Technology change priorities influencing competition quality promotion: Case study of Iran Keaton Polyester Manufacturing Company

In the changing world with various customers’ demands the businesses tend to improve their advantages to beat their rivals by means of better quality, lower prices and so. For Iranian polyester market quality is of crucial importance and is achieved through changing and updating technologies. According to highly regarded model of CAPTECH, which is recommended by UNIDO, technology parameters are defined in each phase and not generally as a whole. In the end the biggest gaps are defined. The main goal is to prioritize the main parameters affecting Iranian polyester company's quality. In order to fulfill our goal, 20 high and medium managers were questioned for this paper. The questions were gathered according to UNIDO samples. After a qualitative and quantitative test we concluded that the biggest gap is for supply chain(56.91) and the lowest gap is for combination phase(43.97)

The role of experience on techno-entrepreneurs’ decision making biases

Entrepreneurs are the driving force behind the prospect and growth of the societies. Sound and wise decisions pave the way for them to carry out these highly important functions. Entrepreneurs are to discover and exploit opportunities. Therefore, they must gather sufficient and pertinent information. Entrepreneurs, like most human beings face complex and ambiguous decision-making situations, not to mention their lack of time and source to gather and process the data. Under these circumstances, entrepreneurs are prone making biases decisions. There are many reasons identified for this entrepreneurial decision making biases, such as the high cost of rational decision making, limitations in information processing, differences in their styles and procedures, or information overload, environmental complexity, environmental uncertainty. These biases are neither totally harmful nor completely useful and have to be seen as natural human characteristics. What makes entrepreneurial decision-making biases important is their effects on the decisions and thus the outcome of the enterprises. Entrepreneurial decision-making biases, deliberate or unintentional can seal the fate of the enterprises, therefore studying them meticulously is crucial. Literature has shown that experience could be an effective factor in decision-making biases. In this paper, we try to find out the impact of experience in Iranian high tech entrepreneurs’ major decision-making biases by a qualitative approach. Finally, it was concluded that experience is influential in shaping overconfidence bias

From Simple Requests to Complex Conversations: How User Goals Shape Interactions with Chatbots and Switching Intentions

Studies on complex chatbots (defined as chatbots that involve users in long interactions resulting in making users process many pieces of information and taking many actions) show inconsistencies in the relationship between the perceptions of the complexity of these systems and adoption-related constructs. This paper reports on an ongoing research study that proposes a shift to attend to user goal frameworks and goal magnitudes to study this relationship. In this study, we synthesize the concepts of goal systems theory and goal framing theory to systematically develop a scale for measuring goal magnitudes within different goal frameworks during interactions with chatbots. Subsequently, we develop and test a theoretical model that represents the influence of user goals on the intention to switch to human representatives

From Simple Requests to Complex Conversations: How User Goals Shape Interactions with Chatbots and Switching Intentions

Studies on complex chatbots (defined as chatbots that involve users in long interactions resulting in making users process many pieces of information and taking many actions) show inconsistencies in the relationship between the perceptions of the complexity of these systems and adoption-related constructs. This paper reports on an ongoing research study that proposes a shift to attend to user goal frameworks and goal magnitudes to study this relationship. In this study, we synthesize the concepts of goal systems theory and goal framing theory to systematically develop a scale for measuring goal magnitudes within different goal frameworks during interactions with chatbots. Subsequently, we develop and test a theoretical model that represents the influence of user goals on the intention to switch to human representatives

An Integrated FAHP-PROMETHEE Approach For Selecting The Best Flexible Manufacturing System

This paper proposes an integrated approach to the decision-making problem that combines the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and the Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE) with the purpose of Evaluation of Flexible Manufacturing Systems with a Group Decision Support System (GDSS). The FAHP is used to determine the weights for each criterion and PROMETHEE is applied to get the final ranking and GAIA plane is used to highlight the conflicts, the similarities and independences among the criteria and the DMs. Finally, a numerical example proposed in this paper determines the most appropriate FMS alternative

