Large Consumers Research Articles

The Influence of Cash Ratio, Current Ratio, and Debt To Total Asset on Cash Dividend in Large Consumption and Production Goods Trading Sector Companies Listed on The Indonesian Stock Exchange in The Financial Reporting Period 2013 to 2018

This study aims to analyze the effect of Cash Ratio, Current Ratio, and Debt to Total Assets (DTA) on Cash Dividends in large consumer goods and production trade companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in the 2013 to 2018 financial reporting period. This research is an explanatory research explaining the causality relationship using secondary data with the population is that all sectors of the wholesale trade of consumer goods and production listed on the IDX in 2018 are 35 companies. A sample of 7 companies was selected using the purposive sample method in accordance with predetermined criteria including being listed on the IDX and delivering in full accordance with the required information, namely Cash Dividends, Cash Ratio, Current Ratio, and Debt to Total Assets (DTA) during period 2013 - 2018. The method of analysis used is linear regression panel data. The results showed that at the 95% confidence level of the three dependent variables studied, namely: Cash Ratio, Current Ratio, and Debt to Total Assets (DTA), there is one variable that has a significant effect on Cash Dividend of companies in the wholesale trade sector of consumer goods and production, namely Cash ratio. Meanwhile, if tested simultaneously, the Cash Ratio, Current Ratio, and Debt to Total Assets (DTA) have a significant effect on Cash Dividends.
 Keywords: Cash Ratio, Current Ratio, and Debt to Total Assets (DTA) and Cash Dividends

Factors Influencing Customer Preference towards Organised Food Retailing

In India the scope of organized food retailing has increased in the last few years, offering ample amount of opportunities to Indian business. Due to large consumer base, India provides an opportunity for their retailers all over the world to sell their products in India. In any business, change is the only permanent thing. Consumers prefer modern retail stores over the conventional and traditional stores. This has resulted in a major change in consumer behaviour. After considering the important changes in the consumer scenario in India, especially with regard to the present changing pattern in organized retail stores, the researcher has decided to study on consumer behaviour in organized retail industry with reference to organized food retail. This study has been focused on the Bangalore region which is a fast growing industrial belt in South India. It provides a guideline for further research in the area of organized retailing. This study gets importance because in this study, the consumer awareness, factors influencing consumer behaviour, marketing strategies, promotional mix, benefits and problems faced by the consumers and opportunities for the departmental stores in this area have been studied. This research is also getting importance because it aims to identify the consumer response and decision making behaviour in organized food retail. It also shows the future scenario of organized retailing keeping in view of current perspective.

Health Information From Web Search Engines and Virtual Assistants About Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for HIV Prevention in Adolescents and Young Adults: Content Analysis.

Adolescents and young adults are disproportionately affected by HIV, suggesting that HIV prevention methods such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) should focus on this group as a priority. As digital natives, youth likely turn to internet resources regarding health topics they may not feel comfortable discussing with their medical providers. To optimize informed decision-making by adolescents and young adults most impacted by HIV, the information from internet searches should be educational, accurate, and readable. The aims of this study were to compare the accuracy of web-based PrEP information found using web search engines and virtual assistants, and to assess the readability of the resulting information. Adolescent HIV prevention clinical experts developed a list of 23 prevention-related questions that were posed to search engines (Ask.com, Bing, Google, and Yahoo) and virtual assistants (Amazon Alexa, Microsoft Cortana, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri). The first three results from search engines and virtual assistant web references, as well as virtual assistant verbal responses, were recorded and coded using a six-tier scale to assess the quality of information produced. The results were also entered in a web-based tool determining readability using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level scale. Google web search engine and Google Assistant more frequently produced PrEP information of higher quality than the other search engines and virtual assistants with scores ranging from 3.4 to 3.7 and 2.8 to 3.3, respectively. Additionally, the resulting information generally was presented in language at a seventh and 10th grade reading level according to the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level scale. Adolescents and young adults are large consumers of technology and may experience discomfort discussing their sexual health with providers. It is important that efforts are made to ensure the information they receive about HIV prevention methods, and PrEP in particular, is comprehensive, comprehensible, and widely available.

