Search results for: ecosystem service

Authors: Kailash C. Madan

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We study the steady state behaviour of a batch arrival single server queue in which the first service with general service times is compulsory and the second service with general service times is optional. We term such a two phase service as generalized Coxian-2 service. Just after completion of a service the server must take a vacation of random length of time with general vacation times. We obtain steady state probability generating functions for the queue size as well as the steady state mean queue size at a random epoch of time in explicit and closed forms. Some particular cases of interest including some known results have been derived.

Keywords: batch arrivals, compound Poisson process, generalized Coxian-2 service, steady state

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Authors: Fatemeh Khalili Varnamkhasti

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In recent times, there has been a notable shift in the application of Total Quality Management (TQM) from manufacturing to service organizations, prompting numerous studies on the subject. TQM has firmly established itself across various sectors, emerging as an approach to process improvement, waste reduction, business optimization, and quality performance. Many researchers and academics have recognized the relevance of TQM for sustainable competitive advantage, particularly in service organizations. In light of this, the purpose of this research study is to explore the applicability of TQM within the service framework. The study delves into existing literature on TQM in service organizations and examines the reasons for its occasional shortcomings. Ultimately, the paper provides systematic guidelines for the effective implementation of TQM in service organizations. The findings of this study offer a much-improved understanding of TQM and its practices, shedding light on the evolution of service organizations. Additionally, the study highlights key insights from recent research on TQM in service organizations and proposes a ten-step approach for the successful implementation of TQM in the service sector. This framework aims to provide service managers and professionals with a comprehensive understanding of TQM fundamentals and encourages a deeper exploration of TQM theory.

Keywords: quality, control, service, management, teamwork

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Authors: Vesa Salminen, Esa Santakallio, Heikki Ruohomaa

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Introduction: The city of Riihimäki has decided robotics on well-being, service and industry as the main focus area on their ecosystem strategy. Robotics is going to be an important part of the everyday life of citizens and present in the working day of the average citizen and employee in the future. For that reason, also education system and education programs on all levels of education from diaper age to doctorate have been directed to fulfill this ecosystem strategy. Goal: The objective of this activity has been to develop education continuity from diaper age to doctorate. The main target of the development activity is to create a unique robotics study entity that enables ongoing robotics studies from preprimary education to university. The aim is also to attract students internationally and supply a skilled workforce to the private sector, capable of the challenges of the future. Methodology: Education instances (high school, second grade, Universities on all levels) in a large area of Tavastia Province have gradually directed their education programs to support this goal. On the other hand, applied research projects have been created to make proof of concept- phases on areal real environment field labs to test technology opportunities and digitalization to change business processes by applying robotic solutions. Customer-oriented applied research projects offer for students in robotics education learning environments to learn new knowledge and content. That is also a learning environment for education programs to adapt and co-evolution. New content and problem-based learning are used in future education modules. Major findings: Joint robotics education entity is being developed in cooperation with the city of Riihimäki (primary education), Syria Education (secondary education) and HAMK (bachelor and master education). The education modules have been developed to enable smooth transitioning from one institute to another. This article is introduced a case study of the change of education of wellbeing education because of digitalization and robotics. Riihimäki's Elderly citizen's service house, Riihikoti, has been working as a field lab for proof-of-concept phases on testing technology opportunities. According to successful case studies also education programs on various levels of education have been changing. Riihikoti has been developed as a physical learning environment for home care and robotics, investigating and developing a variety of digital devices and service opportunities and experimenting and learn the use of equipment. The environment enables the co-development of digital service capabilities in the authentic environment for all interested groups in transdisciplinary cooperation.

Keywords: ecosystem strategy, digitalization and robotics, education continuity, learning environment, transdisciplinary co-operation

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Authors: Masood Monjezi

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The English teachers’ pedagogical identity construction is the way teachers go through the process of becoming teachers and how they maintain their teaching selves. The pedagogical identity of teachers is influenced by several factors within the individual and the society. The purpose of this study was to compare the imagined social world of the pre-service teachers with the real experiences the in-service teachers had in the context of Iran to see how prepared the pre-service teachers are with a view to their identity being. This study used a qualitative approach to collection and analysis of the data. Structured and semi-structured interviews, focus groups and process logs were used to collect the data. Then, using open coding, the data were analyzed. The findings showed that the imagined world of the pre-service teachers partly corresponded with the real world experiences of the in-service teachers leaving the pre-service teachers unprepared for their real world teaching profession. The findings suggest that the current approaches to English teacher training are in need of modification to better prepare the pre-service teachers for the future that expects them.

