The drivers and antecedents of satisfaction, trust, commitment, and loyalty among Chinese customers

This dissertation explores the relationship between satisfaction, trust, commitment, and loyalty among Chinese customers. The selection of China as the location for this study is due to a number of factors. China\u27s economic expansion and recent ascension to full membership within the World Trade Association (WTO) has generated “excitement, uncertainty, and fear” (Ghoshal, 2003). In the recent past trade with China has grown at on average of 15 percent a year and foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country has grown even faster (Ghoshal, 2003). This growth may result in an interesting paradox. If China maintains just two thirds of its current rate of growth, by the year 2010 it will simultaneously become the world\u27s largest capitalist and Marxist-Leninist state (Boisot, 1996). Buckley (2002) challenges international business researchers to consider this future state of affairs and to increasingly focus on China as a site for research studies. Finally, the need to generate increased knowledge about the characteristics of China\u27s 1.3 billion potential customers provides yet another reason for the country focus of this dissertation. The objectives of this dissertation are: (1) to model the way Chinese consumers develop and maintain loyalty, (2) to develop the instruments needed to test hypotheses derived from the model, and (3) to test the hypotheses formulated and thereby identify the drivers of satisfaction, trust, commitment, and loyalty among Chinese customers. A cross-sectional survey method and combined emic-etic research approach are employed to detect and tap the dimensions of satisfaction, trust, commitment, and loyalty among Chinese customers. Survey measures are developed by following the procedures offered by Churchill (1979). Translations and back translation are conducted by following the approach discussed by Hui and Triandis (1985). Reliability and validity issues are discussed. The results of factor analysis, regression analysis and structured equation modeling show that more than half of the hypotheses are supported. The core model is confirmed with satisfaction, commitment, and trust as independent variables and loyalty as dependent variable. Both the hypothesized and modified models are tested with structural equation modeling. In addition, the interaction effect model shows that some of the Chinese factors add explanation power to the core model

Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Collectivism, and Job Satisfaction: Evidence from Mexico

The purpose of this dissertation was to conduct a field study in a Mexican company in several Mexican regions. This study considered administrative professionals as a continuation to assess the validity of a recently developed Mexican Border OCB (MBOCB) scale by Ortiz (2000). This validation/refinement of an MBOCB scale was accomplished by comparing and contrasting results of this investigation, given the name of Mexican OCB (MOCB), with other OCB dimensions studies in other regions in order to evaluate criterion validity (e.g., convergent and discriminat) through factor loadings. Furthermore, this dissertation categorized these MOCB dimensions into more conceptualized terms utilized by academicians such as etic (universal) and emic (unique) features. This dissertation made the following contributions: (1) MOCB has an emic (unique) dimension of Organizational Camaraderie and Organizational Dedication; (2) MOCB did not recognize the OCB dimension of Conscientiousness; (3) MOCB and Asian OCB (AOCB) have the following common dimensions: Professional Development, Interpersonal Harmony, and Protecting Company Resources; (4) MOCB, AOCB, and Western OCB (WOCB have the following etic (universal) dimensions: Altruism and Civic Virtue; and (5) MOCB and WOCB have a common dimension of Sportsmanship. Other findings were that Mexican professional women did not report higher job satisfaction than their male counterparts. Finally, the cultural dimension of collectivism partially moderated the relationship between job satisfaction and the overall MOCB. The findings of this dissertation indicated that there were OCB dimensions embracing both etic (universal) and emic (specific) in different regions such as Western, Asian, and Latin American (LA) as well as some common dimensions among the previously listed regions. Future research should consider other LA countries, especially trade partners of the U.S. (e.g., Chile, Colombia, and Panama). This research assumed that individuals in emerging LA economies might have strong collectivism values; however, Mexican professionals had weakened collectivism. Perhaps the phenomena of globalization impacted cultural transformation because the forces of modernization might have played an important role in young professional adults and the economic development of emerging economies. Finally, another implication of the findings of this study was that a self rating of OCB might be affected by common variance

October 23rd 2006

Day trip to Hollywood p.6 Art gala p.8 Faraway love p.1

Oral Proficiency and Language Learning Strategies: A Preliminary Effort to Find Learner Internal Factors that Enhance Oral Proficiency of Second Language Learners