Research on the Application of Membership System in Market Management: Evidence from China

Under the strong competition in the retail industry, large warehouse membership supermarkets have a stable and large consumer base in the market with strong competitiveness. This paper selects two case studies, Costco, which is the world's leading warehouse membership supermarket, and Freshippo, which has newly emerged in the Chinese market, for comparative analysis to explore the industrial structure behind the membership system in the development process and special innovations made by local membership supermarkets in China to satisfy consumers. The Chinese retail market is significantly different and requires localized transformation and innovation in order to attract local consumers to join. The paper also explores Freshippo's attempts to increase the brand's competitiveness in the face of the enormous convenience of online shopping in China, namely, the innovation of an online + offline model and the addition of several consumer benefits to attract more consumers to join the membership family. Through the integration and analysis of the development strategies of two membership supermarkets, we offer specific advice on the next development of membership supermarkets.

Comparative Study of Ochratoxin A Exposure through the Intake of Cereal Products in Two Climatic Moroccan Regions.

The present study aims to compare ochratoxin A (OTA) exposure through the intake of three cereal derivative products (bread, pasta and semolina) in two different Moroccan climatic regions (littoral and continental). OTA weekly intakes from cereal products were calculated using a deterministic approach for each region. Results showed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) of OTA exposure between the two regions. Indeed, the median OTA exposure was estimated at 48.97 ng/kg b.w./week in the littoral region, while it was estimated at 6.36 ng/kg b.w./week in the continental region. The probabilistic approach showed that, due to uncertainties, the 95th percentile of weekly OTA exposure associated with the three cereal products ranged from 66.18 to 137.79 (95% CI) with a median of 97.44 ng/kg body weight (b.w.)/week. Compared to the threshold of 100 ng/kg b.w./week, 95% of the cumulative distributions predicted an exceedance frequency between 0.42 and 17.30% (95% CI), with an exceedance frequency median of 4.43%. Results showed that cereal derivatives constitute an important vector of OTA exposure and cause a significant exceedance of toxicological reference value among large consumers in the littoral region, which suggests the urgency of reconsidering the maximum regulatory limit (MRL) set for OTA (3 µg/kg) in cereal derivatives by Moroccan authorities.

Conservation motivations and willingness to pay for wildlife management areas among recreational user groups

Conservation agencies routinely evaluate the costs and benefits of land management and land acquisition options for wildlife management areas (WMAs). Non-market values, for example visitors’ consumer surplus, are often absent from these comparisons. Better estimates of willingness to pay (WTP) for WMAs will allow managers to quantify consumer surpluses for different user groups, identify opportunities to generate additional conservation funding, and improve communication with users. We used the contingent valuation method to estimate the WTP for conservation of WMAs by different user groups. We used interval censored regression to estimate WTP for each user group and modeled how WTP varied with visitation frequency, demographics, and type of use. Dual users, those who participated in both licensed (hunting, angling, or trapping) and non-licensed (all other) activities, had greater WTP ($200.07, 95% CI [$161.18, $238.95]) than users who exclusively participated in either a single non-licensed ($74.74, 95% CI [$50.45, $99.02]) or a single licensed activity ($68.21, 95% CI [$48.41, $88.00]). Willingness-to-pay increased with the number of visits to WMAs per year, college education, and income. The most popular donation motivations were that respondents cared about WMA conservation (72%), wanted WMAs to be around for future generations (70%) and personally benefited from the conservation of WMAs (64%). Similar to a scope test, this study demonstrated greater WTP by users who participate in more diverse recreation types on WMAs. Additionally, our findings show that WMA users, particularly users who engage in multiple activities including at least one that does not require a license, enjoy large consumer surpluses and thus could be drawn on for additional financial support for WMA conservation.

