Ripple Effect Research Articles

The Importance of Customer Service in Banking

The existence of a company is unthinkable without good customer service. Customer service should be seen as the core of your business, not as an afterthought. When the market is so saturated with all kinds of services and products, in order to save your business, you will definitely need to offer exceptional service to customers who have endless choices. What is special about you? Why should the customer choose you and not any competing company? What sets you apart from others? Have you noticed how often we hear unpleasant stories about poor service, while we rarely get to share pleasant experiences? why Because bad news travels fast. You know what Warren Buffett once said? "It takes 20 years to build a reputation, and 5 minutes to destroy it. It is specified - what circumstances influence the user's action or purchase. Also, what does even a regular customer pay attention to when he wants to get a product. Difficult customer types and when to say sorry or say no. Recommended - rules, phrases and communication tools that affect the user. Recommendations are presented regarding the correct wording of the proposal, which will allow us to retain the customer and increase the profit of our company. Keywords: Effective service, ripple effect, Service+.

A Fourier-based approach to understanding the impact of dairy farming on red meat prices: evidence from the Turkish case

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the drivers behind the notable increase in red meat prices in Turkey, attributing the rise primarily to policy interventions within the dairy industry which result in a reduction of farm capacity for dairy farmers.Design/methodology/approachTo analyze the factors that determine the price of carcass red meat, cattle fattening feed is identified as a variable that directly affects carcass pricing, while the ratio of farm gate milk prices to milk feed prices is assumed to have an indirect impact. Monthly data from January 2011 to December 2022 are used in the analysis. The time series examined is influenced by time-dependent nonlinear Fourier trends that are computed for use in the estimation part.FindingsThe study reveals that fluctuations in cattle fattening feed prices have an immediate impact on carcass prices, while changes in the ratio of raw milk prices to milk feed prices exhibit a time lag. Although short-term interventions to the farm gate milk prices can initially suppress carcass prices, it is important to consider their medium and long-term effects, as these can manifest as a decrease in the number of animals available.Originality/valueThe research sheds light on the intricate interplay between policy interventions in the dairy sector and their ripple effects on the broader red meat market, contributing valuable insights to both academic and policy discourse.

The spillover effect of global uncertainty through input–output linkage

AbstractThis study examines the cross‐country spillover effects of global uncertainty on domestic value‐added by introducing indices for input‐ and output‐linked uncertainty. Employing a panel fixed‐effect regression model, the analysis covers 70 countries from 1995 to 2019, using the World Uncertainty Index and the OECD Inter‐Country Input–Output Table. Our findings reveal that input‐linked uncertainty from procuring foreign intermediate goods has the most significant negative impact on domestic value‐added. The effects of domestic uncertainty and output‐linked uncertainty from foreign product sales follow this. Additionally, these negative effects exhibit a dynamic cumulative impact over time, rather than being confined to a specific period. Considering both the magnitude and duration of these impacts, the primary transmission pathway of global uncertainty on a country's domestic production activity is through its input linkage. Furthermore, the study identifies country‐specific variations in the ripple effects of global uncertainty. Analysing specific cases such as Korea and China affirms the empirical relevance of our findings to their economic contexts.

Creating a Broader Impacts Culture

Minority-serving institutions (MSIs), historically Black colleges and universities, and Tribal colleges and universities play a pivotal role in championing inclusivity and diversity within higher education systems across the nation. As catalysts for social change, they regularly engage in Broader Impacts (BI) work. However, these institutions often face challenges in resource allocation and a dearth of human capital to sustain vital operations, which hinders their capacity building efforts. This article explores how MSIs, exemplified by the City College of the City University of New York (CUNY), can empower faculty, staff, and trainees engaged in BI work to extend their influence beyond their institutions by adopting a community of practice and engagement (COPE) approach. By leveraging collective strengths of knowledge, expertise, and diversity, CUNY’s MSI campuses endeavor to foster a transformative ripple effect, shaping a more inclusive and equitable future through research and innovation. Beginning in Spring 2023, the City College of New York, in partnership with the Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS) National Science Foundation–funded center, embarked on initiatives to understand the existing BI culture, knowledge, and challenges to enhance BI and research development capacity across the CUNY system. This article discusses the pilot efforts and lessons learned from these endeavors.