The purpose of this study was to test empirical sustainability of three major positions about the nature of internal linguistic input processing that is associated with the enhancement of second language learnings’ oral proficiency. These three positions are what may be called an implicit-only position, an explicit-only position, and a weak interface position, respectively. An implicit-only position asserts that input processing for oral proficiency is exclusively implicit. An explicit-only position asserts that it is exclusively explicit. A weak interface position asserts that the processing is mainly implicit even though explicit processing plays a limited but important role in oral proficiency enhancement. These three positions make distinct predictions about the relationship between oral proficiency and the use of two kinds of language learning strategies (i.e., cognitive strategies and functional-use strategies). An implicit-only position predicts that oral proficiency has zero correlation to cognitive strategies while it has a positive correlation to functional-use strategies. An explicit-only position predicts that oral proficiency has a positive correlation to both cognitive and functional-use strategies. A weak interface position predicts that oral proficiency has a slightly positive correlation to cognitive strategies while it has a positive correlation to functional-use strategies. By using these predictions as research hypotheses, this study tested the empirical sustainability of the three positions. The nature of internal linguistic input processing that is associated with the enhancement of oral proficiency could be best inferred based on a position that would be empirically verified by this hypothesis testing. This knowledge is mandatory to identify the internal learning process by which second language learning come to acquire oral proficiency. To test the hypotheses, 175 non-native English speaker subjects were selected by stratified random sampling from UTK (The University of Tennessee at Knoxville) international graduate students who lived in four UTK apartment complexes, and whose first language was Chinese, Korean, or Japanese. To measure the subjects’ use of the above two kinds of strategies, 31 items were selected from the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning, Version for English Speakers Learning a New Language (Oxford, 1990). To measure the subjects’ English oral proficiency, a 20-item oral proficiency scale was created for this study. These two tools comprised a questionnaire together with several demographic items. Data were collected by mail survey. As many as 124 subjects returned the questionnaire. Four subjects turned out not to belong to the population. The return rate was thus 72.5%. By factoring the respondents’ answers on the 31 strategy items using the principal axes method with the Varimax rotation, cognitive strategies and functional-use strategies were empirically defined. Cognitive strategies were defined as a combination of two strategy categories that emerged from the factor analysis (i.e., structural interest and transfer caution). Functional-use strategies were defined as a combination of three strategy categories that also emerged from the same analysis (i.e., idiom use, naturalistic exposure, and English for fun). The validity and the reliability of the oral proficiency scale were checked. Then, multiple R’s were computed between oral proficiency and each of these five categories. All the three functional-use strategy categories showed a medium correlation to oral proficiency (R’s between .564 and .622). The two cognitive strategy categories showed a small correlation to oral proficiency (R’s of .300 and .356). This result matched the prediction made by a weak interface position. It was concluded that the nature of internal linguistic input processing that was associated with the enhancement of the respondents’ oral proficiency was mainly implicit. At the same time, explicit learning of discrete grammatical items was concluded to play a limited but important role in the enhancement of the respondents’ English oral proficiency

Doctors’ job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior and burnout: an empirical study in China’s public hospital