Ripping off regular consumers? The antecedents and consequences of consumers’ perceptions of e-commerce platforms’ digital power abuse

Leveraging a large consumer base and algorithmic technology, e-commerce platforms exercise digital power, notably via algorithmic price discrimination. Consumers acutely perceive this power inequality and platforms’ digital power abuse. Meanwhile, platforms that practice algorithmic price discrimination are generally in a fiercely competitive oligopolistic market and are concerned about consumer loyalty. This study investigates the internal mechanism through which algorithmic price discrimination affects consumer loyalty. Based on consumer ethical perception theory, we develop a model of algorithmic price discrimination’s influence on consumer loyalty and examined the moderating effect of consumer types. Analyzing 597 consumer responses, findings suggest price discrimination negatively influences perceived platform ethics and corporate social responsibility, thus reducing loyalty. This effect is more pronounced for consumers with high price sensitivity and initial trust. This study sheds light on algorithmic price discrimination’s influence from a novel digital power-abuse perspective, reveals the underlying mechanisms, and provides specific suggestions for platform management.

ПРИСТРОЇ ТА СИСТЕМИ РОЗПОДІЛЕНОЇ ГЕНЕРАЦІЇ

Abstract. The article is devoted to the analysis of the features of various distributed generation systems from the point of view of their inclusion in a single distributed energy system. It is shown that the need to switch to distributed generation is associated with the need to create reliable power supply systems that can maintain their performance in the event of partial or complete destruction of any part of such a system. The devices of solar, wind and hydropower, as well as the possibility of using small modular nuclear reactors as devices for distributed generation are analyzed. It is shown that the most promising for application are environmentally friendly solar cells. Wind generation and small hydropower plants can also be used to create sustainable and reliable power supply systems. Small modular reactors can be used to power large cities and industrial consumers. The analysis of economic and energy parameters of various devices of distributed generation is carried out. It is concluded that the elements of a distributed generation system can be not only individual devices, but also systems of such devices at the level of a territorial region. Keywords: distributed generation; electrical system; solar energy; solar power plants, wind energy; modular nuclear reactors; intelligent networks.

ПРИСТРОЇ ТА СИСТЕМИ РОЗПОДІЛЕНОЇ ГЕНЕРАЦІЇ

Abstract. The article is devoted to the analysis of the features of various distributed generation systems from the point of view of their inclusion in a single distributed energy system. It is shown that the need to switch to distributed generation is associated with the need to create reliable power supply systems that can maintain their performance in the event of partial or complete destruction of any part of such a system. The devices of solar, wind and hydropower, as well as the possibility of using small modular nuclear reactors as devices for distributed generation are analyzed. It is shown that the most promising for application are environmentally friendly solar cells. Wind generation and small hydropower plants can also be used to create sustainable and reliable power supply systems. Small modular reactors can be used to power large cities and industrial consumers. The analysis of economic and energy parameters of various devices of distributed generation is carried out. It is concluded that the elements of a distributed generation system can be not only individual devices, but also systems of such devices at the level of a territorial region. Keywords: distributed generation; electrical system; solar energy; solar power plants, wind energy; modular nuclear reactors; intelligent networks.

An optimal train journey with bounds on energy consumption during specified intermediate time intervals

In order to mitigate consumption of electrical energy during periods of peak demand it is common for electricity system operators to offer financial incentives that encourage large corporate consumers to reduce power usage at designated critical times. For train operators on large rail networks it may be more profitable to limit energy consumption during these times, for selected individual train journeys, rather than always implementing a true optimal strategy that minimizes overall energy consumption. In this paper we use classical methods of constrained optimization to find driving strategies for a single train that minimize energy consumption subject to constraints on energy usage within designated high-demand time intervals during the journey. We illustrate our results by considering a journey with realistic parameters and two different nominal sets of energy consumption constraints.

Banning boilers: An analysis of existing regulations to phase out fossil fuel heating in the EU

