Showing papers on "Service level objective published in 2010"

Service, value networks and learning

Abstract: Both supply chain management (SCM) and marketing in general have been moving from models and purposes narrowly focused on goods to more general models and purposes associated with partnerships, value networks, service provision, and value creation. Some of this movement has been captured in what has become known as service–dominant (S–D) logic. This article applies S–D logic to thinking about SCM in terms of service provision, in which goods are seen as service distribution or provisioning mechanisms, explores and elaborates on the concept of a value network, and develops a model of the firm as an essential service provisioning agent in a complex and adaptive value network. Research and managerial opportunities are also explored.

Service Design for Experience-Centric Services

Abstract: Service organizations are increasingly managing customer experiences to promote differentiation and customer loyalty. This article examines the design of experience-centric services, particularly t...

PRESS: PRedictive Elastic ReSource Scaling for cloud systems

Abstract: Cloud systems require elastic resource allocation to minimize resource provisioning costs while meeting service level objectives (SLOs). In this paper, we present a novel PRedictive Elastic reSource Scaling (PRESS) scheme for cloud systems. PRESS unobtrusively extracts fine-grained dynamic patterns in application resource demands and adjust their resource allocations automatically. Our approach leverages light-weight signal processing and statistical learning algorithms to achieve online predictions of dynamic application resource requirements. We have implemented the PRESS system on Xen and tested it using RUBiS and an application load trace from Google. Our experiments show that we can achieve good resource prediction accuracy with less than 5% over-estimation error and near zero under-estimation error, and elastic resource scaling can both significantly reduce resource waste and SLO violations.

Conceptual SLA framework for cloud computing

Abstract: Cloud computing has been a hot topic in the research community since 2007. In cloud computing, the online services are conducted to be pay-as-you-use. Service customers need not be in a long term contract with service providers. Service level agreements (SLAs) are agreements signed between a service provider and another party such as a service consumer, broker agent, or monitoring agent. Because cloud computing is a recent technology providing many services for critical business applications, reliable and flexible mechanisms to manage online contracts are very important. This paper presents the main criteria which should be considered at the stage of designing the SLA in cloud computing. Also, we investigate the negotiation strategies between cloud provider and cloud consumer and propose our method to maintain the trust and reliability between each of the parties involved in the negotiation process.

Service quality in the public service

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to obtain a better understanding of the extent to which service quality is delivered within the Mauritian public service by drawing on front-line employees (FLE) and customer perceptions of service quality. The paper investigates how closely customer expectations of service and FLE perceptions of customer expectations match. SERVQUAL is used to measure service quality amongst FLE and customers in a major public sector department in Mauritius. The survey captures customers’ expectations of an excellent public service and compares these with their perceptions of the service delivered by a particular public service department in Mauritius. The paper also reports on a parallel SERVQUAL survey of FLE to examine how well they understand their customers’ expectations and how well its internal processes support the delivery of top quality public services. The findings reveal that while there is a significant shortfall in meeting customer expectations, the FLE appears to have a good understanding of what these expectations actually are. The FLE should focus on those dimensions which receive lowest ratings and attributes with high gap scores. This research adds to the body of knowledge relating to public service quality management. It will also be of interest to strategic and operational public service managers and to academics investigating the reliability and value of service quality assessment tools. It addresses key relationships between service dimensions and service quality within the Mauritian public service.

Measuring the service quality of internet banking: scale development and validation

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a multiple item scale for measuring internet banking service quality.Design/methodology/approach – This research adopts the dimensions of electronic service quality (e‐service quality) and customer‐perceived service quality to develop a framework that can be used to measure internet banking service. Also, this research uses Taiwan's internet banking users as survey targets for its empirical studies.Findings – Through the process of factor analysis, the refined scale is identified. There are five dimensions and 17 items in the measurement scale for measuring the service quality of internet banking. The five dimensions are named customer service, web design, assurance, preferential treatment, and information provision.Research limitations/implications – Based on the understanding of the key service quality dimensions and the perception of customers toward e‐service quality, managers may discover methods to improve customer satisfaction, build customer trust,...

Measuring perceived service quality for public hospitals (PubHosQual) in the Indian context

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a scale for measuring perceived service quality for public hospitals from the user's (patient's) perspective. The objective is to measure perceived service quality of public hospitals.Design/methodology/approach – Standard scale development research procedure recommended by experts was followed. First, literature review of studies to measure service quality was undertaken. Later, Delphi method (two iterations) was used. Interviews were conducted of experts and customers for understanding and generating items for perceived service quality for public hospitals. A survey was then undertaken first for development of the scale and later for validation purpose.Findings – A reliable and valid scale called public hospital service quality (PubHosQual) is developed to measure the five dimensions of hospital service quality: admission, medical service, overall service, discharge process, and social responsibility.Research limitations/implications – Since, this study ...