JEL: M54Job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and burnout have been heavily researched, but the study of the relationships among these three constructs has been rare. In this thesis quantitative and qualitative research methods are employed to address this gap by studying the relationships among doctors’ job satisfaction, OCB and burnout in a selected sample of China’s public hospitals. A questionnaire survey was distributed to 571 doctors in four municipal public hospitals in Shenzhen, China and 485 valid copies were collected. Statistical analysis techniques and methods such as descriptive statistics, factor analysis, correlation analysis, one-way analysis of variance, regression analysis have been used to study doctors’ job satisfaction, OCB and burnout as a whole and explore the relationship among the three dimensions. The results suggest that the doctors have low job satisfaction and low organizational citizenship behavior. Results suggest that doctors in this study have low job satisfaction and low OCB. Moreover, they suffer from strong burnout due to a high level of emotional exhaustion. Among doctors in those China’s public hospitals studied, job satisfaction is negatively correlated to burnout and has a negative impact on it; job satisfaction is not correlated to OCB, but only positively correlated to interpersonal harmony, a dimension of OCB. OCB is negatively correlated to burnout, and the emotional exhaustion dimension of burnout is significantly negatively correlated to OCB and its altruism, conscientiousness and interpersonal harmony dimensions. Results suggest that OCB might have a buffer effect against the burnout that doctors experience at work. This buffer effect forms the basis of interactive models so that, for example, an increasing OCB may help reduce burnout. In summary, job satisfaction was a valid predictor of burnout, whereas OCB was found to moderate the relationship between job satisfaction and burnout: the higher the OCB, the less the magnitude of the job satisfaction influence in protecting doctors from burnout. Twenty six interviews were conducted to explain the quantitative findings. Practical implications were discussed.Dimensões como a satisfação no trabalho, o comportamento de cidadania organizacional (CCO) e o esgotamento têm sido bastante estudadas, mas a investigação sobre como estas dimensões se relacionam entre si é ainda escassa. Esta tese utiliza métodos de investigação quantitativos e qualitativos na expectativa de contribuir para um melhor conhecimento da forma como estes construtos interagem, através de um estudo empírico de uma amostra de médicos a trabalhar nos quatro maiores hospitais públicos na cidade chinesa de Shenzhen. Um questionário foi distribuído a 571 médicos tendo sido recolhidos 485 exemplares válidos. Foram utilizadas diversas técnicas estatísticas para processamento dos dados incluindo estatística descritiva, análise fatorial, análise de variância unidirecional, correlação e regressão múltipla no sentido de estudar as dimensões em análise como um todo e explorar as relações entre elas. Os resultados revelam que os médicos inquiridos têm um baixo nível de satisfação no trabalho e de CCO. Além disso sofrem de um elevado nível de esgotamento derivado sobretudo de exaustão emocional. Nos médicos estudados, a satisfação no trabalho está negativamente correlacionada com o nível de esgotamento e exerce uma influência negativa sobre ele. Contudo, a satisfação no trabalho não está relacionada com o CCO, mas apenas regista uma correlação positiva com uma das suas dimensões, a harmonia interpessoal. Por seu turno, o CCO tem uma correlação negativa com o esgotamento enquanto que a exaustão emocional, uma dimensão de esgotamento, regista uma correlação negativa significativa com o CCO e com as suas dimensões de altruísmo, consciencialização e harmonia interpessoal. Os resultados sugerem ainda que o CCO pode ter um efeito amortecedor no nível de esgotamento que os médicos sofrem no trabalho. Este efeito pode constituir uma base para modelos interativos de forma a que, por exemplo, um aumento de CCO possa contribuir para diminuir o nível de esgotamento. Em resumo verificou-se que a satisfação no trabalho é um preditor válido de esgotamento e que o CCO tem um efeito amortecedor na relação entre a satisfação no trabalho e o esgotamento: quanto mais elevado for o CCO mais reduzida é a influência que a satisfação no trabalho pode ter no sentido de proteger os médicos de esgotamento. Foram ainda conduzidas entrevistas que ajudaram a explicar e a interpretar os resultados do inquérito.Satisfação no trabalho, Comportamento de Cidadania Organizacional, esgotamento, hospitais públicos na Chin

Emotional intelligence and extra-role behavior: the mediating effect of role stressors and organizational justice in a construction company in China

