Broader Industry Research Articles

Motion focus global–local network: Combining attention mechanism with micro action features for cow behavior recognition

The use of machine vision technology for recognizing cow behavior plays a crucial role in daily management, health monitoring, and breeding and reproduction in dairy farming, making it an essential component of modern smart agriculture. This paper presents a novel dual-stream network model, the Motion Focus Global-Local Network (MFGN), for analyzing cow video data. The dual-stream network consists of a global spatiotemporal feature stream and a fine motion feature stream. The global spatiotemporal feature stream extracts key frames to remove redundant information and utilizes a Transformer network for global spatio-temporal feature extraction, reflecting the dynamic changes in cow videos and the temporal relationships between video frames. The fine motion feature stream, based on frame differencing of cow videos, uses focal convolution to capture subtle movements of cows, enhancing the focus on minor behavioral changes. To evaluate the performance of the proposed model, video data samples were collected from eight cows marked on their bodies and heads at an Australian farm site (CSIRO Armidale), including a total of 1715 video sequences across three behavior categories. The model achieved recognition accuracies of 98.1% for drinking, 95.5% for grazing, and 49.3% for other behaviors, with an overall average recognition accuracy of 79.4%, representing a 7.4% improvement over the classic TSN model. Overall, the MFGN network effectively extracts and integrates global spatiotemporal features with fine motion features from cow video data, modeling both the overall sequence characteristics and focusing on local motion details, achieving precise behavioral recognition. This research not only enhances the accuracy of cow behavior recognition but also provides new technological means for precise management in modern smart agriculture, with broad industry application potential to improve farm efficiency, profitability, and disease control and prevention.

An investigation of antecedents and consequences of green value internalisation among sampled UK enterprises

Despite the growing popularity of the concept of green value internalisation, research on how this concept is being accomplished at the enterprise level is still limited. The purpose of this study is to address this knowledge gap by drawing from previously known concepts of green value and value internalisation. It examines the antecedents and consequences of green value internalisation and evaluates how these environment-leaning approaches impact competitive advantage. This study uses the resource-based view and the stakeholder theory as theoretical lenses in linking green value internalisation to its antecedents and how these impact competitive advantage. A two-step approach involving a measurement model and a structural model was used to analyse survey data from 213 UK enterprises to validate the research hypotheses. Hypotheses testing shows that green value internalisation has a positive and significant impact on green criteria development. The results also show that external pressure positively and significantly affects green value internalisation. These findings extend prior knowledge by establishing the level of significance in the relationship among the antecedents and consequences in the research model. The research design for this study draws from a systematic literature review. The study offers rigorous empirical insights for implementing green value internalisation as a value-creating strategy. However, the antecedents and consequences examined in this study may not capture in detail all underlying constructs. Hence future studies should proffer valid and reliable instruments for these constructs. The findings provide managers from enterprises across a broad industry size range seeking to implement green value internalisation with resources for embedding an enterprise-level pro-environmental strategy.

Market development for an invasive fish species: Blue catfish in the Chesapeake Bay, US

This research investigated market development for invasive blue catfish from the Chesapeake Bay, US. A small number of interviews with seafood processors and a large online survey of seafood consumers in the US Mid-Atlantic and Southeast (n = 1010) were used to understand factors influencing demand. The survey included a choice experiment to elicit consumer preferences for blue catfish in comparison to substitute seafood products and tested the effects of providing various types of information. Processors noted broad industry concerns related to labor availability and input costs and felt that expansion of the blue catfish market depended upon increasing consumer awareness and product familiarity. Consumer surveys revealed only one-third of respondents had consumed wild-caught blue catfish, though another third indicated they would be willing to try it. In the choice experiment, providing information on production method and product origin were found to increase consumer demand across seafood products. For blue catfish, providing additional information increasing consumer product familiarity or detailing the harmful ecological effects also increased demand. Mean consumer willingness-to-pay for blue catfish was estimated to be $9.70/lb, but increased to $22/lb in an information-rich scenario. These findings suggest a large potential market for invasive blue catfish in the US Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, with demand dependent on consumer product familiarity.

