scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question

Showing papers on "Quality (business) published in 2019"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Citations are increasingly used as performance indicators in research policy and within the research system as mentioned in this paper, and it is argued that citations reflect aspects related to scientific impact and relevance, although with important limitations.
Abstract: Citations are increasingly used as performance indicators in research policy and within the research system. Usually, citations are assumed to reflect the impact of the research or its quality. What is the justification for these assumptions and how do citations relate to research quality? These and similar issues have been addressed through several decades of scientometric research. This article provides an overview of some of the main issues at stake, including theories of citation and the interpretation and validity of citations as performance measures. Research quality is a multidimensional concept, where plausibility/soundness, originality, scientific value, and societal value commonly are perceived as key characteristics. The article investigates how citations may relate to these various research quality dimensions. It is argued that citations reflect aspects related to scientific impact and relevance, although with important limitations. On the contrary, there is no evidence that citations reflect other key dimensions of research quality. Hence, an increased use of citation indicators in research evaluation and funding may imply less attention to these other research quality dimensions, such as solidity/plausibility, originality, and societal value.

517 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Oct 2019-Heliyon
TL;DR: The analytical results showed that three dimensions of e-service quality, namely website design, security/privacy and fulfilment affect overall e- service quality, while customer service is not significantly related to overall e -service quality.

294 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the relationship between the dimensions of customer perceived value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty in the context of hotels using structural equation modelling (SEM) and found that customer satisfaction had a significant direct positive effect on customer satisfaction and/or customer loyalty.

271 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored five salient quality attributes representing convenience, design, trustworthiness, price, and various food choices associated with food delivery apps in consideration of their impacts upon user-perceived value, attitudes and intention to continuously use.

235 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article summarises and categorises 100 state-of-the-art quality indicators and discusses issues regarding attributes that indicators possess and properties that indicators are desirable to have, in the hope of motivating researchers and practitioners to look into these important issues when designing quality indicators.
Abstract: Complexity and variety of modern multiobjective optimisation problems result in the emergence of numerous search techniques, from traditional mathematical programming to various randomised heuristics. A key issue raised consequently is how to evaluate and compare solution sets generated by these multiobjective search techniques. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of solution set quality evaluation. Starting with an introduction of basic principles and concepts of set quality evaluation, this article summarises and categorises 100 state-of-the-art quality indicators, with the focus on what quality aspects these indicators reflect. This is accompanied in each category by detailed descriptions of several representative indicators and in-depth analyses of their strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, issues regarding attributes that indicators possess and properties that indicators are desirable to have are discussed, in the hope of motivating researchers to look into these important issues when designing quality indicators and of encouraging practitioners to bear these issues in mind when selecting/using quality indicators. Finally, future trends and potential research directions in the area are suggested, together with some guidelines on these directions.

228 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the relationship among e-learning service quality attributes, overall eLearning service quality, elearning student satisfaction, and e-Learning student loyalty in the context of Vietnam, an emerging country.
Abstract: Prior studies on e-learning service quality were conducted mainly in developed countries; however, little effort has been made in emerging countries. This study examines the relationships among e-learning service quality attributes, overall e-learning service quality, e-learning student satisfaction, and e-learning student loyalty in the context of Vietnam, an emerging country. Survey data collected from 1232 college students were analyzed by means of exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling using SPSS 25 and SmartPLS 3.0. The results indicated that e-learning service quality was a second-order construct comprising of three factors, namely, e-learning system quality, e-learning instructor and course materials quality, and e-learning administrative and support service quality. The e-learning system quality was the most important dimension of overall e-learning service quality, followed by e-learning instructor and course materials quality, and e-learning administrative and support service quality. In addition, the overall e-learning service quality was positively related to e-learning student satisfaction, which in turn positively influences e-learning student loyalty. Also, overall e-learning service quality has a direct effect on e-learning student loyalty. Implications for colleges and universities are discussed.