In recent years, with the development of China's foreign infrastructure construction, especially the African countries, as well as the strategy of One Belt And One Road arising, Chinese expatriate as a specific group is becoming bigger. Compared with domestic employees, the work environment of expatriate is quite different. This study is designed to explore whether and how does Chinese expatriate’s emotional intelligence influence their extra-behavior, both organizational citizenship behavior and counterproductive behavior. To test that, 208 Chinese expatriates one construction stated-owned company accepted fulfill the questionnaire and contributed to this study. The results show that emotional intelligence has positive effect on organizational citizenship behavior of Chinese expatriates: Organizational justice, but not role stressor, mediates the relationship between emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior. Emotional intelligence has negative effect on counterproductive behavior of Chinese expatriates. Organizational justice, but not role stressor, can mediate the relationships between emotional intelligence and counterproductive behavior.Nos últimos anos, com o desenvolvimento da construção de infraestruturas no estrangeiro por parte da China, especialmente nos países africanos, bem como a estratégia de One Belt And One Road decorrentes, o número de expatriados chineses está a crescer. Em comparação com os empregados domésticos, o ambiente de trabalho do expatriado é bastante diferente. Este estudo visa explorar se e como a inteligência emocional dos expatriados chineses influencia os seus comportamentos extra-papel: comportamento de cidadania organizacional e comportamento contraproducente. Para testar isso, 208 expatriados chineses numa empresa pública de construção aceitaram participar neste estudo. Os resultados mostram que a inteligência emocional tem um efeito positivo sobre o comportamento de cidadania organizacional dos expatriados chineses. A justiça organizacional, mas não o stress do papel, medeia a relação entre a inteligência emocional e o comportamento de cidadania organizacional. A inteligência emocional tem um efeito negativo sobre o comportamento contraproducente dos expatriados chineses. A justiça organizacional, mas não o stress do papel, medeia a relação entre a inteligência emocional e o comportamento contraproducente. Palavras-chave: inteligência emocional, justiça organizacional, stress de papel, comportamento de cidadania organizacional e comportamento contraproducente

Impact of mobile health technology adoption on service quality and patient satisfaction

Long registration time, long waiting time, long medication-taking time and short consultation time, also called "three long, one short", are urgent management problems to be solved in Chinese hospitals. To this end, many hospitals have begun to actively invest in the establishment of mobile health applications (Apps), for the purpose of improving the medical environment and optimizing the clinical processes, such as making appointment, registration, consultation, payment, diagnosis and treatment, medication-taking, waiting time, and ultimately improving the quality of hospital services and patient satisfaction. This dissertation research aims at empirically examining the mechanisms through which patients’ uses of mobile health Apps affect their perceptions of hospital service quality and their satisfaction. The study is conducted in Shenzhen Eye Hospital in China. First, based on literature review and expert interviews, a research model was developed regarding the relationships among four variables: Mobile Health Technology Use (MHTU), Clinical Process Change (CPC), Service Quality (SQ), and Patient Satisfaction (PS). Five hypotheses about the relationship among the variables were proposed and tested. Based on existing measures in the literature and field interviews, a survey instrument was developed and tested using a pilot sample. The survey was then administered to randomly selected patients in the hospital over a period of three weeks. The research model and hypotheses were tested using SPSS statistical software. Results reported in the study include descriptive analysis of patient demographic information and medical information, exploratory factor analysis, reliability and validity analysis, correlation and regression analysis. The study results suggest that the use of mobile health Apps directly and significantly affects patient satisfaction, but it has no direct impact on the hospital service quality. Instead, it affects hospital service quality through the role of intermediate variables of perceived changes of clinical process by patients. Physician-patient Interaction is an important factor that positively affects the quality of hospital service. Convenience is one of the important dimensions for patients to perceive the quality of service in Chinese hospitals, and it has a positive and significant impact on patient satisfaction. The above findings suggest that hospital managers should not only pay attention to the management of system usage, but also to organizational factors that affect the results of system usage, such as the perceived changes of clinical process by patients. When evaluating the quality of hospital service, especially in the face of large-scale hospitals with large outpatient service, Convenience dimension should be considered. In addition, managers should pay attention to enhancing the initiative of physician-patient interaction, as it is an important factor affecting patients' perception of hospital service quality.O longo tempo de registo, o longo tempo de espera, o longo tempo de toma de medicamentos e o curto tempo de consulta, também chamados "três longos, um curto", são problemas de gestão urgentes a resolver nos hospitais Chineses. Para tal, muitos hospitais começaram a investir ativamente no estabelecimento de aplicações (Apps) móveis de saúde, com o objetivo de melhorar o ambiente médico e otimizar os processos clínicos, como agendamento, registo, consulta, pagamento, diagnóstico e tratamento, tomada de medicamentos, tempo de espera e, por fim, melhorar a qualidade dos serviços hospitalares e a satisfação dos pacientes. A investigação desta dissertação visa examinar empiricamente os mecanismos através dos quais o uso de Apps móveis de saúde pelos pacientes afeta as suas percepções sobre a qualidade do serviço hospitalar e a sua satisfação. O estudo é realizado no Shenzhen Eye Hospital, na China. Primeiramente, com base na revisão da literatura e em entrevistas com especialistas, foi desenvolvido um modelo de pesquisa sobre as relações entre quatro variáveis: Uso de Tecnologia Móvel em Saúde (MHTU), Mudança de Processos Clínicos (CPC), Qualidade de Serviço (SQ) e Satisfação do Paciente (PS). Cinco hipóteses sobre a relação entre as variáveis foram propostas e testadas. Com base nas medidas existentes na literatura e nas entrevistas de campo, foi desenvolvido e testado um questionário utilizando uma amostra piloto. O questionário foi então administrado a pacientes selecionados aleatoriamente no hospital durante um período de três semanas. O modelo de pesquisa e as hipóteses foram testados utilizando o software estatístico SPSS. Os resultados relatados no estudo incluem análise descritiva das informações demográficas e informações médicas dos pacientes, análise fatorial exploratória, análise de confiabilidade e validade, análise de correlação e regressão. Os resultados do estudo sugerem que o uso de Apps móveis de saúde afeta direta e significativamente a satisfação do paciente, mas não tem impacto direto na qualidade do serviço hospitalar. Em vez disso, afeta a qualidade do serviço hospitalar através do papel de variáveis intermediárias das alterações percebidas pelo paciente no processo clínico. A interação médico-paciente é um fator importante que afeta positivamente a qualidade do serviço hospitalar. A conveniência é uma das dimensões importantes para que os pacientes percebam a qualidade do serviço nos hospitais Chineses, tendo um impacto positivo e significativo na satisfação dos pacientes. Os resultados acima sugerem que os gestores hospitalares devem prestar atenção não apenas à gestão do uso do sistema, mas também aos fatores organizacionais que afetam os resultados do uso do sistema, como as mudanças percebidas pelos pacientes no processo clínico. Ao avaliar a qualidade do serviço hospitalar, especialmente no caso de hospitais de grande dimensão com um elevado número de atendimentos em ambulatório, a dimensão conveniência deve ser considerada. Além disso, os gestores devem estar atentos para potencializar a iniciativa de interação médico-paciente, pois este é um fator importante que afeta a percepção dos pacientes sobre a qualidade do serviço hospitalar

