Showing papers on "Service level objective published in 2013"

A survey on service quality description

Abstract: Quality of service (QoS) can be a critical element for achieving the business goals of a service provider, for the acceptance of a service by the user, or for guaranteeing service characteristics in a composition of services, where a service is defined as either a software or a software-support (i.e., infrastructural) service which is available on any type of network or electronic channel. The goal of this article is to compare the approaches to QoS description in the literature, where several models and metamodels are included. consider a large spectrum of models and metamodels to describe service quality, ranging from ontological approaches to define quality measures, metrics, and dimensions, to metamodels enabling the specification of quality-based service requirements and capabilities as well as of SLAs (Service-Level Agreements) and SLA templates for service provisioning. Our survey is performed by inspecting the characteristics of the available approaches to reveal which are the consolidated ones and which are the ones specific to given aspects and to analyze where the need for further research and investigation lies. The approaches here illustrated have been selected based on a systematic review of conference proceedings and journals spanning various research areas in computer science and engineering, including: distributed, information, and telecommunication systems, networks and security, and service-oriented and grid computing.

AGILE: elastic distributed resource scaling for Infrastructure-as-a-Service

Abstract: Dynamically adjusting the number of virtual machines (VMs) assigned to a cloud application to keep up with load changes and interference from other uses typically requires detailed application knowledge and an ability to know the future, neither of which are readily available to infrastructure service providers or application owners. The result is that systems need to be over-provisioned (costly), or risk missing their performance Service Level Objectives (SLOs) and have to pay penalties (also costly). AGILE deals with both issues: it uses wavelets to provide a medium-term resource demand prediction with enough lead time to start up new application server instances before performance falls short, and it uses dynamic VM cloning to reduce application startup times. Tests using RUBiS and Google cluster traces show that AGILE can predict varying resource demands over the medium-term with up to 3.42× better true positive rate and 0.34× the false positive rate than existing schemes. Given a target SLO violation rate, AGILE can efficiently handle dynamic application workloads, reducing both penalties and user dissatisfaction.

Service quality, trust, and patient satisfaction in interpersonal-based medical service encounters

Abstract: Interaction between service provider and customer is the primary core of service businesses of different natures, and the influence of trust on service quality and customer satisfaction could not be ignored in interpersonal-based service encounters. However, lack of existing literature on the correlation between service quality, patient trust, and satisfaction from the prospect of interpersonal-based medical service encounters has created a research gap in previous studies. Therefore, this study attempts to bridge such a gap with an evidence-based practice study. We adopted a cross-sectional design using a questionnaire survey of outpatients in seven medical centers of Taiwan. Three hundred and fifty copies of questionnaire were distributed, and 285 valid copies were retrieved, with a valid response rate of 81.43%. The SPSS 14.0 and AMOS 14.0 (structural equation modeling) statistical software packages were used for analysis. Structural equation modeling clarifies the extent of relationships between variables as well as the chain of cause and effect. Restated, SEM results do not merely show empirical relationships between variables when defining the practical situation. For this reason, SEM was used to test the hypotheses. Perception of interpersonal-based medical service encounters positively influences service quality and patient satisfaction. Perception of service quality among patients positively influences their trust. Perception of trust among patients positively influences their satisfaction. According to the findings, as interpersonal-based medical service encounters will positively influence service quality and patient satisfaction, and the differences for patients’ perceptions of the professional skill and communication attitude of personnel in interpersonal-based medical service encounters will influence patients’ overall satisfaction in two ways: (A) interpersonal-based medical service encounter directly affects patient satisfaction, which represents a direct effect; and (B) service quality and patient trust are used as intervening variables to affect patient satisfaction, which represents an indirect effect. Due to differences in the scale, resources and costs among medical institutions of different levels, it is a most urgent and concerning issue of how to control customers’ demands and preferences and adopt correct marketing concepts under the circumstances of intense competition in order to satisfy the public and build up a competitive edge for medical institutions.

