Showing papers on "Quality (business) published in 2007"

Methodological fit in management field research.

Abstract: Methodological fit, an implicitly valued attribute of high-quality field research in organizations, has received little attention in the management literature. Fit refers to internal consistency among elements of a research project—research question, prior work, research design, and theoretical contribution. We introduce a contingency framework that relates prior work to the design of a research project, paying particular attention to the question of when to mix qualitative and quantitative data in a single research paper. We discuss implications of the framework for educating new field researchers.

The Effect of On-Line Consumer Reviews on Consumer Purchasing Intention: The Moderating Role of Involvement

Abstract: On-line consumer reviews, functioning both as informants and as recommenders, are important in making purchase decisions and for product sales. Their persuasive impact depends on both their quality and their quantity. This paper uses the elaboration likelihood model to explain how level of involvement with a product moderates these relationships. The study produces three major findings: (1) the quality of on-line reviews has a positive effect on consumers' purchasing intention, (2) purchasing intention increases as the number of reviews increases, and (3) low-involvement consumers are affected by the quantity rather than the quality of reviews, but high-involvement consumers are affected by review quantity mainly when the review quality is high. These findings have implications for on-line sellers in terms of how to manage on-line consumer reviews.

Trade Liberalization, Intermediate Inputs and Productivity: Evidence from Indonesia ∗

Abstract: This paper estimates the productivity gains from reducing tariffs on final goods and from reducing tariffs on intermediate inputs. Lower output tariffs can increase productivity by inducing tougher import competition, whereas cheaper imported inputs can raise productivity via learning, variety, and quality effects. We use Indonesian manufacturing census data from 1991 to 2001, which include plant-level information on imported inputs. The results show that a 10 percentage point fall in input tariffs leads to a productivity gain of 12 percent for firms that import their inputs, at least twice as high as any gains from reducing output tariffs. (JEL F12, F13, L16, O14, O19, O24)

E-commerce product recommendation agents: use, characteristics, and impact

Abstract: Recommendation agents (RAs) are software agents that elicit the interests or preferences of individual consumers for products, either explicitly or implicitly, and make recommendations accordingly RAs have the potential to support and improve the quality of the decisions consumers make when searching for and selecting products online They can reduce the information overload facing consumers, as well as the complexity of online searches Prior research on RAs has focused mostly on developing and evaluating different underlying algorithms that generate recommendations This paper instead identifies other important aspects of RAs, namely RA use, RA characteristics, provider credi'r, and user-RA interaction, which influence users' decision-making processes and outcomes, as well as their evaluation of RAs It goes beyond generalized models, such as TAM, and identifies the RA-specific features, such as RA input, process, and output design characteristics, that affect users' evaluations, including their assessments of the usefulness and ease-of-use of RA applications Based on a review of existing literature on e-commerce RAs, this paper develops a conceptual model with 28 propositions derived from five theoretical perspectives The propositions help answer the two research questions: (1) How do RA use, RA characteristics, and other factors influence consumer decision making processes and outcomes? (2) How do RA use, RA characteristics, and other factors influence users' evaluations of RAs? By identifying the critical gaps between what we know and what we need to know, this paper identifies potential areas of future research for scholars It also provides advice to information systems practitioners concerning the effective design and development of RAs

Teachers' Education, Classroom Quality, and Young Children's Academic Skills: Results From Seven Studies of Preschool Programs

Abstract: In an effort to provide high-quality preschool education, policymakers are increasingly requiring public preschool teachers to have at least a Bachelor's degree, preferably in early childhood education. Seven major studies of early care and education were used to predict classroom quality and children's academic outcomes from the educational attainment and major of teachers of 4-year-olds. The findings indicate largely null or contradictory associations, indicating that policies focused solely on increasing teachers' education will not suffice for improving classroom quality or maximizing children's academic gains. Instead, raising the effectiveness of early childhood education likely will require a broad range of professional development activities and supports targeted toward teachers' interactions with children.

