Toward customer-centric mobile phone reverse logistics: using the DEMATEL approach and social media data

Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sajjad Shokouhyar ◽  
Amirhosein Dehkhodaei ◽  
Bahar Amiri
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Reverse Logistics ◽  
Product Life Cycle ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Threshold Value ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cause And Effect

PurposeRecently, reverse logistics (RL) has become more prominent due to growing environmental concerns, social responsibility, competitive advantages and high efficiency by customers because of expansion of product selection and shorter product life cycle. However, effective implementation of RL results in some direct advantages, the most important of which is winning customer satisfaction that is vital to a firm's success. Therefore, paying attention to customer feedback in supply chain (SC) and logistics processes has recently increased, so manufacturers have decided to transform their RL into customer-centric RL. Hence, this paper aims to identify the features of a mobile phone which affect consumers’ purchasing behavior and to analyze the causality and prominence relations among them that can help decision-makers, policy planners and managers of organizations to develop a framework for customer-centric RL. These features are studied based on analysis of product review sites. This paper's special focus is on social media (SM) data (Twitter) in an attempt to help the decision-making process in RL through a big data analysis approach.Design/methodology/approachThis paper deals with identifying mobile phone features that affect consumer's mobile phone purchasing decisions. Using the DEMATEL approach and using experts' insights, a cause and effect relationship diagram was generated through which the effect of features was analyzed.FindingsEighteen features were categorized in terms of cause and effect, and the interrelationships of features were also analyzed. The threshold value is calculated as 0.023, and the values lower than that were eliminated to obtain the digraph. F6 (camera), F13 (price) and F5 (chip) are the most prominent features based on their prominent score. It was also found that the F5 (chip) has the highest driving power (1.228) and acts as a causal feature to influence other features.Originality/valueThe focus of this article is on SM data (Twitter), so that experts can understand the interaction between mobile phone features that affect consumer's decision on mobile phone purchasing by using the results. This study investigates the degree of influence of features on each other and categorizes the features into cause and effect groups. This study is also intended to help organizational decision-makers move toward a reverse customer SC.

A mixed-method approach for modelling customer-centric mobile phone reverse logistics: application of social media data

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sajjad Shokouhyar ◽  
Amirhossein Dehkhodaei ◽  
Bahar Amiri
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Big Data ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Reverse Logistics ◽  
Significant Feature ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Website Analysis ◽  
Media Data

Purpose Recently, reverse logistics (RL) has become more prominent due to growing environmental concerns, social responsibility, competitive advantage and high efficiency by customers because of the expansion of product selection and shorter product life cycle. However, effective implementation of RL results in some direct advantages, the most important of which is winning customer satisfaction that is vital to a firm’s success. Therefore, paying attention to customer feedback in supply chain and logistics processes has recently increased so that manufacturers have decided to transform their RL into customer-centric RL. Hence, this paper aims to identify the features of a mobile phone which affect consumer purchasing behaviour and to analyse the interrelationship among them to develop a framework for customer-centric RL. These features are studied based on website analysis of several mobile phone manufacturers. The special focus of this paper is on social media data (Twitter) in an attempt to help the decision-making process in RL through a big data analysis approach. Design/methodology/approach A portfolio of mobile phone features that affect consumer’s mobile phone purchasing decisions has been taken from website analysis by several mobile phone manufacturers to achieve this objective. Then, interrelationships between the identified features have been established by using big data supplemented with interpretive structural modelling (ISM). Apart from that, cross-impact matrix multiplication, applied to classification analysis, was carried out to graphically represent these features based on their driving power and dependence. Findings During the study, it has been observed from the ISM that the chip (F5) is the most significant feature that affects customer’s buying behaviour; therefore, mobile phone manufacturers realize that this is to be addressed first. Originality/value The focus of this paper is on social media data (Twitter) so that experts can understand the interaction between mobile phone features that affect consumer’s decisions on mobile phone purchasing by using the results.

Organizational experience of social media: impacts on competitive intelligence

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diogo Carvalho ◽  
Winnie Picoto ◽  
Peter Busch
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Competitive Intelligence ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fortune 1000 ◽  
University Professor ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
The Individual