Sustainable optimisation of SMEs closed-loop supply chain for lithium battery manufacturing

Maintaining the sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) supply chain has positive impact on society. Under the ripple effect, the vulnerability of the SMEs supply chain and the collaboration uncertainty of participants have potentially negative impact on the sustainability that cannot be ignored. We consider the closed-loop SMEs supply chain network design based on the risk propagation to improve the triple sustainability. The basis of the simulation model structure is a bi-level multi-objective mixed-integer linear programming model that aims to maximise triple sustainability, and an improved dynamic non-dominated genetic algorithm (DNSGA2) is designed to solve the problem. An SMEs supply chain for closed-loop manufacturing of lithium batteries in China was considered. The results show that the centralised SMEs supply chain preform better when the supply-demand imbalance, and the distributed network structure is preform better in maintaining sustainability when manufacturer capacity imbalances. Supply chain managers should develop more flexible strategies based on the structure of downstream demand, increasing upstream manufacturers' participation to enhance their viability and improve the sustainability of the supply chain.

Compound dry-hot-fire events connecting Central and Southeastern South America: an unapparent and deadly ripple effect

South America has experienced severe compound drought-heatwaves (CDHW), exacerbating fires. Recently, the unprecedented Pantanal 2020 fire season (P20F), burning a third of the biome, resulted in well-reported local impacts on the ecosystem, economy, and health. Nevertheless, the long-range ripple effects of this event remain unknown. We investigated the P20F-related cascading hazards, integrating models, observational and satellite-based data. P20F-related smoke elevated PM2.5 levels in the SA’s most populated area, exceeding WHO guidelines by up to 600%. Smoke-induced air pollution episodes coincided with widespread heatwaves, amplifying health risks. The mortality burden attributable to this multi-hazard short-term (14 days) exposure was estimated to be 2150 premature deaths (21% increase above expected levels). Our findings highlight that the impacts of CDHW-fires in SA are beyond the local level, implying growing challenges for risk management and public health and the need for governance based on telecoupled flows, linking different systems over multiple scales.

Possibility of diffusion and challenges of a frailty prevention class hosted by older adults: Efforts by the Saitama Prefecture Silver Human Resources Center Federation Headquarters

Objectives Since 2018, the Saitama Prefecture Silver Human Resources Center (SHRC) Federation Headquarters and Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology has attempted to diffuse a business model in which SHRC members are compensated for operating a frailty prevention class. This activity report clarifies these efforts, examines the feasibility of diffusing this model based on each SHRC's project implementation status, and summarizes the relevant issues.Methods To promote the commercialization of classes, all 58 SHRCs in Saitama Prefecture were offered (1) class programs comprising a multifactorial program (exercise, nutrition, and social interactions) and teaching materials, (2) training courses for frailty prevention supporters who manage the classes (three days × four blocks/year), (3) project information exchange meetings (held once annually), and (4) consultation support for project implementation. A questionnaire survey on the project implementation status was conducted among SHRC employees to evaluate the possibility of project diffusion based on adoption, implementation, and continuation. Furthermore, project implementation issues were categorized using free descriptions as codes to create subcategories based on content and categories based on subcategory similarities.Results Regarding adoption, among the 58 SHRCs, 43 (74.1%) participated in training courses for frailty prevention supporters and 34 (58.6%) implemented the project from 2018 onwards. Regarding implementation, 23 (39.7%) SHRCs provided rewards to frailty prevention supporters (67.6% of the SHRC that implemented the project). Regarding continuation, 21 of the 28 SHRCs (75.0%) that began the project by 2021 continued it for two years or longer. Moreover, implementation challenges related to project initiation, supporters, new entrants, and class management were categorized.Conclusions More than half of the SHRCs implemented the project, 40% of SHRC provided rewards for frailty prevention supporters, and 75% of SHRCs that implemented the project continued working on it. Hence, the model may be extended to other regions. However, four issues have been identified. The model is likely to have a ripple effect, increasing the number of individuals involved in community frailty prevention and creating attractive employment opportunities for the elderly. We intend to address these challenges and disseminate our model further.

