Showing papers on "Quality (business) published in 1981"

Marketing Intangible Products and Product Intangibles

Abstract: When you ask prospective customers to buy promises —as all service-oriented firms do - you must provide metaphorical reassurances of quality and "industrialize" theservice-delivery process

Problems in application software maintenance

Abstract: The problems of application software maintenance in 487 data processing organizations were surveyed. Factor analysis resulted in the identification of six problem factors: user knowledge, programmer effectiveness, product quality, programmer time availability, machine requirements, and system reliability. User knowledge accounted for about 60 percent of the common problem variance, providing new evidence of the importance of the user relationship for system success or failure. Problems of programmer effectiveness and product quality were greater for older and larger systems and where more effort was spent in corrective maintenance. Larger scale data processing environments were significantly associated with greater problems or programmer effectiveness, but with no other problem factor. Product quality was seen as a lesser problem when certain productivity techniques were used in development.

Quality Assurance of Chemical Measurements

Abstract: This definitive new book should appeal to everyone who produces, uses, or evaluates scientific data. Ensures accuracy and reliability. Dr. Taylor's book provides guidance for the development and implementation of a credible quality assurance program, plus it also provides chemists and clinical chemists, medical and chemical researchers, and all scientists and managers the ideal means to ensure accurate and reliable work. Chapters are presented in a logical progression, starting with the concept of quality assurance, principles of good measurement, principles of quality assurance, and evaluation of measurement quality. Each chapter has a degree of independence so that it may be consulted separately from the others.

The Self-Regulating Profession

Abstract: Slayton and Treblicock (1978)), the formal analysis of the economics of the self-regulating profession has received little attention from theorists. If a profession is "self-regulating", in the sense that its current members, being the sole suppliers of a certain type of service, are free to determine, in one way or another, whether or not to admit a potential recruit, then it might seem prima facie that such a profession could simply be regarded as a monopolistic seller of the service in question, so that the effects of self-regulation would appear to involve an unambiguous welfare loss. The whole rationale for self-regulation, however, rests on the notion that it provides a vehicle through which the quality of the service may be maintained in markets where the consumer cannot readily measure this quality himself. It is the analysis of the interplay of these two elements, the enhanced price of such services associated with the monopolistic power of the profession, and the improved quality of the service which may accompany a reduction in supply, which forms the focus of the present paper. It is tempting to begin the analysis of such a profession by first positing some particular

Indexing Consistency, Quality and Efficiency.

Abstract: Indexing quality determines whether the information content of an indexed document is accurately represented. Indexing effectiveness measures whether an indexed document is correctly retrieved every time it is relevant to a query. Measurement of these criteria is cumbersome and costly; data base producers therefore prefer inter-indexer consistency as a measure of indexing quality or effectiveness. The present article assesses the validity of this substitution in various environments.

Determinants of Price Dependency: Personal and Perceptual Factors

Abstract: Using a conjoint measurement approach to elicit part-worths of five different quality cues (including price), this study shows that reliance on price for product/brand quality varies across subgroups. It was found that extent of cue utilization depends on an individual's perception of the product quality concept. Price was used primarily to assist in predicting the economic performance of a product/brand.

Consumer Information and Advertising

Abstract: Economists have long believed that product differentiation is an important determinant of market behavior (eg, Chamberlin, 1950; Bain, 1956), but economists have not been very successful in giving this concept operational meaning1 One reason for this lack of success is that economists have not focused on one of the key elements of product differentiation: the consumer’s acquisition of information about product quality I show in this paper that product differentiation will have quite different consequences on market behavior given different ways in which consumers obtain their information These theoretical results are then supported by substantial empirical evidence

Consumer Search with Uncertain Product Quality

Abstract: This paper presents a unified model of consumer search when both prices and qualities are uncertain. It is assumed that price can be observed prior to purchase but that quality can be observed only after purchase and experience. This two-stage decision problem is of particular interest since, in practice, there is usually some connection between quality and price. Of the many interesting implications of this dependence explored in this paper is the result that the usual "reservation-price rule" may no longer be optimal; indeed, the optimal stopping set may take one of several alternative (and more realistic) forms.

