Evaluation of quality public transport criteria in terms of passenger satisfaction

This article presents a detailed description and explanation of the methodology for evaluation of quality public transport criteria in terms of passenger satisfaction. In 2011-2014 this method was applied in an assessment of passenger satisfaction with the urban public transport system in Ostrava. In order to assess passengers' satisfaction, traffic survey has been chosen utilizing questionnaire and student inquirers. The results achieved by application of the method have been processed to evaluate time accessibility criteria of a public transport system. Time accessibility criteria group (accessibility of stops, waiting for a connection and transferability in the public transport network) evaluates physical and psychological aspects of the passenger during his arrival at the station, while leaving the station, in the course of waiting for a connection and during the transfer. The time accessibility criteria are considered the most significant criteria that impact a passenger's decision to utilise public transport options.Web of Science171271

Systematic Approach to A New Service Ideas Conceptualisation: Quantitative Decision Making

Contradictory opinions about some stages in a new service development cause many uncertainties, especially when transferring actions of theoretical implementation into practice. Such ambiguities are particularly typical for the process of conception formation, also evaluation and service system creation. The aim of the paper is to provide a justified model of new service concept(s) formation, its assessment and service system (new service technology) designing. Because of the lack of data about service concept formation, reference was also made to the sources of information about product concept creation. Scientific information on the issues of concept formation was analysed (systematised, structured and synthesised basing on sparse works of other authors) after being assessed in terms of logic and integrity, availability and practical appropriateness for service business. Research findings are used to develop a process model. It consists of the following main components: determining the purposefulness of new service development, concepts designing, concepts assessment according to two different sets of criteria, decision making about service system designing (new service technology designing). Application of the proposed model will show a real ways for the formation of new service concepts. Flexible construction of the model allows reducing time needed for the evaluation and implementation a new service

Benefits of traceability in software development

PhD ThesisFor an engineer to be able to modify successfully a complex computer-based system, he will need to understand the system's functionality. Traceability can help the engineer to gain that understanding, but several surveys have observed that traceability information is poorly recorded. This thesis argues, based on a survey of nine aerospace projects, that one of the main causes of poor recording is that Traceability does not directly benefit the development process. The recording of traceability information is best performed by the engineers directly involved in the development process, yet it is precisely these engineers who seem to obtain no direct benefit in performing this task. This can be summarised as the Traceability Benefit Problem. To overcome this problem the recording of traceability data must provide immediate, tangible benefits to the engineers involved in the current development process. A related problem that occurs in large multi-team projects that follow development processes based on predictive models (such as Waterfall or VModel) is the changing of interface documentation without adequate negotiation (referred to as Throwing the Problem over the Wall). This thesis describes, in detail, how a small automotive sensor project addressed these problems by developing a Requirements Traceability system that enabled the reuse of software and provided a basis for the negotiation of changes with their customer. Analysis of the lessons learnt from the automotive sensor and aerospace projects lead to the definition of the Traceable Development Contract. The contribution of this thesis is the description and discussion of the Traceable Development Contract, a method of coordinating the interaction of related development teams in development process that is based on a predictive development model. The Traceable Development Contract is proposed as a means of controlling the upstream team bias with respect to the imposition of changes, by employing traceability to provide a basis for the negotiation of change. By VI employing traceability in this way, it becomes beneficial to the development engineers and therefore overcomes the Traceability Benefit Problem. Finally, the thesis considers how the Traceable Development Contract traceability information can be exploited further to provide solution maturity and design metrics

Structured Review of Research Methodologies Applied in Internet Banking

Internet banking has been studied for about last two decades. This study conducts a review of the research techniques used in internet banking domain for last fifteen years (2002 to 2017). The research papers were selected from various reputed databases and subjected to content analysis before inclusion. The study will enable the researchers and bankers to understand the rigor of analysis, choose appropriate research technique and further develop methodologies for conducting research in the field of internet banking. Keywords: Internet banking, sampling methods, survey instrument, data analysis technique