223 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
13 May 2019
TL;DR: This work reviews the existing landscape and gaps, highlights the evolving responses and approaches, and detail one pragmatic framework that addresses the current limitations in the marketplace with a path toward implementation.
Abstract: Digital health solutions continue to grow in both number and capabilities. Despite these advances, the confidence of the various stakeholders — from patients and clinicians to payers, industry and regulators — in medicine remains quite low. As a result, there is a need for objective, transparent, and standards-based evaluation of digital health products that can bring greater clarity to the digital health marketplace. We believe an approach that is guided by end-user requirements and formal assessment across technical, clinical, usability, and cost domains is one possible solution. For digital health solutions to have greater impact, quality and value must be easier to distinguish. To that end, we review the existing landscape and gaps, highlight the evolving responses and approaches, and detail one pragmatic framework that addresses the current limitations in the marketplace with a path toward implementation.

215 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The aspects of validity that researchers should consider when using surveys are reviewed and factor analysis is focused on, a statistical method that can be used to collect an important type of validity evidence.
Abstract: Across all sciences, the quality of measurements is important. Survey measurements are only appropriate for use when researchers have validity evidence within their particular context. Yet, this st ...

215 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The literature has shifted to view feedback as a process that students do where they make sense of information about work they have done, and use it to improve the quality of their work as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Since the early 2010s the literature has shifted to view feedback as a process that students do where they make sense of information about work they have done, and use it to improve the quality of ...

207 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assess the direct influence of food quality and e-service quality on customer loyalty toward online food delivery service and its indirect influence through the mediation of cust...
Abstract: This study assesses the direct influence of food quality and e-service quality on customer loyalty toward online food delivery (OFD) service and its indirect influence through the mediation of cust...

203 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: There were many quality improvement programmes that had been initiated, adapted, modified and then tested but did not produce the required level of quality service delivery as desired, and the Government of South Africa has a challenge to ensure that implementation of National Core Standards will deliver the desired health outcomes.
Abstract: Background There is overwhelming evidence that the quality of health care in South Africa has been compromised by various challenges that impact negatively on healthcare quality. Improvement in quality care means fewer errors, reduced delays in care delivery, improvement in efficiency, increased market share and lower cost. Decline in quality health care has caused the public to lose trust in the healthcare system in South Africa. Objectives The purpose of this study was to identify challenges that are being incurred in practice that compromise quality in the healthcare sector, including strategies employed by government to improve the quality of health delivery. Method Literature search included the following computer-assisted databases and bibliographies: Medline (Medical Literature Online), EBSCOhost, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Google, Google Scholar and ScienceDirect. Furthermore, websites were used to source policy documents of organisations such as the National Department of Health in South Africa and the World Health Organization. Results Seventy-four articles were selected from 1366 retrieved. These articles quantify problems facing quality care delivery and strategies used to improve the healthcare system in South Africa. Conclusion The findings revealed that there were many quality improvement programmes that had been initiated, adapted, modified and then tested but did not produce the required level of quality service delivery as desired. As a result, the Government of South Africa has a challenge to ensure that implementation of National Core Standards will deliver the desired health outcomes, because achieving a lasting quality improvement system in health care seems to be an arduous challenge.