Keywords: imagined professional world, in-service teachers, pre-service teachers, real experiences, community of practice, identity

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Authors: Chonlada Choovanichchanon

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This research paper was aimed to investigate a relationship between the customer service marketing mix and the level of customers’ satisfaction from purchasing goods and service from small business around campus, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Bangkok, Thailand. Based on the survey of 200 customers who frequently purchased goods and service around campus, the level of satisfaction for each factor of marketing mix was reached. An accidental random sampling was applied by using questionnaire in collecting the data. The findings revealed that the means values can help to rank these variables from high to low mean as follows: 1) forms and system of service, 2) physical environment of service center, 3) service from staff and employee, 4) product quality and service, 5) market channel and distribution, 6) market price, and 7) market promotion and distribution.

Keywords: service marketing mix, satisfaction, small business, survey

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Authors: Michael Sinclair, Andrea Ghermandi, Sheela A. Moses, Joseph Sabu

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Passively crowdsourced data, such as geotagged photographs from social media, represent an opportunistic source of location-based and time-specific behavioral data for ecosystem services analysis. Such data have innovative applications for environmental management and protection, which are replicable at wide spatial scales and in the context of both developed and developing countries. Here we test one such innovation, based on the analysis of the metadata of online geotagged photographs, to investigate the provision of recreational services by the entire network of wetland ecosystems in the state of Kerala, India. We estimate visitation to individual wetlands state-wide and extend, for the first time to a developing region, the emerging application of cultural ecosystem services modelling using data from social media. The impacts of restoration of wetland areal extension and water quality improvement are explored as a means to inform more sustainable management strategies. Findings show that improving water quality to a level suitable for the preservation of wildlife and fisheries could increase annual visits by 350,000, an increase of 13% in wetland visits state-wide, while restoring previously encroached wetland area could result in a 7% increase in annual visits, corresponding to 49,000 visitors, in the Ashtamudi and Vembanad lakes alone, two large coastal Ramsar wetlands in Kerala. We discuss how passive crowdsourcing of social media data has the potential to improve current ecosystem service analyses and environmental management practices also in the context of developing countries.

Keywords: coastal wetlands, cultural ecosystem services, India, passive crowdsourcing, social media, wetland restoration

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Authors: Samah Benmerbi, Kamal Amroun, Abdelkamel Tari

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The increasing number of Web service (WS)providers throughout the globe, have produced numerous Web services providing the same or similar functionality. Therefore, there is a need of tools developing the best answer of queries by selecting and composing services with total transparency. This paper reviews various QoS based Web service selection mechanisms and architectures which facilitate qualitatively optimal selection, in other fact Web service composition is required when a request cannot be fulfilled by a single web service. In such cases, it is preferable to integrate existing web services to satisfy user’s request. We introduce an automatic Web service composition method based on hypergraph decomposition using hypertree decomposition method. The problem of selection and the composition of the web services is transformed into a resolution in a hypertree by exploring the relations of dependency between web services to get composite web service via employing an execution order of WS satisfying global request.

Keywords: web service, web service selection, web service composition, QoS, hypergraph decomposition, BE hypergraph decomposition, hypertree resolution

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Authors: Vimi Jham

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The banking sector has undergone tremendous change in all forms of service it provides to its customers. The efforts of the banks is to avoid customer defection and lead to customer satisfaction. The purpose of the study was to examine the linkages among the constructs such as customer perceived service quality, perceived service recovery quality and customer satisfaction in the banking industry. The moderating effect of negative brand perception due to service failure on recovery satisfaction were investigated. Random sampling methods are used to draw the sample from the population. Data was collected from 262 banking customers and were analyzed with the help of structural equation modelling approach using Smart PLS to understand the relationship among variables being studied. The results of the study contribute to the research by proving that customer service recovery satisfaction is dependent on customer perceived service quality and the moderating effect of negative brand perception due to service failure was insignificant.

