Terms Of Commitment Research Articles

A review of application status and replacement progress of refrigerants in the Chinese cold chain industry

• The application status and replacement progress of refrigerants in the Chinese cold chain industry are reviewed. • The controlled refrigerants represented by R22, R404A, R507A, and R134a are still used in large quantities. • R717 is unassailable used in large-sized cold chain equipment of China in the future. • The application importance of R744 and R290 is becoming increasingly prominent in China. • China is actively meeting its refrigerant replacement commitments in terms of policy, regulation, and technology. In the context of refrigerant replacement and the Chinese international commitments on carbon emissions reaching peak and carbon neutral, this paper provides an overview of the application status and the replacement progress of refrigerants in key cold chain equipment of China. The review results show that refrigerant replacement in the Chinese cold chain industry is slower than in the air-conditioning industry. Controlled refrigerants such as R22, R404A, R507A, and R134a are still used in large quantities and dominate the market. Natural refrigerant R744 and R290 are still used on a tiny scale. For large-sized cold chain equipment, R717 or in combination with R744, has proven to be safe, environmentally friendly, and efficient, makes it unassailable in the future. For small-sized cold chain equipment, R22, R404A, and R507A are dominant currently. The replacement of R404A and R507A is an outstanding issue that should be focused on and addressed in the future. R744 booster systems are rarely used in large supermarkets in China, and the gap between Europe and Japan is huge. Future efforts are needed both in terms of policy and technology. For display cabinets, freezers, and domestic refrigerators, controlled refrigerants such as R22, R404A, and R134a currently dominate. Pleasantly, R290 is gaining momentum, and the future development is extremely promising in this field. Opportunities and challenges accompany the future development of the Chinese cold chain industry. China has completed the current phase of HCFCs replacements as committed. Efforts are still needed in the next phase of HCFCs and HFCs replacements.

THE MULTIPLE MEDIATION ROLES OF TRUST AND SATISFACTION IN THE EFFECT OF PERCEIVED CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ON LOYALTY

Purpose – This study aims at investigating the effect of corporate social responsibility perceptions of local people living in Diyarbakır on bank loyalty in terms of banking services and the mediator roles of trust and satisfaction in this effect. Research methodology – Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients, reliability, convergent and discriminant validity and multicollinearity were examined before testing the hypotheses of the research. The validity of the measurement model for the variables that are included in the model was examined by the confirmatory factor analysis. Partial least squares path modelling was used to analyze the research model and hypotheses, and multiple mediation analysis was used to test the mediation effects. The collected data were analyzed by the software SPSS 22.0 and SmartPLS 3.3.0. Findings – The research results exposed that the corporate social responsibility perceptions of bank customers have significant and positive effects on bank loyalty. Furthermore, satisfaction has had partial mediation effects on the relationship between CSR perception and loyalty. Research limitations – The population covers individuals with regular wage or salary who live in Diyarbakır. The survey was conducted between October 1 and December 1, 2019, with convenience sampling technique and 400 questionnaires were collected. Practical implications – When conducting CSR activities, businesses should emphasize that trust and satisfaction have an essential effect as well as loyalty. Originality/Value – This study investigated the simultaneous multiple mediator effects of trust and satisfaction in the relationship between CSR and loyalty.

Employee Loyalty: Measurement and Validation

Employee loyalty is a significant attribute to gain competitive advantage in any organization. Research suggests that retaining and nurturing a loyal workforce has many benefits and protects the organization from several disadvantages. Therefore, understanding and measuring employee loyalty is very important for organizational effectiveness. The available literature on employee loyalty is scattered, and there is a shortage of available tools to measure the affective, cognitive and behavioural aspects of the construct. In this study, we developed a scale to measure employee loyalty in terms of the cognitive, affective and behavioural components. We used the mixed methodology and grounded theory approach for this purpose. Test items to measure employee loyalty were developed and data were collected to validate them. Furthermore, the data were subjected to rigorous statistical analysis. Results suggested robust psychometric properties in terms of validity and reliability. Such a scale is beneficial to HR practitioners and professionals, policymakers and other like-minded vocations desirous of measuring employee loyalty.