Advanced document data extraction techniques to improve supply chain performance

In this thesis, a novel machine learning technique to extract text-based information from scanned images has been developed. This information extraction is performed in the context of scanned invoices and bills used in financial transactions. These financial transactions contain a considerable amount of data that must be extracted, refined, and stored digitally before it can be used for analysis. Converting this data into a digital format is often a time-consuming process. Automation and data optimisation show promise as methods for reducing the time required and the cost of Supply Chain Management (SCM) processes, especially Supplier Invoice Management (SIM), Financial Supply Chain Management (FSCM) and Supply Chain procurement processes. This thesis uses a cross-disciplinary approach involving Computer Science and Operational Management to explore the benefit of automated invoice data extraction in business and its impact on SCM. The study adopts a multimethod approach based on empirical research, surveys, and interviews performed on selected companies.The expert system developed in this thesis focuses on two distinct areas of research: Text/Object Detection and Text Extraction. For Text/Object Detection, the Faster R-CNN model was analysed. While this model yields outstanding results in terms of object detection, it is limited by poor performance when image quality is low. The Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) model is proposed in response to this limitation. The GAN model is a generator network that is implemented with the help of the Faster R-CNN model and a discriminator that relies on PatchGAN. The output of the GAN model is text data with bonding boxes. For text extraction from the bounding box, a novel data extraction framework consisting of various processes including XML processing in case of existing OCR engine, bounding box pre-processing, text clean up, OCR error correction, spell check, type check, pattern-based matching, and finally, a learning mechanism for automatizing future data extraction was designed. Whichever fields the system can extract successfully are provided in key-value format.The efficiency of the proposed system was validated using existing datasets such as SROIE and VATI. Real-time data was validated using invoices that were collected by two companies that provide invoice automation services in various countries. Currently, these scanned invoices are sent to an OCR system such as OmniPage, Tesseract, or ABBYY FRE to extract text blocks and later, a rule-based engine is used to extract relevant data. While the system’s methodology is robust, the companies surveyed were not satisfied with its accuracy. Thus, they sought out new, optimized solutions. To confirm the results, the engines were used to return XML-based files with text and metadata identified. The output XML data was then fed into this new system for information extraction. This system uses the existing OCR engine and a novel, self-adaptive, learning-based OCR engine. This new engine is based on the GAN model for better text identification. Experiments were conducted on various invoice formats to further test and refine its extraction capabilities. For cost optimisation and the analysis of spend classification, additional data were provided by another company in London that holds expertise in reducing their clients' procurement costs. This data was fed into our system to get a deeper level of spend classification and categorisation. This helped the company to reduce its reliance on human effort and allowed for greater efficiency in comparison with the process of performing similar tasks manually using excel sheets and Business Intelligence (BI) tools.The intention behind the development of this novel methodology was twofold. First, to test and develop a novel solution that does not depend on any specific OCR technology. Second, to increase the information extraction accuracy factor over that of existing methodologies. Finally, it evaluates the real-world need for the system and the impact it would have on SCM. This newly developed method is generic and can extract text from any given invoice, making it a valuable tool for optimizing SCM. In addition, the system uses a template-matching approach to ensure the quality of the extracted information

