Showing papers on "Quality (business) published in 2005"

E-S-QUAL: A Multiple-Item Scale for Assessing Electronic Service Quality

Abstract: Using the means-end framework as a theoretical foundation, this article conceptualizes, constructs, refines, and tests a multiple-item scale (E-S-QUAL) for measuring the service quality delivered b...

Food quality and safety: consumer perception and demand

Abstract: Research on consumer quality perception is reviewed using the Total Food Quality Model as a structuring device. The relationship between food safety and quality is addressed, and is discussed in the context of research on consumer risk perception. Quality and safety perception is linked to food choice and consumer demand, addressing questions of price perception and the validity of willingness-to-pay measurements. It is concluded that food quality and safety are central issues in today’s food economics, though many research questions remain to be addressed.

Customer perceptions of e-service quality in online shopping

Abstract: – This paper develops a research model to examine the relationship among e‐service quality dimensions and overall service quality, customer satisfaction and purchase intentions., – Data from a survey of 297 online consumers were used to test the research model. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to examine the reliability and validity of the measurement model, and the structural equation modelling technique was used to test the research model., – The analytical results showed that the dimensions of web site design, reliability, responsiveness, and trust affect overall service quality and customer satisfaction. Moreover, the latter in turn are significantly related to customer purchase intentions. However, the personalization dimension is not significantly related to overall service quality and customer satisfaction., – Future research can use different methodologies, such as longitudinal studies, focus groups and interviews, to examine the relationship between service quality and customer purchase behaviour in online shopping contexts., – This study suggests that to enhance customer purchase intentions, online stores should develop marketing strategies to better address the trustworthiness, reliability, and responsiveness of web‐based services. Online stores can devote valuable corporate resources to the important e‐service quality attributes identified by this study., – This study developed the instrument dimensions of e‐service quality by modifying the SERVQUAL model to consider online shopping context. Moreover, the results of this study provide a valuable reference for managers of online stores, as well as for researchers interested in internet marketing.

Types of Information Technology Capabilities and Their Role in Competitive Advantage: An Empirical Study

Abstract: During the past two decades, both business managers and academic researchers have shown considerable interest in understanding how information technologies (IT) help to create competitive advantage for a firm. While recently the idea of competitive differentiation through IT has been challenged, this study contrasts the traditional thinking about competitive advantage with the resource-based view. Specifically, it is argued that by demarcating specific types of capabilities, we can contribute to better understanding of the sources of IT-based competitive advantage. Conceptually, we distinguish here between value, competitive, and dynamic capabilities as three distinct types of capabilities. Within each type, we identify specific capabilities, such as quality of the IT infrastructure, IT business experience, relationship infrastructure, and intensity of organizational learning, and present a model that describes relationships between these capabilities and competitive advantage. We then empirically test the model using data collected via a national mail survey from chief IT executives from 202 manufacturing firms. While the quality of the IT infrastructure is hypothesized as a value capability and expectedly did not have any significant effect on competitive advantage, the quality of IT business expertise and the relationship infrastructure (competitive capabilities) did. The results of the study also indicate that the intensity of organizational learning (dynamic capability) was significantly related to all of the capabilities. These results point to the importance of delineating capabilities such as relationship infrastructure that can facilitate differentiation in the marketplace, and dynamic capabilities such as organizational learning as an important antecedent to IT capability building.

Quality standards, conventions and the governance of global value chains

Abstract: Convention theory helps refine our understanding of the governance of global value chains through its analysis of ‘quality’. In this article, it is argued that global value chains are becoming increasingly ‘buyer-driven’, even though they are characterized by ‘hands-off’ forms of co-ordination between ‘lead firms’ and their immediate suppliers. This is because lead firms have been able to embed complex quality information into widely accepted standards and codification and certification procedures. As suggested by convention theory, their success in doing so has depended on defining and managing value chain-specific quality attributes that are attuned to broader narratives about quality that circulate within society more generally.

Just in Time, Total Quality Management, and Supply Chain Management: Understanding Their Linkages and Impact on Business Performance

Abstract: In recent years, numerous approaches have been proposed to improve operations performance. Three in particular, just in time, supply chain management, and quality management, have received considerable attention. While the three are sometimes viewed and implemented as if they were independent and distinct, they can also be used as three prongs of an integrated operations strategy. This study empirically examines the extent to which just in time, supply chain management, and quality management are correlated, and how they impact business performance. Results demonstrate that at both strategic and operational levels, linkages exist between how just in time, total quality management, and supply chain management are viewed by organizations as part of their operations strategy. Results also indicate that a commitment to quality and an understanding of supply chain dynamics have the greatest effect on performance.

