Search results for "Guar"

Identifying the Ideal Types of Online Shoppers : A Qualitative Analysis of Online Shopping

2020

The tremendous increase in online shopping has created a growing demand to understand online shopping behavior. This study contributes to this understanding by identifying ideal types among online shoppers. An ideal type is an analytical construct used to ascertain similarities and deviations to concrete cases in an individual phenomenon. Theoretically, the study draws from different perspectives to create a multifaceted view of online shoppers. The purpose is not to categorize online shoppers under a specific category but rather to help understand different typically occurring online shopping behaviors. Through thematic analysis of the data from 31 participants, this study presents five id…

The Market Reorientation of Farms: The Case of Olive Growing in the Nebrodi Area

2014

In addition to safeguarding the landscape, olive growing makes a unique contribution to protecting the environment and the agricultural ecosystem. Olive growing in mountainous and hilly areas is severely constrained by structural limitations. Rural tourism can be a potential strategy to increase the competitiveness of olive-growing activities. After an initial analysis of the relationship between landscape, tourism, and olive growing, this study focused on olive growing in the Nebrodi area. In particular, we examined two case studies of olive farms to analyze the related production costs and market positioning strategies.

Consumers in Information Technology Enabled Service Encounters: Perceptions and Tradeoffs in Multi-Channel Interactions

2015

This study examines information technology enabled, multi-channel service context from the end-user's perspective and, more specifically, from the perspective of a consumer, in particular the extent to which the multi-channel interaction experience results in consumer satisfaction and any tradeoffs that consumers make in the evaluation of the context of service. Empirical results from our online survey with mobile consumers indicate that the variables included in the model have a direct impact on consumer satisfaction when considered individually. There are, however, tradeoffs between variables (e.g., problem-handling and record accuracy; scalability and usability of service) when considere…

Service firm capabilities and performance: Contingent analysis of customer contact

2015

Abstract From the competence-based view, this study contributes to understanding how service firm capabilities affect firm performance. The study examines managerial capabilities, organizational capabilities, marketing capabilities, and service quality capabilities. This study investigates whether interaction between these capabilities and their contribution to firm performance differ depending on the service's customer-contact level. To do so, the study analyzes data from a sample of Spanish service firms. Results show that managerial and organizational capabilities strengthen service quality and marketing capabilities. In addition, service quality and marketing capabilities significantly …

Energetically costly precopulatory mate guarding in the amphipod Gammarus pulex: causes and consequences

2003

Precopulatory mate guarding (PCMG) is thought to have evolved as a male mating strategy in species in which female receptivity is limited to a short time. It is common among crustaceans, and energetic costs associated with PCMG are thought to promote size-assortative pairing in such species, although direct evidence is lacking. Using both field surveys and laboratory experiments, we assessed the energetic costs of PCMG in Gammarus pulex and investigated their possible causes. Energetic costs were measured as differences in lipid and glycogen reserves. In field-collected samples, size-corrected lipid and glycogen reserves of paired males were both significantly higher than those of unpaired …

Wingless ant males adjust mate-guarding behaviour to the competitive situation in the nest

2011

We investigated whether wingless sexuals of the ant Hypoponera opacior adjust mate-guarding behaviour to the level of competition in the nest. Males mate with young nestmate females shortly before these emerge from the cocoon. Aggressive interactions among adult males have never been observed, but males embrace and guard the cocoons of their mating partners for up to 2 days. In laboratory experiments, the duration of pupal guarding increased with the number of adult males in the nest, but decreased with an increasing number of mating partners per male. These findings demonstrate that males are aware of the competitive situation in the nest and adjust their mating behaviour in an adaptive ma…

A Conditional Value–at–Risk Model for Insurance Products with Guarantee

2009

We propose a model to select the optimal portfolio which underlies insurance policies with a guarantee. The objective function is defined in order to minimise the conditional value at-risk (CVaR) of the distribution of the losses with respect to a target return. We add operational and regulatory constraints to make the model as flexible as possible when used for real applications. We show that the integration of the asset and liability side yields superior performances with respect to naive fixed-mix portfolios and asset based strategies. We validate the model on out-of-sample scenarios and provide insights on policy design.

Quantity Estimation Based on Numerical Cues in the Mealworm Beetle (Tenebrio molitor)

2012

In this study, we used a biologically relevant experimental procedure to ask whether mealworm beetles (Tenebrio molitor) are spontaneously capable of assessing quantities based on numerical cues. Like other insect species, mealworm beetles adjust their reproductive behavior (i.e., investment in mate guarding) according to the perceived risk of sperm competition (i.e., probability that a female will mate with another male). To test whether males have the ability to estimate numerosity based on numerical cues, we staged matings between virgin females and virgin males in which we varied the number of rival males the experimental male had access to immediately preceding mating as a cue to sperm…

Guarino Guarini. La chiesa dei Padri Somaschi a Messina

2009

Microcredit, Regional Programs and Credit Guarantees in Italy

2019

This work proposes an analysis of microcredit initiatives analyzed at the territorial level. The differences are analyzed on the basis of distinctive features to identify different ways to develop microcredit in Italy. An empirical analysis is also carried out to verify the existence of a statistically significant correlation between the characteristics of entrepreneurial microcredit programs and their default risk. The presence of credit guarantee systems and the role of bank intermediaries as promoters significantly mitigate the risk of default on these initiatives. Regional microcredit programs do not show significant territorial differences in terms of credit guarantees.