Optimal site selection for photovoltaic power plants using a GIS-based multi-criteria decision making and spatial overlay with electric load

The growing adoption of photovoltaic systems as a result of government incentives and the cost-effectiveness of the technology will bring significant environmental benefits and help countries meeting their international commitments in terms of renewables share. Nevertheless, an unsuitable site location could compromise its production and lead to a poor integration. An optimal location of photovoltaic systems must account for factors such as land use restrictions, orography, environmental, climatic limitations, and proximity to infrastructure. A key aspect that needs to be further researched is the influence of the electric demand requirement and its spatial distribution on the enhancement of photovoltaic integration. This paper proposes a novel approach to define optimal sites for photovoltaic plants, connected to the medium-voltage level, using a geographic information system based multi-criteria decision making and spatial overlay with electric load. The main feature of this work is the use of high-resolution information to spatially characterize the demand and make a density analysis. The performance of the proposed method is assessed in the service area of an Ecuadorian power utility. Scenarios considering solar potential and the massive penetration of a new type of load are assessed to define the photovoltaic sites that enhance the integration of renewable sources in the case study.

Interactivity of biochemical and physical stimuli during epigenetic conditioning and cardiomyocytic differentiation of stem and progenitor cells derived from adult hearts.

Mixed populations of cardiosphere-derived stem and progenitor cells containing proliferative and cardiomyogenically committed cells were obtained from adult rat hearts. The cells were cultured in either static 2D monolayers or dynamic 3D scaffold systems with fluid flow. Cardiomyocyte lineage commitment in terms of GATA4 and Nkx2.5 expression was significantly enhanced in the dynamic 3D cultures compared with static 2D conditions. Treatment of the cells with 5-azacytidine (5-aza) produced different responses in the two culture systems, as activity of this chemical epigenetic conditioning agent depended on the cell attachment and hydrodynamic conditions provided during culture. Cell growth was unaffected by 5-aza in the static 2D cultures but was significantly reduced under dynamic 3D conditions relative to untreated controls. Myogenic differentiation measured as Mef2c expression was markedly upregulated by 5-aza in the dynamic 3D cultures but downregulated in the static 2D cultures. The ability of the physical environment to modulate the cellular cardiomyogenic response to 5-aza underscores the interactivity of biochemical and physical stimuli applied for cell differentiation. Accordingly, observations about the efficacy of 5-aza as a cardiomyocyte induction agent may not be applicable across different culture systems. Overall, use of dynamic 3D rather than static 2D culture was more beneficial for cardio-specific myogenesis than 5-aza treatment, which generated a more ambiguous differentiation response.

LOYALITAS PELANGGAN DITINJAU DARI STORE ATMOSPHERE, KEMUDAHAN DAN KEPERCAYAAN STUDI PADA J&T EXPRESS SURAKARTA

This study aims to prove simultaneously and partially customer loyalty in terms of store atmosphere, convenience and trust in J&T Express Surakarta. This research is descriptive quantitative. The population is all J&T Express Surakarta service users. The number of samples used according to Sugiyono's guidelines, amounting to 100 respondents, the sample was taken by using purposive sampling technique. The data analysis technique used in this study is multiple linear regression analysis. The conclusion of this study is that store atmosphere, convenience and trust have a significant effect on consumer loyalty of J&T Express Surakarta.
 
 Keywords : Store Atmosphere, Convenience, Trust.