Service quality, trust, commitment and service differentiation in business relationships

Abstract: Purpose – While service quality, trust and commitment are frequently cited as critical to achieving important firm outcomes, the role of service differentiation in this framework is largely unknown. Yet, differentiation is important because a firm's distinctiveness is linked to client‐perceived value, competitive advantage, and a target market focus. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the role of service differentiation in business‐to‐business relationships.Design/methodology/approach – Hypotheses were tested using a sample of business clients from a large European financial services firm. The senior primary contact in each client firm was contacted by phone/e‐mail to arrange for completion of the survey. Using the survey instrument, respondents provided information on their relationship with the provider organization.Findings – Results indicated that service quality had an impact on trust, differentiation and relationship outcomes. Trust was found to drive service differentiation. Differentiat...

Customer Reactions to Service Separation

Abstract: Recent research suggests that inseparability is not a universal distinguishing characteristic of services and that the consumption of many services is or can be separated from their production. This research defines service separation as customers' absence from service production, which denotes the spatial separation between service production and consumption. In a series of qualitative and quantitative studies across different services, the authors examine customer reactions to service separation. The results indicate that service separation increases customers' perceptions of not only access convenience and benefit convenience but also performance risk and psychological risk. Furthermore, these effects differ across services. Specifically, relative to experience services, for credence services, the effects of separation on service convenience are mitigated, and the effects on perceived risk are magnified. Subsequently, the convenience and risk perceptions induced by service separation can influ...

Service quality and its relation to satisfaction and loyalty in logistics outsourcing relationships

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how perceived service quality influences both a shipper's satisfaction and subsequent loyalty in third‐party logistics outsourcing relationships.Design/methodology/approach – Critical service dimensions are identified and their impact on satisfaction and loyalty are developed into a theoretical model, which in turn is examined empirically using structural equation modelling from a survey of 235 industrial companies in Finland.Findings – The results support the satisfaction‐loyalty model in a logistics outsourcing context confirming that service perceptions influence loyalty through a shipper's overall satisfaction with the service provider.Research limitation/implications – The empirical study is limited to Finland and data were collected before the financial crisis of 2008‐2009 which affected the economy and this industrial sector. The theoretical constructs and model also need to be validated and tested further across a wider empirical context.Practi...

Network based service profile management with user preference, adaptive policy, network neutrality, and user privacy

Abstract: 594734 Disclosed is a network system for presenting a service usage notification associated with a service activity category to a user of an end-user device. The end-user device is communicatively coupled to a network system over one or more wireless access networks. The network system includes means for monitoring data traffic associated with the end-user device. The data traffic comprises one or more data transfers over the one or more wireless access networks. The network system also includes means for identifying, in the monitored data traffic, particular data transfers within a service activity category. The service activity category identifies a set of one or more service activities which is less than all service activities associated with the end-user device. The service activity category identifies a particular end-user device application or a particular network communication end point. The network system also includes means for determining a service usage measure based on the identification of the particular data transfers within the service activity category. The network system also includes means for providing a notification to the end-user device. The notification is based at least in part on the service usage measure. The notification is configured to cause a user interface of the end-user device to present service usage information. The network system further includes means for obtaining a user input from a user of the end-user device. The user input either: (i) is in response to the presented service usage information, or (ii) specifies at least an aspect of a control policy to be applied to one or more attempted or successful communications within the service activity category.

Assessing Software Service Quality and Trustworthiness at Selection Time

Abstract: The integration of external software in project development is challenging and risky, notably because the execution quality of the software and the trustworthiness of the software provider may be unknown at integration time. This is a timely problem and of increasing importance with the advent of the SaaS model of service delivery. Therefore, in choosing the SaaS service to utilize, project managers must identify and evaluate the level of risk associated with each candidate. Trust is commonly assessed through reputation systems; however, existing systems rely on ratings provided by consumers. This raises numerous issues involving the subjectivity and unfairness of the service ratings. This paper describes a framework for reputation-aware software service selection and rating. A selection algorithm is devised for service recommendation, providing SaaS consumers with the best possible choices based on quality, cost, and trust. An automated rating model, based on the expectancy-disconfirmation theory from market science, is also defined to overcome feedback subjectivity issues. The proposed rating and selection models are validated through simulations, demonstrating that the system can effectively capture service behavior and recommend the best possible choices.

