Academic research into service industries has explored the characteristics of interpersonal interactions between employees and customers, but there are few studies addressing the issues of consumer interaction with te...Academic research into service industries has explored the characteristics of interpersonal interactions between employees and customers, but there are few studies addressing the issues of consumer interaction with technology and its influence on the objectives and results of the operations subsystem. This study examines the elements of the service encounter, and the changes automation originates in them and their relationships. The paper also examines changes in the elements and results of the operations subsystem, as a result of automation. We propose that the customer＇s relationship with employees and/or technology and automated systems for the service impact the objectives and results of the operations subsystem, all of which could have an effect on the company＇s competitive position. The empirical study is focused on four industries, namely, toll motorways, car parks, carwash and video/DVD rental companies, in an attempt to identify objectives that lead companies to implement automated processes affecting the customer＇s relationship with the company. The hypotheses generated are contrasted with a structural equation modelling. The results confirm that the customer＇s relationship with employees and automated systems for the service impacts the objectives and results of the operations subsystem. Also, the results show how automation can enable firms simultaneously to achieve acceptable levels of flexibility and productivity, two dimensions that have traditionally been considered opposites.展开更多
This paper reviewed the developments of the last ten years in the field of international high-resolution earth observation, and introduced the developmental status and plans for China's high-resolution earth obser...This paper reviewed the developments of the last ten years in the field of international high-resolution earth observation, and introduced the developmental status and plans for China's high-resolution earth observation program. In addition, this paper expounded the transformation mechanism and procedure from earth observation data to geospatial information and geographical knowledge, and examined the key scientific and technological issues, including earth observation networks, high-precision image positioning, image understanding, automatic spatial information extraction, and focus services. These analyses provide a new impetus for pushing the application of China's high-resolution earth observation system from a "quantity" to "quality" change, from China to the world, from providing products to providing online service.展开更多
文摘Academic research into service industries has explored the characteristics of interpersonal interactions between employees and customers, but there are few studies addressing the issues of consumer interaction with technology and its influence on the objectives and results of the operations subsystem. This study examines the elements of the service encounter, and the changes automation originates in them and their relationships. The paper also examines changes in the elements and results of the operations subsystem, as a result of automation. We propose that the customer＇s relationship with employees and/or technology and automated systems for the service impact the objectives and results of the operations subsystem, all of which could have an effect on the company＇s competitive position. The empirical study is focused on four industries, namely, toll motorways, car parks, carwash and video/DVD rental companies, in an attempt to identify objectives that lead companies to implement automated processes affecting the customer＇s relationship with the company. The hypotheses generated are contrasted with a structural equation modelling. The results confirm that the customer＇s relationship with employees and automated systems for the service impacts the objectives and results of the operations subsystem. Also, the results show how automation can enable firms simultaneously to achieve acceptable levels of flexibility and productivity, two dimensions that have traditionally been considered opposites.
基金supported by National Basic Research Program of China(Grant No. 2012CB719906)
文摘This paper reviewed the developments of the last ten years in the field of international high-resolution earth observation, and introduced the developmental status and plans for China's high-resolution earth observation program. In addition, this paper expounded the transformation mechanism and procedure from earth observation data to geospatial information and geographical knowledge, and examined the key scientific and technological issues, including earth observation networks, high-precision image positioning, image understanding, automatic spatial information extraction, and focus services. These analyses provide a new impetus for pushing the application of China's high-resolution earth observation system from a "quantity" to "quality" change, from China to the world, from providing products to providing online service.
