Showing papers in "International Journal of Services Sciences in 2017"

Machine learning methods with feature selection approach to estimate software services development effort

Abstract: Estimate of the effort required for software services development has been a most important topic in the field of service in recent years. Exact estimate of effort is a key factor for project's successful management and control. Over and underestimation waste system resources endanger the position of the related company. The development effort estimation is done with the help of expert judgement, algorithmic and machine learning methods. Recently, several methods of machine learning have been used to estimation software services effort and look much better than the other two groups. This paper presents an experimental evaluation of the effectiveness of these methods with feature selection approach and done a thorough comparison of their accuracy. Evaluation and comparison have been made onto two famous datasets NASA and ISBSG and results are well demonstrated position of each one of these methods.

Opportunity cost estimation using temporal association rule mining

Abstract: Modern production planning and inventory control has been developed. However, efficient method for evaluating the lost sales in different time-periods has not been proposed. In this paper, a mathematical model to estimate the opportunity cost based on association rules is proposed considering cross-selling effect in various time-spans. A numerical example is used to explain the new approach. The results show that the proposed approach can gain a well insight into the cross-selling effect among items and is applicable for large sized transaction database.

Service-dominant logic and service logic - contradictory and/or complementary?

Abstract: In the contemporary marketing theoretical discussion there has been a widely established effort to revitalise the concept of service. In this endeavour, conceptual friction between two well-established marketing theoretical logics, namely service-dominant logic (S-D logic) and service logic has emerged. Although these perspectives have been widely debated, there have not been systematic efforts to analyse their conceptual differences. Analysing these differences will aid the further development toward more consistent marketing theory. Thus, this study identifies areas of contradiction and complementarity between S-D logic and service logic.

Mapping multiple stakeholder value in service innovation: an industrial case study

Abstract: The understanding of value is changing to include not only customers and shareholders but also the role of other stakeholder groups in creating value. This industrial case study presents an example of multiple stakeholder value consideration in service innovation. The paper employs a case study methodology, and the data was collected from workshops, interviews, and thematic discussions. The main result of this case study is a description of a service innovation process that considers stakeholders and multiple stakeholder value, and that offers new perspectives on strategies for managing stakeholder relationships. The findings of this study highlight the emergence of service innovation through a complex, multidimensional and networked value co-creation.

Service branding: do employees know what we stand for? The inside story

Abstract: Extreme competition is exerting unprecedented pressure on service organisations to create a unique and strong brand relationship with customers and employees alike. However, in the race for brand positioning with external customers many organisations tend to forget that their brand promise to the external customer is ultimately delivered by the employees. The paper explores the employee perception of internal branding in service organisations in India and tries to identify the gaps in internal branding practice. A single cross-sectional survey was administered to collect quantitative data from 162 employees across service organisations. This was supplemented by in-depth interviews with branding experts and practitioners. The study reveals that employees perceive a substantial gap in internal brand communication, internal brand awareness and internal branding efforts in organisations.

Identification of factors influencing the performance of government organisations and undertakings in India using analytic hierarchy process

Abstract: There are various factors that are responsible for influencing the performance of any government organisation. By employing a multiple-criteria decision-making model (MCDM), the study is an attempt to measure preference and thereby identify factors influencing the performance of government organisations and undertakings in India. Important factors that are likely to influence the performance of government organisations and undertakings, including those significant in the current scenario, have been considered. The data were collected from government organisations and undertakings representing different sectors to ensure that the selection of factors was unbiased and fairly accurate. A well-known method for prioritisation in case of MCDM known as analytic hierarchy process (AHP) has been employed. The average value obtained for every criterion was used to prepare the paired comparison matrix. Results have showed that e-governance practices and process standardisation exhibit greater influence on the performance of government organisations as compared to the other factors.

Proximity-based customer engagement in services and tourism destinations

Abstract: Customer engagement (CE) has recently become a popular perspective to study different relationships between customer and provider of products and of services. Though popular, CE studies have not taken into consideration location and proximity-based linkages between customers and providers. This study fills this gap combining CE discussions with proximity discussions using leisure centres and especially tourism as a case study example. According to results, in tourism destinations exist two kinds of customer engagement: place and proximity-based CE and 'typical' long-term CE with repeat customers. Place and proximity-based CE contains several levels: tourist is using her time in the same destination and tourist is consuming several times the same services in the destinations during her trip. That is, she is a repeat customer of certain services of destination during her trip - or even during her next trips to the destination. Basing on the noticed forms of repeat customers, this study provides three levels of customer engagement: macro, micro and hybrid-level CE. The outcomes show the possibilities to enlarge CE perspectives using leisure centre as an example towards the use web-based platforms, where the customer engagement is associated with the (virtual) proximity and system locked-in.