Journal ArticleDOI
07 Jan 2019-Foods
TL;DR: Depending on the product, different types of intelligent packaging technologies are used and discussed in this review, and the three main groups are: data carriers, indicators, and sensors.
Abstract: The trend towards sustainability, improved product safety, and high-quality standards are important in all areas of life sciences. In order to satisfy these requirements, intelligent packaging is used in the food sector. These systems can monitor permanently the quality status of a product and share the information with the customer. In this way, food waste can be reduced and customer satisfaction can be optimized. Depending on the product, different types of intelligent packaging technologies are used and discussed in this review. The three main groups are: data carriers, indicators, and sensors. At this time, they are not that widespread, but their potential is already known. In which areas intelligent packaging should be implemented, how the systems work, and which values they offer are dealt in this review.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The paper comparison focuses on the similarities, differences, advantages and disadvantages found in AM vs SM studying the economic and quality management status of the industry today.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use a version of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) model to demonstrate several important purchase-channel differences in the antecedents of customer satisfaction and its subsequent effect on customer loyalty.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors proposed that customer perceived value (CPV) and relationship quality (RQ) are antecedents of customer engagement in restaurants, and a mediated relationship between CPV and CE through RQ is examined to better understand the effects of CPV on CE.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the link between the quality of the built environment and its value, in health, social, economic and environmental terms, is explored, which is theorized as "place value".
Abstract: This paper explores the link between the quality of the built environment and its value, in health, social, economic and environmental terms. This is theorized as ‘place value’ which, alongside ‘pl...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is suggested that big data management challenges are the key antecedents of big data decision-making capability and the latter is vital for big data Decision-making quality.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The obtained result analysis confirmed the basic research hypotheses that customer satisfaction in online shopping, on the Serbian market, directly depends on the following determinants: security, information availability, shipping, quality, pricing and time.
Abstract: Consumer satisfaction with online shopping is directly dependent on a number of factors. There is a constant dilemma in the market related to the question which online shopping determinants affect the customer satisfaction. This issue is particularly important for underdeveloped markets, where online commerce is not sufficiently present. In order to increase the online commerce participation, it is necessary to explore and analyze the connection between customer satisfaction and diverse determinants. Accordingly, this paper develops the research model to determine the impact of certain online purchase determinants on the consumer satisfaction in the market of Serbia. A conceptual model is defined, consisting of 26 items categorized into seven variables: security, information availability, shipping, quality, pricing, time, and customer satisfaction. Input model parameters were collected through surveys, with the aid of appropriate Internet tools. The validity of the developed model was verified through the Confirmatory Factor Analysis and the Partial Least Squares. The obtained result analysis confirmed the basic research hypotheses that customer satisfaction in online shopping, on the Serbian market, directly depends on the following determinants: security, information availability, shipping, quality, pricing and time.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The review of the literature suggests that production research enabled by data has shifted from that based on analytical models to data-driven, and data mining is becoming a dominant methodology in production research.
Abstract: Data have been utilised in production research in meaningful ways for decades. Recent years have offered data in larger volumes and improved quality collected from diverse sources. The state-of-the...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A model for interpreting the development of the continuance intention of users of mobile communication apps is developed, indicating that interaction quality, environment quality, inertia, and user satisfaction are key determinants of Continance intention, while outcome quality is not.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The model is extended to several directions, finding that longer product line, manufacturer competition, lower marginal production cost, and higher platform cost all tend to induce the platform to put forward a fixed fee contract; while if quality decision is less flexible than contract decision, the platform is more ready to embrace revenue sharing.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is concluded that food quality receives high attention both from Belgian and Romanian consumers and health and environment related cues can be used as a means of improving consumer health and environmental protection.
Abstract: The last few decades testify that consumers’ concerns for healthier lifestyles and environment care are driving forces for reshaping food buying intentions and their perspectives on food quality. The present study identifies the importance that consumers attach to quality, health, and environment selected cues of purchased food products. More precisely, to elicit preferences for social, environmental, and qualitative food cues, a survey instrument was developed and applied on 797 Belgian and Romanian consumers. Our findings suggest that investigated consumers most frequently use freshness, taste, and appearance to evaluate food quality. The use frequency of food quality cues related to health is primarily influenced by the attention paid to food quality. The most relevant cues of food healthiness are ingredients, nutrition facts, and additives and for food environmental impact are packaging, food origin, and production type. It is concluded that food quality receives high attention both from Belgian and Romanian consumers and health and environment related cues can be used as a means of improving consumer health and environmental protection.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A political instrument for viable development is introduced here with the goal of balancing the concept of economic development, environmental degradation, and social fairness as well as investigating the impact of institutional quality on environmental quality in the developing countries.
Abstract: The dynamic relationship between carbon dioxide emissions and other macroeconomic variables is long established in the literature, and carbon dioxide is seen as one of the variables that captures the environmental conditions in the global economy. The manufacturing sector plays a key role in the economic growth of every nation. However, its operation is attached to carbon dioxide emissions, which are perceived to be one of the main causes of environmental harm that can seriously affect and reduce the environmental quality. Achieving a higher level of economic growth is believed to fall in line with higher environmental degradation (Sharma 2011), as higher economic activities may promote more environmental problems. Hence, a political instrument for viable development is introduced here with the goal of balancing the concept of economic development, environmental degradation, and social fairness. Sound and quality environmental policies in an economy could be one of the key determinant factors for improving environmental quality (Ibrahim and Law 2015). Thus, quality institutions should be considered as inputs for providing sound legislation that when applied efficiently will help reduce environmental menace in the global economy (Lau et al. 2014). Environmental degradation is presently disturbing the global economy, and considering its adverse effects has caused various governments to budget hugely to control the hazards. Without these environmental problems, the resources earmarked to control related environmental problems could be used to achieve other important economic objectives. This study investigated the impact of institutional quality on environmental quality in the developing countries. Several studies were conducted on environmental degradation and its determinants. However, little is still known about the roles of institutions in reducing environmental problems. This study is different from the existing literature in three ways; first, most of the studies in this area focus more on growth, financial development, and trade openness, and little attention is given to environmental policy aspects; this is the main focus of this current paper. Second, a lot of attention has been given to the developed countries, thereby ignoring the developing countries where the problems are also/even more evident. Carbon dioxide emissions are the major cause of global warming which deteriorates overall environmental condition by depleting the ozone layer and hence affecting the health of the general populace as well. Carbon emissions from the developing countries will surpass those of the developed countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) over the next three decades due to their higher rate of economic growth in those countries and their continuous use of fossil fuels. Part of the reason for choosing developing countries to study is based on the projection that energyrelated carbon dioxide emissions from those countries will be 127% higher than emissions in the advanced economies by 2040 according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA 2016). The world map in Fig. 1 shows the distribution of lessdeveloped countries as shown by the green color; this highlights majority of the countries in the global economy fall under the category of developing countries. Despite several studies that have examined the relationship between carbon Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Qoala‐T tool is presented, which is an easy and free to use supervised‐learning model to reduce rater bias and misclassification in manual quality control procedures using FreeSurfer‐processed scans and was able to adequately predict the quality of two novel unseen datasets.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Premium quality is defined by nutritional benefits, softness and aroma in Southeast Asia, and by the physical appearance of the grains (uniformity, whiteness, slenderness, satiety, and aroma), which are found to be consistent with industry perceptions and have important implications for regional and national breeding programs.
Abstract: Background Quality is a powerful engine in rice value chain upgrading. However, there is no consensus on how “rice quality” should be defined and measured in the rice sector. Scope and approach We adopt a Lancasterian definition of rice quality as a bundle of intrinsic and extrinsic attributes. We then review how rice quality is (i) perceived and defined by consumers and industry stakeholders in rice value chains in Southeast and South Asia; (ii) measured and defined by food technologists; and (iii) predicted through genetics. Key findings and conclusions Consumers are heterogeneous with respect to their perceived differentiation of rice quality among regions, countries, cities, and urbanization levels. Premium quality is defined by nutritional benefits, softness and aroma in Southeast Asia, and by the physical appearance of the grains (uniformity, whiteness, slenderness), satiety, and aroma in South Asia. These trends are found to be consistent with industry perceptions and have important implications for regional and national breeding programs in terms of tailoring germplasm to regions and rice varieties to specific local market segments. Because rice is traded internationally, there is a need to standardize definitions of rice quality. However, food technologists have not reached unanimity on quality classes and measurement; routine indicators need to be complemented by descriptive profiles elicited through sensory evaluation panels. Finally, because rice quality is controlled by multiple interacting genes expressed through environmental conditions, predicting grain quality requires associating genetic information with grain quality phenotypes in different environments.