Self Selection and Information Role of Online Product Reviews

Abstract: Online product reviews may be subject to self-selection biases that impact consumer purchase behavior, online ratings' time series, and consumer surplus. This occurs if early buyers hold different preferences than do later consumers regarding the quality of a given product. Readers of early product reviews may not successfully correct for these preference differences when interpreting ratings and making purchases. In this study, we develop a model that examines how idiosyncratic preferences of early buyers can affect long-term consumer purchase behavior as well as the social welfare created by review systems. Our model provides an explanation for the structure of product ratings over time, which we empirically test using online book reviews posted on Amazon.com. Our analysis suggests that firms could potentially benefit from altering their marketing strategies, such as pricing, advertising, or product design, to encourage consumers likely to yield positive reports to self-select into the market early and generate positive word of mouth for new products. On the other hand, self-selection bias, if not corrected, decreases consumer surplus.

Front‐line managers as agents in the HRM‐performance causal chain: theory, analysis and evidence

Abstract: Research on the link between HRM and organisational performance has neglected the role of front-line managers, yet it is these managers who are increasingly charged with the implementation of many HR practices. Using an employee survey in 12 'excellent' companies we explore the extent to which employee commitment towards their employer and their job are influenced by the quality of leadership behaviour and by satisfaction with HR practices. Both have a strong effect on employee attitudes. The article concludes with a case study of a planned effort to improve front-line managers' skills in people management. © 2007 The Authors.

Service quality, relationship satisfaction, trust, commitment and business‐to‐business loyalty

Abstract: – The purpose of this study is to establish a theoretical basis for evaluating a strategic increase in customers' perceptions of service/product quality – specifically in terms of an increase in relationship quality and customer loyalty in a B2B environment – and to test this theoretical basis empirically., – Drawing on the relationship‐marketing literature, the authors empirically test a model of business loyalty in a sample of 234 advertising agencies' clients., – Using the Gronroos conceptualisation, a clear pattern of service‐quality dimensions is established and several important findings are reported – including empirical verification of the mediating role of overall relationship satisfaction in the formation of loyalty attributes. The effects of trust and commitment are also verified., – Studies that model attitudinal as well as behavioural relationship outcomes have strong precedence in the relationship marketing area. Although in this study the “intentions” approach is followed rather than a behavioural one, the measurement of the real behaviour of industrial clients proves to be very difficult from a practical point‐of‐view., – In this service continuum, managers need to clearly define relationship development strategies, service provision policies and develop homogeneous service provision. Towards this direction, it is essential that firms communicate the service and product quality standards to partners so that differences in service provision can be avoided., – The study integrates the concepts of service/product quality, relationship satisfaction, trust, and commitment in a business‐loyalty model, demonstrating the benefits of investing in relationships based on trust and commitment.

eTransQual: A Transaction Process-Based Approach for Capturing Service Quality in Online Shopping

Abstract: Existing e-service quality scales mainly focus on goal-oriented e-shopping behavior excluding hedonic quality aspects. As a consequence, these scales do not fully cover all aspects of consumer's quality evaluation. In order to integrate both utilitarian and hedonic e-service quality elements, we apply a transaction process model to electronic service encounters. Based on this general framework capturing all stages of the electronic service delivery process, we develop a transaction process-based scale for measuring service quality (eTransQual). After conducting exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, we identify five discriminant quality dimensions: functionality/design, enjoyment, process, reliability and responsiveness. All extracted dimensions of eTransQual show a significant positive impact on important outcome variables like perceived value and customer satisfaction. Moreover, enjoyment is a dominant factor in influencing both relationship duration and repurchase intention as major drivers of customer lifetime value. As a result, we present conceptual and empirical evidence for the need to integrate both utilitarian and hedonic e-service quality elements into one measurement scale.