ADVANCED BUSINESS ANALYTICS IN TEXTILE & FASHION INDUSTRIES: DRIVING INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABLE GROWTH

This research paper explores the strategic implementation of advanced business analytics within EcoFashions Ltd., a mid-sized company in the textile and fashion industry. The central question it addresses is: How can a specific company leverage advanced analytics in the fashion sector for sustainable growth? Through a qualitative case study approach, the research examines the strategic implementation of analytics at EcoFashions to enhance operational efficiency, drive innovation, and promote sustainability. The findings reveal that the integration of analytics at EcoFashions led to a 25% reduction in material waste and a 15% increase in production efficiency, while also fostering product innovation responsive to market trends. These outcomes not only highlight the potential of business analytics to transform traditional practices within the fashion industry but also suggest that other firms can adopt similar strategies to achieve substantial improvements in sustainability and operational performance. The paper concludes with reflections on the limitations of a single case study and proposes directions for future research to validate and expand upon these findings across the broader industry. This study contributes to understanding how data-driven strategies can facilitate significant sector-wide advancements in sustainability and innovation in the textile and fashion industries.

BLIVA: A Simple Multimodal LLM for Better Handling of Text-Rich Visual Questions

Vision Language Models (VLMs), which extend Large Language Models (LLM) by incorporating visual understanding capability, have demonstrated significant advancements in addressing open-ended visual question-answering (VQA) tasks. However, these models cannot accurately interpret images infused with text, a common occurrence in real-world scenarios. Standard procedures for extracting information from images often involve learning a fixed set of query embeddings. These embeddings are designed to encapsulate image contexts and are later used as soft prompt inputs in LLMs. Yet, this process is limited to the token count, potentially curtailing the recognition of scenes with text-rich context. To improve upon them, the present study introduces BLIVA: an augmented version of InstructBLIP with Visual Assistant. BLIVA incorporates the query embeddings from InstructBLIP and also directly projects encoded patch embeddings into the LLM, a technique inspired by LLaVA. This approach assists the model to capture intricate details potentially missed during the query decoding process. Empirical evidence demonstrates that our model, BLIVA, significantly enhances performance in processing text-rich VQA benchmarks (up to 17.76% in OCR-VQA benchmark) and in undertaking general (not particularly text-rich) VQA benchmarks (up to 7.9% in Visual Spatial Reasoning benchmark), and achieved 17.72% overall improvement in a comprehensive multimodal LLM benchmark (MME), comparing to our baseline InstructBLIP. BLIVA demonstrates significant capability in decoding real-world images, irrespective of text presence. To demonstrate the broad industry applications enabled by BLIVA, we evaluate the model using a new dataset comprising YouTube thumbnails paired with question-answer sets across 11 diverse categories. For researchers interested in further exploration, our code and models are freely accessible at https://github.com/mlpc-ucsd/BLIVA.

CEO Risk Incentives and Innovation Premium*

AbstractWe investigate the relationship between CEO risk incentives and the innovation premium (IP) proposed by Forbes. We suggest that compared to traditional proxies of innovation, the IP is a comprehensive measure of a firm's overall innovation and, therefore, can measure innovation effectiveness in broader industries. We find that both option vega and vega‐to‐delta ratio, as measures of CEO risk incentives, have a positive relationship with the IP. Additional tests reveal that the traditional patent‐related outputs are also motivated by CEO risk incentives, but only in the IT industry. Overall, our findings are consistent with (1) the empirical evidence of Coles et al. (2006, Journal of Financial Economics 79, 431) that a higher vega after controlling for delta motivates managers to implement riskier policy choices and (2) the argument (Dittmann et al. 2017, Review of Finance 21, 1805) that the strength of the risk‐taking incentive relative to the performance‐based incentive, the vega‐to‐delta ratio, captures CEO risk‐taking incentives more accurately.