Book
17 Oct 2019
TL;DR: It will be necessary to address persisting challenges with regard to accuracy, completeness and comparability of the data collected in electronic records to enable reliable measurement of quality of care on the basis of this data (Chan et al., 2010).
Abstract: Quality improvement initiatives take many forms, from the creation of standards for health professionals, health technologies and health facilities, to audit and feedback, and from fostering a patient safety culture to public reporting and paying for quality. For policymakers who struggle to decide which initiatives to prioritise for investment, understanding the potential of different quality strategies in their unique settings is key.This volume, developed by the Observatory together with OECD, provides an overall conceptual framework for understanding and applying strategies aimed at improving quality of care. Crucially, it summarizes available evidence on different quality strategies and provides recommendations for their implementation. This book is intended to help policy-makers to understand concepts of quality and to support them to evaluate single strategies and combinations of strategies.Quality of care is a political priority and an important contributor to population health. This book acknowledges that “quality of care” is a broadly defined concept, and that it is often unclear how quality improvement strategies fit within a health system, and what their particular contribution can be. This volume elucidates the concepts behind multiple elements of quality in healthcare policy (including definitions of quality, its dimensions, related activities, and targets), quality measurement and governance and situates it all in the wider context of health systems research. By so doing, this book is designed to help policy-makers prioritize and align different quality initiatives and to achieve a comprehensive approach to quality improvement.