Keywords: service recovery satisfaction, perceived service recovery quality, perceived service quality, structural equation modelling

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Authors: Amin Hamrahi, Niloofar Moghaddam

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Denial of Service is for denial-of-service attack, a type of attack on a network that is designed to bring the network to its knees by flooding it with useless traffic. Denial of Service (DoS) attacks have become a major threat to current computer networks. Many recent DoS attacks were launched via a large number of distributed attacking hosts in the Internet. These attacks are called distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. To have a better understanding on DoS attacks, this article provides an overview on existing DoS and DDoS attacks and major defense technologies in the Internet.

Keywords: denial of service, distributed denial of service, traffic, flooding

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Authors: Zhiwei Zhong, Xiaofei Li, Deli Wang

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Ecosystem engineering is a powerful force shaping community structure and ecosystem function. Yet, very little is known about the mechanisms by which engineers affect vital ecosystem processes like trophic interactions. Here, we examine the potential for a herbivore ecosystem engineer, domestic sheep, to affect trophic interactions between the web-building spider Argiope bruennichi, its grasshopper prey Euchorthippus spp., and the grasshoppers’ host plant Leymus chinensis. By integrating small- and large-scale field experiments, we demonstrate that: 1) moderate sheep grazing changed the structure of plant communities by suppressing strongly interacting forbs within a grassland matrix; 2) this change in plant community structure drove interaction modifications between the grasshoppers and their grass host plants and between grasshoppers and their spider predators, and 3) these interaction modifications were entirely mediated by plasticity in grasshopper behavior. Overall, ecosystem engineering by sheep grazing strengthened bottom-up effects and weakened top-down effects via trait-mediated interactions, resulting in a nearly two-fold increase in grasshopper densities. Interestingly, the grasshopper behavioral shifts which reduced spider per capita predation rates in the microcosms did not translate to reduced spider predation rates at the larger system scale because increased grasshopper densities offset behavioral effects at larger scales. Our findings demonstrate that 1) ecosystem engineering can strongly alter trophic interactions, 2) such effects can be driven by cryptic trait-mediated interactions, and 3) the relative importance of trait- versus density effects as measured by microcosm experiments may not reflect the importance of these processes at realistic ecological scales due to scale-dependent interactions.

Keywords: bottom-up effects, ecosystem engineering, trait-mediated indirect effects, top-down effects

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Authors: Aisha M. Memon, Arabella Bhutto, Zahid A. Memon, Adnan Pitafi

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This study aims to identify the existing and non-existing elements in the entrepreneurial ecosystem which include finance, institutions, laws and regulations, human capital, culture, and markets, to measure the level of effectiveness of existing elements and to develop recommendations for improving the ecosystem to facilitate the women entrepreneurs in Jamshoro, Pakistan. The nature of this study is qualitative. Data were drawn from 25 in-depth, semi-structured interviews and a focus group discussion with women entrepreneurs in rural Jamshoro, Pakistan. The findings show the lack of awareness and knowledge among women entrepreneurs about available financial resources, lack of knowledge about laws, an absence of familial and societal support for women in accessing the entrepreneurial ecosystem, the absence of business and innovation enablers in rural areas, communication gaps, and unskilled human capital. The study found that institutions like non-for-profit organizations are playing an active role in the growth of women entrepreneurs. The existing entrepreneurial ecosystem in Jamshoro can be improved through culturally sensitive coordinated approach, interventions aimed at increasing awareness about the resources, promoting an understanding about the laws and regulations, making business enablers more effective, establishing public-private partnerships, and providing the women entrepreneurs easy access to market and financial resources.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship ecosystem, Pakistan, women entrepreneurs