The unintended consequences of publicly reporting quality information.

Abstract: Health care report cards publicly report information about physician, hospital, and health plan quality in an attempt to improve that quality. Reporting quality information publicly is presumed to motivate quality improvement through 2 main mechanisms. First, public quality information allows patients, referring physicians, and health care purchasers to preferentially select high-quality physicians. Second, public report cards may motivate physicians to compete on quality and, by providing feedback and by identifying areas for quality improvement initiatives, help physicians to do so. Despite these plausible mechanisms of quality improvement, the value of publicly reporting quality information is largely undemonstrated and public reporting may have unintended and negative consequences on health care. These unintended consequences include causing physicians to avoid sick patients in an attempt to improve their quality ranking, encouraging physicians to achieve “target rates” for health care interventions even when it may be inappropriate among some patients, and discounting patient preferences and clinical judgment. Public reporting of quality information promotes a spirit of openness that may be valuable for enhancing trust of the health professions, but its ability to improve health remains undemonstrated, and public reporting may inadvertently reduce, rather than improve, quality. Given these limitations, it may be necessary to reassess the role of public quality reporting in quality improvement.

The value of student engagement for higher education quality assurance

Abstract: As the principles and practices of quality assurance are further implanted in higher education, methodological questions about how to understand and manage quality become increasingly important. This paper argues that quality assurance determinations need to take account of how and to what extent students engage with activities that are likely to lead to productive learning. The idea of student engagement is introduced. A critical review of current possibilities for determining the quality of university education in Australia exposes limitations of quality assurance systems that fail to take account of student engagement. The review provides a basis for suggesting the broad relevance of student engagement to quality assurance. A sketch is provided of an approach for factoring student engagement data into quality assurance determinations.

Talentship, talent segmentation, and sustainability: A new HR decision science paradigm for a new strategy definition

Abstract: Two paradigm shifts are discussed here: talentship and sustainability. First, the traditional service-oriented HR focus must be extended to a “decision science” that enhances decisions about human capital. We call this decision science talentship. It includes talent segmentation, or identifying pivotal talent pools where the quality and/or availability of human capital makes the biggest difference to strategic success. Second, HR and business leaders increasingly define organizational effectiveness beyond traditional financial outcomes to encompass sustainability—achieving success today without compromising the needs of the future. A common strategic human capital decision science can reveal pivotal talent under both traditional and sustainability-based definitions, and thus uncover important insights about the talent implications of the shifting definition of strategic success. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Theoretical and practical issues in evaluating the quality of conceptual models: current state and future directions

Abstract: An international standard has now been established for evaluating the quality of software products. However there is no equivalent standard for evaluating the quality of conceptual models. While a range of quality frameworks have been proposed in the literature, none of these have been widely accepted in practice and none has emerged as a potential standard. As a result, conceptual models continue to be evaluated in practice in an ad hoc way, based on common sense, subjective opinions and experience. For conceptual modelling to progress from an "art" to an engineering discipline, quality standards need to be defined, agreed and applied in practice. This paper conducts a review of research in conceptual model quality and identifies the major theoretical and practical issues which need to be addressed. We consider how conceptual model quality frameworks can be structured, how they can be developed, how they can be empirically validated and how to achieve acceptance in practice. We argue that the current proliferation of quality frameworks is counterproductive to the progress of the field, and that researchers and practitioners should work together to establish a common standard (or standards) for conceptual model quality. Finally, we describe some initial efforts towards developing a common standard for data model quality, which may provide a model for future standardisation efforts.

Demanding Work: The Paradox of Job Quality in the Affluent Economy

Abstract: Since the early 1980s, a vast number of jobs have been created in the affluent economies of the industrialized world. Many workers are doing more skilled and fulfilling jobs, and getting paid more for their trouble. Yet it is often alleged that the quality of work life has deteriorated, with a substantial and rising proportion of jobs providing low wages and little security, or requiring unusually hard and stressful effort. In this unique and authoritative formal account of changing job quality, economist Francis Green highlights contrasting trends, using quantitative indicators drawn from public opinion surveys and administrative data. In most affluent countries average pay levels have risen along with economic growth, a major exception being the United States. Skill requirements have increased, potentially meaning a more fulfilling time at work. Set against these beneficial trends, however, are increases in inequality, a strong intensification of work effort, diminished job satisfaction, and less employee influence over daily work tasks. Using an interdisciplinary approach, Demanding Work shows how aspects of job quality are related, and how changes in the quality of work life stem from technological change and transformations in the politico-economic environment. The book concludes by discussing what individuals, firms, unions, and governments can do to counter declining job quality.