Service productivity, quality and innovation: Implications for service‐design practice and research

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the intertwining of productivity, quality and innovation in the service domain and, based on that discussion, propose and examine the implications of a service productivity framework that incorporates not only the company's perspective (as is done traditionally) but also the customer's perspective and a typology for classifying service innovations on the basis of their potential impact on productivity from the company's and the customer's perspectives.Design/methodology/approach – The service productivity framework and service innovation typology are developed by synthesizing – and extending – concepts and insights from the relevant literature pertaining to productivity, quality and innovation.Findings – Analysis and discussion of the proposed frameworks lead to the overarching conclusion that strategies to improve service productivity, enhance service quality or implement service innovations, are likely to be suboptimal if pursued in isolation. As such, i...

Service quality dimensions of hybrid services

Abstract: Purpose – This paper aims to identify the dimensions of service quality in the case of hybrid services.Design/methodology/approach – The service quality dimensions are identified using an exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Next the reliability and validity of the factors are established through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using AMOS.Findings – The paper identifies nine service quality dimensions in the hybrid services – customer service, staff competence, reputation, price, tangibles, ease of subscription, technology security and information quality, technology convenience, and technology usage easiness and reliability.Practical implications – The various dimensions of service quality should be viewed as the levers of improving perceived service quality in the minds of its current customers. Identifying the service quality dimensions in hybrid contexts can offer service providers valuable insights regarding on which aspects of the service to focus in order to improve customer satisfaction, loyalty,...

The relationship between consumer orientation, service value, medical care service quality and patient satisfaction: The case of a medical center in Southern Taiwan

Abstract: The competition among hospitals in Taiwan has become more and more intense, especially since National Health Insurance has come into effect. The number of so-called “mega” hospitals is growing while the number of patients is limited. In this competitive environment, hospitals have to carry out their business not only by maintaining the balance between quality and cost, but also by increasing interaction with their customers (patients). Customer-oriented services are what will give hospitals their core competitive edge for sustainable development. The key to maintain good relationships with customers is based on analyzing data related to customer satisfaction, strengthening medical service quality and providing tailor-made service. By doing so, hospitals can develop a more valuable relationship with their customers. This study was conducted by questionnaire. The purpose is to examine the correlation between customer orientation, medical service quality, service value and patient satisfaction in relation to medical service providers located in southern Taiwan. The data were analyzed with statistical methods such as Pearson’s correlation analysis, linear structure relation and analysis of variance. Our findings indicate that: (1) Customer orientation, medical service quality and value of patients are positively related to each other and patient satisfaction is influenced by these three constructs and; (2) There are significant differences shown by patients with different perceptions of customer orientation in relation to service quality and patient satisfaction constructs and so on, but no difference in relation to service constructs. Key words: Consumer orientation, service value, medical care service quality, patient satisfaction.

Key service drivers for high-tech service brand equity: The mediating role of overall service quality and perceived value

Abstract: This study investigates how different aspects of service quality could have effects on overall perception of service quality, perceived value, and service brand equity. Based on a survey of active users of mobile telecommunications services in Taiwan, we obtained the following findings. First, we found that empathy, network quality, reliability, and assurance, but not tangibles and responsiveness, have a significant effect on service quality and value perception. Second, the effect of overall service quality on brand equity is partially mediated by perceived value. Third, overall service quality has differential mediation effects on the relationships between specific service quality dimensions and perceived value. Finally, empathy and network quality have direct effects on brand equity. For managers, our study suggests the importance of identifying key service drivers for building strong service brand for high-tech service firms. The identification of key service drivers could then enable these firms to make strategic decisions on services investments. It also demonstrates the importance of the humanisation of technology for services firms. This study is original in that it explores the path from specific services qualities to service brand equity.

Probabilistic performance modeling of virtualized resource allocation

Abstract: Virtualization technologies enable organizations to dynamically flex their IT resources based on workload fluctuations and changing business needs. However, only through a formal understanding of the relationship between application performance and virtualized resource allocation can over-provisioning or over-loading of physical IT resources be avoided. In this paper, we examine the probabilistic relationships between virtualized CPU allocation, CPU contention, and application response time, to enable autonomic controllers to satisfy service level objectives (SLOs) while more effectively utilizing IT resources. We show that with only minimal knowledge of application and system behaviors, our methodology can model the probability distribution of response time with a mean absolute error of less than 6% when compared with the measured response time distribution. We then demonstrate the usefulness of a probabilistic approach with case studies. We apply basic laws of probability to our model to investigate whether and how CPU allocation and contention affect application response time, correcting for their effects on CPU utilization. We find mean absolute differences of 8-10% between the modeled response time distributions of certain allocation states, and a similar difference when we add CPU contention. This methodology is general, and should also be applicable to non-CPU virtualized resources and other performance modeling problems.