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Authors: Vaishali Joshi

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In the past, companies and buyers operated as if there was infinite availability of natural resources for usage, which has resulted in the loss of our globe's natural ecosystem. People's consciousness of ecological concerns had increased, which showed the way for the evolution of the green revolution with the objective of discontinuing the use of products that are harmful to the ecosystem of the earth. This green revolution has made the consumers head toward those companies which are providing eco-friendly products s/service s through less eco-harmful ways. Studies show that companies started gaining a reputation in the market through their eco-friendly activities in their business. Hence companies should be alert to understand the consumer's environmentally friendly consumption behavior to survive and be in the game of the competition. Green marketing efforts guarantee beneficial exchanges without harmful consequences for current and /or upcoming generations. This hits the green policies of those companies which are claiming environmental concern. This means that these companies not only focus on the impact of their production and products on the ecosystem but also on every small activity in their value chain. One of the most ignored parts of the value chain is the medium through which the marketing of products/services is done. These companies should also take into account to what degree their selection of advertising media affects the ecosystem of the earth. In this study, a hypothetical fashion apparel brand known as "Dolphin" will be studied. In particular, the following objectives are framed: i) to study the brand attitude of the given fashion brand due to its selection of eco-friendly advertising medium ii) to study the advertisement attitude of the given fashion brand due to its selection of eco-friendly advertising medium and iii) to study the purchase intention of the given fashion brand due to its selection of eco-friendly advertising medium. An online experiment will be conducted. Respondents between the ages of 20-and 64 years will be selected randomly from the online consumer panel database. The findings of this study will have a great impact on the companies that are claiming environmental concerns by understanding how the advertising media is affecting the company’s brand image in the long run.

Keywords: eco-friendly advertising media, fashion, attitude, purchase intention

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Authors: Katarina Lazarević, Mirjana Todosijević, Tijana Vulević, Natalija Momirović, Ranka Erić

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Due to increasing demand, climate change, and world population growth, natural resources are getting exploit fast. One of the most important natural resources is soil, which is susceptible to degradation. Erosion as one of the forms of land degradation is also one of the most global environmental problems. Ecosystem services are often defined as benefits that nature provides to humankind. Soil, as the foundation of basic ecosystem functions, provides benefits to people, erosion control, water infiltration, food, fuel, fibers… This research is using the ecosystem approach as a strategy for natural resources management for promoting sustainability and conservation. The research was done on the Topčiderska River basin (Belgrade, Serbia). The InVEST Sediment Delivery Ratio model was used, to quantify erosion intensity with a spatial distribution output map of overland sediment generation and delivery to the stream. InVEST SDR, a spatially explicit model, is using a method based on the concept of hydrological connectivity and (R) USLE model. This, combined with socio-economic and law and policy analysis, gives a full set of information to decision-makers helping them to successfully manage and deliver sustainable ecosystems.

Keywords: ecosystem services, InVEST model, soil erosion, sustainability

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Authors: Cristina Schreiner, Romeo Ciobanu, Marius Pislaru

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This paper aims to build a system based on fuzzy models that can be implemented in the assessment of ecological systems, to determine appropriate methods of action for reducing adverse effects on environmental and implicit the population. The model proposed provides new perspective for environmental assessment, and it can be used as a practical instrument for decision-making.

Keywords: ecosystem model, environmental security, fuzzy logic, sustainability of habitable regions

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Authors: Soham Chakraborty

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This article examines the development of start-up culture in India, its development as well as related impact on the Indian society. Another vibrant synonym of start-up in the present century can be starting afresh. Startups have become the new flavor of this decade. A startup ecosystem is formed by mainly the new generation in the making. A startup ecosystem involves a variety of elements without which a startup can never prosper, they are—ideas, inventions, innovations as well as authentic research in the field into which one is interested, mentors, advisors, funding bodies, service provider organizations, angel, venture and so on. The culture of startup is quiet nascent but rampant in India. This is largely due to the widespread of media as a medium through which the newfangled entrepreneurs can spread their word of mouth far and wide. Different kinds of media such as Television, Radio, Internet, Print media and so on, act as the weapon to any startup company in India. The article explores how there is a sudden shift in the growing Indian economy due to the rise of startup ecosystem. There are various reasons, which are the result of the growing success of startup in India, firstly, entrepreneurs are building up startup ideas on the basis of various international startup but giving them a pinch of Indian flavor; secondly, business models are framed based on the current problems that people face in the modern century; thirdly, balance between social and technological entrepreneurs and lastly, quality of mentorship. The Government of India boasts startup as a flagship initiative. Bunch full of benefits and assistance was declared in an event named as 'Start Up India, Stand Up India' on 16th January 2016 by the current Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi. One of the biggest boon that increasing startups are creating in the society is the proliferation of self-employment. Noted Startups which are thriving in India are like OYO, Where’s The Food (WTF), TVF Pitchers, Flipkart and so on are examples of India is getting covered up by various innovative startups. The deep impact can be felt by each Indian after a few years as various governmental and non-governmental policies and agendas are helping in the sprawling up of startups and have mushroom growth in India. The impact of startup uprising in India is also possible due to increasing globalization which is leading to the eradication of national borders, thereby creating the environment to enlarge one’s business model. To conclude, this article points out on the correlation between rising startup in Indian market and its increasing developmental benefits for the people at large. Internationally, various business portals are tagging India to be the world’s fastest growing startup ecosystem.