Purpose The paper aims to clarify the potential impact of data gathered from social media (SM) in the competitive intelligence (CI) process of organizations. As use of SM expands, analysis of this data becomes a critical business need providing essential support for decision makers. This paper seeks to examine how SM be used to enhance CI in an organizational context. Design/methodology/approach This paper adopted an exploratory mixed-method approach followed by a sequential and equal status design, with qualitative semi-structured interviews, accounting for the qualitative study and serving as precursor to a quantitative structured survey. Interviewees included a university professor and CI consultant, an SM analyst and a subject in a management position – all in the field of CI. A survey was sent to Fortune 1000 companies. Some 227 companies replied. Findings The findings were that the majority of respondents produce CI reports at least monthly, and that information transmitted mainly by presentation within organizations. Over 70% of companies outsource CI activities to specialized firms, while 80.9% of organizations felt CI improved their relationship with their customers. Not surprisingly, as the number of people dedicated to CI activities increased, the likelihood of an organization hiring outside companies specializing in CI diminished. Research limitations/implications All organizations sampled were large US companies; thus, small- and medium-sized enterprises were excluded, as were non-US viewpoints. As survey respondents were anonymous, the source of data at the level of the individual is missing. Finally, only three interviewees provided the qualitative data. Practical implications This investigation determined organizations should have an established and well-structured CI department. Furthermore, such a department should have between five and ten employees to maximize the potential. Outsourcing depends on the company’s specific needs. Nevertheless, regardless of whether it outsources CI activities or not, each firm should monitor SM to enhance the CI process. Originality/value Much SM-based CI is either non-existent or in “embryotic” stages in most companies, and therefore still a work in progress. Furthermore, as SM is a relatively new phenomenon, studies supporting its implementation are scarce. Companies stand to gain significant improvements to CI if SM is effectively used.

In pursuit of information: evaluating strategic plans

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-201
Author(s):  
Cigdem Baskici ◽  
Yavuz Ercil
Keyword(s):  
High Efficiency ◽  
Practical Implication ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Measuring System ◽  
Information Flows ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Strategic Plans ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
Strategic Goals

Purpose The purpose of this study is to propose a measuring system based on the information flow to carry out a more precise assessment of strategic plans. Design/methodology/approach An action research method is used with system dynamics. The indicators obtained from the strategic plans were assessed through information records. Findings The output of this study is a dynamic model which is produced by the workflows and processes in which decision-makers can apply experiments. By this means, it can be used as a measuring system based on information flows produced within the organization. Practical implications The first practical implication is that it can be possible to measure how much of the current workflows matched the strategic goals. Second, it can be possible to measure how much the budget allocated to the strategic plans corresponds to the amount of the total works. Third, it gets ability to managers to provide the opportunity to carry out experiments through the designed model. Originality/value As it uses information flows as measuring variable, this study is one of the novel approaches in strategy measurement systems. It also promises high efficiency and effectiveness because the assessment of goals and actions in strategic plans are sources of information which shed a light on the future strategic options to the decision-makers of the organizations.

Keeping up the pace of digitalization in small businesses–Women entrepreneurs' knowledge and use of social media

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Karin Olsson ◽  
Iréne Bernhard
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Women Entrepreneurs ◽  
Digital Natives ◽  
Learning By Doing ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Digital Skills ◽  
Use Of Social Media

PurposeThis study aims to explore how women entrepreneurs in small businesses encounter digitalization and learn to use social media at work by combining theoretical perspectives from research on women entrepreneurs in small businesses, digitalization and use of social media and digital skills in response to calls from earlier research regarding women entrepreneurs' adaptation to an increasingly digitalized world.Design/methodology/approachQualitative methods were applied including a total of 13 in-depth interviews in two phases, in 2017 and 2019, with 11 women entrepreneurs in nine small businesses, along with observations of their digital presence.FindingsThis study contributes with new insights regarding women entrepreneurs' behavior and ways to acquire digital skills to keep up the pace in digitalization. Learning by doing, informal learning and step-by-step self-development entrepreneurial behavior were practiced along with strategical recruiting of young digitally skilled employees, i.e. digital natives. Findings state that in order to remain competitive and generate business growth, women entrepreneurs constantly have to learn new skills to capture the potential of digitalization especially regarding the knowledge and use of social media. The women entrepreneurs emphasize challenges of digitalization as limited resources, constant need of new digital skills, digital stress or even burnout due to internal and external demands on online presence, scanning and maintenance of social media platforms. In contrast to earlier research, the women entrepreneurs did not express any significant gender stereotyping online, yet they strongly emphasized the continuous challenge of work––life balance.Originality/valueThis study contributes to an under-researched field with novel research combining theories from women entrepreneurship and information and communication technologies (ICTs) related to digitalization with a special focus on social media. Following the era of digitalization, the women entrepreneurs have to act as digital entrepreneurs finding new innovative ways of doing business. The importance of recruiting young digitally skilled employees in small businesses is vital for women entrepreneurs, since the needed learning and business development takes place when digital natives and digital immigrants work together.