Measuring Customer Satisfaction on the Internet

Based on the Expectancy Disconfirmation Model as the underlying construct, methods to measure customer satisfaction with products and the steps to be undertaken in the research process are investigated. The measurement of Derived Satisfaction using (dis)confirmation was identified to be the appropriate approach to CS measurement. Prior research has also shown that during the research process, several points specific to CS measurements need to be accounted for. The Internet services currently used by marketing and social researchers include E-mail, mailinglists, newsgroups, Internet Chat, the World Wide Web (WWW) and Virtual Worlds. Virtual Worlds, being most advantageous for observational studies, are not useful for customer satisfaction research. Virtual Communities, in turn, have some promising characteristics for future use. Internet research methods based on these services include E-mail surveys and WWW-surveys. Common advantages of E-mail- and WWW-surveys include administrative and response speed, cost savings and global reach of respondents. Their greatest common disadvantage is the non-representativeness of the respondents for the larger population as well as their self-selection. Unless access is restricted to a known population, probability sampling is impossible when using the World Wide Web. Based on these insights, the Internet was found to be an advantageous medium for customer satisfaction studies only if specific conditions are met. Companies need to investigate on a case-by-case basis if the online measurement of customer satisfaction is possible in their specific situation. The recommendations were summarized in a decision-making framework. The results of a survey among market research agencies show that practitioners are to a large extent aware of the limitations within which the Internet can be used for customer satisfaction surveys. However, especially WWW-surveys sometimes are conducted in a way that does not lead to representative results.management information;

An evaluation of the total quality management implementation strategy for the advanced solid rocket motor project at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center

An evaluation of the NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) strategy to implement Total Quality Management (TQM) in the Advanced Solid Rocket Motor (ASRM) Project is presented. The evaluation of the implementation strategy reflected the Civil Service personnel perspective at the project level. The external and internal environments at MSFC were analyzed for their effects on the ASRM TQM strategy. Organizational forms, cultures, management systems, problem solving techniques, and training were assessed for their influence on the implementation strategy. The influence of ASRM's effort was assessed relative to its impact on mature projects as well as future projects at MSFC

Studying Customers' Satisfaction with Service Quality of Life Insurance in Vietnam

Purpose: Studying key factors affecting customer satisfaction based on the service quality of life insurance in Vietnam, and on that basis, the author proposed policy implications that contribute to improving customer satisfaction with the service quality of life insurance.   Theoretical framework: Service quality is a factor that significantly affects customer satisfaction. If service providers provide customers with quality products that satisfy their needs, the business has initially made customers satisfied.   Design/methodology/approach: Group interview method implemented in qualitative research. The study was conducted to collect the opinions of 07 managers working at life insurance companies in Vietnam. The quantitative research method used the formal study (n = 500 customers): Preliminary research sample was performed by preliminary analysis through Cronbach's alpha coefficient and EFA discovery factor to evaluate the convergent and discriminant value of the scale. This study used the structural equation model analysis (SEM) with SPSS 20.0 software and Amos.   Findings: The article showed that research results bring practical value in improving customer satisfaction in Vietnam. Company leaders recognize the importance of enhancing customer satisfaction.   Research, Practical & Social implications: The study has synthesized the theory of service quality and customer satisfaction. In addition, the study has systematized the relationship between the factors measuring the service quality of life insurance and customer satisfaction.   Originality/value: The paper's originality and value help managers calibrate and evaluate the scale and develop it into a set of observed variables measuring the service quality of life insurance and customer satisfaction in a transition market like Vietnam. The topic contributes to a new study on customer satisfaction in life insurance services, a document for other research in the life insurance field in Vietnam

Software process quality models: a comparative evaluation

Numerous software processes are implemented by software organisations in the production and maintenance of software products. Varying levels of success are observed in their execution, as processes vary in content and quality. A number of quality models for software processes have been published, each of which is intended to encompass the totality of quality factors and issues relevant to a specific notion of process quality. These quality models may be used to develop a new process, measure the quality of existing processes, or guide improvement of existing processes. It is therefore desirable that mechanisms exist to select the model of highest intrinsic quality and greatest relevance. In this thesis, mechanisms are proposed for the comparative evaluation of software process quality models. Case studies are performed in which existing software process quality models are applied to existing software processes. Case study results are used in empirical evaluation of models to augment theoretical evaluation results. Specific recommendations are made for selection of models against typical selection criteria. Assessment is performed of the assessment procedures against defined success criteria. Theoretical evaluation procedures are developed to measure process quality models against defined quality criteria. Measurements are performed of conformance of models to the requirements set for an ideal process quality model, and the relevance of model content to defined stakeholders in software processes. Comparison is also made of the scope and size of models. Empirical evaluation procedures are developed to assess model performance in the context of application to real software processes. These procedures assess the extent to which the results of process measurement using process quality models are observed to differ, and hence the importance of selecting one model in preference to others. Measurement is also performed of the extent of difference in the software processes evaluated in the case studies