La academia frente a las necesidades y demandas de las organizaciones sociales

En este primer semestre de 2017, el país ha experimentado una serie de conflictos de orden laboral y social en los que han sido protagonistas trabajadores del Estado, de entidades como el Ministerio de Trabajo, profesores al servicio de la educación pública, jueces, fiscales y empleados de la rama judicial. A la par, los habitantes del departamento del Chocó y del distrito de Buenaventura se vieron obligados a recurrir a un paro cívico para lograr del Gobierno Nacional compromisos claros en materia de inversión pública que permitieran superar el evidente rezago que padecen en materia de infraestructura vial, salud, educación saneamiento básico y agua potable. Los sectores de trabajadores en conflicto y las comunidades movilizadas habían presentado, con debida antelación, los respectivos petitorios para que las autoridades competentes, especialmente nacionales, atendieran los reclamos, presentaran alternativas de solución acordes a los requerimientos planteados. Llama especialmente la atención el cese de actividades por parte de los docentes en el país que mantuvo paralizado por algo más de un mes el servicio educativo público. Su pliego de peticiones relacionaba varios puntos que tienen que ver con la calidad del servicio de salud que se les presta, las condiciones para la jornada única escolar, la nivelación salarial acordada anteriormente y, en particular, la fórmula para financiar la educación pública y con ello la reforma al Sistema General de Participaciones (SGP) que creó el Acto Legislativo 01 de 2001 reglamentado mediante la Ley 715 de 2001 y que permite establecer el monto de los recursos que la Nación transfiere a las entidades territoriales (departamentos, distritos. Municipios certificados) para sufragar los gastos en salud, educación, saneamiento básico y agua potable.

THE EFFECT OF PRODUCT DIVERSITY AND SERVICE QUALITY ON LOYALTY WITH CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AS AN INTERVENING VARIABLE (Study of Toko Pertanian Subur, Pace Nganjuk District)

Customer orientation is one of the solutions to overcome competition between businesses in this era. As many similar businesses have emerged, generating customer loyalty is one of the company’s strategies to compete and increase the sales of products. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of product diversity and quality of service on loyalty in terms of customer satisfaction. The quantitative approach is chosen in this study to obtain the expected results, while the path analysis test and the classical assumption test are used as the analysis model. The data source referred to in this study is the result of a questionnaire in the form of respondents’ responses. The population in this study were all customers of the “Toko Pertanian Subur”. A total of 98 respondents were taken as the sample which was determined by purposive sampling technique. After conducting the research, it is found that product diversity and service quality had a positive effect directly on customer loyalty with a significance level of less than alpha (0.050). The product diversity variable also does not have a mediating effect on loyalty when viewed from customer satisfaction. In addition, there is no mediating effect between service quality variables on loyalty in terms of customer satisfaction.

New perspectives on satisfaction and loyalty in festival tourism: The function of tangible and intangible attributes.

This research explains how attributes perceived during the festival celebration generate loyalty in terms of satisfaction. As regard, tangible aspects (festival entertainment and aesthetics) and intangible aspects (escapism and education) shall be differentiated. A theoretical model is proposed, which explains the effects of festival attributes on satisfaction and loyalty through structural equation modelling. The model was estimated with a sample of 440 people attending Weekend Beach Festival in Spain. The research proves the relationship between attributes and loyalty through satisfaction as a moderating variable; likewise, tangible attributes are deemed to have a greater influence on loyalty, specifically, the aesthetic/environment experience.

Evolution of coordination in pairwise and multi-player interactions via prior commitments

Upon starting a collective endeavour, it is important to understand your partners’ preferences and how strongly they commit to a common goal. Establishing a prior commitment or agreement in terms of posterior benefits and consequences from those engaging in it provides an important mechanism for securing cooperation. Resorting to methods from Evolutionary Game Theory (EGT), here we analyse how prior commitments can also be adopted as a tool for enhancing coordination when its outcomes exhibit an asymmetric payoff structure, in both pairwise and multi-party interactions. Arguably, coordination is more complex to achieve than cooperation since there might be several desirable collective outcomes in a coordination problem (compared to mutual cooperation, the only desirable collective outcome in cooperation dilemmas). Our analysis, both analytically and via numerical simulations, shows that whether prior commitment would be a viable evolutionary mechanism for enhancing coordination and the overall population social welfare strongly depends on the collective benefit and severity of competition, and more importantly, how asymmetric benefits are resolved in a commitment deal. Moreover, in multi-party interactions, prior commitments prove to be crucial when a high level of group diversity is required for optimal coordination. The results are robust for different selection intensities. Overall, our analysis provides new insights into the complexity and beauty of behavioural evolution driven by humans’ capacity for commitment, as well as for the design of self-organised and distributed multi-agent systems for ensuring coordination among autonomous agents.

