IT Service Climate: The Validation of an Antecedent Construct for IT Service Quality

Building from organizational climate theory, recent conceptual work has extended the IT service quality research and proposed a new construct, IT Service Climate, as an antecedent of IT service quality (Jia and Reich 2008). This paper reports on an empirical study that validated a 14-item measurement instrument for the IT service climate construct. Consisting of three dimensions, including Service Leadership, Service Vision, and Service Evaluation, the instrument demonstrates satisfactory reliability, convergent validity/unidimensionality, and discriminant validity. Data from a sample of matched pairs of systems and client units also indicate that, service climate scores from systems units explained significant variance in IT service quality as rated by their respective client units, thus demonstrating criterion validity. Contributions to both IT research and practice are discussed

Environmental Sustainability and the Hospitality Customer Experience: A Study in Tourist Accommodation

Academic research on sustainability in the hospitality industry is scarce and fragmented, and requires a general structure to lend coherence to its approach. There is a need for empirical research to fathom the question of environmental sustainability and customer experience in the hospitality industry and to study the interaction between the two concepts. This paper aims to close these gaps by establishing the nature of the relationship between customers’ perceptions of the environmental practices in tourism accommodation and their customer experiences and levels of satisfaction. The working hypotheses, based on a review of the literature on environmental sustainability and customer experience in the hospitality industry, are tested in an empirical study of 412 Spanish customers who stayed in various types of tourist accommodation. The main conclusion is that the relationship between environmental sustainability and customer experience in the hospitality industry can be demonstrated. This paper also validates a measurement scale based on the most accepted dimensionality of the construct: cognitive (think), affective (feel), behavioral (act), sensory (sense) and social (relate)

An explanatory and predictive PLS-SEM approach to the relationship between organizational culture,organizational performance and customer loyalty: The case of health clubs

Purpose This study aims to analyze the impact and predictive capacity of organizational culture on both customer loyalty and organizational performance in health clubs using data from managers and customers of health clubs in Spain. Design/methodology/approach A total of 101 managers were asked to measure organizational culture and organizational performance and 2,931 customers were asked to indicate their customer loyalty. The proposed hypotheses were tested and their predictability assessed through PLS-SEM. A composite concept was adopted to analyze the relationships between the different constructs and their indicators. Findings The findings suggest that organizational culture has a positive relationship with both customer loyalty and organizational performance. The four main dimensions of organizational culture that influence this relationship are, in order of significance, organizational presence, formalization, atmosphere and service-equipment. The authors’ model has a very good predictive power for both dependent variables. Originality/value Customer loyalty is an aspect of health clubs that can be improved. This study highlights the importance of creating a strong organizational culture in health clubs, as it enhances and predicts customer loyalty and organizational performance. Its predictability has already been tested with samples of managers and customers, with the analysis being performed from the perspective of the organization’s management and customer perceptions. This study also contributes to the field of sport management, using a predictive PLS-SEM techniqu

Organisational commitment in Malaysian public sector

This paper describes a research project that aims to determine the level of civil servants’ organisational commitment and the factors associated with it. The instruments used to measure organisational commitment, empowerment, job characteristics, and organisational communication were adapted from Allen and Meyer (1990), Spreitzer (1995), Hackman and Oldham (1975), and Downs and Hazen (1977). The findings demonstrated that civil servants appeared to have a higher level of affective commitment with mean value of 3.88 compared to continuance 3.58 and normative commitment 2.92. The study also found that civil servants were psychologically empowered in the department with mean value of 3.71, had experienced a variable opportunity in job with mean 3.51 and were reported to be satisfied with the existing communication in the department with mean value of 3.68. Research findings also showed that there is a correlation between organisational commitment (affective, continuance, and normative commitment) with empowerment, job characteristics, and organisational communication variables. The stepwise regression exhibited that empowerment variable is the most dominant predictor of civil servants’ organisational commitment. Meanwhile, organisational communication variable appeared to be the most significant factor to influence civil servants’ affective commitment. Civil servants with continuance commitment were found to be best predicted by empowerment variable. Finally, civil servants with normative commitment tend to be mostly influenced by job characteristics variable

Board of Directors’ Involvement in Strategic Decision Making Process: Definition and Literature Review.