Low-Fare Flights Across the Atlantic: Impact of Low-Cost, Long-Haul, Trans-Atlantic Flights on Passenger Choice of Carrier

Full-service carriers (FSCs) have long ruled the trans-Atlantic market, due to the absence of low fare competition, which has kept airfares high. However, renewed interest in lowcost, long-haul (LCLH) flights was prompted by efficient aircraft, low fuel prices, liberalization of air markets, and low-cost carriers’ growth opportunities. Since 2013, multiple LCLH carriers have commenced trans-Atlantic operations, and their market share has grown to 8%. In response, FSCs are establishing their own LCLH subsidiaries and/or introducing basic economy airfares to more effectively compete in the trans-Atlantic market. The purpose of this dissertation was to further the understanding of LCLH and FSC passengers in the trans-Atlantic market by determining what demographics and airline service attributes affected their choice of carrier type, and also what impacted their willingness to switch carrier type and the amount they were willing to pay to do so. A total of 1,412 trans-Atlantic economy and premium economy passengers were surveyed at Los Angeles (LAX) and Seattle–Tacoma (SEA) Airports, which included those who had flown an LCLH (n = 787) or an FSC (n = 625). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed to develop a factor structure for passenger travel experience attributes, which were identified as: Operations, Comfort, Onboarding, Service, and Flight Schedule, along with a variable, Airfare. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the variables/factors that affected passenger choice of LCLH or FSC. Younger passengers preferred LCLH carriers, whereas older passengers preferred FSCs. Airfare was the most important predictor of choice of carrier type, followed by Comfort, Service, and Flight Schedule. Satisfaction with Airfare and Comfort were associated with choice of an LCLH carrier, whereas satisfaction with Service and Flight Schedule were associated with choice of an FSC. Willingness to switch from an LCLH to an FSC was evaluated, with 55% of respondents indicating they would remain loyal, and 45% of them being willing to switch to an FSC. Decision tree analyses were utilized to show the relationships between variables/factors that were relevant for passenger switching decisions. The variables/factors that affected an LCLH passenger’s willingness to switch to an FSC were: Airfare, Income, Education, Age, Gender, Comfort, and Operations. Binary logistic regression was utilized to determine that Age, Education, and Cabin Class affected willingness to pay more to switch to an FSC. Willingness to switch from an FSC to an LCLH was evaluated, with 76% of respondents indicating they would remain loyal, and 24% being willing to switch to an LCLH carrier; with a decision tree showing that Gender, Service, Airfare, and Onboarding affected this decision. Binary logistic regression was utilized to determine that Airfare, Nonstop Flights, and Courtesy and Responsiveness affected willingness to pay less to switch to an LCLH carrier. This research has demonstrated that often overlooked aspects of air travel, such as comfort and service, are vitally important to long-haul passengers. Furthermore, both LCLH and FSCs have a place in the trans-Atlantic market, as some passengers prefer a no frills LCLH offering; whereas other passengers prefer an all-inclusive FSC offering