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Purpose – There are contradicted perspectives on relationship between geographic cluster and competitive advantage of firms in previous research. Extant research has paid extremely attention to the effect of both geographic cluster and industrial network on firms’ performance; however, little studies have delineated the relationship between geographic cluster, industrial network, and competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that firms within the same cluster that have established idiosyncratic network resources have stronger competitive advantages than firms that have not. Design/methodology/approach – An empirical study of two prominent geographic clusters from Taiwan is analyzed by structural equation modeling. Findings – The results indicate that the degree of networking does play a mediating role between geographic cluster and competitive advantage, which may help resolve the conflicting results obtained by researchers on the influence of clusters on competitive advantage. The results also find that both degree of networking and betweenness position are conducive to the pursuit of competitive advantage. Practical implications – The research shows that firms merely locate themselves in the right cluster does not guarantee they can outperform their rivals. Rather, developing of network relationship with other firms proximate to the same cluster will strengthen a firm's competitive advantages. Originality/value – In the theoretical perspective, this paper attempts to fill the gap in the links between clusters, networks, and competitive advantage by providing that the networking as a mechanism for firms in a cluster to improve their competitive advantage.

Investigation of customer participation in new product development (NPD) performance has yielded conflicting results. This study explores the idea that intensive customer participation is not always better. Instead, the usefulness of customer participation in NPD is determined by the fit between product innovativeness and customer participation as information providers and as co-developers. An empirical study of 196 NPD projects of Taiwanese high-tech firms is analyzed by structural equation modeling. The findings show that product innovativeness negatively moderates the impact of customer participation as information providers on NPD outcome. Thus, the greater the involvement of customer participation as information providers in radical innovation projects, the lower the NPD outcome. Moreover, our results also indicate that product innovativeness positively affects the relationship between customer participation as a co-developer and NPD outcome, which suggest that the more customer participation as a co-developer in a radical innovation project, the better the NPD outcome.

PurposeCustomer participation has been recognised as a critical factor in successful new product development (NPD). However, there is scant empirical evidence on how customer participation affects NPD performance. This research attempts to provide a framework to interpret how inter‐organisational relationships mediate the impact of customer participation on NPD performance based on marketing, innovation management and social networks literature.Design/methodology/approachAn empirical study of 179 high‐tech firms in Taiwan is analysed by structural equation modelling.FindingsThe results indicate that the impacts of customer participation as an information resource and customer participation as a co‐developer on NPD performance are mediated by inter‐organisational relationships.Practical implicationsThe results offer a guideline for high‐tech firms that decide to involve customers in NPD activities. In order to improve efficiency and effectiveness, this research suggests that firms build inter‐organisational relationships with customers to foster knowledge sharing, cooperation, and problem solving. However, firms should be aware that product innovativeness may be hindered by such close collaborative relationships.Originality/valueThe research demonstrates that the contributions of customer participation may not be regarded as inevitable. The authors confirm that research for investigating the linkage between customer participation and NPD performance should consider the mediating roles of inter‐organisational relationships, which may help resolve the conflicting results obtained by researchers on the contributions of customer participation. In addition, the results show that the establishment of close customer‐supplier relationships during NPD cooperation is a key success factor for both efficiency and effectiveness, but has the opposite effect on product innovativeness.

The new product development literature offers divergent views of the relationship between innovation speed and project success. Innovation speed, defined as the period of time in which an idea moves from conception to introduction into the marketplace, has an ambiguous relationship with development cost and product quality. While several studies argue for the trade-offs between innovation speed, development cost, and product quality in which accelerating innovation speed may result in inflating costs and sacrificing quality, some research identifies a synergy under which rapid innovation speed may lead to decreasing costs and improving quality. This study provides a framework for addressing these conflicting results. An empirical study of 168 projects of high-tech manufacturers in Taiwan is analysed by structural equation modelling. Our findings show that the impact of innovation speed on project success is mediated by development cost and product quality. In addition, product innovativeness is found to m...

The rainfall intensity of annual typhoon is high in Taiwan. It often result in the downstream flooding and losses of economics. Thus, simulation model of rainfall-runoff is an very important subject . In past research, time series model often forecast water level . But time series often have an influence on one time lag for forecasting of data.When reach to peak water level ,the error occurs in the model simulation. So this research combines with Adaptive-Network Based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) to revise time series model. In ANFIS, it will utilize rainfall and water level to set up the model. Estimated the water level trends by the rainfall. To revise one time lag of time series . Expect to improve the error of time series with this method. In addition set up one group ANFIS model. The model utilizes rainfall to estimate water level . According to the result, it is not well that ANFIS simulate water level with rainfall but it can obtain water level trends with rainfall trends . To revise the error of time series about reach to peak water level and it can obtain accurate and steady result.

A turbulent energy model is developed to simulate the response of a neutrally stratified atmospheric boundary layer to sudden changes in surface roughness. A mechanism of turbulent energy transfer is proposed, based upon the results of numerical experiments, that explains the distribution of shear stress and hence the distribution of velocity profiles in the atmospheric surface layer. Two length scales associated with the turbulent energy equation are obtained from experimental data and the law of the wall. Turbulent energy is also predicted.

The turbulent energy model has been developed and extended to study the thermally stratified flow by introducing the Monin-Obukhov length. The turbulent energy is predicted by the model. A zone of minimum turbulent energy, where the mixing processes are less effective, has been predicted as the air flows over the temperature discontinuity. Although the dissipation of turbulent energy exceeds the production, the buoyancy term which is a driving force contributes significantly to the change of turbulent energy. The nondimensional wind shear and nondimensional temperature gradient which may not linearly depend on the Monin-Obukhov stability parameter near the zone of minimum turbulent energy are greater than 1 and 0.74, respectively, for various downstream locations.

The response of a neutrally stratified atmospheric surface layer to sudden changes in surface roughness and temperature is investigated by solving the steady-state boundary-layer equations. Near the discontinuities, the distributions of velocity and shear stress are found to be critically dependent upon whether or not the pressure and buoyancy terms are retained in the governing equations. Computed distributions of velocity and shear stress are found to be in good agreement with windtunnel and field data. The growth of the internal boundary layer under neutral conditions for smooth to rough transitions follows the 0.8 power law; however, rough to smooth transitions are associated with a 0.7 power law.

Various synoptic variables are related to satellite radiation data. It is shown that: (1) Vertical motion is related jointly to window radiation and water vapor radiation. (2) Surface relative humidity can be estimated from window radiation and cloud brightness. (3) Ceilings can be estimated from window radiation and cloud brightness.

One of the most challenging tasks faced by educators utilizing web technology today is improving the level of student satisfaction with the curriculum and learning environment. Therefore surveying adult learners' learning preferences linked to learning environments is very essential. This study explores the role of internet self- efficacy and attitudes toward online learning in adult learners' preferences toward online learning environments. The sample included 178 public employees enrolled in in-service master program at the Department of Public Policy and Management of a university in northern Taiwan. The three instruments employed to assess l earners' Internet self-efficacy (ISS), attitudes toward online learning (AOL), and preferences toward online learning environments (POL) all revealed high reliability. The results indicated that pu blic employees' inter net self- efficacy and attitudes toward online learning were important predictors of their preferences toward online learning environments. Further researches into learners' preferences for online courses designed for in-servi ce professional development, and suggestions about the format and content of online courses are strongly recommended.