From websites to social media: exploring the adoption of internet marketing in emerging industrial markets

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 1009-1019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdel Monim Shaltoni
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Internet Marketing ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Relative Advantage ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Industrial Organizations ◽  
Industrial Markets

Purpose This study aims to explore internet marketing adoption in emerging industrial markets across several internet-based technologies (i.e. social media platforms, static and transactional websites). Design/methodology/approach This study is mainly based on an exploratory research design and investigated the online presence of 570 industrial organizations in terms of their involvement in social media. This study also examines if websites are used for basic marketing communications (brochureware) or for conducting advanced marketing activities. An online survey is used to explore the relationships between several factors and internet marketing adoption. Findings The study found that half of the investigated organizations are using the internet as a one-way communication vehicle through static websites. The study also revealed that decision-makers in emerging industrial markets are enthusiastic about social media, particularly Facebook. In addition, internet marketing adoption was positively related to perceived relative advantage, compatibility, organizational innovativeness, competitor and customer pressure. Practical implications From practitioners’ perspectives, the findings can help decision-makers identify the current levels of involvement in internet marketing. At the macro level, the high percentage of organizations with minimum involvement in internet marketing calls for conducting awareness initiatives to educate industrial organizations, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises, about the opportunities offered by the internet. Originality/value The findings from this study enrich internet marketing research because it focuses on industrial organizations in emerging markets, which is a rarely examined context despite its importance and potential.

An investigation of the persuasive effects of firm-consumer communication dyads using Facebook

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morgan Atwood ◽  
Cristian Morosan
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Source Credibility ◽  
Hotel Industry ◽  
Elaboration Likelihood Model ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Elaboration Likelihood ◽  
Online Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Likelihood Model ◽  
Effective Use

Purpose – This paper aims to provide a deeper understanding of the effective use of Facebook within the hotel industry. It explored which current Facebook practices are effective/persuasive using the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) as the main theoretical foundation. Design/methodology/approach – Using an experimental design, the effects of consumers’ exposure to treatments, involving different levels of elaboration and source credibility, were examined to determine whether consumer’s process information from Facebook communication through a central or peripheral route. Findings – The results of this research showed that consumer attitudes are affected by the source credibility, but not by the level of elaboration. Also, intentions to stay at the hotel and intentions to engage with the hotel brand via social media were not affected by the level of elaboration or source credibility. Research limitations/implications – This study presents an important step forward in understanding how consumer persuasion takes place in an online environment. Also, this paper provides a first-hand account of the manner in which social media adds value to a business organization. In addition, this paper provides insight on how consumers process online information. Originality/value – As this is the first conceptualization of the ELM in a social media context, this study is uniquely able to explain the concept of persuasion in the hotel industry. Such knowledge is invaluable to academics and hotel decision makers, especially because the research provides specific insights on the manner in which attitudes change in consumers.

Benchmarking of product recovery alternatives in reverse logistics

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 406-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. K. Sharma ◽  
S.S. Mahapatra ◽  
M.B. Parappagoudar
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Reverse Logistics ◽  
Product Recovery ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Multiple Decision Makers ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Objective And Subjective Weights ◽  
Set Up

Purpose – Selection of best product recovery alternative in reverse logistics (RL) has gained great attention in supply chain community. The purpose of this paper is to provide a robust group decision-making tool to select the best product recovery alternative. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, fuzzy values, assigned to various criteria and alternatives by a number of decision makers, are converted into crisp values and then aggregated scores are evaluated. After obtaining experts’ scores, objective and subjective weights of the criteria have been calculated using variance method and analytic hierarchy process, respectively. Then integrated weights of criteria are evaluated using different proportions of the two weights. The superiority and inferiority ranking (SIR) method is then employed to achieve the final ranking of alternatives. An example is presented to demonstrate the methodology. Findings – The proposed methodology provides decision makers a systematic, flexible and realistic approach to effectively rank the product recovery alternatives in RL. The alternatives can easily be benchmarked and best recovery strategy can be obtained. The sensitivity analysis carried out by changing different proportion of objective and subjective weights reveals that best ranking alternative never changes and proves the robustness of the methodology. The present benchmarking framework can also be used by decision makers to simplify any problem which encounters multi-attribute decision making and multiple decision makers. Research limitations/implications – The proposed methodology should be tested in different situations having varied operational and environmental conditions dealing with different products. A real case study from an industrial set up can help to assess the behavior of the proposed methodology. The presented methodology however can deal with such multi-disciplinary and multi-criteria issues in a simple and structured manner and ease the managers to select the best alternative. Originality/value – A novel approach for decision making taking into account both objective and subjective weights for criteria has been proposed to rank the best recovery alternatives in RL. The proposed methodology uses SIR method to prioritize the alternatives. As RL alternative selection is an important issue and involves both technical and managerial criteria as well as multiple decision makers, the proposed robust methodology can provide guidelines for the practicing managers.