IT-mediated customer service content and delivery in electronic governments: an empirical investigation of the antecedents of service quality

Abstract: Despite extensive deliberations in contemporary literature, the design of citizen-centric e-government websites remains an unresolved theoretical and pragmatic conundrum. Operationalizing e-government service quality to investigate and improve the design of e-government websites has been a much sought-after objective. Yet, there is a lack of actionable guidance on how to develop e-government websites that exhibit high levels of service quality. Drawing from marketing literature, we undertake a goal approach to this problem by delineating e-government service quality into aspects of IT-mediated service content and service delivery. Whereas service content describes the functions available on an e-government website that assist citizens in completing their transactional goals, service delivery defines the manner by which these functions are made accessible via the web interface as a delivery channel. We construct and empirically test a research model that depicts a comprehensive collection of web-enabled service content functions and delivery dimensions desirable by citizens. Empirical findings from an online survey of 647 respondents attest to the value of distinguishing between service content functions and delivery dimensions in designing e-government websites. Both service content and delivery are found to be significant contributors to achieving e-government service quality. These IT-mediated service content functions and delivery dimensions represent core areas of e-government website design where the application of technology makes a difference, especially when considered in tandem with the type of transactional activity. A split sample analysis of the data further demonstrates our model's robustness when applied to e-government transactions of varying frequency.

Service quality perceptions and customer loyalty in casinos

Abstract: Purpose – Building and maintaining service quality is one means of retaining customers and thus establishing competitive advantage in the casino industry The current study aims to investigate the relationship between casino service quality, player segments and customer loyalty in an Asian casinoDesign/methodology/approach – The research involves the conduct of focus group interviews with different segments of gamblersFindings – The interview findings indicate that players at different segments have distinct perceptions of service quality Operationalising service quality into five dimensions, this study has shown that various dimensions of service quality have differing effects on customer loyalty, and the level of loyalty varies across different segmentsResearch limitations/implications – It is insufficient to view service quality as the customer's judgement about an entity's overall excellence or superiority as has been defined in the services literature Differing perceptions and attitudes arise wi

The value of health and wellbeing: an empirical model of value creation in social marketing

Abstract: Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of multiple actors in the value creation process for a preventative health service, and observe the subsequent impact on key service outcomes of satisfaction and customer behaviour intentions to use a preventative health service again in the future. Design/methodology/approach An online self-completion survey of Australian women (n=797) was conducted to test the proposed framework in the context of a free, government-provided breastscreening service. Data were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Findings The findings indicate that functional and emotional value are created from organisational and customer resources. These findings indicate that health service providers and customers are jointly responsible for the successful creation of value, leading to desirable outcomes for all stakeholders. Practical implications The results highlight to health professionals the aspects of service that can be managed in order to create value with target audiences. The findings also indicate the importance of the resources provided by users in the creation of value, signifying the importance of customer education and management. Originality/value This study provides a significant contribution to social marketing through the provision of an empirically validated model of value creation in a preventative health service. The model demonstrates how the creation and provision of value can lead to the achievement of desirable social behaviours - a key aim of social marketing.

Publishing and discovering context-dependent services

Abstract: In service oriented computing, service providers and service requesters are main interacting entities. A service provider publishes the services it wishes to make public using service registries. A service requester initiates a discovery process to find the service that meets its requirements using the service registries. Current approaches for the publication and discovery do not realize the essential relationship between the service contract and the conditions in which the service can guarantee its contract. Moreover, they do not use any formal methods for specifying services, contracts, and compositions. Without a formal basis it is not possible to justify through a rigorous verification the correctness conditions for service compositions and the satisfaction of contractual obligations in service provisions. In our recent works, we have identified the role of contextual information, trustworthiness information and legal rules in service provision. This paper focuses on the publication and discovery of trustworthy context-dependent services as supported by the novel framework FrSeC. It introduces a novel ranking algorithm that ranks trustworthy context-dependent services according to the degree they match service requesters requirements. Finally, this paper introduces a prototype implementation for the matching and ranking of services as supported by FrSeC.