Exploring the Depths of Marine Biotechnology: Discoveries, Diversity, and Future Horizons

Abstract: Among the various technological advancements in different fields that help fulfill our needs further, marine biotechnology is one that has brought a significant change in the overall bleak outlook of the limited resources that the oceans have to offer. Marine biotechnology has not just revolutionized the method of farming and increased productivity, but it has also ensured a consistent supply to various cuisines throughout the world. In recent years, marine biotechnology has outgrown its traditional image in the seafood-related industry to one that caters to a plethora of industries such as enzyme technology, pharmaceuticals, tanning industry, cancer therapeutics, cosmetic industry, biodegradable polymers, and bioremediation. These are a few among a broad spectrum of industries where it finds applications and many more are yet to be explored. Remarkably, marine biotechnology has not only helped restore the normal local flora and fauna of the oceans but has also contributed extensively to conservation efforts. In this review, an attempt has been made to follow the trails of the wide applicability of marine biotechnology as well as its impact on various sectors in recent years.

Industry 4.0 technologies as a motivator for the circular economy in foodtechs: A stakeholder perspective

AbstractThis study aims to analyze the Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies as motivators to circular economy (CE) in the Brazilian foodtech sector via most relevant stakeholders. The study focuses on specific startups in the foodtech sector in the Brazilian context, offering a unique perspective on a relevant niche. It explores how I4.0 technologies are fundamental in the practices adopted by foodtechs, indicating an innovative approach aligned with technological trends. About the methodology, it was carried out through interviews with nine managers of foodtechs. Other sources of data collect have been used, such as reports, presentations, folders, products catalogs, consultations in companies sites, Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, and videos on the Companies YouTube. The results show that: (i) the I4.0 technologies are fundamental in the practices adopted by the foodtechs; (ii) the CE being internalized, supported by I4.0; (iii) CE is made possible by gathering synergy and co‐participation from stakeholders which are strategic and relevant to foodtechs; (iv) innovation factor is present in the adoption of I4.0, in the operationalization of the practices of CE and in the production of synergy among the stakeholders relevant to foodtechs; (v) the creation of new markets is also a consequence of the adoption of I4.0, the adoption of CE and the articulation of stakeholders in the context analyzed; (vi) virtualize and regenerate are the most strengthened strategies at the sphere of the analyzed foodtechs; (vii) IoT, Big Data and integration of ubiquitous and intelligent components in supply chains are the highlighted artifacts in the making of CE practices at foodtechs levels; (viii) foodtechs of food producers have shown a greater synergy and articulation of stakeholders to the success of CE supported by I4.0. The contribution of the study is associated to the legitimation of I4.0 technologies as motivators to the adoption of CE and the engagement of stakeholders to successful circular business models. The study used a qualitative approach and collected data through interviews with nine startups in Brazil. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze the data. The limitations of the study include the small sample size and the focus on startups in one country. Future research should aim to explore the integration of I4.0 and the CE in larger samples, across multiple countries, and involving different types of organizations. Additionally, the study highlights the need for government support for startups in the form of funding, incentives, and regulations, as well as the importance of education and training programs to develop skills related to I4.0 and the CE. Overall, the research objectives are to understand the opportunities and challenges of I4.0 and CE integration in startups and to provide insights for policymakers and practitioners on how to foster sustainable business practices. The specificity of your study in exploring the relationship between the CE and I4.0 technologies in Brazilian foodtechs is a unique contribution. Many studies may focus on broader industries or international contexts, while yours delves into a specific, relevant niche.

Job polarisation in Italy: routinisation and structural change?

ABSTRACT Notwithstanding evidence on job polarisation in Italy, to date, studies have not investigated the role of structural change in explaining shrinking routine employment. Over the period 2004–2019, despite the structural change pattern of employment featured by the pronounced contraction of the most routine-intensive sector – i.e., manufacturing – declining routine employment emerges as a more generalised phenomenon involving all sectors, regardless of specialisation in routine-cognitive or routine-manual jobs. Province-level routine-tasks specialisation increases employment in low-skill occupations in six out of eight broad industries, while only 20 percent of the total contraction in routine employment is attributable to between-industry shifts.

Cybersecurity Challenges in Mobile Payment Systems: A Case Study of Alipay in Chinese Cities

As the mobile payment landscape continues to evolve rapidly, this paper examines the emerging threats and future challenges facing Alipay and the broader industry. The analysis encompasses cybersecurity innovations, regulatory landscape changes, user privacy concerns, integration with emerging technologies, global expansion challenges, competition and market saturation, technological infrastructure scalability, consumer education and trust, geopolitical risks, and social and ethical considerations. With the aim of fostering a comprehensive understanding, the paper explores how Alipay can strategically adapt to these challenges through continuous innovation, regulatory compliance, user-centric approaches, and global collaboration. The insights derived from this exploration contribute to a holistic perspective on the dynamic future of mobile payments.