Optimizing Agility in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Using Digital Twins to Cope with the Ripple Effect

The pharmaceutical supply chain is a multilayered and complex structure designed to deliver medicines to customers in a timely manner while ensuring optimal quality and quantity of medicines. The COVID-19 outbreak exposed the vulnerability and uncertainty of the pharmaceutical supply chain, so managing the risks in the pharmaceutical supply chain has become particularly important. This study demonstrates that digital twin (DT) technology can improve pharmaceutical supply chain agility and reduce the ripple effect caused by disruptions. The ripple effect refers to the effect that a sudden disruption at one node in the supply chain has on causing a chain reaction in the rest of the supply chain. The most used risk management method today is the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, which allows for real-time data sharing but has limitations in predicting and modeling the entire supply chain and lacks the ability to make quick decisions and simulate the entire supply chain. DT technology creates a virtual model of the supply chain, which enables continuous communication and information exchange between real assets and the virtual model, offering a promising alternative to risk management for pharmaceutical supply chains. risk management by providing a promising alternative. This study utilizes the AnyLogistix platform to construct a DT model and demonstrates the effectiveness of DT technology in reducing ripple effects and improving supply chain agility using quantitative analysis. This paper focuses on analyzing the pharmaceutical supply chain for 75mg aspirin tablets in London. A supply chain that operates normally, a supply chain that introduces a disruptive event (closure of the logistics center due to an earthquake), and a supply chain that applies a proactive strategy (activation of an alternate logistics center) to mitigate risk are simulated separately. The positive impact of DT technology on the supply chain is evaluated by analyzing the methods of key performance indicators (KPIs) such as inventory level, order fulfillment rate, and delivery time. The experimental results show that DT technology enhances the responsiveness, flexibility, speed, and proactivity of the supply chain, which significantly improves the agility of the supply chain. Proactive and effective strategies also reduce the financial impact of disruptions and service levels are quickly recovered. In addition, the proactive strategy stabilized inventory levels and reduced delayed orders. The above key metrics confirm the hypothesis that DT technology can improve supply chain agility and effectively reduce the ripple effect. Despite the significant conclusions drawn in this paper, there are some limitations. Firstly, sensitivity analysis and t-test were not used in the study for secondary testing, which resulted in the lack of reliability of the validation results. In addition, the possible interaction between the ripple effect and the bullwhip effect was not discussed, leading to a confounding factor in the experimental results. The above issues can be considered in further research in the future. Finally, this paper explores the possibilities and uses of introducing machine learning techniques and considers the supply chain risk factors of globalization. In summary, this study validates the potential of digital twin technology in improving agility and coping with ripple effects in pharmaceutical supply chains. As research continues, DT technology is expected to improve supply chain efficiency and reduce supply chain risk while ensuring patient safety.

Echoes of Memory and Identity: A Psychological and Theoretical Analysis of the Ripple Effect in Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day

This paper explores the psychological and literary dimensions of Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day, focusing on how memory and past choices impact the protagonist’s identity. Utilising Freudian psychoanalysis, Jungian archetypes, and cognitive dissonance theory, the study delves into Stevens’s emotional suppression, internal conflicts, and gradual self-awareness. Additionally, narrative and postmodern literary theories are applied to analyse Ishiguro’s narrative style, revealing the protagonist’s selective and unreliable memory. This interdisciplinary approach demonstrates how Stevens’s recollections and repressed emotions create a ripple effect that shapes his identity and underscores the human experience of introspection and regret. The findings highlight the intricate interplay between memory and identity and the significance of psychological insights in literary analysis.

Analysis of the Economic Growth Effect of the National Free Trade Port Zones

In the dynamic landscape of globalization, the pivotal role of free trade zones in catalyzing openness and international trade has gained unprecedented prominence, drawing keen governmental interest worldwide. As China deepens its commitment to reform and openness, it ambitiously outlined plans for the establishment of national pilot free trade zones and free trade ports in 2018. The grand vision was to set a gold standard for openness in the new era and bolster international competitiveness. A thorough review and analysis of existing literature on national free trade ports reveal compelling insights. Evidence strongly suggests that the construction of these ports has not only significantly propelled economic growth but also triggered a ripple effect across various sectors. Mechanistic dissection elucidates that this growth can be attributed to heightened foreign investment attraction and accelerated technological innovation. This paper contributes robust empirical evidence to the discourse on refining and advancing the construction of the free trade system, thereby offering valuable guidance for policymakers and practitioners alike.