A fuzzy ServQual based method for reliable measurements of education quality in Italian higher education area

Abstract: In recent years, the attention that the European Community has focused on the education sector has produced a new university commitment addressed to quality aspects for all education related services. In fact, a quality oriented service requires excellence in the design and planning of service activities, as well as during its delivering and also for the adopted service performance evaluation method. However, considering that service performance evaluations are deeply based on stakeholders' judgments, they can be characterized by possible uncertainties related to incompleteness for partial ignorance, imprecision for subjectivity and even vagueness. Therefore, under these conditions, unreliable results can be obtained by widely considered service analysis methods. In the present paper, a method based on a recent extension of the ServQual model and that uses in combined manner the Fuzzy Set Theory and the Analytic Hierarchy Process method is proposed to effectively handle uncertainty in service performance analyses. In particular, the Fuzzy Set Theory is considered to deal with such uncertainty, whereas the AHP method is adopted as tool to estimate the importance weights of the strategic service attributes. Subsequently, the strategic analysis of the service value tree related to the Management Engineering program at the University of Palermo (Italy) is performed by using the proposed method. The performed service analysis allows the most influencing service performance factors to be captured and commented upon. Finally, the obtained results show that the professors' perception of service quality meaningfully influences the overall service performance level.

Exploring switching behavior of US mobile service customers

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the switching behavior of mobile service customers in the USA with a focus on service quality, innovation and lock-in strategies as deterrents of switching. Design/methodology/approach – A thorough literature review coupled with two focus group interviews provided the impetus for the design and development of a survey instrument that was then administered to graduate and undergraduate students in the Southeast USA. Findings – The paper finds that: mobile service quality (m-SERVQUAL) is a significant detractor of switching intentions of customers – if customers perceive their provider to be innovative, they are less likely to switch to another provider; the perception of being innovative is equally as important as the perception of the service quality delivered by the provider; hard lock-in (unreasonable contract length) leads customers to increase their intention to switch, which is completely counter to its intended purpose; and service quality perception...

A multi-dimensional framework for evaluating the transit service performance

Abstract: This paper presents a multi-level framework to measure public transit service performance. This framework uses a combination of subjective and objective measures to assess the service quality. It allows for the opinions of the various stakeholders of public transit services (users, operators, and service providers) to be incorporated in a multi-criteria evaluation process. The framework can evaluate the public transit service performance at different levels of details (system level and route level). It can be used to assess the performance at the route level, which can then be used to provide specific recommendations to enhance the operation for specific routes, and also it can be used at a more macroscopic level to identify the operational deficiencies or areas of improvement at the system level. The route analysis level is based on a multi-criteria evaluation procedure that involves weighted scoring techniques. A case study on a transit system of 12 operating routes in Abu Dhabi city is conducted to illustrate the framework.

IT-Related Service A Multidisciplinary Perspective

Abstract: Information technology (IT)-related service is the strategic management of the creation and delivery of service in which information and communication technology (referred to as IT here) plays a su...

Economic models of sponsored content in wireless networks with uncertain demand

Abstract: The interaction of a content provider with end users on an infrastructure platform built and maintained by a service provider can be viewed as a two-sided market. Content sponsoring, i.e., charging the content provider instead of viewers for resources consumed in viewing the content, can benefit all parties involved. Without being charged directly or having it counted against their monthly data quotas, end users will view more content, allowing the content provider to generate more advertising revenue, extracted by the service provider to subsidize its investment and operation of the network infrastructure. However, realizing such gains requires a proper contractual relationship between the service provider and content provider. We consider the determination of this contract through a Stackelberg game. The service provider sets a pricing schedule for sponsoring and the content provider responds by deciding how much content to sponsor. We analyze the best strategies for the content provider and service provider in the event that the underlying demand for the content is uncertain. Two separate settings are defined. In the first, end users can be charged for non-sponsored views on a per-byte basis. In the second we extend the model to the more common case in which end users purchase data quotas on a periodic basis. Our main conclusion is that a coordinating contract can be designed that maximizes total system profit. Moreover, the additional profit due to sponsoring can be split between the content provider and service provider in an arbitrary manner.

Service encounter in multi-channel distribution context: virtual and face-to-face interactions and consumer satisfaction

Abstract: This article studies service quality and customer satisfaction in a context of multi-channel service distribution. The objective is to identify quality factors influencing the overall satisfaction of a multi-channel customer. A quantitative study was conducted among 445 customers mainly targeted on users of the traditional physical channel and online channel of a French retail bank. Using structural equation models with AMOS, the results show that perceived service quality in the virtual channel, perceived service quality in the traditional channel, and multi-channel integration quality have a positive influence on the overall satisfaction of the multi-channel customer.