A Knowledge Management Success Model: Theoretical Development and Empirical Validation

Abstract: We examine a knowledge management (KM) success model that incorporates the quality of available knowledge and KM systems built to share and reuse knowledge such as determinants of users' perception of usefulness and user satisfaction with an organization's KM practices. Perceived usefulness and user satisfaction, in turn, affect knowledge use, which in our model is a measure of how well knowledge sharing and reuse activities are internalized by an organization. Our model includes organizational support structure as a contributing factor to the success of KM system implementation. Data collected from 150 knowledge workers from a variety of organizations confirmed 10 of 13 hypothesized relationships. Notably, the organizational support factors of leadership commitment, supervisor and coworker support, as well as incentives, directly or indirectly supported shared knowledge quality and knowledge use. In line with the proposed model, the study lends support to the argument that, in addition to KM systems quality, firms must pay careful attention to championing and goal setting as well as designing adequate reward systems for the ultimate success of these efforts. This is one of the first studies that encompasses both the supply (knowledge contribution) and demand (knowledge reuse) sides of KM in the same model. It provides more than anecdotal evidence of factors that determine successful KM system implementations. Unlike earlier studies that only deal with knowledge-sharing incentives or quality of shared knowledge, we present and empirically validate an integrated model that includes knowledge sharing and knowledge quality and their links to the desired outcome-namely, knowledge reuse.

A Hierarchical Model of Health Service Quality: Scale Development and Investigation of an Integrated Model

Abstract: This research developed and empirically validated a multidimensional hierarchical scale for measuring health service quality and investigated the scale's ability to predict important service outcomes, namely, service satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Data were collected from a qualitative study and three different field studies of health care patients in two different health care contexts: oncology clinics and a general medical practice. Service quality was found to conform to the structure of the hierarchical model in all three samples. The research identified nine subdimensions driving four primary dimensions, which in turn were found to drive service quality perceptions. The primary dimensions were interpersonal quality, technical quality, environment quality, and administrative quality. The subdimensions were interaction, relationship, outcome, expertise, atmosphere, tangibles, timeliness, operation, and support. The findings also support the hypothesis that service quality has a significant impact on service satisfaction and behavioral intentions and that service quality mediates the relationship between the dimensions and intentions.

Power to the People: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment of a Community-Based Monitoring Project in Uganda

Abstract: This paper analyzes the importance of strengthening the relationship of accountability between health service providers and citizens for improving access to and quality of health care. How this is to be achieved, and whether it works, however, remain open questions. The paper presents a randomized field experiment on increasing community-based monitoring. As communities began to more extensively monitor the provider, both the quality and quantity of health service provision improved. One year into the program, there are large increases in utilization, significant weight-for-age z-score gains of infants, and markedly lowerdeaths among children. The findings on staff behavior suggest that the improvements in quality and quantity of health service delivery resulted from an increased effort by the staff to serve the community. Overall, the results suggest that community monitoring can play an important role in improving service delivery when traditional top-down supervision is ineffective.

A fuzzy optimization model for QFD planning process using analytic network approach

Abstract: In both the quality improvement and the design of a product, the engineering characteristics affecting product performance are primarily identified and improved to optimize customer needs (CNs). Especially, the limited resources and increased market competition and product complexity require a customer-driven quality management and product development system achieving higher customer satisfaction. Quality function deployment (QFD) is used as a powerful tool for improving product design and quality, and procuring a customer-driven quality system. In this paper, an integrated framework based on fuzzy-QFD and a fuzzy optimization model is proposed to determine the product technical requirements (PTRs) to be considered in designing a product. The coefficients of the objective function are obtained from a fuzzy analytic network process (ANP) approach. Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is also used in the proposed framework. An application in a Turkish Company producing PVC window and door systems is presented to illustrate the proposed framework.

Perceived e‐service quality (PeSQ)

Abstract: Purpose – The objectives of this article are to develop a multiple‐item scale for measuring e‐service quality and to study the influence of perceived quality on consumer satisfaction levels and the level of web site loyalty.Design/methodology/approach – First, there is an explanation of the main attributes of the concepts examined, with special attention being paid to the multi‐dimensional nature of the variables and the relationships between them. This is followed by an examination of the validation processes of the measuring instruments.Findings – The validation process of scales suggested that perceived quality is a multidimensional construct: web design, customer service, assurance and order management; that perceived quality influences on satisfaction; and that satisfaction influences on consumer loyalty. Moreover, no differences in these conclusions were observed if the total sample is divided between buyers and information searchers.Practical implications – First, the need to develop user‐friendly ...