Keywords: business, ecosystem, entrepreneurs, media, globalization, startup

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Authors: Reihaneh Rafiemanzelat

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due to towards the rapid urbanization, cities throughout the world faced to rapid growth through gray infrastructure. Therefore designing cities based on green and blue infrastructure can offer the best solution to support healthy urban environment. This conformation with a wide range of ecosystem service has a positive impact on the regulation of air temperature, noise reduction, air quality, and also create a pleasant environment for humans activities. Research mainly focuses on the concept and principles of green and blue infrastructure in the city of Esfahan at the center of Iran in order to create a livable and healthy environment. Design principles for green and blue infrastructure are classified into two different but interconnect evaluations. Healthy green infrastructure assessing based on; volume, shape, location, dispersion, and maintenance. For blue infrastructure there are three aspects of water and ecosystem which are; the contribution of water on medical health, the contribution of water on mental health, and creating possibilities to exercise.

Keywords: healthy cities, livability, urban landscape, green and blue infrastructure

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Authors: Kazeem Oluwakemi Oseni, Kate Dingley

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E-Service has moved from the usual manual and traditional way of rendering services to electronic service provision for the public and there are several reasons for implementing these services, Airline ticketing have gone from its manual traditional way to an intelligent web-driven service of purchasing. Many companies have seen their profits doubled through the use of online services in their operation and a typical example is Hewlett Packard (HP) which is rapidly transforming their after sales business into a profit generating e-service business unit. This paper will examine the various challenges confronting e-Service adoption and implementation in Nigeria and also analyse lessons learnt from e-Service adoption and implementation in Asia to see how it could be useful in Nigeria which is a lower middle income country. Based on the analysis of the online survey data. It has been identified that the public in Nigeria are much aware of e-Services but successful adoption and implementation have been the problems faced.

Keywords: e-government service, adoption, implementation, Nigeria, Asia

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Authors: Siri-Orn Champatong

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The objectives of this research were to study the attitude of service marketing mix that affected the decision making behavior to use fitness service in case of the fitness in Thailand. This study employed by survey research and questionnaire was used to collect the data from 400 of consumers who have used the service and interested in using the service in the future. The descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze data. The results revealed that the attitude toward overall marketing mix was at moderate level. For particulars, attitude toward product and service aspects were at good level, however, attitude toward price, place, promotion, people, physical evidence and service quality aspects were at moderate level. The hypothesis testing results showed that attitude toward each aspect affected word of mouth, however, attitude toward product and service, place, promotion, people and physical evidence affected tendency to use fitness service at .05 statistically significant level.

Keywords: decision making behavior, fitness, marketing mix, marketing service

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Authors: Pranee Tridhoskul

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This research paper is aimed to examine a relationship between the service marketing mix and customers’ frequency of use of service at Mercedes Benz Auto Repair Centres under Thonburi Group, Thailand. Based on 2,267 customers who used the service of Thonburi Group’s Auto Repair Centres as the population, the sampling of this research was a total of 340 samples, by use of Probability Sampling Technique. Systematic Random Sampling was applied by use of questionnaire in collecting the data at Thonburi Group’s Auto Repair Centres. Mean and Pearson’s basic statistical correlations were utilized in analyzing the data. The study discovered a medium level of customers’ perception towards product and service of Thonburi Group’s Auto Repair Centres, price, place or distribution channel and promotion. People who provided service were perceived also at a medium level, whereas the physical evidence and service process were perceived at a high level. Furthermore, there appeared a correlation between the physical evidence and service process, and customers’ frequency of use of automobile service per year.

