various coastal districts of south India.Research shows that tsunami reconstruction projects in Kerala experienced different degrees of success and failure.On this background,this study explored factors that contributed to the successful implementation of tsunami housing projects in Kerala by(1)consolidating various critical success factors(CSFs)for post-disaster reconstruction(PDR)projects under‘‘project management success traits’’through content analysis of existing literature;(2)deriving a conceptual model that envisages project success in PDR contexts;and(3)assessing the impacts of those success traits on tsunami housing projects using confirmatory factor analysis.Necessary data were gathered through a survey of various stakeholders involved in tsunami reconstruction projects in Kerala using structured questionnaires.The research revealed that PDR project success is attributed to critical dimensions of project management such as institutional mechanisms,reconstruction strategies,project implementation,and stakeholder management.A conceptual model with the interplay of project success,success traits,as well as their CSFs identified the project management actions that must be monitored during reconstruction.Since the project management approach is widely recognized for PDR projects,these success traits hold huge potential for effective organization and management of housing reconstruction projects.The study also helped to identify project management traits that need improvements for the successful implementation of post-disaster housing projects in Kerala.Thus the research findings can serve as a foundational study for formulating project management strategies appropriate to PDR projects in Kerala.

Factors of Failure of Community Interventions of PMTCT Activities in Haut Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The objective of the study was to identify the failure factors of community interventions in terms of HIV activities in the province of Haut-Katanga during the year 2016. Materials and Methods: The study was phenomenological of the factors, carried out in Haut Katanga. All health facilities (FOSAs) having integrated the prevention of transmission of HIV infection from mother to child (PMTCT) were included in the study. The collection was carried out through individual semi-structured interviews with PMTCT focal points, mentor mothers and people living with HIV (PLWHA) cared for in some of these health facilities (FOSAs). The number of participants was determined by the saturation of responses. Nvivo v.11 software was used for the analyses. The data of each woman was handled confidentially. The authorization of the ethics committee of the University of Kinshasa ESP/CE091/2015, the free and written consent, was obtained before collecting the information. Results: It was observed the socio-cultural factors of success and failure of the interventions: the social fear generated by contradictory messages in the sensitization of the community;the lack of an obvious strategy for the involvement of the partner;the weak coordination of community care activities between the central office of the health zone;the FOSA and the community worker: low interest in community care evidenced by weak accountability of FOSAs, community and program providers in this regard;that relates to community activities;coordination of care between care units;overload of the staff in charge of activities within the health structure and their low motivation;the low communication time devoted to people living with HIV in the FOSAs. Conclusion: The study shows that interventions that can improve the quality and outcomes of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services can be directly linked to the program itself, as well as come from another or the community, which generally remains the weak link in which efforts are even less noticeable, at least as far as PMTCT is concerned. Integrating care data for the mother-child couple improve the continuum of services between the different care units as well as the quality of data management.

Logistics Factors Affecting Cross-border Ecommerce Implementation

The purpose of this paper is to provide a structured literature review of cross-border e-logistics research,uncover existing gaps and opportunities,try to find practical strategies to balance logistics costs and service levels,and improve logistics efficiency and customer satisfaction for future cross-border e-logistics research.Meanwhile this paper also uses the real data to test the tradeoff between transportation and warehousing cost.In addition,regression empirical analysis is used to make up for the lack of empirical drawbacks of many articles in the field and the result can be instructive and referential for cross-border e-commerce enterprises to make decisions on weighing logistics cost and service level to improve logistics efficiency.