Impact of Condensed Tannin and Sulfur Dioxide Addition on Acetaldehyde Accumulation and Anthocyanin Profile of Vitis vinifera L. Cv. Cabernet Sauvignon Wines During Alcoholic Fermentation

Acetaldehyde is a key carbonyl by-product during red wine alcoholic fermentation; it is reactive and takes part in certain reactions involving anthocyanin. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of SO2 and condensed tannin on the acetaldehyde accumulation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) during alcoholic fermentation and the ripple effect on wine anthocyanin. In this study, six sets of Cabernet Sauvignon alcoholic fermentation with two different sulfur levels (HS and LS) were carried out by adding exogenous condensed tannins before fermentation (T0) in the acetaldehyde rise period (TA) of S. cerevisiae and at the end of fermentation (TE), separately. The acetaldehyde evolution was identified during fermentation and anthocyanin was analyzed comparatively. The results showed that HS treatment slowed down the degradation of acetaldehyde, while tannins accelerated the degradation of acetaldehyde during alcoholic fermentation, especially TA wines. Furthermore, TA wines possessed a unique anthocyanin profile after fermentation regardless of SO2 level compared with other wines. These results suggest that acetaldehyde-mediated anthocyanin polymerization most likely occurs timely at the acetaldehyde production phase of S. cerevisiae during alcoholic fermentation, and managing tannin addition time during production could be used to regulate the anthocyanin profile.

Promoting Workplace Mental Health for Hospital Social Workers Using Compassionate Mind Training

Hospital social workers commonly experience empathy fatigue and burnout at work. However, empathic distress can be reversed by cultivating compassion as a skill and learning how to turn empathy into compassion. This report explores how 60 staff used Compassion Mind Training (CMT) to promote workplace mental health for hospital social workers. It recommends building a workplace culture of compassion through CMT using various ways to reinforce individual and organizational commitments. This helps create a sense of psychological safety that leads to positive ripple effects in the mental health of staff.

Inter-regional rail travel and housing markets connectedness between London and other regions

Taking London as a location with which to measure the ripple effect in the UK housing market, this study aims to explain and verify the high degree of correlation between inter-regional transportation and the regional correlation of the housing market. Based on the literature on the relationship between short-term mobility and long-term migration, this paper illustrates that the extent to which people use trains for travel across regions will be related to the ripple effect in the regional housing markets. Frequent railway transport behavior, whether for commuting or traveling, might increase people's desire to relocate between regions, and thus leading to information transmission effects across regional housing prices and transaction volume. First, we estimate a dynamic indicator for the ripple effect. Then, the empirical tests use panel data, including the ripple indicator and passenger number data across time (1996–2022) and regions (nine regions). It is found that if London house prices drive other regional house prices to rise, inter-regional transportation demand will increase, and in turn, the increase of house prices in other housing markets will again drive up London house prices. The number of passengers will affect the information transmitted by the housing market transaction volume in other regions to the London housing market. This implies that higher inter-regional transport needs may lead to migration between London and other property markets, causing their transaction volumes to change in the same direction. The results of this paper verify that travel behavior between regions is a crucial factor in the leading/lagging behavior of regional housing market performance, implying a relationship between short-term travel and long-term migration. The results also indicate that incorporating variables of housing market correlations may help in the prediction of passenger numbers or transportation demand.