Fostering Green Innovation and Environmental Consciousness: A Pathway to Competitive Advantage in the Green Economy.

This research aims to identify the preceding factors for achieving green competitive advantage, as traditional marketing might not be adequate to cater to this aspect. Therefore, the analysis explores the correlation between the theory of reasoned action and green marketing and how the blending of these concepts affects eco-friendly innovation and, subsequently, green competitive advantage. A quantitative approach was employed to conduct this investigation, using questionnaires gathered through direct visits to 100 coffee shops in and around Jakarta. The sample was selected through purposive non-probability sampling. The collected data were analyzed using SMART PLS.3 software, employing the structural equation model (SEM). The findings highlight that both internal and external orientations exert an impact on green innovation, which, in turn, affects green competitive advantage. However, it should be noted that internal and external environmental orientations do not have a direct impact on green competitive advantage. This research contributes to the field of green marketing by highlighting the crucial role of green innovation in achieving green competitive advantage and establishing the link between environmental orientation and competitive edge. Companies can allocate resources to improve their green innovation efforts, which can strengthen their competitive position in the market. The study provides practical guidance for businesses aiming to enhance their green competitive advantage. However, the identified limitations should prompt researchers and practitioners to consider broader industry and methodology coverage in future investigations.

A Comprehensive Review on Examination of Plant Biochemistry Including Pathways, Enzymes, and Applications

Plant biochemistry, an intricate nexus of molecular pathways, plays a pivotal role in the sustenance of both plant life and human civilization. While significant advancements have been made in this realm, the complexity of plant metabolic systems continues to pose formidable challenges for researchers. These challenges, however, are accompanied by emerging areas of exploration, such as the nuanced field of epigenetics and the intricate web of plant-microbe interactions. The insights garnered from such research hold vast potential for practical applications. In agriculture, there's an impending promise of high-yield, resilient crops tailored for a changing climate. Concurrently, the medical domain foresees a future where plants, both existing and bioengineered, become essential sources for pharmaceutical compounds. The broader industry can anticipate sustainable solutions ranging from biofuel synthesis to the creation of bioplastics, all rooted in plant biochemistry. In essence, as we delve deeper into understanding these biochemical pathways and interactions, we edge closer to harnessing them for global benefit, pointing to a future where plant biochemistry is not just a subject of academic intrigue but a linchpin for sustainable solutions across sectors.

부동산 산업의 경제적 파급효과와 충격반응 분석

This study examines the effect of the real estate industry on other industries as input and output resources. We define the real estate industry based on the two- and three-digit industry classification system as the recent real estate industry expands into other interdisciplinary business sectors. We also aggregate the sub-sector of the real estate-related industry into the broad real estate-related industry. We analyze input-out tables to find the spillover effect and value chain to other related industries by utilizing a total of 17 annual industry input-output tables from the Bank of Korea. This study also extends the spillover effect of the real estate industry along with a fluctuation of macroeconomic conditions. We find that the magnitude of the economic effect of the real estate industry on other industries is large when we classify the real estate industry into the two-digit industry classification system except for the analysis of the additive value impact. We also examine the impulse response analysis (IRA) by utilizing vector autoregression analysis. IRA indicates that macroeconomic variables affect the real estate industry and drive the same directional spillover effect on other industries. Our analysis segregates the national input-output analysis into the regional input-output analysis to identify the economic effect of real estate market fluctuation of the Seoul Metropolitan Area on other regions.