In view of the current geopolitical situation, the EU and its Member States are accelerating efforts to reduce their dependency on fossil fuel imports, while simultaneously tackling the climate crisis. With heating in buildings accounting for a large share of the energy consumption in the EU, policies to phase-out fossil fuels for heating and to switch to renewables are key elements. In the context of the proposed actions to phase-out fossil fuels at EU level, this article provides a systematic analysis of current and planned phase-out regulations for fossil fuel boilers in the EU Member States. The paper quantifies the share of energy consumption for heating that is addressed by such regulations and finds that the current regulations only address about 10% of the total fossil energy consumption for heating in the EU. The share increases to almost 30% when considering the planned regulations, reflecting the fact that large energy consumers such as Germany and the Netherlands have announced such regulations. The analysis shows that several Member States with high energy consumption for heating have neither implemented nor announced plans to introduce phase-out regulations for fossil fuel heating. The study concludes that immediate policy action is needed both at EU and at Member State levels. At EU level, the proposed introduction of an end-date for stand-alone fossil fuel boilers needs to be substantiated and implemented into the legislative framework. At the national level, phase-out regulations for fossil fuel boilers need to be expanded both in quantity and scope.

Modeling and Simulation of Pulp Mill Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machines with Damper Windings Using Matlab/Simulink

Modeling and simulation of pulp mill plant permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSM) with damper windings using Matlab/Simulink is presented. Pulp mill is a manufacturing facility that converts wood chips, timber, wood products into wood pulp that is used to produce paper, cardboard, thick fiber board, which can be used by a paper mill for further processing. Pulp and paper industry has been considered a large consumer of energy and constitute a native treat to the plant as a result of machines transient due to heavy load variation. Modeling and simulation of pulp mill plant (PMSM) with damper windings show the behavior of machines virtual image environments to test the performance, stability and safety for less cost. It helps the pulp mill plant designers, engineers and technicians to understand the process of creating and analyzing machines model and predict its performance in the real world. Damper winding is an additional property added in pulp mill plant PMSM to damping out any oscillation that may cause any sudden changes in the load on the rotor when in synchronism. It prevents hunting and provides starting torque and dose not requires machines spinning. The rotor field lags the stator by which the load angle changes as a result of load variation. Permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) is an alternating current (ac) machine whose excitation is provided by the permanent magnet. It has permanent magnet (PM) on the rotor and windings on the stator. PMSM does not have field windings on the stator frame instead, it relies on the magnets to provide the magnetic field against which the rotor interacts to produce a torque. Pulp mill plant PMSM with damper windings was modeling and simulated using Matlab/Simulink as presented in this paper. The electrical and mechanical equations of various steps ware developed in state space form from which the SIMULINK models were built with pulp mill plant PMSM with damper windings using the block-approach method with in-built Matlab/SIMULINK to obtained results for dynamics performance, controllability, stability study and is widely used in the engineering, manufacturing, physical sciences, product development and recommended for pulp mill plant designers, engineers, technicians and plant operators.

Techno-economic evaluation and environmental benefit of hybrid evaporative cooling system in hot-humid regions

Reducing the energy consumption of buildings is of great importance to achieve carbon neutrality targets. The air conditioning (AC) system in buildings, as a large energy consumer, should be taken into account as one of the main building service systems for energy saving integrated with energy-efficient and environmental-friendly technologies. Indirect evaporative cooler (IEC), constrained by its cooling principle, originally exerts energy saving potential in hot-arid regions. Recently, progress has been made in expanding its application to hot-humid regions. However, due to the large cooling load in hot-humid regions, an IEC-integrated hybrid system should be developed as an improved solution to effectively save energy and maintain the indoor thermal comfort. In view of the lack of a complete hybrid IEC system being reported thus far, in this study, the IEC is combined with a cooling coil unit as a primary air handling unit (IEC-PAU) for fresh air handling and supply. Accordingly, the model of the IEC-PAU with indoor fan coil units (FCUs) is constructed and incorporated into a typical office building, and the results are compared with a baseline case under hot-humid climate conditions. Comprehensive energy, economic, and environmental benefits are analyzed considering different setpoint temperatures in typical cities of the Great Bay area (GBA) of China. Results show that the proposed system could reduce the energy consumption of 4.6 kWh/m2 on average, with the acceptable thermal comfort level as they are in the reference cases. The greatest energy saving ratio is 8.3%, while the performance of the proposed system declines under the higher setpoint temperature. The saved electricity expenses can lead to the average discounted payback period of 8.2 years in the GBA cities. Furthermore, an annual greenhouse gas emission of 4.8 t on average can be diminished. In summary, this work demonstrates the feasibility of the hybrid IEC system as an effective approach for energy saving in hot-humid regions, which is promising to prompt the carbon neutrality in China.