Lojalność i wiarołomstwo jako oś Cezariańskiej narracji poświęconej wojnie: propaganda i kontekst kulturowy w Commentarii de bello Gallico

Loyalty and deception as the axis of Caesar’s narrative concerning war: propaganda and the cultural context in Commentarii de bello Gallico There is no doubt that justifying Caesar’s subsequent military campaigns using the argument of barbarians’ disloyalty is too frequent to treat them in a different way than the immanent part of his literary creations. Valuation of their conduct in terms of loyalty – deception had to be based on a pattern having strong cultural roots, otherwise it would not fulfill its role. Explaining specifics of Caesar’s war narrative solely by the requirements of political propaganda does not appear to be sufficient, so cultural context should be considered as well. The author casts in doubt the possibility of direct transferring the Greek concept of ‘barbarity’ into Caesar’s narration, paying attention to the Roman perception of the ‘other’ as understood by Georg Simmel instead. Consequently, it is possible to explain why some Gauls were described as loyal, while others were portrayed as prone to betrayal, although they belonged to the same cultural circle. The essence of the difference was the attitude towards Roman rule, not only the non‑Roman origin or different lifestyle. Determinants such as the perennial fear of Gauls (metus Gallicus) and the conviction of Rome’s unique destiny can not be also omitted, especially since they are closely related to the first aspect.

Some features of service in the police according to the legislation of the Republic of Lithuania

The study deals with the peculiarities of service in the police of the Republic of Lithuania in relation to the general system of civil service, the status of the police and police officials, highlights the regulations governing the police. It is pointed out that in each country the formation of the specifics of the civil service and the police service was influenced by historical features, being in a certain legal family, the form of the state. It is established that in the Republic of Lithuania there is a special category of civil servants, called statutory civil servants, and they are subject to special legislation and statutes governing their selection rules, service process, social guarantees, legal status and powers, system of ranks, rules for calculating wages, conditions and grounds for dismissal, etc., they are not covered by the Law "On Civil Service". The grounds and conditions of dismissal from the police and the conditions under which a person is subject to dismissal from service in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are given. Emphasis is placed on the need to introduce in Ukraine the Lithuanian experience in terms of loyalty and loyalty to the state.

Effects of Perceived Justice on the Behavioral Intention of Customers in the Banking Sector

This research verifies whether perceived justice, from customers in the treatment of a complaint, influences satisfaction and generates positive behavioral intention, the trust and affective commitment acting as moderators of the relationship between perceived justice and satisfaction. Data were collected with an questionnaire from 324 bank customers who had made at least one claim against their bank. The perceived justice during the handling of complaints generates satisfaction. Satisfied customers tend to arouse a positive intention, which can generate benefits in terms of loyalty and word of mouth. Increased trust and affective commitment can contribute to greater personalization of banking services.

Integration of wind generation uncertainties into frequency dynamic constrained unit commitment considering reserve and plug in electric vehicles

Increased penetration of renewable resources in power systems and consequently cut back in the inertia of the whole power system is a significant concern for Unit Commitment (UC) in terms of energy scheduling and frequency dynamics management. The new modeling of the UC problem presented in this paper provides optimal scheduling of the energy and reserve considering the frequency dynamics of the power system. In this work, impact of Wind Turbines (WT) as the clean generation and Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEV) as the energy storage system are investigated considering a less conservative probabilistic modeling uncertainty of the wind. The paper targets to protect the security of frequency dynamics taking into account the Demand Response (DR) program and contribution of PEVs succeeding a generation loss. The Frequency Dynamics-constrained Unit Commitment (FDUC) considering PEVs was formulated as a Mixed-Integer Non-Linear Programming (MINLP) problem taking into consideration DR and WTs uncertainties. The proposed MINLP problem was then reformulated by the Reformulation-Linearization Technique (RLT) to derive a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) problem. An IEEE 6-bus power system was served as a test system to evaluate the proposed approach and simulation results of four different Case study scenarios were obtained. Results revealed that the proposed approach can ensure frequency security and reduce the operational costs.

