In the majority of studies on market orientation it is claimed that compelling evidence exists that market orientation has a positive effect on firm performance. It is important to investigate the mediating effect of market orientation on firm performance. Drawing on the dynamic capabilities perspective, in this paper, the view is taken that market orientation is a rare, valuable, and inimitable firm resource; and furthermore is a set of dynamic capabilities. In light of conceptual and empirical advancement, a research model about the impact of market orientation and dynamic capabilities on firm performance is proposed and delineated. With the conceptual model that is developed, the author shows how market orientation can be transformed into dynamic capabilities and it is argued that the competitive value of market orientation is positively mediated by dynamic capabilities. Finally, some research hypotheses for future research are discussed.

Background. The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors associated with receiving peritoneal dialysis (PD) in patients with incident end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in a hospital in Southern Taiwan. Methods. The study included all consecutive patients with incident ESRD who participated in a multidisciplinary predialysis education (MPE) program and started their first dialysis therapy between January 1, 2008, and June 30, 2013, in the study hospital. We provided small group teaching sessions to advanced CKD patients and their family to enhance understanding of various dialysis modalities. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to analyze the association of patient characteristics with the chosen dialysis modality. Results. Of the 656 patients, 524 (80%) chose hemodialysis and 132 chose PD. Our data showed that young age, high education level, and high scores of activities of daily living (ADLs) were positively associated with PD treatment. Patients who received small group teaching sessions had higher percentages of PD treatment (30.5% versus 19.5%; P = 0.108) and preparedness for dialysis (61.1% versus 46.6%; P = 0.090). Conclusion. Young age, high education level, and high ADL score were positively associated with choosing PD. Early creation of vascular access may be a barrier for PD.

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Personality traits and leisure satisfaction have been the subjects of a large amount of empirical research, but there is still little agreement concerning the nature of the relationship between agreeableness and leisure satisfaction. Regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between agreeableness and leisure satisfaction in the context of online games. Results reveal that agreeableness has a significant effect on leisure satisfaction. Finally, conclusions and further research are discussed.

A review of studies on marketing strategies during the past thirty years has indicated a lack of consistent evaluation of corporate marketing strategies due to the unavailability of a standard multiple attribute decision making (MADM) model of marketing strategy. Drawing on the SIVA marketing mix and Maslow's hierarchy of needs, this study first generated latent attributes classification references through conceptualization, and established a validated classification matrix based on the data obtained through nominal group techniques (NGT) with 7 experts. With a reliability of 0.95, the resulting classification matrix contained 4 dimensions and 20 attributes, which were then used to develop an MADM model of marketing strategy-"SIVA-Need"which seeks to probe deeply into customers' thinking. Based on the SIVA-Need model, this study designed a questionnaire, which was administered to heavy users of Apple products. A total number of 326 valid questionnaires were collected. Analyses of weights obtained through Consistent Fuzzy Linguistic Preferences Relations (CFLPR) suggested that "brand community value" was the crucial attribute, as it ranked highest (0.0631) among the 20 attributes. However, "brand community value" was found to have the biggest performance gap (1.50) while "product benefit" had the best performance (0.235). The 4 dimensions and 20 attributes of SIVA-Need model may provide more valuable information for future studies and a consistent evaluation model for companies to conduct extensive marketing strategy selection. The results of this study suggested that Apple should invest more resources in the improvement of "brand community value" to create more satisfied and repeat-purchase customers.