An Integrated FAHP-PROMETHEE Approach For Selecting The Best Flexible Manufacturing System

This paper proposes an integrated approach to the decision-making problem that combines the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and the Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE) with the purpose of Evaluation of Flexible Manufacturing Systems with a Group Decision Support System (GDSS). The FAHP is used to determine the weights for each criterion and PROMETHEE is applied to get the final ranking and GAIA plane is used to highlight the conflicts, the similarities and independences among the criteria and the DMs. Finally, a numerical example proposed in this paper determines the most appropriate FMS alternative

Effect of Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) on cell proliferation inhibition and apoptosis induction in lymphoblastic leukemia cell line

Introduction: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is one of the malignant proliferations of lymphoid cells in the early stages of differentiation and accounts for &frac34; of all cases of childhood leukemia. Available treatment cannot completely treat this disease. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is a polyphenolic compounds in the green tea that has demonstrated to have anticancer and antimitotic properties. The purpose of the present study was the evaluation of the effect of EGCG on the proliferation inhibition and apoptosis induction in a lymphoblastic leukemia cell line. Methods: Jurkat cell line was cultured in standard condition and in different concentrations of EGCG (0-100 micromolar) for 24, 48 and 72 hours. Cell viability was measured by MTS assay. Apoptosis induction was assessed by annexin V-FITC and flow cytometry analysis. Results: The MTS assay revealed that EGCG has decreased cell viability with a time and dose dependent manner. The level of cell apoptosis in all used concentrations of EGCG (50, 70 and 100 &mu;m) was higher than control group (71, 40 and 31 respectively vs. 8) and reached to significant level at 100 &mu;m concentration. Conclusion: The study indicated that EGCG is effective on proliferation inhibition and apoptotic induction in Jurkat lymphoblastic cell line. Therefore, the study of the mechanism of apoptosis induction could be a step of progress toward target therapy which might be considered in the future studies.</p

EFL Learners’ Perception of Task Experience Through Flow Outlook: Task Complexity and Modality in Focus

Regardless of the appreciation of language learners’ achievement in task-based language teaching, not much has been hinged upon learners’ perception and reception of various elements. This study examined task complexity and modality effects on Iranian EFL learners’ comprehension of task difficulty, competencies, and difficulty-skill balance as well as the learners’ task experience. The Flow Outlook features were also applied to investigate how difficulty-skill balance anticipated flow experience. Via a repeated-measures design, and with a focus on task complexity (simple vs. complex) and task modality (written vs. spoken), 49 EFL learners carried out four argumentative tasks (two simple written and spoken vs. two complex written and spoken tasks); then, they ticked the flow questionnaire to gauge their perception of task difficulty, competence, and task experience. Repeated-measures MANOVA revealed although task complexity influenced task difficulty and difficulty-skill balance significantly, the skill was not affected significantly; task modality influenced task difficulty and skill significantly while difficulty-skill balance received no significant effect. The follow-up post hoc test indicated that complexity and modality significantly influenced flow, attention, and control, but not interest. Linear regression revealed difficulty-skill balance was a predictor for learners’ flow experience for both writing tasks and simple speaking task but not for complex speaking tasks. Pedagogically, the findings of this research may have some implications for English language teachers, learners, and materials developers

Effects of competitive advantage on companies superiority in the global market

Strategy is an organization's action plan to achieve the mission. Each strategy provides an opportunity for operations managers to achieve Competitive Advantage (CA). CA implies the creation of a system that has a unique advantage over competitors. Improving researches, economic prosperity and quality of products can be considered as CA abilities through each company. CA is used for acquiring superior position in the world from different angles of science, economics and technologies. Generally, CA considered as strategic management or paradigm management. Hence, the performances of organizations or manufactures are pertained to the relevant theories from CA that is crucial points to compete and take advantage from the new technology. Since competitiveness is accounted as a fundamental role in industrial activities for achieving goals. Moreover, successfully growing a business is often dependent upon a strong competitive edge. The aim of this study is to collect information from the literature to seek the best strategy as CA for reducing cost, differentiating company and increasing efficiency