IT support for healthcare processes - premises, challenges, perspectives

Abstract: Healthcare processes require the cooperation of different organizational units and medical disciplines. In such an environment optimal process support becomes crucial. Though healthcare processes frequently change, and therefore the separation of the flow logic from the application code seems to be promising, workflow technology has not yet been broadly used in healthcare environments. In this paper we elaborate both the potential and the essential limitations of IT support for healthcare processes. We identify different levels of process support in healthcare, and distinguish between organizational processes and the medical treatment process. To recognize the limitations of IT support we adopt a broad socio-technical perspective based on scientific literature and personal experience. Despite of the limitations we identified, undeniably, IT has a huge potential to improve healthcare quality which has not been explored by current IT solutions. In particular, we indicate how advanced process management technology can improve IT support for healthcare processes.

The process audit.

Abstract: Few executives question the idea that by redesigning business processes--work that runs from end to end across an enterprise--they can achieve extraordinary improvements in cost, quality, speed, profitability, and other key areas Yet in spite of their intentions and investments, many executives flounder, unsure about what exactly needs to be changed, by how much, and when. As a result, many organizations make little progress--if any at all--in their attempts to transform business processes. Michael Hammer has spent the past five years working with a group of leading companies to develop the Process and Enterprise Maturity Model (PEMM), a new framework that helps executives comprehend, formulate, and assess process-based transformation efforts. He has identified two distinct groups of characteristics that are needed for business processes to perform exceptionally well over a long period of time. Process enablers, which affect individual processes, determine how well a process is able to function. They are mutually interdependent--if any are missing, the others will be ineffective. However, enablers are not enough to develop high-performance processes; they only provide the potential to deliver high performance. A company must also possess or establish organizational capabilities that allow the business to offer a supportive environment. Together, the enablers and the capabilities provide an effective way for companies to plan and evaluate process-based transformations. PEMM is different from other frameworks, such as Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), because it applies to all industries and all processes. The author describes how several companies--including Michelin, CSAA, Tetra Pak, Shell, Clorox, and Schneider National--have successfully used PEMM in various ways and at different stages to evaluate the progress of their process-based transformation efforts.

Measuring habitat quality: a review

Abstract: Understanding habitat quality for birds is crucial for ecologists and managers, but few papers have explored the advantages and disadvantages of different ways to measure it. In this review I clarify terminology and distinguish habitat quality from related terms, differentiate habitat quality at the levels of individual birds and populations, and describe different field methods for measuring habitat quality. As much as feasible, biologists concerned with habitat quality should emphasize demographic variables while recognizing that reproduction, survival, and abundance may not all be positively correlated. The distribution of birds can also reveal habitat quality (e.g., through patterns of habitat selection), but researchers should first investigate how closely their subjects follow ideal distributions because numerous ecological factors can lead birds to select poor and avoid rich habitats. Measures of body condition can provide convenient measures of habitat quality, but to be useful they must be a consequence, rather than a cause, of habitat selection. Habitat ecologists should use caution before relying on shortcuts from more labor-intensive demographic work. To increase the reliability of our habitat quality measurements, we should work to develop new methods to assess critical assumptions of nondemographic indicators, such as whether birds follow ideal distributions under natural conditions and whether spatial variation in body condition manifests in differential fitness.

Less is more in presenting quality information to consumers.

Abstract: Much effort has been put into improving measures of health care quality. Although early research suggested that consumers made little use of quality reports, most reports were based on nonstandardized measures and were not user friendly. Information presentation approaches, however, will have a significant influence on what information is attended and used. The present research examines whether information presentation methods differentially influence consumers who differ in numeric skills. Results of three studies support the idea that "less is more" when presenting consumers with comparative performance information to make hospital choices. Results were particularly strong for those lower in numeracy, who had higher comprehension and made better choices when the information-presentation format was designed to ease the cognitive burden and highlight the meaning of important information. These findings have important implications for the sponsors of comparative quality reports designed to inform consumer decision making in health care.