Ldap-based multi-customer in-cloud identity management system

Abstract: A cloud infrastructure system offering a set of cloud services are disclosed. The cloud infrastructure system may store a service catalog of a set of registered services provided by the cloud infrastructure system. For each registered service, a service declaration can be associated with the registered service. A customer may order a selected service from the set of registered services provided by the cloud infrastructure system. A service declaration from the set of service declarations specific to the requested service is determined and used to provision resources for enabling the selected service. The selected service is provisioned based on the determined service declaration.

Managing and improving service quality in higher education

Abstract: Purpose – In today's environment, higher education (HE) institutions need to become more efficient and participate in a competitive global market where client expectations are continually rising. In this new reality, quality is critical for success. While the economic benefits of quality have been long established, many HE institutions still ignore them at their own risk. This is especially true for service quality and this paper will focus on HE service quality management and improvement. This paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach – The paper implements Schneider and Bowen's model of the three tiers of service organizations and service quality management and improvement methods, on HE institutions.Findings – An analysis of the service process within HE institutions reveals that the quality of service given to the customer tier (the students) by the boundary tier (all the employees who have contact with the students) is greatly dependent on the coordination tier (top HE management...

Optimal Return Service Charging Policy for a Fashion Mass Customization Program

Abstract: Mass customization MC service is a pertinent industrial practice in the fashion industry. To foster trust and enhance demand, some brands now allow dissatisfied customers to return the MC fashion product for a full refund minus a service charge. The service charge is a measure to avoid the abuse of the return right and to subsidize the operations cost e.g., shipping and loss from the return. Motivated by this observed industrial practice, this paper analytically examines the optimal return service charge policy. We separate the study into two cases---those of risk-neutral and those of risk-averse MC companies, respectively. For each case, we derive the closed-form expression of the optimal return service charge, and we conduct analytical sensitivity analysis to illustrate how different important parameters in the model affect the optimal return service charge. In addition, by comparing the two cases, we reveal how the MC service provider's level of risk aversion affects the optimal return service charge policy. Finally, we derive the conditions under which it is optimal to offer a zero return service charge i.e., free return with a full refund. These conditions provide insight on the real-world practice in which some fashion companies offer free return service to their registered members but not to every customer.

Zoolander: Efficiently Meeting Very Strict, Low-Latency SLOs.

Abstract: Internet services access networked storage many times while processing a request. Just a few slow storage accesses per request can raise response times a lot, making the whole service less usable and hurting profits. This paper presents Zoolander, a key value store that meets strict, low latency service level objectives (SLOs). Zoolander scales out using replication for predictability, an old but seldom-used approach that uses redundant accesses to mask outlier response times. Zoolander also scales out using traditional replication and partitioning. It uses an analytic model to efficiently combine these competing approaches based on systems data and workload conditions. For example, when workloads under utilize system resources, Zoolander’s model often suggests replication for predictability, strengthening service levels by reducing outlier response times. When workloads use system resources heavily, causing large queuing delays, Zoolander’s model suggests scaling out via traditional approaches. We used a diurnal trace to test Zoolander at scale (up to 40M accesses per hour). Zoolander reduced SLO violations by 32%.

SERVQUAL and SERVPERF: A Review of Measures in Services Marketing Research

Abstract: In India, the service sector has assumed greater economic importance over the past decade and enjoys the largest share in GDP. Banking and financial services, being an important part of service sector, are facing critical challenges to compete with the international players while satisfying customers by offering quality services. As delivering quality service to customers is a must for success, it needs to be continuously evaluated. Extant literature on the subject supports the contention that SERVQUAL and SERVPERF are the two most prominent scales forming the genesis for service quality assessment in different service sectors. Present paper attempts to present a review of the above mentioned two scales in an elucidative, concise and thoroughly documented manner. It also tries to posit the best approach of evaluating service quality in a more efficient and valid method for marketing managers/researchers in Indian context. Literature shows that in Indian context, SERVPERF has outperformed SERVQUAL as it not only cut down the number of variables but also reduced the work load of customer survey and helped in generating unbiased responses. Thus, from a pragmatic viewpoint, it is expected that the paper will serve as a useful of source information for researchers interested in selecting the most efficient service quality scale for assessing service quality in a developing economy like India as also solving complex issues related to service quality and other behavioural outcomes such as customer satisfaction, loyalty, recommendation, trust, word-of-mouth etc. in their future researches.

