INTRODUCTION Interstate natural gas pipelines are operated using sophisticated supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems. These systems are used to monitor, control and analyze operations. Software which runs in conjunction with the basic SCADA system expands the usefulness of SCADA data to enhance reliability and efficiency of operations, improve customer service, and minimize u...

The ability to retain and lock-in customers in the face of competition is a major concern for e-commerce businesses, especially those that invest heavily in advertising and customer acquisition. In this paper, we propose a method for measuring the magnitude of switching costs and brand loyalty for on-line service providers based on the random utility modeling framework. Applying this approach t...

In presenting this dissertation as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree from Georgia State University, I agree that the Library of the University shall make it available for inspection and circulation in accordance with its regulations governing materials of this type. I agree that permission to quote from, to copy from, or publish this dissertation may be granted by...

Our main objective in this paper is to measure the value of customers acquired from Google search advertising accounting for two factors that have been overlooked in the conventional method widely adopted in the industry: the spillover effect of search advertising on customer acquisition and sales in offline channels and the lifetime value of acquired customers. By merging web traffic and sales...

The management of one-to-one business interaction is challenged by the latency in the acquisition of information about the individual customer’s preferences. Although sharing this type of information would empower service providers to personalize the interaction with new customers since the first connection, this idea can be hardly applied in real cases if the service provider cannot protect th...

Given the crucial role of suppliers in collaborative supply chains, it is surprising that little attention has been paid to the nature and management of supplier relationships in the implementation of a retailer’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategy. To address this gap in the extant literature, the theory of organizational justice is used to explore the extent to which perceived fa...

In recent years, marine cultural tourism, an emerging tourism mode, has become more and more popular among tourists, and demonstrates broad market prospects. However, Chinese marine cultural tourism is still in the development and growth stage, and the level of customer satisfaction is uneven. The improvement of the customer satisfaction level is conducive to meeting customers’ demands in marin...

Customer integration has many recognised advantages, but also entails negative side effects that may impair the success of innovative activities. These negative side effects have not yet been sufficiently investigated. Whereas some may occur within the entire early innovation phase, others are likely to affect only few sub-phases. Each sub-phase, defined in a slightly new way as compared with e...

We observed a new approach being adopted in the software industry that combines a business model with strong technical support. This Product Flow Model combines aspects of the Product Line model with workflow concepts for virtual enterprises. The Product Flow Model (PFM) addresses the costly ongoing maintenance of major products being delivered to customers. When such maintenance is provided by...