A Continuous Multistage Load Shedding Algorithm for Industrial Processes Based on Metaheuristic Optimization

At complex industrial sites, the high number of large consumers that make the technological process chain requires direct supply from the main high-voltage grid. Often, for operational flexibility and redundancy, the main external supply is complemented with small local generation units. When a contingency occurs in the grid and the main supply is cut off, the local generators are used to keep in operation the critical consumers until the safe shutdown of the entire process can be achieved. In these scenarios, in order to keep the balance between local generation and consumption, the classic approach is to use under-frequency load-shedding schemes. This paper proposes a new load-shedding algorithm that uses particle swarm optimization and forecasted load data to provide a low-cost alternative to under-frequency methods. The algorithm is built using the requirements and input data provided by a real industrial site from Romania. The results show that local generation and critical consumption can be kept in stable operation for the time interval required for the safe shutdown of the running processes.

Automated Bilateral Trading of Energy by Alliances in Multi-Agent Electricity Markets

In liberalized markets, consumers can choose their electricity suppliers or be part of an energy community. The problem with communities is that they may not have enough weight to trade in markets, which can be overcome by forming coalitions. Electricity is traded in spot markets or through bilateral contracts involving consumers and suppliers. This paper is devoted to bilateral contracting, modeled as a negotiation process involving an iterative exchange of offers and counter-offers. It focuses on coalitions of energy communities. Specifically, it presents team and single-agent negotiation models, where each consumer has strategies, tactics, and decision models. Coalition agents are equipped with intra-team strategies and decision protocols. It also describes a study of bilateral contracts involving a seller agent and a coalition of energy communities. By allying into a coalition, members of energy communities reduced their average costs for electricity by between 2% (large consumers) and 64% (small consumers) according to their consumption. Their levelized cost reduction was 19%. The results demonstrate the power of coalitions when negotiating bilateral contracts and the benefit of a low-consumption members alliance with larger players.

Walking the Purpose-Talk Inside a Large Company: Sustainable Product Development as an Instance of Divergent Change

There is a growing interest in large companies pursuing a new purpose—changing their core reason for being from a singular focus on financial gain to a renewed responsibility to people and the planet alongside profit. Yet knowledge of how a large company can walk that purpose-talk is still in its infancy. In this essay, we zoom in on the development of new sustainable products that embody a renewed responsibility to people and the planet. We conceptualize sustainable product development in a large company as an instance of divergent change and explore: How can sustainable products develop inside a large company in the face of the intense resistance that such a divergent change is likely to trigger? Building on our qualitative study from 2010 to 2019 of four products in a large fast-moving consumer goods company, we unpack two key leadership practices: (1) relaxing metrics for a product team, which (structurally) enables experimenting with a sustainable product separate from the mainstream business, and (2) advocating with gatekeepers, which (discursively) enables anchoring a sustainable product within the mainstream business. Overall, our findings suggest that sustainable product development will not do much to transform a large company if sustainable products remain merely tolerated exceptions. History: This paper has been accepted for the Strategy Science Special Issue on Corporate Purpose.

Distribution grid electrical performance and emission analysis of combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP)-photovoltaic (PV)-based data center and residential customers