Data-driven and automated prediction of service level agreement violations in service compositions

Abstract: Service Level Agreements (SLAs), i.e., contractually binding agreements between service providers and clients, are gaining momentum as the main discriminating factor between service implementations. For providers, SLA compliance is of utmost importance, as violations typically lead to penalty payments or reduced customer satisfaction. In this paper, we discuss approaches to predict violations a priori. This allows operators to take timely remedial actions, and prevent SLA violations before they have occurred. We discuss data-driven, statistical approaches for both, instance-level prediction (SLA compliance prediction for an ongoing business process instance) and forecasting (compliance prediction for future instances). We present an integrated framework, and numerically evaluate our approach based on a case study from the manufacturing domain.

A Novel Method for Calculating Service Reputation

Abstract: Owing to their rapid development, services are increasing rapidly in quantity. The consequence is that there are so many services that share the same or similar functions. Therefore, it is important to select a credible and optimal service. Reputation as one of the important parameters of services plays a significant role in the decision support for service selection. This paper proposes a novel two-phase method to calculate service reputation. The first phase uses a dynamic weight formula to calculate reputation such that it can reflect the latest tendency of a service. The second one uses an olfactory response formula to mitigate the negative effect of unfair ratings. Some experiments are conducted and the results validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Understanding service quality

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to capture varied perspectives of one of the important elements in the management of services known as service quality. This paper proposes that the current key focus for service academics should provide direction for planning, design and implementation framework to enhance the practical effectiveness of service quality. It deals with the fundamental concepts that underlie the subject of managing for service quality, and defines key terms and makes critical distinctions. It helps to identify the key processes through which service quality is to be managed. It does demonstrate that managing for service quality is a timeless concept, and it would further undergo frequent evolution in response to the endless emergence of changes and crises to be faced by human civilisation.

Autoflex: service agnostic auto-scaling framework for iaas deployment models

Abstract: Elasticity is a key property to reduce the costs associated with running services in cloud systems that employ an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) deployment model. However, to be able to exploit this property, users of IaaS systems need to be able to anticipate the short-term future demand of their own services, so that only the required infrastructure is requested at any instant in time. This guarantees that service level objectives (SLOs) are always honored by the users of IaaS systems, while over provisioning is avoided. The process of automatically change the amount of resources used to run a service in an IaaS system is named auto-scaling, and the state-of-the-practice uses simple reactive approaches. Although these approaches can successfully reduce the costs due to over provisioning, they are frequently insufficient to minimize the costs due to SLO violations. For that, proactive approaches are required. In this paper we propose a framework for the implementation of auto-scaling services that follows both reactive and proactive approaches. The latter is based on the use of a set of predictors of the future demand of services deployed over IaaS resources, and a selection mechanism that chooses, over time, what is the best predictor to be used. We have also proposed a correction method that uses historical data on the predictors' errors to reduce the probability of under provisioning the services, thus further diminishing the number of SLO violations. We have evaluated the performance of the proposed approach using production traces of HP customers. Our results show that costs savings of as much as 37% can be achieved, while the probability of an SLO violation can be kept, on average, as small as 0.008%, and never larger than 0.036%.

The Impact of Relationship Satisfaction on Attributions, Emotions, and Behaviors Following Service Failure

Abstract: This article investigates the processes through which relationship quality influences attributional, emotional, and behavioral responses to service failures. Results indicate that relationship quality reduces the likelihood of adverse behaviors by making blame and anger less intense. Results confirm the importance of relationship building behaviors and suggest strategies for reducing vulnerability to customer defection and adverse communications. To reduce negative word-of-mouth, managers should use relationship-building efforts to augment service recovery programs. To make customer exit less likely, service managers should invest in relationship building efforts that help to differentiate their service offers and increase barriers to exit.

IT service climate, antecedents and IT service quality outcomes: Some initial evidence

Abstract: Although many IT service management frameworks exist, we still have limited theoretical understanding of IT service quality within a broader nomological network. Building on recent conceptual work on the IT service climate construct, this study empirically establishes it as a predictor of IT service quality using survey data from both IT units and their clients. Also examined was a set of antecedents which provide a foundation upon which a favorable service climate can be built. The IT service climate instrument, when incorporated into employee feedback initiatives, can provide guidance to IT executives about practices to improve service quality.