Strategi Meningkatkan Loyalitas Pelanggan Pada PT Golden Batam Raya

The purpose of this study is to look at customer loyalty in terms of price. The study was conducted at PT Golden Batam Raya with total sample of 92 respondents. The results of this study that price has a significant effect on customer loyalty. The percentage of price effect on customer loyalty is 45,1%. This value is large enough so that it is important fot the object of research to pay attention to the policies taken in setting the selling price of the product

The occurrence and correlates of emotional interdependence in romantic relationships.

Interdependence, including emotional interdependence, is widely considered to be a cornerstone of close relationships. Through frequent interactions, romantic partners are thought to continuously exchange, influence, and respond to one another's emotions, leading their feelings to become closely aligned over time. Although prior research has shown that such emotional interdependence can arise in couples, no research to date has comprehensively investigated its occurrence, degree, consistency and correlates. Across 3 different studies, we examined whether and to what extent couples indeed show interpersonal emotional connections (compared to pseudocouples). Additionally, we investigated its consistency and moderating factors, by examining emotional interdependence across different types of emotions (negative vs. positive vs. emotional extremity), timescales (second-to-second vs. daily life), and situational contexts (supportive vs. conflictual), and by inspecting associations with indicators of relationship closeness (relationship longevity, cohabitation status, commitment, and closeness in terms of including the other in the self). The findings show limited evidence for emotional interdependence. The overall mean level of interdependence was significantly larger than that of randomly composed couples, but only a minority of the couples demonstrated emotional interdependence to a greater extent than these pseudocouples. Moreover, the degree to which couples exhibited emotional interdependence showed little consistency across timescales and contexts, and was not clearly associated with relationship closeness. We discuss potential implications for the field of interpersonal emotion dynamics. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

‘Ploughing on’: a sociological investigation of ‘endurance work’ in competitive swimming and distance-running

ABSTRACT Despite a burgeoning corpus of qualitative studies of sport and physical cultures, in-depth and embodied investigations of those requiring sustained engagement with ‘endurance work’ remain relatively under-developed. These physical cultures are sociologically interesting as they often demand of practitioners intense commitment in terms of time, energy, and (for many) finances devoted to endurance-training regimes. They also require substantial sacrifice with regard to social activities and family life, even for those not competing at elite levels. The nature of endurance and enduring still remains under-researched from a sociological and qualitative perspective, however, and we directly address this gap in the research literature by contributing fresh theoretical insights and empirical data on the lived experience of endurance in two different lifeworlds: competitive swimming and distance running. Employing a sociological-phenomenological framework, we analyse and conceptualise data derived from two separate ethnographic and autoethnographic research projects, and explore interesting commonalities in the shared lived experience of endurance and ‘endurance work’ in these two distinctive physical cultures.

La Experiencia de Marca y Sus Efectos em el Comportamiento de los Foliones em el Carnaval de Belo Horizonte