Keywords: service marketing mix, behavior, Mercedes Auto Service Centre, frequency of use

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Authors: Martina Faika Harianja, Zahtamal, Indah Nuraini, Septi Mutia Handayani, R. C. Hidayat Soesilohadi

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Tobacco is a valuable commodity that supports economic growth in Indonesia. Soil surface insects are important components that influence productivity of tobacco. Thus, diversity of soil surface insects needs to be studied in order to acquire information about specific roles of each species in ecosystem. This research aimed to study the soil surface insect diversity of tobacco agricultural ecosystem in Imogiri, Bantul District of Yogyakarta Special Region, Indonesia. Samples were collected by pitfall-sugar bait trap in August 2015. Result showed 5 orders, 8 families, and 17 genera of soil surface insects were found. The diversity category of soil surface insects in tobacco agricultural ecosystem was poor. Dominant genus was Monomorium with dominance index score 0.07588. Percentages of insects’ roles were omnivores 43%, detritivores 24%, predators 19%, and herbivores 14%.

Keywords: diversity, Indonesia, soil surface insect, tobacco

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Authors: Seiyaboh E. I.

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Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) was introduced into many parts of the world, including Africa, as an ornamental garden pond plant because of its beauty. However, it is considered a dangerous pest today because when not controlled, water hyacinth will cover rivers, lakes and ponds entirely; this dramatically impacts water flow, blocks sunlight from reaching native aquatic plants, and starves the water of oxygen, often killing fish and other aquatic organisms. In the Niger Delta region, water hyacinth is considered a nuisance because of its very obvious devastating environmental impacts in the region. However, water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) constitutes a very important part of an aquatic ecosystem. It possesses specialized growth habits, physiological characteristics and reproductive strategies that allow for rapid growth and spread in freshwater environments and this explains its very rapid spread in the Niger Delta freshwater ecosystem. This paper therefore focuses on the environmental consequences of the proliferation of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) in the Niger Delta freshwater ecosystem, extent of impact, and options available for its ecological utilization which will help mitigate proliferation, restore effective freshwater ecosystem utilization and balance. It concludes by recommending sustainable practices outlining the beneficial uses of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) rather than control.

Keywords: environmental impacts, ecological utilization, Niger Delta, water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes

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Authors: Anu Paul, Varghese Paul

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The focal aspire of e-Government (eGovt) is to offer citizen-centered service delivery. Accordingly, the citizenry consumes services from multiple government agencies through national portal. Thus, eGovt is an enterprise with the primary business motive of transparent, efficient and effective public services to its citizenry and its logical structure is the eGovernment Enterprise Architecture (eGEA). Since eGovt is IT oriented multifaceted service-centric system, EA doesn’t do much on an automated enterprise other than the business artifacts. Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) manifestation led some governments to pertain this in their eGovts, but it limits the source of business artifacts. The concurrent use of EA and SOA in eGovt executes interoperability and integration and leads to Service-Oriented e-Government Enterprise (SOeGE). Consequently, agile eGovt system becomes a reality. As an IT perspective eGovt comprises of centralized public service artifacts with the existing application logics belong to various departments at central, state and local level. The eGovt is renovating to SOeGE by apply the Service-Orientation (SO) principles in the entire system. This paper explores IT perspective of SOeGE in India which encompasses the public service models and illustrated with a case study the Passport service of India.

Keywords: enterprise architecture, service-oriented e-Government enterprise, service interface layer, service model

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Authors: Halit Arslan, Ismail Sahin, Ahmet Oguz Akturk, Ismail Celik

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Today, the means of following the developments in the area of science and technology is to keep up with the pace of the advancements in this area. As is in every profession, apart from their personal efforts, the training of teachers in the period after they start their careers is only possible through in-service training. The aim of the present study is to determine the views of Information Technologies (IT) teachers regarding the in-service training courses organized by the Ministry of National Education. In this study, in which quantitative research methods and techniques were employed, the views of 196 IT teachers were collected by using the “Views on In-service Training” questionnaire developed by the authors of the paper. Independent groups t-test was used to determine whether the views of IT teachers regarding in-service training differed depending on gender, age and professional seniority. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to investigate whether the views of IT teachers regarding in-service training differed depending on the number of in-service training courses they joined and the type of in-service training course they wanted to take. According to the findings obtained in the study, the views of IT teachers on in-service training did not show a significant difference depending on gender and age, whereas those views differed depending on professional seniority, the number of in-service training courses they joined and the type of in-service training course they wanted to take.