Measuring customer satisfaction of FM service in housing sector: A structural equation model approach

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze crucial variables of customer satisfaction towards residential facility management (FM) service, and to enable FM companies to deliver high quality servicesDesign/methodology/approach – The research is based on a survey of customer satisfaction of one residential property in Hong Kong FM service is divided into two interrelated clusters which are denoted by two latent variables, and then a specific structural equation model is developed for identifying and quantifying the influence of service and management quality on customer satisfaction and clarifying the causal relationships between these latent and observed variablesFindings – The research reveals that: both service and management quality have significant positive effect on customer satisfaction, and the effect of service quality is larger than that of management quality when the indirect effect is taken into account; service quality is a crucial latent variable influencing customer sa

Self-Organizing Agents for Service Composition in Cloud Computing

Abstract: In Cloud service composition, collaboration between brokers and service providers is essential to promptly satisfy incoming Cloud consumer requirements. These requirements should be mapped to Cloud resources, which are accessed via web services, in an automated manner. However, distributed and constantly changing Cloud-computing environments pose new challenges to automated service composition such as: (i) dynamically contracting service providers, which set service fees on a supply-and-demand basis, and (ii) dealing with incomplete information regarding Cloud resources (e.g., location and providers). To address these issues, in this work, an agent-based Cloud service composition approach is presented. Cloud participants and resources are implemented and instantiated by agents. These agents sustain a three-layered self-organizing multi-agent system that establishes a Cloud service composition framework and an experimental test bed. The self-organizing agents make use of acquaintance networks and the contract net protocol to evolve and adapt Cloud service compositions. The experimental results indicate that service composition is efficiently achieved despite dealing with incomplete information as well as coping with dynamic service fees.

Design dimensions of experience rooms for service test drives : case studies in several service contexts

Abstract: Purpose - The objective of this exploratory study is to analyse "test drives" of service offerings in a variety of service contexts by applying existing design dimensions of experience rooms in order to develop some principles to assist service designers who are interested in developing such "test drives" for their potential customers Design/methodology/approach - An exploratory qualitative study was undertaken using three case studies with varying levels of simulation/artificiality Data were collected from documents and interviews with service providers and customers and analysed using a framework of six dimensions Findings - The study adds a sixth dimension to the existing five dimensions or experience rooms found in the literature It also proposes seven principles to guide designers who seek to create new service "test drives" The study also introduces the new notion of "value in pre-use" (a development of "value in use") to describe the potential value of "real" services yet to be purchased Finally the study documents some of the advantages and disadvantages of using "test drives" Research limitations/implications - The exploratory and interpretive nature of the research, and the limited number of cases and respondents, limits the generalisability of the findings Practical implications - The study provides several principles that can be used in the design of service "test drives" Originality/value - This is the first paper to analyse the design dimensions of service "test drives" and to propose the notion of "value in pre-use"

The relative importance of service features in explaining customer satisfaction

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the relative importance of various service‐quality dimensions in explaining customer satisfaction; and to examine whether this assessment is affected by the measurement instrument that is used.Design/methodology/approach – A new (“servicescape”) model for directly measuring the physical and the interactive features of a service is proposed and tested against the SERVQUAL measurement model and Nordic conceptualisation. Data are collected from a structured questionnaire survey of 434 passengers at the port of Piraeus in Greece.Findings – The findings reveal that the widely used SERVQUAL instrument fails to fully capture the role of “tangibles” in determining overall customer satisfaction in the service under examination. The new proposed “servicescape model” attaches more importance to the role of physical environmental attributes than has been reported in most previous studies.Practical implications – Service providers should pay more attention to the physic...

On optimal decision for QoS-aware composite service selection

Abstract: The increasing popularity of employing web services for distributed systems contributes to the significance of service discovery. However, duplicated and similar functional features existing among services require service consumers to include additional aspects to evaluate the services. Generally, the service consumers would have different view on the quality of service (QoS) of service attributes. How to select the best composite service in theory among available service (WS) candidates for consumers is an interesting practical issue. This work proposes a QoS-aware service selection model based on fuzzy linear programming (FLP) technologies, in order to identify their dissimilarity on service alternatives, assist service consumers in selecting most suitable services with consideration of their expectations and preferences. This approach can obtain the optimal solution of consensual weight of QoS attribute and fuzzy positive ideal solution (FPIS) by extending LINMAP method, developed by Srinivasan and Shocker. Finally, two numerical examples are given to demonstrate the process of QoS-aware web service selection. The experimental results demonstrated that it is a feasible and supplementary manner in selecting the of web services.