La experiencia de marca es un tema muy relevante para el sector del turismo, pues la mayoría de los negocios de este sector está relacionada con los servicios, los cuales contribuyen fuertemente a la formación de la experiencia por parte del turista. El objetivo de este trabajo es lo de elaborar y probar un modelo teórico sobre la experiencia de marca y sus consecuencias en términos de lealtad de los foliones del carnaval y de sus intenciones al realizar la propaganda boca a boca. Asimismo, se medirá la percepción de la experiencia de marca del carnaval de la ciudad de Belo Horizonte, considerando sus componentes sensoriales, afectivos, comportamentales e intelectuales. Se ha realizado una survey por la internet, utilizando principalmente de las redes sociales como el Instagram y el WhatsApp de las que se han obtenido 470 respuestas válidas. Los hallazgos indican que la experiencia de marca está formada por cuatro dimensiones teóricas: la experiencia de marca-sensorial, la experiencia de marca-afectiva, la experiencia de marca-comportamental y la experiencia de marca-intelectual. El modelo elaborado de prueba presentó validez nomológica y todas sus hipótesis fueron aceptadas. Se verificó que la experiencia de marca impacta significativamente tanto en la lealtad de los foliones del carnaval, como en su propaganda boca a boca. Además, la lealtad incide también en dicha forma de comunicación. La varianza explicada para la lealtad ha sido de un 58% y de un 78% para la comunicación boca a boca.

Spor Bilimleri Fakültesi Öğrencilerinin Taraftarı Oldukları Futbol Takımına Karşı Psikolojik Bağlılıklarının İncelenmesi

Although the fans are one of the main sources that keep the clubs alive, it is extremely wrong to ignore this audience and not to conduct research based on scientific methods about them. It will be important for the clubs to understand this community that is attached blindly and does not stop supporting their team. In this study, the aim was to understand the psychological commitment of the Faculty of Sport Sciences students to the team they support and examine this commitment in terms of different variables. The study group of this research consisted of 446 students, 162 of whom were females and 284 were males, who continue their education at Mugla Sitki Kocman University the Faculty of Sport Sciences. As data collection tools; the Psychological Commitment to Team (PCT) Scale developed by Mahony et al. (2000) and adapted to Turkish by Eskiler et al. (2011) and the Personal Information Form prepared by the researchers to determine the demographic characteristics of the students were used. In the analysis of the obtained data; to determine the socio-demographic characteristics of the participants, frequency and percentage analysis, and to evaluate the psychological commitment of students to their teams according to different variables t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were applied. After one-way analysis of variance(ANOVA), Tukey HSD multiple comparison test was applied to determine from which groups the statistical difference occurred. In statistical analysis and interpretation of the data, p<0.05 significance level was taken into consideration. Taking gender into account, the results of the research showed that male students had higher TPB scores than female ones. In addition, according to the team variable, it was determined that the TPB scores of the students who were fans of Fenerbahce were significantly higher than the other team fans. According to another result, it was found that the TPB scores of the participants who said that I didn’t buy official products were significantly lower than other fans.

Could Demographic Variables Impacting the Relationship Between HRM Practices and Employee Loyalty? A Meta-Analysis Review

This paper aims to ascertain theoretically and empirically if there is any impact of demographic variables on the relationship between HRM best practices and employee loyalty. This paper discussed specific demographic variables namely gender, age, nationality, job experience, and job level. Theoretically, a meta-analysis review was used to cross validated literature review in the area of research. Number of relevant articles derived from several databases were reviewed to validate the impact. Based on extensive meta-analysis approach, the majority of prior literature illustrated that demographic variables had a significant impact on the relationship between HRM practices and employee loyalty. Previous literatures as well explained that, there are no differences between male and female employee in terms of loyalty, the older employees are more loyal than the younger employees, and the citizens are more loyal than the expatriates. Furthermore, literature pointed that, the longer the employee's years of experience, the more loyalty to the organization as well as the higher the level of the employees’ career, the more loyal they have. Empirically, to check the results achieved in meta-analysis review, a quantitative approach was adopted through the questionnaires that were distributed to 52 employees in the largest 14 logistics companies in Oman. Data were analysed using SPSS, as the regression analysis was used to find whether there is any impact of demographic variables on the relationship between HRM practices and employee loyalty. The results illustrated that gender had no impact on the relationship between HRM practices and employee loyalty. While, age, nationality, job experience, and job level had a significant impact on the relationship between HRM practices and employee loyalty. As past studies depicted the impact of demographic variables on HRM practices and employee loyalty, this paper recommends future research to investigate the impact of demographic variables as moderating variables on the relationship between HRM practices and employee loyalty.