Environmentally-Friendly Electroplating Process Using Solid Electrolyte Membranes

The automobile is a very broad industry, and consists of tens of thousands of parts. Many parts of automobile employ surface treatment to provide several functions such as electronic and anti-corrosion properties. Among several surface treatment process, plating is an important elemental technology for automobile industry. For the industrial perspective, interest in SDGs significantly increases, and efforts to reduce environmental impact are highly urgent. Recently, we have developed novel electroplating process, solid electrodeposition (SED), which is based on ion transfer through solid electrolyte membrane1). This process has unique deposition characteristics that the metal film can be deposited only on the contact area between cathode and the membrane, in a fashion similar to stamping deposition. The SED process has an advantage for reducing amounts of waste effluent and CO2 gas. Moreover, this process has a potential of high deposition rate due to utilization of thin electrolyte membrane, providing lower electrical resistance between electrodes1), 2). Therefore, in the environmental and economical perspective, we believe that SED is promising process to metallize the substrate surface as an alternative to the conventional electroplating, especially in the field of electronics manufacturing. In this study, we report on SED system in details and characterization of deposited copper and nickel films. We also introduce copper fine patterning technique combined with SED using hard mask. Figure 1 shows schematic of the present SED system. The head part composed of anode plate, electrolyte solution and membrane are placed on substrate under controlled temperature and pressure. The membrane mainly plays a role of selective cation transfer from electrolyte solution to the substrate, although a small amounts of electrolyte solution can also be transferred due to pressure difference between internal head part and atmosphere. This solution uniformly spread to the interface between membrane and substrate so that uniform metal deposition is continuously proceeded without adhering the membrane with the substrate. Additionally, the SED system allows one to shorten the distance between electrodes because membrane can act as a diaphragm. Therefore, the power consumption is smaller than that of conventional electroplating, owing to decrease in an internal electrical resistance, providing the decrease of exhaust CO2 gas. The deposited film has relatively uniform thickness as shown in Figure 2, the result of which is due to the short distance between electrodes as well as uniform current feeding to deposit metal films through the back side of the cathode. The deposited copper and nickel films are crystalline and highly conductive, the quality of which are being enough for application of the SED process in the current electronics device manufacturing. By combining the SED process with the conventional screen printing technique, copper circuit patterns with line width of below 50 μm could also be successfully fabricated.1) Akamatsu, S. Nakano, K. Kimura, Y Takashima, T. Tsuruoka, H. Nawafune, Y. Sato, J. Murai, H. Yanagimoto, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 13, 13896-13906 (2021)2) Narui, Y. Hoshi, I. Shitanda, M. Itagaki, H. Yanagimoto, M. Hiraoka and H. Iisaka, E01-920, 232nd ECS Meeting. Figure 1

Wage leadership in U.S. labour markets between alternative levels of industry and governments

ABSTRACT Interaction between public and private sector real wages in the U.S. are examined over the periods 1952–2019, 1952–1972, and 1973–2019. Industries considered include all private industries and five broad industry subcategories. Measures of U.S. state & local governments and federal government are considered, and their changing contributions to total employment across periods provides context for wage leadership. Private sector wages caused federal wages as federal employment’s share of total employment decreased throughout the periods. In contrast, state & local government’s share of total employment grew substantially in the early period, with their wages causing private sector wages. In the later period, state & local government’s share of total employment stabilized and their wages cause those in half of the private sectors to be considered, with feedback in the remaining industries.

Analysis of trends and determinants of the «Big 4» companies in the global audit market

The object of research is the «Big 4» – a group of the largest international auditing companies, which includes: Deloitte (Great Britain), PricewaterhouseCoopers (USA), Ernst&Young (Great Britain) and KPMG (Netherlands). The target market of the «Big Four» companies is mainly large companies operating in various sectors of the world economy and regions of the world. Over the years, the «Big 4» companies have been leading the global audit services market and growing their revenues. Companies offer audit, tax and consulting services to their clients. This study is aimed at determining and evaluating the influence of the state of the world economy on the performance of companies and identifying the key endogenous determinants of the sustainability of their development. A comparative analysis of the dynamics of growth rates of global gross domestic product and aggregate global income of the «Big 4» companies during 2009–2022 showed their similarity, but not identity. The annual growth rates of the «Big 4» aggregate income mostly exceeded similar indicators of the global gross domestic product. The conducted correlation-regression analysis of the dependence of the aggregate revenues of the «Big 4» companies on the economic situation in the world confirmed the significant influence of the state of the world economy on the performance of the «Big 4» and made it possible to determine the level of this influence. A number of endogenous determinants contributing to the sustainable development of a group of companies in an unstable economic environment have been identified: the target segment (the largest international and national companies), broad industry diversification and geographical coverage of client companies, timely updating of the range of services in accordance with demand, effective international marketing strategies, use innovative technologies, highly professional management and company personnel.