System and method for location based social networking

Abstract: Systems and methods for social networking. Location-related data (602) and other behavioral and exogenously generated characteristics (404-414, 504-514) are used to replace or supplement self-generated profiles in order to enhance the quality and trustworthiness of the matches (612) made using the system and facilitate the inputting of profile information (400, 500).

B2C e‐commerce web site quality: an empirical examination

Abstract: Purpose – To identify what constitutes web site quality or what makes a web site effective.Design/methodology/approach – This article examines and integrates four sets of factors that capture e‐commerce web site quality using an IS success model: system quality, information quality, service quality, and attractiveness. A questionnaire survey was conducted to verify the measures of web site quality. Based on TAM, a framework is also developed relating web site quality to customers' beliefs (perceived usefulness and ease of use), attitudes (preferences for the site), and intentions (to revisit the site).Findings – A set of instruments of web site quality has been developed and empirically validated by factor analysis.Research limitations/implications – The research is based on a sample of students browsing several book web sites and they may not sense the web site quality across different B2C commercial web sites such as music, computer, travel, clothes and flowers. Data in these domains should be collected...

Brand origin recognition accuracy: its antecedents and consumers’ cognitive limitations

Abstract: An ever-growing literature has reported consumer bias toward national origins of products, and has explored factors that moderate such bias. Researchers have assumed, if only tacitly, that consumers are knowledgeable of brand origins, and that this knowledge is a significant influence that drives judgments of product quality, brand attitudes, and choice behavior in the marketplace. Using categorization theory and attribute diagnosticity as the theoretical foundation, our research reveals that consumers actually have only modest knowledge of the national origins of brands, and that American consumers’ proficiency at recognizing foreign brand origins is predicted by variables such as socioeconomic status, past international travel, foreign language skills, and gender. In the second of two studies, we determined that brand origin recognition is based largely on consumers’ associations of brand names with languages that suggest country origins. These studies ultimately lead us to conclude that past research has inflated the influence that country of origin information has on consumers’ product judgments and behavior and its importance in managerial and public policy decisions.

Demand for Environmental Quality: A Spatial Hedonic Analysis

Abstract: We first estimate the relationship between house prices and environmental disamenities using spatial statistics, confirming that nearby point-source pollutants depress house price We then calculate implicit prices of environmental quality and related characteristics from the house price hedonics to estimate a demand curve for environmental quality, finding a price elasticity of demand of -012 We find evidence of significant spatial effects in both the hedonic and demand estimations We find that environmental quality and school quality are purchased together (eta=-080), environmental quality and house size are substitutes (eta=091), and environmental quality and lot size are not related goods

The Reliability of Certification: Quality Labels as a Consumer Policy Tool

Abstract: Given the large number of certification systems in the food industry, it is surprising that there are only a few research approaches to the economics of certification. Certification schemes are used to ensure marketing claims for unobservable quality attributes. Under asymmetric information, process-oriented quality characteristics such as organic farming, animal welfare, or fair trade raise the question of mislabelling. In the long run, only a reliable control procedure can reduce the risk of food scandals. The article presents a model which includes several starting points to enhance the efficiency of certification systems and the corresponding labels. On the whole, tendencies towards price wars on the certification market and considerable differences in performance reveal the necessity of institutional changes. Strategies for reducing auditors’ dependence, intensifying liability, increasing reputation effects, and minimizing audit costs are suggested. Finally, policy implications for public and private monitoring are discussed.

Introduction to Statistical Quality Control, Fifth Edition

Abstract: (2005). Introduction to Statistical Quality Control, Fifth Edition. Journal of Quality Technology: Vol. 37, No. 3, pp. 251-252.

Quantity versus Quality: The Impact of Environmental Disclosures on the Reputations of UK Plcs

Abstract: The theoretical framework of this paper integrates quality-signalling theory and the resource based view of the firm to test the differential effects of the quantity and quality of environmental disclosures on the firm's environmental reputation. Uniquely, the study uses a quality-adjusted method of content analysis, so that sentences are not merely counted but also weighted to reflect their likely significance. Investments in research and development and diversification, as potential methods of enhancing of environmental reputation, are also considered. In doing so the paper complements and extends the work of [Toms, J.S., 2002. Firm resources, quality signals and the determinants of corporate environmental reputation: some UK evidence. British Accounting Review 34 (3), 257–282]. The results confirm the framework and models tested in the original paper on more recent data and also suggest that quality of environmental disclosure rather than mere quantity has a stronger effect on the creation of environmental reputation amongst executive and investor stakeholder groups. Research and development expenditure, and under certain circumstances, diversification, also add to reputation.