Intelligent Integrated Model for Improving Performance in Power Plants

Industry 4.0 is expected to play a crucial role in improving energy management and personnel performance in power plants.Poor performance problem in maintaining power plants is the result of both human errors,human factors and the poor implementation of automation in energy management.This problem can potentially be solved using artificial intelligence(AI)and an integrated management system(IMS).This article investigates the current challenges to improving personnel and energy management performance in power plants,identifies the critical success factors(CSFs)for an integrated intelligent framework,and develops an intelligent framework that enables power plants to improve performance.The theoretical basis is founded on a systematic literature review to locate 110 out of 3108 papers studied carefully to examine the performance architecture that best enables effective maintenance.The findings from this literature review are combined with expert judgment and the big data advantages of AI applications to develop an intelligent model.Data are collected from a power plant in Iraq.To ensure the reliability of the proposed model,various hypotheses are tested using structural equation modeling.The results confirm that the measurement model is acceptable,and that the hypotheses are supported and significant.A case study demonstrates the strong relationship and significance between big data of performance and the CSFs.It is hoped that this model will be adopted to enable performance improvement in power plants.

Quality Models for Open, Flexible, and Online Learning

This article is based on research conducted for the European CommissionEducation & Training 2020 working group on digital and online learning(ET2020 WG-DOL) specifically regarding policy challenges, such as thefollowing: 1) Targeted policy guidance on innovative and open learningenvironments under outcome;2) Proposal for a quality assurance modelfor open and innovative learning environments, its impact on specificassessment frameworks and its implication for EU recognition and transparencyinstruments. The article aims to define quality in open, flexible,and online learning, particularly in open education, open educationalresources (OER), and massive open online courses (MOOC). Hence,quality domains, characteristics, and criteria are outlined and discussed,as well as how they contribute to quality and personal learning so thatlearners can orchestrate and take responsibility for their own learningpathways. An additional goal is to identify the major stakeholders directlyinvolved in open online education and to describe their visions, communalities,and conflicts regarding quality in open, flexible, and online learning.The article also focuses on quality in periods of crisis, such as duringthe pandemic in 2020. Finally, the article discusses the rationale and needfor a model of quality in open, flexible, and online learning based on threemajor criteria for quality: excellence, impact, and implementation fromthe learner’s perspective.

Evolution of Principal Contradiction Facing Chinese Society and the CPC Leadership over Economic Work

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949,the Communist Party of China(CPC)has separated China’s evolving principal social contradictions into four different stages.Based on the assessment of principal social contradictions at different points in time,the CPC enacted different economic policies.During 1949-1956,based on the recognition of class struggle as China’s principal social contradiction,the Party focused its economic policies on socialist transformation and established the foundation for the public sector of the economy.During 1956-1978,amid flip-flops in the Party’s assessment of whether class struggle or backward productive forces were the principal contradiction,China’s economic development suffered some setbacks,but the vision for building an industrial country remained unchanged,and resources were focused on developing major national industrial projects.During 1978-2019,the Party focused on economic development and reform and opening up in pursuit of the realization of grand economic development goals based on the assessment that China’s principal social contradiction was between people’s ever-growing material and cultural needs and China’s relatively backward social productive forces.In 2017,the 19th CPC National Congress made the important political assessment that China’s principal social contradiction had transformed into the contradiction between people’s ever-growing need for a better life and China’s unbalanced and inadequate development,and proposed new development concepts to lead the Chinese people on a new journey towards the second centennial goal.The most important experience of the CPC’s economic work is analyzing and solving problems based on Marxist ideology and methodology.

Influence of Farmer Capacity Building in Institutional Linkages on Performance of Smallholder Irrigation Projects in Migori County, Kenya

The smallholder irrigation sector in Kenya is considered inadequately developed. The study views unawareness of critical success factors in the smallholder irrigation sector as contributing to poor performance of smallholder irrigation projects. Consequently, the study investigated influence of farmer capacity building in institutional linkages on performance of smallholder irrigation projects in Migori County, Kenya. The study embraced a pragmatic view of philosophy, and used cross sectional and correlation research design. The target population was 2815, and comprised farmers drawn from fifteen smallholder irrigation projects that receive water from River Kuja through Lower Kuja Project. The sample size was 341. The study used systematic random sampling procedure to draw the sample, and collected data using questionnaire. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study established that farmer capacity building in institutional linkages has a significant influence on performance of smallholder irrigation projects (r = 0.803, R2 = 0.645, F (5, 331) = 120.254 and p < 0.000 < 0.05). Thus, the study recommends that Migori County Government come up with policies that link smallholder irrigation projects in Lower Kuja Project to institutions that provide land ploughing services, certified seeds and fertilisers, control of crop pests and diseases, transportation of farm produce and marketing of farm produce.