Journal ArticleDOI
15 Sep 2019-Sensors
TL;DR: An application of how a Deep Learning soft sensor application can be combined with a high-resolution optical quality control camera to increase the accuracy and reduce the cost of an industrial visual inspection process in the Printing Industry 4.0 is shown.
Abstract: Rapid and accurate industrial inspection to ensure the highest quality standards at a competitive price is one of the biggest challenges in the manufacturing industry. This paper shows an application of how a Deep Learning soft sensor application can be combined with a high-resolution optical quality control camera to increase the accuracy and reduce the cost of an industrial visual inspection process in the Printing Industry 4.0. During the process of producing gravure cylinders, mistakes like holes in the printing cylinder are inevitable. In order to improve the defect detection performance and reduce quality inspection costs by process automation, this paper proposes a deep neural network (DNN) soft sensor that compares the scanned surface to the used engraving file and performs an automatic quality control process by learning features through exposure to training data. The DNN sensor developed achieved a fully automated classification accuracy rate of 98.4%. Further research aims to use these results to three ends. Firstly, to predict the amount of errors a cylinder has, to further support the human operation by showing the error probability to the operator, and finally to decide autonomously about product quality without human involvement.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the impact of national culture on the quality of integrated reporting from a stakeholder theory perspective and found that IR quality is related to five dimensions of Hofstede: power distance, individualism, masculinity, indulgence negatively and uncertainty avoidance positively.
Abstract: Integrated reporting (IR) is a new corporate‐reporting system that aims to represent the firm's value creation in the short, medium, and long term. In contrast to other disclosure systems focusing on non‐financial dimensions, including social and environmental aspects, IR is characterized by information connectivity. In recent years, integrated reporting has received increasing interest, both academic and professional. However, report quality is still a critical aspect of IR. Although several studies investigate IR, few focus on quality and its determinants. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the impact of national culture, an external determinant, from a stakeholder theory perspective. The results show that IR quality is related to five dimensions of Hofstede—power distance, individualism, masculinity, and indulgence negatively and uncertainty avoidance positively. This study contributes to the relevant literature by analysing an additional factor that influences the quality of corporate reports, namely, national culture. This is the first study that investigates national culture as a determinant of integrated‐reporting quality.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Zhang et al. as mentioned in this paper examined the role of authenticity in the quality-satisfaction-loyalty framework of food tourism and found that authenticity is a key antecedent to the quality and satisfaction of local food.
Abstract: The sustainability of rural development, both economic and environmental, has been increasingly linking to local food, which plays an indispensable role by preserving traditional culture, attracting tourists, and supporting the regional economy. However, the authenticity and quality of local food have not been fully convinced as competitive advantages by most practitioners. Little is known about how authenticity affects quality attributes, tourist satisfaction, and tourist loyalty. Thus, this study examines the role of authenticity in the quality–satisfaction–loyalty framework. The field research was performed in Shunde County, Guangdong Province, China. The results challenge the traditional view of quality attributes by highlighting that authenticity is a key antecedent to the quality–satisfaction–loyalty framework of food tourism. In contrast, the relationships among quality attributes, tourist satisfaction, and tourist loyalty are contingent on the extent to which food tourists perceive the authenticity of rural local food.