Quality of Life: Some Theoretical Issues

Abstract: The concept “quality of life” is becoming increasingly popular in both the medical and general press. However, from a literature survey of approximately 100 scientific publications in which this concept was used, it appeared that rarely is a definition of this term given. Therefore, it seems useful to formulate several guiding principles: (1) “Quality of life” apparently is too vague a concept. It seems more sensible to isolate a number of relevant factors and to choose the best operational definition possible. The following factors may be considered: daily activity, pattern of complaints, subjective feeling of well-being, and sexual behavior. Based upon these factors one composite score of psychological and social consequences should be developed, analogous to an IQ test. (2) The patient is the sole authority concerning questions on “quality of life.” (3) The concept “quality of life” should indicate more than a person's momentary well being, since this is dependent on mood, physiologic state, accidental events, etc. It is not the situation at one specific point which should be considered but the situation over a certain period. (4) Questions concerning “quality of life” should be put relatively. For example, does a person have more or less complaints during one period as compared to another? A second possibility is to compare a person's answers to those of a carefully chosen control group. It is essential to keep in mind that these psychologic measures are descriptive; they indicate how patients feel during a certain period concerning the above-mentioned areas and are definitely nor normative in the sense of stating what is or is not desirable.

Quality in Stored and Processed Vegetables and Fruit

Abstract: The first chapter explains clearly the concept of biological efficiency in agriculture and the theoretical framework for its assessment and interpretation. The principles set out here are expanded and put to practical application in the ensuing chapters where examples of crop and animal production are critically examined. Data on agricultural systems world-wide, culled from a wide scattering of individual sources, are used as the basis for many new calculations.

Maintainability and Maintenance Management

Abstract: This book, winner of three awards, gives a good overview of quality control in industry for both business and technical personnel. The author emphasizes the need to integrate maintainability into product design, planning, and production. The book introduces the concepts of reliability and availability. It stresses the need to adopt the customerAs viewpoint and incorporate human considerations into product planning and system engineering. Product testing, statistical analysis, and troubleshooting techniques are presented that help the maintenance worker perform more effectively. The book can be used for reference, selfstudy, or as a classroom text. Each chapter contains review questions with answers given in the back. Contents: Product Planning Reliability and Availability Configuration Management Maintainability Process Data Gathering and Statistical Analysis Allocation and Prediction (Time-Based and Money-Based) Design and Production Anatomy of a Service Call Reliability Based Maintenance Life-Cycle Costs and Profits Capabilities of Operators and Maintenance Personnel Personnel, Organizations, and Training Production Approach to Service Testing Field Verification Productivity Repair, Rejuvenation, and Disposal Contracts, Warranties, and Liabilities Computerized Maintenance Management Service Quality.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Methods of Assessing Quality

Abstract: (1981). Advantages and Disadvantages of Methods of Assessing Quality. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning: Vol. 13, No. 7, pp. 20-24.

Information Costs, Duration of Search, and Turnover: Theory and Applications

Abstract: This paper uses a formal model of search over multiattribute alternatives, analyzed in a product market setting, to investigate the theoretical foundations of the empirical literature on duration of search and turnover in product markets, labor markets, and marriage markets. A number of specific empirical predictions are also derived. In particular, whether "quality" is a "search" attribute or an "experience" attribute is related to the cost of search, the cost of inspection, the price of the good, and certain properties of the market distribution of price and quality.

Effects of brand labeling on ratings of product quality

Abstract: The product quality of two status-oriented brands of carbonated bottled water and of one low-status popularly-priced brand was rated by 24 college students each in brand labeled and unlabeled conditions. The results supported the influence of product image on consumers' judgments of product quality, but it was suggested that the salience of such extrinsic cues might depend on the breadth of the consumers' evaluative frame of reference for judging particular classes of products.

Imperfect information, costly litigation and product quality

Abstract: This article examines the effect of costly litigation and imperfect information on the quality of output. An equilibrium is described in which consumers are uncertain about the result of a lawsuit. The findings show that for a wide range of due care standards there will be both negligent and nonnegligent firms in the market. Furthermore, as the population becomes more risk averse the proportion of output produced by negligent firms increases. If absolute risk aversion decreases as income increases, and there is market segmentation, reliance on litigation to control product quality will have undesirable distributional effects.