Social media adoption and its impact on firm performance: the case of the UAE

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syed Zamberi Ahmad ◽  
Abdul Rahim Abu Bakar ◽  
Norita Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Social Commerce ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Media Technologies

Purpose Through social media technologies, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can communicate information and respond to competitors with minimal cost. The ability to share and access information can affect SMEs’ performance, but there is little research on the link between SMEs’ social media adoption and their performance. The purpose of this paper is to present a quantitative survey to explore factors that influenced social media adoption by SMEs in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and its impact on performance. Design/methodology/approach The study used a multi-perspective framework combining technological, organizational and environmental elements affecting SMEs. Survey questionnaires were used to collect data from a random sample of SMEs operating in the UAE. Using partial least squares and structural equation modeling techniques, 144 responses were analyzed. Findings Social media adoption had no effect on SMEs’ performance. These findings could help managers and decision makers in the SME sector to try to keep pace with research on social media innovations, and enable them to benefit from social commerce as it becomes more ubiquitous. Research limitations/implications This has implications for social media experts and anyone wishing to encourage social media use by SMEs. Originality/value The study developed a suitable multi-perspective framework covering various factors that may affect social media use. It also tested the framework empirically on a sample of SMEs from the UAE.

scholarly journals Identifying gaps in early warning mechanisms and evacuation procedures for tsunamis in Sri Lanka, with a special focus on the use of social media

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ravindu Udayantha Jayasekara ◽  
Gaindu Saranga Jayathilaka ◽  
Chandana Siriwardana ◽  
Dilanthi Amaratunga ◽  
Richard Haigh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Early Warning ◽  
Coastal Hazards ◽  
Indian Ocean Tsunami ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Disaster Communication ◽  
Use Of Social Media

Purpose The current National Early Warning System for Sri Lanka (NEWS: SL) was established after the devastations of the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004. Although early warning (EW) systems and evacuation procedures are in place, several areas which need improvements have been emphasized in recent studies carried out in the country. Therefore, this paper aims to outline the gaps in existing EW and EP related to tsunami and other coastal hazards with a special focus on the use of social media for disaster communication based on age groups. Design/methodology/approach This study has drawn on a review of past studies carried out by the same research team to identify the scope of the study. In addition to that, a conceptual framework was developed for the use of social media in the event of a disaster. Based on this conceptual framework, an online questionnaire was administered to identify the current status of the use of social media in Sri Lanka during a disaster situation. In total, 408 responses were collected and analyzed using the binary logistic regression method to evaluate the variation of different predictors associated with the use of social media for disaster communication. Findings Findings of the study revealed that the use of social media for disaster communication depends on the previous experience of users and their age. The gender of users does not affect the use of social media for disaster communication. Therefore, the accuracy and timeliness of disaster information distributed via social media should be improved further to enhance the use of social media for disaster communication. Moreover, the findings have highlighted unaddressed issues in areas such as governance; communication of technical agencies; evacuation and shelters; and response of the community. Originality/value This paper has identified key areas that need attention in the process of enhancing the use of social media for disaster communication. More use of technological platforms such as social media for receiving disaster-related information can address issues such as bottlenecks in communication, poor awareness and lack of last-mile dissemination. Furthermore, this paper has proposed recommendations for addressing the identified gaps in the overall EW mechanisms and EP pertaining to tsunamis and other coastal hazards to enhance the coastal disaster resilience in Sri Lanka.

Rhetorical construction of political leadership in social media

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Madestam ◽  
Lena Lid Falkman
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rhetorical Strategy ◽  
Rhetorical Construction ◽  
Leadership Management

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze how political leaders can rhetorically use social media to construct their leadership, with a special focus on character – rhetorical ethos. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a qualitative case study which consisted of two political leaders’ activities on Twitter. The leaders were chosen on the basis of similarity – both foreign ministers in Scandinavian countries and early adapters to ICT. All tweets, including photos, for selected period were analyzed qualitatively with the classical rhetorical concept of ethos. Findings Social media is the virtual square for political leadership. The two political leaders studied use social media similarly for rhetorical means and aims, with ethos as rhetorical strategy. The rhetorical ethos they constructed differs radically though: busy diplomat vs a super-social Iron man. There is no single constructed ethos that political leaders aim for. Research limitations/implications Even though this is just one qualitative case study, it shows a variety of rhetorical means and constructs of ethos in political leadership. Practical implications The study shows a possibility for political leaders to construct their own image and character through social media, for a potentially large audience of voters, without being filtered by political parties or media. Originality/value This study contributes to the evolving area of rhetoric in leadership/management and it adds to knowledge about how political leaders use social media.

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