Developing a Framework for Assessing Information Quality on the World Wide Web

Abstract: Introduction--The Big Picture Over the past decade, the [Internet.sup.1]--or World Wide Web (Technically the Internet is a huge collection of networked computers using TCP/IP protocol to exchange data. The World-wide Web (WWW) is in essence only part of this network of computers, however its visible status has meant that conceptually at least, it is often used interchangeably with "Internet" to describe the same thing.)--has established itself as the key infrastructure for information administration, exchange, and publication (Alexander & Tate, 1999), and Internet Search Engines are the most commonly used tool to retrieve that information (Wang, 2001). The deficiency of enforceable standards however, has resulted in frequent information quality problems (Eppler & Muenzenmayer, 2002). This paper is part of a research project undertaken at Edith Cowan, Wollongong and Sienna Universities, to build an Internet Focused Crawler that uses "Quality" criterion in determining returns to user queries. Such a task requires that the conceptual notions of quality be ultimately quantified into Search Engine algorithms that interact with Webpage technologies, eliminating documents that do not meet specifically determined standards of quality. The focus of this paper, as part of the wider research, is on the concepts of Quality in Information and Information Systems, specifically as it pertains to Information and Information Retrieval on the Internet. As with much of the research into Information Quality (IQ) in Information Systems, the term is interchangeable with Data Quality (DQ). What Is Information Quality? Data and Information Quality is commonly thought of as a multi-dimensional concept (Klein, 2001) with varying attributed characteristics depending on an author's philosophical view-point. Most commonly, the term "Data Quality" is described as data that is "Fit-for-use" (Wang & Strong, 1996), which implies that it is relative, as data considered appropriate for one use may not possess sufficient attributes for another use (Tayi & Ballou, 1998). IQ as a series of Dimensions Table 1 summaries 12 widely accepted IQ Frameworks collated from the last decade of IS research. While varied in their approach and application, the frameworks share a number of characteristics regarding their classifications of the dimensions of quality. An analysis of Table 1 reveals the common elements between the different IQ Frameworks. These include such traditional dimensions as accuracy, consistency, timeliness, completeness, accessibility, objectiveness and relevancy. Table 2 provides a summary of the most common dimensions and the frequency with which they are included in the above IQ Frameworks. Each dimension also includes a short definition. IQ in the context of its use In order to accurately define and measure the concept of Information quality, it is not enough to identify the common elements of IQ Frameworks as individual entities in their own right. In fact, Information Quality needs to be assessed within the context of its generation (Shanks & Corbitt, 1999) and intended use (Katerattanakul & Siau, 1999). This is because the attributes of data quality can vary depending on the context in which the data is to be used (Shankar & Watts, 2003). Defining what Information Quality is within the context of the World Wide Web and its Search Engines then, will depend greatly on whether dimensions are being identified for the producers of information, the storage and maintenance systems used for information, or for the searchers and users of information. The currently accepted view of assessing IQ, involves understanding it from the users point of view. Strong and Wang (1997) suggest that quality of data cannot be assessed independent of the people who use data. Applying this commonly to the World Wide Web has its own set of problems. …

Assessing the quality of preparation for posthospital care from the patient's perspective: the care transitions measure

Abstract: Background: Evidence that both quality and patient safety are jeopardized for patients undergoing transitions across care settings continues to expand. Performance measurement is one potential strategy towards improving the quality of transitional care. A valid and reliable self-report measure of the quality of care transitions is needed that is both consistent with the concept of patient-centeredness and useful for the purpose of performance measurement and quality improvement. Objective: We sought to develop and test a self-report measure of the quality of care transitions that captures the patient’s perspective and has demonstrated utility for quality improvement. Subjects: Patients aged 18 years and older discharged from one of the 3 hospitals of a vertically integrated health system were included. Research Design: Cross-sectional assessment of factor structure, dimensionality, and construct validity. Results: The Care Transitions Measure (CTM), a 15-item unidimensional measure of the quality of preparation for care transitions, was found to have high internal consistency, reliability, and reflect 4 focus group-derived content domains. The measure was shown to discriminate between patients discharged from the hospital who did and did not have a subsequent emergency department visit or rehospitalization for their index condition. CTM scores were significantly different between health care facilities known to vary in level of system integration. Conclusions: The CTM not only provides meaningful, patientcentered insight into the quality of care transitions, but because of the association between CTM scores and undesirable utilization outcomes, it also provides information that may be useful to clinicians, hospital administrators, quality improvement entities, and third party payers.