Relationship quality,community promotion and brand loyalty in virtual communities: Evidence from free software communities     

Luis V. Casaló  Carlos Flavián  Miguel Guinalíu 《International Journal of Information Management》2010

The Internet has favored the growth of collaborative platforms where marketers and consumers interact to develop more engaging products and services. These platforms are usually centered in a specific brand/product and their members are linked by a shared admiration to that brand. This paper analyzes one of the most powerful online collaborative platforms, the free software (FS) case, which involves a lot of virtual communities developed around products such as Linux or Android, the new Google's mobile operating system. Our purpose is to determine some of the main antecedents and consequences of the consumer involvement in this type of communities. Results have shown that satisfaction with a virtual community may increase the level of consumer participation in that community. At the same time, a greater identification with the virtual community may increase indirectly the consumer participation thanks to the enhancement of his/her satisfaction with the community. We have also found positive and significant effects of consumer identification and participation on the level of community promotion. Finally, positive and significant effects of consumer participation and satisfaction with the community on loyalty to the FS were also found. These findings allow us to conclude some interesting managerial implications.  相似文献   

Non-centralized control for flow-based distribution networks: A game-theoretical insight     

Julian Barreiro-Gomez  Carlos Ocampo-Martinez  Nicanor Quijano  José M. Maestre 《Journal of The Franklin Institute》2017,354(14):5771-5796

This paper solves a data-driven control problem for a flow-based distribution network with two objectives: a resource allocation and a fair distribution of costs. These objectives represent both cooperation and competition directions. It is proposed a solution that combines either a centralized or distributed cooperative game approach using the Shapley value to determine a proper partitioning of the system and a fair communication cost distribution. On the other hand, a decentralized non-cooperative game approach computing the Nash equilibrium is used to achieve the control objective of the resource allocation under a non-complete information topology. Furthermore, an invariant-set property is presented and the closed-loop system stability is analyzed for the non-cooperative game approach. Another contribution regarding the cooperative game approach is an alternative way to compute the Shapley value for the proposed specific characteristic function. Unlike the classical cooperative-games approach, which has a limited application due to the combinatorial explosion issues, the alternative method allows calculating the Shapley value in polynomial time and hence can be applied to large-scale problems.  相似文献   

Synthetic hybrid indicators based on scientific collaboration to quantify and evaluate individual research results     

Antonio Perianes-Rodríguez  Zaida Chinchilla-Rodríguez  Benjamín Vargas-Quesada  Carlos Olmeda Gómez  Félix Moya-Anegón 《Journal of Informetrics》2009,3(2):91-101

Governmental initiatives around scientific policy have progressively raised collaboration to priority status. In this context, a need has arisen to broaden the traditional approach to the analysis and study of research results by descending to the group or even the individual scale and supplementing the output-, productivity-, visibility- and impact-based focus with new measures that emphasize collaboration from the vantage of structural analysis. To this end, the present paper proposes new hybrid indicators for the analysis and evaluation of individual research results, popularity and prestige, that combine bibliometric and structural aspects. A case study was conducted of the nine most productive departments in Carlos III University of Madrid. The findings showed hybridization to be a tool sensitive to traditional indicators, but also to the new demands of modern science as a self-organized system of interaction among individuals, furnishing information on researchers’ environments and the behaviour and attitudes adopted within those environments.  相似文献   

Phonological working memory, phonological awareness and language in literacy difficulties in Brazilian children     

Thais Barbosa  Monica Carolina Miranda  Ruth F. Santos  Orlando Francisco A. Bueno 《Reading and writing》2009,22(2):201-218

One of the most usual flaws that lead to literacy disability regards cognitive difficulties and alterations some children present in the literacy process. Many studies have found alterations in phonological processing, more specifically in phonological working memory (PWM) and phonological awareness (PA). Therefore, our aim was to identify alterations in skills of phonological working memory, phonological awareness and language (semantic, syntactic and phonological aspects) of Brazilian children with literacy disabilities (age 7–8). They were divided into two groups: (1) Group of Normal Literacy (NL); and (2) Group With Literacy Disabilities (LD). The evaluation comprised tests that assessed general cognitive functions and the skills at stake. The LD presented a poorer performance than the NL in the skills of PWM, PA and language aspects. The factor analysis showed that these skills prevailed in differentiating the groups. Thus, children with literacy disabilities presented deficits in phonological processing and language. These deficits seem to be a result of alterations of the phonological representations and poor language skills that are prior to the literacy period. Consequently, we believe that the early identification of these alterations can be very useful for the prevention of future literacy problems.  相似文献   

Gaia Theory in Brazilian High School Biology Textbooks     

Ricardo Santos Do Carmo  Nei Freitas Nunes-Neto  Charbel Niño El-Hani 《Science & Education》2009,18(3-4):469-501