Over the past few years, research in corporate governance has devoted increased attention to board of directors’ involvement in the strategic decision making process. But in spite of its growing interest, the literature provides theoretical pluralism and mixed empirical results. Indeed, the concept has not been well defined by past studies and there is no consensus about its operationalization. In this paper, we review the literature on board’s involvement in the strategic decision making process and question the definitions of this phenomenon and if an operational measure can be proposed for future research.Board of Directors; Strategic Decision Making Process; Board involvement; Corporate Governance.

Surface water flood warnings in England: overview, Assessment and recommendations based on survey responses and workshops

Following extensive surface water flooding (SWF) in England in summer 2007, progress has been made in improving the management and prediction of this type of flooding. A rainfall threshold-based extreme rainfall alert (ERA) service was launched in 2009 and superseded in 2011 by the surface water flood risk assessment (SWFRA). Through survey responses from local authorities (LAs) and the outcome of workshops with a range of flood professionals, this paper examines the understanding, benefits, limitations and ways to improve the current SWF warning service. The current SWFRA alerts are perceived as useful by district and county LAs, although their understanding of them is limited. The majority of LAs take action upon receipt of SWFRA alerts, and their reactiveness to alerts appears to have increased over the years and as SWFRA superseded ERA. This is a positive development towards increased resilience to SWF. The main drawback of the current service is its broad spatial resolution. Alternatives for providing localised SWF forecast and warnings were analysed, and a two-tier national-local approach, with pre-simulated scenario-based local SWF forecasting and warning systems, was deemed most appropriate by flood professionals given current monetary, human and technological resources

A simplified activity-based costing approach for SMEs : the case study of an Italian small road company

Purpose: The paper proposes an original conceptual model for designing a simplified Activity-Based Costing (ABC) approach for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) by focusing on the transport sector. Design/Methodology/Approach: The model is designed starting from the distinctive characteristics of the SMEs’ collaborative culture. The approach is then tested in the case of an Italian small-road company. Findings: The simplified ABC, which was gradually introduced in the SME, allowed the firm to gain confidence with the costing system. Moreover, the discussion of the results led to identifying the main areas to improve. Practical Implications: Costing systems based on collaboration can lead to operational improvements in SMEs operating in dynamic and competitive sectors as transport. Moreover, advanced technologies may hold a crucial role for their development. Originality/Value: Not much research has considered collaboration as a driver for introducing ABC in SMEs. The paper contributes to the literature on simplified managerial approaches, suggesting trends for future research.peer-reviewe

Toward the Integration of Economics and Outdoor Recreation Management

The general theme of this bulletin is that improved management of public-sector recreational resources is a multidisciplinary task. To this end, we attempt to integrate elements of outdoor recreation management theory and economics. The bulletin is written for both resource managers and researchers. For the former, our intent is to emphasize the importance of being aware of economic implications-at least conceptually-of management actions that influence the character and availability of recreational opportunities. To researchers involved in developing recreation management theory, we draw attention to the parallel between recreation management theory and the traditional managerial economic model of the firm. To economists, particularly those involved in developing and applying nonmarket valuation techniques, we draw attention to the types of decisions faced by resource managers. We argue that the most important resource allocation issues are of the incremental variety, so nonmarket valuation should also yield incremental values. These values alone, however, are not sufficient economic input into rational public choice analysis. The missing link , or nexus, between outdoor recreation management theory and economic analysis is the integration of supply and demand, as called for by traditional managerial economics. Collaborative research to develop recreation supply response functions akin to agricultural production functions is an essential step that is missing from both literatures. Theoretical and applied work assume greater practical importance if they feed information into this broadened framework. It is our hope that this bulletin will bring the disciplines closer to that realization