Exploring the interrelationship among patterns of service strategy changes and organizational design elements

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the patterns of service strategy changes in manufacturing firms and indicates how each pattern is interrelated with modifications in organizational design elements.Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on a longitudinal study using a survey of 97 manufacturers of capital goods. In addition, 15 case studies have been conducted. Survey and qualitative data are obtained in 1997, 2001, and 2004.Findings – The findings highlight four patterns of service strategy changes: from customer service strategy to after‐sales service provider, from after‐sales service provider to customer‐support service provider, from customer‐support service provider to development partner, and from customer‐support service provider to the outsourcing partner. Evidence of specific alignment between service strategy and organizational design elements is provided.Research limitations/implications – The main limitation of this paper is the purposive sample.Practical implications –...

Contextual task assignment broker

Abstract: An automated broker provides contextual assignment of tasks. Service providers send the broker service provisioning information indicating the services they provide, with bids for referrals. Service consumers send the broker service requests, including criteria which the broker matches against the service provisioning information. The broker selects a recommended service provider, based on the service request's criteria, the referral bids, and reviews of the candidate service providers. Service request criteria may include a service provider's reputation in the consumer's social network, geographic proximity of the service provider to the location of the task, particular skills or experience of the service provider, the service provider's availability, and price. After a predetermined number of task assignment rejections by a service provider, a human administrator is notified. A referral bid payment or other payment made by the recommended service provider to the broker, may be shared with the service consumer.

Fuzzy application in service quality analysis: An empirical study

Abstract: Service activities have become the fundamental and dominant factors of the economic system over the past three decades and the significance and influence of service quality have been recognized through the great effect on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. It should be noted that the assessment results obtained from multiple attributes decision-making problems of diverse intensity, such as service quality evaluation, may be misleading if the fuzziness of subjective human judgment is not taken into account. This paper develops an analysis architecture, which consists of fuzzy measurement of P-I gap, modified P-I analysis for attributes and ranking order determination for subjects, to deal with service quality measurement more effectively. The fuzzy measurement of P-I gap takes advantage of including the vagueness of evaluators' judgment. By using the results of modified P-I analysis, effective ways for improving service quality perceptions can be focused on the attributes of high importance yet poor quality; meanwhile, resources or efforts attached to the attributes of low importance and good quality can be shifted to those of high importance yet poor quality. According to the ranking order of subjects, managers could devote more efforts to assist the subjects with inferior rankings to improve the service activities. The proposed analysis architecture can be used to investigate service quality effectively and track the trends periodically. An empirical study is conducted by using the proposed approach.

Estimation of Satisfied Customers in Public Transport Systems: A New Methodological Approach

Abstract: This paper addresses quality considerations in public transportation systems and, in particular, the relation between quality of public transport service and customer satisfaction Its aim is to provide insights into the factors that affect transit-rider satisfaction and to present a model to calculate the probability of customer satisfaction The proposed model identifies the most important attributes of public transport service quality that can be used for service planning

Management commitment to service quality and organizational outcomes

Abstract: Purpose – This paper aims to explore the mediating role of effective employee involvement in the links between management commitment to service quality, employees' job satisfaction, and customer perceptions of service performance.Design/methodology/approach – Based on a review of the literature on service management, the authors identified the role of effective employee involvement in the relationships between management commitment to service quality and employees' job satisfaction and between management commitment to service quality and customer perceptions of service performance. Using a random sampling method, the authors obtained 143 matched frontline employee‐customer dyads in the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.Findings – The results of the structural equations analysis show that effective employee involvement fully mediates the positive effects of management commitment to service quality on employees' job satisfaction and customer perceptions of service perform...

System and method for reactive and deliberative service level management (SLM)

Abstract: Method and apparatus for service level management, wherein business processes are composed of services. A state of the service is defined by one or more service parameters, and the service parameters depend upon performance of network components that support the service, e.g., component parameters. The state of the service may depend, for example, on a collection of service parameter values for availability, reliability, security, integrity and response time. A service level agreement is a contract between a supplier and a customer that identifies services supported by a network, service parameters for the services, and service levels (e.g., acceptable levels) for each service parameter.