Relationship between ESG strategies and financial performance of hotel industry in China: An empirical study

Purpose: This study examines the impact of ESG strategies on the financial performance of international hotels in China. Design/Methodology/Approach: Data was collected from 348 valid responses out of 353 surveyed hotels to analyze the relationships between ESG dimensions and financial performance. Findings: The study reveals significant and complementary relationships among the environmental, social, and corporate governance dimensions of ESG in international hotels in China. Conclusion: Implementing ESG strategies positively influences the financial performance of international hotels in China. Research Limitations and Implications: Limitations include the focus on a specific region and the use of self-reported survey data. Future research should consider broader industry and geographical contexts as well as alternative data sources. Practical Implications: The findings emphasize the value of ESG practices for hotel managers in improving financial outcomes. Contribution to Literature: This study provides empirical evidence on the positive financial impact of ESG strategies in the hotel industry, specifically in the context of China, contributing to the existing literature on ESG and financial performance.

1. Model‐Based Acquisition (MBAcq): Uniting Government and Industry around a Common Standard

AbstractThe Digital Engineering Strategy released in June 2018 outlined the DoD's strategic goals which “promote the use of digital artifacts as a technical means of communication across a diverse set of stakeholders.” Ultimately, by involving a variety of perspectives in the design decisions, one can increase quality and speed without increasing risks. “In addition to build, test, field and sustainment of defense systems, emphasis was placed on the acquisition and procurement of systems and the importance of digital engineering. This was further reinforced in the Feb 2022 release of the Engineering of Defense Systems Guidebook which contains Digital Engineering sections in each chapter. The norm for Systems Engineering has become Model‐Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) in which models are used at all phases of development. To complete the digital thread from concept to disposal, models will be required for the acquisition phase. This paper will describe Model‐Based Acquisition (MBAcq), and how it can be used to increase clarity for compliance and understanding in Systems and Software Acquisition.” (Hause, Hart, 2022) MBAcq can supplant the use of document‐based specification but only if we come together as an industry to develop and agree upon some standardization. A word of caution, model‐based approaches will only be successful if they are grounded in sound systems engineering practices. The thought process to create the models are as equally important as the resulting models themselves. This paper will discuss the work being done by the OMG MBAcq User Group, which is a broad industry body with participation from INCOSE, Armed Services, OUSD, DoD CIO, NDIA, DAU, FFRDCs and many industry suppliers, such as Boeing, Northrup Grumman, and Lockheed Martin, working together to successfully create both the standardization and guidance to successfully deploy MBAcq to the larger community. Parts of this paper were first published by the authors in (Hause, Hart, 202)

‘It’s a love interest’ – Enthusiasts and regional industry cultures of practice

Non-firm actors have emerged in economic geography as significant in shaping regional industrial cultures and new industry pathways, though how knowledge and practice is shared with firm actors remains unclear. The case of enthusiasts or hobbyists is especially interesting when there are industry counterparts given the blurred lines between work and hobby. There has been limited discussion of such interactions, and how they might contribute to regional development or an industrial culture of problem solving. This paper explores this gap through a case study of beekeepers in Western Australia. It analyses the interview results from hobbyist and commercial operators to understand how practice is shared, the construction of group meaning and identity and how place-based problem solving occurs through a regional culture of exchange and mutual benefit. The findings point to the importance of informal non-firm actors in the development of regional industry culture of practice and entrepreneurship, and that supporting collaborations between enthusiasts and local business may produce broad industry and societal benefits.

Human-Computer Interaction Applied in Rental Market

The development of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) provides opportunities and chal-lenges for humans. The growing uses of HCI are applied in broad industries, such as the technology industry, medical industry, and commerce industry, etc. This article indicates the importance of HCI in the commerce industry by comparing two rental apps and how these HCI principles can be applied to serve users better.