Economically viable reshoring of supply chains under ripple effect

This paper presents stochastic mixed integer linear programming models for economically viable supply chain reshoring under the ripple effect, that is, for the integrated optimization of supply chain reshoring and supply chain viability. The problem objective is to select supply chain facilities for relocation and backup suppliers for recovery supplies to simultaneously minimize cost, maximize service and enhance viability. If the primary supplier is not selected for reshoring, the viability can alternatively be improved by recovery supplies from the backup supplier. The problem is formulated as a multi-portfolio stochastic optimization. The portfolio of suppliers/plants for reshoring is optimized along with an alternative recovery portfolio of backup supplies. This study indicates that reshoring decisions directly affect supply chain viability and have positive impact on both its average and worst-case performance. The more risk-aversive is viable reshoring (the confidence level greater than 0.90), the greater is also improvement of supply chain business-as-usual resilience. If increase of expected customer service is more important than cost reduction, supplier reshoring is preferable to backup sourcing. The findings also indicate that cost- and service-optimal reshoring decisions are getting closer when the government subsidy for reshoring significantly increases such that the reduced reshoring costs and domestic costs do not exceed the achieved reduction of lost sales and backup sourcing. Then both conflicting objectives can be simultaneously achieved, which is a highly desirable solution of the economically viable reshoring of supply chain. Numerical examples based on a real-world industrial supply chain prove practical usefulness of the proposed stochastic approach and its high computational efficiency.

Decision-making optimization for post-disaster restoration of multimodal transport networks in terms of resilience

IntroductionPublic health emergencies can have a ripple effect on the resilience of multimodal transport network, which will lead to problems such as route disruptions or blockages, route selection change and information transmission delay spreading to the whole network, further hindering the transportation planning and operational efficiency of the network. MethodsThis study constructs a multimodal transport route optimization model under uncertainty with the objective of the sum of transportation cost, transshipment cost, penalty cost and carbon emission cost. To enhance the computational efficiency of the model, a novel invasive weed optimization with memory and encoding value clustering capabilities is proposed. In addition, by fusing the Q-learning algorithm in reinforcement learning with the novel invasive weed algorithm, the action-value function table obtained from the training facilitates the selection of optimal routes. Based on empirical data, explore the sensitivity analysis of node disruptions, time windows, and fuzzy demand on route decision-making under public health emergencies. ResultsThe transport network is affected by public health emergencies, which makes the optimal route deviate from the expected goal, resulting in an increase in the total cost. The proportion of total cost is determined by the position of nodes in the network, with critical nodes suffering more losses than ordinary nodes. Reasonable setting of time windows and fuzzy demand intervals is an effective way to improve the resilience and transportation efficiency of multimodal transport network. ConclusionsThis study provides more applicable decision-making references for enterprises to prevent the risk of supply chain disruptions caused by public health emergencies.

Unveiling the potential for decarbonization of the building sector: A comparative study of technological and non-technological low-carbon strategies

There is an urgent need to mitigate carbon emissions in the building sector, particularly from existing buildings. The existing literature focuses predominantly on technological strategies such as low-carbon materials. This prompts the question: Can technological strategies alone drive the decarbonization of buildings, or are non-technological strategies also essential? Although recent research considers the benefits of the latter, studies assessing the potential of non-technological strategies for decarbonization of buildings are lacking because of the challenges involved in evaluating the indirect impacts and potential trade-offs associated with these strategies such as their ripple effects on mobility. This study pioneers a comparative assessment to evaluate the environmental mitigation potential of non-technological strategies (adaptation, a subset of the sharing economy, and behavioral changes) against technological strategies (low-carbon materials, retrofitting, and recycled materials) to ascertain the effectiveness of non-technological approaches. Through life cycle assessment, this study extends beyond solely evaluating the GHG reduction potential to assess the overall environmental mitigation capacity. A single-family house in Montreal was used as a reference scenario. With significant mitigation potential observed from a non-technological perspective, the results robustly reveal that the adaptation scenario surpasses all scenarios, including retrofitting, which is the primary mitigation strategy for existing buildings, by up to 50 % and 41 % at the midpoint and damage levels, respectively. Furthermore, the adaptation scenario potentially provides sufficiency by saving considerable amounts of material and energy, thereby alleviating the environmental impact of the production and use stages by up to 27 % and 15 %, respectively. This study also evaluates the combined effects of adaptation and retrofitting for existing buildings, revealing by up to 8 % greater environmental benefits at the midpoint and damage levels than in the adaptation scenario individually. These results highlight the potential of non-technological strategies that are currently overlooked in the building sector. However, their implementation requires fewer resources and less energy than technological changes. Therefore, further investigation is warranted to explore how adopting these strategies, along with technological ones, is advantageous.