Personalized QoS Prediction forWeb Services via Collaborative Filtering

Abstract: Many researchers propose that, not only functional but also non-functional properties, also known as quality of service (QoS), should be taken into consideration when consumers select services. Consumers need to make prediction on quality of unused web services before selecting. Usually, this prediction is based on other consumers' experiences. Being aware of different QoS experiences of consumers, this paper proposes a collaborative filtering based approach to making similarity mining and prediction from consumers' experiences. Experimental results demonstrate that this approach can make significant improvement on the effectiveness of QoS prediction for web services.

Expanding the limits of the pollen-limitation concept: effects of pollen quantity and quality.

Abstract: Pollination commonly limits seed production, as addition of pollen to stigmas often increases fecundity. This response is usually interpreted as evidence that plants' stigmas receive too few pollen grains to maximize ovule fertilization (quantity limitation); however, many genetic studies demonstrate that poor-quality pollen can also reduce seed production (quality limitation). We explore both aspects of pollen limitation theoretically with a dose-response model that incorporates a saturating negative-exponential relation of seed production to pollen receipt. This relation depends on aspects of ovule production, pollen import, pollen-pistil interactions and seed development, all of which can contribute to pollen limitation. Our model reveals that quantity limitation is restricted to the lowest range of pollen receipt, for which siring success per pollen grain is high, whereas quality limitation acts throughout the range of pollen receipt if plants do not import the highest-quality pollen. In addition to pollinator availability and efficiency, quantity limitation is governed by all post-pollination aspects of seed production. In contrast, quality limitation depends on the difference in survival of embryos sired by naturally delivered pollen vs. by pollen of maximal quality. We briefly illustrate the distinction between these two components of pollen limitation with results from the mistletoe Tristerix corymbosus. Our model also shows that the standard pollen-supplementation technique neither estimates the total intensity of pollen limitation nor distinguishes between its quantity and quality components. As an alternative, we propose a methodological protocol that requires both measurement of seed production following excess pollination with only outcross pollen and quantification of the dose-response relation of seed output to pollen receipt. This method estimates both the total extent of pollen limitation and its two components. Finally, we consider the influences on quantity and quality limitation, which reveals that quantity limitation probably occurs much less often than has been inferred from pollen-supplementation experiments. These interpretations suggest that an expanded perspective that recognizes the fecundity consequences of pollination with poor-quality pollen would promote ecological understanding of pollen limitation.

The Combined Effects of the Physical Environment and Employee Behavior on Customer Perception of Restaurant Service Quality

Abstract: Dining in a table-service restaurant is a multilayered experience that involves at least three types of clues. Although food quality is basic, the ambience and service performance greatly influence a customer’s evaluation of a particular establishment. Diners use the following types of clues to judge a restaurant experience: functional—the technical quality of the food and service; mechanic—the ambience and other design and technical elements; and humanic—the performance, behavior, and appearance of the employees. While customers’ perceptions of mechanic clues are positively related to their expectations of the service, humanic clues dominate the influence of mechanic clues. Ideally, managers should orchestrate both humanic and mechanic clues to deliver a consistent service message.

Discovering authorities in question answer communities by using link analysis

Abstract: Question-Answer portals such as Naver and Yahoo! Answers are quickly becoming rich sources of knowledge on many topics which are not well served by general web search engines. Unfortunately, the quality of the submitted answers is uneven, ranging from excellent detailed answers to snappy and insulting remarks or even advertisements for commercial content. Furthermore, user feedback for many topics is sparse, and can be insufficient to reliably identify good answers from the bad ones. Hence, estimating the authority of users is a crucial task for this emerging domain, with potential applications to answer ranking, spam detection, and incentive mechanism design. We present an analysis of the link structure of a general-purpose question answering community to discover authoritative users, and promising experimental results over a dataset of more than 3 million answers from a popular community QA site. We also describe structural differences between question topics that correlate with the success of link analysis for authority discovery.