A Framework Analysis for Lean Transformation: A Case Study of a Public Utility in Greece

Purpose: Nowadays, the worldwide economic recession has created numerous challenges in the Public Sector of Greece, which in turn affect the sustainability of public enterprises. Overall, there is a high pressure to increase productivity and reduce operating costs. The need to adapt to the new environment is pushing public organizations to implement Lean Management strategies in accordance with Private Sector standards. However, the limited budget, public deficits and debts, bureaucratic culture, political dependence and lack of transparency present several issues. These pose a serious threat to successful implementation of Lean practices in the long-run. Lack of relevant research and dichotomous role of public service organizations make this study very interesting. This research paper is aiming at exploring and highlighting the impact of the most important Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for the effective integration of Lean Management principles in Public Utility organizations in Greece by combining bibliographic research and empirical—with the quantitative method-research through case studies. Research Methodology: The research method combines bibliographic research and empirical—with the quantitative method. Quantitative method was employed on a sufficient sample of public employees from two of the largest public companies of Greece: Public Power Corporation (PPC S.A.) and Athens Water Supply and Sewerage Company (EYDAP S.A.) in order to investigate the impact of the most important CSFs on successful Lean Transformation of them. Findings: Quantitative findings from this research illustrated that the most important CSFs that have a positive impact on successful Lean Transformation on Greek public organizations/utilities are: Effective Communication, flexible Organizational Infrastructure, Customer Focus, Linking Lean to Suppliers, Business Plan and Vision, competent Change Management, Top Management Support and Commitment, Training and Education, as well as Selection of Staff. On the contrary, the existence of a bureaucratic Organizational Culture has a negative effect on successful integration of Lean Management. Limitations: Important limitations of this study are the utilization of a convenience sample and the strict focus on Greek public organizations operating in a competitive environment.

An Acceptance Model of Using Mobile-Government Services(AMGS)

In recent years,the telecommunications sector is no longer limited to traditional communications,but has become the backbone for the use of data,content and digital applications by individuals,governments and companies to ensure the continuation of economic and social activity in light of social distancing and total closure inmost countries in the world.Therefore,electronic government(e-Government)andmobile government(m-Government)are the results of technological evolution and innovation.Hence,it is important to investigate the factors that influence the intention to use m-Government services among Jordan’s society.This paper proposed a new m-Government acceptance model in Jordan(AMGS);this model combines the Information System(IS)Success Factor Model and Hofstede Cultural Dimensions Theory.The study was conducted by surveying different groups of the Jordanian community.Astructured questionnaire was used to collect data from203 respondents.Multiple regression analysis has been conducted to analyze the data.The results indicate that the significant predictors of citizen intention to use m-Government services in Jordan are Information Quality,Service Quality,Uncertainty Avoidance,and Indulgence vs.restraint.While,the results also suggest that Power Distance is not a significant predictor of citizen intention to use m-Government services.

PERCUTANEOUS TRANSLUMINAL CORONARY ANGIOPLASTY ITS SUCCESS RATE AND AFFECTING FACTORS

From December 1987 to October 1983, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) was performed in 302 patients with 392 diseased vessels and 440 lesions. The success rate was 93.71% in 302 patients, 94.90% in 392 diseased vessels and 95.00% in 440 lesions. The success rate was 98.92% in Type A lesion, 95.71% in Type B lesion, and 86.57% in Type C lesion (A vs B P=NS, A vs C P<0.01). There were 55 lesions with total or subtotal occlusion, the success rate was 89.09% (93.10% in Type B lesion and 84.62% in Type C lesion). As to the diseased vessels, the success rate was 95.65% in LAD, 94.38% in LCX and 93.75% in RCA. The results showed no significant difference. In this series, acute ischemic complications were found in 6.59% (29 / 440). Of these 29 lesions, 23 were treated successfully, 5 developed Q wave myocardial infarction and 1 died.