Keywords: in-service training, IT teachers, professional development, personal development

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Authors: Hamid Reza Nikkhah, Abbas Toloei Eshlaghi, Hossein Ali Momeni

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One of the most important services of Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) is collaboration service which plays a decisive role in organization efficiency. Cloud computing as one of the latest IT technologies has brought a new paradigm in delivering services and communications. In this research, we evaluate the impact of cloud computing on the collaboration service of KMS and for doing so, four variables of cloud computing and three variables of the collaboration service were detected to be assessed.It was found that cloud computing has a far-fetching direct impact on the collaboration service.

Keywords: cloud computing, collaboration service, knowledge management systems, cloud computing

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Authors: Chaoren Lu

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Public policy is playing as one driving force that influencing service innovation implementation in public sector. However, public policy implications cannot be automatically derived from the analyses of innovation issues, and there lacks of researches about the influences of public policy onto innovation. Moreover, innovation in service system is hard to predictable and whether policy encourages or hidden innovation is still lack of study. Especially, by given the context that multiple actors are active involving within the service delivery process in public transport sector, the complex driving forces and challenges are emerged towards the service operation. This study is aim to analysis the service innovation practices within service operating organizations to understand the drivers and challenges of service operation based on policy requirements, and where the innovation idea generating from. The case studies of Changzhou Transit Group and Nanjing Jiangnan Public Transit Group will be launched. This paper reveals the ambidexterity between top-down and bottom-up demands within the public transport service operating organizations contribute to the innovation ideas. Meanwhile, it contributes to the understanding of fundamental elements of service innovation is the new relationship creation and new way of sharing knowledge. The policy contributes to the trigger of creation of such relationship. The research question is: what are the sources of service innovation practices in local public transport system in China in in facing the policy implementation?

Keywords: public value, service innovation, public transport service, China

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Authors: Vahid Bairami Rad

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With the rapid growth of the Internet and the globalization of the market, most enterprises are trying to attract and win customers in the highly competitive electronic market. Better e-service quality will enhance the relationship with customers and their satisfaction. So the measurement of eservice quality is very important but it is a complex process due to the complex nature of services. Literature predicts that there is a lack of universal definition of e-service quality. The e-service quality measures in banking have great importance in achieving high customer base. This paper proposes a conceptual model for measuring e-service quality in Iranian Banking Iran. Nine dimensions reliability, ease of use, personalization, security and trust, website aesthetic, responsiveness, contact and speed of delivery had been identified. The results of this paper may help to develop a proper scale to measure the e-service quality in Iranian Banking Industry, which may assist to maintain and improve the performance and effectiveness of e-service quality to retain customers.

Keywords: electronic banking, Dimensions, customer service quality, electronic, communication

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Authors: Daniel Osieko Okach, Joseph Otieno Ondier, Gerhard Rambold, John Tenhunen, Bernd Huwe, Dennis Otieno

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Increased human activities such as grazing, logging, and agriculture alongside unpredictable rainfall patterns have been detrimental to the ecosystem service delivery, therefore compromising its productivity potential. This study aimed at simulating the impact of drought (50%) and enhanced rainfall (150%) on the future herbaceous CO2 uptake, biomass production and soil C:N dynamics in a humid savanna ecosystem influenced by livestock grazing. Rainfall pattern was predicted using manipulation experiments set up to reduce (50%) and increase (150%) ambient (100%) rainfall amounts in grazed and non-grazed plots. The impact of manipulated rainfall regime on herbaceous CO2 fluxes, biomass production and soil C:N dynamics was measured against volumetric soil water content (VWC) logged every 30 minutes using the 5TE (Decagon Devices Inc., Washington, USA) soil moisture sensors installed (at 20 cm soil depth) in every plots. Herbaceous biomass was estimated using destructive method augmented by standardized photographic imaging. CO2 fluxes were measured using the ecosystem chamber method and the gas analysed using LI-820 gas analyzer (USA). C:N ratio was calculated from the soil carbon and Nitrogen contents (analyzed using EA2400CHNS/O and EA2410 N elemental analyzers respectively) of different plots under study. The patterning of VWC was directly influenced by the rainfall amount with lower VWC observed in the grazed compared to the non-grazed plots. Rainfall variability, grazing and their interaction significantly affected changes in VWC (p < 0.05) and subsequently total biomass and CO2 fluxes. VWC had a strong influence on CO2 fluxes under 50% rainfall reduction in the grazed (r2 = 0.91; p < 0.05) and ambient rainfall in the ungrazed (r2 = 0.77; p < 0.05). The dependence of biomass on VWC across plots was enhanced under grazed (r2 = 0.78 - 0.87; p < 0.05) condition as compared to ungrazed (r2 = 0.44 - 0.85; p < 0.05). The C:N ratio was however not correlated to VWC across plots. This study provides insight on how the predicted trends in humid savanna will respond to changes influenced by rainfall variability and livestock grazing and consequently the sustainable management of such ecosystems.