Assessing economies' resilience of international liquefied natural gas trade network in the presence of the ripple effect

Assessing economies' resilience of international liquefied natural gas trade network in the presence of the ripple effect

Why Are Foodies Active on Social Network Services? An Exploratory Study on Foodies' Influence on Social Media.

As social media continues to gain traction in the food industry, this study explored how cooking and dining-out behaviors and social media use differ depending on the foodie tendencies of consumers, particularly Korean Millennial and Gen Z consumers. Additionally, this study considered the effect of foodie tendencies on active social media usage. Based on the Foodie Index, two groups were identified: high and low. The high group scored higher than the low group on foodie knowledge and spending, food interest, and time commitment. Comparison of the food, cooking, and dining-out behaviors of both groups revealed a significantly greater frequency of cooking and a higher proportion of using their own ingredients, even when dining alone, in the high group. Analysis of social media use characteristics also demonstrated significantly higher scores for the high group than the low group in terms of the degree of use, average daily usage time, checking frequency, and use of social media recommendations when cooking and purchasing food. Furthermore, foodie inclination significantly influenced active usage behavior, as users shared informative content and frequently posted articles and photos. This study found that foodies play a leading role in producing food-related information by actively using and sharing social media. Considering this ripple effect, consumers' foodie tendencies can be used as an important measure in food marketing-related research.

Modelling the Relationship Between Merchandise Trade Flows and Some Macroeconomic Variables in Ghana

Macroeconomic variables serve as economic indicators that offer valuable insights into the overall health and stability of an economy. Changes in these variables can have significant impacts on a country's trade balance and overall economic performance. This study employed multivariate time series analysis to study the relationship between Merchandise Trade Flows (MTF), Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), Commercial Lending Rate (CLR), Nominal Growth Rate (NGR) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) with Money Supply (MoS) as exogenous variable. The nature of trend in each series was investigated. The results revealed that quadratic trend model best models MTF, MPR, CLR and NGR whiles an exponential trend best models CPI. Johansen’s co-integration test with unrestricted trend performed revealed the existence of long-run equilibrium relationships between the variables and three (3) co-integrating equations described this long-run relationship. In terms of short-run relationships, the VEC (2) model revealed that, CLR, NGR, MoS have positive and significant impact on MTF. CLR, NGR and MoS have positive and significant impact on MPR, NGR have positive and significant impact on CLR, CPI and MoS have significant impact on NGR whiles NGR and MoS have significant impact on CPI. Model diagnostics performed on the VEC (2) model showed that, all the model parameters are structurally stable over time and the residuals of the individual models are free from serial correlation and conditional heteroscedasticity. Forecast error variance decomposition (FEVD) analysis showed that each variable primarily explained its own variance and the influence of other variables increase over time. Hence, adopting a broad perspective on macroeconomic variables can help policymakers anticipate and mitigate ripple effects across various economic sectors.

An Innovative Public Health Solution with European Features for an American Problem

Abstract Problem The Eastern Shore of Maryland is a beautiful region that boasts a multicultural community of 455,000 year-round residents. Despite its rural location, the coastal lifestyle attracts retirees, making it the state’s oldest population. Unfortunately, the region also has the highest socioeconomic disparities in the state, which creates difficulties in accessing healthcare. This is a significant public health issue that results in costly barriers to preventive care and timely, accounting for $320 billion in unnecessary healthcare spending. Description of the problem Maryland’s healthcare funding formulas favor larger health systems in urban areas, leading to health inequities. To address this, we propose an innovative scenario analysis model partially based on European public health approaches. This model will adjust funding formulas based on each region’s specific needs and challenges, promoting fairness and equity in healthcare funding. Results Adopting this population health management approach would have built-in efficiencies: In the United States, healthcare spending tends to be higher among underserved populations due to delayed care, access challenges, missed diagnoses, and limited access to the latest scientific advances as well as proper preventive services. Lessons The proposed scenario-based public health funding approach targeting the needs of the underserved population on the Eastern Shore of Maryland could yield significant positive health outcomes and health savings generating a ripple effect across the state, and perhaps even the country. The lessons learned in how other countries handle public health funding could lead to global collaboration. Key messages • Our approach aims to provide a practical solution to unnecessary healthcare spending. • We must adapt to the changing tides to stay on course.