John W. K. Leung

Attitude Toward Counterfeits and Ethnic Groups: Comparing Chinese and Western Consumers Purchasing Counterfeits

ABSTRACT This study examines the differences between Chinese and Western consumers on attitude toward counterfeits. Results show that these two ethnic groups are different on most of the components of attitude toward counterfeits. In particular, they rated differently on social cost of counterfeiting, social benefit of reproduction, and anti-big-business mentality. However, these two groups have no significant difference on ethical belief. This does not affect attitude toward counterfeits and ethnic groups in predicting the purchase of counterfeits. Thus, the following conclusions are drawn from this study: (a) Chinese and Western consumers are different in attitude toward counterfeits; (b) a higher number of sampled Chinese consumers have purchased counterfeits before; and (c) purchasing counterfeits is explained by ethnic groups, social benefit of reproduction, and ethical belief.

Determining the optimal move times for a given cyclic schedule of a material handling hoist

Abstract We consider the problem of determining the optimal integer start time and end time of each inter-tank move for a given cyclic schedule of a material handling hoist in a circuit board production line. This problem frequently arises in automated electroplating lines for manufacturing of printed circuit boards where each board must flow through a sequence of tanks and the processing time at each tank must fall inside a given time interval. The existing model for the problem assumes that the times required to perform inter-tank moves are given constants. However, as shown in a simple example, under this restrictive assumption a feasible cyclic schedule may be identified as infeasible. In this paper, the times for inter-tank moves are considered as decision variables of the problem. An algorithm is proposed to solve the problem optimally. A numerical example is used to illustrate the algorithm. The proposed model generalizes the existing model as the assumption of constant inter-tank move times is relaxed.

A structured approach to describing service for creating a delightful experience

In this paper, a new structured approach integrating three different tools is used to describing a service experience. These three different tools include: a context diagram, which depicts the process flow at the highest level; an emotion transition diagram or a state transition diagram, which describes a service delivery process that provides customers a delightful experience; and an action specification in a textual form. With this new approach, different stakeholders have a common communication tool that shows a service delivery process from various angles including the scope, the operations flow, and the emotion flow between customers and service personnel. More importantly, it gives practitioners a new insight of how to create a delightful experience in service delivery. It is believed that the input of a structured service description can contribute further to the recent application of artificial intelligence (AI) in identifying the hidden pattern of the customers needs.

A distance-based decision-making method to improve multiple criteria ABC inventory classification

The present paper extends the Ng-model for multiple criteria ABC inventory classification based on a distance-based decision-making method. The proposed method determines the common weights associated with all rankings of the criteria importance, and then provides a comprehensive scoring scheme by aggregating all rankings. A numerical illustration is presented to compare our computational results with previous studies.

A robust optimization solution to bottleneck generalized assignment problem under uncertainty

We consider two versions of bottleneck (or min–max) generalized assignment problem (BGAP) under capacity uncertainty: Task–BGAP and Agent–BGAP. A robust optimization approach is employed to study this issue. The decision maker’s degree of risk aversion and the penalty weighting parameter are incorporated into the objective function. A state-of-the-art linearization method is introduced to deal with the mathematical model and find the solution scheme. Two penalties of weighting parameters that realize the trade-off between solution robustness and model robustness are obtained. Illustrative examples are presented with managerial implications highlighted for decision-making considerations.

A distance-based decision making method to improve multiple criteria supplier selection:

This article extends the Ng-model for multiple criteria supplier selection problem based upon a distance-based decision-making method. The proposed method determines the common weights associated with all rankings of the criteria importance, and then provides a comprehensively scoring scheme by aggregating all rankings. A numerical illustration is presented to compare our computational results with that of the Ng-model.

A Theoretical Framework of Brand Image and Service Quality on Third-Party Logistics Service

Since its origins in the 1980s, third-party logistics is maturing as an option to help increase supply chain effectiveness. The trend of using third-party logistics services becomes prominent especially in the industrializing countries like China where manufacturing constitutes a major part of the GDP. This development poses a great challenge to channel managers in selecting the third-party logistics service provider (3PL) and evaluating the quality of its services. Unfortunately, the research nowadays does not provide a sufficient insight on these aspects. Many third-party logistics studies are descriptive in nature, which address the issues such as the benefits of using third-party logistics services and the areas to be outsourced. To resolve this challenge in channel management, it needs to go a step forward in examining the causality between satisfaction and loyalty on third-party logistics services. Drawing the concepts from marketing, a research model is proposed to integrate brand image and service quality in predicting satisfaction and loyalty. It also considers the effect of manufacturer-3PL relationship on these causations.

Information disclosure strategies for the intermediary and competitive sellers

Abstract Product information plays an important role in consumers’ purchase decisions. In this paper, we develop an analytical model to investigate how the intermediary and sellers manage consumer uncertainty and returns/exchanges by disclosing product information. We find, given the information disclosure tools, the competitive sellers always choose to disclose as much information as possible. By analyzing the intermediarys decision on the development of information tools, our results suggest that the intermediarys optimal information strategy is determined by the disclosure cost and product characteristics (i.e., product value and return cost). The intermediary is likely to invest more to develop information tools if the cost coefficient is low or if the product has a relatively high return cost compared with its value. As a result, the information tools developed by the intermediary facilitate sellers’ information disclosure at a high level. Moreover, considering particular product characteristics and information disclosure cost, we examine the role of revenue sharing fraction between the intermediary and sellers. Our findings suggest that a modified revenue sharing fraction can facilitate firms’ Pareto improvement and lead to an information-rich platform.

Performance analysis of assembly systems with highlift stations: a practical approach

One common problem associated with automatic assembly systems is that some assembly operations may have relatively long cycle times. As a consequence, the productivity, as determined by the operations with the longest cycle time, can be significantly reduced. Therefore, a special form of parallel workstation known as a highlift station was developed to improve the performance of an automatic assembly system. In this paper, we present a simple analytical model that can help engineers to estimate the performance of highlift stations. This model is particularly useful at the design stage, as only approximate results are necessary for selecting the configuration.