Structural Equation Modeling is a statistical method increasingly used in scientific studies in the fields of Social Sciences. It is currently a preferred analysis method, especially in doctoral dissertations and academic researches. However, since many universities do not include this method in the curriculum of undergraduate and graduate courses, students and scholars try to solve the problems they encounter by using various books and internet resources. This book aims to guide the researcher who wants to use this method in a way that is free from math expressions. It teaches the steps of a research program using structured equality modeling practically. For students writing theses and scholars preparing academic articles, this book aims to analyze systematically the methodology of scientific studies conducted using structural equation modeling methods in the social sciences. This book is prepared in as simple language as possible so as to convey basic information. It consists of two parts: the first gives basic concepts of structural equation modeling, and the second gives examples of applications.

The most important assessment tool that demonstrated the comparative situation of countries is Logistics Performance Index (LPI) created by World Bank. This index which has been prepared as a questionnaire consists of six dimensions. These dimensions are Customs: The efficiency of clearance process, Infrastructure: Quality of trade and transport related infrastructure, International Transportation: Capability of arranging competitively priced shipments, Logistics Competence: Competence and quality of Logistics Services, Tracking and Tracing: ability to track and trace your consignments, Timeliness: Carrying out the transports at scheduled time. In this research, moderating effect of Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) on each dimensions of LPI was measured. The moderating effect was measured by means of hierarchical regression method. As a result of the analysis, the moderating effects on three of the six dimensions have been found as statistically significant. These dimensions are International Transportation: Capability of arranging competitively priced shipments, Tracking and Tracing: ability to track and trace your consignments and Timeliness: Carrying out the transports at scheduled time. Due to not being any research based on the dimensions of two indexes (LPI and GCI) before, this research can be considered as a breakthrough in literature. The most important contribution of this research is that it allows evaluating logistics performance over the top as to increase the size of a country's global competitiveness index. In other words, according to the result of this research, if a country targets to the top level in GCI index, it needs to make important improvements in the following dimensions of logistics services: International Transportation, Tracking and Tracing and Timeliness

Purpose: The Internet revolution has radically changed the means of conducting business all over the world in the past few decades. The digital medium enables consumers worldwide to shop online through B2C e-commerce websites in a convenient manner. Online websites compete to provide a compelling and seamless brand experience to retain their customers. In order to achieve this, fostering a state of flow may help the brands increase customer experience, customer satisfaction and loyalty. In this study, the aforementioned phenomenon is tested against Turkish university students. Methodology: The study was conducted against 538 valid respondents. The results of the survey were interpreted with the structural equation modeling method. Quantitative data were obtained using a five-point Likert scale. Initially, confirmatory factor analyses and reliability analysis were performed, respectively in order to determine the validity and reliability of the scale. Findings: As a result of the analyses, it has been empirically proven that an online flow state, which is a momentary phenomenon, helps online e-commerce websites build customer satisfaction and customer loyalty indirectly through customer experience. These results are partly parallel with those in the extant literature. Originality: This study is significant in the literature in that, as opposed to the extant literature, online flow state is found to influence customer satisfaction and customer loyalty rather indirectly via moderating effect of customer experience. Additionally, it is the first to incorporate customer satisfaction along with customer loyalty as a new construct affected by online flow state and customer experience. The results also have important managerial implications.

Social media and social media tools have improved rapidly and started to influence society especially in recent years. This influence has forced businesses to revolutionize their communication with the external environment. The fact that Web 2.0 has an influence on consumer behavior, and that it makes the consumers stronger; requires faster, more flexible and more sensitive communication processes in businesses. Especially during a time of crisis, a business’ communication with the external environment is quite critical. For this reason, the way how the crisis communication is managed through social media is vital for businesses. In this article, the perceptions of how to manage businesses during a time of crisis so that they make minimum loss, is shared.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about serious consequences in business world practices. Among these, flexible working policies have increased to a great extent. This has resulted in serious problems in the work-life balance. In this context, conditions such as having children and marital status have been important factors that can affect work engagement among flexible workers in the post pandemic era. Therefore, this study investigates the relationship of marital status, job experience and having children with work engagement among white-collar workers who work in flexible hours. Data is collected through surveys from 199 flexible working employees. ANOVA and T-tests were employed to analyze the data. The results indicate that only one of the sub-dimensions of work engagement–namely absorption- changes according to their marital status, and yet, the work engagement is not related to having children. In addition, it is seen that there is a significant relationship between job experience and work engagement.