As the number of data centers is increasing worldwide, there are concerns about their growing electricity demand on power grids and its impact on the environment. These concerns can be mitigated at the urban scale by utilizing the waste heat generated by data centers and multi-energy hub integration. Using Combined Cooling, Heating, and Power (CCHP) and Photovoltaic (PV) systems within a data center, in combination with district energy network connections, can create energy interactions with residential customers in a multi-energy hub. However, connecting large energy consumers and distributed energy systems to the electrical distribution grid presents challenges due to the conventional design of the power grid with unidirectional electricity flow. There is a lack of understanding about the grid impact of data centers with multi-energy systems regarding electrical performance parameters, energy demand, and emissions. To address these open issues, we developed an hourly energy interaction model that includes a CCHP-PV-based data center and residential customers. In addition, the CCHP-PV-based data center was operated with a cost-optimized energy scheduling. We conducted six case studies to distinguish the specific effects of CCHP, PV, and district energy network connections. The model takes into account hourly outdoor temperatures, energy prices, and varying energy demands to capture the seasonal impact on electrical performance parameters and energy results. From an energy and environmental perspective, CCHP-PV systems can eliminate the data center's electricity demand from the grid, reduce residential energy demand, and decrease carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. This cleaner production and energy exchange further support the United Nations Sustainable Development goals. The experimental results showed a 43% reduction in power loss in the distribution grid and helped the data center's main electrical bus and residential bus against the voltage drop phenomenon. The CCHP-PV-based data center with district heating and cooling connection reduced the peak hour electricity demand on the grid by 39% and annual electricity consumption from the grid by 66%. Furthermore, Greenhouse Gas Protocols (GHG) Scope-2 emissions associated with the data center's grid electricity consumption and only residential electricity consumption were reduced by 77% and 36%, respectively.

Sodium Replacement with KCl and MSG: Attitudes, Perception and Acceptance in Reduced Salt Soups.

Sodium intake is linked to multiple negative health outcomes, particularly hypertension, the leading cause of premature death globally. Sodium intake levels in human populations are high, due in part to our desire for palatable salty-tasting foods. Two leading salt replacement strategies are the use of potassium chloride (KCl) and monosodium glutamate (MSG), the latter of which still contains some sodium, but both of which can replace some salty taste in foods while reducing net sodium levels. In this report, we employed a trained descriptive sensory panel to optimize saltiness in sodium-reduced aqueous samples using various concentrations of KCl and MSG. Following this, we assessed consumer attitudes to sodium-reduction strategies in a model food, canned soup, known to typically be high in sodium. Finally, in a large consumer test, we verified that these optimized levels of KCl and MSG did not lead to a drop in liking for the reduced-sodium soups with saltiness subsidized in this manner. Our results showed that sodium can be readily reduced in soups by 18% while actually scoring higher in liking, and in some cases being perceived as even more salty tasting, but that consumers are more open to sodium reduction in this manner when sodium replacements are not specifically highlighted, and when percentage sodium reduction is stated over absolute levels.

Evaluation of the Data Centre Waste Heat Potential in District Heating in Latvia

Data centres are large global energy consumers that create low-temperature waste heat. To alleviate the impact of the temperature increase on the information technology equipment, the data centres are cooled with different technical solutions, drastically increasing the facilities’ power consumption. In different regions, the use of data centre waste heat combined with heat pumps in district heating systems was identified as a lower-cost heat energy generation solution compared to alternative fossil or renewable energy-based heating solutions. The research paper aims to identify the data centre’s waste heat potential as an energy source in district heating in Latvia. The technical and economic potential for using heat pumps in the data centre’s waste heat systems was evaluated. To reach the goal of the study, a mixed methodological approach was used divided into four steps: the creation of the statistical calculation method, stakeholder survey to evaluate the energy consumption, mapping of the quantitative results to evaluate technical potential and distribution patterns, and system dynamics modelling to evaluate possible adoption scenarios of the technological solutions. The results of the research reveal a heterogenic distribution of data centres in Latvia, which limits the use of waste heat at the national level. Furthermore, the study identified the total waste heat potential of data centres in Latvia and provided recommendations for the adoption of data centres’ waste heat based on the results of the system dynamic simulations.

What Is the US Comparative Advantage in Entrepreneurship? Evidence from Israeli Migration to the United States

Abstract We investigate underlying sources of the US entrepreneurial ecosystem's advantage compared to other innovative economies by assessing the benefits that Israeli startups derive from migrating to the United States. Addressing positive sorting into migration, we show that migrants raise larger funding amounts and are more likely to have a U.S. trademark and be acquired than nonmigrants. Migrants also achieve a higher acquisition value. However, their patent output is not larger. We conclude that the United States entrepreneurial ecosystem's advantage vis-à-vis other innovative economies arises from several sources producing sizeable gains for startups. These sources are investor availability as well as large consumer and acquisitions markets.