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Hierarchical Models of Social Competence in Preschool Children: A Multisite,Multinational Study     

Brian E. Vaughn  Nana Shin  Mina Kim  Gabrielle Coppola  Lisa Krzysik  António J. Santos  Inês Peceguina  João R. Daniel  Manuela Veríssimo  Anthon DeVries  Eric Elphick  Xiomara Ballentina  Kelly K. Bost  Wanda Y. Newell  Ellaine B. Miller  J. Blake Snider  Byran Korth 《Child development》2009,80(6):1775-1796

The generality of a multilevel factorial model of social competence (SC) for preschool children was tested in a 5‐group, multinational sample (N = 1,540) using confirmatory factor analysis. The model fits the observed data well, and tests constraining paths for measured variables to their respective first‐order factors across samples also fit well. Equivalence of measurement models was found at sample and sex within‐sample levels but not for age within sample. In 2 groups, teachers’ ratings were examined as correlates of SC indicators. Composites of SC indicators were significantly associated with both positive and negative child attributes from the teachers’ ratings. The findings contribute to understanding of both methodological and substantive issues concerning SC in young children.  相似文献   

A continuous improvement approach: Closing the loop in an engineering,procurement, and construction management environment     

Roberto Santana 《Performance Improvement》2010,49(7):25-32

Continuous improvement initiatives are of increasing importance due to the high operating risks of engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) firms in the oil and gas sector ($188 billion worth of oil and gas projects in 2008). This article describes a continuous improvement framework that translates performance problems into an action plan and helps to prevent their recurrence.  相似文献   

Cleaning the slate? School choice and educational outcomes in Spain     

Cecilia Albert  Carlos García-Serrano 《Higher Education》2010,60(6):559-582

Using data from a nation-wide survey on Spanish workers, this paper examines two issues: the determinants of school choice (distinguishing between public and private schools) and the influence of school type on the individual’s educational attainment. For that, bivariate probit models are estimated. The analysis is carried out separately by gender and birth cohort. We find that individuals who have attended a private school come from households with higher socio-cultural level and that having attended a private school does not raise the probability of reaching a higher degree, once potential endogeneity of school choice and educational outcomes are taken into account. However, the latter result depends on the instrumental variable used for observed school type in models of demand for higher education.  相似文献   

Teaching values in physical education classes: the perception of Brazilian teachers     

Elisabete dos Santos Freire  Bruna Gabriela Marques  Maria Luiza de Jesus Miranda 《Sport, Education and Society》2018,23(5):449-461

The contribution of Physical Education (PE) and School Sport to learning of values has been identified by teachers and researchers. However, we know little about how that teaching takes place during classes. This study aimed to understand the perceptions of teachers on teaching values in their classes and to analyse the conception of values that have guided their professional intervention. To do this, a qualitative study was conducted with a sample of three teachers, using class observations and interviews with the teachers as research tools. For all these teachers, teaching values is a central goal of PE classes; for two of the teachers, it is the main goal. Because of this conviction, their pedagogies prioritize the teaching of moral values over others that can be taught in PE. A belief in the possibility of teaching values in the classroom is part of the habitus of the PE teacher; it can sometimes be characterized as an illusio. For these reasons, teachers can set unrealistic expectations, disregarding their own limitations as well as the conflicts and complexity involved in the construction of value systems.  相似文献   

Alternative assessment of knee joint muscle balance of soccer players through total work-based hamstring: quadriceps ratios     

Felipe Minozzo  Carlos Leonardo Figueiredo Machado  Eurico Nestor Wilhelm  Rafael Grazioli  Ronei Silveira Pinto 《European Journal of Sport Science》2018,18(10):1398-1404

Isokinetic hamstring-to-quadriceps (H:Q) ratios are frequently used to assess knee muscle strength imbalances and risk of injuries/re-injuries. The use of peak torque (PT) or total work (TW) to estimate joint stability may lead to different results because of the differences between these two neuromuscular variables. Thus, the current study aimed to compare the conventional and functional H:Q ratios calculated by PT and TW. Ninety-three male professional soccer players from Brazilian first division teams performed isokinetic concentric and eccentric contractions of the quadriceps and the hamstrings at 60°/s. Muscle strength balance was calculated using the conventional torque ratio (CTR) and conventional work ratio (CWR), functional torque ratio (FTR) and functional work ratio (FWR) were highly and moderately correlated between them (r?=?0.83 and r?=?0.73, respectively). The Wilcoxon statistical test revealed significant differences between CTR and CWR, as well as FTR and FWR (p?T-test demonstrated significant differences in mean CTR–CWR and FTR–FWR, whereas Bland–Altman plots showed non-consistent bias. In addition, the chi-square test demonstrated significant differences between players below the conventional reference values and functional reference values (p?相似文献