ON MAJOR FACTORS OF SUCCESSFUL LANGUAGE LEARNING

As is well known, some people are more successful thanothers in learning. This different levels of achievement may beattributed to variables associated with the learner. In recentyears there has been extensive research into aspects of differencesin learning a second language. This paper briefly reviews anddiscusses the major parameters of the differences among individu-als which research studies indicate may influence the success ofsecond language learning, citing six areas of interest: age, intel-ligence, cognitive styles, personality, motivation and attitude.

Urban restaurants and online food delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic:a spatial and socio-demographic analysis

In this research,we analyzed the delivery service areas of restaurants,customer satisfaction,and restaurant sales of urban restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic.We obtained the datasets on food ordering options and restaurant rankings based on Google Maps,Open Street Map,and widely known online food order applications in Iran.Based on this analysis we further modeled suitable areas for future extension of restaurants.We analyzed the online food order data of restaurants’sales and food delivery reports for 1050 restaurants in the city of Tabriz.We collected and analyzed data on the restaurant locations,the number of food orders for each restaurant,and the number of customers and their locations.Our results revealed that the spatial dimension of the newly emerging food delivery areas is of utmost importance for the success of restaurants.This indicates that an optimal location is not longer only dependent on factors like population density and competitors in the direct vicinity but on the services density even from more distant competitors.The results indicate that an optimized spatial distribution of the restaurants together with efficient quality in services can contribute to optimistic urban development.

Supplier development and its incentives in infrastructure mega-projects： A case study on Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge project

In this paper the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge project is taken as a case to analyze supplier development in infrastructure mega-projects. Compared with manufacturing industry, the characteristics of supplier development in infrastructure mega-projects is analyzed in term of development motives, supplier selection, quality management, production mode, owner participation and risks. The critical factors influencing the construction supplier development are identified, which include incentives, collaboration, future market, trust and bilateral communication. Furthermore, focusing on the incentives for the supplier's product quality and production capacity improvement, decision-making framework models are proposed to design the incentive mechanisms.

Measuring project performance by applying social network analyses

It is often argued that the core of organizational success is efficient collaboration.Some authors even posit that efficient collaboration is more important to organizational innovation and performance than individual skills or expertise.However,the lack of efficient models to manage collaboration properly is a major constraint for organizations to profit from internal and external collaborative initiatives.Currently,much of the collaboration in organizations occurs through virtual network channels,such as e-mail,Yammer,Jabber,Microsoft Teams,Skype,and Zoom.These are even more important in situations where different time zones and even threats of a pandemic constrain face-to-face human interactions.This work introduces a multidisciplinary heuristic model developed based on project risk management and social network analysis centrality metrics graph-theory to quantitatively measure dynamic organizational collaboration in the project environment.A case study illustrates the proposed model’s implementation and application in a real virtual project organizational context.The major benefit of applying this proposed model is that it enables organizations to quantitatively measure different collaborative,organizational,and dynamic behavioral patterns,which can later correlate with organizational outcomes.The model analyzes three collaborative project dimensions:network collaboration cohesion evolution,network collaboration degree evolution,and network team set variability evolution.This provides organizations an innovative approach to understand and manage possible collaborative project risks that may emerge as projects are delivered.Organizations can use the proposed model to identify projects’critical success factors by comparing successful and unsuccessful delivered projects’dynamic behaviors if a substantial number of both project types are analyzed.The proposed model also enables organizations to make decisions with more information regarding the support for changes in observed collaborative patterns as demonstrated by statistical models in general,and linear regressions in particular.Further,the proposed model provides organizations with a completely bias-free data-collection process that eliminates organizational downtime.Finally,applying the proposed model in organizations will reduce or eliminate the risks associated with virtual collaborative dynamics,leading to the optimized use of resources;this will transform organizations to become more lean-oriented and significantly contribute to economic,social,and environmental global sustainability.