Green Manufacturing: An Evaluation of Environmentally Sustainable Manufacturing Practices and Their Impact on Competitive Outcomes

Abstract: Increasingly, stakeholders are asking or requiring organizations to be more environmentally responsible with respect to their products and processes; reasons include regulatory requirements, product stewardship, public image, and potential competitive advantages. This paper presents an exploratory study of the relationships between specific environmentally sustainable manufacturing practices, and specific competitive outcomes in an environmentally important but under-researched industry, the U.S. commercial carpet industry. In general, empirical research on the impact of environmental practices on organizational outcomes is inconclusive, partly due to limitations of earlier studies. This paper addresses some of these limitations, and surveys the entire U.S. commercial carpet industry; respondents represent 84 of the market. Findings suggest that environmentally sustainable manufacturing practices may be positively associated with competitive outcomes. In particular, different types of environmentally sustainable manufacturing practices (e.g., pollution prevention, product stewardship) are associated with different competitive outcomes (e.g., manufacturing cost, product quality). These specific findings can be helpful to engineering and operations managers as they respond to environmental and competitive demands.

Low-Quality Product Review Detection in Opinion Summarization

Abstract: Product reviews posted at online shopping sites vary greatly in quality. This paper addresses the problem of detecting lowquality product reviews. Three types of biases in the existing evaluation standard of product reviews are discovered. To assess the quality of product reviews, a set of specifications for judging the quality of reviews is first defined. A classificationbased approach is proposed to detect the low-quality reviews. We apply the proposed approach to enhance opinion summarization in a two-stage framework. Experimental results show that the proposed approach effectively (1) discriminates lowquality reviews from high-quality ones and (2) enhances the task of opinion summarization by detecting and filtering lowquality reviews.

Non-Audit Service Fees and Audit Quality: The Impact of Auditor Specialization

Abstract: Recent studies on whether the provision of non-audit services impairs audit quality document mixed results, depending on the proxy for auditor quality used. We posit that the effect of non-audit fees on audit quality is conditional on auditor industry specialization in that audit quality is less likely to be impaired in the case of industry specialist auditors providing non-audit services. Our premise is that industry specialist auditors are more likely to be concerned about reputation losses and litigation exposure, and to benefit from knowledge spillovers from the provision of non-audit services. We find some evidence that audit quality (as measured by increased propensity to issue going-concern opinion, increased propensity to miss analysts' forecasts, as well as higher earnings-response coefficients) is less likely to be reduced for firms that acquire non-audit services from industry specialist auditors compared to non-specialist auditors. Implications are discussed.

Health-Related Quality of Life

Abstract: This chapter provides an overview of the nature and status of quality of life evaluations of new medicines and other treatments in clinical trials. There are two major aspects of quality of life: The environmental aspect of quality of life and health-related quality of life. The environmental aspect of quality of life is often evaluated by organizations outside the medical field. The components they often consider for different locations or areas include (1) air quality, (2) water quality, (3) school quality, (4) population density, (5) cultural opportunities, (6) social/economic status, and (7) community spirit. On the other hand, health-related quality of life encompasses a number of distinct domains related to patients and their well-being. The individual components of quality of life are discussed in a few (three to six) broad domains (i.e., categories). In this chapter, four domains are described: (1) physical abilities/capabilities, (2) psychological status, (3 social status, and (4) economic status/employment. Although health-related quality of life relates mainly to individual patients and groups of patients, it also may be applied, as can environment-related quality of life, to individual communities, regions, or nations. In the remainder of this chapter the term quality of life refers only to health-related quality of life.

When Customers Receive Support From Other Customers: Exploring the Influence of Intercustomer Social Support on Customer Voluntary Performance:

Abstract: Service establishments would relish the opportunity to have their customers display customer voluntary performance (CVP) behaviors, which refer to helpful, discretionary customer behaviors that support an organization’s service performance and quality This article draws on resource exchange theory to offer an explanation as to why some customers display CVP in the form of customer citizenship and customer care behaviors The data reveal that customers who receive social-emotional support and, to a lesser extent, instrumental support from other customers in a service establishment reciprocate by exhibiting CVP toward the establishment and to customers in the establishment This article demonstrates that socially supportive service environments are beneficial for customers’ health and for organizational profitability