Keywords: CO2 fluxes, rainfall manipulation, soil properties, sustainability

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Authors: Emily Arangote

Abstract:

This paper defined the association between the indigenous knowledge, cultural practices and the ecosystem its implication to the environmental education to the farmers. Farmers recognize the need for sustainability of the ecosystem they inhabit. The cultural practices of farmers on use of indigenous pest control, use of insect-repellant plants, soil management practices that suppress diseases and harmful pests and conserve soil moisture are deemed to be ecologically-friendly. Indigenous plant materials that were more drought- and pest-resistant were grown. Crop rotation was implemented with various crop seeds to increase their disease resistance. Multi-cropping, planting of perennial crops, categorization of soil and planting of appropriate crops, planting of appropriate and leguminous crops, alloting land as watershed, and preserving traditional palay seed varieties were found to be beneficial in preserving the environment. The study also found that indigenous knowledge about crops are still relevant and useful to the current generation. This ensured the sustainability of our environment and incumbent on policy makers and educators to support and preserve for generations yet to come.

Keywords: cultural practices, ecosystem, environmental education, indigenous knowledge

Procedia PDF Downloads 295

Authors: Kat Jingjing Luo

Abstract:

The development of theme parks in China has been through a rapid growth in the past decades. Increasing competition within service quality has forced theme park managers concerned the relationship between service quality and visitors’ satisfaction. Even though those existing service quality measurements such as SERVQUAL and THEMEQUAL have been applied in related researches, none of them is exclusive for Chinese theme park service quality. This study aims to investigate the service quality of the most popular theme park in China currently and develop a unique, reliable and valid scale. The reliability and validity analysis results from a survey of over 200 tourists in Chimelong ocean kingdom in Zhuhai city, south of China, indicate that the dimension of waiting time is a discover factor in the measurement of Chinese theme park service quality excluding in the THEMEQUAL instrument (i.e., tangibles, reliability, responsiveness and access, assurance, empathy and courtesy). The newly developed scale gives a better understand service quality in Chinese theme park industry, and the managerial implications in regard to the research, how to improve theme park service quality are discussed.

Keywords: theme park, scale development, China, service quality

Procedia PDF Downloads 244

Authors: Taghreed Abu-Salim

Abstract:

This paper develops and investigates a framework for the assessment of customer involvement in the service design process of result oriented product-service systems in order to improve the service offering in a business to business (B2B) context. The framework comprises five main criteria and fifteen sub-criteria that contribute to customer involvement in a hierarchy using a maturity grid to highlight the strengths and weaknesses for each criterion. To develop the customer involvement framework, an extensive literature review related to service design, result oriented product-service system (PSS) and customer involvement in service design was carried out. Key factors that significantly influence customer involvement from industry and literature were identified to develop an initial framework. This framework was tested in six companies from four different sectors of industry: district cooling, medical equipment, transportation and oil storage. Validation of the framework was carried out using expert opinions and industrial case studies. A major contribution of the developed framework includes a hierarchy of appropriate criteria for assessing customer involvement in the service design process within results oriented PSS; the definition of four maturity levels which are suitable to describe the whole spectrum of customer involvement in the service design process; and finally, The paper concludes by enabling service providers to: take proactive decisions; screen and evaluate new services; improve perceived service quality; and provide barriers against imitation.

Keywords: customer involvement, maturity grid, new service development, result oriented product-service system, service design

Procedia PDF Downloads 501